Ellen Varnadore Atkins ...... vintage? :D

that's right, it's my Mum's birthday, and i won't spill her age, but, she was born 6 decades ago. heehehhehehehee

(this is a pic of my Grandpa Varnadore holding his brandy new baby girl)

I could really write a novel, but I look at my mom's life and I see a walking talking example of a Proverb's 31 woman. She has seen years and years of a Faithful God that brings he through the pits and valleys of life, and who lifts her up to heights of joyful bliss she never thought she would see. I am so so proud to call her Mother, I pray every day to someday be the Woman, Christian, Wife, Friend, honest, loving, faithful, funny MOM that i see in her. I guess we'll keep her, after all, she is vintage now!! :D **You love me mommy you know it!** HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!"

So, the other day on the way home late at night from somewhere, i saw this thing on the side of the road, well, more like 3 things, giant glowing in the dark cold night. I went by again another night to show my sis, and decided I needed to bring the kids one time but couldn't figure out when, since they are MUCH more impressive in the dark, when they glow. Well, this afternoon they were talking about pumpkins on the way home from the store, and i remembered, and i saw it was dark and dismal out, and thought.... hmmm.. possibly a good time for a Detour ...so we went ... and here is the proof.

yup, that's right, mammoth pumpkins! LOL They were SO cool!! Sammy was not overly cuddly, but Grant was speechless, and all over them, and trying to see how they lit up, and how they got so big and on and on, and he also brought home a new Acorn Collection, yippee!
This one next to Sammy apparently won the prize for the heaviest pumpkin ever grown in Vermont! Wo knew! and so close to home LOL. SO there, ya go, a crazy hectic day, made all better by gigantic smiling Pumpkin faces.

"Luke I am your.....cousin?"

So we just did Grant's party, i know, but time and schedules, LOL, he was great to wait, and he asked everyone to don costumes, Star Wars the theme, it was a fab party! My hubby cooked the Pizza, and my MIL hosted at her clean, non-moving messed up house to ease my stress. Nice family huh? Yeah, I'll keep them, kids and all, they were pretty cute!


The cousin line up Gigi the ballerina, Sammy aka Princess Leia, Grant aka Luke, Isaac aka Vader, Aiden aka the Pirate


The set up.


The Ice Cream cake that i DID NOT make! :o Gasp! On the top is Han solo in Carbonite and Leia getting ready to save him.


The Jedi team Oh, I'm Leia of cloud city. :)


Me n Mike and kids. Pretty handsome i think :)

Post #200 Electrically Chraged Wallpaper ... and cows ......

So, yesterday, was ... well zippy, or maybe zappy, but anyway, it was electrifying! Heehehehehee. For anyone who missed it, I am moving this month yes, we found a house, not a house to buy, it's a rental. Mike's company has houses they own, and rent to employees it's a very hands off landlord type deal, we do pretty much everything ourselves, except like, roof, septic and such, and the rent is 450 LESS a month.So that makes it all well worth it.
When Grant was younger he was very creative, and drew all over my bathroom walls with a yellow highlighter, NOT washable! I guess he was sorry later, he started to strip the wallpaper to cover the crime, even though it was a year later! LOL I felt it was up to us t get the bathroom back to decent before we leave the house, so my project has been that these past few days. It seemed so simple! Strip the wallpaper, sand the walls, put up paint. Yeah, not so much. The walls are crap! They removed tile a while back and never dealt with the wall correctly, so the top half is neon peach, and the bottom half is a bad plaster job over old grout and tile adhesive. It's BAD. So, i went out, bought similar paper to what they had, vinyl, white on white with a raised pattern, to cover the imperfections of the wall. I put up a couple pieces, not very well, and the wall madness showed right though! So, Mike pulled it all off, i went to the store bought cheap paint, more paper, a rzor blade, and we started to paint over the nasty wall with cheap paint.
This brings me to Thursday morning ..... I get up, paint the bathroom another coat and it is all white, and ready for wallpaper. Then i sit at my puter and decide to hook up my scanner. ( see Im making a video for my mom's birthday party, so i need to scan a bunch of old pics into my puter) so i plug it in, go online, find the stuff i need to download, and do it, and get it working, and I am pretty proud of myself!
Then, Paint is still drying, so I go on an internet hunt for a skit. (see, the day before Mom's party, I am directing a skit in church, for Thanksgiving) so im looking for a skit, and the whole time, I have one banging about in my brain, so Katie is online and i run it past her, and she loves it, so ... since im bored, i start typing it out.
Now mind you, im also nursing one sick kid, tolerating the terrorist, and feeding them, and doing laundry so I have apile to fold while i watch my thursday night TV.
I take a break and decide to start wallpapering, which goes very well I might add, now that i have a razor blade to do the edges. I was doing one piece next to the sink, and the wet paper was over the open light switch, and i put my hand on the wall, and the other hand on a piece of metal, and ZAP!! One finger tip to the other .... WHOoohoo that was fun, i actually didn't realize i had zapped myself until later. I got a brainstorm not long after, ran to my computer and finished off my skit, then as I sat there, i looked out the window, as of all things, a COW ran across my yard. I can imagine for city slickers, that may seem sensational, but here in Chittenden it's not that odd. I live next to all kinds of animals, and they run loose frequently. I never do get used to the site though LOL!! SO i went to help the poor teenager, and the biker lady with my broom and wallpaper pasted self, we got the cow back in her fence.
That night i was measuring for the next piece of walpaper and got ZAPPED again! I was shocked! No i mean, surprised! :D I put my hand on the wall, and my other hand on the faucet, and viola! ZAAP. So i asked Mik when he got home, went to demonstrate, thinking it was gone, yeah ZAP! Not so much. I told him to try it, and he was a whimp!
I say ..."It's just a little prick it doesn't hurt, I've done it like 3 times now."
he looks at me like I'm walking dead "THAT PRICK is 120 VOLTS woman!"

