tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45055452489160133392024-03-21T23:38:18.100-05:00Life and Times of the James GangCrystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-16912740040778718932020-03-21T11:50:00.001-05:002020-03-21T11:50:30.902-05:00Let Your FAITH by bigger than your fear.Dear Aslan,<div>
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You may be wondering why I am only a picture on the phone right now, but I have my reasons. You're only 2 years old and you won't understand what's happening in the world right now and you probably won't remember this time next year. For the next few weeks, the world has stopped and I'm not with you to tell you about it. Here's why.</div>
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Taylor and I made a commitment to go on a mission trip with our church to New York City. Taylor raised money by only asking for money for Christmas. He gave up trying out for basketball at school, so he could go on the trip. We wrote letters to friends and family asking for prayers and donations. About a week before the trip, we were able to pay for our parts in full, which was a blessing in itself.</div>
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Reports on the news kept saying that New York City was a hotbed for the COVID-19 or the Coronavirus as it's commonly called. Pictures of people wearing masks and gloves bombarded us every time we turned on the news. I asked Taylor on a daily basis if he still wanted to go on the mission trip. He would always say yes. I gave him one more chance to step out gracefully the day before the trip, but the response I got was, "Mom, I'm not afraid! Let's go!" accompanied by a teenage eye roll and some Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl Champion flair. </div>
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So, last Saturday morning your brother and I headed out to New York with 13 other of our friends in Christ. We spent all day traveling and made it to our final destination around 6:30 New York time that evening.</div>
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In a city that never sleeps, it seemed a bit concerning. I had prepped Taylor for a busy time. Streets would be full, taxis and cars would honk a lot and public transportation would be standing room only. The sidewalks would be packed and the restaurants and other tourist attractions would be busy. That wasn't the case. </div>
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New York felt like a ghost town in more ways than one. I had only been there once before, but it was nothing like I remembered at all. On our first day of sight seeing, we didn't really get to see much of anything. The places where we wanted to look around were empty. The Freedom Tower was chained off with signs.</div>
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We could only see things from a distance and had to keep our distance from everyone else.</div>
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Wall Street was even empty except for one corner souvenir shop.</div>
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Later that day, we ended up in Times Square after a brief walk in Central Park. That could have been the perfect opportunity to share Jesus with so many people, but there was no one to be seen. Even Broadway was dark and that broke my heart since I'm a big fan of theater, music and the arts. Taylor didn't seem to mind, though.</div>
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We ended up eating at a place called Junior's which is famous for cheesecake. We all sat around the empty restaurant laughing and talking and having a good time with the servers who were there and smiling, trying to keep spirits up for a little bit longer until they had to shut their doors to the public the next day. I remembered going to Junior's on my trip before and having to wait to get a seat. We walked right in and were taken straight to a table. This kind of service was unheard of in such a popular place like this.</div>
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The best part of my day was a sermon that we heard in the morning at a smaller church. It didn't matter that size of the church, the message was clear and it was about missions. We cannot fear what we do not now. We were called to serve even in tough times and we are meant to share the love of Jesus with everyone. The overall message in my opinion was "God's got this." When I walked out the doors that afternoon, I was ready to serve in any way that I could.</div>
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So, the next day we all got up and went on our first mission: Going to Jackson Heights to teach English as a Second Language and help the community in any way we could. The subway and the bus we took were pretty much empty except for our team, but that didn't stop us. We went into the community center, got our assignments and were ready and waiting for anyone that showed up to learn English. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a classroom with six ladies in a citizenship class. Teaching is my thing, Mr. Aslan, so I felt right at home helping these ladies learn what they needed. The men that went with us were not as fortunate to get to hang out with our new friends, but they(including Taylor) did an excellent job cleaning and sanitizing the center for anyone who was going to come in that day.</div>
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We spent the rest of the day walking around the community, going on a scavenger hunt, cleaning the park in the community, and taking a prayer walk.</div>
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Your brother had no problems going up to someone who didn't even speak his language to try to ask for help with scavenger hunt items. He had no fear in that category. He also had no fear when people came into the community center that evening and talked to whoever he could despite the language barrier.</div>
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The plan was to stay in New York for 5 days, but due to the city shutting down everywhere( as well as at home), it was decided that we take a flight home the next day. </div>
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Our mission team agreed that it was the safest and reasonable thing to do, although most of us thought that our work in New York City wasn't done, yet.</div>
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Looking back, I was one of those people on my team. I didn't get the chance to share with anyone while I was in New York, but this is what I'm coming back with. In the short time that we were in New York City, I did get the chance to fellowship with fellow believers. We talked, we laughed, we shared with each other. Some of us ate cheesecake. Others of us ordered food we couldn't find anywhere in our small town of Kearney, MO.We even played a crazy card game together.</div>
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Most of all, Aslan, I saw who your brother is. In between bathing in hand sanitizer ever 2 minutes, your brother is fearless. He has no problems talking with anyone, anytime, or any place. Even before we got on our first plane on our way to New York, he was talking to the lady in baggage claim who was from Jordan. He talked with the leader of Urban Nations, he talked with complete strangers in the church we attended. He showed grace to everyone he came into contact with, but at a social distance of 6 feet or more, of course. You may not get to see how fearless he is everyday since he's a lot older than you, and is on his own mission to leave home after he graduates high school, but it is one of his best qualities.</div>
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Through all of our trip this verse ran through my mind on a daily basis: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).</div>
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So, remember that even though you're a few more miles away from us than I want you to be, we are staying away to protect our family. I get daily updates and phone calls with Facetime and Zoom. We'll be together again, soon, little lion cub. </div>
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I just want to you to know that your brother and I were trying our best to show the love of Jesus to people in an area that fear has seemed to seep into their daily lives at this time in our country. </div>
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Keep smiling and we'll see each other in a few more days.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Mama </div>
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P.S. We all did learn a valuable lesson from our friend, Amanda. Just because you are behind a New Yorker, don't follow her everywhere. Find a laugh everywhere you go.</div>
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Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-40437075824335827062011-08-09T21:16:00.002-05:002011-08-09T21:17:21.952-05:00O-M-GTwo days back from vacation and I finally have a chance to sit down and recover (and not fold the million loads of lake laundry)/The eight day vacation was somewhat relaxing(during naptimes). I finished 3 books, made dinner and ate some yummy food on Chopped nights.<br />
So, now that vacation is over, it is time for me to make a list of some things to remember. If you plan on vacationing at the Lake of the Ozarks, please take note.<br />
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13. Thank your youngest sister-in-law for teaching your oldest child new phrases such as OMG.<br />
12. When meeting your caravan at Bass Pro Shop, be sure that they have left before you and not returned to their house three or more times for missing items.<br />
11. If you rent a lake house and decide to rent a boat, make sure that the lake house STILL has a dock.<br />
10. If afore mentioned boat is all ready rented, DO NOT under any circumstances, trust Craigslist.<br />
9. When vacationing with 14 people and expecting a fish fry, be sure that at least 2 people(male and/or female) are willing to clean and skin any catfish that is caught. Blank stares and pointing are not acceptable.<br />
8. Be sure to make nice with the neighbors who were terrified of the previous renters. They can (and did) call the cops on you on your way to Big Surf Water Park.<br />
7.If one drain is clogged in the lake house, it won't be long before several of the other sinks start leaking--kitchen, bathroom, etc. etc.<br />
6. DO NOT attempt to potty train any child( let alone 3) under the age of 3 in the lake house.<br />
5. If you do attempt to continue the potty training of three children, make sure the washer and dryer are working for the several thousand mishaps.OOPS! Some snakes don't make it to the toilet. In fact, some snakes slide all over the floor and have to be cleaned up by an ill fated vacuum.<br />
4. On the day of returning the rented boat(not from Craigslist), do not freak out about using a dock that was next door unoccupied until that day. If they haven't said anything for the past three days, chances are they still don't care on the fourth day. In fact, the people occupying the house probably won't even answer the door.<br />
3. Do not attempt to modify the way Hand and Foot is played. For some relatives, change is not good. Red threes were not meant to be thrown on the floor!<br />
2. On the return trip home, make sure all tires are good. Be sure to notice any bulges that may cause your steering wheel to wobble. Trust the person that lives out in the "country" to take you to Orscheln's to get a tire change. Apparently, not all Walmarts have a tire center.<br />
1. Finally, be sure to update your GPS so it can find your lunch destination on the way home. If you don't, you may cause bodily harm to the passenger and or driver of the lead car in the caravan.<br />
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And that my friends, was the last vacation of the season. Taylor starts school next week and Josiah the week after. What am I going to do with all the time on my hands??? I think I got it covered. :o)Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-13175928197101417212011-03-01T20:33:00.000-06:002011-03-01T20:33:15.189-06:00Ides of March 14 days earlyCan I have a do over? This is how my day went. <br />
Got the boys ready and took Taylor to preschool. Then, I stayed and talked to his teachers and a friend of mine until 9:30. Whoops, I did have some errands to run. So, now, my three hours to get stuff down with one kid just got knocked down to 2 hours. So, Josiah and I cruise to Babies R Us because we are trying to locate a potty alarm for Taylor. I tried to explain to three teenage guys what I needed. Note to Babies R US human resources: please find employees that know a little bit about children BEFORE you hire them. I'm pretty sure I was talking to three deer caught in headlights. Long story short, Babies R Us does not have potty alarms. Then, we went to Kohl's and I finally found the right size shirt I've been looking for for a birthday present since December. At least I got something accomplished. <br />
