Poppy Seeds

2009-03-26T08:51:00.007-07:00

A Couple of photos because... well just because.

Look at his eyes. I never knew that they were that color.

Love the lashes.

My boys are the light of my life. I pray every day that I don't let them down. I pray for the patience and knowledge to raise them into strong, caring and passionate young men. I pray that the people who come into their lives won't crush their spirit but will offer them the chance to learn the hard lessons in life and how to come out on the other side stronger and more aware.

In My Head

2009-03-19T07:36:00.006-07:00

I’m sitting here this morning wondering what to do today on our fourth day of Spring Break, and I’m watching the news. Of course it is mostly about the economy, and something keeps running around in my head.

First, I wonder at what point it was decided that professional athletes should make millions of dollars for what they do. Now I'm not saying that they shouldn't be paid well. But millions, really? How is it that our soldiers aren't paid well enough for what they do but a pitcher for a successful baseball team is raking it in; I don't understand.

Second, what about corporations that will spend millions of dollars for commercials to run during the Super Bowl? If they took just a fraction of that money and put a full page ad in some of the nations major papers saying, we are going to take our millions that would have been spent on a 60 second ad and put it back into our employees... I bet that would get a ton of free press on news networks. I would much rather support that product then the one that runs some silly ad that I won't even remember the product being advertised.

Our nation is out of whack. I don't know what the solution is; I just know that it feels like there is more that the private sector could be doing to promote fiscal responsibility. I don't want the government involved in every little bad decision that is made. We need to step up in our communities and demand more from each other. More reasonability, more empathy, MORE! Don't wait for the government to tell us the right thing to do. We know. We need to quit being lazy and selfish and stop waiting for someone else to take care of the problems around us. We CAN NOT be afraid to get our hands a little dirty now and then. Let’s put our backs into our communities and lift each other up, help each other out and be more than ourselves.

Suzie

Because I know we all love pictures

2009-03-17T13:25:00.004-07:00

It is hard...

2009-03-17T13:18:00.003-07:00

There are tons and tons of blogs to read out there in the bloggy world. Some are great and some well....

For me however blogging seems to be hard. Why? I want a great blog. I feel like I have a lot of ideas I want to share but I have an extremely hard time getting them down here in my own blog.

So I applaude all of you who write blogs and I admire those of you who do it so well. Keep up the good work and maybe just maybe someday I will be able to do it too.

Cousins...

2008-11-03T10:44:00.001-07:00

Cousins...
Originally uploaded by suzanne_ranee

I love this picture of my boys and their cousin. It was just a snap shot that turned out wonderful. When I look at it I get happy and sad. I miss by brother and his wife and little girl. They seem so far away. But when we do get togethe the cousins play well and love each other it is a treat that never gets old.

Flickr

2008-11-03T10:40:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Hello bloggy world

2008-10-02T15:17:00.002-07:00

I'm back. Painting was a bigger job than I had planned and I'm not quite done yet. But I'm taking a bit of a breather for a few days. I would like to do the bathrooms still but it doesn't have to happen right away and will probably only take a day to do each one. I promise I will post some pics of the project soon.

On anther note we had to say goodbye to our wonderful family dog Sweetz on Tuesday. She was 11 years old and a wonderful dog that will be missed very much by all of us. John took it a little harder than Scott but that is to be expected that is just how the two of them are wired. John is more like me and Scott is much more like his dad.

It always amazes me how much of an impact pets have on their home and what an empty space they leave when they die. I still look for her by the bed when I go into the bedroom and expect her to come to the door when I get home during the day. While the boys are at school my home is VERY quiet.

I miss my Sweetz Dog.

Painting and "stuff"

2008-09-18T07:54:00.004-07:00

We moved into this house about a year and a half ago and to be honest I have never "loved" it. However I am thankful for it; it provides a home for my family and it is warm and full of love. But as a house it leaves A LOT to be desired. So until we are in a position to get into a house I do "love" I'm going to do the best that I can to adapt this one.

As of right now the living room, entry and hallway are all green. A very nice green on a paint chip a not so nice green on the walls, also our furniture is 10 years old and it is still in good shape but style wise not so much.

