Katie has challenged me....

to get busy blogging! Soooo....I am going to blog at least three times this week. And this post doesn't even count! She has even given me three topics! And, I just came up with a forth one on my own! So, if you care, feel free to check back this week and see how I do!

I miss blogging! It fun!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

The Cutest Cowgirl - Halloween 2009

I don't know what you think, but I know that *I* definitely think she is the CUTEST COWGIRL!! Sammie told me early in the year that she wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween and...for once in my life...I didn't totally procrastinate! I found the skirt, shirt, hat and boots at Gymboree and just couldn't resist. Thanks heavens for sales!

On Friday night we went to the town square in Greencastle to trick-or-treat at all of the businesses. It was windy and raining off and on, but we still had fun! As we were leaving there and heading to the State Police Post in Putnamville, Sammie said to me "Mom, everyone said I was the cutest cowgirl and you know why?...because I AM!!" I grinned at her and said..."Or, maybe they said that because that's what it says on your shirt!" Her reaction was priceless...she looked down at her shirt and hit herself in the head like an "I COULD HAVE HAD A V-8" moment! LOL It was soooo funny!

She really enjoyed going to the Police Post and seeing all the officers and their cars and motorcycles. She especially liked the very sharp (and very unmarked!!!) silver Mustang! We also stopped by to see Grandma, who has been sick. Sammie was excited that she was handing out small bags of pretzels and opened them and ate them right then and there! :o)

On Saturday, we stopped by to see a few friends, stopped at the Bank and at Grandpa and Aunt Dona's house (where Aunt Dona always leaves YUMMY treats!). Sydney went along with us to sell cookie dough for her basketball fundraiser, too. Then we went by the house and picked up Roger and went to BW3's for dinner!

Another Halloween has come and gone and all Sammie can talk about is her upcoming birthday on Veteran's Day (November 11th). She will be 8 and is super excited that she won't have to sit in a car seat anymore! They grow up so fast!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim

County Champs 2009

I couldn't edit my other post to add the picture, so I thought I'd just do it here!

Back row: Brooke, Sydney, Victoria, Coach Williams

Front row: Kayla, Elizabeth

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

These girls ROCK!!!!!! ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

The Lady Clovers Golf Team had a great night on Tuesday in their match against West Vigo. They broke the school record and were so excited about that! The school record was 189. Twice this season they have shot 190 and twice they shot 191. We knew if they could ever all pull it together on one night they could break it. Well, they kinda SHATTERED it by shooting 179!!! Elizabeth had an awesome round and shot 40!! I know she was just thrilled. Syd shot 46 and was happy with that.

Then came Thursday night and the County Match. Once again, the girls pulled it together and had a good round...and once again, they broke the record!!! They shot 176!!! They won county by 14 strokes!! Our school has never won County for girls golf!!! Victoria had a great night and shot a 40! She was just BEAMING with pride! Syd had her best round in a match this year and shot a 44. She parred her first hole and then got a bogey on each of the next 8. And she even hit one in the water!! It was so much fun to watch her. I could see her really focusing and thinking about each and every shot.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is Sectionals! We're hoping they can qualify for Regionals as a team. There are a few REALLY awesome teams in our Sectionals, but our team is the MOST AWESOME!!

GOOD LUCK LADY CLOVERS!!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

Sorry...can't get the picture to upload! I'll try again tomorrow!

It started with portable restrooms.....

and ended with bird poop!

If you know me well, you probably already know the story! If not, just smile and shake your head. It's all in a day's work for me!!!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim

Seriously...that's it???

Summer's over? Just like that? I didn't even get really hot or anything. Barely remember running the air conditioner. What happened? It can't seriously be over, can it? I don't want it to be.

We stayed so busy that I never really felt like we had a summer. It got hot for about one week and that's it. The girls wore flip flops and shorts plenty. And they even managed to get in their bathing suits a time or two, but I still just don't feel like we had a normal summer.

