Weekend Pics & Quotes

I so love this pic with my niece and nephews today!!

Kids are just so much fun!! =) So imaginative and entertaining!

The Miss K being a presh with her pink bracelet from Chuck E. Cheese, her Barbie phone and her fancy pink high heel shoes! LOVE her.

These make me happy... especially the one where he's looking at Mom!

They were so proud of themselves for buckling their own seatbelts. They're both very insistent on doing things themselves these days. It's super cute!

Pushing Kyndal and helping Jace get started on the swings... I love listening to them talk or make up songs or whatever. They're endlessly entertaining at the moment!

Mom captured this jump with my cellphone... impressive camera work by her! :)

Me cheering him on! lol

J&K "helping" Dad fix the swingset. So much summery cuteness.

Found this on a bag as I was helping Mom pack some stuff. Aww, memories!!

They were super patriotic this morning. :)  I pushed them on the swings again for a bit today, until a wasp threatened me and I promptly ran back inside! lol The other pics are them thinking it was fun to pick up my carry-on backpack! :)

Dad heading out for his road trip to Canada around 6:45 this morning! I called Rach to make sure she was ready and could say bye to him on his way out of the neighborhood!  Praying for safe travels and an awesomesauce trip for all of us!!

Here's Carterman dabbing away! lol

And Jaceman dancing to the Gummi Bears song on Rach's phone! lol

A FEW WEEKEND QUOTES:
"Grandad!!  Bro, it's Babah's birthday!"  ~Kyndal Faith, pretending to talk to Grandad on her Barbie phone! lol (Rach apparently says "bro" a lot, so Kyndal has picked that up and it's hilarious to me!)

"Guess what I did yesterday!? I got all caught up on Rush - I listened with my app for five hours while I was working around the house." ~Mom, happily
"Well, there are good days and there are GREAT days!!"  -Charlene lol

"Oh, can I show Lindsey how I can do my scooter!?" ~Kyndal
"Maybe in a minute." ~Mom
"I'm just gonna show her right now!" ~Kyndal, who had already grabbed the scooter 
"Youuuuu get to seeee this!!" ~Kyndal, turning to me! lol
"Well, lucky me!!" ~Me
"Hey you're pretty good at that!" ~Mom
"Yes, I am!" ~Miss K, with no confidence problems in that area lol

"Can you say: 'This high, this high, Aaaaaahh!'?" ~J&K wanting me to play the game Dad plays with them on the swings :)

"If you don't mess with them they won't mess with you." ~Kyndal trying to comfort me after I saw a wasp outside lol

"Can you push us!?" ~K-Faith
"Maybe." ~Me
"We can go play out there for a minute." ~Mom
"No, Mamaw, you can't because your back hurts; remember?" ~Kyndal

A couple minutes later in our drive, trying to make very sure I would go outside with them...
"Ummmm, I need to show you sumpin... on the swings!!" ~Kyndal lololol

"Hey, Linz?" ~Jace
"Yeah?" ~Me
"I love you!" ~Jace
"I love you, too, bud!" ~Me
"Buuuut I like Zoe more." ~Jace
"What!? Zoe from Chick-Fil-A?  NOT okay!!" ~Me, feigning shock
(...Jaceman cracking up! lol)
"He called you Linz... her name is Lindsey to you and to me!!" ~Miss K, randomly annoyed with Jace having a nickname for me lol

"How are you so brave!?" -Mom to Jace for trying to kill a bug
"I'm so brave, too. But I'm scared." -Kyndal hanging back until the bug leaves, not really knowing what the word brave meant :)

"We played in the pool and then I drowned, but I'm okay."  -Kyndal, very nonchalantly telling a swim story (Rach quickly explained that she thinks going all the way under the water means drowning. lol)

"Most of the time clowns are nice and funny." ~Mom, comforting Jace after he had a bad dream about a mean clown
"But sometimes they're really mean!!" -J, clearly noting that she didn't say "always" lol
Two seconds later....
"Hey, you know what!? Tigers are big cats!!" -Jaceman, master of the subject change, full of random factoids for us

"Hey, do you have a mom at your house?" ~Jace
"No, 'cause actually, Mamaw is my mom!" ~Me
"You're Lindsey's Mom!??" ~Jace, very amused by this thought

