Cue Rocky Music....

My man returned to his long neglected weight bench this morning. After months of sitting idle while Dusty studied his brains out for his certification, the weights were going in full force this morning. Hopefully he will be able to walk tomorrow.

Meanwhile I busted out some fierce arm curls while heaving dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Feel the burn! Feel the burn! --Happy Weekend!

Prayer Request

My Hope Community blogging friends are already aware of this, but for all my other blogging friends I have a request of you tonight. Please be praying for the Archer family. They are members in our church and our friends. Their 14 year old son Kyle is having surgery tomorrow morning (Aug. 29th) at 10:30 AM to remove an adrenal gland that they found a tumor on. I know that they will appreciate your prayers. --Thanks

**Update - the surgery was successful! The tumor appears to be completely contained and had not affected the kidney or spleen. The doctors said that to the best of their knowledge it appeared to be benign, but they will know for sure when test results come back. Praise the Lord!

It's Awana Time

The kickoff to the 08-09 Awana year was tonight. There was a magic show by Daniel, food, water slides, prizes. All the stuff you need to kick off another Awana year. :) Dusty and I have been in Cubbies for the past 3 years. This year we traded in our blue Cubbie shirts for new duds. Dusty will be with the T&T boys (3-5 grades). I will be in Puggles (2-3 year olds). I must say that my Puggles shirt was a big hit. Who can resist a cute platypus!

Rachel decided that the blue snow cone was a bit hit

Tonight after walking into the kitchen, looking around and coming to terms with the fact that I had not planned ahead and thawed out anything, I checked my computer. "Uncle Daniel's at Chick-fil-a tonight! Saddle up." And off we went to see our favorite magician. Ran into Heather P. and the boys. So we spent the evening with some chicken, waffle fries, and a table-side trick from Uncle Daniel. If anyone needs a magician in the Indy area - www.daniellusk.com :)

More Colts

A montage of the evening in jerky vertigo inducing video clips. :)

Birthday Trippin'

Sarah, Heather, and I always go out for each other's birthdays. Tonight for my birthday it was a trip to the Colts game. A pre-season game, but special in that it was the first game in the new Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts are not really know for their wonderful preseaon play. And when Jim Sorgi, the back-up quarterback didn't even start, you know you may be in for a long evening!

Heather and Sarah are just thrilled to make it up the escalator! See that mass of people in the lower left corner. Thousands of people entering the north gate - 2 escalators!

Hey! It's Peyton (blue shirt) So what if he's fuzzy, barely recognizable from our seats and isn't wearing his jersey. That's our quarterback!

Before the game they made a big hoopla and opened up the roof and the north wall of windows. It really was neat especially while the sun was setting. Frankly with how the Colts played, the open north windows were one of the most spectacular things that happened.

Heather demonstrating how tiny the players looked with her fingers.

Final score: Bills 20, Colts 7. The real winner with 2 great friends and 1 memorable evening: ME! I will try to post some video later. You won't want to miss Heather's dance moves!

Important Service Announcement

FYI - OxyClean laundry stain remover and Arm & Hammer Shower cleaner with OxyAction are not one and the same. One gets pesky stains out of your clothes. The other gets nasty soap scum out of the shower. If you mix them up, your shower will smell laundry clean fresh, but will be a soapy mess! I'm just saying.

I need a vacation....oops....I just got back from one. Maybe that's the problem!

Congratulations Dusty!

Dusty took his last of 3 exams for a Microsoft Professional Developer Certification. He passed it! Yea!! After seemingless non-stop studying for the last 14 months he can finally take a break!

Out with the gals & Matt Redman

I ventured out to Conseco Fieldhouse this evening with 5 ladies from church to go see Matt Redman. OK...really it was a Joyce Meyer conference, but Matt Redman was the worship leader. I really have never listened to Joyce Meyer and I guess people I know have varying opinions of her, but I really went to hear Matt Redman. Have I stated enough times that I went to see Matt Redman. :) But really, the evening was very enjoyable. I had to chuckle to myself about on of the ladies sitting behind me. She would burst out every so often with a "Teach it Joyce!", "Yes, Joyce!", or "Tell 'em Joyce!" I wanted to snap a couple of photos for you, so after it had been announced several times that flash photography was not permitted, I turned off the flash and snapped a few. That wasn't working so I changed a couple of settings, hit the shutter, and of course the flash fired.

Not what I was wanting. After looking around to see if someone was coming to reprimand me, I turned the flash off again and tried once more. There was a wall of moving lights behind the band that confused the daylights out of my camera. It didn't know what to focus on. So I got this gem!

After that I gave up, but I did snap this of me and my friend Janelle before everything got started. I told her that I could post it and tell everyone we were at a Guns 'n Roses concert or something like that. She said that the lady behind us shoots that out of the water! :)

Yeah, OK, grandma probably isn't down with Axl Rose. So here we are at the Joyce...I mean..Matt Redman concert. HA!

Also, pray for Dusty tomorrow. He will be taking the last of his exams for the Microsoft Professional Developer certification around 1 PM. YEA!!!!!

1st day of the 5th grade

Aaron was back to school this morning. Our subdivision was redistricted to a different elementary school this year, so Aaron was also off to a new school. He was a little nervous about not knowing anyone, but when he came home today he said that he had a great day. He will have a substitute for the first 6 weeks because his teacher is on maternity leave. Another first was that he rode his bike to school. We are in the walking zone for our new school, so there is no bus service. Aaron rode with one of his friends in the neighborhood. He is currently lobbying for a new bike. :)

That's my girl

It was time to get Rachel ready for bed tonight and she told me, "Mom, just a minute. I have to take their picture." She was lining up her Little People and snapping away. :)

Getting back in the groove

I spent the better part of today catching up on laundry, bills, mail, e-mail, you name it. Tonight is Meet the Teacher night at school. One more day of summer vacation then it's back to school! Yea!! I wasn't able to post video when we was on vacation so here's a small sampling for you.