So this week I'm starting the undertaking of painting and then perhaps slip covers for the couches.

I will post before and after pics soon.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jack

2008-09-17T08:31:00.003-07:00

Today is Grandpa Jack's birthday. John wanted to call and wish him Happy Birthday first thing but I convinced him to wait until after LOGO'S tonight. Hope we can catch him home.

The boys haven't seen their Grandpa Jack in two years; this makes me sad. They see my dad at least twice a month if not more. I know that Jack lives in Oregon and not just 90 miles away. But I sure do wish he would come to visit us soon. The boys need to see him. So Happy Birthday Grandpa Jack we hope it is happy and we get to see you soon.

Love,

Brent, Suzie, John and Scott

Why?

2008-09-11T12:29:00.008-07:00

Why does the groomer put bows in a working class dog's fur when they are done? It looks ridiculous to say the least. However it was good for a laugh, every time I caught sight of her in the rear view mirror on the way home I just had to giggle. She however didn't seem too impressed with them either. Needless to say after I took some embarrassing pictures of her we took them out.

Doesn't she just look like she is thinking "Really. You're going to take my picture with these stupid bows. I hate you."

Then of course since I'm playing around with photos I had to play a little with color and stuff with some of the other pics I took. It is just like what we do to embarrass our kid-o's right.

Playing with pictures....

2008-09-09T09:13:00.004-07:00

I have been playing around with photo editing this week. A great way to waste my time...

Too Much...

2008-09-09T09:00:00.006-07:00

I'm lucky I have a beautiful collection of stemware and the like that I inherited along with a cabinet for displaying. However it is getting too crowded. This is what I did yesterday. I don't really have any other place to store most of this so I will have to make do with the space but I think it is hard to look at. What do you think?

From

<--This to This-->

Where oh Where Have I Been?

2008-09-08T10:00:00.005-07:00

Well first off, First Grade is hard. When you get home you are STARVING and just want to eat your mother's arm off. Actually as I typed that it occurred to me that the saying, Bite your head off, probably came from a hungry first grader. So we are trying to figure out our rhythm that doesn't lead to me yelling and Johnny in a full on melt down. We are getting there, but I won't pretend that it hasn't been painful.

Second Scott started preschool. And while he loves preschool and it is only two days a week and only for about 2.5 hours, it is still taking a little getting used to. Mostly what the heck am I supposed to do without a little boy for that time consistently every week. Oh, the possibilities are endless I know. Most of them have to do with a bottle of cleaner of some sort and rubber gloves I'm afraid, fall cleaning instead of spring maybe.

So while I wrestle with coming to terms with my little boys growing up into school age boys bare with me and my little blog. Someday I see great things from us.

First Grade

2008-08-31T10:32:00.007-07:00

John made it through the fist three days of First Grade in one piece and so did mom and Scott for that matter. He started back to school on Wednesday and was there all day. We had a busy day so it went by pretty quickly. He said it was good and he even earned a High Five.

That night after dinner he called my mom and dad to tell them how his first day went. When they asked him what his teacher was like he said, "well she has blond hair, some cracks on her face and a black dress." I'm guessing that after teaching first graders for 35 years you earn a few cracks in you face. She is a great teacher, and puts up with very little nonsense in her classroom. John will thrive I'm sure.

Scott missed him a lot but is gearing up to start preschool on Tuesday. I'm not sure I'm going to know what to do with a couple of hours of free time two days a week, but I'm sure I can figure something out to do with myself.

I'm getting ready to paint the living room, kitchen and guest bathroom so I'm sure I will be busy as ever.

Suzie

Whatever this means but it was fun to take.

2008-08-27T16:03:00.001-07:00

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

HFDS - The Coach

Humanity, Foreground, Detail, and Shape

You perceive the world with particular attention to humanity. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that is affected by the details of life. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on humanity, you tend to seek out other people and get energized by being around others. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are highly focused on specific goals or tasks and find meaning in life by pursuing those goals. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Until it wasn't

2008-08-26T06:09:00.006-07:00

I know it has been a couple of days since I posted. I've been busy trying to get the house nicely organized before the first day of school. Why? I don't know. I had all summer but now that tomorrow is the first day I feel the push to get it done.

