Mtn.Grove Beats Salem

Mtn.Grove beat Salem at their football game tonight!!! WAHOOO!!

For those of you who are not football fans first let me say that you seriously need help and second you just can't understand how exciting it all is. I'm normally not too interested in watching a football game unless my nephews are playing but I would have loved to have gone to this game. I had bowling tonight and couldn't go. :(

Bowling went great. We won all 3 of our games!!!... Ya know now that I think of it I like to play and watch almost any kind of game... Except golf! I'm also not real crazy about soccer. Well, with the exception of when Connor was playing and then I only let him play because it was the only sport he was old enough to play.

I can't wait to watch Ryan play. Bulldogs are going to win every game this year!!

This weeks happenings

This week Connor's class is studying the Letter F. He came home singing a cute song and he's had lots of neat papers. Their theme for this week is all about me. He brought home a giant "Connor" that he made and colored and today he made his hand and footprint. He has to bring an item that starts with the letter F to school on Friday for show and tell. I think he has decided to bring Floam.

I got my three wishing wells done and painted today. They are cute. They're made out of clothespins. My dad made Jacob 6 boards and frames for him to woodburn on and we bought 5 wooden notebook/albums for him to burn on also. He done 2 pictures last night. I'm very proud of him... he's not easily motivated!

Tomorrow I have to work. I'm never excited about working but I'm always excited about getting a paycheck. It's nice to own my own money even if it's not much and even if all I do is give it to Jacob.

Connor's "School Birthday"

Connor had an exceptional good day at school today. Since his birthday was before school started they threw him a party today. They sang to him, made him a card, they gave him a birthday hat with his name on it.. he said it was a crown for a King, and they gave him a gift. They really made him feel special. Also today he earned a sticker for doing a really good job at the tornado drill and he made the neatest book where he wrote and drew pictures of all of his favorite things. They even had them trace their home phone number and address. They sure learn a lot in school.

Ironically there had been one gift that Connor had REALLY wanted for his birthday that Wal-Mart had been out of on his birthday and Jacob and I bought it for him today while he was at school. We had no idea that they were going to throw him a party. So we brought it with us when we picked him up from school. It worked perfectly because he got to get another gift on his "school birthday" as he called it. :)

Blue Dog

Sadie loves icing. I guess a little too much. I keep all of my cake decorating items in a box in my laundry room. Today Sadie decided to eat one of my bottles of blue icing color! She got it all over her! Her paws are blue, she has blue on the side of he head and of course her tongue is BLUE!

Steve on Blues Clues isn't the only one with a blue dog now!

Getting Ready for Craft Fairs

We have a ton of craft fairs coming up. We have 9 days of craft fairs next month. Then we have 2 craft fairs in October. November will be spend getting stuff made for all of our Christmas shows in December, which is one of our busiest times of all.

We've been making some tepees that are really cute. It's became a family project. My dad cuts the boards, Mom sews the material and I paint the designs. I'll try to get a picture of the one we got finished tomorrow and post it. It really turned out nice.

Mom has almost 30 quilts made, dad has a TON of woodworking done but I've not got nearly as much done. I have... one box of roses, one hanger full of hair clips, one teepee painted, 3 birdhouses, 10-15 pots painted, and a small basket of something else. Jacob has made 2 woodburning items. He's using the excuse that he has no boards but I saw a couple little things that he could do in his box earlier, he's not fooling me. :)

Work and Bowling

I had to work today. It wasn't nearly as busy this week as it was last week. I got off around 1:00pm. Jacob took Connor to school today. Then we both went and picked him up. He is still having a great time at school. He came home yesterday singing the cutest song.

