HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HUBBY!!!!!! Today is mine and hubbies 7th anniversary and I could not be happier :o) He got me a diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet, 100 red roses and 24 yellow roses. He has got to be the best man ever!!! My mom is watching the kids overnight and keeping them tomorrow. Hubby and I are going out to a restraunt called Annie Gunns, then will meet up with some friends for drinks. Then tomorrow is a day for just us!!!! OK, I am off to get stuff done. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL day!!! I know I will :o)

Chris

I just want you to know I am so very proud of you. Stay safe and God speed.

Chris left for Kuwait today, will be there for 2 weeks then will go on to Iraq til 2006. I want you to know you are in my prayers. Take care of you and behave yourself :o) I have really enjoyed our friendship over the years and hope to remain friends for years and years to come. Please be careful and come home safely and SOON!!!!

Matt, Me and Allen at Olive Garden

We met up at Olive Garden and had a wonderful dinner with Matt, his wife Sara, Allen, his fiancee Sharla, Julia, her boyfriend, and of course hubby and I. Matt is one of my very best friends, Allen is the one that lives in Dallas that I have not seen in 10 yrs. It was awesome catching up with Allen and what he has been doing. Still a nut :o) and seeing Matt and Sara again was awesome. Allen gets married in June so we will either make the trip to Dallas or wait for him to come home for his second reception. Sara and I are going to make a playdate for all of our kiddos, chuck e cheeses, that should be lots of fun!!! Here is the link to the rest of the pics from that night.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Ours was wonderful. The kids got lots and lots of toys and the stuff they wanted. Hubby got a lot of the stuff he wanted, he is goin to start getting his golf clubs, they are rather expensive so it will be a progressive thing :o) I got a Diamond and Sapphire necklace to go with my sapphire and diamond bracelet. We also got a DOG!!!! :o) My brother got a Rat Terrier the other day and we got a Jack Russell Terrier from the same Breeder. She is 14 weeks old and SOOOOO CUTE!!!!! We named her Sierra. Here are the CHristmas pics. Sierra is in some of the pics. She is the one with the black head. My brothers dog is also in some of the pics. He has a white strip down the middle of his head. Sierra is also bigger than my brothers dog, Rufus. That was our CHristmas. It was incredible and we have soo much to be thankful for...I hope that everyone else was as blessed as we are!!!! :o)

Something Matt sent me:

A group of professional people posted this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds. "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

********** When my grandma got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandpa does it for her now all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.
Rebecca- age 8
************ When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different You just know that your name is safe in their mouths.
Billy- age 4
************ Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.
Kari- age 5
************ Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French Fries without making them give you any of theirs.
Chrissy- age 6
************ Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.
Terri- age 4
************ Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.
Danny- age 7
************ Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.
Bobby- age 7 (wow!)
************ If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate. Nikka- age 6
Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.
Noelle- age 7
************ Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.
Tommy- age 6
************ During my piano recital, I was on stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.
Cindy- age 8
************ My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.
Clare- age 6
************ Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.
Elaine- age 5
************ Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.
Chris- age 7
************ Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day. Mary Ann- age 4
************ When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.
Karen- age 7
************ You really shouldn't say "I LOVE YOU" unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.
Jessica- age 8
************ And the winner was a 4 year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly man who had just lost his wife. When the child saw the man cry, the little boy went over into the man's yard and climbed on top of the man's lap and just sat there. When the boy's mother asked him what he'd said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Only 2 days left!!!! :o) The kids had a Christmas last night, my Mother in law sent her package and it was HUGE, so we decided to go ahead and do her presents last night. Hubby got some cologne and some boxer shorts. I got a beautiful set of wine glasses and wine glass charms. The kids loved all their gifts and my MIL sent some of granny's things to hubby. So it was a bitter sweet Christmas for him. Granny had some awesome paintings that she had done and my MIL sent one to hubby. She also sent quite a few little mementos that granny had loved. She also made a scrapbook for each of the grandkids of granny. Which really brought a tear to my hubbies eyes. Overall it was a wonderful evening.
Well, tonite is our get together with Matt, his wife, Allen and his fiancee and I found out the other day that another old friend, Brian, will also be there. I will be sure to take pics of tonite. I am so excited to see all of them. Its been a while since I have seen Matt, and I have not seen Allen or Brian for almost 10 yrs. Allen and I have managed to stay in Email contact with over that time and send pics to each other once in a while so I know what to expect with him but I have not seen Brian since high school so I have no idea what to expect from him. I have no clue what he has been up to or anything. Allen works at Radica games and is a creator of games for the company, he loves his job. A few years ago he sent pics of his office, filled with TVs and every game system. He gets all the game systems BEFORE they hit the market along with the games. Yeah, he has a really hard job :o) Well, I am off to start my morning.

