just pictures

SICK

About four days ago, Britney had a bad headache. The next day, she had a little sore throat and cough. That night she got a fever and it quickly sprang up to 103 and stayed there all night. One word...CHILLS! She was pitiful. I didn't sleep much that night. I kept checking her temperature, pushing fluids and readjusting the washcloth on her forehead. She woke up the next day and felt some better. Her fever was under 100, although her cough has continued to get worse. Her fever has stayed under 101 since then.

Yesterday, Cody started running a fever and coughing. After he got a fever, his head started hurting. He quickly reached just over 103 and had a very rough night last night. I stayed up with him most of the night trying to help him just like I had done for Brit. The chills have been keeping him company, too. 103 is hard for his body to handle.

Bobby has had body aches, headache and a sore throat. He feels horrible, too. I've been lucky so far.

Cody woke up this morning with a lower fever but with lots of coughing. Then the coughing turned into vomiting. Then his fever came back. It was high again and he literally couldn't stay awake. He's been like that for most of the day. Britney also started feeling worse...lots of coughing and her throat is hurting.

We decided to load up the family and take everyone to the doctor. B, B & C all tested positive for the flu. Brit's had it too long for the Tami Flu to do much good. Bobby, Cody and I are all taking it. I'm taking it as a preventative measure.

I so want my family to feel better.

Camper

The camper is swept out and dusted. The windows have been cleaned. There are no leaks. It's stocked with sheets, dishes, sand toys and towels. It makes me hopeful that sooner rather than later we will be off exploring and learning new things. I can't wait to make s'mores at our campsite with our friends. The fire is always at the Lackey campsite. That might have something to do with Bobby and his ability to create fire...even if it's raining outside.

I'm happy the sun is shining today.

Creative

I love photography. I really like to sew. Sometimes. I've recently discovered that I enjoy baking. But I want to be more creative. I want to make things with my hands. I'm just not sure by doing what exactly. I could learn how to play an instrument. I've always wanted to do that. Is it painting? Maybe. Making jewelry? Nah...I've tried that. That doesn't hold my interest for very long. Although, Cody saw the beads last night and wants to make something today.

I think I'll go with painting. Our china hutch is very old. We bought it at a yard sale several years ago from a couple that purchased it in Alaska. I could redo that. Of course, it's snowing right now. Well...flaking. I'll have to wait for the weather to cooperate. At this rate, I'll get to start painting that in June.

Just about every room in the house needs to be painted. Well, that's not true. The den, hallway and hall bathroom could REALLY use a couple coats.

I want an herb garden in the kitchen. I'd like to have a window box with little planters lined up that the kids paint and label. We could build the box, too. Plus, we're going to have a vegetable garden this year. If I want to make things with my hands, I don't think I could do any better than growing food for our family.

I don't know. I've just been feeling arts and crafts lately with no idea what to do with it. Suggestions welcome:)

The Weighting Game

Do you know how you feel when you KNOW you're ready for something? That feeling, that understanding you have when you realize change is coming?

I think I'll let you in on a little secret. Are you listening? whispers I'm overweight. I know you couldn't tell. I'm tired of being overweight and I'm tired of saying I'm ready to make a change. It's time to actually DO something about it.

I've been eating less and much healthier, except during my trek to Tennessee this weekend. Did I mention how much I enjoyed Red Robin? Brit and I have been sweating and laughing our calories off exercising in the living room. Not that she needs to lose an ounce. It's been fun doing it with her. I love my Britney.

A couple weeks ago, Cathy sent out an email telling everyone about Scale Back Alabama. She wanted to get a team together and I felt like it was a great opportunity to challenge myself. It's also awesome to have a group trying to accomplish the same goal. We will support each other. We will push each other. Even if we fail, we will continue to love each other.

We weighed in today. We have 10 weeks to lose 10 pounds. The GinSu BobCats are going to be Little Skinny Losers!

Home

I'm back from Knoxville, or Knoxvegas as Beth calls it. Yesterday, Beth's very good friend, Barbara picked me up and we headed to Tennessee. I just love Barbara. 5 hours is a long time to be stuck in a vehicle with someone if you don't like them.

In all the years that I've been a wife and a mom, this is the second solo trip I have ever taken. It was quite odd to look around and not see another Lackey. I missed my wacky clan, but still had a really great time.

We got to Beth's and later last night, then we braved the freakish cold in search of food. Have I mentioned that I am OVER being cold? We went to downtown Knoxville to Market Square. It's such a cool, funky place. I want to go back when it's daytime...and about 40 degrees warmer. Would you believe I didn't take one picture? Not one...

We ate dinner at Latitude 35. We were seated right next to the bar, which I found interesting and enjoyable since I'm a people watcher. That blond chick was so upset about something...I'm so glad all of her friends were with her to comfort her. I had the Low Country Turkey and Swiss with sweet potato fries. YUMMO! After dinner, we headed back to Beth's house to goof off and crash for the night.

This morning we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then split up while Beth had an appointment. Then we met up at the bridal store to try on/get fitted for our bridesmaid dresses. I thought Beth had pretty much decided on the one she liked best, but while we were there, we decided to try on others and search around a bit. I tried on several dresses and then we decided on THE one. It's beautiful! I think we're all really happy with the decision.

After that, we went to several stores in search of a dress for Beth for a formal event in a couple weeks. Than we got hungry! Shopping must do that to you:) I had a life changing experience...we ate a Red Robin. Guys, this was my first time to ever go there. I ordered the mushroom swiss burger (I decided one not so healthy meal would be okay) It was SO good!

Red Robin....YUM!

Barbara and I headed back to Alabama and made it to my house at 8:00. I had fun, but I'm glad to be home. Pajamas make me happy.

Biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 tbsp butter cubed
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425*
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cut butter into mixture until it looks like cornmeal.
Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle.
Knead dough with your fingers and add milk if necessary.
Roll dough onto lightly floured surface into desired thickness and cut out biscuits.

Butter skillet and place biscuits in pan.


Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!

The week

We're finally starting to thaw out here. The snow was fun, but I'm glad to see it go. The ice was not so fun. It was a literal pain in my ass and I have decided to move farther south. My hip is healing. The pain has been significant - my whole left side has hurt and I looked like an old woman hobbling through the house. I'm feeling much better today. I still have a nice bruise on my hip...quite colorful.

Cody and I had been home ALL week, so while Bobby was off work on Sunday, we went to Books A Million and TJ Maxx to look around. Cody bought himself a couple books and Brit is saving up her money so she can purchase the new Maximum Ride book when it comes out on Valentine's Day. Man, that kid is excited about that book:)

I called Heather to see if they would like to hang out Sunday evening, so we ended up at her house and spent hours talking, laughing and eating. The kids had so much fun playing games.
After dinner, we watched Guardians of Ga'hoole. It was such a visually pleasing movie...very pretty. We really enjoyed it and now we want to read the book series. Great night with some of our bestest buddies:)

I won a giveaway on Gretta's blog and received a free copy of Soaring with Spelling for Cody. He LOVES it! He is excited about doing his lesson for the day. It's so awesome to find something he likes this much. Plus it has helped his confidence with his reading in other areas. Happy!


I've starting a new blog just for my photography: g m lackey photography
I've joined Esther in a fun weekly photo challenge...Project 52.


Let's see...what else? Oh, we've made homemade biscuits twice this week. Not just any biscuits. No...these biscuits actually taste great and don't resemble hockey pucks like my usual attempts. Seriously, I haven't been able to make biscuits...EVER. They've always been horrible. Not anymore! I'll post the recipe.

Ice is...slippery

and bricks and concrete are hard.

I need a moment to whine...please.

I went out to feed Logan at 5:00 yesterday evening. I stepped down the stairs to get the bowl, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, trying to breathe and not throw up. I've jumped off horses before. Dropping to the ground because of your choosing is like slow motion. But this...this was so fast I literally had to figure out what happened.

I slipped on the ice on the step, smacked my hip/side on the brick step and landed on my ass on the concrete patio. I couldn't breathe...dear God that hurt. With me sitting on the ground, Logan thought I wanted to play, so I was yelling at him to get off of me. I couldn't move. I just sat on the ice and froze for a while. That was fun. I finally got up, got the dogs fed, took a handful of Ibuprofen and a hot bath.

This morning, my whole left side is hurting. I am VERY sore and bruised, but thankful I didn't whack my head or break something. It was just me and Cody at home, so if I had knocked myself out, there's no telling how long I would have been out there. Not that Cody wouldn't have helped me if he had noticed I was missing. I'm just not sure he would have noticed.

Ugh...I'm ready for Spring.

Snowzilla 2011

It started snowing around 8:00 Sunday night!

I could not sleep! I was so excited for the kids and worried about Bobby going to work the next day. I was not worried about his driving at all. He has lived up north and has driven in these conditions numerous times. I was worried about everyone else's driving.

While everyone else was in bed, I snapped pictures through the window. Everything was just so beautiful and bright.

I decided to try to go to sleep around midnight. Before I went to bed, I let Cassie out in the backyard.

She is not a fan of snow!

We were out there for maybe 5 minutes and she was covered with snow. At this point we had about 5".

I woke up at 3:00, and again at 4:45 while Bobby was getting ready for work.

Bobby leaving for work. He could barely get out of the driveway!

I just stayed awake after Bobby left. I was excited and I promised to wake the kids up early. Except they didn't mean 5 am early, so I had some time to kill.

Finally...DAYLIGHT!

I woke the kids up at 7:00 and we started playing at 8:00. Cody jumped off the porch first, did a face plant and just sprawled out in the snow...soaking it all in. Brit pretty much did the same thing:)

Poor Cassie

Completely tuckered out!

We were outside for about 2 hours when we decided it was time to go in. Cody had to come in once to thaw out while Brit and I played.
Before we headed in, we made our very first batch EVER of snow cream. It was GOOD!
Thanks for the recipe, Gretta:)

Along with their snow cream, the kids had hot chocolate and omelets for breakfast. Mmmmm.

Unlike Cassie, Logan LOVES the snow!

We went back out for another round of play around 1:00 and got to work building our snowman.

Of course, we played in the street, too. It's icy and slushy and perfect for sliding:)

Logan was barking his head off, so I looked and there were a couple guys in the alley rolling this HUGE snow...wheel. I let Logan know I saw them and it was okay. He started barking again. His mad "I'm gonna get you" bark. I told the kids about it so we went to the alley to see what was going on. Those guys had thrown snowballs at the fence...just to piss Logan off! WHY would you make a German Shepherd mad, people? Next time, I'll let him out...

The view of the alley

Back to the front yard...

Cody adding the carrot nose to our snowman, Frosty Maurice.

Round 2 kicked my hiney. By yesterday evening, I felt awful. I could not get warm. I was achy and sore. I was flushed and felt feverish. BLAH!

Bobby got home from work safely last night and back to work safely this morning. I pray that trend continues. I am better today. Not 100% but better. I can't make myself go back outside though. Thankfully the kids don't seem to mind.

All in all, this has been an amazing experience. We got about 8" at our house! It was the third largest snowfall ever recorded in our area! It has been the most snow the kids have ever seen. Only I've seen more snow than this once or twice. Pretty awesome:)