Input, Input!

Okay, I need opinions here, people. I have been looking into getting a personal organizer and I think I found one that will work. It is the Sharp OZ-590 Electronic Organizer. $49.99 at Staples. Same price at Office Depot. 8mb of memory, calendar, to do list, english-spanish dictionary (in case I ever need that) and I think it will do everything I need it to do. Don't need internet, don't want to spend more than that, so I think that will be enough. But does anybody have any comments or suggestions about these things? The need for one is apparent. I have forgotten play dates for both myself and the girls and missed dr. appts and other things. Not good. I need to get organized. For not a lot of money. So, if you have any information, suggestions, etc., PLEASE send them my way! Thanks!

Cool Tool!

So, I was on Rosemary's blog and she had this NeoCounter thing. Well, it tells you where your visitors are from. Really cool. Those of you who have been with me for a while know that occasionally I wonder if anybody really reads the blog. Well, apparently somebody is! A lot of somebody's! (My sincere thanks for your visiting my humble blog site) I installed the NeoCounter from here and opted for the city list. There are many different options to choose from, but this seemed pretty well-rounded. I didn't think I could figure out how to install it, but they explained how and it was pretty simple. And guess what? People are coming to see me! So, if you are one of them, feel free to say hello and tell us where you are from. Especially if you are a first time visitor. And welcome!

Mechanical pencils 5 pack for 10cents!

I love school supply shopping. Filler paper 29cents. Pencils 10 for 25 cents. Box of crayons 5 cents. Pencil sharpener 1 cent. Folders 1 cent. 15 pack of colored pencils 50 cents. A whole 64 pack of crayons with the sharpener on the back $1.50. I went yesterday and spent $4 on school supplies and got a whole bag full of stuff. Too cool. I just love shopping for next to nothing. It makes me feel like I am really doing good. But now I have enough school supplies for the next ten years. Because every week when the ads come out, I go nuts. Gotta get 'em. Because I'm only gonna spend two dollars. Or whatever! It is fun! The girls have a blast, too. But then they want to buy something that is not on sale and I'm like, "No! I'm bargain shopping!" And they go, "Awww, Mom!!!!"

Rebekah was picking up the cat the other night. This occurs about 50 times each day. Well, I told her to put him down. She says, "I know, he's a poor cat when I pick him up!"

Jessica wants to have parties and shows everyday. She set the table yesterday for a snack party. Styrofoam plates and cookies and candies and little bathroom sized cups with juice in them. She would make a great kindergarten teacher. I remember having the little snack after my kindergarten class every day. Nilla wafers and juice. Interesting combination.

Huh?

I went to a friend's birthday party recently. It was her 40th birthday and she wanted it to be really special. So first she had a tea party at her house. She wanted everybody to wear dresses and hats. She borrowed some beautiful china from a friend/guest and had a beautiful luncheon. Her niece was late getting there and she wanted to wait for her, so, while we arrived at 3:30, we did not sit down to the tea until about 5:00. The niece still had not shown up. The tea, sandwiches, etc., was very nice. Then she wanted everyone to walk down the "runway" and show off what they were wearing and be "critiqued". I didn't want to do this, so another lady volunteered to go at the same time. I walked up, down, and sat down, then went to look for something in my car. The niece still had not arrived. My friend had made reservations at a restaurant in Valencia for dinner. At the Rio Rio Brazilian Restaurant. For 8:00. Well, it was after 6:00 by this time. No niece. So we waited. Because she finally called her niece and she said she was on her way. So we couldn't leave before she got there! She wanted everyone to listen to a song and then pray. So we did. Then she wanted us to have cake. Some did. I was still too full from the tea, so no cake. She also wanted to have everyone put their name on a piece of paper to draw a name for the two gifts she had bought as presents for guests. So we all put our names on little pieces of paper. Folded them in half and put them in a hat box. She then proceeded to shake it up for the next ten minutes, saying that she could not pick the name because she was the one giving the gifts. So, I took the box from her, mixed up the names and lifted it up above her head. She put her hand in and pulled out a paper. She unfolded it and looked at it. She laughed and said she should have taken the first one she touched on top, but she figured I had put my own on top so that I would get the prize. (in other words, saying I was trying to cheat) Hmm. I know she sometimes says things that she doesn't really mean, so I let it go. BUT, she had said that AFTER she looked at the name she drew. So she was also telling my friend that had come with me (I introduced the two of them) that she didn't want to draw her name. HMM! Well, my other friend is very sensitive to begin with, but this was just not very nice. So she says, "Well, if you don't want me to have it, then fine. I won't take it! I will just give it to Amy!" I said I didn't want it and wanted nothing to do with this, and Friend #1 says, "You can't give it to someone else! It's a gift! That's rude!" Look who's calling who rude! So my Friend #2 gets upset (understandably so) and says she is ready to leave. She is supposed to go to the dinner place. I finally got her calmed down and she agreed to still go. When Friend #1 realized she said things that weren't very nice, instead of apologizing, she just said to another person, "Well, I have said something to everybody...I called you anal retentive!" Friend #2 ended up leaving the gift in my car. She didn't want to take it. So, I gave it to my mother-in-law. She said she really liked it.