4 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!! :o) I love NOT being in the rush of having to buy presents but I have to say that ppl that are still in the rush are ASSHOLES. I still have to go to the store for general things that I need for the house and goin to Walmart SUCKS. I went at 9 pm last night HOPING that it would not be crowded that all the Christmas shoppers would be home so that I could get the household items that I needed. NO SUCH LUCK!!! And they get BITCHY that late!!! Ok ppl lets go over this, YOU HAVE 364 days to SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! Granted you do NOT need all those days, but Christmas is a CONSTANT, IT HAPPENS EVER F**KIN YR!!!! So get a list together and TRY and get some shopping done before you get to the asshole stage and get some of it done!!!
I have a method to my madness, I surf the net and get an idea of the stuff that I am going to get, then hubby and I go to Sams and Costco and get more ideas, make a list and go back and buy what we want. Its a really simple concept and gets us in and out of a store in NO time. Of course there are other things that we pick up on the way and improvise on things we cannot find but over all its a simple process and keeps us from being ASSHOLES while we shop!!!
I did buy something late, just the other day I was watching Home Shopping Network, yes, I am weird and saw a keyboard that I had to have!! It is absolutely awesome, the keys light up so that you can play the keyboard and it is also a karaoke machine. I think it will be an awesome way to teach the kids how to play the keyboard and the fact that it is a karaoke is a bonus. My kids love to karaoke so they will get a huge kick out of it. Spent quite a bit more than I wanted to this Christmas on the kiddos, $400 for just 2 of the presents, but I think we will have happy campers ;o)
My weekend was wonderful, Saturday was our all day scrapbookin crop. We had a GREAT time. 12 hours of scrapbooking, life does not get any better :o) I managed to get 14 pages done. We also had a gift exchange and that was awesome too. There were a lot of really awesome gifts. And of course food, food and more food :o) Leah, Darla, and I got together for breakfast at IHOP before scrapbooking. Deanna was supposed to meet us, but she is ALWAYS late and did not end up making it. Then on Sunday I scrapbooked some more and then we had dinner with my mom and dad and watched the Rams LOSE :o(

I am sitting here watching the news and it really tends to piss me off. I do not get Unions, I do not understand WHY ppl PAY to be a part of them THEN go on strike when they tell them too. LOSING their PAY cuz the UNION told em to go on strike!! There are a few different one going on here and I just DONT get it!!! There is a Nurse strike going on at one of the hospitals and now there is a teacher one that is supposed to start. The nurse one does not make me happy but the teacher one REALLY pisses me off!! Kids are OFF school for 3 FREAKIN MONTHS. Tell me WHY they cannot discuss their "contracts" in those 3 months????? Instead they take the time DURING the school year when our CHILDREN are the ones HURT by their stupidity!!!! It is just STUPID!!! And to think, people QUESTION why I homeschool my kids!!!! So their is a threat of strike and kids will not have their teachers, sure they can get subs, but it totally disrupts a classroom and the way children learn. As if our kids are not far enough behind in the school systems now add the STUPID unions to screw em up even more. I personally think unions just need to GO AWAY!!!! OK, done with that rant :o)

I want to say congrats to my girlfriend Bev, she just got a job to become a police dispatcher!! CONGRATS SWEETIE!!!!! And Best of Luck!!!! :o)

8 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS!!!! ! :o)

Just wanted to say a congrats to my ex. He is getting married today. I hope that this one works out!!!! :o)

Things are fairly calm around here. Last night we went to Red Lobster for dinner with hubbies new bosses. Rob and Brian were also there with us. They are AWESOME ppl and I think that they will work PERFECTLY together. Hubby has started working with them on some projects and has really started figuring out how he is goin to organize his part of what he is going to do. We went back to their house, which is where the office is at the moment, and I got to play with their 4 Great Danes. I was in HEAVEN!!!! I LOVE those dogs and these dogs are WONDERFUL!!!! Their names are Cherokee, Liberty, Abby and Zeus, and Zeus is HUGE. He comes up to my chest in height. He can drink out of the kitchen sink by just sticking his head in the sink. They are all very loving and so sweet. I saw the office space they have and then we went over to where their new office is going to be. I am very excited for what my hubby is going to be doing with them.
Other than that things are great. Finalizing plans to meet up with a friend I have not seen since High School. He is coming into town with his fiancee and we are going to get together with Matt and his wife while he is home for Christmas. Excited to see them :o)

Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor... Not too many of those old vets around. I remember the stories from my grandpa and from an uncle that endured it. To those of you that are still around, my thanks and gratitude to you and utmost respect. God Bless!!!

