Bad Hair Day? I'll never tell!

Today's Photo Friday selection was "Bad Hair Days".

I don't have to post another photo cuz my #4 is the one in the pic at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas this week.

Did I mention that I LOVE the CHBM's Wahinas?? If you've never visited their site, you REALLY should! They have great contests, giveaways, super articles (Ahem!) and a great forum, too.

Anyway, if I had to post another Bad Hair Day photo, it would be of ME in a baseball hat. When I was 400 lb.s, I couldn't wear hats. It was scary. I looked like a BIIIIGGG round person with a teeny, itty- bitty head, if I didn't have my hair poofed up to balance things out.

I thank God every morning (and every afternoon, and every evening and sometimes in the middle of the night), I don't have to live that way anymore.

I do have quite the selection of hats. I've got a really cool black straw cowboy hat that MG said looks dumb. So I don't wear that one much anymore. Then I have a denim one from one of my favorite groups Faithful Heart. MG snagged that one for fishin'; keeps the sun out of his eyes. There's my BEAUTIFUL red hat with a "J" and a halo from All Moms Go To Heaven. Can't forget my biker dewrag (du-, doo-, I don't know the correct term, sorry!) and my Fleece earband.
Then there's my AC/DC Back In Black hat that says "For Those About To Rock" across the back. My Fav!

Maybe I'll start a collection...now that I don't look like a dork wearing one.
And HEY, that sounds like a great Thursday Thirteen idea! My thirteen hats...

Family history

For Photo Friday over at the Incredible Amazing Crazy Hip Blog Mamas the gracious ladies chose one of my photo submissions; a photo of my dad and some friends zipping in through the surf to slide up on the sand. I have a few more photos to share with you, if you're interested.
My father actually builds the boats. He is an excellent craftsman. I'm very proud of him. He's been fishing and building most of my life...and I'm 40. He was even featured in Sport Fishing Magazine and I wrote a story HERE about the time we caught a huge shark. (It's the second one down on the page!)
He also serves on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Restoration and Enhancement Board. Their 2005 report is Here.
AND here's his website!

Made with love by me

This Photo Friday Meme over at CHBM's is showcasing "Hand Made". Too fun!

I have four little handmade things at home...but you've seen enough pictures of my kids! LOL

So I'll share my quilts with you again. I did a post with several photos of my quilts
HERE.

And then I finished this cat pattern quilt for my aunt for Christmas.
Sorry, cruddy picture...cheap camera.
I'm working on a Minnie Mouse quilt for my #2 (no, I STILL haven't finished it!) And #3 wants a dragon quilt. So...someday I'll make one for myself. In purple maybe.
But that's what I do for fun.
I did do some pretty cute sun dresses for the girls this week, but no photos yet. Rats!

Dream on, Biker Mama

Yes, she is beautiful, isn't she?? We could be great friends, her and I!

If only...I could come up with about $40K. Yah, Right.

But I can DREAM, Ya'll!! And that's what we're doing for Photo Friday over at CHBM's!

So I went to the Harley Davison official website. If you create a profile, there is a cool tool on there that allows you to plan your new bike. Choose the style, the color, accessories...

Oooooo, Baby! What fun!

Photo Friday Starring ME

My photo for Photo Friday is up over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas! The theme for this week is "Someplace I'd like to be".

The photo I posted was actually taken by a friend of my father's named Sandy. She is such a good photographer!

As a teenager, I had a mentor who was so special to me. He died of cancer when I was 16 and his ashes were sprinkled just offshore here. I can still close my eyes and see Gene singing on the stage at church, his hands shaking as he held the music and his grey mustache twitching as he smiled.

Every morning as a young teenager, I sat in a boat as my father pushed it out through the waves on this beach. Just to the left of that big rock out there, we caught a fifteen-foot Thresher Shark one summer. In a twenty-two foot boat. Doesn't leave much room for error.

I had bonfires on this beach in high school. I splashed in the waves here as a toddler. My childhood was spent building sandcastles and climbing sand dunes here.

And when I hurt...
When the world seems so evil and mean...
When I need to clear my head...
I drive here and sit and listen to the wind whistle in my ears. I marvel at the glory of what God has given us. I realize that I'm just a little part of this great big creation and my problems don't seem so huge anymore. If My Heavenly Father can orchestrate something this beautiful, He can surely handle my little life.

So you thought this picture was an ESCAPE, didn't you?

Really, truly, it is going HOME!

Will you LOOK at this PIGSTY?!?!

Over at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas, this weeks' Photo Friday Theme was "Messes". She has posted the MOST adorable photo ever of her little girl with an ucky food face. :D VERY precious!!

I can't hope to top that, but thought I would post my own "Mess" picture. You all have probably seen this one before as I used it for my ID photo on here for awhile. My son actually took it while sitting on his bed when I came in, put my hands on my hips and laid out that "Standard Motherly Line"...

"What in the heck happened in here?!?! Will you LOOK at this PIGSTY?!? There could be mice or rats living in here and you would never even know it! Where does all this stuff come from?? AND guess who's cleaning it all up? NOT ME, that's for sure!!"

Well, maybe that's not a "standard" line...I do tend to be a little overly dramatic. Sometimes.

But you can bet there is NO WAY in the WORLD that I would post a picture of the actual mess. Because then you would see what kind of a housekeeper I am. And my supermom image would be shattered.


Ha Ha.

Limo-Scene Photo Friday

I am so honored that the Crazy Hip Blog Mamas site chose my photo submission for this weeks Photo Friday!
The pic and theme idea I sent was "Once in a lifetime experiences..." and attached a scene of the limo ride I got to go on this last fall.

Finally got a tax return back. It was from my (now ex-)husbands' income from 2005. I figured as how this was going to be the last $$ I was ever going to see from the children's father that I would let them choose one thing they wanted to do.
Short of going to Disneyland, that is. Because I did have to pay a few bills and catch up on the rent, you know.
The girls chose the "Build a Bear Workshop" so we did that one afternoon and went out for ice cream afterward.
The boy had been asking for a limo ride for two years...so I called around to several companies in the area. Found a wonderful older lady who would charge me $25 a head for 10 people for a 2006 Lincoln. The boy wanted to bring a couple of friends so that worked out for me and what she was quoting me was HALF the price of any of the other companies. So I said, SIGN ME UP GIRL!
I also told her that it just HAPPENED to be my 40th birthday and none of us had EVER ridden in a limo before.

THAT ANGEL FROM HEAVEN SHOWED UP ON MY DINKY LITTLE STREET OF MY DINKY LITTLE TOWN IN FRONT OF MY DINKY LITTLE MOBILE HOME IN A
2007 18-PASSENGER HUMMER LIMOSINE!!

My kids were hugging eachother and jumping up and down! I was just about as excited. There were laser lights and lightening panels inside, a "starry" ceiling and we all drank Pepsi out of champagne glasses! It was a true Once-In-A-Lifetime experience.

And if you ever need a GREAT limo company in Oregon, I've got the name of a good one! :D

Photo Friday from CHBM!

Crazy Hip Blog Mamas has fired up a new meme called Photo Friday. So thought I would give it a shot. This first week's theme is "Your Silly Little Baby Face".
So here's my #4 who just turned 5 about 6 hours ago. She was around 2 here and I had to take a picture of that hair issue she had going on there. Reminds me of Cindy Loo Who from the Grinch.