Tonight I went bowling with my cousins. We bowl on a league. I'm not real good yet but I'm getting better. I bought my own shoes tonight which will save me lots of $$$ in the long run. I really enjoy going bowling. Tonight I didn't bowl my best but the good thing is that our team beat the #1 team in the league 2 out of 3 games. That will do GREAT for our scores and out ranking! It is nothing for this team to have 2 out of the 4 players bowl a perfect game, 300 points. Our team name is pretty funny. We are " Three Ladies and a Drunk" It was going to be called three ladies and a guy but I have this one cousin that can't seem to make it through the third game without being wasted, shaking head. Strangely sometimes he does better after he's wasted.

hmmm I don't drink but I wonder if it would help my score....

My nephew Tim

I got a surprising phone call this afternoon. My nephew Tim who graduated this year is going to be starting college tomorrow! We are so proud of him. Most everything he will be able to do online so that will help with his work schedule.

There were a few moments that we didn't think he would make it through high school so it means even more that he's going to college.

P.S. I think his dad should post a first day of school picture tomorrow. :)

The 8th of November

UPDATE: The story behind the song is pretty touching. Below is a link to Big and Rich's site where you can read about the story and you can also watch the music video.

The 8th Of November - click to enter the site

My love of history has had me exploring today. As many of you know there is a fairly new country song out called "8th of November" sang by Big and Rich. It's been out a few months now. It talks about the 173ed Airborne and what happened on Nov. 8th, 1965. Well, I knew that it must have been a Vietnam battle but I had no idea what it was. I was more surprised to find out that my This Day in History link did not mention anything that happened on Nov.8th, 1965. So I done some looking and to my knowledge this is what happened... Notice to my knowledge these facts are only what I've been able to come up with. They may or may not be historicity correct. I'm still looking...

On 05 Nov 1965 the 173rd Airborne Brigade initiated "Operation Hump", a reconnaissance in force in an area about 15 miles north of Bien Hoa. The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, deployed south of the Dong Nai River while the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, conducted a helicopter assault on a LZ northwest of the Dong Nai and Song Be Rivers. Little contact was made through 07 Nov, when B and C Companies settled into a night defensive position southeast of Hill 65, a triple-canopy jungled hill.

At about 0600 on the morning of 08 Nov, C Company began a move northwest toward Hill 65, while B Company moved northeast toward Hill 78. Shortly before 0800, C Company was engaged by a sizable enemy force well dug in to the southern face of Hill 65. At 0845, B Company was directed to wheel in place and proceed toward Hill 65 with the intention of relieving C Company.

B Company reached the foot of Hill 65 at about 0930 and moved up the hill. Three things soon became obvious:
1- There was a very large enemy force in place on the hill;
2- C Company was getting hammered; and
3- By chance, B Company was forcing the enemy's right flank. Under pressure from B Company's flanking attack the enemy force - most of an NVA regiment - moved to the northwest, whereupon the B Company commander called in air and artillery fires on the retreating troops. B Company halted in place in an effort to locate and consolidate with C Company's platoons, managing to establish a coherent defensive line running around the hilltop from southeast to northwest, but with little cover on the southern side.

Meanwhile, the NVA commander realized that his best chance was to close with the US soldiers so that the 173rd's air and artillery fire could not be effectively employed. He attempted to out-flank the US position atop the hill from both the east and the southwest, moving his troops closer to the Americans. The result was shoulder-to-shoulder attacks up the hillside, hand-to-hand fighting, and isolation of parts of B and C Companies ... but the Americans held against two such attacks. Although the fighting continued after the second massed attack, it reduced in intensity as the NVA commander again attempted to disengage and withdraw. By late afternoon it seemed that contact had been broken off by the enemy, allowing the two companies to prepare a night defensive position while collecting their dead and wounded in the center of the position. Although a few of the most seriously wounded were extracted by USAF helicopters using Stokes litters, the triple-canopy jungle prevented the majority from being evacuated until the morning of 09 Nov.

The result of the battle was heavy losses on both sides - 50 Skytroopers dead, many more wounded, and 403 dead NVA troops.

Connor's Day

Connor had a great day at school. He told me they did circle time, they had white milk and chips for a snack, they played with toys, the teacher read a book, they sang a song, they went outside and played and then school was over he said. He's ready to go back today! He woke up this morning saying "Today will be my second day of school".

