Going Vinyl CRAZY and a few other things!!!!

I know, I've been missing in action for a few weeks now. What may you ask has been so time consuming that I haven't had time to update my blog. Well, I have one word for you.... VINYL.
I have been busy learning to use my new vinyl machine. I have been having such a great time hanging signs all over my house, doors, mirrors, and car, that I have been completely neglecting everyone and everything. It is ok with me but my family is getting a little irritated and if any of you know my hubby he is one high maintenance man (he has needs). Jeff thinks I have become obsessed but it isn't true; I am just excited to play with my new toy. I don't think it is too much to have vinyl in every room of the house.... I may be going over board, but I can take it off any time. I have been making Christmas presents for friends and family and having so much fun! My garage looks like a tornado hit. I hate having to clean up everytime I sand something. What a hasssle. I keep telling Jeff it is his job to keep the garage clean. That man doesn't listen to me very well. It is still a disaster. Now I am bribbing my kids to help me clean it. Money always motivates.
I will be adding products to my blog as I make things, so if anyone wants anything just e-mail me and let me know. I will start doing this after the holidays.
Some other things that have been going on around our house... Jeff just had a heart cath done a few days ago. He's been having some wierd things happening lately and went in to get looked at and they said his triglycerides were way high, blood prussure was too high, was having trouble breathing, sleeping even more than usual, and feeling dizzy and faint. He did a stress test that came back bad so the doc wanted to do a heart cath to make sure there was no blockage to his heart. After the surgery, the doc said everything looked great!! His heart is super healthy! This is great news. Now we just need to get Jeff excersizing. This isn't easy for him because he's always been so skinny. Maybe a little cardio will make him feel better.
He has also been working on a new project. He's very excited. We aren't saying much yet, but I can tell my closest freinds right???? He is making a canner prototype. A what??? A canner like we use to can out food storage. He is making his first one over Christmas. Now that Jeff works with all these over seas suppliers he has connections to access all the parts he needs to make them affordable to everyone. We are going to try to market these so every family can afford one. Wouldn't be nice to have one to use whenever something goes on sale, to buy a bunch and add to our food supply a little at a time. After we make our first and work out all the glitches we are going to start marketing them. Have no clue how to do this, but we will figure it out as we go.. They are going to be similar in size to the Kitchen aid mixer. There are several people here in Alabama that are so excited about this and wanting to be involved in some way, we just keep telling them- lets make the 1st one and see how it goes. We will need investors soon enough. Anyways we will keep you all posted about this project. I keep telling Jeff I will make the logo out of vinyl for the machines- he laughs at me.

Getting Older

I just had my 33rd Birthday Friday. I don't feel like I am getting older. I don't feel like I look alot older. BUT.... there are some changes occuring that I don't feel like have control over!!! First, my BODY!!! What is up with my body. It isn't doing anything I want it to do. I have always enjoyed workingout and staying in shape, but It doesn't seem like it helps as much as it used to.. My "ham-hocks" are determined to have a mind of there own and they have decided they are never going away!! Why do women have to battle the buldge so much. It is an exhausting game and never seems to end or get easier. So for now I will keep drinking my protien shakes,eating almonds, and running through neighborhoods for exersize (cause I am too cheap to go to the gym these days). Kind of boring i know. It not about variety, it's about lookin good in the mirror. Right??
Second, my kids. Are they getting bigger and I am staying the same. I sure hope O haven't changed as dramatically as they have over the past few years. Hannah is as tall as me. She can out smart me in a debate, and look so cute I am scared to send her out in the world. Carson will always be my little man. HE thinks I am wonderful 24-7. I think the Lord blessed me with him- to help me remember I am of worth. He makes me feel loved and adored. My sweet Carson!! It has been a gift to be a mom, now that I am thinking about it. Ella and Macie are still so sweet and loving. Definately not as sassy as their older sis.
Security and financial wellness. Does anyone have this right now?? I wonder... Jeff has a great job right now. They love him at work and he is valuable to them. The auto industry is so fickle right now. They just cut down over time which stinks cause that means less in our checks. We are just glad to have a job, but everything seems tight. Tight and uncertian.. Groceries are out of control expensive, co-pays are higher, water and electricity are going up. Sometimes even a good job isn't enough these days.
These are just my 33rd birthday thoughts. Just typing out loud. We will see what differs next year. This year I am just happy with my little family here in Alabama with nice house and good job. This moment is good. I am going to live it for all it's worth!!!!