"JACE, whyyyy are you hitting me with your shovel!? That is NOT a good idea!" -Sassy Kyndal Faith :)

"Hey, do you like me or Zoe more??" Me
"Zoe!" ~Jace with his big, mischievous smile lol
"What about Mom or Zoe?" ~Me
"Zoe!" ~J
"What about Mamaw?" ~Me
"Umm, Mamaw!" ~J
"Yeah, that seems about right." ~Me

"LOOK!  We have spidget finners!!" ~Jaceman

"Imagine that this has blades all over it, but I don't know it. ...(throws it up high then catches it)... Oooooh!! Now there's blood everywhere..."  ~Carter, with all the dramatic acting and vivid imagination
"What are you gonna do now with no fingers!?"  ~Me, playing along
"I can still spin it - look!" ~Carter, using his elbows to spin it on the ground, unconcerned with anything but fidget spinners lol

Okay, that's all for now!  Mom and I are going to bed around 7pm tonight to be ready for the Lemieux's to pic us up at 3:45 am --- YIKES!! Hopefully I can sleep a tiny bit on the plane, but I'm not banking on it.

See you in June! ;-)

Photo Friday!

This pic just makes me laugh! Before all the bomb excitement, they fixed the leak in my ceiling last week. He had been on the ladder for a while. I was working diligently at my computer, then almost laughed out loud when I looked up and saw this... I made sure my phone was on silent and snapped a quick picture. :)

So precious eating their little cookies at Kate's shower! :)

Some chocolate chip banana bread I made last week... slightly healthier than my normal recipe, and it was pretty good!! (In the end, though, it costs more points than it was worth to me, so I threw a lot of it out. Oh, well. Live and learn.)

My original birth certificate. Found it while looking for my passport. It all just makes me happy!

My "Niagara nails!" lol  I went and got a shellac manicure last night, and chose their most glittery waterfall blue. =)

Verse of the day yesterday... appropriate right before we leave for our trip and on the day Gage Bullard spoke at his CHA graduation!

I'm thankful he was strong enough to speak and to graduate!! ...I very nearly drove down for it, but I had a lot of packing to do, so I had Rach text me some video instead!

My precious dinosaur-loving nephew!  He looks so happy in this pic!! You never get that smile from him when he's deliberately posing for something. Aww, the Jaceman! =)

My best Mini Miss K looking ever so patriotic! All the heart eyes emojis for this! ;-)

Happy Birthday to Babah today!! =)  (Pic from Christmas 2016)

And Happy Friday to me! lol  I'm at work for about another hour, then home to load the car and the girlfranz, then off to Mom and Dad's... Dad will be leaving early tomorrow morning for his solo road trip. Me, Mom, Bill, and Jill will be leaving early Sunday morning for our flight - yay for Dramamine! lol  We should be in Canada around 1:00 on Sunday, where I finally get to see Niagara Falls in all it's God-given glory!!

Bombs & Buffets...

'Twas a felony Tuesday to remember...

On 5-23-2017, at 5:02 pm, our faithful Sheriff Gary gave a forceful knock on our office door. I was standing there chatting with Laura on my way out, and when I opened it, he immediately said, "Yall get outta here!"
"Umm, what's happening?"
"They think they've found some pipe bombs in a car in the parking lot."

Having recently been to the CR seminar with the reporter who took the Boston Marathon bomber's trial, all of those exhibits and X-rays and videos were pretty fresh in my mind. I didn't stay to listen to any more or wait around for anyone, but on my way down the stairs, I met two more sheriffs working to clear the building and asked them, "Which parking lot?" They pointed to the one where I typically park (it's not the staff parking lot, but the one open to the public), so I knew driving my car out of there was not an option. So then I waited a second for Laura, who wasn't far behind...

When we got out of the staff parking lot in her car, they already had some of the roads blocked off, which was irritating, as they had to have known about it for some time yet somehow failed to mention anything to us until over an hour later at the end of the workday.
=( Truly not okay.

Randomly, Marlene, our former Bailiff, had given Laura some tickets for a free KFC buffet, so we made good use of those, hoping to wait it out and get my car afterward. Mashed potatoes and gravy, biscuits, chicken strips, mac n' cheese, apple cobbler - don't mind if I do! (Having already had pizza for lunch, I went way over my WW points that day, but I made up for it over the next couple days, and of all the days to have extra grace for myself, this was it.)