P.S. I'm still having trouble with pictures uploading.

Connor's First Day of School

Here is Connor on his first day of Preschool. He was so excited. I took lots of pictures but for some reason blogger isn't wanting me to post very many at a time. Jacob and I both took him. I was taking pictures and telling him bye and he said "You can leave now if you want to". All of these other kids are crying for their parents. I'm very happy that he wasn't upset. I can't wait to go pick him up and ask about his day!

In Sweet Loving Memory of My Baby Gabriel

Today marks a very sad anniversary for me. One year ago today our sweet angel Gabriel was born. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him. I never got to hear him cry but he has touched my life like nothing else could. The only true happy memory I have of him was seeing him suck his thumb through the ultrasound machine. St. John's hospital sent me the nicest card. This is so much harder than I could have ever expected.

Gabriel we love you and we miss you every single day. You were our baby, we wanted and loved you so much. We will never forget you.

Happy Birthday

Today is two very wonderful ladies birthdays. My Aunt Jenny and Jacob's grandma Mamaw.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Emmalee's First Day of First Grade

Here is a picture of my niece Emmalee. She started first grade this week. :) Poor thing was sick last year and missed her first day of kindergarten. :(

She is such a smart little girl. She reads more books a quarter than I've read in my entire life.

Hope you had a good day at school Emma! We love you.

Classes Cancelled

The Mountain Grove Schools will not be starting on Thursday. School has been cancelled for Thursday and for Friday. The school year will start up on Monday.

Any questions on why school has been cancelled can be found here:

Wright County K-9

Preschool!

I got a phone call from the Preschool today. They had a cancellation and have accepted Connor! He starts school on Thursday! We have open house tonight. I'm very excited. He is excited too. He has said the last 2 days "I'm 5 now so I get to go to school." It was just breaking my heart that he might not get to go. I hadn't had the heart to tell him he wasn't going to be able to go.

Luckily my friend Jeni isn't working at her normal job on Thursday so I'll be able to take Connor to school on his first day. She's going to work for me while I go. Thanks Jeni.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR!

Happy Birthday Connor. I can't believe my baby is 5 already! He is such a sweet boy. The first picture was taken this last week at his Cowpa's house. They watched him last Wednesday while Jacob and I were both working. The second was taken at the family reunion we went to today and is of him and Jacob playing with Playdoh that he got for his birthday.

Happy Birthday baby I sure hope your day has been great.

I wanted to post Happy birthday earlier today but our internet is still having problems.

Where's all the food??

I think I need another refrigerator. Jacob isn't too happy to come home and just find this when he opens the door!

Cake #3 Wedding Cake

Here is the wedding cake I made. I wasn't 100% happy with it but it turned out ok. The bride loved it. I wish I could make everyone as happy.

Cake #2 Poker Table

Here's the groom cake that I made for a wedding today. It's been a stressful day at one point I was ready to give up making cakes for good.

Anyway, this cake turned out cute. Everything on it is edible! With the help of my hubby we had made every single detail. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for the help babe!

Cake #1 Pirate Ship

Here is Connor's Pirate Ship cake. Thank you to everyone that came to the party.

Preschool Letter

I received a letter from the preschool where we had went to screening at. As expected he did not make it. :( As much as I didn't want him to go to school I am a little upset. I think he was really looking forward to it. I've thought about Head Start but I hear they are full also. It seems it's harder to get into preschool than it is to get into college!

Plane Crash

I heard this on the news today. In Sullivan Mo a plane full of skydivers crashes killing 6 of the passangers on board.

I mean it's a sad story but are you thinking what I'm thinking???

Why didn't they jump?

Whining

I almost didn't post this post because it's just be being whiny and then I realized "hey, it's my blog! I can be whiny if I want" lol

Ok, So you all know how cheap I am. I HATE to spend money on myself. It took me 6 months to pick out a $40 MP3 player because I didn't want to spend the money even though I REALLY wanted one.