After Kohl's, Siah and I head over to Target to get a couple of items. I got in line and realized I forget something, so I get back out of line to look for it. They didn't have what I wanted, so back to line I stroll. I get in line and the powers that be person tells the cashier break time right before it is my turn to check out. There was NO ONE behind me. Could she have waited until she scanned my two items? Apparently not.<br />
I look at my watch and it's 11:15. SHOOT!! Gotta get back to Kearney, so I'm not late picking Taylor up. Josiah and I drive home, no problems. Which is amazing since I have to drive down 152 in Liberty around lunchtime. We get home, I get out and hear SSSHHHHHHH! Guess what, I have a tire losing air. Not just any tire. The same exact tire I had patched the day after our lovely snowstorm last week. So, after assessing the situation, I take Josiah inside to go potty. At this point I take off my jacket and look down. I forgot to change my shirt this morning!!! I'm wearing my pajama shirt. Wow, that would have been embarrassing if I ever unzipped my jacket.<br />
Now, back to Josiah. Um, his Elmo potty seat is nowhere to be found in the bathroom. And, apparently, there is an invisible vortex that sucks him into the toilet when Elmo is not on the toilet. Only the toilet at home, though. I look all over the place and cannot find it. He goes to the bathroom anyway.<br />
I take Josiah back outside and go pick up Taylor a little early in case my tire goes completely flat. TOO LATE! The tire is flat, flat., flat! I drive the 2 blocks anyway and get Taylor home.<br />
After the boys go down for naps, I decide to put the spare on myself because that's the kind of girl I am. I get the jack out, the tire ready, and call Brad to ask where the four way is. He has no idea. NOT HELPING . . . and the jack needs hydraulic fluid. So, its a bust. I go inside and clean up my desk.<br />
Brad comes home from work with a four way and a jack, thanks to my dad. The four way isn't metric and the jack won't raise the car up enough to get the tire on. Another call to dad and a 4 x 4 later, the tire is on.<br />
We eat dinner and then decide to take a few things to the storage unit. We get to the storage unit type in our code and get "Access denied, LOCKOUT." Luckily, the owners answered their phone and got that taken care of.<br />
So, if I was a drinking girl, I might sidle up to a strawberry margarita on the rocks, no salt. But, I'm not, so I will settle with a hot shower and a good book.<br />
Beware the Ides of March. They might just bite you in the behind when you're not looking!Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-25484156694170090272011-02-10T20:23:00.004-06:002011-02-10T20:42:14.638-06:00Mr. Big ShotWell, that was an exciting doctor's visit. I had been refusing all week to tell Taylor that he was going to get shots at his doctor's appointment this week. I thought that since he had gone through blood tests and flu shots that this wouldn't be a big deal for him. Oops, I made a mistake.<br /><div> </div><div>As we are driving in the car, I tell Taylor that he MAY have to get some shots today. His reply: "No, I don't need a shot. Shots hurt. I don't like shots." All right, noted little guy. All the way there he was trying to convince me that he didn't need shots. It didn't work.</div><br /><div>The nurse calls us back to get the typical height and weight check(Third percentile, by the way. He's still on the chart. Whew!) The first words out of Taylor's mouth are "Am I going to get a shot today?" The nurse just smiled and said I'm not sure, I'll have to check. He makes small talk with the nurse. She laughs and tries to keep the shot conversation to a minimum. She tells Taylor she has to "go check" to see if he needs any shots and leaves. He plays around in the room for a little while and the nurse comes back. She peeks in the door and proceeds to tell me that he needs 4 shots today and has he had a flu shot? Um, four shots in one day is good for us. Just because he is 5, doesn't mean he needs a shot for each year he is alive. And I don't need that guilt riding on me. </div><br /><div>The doctor comes in and does the usual health history type thing and uses the word "immunizations" several times. The good doctor doesn't use the s-h-o-t word, he says. Pretty sure Taylor didn't pick up on that. He did pick up on the fact that the doctor left the room and we did not leave. He did not want a shot, let alone 4! He even tried "hiding" by covering his eyes as he sat on the bed waiting. Maybe if I hide, they can't give me a shot.</div><br /><div>The nurses came in and Taylor told them point blank: "I don't need a shot. I'm strong and healthy. See? No shots for me." The nurses did their best. I had to hold Taylor down by his arms. The nurses had him by his legs. His little face turned bright red as he cry/screamed I don't want a shot!. Apparently, there was a struggle with his legs. I couldn't tell you because I turned my head and closed my eyes when the needles came out. Some mom I am, huh? </div><br /><div>After the nurses were all done, they said they would bring him some treats for doing good. The nurse brought Taylor four suckers. He grabbed those right away. He refused a bag of chocolate chip cookies because he didn't want a shot. She tried to give him 4 stickers(including Spiderman and SpongeBob) and he didn't want those either. Poor guy was very adamant about not wanting anything because he didn't want a shot. He couldn't stop crying. The little guy had been traumatized.</div><br /><div>Well, any good mom knows that ice cream and milkshakes cure just about anything. So, I stopped at Sonic and got him a chocolate milkshake for his troubles. I think the picture says it all:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572255786172618914" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmnI5IpY5cplMYibdJhlFLCl9Qu3T2fMIqTM_yaCad7Z5O73t2cUahLy2E9nGdAPIo-8i9QHIMfyhaitsMY-KC-qyFBjGLtS75KLYgsZ1gvVptNdU6rfbK5pAoNbWP-uuQBBXTd95m1k/s320/taylor+4++shot.jpg" /></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-67560351474096029062011-01-31T15:57:00.011-06:002011-02-01T17:01:54.595-06:00Half a DecadeTaylor turned five over the weekend. That's a whole hand! He has decided that since he is five, he's going to try to buckle his seatbelt by himself and pee standing up. Not sure how that second one is going to work out considering he has to stand on a footstool. I see lots of bathroom cleaning coming on in the near future.<br /><br />Taylor's birthday turned into more of a birth-weekend. Saturday was his actual birthday. He got to plan our day. So, he chose to go to Chik-Fil-A for breakfast. Mmm, chicken and biscuits, yummy for me. Then, he got his pictures taken at Target with all his Toy Story stuff. I'd post a picture, but I'm pretty sure there are copyright laws against that. After he was all pictured out, we went to FunRun. Apparently, everybody and their brother(including Josiah) was at Fun Run that day. Taylor was all over the place. He did wait for his brother to climb the big stairs in the Batman slide before he went down the slide, though. Such a good big brother(even if he didn't want for him to slide down with him).<br /><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Q5JW_65rv00lbdKsRiGpCDzXPOdlcfEpMRCdXY49ktJkxSOt7aXJJNAPwPHkAarIlrsARPGDJWb5TytSf3cqqfaTrtXFTEoEphWMGL7ZH1hQxSFQsN7anNOrJSbVcOM4aiyR0YepWSg/s1600/fun+run+taylor.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 192px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568849539366652802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Q5JW_65rv00lbdKsRiGpCDzXPOdlcfEpMRCdXY49ktJkxSOt7aXJJNAPwPHkAarIlrsARPGDJWb5TytSf3cqqfaTrtXFTEoEphWMGL7ZH1hQxSFQsN7anNOrJSbVcOM4aiyR0YepWSg/s320/fun+run+taylor.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMtwU8RWAIE1LHouUlgn5duOV1gN257MS-_8SeipTG1Oy8cvD6JVzbmVXkjkRtLhzf1kZgN61sbKFUQ787aPkJZ2K_PXlPLQ5O5RTa5gpL8MFVqygea_MidIv20A-Jc9wt2wk4ueb7Wc/s1600/fun+run+josiah.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 192px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568849543041952930" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMtwU8RWAIE1LHouUlgn5duOV1gN257MS-_8SeipTG1Oy8cvD6JVzbmVXkjkRtLhzf1kZgN61sbKFUQ787aPkJZ2K_PXlPLQ5O5RTa5gpL8MFVqygea_MidIv20A-Jc9wt2wk4ueb7Wc/s320/fun+run+josiah.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /> </div><div> Boys at Play!</div><br /><div align="left">Saturday night we went to On the Border, commonly known as the Purple Chicken Place by Taylor. Don't ask, it's a long story. He found Nana and Pa there and ate dinner with them. He got a cool fish backpack filled with two shirts and Ramone and Doc from Cars. He was very excited about his new cars. . . and his clothes. </div><br /><div align="left">After the excitement of his actual birthday, Taylor went to bed , but not before I got his 9:11 P.M. birthday picture playing with his new Toy Story toy Mom and Dad got him for his birthday.</div><div align="left"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568472908739343522" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxzCZpRXf1F-mlbxSlGREUlBOTcrHe-qjkMgHf9tSezHN16no3B0qYVOQD5cmyWHQ0IdjR_YkeZcDftVdTiLR1oBSrcIc3GW8XEuH9Ff78f940tK-0cLUsX1-b1TTBCh-GA60MGpPdWy8/s320/Taylor+exactly+5.jpg" /></div><div align="left">He woke up ready to go to his birthday party at the roller rink. Before that, I had to attempt to make a Buzz Lightyear cake. I had strict orders to not forget the wings, Mommy! How did I do?<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568851817698420098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRoEP28ZlayqTVXeOC-6URmOgID4iwJblRy3auK-w-nkWit_hZCPPg64hvzm3EhcyhjLIoMTYhl105zzKp855j5oxqC7rFOnpn2QLdL548kSbve9-DEBm5xXKMD2z8oQH_h86IXxli0sI/s320/buzz+cake.jpg" />This lovely creation took me all morning. I was a heathen and missed church, but I did go to Sunday School. So, hopefully that counts.</div><br /><div align="left">Finally, after a quick little nap for Josiah, we went to Liberty Rolladium. Unfortunately, my camera was acting up, so I didn't get too many pictures. But, I did get this cute little "couple skate" picture with his long lost friend, Averi.<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568852998028064322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-6voMJq9kq5swSXG-ODn6buTKe7hEVmBCFb1JmWsoq36VMM0w20-sL-I4Gip2zKjViCH-5pwcvFySuDR2VnBjoLFiUxkZokb1RNqI4xqQWq_xKNXc-MELzOtXCZA3Sf1ynRdtDyBZBg/s320/CIMG4339.JPG" /><br /><div align="left">He told her she looked beautiful. Such a little player, that Taylor. </div><br /><div align="left">While Taylor was putting the moves on Miss Averi, Josiah was strutting his stuff on the rink. He totally is Mr. Independent when it comes to skating. The cutest thing is he will stop wherever he is on the rink and just start dancing to the music. I didn't get pictures, but some random guy at the Rolladium did. Didn't quite getting him dancing, but still cute.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568855365234459234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mSOx1Mh0I9Dqku1UUbn126qB8-o7xYqAhrthgGqjBM0H0n9LLBirGSF2IlEsghIM-O2TLrxnMhro-WKgSysvbz1GZlWHHudwZ_CECgyDyjeZNhHMMHVB9BpfxZuZS79LZuWELPFHi-E/s320/Josiah+skating+1.JPG" /></div></div></div></div><br /><p>Thanks random guy with a camera that works!</p><p>The birthday party ended with Taylor putting his handprint on the birthday wall, at the very bottom where he could reach. So, if you ever go to Northland Rolladium, look for his dark blue handprint at the very bottom of the wall. You better hurry, though, it's about filled up and will be painted over very soon.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 210px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568856806677323922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KoScEnvuyKDW56C7gYM_PPakvZqKL7eItzMvS9gkp8pmhPCdJYpUEeoDmfNKwiV58M3yk4n_8DULZlVl5LafCUy4qMhnjmRpdOrO_CYno4Jcdqr11UuQn1XP5eWISxm-yIl5fsDuYiA/s320/taylor+hands.jpg" /></p><br />And so ends the birthday andventures of Mr. Taylor. He'as all ready talking about how old he will be next year! Sigh.Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-11563562625988769232010-08-28T20:41:00.011-05:002010-08-28T21:31:17.865-05:00And the Home of the . . . ChiefsA free look at the newly renovated Chiefs stadium AND free parking. Only had to pay for food. Heck, yes, let's go. Of course, when it comes to the Chiefs(as you may recall from an earlier post), the James gang includes Brad's family. So, even though Brad's mom was fighting back horrendous pain from shingles, she managed the car ride to the stadium and the walking all over the new grounds. First, we walked out and actually looked at the stadium. The Hall of Fame names that were placed all over the stadium we're replaced by an LCD screen that wrapped all the way around the stadium.