We both called our Moms and ended up talking with another couple in the restaurant about the situation, which was on several news sites at that point...

After eating all the carbs and chicken strips (chicken for me only, as LB has become a vegetarian), calling our moms, doing some google research, and documenting Laura's bracelet choice that day...

...We drove back by and talked to the sheriff who was blocking Lee Street about what was happening and whether I should try to wait for my car. He said it was still a viable threat, and he didn't have any clue what the timeline would be on figuring it all out.

So Laura drove me home, (where my key wouldn't unlock the screen door so we had to unlock the gate and go through the back way). Then we played with the flufflepuff girlfranz for a minute to make ourselves feel better about life.

It always helps! ;-)

Later that night, I learned through FB that it was indeed two live bombs found inside this vehicle (which is still sitting in our parking lot, by the way - the bombs were obviously transported and disassembled). I had no idea how to emotionally process that news, so I laughed, called Mom and texted Rach, then just kept watching Frasier.  LB picked me up for work the next day, where we learned that it was actually a father/son duo who did this to the daugher/sister, saying they just wanted to scare her (she's the victim in a pending case against her dad for Shooting with Intent to Kill, so clearly, they have a special family bond). Yeah, slashing her tires and planting two live bombs in the parking lot of the courthouse where the judge and attorneys work and where the jury could eventually try this thing -- that supposed "scare tactic" reeeeally helped your case.  I can't even. #creekcounty

(As much as I'm irritated with the way this was poorly handled, I am super deeply thankful for God's protection all around that day!!)

Quotables!

"Aww, T-man purposely didn't get very many because Babah said she'd give a reward to whoever found the least eggs!"  ~Me (Easter egg hunt)
"Yeaaaah, he'll learn Babah's rewards aren't worth it... 'Youuuu get a tissue!!'" ~Rach lol

"Aww, the mama geese and baby geese are getting a picnic!" ~Kyndal, as we watched geese eating some bread crumbs on the grass outside

"It's fun being weird, it's fun being weird! You should try it sometime!!" ~Kyndal singing a song we're not sure if she made up lol

"Oh, it was heartbreaking, and I don't even like her!" ~Babah, making me laugh

"Well, I got the thin crust because I'm trying to eat less carbs. Ha, yeah right. Karli asked me, 'Don't you need a plate?' and I was like, 'You know, I'm really gonna just take this whole box over to the couch!'" ~Chet, on eating the whole thin crust pizza lol :)

"I'm Ross and you're Rachel, okay!?" ~Jaceman
"No, I'm Monica."  ~Kyndal Faith
...later:
"Okay, come on Phoebe!!"  ~Jace
"Nooooo!! I'm Monica!"  ~Kyndal
"Hmm, I don't know whether that's a proud Mom moment or a total Mom fail." ~Rach lol

"I have a friend, too!" ~Kyndal, chiming in on Jace and Kate's conversation
"Do you have lots of friends or just one?" ~Kate
"Umm, one." ~Kyndal Faith, barely focused
"Just the one!" ~Me, laughing
"Well, you should be really nice to them, then!" ~Kate :)

"Thanks so much for fixing my fence!!! Me and two girlfranz appreciate it! :)" ~Me
"You're welcome! Thanks for dinner and 4/5 of a movie. lol"  ~Chettles (the night my power went out and cut our Sister Act viewing short)

"You be careful, pretty girl!  Have your judge start your car just in case." ~Well-intended advice from Babah after live bombs were found in the parking lot of my courthouse... Made me laugh out loud that day!

"Doris showed me the bond settings for these... I'm gonna go ahead and say assclowns because they've earned the language..." ~LB, talking about the guys who planted the bombs lol

"I'm surprised you read Donald Trump's tweets."  -FB friend of Holly's
"I just want to have a slight heads up so I can make it to my bunker quickly when he starts World War 3!"  ~the ever fiesty Holly Dei, making me laugh out loud 😂

"See, everyone likes that song. You're singing every word!!" ~Me, happy to hear Chet singing along to P. Diddy's I'll Be Missing You
"There's a big difference between know and like!" ~Chettles with all the snarkasm lol

Stormy Weather

Crazy windstorm on Thursday night -- the tornado sirens went off in Jenks, which freaked me out as I was just sitting in my chair watching Frasier. (I only have Netflix and Hulu at the moment, but I need to get the basic channels back so I can at least watch the weather. My weather alert texts failed to come through for me that night... a severe thunderstorm and a tornado warning are hugely different things, and it forgot to warn me about the latter.) Anyway, I bolted up from my chair to the closet, and threw on jeans and tennis shoes and grabbed a flashlight!  The straight-line winds were crazy heavy, and it wasn't until the next morning that I noticed it had damaged my backyard fence in two places...