Wonder if that means we are in for a REALLY cold winter? I heard on the radio the other day that the Farmer's Almanac says it's going to be super cold, but not lots of snow. Grrrr. If it's going to be really cold, I want TONS of snow!!

Oh well, at least fall sports are in full swing! We've got 2 weeks of golf matches left and cross country is super busy right now, too. Syd doesn't have much free time between the two, but she is putting her best effort forth in both of them. She ran her first two XC meets this week. The first one was this weird "medly" thing where some people run 3K, some run 4K and some run 5K. Syd ran the 3K and her time was about even with what she ran in 6th grade! LOL She wasn't too proud of that! Then Saturday she ran in an invitational and her time for the meet was 26:23. I was totally expecting her to be around 30:00 since she really hasn't been running as much as she normally would, so I was surprised to see her running towards the finish line when she did.

Sammie is staying busy swimming, riding her 4-wheeler and with gymnastics and cheer. I think she rode her 4-wheeler more on Saturday, Sunday and today that she has since she first got it! I noticed today that she was getting a little too daring for my taste. There's only so much a helmet can protect you from. I finally made her park it for the night!

This coming weekend is the Renihan family reunion. I can't wait. My brother, Chris, and his family will be in from Iowa and I can't wait to see them. My SIL, Margie, and I always have a few good laughs and it will be great to see Sarah and Topher...I can't even remember when I saw them last, but they are all grown up now! Can't wait to take some pics!

I guess that's it for now. I'm sad to see this long weekend come to an end.

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

The BIRDIE dance....

Syd got to do it on hole 16 tonight!!!! It's her first OFFICIAL birdie in a golf match. She had one in her very first match, but it got rained out half way through so they had to start over another day because all of the teams weren't able to make the reschedule!!

Grandpa Shrum was riding with me in the cart and he was SOOOO excited for her! He even punched me in the arm when the ball went in the hole!! I thought Roger was going to EXPLODE he was so excited!!!

She had a good game tonight. She shot a 50 and didn't have anything higher than a 7 on her scorecard!

Ahhhh...what a good night!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

iPhone meets Kubota Z74

Well, here is the picture I promised. Lovely isn't it? I always wondered what was inside the iPhone...now I know! LOL I had just bought the new plastic case on Saturday night. It was ugly and I hated it, but I needed a protective case because I tend to drop my phone sometimes! LOL The armband thingie wasn't much protection, either!

I got my new phone and I'm back in business, although, since I'm not real good about regularly synching my iPhone, there's lots of stuff that I need to add again. I guess it's just a matter of time!

Have fun laughing at me!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

A small tragedy....

Okay, so I got home from work tonight and was feeling pretty UP and productive. DH was at golf league tonight. The girls decided they were going golfing, too, so I took them to the golf course and dropped them off. Had to fax an order approval for some linens while I was there for some linens that weren't available through my usual company. I got home and decided to jump in the pool to do some exercise and also to sweep the pool. Stayed in there about 30 minutes and got that done. Got changed and put some meat in the fridge to marinade and made some rice and started a load of laundry. Then I decided I better mow the grass since it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Got the front yard done and saw a small snake on my driveway (probably as big around as a pencil and about 14 inches long). I hate snakes, but this one wasn't a big deal. My FIL stopped in to see what time Syd's golf meet is tomorrow and I told him to hold on...I had to kill a snake! I found the snow shovel and chopped it's head off!!! Sent him on his way (shaking his head! LOL) I was feeling pretty proud of myself at this point because I had actually accomplished quite a bit! LOL So, I continue my mowing. About 40 minutes later, I was done with the biggest part of the yard and Syd calls to tell me they are done and ready for me to pick them up so I run real quick to get them. Find out the DH has a buddy coming home from the golf course with him to swim and eat dinner. I told them no big deal, but I need to finish mowing before I cook, so I rush back home to mow. I had been mowing about 5 minutes when tragedy struck.........................I was listening to my iPod (iPhone) as I was mowing and had it in this arm-band thing. When I mow, I always put the arm-band thing on the arm rest of the mower. Well, apparently I hit a bump and it threw my phone off the arm rest and right under the mower and I watched it fly out from under the mower in A ZILLION PIECES!!!!!!!! I didn't even know what to do. I was in complete and total shock!!!!! I just turned the mower off and picked up the pieces and started walking up to the house. DH pulled in right about then with his buddy right behind him. He could tell by the look on my face that something was REALLY wrong and he looked down at my hands and said "what's that?" When I said "my phone", I thought he was going to die!!!! They both laughed at me until I was almost crying!!!

