Roses by Fran

I cut these tonight and arranged them. I want to take the larger vase with me to work to show off. The smaller vase is at Scrapbook Center.



P.S. Headache is gone! Woot-woot!

Achy Breaky Head

Upfront apologies for the bad Billy Ray Cyrus pun. Today was an epic headache day. Can't wait for the silence and darkness of my old bed, with a little Motrin mixed in.

Origami by John Sam

John Sam is quite talented with paper, scissors, markers, and scotch tape. Since his Nintendo time has been limited, he's made paper versions of his favorite Mario characters to play with. This green one is Yoshi, and John Sam also has made character hats with M, L, and W on them (Mario, Luigi, and Wario).

This is a tiny creature that JS made quite a long time ago. I always told everyone it was a dog, but he recently advised me it was really a mouse. Either way, it's one of the little treasures I keep at Scrapbook Center.

Cardmaking

Here's the Father's Day card we made (front and inside):

Sad Farewells

Yesterday marked the passing of two American icons. Farrah Fawcett lost her tough battle with cancer at age 62, and the unexpected death of Michael Jackson at age 50 has sparked worldwide attention. Trivia: Michael Jackson and I share the same birthday.

I'm a little sad for their families and loved ones, and they are in my thoughts and prayers today.

Google what you need

A friend of mine, Cat, said on her blog that she googled "Catherine needs" because she wanted to know what hits she would get. So I did it, too, and it was funny. You should try it using your own name! :)

• Fran needs to do it
• Fran needs a clue
• Fran needs your input
• Fran needs a story line
• Fran needs help
• Fran needs your prayers
• Fran needs 2 pose 4 Playboy
• Fran needs to go

Summer Science

Our second caterpillar came out of its cocoon. He or she seemed a little drowsy and hesitant, so we were able to take lots of pictures with the kids.

Disclaimer

**************************************************************************

Attention, please! I am not the baker of the beautiful cakes shown on this website unless I specifically post that I baked it homemade. Most of the cake photos that appear here are from PinkCakeBox.com . I will always put their logo and website address on any cake that I post on the blog, as well as tag them in the labels section.

Just for clarity :)

Almost 4,000 views!

So how about that?! Almost 4,000 views on my blog? Woot-woot!

Rambling - Part Whatever

I've been wanting to post the Father's Day card. I did take photos of it, but haven't taken them off the camera yet. I've been going to bed earlier and earlier, and waking up later and later. Is it summertime? Is it that I don't want to go to the office? Most probably, a combination of those two things. I just feel like playing hooky. I think the new meds are making me sleepy?? Hope that levels out soon.

Yesterday I got caught in the rain on the way home. I don't like driving in stormy weather. I got home and laid down to chill out and listen to Mother Nature. I love listening to the rain when I'm safe inside under the blankie. Tokyo makes a great cuddle buddy :)

Two nights ago, took the kids to Chick-Fil-A (again). When the lady was giving us our food, John Sam said, "You told us last time we were here that it was gonna be a REALLY long time before we came here again." I remembered saying that because they started fussing as soon as they asked me what I want to order, and I was peeved about it ..... Of course I wanted to laugh, but all I said was, "Well, it HAS been a long time since we were here." Sometimes it's very funny when my kid busts my butt.

If I can stay awake, I might post the card later. Need to post a few times in the same day to keep that count up!

Retiring early

to bed, that is--not from work. Only 25 more years till THAT retirement -

Enjoyed my lunch today with Suzanne. She is one of a kind and I enjoy visiting with her. Time passes too quickly when we''re trying to get caught up!

Happy Father's Day 2009

These are the ones who made my husband a father. Nobody loves Daddy more than these two smart and wonderful kids!!!
John Samuel, 8 and Caroline Grace, 6





{Photos taken by Mommy at Florida Mall on 6/20/09}

Someone has a new hat!

John Sam has been wanting a hat like his dad's. He's always been a kid who likes a hat. We snuck today to the Florida Mall to take some pictures for a holiday in June that is almost here. LOL. After the photo session - which went smashingly and I had good cooperation to go along - we just wandered around. Caroline went into the Hello Kitty store and her favorite, Claire's, and we walked a little farther and saw the Hat Shack. When we found the kid's racks, John Sam picked up this red one and put it on. We were going to get his intial ("J only, Mom," he said), but there was another hat on the machine being embroidered and Just J did not want to wait that long.