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510642268565877474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaXN-zdDyR3vITmaNxOM-VoE37240MCrKaTSwOlwxXdmajmSyOtqZrBL1a-ttiC9CTN9YWgGMtp5h-mAh5XezCVeI0Fvduk6_AaQSfgN1lzqCkSq-IPEWghF41NC97pY5bwNelSWBnoo/s320/CIMG4190.JPG" border="0" /><br />This was also the first time that Josiah and Taylor had ever been to Arrowhead . . and they probably won't return for a few more years. I'm don't think they are quite ready to have beer spilled all over them in the heat of the moment.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510642929455124610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vkeNsVG2XXeFrAVdbERMzBAbmXUXRAszt2uoLe-2OXu07JYfrJumXAyMz5kDUS8q4BtTGZLhFU3-I5CCOJ5HH3zreAn0g58lSyOei5CqE2BrNXbW6pYp4X5p1OC2b4KT8edj6v124ok/s320/CIMG4188.JPG" border="0" /><br />This was the best I could do for a picture together. YOU try getting a two year old and a four year old to look at you and smile at EXACTLY the same time. They don't pay photographers enough for that!<br /><br />So, after we took a sneak peek at the stadium we headed up to the eighth floor. We weren't allowed on the ninth floor--no press pass. The windows were from floor to ceiling and you could get a perfect view of your fall,er, uh, parking lot. This didn't bother Taylor, Dee, Josiah or Brad at all. On the other hand, Eddie and I being the more "cautious" of the group thought it was better off if we stood behind them while they looked down. I mean, someone would have to grab onto their shirt if they fell through. Right? Right.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510644380975597170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4GnR-46AUzwxJtr1MIVBXmQvwPuV_czcnkU8U8v46iB-vkZsT4gLPCVYE6D_SATYHMtZC58sFtvVCDgETB-ZhNc05SvjmUrnMgbRF5AHguYYo77rufqI_02g2MMCrwEM_64aswmemKc/s320/CIMG4191.JPG" border="0" />After the lovely view, we walked on to get some food. Hard to believe we were walking on carpet the whole time and there were loveseats and couches in place. We felt a little out of place in our jeans and T-shirts, but got some good food. Even though, I didn't get it, but sampled Brad's, I would highly recommend the brisket burger. Yum!</p><p>Dinner was followed by a walk through the Hall of Honor otherwise known as the "Taylor, don't touch that!" portion of the evening. Brad finally put him on his shoulders for a much safer and cost-effective tour. I'm sure when it is less crowded, it will be much easier to enjoy.</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510645987294413666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3o1fvpHAsV3wILwUAlzv_ezPANAeN5rxiHqv6RtzI6QaoPTrXzyoVPeLHRu-hJAPLVUvGB5MLQowJQt-QrY4t4GKCzmI7C2RKGxqh1psGUwdO0AeU4yM2m1pm8M8Kb5rE0tMDUXGawtw/s320/CIMG4198.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p>We finally sat down to watch an open practice of the Chiefs. Unfortunately, this was cut short by a four year old that kept asking, "Let's get ice cream, Dee!" Promises, promises. So, we went back to the food court to look for ice cream which we thought would be easy. Apparently, not. Taylor pretty much had a meltdown because he was prepared for ice cream. So, I asked one of the food court employees and he practically sent us around the entire stadium just for a frosty malt. I believe the oldest grandchild is awfully spoiled. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510650128369294722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjertz2YmzObj6Rep2TeyOwE-snl7frL0C3Z-W9wtVDLfZmexasGTwo0P7YHUZUhAINX_DuW2fyISZWJ9Qvxnb0clYmwxD5q_0MuW8tSdc9WzKkX2VocaL2zm8ubMB1Chyphenhyphennz0mBSBnQqMo/s320/CIMG4203.JPG" border="0" />The other little guy is awfully onery. Look at him trying to sneak in a drink of Dee's water. Those big eyes are going to get him into lots of trouble someday.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510650138757677906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDP1CWAMBdS9lLsayYTQr6UoNhzmYVPKgjj05OZk8APwrZsTOjIPlSax0GgoaqTFhmlGjZFsSFOU9_SucE5YoO5ppFzDeYlF8gVCuFqAhgoQwGfNVFefHheTMewQx9-SGqOA6Xevw1aw/s320/CIMG4204.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p>The trek around the stadium wasn't all that bad. I looked on the wall beside me and the stadium had put up pictures of last year's high school state champions. So, being as I live in one of those towns(Go Bulldogs!), I noticed a picture of purple and gold football players. I did a double take when I read the name of the school. The lovely people who put the pictures on the wall and had the names printed spelled Kearney- K-E-A-R-N-Y. That's permanent, folks. They spend 325 million on renovations and they don't have time to proofread?! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that. </p><p>The Chiefs looked pretty good since they were playing against each other. Too bad that didn't rub off last night against the Eagles. But you know, this family, they just can't get enough of football. It's like seeing a bad car wreck, you just can't help but look. I guess it's time to prepare myself for the season. This means bolting down anything that can be pelted at the TV and reminding my lovely husband that some things you just should not say out loud when little ears are in the room. Oh yeah, and if anyone sees my house catch on fire or the roof cave in, please make sure you ask the authorities to go in and check on my husband. He'll be watching the game and won't notice a thing.</p><p><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-16371450952690134312010-07-21T15:51:00.006-05:002010-07-22T15:32:41.006-05:00The Weekend that WasOops.. overbooked. That's how I would describe the past week. It all started with a little thing called Saddle Ridge Ranch, aka VBS. I was the co-director of the preschool department and ran back and forth between three different classrooms to make sure everything was going according to planned. The first day it was not. This was the the day there were 23 4-5 year olds and about 12 kindergarten students working on crafts with not enough help. Needless to say, that got changed really quick. I'm pretty sure we were all exhausted by Thursday, which was a good thing since that was the last day and the Parent's program. It was Josiah's first program and Taylor's third. Those two are complete opposites when it comes to being on stage. It was fun to watch and I couldn't help but giggle.<br /><br />Also, during VBS week, Josiah's birthday fell smack dab in the middle of it. So, rather than do his party on his birthday, which would have been way too much, we decided to do it at the park on Saturday. Josiah thanks for being born in the summer so I can have outdoor parties for you, but please remember to tell the weather NOT to be 95 degrees with a horrendous heat index. I would appreciate it if you would lobby for the Kearney pool to open in the very near future.<br /><br />Oh, no , the fun didn't stop there. On Sunday, Brad and I went to the Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert at Starlight. Pretty sure we were the minority (age wise) in the crowd. We could smell the Geritol and Ben Gay everywhere. Also, pretty sure the encore was the best part of the show when the Doobies and Chicago played together. That is A LOT of instruments crammed onto one stage, but it was amazing.<br /><br />So, now you think, hey, it's Sunday, the weekend's over. Right? WRONG. Brad took Monday off and we headed to DCI at Staley High School that night with Taylor. Josiah got to stay with Nana and Pa. DCI is a drum corp show and Taylor did pretty well until after intermission. He was so thirsty and kept saying I'm tired. Apparently, I missed the fireworks when I went to go get hot dogs because people were not the most polite when it came to seats. It's a high school sports stadium, folks. Find a piece of the bleachers and GET OVER IT!<br /><br />We were on our way home at about 10:30 that night when my mom called to tell us that my brother-in-law was going to the ER because he was throwing up and having some major head pain. He stayed in the hospital until today after having a CAT scan, MRI, and CT. They all came back normal. So, finally it is Wednesday and I can't wait for the weekend to get here to do absolutely nothing. . .unless, of course, my sister-in-law decides to have my very first niece this weekend. I'd be okay with that.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />P.S. Photobucket and I are having some creative differences, so you'll have to check out Facebook for the pix and video.Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-73028001349809962622010-05-04T20:15:00.010-05:002010-05-04T21:16:33.286-05:00Apartment 32, Where Are You?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVI1bRUpsWu9HTFuxWQYh2ZjKoebSzQZznLlNbu1Dpo50_G2_DoHp6RQwBPdg1FX_HmXm4bsnnILZFLV69G7nATmfWjwv1pIKUhEKTtLlG1Qd75lFyV8Ta_2Yj9tALuVqk6BHyntKusw/s1600/IMAG0011.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467602530663764402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuVI1bRUpsWu9HTFuxWQYh2ZjKoebSzQZznLlNbu1Dpo50_G2_DoHp6RQwBPdg1FX_HmXm4bsnnILZFLV69G7nATmfWjwv1pIKUhEKTtLlG1Qd75lFyV8Ta_2Yj9tALuVqk6BHyntKusw/s320/IMAG0011.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Unfortunately, the building that apartment 32 occupied has ended up being a sorority house for the William Jewell Greek system. The college wanted to make the space available for "more traditional" students. I totally disagree with how the married housing was taken away. There was a reason it was there. In fact, there was a waiting list. Why would you take something away like that?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPedB6_NUXQxsNdoofHDT2vfzDzgK475PPWIYgOGhPs-XDXpLbQDG6wuOWeobxflJ0TjziryMa9w0fb7eHUmz8M30Ni4QlcHosYtb1-jmI9-CfCssajjZHKA5GezGu6haw3Ty4VgtUso/s1600/P1010397.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467590622797877058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPedB6_NUXQxsNdoofHDT2vfzDzgK475PPWIYgOGhPs-XDXpLbQDG6wuOWeobxflJ0TjziryMa9w0fb7eHUmz8M30Ni4QlcHosYtb1-jmI9-CfCssajjZHKA5GezGu6haw3Ty4VgtUso/s320/P1010397.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>5/4. I kept writing that date again and again today. There are some dates you remember vividly like your birthday or anniversary. The events of 9/11. I remember May 4th as the day my life got blown away, literally. May 4th, 2003 the James apartment at William Jewell was destroyed by a tornado along with Brad's Honda Accord.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467590632341691506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgckV9PKS9dKW20XTSggn_oDKFy6ff8xO1JeCy0thWFnEY4DLX7QNrGxxRvmClQwY5kvIGR89GfDRkEu7L1YiIuejQ4Buyqj8Cbji7ZVIwWjxyqQEqf9u3KPsg6umwFpQ6z1seiir7m9YA/s320/P1010418.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><p>The day seemed fairly normal. It was the weekend, so it was laundry day which meant we loaded up my Geo Tracker and headed to one of the parent's house for the day. The lucky washer and dryer ended up being Brad's parents house. We kept hearing reports about tornadoes in the area, but we never really thought it would be that close. Brad and my dad had went up to our apartment to deliver a new mattress for our bed. When they were there, sirens were blaring. The tornado was headed for William Jewell. Somehow, my mom had ended up over at Brad's parents house. Brad, Deena, Mom and I were all in the basement watching Katie Horner. Why we left Katie Horner on that day, I will never know. She is definitely not on my faves list of weather forecasters anymore. </p><br /><p>Anyway, my mom's a Kansas girl. She knew something was in the air and she wouldn't talk much. The sky was an eerie green and Mom had an idea of what was coming. Lucky for us we were holed up in the basement. It really does sound like a train going by in case you're wondering. The tornado went by in Gladstone and we got the all clear. Unfortunately, our laundry time was cut short because the power had gone out in Gladstone and we were in mid wash. It wasn't coming back on that night.</p><br /><p>Then, I get the news. We were eating at Steak and Shake and my mom calls me. "Have you talked to your sister?" she asked. I told her no. "You need to call her. Your apartments are on the news and she's been trying to get hold of you." I called Shannon and she told me that William Jewell married housing has been hit pretty bad and she couldn't tell if it was our row of apartments that were destroyed or not. I told her I would check it out.