If you know me well, you know that this is reall not a small tragedy to me. This rates right up there with losing my right arm. Seriously. My phone is like an appendage. I have been totally stressing out since the minute it happened. I don't know how I'm going to function in the morning. The first thing I do every morning is check the weather on my phone. Shortly after that, (by 6am), I start receiving text messages and phone calls from work. I've got a couple of meetings in the morning, so I'm not even going to be able to get to AT&T until 10 or 11. Holy crap. I'm not sure I'll survive. I will try and get a picture of it tomorrow to show you what a nice job I did on it!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

Back to School....already!!!

I can't believe it's that time, already, but the girls went back to school on Thursday, August 13th. Sydney is a freshman this year and Sammie is in 2nd grade. They were both excited to go back. Sydney is in golf and cross country right now, so she's been extra busy. Sammie is doing gymnastics and cheer, so she stays pretty busy herself. I feel like all I do is drive, drive, drive!!! :o) We have fun, though!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

West Baden Springs

If you EVER have a chance to visit southern Indiana, make sure you find the time to go to West Baden Springs Resort in West Baden, Indiana. It's only 1 mile from French Lick! And you can say you've been to what is dubbed as the "8th Wonder of the World". I haven't seen the first 7, but the 8th one is BREATHTAKING!!!! I promise you, it will be worth the trip!!! This place has a rich history that just amazes me. A quick timeline/history...originally built in 1902 (and built in less than 1 year!!!) after a previous hotel on the site was destroyed by fire...It was claimed that the mineral baths and drinking water could cure most anything. As word spread of the plummeting stock market in 1929, people gathered in the on-site stock brokerage firm and watched the hotel virtually empty overnight. The stock market crash spelled the end of the hotel and it closed it's doors in 1932. It was sold to the Jesuits for $1 in 1934 and was turned into a seminary, which operated until 1964. In 1966 the Jesuit's sold the property to a Michigan couple who donated it to a private college which operated a business management school until 1983. I first became interested in this when my parents took me there my senior year of high school (1986). My Dad heard that someone had purchased the hotel and was in the process of restoring it, so he took us to see it. Even though the place was a total mess, you just had this "feeling" when you walked into the dome that it was something special. A few years later, the owner filed bankrupty so it sat empty for several years. In 1991, Bill Cook, a Bloomington, Indiana, entreprenuer financed a partial restoration. In 2006, ownership was transferred to a subsidiary of Cook Group and was reopened in 2007. The first picture is the brick drive entrance. I forgot to take a picture of the arches you drive through at the entrance! DUH! It's quite majestic!



This was the largest dome in North America from 1902 until 1963 when Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign was built.

When I walked into it on Tuesday, I just couldn't believe how BEAUTIFUL it was. Oh.My.Goodness!!! These pictures don't do it justice, seriously. You just can't believe it!

We spent about an hour walking around the shops, etc. inside the hotel. I found this beautifully decorated dining room. I'm not sure if there was an event planned for the evening or if it always looks like this. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the linens were navy blue and gold and just looked divine!

I also found this chair and ottoman in one of the little shops inside the hotel. Again, the picture doesn't do this justice..the colors were absolutely vibrant and the detail was amazing.

I've got several pictures from outside in the "gardens" that I will share in the next couple of days. If you enjoyed the pics of the inside, just you wait until you see what's outside! Talk about gorgeous!!!

