What was I thinking?

What is it about women and their hair? Lately, I haven't been happy with mine!
It looks dull and lifeless. Last time I got a hair cut the lady used a razor on my hair and it really messed it up…looks like I have frizzy hair all the time! The older I get the more my hair changes…no longer do I have beautiful silky flowing blonde hair…it now has some wave in the back…straight in the front…and going darker with a little gray. UGH!

So I decided to take matters into my own hands and color it...I thought it would be a quick fix to my anguish. I went to our favorite getting place…Wally World! The color choices can be very overwheleming! So after about 30 mins of looking I went for a light blonde! Came home and went to work…can I say UGLY! It looked horrible. The color didn't take in all places and I could see the differences...a blob here and a blob there! Yucky! I kept the look for about a week and couldn’t handle it anymore.

So... back to Wally World and this time went with something dark. Why fight what is happening naturally... plus I've always wondered what I would look like with darker hair...so I went for a Medium Brown in a cool color and it had highlights too! YES... this was the one for me! Let's try this again!

Well after I coloring it...it was a deep brown...deeper then I thought it would be! But thought it'll be okay after I pull in the highlights thru! Well the highlights looked brassy and covered the top of my head...I tried pulling it through the bottom layers but I didn't notice a color change. The bottom of my hair looked ashy more blue and purple in color! Can we say YUCK...again!

The next day I went to Bible Study and NO ONE said anything...good or bad about my hair. So I thought "that's it"...time for Professional Intervention!

So Friday I called the local Cost Cutters…again at Wally World! And Holly answered the phone. I said…“Hi Holly…I NEED HELP!” Then I explained what a horrible mess I made of my hair and she said she understood and it could be fixed…she also added that she was one of the best for color corrections there! YEAH! I was sooo relieved!

My appointment was at 2pm…so I had plenty of time to wash, dry and style my new brown locks …take some photos of the “Before” look and later I’d take the “After“ more beautiful look…figuring it would make a great scrapbooking page!

BEFORE

Not too bad

When I arrive at Cost Cutters…Holly was standing at the desk and smiled and said “You must be Mikki!” And I said…“Oh no! Is my hair that bad you can spot me a mile away?”
She laughed “saying no it’s not that bad” Oh thank goodness! But the more she looked at my hair she could see the blue tone on the bottom and the brassiness on top. So her suggestion was to add Highlights and Lowlights. I’m game…anything would be better then having part orange, part blue hair! Then I explain that I just hate my hair cut too…I want something more trendy…some thing fresh and new.

So after 3 hours in the chair this is what I ended up with. Three colors in my hair…and a long shag! Not sure I’m happy with it…but there is no way I can change it now! When will we ever learn to let the professionals have a go at it first before we muck things up?

After

I look like a tri-colored tabby cat!

I think I've learned my lesson...well...NO... not really cause I want to go back and get the medium brown and re-dye my hair again!
Let me know your thoughts…was the before better then the after or the after better then the before. Thanks…love to hear your comments!

Oh my I'm having a ball!

Playing with my photos! Look at these! Ain't she cute?

I have a new Photo Editing program and been having a ball editing my photos!

This is the original and above is the improved version! Much better isn't it? She's got some personality now!

Here's another one...

BEFORE!

AFTER! A Little more sexy feel to it don't you think? Wish I could look like this everyday! Well at least for now these photos will be an everlasting print in your memory! Thank goodness...I look so much better here then in real life!
Pretty cool huh? Can't wait to play some more! Oh yeah...
Remember to leave me some love by posting a comment!

Look above!

I made my very first banner! Yeah!
The photo is Tess and Seth coming home from an
adventure in the snowy wilderness!

I also was able to manipulate the photo so that there is
a spotlight in the center of the photo. You may not notice it
but the edges are darker then the middle of the photo. Such
a cool effect!

Thanks for checking in!

Update: made a new banner...here's a photo of my first banner.

Merry Christmas!

Love the look of a tree with presents under it...but doesn't last long in this house! Our brood is sitting around this tree...ready to attack!

As you can see from the series of photos that follow everyone was delighted with their gifts!

There was only one downer this Christmas...Britton wasn't able to come up and be with us. We had one heck of a blizzard! It was so bad that Greyhound cancelled all travel from Chicago upward! See the photos below.
Now that's some SNOW!