Caterpillar #2

This is the same kind of caterpillar that we had before; it'll be very scientific and cool to see if he turns out the same colors or pattern as the first one! He - or she - got fatter after this picture was taken on Saturday 6/13. Right now s/he is in cocoon in the jar!

PS -Don't forget, you can click the picture and it will enlarge so you can see better! :)

Dufus

I made scalloped potatoes for dinner tonight. When I took them out of the oven, I let them cool for about 10 minutes. When I dished my server spoon in, I heard a strange clunk. It didn't sound like I'd hit glass, but that's what the pan was made of.

Very weird to find the spoon I mixed everything together with at the bottom of the glass dish. You know, baked inside the potatoes.

!!!

Geez, good thing I'm not a doctor.......

Lakers are the Champions

Yes, well, all right. The Lakers won, and the Magic lost. The only thing I can think of is this quote, and right now I can't even remember who said it:

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."

We still love the Magic, and we are proud of them. :)

Photography by Caroline

There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer. -Ansel Adams

Caroline decided she wanted to use my camera, so I showed her how to look through the viewfinder and push the shutter button. She got so tickled while taking pictures of goofy things, and then said, "Taking pictures is fun!" with a kind of laugh that made her seem a little older than her years. I couldn't wait to see the pictures she took--I so enjoyed watching her mess around with the camera. She has a good eye and steady aim, and took great shots of both John Sam and Daddy and some other funny ones. All the pictures shown here were taken by her, except I took the last one where she is smiling.

Breakout

Sam found a couple of caterpillars in his garden, and was not happy. He put them into an old mayo jar and fed them parsley & celery. One didn't make it and we were a little sad. But the other one got fat and then fatter, and we were excited to see he built a cocoon for himself. He was black and green striped when he went in. Today Sam noticed this in the mayo jar:
















I don't think I've ever seen a butterfly with blue on its wings, at least not close up. Gorgeous! We know he knows where the good garden is, and we hope to see him again someday while he's helping the garden stay beautiful.

Heartbreaker 99-91

Game 4 is over, but we lost 99-91. Wahhh!

NBA Finals Game 4

Dear Orlando Magic,

We know you have fans from all over the world, but we're sure that we're the best looking canine fans in the book. Our whole family loves the team. Our mommy made sure that even her furry babies had Magic gear, and please overlook the fact that we snuck up on the couch. We want to see win #2, and it's way easier to see the game on TV if we're lounging. Beat those Lakers! GO MAGIC!

Love,
B and K, the Magic-Loving Labradors

















(photos courtesy of Granny Haas)

Detours

There's a saying about a person who's able to enjoy the scenery on an unexpected detour. I guess I can't remember the saying because it doesn't mean me.

Not a big detour fan. I like to plan, do, and plan the next step.

I'm curious as to why I interpret some detours as negative and others as positive. I'm trying to view things "as is," rather than good/bad, and have been striving to be self aware enough to view things more neutrally. I'm unhappy with my lack of progress at times, and it's irritating to me that it takes so much work. Being objective (rational?) isn't in my nature, and it's a challenge I struggle with a lot.

Maybe spending time on the scenery would help. Engage the other side of my brain, perhaps, and let the smarty-pants half have a rest. *snort*

Beamer #16

Today is Beamer's birthday; he would be 16. Here's a picture of him with Kismet on 6-9-1997, his fourth birthday. They REALLY loved the hats, can't you tell?!!

I must point out the Orlando Magic sign shown on my fridge in the background! We were fans then, and we're still fans now. Tonight is the night we need to make something happen! So let's get it done - GO MAGIC!

P.S. I think I'm gonna have to dig out Beamer's picture with the homemade Horace Grant goggles to inspire the team even more!

New Mug

I'm a coffee mug snob. Boy, it feels good to get that off my chest. I like certain cups to have my coffee in, and I don't like others. There are some cups in our cabinets that I rarely use. When I go to my mom's, she always saves a particular mug just for me 'cause she knows the one I like.