ahhhhh ..... no wonder i had so much energy! Geeeez ... too bad i didnt touch that laundry last night. UGH.

Never Forget

Crafty Again!

My new project. An online one, I am crocheting this afghan along with a bunch of other women across the country and a couple in other countries, isn't that a cool idea? Mine is being done in soft yummy yarn in warm yummy fall colors. I uploaded some pics for the flikr group that goes along with the blog. It's much more fun to have other people to do it with, keeps you on your toes, makes you wanna get it done!

Lotion Commotion and the Bead Stampede.

There are days that i wonder where my babies went, Grant puts his shoes on, Sammy picks her clothes out, they swim and talk, and chit and chat and squeal with glee about school, and i wonder WHEN did they get so big? Maybe i really am coming out of the "baby stage" And how sad, but how fun, how cool to think about the fun we can have as they get older ...... Then, days like today ,..... and i wonder, what woman in her right intelligent mind CHOOSES this crazy hairy, insanity inducing, bi-polar producing, madness soaked, dirty, nasty, smelly job??? and WHY on God's Green Earth would i EVER want to start all over?!?!! I'm quite sure you have no clue what i mean. ROFL Today was planned well, executed differently, and almost survived with no casualties, so far. :) I woke up, late, cranky from no sleep, and early awakening from the ball of energy that sleeps and bounces across the hall from me. I walk down the hall, avoiding him, so i don't say something mean and uncalled for pre-coffee. I open my daughter's door, and start to admire to pretty pinky room recently newly decorated with paint and new bed with bedding, before i can say one entire word, i spot the princess herself, covered, head to toe in lotion. GOBS and RIVERS of white lotion all over her, and the floor and the castle, and the kitchen, GAH! I stripped the child, shut the door and went to make coffee, over the sink piled high with dishes. Later, still not dressed, (wearing PJ pants and giant Hubby T-Shirt) i am getting in a rhythm, and pulling our some crafty stuff, and find our collection of "refrigerator magnet making beads" in a bucket, tipping, off a shelf, onto my head, and floor, and laundry basket. UGH!! Later, all cleaned up, (Still not dressed) but house getting somewhat in order, and i get an unexpected visitor. From a lovely lady, who was passing by with her hubby on their way to kayak at the Chittenden dam. She thought i should know that my precious son, whom i now was on good terms with, was blessing the passing cars with fist fulls of gravel from our driveway. FAAAAAbulous! THEN we call daddy, daddy lays down the law, mom nearly looses it looking at the piles of dishes, laundry, and various other things that should have been completed by now, but keep getting bypassed by my lovely children and their antics. NEver mind the daughter who WON"T potty train, and wondering, how many moms think at one time or another, "well poop on my hand only twice today is pretty good huh?" Then there are days, i want to switch places with Sara Doll, that has been a staple of my life, when i feel lie i need a new life, i switch places with her, she always seem to be in a good spot, when I'm in my worst. As shown here, this is how SHE is spending her evening.

Of course the REASON she needs a soak? You really wanna know? Yeah, I didn't think so!