Rainbarrels, Reunions, Revolvers and Riverboats

This is Boone, our neighbors dog. We're guessing he's Pug/Bulldog. Isn't he the cutest? We celebrated a few weeks ago because we noticed he'd been neutered! I put a collar on him and since then he hasn't visited as frequently because he can't escape from his tie-out!
September was a busy month that absolutely flew by. The minor league baseball season ended to which I always say "hooray!" Thank heaven Curtis doesn't work in the major leagues. He's already begun work on one of his "winter projects". This is a Shop Smith that my dad gave him that had belonged to my grandma's neighbor and has been kept for several years in a friends barn. It's in sorry shape, so Curtis is taking it apart and cleaning it all up...it's really amazing how Coke takes off rust!
Our computer was out of commission for several weeks of the month but thanks to a dear co-worker, it is now purring along happily sans malaware (grrr). In the meantime I finished my puzzle I started with mom during Art Camp!
Mammaw and Aunt Krista came and visited over Memorial Day Weekend while Uncle Tim was staying with us for a show. I was away for the weekend at Leslie's and went to Lisa Lach's wedding, so I didn't get to be there, but I was so glad they made it down to see our house!
I finally finished up my rainbarrel project from work just in time for the St. James Art Show. Who knows how long the paint will stick to those darned barrels, but they looked good for the show and we raised about $1000 dollars raffling them off. Here's a shot of mine when all was said and done. I loved how my koi fish turned out...it was a bit obvious (to me at least) that I spent more time on the top, than the sides!
My 10 year class reunion was on the 26th...quite hard to believe it's been that long. I organized the event with some help from a few other classmates and it turned out to be a rather small affair. Not many classmates were able to come, but we had a good time eating and talking.
(there were a few people who left before this picture was taken)

My dad bought a .357 magnum for some reason. Dad, Curtis and I had fun shooting it out at Curt's parents house. None of us were very consistent, but my first shot was the best of all of them. Dad kept calling me Annie Oakley. Watch out Travis, you might have some competition at the shooting range! Really I prefer bow and arrow:)

(zoom in and you can see my first shot...right in the center!)

Dad came down for the St. James Art Show the first weekend in October and we went on a riverboat ride on the Belle of Louisville. It was fun, a bit chilly, but fun.
Here's a parting shot of Tyson and Harriet...they looked so cute riding in the back seat together:) They were a bit crowded because we had Gypsy back there in a crate too!

Harriet...and my new fish:-)

For those of you who have followed Harriet's journey towards health, here is a cute video of her that I took the other day. She is looking SOOO much better. It's really amazing what steroids can do!



and here's my new fish, Koi. He's pretty cute...I need to get a picture of all three...but it's harder to make fish hold still than it is to make kittens hold still! You can see Mako's tail fins on the left of this picture and Suki's on the right. That was almost a perfect shot!

Cumberland Falls

Last weekend we went to Corbin Kentucky and went white water rafting at Cumberland Falls with the other couples in our small group from church. On Friday night we stayed in a "cabin" together and played games. We set out for rafting bright and early, minus Alicia since she's prego, around 9:00. We had a really good time rafting, I'd never been before, so I was a bit anxious. Sorry no rafting pics, couldn't bring the camera along!We went to see Cumberland falls that afternoon from the "land" perspective and then went camping that night at "Bee Rock" with 2 other couples.
Curtis makes the best "campfire breakfast"! The other two couples left on Sunday morning but we stayed for a while and went hiking around the campsite. Then we took a nap and headed home in the afternoon.
We made a slight detour on the way home and drove through Frankfort, KY. Neither of us had ever been to the capitol. It's a very pretty, historic town!

Louisville Flood, a Quick Trip to GA, and Birthdays

The day after my last post, Louisville flooded, literally flooded. This is how much rain we got (in about 2 hours) and and what the end of our driveway looked like. I didn't go to work that day it was so bad. I guess there were cars floating down the street where I work! No point in driving into that!
Curtis walked down and did a "depth check" for me...and then backed my car back up the driveway. This was later in the day...it had started to go down a little bit, but not much.
My co-worker, SteveO got married the Saturday after camps and I drove down to Macon, GA to attend. Fortunately, another co-worker, Lloyd, and his wife drove down with me and that helped the trip go faster. It was a beautiful wedding and I wouldn't have missed it! I also got to stop and see Michael, Stephanie and Kaylee for a few minutes on the way home...since I was in the neighborhood:-)
Curtis turned 27 on the 15th! He's getting old! I made him a spice cake with cream cheese icing...it was very good. We didn't do much else on his birthday because he had to work.
Travis surprised Leslie by bringing her to my house for her birthday. I got her a CD of Journey's greatest hits (The Essential Journey) and made her a mint icecream cake.and then Travis gave her his present (and the real reason they'd come to my house to stay): Tickets to the Journey w/Heart concert at the Kentucky Fair.
She was really surprised:)

Sorry, I still haven't had a chance to add summer camp pictures...I'll get around to it...eventually.

My apologies:...

To those of you who actually follow this blog, I apologize. But I have been SOOOOOO busy! I'm honestly not even sure where to start.

