POTD

My aunt! What a nice person! She sent cards to me, and also to Little Miss Jessica and Little Miss Rebekah and the girls felt like princesses! Cute little cut-out cards with kitties on them. How nice it is to get something in the mail other than junk mail and bills! Especially when I was just griping about that! Jessica was so excited she was almost yelling when she told her daddy about it last night. Every time I go to get the mail, I hope for something good, but don't really expect it. Well, this was so nice! So, to the best person of the day, thank you, thank you! You made our day! :-)

The Mall Part II

Well, here is the good news, I got pictures taken of the girls with Santa at the mall the other day. And they came out great. But, you all have to wait to see them, since they are going out in the Christmas cards! Now you have something to look forward to! And we got a little tiny box of see's candies at the mall yesterday and we each had one for dessert. Jessica had the raspberry creme sample that I got, Rebekah had a scotchmallow (and had more on her face than she started with), Scott had rum nougat (his all time favorite) and I had a walnut square (the best See's candy hands down). So, I guess the trip to the mall wasn't a complete loss. That guy just made me so mad yesterday! Oh, and we ran into Jess and Bekah's friends there (and my friend), so all were happy while we waited for Santa to get back from feeding the reindeer. And if Jess tells you she saw the REAL Santa, don't spoil the fun! She really did!

Piles and Piles of Paper!

So, how do all the rest of you do it? I mean, I am literally up to my eyeballs in junk mail! I don't have enough hours in my day to go through it all. To rip it up, to see if there is anything there I really need to look at. To peruse the catalogs. I just don't have the time. And when I put it aside because I have something else more pressing, I end up with enough junk mail to fit in a grocery store bag! I have mounds of paper and it is becoming a fire hazard. I don't know what all the rest of you do with it, but if you have any ideas, please share. My paper shredder is broken. When I turn it on, it will only pull one piece of paper through and then I have to turn it off and back on to put another piece through. I need a chipper. So I can put an entire day's worth of mail in at a time. Maybe in about six months I will catch up.

Any suggestions? Help!

The Mall

Okay, I need to gripe and complain. I went to the mall today. Ordinarily, the mall is not a bad place to be. Throw in two young girls who want to look at everything and it gets more interesting. Throw in all the Christmas decorations to look at and touch and it becomes even more so. I can handle all of that. What I cannot handle is the extra kiosks that are all over the main thruways and the pushy salespeople trying to pawn their wares to every person who walks by. They are so aggressive! This guy was selling fake snow. Add water and it turns into snow. Well, he wanted $24.95 per box. I told him I didn't have time, I didn't have the money to spend, etc. He tried to give some in a bag to Rebekah and then put the box in the bag so I would have to pay for it. Tried to get me to buy it for $18.00. Such a bargain! NO! Finally, I just said no! I don't have the money to spend on it. But it's only $18! NO! Then I had to take it out of Rebekah's hands and give it back to him. So she wasn't happy. Oh well, by then I was ticked! Doesn't make we want to go back to the mall!

From Jessica

Hi. You know what? You are like something I've never seen. Hey, I think you are pretty. Have a happy Christmas. This is me, Jessica. And I have a Barbie. I like you and you are cool. Hi Aunt Sandy. This is me, Jessica. Hi Joann. Hi Carsten. Hello everybody. I like you.

For Christmas I would like a wallet and a great big sled like Santa Claus's. And a toy reindeer. And more Barbie's. I would like a big bicycle.

Santa Claus has reindeer. He drives a sled and goes down chimneys. And he brings you toys if you're good and he brings you coal if you are naughty. Good bye. That's all, folks. I have a smile right now.

Makes her father proud

So, Rebekah was looking at her pants the other day. She finds a hole. Down there. She says, "Oh no, there's a hole in my pants. I better get some duct tape!"

Who knew she knew what duct tape was?

Some Princesses at Halloween

So, I finally got pictures developed! Over $100 worth! Yikes! Well, I figured since I spent so much money on them, I had better share the joy! So, a few pics from the Halloween season!
Aren't they cute? I think so!