Thanks for letting me gush about my new favorite place in the world!!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim

Mother-Daughter-Sister Trip Summer 2009

I decided to plan a little trip for Mom, Debbie and I. We also invited Lacey and Sara, but they weren't able to come this time....hopefully they can next time!





I booked us a room at French Lick Springs Resort in French Lick Indiana. I HIGHLY recommend this resort/casino to anyone looking for a nice little trip away! You can check out their website HERE for more information. Talk about historical....beautiful.....gorgeous. I just can't say enough. This was my 2nd time staying there since the hotel was recently restored and Roger and I had also taken Sydney there in 2000 when she was about 5 years old.


We planned to leave around 4pm on Monday (July 27th), and just as expected, Mom showed up raring to go at 6pm! LOL




It was a beautiful evening for a drive. We decided to stop in Mitchell, Indiana for dinner at Back Yard Burgers. None of us had ever eaten there and it was fantastic. So good, in fact, that we stopped there on our way home on Tuesday for a late lunch! :o)






We got checked into our room in the Spa Wing at about 8:30pm. After lots of oohing and ahhhing and letting Mom "freshen up" {While Debbie and I teased her about picking up rich old man! Heheh), we headed for the casino! WooHoo! I played a little bit of Let It Ride...my FAVORITE game, but I wasn't doing any good so I switched to playing slots...which weren't any better! Debbie did pretty okay on the slots considering she was playing with bonus dollars from signing up for the Player's Card. Mom...well, she didn't do too bad, either, but I don't think she was a winner. :o(




Now for a couple of pictures...




This first picture is Mom, my sister Debbie and I outside what I call the grand entrance. It is just so pretty. Don't we look cute! Mom tried to mother us and make us take off our glasses, but it was really sunny and we didn't want to be all squinty in the picture!

I wish I had taken more pictures in our room, but this one makes me smile! Mom was just amazed with the room and had to look at EVERY.SINGLE.THING!! LOL I'm glad she liked it so much...it made me smile to see her smile!

That's all for tonight! I've got LOTS more pictures to share, but I also have work to catch up on and some cleaning to do. I'll try to share some more tomorrow!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim

STAY TUNED!!

I am actually, really, truly going to post something tonight or tomorrow...with pictures even!! I know you won't believe it until you see it, but just you wait!!!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

PS - I've actually got LOTS of posts to catch up on, so after I post what I'm talking about above, I'll get to work on the rest of them!

Time for some updates!

I have lots of things I need to post about and hope to get them posted (with pictures) over the next week or so...

Track Season ends

School ends

8th grade graduation/awards

Field Day

Perfect Attendance

Softball

500 Festival Parade

The Busy month of JUNE!!!

Hope to post about at least a few of these this week!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

2009 COUNTY CHAMPS!!!!!!!

THEY DID IT!!!! Here you have the

2009 Putnam County Girls Track CHAMPIONS!!!!!

WTG Lady Clovers! These girls have worked extremely hard this season and have earned everything they accomplished. They had an undefeated regular season and then last night they won the County championship by A LOT! They scored 91 and the next closest team was 51! Mrs. Jordan does an awesome job with these girls and pushes them to always be all that they can be.

Now...tomorrow is their biggest task of the season. CONFERENCE. It is a 7-way meet and even though we've beat every team that will be there, there will be some challenges. We have a couple of girls who can't be there due to a band competition at King's Island, so that means changing up a few races, etc. I have confidence in them and I know they will all give it all they've got!

I'm proud of each and every one of you! It has been a really fun season watching you and cheering you on.

Great job, ladies!!!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

Big SHOUT OUT....

to a very dear friend! My friend Marilyn, has decided to quit smoking and this is her third day! I am so proud of her and I KNOW she can do this!!!

I wish I could go straight to Oklahoma and give her a big, huge hug!!

Love ya, Marilyn!


Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

What???? It's May, already?????

Okay, I admit it....I'm a Loser - yes, with a capital L!!