First I suppose I'll give an update on Harriet. She's doing MUCH better in comparison to how we first found her (see previous post). She had a rough bout the last few weeks, lost her appetite, got all itchy again and was having accidents in her crate, but then we found out it was probably because we had finished up her steroids and didn't refill them. We didn't know we were supposed to and she was going through some serious withdrawal! But she's back on the 'roids and feeling fine...just the occasional scratching. If her hair will ever grow back in we'll post her online and see if anyone wants a 16 yr old beagle!We stained/sealed the porch swing and I wrote a litte inscription on the underside.
And we stained/sealed the deck...was that a chore! Mom and Dad helped with that one weekend too. We haven't been able to really start on the fence because we have had so much rain this summer!
The other day we got a lot all at once!
I have had a lot of pretty gladolius this summer...but they're done blooming for the year. I noticed today that my lilly turf and hastas are finally starting to bloom...everyone else's hastas are done by now!
The summer pool party was nice this year...a little rainy, but we had some sun in the late afternoon.
I was able to get rid of my "work swimsuit" tan line the day after the party.
Curtis enjoyed the food as always:-)
We FINALLY found a new comforter that we both really love...and Gypsy approves of it too!
Gypsy has not been doing well lately. Her bowels seem to have stopped responding to her medications, so we have been giving her an enema every 3 days to keep things moving along. The vet bills keep mounting, but we're determined to do everything we can because we'll regret it if we don't. Wednesday she has her first appointment with a vet who performs acupuncture. We're hoping this will help to avoid the other option...surgery...and all the complications that come with it. Might seem like a strange request, but please pray that this acupuncture works!

This is the cutest kitten of our most recent foster litter, Brooke. Her and her siblings, Blaise, Blaine, Beauregard and Bridget are almost 5 weeks old now. So cute! Almost ready to "graduate" to the bathroom so they have room to run.50+ hours/week over the last nine weeks has been dedicated to summer camps. I'll go through my work pictures and find a few of myself sans kids (can't post them) to photodocument those weeks. I started the summer with Music Camp, then VBS, Horse Camp, Wilderness Women, Safari Camp, Sugar and Spice Camp, (2 week) Art Camp, and Bike Day Camp (this week). It has absolutely flown by and I've been a pretty big stressball throughout it. Running programs in a facility that is not your own brings constant complications which require you to use the infamous "improvise, modify and adjust" plan of action. Amazingly, all my camps went really well again this year...I'd say better than last. We had some really awesome new campers this year that were a joy to have in camp. There was also some real talent! Check out this beautiful mosaic that the kids in art camp created. My wonderful volunteer, Kate, who helped me tirelessly, did the groutwork for us so we wouldn't have an enourmous mess, haha. Isn't it beautiful??Mom and Dad came down again this year during art camp. Daddy came and helped from Wednesday to Wednesday with the art instruction and mom found things to do around the house during the day. She brought this puzzle with her and we finished it together.
Another art camp project that is continuing past camp is the rain barrels...here is mine in the beginning stage...I got the "barrel" painted during camp, but not the koi. The kids finished theirs but the paint we used keeps scuffing off. So my plan is to bring them home one by one, touch them up and then put some kind of clear sealant on them. Here's hoping they turn out ok...they'll be raffled off at the St. James Art Fair in October.
Gosh, and this was all just in one month!! and now it's almost 9:00 and I haven't eaten supper yet. Hope this satisfies you curious ones for now.

Summer Frenzy

Curtis's sister Kimberly graduated from high school this year. It's hard to believe....Curtis and I started dating when she was 9 yrs old! She's such a beautiful and smart girl, I'm proud she's my "sister".
The second Dog Day at the Park was a success, great weather, huge crowd! We saw Wiley with his new family. They absolutely love him!
Our foster, Chewy, got adopted two weeks ago by one of Curtis' co-workers. That same day Tyson discovered a beagle who had "flopped to die" in our driveway. We've managed to bring her back from the brink with tons of antibiotics, baths, food/water/shelter and lovin'. She's anywhere from 10-15 years old, most likely un-adoptable, so I dont' know what we'll do with her. We just couldn't let her die. Curtis dubbed her "Harriet" after Harriet Tubman...he thinks she was a "slave" to a puppy mill and escaped. Here are a few pics of what this poor animal looked like when she arrived... sadly, she had a collar on, so someone actually "owned" this dog.
She's looking TONS better now, just two weeks later and she's actually responding to sound (before she couldn't hear a thing) and she's running around the yard a bit (she could barely walk her body was so sore and swollen). Curtis has been a saint with her...he doesn't give himself enough credit...I could barely get near her at first without gagging over the smell, but he braved the stench and kept medicating her morning and night! After 3 weeks, she's finally well-enough to come inside (hardly stinks at all). She still has some severe ear infections and is slightly aenemic but she's heartworm free (still can't believe that) and on her way to a healthy "retirement".
We also have a little kitten foster right now, named Theo. He's too cute and quite spunky:)
We just celebrated our 5 year Wedding Anniversary...the "wood" anniversary...so we bought a swing for our front porch! Tyson liked it:)Right now I'm in the midst of summer camps...just finished up Horse Camp and Wilderness Women....Safari Camp starts tomorrow. It's been going FAST but really well. I've decided to post on them all at once, so I'll wait till the end of the summer for that rundown of events.