FYI

For Your Information...Karen has come out of hiding and is back to blogging!

A Great Day of School!

What a day. I had the priviledge of watching our Honors Chemistry Class put on a Halloween Show where dressed as zombies, they danced the Thriller dance and then performed several "mad scientist" experiments (glowing goo, lithium light, fireball, oozing stuff). Very cool! Then to end the day, we had the best pep rally I've ever seen. They surrounded the gym with black lights...with the overhead lights turned off and all the students glowing with white t-shirts...the drum line comes in with the white of their drums glowing all wearing the "Scream" masks. The cheerleaders and dance team all wore white outfits, hats and gloves. Many of the students had glow sticks which ended up being the only low point because they began giving their glow sticks the 'ol heave ho. It looked like shooting stars (being nice) or incoming hand grenades (I'm sure this is how the cheerleaders felt as they were pelted with glow sticks). Once they got it out of their system they settled down. It was really a great idea!

Happy Halloween!

The boys carved pumkins Wednesday evening. Gabe's is the witch, Jacob's is the middle pumpkin and Jared's is on the bottom. We told Jacob, "Bless your heart son, you tried hard". lol
We went trick-or-treating tonight but our hearts weren't really in it. The older boys decided that they were too old to peddle for candy, so that left Gabe by himself. He was really shy (I know--not his usual demeanor). We went to a few houses and then he decided that he wanted to go to Grandmoms. Of course in true Grandma fashion, she loaded him down with candy.

My First Cosmetic Procedure

I made a visit to the dermatologist this morning for my first of five Isalaz procedures. Basically it's supposed to cure/clear my acne. They wet your face then begin to use this laser/vacuum tool that sucks and zaps at the same time. Does it sound unpleasant? That's because it is. Not painful, but not enjoyable either. Hopefully it will work and I'll be a beauty queen by Christmas. :) lol At one point during the procedure I started laughing and asked, "Is it a good thing when you smell the flesh burning off your face". The technician just laughed a sinister type laugh (or maybe I imagined that part). I took a before picture. If there's a noticable difference I'll post after pictures. I expected pimples and I expected wrinkles...just not at the same time.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Forty years ago today a very special guy was born.
Happy Birthday Scott!

Date Night

There's a youth hunt this weekend in Pulaski, TN. Gabe and I decided to stay home and sent Scott, Jacob, and Jared off to the Kermicles house. So while the big boys were off hunting, Gabe and I went out on a date. We went to see High School Musical 3. The demographic attending the movie was under 11 and over 28 years old. I can't figure out why teens would think it's uncool to like this movie. It reminds me of Grease, which I totally loved when I was a teen. I admit I'm a HSM fan. I think I may even have a crush on Zach Efron.

A Star is Born

The Wilson Central Choir Christmas performance is December 6th. Tickets are $20.00 which includes dinner before the performance. Jacob will be singing a solo during the freshman choir portion of the performance. I'm not sure how it happened, but even with genetically poor singing ability coming from both sides of the family, Jacob somehow manages to carry a tune.

Merry Christmas

Scott and I purchased a Christmas present for the boys. The night we picked it up, it was raining, late and in a moment of weakness we decided to give the boys their gift early. They are thoroughly enjoying their gift (all FOUR of them).

Picture From Our Camping Trip

I never did get my slideshow to work, so here's just another random picture of the boys.

Kindness Campaign

At church yesterday, our pastor challenged the congregation to join him in a campaign for kindness. He encouraged us to extend these random acts of kindness beyond our family and friends to people we don't know. That's not to say we can be mean to those we love, but to extend a kindness that would be out of the ordinary. He explained that spreading the love of God doesn't have to be some huge momentous event, but it's one act of kindness at a time. I liked the thought of that...250+/- people in our community surprising strangers with NICE. I hope that those strangers will in turn surprise another. I'll keep you posted.

