Meet Brooke

Over the weekend the kids and I traveled to Indy to see my brother and sister in laws new baby girl.  I brought back some beautiful photos to share with you.......

Big Brother and Sister with baby Brooke

Scam Alert-Please Read

I interrupt my normal posts to alert you to a credit card scam occurring right now. Do not be a victim like me. Please check your bank account and look for any odd charges. A common one right now will say JHD PRODUCTIONS 631-267-4298 NY for $0.55 or around that much. It’s not a lot but they are in for a larger kill.

Here is what happened to me: I checked my bank account this morning and I saw a charge from the above company for $0.55. I googled the company name and found several blogs sharing the news that they were hit by the same scam.    It appears that dozens of people have fallen victim to the same company and crime. Other people like me have had withdrawals for $0.50-$0.69 out of their bank within the last few days. One man even said he then had another transaction on hold for $400.  Another said airline tickets were charged to his account.  Seems the scammers are running a small amount through to see if your account works, so later they can hit you for a larger amount.    I called my bank and told them about this fraud.  They showed me that it was my debit card number that had been used. Monitor your cards, and make sure you don't see any funny charges. We didn’t just block the merchant because the bank said they could just start another company and do it all over again and they wouldn’t know to block another company. So if you are a victim cancel your card.

JHD Productions claims they are unaware of the scam and released the following statement.

“Sometime in the past day or so, an unknown entity has taken the name of this company and used it to set up a bogus Internet scam wherein massive billings have been sent out to people in almost every State in the Union. The victims of this fraud are finding small charges on their bank accounts from either their Debit or Credit Card. As these charges are posted to individual accounts, the name associated with the transaction comes up as JHD PRODUCTIONS DEER PARK NY also with a phone number which is not in service. One of the results of these actions is that hundreds or more citizens from all over the USA are finding these charges posted to their bank accounts with the name of JHD Productions as the originator of the charge. My Company JHD Productions Ltd. does not now, or ever conducted any type of billing using Credit or Debit Cards. In the past few days hundreds of angry and frustrated people have been calling my business line asking why they are being billed by my company. PLEASE be advised…THIS IS A FRAUD. I have advised everyone who has received a debit/credit charge from a company named “JHD Productions” to please have their bank register this charge as a fraud. I have contacted the FBI Cyber Crimes and every local agency available to help me end this nightmare for my small independent business.”

Either way whether they are involved or not check your account and tell all your friends. We have to make sure that people get their money back and alert the banks before they get their accounts wiped out.

Thanks for Reading!

You may return to your day, but first, here's a photo because you know I've never posted without a photo of some sort.  :)

From this weeks track meet.  Isaiah doing the Long Jump competition.

Keeping my fingers crossed

When we first moved into our home almost 3 years ago my mom pointed out that the tree growing at the end of our deck was a Dogwood.  I was so excited and anxiously waited for spring to arrive to see my Dogwood tree in full bloom.  April came and went, and nothing.  No blooms.  So maybe it wasn't a Dogwood after all.  I was sad.  Then last year I discovered 3 or 4 blooms!  It was a Dogwood!  This year that number tripled! There's been about 12 blooms.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year it will triple again and so on!

A few shots from yesterday.  I love the first one with the bloom starting to open.

I'm an Aunt...again

Last night my brother and his wife welcomed their new baby daughter into this world.


Welcome Brooke Lynn Wagley


April 15, 2010   11:39 pm
7 lbs., 6.4 oz 
20 1/2 inches long


Here's a snap my mom sent me of Brooke with her big brother meeting her for the first time.

Aunt Jodie can't wait to meet you Brooke!

See you in a week or so.

Family Photos

I've got two photos to share of when we were down in Florida.
The first is from the day we spent at Daytona Beach.  A nice couple offered to take our family photo.

The second was taken one evening before going out for dinner.  I saw this great old tree in the courtyard near the pool and thought it would make a nice backdrop for a unique family photo.  Trouble was that no one was around to take it.  I didn't have a tripod and there was nothing tall enough to put the camera on to get the shot.  Sooooo, I took one with Dennis and the boys and Dennis took one with me and the boys and I copied me out of my photo and pasted it into his.  Ah, the magic of Photoshop!

Do you stop when you see others trying to take family pictures and offer to take it for them?  I have, but I need to be more aware of my surroundings and do it more often.

Evan's New Ride

Another milestone moment at the Minniear Household. Evan got his first car over the weekend!

A 1998 Jeep Cherokee

He's really excited and looking forward to the freedom of being a driver.

I'm a little glad because it will probably save me some gas and miles on my car.  

I seem to drive Evan around  between friends houses and church daily, etc. 

 But I'm a little sad, because I will probably see less and less of him now.  

They grow up much too fast.

Here's Evan at the bank withdrawing his money from his bank account.

Show me the money!

Test driving the new Jeep with Dad

He likes it!  Can we buy it dad?

A few days later it's been serviced, cleaned, fueled, washed, registered and plated.

When he gets home from school today it's all his!

Be sure to congratulate Evan with a blog comment.  Let him know what you think about his new ride.

Peace Out

Beach Shoot part 1

One of the best things about visiting the coast is the opportunity to photograph the boys in front of one of natures most beautiful natural backgrounds, the ocean!

Here is part one of this coastal shoot.  I have more that I will work on and add next time. 

Another great thing about visiting the Florida coast is the opprotunity to visit our dear friends that live in St. Augustine, The Simonsons.  We met them about 6 years ago when we all lived in Medina Ohio.  Their son Alex played football with Logan.  Bill and Dennis used to ref the games while Kim and I cheered and photographed the games from the stands.

It was great spending the evening with you guys!!

Hope to do it again sometime.

Swimming and The Ocean

After we got all unpacked and settled in to our condo we decided to check out the pool and do a little swimming.  When we arrived the waterfall was not turned on.  

We were looking forward to the waterfalls, so we asked the groundskeeper about it and he turned it on for us.  Isaiah did not know we had asked.  Catching he face as the water started rushing over the rocks he was playing under was priceless!

After a little swim time, we decided to take in a game of put-put golf.

Doesn't Isaiah look like a giant!

Traveling, Swimming, Mini Golf really worked up our appetites!  We visited a local pizza place.  They had the  biggest pizza's!  Here's Isaiah showing us his slice.  

After pizza it was on to the beach.  Flagler beach was just over the inter coastal bridge.

These trees were growing along side the road along the coast.  I loved the silhouettes they made against the sky.

The only thing I didn't like about the Atlantic coast was that the sun set behind us, so no sunset beach pictures on this trip.  I'm sure the sunrises were beautiful, however, being on vacation I took advantage of the luxury of spending my mornings sleeping in.  

Look how skinny my legs look in my long shadow, hehe!

Fishermen on Flagler Pier.

Thanks for popping in!  More photos to come tomorrow!