It took us a while to dig out of this one! We had alot of snow drifts. Some places were as deep as 4 feet. Our mail box was covered over! But we only had about 12 inches fall! Only? Shoot for this

southern girl this is alot! And guess what? More is to come! Yep more snow tonight, tomorrow and Thursday! All I can say is WOW...it's wonderful to finally have a White Christmas!

Here's a bunch of fun photos we've taken the last couple of days!

Isn't that the biggest snowball fight you've ever seen! ha ha Greg and I made the kids go outside to help shovel snow. I wanted a snowman and this is what I got. By the time I went to get my camera Tess and Seth gave up and went back inside! Little boogers!

Oh almost forgot these photos...this was an early Christmas present. Rock Band and XBox 360! Don't they look happy? ROCK ON!

Learning how to play the game!

Getting better!

Rockin' out now! yeah baby!

One last photo of Lily with her goodies from her stocking!

Well that's about it from us! We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas! And a very blessed New Year's!

BeAuTIfuL WinTeR MoRnINg!

Wow! Isn't this a Beautiful Sky? What a great thing to wake up to. We've had alot of snowy days here in Wisconsin and I love it! Snow is something I've always loved as a kid but living in southern Georgia we rarely got any. Every Christmas I'd pray for snow. Finally HE answered my prayers! Even if it's some 30 years later! :o)

We have 2 Christmas Trees this year...and look I have a fireplace burning in the background! Yeah...another dream come true. And there's my cute lil' elf helping her Mom decorate. Don't know whether she helps or hinders...but it sure is cute seeing her enjoying the beauty of Christmas.

This is our other Tree...it's out in the Sun Room. Better photo below...Look at all that lovely snow. I finally learned how to take a photo indoors and capture the scenery outdoors through windows. Trail and error...took tons of photos and capture this.

Look how blue the Sky is! Love Blue Sky against white snow...so crisp and clean looking!

Greg bought the pretty Poinsettia's. Their real and I hope they last a long time! The temp in the sunroom is just right for them to survive.

Tess outside playing in the snow! She's growing up too fast andwith ever pasting year looks more and more like her big sis, Britton . She loves the snow too!

Lily is another story...she really likes the snow but here she doesn't have on her gloves and her hands are freezing.She decided to go out on her own when I was putting away things in the garage. She's staring to cry cause she realizes how cold the white fluffy stuff really is. Beren and Leia sliding down the driveway with Lily girl! Now this is much better and alot funnier! She's properly covered from head to toe. Beren was the sweetest big brother to Lily. He kept grabbing her to sliding down the slope over and over again...he didn't notice how red her little face was. I tried to take her in and he just wanted to keep on playing with her. I couldn't stand seeing her face red like that...just had to take her back inside. She had a ball with them!
While the kids played Greg had to use the snow blower to clear a path so we could back our cars out of the driveway. As he says...if I'm not mowing, I'm blowing! hee hee Summer time the grass needs cutting twice a week and now he's had to blow snow 3 times already and it's not Winter yet! ha ha
Tess on her 9th Birthday...just love this cake! How cute is that...a snowman enjoying the snow too!
Seth right after a much needed haircut. Dad cut it and did a great job! Seth is such a cool guy!

Look who's learning to play the guitar! Little does he know that Dad got him a Guitar Hero game for Christmas and a Classical guitar with DVD lessons. Can't wait to see if he canlearn this way. Shoot I might take up the guitar myself!

Me, Leia and Lily playing around taking photos!

Leia on her 15th Birthday. Leia and I spent the day shopping and when we came home Greg had this very colorful cake ready for her.

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Hope you enjoyed the photos and the happenings of the last 2 months. We had a great Thanksgiving and soon to have an even better Christmas. Have most of my shopping done and the last thing will be grocery shopping. Britton is coming up to visit and plans to cook us a gourmet meal. I can't wait. I've missed her a lot and I can't wait to have someone else do the cooking for a change! Yeah! Hope you all have a Merry Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

From Lily!

Well today is the day when all kids love to dress up and get hoards and hoards of candy. Can't get any better then this! haha

So what is the Boyd Brood doing for Halloween?

I'm handing out candy at our house and Greg will walk the kids around the neighborhood banging on doors. It's raining here right now so I hope the weather gets better for their sake.

Halloween is Seth's favorite celebration.

This is the first year that we've allowed the kids to be a little more spooky.

He has the most scariest costume...a ghoul with blood dripping around his face! Can I say YUCK!

Tess and Lily are gonna be a cute lil' witches.

Leia is Payton Manning#18! Go COLTS!

Beren decided not to dress up this year...but I did buy some masks for him in case he changes his mind.