</p><br /><p>So, Brad gets the idea that he needs to go back to our apartment to grab his medicine. If you know Brad, he can think of just about anything to get in the middle of the action without being the center of attention. So, we get in the car and head towards home. Power lines are down everywhere. You have to have proof of residence to get to your house. Lucky for us, we had a bill in the car with our address to give to the nice officer with a shotgun. Yes, I said shotgun. (They were patrolling the streets of Liberty in golf carts with shotguns during this time and while everyone was in clean up stage.) </p><br /><p>We get to Jewell and tell one of the maintenance guys that we need to get to our apartment. He takes us for a ride on the golf cart and Brad says "Oh, wow." I look and see a bite taken out of our apartment building along with a pile of cars. I ask Brad, "Which one is your car." He slowly answers. "The one that's upside down." My answer. "Oh." That upside down car made the news and the local papers several times. Its sort of a trademark for the F4 tornado that hit Liberty.</p><br /><p>As I waited for Brad to go in carefully to our apartment, but not as carefully as our Highway Patrol man neighbor who was making sure his weapons were secure, the actual tornado devastation hit me. We had no place to live, graduation was in one week, I still had finals, we had one car, and we both had to be at different places at different times. So, I did what any girl would do in the situation. I cried. </p><br /><p>Then, I got over it. We ended up staying the night at Brad's parent's house(our temporary home for the week). Brad slept, but I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't stop thinking about what we were going to do. Everytime I tried to sleep, I had awful dreams and I would wake up. So, I figured it was time to have a long talk with the Man upstairs. Apparently, that long talk was helpful, because God provided us a place to live with our Jewell neighbors. William Jewell cancelled finals. He also provided another car. I wasn't picky about the car by any means, but I did joke that a blue Honda CR-V would be really helpful. Notice what I have now? Yep, I'm attached and its paid off. :o) People from our church, our parent's church,the schools we student taught in, our family all came to help us out in one way or another. It is amazing how prayers were answered in a matter of days!</p><br /><p>The most outrageous thing that happened was during clean up. I was sitting on the sidewalk taking a break when a man in a black shirt walked by. He just stood and looked around for a minute. I asked if he was looking for someone. He said no and asked if I lived here. Of course, I said yes, and we struck up a conversation. I turn around and there is a boom mic coming at me. We made the national news, folks. I've been on CNN. In fact, that lovely husband of mine decided it would be cute to kiss me on CNN. He's still paying for that by the way.</p><br /><p>So, every year May 4th comes around, I remember that tornado and I remember that things could always be worse. I look at it this way, if that tornado hadn't taken our apartment, we might still be living in a one bedroom apartment with no kids and dead end jobs. In fact, we might have never moved 5 times in one year, either. </p><br /><p>We may have never ended up in Kearney, "where its normal" as I jokingly say. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?</p><br /><p></p>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-56165274326981785022010-01-07T12:40:00.012-06:002010-01-07T13:24:51.225-06:00Snow day . . .AGAIN???<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Day 22: Yes, folks. Day 22 of my extended Christmas break. I think I might go crazy. Better yet, I think my children may go crazy. We have been stuck inside because of WAY below freezing temperatures and outside looks like this: <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424070523585478114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtVZ9sScMp1G8k7WxXPO1mDfWE0zkYY7BZletqnZFrlpkcYLWAUgxfrxuXuiLSlNR5Ii-Bi3Hz2rNxB3BDPV8lY_eSMQEoZXYVitTjb4cnl_94hhlZNYHzA1WAQlsiszS9jsTx7XDMhI/s320/CIMG3358.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><p>These are things that have amused me so far in the past 3 extra days of staying at home.<br /></p><p>1. Playing referee between Hoss and Little Joe (and this time Little Joe is not Josiah).<br /></p><p>2. Calling all my teacher friends that go to my church and letting our kids raid the gym for two hours.<br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JrBvtT3YyWjGViyMePP-oZSVP78_vs-ilQqv-SVvCZWEmjaYpgz2kIAVThZereFSbm5xv-LxlAq8OhZ4E_1qUe_ZqkWOATRJipKpjpAkUpdPemOAMDof4ufADKOSBVZh4j1jQ3SFeS4/s1600-h/CIMG3342.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424072615953146658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JrBvtT3YyWjGViyMePP-oZSVP78_vs-ilQqv-SVvCZWEmjaYpgz2kIAVThZereFSbm5xv-LxlAq8OhZ4E_1qUe_ZqkWOATRJipKpjpAkUpdPemOAMDof4ufADKOSBVZh4j1jQ3SFeS4/s320/CIMG3342.JPG" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424073960863955186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCj5aGoHW29WaO35JyOnK_oGUT-hZB5jUs2hPp7PNa75bqTTUMZsTtipTUqaB1_hRW4dVkIjlZlVz3bL3gLqa2Vf9qHgHunGoqQK1lelf8M4KePBIeFw51PHXr-TdYNoZXfd-fAsp1Yo/s320/CIMG3346.JPG" border="0" />3. Take random pictures of my kiddos at home.</p><br /><p>I call this "Josiah discovers the invention of the fork."<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424074460331431810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRcDSN-SNZQTW-yAlcByGNQgXmqiWmXCAR1_-oT3f8ZAPGMYpMz7O-K2xRC6uMdlBwc0H3mUX_cjLPWc3Q5AJ_Cd5NY7qhShJZkmwszFt5r2fpNRJcA6nHe2ama2avzjUdEGi2E5Fh9A/s320/CIMG3352.JPG" border="0" /></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><p>This one is "Hidden Taylor avoiding naptime."</p><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424075679389751186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvdmjD5N5DtA3p2jqNCdzp1tzHqXEk149Cmz3KBc5Do8ElUq-iGYj_suRPH80gOE-NguCE5l1mem4SgxXNy-EE-r1WH026Xs7oZxkeHF5TXaNINYyglZuL5YTmgLENhffLAYurvNw_w0/s320/CIMG3363.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424075976280776978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBt2FtyP9BbN0ORdiP1wZrrda0tYGswGc0-t9qWee26gOo1lYvmzGBqFTMxkONnWR2X-TEM_7iCOCmCoamBIsr9dhr5ewXIIBJzPOzUDBHdiqMetCSj-fRsZZJ0evNr7bPp05_vm-HHE/s320/CIMG3364.JPG" border="0" /></p></div></div><br /><p>4. Dance in my living room to the Beatles. Yes, the boys danced with me. (See, I am going crazy. I'm letting everyone know that I dance in my living room. Most people won't admit that.)</p><p>5. Made random comments on Facebook and updated my status more times than I do in one month.</p><p>6. Blogged. . . .and blogged some more.</p><p>7. Watched the news to see if I actually get to go back to work at all this season. My money is on "no."</p><p>8. Watched a movie on iTunes that Brad would never watch with me. 17 again isn't that bad and I did laugh a few times.</p><p>9. Searched the internet for random recipes. Nothing really sounded that good.</p><p>10.Did the laundry, washed dishes, cleaned up the living room and repeat. Everyday. Its a vicious cycle.</p><p>11. Reminding myself (and those around me) that I love snow and I'm not going to complain about it. In fact, I even turned off the news this morning because I was tired of listening to people whine about how cold it was outside and how treacherous the roads are. Please find the good news!</p><p>Guess what? I have at least one more day of this wonderful stuck inside weather. I think I wouldn't mind so bad if I was a stay at home mom who lived in a bigger house and I did this everyday, but when I have an "escape" to work and I can't go there, it just makes me a wee bit on the loopy side. If you see me anytime soon and my eyes are glazed over and I have a delirious smile on my face, you will know just how stir crazy my house has been in the past 23 days.</p><p>I'm sure if you check Facebook you will find out how day 23 went. I'm sure I'll post another status update.</p><p> </p><p> </p>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-66335782020877422162010-01-01T14:23:00.007-06:002010-01-01T20:46:27.485-06:00Plans WreckedSo, I was going to write a birthday blog yesterday. I had the boys down for a nap and my computer up and running and then I get a phone call from Brad. "I've had a slight fender bender, I'll call you with the details later." I wait a few minutes and he calls back. "I can't get my driver's side door open and there's stuff hanging down from underneath. I called the tow truck, you need to come get me." So, like the numbers on the calendar, my plans changed. If you want more details about Brad's slight fender bender ask him. But, for now I'm going to write what I was planning to write yesterday.<br /><br />The Bucket List(that would have been my original title)<br /><br />Its the end of the decade, which means I only have one more year before I enter the tridecade(I'm avoiding that dirty thirty word if you couldn't tell) of my existence. There are lots of things that I want to do in my lifetime and if you know me you know I'm all about writing things down. Everything needs a list. So, here are the things that I have done and/or plan to do at some point in my life. Feel free to help me out with any of the following.<br /><br />1. See Garth Brooks live in concert(DONE! Thanks, Garth, for coming out of retirement and letting me have a floor seat).<br /><br />2. See a live panda bear in person. (DONE! Memphis Zoo was awesome.)<br /><br />3. Get my writing published. (The blog doesn't really count for me. I want some of my stories published in books. I want my name on a book on a shelf at Barnes and Noble. So, we will see how that goes.)<br /><br />4. Live in a four bedroom house with a fireplace, basement, and garage. (Oh, yes, that will happen soon. I'm bound and determined to move into a bigger place.)<br /><br />5. Loose the rest of my baby fat that seems to be hanging on for dear life everyday. (I would love to squeeze into my "pre-Taylor" clothes at some point in the next year.)<br /><br />6. Have another baby. At some point. NOT ANY TIME SOON SO DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP! (I'm still trying to figure out how to only be pregant one more time, but have 4 kids. The only thing that I can come up with is twins and that just sounds painful).<br /><br />7. Find the perfect part time special education position so I can stay home more.<br /><br />That's it,my bucket list. <br /><br />Happy New Year. Enjoy your black-eyed peas, if your into that little tradition. I prefer to indulge my other taste buds with Mexican and Italian food.<br />And, my birthday plans weren't totally wrecked. Brad took me to the Plaza for a movie and dinner. Yes, I said that right, even thought it sounds odd. We saw The Blind Side and then ate at M&S Grill at 9:45. We walked into our house right at the stroke of midnight. So, my birthday wasn't ruined at all, just rearranged.<br /><br />See you in '10.Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-39827108007340579582009-12-29T13:32:00.008-06:002009-12-30T12:19:02.022-06:00Christmas is over?<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3e5mRmT2Tbq4FuwIXOnHFxGoN763Ch4PVrGkmDJKUB9RR_GLiZfIUoFQXwPFaXYiZT6_x1x8aMDXwvowBZyLUfR8yZsKu0EYx_hcrQGBu6zKOgtE-qxeBo6g6fEm3yi5SiwHM1gVoC7E/s1600-h/Christmas+Day+etc+2009.jpg"></a></div><p>Yes, Taylor, Christmas is over. I know it may not seem like it, but you had 5 Christmases in 2 days. Whew! I think we are all still recovering. Our family is so blessed to have so much of our extended family close to us. We are also very blessed that almost everyone decided to get Taylor and Josiah new toys. Now, where do we put all this new stuff?. We convinced Taylor that it was okay to get rid of some of his toys that he never plays with and we got rid of a few of the baby toys that Josiah no longer plays with. I refuse to get rid of a lot of little baby toys due to the fact that everyone I know that gets rid of all their infant/newborn stuff gets pregnant right after they give all of their stuff away. I'm not ready to make that commitment, yet. </p><p>All in all, we had a good Christmas and Taylor finally got into the whole Santa thing. The best part of the Santa festivities is when Brad played Rudolph out the window and Taylor's eyes got big as saucers and did not say a word. He wouldn't even walk to bed. I had to carry him. He usually stays up for a little bit and looks at books, but Christmas Eve night he stayed tucked in staring wide eyed at the ceiling and did not move a muscle. The next morning, he walked into the bedroom and sniffed. I asked him what he was doing. He said," Do you smell that?" I said," What?" He said, "I smell presents. Come on, let's go check." And so began our Christmas marathon house hopping. We are all still recovering. Only to do it all again next year.