Men are the HARDEST ppl to buy for!!!! My hubby is not all that bad since he likes so many different things. The bad part is if he wants it he normally BUYS it when he sees it. My dad is the WORST person to buy things for. He is a lot like my hubby, but minus the games and stuff my hubby likes. My hubby thought to buy him a laser level. So he finds 2 different kinds and buys them for him for Christmas... THEN we find out he bought one of the ones we got him... gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... so now we have to think something else up. Oh yeah and NOT to forget... EVERYTHING IS WRAPPED. So now I get to UNWRAP it too!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
We had a pretty quiet weekend. Hubby worked a lot this weekend. Friday night we met my best friend at Red Robin for dinner and we were supposed to go have cake with her at her sister in laws house and were not able to. We were supposed to pick my hubbies wedding ring up from Zales, so we went to get it and it turns out its in WORSE shape then when we took it in. One of his sapphires was loose and they were supposed to tighten it, well they did not do it and ended up BREAKING the stone. Then told us they would replace it and to pick i up Saturday. Hubby went to get it Saturday and they told us they could not fix it. That we were screwed. HUbby was sooo pissed he took the ring back to the original store we bought it from. They replaced the ring with a NEW one and gave him a discount on something else. He ended up buying me my anniversary present. Its a BEAUTIFUL Sapphire and diamond tennis bracelet. It is absolutely breathe taking and I love it!!!! And being my hubby he cannot wait to give it so I got it a few weeks early :o)
Then we went and met with his friend Rob Saturday night and watched some football. GOOOO OU!!!!! :o) Then Sunday went over to a GFs house to make Christmas cards. Have 40 done about 25-30 to go. That was about the extent of our weekend :o) I hope everyone elses was good!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND!!!!! LOVE YA SWEETIE!!!!!!! :o)

Some of you know the connection I have to the Freemasonry. My friend Matt sent this to me and I thought that it was a wonderful share. Matt is a Mason and LOVES it, along with my hubby, dad, uncle, and grandpa. I was a part of the girls youth orignization a long time ago and hope to get my daughters into the orginization someday. Matt was also part of the guys youth orginization . My uncle, dad, and granpa belong to an assortment of the different branches including: Heros of 76, York Rite, Scottish Rite, and of course the Blue Lodge. There are several branches to some of these and I know that I will screw up WHICH branches they have all belonged to so I will the bigger of them. Here is the link to the Grand Lodge of Missouri. It is a great originization and I loved being a part of it. So does the rest of my family. Anyways, here is the article Matt sent me. Thought that it was a good read :o)

Dwindling Freemasons hope to attract new blood

By Mark Hazlin, USA TODAY

Freemasons say reports that they're trying to take over the country are greatly exaggerated.

