Happy Birthday Teenager!

It is the end of this very exciting, very busy day. But I couldn't let it pass without wishing my sweet Sunshine a Happy 13th Birthday. Here are a couple of pictures of her doing one of her favorite things today...


And a couple of birthday present pictures.

A newly decked out room, appropriate for a teenager.

And a heart shaped opal ring...opal for October, and heart shaped to remind her how much she is loved! We love you sweet girl! Happy Birthday!

At Last

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes, it was all there. I'm finally getting around to recording the events of the weekend. I'm not sure I can squeeze it all into one post. I know I'm going to have to just hit the highlights. Maybe I'll even do two posts...we'll see.

Before I begin, I need to say thanks to the people who made this weekend possible. Cliche, yes, but very true. We were able to leave Sammy at home, well taken care of, the house well taken care of, and most importantly, Kat was well taken care of. Kat didn't go on the trip because of a responsibility she had at church. Junebug went above and beyond, and I thank her, as well as the other friends who welcomed her into their home for Friday and Saturday night. I was reminded this weekend of how incredibly blessed I am in the friend department.

The trip over was uneventful. For those of you who follow this blog, I know that is shocking. But it's true. We still haven't made many trips post-little-furry-dog, so the opportunity to stop and go into a restaurant to eat lunch is still a novelty. Also new is the ability to arrive at our destination fairly fresh, unwrinkled, and without dog fur all over us.

The primary reason for our trip, the real reason we took a day away from school and work, inconvenienced friends, and drove a total of 17 hours was for the 50th Anniversary Celebration for Kearsdad's parents on Sunday. But prior to that was The Wedding. It just so happened that Kearsdad's nephew got married on Saturday. So, of course, we attended the wedding...otherwise known as Redneck Heaven. I am not sure I can put into words what an experience it was. We had already been warned by younger brother and his wife that we were in for a treat, based on their experience at the rehearsal. (Mercifully, we arrived too late on Friday to attend the rehearsal.) But I don't think any of us were really prepared for The Wedding.

The groomsmen's brown tuxes were...well...interesting. Different. But in and of themselves they would have been fine. Everyone has their own taste, and since the bridesmaids' dresses were taupe, the brown was...reasonable. Unfortunately, the brown was just the beginning.

The ceremony began after we sat in the church for about half an hour wondering if the ushers/groomsmen were actually going to usher anyone in. Apparently they didn't get that memo. Most of us seated ourselves. The preservice music was traditional. We wondered if they were going to remember to light the candles. Finally two groomsmen entered and pulled out their handy pocket bic lighters and lit them. Nice touch. The grandparents and the mothers were ushered in. Sister-in-law/mother of the groom was wearing a hot pink fru-fru number. Sister-in-law is not a small lady, so there was lots of pink fru-fru. Mother-of-the-bride entered wearing a clashing red prom dress number. Stepmother-of-the-bride entered wearing a skin tight black number and sat between the other two mothers. Mother-of-the-groom reached for something...her video camera. She sat there on the front row and videos the entire stinking ceremony. There were a photographer and a videographer conspicuously present. But she videoed anyway. The whole time.
This is the camera, left lying on the front pew after the ceremony.

Piano....hymns...nice. The bridesmaids and wedding party entered to "Canon in D Major". Traditional. Normal. Then it got wierd. The piano began playing something no one recognized right away. We all just sat there confused until the minister asked us to stand. The bride entered and walked down the aisle to "At Last". Here is a version of it, if you don't know what it is...At Last. Yes, she walked in to that song.

Traditional wedding ceremony followed. Traditional vows. Traditional cell phone ringing in the middle of the service. Yes. Sister-in-law's father, sitting there on the second row, with his phone ringing loudly. He couldn't figure out how to stop it. After the ringing, we were treated to the sound of his voicemail alert. Traditional unity candle...sort of...the bride and groom lit the unity candle, and then we heard a song start to play. It seems the bride decided to sing her own song for this portion of the ceremony. But not live. She recorded it and had it played. Probably was worried she'd be too nervous. The song? "To Make You Feel My Love" by Garth Brooks. Nice. Yeah. Kearsdad says it sounded like she recorded it while in the shower.