Picnic fun!

Very puzzling...

So, the girls have been doing puzzles. We went to Toys r Us and got some puzzles. I got one - 1000 tiny pieces. A photomosaic of Mickey Mouse made out of scenes from Disney movies. The photos are about 1/3 inch by 1/2 inch and the pieces are like 3/4 inch square. Yikes! What was I thinking! Eventually, I will need to clear off my dining room table. Maybe I will just leave it up at Thanksgiving and people can work on it, if they want to. Who knows? There will only be ten people here. Anyway, so we also got puzzles for the girls. Jess got one with fairies on it. 100 pieces. It took her two days to do it, and she did it all on her own! She also got Spongebob, 100 pieces, and that didn't take as long. Rebekah got two puzzles. One with Clifford and one with Spongebob. 25 pieces. She will quietly go into the dining room, sit down and put her puzzles together. She put one together last night. It takes her no time at all now. She used to get frustrated trying to do them, but now, she knows if she keeps at it, she will get it and she doesn't give up so easily. She is learning to be patient. Jess had a hard time at first with the big one (100 pc). She wanted to get Rebekah's puzzles out, since she can do those in a matter of minutes. Not a challenge. 100 pieces is a challenge. And all the colors were pretty close, too. Not an easy one. They are both learning patience. And they have watched me putting together the big puzzle. So they are learning that not everything can be done quickly. Even for a grown-up. Good mental activity. The girls are learning more than just how to put the puzzles together and we are spending time together doing something fun. Even Hubby has joined in the fun. We have sat together on a few nights working on the puzzle. The background is very difficult! But we are sitting down as a family and enjoying each other's company. Lovin' it!

The Old Cartoons

Well, we downgraded our dish service recently. $19.99/mo now. But all we get are 20 channels and four of them are Nickelodeon and one is Boomerang. Boomerang is made by Cartoon Network and has all the old cartoons. So, the girls have been watching all the classics for a couple of weeks now. Scooby Doo, Flintstones, Magilla Gorilla, Pink Panther, Smurfs. There are so many. And they are enjoying them immensely. When I was a kid and watching The Brady Bunch, I had no idea I was watching re-runs. Well, this is all new to them, too. I found two Smurfs in my drawer two days ago. A regular one and Papa Smurf dressed up as Santa Claus. Jessica wants the girl smurf now. I told her I don't think we will be able to find that anymore and she seems to think Santa Claus may be able to locate it. So, I used a different tactic. "Of all the things out there, like Barbies and Disney toys, you want a Smurf from Santa Claus?" I think I have dissuaded her. But she is enjoying these cartoons. So did Dad, when he came over. A fun time for all.

Lombardi Ranch

The girls and I picked Scott up from work on Monday. It was his short day and he got off at 2:30. So, on the way home, we stopped at Lombardi Ranch. That was fun! We went into the petting zoo, the girls ran around the "police truck", we took pictures of the girls where you stick your head through the circle in the painted scene, they climbed all over the big pumpkin, we looked at all the vegetables growing there and I bought vegetables. Oh, and I took a picture of Rebekah in front of "Baby Boo's Maze". That is what we called her when she was a baby. The girls had so much fun! Then we went out for mexican food afterward. I haven't had that in forever! At least a month. Where someone else cooked it.

When we got home, Scott sat down at the kitchen table with the girls and carved a pumpkin with them. I fell asleep! Well, you see, Sunday, on the way home, Rebekah coughed so much that I thought she was going to throw up. Well, she didn't in the car, but later, when we were all going to bed, she woke up because she was coughing and threw up. Yuck! On her bed. So, I had the bright idea of sleeping with her on the floor of the family room on a sheet in case she got sick again. She didn't. But I couldn't sleep! All night I was awake. (Mental note: You are too old to camp out on the floor. Don't try.) From my spot on the family room floor, I heard every noise in the house. I moved to the couch and that wasn't much better. She woke up at one point and went looking for me and calling me. Finally, when Scott left for work, I put her in her bed and went to sleep in mine. That was good for about two hours when Jess got up. Time change. She was up before 6:30am. So by Monday night I was dead on my feet. Rebekah didn't get sick again and she hasn't coughed since then either. I guess she just had to get it out.