This past weekend, I found another mug to add to the preferred rotation. When you see it, you'll know why I wanted to get another one for Granny, but they only had this one. I'm going to keep checking back :)

Magic down 2-0 in final series

I don't know if I'll be able to sleep! The game was good, but the end score was not.

On Fran's Bookshelf

Having coffee with Leslie yesterday and talking about writing and books made me want to do a post about the books I’ve read. In Oprah Winfrey’s magazine, O!, she has a column called, “Books That Made a Difference To . . .” She chooses someone to reveal five of their favorite books and the reasons those books made their list. Hugh Laurie, who plays Dr. Gregory House, talked about how he’d read certain books and later couldn’t remember much about them when he picked them up again. But he also wrote, “Then there are the books that shine in my memory, milestones along the horizontal course of my life. I remember not just the books themselves but the chair I sat in, the shoes I wore, the woman I loved, what song was on the charts at the time. None of which makes them good books, exactly, although all of them are—it just means that they are mine. They really happened.”

The books that are really mine are:

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward
Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Love Story by Erich Segal
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Having It All by Helen Gurley Brown
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

And because I know you’re curious, here are the ones listed on Hugh Laurie’s Bookshelf (as they appeared in O! magazine in Feb. 2006):

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John Le Carre
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel C. Dennett
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

Reading and writing. I love it!

Good Luck to Leslie!

"My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read." - Abraham Lincoln

I had coffee with an old friend, Leslie. I could've spent all day talking with her and catching up, and was a bit annoyed the time went by so quickly. She and I met at a law office a few years ago (we won't mention how many, ha!) and were fast friends. Today, she bought me a book I haven't read, and I'm looking forward to making time to read it. :)

Not only do Leslie and I think alike, we have a lot in common and have walked many of the same paths. She's taking the first few steps of a new adventure right now, and I wish her and hers a lot of love & light. I want to tell her that I'm secretly envious of her bravery and moxie!! I'm thankful for her friendship and encouragement. She is so genuine, and that's rare in a friend these days. When I am with her, I can be just who I am and that's okay with her. I think she's the same with me. It's a comfort to know I've got a friend like that.

This picture of us is such a good one: two hot, smart chicks who still have the means and wits to make our dreams a reality. We are proof positive that you can never be too smart and that girl power is alive and well. Best wishes to ya and don't forget to keep in touch! HUGS!

Ouch!

So......... our team lost the first game of the finals. 100-75. Boo-hoo. BUT onward and upward we shall go. Stan Van Gundy said it exactly right: "We are better than how we played last night." (paraphrasing a bit) We did look a bit disconnected, and once the Lakers got going in the third, they were on fire. They deserved to win last night's game because they played better and more effectively. Gotta give credit where credit is due!

That's the first time this year, though, that the Lakers beat the Magic. Fingers crossed that it'll be the ONLY time!

GO MAGIC!

Game 1 of the NBA Finals

O-town is getting behind their Orlando Magic. It's cool to drive around the city and see how everybody is rooting for the home team. Last photo shows the banner that's hung on the new arena they're building (yes, taken very unsafely while driving at 65 mph on I-4; no lectures, please). Here's hoping they'll have to change it to say "Home of the 2009 NBA Basketball World Champion Orlando Magic" - GO MAGIC!!

Last Day of School!

Today was the last day of school! Barely made it on time today, as that "summa-summa-summertime" attitude has already kicked in and nobody wanted to get outta bed. We still had to pose for a photo, though, and look at the size of those smiles! Introducing the Baumgardner Family's newest third grader and first grader! Look how big my babies are:














On another note, there are going to be some changes at the office where I work. While I'm not so dismissive of karma that I wish anyone death or destruction, it would be hypocritcal to say I'll miss a certain someone. So I will simply say that I think it's going to be a positive change for a lot of people and I'm lucky enough to be one.

More Awards!

Today John Sam was honored at the year's final Recognition Rally. (The pictures are a little dark; he's the one wearing a green polo shirt.) He got a certificate for reading, and three ribbons: Honor Roll, perfect attendance, and citizenship! He noticed he was being photographed, so he made sure to stand very still onstage. Ha! It's hard to be modest when you're well-dressed, handsome AND smart . . .

Happy June

Who'd believe it was already June 1? I guess I must be getting verrrrrrrrrrrry old, as the time seems to pass more quickly than it ever has.

:)