So then she draws the second name. It is my neighbor up the street who had already left earlier. Everybody tells her to draw another name, of someone who is there still. She looks at me and my other friend and says, "I would draw another name, but YOU TWO would tell her, wouldn't you?" I raised my hands in the air and said, "I am not saying a thing!" My friend goes in the bathroom and doesn't come out for like ten minutes. And Friend #1 is asking me if she is upset about what she said earlier. I never got an apology from her for accusing me of trying to cheat.

So, it's like 7:00 now. Still no niece. There were nine of us there for tea. Five of us were going to the restaurant. Friend #1 didn't want to drive. Her sister-in-law from Boston didn't want to drive. She wanted me to drive. But she wanted to be at the restaurant in Valencia until 2am. I wanted to be in bed asleep at 2am. And well before that. So I told her, which was true, that my car was so full of junk at the moment that I could only take three people. Myself included. So I took Friend #2 and we got in my car and Friend #1, her sister-in-law and the piano teacher (who she talked into driving #1's car) all got in the other car. We drove through the canyon. We left her house at 7:40pm. We got to the Rio Rio at 8:30. For an 8:00 reservation. No niece. We were seated at a reserved table (for eight people). As soon as we were seated, she says we should wait for her niece and maybe just have some drinks. I said no. Sister-in-law said no. Piano teacher says no. They have a salad bar and side dishes and the servers come around to the tables with 14 kinds of meats on swords. Whichever ones you want to try, they cut off a portion and put it on your plate. They stop serving dinner at 10:00pm. It was 8:45pm already. NO, we are not waiting for your niece! And they have this show that goes on starting at 9:00 and they close up the salad bar and don't serve food during the shows, so you have to wait to eat again. So the waiter comes over and explains that it is $40 for the dinner and show. Friend #2 is a vegetarian. There wasn't much for her to eat. They finally talked the manager into letting her have the meal, with no meat, for $34, which is the mid-week price. Not exactly a bargain, but what can you do? She DID enjoy the show, though and didn't seem upset with the price. At about 9:00pm, who shows up? The NIECE! No explanation. No apology. Just here I am. Oh my gosh!!! So here we are eating and the show is going on and we are sitting on the dance floor. I was seated like three feet from the dancers. These dancers don't have very many clothes on. I am not sure you can call what they are wearing clothes. They made Las Vegas showgirls look overdressed. Little tiny costumes. And when you are that close, where are you supposed to look? It was noisy and I didn't really enjoy it knowing that I was spending so much money. Well, by 10:30pm we finally got the waiter to bring the bills and (remember we were at a table reserved for 8?) with the 18% gratuity included and 8.25% tax, for dinner and water the total was $50.49. For just me. One person. Food only. I didn't think it was all that great. Hubby would probably have enjoyed the show. I didn't. Knowing I would rather be with him and that it cost all that money. And the girls hadn't wanted me to leave and I would have to drive home and it was a long way home.

Well, we finally got out of there at 10:45pm and home by 11:45pm. Took the freeway, because who wants to drive the canyon at that time of the night. The piano teacher came with us. I don't know who drove the other car back home, my friend or her sister-in-law. Neither wanted to drive. She had originally wanted to hire a limo and have everyone divide the cost. Yeah, I don't think so. I told her that was a bad idea. But at that time I thought it was going to be $34 total for the dinner.

It was an interesting birthday party. But here is the funniest part of all. She didn't tell us until we were at the restaurant.

This party took place about three weeks ago. June 30.

Her birthday was in March.