So, Monday night I was in bed before 8pm. Scott put the girls to bed. They have no qualms about talking to their mother even when she is in bed fast asleep, though. So, I didn't get much sleep. Rebekah walks in the room to find me. Sees me sleeping in bed. "Mommy!" "What Rebekah?" "I look like a ghost." "That's great, Rebekah."

And I think Hubby was upset I was trying to sleep through the pumpkin carving. Sorry! I just couldn't keep my eyes open! Can I blame it on the time change?

Fwd: This email to everyone you know...

Don't you hate when you get a great email. Very uplifting, a nice read. But at the end it says to forward to everyone you know, and, oh, what the heck, forward it to every possible email address in the world. Maybe you will get a penny for each email you send it to. Yeah, right. Maybe it will bring you bad luck if you don't. Not that I believe in luck, good or bad. Or your dog will have puppies. Or SOMETHING will happen because of your compliance or lack thereof in regards to this email you received.

Well, the ones that make me go "AAAGHHH!" are the ones that say, "If you don't send this to 387 people in the next 2 minutes, it shows that you don't love God and you are embarrassed to send it because it is about God." Give me a break. How many times have you received this? Somebody figured out that this is the perfect way to guilt people into sending some dumb email that you would not otherwise send to everybody you know. Some people fall for the "Your toenails will all fall off if you don't forward this" mentality and others are guilted into it by the "You are embarrassed to admit you love God if you don't send this" ones.

I love God. With all my heart. But that doesn't mean I am going to send some dumb email to everyone I know and some people I don't just because the email tells me to. I'll send it if I think it will be a good read for the people I know. Funny, uplifting, meaningful, whatever.

Stupid email.

A good day.

Well, yesterday was Wednesday. I felt like baking. It was cool outside. VERY windy. But I needed to do schoolwork with Jess, and Scott had no clean shirts. Not even grey or brown. So I had to do laundry. So, I got up with him at 4am and started his laundry at 4:30 when he left. Washed his clothes (2 loads) and girls clothes (also 2 loads) over the course of the day. Folded and hung and put away. Worked with Jess on schoolwork. She needed to practice her letters. She has a hard time putting the letters in the right place within the lined paper. So, we worked on making perfect letters. Then, she wanted "Recess", so after about an hour and a half of intense writing and doing her workbook, they got dressed and went in the backyard. She loves to put her tennis shoes on now. She ties her shoes all by herself and also ties Bekah's. Pretty cute. So, off they go outside. Well, I was able to squeeze in some baking, too. While she worked on her letters and then when they went outside and for the rest of the day, I baked and cooked. I made my Grandma's potato salad recipe. But I didn't read until after I made it that the potatoes are supposed to be steamed and not boiled. Oh well. I thought it came out well. I never made it before. So, then I had one potato that got too soft. Couldn't use it in the potato salad. Well, I mashed it up and made mashed potato out of it. Which is precisely what you need for homemade potato rolls. Which I made. Which turned out delicious. Which take forever to rise. Which meant I had plenty of time to make pumpkin pie. Which I did. OKAY, ENOUGH!

So, I made potato salad, pumpkin pie and potato rolls. I was going to make something with peaches in it. Peach season is officially over. How sad! We went out on Tuesday to pick peaches and found out they were all gone. But the guy was nice enough to send me to the orchard behind his to see if they had any left. Turns out they did! Already picked. The guy told me I could put as many in a large paper grocery bag as I could fit in the bag for ten dollars. I took one look at these peaches and I couldn't believe my eyes! "These are HUGE!" I said. Well, he explained that these were actually small compared to the ones he had during the peak of the season. He said they were weighing in at two and a half pounds PER PEACH! The ones I got were at least double the size of the ones I have been getting all season. HUGE! I am going back to this place. My bag of peaches was at least 40 pounds. For ten dollars. Not bad at all! I am definitely going back to this place! Oh, and they are SOOO good, too. I am looking forward to Spring now. Cherries, peaches, apples....