But they are having a recruitment drive.
The Free and Accepted Masons, a fraternal organization whose roots may stretch back to the Middle Ages, has long been a popular target of conspiracy theorists. It figures prominently in the movie National Treasure.
Nicolas Cage's character learns about a legendary treasure protected by the Freemasons, the location of which is hidden in a map etched on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
The movie perpetuates both good and bad stereotypes about the group, including the notion that it has been involved in a centuries-old plot to run the country.
Freemasons are now trying to change those perceptions with advertising and public relations campaigns. And, for the first time, some Masonic lodges are engaging in recruitment drives.
Historians say the modern era of Freemasonry began in England in the early 18th century as a union of stonemasons. Others link the Freemasons' origins to medieval times, as far back as the Crusades and the infamous Knights Templar.
Conspiracy theorists often cite circumstantial evidence to support their belief that Freemasons secretly wield great power and influence. According to Freemason Web sites, nine of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence were members, as were 14 U.S. presidents, eight vice presidents and at least 35 Supreme Court justices.
Members have historically shunned publicity; they use symbols and rituals that members vow not to reveal; and they hold closed meetings. The story goes that President Theodore Roosevelt, a member, couldn\'t even get his Secret Service agents in. \\r\n\"We prefer to use the word \'private\' instead of \'secret,\' " says Robert Leonard, a public relations specialist hired to help recruitment efforts. "Secrecy came from the initial thing where a password or secret handshake was exchanged so people would know they were professional stonemasons. Now we use it as part of our tradition."\\r\n\Grand Master Richard Fletcher, executive secretary of the Masonic Services Association in Washington, D.C., points to the organization\'s charitable work. He says Freemasons raise about $750 million annually nationwide for nursing homes, day care centers, educational facilities and other programs. "That\'s a lot of money (just) to lull somebody into thinking you are a good person," Fletcher says. \\r\n\But officials may be more concerned with their membership numbers than their Hollywood image. Organization data show that U.S. membership peaked in 1959 at 4.1 million. New York Grand Master Edward Trosin says: "We had this huge quantum leaps-and-bounds growth in World War II. ... It was a generation of joiners."\\r\n\That number has dropped steadily over the years to about 1.6 million this year, many of them older members. To refill the ranks, Masons are looking to appeal to the 21-to-55 age group, says New Jersey Grand Master Daniel Wilson. \\r\n\To do so, lodges in New York and elsewhere are taking steps such as cutting the year-long initiation procedure, in which members must pass the first three (of 33) Masonic "degrees," down to a two-week course. California has launched two support programs intended to help its 355 individual lodges sign up at least five new members each year.\\r\n\But the organization will change only so much. The one key requirement is that each man must believe in one Supreme Being, "the Grand Architect of the Universe."\\r\n\In most lodges, women are excluded from the inner sanctum, although there are affiliated organizations that women can join such as The Order of the Eastern Star. \\r\n\"I don\'t think you\'d want to change the organization just to fit the times," Leonard says. "Brotherhood is an important part of being a Mason."\\\\\",1]
);
//-->
Members have historically shunned publicity; they use symbols and rituals that members vow not to reveal; and they hold closed meetings. The story goes that President Theodore Roosevelt, a member, couldn't even get his Secret Service agents in.
"We prefer to use the word 'private' instead of 'secret,' " says Robert Leonard, a public relations specialist hired to help recruitment efforts. "Secrecy came from the initial thing where a password or secret handshake was exchanged so people would know they were professional stonemasons. Now we use it as part of our tradition."
Grand Master Richard Fletcher, executive secretary of the Masonic Services Association in Washington, D.C., points to the organization's charitable work. He says Freemasons raise about $750 million annually nationwide for nursing homes, day care centers, educational facilities and other programs. "That's a lot of money (just) to lull somebody into thinking you are a good person," Fletcher says.
But officials may be more concerned with their membership numbers than their Hollywood image. Organization data show that U.S. membership peaked in 1959 at 4.1 million. New York Grand Master Edward Trosin says: "We had this huge quantum leaps-and-bounds growth in World War II. ... It was a generation of joiners."
That number has dropped steadily over the years to about 1.6 million this year, many of them older members. To refill the ranks, Masons are looking to appeal to the 21-to-55 age group, says New Jersey Grand Master Daniel Wilson.
To do so, lodges in New York and elsewhere are taking steps such as cutting the year-long initiation procedure, in which members must pass the first three (of 33) Masonic "degrees," down to a two-week course. California has launched two support programs intended to help its 355 individual lodges sign up at least five new members each year.
But the organization will change only so much. The one key requirement is that each man must believe in one Supreme Being, "the Grand Architect of the Universe."
In most lodges, women are excluded from the inner sanctum, although there are affiliated organizations that women can join such as The Order of the Eastern Star.
"I don't think you'd want to change the organization just to fit the times," Leonard says. "Brotherhood is an important part of being a Mason."

HEY ALL!!! Tis the Season for Giving!!! Go on over to Dog Snot and contribute!!! My best friend, Jolynn, and I adpoted a soldier to send stuff to and of course to Jolynns hubby that is stationed in Iraq now. You can also go and adopt your own soldier if you wish. Here is the site that we adopted our soldier from. We have to support our guys and gals that are not goin to be able to spend the holidays with their families. That are overseas risking their lives as we go about our lives enjoying the freedoms they provide. So be a good samaritan this Christmas season and do what you can for those we hold so close to our hearts.
I have 90% of my shopping done, wrapped and ready for a tree, that we dont have yet :o) We decided on an XBox for all the kids this yr as their ALL together present. So I still have to buy each of the kids a game and a few other little things. Hubby is goin to get golf clubs and everyone else is taken care of... wow the relief of buying presents :o) I made my MIL a charm bracelet that I think she is goin to love and hubby has to figure out his brother. 18 yr old kids... what do you get em??? Oh, well it will get figured out.