Our new ASS....

His name is "a boy named Sue" so, meet Sue Raymond, our newest baby. Spirit should be arriving from AZ tomorrow, his limo driver broke down in Texas and had to get a new truck. *sheeesh*

Do you ever?

Just look at your child, and say..."oh my gosh, that is not the same child, something is really different" I have mornings like that, or evenings..when all of a sudden one or the other of them look so....OLD~

Not the normal things, Like a chub up or slim down...or too short of pants...or a tummy showing in between the shirt and shorts...

I mean something different. A look in their eyes that says..."oh i get it now mom" ...or a nod...or something like...."you have me so disorganized i cant do my homework..." (yes that came out of Shannons 4 year old mouth today, talking to her sister)

or like this picture..when her teeth look really tiny...and I know what that means...soon they will be gone...with big gaping holes..and teeth too big for their mouths..

its the passage of time, and I can't seem to stop it...no matter how hard I try. (but then the daffodils would never bloom)
This time I REALLY know how fast they get big. This time, it really scares me...
Thank G_d for faith, because without I wouldn't make it...thanks God, for all of it, and for letting me see if before it passes me by.

How to get GREAT salsa in Wisconsin!!

Wish me luck folks...
salsa should be ready....oh i dunno...90 days or so?

Anyone got chips??

How about tortillas? Anybody know how to make them, so you can teach me?
Can't get good ones here, thats for sure, haven't found em yet anyway.

found cheese...

oh and i want to bury a pig and cook it for the halloween party..anybody know how to do that? I have an idea, but not exactly...

HELP???!!!!

The same, but NOT!!

Could two people be more identically different? Holy smokes...Hollywood and Barnum and Bailey...

What an amazing thing these girls are to watch...so close, so loving, so the same...and so...


DIFFERENT!!!!!

Spring has arrived!!

The snow is gone...the flowers are blooming. It is amazingly mild, humid and beautiful outside!! We have 6 acres of green grass, and haven't turned the sprinklers on once...
Everything is beginning to burst with color. Exactly what I always thought spring would look like..
more photos to follow...
Oh, this is my FIRST daffodil...we planted 200 bulbs before we even closed on this house, one because I was going nuts in the motorhome waiting for them to move out, and two...
I had a feeling the snow would melt, and I would be looking forward to the sun!!

AFTER the Party....

cool room eh?

First spring picnic

Hanging baskets...

Ok folks..wish me luck...As soon as it warms up a little more...I am going to try and grow a few of these, and hang them around the property...

They don't do great in AZ...

Many generations of Chipmunks...RULE!!!!!!

Ok, so you may wonder why I have this post on the Raymond page, instead of the giggling twins page. This is why...the Chipmunks span three generation..now. Even though two of the generations are my kids, (thats just how it goes) its three generations non-the-less.
Now...Alvin was ALWAYS my favorite, as he had a harmonica and wanted a hoola hoop...(what could be cooler) and I must say, he reminded me a bit of myself. Seems Alvin was always getting yelled at...(no..not ME????)

So here we are ...i have three days till I turn 47, and I am outta my skin because the Chipmunk movie is out on DVD, and I HAVE GOT TO GET TO SAMS CLUB....NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

I have to tell you...they have not lost there allure, at least in my house. The girls got to stay up until late to watch it...(because I WAS NOT waiting until today..)
and, they were on the ends of their seats..cracking up...leaning into the T.V. and wondering why I was so lost trying to sing the Witch Doctor...does anyone but me remember the old one? It was NOT hip/hop...although the new one is cool. I am telling you, in 1963 who knew hip/hop?

Some things just will always make you feel warm and fuzzy. As for the middle generation, I think she liked Thundercats and She-Ra lots more than the chipmunks....but I have made sure the little ones are socked in!!!!

MUNKS ROCK!!!

it sunk in the ground....too wet yet...what a ride...it spins 360!!! waaahoooo!

Not quite 4 months old yet!!

The Many Faces of Duffy!!

Making Eggs...

Here are the girls with their newly found friends, coloring eggs! We had a nice day, the day before Easter, eating Pizza, making eggs, and watching Labrynth...Anyone remember that movie? The next day we went to church, then Aunt Frans and Uncle Toms, for an egg hunt with the cousins, and Easter dinner. In the snow no less..can you just imagine?

Updates on the house...

Things are coming along...bit by bit. We had the wrong paint, and have had to start over...here is Larry putting our awesome new table together..the blue carpet is REALLY gonna stand out until we get the floor in.

Die, Blue, Die!!!!

So, those of you who have known me for some time, know I have been plagued by powder blue for oh, some twenty-five years...
The first apartment I had with Morgan, on 68th St. by circle K, had a powder blue counter, toilet and bathtub. It didn't bother me too much then, as I was happy to have a roof over my head, and the bathroom was big..
then zip forward 19 years, and Larrys house had powder blue kitchen counters, and we FINALLY put marble in there...and promptly moved.
STINK!!!!
To a house I love, but not only are the counters powder blue in the kitchen..but the walls, and the carpet ......

Larry is working on the BIG walls, while I tackle the kitchen. My little sister wrinkled her nose up...and wondered why i wanted to paint my house barn red. Its not barn red....exactly
I really do have a vision here..honestly...
find before photos here...

Although her furniture is lovely here, white and blue just aren't my thing, particularly when thats the color of the outside..for many months. As you can see too, looking at the photos, she didn't use two of the doors in the living room..
and its my goal to have a very kid friendly, farm friendly..oh heck..just friendly house.
Comments definatly welcome..no worries I am strong enough to withstand criticism too..
I miss my friends...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

How fast they grow up...

For petes sake..these girls look like teenagers to me. This was at the school...party..Frosty Days..I think it was called. Luckily for us, Erica of Potosi, (formerly of Riverside California, so we aren't the only ones) has been keeping us posted on the happenings in this town. (As we are apparantly..way out in the country...LOL) thanks to her, we have gotten to do some really fun things that we would not have known about otherwise. Some I will tell you about, some I will skip... like girls night out. (looks like its not so *yawn* boring here after all)

The girls had a blast this night. They were doing the whitest mexican chicken dance I have ever seen in my life...along with the hokey pokey...and some other things.

Looks like we got em here just in time...were they not just in baby buckets? or am i losing my mind...

Duffys Dad...

who I think Duffy is taking after, although his coloring is different. Look how big that bone is..any forensic folk know what its from? heee heee

Duffy's sister

Well, yes actually I am, thinking about bringing Duffy's sister home to live with us. what the heck? whats another 125 lbs, in an already overweighted family?
hahahahahhaah
isn't she the cutest?

A little color goes a LONG way!

What Duffy will grow up to look like..