Hubby went to church last night, so my day was longer than usual. I got all that stuff made AND washed up every dirty dish that I used. Kitchen table and bar counter are still clean. Yeah for me! And I borrowed the original three Star Wars movies from Zachary's dad, so I watched Star Wars and half of Empire Strikes Back while I baked and cleaned. It's been so long since I have seen those. I just love Princess Leah's hair. Those big cinnamon rolls on the sides of her head. WHAT were they thinking? The movie makes a lot more sense now, though. The comments about the senate and other things make much more sense when you have seen the first three movies.

The girls weren't able to stay up long enough to see Daddy. Rebekah came over to me while I was sitting down watching the movie. "Can you hold me?" She climbed up in my lap and told me I am the best food maker ever! Usually, I am the best mommy ever. But I'll take food maker, too. She loved the rolls. Had two. Then fell asleep in my lap. Maybe she was talking about the hot dog she had for dinner, though. She loved that, too. Jess was diplomatic and said the potato salad was good. She ate two hot dogs and had pumpkin pie for dessert. She didn't like the rolls. She said if they were sweeter, she would like them. Everyone's a critic.

Jess lasted about an hour longer, then succumbed to sleep as well. When their daddy got home, he got to peek in on the beautiful little sleeping faces.

A good day. Happy children, clean house. Baked goods. Does it get better than this?

Zachary

Jess and Bekah have a friend named Zachary. His mom calls him "Z". He is the cutest little boy ever! Not just cute, but well-behaved as well. He is four, right in-between the girls ages, so he plays nicely with both of them. He is very sensitive, not a bully, a little bit shy and really a good boy. I mean, not perfect, because then you would worry that something was wrong, but very well-behaved.

He is also an only child. So, he gets lonely and then his mom feels bad. Well, his mom has "borrowed" the girls a couple of times now and the kids get to play. We get together and play, too, at other times, but they have fun taking the girls out. When I was getting ready for the baby shower, Zachary's parents took the girls and went to the mall play area, took them to Red Robin for lunch and I think they went to the park, too. Yesterday we dropped off the girls at their house in the afternoon and picked them up at about 8:00pm. We got to go on a date! So fun! And the girls had a blast. Zachary went to gymnastics and the girls ran around on the grass outside for 45 minutes. Then they went to Costco and got pizza and smoothies or ice cream or something. They had a blast! Apparently a woman at Costco was looking at her assessing the scene, (my friend with a 3-,4- and 5-year old running around) and told her she was brave! Zachary's mom was a bit offended. It was none of her business!

Anyway, the girls had a great time. They didn't want to come home. At 8pm, they were playing in the backyard on the big play yard that he has. Three swings, teeter-totter, climbing wall, slide. It doesn't get much better than that!

They slept well last night. Scott and I got to have a nice, quiet evening out. We went to see "Man of the Year". Not as funny as I had hoped for. It was all right, but I would rent it, not buy it. The theater was quiet on Monday night, which was nice. Only a few people in there. A nice time.

So nice to have nice friends! A friend for the girls and friends for us as well. His parents are so nice, too! A wonderful day all around!

Phew! That's Done!

Well, the baby shower is done and my house is still clean. Three days later. ACTUALLY, it is cleaner now than it was on Saturday. I have been cleaning, re-arranging furniture, etc. The girls are under strict orders not to bring toys out of the playroom. Scott feels as though he is in someone else's house. Me, too. The nice thing is, though, that last night I didn't feel as though I needed to jump up and do something. I really felt like it was ok to sit for a few minutes. Now, mind you, only half the house is clean. The visible half. The half that nobody sees still looks like a pig sty, but we will cross one bridge at a time. For now, at least if someone comes over, I won't be embarrassed!

For the girls, it was a great week. My friend Mary took them early in the week. Then on Friday, they went to library storytime with a friend, went to the mall play area, had lunch at Red Robin, went to the park and then came home. Then Rebekah went to ballet and I dropped them off at Mary's afterward. They stayed there for a couple hours and Daddy picked them up and brought them home. Friday night, I got home from evening prayer at church at about 9:15 and Rebekah was already asleep. She was so tired! Poor little thing!