Finally some Halloween Pictures!!

Our Halloween was full of school parties, church trick-or-trunks, and neighborhood jumping for candy!! We had a great Halloween.Ella dressed up as a SPA GIRL. She looked cute. She had her rode and slippers and her hair up in a towel with a facial mask cream on. She got a lot of fun comments.

Carson was a knight. HE didn't like his costume very much and kept taking it off. He also dressed up as a NINJA for Halloween night. That was a lot more comfy.

Macie wanted to be a dead witch. I don't know why . She kept getting her face paint on her hands and wiping it on her costume. By the end of the night she was a total mess, but still a cutie!

Hannah was a she-DEVIL. That's all I have to say. No, she is sweet. Just a little feisty sometimes. Too much fun. Way too much candy!!! That's what Halloween is all about right??? Thank goodness it's over. Now we just have to get Thanksgiving and Christmas out of the way. We are looking forward to the holidays. My problem is that my kids don't need a bit of anything for Christmas. I don't know what to do for them....... any creative ideas, let me know???

CRAZY Hair!!

First thing First.... Callie don't be mad. Okay, I am here in Alabama. I don't know anyone, there is nothing to do, and I am tired of unpacking boxes. I am really bored and kind of lonely so I decided I needed a change to spice up my life a little. What change you ask. Can you tell by the pics? I went to walmart and picked up a box color and dyed my hair. I have never used a box color and didn't know what to expect( but that is what made it exciting). I couldn't decide lighter, darker, redder so I started talking to a girl who was also getting some color at Walmart and she thought I should go lighter, so I did. I don't know if I regret it yet. I don't know if I like it or not. It's not so far from the color I already was. It did make it a little more stawberry blonde. Macie thinks it looks yellow. I don't know if that is good or bad. Jeff is no help he just says it looks fine. Ella says she likes it. I don't want to look like a stripper or like I have fake hair. Tell me what you think. Should I try again. Quit being a cheapskate and get it done professionally. HELP!! YES or NO. Can you tell I am really really bored and confused!!!!

Look a like

We always are having debates over who the kids look like. This test is so fun!!! II don't know how accurate it is but it is fun to see who looks more like who.

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Parrott Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Parrott Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Genealogy software - Family web sites

Parrott Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Old photos - Family reunion

Opryland or BUST!!

This weekend we went to Opryland for Jeff to dance. HE was going to go by himself but at the last minute we decided it would be fun to all go. SO while he was dancing and mingling with Rickky Skaggs and Kelli Pickler, I was be driven bananas by my 4 kiddos. I decided to take them to the Opry hotel to show them where Jeff and I met. They were amazed by how beautiful it was. MAcie kept saying, "is this a hotel, it sure is pretty." They couldn't believe the tropical gardens were inside the hotel. I showed them the garden bench Jeff and I sat on and chit-chated until Grandpa Swensen hunted us down and made me leave. They thought that was pretty funny. Hannah wants to go there for her honeymoon when she get married. IT is a beautiful place. WEll, the irritating part is that for months now I have been having trouble with my canon rebel, that I love. I took it with us to shoot some photos of the kids in the gardens. The whole night I messed with the settings and made the kids pose over and over trying to tweek my settings. Hannah saw how frustrated I was getting and asked to see my camera and I kept telling her NO. Well I kept on taking blurry pictures all night. After a couple hours of that we decided to start walking back to our hotel and stop at McDonald for a treat. Well this is the annoying part!!! Hannah grabbed my camera and then said, "look mom, your camera isn't blurry anymore." Sure Hannah.... THen I looked and sure enough, she was right. What did she do??? She adjusted the second lens on my camera that I didn't know I had on there. My 11 year old just looked at me and shook her head. For about 6 months I have been stuggling with my camera and she fixed it in less than 2 seconds. What is the matter with me!!!!!!!! I am just glad my Hannah is such a smarty pants. I keep telling her she gets it from me, but I am starting to think she doesn't believe me. Anyway we all had fun and Jeff danced his hiney off.

