Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Do you know what this is?

 
 
Don't worry if you don't.  Neither did I...until today.  This is a clutch for an air conditioning compressor in your vehicle and evidently it is not working in my van.  Now, I know it could be worse...this is what could be broken

 
This is the actual compressor.  It would be even more expensive. 

I sure do wish I had one of these about now


Bummer.

Monday, August 29, 2011

I have a crazy daughter!!

Anna and her friends participated in THE BIG EVENT at church last night.  They enjoyed some messy games and a 100 ft long ice cream sundae.  Of course, the best part is not eating the ice cream but wearing it!

Anna, Jackie and Claire after the event...


They walked home and evidently stopped traffic a time or two. They had a blast waving to the neighbors and the traffic as it passed. 

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I went to bed last night in 2011 and woke up in the 80s!!

What can I say?  Abby has a unique style.  She has always marched to the beat of her own drum and it is one of the things that I love the most about her.  So I wasn't totally shocked when this is what she was wearing when she came downstairs for church this morning...


You have to appreciate the shoes...



Yes, those are sequins.

She had the whole pink jeans and black skirt thing going on.


Here's the back of the outfit...


All she needed was a can of Aqua Net and a side ponytail!!

That's my sweet, sweet Abby!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Words from Coach Garrett

This is Abby's soccer team.  She spends lots of time with these two gentlemen and these girls.  We feel blessed to be a part of this group of people!

Abby's the one in the goalie jersey :-)

I wanted to share a blog with you written by Abby's soccer coach.   I hope you enjoy it!  Here is a little hint....Abby's the keeper that got her first shut-out in the KSSL Premier league.


Thursday, August 25, 2011

DIY--Office Makeover

A couple weeks ago, we decided that the Master of Social Work office needed some help.  It was just a jumble of furniture and stuff left over from other offices on campus.  I thought I might document it for all of you to see and experience.
Here is my office prior to the BIG makeover!!   

This is the office just prior to removing all of the old furniture.

It was a mess.  There was no organization and TONS of things.


This was the only drawer I had...nothing else on that monstrous desk. 

This is what my desk looked just about every minute of every day.  It was difficult to be efficient.

After two days of cleaning and building new furniture, here's what it looks like!!

 This is a picture of the new office shot from the same angle as the first picture.

 The new mailbox area with our cool new boxes for storage.

 These were a garage sale find several months ago.  My sister-in-law embellished them.  
They look great!

  This is the new "refreshment center."  It houses the coffee pot, all its accessories, the fridge and the microwave.  Love this too!

 Our new printer area.  I absolutely needed more storage for all of our "things."

 My new desk!  I can actually be efficient!!

These paintings by my girls were the inspiration for the whole color scheme.  It's amazing what some ingenuity, elbow grease and a few cans of spray paint will do!


I just don't understand....mismatched socks???


First it started off with wearing flip flops that did not match.  For example, she might wear an orange flip flop on her left foot but a green flip flop on the right foot.   

We have now progressed to the same thing but with socks.

Here are Anna's feet before leaving for school this morning.  Notice anything odd?


It's not like the girl doesn't have any socks that match...here's the proof!!

These are socks that I just matched this morning.  But...here's how she would prefer to have them


In fact, she has asked me to not match her socks anymore because she prefers to wear them all mixed up. I don't know if she is just being lazy or being creative :-).

I just don't understand....I guess I am getting old!  It could always be worse...no use in fighting over mismatched socks...right???

Monday, August 22, 2011

Eating, Breathing, Sleeping, and DREAMING Soccer

Abby eats, breathes and sleeps soccer.  Here's a little more about that

Eating, breathing and sleeping SOCCER

But last night, she took it a bit farther.   After a particularly intense soccer game, I went in to check on Abby before I went to bed as I always do.  She was covered up and all seemed great.  I bent down and kissed her forehead and she grunted at me.

"Abby is everything okay?" I asked her.  She replied with more grunts.

"Abby, are you alright?" I asked again.

"GET TO THE BACK POST" was her yelled reply.


I guess all that coaching is paying off :-).  She was definitely protecting that goal!!