My conversation with Rebekah yesterday:
Me: "Rebekah!"
Rebekah: "Whatt?" (She exaggerates the T just a bit)
Me: "I love you."
Rebekah: "I love you, too!"
Pause.
Rebekah: "I love our precious family!"

I let them play with Play doh-doh (their name for it) yesterday. For about 1 and 1/2 hours. They had a blast. Then it took me about 30 minutes to clean up the table, chairs and floor from the play doh mess. I hate play-doh. It gets everywhere! Maybe it isn't the play-doh, maybe it is my kids. It got pressed into the floor, stuck in the crack in the table where it comes apart. It was everywhere. And I can't stand the smell of play-doh either. But since I spent all last week cleaning, I promised them they would get to play with play-doh on Monday. SO I had to let them. As much work as it was. And I was tired! Well, that is over. I can put the play-doh away for another six months! I don't mind other crafts, paints, etc. I just don't like the play-doh!

Now I just have to keep the house clean. Halloween, Scott's brother's family over for dinner, Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner! Oh, boy!

Oh, and the person who I did the baby shower with, she was wonderful! So helpful! The house wasn't near done when she got there and she helped to put the finishing touches on it. Then we made the food, etc. It is nice to work with someone who is so easy to work with! I think the baby shower went rather well. And they got so many cute things! Oh my goodness! Now the girls want a baby brother even more than they did before!

One I can relate to...

Praise The Lord

An elderly lady was well-known for her faith and for her boldness in talking about it. She would stand on her front porch and shout "PRAISE THE LORD!"

Next door to her lived an atheist who would get so angry at her proclamations he would shout, "There ain't no Lord!!"

Hard times set in on the elderly lady, and she prayed for GOD to send her some assistance. She stood on her porch and shouted "PRAISE THE LORD. GOD I NEED FOOD!! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME. PLEASE LORD, SEND ME SOME GROCERIES!!"

The next morning the lady went out on her porch and noted a large bag of groceries and shouted, "PRAISE THE LORD."

The neighbor jumped from behind a bush and said, "Aha! I told you there was no Lord. I bought those groceries, God didn't."

The lady started jumping up and down and clapping her hands and said, "PRAISE THE LORD. He not only sent me groceries, but He made the devil pay for them. Praise the Lord!"

Is Gun Control The Answer?

Okay, I am going to get on my soapbox here. I just read about the school shooting in an Amish schoolhouse. Apparently the shooter was angry about something that happened twenty years ago and decided to take it out on some innocent Amish schoolgirls. They don't deserve to be shot!

SO, then I saw some comments posted about the shooting and the others from last week. Well, so many people are saying that these criminals should not have access to guns. That there should be more gun control. Yes to the first part, NO to the second!

How many criminals get their guns from a gun store, where they must go through the background check, basic firearms safety test, waiting period, etc.? None. Maybe a few. They get their guns on the streets. Stolen from somewhere else, bought from someone who sold it illegally. So, how many of these hundreds and thousands of gun laws are protecting the public from criminal access to guns? Very few. So, what is the purpose of all the gun laws? To keep law-abiding citizens from being able to carry guns. If there were more people allowed concealed-carry permits, there would be fewer gun-related crimes. No criminal wants to be shot dead while holding someone up. Or robbing a liquor store. He wants a victim that cannot defend himself.

This is such a sad story. I have visited the Amish community in PA. They are hard-working, friendly people who just want to go about their lives and not harm others. It is so horrible that an angry man had to take it out on these people. They don't deserve that. But to say that it is because he had access to guns, and that people should not be allowed to have guns is like saying that matches and fire should be banned because someone started a fire. Fire is good. Without it, we could not heat our homes, light our fireplaces and our candles and enjoy our backyard fire pits. But when it is used in a bad way, well, then it is not the fault of the fire. It is the fault of the person who used it carelessly and without concern for anyone but themselves.