I let the entire month of April slip by without a single post. If nothing else I should have made a birthday post. There were lots of people I love who had birthdays in April. Shame on ME!!!!!

I did get cards sent out (not all of them on time, but at least they did get in the mail!), but I didn't get to post individually, so here are the birthdays I celebrated for the month of April:

6 - Keri Hennenfent - My SpeedyRewards hotdog and soda buddy!!! (I still have your card since I don't have your address! LOL)

16 - Thomas Helmer - My great nephew turned 1 and had an awesome birthday party at Jump N Play in Avon...what a cool place! Thanks for inviting us, we had a blast!!

17 - Emma Crowe - My little tiny princess great neice! She turned 6 and is the cutest little thing! Well on her way to achieving the title of DIVA!!!!

20 - Alberto Moreno - My favorite guy from Spain! I miss you!!!

22 - Cheryl Cannon - My SB buddy in PA! Sorry I missed you when you were in town. :(

24 - Brandon Knight - Roger's nephew - and all-around good guy! I just love him!!!

26 - Judit Cortes-Cavanillas - My favorite gal from Spain and one of my dearest friends!! and also Rorie Boss - My SB buddy in Nevada who I hope to meet someday!!!

27 - Stephanie Cooper - My SB buddy in Owensboro! Sorry I missed your party! :(

I hope you all know you are special to me and I hope each and every one of you had a WONDERFUL birthday...and many more!!!!!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

Spring Break Recap

I can't actually believe it's over, but it really is. We had a wonderful spring break trip to Branson, Missouri. I didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few to show that we really were there!

First...big, big KUDOS to the Hilton Promanade. Talk about a wonderful place to stay. Our room was absolutely awesome (can't believe I forgot to take any pics of the inside...oops!). Everyone who worked there was so nice. The beds were very comfortable and the shower was wonderful...actually, the whole bathroom was great because it was huge! These first two pictures are the view from our balcony. Branson Landing is such a beautiful area. I can't imagine that we'll ever stay anywhere except there when we go back...we might even have to request the same room! LOL It was cool to watch the fire/water show. It went off every hour from about 9 in the morning until 11pm. Music would blare and the fountain would shoot off water and flames. I meant to take a video of the last show at night when they did the Star Spangled Banner...it was so cool.

We went to Silver Dollar City twice. We went on Sunday and it turned out to be a beautiful day and we had a great time. Sammie went to be measured to ride Wildfire and was about 1/8 of an inch too short. She was disappointed, but she didn't let it get her down. They gave her a token to go to the front of the line when she was tall enough, so that made her smile. Well, that plus the fact that she knew if she wore different tennis shoes, she'd be tall enough! LOL When we went back on Thursday...in new Nike Shox, she was tall enough and she asked to sit in the FRONT!! Roger and Syd have loved this ride for years and Sammie loved it just as much...she said it's her new favorite ride. The bad news was, when she and Syd went back to ride in the afternoon, the lady measured her and said she wasn't tall enough. Didn't make her too happy, but she got over it! LOL We also had fun riding Powder Keg and The Giant Barn Swing...as well as a few other rides. And the food is always awesome at SDC!

We bought the picture from the ride Wildfire so I'll have to scan that and get it posted. Actually, it's a pretty horrible quality picture, but we couldn't resist buying it since it was Sammie's first time on it and her she looked like she was having a total blast!

Here are the pictures I took of Syd and Sammie riding Powder Keg...this ride is awesome. It takes off from zero to 53mph in 2.8 seconds..and what a thrill that is! The first picture is when the ride starts and takes you to where the real take-off is! The second picture is waiting for the green light and I actually managed to snap the third picture right at take-off! It's hard to see on here since it's somewhat small, but the girl's faces are priceless!!!

Another ride we really like is the Giant Barn Swing. It's like a huge double pendulum that holds 32 riders. Hold on tight as you launch through the barn doors at 45 mph, bursting over 7 stories into the sky and nearly upside down! You'll fly a full 230 degrees from one side of the barn to the other! Again, these pictures are kind of small to see the smiles on their faces, but be assured, they love this ride, too!

