Five years ago today...
I made the best decision of my life (i think). Chris and I were married. It hasn't been long, and it hasn't been easy, but I feel this is a milestone for us. I know we will celebrate many more anniversaries just as important as this.
peace,
whimp

Bummer....
It looks like i will be subbing next year instead of teaching preschool again. I was informed today that i need 12 credit hours (4 classes) before August so i can obtain my provisional early childhood education license. I wish they would have told me this in MAY so i could have signed up for classes! Ugh...ya know..this whole bureaucracy of school has made me not want to teach anymore. I was told I would be fine to start the classes in the fall..guess not. hmm...
wendy

Four years ago today...

the world lost a good man. My father. My dad died surrounded by 7 of his 8 children in a hospital in the city. He had a long illness, and we were ready to see his suffering end. But lord, how it still hurts, even after 4 years. The pain is just as great, or even worse, because there are things i wish I would have asked him. Things i wish i would have had him write down. His memories, his favorite things, the love he had for his family, grandchildren, and friends. My parents were not storybook parents...far, far, from that, but they did the best they could. Could their best have been better? Probably, but mine as a parent could be too. I always knew I was loved. Always. Not a doubt. My father was a man who was mostly quiet. I remember when i was little..like riles age, and i would anxiously await for him to return home (he worked the late shift) so he would share his pop(pepsi) with me..at 1:00 in the morning..i always heard him come home. When he went to days, i remember waiting for him to come home, because he would make a smiley face on my hand, a tradition i have carried on with my own children. I remember walking into my parent's home and looking in one of two places for him..on the couch in the living room, or at the end of the dining room table. I still look into the living room when I go to their house. Dad would sit at the end of the table, and just look out the sliding glass doors. What he saw, thought about, or wished for, I will never know. I never asked. I just hope he knew that i loved him, tremendously. I hope he knows his grandson sits at his grave every weekend and talks to him. I hope he knows his granddaughter calls him "papa 2" and asks questions about him. I hope he knows/sees how wonderful his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are. I hope he sees the legacy he left behind.

I love you dad.

whimp

Thank You...
To my dad ( i miss you),to my husband (i love you more than you could possily know), to my brothers (ron and mike), my brother in law (Jason), my father in law (blackie), my son's grandfather (larry), Zach (my brother's best friend), and all the other veterans who have served our country, and saved our freedom. The sacrifices you make do not go unnoticed in our home. Thank you. We love you all.



Peace,
wendy

More photo fun with PSE 5.0

I LOVE this version of photoshop elements! Why did i wait so long? I took the kiddos to the park on Monday to feed the ducks(did you know feeding the ducks is so LAME for a 10 year old? What kind of mother am i to subject my son to that?). Well..once Riles saw the park..feeding time was OVER. Danny decided HE was too mature to feed the ducks, it was to lame. So, he pouted in the van and riles and I went to feed the ducks. First, we had to play on the playground. These pics are one of the several reasons why I love PSE 5.0. I can easily convert to black and white, and then adjust things a bit to get the right shading I want. I love these pics of riles, and can't wait to scrap them.

whimp

Before's and After's

I think I am one of the luckiest people in the world. I have THE BEST mother in law in the world. She remembers every special occasion, listens to me ramble, watches the most spirited one (often!), accepts my son as her very own grandchild, bakes THE BEST lemon pound cake (and gives it to moi!), AND has so much family history preserved I am walking on air whenever she gives me photos to scan. Not just any photos...OLD..family historic photos..like the ones of her parents wedding, chris as a baby, toddler, young man, and sailor. Pat saves it all. I envy that. I wish I had more than one baby photo, report cards, and school pictures..of myself. Anyway, after we have all agreed she is the best ever! I would like to show you some before and after photos. Pat gave me these photos last year, I scanned them, and I have edited them in Photoshop Elements 5.0. Now, they are not the best edited photos, but my goal was to be able to see their faces, or enhance the quality of the photos. I absolutely LOVE the photos of her parents on their wedding day, and the pic of her mom by the tree..one of my very favorites faves! I also realllllly like the one of her and blackie's father(s). I can actually see what Pa B. looks like..blackie looks just like him! lol..anyway, here they are.

hugs,

whimp

here are the after's

and the before's

How do these look?

ok..so i went ahead and got photoshop elements 5.0. Simply because the makers have simplified a lot of the commands..and it makes it a bit more user friendly. I also happened to pick up the book..."the photoshop elements 5 book for digital photography." I highly recommend this book. It is great. The author is funny too!