Our country is divided. The right and the left. Who is right? Neither and both. Both sides have their beliefs and convictions. But without unity, without allowing the other side a choice, without having the right to live as we want to live, this country will not survive.

We need to pray for our country and our brothers and sisters in it. We need to remember what our founding fathers built this country on - a belief in GOD. We need to look out for each other and look to God to heal our wounds and give us peace.

When I was pregnant with Rebekah, the alarm went off in the house. At about 6:30am. Well, needless to say, I about jumped out of my skin. I grabbed the phone, called 911 and reported that my alarm went off and I thought someone was trying to break in. I also grabbed some protection. Well, I checked all the windows and doors, told Jess to stay put and waited. Twenty minutes later, the sheriffs called and said they were on their way, from the other side of town. Twenty five minutes after THAT (45 min. after I called) they showed up. Thank goodness it was not a real break-in, but an alarm malfunction. Had it been a real break-in and I was waiting for the sheriffs to come to my rescue, I would not have been there to answer their questions. They cannot protect you or your home or your children from someone intent on doing you harm. They just cannot be there in time. And there are at least half a dozen police, sheriffs and retired sheriffs in my immediate neighborhood. Big help. Be prepared to take care of yourself. Hopefully, you will never have the need. I hope I am never in a situation where I will need to protect my family. But I am prepared to do so. Be prepared. The criminals are.

Friends

It is nice to have friends. Family is chosen for us. We choose our friends ourselves. Friends change as your life changes. When you are young and single, you "hang out" with friends that are in the same situation. Some you get together with just because you like to have fun together, some because you can talk to them.

When you get married, you choose different friends. Your single friend will not necessarily feel comfortable with you and your spouse. You move on. You don't lose that friend, but time and circumstances change relationships. Then come the babies. It is completely different to be married with kids than married without. That can change relationships again.

It is nice to find people that you click with. To have people that both you and your spouse get along with. That is so much easier and more relaxing than having "his" friends and "her" friends.

We spent the afternoon yesterday with some nice friends. People like us. But not too much like us, that would be wierd. A little different than all the other people that are out there. People you can relax with. People who just kind of think the way you do. It was nice. Good food. Good friends. A rain-puddly afternoon. A good time. I hope they had as enjoyable an afternoon as we did! :-)

A Wrinkle In Time

As a kid, I was a voracious reader. I would read anything and everything. I would read in bed before it was time to go to bed and after I went to bed with a flashlight under the covers. I would read until I was done with the book and then start another one. Never had a problem with book reports. I would read the book several times, if it was a good one. I read Little Women and loved it. So I got Little Men, Jo's Boys and about 4 other books by Louisa Mae Alcott. I couldn't put the books down! One book I read was A Wrinkle In Time. Great story. Well, let's say, for the sake of argument, the book was 300 pages. Well, I read the first 270 pages or so as quickly as I could. Read it right through. Then, I turned the page. Page 271 was Page 1, Chapter 1. Then page two, page three. It just started over. The book was messed up. It didn't have an ending. The last 30 pages of the book were missing. I never finished the book. That was frustrating for so long and then, eventually, I forgot about it. Same thing happened with Star Trek: Voyager. I never got to see the last episode. Until it came out on video and I had Netflix. Well, at the library yesterday, I found the Disney movie, "A Wrinkle In Time". It apparently came out in 2004. I never knew! Now I have closed that chapter of my life. What a relief! Now I don't have to wonder what happened at the end of the book!

Things are looking up!

The evacuation has been downgraded to precautionary. That's good. The fire is 63% contained. That's good. The wind didn't kick up yesterday. That's good. Three goods. Dad stayed at his house last night, but we are still enjoying the kitty cat here. The girls love him. I found Rebekah on the floor with her face in the kitty's fur the other night. She had disappeared about ten minutes earlier. Soft warm fur. She loved it. And the kitty just sat there. He's very good. And we are feeding him, too! That's a bonus for him!

Hopefully, everything stays where it is supposed to stay today and the winds do not kick up. Thank you, God!