The Great Summer Lightening Show of 2008

God does amazing things with his world! I remember how much I loved the land in Tennessee. I loved the trees, the hills, the mountains, the way the clover grew, and the way the leaves would turn colors in the fall. I don't have any great memories of the sky.

Here in Florida, the sky is where it is at! The ground is really not much to look at; flat and dry, sandy, with a scrubby trees that really don't change into pretty colors. The palms are nice, but really, even that is planned and landscaped for it to look like the postcards.

God puts on light shows in the sky. We can see the stars(at least where we live), and the rainbows are amazing! We saw double rainbows just the other night. I don't ever think I saw a double rainbow while I lived in Tennessee. The lightening shows are also mesmerizing. They are just so vivid and alive when a bolt crackles in 15 different directions throughout the sky.

You just sit back in awe as you watch it as you are leaving Busch Gardens. Then you go into your house and find that your power is out and a tree is down in the backyard. Then the power stays out for 12 hours and most everything in your fridge has to go in the garbage the next day. Of course your cable, phone, and Internet are also out, even after the electricity comes back on at 2am in the morning. Four days later, when you finally get that cable, Internet, and phone back up, you find that the lightening got your Ethernet port, so you still have no Internet. Obviously, other people have had this happen, so there is a nifty little converter to USB!

But the show was something else, the storm clouds were layered in different shades of gray and black, gorgeous! And the rain! Oh, how we needed the rain! We really needed a soaking for the 4th of July! All those fireworks are just brush fires waiting to happen!

Did I mention that my septic tank backed up and we had to get it pumped today? It was way over due anyway. I think God just wanted us to get it pumped out, we sorta procrastinate!

God has a way of pulling all things together for good!

Paradise

Summer vacation, what a beautiful and relaxing time of year. I just love lying by the pool, looking at the beautiful clear blue sky and listening to the palm trees rustle in the wind as the kids squeal and splash in the pool. It is just remarkable how the scent of sunscreen and pool water help create this little piece of paradise.

The problem is, when you have been playing and relaxing in paradise, you forget you are there. So something is bound to happen to remind you that you are in paradise. So went my afternoon.

I had enjoyed playing with BubbaLou in the pool, I even swam a few laps. We decided to get out of the pool and enjoy our picnic lunch we brought. Ham and turkey on wheat bread. We skipped the picnic table and just got comfortable in our lounge chairs. I was biting into the last half of my sandwich, when BubbaLou and I heard a flapping noise and then something dropping. Something hit my leg. I looked down, disgusted to see that I had a large white wet glop on my leg, with a trail leading to a bird making his get away.

The bird of paradise had gotten me! Ewwww!

I repeat, Ewwww!

Not without mummy!

BubbaLou and Popsaroo made a dash for Orlando yesterday with our new Sea World /Aquatica /Busch Gardens/Adventure Island passes.

Where was I, you ask?

At work. Slaving away as my dear husband and daughter frolicked in the Florida summer heat among the sea creatures.

BubbaLou did however, miss her dear mummy. She refused to see any shows without her mummy right there to experience it with her. She didn't even want to take pictures since I wasn't there. What a kid! Is that not just the sweetest thing ever!?

Popsaroo and BubbaLou did however ride the Kraken, and loved it. Well, sorta, because according to BubbaLou, Popsaroo cried. (Shh, Don't tell anyone!) At least, they lived to tell about it.

The Kraken brings back memories to one of the most enjoyable book series that BubbaLou and I have listened to together, the Emily Winsnap series. Emily Winsnap and the Monster of the Deep is a really good kraken story, full of moments just like the roller coaster! Reading it is good, but listening to it on audio is even better!

Definitely a summer hit!

Happy Father's Day!

BubbaLou's Top Five Reasons She is Glad that Popsaroo is her Popsaroo!

1. He is funny.

2. He is fun because he plays lots of stuff and is fun on my birthday.

3. He buys me donuts.

4. He bought me a dog for my birthday.

5. He appreciates my sense of humor.

More spare time needed

More spare time is needed to create! It might be summer for some short little folks running amuck, but for me, I still have plenty of work calling me...at least three days a week, all day long. Between those days of my nose to the grindstone, I have found a few moments, here and there to try to figure out photoshop. I have only scraped the surface of digi- scrapbooking. My work is raw and unpolished, but yet, I am making my photos into pretty little things.

This is the most recent of my efforts. I can not take credit for the page, I just dropped photos in. I got this as a free download at CottageArts. I am hoping that by paying attention to their tips, I can get a clue. Baby steps for now! I want to get to the point that I can do this from scratch.

These pics of two of my old friends were taken last year at my 20th High School Reunion. I have to say, these are my before pictures. I have since lost 35 lbs! Yay, Me!!!