Big Pumkin Day

CArson's preschool went to the pumkin patch today. We had a great time. It was nice to spend time together. It was like a little date. We held hands and walked to each activity. HE rode the coolest little ponies, pet a bunch of goats at the petting zoo (they should have called it the goat zoo), jumped on a bunch of bouncing blow-up balloons, and took a hay ride to get our pumpkins. We had a nice little lunch and then left. IT was a fun day. He thought these bumpy pumpkins were wierd.

Alabama Beach before the storms

We took the kids to the beach a couple of weeks ago. We had a blast. HAnnah practiced her splits in the sand (she wants to try out for cheer squad) and swam the whole time. Carson was like a little fish. We had to watch him like a hawk. Ella and Macie picked up shells to add to their rock collections. They had their little hind ends in the air most of the trip. I think that is MAcie's in the picture. It was beautiful weather. It was hard to believe that the hurricane hit the next day - full force. We will definately go back to the Alamaba beaches, they are great!!

Macie's Birthday and a BIG Surprise

September 24th was Macie's birthday. She is 6 years old already. She is truly my sweet little lady! SHe woke up today so excited about her special day. When she got home from school Jeff had her a special surprise..... A new kitty. She has been wanting one for so long and the answer was always NO!!! What changed you ask??? Well, our new house is surrounded by Kudzu (a very irritating, fast growing, climbs up everything plant). When Jeff was mowing it down in our yard I saw several mice run off. Now, if there mice there are snakes and who knows what else. Yikes!!! The pest control man said that we need to get an outdoor kitty to keep the rodents away. He said it works great and is safer than chemicals or poisons. SO.. now we have a cute orange kitty. Macie is in love. Hannah thinks she is the boss of it and Ella just cries nonstop because she wants a kitty too. SO meet the newest member if the Parrott Family.

Where have we been!!!!

We have been everywhere this summer. In June we moved to Millbrook, Alabama. Jeff got a new job as Assn't Manager at Hyundia. It is a great job! He really likes it. Hopefully we will be here a bit longer than we were in Texas. We realllly miss Texas( at lest us girls do). We also miss all of our Texas friends. Even though we were only there for a year; we made soooo many fun and memorable friends!!!!
Well, this is where our journey began.
We moved into a small apartment in June while we looked for a house to rent. The girls went to Kentucky in July and spent almost a month with their grandparents, Roy and Gracie. What a help that was!! I went back to Texas to get us moved and rent out the house. After leaving Texas we met the movers in Alabama in our new rental. I spent the rest of the week unpacking as fast as I could cause I had to leave to catch a flight out of Lexington, ky to go to Idaho and see Sophie be born!! That was the most amazing thing ever!!!! I will never forget Seeing Sophie take her first breath! AWESOME!! I have had 4 kids but never have seen a birth up close and personal. Thanks Callie for sharing it with me!. After our Boise trip I came back to Ky to get the girls. We drove back to Alabama and started school 3 days later!
NEW NEWS:
We just bought a new house! It is beautiful. I found a foreclosure on my daily listing e-mail, so my realtor and I went to check it out and made an offer that night. We weren't planning on moving so soon. I DREAD packing and moving again so SOON!!!!! This better be the last time!
The kids also have to change schools again- they aren't too happy.
So this is where we are at. I'll keep you all better posted from now on.