Not okay for the girlfranz, who would gladly share the neighbor's yard!  I called the fence company, who said it would be 4 WEEKS before they could get to me... then I called my good friend, Chettles, who said he'd come by later that night!! =) Here he is with my trusty pink hammer, along with other tools that he brought. He got it all fixed up, so I can cancel with the Jenks Fence co.

Hooray for good friends and for his work time at Ameristar paying off! lol ;)

In other storm damage news, this was the ceiling tile in my office Friday morning. I quickly moved my printer and computer and other things out of the way. We called the maintenance guy, but as usual, they're in no rush to fix the problem, so maybe they'll work on it sometime next week. In the meantime, it started leaking onto my carpet and Judge and Laura put a trash can there to catch it. We'll see how things look Monday morning! Yay for vacation right around the corner!!

Sammers with her new Boo-cut after grooming!

Bellsy-doodle looking presh with her hair bows!

This was me taking them out on a leash before Chet came over. lol They can't be trusted to stay in the yard otherwise. Look how cute they are with their pink bows and bandanas, faithfully supporting breast cancer awareness! lol

Aunt Tiffany playing with the girlfranz!  This was Friday night after Chet fixed the fence, so I had Domino's delivered for a fun pizza and movie night with Tiffany and the Wilsons (pizza and their "brookie" dessert that I forgot Chet couldn't have.  He always opens the desserts and smells them... it's funny and it's sad. lol)

After much discussion and going through all the movies on Netflix and Hulu, we started watching Sister Act, always a solid choice!  It was another stormy night, and the power blinked off twice. Both times, I had to reset my computer and wait for the Amazon FireStick to reboot so we could get back to the movie. lol  We were about 15 minutes from the end when the power went off completely!  That's the first time that has happened in the 10+ years that I've lived here. It was funny how quickly our four cell phone flashlights were on. The Wilsons left to go tend to Lucy and Pippa (their cats, who also have thunderstorm anxiety), then Tiffany waited a bit in case I wanted to leave for OKC that night so she could help me with the manual garage door. I decided to wait it out in hopes that the power would come back on overnight... it did! YAY!!

I set my alarm for 6am and drove to OKC early the next morning. I wrote the cards and Mom wrapped my gift for Kate with her awesome signature glitter bows, then we got out in time for Dad to host his men's lifegroup!

We went to the bridal shower brunch for Katelyn Marie (Rach's BFF from CHA days who now lives in Texas). J&K were big fans of Kate, especially since she let them help her pull out advice cards and open presents!

This pic of our fam with Kate makes me happy!

Kate opening her flip-flops (Mom had spent lots of time putting crystals all over them, a gift Kate had asked her for six years back when Rachael got married). Kate looked at Rachael when she said "Thank you," and Kyndal chimed in, "My Mamaw did that!!" #preshface

I would've chosen the Friday before or the Monday after just to have three 7's in the date! lol But Saturday weddings are better for everyone, especially when it'll include a road trip to Texas on our end!! =)

In other news, I meant to update earlier this week and never got around to it. (I've been trying hard to get all caught up at work before we leave for our vacation next week, and I'm in really good shape for that!)  On Monday, I had my second WW weigh-in, and I lost 6.2 pounds, which brings me to a 2-week total of 15.2... so awesome! I have eaten every point and FlexPoint both weeks, so that result was unexpected, but definitely welcomed!  I'm sure it'll be hard to stick with it on vacation, but I'm going to get right back on track the next week. ....I kinda like this picture. The Bells Palsy damage is evident to me in so many pictures, definitely including this one, but so is the fact that God healed me from it and I'm able to smile now, which fills me with joy and gratitude!!

Anywho, it's "Spa Sunday," so I'm off to take a relaxing epsom-salt bath and give myself a mani/pedi. =)  Two weeks from now, Lord willing, I'll be in Canada finally seeing Niagara Falls... GET EXCITED!!