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<br /><div style="width:480px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://w65.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/3f2d3206.pbw" height="360" width="480"><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/?action=view¤t=3f2d3206.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-65719898314024719702009-12-08T16:42:00.002-06:002009-12-08T17:18:23.984-06:00A "Moo"ry ChristmasTaylor made his debut in the preschool choir on Sunday night. He was quite a little showman if I do say so myself. Apparently, he is going to be a microphone hog. He stood in front of one microphone and pretty much held it the entire time. If someone would get too close to it, he would every so kindly push them back to their spot on stage. He was very excited to be on stage. He would sing and dance with the music. He just couldn't stand still. Definitely his father's son. He was also little Brad when we were all lined up and ready to go into the sanctuary and he announced "I need to go poo-poo." He had to wait until the last minute to tell me that.<br /><br />Taylor and the rest of the preschool choir were the animals in the nativity scene. He was a cute little cow if I do say so myself. He is also the only boy in the preschool choir and the girls think he is pretty hot stuff. So much that one of the girls who was dressed as a camel decided to pull Taylor around on stage by his horns on his costume. Her dad personally apologized to Brad and I on facebook for "marking her territory." We thought it was hilarious and hope that someone has that on video!<br /><br /><div style="WIDTH: 480px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><embed src="http://w65.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/Christmas around the World 2009/b6609e43.pbw" width="480" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" /></a><a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/Christmas%20around%20the%20World%202009/?action=view&current=b6609e43.pbw" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />As one era ended, so a new era began. Miss Diane who has been working with the preschool choir for 20 years finally decided to pass on her baton to my friend and I. So, for the next year or so, I will be helping with the preschool choir. Pray for me! This could be a daunting task considering I told myself I would never teach kiddos that little. Of course, I also said that I would always be taller than who I teach and look how far that got me.Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-11819033416099640762009-12-07T19:43:00.013-06:002009-12-07T21:40:46.673-06:00Twenty Nine Years and counting<div>No, I'm not talking about how old I am, but that's awfully close. (I still plan to ride out 28 for another 3 weeks.) I am talking about a Christmas tradition that started the year I was born. The first Sunday in December is Christmas tree day every year. Ever since I was born(and before that, according to my mother), we have gone to <a href="http://www.schmittssantasforest.com/index.htm">Schmitt's Tree Farm</a> in Holt. We take a hay ride up on the hill to the Christmas tree forest and then go from tree to tree until we find the perfect tree. This little tradition just started out with my mom, dad, sister and me. Now, it has grown to include two husbands(my sister's and mine. We're not Mormon), and 5 little boys.<br />Taylor was finally old enought to know what was going on. He brought his chainsaw to help Daddy cut down the "perfect tree" as he called it.<br /><br />Here he is in action:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412683729854127618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6QEM96QrVTBTxdrsAfHmqGlPyupiwfoj3Ti0n8wMkWy6f5dwrhhu5SBgzyA-Kt7PzaMj0a5N_HzGTtrhSvhm92-pqsaDgFeHnD6vl0ylFzyX6CpJheRDJ3kzlDjYUgpwm1DpTIOA298I/s320/CIMG3236.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412683718463479218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGJaOp8zhmjE5TGaQ4sURcEHX7JFUVFt54UglnYYe2TIEETOHThdNEgb2-1XoeMpBFYofmSbYs4zXEfm_QuEcbBw2rLgbnW8EC0t6LioYuXCAVVM8GJrNtJLwZIhMP8dLyJSN7Hp-Z2w/s320/CIMG3235.JPG" border="0" /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Josiah wasn't quite old enough to get the full effect of walking in the forest. So, he got hauled around in a sled, instead.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412684465835502850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYwevpXE-0wvZJcGwlXw4P3qglCZwWnbmZIVXeeRC8zbaV7aeV2aSl9Dh5WT0eApBsrmJ1vmWykMS2NKvv_N8tk-3i56kVeLW4v_E75LebIWI5Kcunct0n9QRabD0iSKJYd38Eyrl3qDA/s320/CIMG3232.JPG" border="0" /></p></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>I'm pretty sure the one thing we will remember this year is the cold weather attire Josiah had on that morning. He was fighting a cold and I didn't want him to get any more sick in the cold weather. So, I put him in his winter coat, snowpants, scarf, and mittens. We stood him up and he fell right over because he was so bundled up. Pa rescued him.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412685739014998162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbL6RwVSbbECF5w5S-9WQGwTWmNihitAzujKKHbMP7I5z2zV65dc9NZcuI3P3snLjVW3O-aqJ57XIg_GJqIuLAXFPn36Vk41bkK_HBCG36L5l3P2dPLno5bdPwhtWOctfGFKhc9VRAfI/s320/CIMG3229.JPG" border="0" /></p></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>He was definitely warm, but immobile. I couldn't resist and had to video his attempt to get from point A to point B while we were waiting for the tractor.</p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxGbsiA5XeSOWdHY5NqgrDH2lJpZhT3-LoEr7VKhNGUAYIoyCyr8uI9PoeHXH7Y6PZxPdOHbZAF3HAYlLm-6A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><p>Don't worry, Santa. We'll be back next year!</p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekknRhSxsZyM0mM5wbDJd4HNYyOyNodlX_CPL6E-ljA26pjL0IP9n1A73uVse6hKZFF-UNeWZv7sHADmA-gRx-4RsOEVzE36RVXOI9vPKsus1yklFM2y0oZV9VA8Gel8acpDymC3TDJ8/s1600-h/CIMG3242.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412686938107159634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjekknRhSxsZyM0mM5wbDJd4HNYyOyNodlX_CPL6E-ljA26pjL0IP9n1A73uVse6hKZFF-UNeWZv7sHADmA-gRx-4RsOEVzE36RVXOI9vPKsus1yklFM2y0oZV9VA8Gel8acpDymC3TDJ8/s320/CIMG3242.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G9ozDo4G28o7nG8p8T-jbAADKb_PPQ7A5ZGKY7hgJZbBQsAlVDXqcx2QQXmHlFBRx-wUz-elzOd7gIkj9dZom-HSL24g71oKRPFIrfyu8IWhmqq-6S8uBAakwZEVzGGFRVIGPu2Prgk/s1600-h/CIMG3240.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412689879676742434" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G9ozDo4G28o7nG8p8T-jbAADKb_PPQ7A5ZGKY7hgJZbBQsAlVDXqcx2QQXmHlFBRx-wUz-elzOd7gIkj9dZom-HSL24g71oKRPFIrfyu8IWhmqq-6S8uBAakwZEVzGGFRVIGPu2Prgk/s320/CIMG3240.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8G9ozDo4G28o7nG8p8T-jbAADKb_PPQ7A5ZGKY7hgJZbBQsAlVDXqcx2QQXmHlFBRx-wUz-elzOd7gIkj9dZom-HSL24g71oKRPFIrfyu8IWhmqq-6S8uBAakwZEVzGGFRVIGPu2Prgk/s1600-h/CIMG3240.JPG"></a></p></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-82097274387782402902009-11-22T13:41:00.004-06:002009-11-22T14:36:02.132-06:00Weekend WarriorsOur weekend was packed with a concert, drums, working out, and some fun times at a Winter Wonderland event. Yeah, I know. I said winter wonderland. I grinned and bared it as we went and had some fun. Luckily, we did not run into Santa Claus. Well, not the "real" Santa Claus as Brad put it. Apparently, the real Santa Claus resides at Crown Center during the month of December according to my husband. Really? I really thought he knew that Santa was fictional. What did his parents tell him?
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<br />Taylor got a balloon animal out of it and Josiah got his face painted, which was amazing, considering that lil guy doesn't sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time.
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<br />Have fun perusing the pix.
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<br />Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-33322094727331970332009-11-07T20:45:00.007-06:002009-11-07T21:45:34.287-06:00"Cultured"<div><div>Some may say that I am not your typical girl. There are several reasons for that. </div><div><div><div><br /><div>Example A: I do not like wearing pink, walking through aisles of pink, or pretty much be near anything that has to do with baby pink. I'm pretty sure it makes me nauseous. Reason #1 why I am pretty sure God gave me two boys.</div><br /><div>Example B: I'm an outdoors girl. I like to go camping and be outside. I have been camping since I was pretty much only a few months old. I have been in close contact with raccoons, skunks, and several other outdoor creatures. I don't mind living outside in a tent for a few days and would actually prefer it to a hotel room(HINT HINT, Brad. One day, I will succeed).</div><br /><div>Example C: I'm a gearhead. I would much rather go to a car show than spend several hours at a mall. Call me crazy, but I enjoy looking at old cars, going to drag races (not funny cars, mind you, but supped up hot rods), and listening to engines. Yes, Dad, I have actually turned down my radio and rolled down the window so I could hear the engine of a Chevelle SS with dual exhaust and a big block engine. </div><br /><br /><div>Example D: I avoid wearing dresses like the plague. You think I'm kidding, don't you? When I had to shop for wedding dresses, I told my mom that I didn't want to shop for it, and she could just pick it out. I told Brad I would've been just fine wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and no shoes walking down the aisle. (Most of you know how that battle went.) Reason #2 why God gave me boys. THANK YOU.</div><br /><br /><div>And finally, my last confession to make is I'm a bit of a redneck. I can't help it. That's just the way I was raised and I appreciate my family for that. A fun time for me is going to a rodeo, watching bullriding, or watching a demolition derby. And you know what, I am completely okay with that. I can get down and dirty with the rest of those folks. In fact, I pride myself with the fact that I got a black eye from a clod of dirt that was spun from a tire at the derby when I was about 8.</div><br /><br /><div>I'm pretty sure this "fault" has helped me be a good mom to my boys. For instance, I have realized that boys get dirty. But, the best part about that is they wash. Who knew? So, its okay if they roll around in the dirt or get paint all over themselves. That just means longer bathtime and more scrubbing behind the ears.</div><br /><div>So, my boys are getting their culture in the best way possible, I think. Yes, they still listen to music and go to different fine arts events(Taylor's even in choir at church), but they have also been spectators at demolition derbies, car shows, and rodeos. I'm hoping that by going to all kinds of different events, they won't be afraid to try new things and they will see that boys and girls don't have to live up to stereotypes that are placed on them throughout their lives.</div><br /><br /><div>Oh, yeah, one more confession. I do have some "girly habits." I enjoy watching figure skating and gymanstics events. Purple is my favorite color and I like to cuddle. If you still don't believe this, you may want to revisit my "Confessions of a Shoeaholic" post. </div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Here's a bit of that culture now. We went to the CBR Bullriding event at the American Royal last weekend. Taylor had a blast. Josiah fell asleep. Well, for 8 seconds at a time. That buzzer was loud!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401569536177968322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht1w2RY9Zt4pZTKgpfwExaLkXquThmaN7S5QJp5gLcwgNtz5ekHJEeL0uJPGW8W3fTypYZPEbdQHorisBIKoFsrbm07pBtdCicTtGvaxFo1PGTPFz2vQUBVdpqygEAivgdp1m1uVIyk1I/s320/CIMG3183.JPG" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div><br /><p>We sat in general admission, but apparently we were destined to sit in the seats we chose. Relax, the name was all ready there. We didn't deface property.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401569538427158002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbqInPZcP_KBF77ehizHcRJd6NHsrO_5qhpj-G7sTBnGMEn8WI39ckM5rm0O4xeTXzBRbkZ8nCgKbOgDhAZaKVrrbOQ18T_rS8tSPuYStMugMsyBKt6SHTDOeUHqW8HnleVr_f6s6tya4/s320/CIMG3179.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Josiah getting a better view.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401569547424995506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-EZBdScUyA18gCxfreFK6zlZ6RfVEyWXoej6negrSBF08BuYiaO3nhzjYQMbm6EQqQsozKgO4WdP6PvS5eh8lfQS41osTP2Oysb0OakQTs6t33wm8qR_lFtFX-6JwC-XAcXaaZYb4uSA/s320/CIMG3185.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Taylor in his "Tuff shirt." Tuff Hedeman is a famous bullrider who has been around for years that was holding the event. If you want to know more about him, I suggest you rent <em>8 seconds. </em>(One of my favorite movies next to Grease and A League of Their Own.)<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401569550586775394" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrCorfHz66l_ubpRq229jdlcxpipGS1zFiCgF0R231bP3b6qr1DEFbliPPqiG3unelDvDIrvHAHrXeJiIRBciUMklUEg4hF0mhnSfRnjPLMUBxN3YGc2jpzCjODd-BivKLFxERyB-1uQ/s320/CIMG3187.JPG" border="0" />GO! GO! GO! Eight seconds seems like an eternity when you're messing with a bull.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401569554094310786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJwKNhPXqQE-h97rtc_jihrg_LTa8bzUs_M-81JT3qGCszZkzsV7omWdlPDTduymReJj1WaNRILbXsBxTdvTqp7ZPr-8vZwULIQ6k1vRpmWP5Thp5Ef-8y-7RLax0-a0uK1dvrzpPfu8/s320/CIMG3190.JPG" border="0" /></p><p>Rodeos aren't always a bunch of bull. Sometimes, the beautiful Budweiser Clydesdales make an appearance. They're so pretty. </p><p>Enjoy the ride! </p>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-5649852605696801542009-10-20T20:51:00.002-05:002009-10-20T21:45:52.842-05:00Adventures in the Land of LincolnLast Thursday night, we packed the James gang in the car and headed off to see Great Gmaw and Great Grandaddy. The trip there was suprisingly eventless. We didn't run into traffic or have any "accidents" in the car. Josiah fell asleep and pretty much stayed asleep all the way there. Taylor fell asleep around 9:00 and woke up about 10 minutes before we pulled into the driveway. He was a little disoriented when he woke up and was happy to see Gmaw and Grandad at 11:30 at night. He, of course, was quickly put into his jammies and headed off to bed. While he was asleep, Brad, Taylor and his Grandma stayed up until about 1:00 in the morning talking. The late night didn't stop Brad from getting up at 7:30 and going for a run. I do have to admit, he is sticking to his goal. So, Becki, you better watch out. Your brother is going to be on your heels in that half marathon in a few months.
