First pictures

These are the very first pictures of Dakota Kayl, taken on March 10, 2005....before we knew she was a girl, before we knew her due date, when total chaos was going on because Natasha and Brad were separated and she was seeing someone else, (who according to Natasha started AFTER she and Brad were separated)...of course only Natasha and Randy (who is Dakota's father and Natasha's significant other and "roommate") will ever know for sure. I guess is adds up though, they separated in December, and Dakota was conceived in January...pretty close though, but I am rambling on. Anyway, Dakota and Allyssa are sisters and nothing is ever going to change that even if they do have different last names. You can raise you children the best way you know how and when they get older some of them are going to depart from their upbringing. I have 2 children that are doing just that. But I am sure that it will all work out in the end and there is no need for me to worry about it, they are adults and it just makes my life miserable trying to make it right....I love them just the same...OK enough of the sappy stuff.....

Here's looking at ya, kid.....

This picture was taken July, 2004, when Allyssa was 3 years old. She is such a funny girl. She loves the water. The other pictures taken with this one will show that fact. Today I went by Mom's house, (she keeps Dakota on Tuesdays and Thursdays all day and gets Allyssa at 2:30 when she gets out of school). I had to take Mom's sewing machine back to her. Yesterday I had told Allyssa when we were on our way home that I had something to show her when we got home, but instead I ended up having to drop them off by Natasha's work earlier than usual. We did not make it to our house. Today I asked her if she remembered that I had something I was going to show her yesterday and she said yes. I had a pair of jeans on that is one of my favorite pair. Right where the top of the pocket is sewn to the pants itself it has started a small hole and my lavender underwear was showing. I had to keep making sure that my shirt was down over it the whole day at work. I knew that Allyssa would get a kick out of "my underwear" showing so I was going to show her. So today I told her about it and she started laughing, saying "Nana, you are silly". Then when Natasha was leaving Mom's house with her and Dakota I had to go get an empty box out of my truck to put some glasses in that Mom had given me. I walked back up to the car with the box on my head and Dakota and Allyssa started laughing. Allyssa told me I was "crazy"!!!!!! She is such a silly girl, but at least I can make them laugh even on the "roughest" of my days!!!!! Love those two little girls..... I know it is hard on my Mom to watch the girls like she does. But I also know that she loves it and although it wears her out, she would not change it (maybe think about every now and then!!!!)

Watched House tonight. Right now it is all about House. I get a kick out of House's (Dr.) egotistically, arrogant, smart-tail comments that he makes. Not that I would want him for a doctor you would have to talk to, but for a doctor who can find out what is wrong with you, then I would want him for mine!!!!! Well, am kinda tired now, guess I will get ready to go to bed.

Problems....

I have had nothing but problems tonight. I had a problem trying to print the Santa pictures from Hendersonville. My camera keeps telling me that the memory card is unfamiliar...What?????....then I format it, take those pictures off, put a couple of other pictures on it to print out (pictures of Vincent and me at Mom and Dad's house Christmas) and they print out. Then my "rechargeable" batteries don't want to "charge". What's up with that? Did I have them in the camera wrong...no....checked it....so I put the regular Kodak batteries in it for now until tomorrow when I can see what the heck I am doing wrong. :-( Sometimes I feel so stupid, like I cannot grasp what the heck I am doing and I am doing the same stuff I do all the time. Does that make any sense? Then I try to copy the Christmas pics from Mom and Dad's to CD to give to Mom and I cannot get them to copy. The computer keeps telling me I don't have a disc in the "f" drive, which I do.....Vincent said maybe the computer is tired...I say maybe I am tired.....I think I will call it quits for all of it and go to bed!

Cute Pic

Looking through old pictures today trying to get inspired to do a layout and ran across this picture. I think it is so cool. Larry and Richard there with their cowboy hats on and Mom with her cute little baby doll. Grandma and Grandpa holding a picture of I am thinking Lucky and Joyce. Why were they hold their picture? Where was Pat, Cornelia and the rest of the kids? Was Joyce and Lucky stationed somewhere else and all the other kids were local? Who was taking the picture? Look at the "icicles" on the tree and the christmas cards hanging on the wall. I wonder who they were from? That cute little reindeer (I guess it is a card on the wall) at Grandpa's right elbow. I wish I had the answers to these questions.