We did enjoy a day at the practice fields on Saturday for Bobcat Football Family Fun Day. All in all is was a lot of fun right up until it wasn't. See, Scotty had been ill for a few days but I thought he was better. So we loaded up and headed to our friends house so we could all ride together in her car. After getting there and letting the kids jump and run around on the inflatables we headed over for our free ice cream sunday and Gatorade. Then on to stand in line and have the football team sign our posters. Still having fun we headed back to the bouncy things. After another trip through the bounce house Scott is ready to go. Like right now ready to go.

I'm sure you have been reading this and can figure out how all the details when put together would create a not fun incident but if not I will highlight them for you:

1. Scotty had been ill, but "I thought" he was better

2. Headed to the practice fields(read no shade)

3. Someone else drove

4. Jumping and running around on the inflatables

5. Free Ice cream sunday

6. Standing in line

7. More jumping and running

8. Ready to go NOW!

I will spare you all the details that come next. But it was definitely not fun or pretty. A change of clothes was in order for him and we had to throw his rocket underwear away much to his dismay. Thankfully I had snagged a free t-shirt that I could dress him in until we got home.

On the bright note like I said it "was fun" right up until it wasn't and the boys got to meet the new and improved "Champ".

Happy Saturday!

2008-08-23T07:07:00.006-07:00

Whew! I made it to Saturday. I don't know about the rest of you SAHM's but some weeks the weekend just doesn't get here fast enough. Two whole days with another grown up in the house. This weekend that means one more person to make sure the "sickies" are doing okay. John seems to be recovered but Scott is still having the sneaky sickness; just when we think he is better... he isn't.

I ended up shampooing the boy's carpet yesterday because, well just because, I will spare you the details. Since I was doing the bedroom I decided to do a deep clean on the living room too, so I went ahead and emptied it and then shampooed. Well we all know you can't put dusty furniture back into a nice clean living room. Soooo, lets just say my living room is beautiful and sparkly now, and the boys room is rearranged and reorganized we will see how long it lasts. But we should be off to a good start for the school year.

Speaking of school years. YIKES!!! My little John is going to be in first grade. Gone all day. It hit me last night and you know what I'm gonna miss the little hooligan. More on that later. :)

Have a great day.

Suzie

Because it makes me laugh...

2008-08-21T09:40:00.002-07:00

Just a quick pic of the seeds. They make me laugh. These glasses were courtesy of Maga and Papa and they are just too funny.

Suzie

Slow day

2008-08-21T09:20:00.003-07:00

The boys are sick. What else can I say? Some strange quick moving bug took them down yesterday and last night. John seems to be feeling pretty good today, but little Scott is not quite up to himself yet. Ask him and he says he is a 4 and when he gets to a 6 he will be good, he did pop up to a 5 for a minute but he is back down again. Hopefully he will be better soon.

So because the boys aren't well we have decided to not go to see Maga and Papa; and spend our last few days before school starts getting good and healthy. Maga and Papa are sad but I really don't think all that unhappy that I won't be dragging my ill children to wallow around in their home for 3 days.

I promise to do a year in review of sorts soon and also I think I'm going to spiff up the place a bit with a new blog design.

Suzie

I'm back... I think

2008-08-20T13:46:00.003-07:00

So as I type this I'm thinking Really? do I want to start this whole blog thing up again? I mean can I handle the commitment to actually write something worthwhile that someone other than my mom would want to read. I came to the conclusion that what the heck I will give it another whirl and see what I come up with.

Quiet

2007-06-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

Not much to say today. It is getting warm summer must be in full swing. It is supposed to be 95 today. I know other places are hotter, and more humid; but 95 is still dang hot for us. I'm not sure how we are going to beat the heat tonight. Maybe head to the country and go fishing. It makes me laugh so say head to the country since we live in Montana and most of our subdivision that we now live in used to be "the country" when I was attending MSU. Anywhooooo, like I said not much to say today.

Time Flies...