<br />That Friday night was where the excitement all started. Apparently, I may have possibly ran over the culver in Brad's grandparents driveway. Oops. I was not aware of this mishap until I was about 10 miles away from the house. You see, Brad's low tire pressure light is a bit of a wolf crier, so to speak. Sometimes, it comes on for no reason. I didn't think anything was wrong. Obviously, something was wrong, because Brad's grandma and I heard a pop. So, I pulled over and she peeked out her door. Guess what? flat tire. So, I head back to the trunk of the car and move things around to see if I can find the four way tool. No luck. I call Brad and he says he doesn't have it, but he and his grandad are on their way. When they get there, Brad pulls out the spare and this new fangled jack that doubles as a lugnut tool. If I would have known that thing was in the trunk, I would have changed the tire myself. Anyone who knows me knows I can't stand to let others do the work for me. I was a wee bit peterbed about this. Sheesh!
<br />Of course, this was after the fact that Brad about had a coniption because his flashers were about out. Little known fact: Brad's car does not handle being on accessory for 20-30 minutes. The battery went dead. So, after a donut spare and a jump start, we all head back to the bonfire that Brad's grandparent's Sunday school class hosted.
<br />So, there's two strikes against us. As we pass a weigh station, Brad tells me "There's the rest of the chilli." I looked at him puzzled and asked what he was talking about. Brad and his grandad had gone over to the bonfire early to help set up and take the chilli. Well, Grandad slowed down a bit too fast once and the chilli went flying all over the driver's side floor. So, half of the chilli was saved and the other half of the chilli was scraped off the floor and dumped out at the weigh station. I really hope some animal didn't lick it up. Especially if it didn't have any hot dogs to go with it.
<br />Okay, so now you're thinking bad things come in threes, right? Not so. The next day Brad and I took the tire to that evil blue store that Mr. Walton owned. His employees inform us that at 8 o'clock, there will be a two hour wait to fix the tire. We didn't mind dropping it off, but it was the drop off that got to us. The lady came out to get the information and then she asks Brad to take the tire out himself and roll it into the garage. Um, hello!! Do you see something wrong with this picture? YOU, missy, are getting paid to do this job. How much do you plan on paying Brad to do your work?? Do your job! This led me to wonder if she would have asked me to take the tire out. Just wondering about a double standard, that's all.
<br />We drop off the tire and go to Will's ballgame. I won't give you the details to that one, but I will tell you that one dad/uncle/male figure of one team member was hilarious. He was pretty much the one man cheer squad for the Little Tigers.
<br />While at the ball game, Brad gets a call that the tire cannot be repaired. Something about a hole in the sidewall. Once again, sorry 'bout that. They say they have a new tire that they can mount. Brad said that would be fine. The game is about over, so Brad heads to Walmart so they can mount the tire. Apparently, those people that wear blue vests that have the lowest price always don't understand the concept that when a car returns to get a tire mounted it does not go back to the end of the line. They told Brad it would be another two hours to mount it on the car. So, being the ever so patient person that he is, Brad pays for the tire and mounts it himself. Once, the tire is on he notices that the center cap is missing. I go back in and inform the mechanic about this. He goes back to the garage and brings back the missing center cap. "Sometimes, I just forget to put those back on," he tells me. There is this thing called quality control, sir. You might want to look into that if you want any customers to come back, because I sure won't!
<br />It's experiences like these that I appreciate the way my dad operates his business at home. There should be a Kenny's Auto and Tire Service in every place that I vacation. So, Dad, please do something about that. Expand, please. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to enter the walls of a corporate money monger for an auto repair. :o)
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<br />The rest of the weekend went fine and I have the pictures to prove it.(Of course, Brad kept saying that I cost him 80 bucks. Hah! Eighty bucks is nothing compared to the 500 dollar engine because of "that clunking noise" or the brand new car because of a test drive in the rain.)
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<br />Hope you enjoyed my longest blog ever. Good night!
<br />Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-28838315841012612082009-10-04T13:31:00.006-05:002009-10-04T18:45:07.485-05:00Guess who's walking!Friday flop turned into a Saturday celebration. After a day of Gladfest, we came home and the boys took a bit of a nap. When Taylor got up, Brad took him to the store to get supplies for chocolate chip cookies. I stayed home.<br /><br />I thought it would be a good time to see if I could get Josiah to take more than one step and fall down. I didn't expect much(but was hoping he would get moving). I held up his favorite toy, and lo and behold, he decided to walk!!! Yeah! He did a pretty good job. I called Brad on his cell phone and just said "Five steps." It took him a minute to figure out what I was talking about. When he got home, he got out our camera and did some video taping of the newest adventure of the littlest James gang member.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here it is, our one step wonder no longer:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzELzRV616u9tWBlmsBOLFg2j_XdvNxG6Bxhv1APHvBqQoZD85Gbew8fM1Cy910e1XM-yfvoT8wuOa877ygNQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Watch out, here he comes!</p><br /><p></p>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-17121559917072159562009-10-02T16:26:00.008-05:002009-10-03T10:14:19.282-05:00Friday FlopI'm usually a big fan of Fridays. The weekend is only eight hours away, I can wear jeans to work, it's a pretty casual day. I'm not a big fan of being pulled over because I failed to come to a complete stop.<br /><br />*****Warning: This may cause conflict among my readers that are employed to protect and serve. For that I apologize, but you don't patrol the Kearney streets at 6 am so you are forgiven.****<br /><br />Let me set the scene for you. It is 6 o'clock in the morning. The streets are bare. I'm driving the one block down my street before I come to a four way stop. Let me remind you that NO ONE is on the street. Not a car, not a pedestrian. Possibly, a tumbleweed. It was windy this morning, you know. I put my foot on the break,press down, look both ways, and proceed to turn left. Before I have a chance to go 500 feet, I see flashing lights in my rearview mirror. I'm thinking, oh, great, what now? My tags are up to date, there was no possibility I was speeding, because I stopped. What does he think I did?<br /><br />So, a portly police officer comes up to my window and informs me that I failed to come to a COMPLETE stop. (So, the fact is I stopped, right. He said I just didn't make a complete stop.) Then, he asked my why I failed to make a complete stop.<br /><br />(Okay, so if you know me, mornings and I don't get along well. In fact, I try to avoid talking to people before 10 am because I am quite frankly not the most chipper person to talk to in the morning. Especially, when the sun is not out, yet.) I hold back everything I can, and politely say, "I thought I did." He says, "Okay," in a sing song voice and asks for my license and registration. (On a side note, which I think is hilarious. His walkie comes on and he has to say the random numbers of whatever code it is. I am practically in the police station parking lot. Why couldn't he just go inside and tell them?)<br /><br />So, I sit and wait as he goes back to his car and runs my information. This seems to take forever, so I clean out my glove box, rearrange my lunchbag, check my phone for messages, write a 3 page letter to a long lost friend. Kidding. I didn't have THAT much time. After an eternity, he comes back and spouts off his spiel on why I got the ticket, I have no other violations, and the whole thing is on video. I was not aware that the Kearney police department had enough money to install cameras in their cars. Of course, there aren't that many squad cars, anyway.<br /><br />Here comes the best part: the officer asks me how old I am. Did you not just run my license? Did you not just write down my birthdate on the citation? Do you have a short term memory? AGGGH. Its six o'clock in the morning! Do you not know that I do not like to think and answer questions when the sun is not up and I have only been awake for 30 minutes???? Of course, I have to think about this for a second, because all of my questions I just wrote are running through my head. He then asks my to sign the ticket which I can't see because its dark. I have to ask him to hold his light up so I can see the X to sign. Then, he says his closing formalities and tells me to have a good day. Are you kidding me? You just stopped me and gave me a ticket because I failed to make a COMPLETE stop. I stopped! Do you want me to put flares out next time?? I don't even remember what I told him. Maybe, "you, too" or "okay." Once again, it was early!<br /><br />So, I drive to work with no other complications except for when I get into the parking lot. I don't have an assigned space, but I like to park in the same place everyday. When I get in the parking lot, I see that one of my student's parents has decided to pull into "my" space and wait for my arrival so she can drop off her son. At this point, I'm mumbling not very nice things about that under my breath as I collect my things and go inside. Once inside, I get a call from one of the teachers who informs me he is taking the day off. So, there is two of us, 36 students, and 4 meetings with parents all jam packed into one day. Three thirty could not come any sooner!<br /><br />Friday is looking a lot like Monday. Here's hoping yours was better!<br /><br /><br /><br />**On a side note, I do appreciate my readers who are police officers or spouses of police officers. Your job is tough and I pray for your safety. Thanks for keeping the streets and my children safe!**Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-76140156434676376042009-09-20T14:15:00.004-05:002009-09-20T14:43:30.438-05:00Football FrenzyYep, it is that time of year again. The time of year again when Brad loses all functioning possible until the football games are over. You could tell him the house was on fire and aliens are in our kitchen, but if its not on a commercial and the football games are on, then there is no hope. And quite frankly, it is not just him that does this in his family. Let me take you back a few years to a time when we were newlywed and I had my first encounter with Brad's family and a Chiefs game.<br />It was a Sunday(duh!) also known as laundry day at that time. We had packed our car full of laundry and headed to Brad's parents house. The game was just getting underway and all of the sudden, people start jumping up off the couch, hollering and what not. I on the other hand am sitting at the end of the couch folding socks and underwear. I may have been startled a bit, I assume, because I had no idea what was going on.(And to be honest, I wasn't really watching the game. I wasn't a big football fan, then). Apparently, it is a VERY big deal when the Chiefs score and the James' family sees it all. All the rest of that game day, I would watch Brad and laugh to myself. You see, he likes to not only tell you the penalty, but also show the hand signals for the penalty. He can't sit still,seriously. He had to get up and walk back and forth or jump off the couch and yell "holding" or "first down" while signaling. It was hilarious(and still is).