So, I altered these photos of the kiddos. Do they look like they have been sketched? I didn't think so, but i still like the effect.

whimp

Conversations with a 10 year old...
"mom, are we going to the river on the fourth?"
"Yes, danny, why?"
"Sweet! do you know uncle mike's friend zach (who is so cool, because he is a REAL LIFE SOLDIER!) will be home and we are going to cook fish? Will uncle buff be there with his big fireworks (this is NOT what he called them...family knows what we call them, but i did not want to use that word..for all i know it would alert homeland security)?"
"Yes, danny, i know zach is coming home, and I don't know if uncle buff will be there, and since when did you start calling him uncle buff?"
"Well, i had to find a way to keep it straight in my brain..i call him uncle buff, and uncle mike, ya know aunt brandy's husband, uncle mike. this way, i know who i am talking about. do you get it mom, i call him uncle buff, cause that is the short part of his last name.."
"Uh..yes, danny. I get it."
"Cool, i like going to the river mom, i like making s'mores, and playing in the fire, and uncle buff is the best griller. did you try his beans last time? They were AWESOME!"
"yes, danny I have tried his beans before."
"did you know he (uncle buff) knows how to remake his own bullets. how cool would that be mom?" (Uh..not very danny, you would blow my house up)
"yes danny..i did." "I have been here for awhile ya know."
"sorry mom, did you know i like pie?"
"YES DANNY I DO! NOW STOP ASKING ME SO MANY DARN QUESTIONS!"
"sorry mom, i will sit back and enjoy the ride. hey riles! Guess where we get to go on the fourth of july? Guess what we get to do there? wait until you hear uncle buff's fireworks! you should taste his beans..they rock. "
peace,
whimp

uncle buff and the beans

Now look what i did...

Thanks to my niece karen, for kicking me in the butt to start using my Photoshop Elements 3.0 (yes, i know there is a 5.0..but i refused to purchase it, until i used my 3.0 more!). I am having so much fun editing my photos...think how my scrap pages will look now! I LOVED this photo of danny, and i saw the quote on a rubon from daisy d's...so i copied it and then i used a frame i downloaded from the internet..can't remember where i got it..sorry!

How totally freakin' cool is this??

Took the little monsters to the museum today. Who knew this kind of wonderful was only 2 hours away??

Danny had so much fun..just look at his face in the pic with the trex skull. I loved watching them discover new things today. The whole trip cost me 25.00. Gas included. (Well...okay..i DID find a cool scrap store to spend some more money in..but that doesn't count towards the cost of the trip! lol)

whimp

Isn't this the truth?

“I always wanted to invent something that would move around & make funny noises & would change the world as we know it & I forgot all about that until we had kids & now I see I came pretty close.” Brian Andreas

Hmm...I wonder who fits into this category at MY house?

Hmm...it couldn't be this one...

or this one?

whimp

Look UP..
Like you could have missed that big ole picture up there huh? I wanted a picture for my banner..so i altered this pic in photoshop elements, and went through hell for about an hour trying to figure out HOW to do this..and voila.. i did it!
The only thing I CANNOT do is size it smaller...because the template I use has a mondo sized banner space. UNLESS...someone with more smarts than moi can tell me how to resize the template part. Until then, i am living LARGE on my blog...aren't I cute?
whimp

Look what I did today!

I was messing around in Photoshop Elements 3.0 today and look what i made!