Well, I decided after being asked several times if I had a fountain to use with my wedding cakes that I would buy one. They cost $65 but I had a Hobby Lobby coupon for 40%. So it would have only cost be $39. This is a big decision for me! I thought I'd have a panic attack before I made up my mind. But in the end I decided that I really needed one and I was going to buy it! Wahoo for me right?? Wrong! I knew that I would need the pillar set to go with it. You would think that it would come with them but nope! Well, after looking all over Springfield for a set of pillars large enough for the fountain. The fountain itself is 12 inches high. The only one I found was a set for $40! I was hoping that I would get a set for around $20. I didn't have the money for both. I was so stressed out by that time that I didn't buy either one. All I bought was the cheap $4 pillars that I needed for this cake this week and that was stressful enough. Spending $40 on myself is a big deal to me and hard enough there is no way that I'm going to be able to spend $80! I know that it would more than pay for itself in the long run but I just can't do it. Not when I know that we could really use the money for other things.

Ok, I'm done whining. Maybe someday I'll have my fountain.

Hot Day in Springfield

We went to Springfield today. We had to pick up Connor's party stuff. We're having a Pirate party! I also had to get some new pillars for a wedding cake I'm making. It will be one of the biggest wedding cakes I've ever done. I'm excited.

So this is my plan for the week. I must get the house ready for Connor's party on Friday night, I have to make him a Pirate Ship cake, I have a 4 tier wedding cake plus a big grooms cake to make for Saturday... oh and this week just happens to be Special Sale week so I'll be putting in some extra hours at work. I'm sure it will all get done!

hmmm... Maybe I should go bake cakes. I think I may need another fridge because I'm not sure how I'm going to fit 7 large cakes in mine.

My Hubby Has A Blog!

Jacob has his own blog! It looks real cool.

Check it out..

Wright County K-9

Connor's Birthday Party

We will be having Connor's birthday party on Friday August 11th at 6:30pm. It will be at our house. There will be food and of course cake so come hungry.

Preschool Screening

Well, I finally made the decision to take Connor to the preschool screening. I'd said over and over that I wasn't going to send him. That I would wait as long as I could to send him. I finally decided that it would be good for him to go. It would get him ready for kindergarten next year.

So we went. I first of all was lucky to even get him in. They had a cancellation so they called. There is only so many spots and it is based on a need basis of who gets to go. They test the kids in several different areas. I really had no idea where Connor would fall... Well, it will be a miracle of he gets in! They told me that he should test around the 4yo level. He tested above the 6yo level in almost every single category. The 6yo category is as high as their charts show. He named 24 colors in 30 seconds.. I don't even know if I know 24 different colors. They told me that it was extremely rare for any child to get all of the rhyming words correct and he got every single word right. He wrote his name better than I had ever seen him write it.

The sad part is that there were all of these kids that wouldn't let their mommy out of sight. Their mommies got to go into every single room with them as they tested. Not Connor! We walked in and he said C-ya Mom. He went to every room with all of the teachers. At the end he didn't want to leave. I had no idea how well he had done until the very end when I got to have a conference with his teacher to go over everything he had done. The teachers were so impressed with him.

I'm very proud of him. I'm so glad he did well but I had finally came to terms with him going to school and now he may not go.

Cake # 3

I had another cake order come in today. It was a little short notice. They needed it for tomorrow. It turned out really pretty I think. It's the third order I've had in 4 days. I wish I had 100 more to do... ok maybe not that many.

Anniversary Cake

Here is the anniversary cake I did that I had to deliver this morning. It turned out really pretty.. for a cake that I only charged $15 for. One of the pictures is of the top of the cake so that you can see all of the roses.

I called a place about buying cake boxes today. If I have to buy them at Hobby Lobby I have to give $2.00 a piece for them. I can now buy them in bulk from another company for only about .33! the only problem is that I do have to buy 100 of them but it's not too big of a deal because I'll use them.