Another fun thing we like to do at SDC is go to Geyser Gulch. We avoided the water part this time...but there were still lots of people playing in it (and I was AMAZED at the number of people who were riding the water rides...Brrrrrrr!!!!). We did have fun, though, blasting foam balls at each other at the Foam Fort! Syd also decided to pose for a couple of pictures for me!!

Syd and I got pedicures on Wednesday and Sammie got a manicure and pedicure (okay, so they really just polished her fingers and toes, but she was thrilled!). It was fun to have a little 'girl time' with them and get pampered. Syd and I spent time texting back and forth even though we were sitting right beside each other...but the ladies doing our pedicures were speaking amongst themselves in their own language and didn't say a word to us. Not sure if they didn't speak English well or if they just didn't like us! LOL

WE TOOK A SPECIAL PICTURE, JUST FOR KATIEJ!!!!!!!

There were also some other fun times, but we didn't manage to get pictures of any of it! We had a lot of fun shopping at Branson Landing and at the Tanger Outlets. The girls both had money they had been saving plus money that Roger gave them, and they bought lots of fun stuff. We decided it saves us a lot of money if we give them money to spend rather than just randomly buy them things! LOL They think a lot longer and harder about how bad they want stuff when they are spending "their own" money!

Another favorite pastime while there was playing Missouri Lottery Keno at Garfield's. OMG, this was a blast! Roger played one night when the girls and I went to bed early and he actually won $300!! Obviously, we should have just let him keep going back by himself because we weren't as lucky when we were all there! We won a few small prizes, but nothing big...but it was still fun. They draw it every 4 minutes all day long. Sammie also found the "MegaTouch" machine and loved playing the games on there...I'll have to agree, it was a lot of fun, too!

Roger and Syd met up with friends of ours, Neil and Sam, and played a round of golf. Syd was a little frustrated with her game, but I think she still had fun playing at a really nice course. Diana and Beka came and met Sam and I at the hotel and the girls swam in the indoor pool and then we walked around Branson Landing for a while. We also met them for dinner one night at Shorty Small's and had fun...Sammie was quite the little entertainer that evening. I wish I had a video of that!

So, there you have it. The Shrum Familiy 2009 Spring Break Adventure! It was a lot of fun that went WAAAAYYYYY too fast. Time to start planning another fun getaway!!!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim

Well...it's over....

8th Grade Girl's Basketball , that is. The girls played a really good first half then followed that up with a TERRIBLE second half. Honestly, they got "down" and then they just couldn't snap out of it. I'm still VERY proud of them and look forward to watching all of them play basketball again in high school!!

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day! Unfortunately, ours turned out a little blue!

Hugs&Smiles!
Kim

COUNTY TOURNEY!!!!

So, here we go! Tonight is the first game of county tourney for middle school girls basketball! I'm really hoping we can win tonight...I know we are better than the team we are playing. Our girls have had a rough year and they have worked really hard, so I hope they can pull off a win tonight and play in the final game on Thursday! If not, this will be their very last middle school basketball game. It doesn't really seem possible.

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I think it's kind of an omen! LOL We are, after all, the CLOVERS. Yeah, I know, we're not the SHAMROCKS, but still...it's KIND OF a coincidence, isn't it???? And this got me to thinking...what IS the difference between a shamrock and a clover? Does one have three leaves and one have four? Nope...that's not it! LOL So, I decided to check out ask.com and see what they had to say....here's what I found.....

Short
answer: a shamrock is smaller than a clover.

Long
answer: shamrock and clover are both used to refer to species of
trefoil (genus Trifolium, from the Latin meaning "having three leaves"). Clover
is used for large species and shamrock for small species. Shamrock, like clover,
is common in Europe, not just in Ireland.

To the 8th Grade Lady Clovers....good luck, girls! I know you can win!! You DESERVE this after all you've been through the last 4 years! Go get what is yours!!

Hugs&Smiles!

Kim