We'll get photos tonight and post as soon as I can.

But in the meantime everyone have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Where does the time go?

I tried several days ago to update this blog and dang if I didn't get to finish the update and lost all the photos I uploaded. Oh well, I tried. I just wanted to let everyone who checks in often that I'm just super busy and that I will get back in here soon and update with all the latest news.

Right now Greg and I are in a struggle with the school system here. We have a Child that has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for Learning Disabilities...he was recently evaluated and found to be ineligible for the program. We disagree with the schools decision and are trying with all our might to understand how this school works and learn how we can help get the best possible results for our child. So with this said I haven't had as much time to dedicate to my blog. Keep checking in as I will try soon to get up some new photos and tell more about FUN things in our lives! Thanks for peeking in!

Well it's Fall here and the most busiest time of the year.

Trees in our backyard are now turning yellow and the leaves are falling to the ground. Yeah! I love Fall but not all the running around we do!

Yes, for the Boyd Family, the beginning of school is OUR most busiest time of the year.

With the start of school comes all the activities. And the biggest one right now is football. Both boys are playing this year. Seth having practice 2 days a week and games on Saturdays. Beren has practice 4 days a week and games on Monday or Tuesday. They both are doing very well and actually enjoy it.

Seth on Game Day!"Tough Guy" look!

Beren in gold getting dragged around by his opponent.

Leia is cheering now. WOW! She's often said that cheering just wasn't her thing. But now that we are in a new town, new school and making new friends that's all changed. She totally surprised me one day after school when she showed up in this uniform. Originally she said she was gonna check into cheering and the next thing I know she's ready to go. Frankly, I like it. I think she looks great and she says that cheering is funnier than dance.

Leia looking snazzy in her cheerleading outfit!

Beren and Leia also have had their very first experience with Marching Band. During half time at Tomah High School Football game the Middle School Band went on the field with the High School Marching Band. I wasn't able to go because we had very unusual weather that night. (freezing 29 degrees...burrr) So I stayed home with Lily and Greg was in charge of taking pictures. Well they're not the greatest but you can get an idea of what's going on. Leia and Beren said it was fun but they were just too cold! They have a couple more parades to do with Marching Band and then they are done for the year and back to indoor concerts.

Leia in front playing Trumpet.

Beren in the line up...with his big Tuba!

Tess loves school and soon will join another girl scout group here. She wants to play soccer but I was told that soccer is better in the spring...not the fall. Thanks goodness cause I don't think we could add another thing to our plate! So Tess goes with us to football games and hangs out with new friends.

Tess with a new friend at a school picnic.

Now little Miss Lily just hangs out with mom all day. She's now able to eat with a fork and can say a few cute works like Zippa (our cat), What's that, ByeBye, Okay, and my all time favorite...shut up! No not really...not sure if that's what she's really saying but it sure sounds like it. She is full of energy and has so many expressions now. I'm so proud of all my older children they are so loving and helpful with her...she is one lucky loved baby!

Love this smile on her face. This was the day the temperature dropped. Lily and I went for a morning walk and her little nose is red from the cold.
Big girl eating with a fork! On her plate chicken, mac and cheese and tropical fruit mix! Healthy eater!

Now for Greg...he's just received a "Time Off" award at work. He's done such a great job that he was put in to receive this award...he was to get 20 hours off and in the end was awarded 40 hours off from work. So we are taking some of this time to go to back to Iowa to see our old friends and our oldest daughter, who I miss terribly! So watch out for us Solon gang! Oct 5th! Yeah! We can't wait to see everyone again!

Dog pile...after this load Greg will need those 40 hours off! ha ha

As for me I've joined in on an Explores Bible Study group. Which has been lots of fun...especially meeting new friends. I also joined the PTO group at Tess' school and looking forward to helping out when I can. Already I'm in charge of the free book program and Staff Appreciation Week. So finally I'm getting involved and getting to make new friends.

One thing I must share with you all is my recent purchase of a Bushel of green boiling peanuts! Yep, that's right I ordered peanuts online and had them delivered to my house...just so we can eat peanuts and watch football...they go hand and hand at our house.

It's hard to take the southerner out of this southern girl!

2- 20 lbs of green boiling peanuts from Hardy Farm in Georgia.

One last picture...kids were in the backyard playing and I got this great shot of them!

Love it!

So this kinda wraps up what we've been doing. Hopefully I want go this long with out an update!

Thanks for looking and remember I love your comments!