End of ceremony. Introduction. Kiss. More kissing...then the Recessional. Kearsdad has another nephew (belonging to another brother) who is a very good musician. He had been asked to play his guitar and sing. He did as he was asked. THIS is what he sang. Keep in mind, THIS was the Recessional....what everyone exited to. Yeah. Nice.

Here's a photo of the wedding party, brown tuxes and all. It all looks so normal and innocent, doesn't it?

This lovely event was followed by the reception at none other than the Moose Lodge. Uh huh. Yes. It was. I won't even bother to describe it. But I did get a picture to prove that it was at the Moose Lodge.


This post is entirely too long. I can't describe the Main Event (aka Anniversary Reception). It will require its own post. Later. I'm too tired for any more description right now. Let the Redneck Event soak in for now.

Happy Birthday Kearsdad!

I love you very much! I hope you have a great day!

Stay Tuned...

We are going to Georgia this weekend for a nephew's wedding and my inlaws' 50th wedding anniversary. Those of you who are longtime, faithful readers of Kearsmom's blog will know that trips such as these are fodder for much blogging material. So stay tuned. I'll be back. With stories.

The Value of a Calendar

Speaking of calendars...I am aware that the calendar now says October. And my last post was in September. I have been seriously lax on this blog. I apologize. Life has been jam packed lately. Some days I feel like I'm on a treadmill and someone keeps turning the speed up.

Anyway....Calendars. I have several. Four to be exact. There is the pretty Thomas Kinkade one hanging on the wall in the laundry room. It's my annual Christmas present from Kearsdad and the girls. Every year I ask for a new one. The pictures in it are so pretty. Really, it's just a substitute for the Thomas Kinkade print I would like to have hanging in my house. But the prints run around $250 for a little one, and upwards of $1000 for the really big ones I'd like. So I have the calendar. It just hangs there. Sometimes I remember to write stuff on it, but usually I forget. I have even been known (although this is terribly embarrassing to admit) to write stuff on it AFTER the fact. I have no idea why I do that. So there it hangs.

Secondly, I have the little "pocket calendar" in my purse. It's the free one I get from the Orthodontist office. This is key. See, I forget orthodontist appointments ALL the time. Really. I can't count how many appointments we have missed. Every time we go, I faithfully pull out that little calendar and write in the next appointment. Then I put the calendar back in my purse. There it stays. There are other things written on that calendar too. But I don't know what they are.

Third is my pretty Colorado planner calendar. I bought it last year while we were in Colorado Springs, at the gift shop in the Garden of the Gods Welcome Center. It is beautiful. It's a weekly planner, so it has 52 pages and 52 beautiful pictures of Colorado scenery. See, I bought it for the pictures. The other reason I bought it was to have something to use in staff meetings to keep up with student events. I take it to staff meeting every week. Sometimes I write stuff in it. Mostly, I just admire the pretty pictures.

Finally, I have the calendar on my computer. The one in my Outlook folder, attached to my email. This is the one Kearsdad wants me to use. He is always telling me how this calendar would make my life so much easier. He is probably right. This little electronic calendar has little windows that pop up everytime I open my email and remind me of what I am to do that day. Or, at least, the reminder window would pop up IF I put information into the calendar. As it is, nothing happens when I open my email except that my email downloads. Nothing happens because I never put anything in the calendar. Thing is...I use my email every day. Several times a day. Just think, I could have little reminder windows popping up throughout the day telling me what to do next. Where to go. What time to get there. It would be amazing. If I used it.

Prime example...Today, I hurried the girls through the morning...piano lesson, school work, lunch...hurrying because we had to leave by 12:30 to be at the church at 1:00 for the girl's art class. This class, through our homeschool group, meets twice a month. 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. We arrived at the church and the girls walked up to the door of the portable in which their class meets. Door was locked. Lights were off. Hmm....I started wondering...but we didn't have art class LAST week. I checked. I even looked in my lesson plan book (where I DO actually write things down). No class last week so it must be this week, right? Wrong.