<br /> <br />As the years went by, I have come to learn a few things from the James family:<br /><br />1. Do not let Brad hold anything while watching a Chiefs game. Whether good or bad, it will undoubtedly get chucked somewhere and it will not be a good thing. (FYI: Just asked Brad to put down the penguin toy after he kicked his legs and yelled "OOOH." Apparently, it was a good "OOOH).<br />2. His mom is the loudest Chiefs fan I know. I mean that in the nicest way possible. She will definitely be louder and angrier than any of the guys I know that watch a Chiefs game. Which is odd, since she grew up in Oklahoma and they don't even have an NFL team. Guess it was all that rooting for the Sooners that did it.<br />3. No matter how angry the James family gets at their beloved Chiefs, they will come back next Sunday and torture themselves another 4 quarters the next week. I remember one of Brad's sisters yelling and carrying on because Dante Hall couldn't get a kick off return. She took off her number 82 jersey and asked anyone if they wanted it, because she definitely did not want it anymore. I'm pretty sure she still has it in her closet. Another time, someone got the NFL preview magazine that had Priest Holmes on the cover and asked if they could throw it away. (That magazine is still around--even if it is in a room that no one uses that often anymore).<br /><br />So, if you want some cheap entertainment, just be a fly on the wall when the James family watches a Chiefs game. And yes, over the years I have become a Chiefs fan. I have a couple of jerseys to prove it. (Brad's coaching right now, by the way. I think that is my favorite about this time of year. He actually thinks the players can hear him when he talks to the giant electric box known as the TV. Does he know that they can't hear him??). <br />My boys are even Chiefs fans. When I was pregnant and watching Chiefs games, they would kick when the Chiefs scored. Okay, maybe they were startled by the excitement, but they still knew how to root for the red and gold.<br />And if you think Sunday is exciting at my house, you should try coming over on a Saturday. Did I mention Brad was an OU fan, too??Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-29074937733461976652009-09-11T17:07:00.004-05:002009-09-11T17:36:15.785-05:00A Conversation into the FutureMommy, today is Patriot's Day. At school, we colored flags and talked about why our country is important.(Pause) Mommy, why did my teacher cry today?<br /><br />She's sad. She probably remembers why we have Patriot's Day.<br /><br />Why?<br /><br />About 10 years ago, some not very nice people from another country and a different religion thought it would be okay to crash a plane into the tallest building in the United States.<br /><br />What was the tallest building?<br /><br />The Twin Towers. I'll have to find a picture to show you, because they didn't build them again.<br /><br />Why did the people think it was okay to do that?<br /><br />They thought that their god wanted them to kill everyone so they could over run the country. <br /><br />Does my god want me to kill everyone?<br /><br />No, God wants you to love your neighbor and turn the other cheek, even though it's hard sometimes.<br /><br />Mommy, I still don't understand why my teacher was crying.<br /><br />When the plan crashed into the building, a lot of people died and a lot of people got hurt. The television showed footage of it all day long and into the night. The policeman and firefighters had to go into the buildings and try to find everybody.<br /><br />Did they find everybody?<br /><br />No, buddy, they didn't. Some people are still looking for their families. <br /><br />Is my teacher still looking for someone?<br /><br />I don't think so. I think she is just sad because she remembers what she saw that day and is happy to be living in the United States.<br /><br />I gave her hug.<br /><br />That's nice of you.<br /><br />She gave me a sticker. Wanna see?<br /><br />After we get home, bud, I'm driving.<br /><br /><br />9/11/01 Sitting in my child psychology class preparing to take my first test. Dr. Owens asks for prayer requests like he does at the start of every class period. One guy says "we need to pray for those people in New York." The class is early and I have no idea what is going on. After class, I walk over to the education building at William Jewell and see the hallways are lined with TVs. The footage of the first and second plane is playing and newscasters are making their speculations. Education classes are cancelled. I go back to my dorm and watch the TV until I can't watch anymore.<br /><br />9/11/09 Helping high school students who think they never had a chance to graduate learn how to find the arc length and central angle of a circle. An everday occurance, but still as important as that moment when "the world stopped turning."Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-6583191399682031282009-09-07T20:22:00.007-05:002009-09-07T21:57:36.006-05:00Labor of loveOnly a couple of weeks into the school year and I am relieved with a three day weekend. Isn't it funny how labor day isn't really a labor day at all? (Well, unless you are in labor, but we'll get to that later.) The weekend was jam packed with things to do in the form of fairs, fishing, and relaxing.<br /><br />Saturday, the James Gang went to SantaCaliGon Days. We basically followed Taylor from ride to ride until we ran out of tickets. He checked out the tires and under the hood on the cars that went around in a circle. I think he didn't get his ticket's worth on the bumblebees. The ride went around maybe two times and then it was over. BOO! Josiah rode with him on the carousel(Baby Siah's first time on a carnival ride.) The big excitement was riding the dinosaur roller coaster. Taylor barely made the height cut off. The sign said to beware of rapid changes in direction. Yeah, right. How rapid can a kiddie coaster be?<br /><br />After all the rides, we went on a search for some new OU shirts for the boys. We were unsuccessful and I was tired of shopping(which doesn't take much for me. You see, I'm okay if I shop and get what I am in search for, but if I have to shop and come up empty handed I feel like I've wasted my whole day. It's very irritating to me.)<br /><br /><br /><br />The next day we went to celebrate Nana's birthday. HER birthday was actually on Labor Day. (Ha, had you readers guessing there for a few minutes didn't I? No news here, but it's always fun to keep the readers on their toes.) We packed up our boys and headed to Polo to a private lake to go fishing and have a picnic, but in reverse order. Taylor and I caught a fish with my very first fishing pole I ever had. Still works. Brad even caught a fish. And when I say Brad caught a fish, he was actually patient enough to sit in a lawn chair for about 1 hour and wait for a bite on his line. He did have a little bit of help, though. My dad had brought along a fishing pole stand. All Brad had to do was cast out the line, prop up the pole, and lounge in the chair with his Coke until a fish decided it was hungry enough to eat the worm. I think I had more fun watching Brad go outside of his comfort zone than I did fishing. I'm thinking up new ways to get him to go camping everyday. No hotels, no cell phones, no computers, just the great outdoors. He may not like it, but he's going to try it!<br /><br />My dad had the big story of the day. He actually caught the big one. This fish jumped out of the water several times and fought my dad all the way to the bank. Everyone at the lake practically came out of the woodwork to see what was on the other end of Dad's line. It was a huge catfish. We don't know how much it weighed because it broke my Dad's scale. According to Mike, it weighed more than a gallon of paint. The final estimate was eight pounds. The fish was huge, folks!<br /><br />So, after a day of fishing, my parents followed us up to our house and my dad and I cleaned fish. Yes, folks, you read it right : the girl that cannot stand the sight of blood, vomit, or needles cleaned 5 fish that day. This is nothing new, though. I've cleaned trout since I was about 4 years old. I did learn that cleaning perch is nothing like cleaning trout, though. Perch are bony and tough skinned. It wasn't as easy at it looked.<br /><br />After the carnival and fishing, it was time to just relax at home on Labor Day. Well for me and the two little ones, anyway. Brad thought he needed to go see a guy movie with his dad. More power to ya. I'll stay home and let the kiddos nap and maybe do some laundry.<br /><br />Finally, we ended our weekend with a dinner from Arby's on the rarely used deck. Our weekend is complete. The only question is, what's on the plans for next weekend? Who knows? When do we ever plan ahead?<br /><br /><div style="WIDTH: 480px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><embed src="http://w65.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/LABOR DAY/d7741148.pbw" width="480" height="270" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/slideshows" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" /></a><a href="http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h218/crys1280/LABOR%20DAY/?action=view&current=d7741148.pbw" target="_blank"><img style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" /></a></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-20215979886036289322009-08-19T20:56:00.004-05:002009-08-19T21:06:56.330-05:00Monkey See, Monkey DoYou may have noticed I did a little changing up with the blog page. First, I'd like to thank Beth for changing her blog and motivating me to make a few changes of my own. She was right, the banner idea is a good theory, but takes FOREVER to perfect. Thanks for the website in the corner of your page.<br /><div>Second, I'd like to thank a certain little monkey of my own who inspired the new look. His name is Taylor. He has been in the habit of jumping on our bed lately and singing "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed . . ." I thought the new blog would be perfect for my gang of monkeys. I mean after all, I do have to buy a big bunch of bananas every time I go to the grocery store. </div><br /><div>Enjoy the new look and I won't say a word if you are monkeying around at work.</div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371861285601726370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNNudfSRrGmuTeIDq3kcRI_4CxIkgmz9pu16YYkmg43dMszPi7Qnq2sPG8Lnfu5LXuNj0t8PJvTaWDVO9GJ1jFTFQRGCbPqa2i15ZkLKbxcXsBgLUkAxGCl5M8uiqQaVKp1j_du_obnxk/s320/speak,+hear,+see.jpg" border="0" /></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-15674906951680141602009-08-19T20:00:00.004-05:002009-08-19T20:42:29.574-05:00So, you wanna be a teacher?I teach students who are "at-risk." This means that these students may have several things batting against them like being a teenage mom, only having one parent or no parents for that matter, living in poverty, or maybe even homeless. While I was working on my Master's, I told one of my fellow classmates(who is a teacher) that I teach at-risk students. She guffawed and told me "all students are at-risk." I'm pretty sure she never had a student come to school the next day who had been shot the day before because he was just walking by. I also bet she never had a student come to school to turn in a research paper even though her little brother had just died due to gang violence. I highly doubt that she has had to come up with six weeks of homework for 3 teenage moms who were on maternity leave. Did I happen to mention that she worked in one of the upper class districts in the area? I was very put off by her attitude towards my job and quite frankly I didn't really spend that much time talking with her as the class went on. My students might fit into her general category of "all students," but it takes some dedication and definite commitment to be a student where I work. The school they attend is pretty much their last chance to prove themselves to all of those who have given up on them. They definitely would benefit from prayer.