Home!

Total miles: 1,635
Car: Trashed!
Me: Tired...Good night!

Family Pics

One of the must-do tasks while we were here was to take a family photo on the beach. So decked out in our white shirts we headed out to the state park to take these pics. Besides I needed an updated portrait to go above the sofa.

Warning: Avert your eyes! :)

It's Sunny! Finally!

We woke up this morning to bright sunshine. After a bite to eat it was everyone down to the beach. Had to make sure we slathered on the sunblock today.

The little one on the left - tan and brown. The one on the right - not so much.

And here's the lifeguard driving away after warning Dad and Dusty that they going out a little too far and that they needed to be careful of the strong currents. We figured that the brillant reflection off of their white, not-so-tan midwestern skin gave them away that they had no business being out that far. :)

33rd Birthday - Part 3

After the rain rolled out the day got much better. Thanks to my mom and dad who watched the kids, Dusty and I went out tonight

Here's Mom and Dad because I haven't posted their photo yet and Becky wasn't sure that they were in fact with us. :)

We went out on the Okaloosa Island Pier and then ate at Floyd's Shrimp house right on the beach. I had the Coco-Loco Shrimp...Dusty...chicken strips. After that we walked along the beach as the sun set.

Here's Dusty recreating the crane kick from The Karate Kid. That was a hoot!

And on the way home, we saw this

Mmmmm....hot Krispy Kremes! The perfect way to end a birthday!

33rd Birthday - Part 2

Dusty asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year. I told him that I wanted to sit on the beach and be at peace. We finally caught a break in the weather and headed down to the beach. It was so windy and the water was so turbulent that the beach was red-flagged with no swimming allowed. It still was really neat to watch the waves crash in. It did feel like we were being sandblasted walking down to the water's edge. No playing in the surf today, maybe a dip in the pool later.

33rd Birthday

Continuing our week of birthdays...today is my 33rd birthday. I'm in Florida, one block from the ocean, and it's RAINING! Yuck! But we have high hopes for this afternoon. And Dusty is taking me out tonight. Have a great day...I'm off to check the radar. :)

Destin Part 3

The day didn't start out too promising today. Rain and lots of it. So after lounging around and jumping in the pool for a short bit while there was a patch of sunshine, the afternoon was spent napping. Aaahh.... Then we headed out to the beach. The waves were really coming in today.

Don't I look special! :) I may try the sandy, windblown, salty look when I get home.

Fortunately we have not seen very many of these guys!

Happy Birthday Dusty!

Vacationing Vicariously Part 2

I'm sitting here watching the rain come down, so I thought I take a blogging break. First of all, Happy 36th Birthday to Dusty! I may venture out in search of a cake later.

I left Dusty at our pool on lifeguard duty while Mom and I took a walk along the beach. The kids have been in the pool for hours on end.

View of the beach this morning. Hopefully it won't rain for too long.

For those who wish to vacation vicariously

The view from the lounge chair. Relax...enjoy

I know I am

We're Here!

After 14 hours and 800 and some miles we are here in Destin, Florida. (By the way - travelling in a car with a 10-year old who has been wearing his shoes without any socks results in a car with a terrible stench! Blah!) The weather is great and the beach as beautiful as I remember. And as a bonus we're picking up a wireless network here at the house and I can share our vacation with you. :)

Eating a picnic lunch somewhere in Alabama

Dusty and Rachel out by the pool in our backyard

This one is just for Mrs. El Cinco...today's dinner at Cracker Barrel!

Dusty and Aaron are out in the pool. Rachel is taking a MUCH NEEDED nap!!! And I'm off to Wal-mart for supplies. After nappy time...it's off to the beach.

Life is a Highway...

...we'll be driving it all day long! Packed and loaded. The space where Rachel is standing is for the cooler. Leaving at o'dark thirty. (Translated: EARLY!) We will not have internet at our house, but I'll try to find a way to share some of our vacation with you.

Sometimes you have to work for it

I love Sarah and her family. Her kids are great; I treat them like my own. :) But I do make sure I have taken my vitamins and have had my coffee before I photograph them together. They keep me on my toes. :)

We decided to get in the kids photos before my vacation and school starting. I told Sarah that she would have to pick me up because my car was in the shop. So with her 4 kids, my 2 kids, and 2 Archer children thrown in for good measure we headed off to the park. I took each of the kids individually and then we buckled down for the group shot. Here's what ensued.

Here we go: you will notice who is NOT smiling. OK I may have my work cut out for me.

Come on Josiah, just a quick smile please......nothing

After a few minutes the girls get serious, "Josiah, SMILE!" Josiah looks mildly concerned.

Abbey and Emma take matters into their own hands. Yep, I'm sure that will get him to smile.

Lauren says, "This is never going to work....she's going to make us stay out here all day....would you please just smile!"

Josiah says, "Fine I'll smile....I just won't open my eyes." No folks he didn't just blink; I have 15 photos like this one. :)

So I go to the old standby. Hey guys, let's do a funny one. Then we'll do the good one. OK...Josiah. Yeah - nothing

Then I pulled out my trump card...the ace in the hole. Let's have a nice one...just for Nana!

BINGO!! - The money shot.