We walked into the "office" where Junebug, SUG and BB were working (at least I think they were working). "What is today's date?" I asked. October 7 was the answer from the people who were looking at the calendars in front of them. Yeah, that's what happens when you look at the calendar, you know the date. "So, today isn't the 2nd Tuesday, is it?" Nope...it's the FIRST Tuesday. "But I don't understand. We didn't have class last week either!" Umm...that would be because September had 5, yes FIVE Tuesdays. That tidbit of information came from SUG, who was, again, looking at the calendar on the wall by her desk.

So, we are back home. With some extra free time today. That's why I have time to update my blog. I could use the extra time to enter information into the calendar on my Outlook. Maybe. Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow...

Wedding Bells!

We went to a wedding on Saturday. A sweet friend got married, and we were so excited to be able to participate. Kristy and her family moved here when she was in the 9th grade, and our families quickly became friends. Over the years, we have enjoyed lots of happy times together. Kristy babysat when the girls were much younger, as did her sister, Alli. Kristy was also the girls' first piano teacher. One of my favorite memories of those days happened one day during Banana's lesson. Kristy's mom and I were sitting in the dining room having our weekly "chat and coffee session" (oh how I miss those!), and listening to the piano "playing" coming from the other room. Suddenly, it got quiet. We listened for a few minutes, but no piano. Finally, we heard Kristy call out, "Banana, you need to come back downstairs. We aren't finished yet." Apparently, Banana had decided she had had enough piano lesson for one day and went upstairs to find Kat and the other kids. Sweet Kristy...she was so patient!

I remember her learning to drive, getting her first real job, playing "Rock Star Queen" with Kat and Anna and her siblings...and the infamous dog bed experience. Long story, you had to be there, but fun memories nonetheless.

So Saturday, she crossed a new milestone. Her wedding was beautiful and sweet. Kat and Anna got to take part, handing out programs to the guests as they entered. They were so happy to share in her special day. Congratulations Kristy and Jonathan! We love you!

Labor Day Labors

Labor Day was, by all accounts, a wash out thanks to Gustav. But that didn't stop us from being productive around here. Thankfully, we were spared any of the bad stuff! So we made the best of it, and got to work. At the top of the priority list was Banana's closet. Only a chosen few of you (actually, maybe only one of you) have ever seen said closet. It was a sight to behold. Banana doesn't believe in wasting any of her precious, abundant energy on housekeeping. The floor is a perfectly acceptable place on which to store one's belongings. There is no need to fully open a drawer to put an item inside. Slightly opening it and stuffing whatever it is inside works just as well...and it doesn't matter if the drawer is the correct drawer for that particular belonging. And beds are for sleeping in. Why bother making it if you are just going to get back in it later? So...you get the picture. Banana's closet was dangerous territory. It was the kind of place that gave me the shakes. It had become a nightly ritual for me to go into her room at bedtime and launch into a high pitched litany of despair.


Many years ago, when the girls were little, we installed a lower clothing rack and shelf in their closets so that they could reach things. In Banana's closet (I suppose because it is slightly longer) we also installed shelves up one side. At the time, I intended for the shelves to be for toys. The last few years, they have been used for shoes. But in reality, they have never worked well. They just encouraged clutter. Shoes, piled on shoes, falling off shelves, mixed up and hopelessly messy. To find a pair of shoes, Banana would dig through all three shelves, then crawl around on the floor looking for the shoe she wanted, then go through the same routine looking for it's mate. Not to mention all of the Barbie stuff and purses and hats and belts that were mixed in. Oh it was just awful...
This picture doesn't really do it justice. I didn't think to go get the camera until she had started.


Yesterday, Banana got to work. She pulled out all of the shoes, purses, hats and other clutter. The shoes got placed side by side, in pairs, so that she could sort them. All those that were too small got moved out. (I, by the way, inherited three really cute pairs of shoes this way.) Here is a picture of the shoes...just call her Imelda...

She worked really hard. She rearranged things, and moved some things, and (shock!) got rid of some things! After Kearsdad did the "dad" job of taking the shelves down, Banana did the rest. I supervised, but she really did all the work. I was quite proud of her. Here is the result.

I wonder how long it will last.