Now this, was my first attempt to make a purposeful page. I am learning all about layering and such, but really at the time I was just hoping that I could get the text bigger than I did on the next picture. This page is dedicated to all those who wanted to see a picture of Popsaroo! Purty, isn't he?

I took the crazy pic of BubbaLou and put it on a fancy background to make it pop! I think it truly reflects how crazy she really can be. I couldn't figure this out a couple of days ago.

My scrapbooking efforts have found life again! I was doing so well with scrapbooking after BubbaLou was born. Well, at least until she started to crawl. Then run at 10 months! That child sure can move. She never has stopped. She turns 9 in December, and I am just now picking it up again! I have tons of pictures to scrapbook.

I feel so blessed that God has given me such precious memories to scrapbook. We each have so many memories that are special to us in our families, I can only imagine what the scrapbook that Jesus' mother Mary would have created, or the one that he would make of us.

Spare Time

Ever wonder what people do in their spare time. Spare time being the time you should proably be cleaning something, like loads and loads of clothes.


Wonder no more!

When they get Photoshop Elements 6 for their birthday, this is what they (being me) do with their spare time.

They create!

This!

All though I have figured this much out, there is oh, so much more to learn...

it boggles the mind.


This is a kind of scrapbooking I think I can really get into!

School Is OUT!!!!

BubbaLou has announced, "I went on vacation TODAY!"

Wanna know what BubbaLou and her friends did at Mums house to celebrate and destress from the trauma of a year of school?
Blew up 3 bags of balloons and then took them outside and popped them!


I called while they were blowing them up and heard quite a few squeals of laughter. So I can only imagine...


Bless Mums and her nerves of steel!

Music Appreciation-the 80's

Popsaroo and I have been introducing BubbaLou to the 80's genre of music. It was such a fun and creative time and music, and we know all the words. Plus, you always get to play air guitar and air drums with a crazy hair style when you allow yourself to fully enjoy 80's music. Oh, you also have to dance in the car.

Popsaroo saw his chance to expand BubbaLou's music choices when she saw the Beetlejuice/Monster show at Universal. She liked Frankie's Girl. She also like the other 80's selections that they sang.

Here is a clip of the show, I missed getting the Frankie's girl on tape.




So, he introduced her to Rick Springfield. I always liked Rick, as a singer and as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. BubbaLou however, believes that Rick should be the one singing Frankie's girl.

Rick Springfield came to the Tampa Bay area and gave a free concert for charity last night. I, of course had to work, but that didn't stop Popsaroo and BubbaLou from seeking him out. The concert started at 8:30 last night after she got her first concert t-shirt and failed at her attempts to get Popsaroo backstage to meet Ricky. Bedtime turns out to be a bad time for a concert. BubbaLou made it 30 minutes and was ready to go. He hadn't even sung Jesse's girl, but she decided that, "Rick Springfield has lost it!" and was ready for bed.

Don't take it too hard Rick, she is wearing the t-shirt and listening to Jesse's girl on Youtube again. Popsaroo really enjoyed it, he said you still sounded good for an old man!

We 're Gonna Be Late For Work!

Living and working in Florida is always an adventure. People either love us or hate us, but we never cease to amuse the rest of the country, and probably the world. We stuff all sorts of stuff into this Sunshine state of ours; a big mouse, roller coasters and strange elevators, carnival headquarters, chads that don't fall out, alligators, mermaids, snowbirds, surreal art museums, RV art, beaches with sharks, dolphins, turtles, sunscreen, shells, sand, oranges, palm trees, pelicans, stingrays, dumb seagulls, Spanish food, Greek food, sponges, jellyfish, starfish, planes flying around advertising buffets, hurricanes, and fishy moving violations!

See, we never ceased to be amused. Mums, BubbaLou and I were witnesses to this duo getting pulled over by the Copper! It was a source of great entertainment to us on our trip to Orlando to meet our old friends. I don't think the SeaWorld employee driving these two hooligans was as entertained as we were.

Picture by BubbaLou

Family Friends Forever-FFF

Mums, BubbaLou, and I were so excited about meeting up with long time family friends at Downtown Disney on Friday.

What was even better, is that our daughters got to meet. They made fast friends. There is just something special about continuing friendships even though time and distance seems to get in the way. The voices and smiles are a comfort and a joy when you see them again. So, good to see ya, friends! We truly enjoyed it and are thankful you included us in an afternoon of your vacation to see the BIG MOUSE!

Oh, and if you ever decide to come down, BubbaLou may greet your children with alien antennas that she makes herself. You just never know!!!

Mr. Sun came down and smiled at me

He said, "Today's going to be a great day, wait and see."

It's the best day ever, best day ever,

It's the best day ever, best day ever.....

~SpongeBob SquarePants, as sung by BubbaLou

Slideshow is at the bottom of this blog!