2007-06-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! It has been 3 weeks since my last post. I can't imagine where the time has gone but I do know I won't get it back.

Things happen every day and I say to myself I need to blog this but then I don't. So I will try and catch up a little now.

Last night was hubby's bank pic-nic. It was pretty nice too bad it rained but at least it wasn't like a 100 degrees or anything. The boys were good considering they were the ONLY kids there. Johnny introduced himself to everyone there. He told me so, "Mom, I introduced myself to everybody, so they would know my name." Go Johnny.

Speaking of Johnny he turned Five on the 5th of June and it was a grand day. It's like 5 is a magical number and now he can do all the things he couldn't do when he was 4. He got and poured his own juice that morning. When I was telling my friend about it he piped up and said, " Yep, I'm 5 now. I was 4 but now I'm 5. When I was 4 I was learning to be 5" very well put I think.

All in all turning 5 was a success. He was happy to get to have two parties one with Maga and Papa and one at home with his favorite person. Uncle Dusty. This is the man who he thinks hung the moon. Dad's best friend and a rancher he has never missed one of John's "important" events. I bring this up because short of the actual BIRTHday he has been at all of John's birthday's and his baby luau. Plus he came to John's Poopin' in the Potty Party, and ate Cookie Monster cake that turned your mouth blue. He is a great guy and I'm so happy he is in John and Scott's life.

This is the a for mentioned "Uncle" Dusty fixing my tire on the way to my mom and dad's the first weekend in June. It just so happened that he was in the town were we now live so we all had lunch together and then the boys and I headed for Mom and Dad's and husband went back to work. Well about 20 miles into my trip I got a flat tire. Knowing that Dusty wasn't far behind I called him and he rescued me. So I guess I'm not only happy he is in John and Scott's life I'm pretty darn happy to know him too. This picture is taken on the side of the interstate and it is busy Friday afternoon and fairly warm. He didn't even complain once. What a guy. Husband did end up helping him brand the next day but hey that is fun for him so it was all good.

Dinner time battles.

2007-05-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

I don't fully understand why it is that when a boy hits a certain point some time during his third year that he decides that food is irrelevant to survival and would rather just drink milk and eat the occasional Popsicle. But I do know that we went through it with John and now we are going through it with Scott.

Scott is also way more stubborn than John so dinner time turns into a battle of the wills between him and his father. Most dinner conversations go like this lately.

Dad: "Scott, Eat"
Scott: "I can't"
Dad: "Scotty have just 3 bites"
Scott: "I can't"
Dad: "Scott if you don't eat any dinner you are going to have to go straight to bed"

at which point he will usually have a bite of food but only after I have put it on the fork for him. And around and around we go until dinner is finally over. Well the other night we had a change in the dialogue. It went something like this...

Dad: "Scott, Eat"
Scott: "I can't"
Dad: "Scotty have 3 bites"
Scott: "I can't"
Dad: "Scott look you have a bite right there on your fork just pick it up and eat it"
Scott: "Oh yeah, Well you have Bunny Ears"
Dad: speechless
Mom: laughing so hard she about fell out of her chair

This is the funniest thing I've heard in awhile. Such a totally random thing to say; as Brent doesn't have bunny ears and his hair doesn't poke up to look like bunny ears either. We don't know where it came from, but needless to say the dinner battle was diffused. Scott did end up eating dinner and Dad couldn't come up with a good comeback to that one; and just sat there laughing with a totally bewildered look on his face.

So this now has become our standard comeback in our house. Yeah, well you have bunny ears.

Music for the Kid-O's

2007-05-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

I love to hear the voices of my little boys when they sing. I like it when they make up there own songs and I love to hear them sing along in the car. So imagine my excitement to find Steph, over at Adventures in Baby Wearing is having yet another great contest.

This one is for a really fun CD called Soundzania you can go and listen to a few samples for yourself. The boys and I really like Pajamas the best, but they were all fun. The band hopes this album will bring giggles and snoozes to your family as well.

Wordless Wednesday...

2007-05-30T08:08:00.001-07:00

Playing in the Rain at Maga and Papa's