Back to Reality

Today is Monday. Not just any Monday, but a Monday after having two weeks off for fall break. It sure was hard to get up this morning and getting back into the swing of things. Tomorrow's sure to test our limits...
6:30am-get Jared to the bus
6:45am-drop Gabe at school
7:00am-Jacob doctor's appointment
7:30am-Jacob & I to school/work
Jacob and Jared both have basketball practice after school, basketball meeting for Jared at 5:30pm, choir performance for Jacob at 6:30pm. This is why I won't be blogging tomorrow evening.

This is a Test, Only a Test

Well this is my attempt to create a slideshow in Photoshop and not using an outside application. Why you ask? I'm practicing on my blog, with the final slideshow to be used on my website. I have a slideshow created, but this blog doesn't support the file extension. Can you sense my frustration? Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Camping Trip

Our weekend was spent among the golden fall foilage of the Big South Fork National Park. Good times spent with friends hiking, rock hopping, climbing, playing games, and don't forget my personal favorite.....roasting marshmallows. Does it surprise anyone that my favorite is food related?

Times Are a Changin'

The boys worked their tails off with me all week, cleaning closets, bathrooms, mowing, mopping the garage, and so much more. To reward their hard work, I told them that they could both invite a friend over. Jared invited his buddy Kyle over and Jacob invited his .... GIRLFRIEND!! So Charlee came over about noon and stayed until around 7pm. It was a little wierd because you can't just say go play and forget about them until you hear a call for help or fighting. Instead of listening for noise, you have to listen for quiet. I kept telling Gabe, "Go check on Jacob". At one point Gabe came downstairs to report that they're watching a movie. "What movie", I ask. He replys with, "Something romancing." (The Notebook) It's probably the first movie Jacob had ever seen that wasn't animated, had a sports scene, or violence.

Banana Bread Recipe

I have officially thrown away my last over ripe banana. Here's a banana bread recipe that will have you waiting in rapt anticipation for your bananas to brown.

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening

2 eggs, beaten

3 bananas, mashed

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

handful of peacans

handful of dried cranberries

Mix the first four ingredients together. Mix in remaining ingredients and pour into greased loaf pan. Sprinkle with 2 T. brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 cup of pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Meet Our New Pet...

This cat showed up on our doorstep. It was skin and bones, so we began feeding it. Needless to say, it's been hanging around. We haven't completely decided on a name, but we've narrowed it down to either Kido's or McGoogles. Can anyone out there figure out the signifigance of the names?

Happy Birthday...

Whos birthday, you ask? It's the blogs birthday. It was October 8th, 2007 when I made my first post. So how do you celebrate a bloggin' birthday? By blogging of course. I realize that I've been a bit of a blogging slacker (understatement maybe). Imagine my surprise when I log on and two crazy people had taken up residence on my blog. You guys crack me up! Who won the pool?

So what have we been up to the past month and a half?

Over Labor Day, I met Martha and the girls in L.A. where we covered unprecedented ground in one weekend.

Hollywood walk of fame, Santa Monica Blvd., Venice Beach, The Magic Castle, Pig -n- Whistle, Mann's Chinese Theatre and so much more.



On September 11th Scott kissed me goodbye and headed to Alaska in pursuit of a moose. He and a buddy flew to Anchorage, Fairbanks, and from there were flown into "the bush" on a pontoon plane. For ten days it was just them, a tent, and God.

He had an incredible trip with many, many stories to tell when he returned.




Gabe was chosen "Top Dog" by his class for the month of September. He walked very proud for several weeks.

Here's Gabe with his friend Luke, who was chosen "Top Dog" for his class.


Let's see, what else...
**Grandma and Grandpa Landers came down for a visit. Mom and I snuck away to see Nights in Rodanthe. It wasn't the best movie we'd ever seen, but it was fun to get out together.
**Jared tried out for the basketball team at school and made the team. Way to go Jared!!

**We are on Fall Break this week and next. Jared has basketball practice everyday 7-9am. Other than that, we've been cleaning. I know that sounds horrible, but it actually feels great to get things cleaned up and in order.