Haven't felt very good today. Throat is sore. Took my camera and printer dock back and got a new one. Hope it works and gives me no problems. Getting ready to go eat a little soup so I can get ready to go to work tomorrow. Not looking forward to it especially if I am not feeling any better. Talked to Nick today. Vincent had gotten a text message from Ashley which said to bring some toilet paper home!!!LOL, I am still laughing about that. I texted Nick and asked him why Ashley needed toilet paper! He called me back and said that she had been having problems with her text messages, her brother had gotten some, but he said she probably don't know how to use it....he was laughing as much as I was. Never know who sees your text messages!!! Said he was going to be working in Chapel Hill all week. Natasha called me this morning and asked me if I had called her. She had a missed call from me. I told her no that I had called her last night when she was trying to get in touch with me, but not today. Technology!!! Guess I will go for now....

Play...

Seems like Allyssa has Santa all to herself....this was one of the pics that Deborah took while we were visiting Santa in Hendersonville, NC, December 16, 2006. On Ali Edwards blog which I read every day, she has challenged everyone to come up with a word that would describe how you want to incorporate in our layouts during the year, a word that we could use in our every day lives...I have come up with "play". I am going to try to "play" more that I have in the last year. There is so much that pre-occupies my mind, bills, work, making sure the granddaughters are taken care of, you know, that everyday junk that keeps us from enjoying life. So I am going to see how it goes. Had lunch with Mom, Deborah and Asheton at Zaxby's today, then Mom and I headed to do our normal Saturday "thing", going to scrapbook stores. We went to the Scrapbook Company today, soo much pretty paper and things for our layouts....wish I could have at least 1 of everything!!!!! My Kodak printer dock is going to have to be returned tomorrow, it just is not working right. Have tried 2 new cartridges in it and it still is not wanting to cooperate with me, so I have to take it back and get another one. So I will have to concentrate on pictures that I have already printed out for now....that should not be a problem. Vincent and I went to Cracker Barrel in Hendersonville, NC, to eat dinner. We rode the bike, kinda of chilly when we left, but the ride was really good, refreshing.....I enjoyed getting away for a brief spell...

Changing style

This picture is from the Easter Egg Hunt at church March 3, 2005. I am thinking of a change of scenery, maybe upside down also. Ever since I have been scrapbooking, several years now, I have always done 12x12 layouts. I am thinking of starting an 8.5x11 album. I am going to try it anyway just to see how it is. I have several mini-albums right now just waiting to be put to use, but I cannot decide what to do with them. Is that not odd? I have so many ideas, things-to-do lists, etc. running through my mind most of the time, I don't even know where to start. That is, in-between trying to clean house, watching Allyssa and Dakota 3 or more days a week, church, making sure I am spending enough time with hubby, working, and all that "other" stuff, like paying bills, (and trying not to forget to pay the telephone bill like I did this month)....I was going to enter the creating keepsakes hall of fame contest, but I have to have 10 layouts completed and sent in by February 10 and some of the things that I have to do, I don't think I will be able to get them done. I seem to run out of ink in both my Epson picturemate printer and used all the starter ink in my Kodak printer...so I cannot print any pictures right now. Why is that it all seems to run out at the same time. Just replaced the color ink in my lexmark printer. I think I need to go now and try to get some of the things on my to-do list completed, since I like to "check" things off, so the more I complete the more checks I can put on it! I know I am weird!!!!!!!

Silly Dakota!

This is now another one of my favorite photos. It was taken at the mall in Hendersonville, NC, when we were up there before Christmas. Dakota is being her silly self with her tongue out! Asheton is always such a great big help when we have both the girls. Allyssa and I met up with Mom at church tonight. Natasha got off work early and went to pick up Dakota herself since she don't usually get to do that. Sonya, Lynn and I ran to Leopard Forest Coffee Shop for our usual coffee run before Scott (our pastor and Sonya's husband) gets started. He told us we only had 5 minutes to get there and back! Of course, we did not make it in 5 minutes. We had Gracie, one of their daughters' with us, who was not feeling the best in the world, so while we were waiting on our coffees, Sonya was hustling back and forth to the bathroom with Gracie who would not go in the bathroom because she is afraid of the closed doors. So we grabbed a cup for the road (empty just in case Gracie got sick before we got back) and headed back to church as fast as we could get there within reason! Gotta go for now, it is 10:57 p.m. WAY, WAY past my bedtime.....:-(