BubbaLou's World

We had a rather entertaining day today, so BubbaLou wanted to share the wealth. So welcome to her world!


We started off the day going to church with Mums because she was having high attendance day/Hawaiian day. Although, I have no pics to share from that affair, you know when you start the day off with leis, the day will turn interesting.

We took Mums with us to the beach today. We went to feed the birds for Poppa Bobby. We found birds, but the birds were fat and lazy. Absolutely no skill with catching bread mid air.
BubbaLou soon lost interest in the birds since they were so lazy and not performing well for her. She moseyed on down to the beach to look for shells. She found a bag full, but also found a few rocks. She feels this rock has Elvis hair. She says he also has a hairy backside. This was a very exciting find! Of course, she brought Elvis home.

Then she met Coco. Coco was really an illusion since dogs were not really supposed to be there. Coco was a good dog and loved the water. She loved to play fetch with whoever was willing to throw the ball. Possibly one of the friendliest and wettest dogs I have ever met. She tried to lay down and chew on her ball at the edge of the water, but just got a mouth full of salt water. She then showed us her skill of drinking from a water bottle her master was giving to her. Very talented dog!

BubbaLou decided to go tree climbing. She was having a fine time in the mangroves. Now, understand, she wasn't supposed to get wet. "Just wade in the water," those were her instructions. Of course, when she jumped down from this tree, she got her bottom half wet. She just looked at me and smiled and then said, "Sorry, mommy, I didn't mean to." We were at the beach, what could I say?

We finally made it back home after stopping for a Mickey D's ice cream cone and dropping Mum's off. She found time to bond with Patrick. Patrick disapproves.

Finally, after BubbaLou pummeled Popsaroo in a game of Sorry, we had a chuckle right before bed time. Thomas the dog was sprawled out on the floor chewing on his bone, when we looked down, and low and behold, he had a sticker on his paw pad. What a silly dog. If you only knew how silly he really is, you would laugh as hard as we did.

Oh, the Drama!

It is amazing to me how much drama one person can cause! BubbaLou is always keeping us on the edge of our seats with all the drama that plays out around here!

Last week, she caused so much of a commotion, that I can only share now.

We went to visit Mums one day after school. It was supposed to be an enjoyable visit so that she could relax and play with her friends next door. It turned into Act I of The Foot Incident....

Act I

BubbaLou runs over next door to find her friends. She comes back with them and something stuck right in the middle of her heel. Seeing as how her friends were hanging over her foot like a vulture over a juicy morsel, I took her to the back room with Mums to get the something out of her foot.

You never heard such caterwauling before I even touched her. Armed with a clean enough needle and tweezers, I attempted to dislodge the something from her heel. At least I would have if I could have caught her foot. That was the jumpiest foot I have ever seen. Mums had to hold her down. It still jumped. We soaked her foot, it still wouldn't come out. Emotions were high, BubbaLou and I both were sweating, and well, I think I need to get my eyes checked!


I finally gave up and figured Popsaroo and I would be able to get this done together later that evening. I sent her friends home and told them the show was over. We made our way back to our little home and awaited Popsaroo's arrival.

Act II

Popsaroo gets home. BubbaLou really doesn't want to go through this again, but well, she must. The caterwauling started all over again and that foot jumped just as much as before. We couldn't get it out. We finally decided that she would have to go to the doctor to get it dug out. Of course we had threatened this the entire time, and mentioned scalpels and such so she would keep her heel still for us. Didn't work, and neither did I the next day since I had to call off work so I could take her to the doctor.

Act III

The doctor's office got us in by 10:30 the next morning. The doctor got her tools together and numbed her foot up with the cold stuff and started digging. I had to hold BubbaLou down, but of course she is so strong, she pushed me away as she sat up and cried, "I feel like I am having a baby!" The doctor is not used to BubbaLou's dramatics and by the look on her face, she almost fell over by that comment. She finally recovered enough to chuckle and said, " You just have no idea kid!" I finally got her down again, and she once again shoved me aside to declare, "I feel like I am having an operation!" All I can do is laugh. The doctor was finally able to pull out 3 very tiny pieces of glass like substance and BubbaLou gave a long sigh of relief. The doctor put a dressing on her heel with some antibiotic ointment and gave us her blessing to return home. BubbaLou loved her cast as she calls it!

Act IV

Dressing change time that night came around and I decided that a little cream and a band aid was all that was needed. BubbaLou felt differently. It had hurt too bad and caused her too much angst to only get a band aid. She recycled her bandage and added some silk tape. Now she was ready for school.

Act V

Popsaroo took BubbaLou to school the next morning, it was Field Day. They were walking to class when he looked down and noticed that she wore only one sock and had her dressing nicely visible on the other foot. She was prepared to show her war wound. According to her, she enjoyed it immensely.

Such drama!