<br />I will admit that I had my doubts about my job when I signed my contract. I thought that these kids wouldn't be that much "at-risk." I mean, after all, I work in the Northland. Nothing that bad happens around here, does it? Apparently, it does. Last year was probably one of the toughest years for some of my students. Several of their friends died by accident. By accident, I mean too much of an illegal substance was involved. I'm hoping this year doesn't claim any more.<br />I've been working with high school students for 2 years now. This has been a very dramatic change from my elementary days, but every once in awhile my days in elementary school reappear as needed-not so much the academics, but the attitude. There is one student in particular that keeps me on my toes. He came to the center due to suspension because he did not get along with a teacher at all. He has been enrolled since the first day the center opened and this is the year he graduates. He can have his up days and his down days, but I make sure that I say something to him everyday. He is also one of the brightest students that I have(along with the most talkative). He is pretty much the reason why I am still teaching at the center. I don't know why I'm so concerned for this student, but for some reason I don't feel that I can stop teaching high school until I see this kid succeed. <br />So, yes, I may complain about my job, but I like what I do. The hours are good and the vacation time is better than most. Of course, I would really like my job a whole lot better if I could sit at home and teach from my living room through the TV or computer. Any suggestions?Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-16930749807067372382009-08-09T21:25:00.000-05:002009-08-09T22:36:00.233-05:00One Last Hurrah<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-PbaZSkaTWpn3WGukvjX3NTLdaeTaDDWEL3cuqzg-hMyhv3qAZmtSe941J-iyjW54e2vhXSAKSWJJGpWdljynytltTjkSQvttioekqY-3ZPZ_VB4R_qqF-nOC6gcG8FUPuMpX0D_f_U/s1600-h/CIMG2922.JPG"></a><br /><div><div>So, this is it. My last summer night for the year. What better way to go than pack it with a bunch of stuff to do. It all started Friday when Taylor, Josiah and I packed up our swimming gear and headed to the Springs with Aunt Shan and the boys. Taylor had a blast!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368170983894952482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgRJF8zk0eZqTfW0q6-zcVwzdxKGGiio69NpLB3Bst8j3e41mpcCDedtBLwTXt-HbRylK3hceynWwcrjSxv7X4GqP3AEe48z56ViUg3M1PWQjtIqXq45NmzcCrUBURd8NQLFMNAKmcZU/s320/CIMG2919.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div></div>He's a social little bugger. Here he is "making friends" with an older woman. I'm definitely going to have my hands full!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368158182477145026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPc_2P_FzZg6d3J2xiJqaNVPPjONFJ1dO8zcd6s3te398h303cAPCoCK-EQRK_NDqA5cy9eSYa8Ls1ieXf991S1jmPNFfnLlL_3VcSMwNfc33-ltHIMANSEkM9hOqA_ndXKA06mGz9gMc/s320/CIMG2922.JPG" border="0" /><br /></div><br /><p>This was his favorite thing to do. Go up and down the "marshmallow slide" as he called it. Does this look anything like a marshmallow to you? Good, it's not just me. He probably got that from the same place he named fruit juice "pop goes the weasel juice" and honey buns "boo boo buns." Did I tell you he was creative?<br /><br /></p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368159042634589170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxFPDLvWDV0kRZuEbhCyOxcwXs_0XVLuSjszPkyZzATuBAuGUGloE08I8jUzn9XTy-9GeD3pwDjZCep3vQ3Xv7SAuCev2jJkonS0wE9RiEGQ6nboK7CSxsrsP4DRdH_TJNlY0jwvlCXjw/s320/CIMG2920.JPG" border="0" />Josiah had so much fun jumping and splashing that he had to take a breather. Yes, even with the excitement of the water park, he still fell asleep! Definitely following in his grandad's footsteps on that one<br /><br /></p><br /><p>So, Josiah and Taylor had so much fun that Taylor asked Brad if he wanted to go to the water park the next day. He asked so nicely and sweetly that Brad gave in. So, the next day we went to the Springs in the evening. (Much cooler then and a little bit cheaper, by the way). Taylor got to ride on the "tubas" with Grandma Dee and Grandad. For those of you following along, that would be inner tubes in the lazy river. He also was brave and went down the orange "ice cream cone" slide.<br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368160808120001490" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIxKa9mTnWemwQLhQon0vaD39jJnXOCQTq1tNlpxE3ii1G7wrVOGb4gWrGselmtJdIw2xJ7uiQ38nWDt82PLX33l4P89ZY86gbUjdButh143gmkUbmXmcvzaVprfG7fXnBgE4LHFxFi4/s320/CIMG2923.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><p>Since Taylor got to the play with Treven the day before, Josiah thought it would be fun to bring a friend his own size. Cousin Max and Josiah kept Dee and Grandad occupied while Taylor checked in and Brad and I went down one of the big water slides. (You might be surprised to know that Grandma Dee went down the big waterslide, too . . .even after Brad teased her).</p><br /><p>Finally, on Sunday, we had one last summer time family reunion to mark off the list. So, we packed in the car and took the two and a half hour drive to Centralia, Kansas aka Munchkinland thanks to my grandma and her sisters. The tallest one of that crew is five foot flat. </p><br /><p>We played. . .<br /><br /></p></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368166407416633298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0hiMv-1ZOQZ7y1y_5LAEFqYb2_vNr1wR7mZDg1SJ6xX8ug8hxgYmr2UHM2AYzzsHIlbN-Qoz60Ad_a3nghi2aQXUN1N59WXlNgoCV09XE08kJuPUVa_sv3Jp3Um2i_nfWerHHA8EM3U/s320/CIMG2925.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><p>We ate . . . . </p><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368167174079844594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2ut3vYN4bjLiBHFUDUJg4dG3Gb51psyRDg57YZyFaSC9sOccktXQltMNv5jgnzUYFdzXqP-uj1CXV79KJgakJA9Zcs15SLAzYH6NYGoK5rgZwIK7J0G1tfCvTE5x1AV8cHmLKfE4j3Y/s320/CIMG2929.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368167182491504130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95KCTlGXkLafJxWg1KgZnORmEc-PtQfTQAOMBYwhnoBQyKh19FGUMxqYACuCuMEJw5Z0BXrCd0wgXlJhIqk_dnaEIPiYenNrl_F6EmGUILy995Wnc7Rn3qti60XulTsn0M7VS5oYYzwM/s320/CIMG2931.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><p>and then we came home to kiss my summer goodbye. I can say it has been a very relaxing summer for me. I didn't have any classes to write papers for or a little boy to potty train. I didn't even have to wait out the sweltering heat to pop out a kid this summer. I really enjoyed my summer of nothing. </p><p>There are a few things I won't miss about this summer: watching Imagination Movers every morning, being asked over and over and over again to watch Horton EVERYDAY. Listening to Taylor have a meltdown when he doesn't get to watch Horton everday. Saving the lamp from Josiah as he tries to continually make it fall. (Only fell once and broke one light bulb all summer long.) Removing Josiah from pulling the Wii off the coffee table. Looking for Josiah in various places when I don't put the baby gate up. Those are the things that I won't miss. </p><br /><p>Of course there are two things I will miss from this summer: Taylor and Josiah. Things like walking to the park down the street at 10 in the morning. Going to the sprayground in Liberty with Shannon and her boys just about once every week. Watching Josiah learn how to drink from a cup and kissing the bottle goodbye. Watching Josiah pull up and cruise around everything, but just not wanting to take those first steps.(He better do that when he's home with us and if Tracey sees it first, she promises not to say anything.) It was definitely a fun and eventful summer, but alas just like Taylor had to say goodbye to the ocean . . .</p></div><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368169308253742274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUNjvSRk1Gv-MhryZxvQwhR77FnW6Z0_RmxTh23IqdaodzFKiEq9QEz6cob3DVo2hzDx7pDup167GBVxJ8yru61AGuHylYH3KGgoe5GiOGaL0Z-1Vd91bNk99Nlwu483eMK4HMkN8dHY/s320/CIMG2895.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><p>I have to say goodbye to summer. So, goodbye, summer. I'll see you in 186 contract days(or sooner. The jury is still out on that).</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4505545248916013339.post-84520219817401569392009-08-04T15:01:00.001-05:002009-08-04T15:35:54.142-05:00Confessions of a shoe-aholicOk, so I have a confession to make. I love shoes. Now, I'm not as bad as someone I know that has 2 of the exact same pair of shoes(and you know who you are), but I do enjoy shoes. I especially love fun shoes. My closet is full of "fun shoes." I have a pair of leopard print shoes, shoes with butterflies on them, sandals with a cut out of a star that I accosted from a friend. She said she kept tripping when she wore them. Too bad for her, more fun shoes for me. Someday I'll wear them all summer and get a really funky tan line. So, needless to say, I like unique kinds of shoes which leads me to my indulgence I'm about to let you in on, worthy reader.<br />When I was in Florida, the girls went to this little downtown boutique store in Port St. Joe. They had all kinds of stuff, but what really caught my eye were the "Switchflops." Flip flops that you can change the band on. They came in brown, black, and cork and there was a selection of different bands to choose from. They were a little pricey and didn't quite fit the vacation budget, so I let them stay at that little boutique in Florida. Poor shoes, they needed a home. They would have been great for my "no sock summer" policy I partake in every year.<br /> Well, vacation came to an end and I was perusing the Internet while the boys were napping and I just happened to type in switchflops in the search engine. Guess what? Apparently, there is a whole site deveoted to these cute little shoes(<a href="http://switchflops.com/">switchflops</a>). And what's more, there was a link that said locations. So, I click on locations, thinking there is no way that these switchflops will be anywhere in the Northland anywhere. They just had to be for Floridians since flip flops are pretty much required to wear when you live by the beach, right?It's Florida law or something. So, I type in my zip code and lo and behold there IS a store in Liberty that is supposed to carry these unique shoes. <br />I'm still not convinced that the switchflops are at the store in Liberty(rhymes with Vette's Wallshark, by the way. Just changing the name to protect the innocent), so I pack Taylor and Josiah up in the car and drive the 15 minutes to this store. I mean, we were going to Target anyway and that other store was on the way. Sheesh, its even in the same parking lot for goodness sakes. I walk in the store expecting to be let down. Summer is almost over around here, so there's no reason to have flip flops. Oh, but there is. I'm pretty sure I heard the Hallelujah chorus when I turned to my left and saw the display of the cute little shoes I found in Florida. They had way more selection than that boutique. So, I got some. I had to,really, the shoe style's name was Taylor. So, now I have black switchflops with a removable black band. I bought a purple band, too. (I'll probably go back and buy more bands later . . . maybe even a different color shoe. Can you tell I'm a shoe-aholic?) And of course, I probably spent a little too much for the shoe, but it is my "going back to work in a week" present to myself. And quite frankly, I didn't get just one pair of shoes, I got two! I won't tell you how much I spent, because well, my husband reads this and I don't want him keeling over at work because I spent more than 10 dollars on a pair of flip flops. Besides, I bought him something at Target that he wanted, so there. I'm redeemed . . . maybe? I love you, Brad.<br />If the shoe fits, look for it online, drive to the location it says and wear it!Crystal Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17484670580186321062noreply@blogger.com2