Lost My Credibility

We, as parents, should try to be sure that we know what we are talking about before we open our mouths. Take the four-leaf clover, for instance. I was always under the impression that it did not exist. Well, apparently it does. And I didn't even need to look it up on the Internet, although I did this for verification.

Jessica found a four-leaf clover.

In the clover patch in the front yard. Who knew? I took a close look. I had her bring me another clover to be sure the leaves were the same. Sure enough. We dried it flat in a book.

According to the websites I looked up, it happens about once every 10,000 times. Not too often, but still, I was wrong.

Now she isn't going to believe anything.

Too many movies!

Jess and Bekah were playing in the playroom and Jess had to go use the bathroom. Jessica yells to Rebekah as she is on her way to the bathroom, "Pause the game!" Rebekah keeps playing and Jess yells louder, "PAUSE THE GAME!" I guess they watch too many movies...

Shhh!

Me: Rebekah, are you almost done going potty?
Rebekah: (whisper) I need to go poo-poo..........Let's just keep this to ourselves, okay?

Every day she says something that just cracks me up! This little girl makes me laugh. She is so serious and comes up with these things that you just don't expect.

Rebekah: Mommy, why do I have girl parts?
Me: Because you are a girl.
Rebekah: What if I had boy parts?
Me: Then you would be a boy.

Too funny. Went to a friend's house on Sunday after church and went swimming. Rebekah was floating in the raft in the deep end and, although she was told not to lean over the side, there she went. Over and into the pool. She was reminding us later how she had gone under the water "all by myself!" So proud, too! You would think she had done it on purpose.

Jess is growing up so fast. The girls recital was so cute! Jess did a little tap number called "Shiny New Shoes". Very nice. They did a fantastic job! I couldn't believe it was my baby up there doing so well! She is a naturally gifted performer and just loves to be on stage, with all the world watching her! Rebekah, not so much. She had fun doing it, but not on the same level. Jess just lives for the stage. Every day she wants to have a "Show" of some kind. A huge production where she is singing and dancing and her adoring audience is clapping for her. Hmm. I wonder where this will all lead? There are about ten things she wants to do with her life and I believe most of them involve performing. Oh boy. Well, she has the figure for it! And she's good. It was very cute to see them all lined up and dancing.

The little ones were adorable as well. Not quite as polished. They watch each other for clues as to what to do next. They did a cheer number to "Yankee Doodle" and had on red, white and blue costumes and blue and silver pompoms. They looked so TINY on the big stage! The recital is at the Performing Arts Center and it is a big production! We sat in the balcony. The kids just look so small from there. Like I said, she enjoyed it, but not with the same enthusiasm that her sister had. For Jess, this is like her dream come true. So cute.

I have just been figuring out the school calendar for this year, with holidays and all. I am nervous, but I know that this is the best thing for my kid at least. It's funny. When people think of homeschooled children, the response you usually get is, "But what about socialization?" Well, to this I have two responses:
1. I don't want my children to be Socialists!
2. Teachers are always telling kids that school isn't the time to socialize and they need to be quiet in class. My children will have more time for being social than those in school, who have to wait for lunch or after school! On field trips, doing projects, being with me and around other people.

I know other people don't agree with homeschooling. Not everybody will agree with everything you do. I found this out when I started telling people that I don't vaccinate my children. I spent hundreds of hours researching this before I decided. But nobody wants to hear it. So I stopped telling people. That some vaccines are grown on fetal (aborted) tissue. That babies get sick and can die from vaccines. That if that happens, there is very little you can do. That you CAN send your kids to school without vaccines. That you can wait to vaccinate them and you can delay any of them that you want to. That many still have mercury in them. That the autism rates are finally reversing, since the mercury is slowly being removed from the vaccines. I know all the vaccines and all the possible side effects. I know what the risk is of getting the disease itself, and the side effects, vs. having the vaccine and the risk of side effects from them! I charted and graphed all of it. For every vaccine on the immunization chart. I studied them inside and out. And then I made my decision. But...

Now I am losing my audience. See? You all don't want to hear it. People I know think I am absolutely INSANE for not vaccinating my kids. Even my sister! So then I shut up. Same with just about any decision you make though. I mean, we all have choices to make, right? And we all try to do our best and make the best decisions we can with the information we have. As parents, don't you think it is our responsibility to find out for ourselves what the information is so that we are making an INFORMED decision. Or should we leave it up to the school administrators, the doctors, etc. to tell us what the best plan is.

Earlier this year, there was a girl in Germany who was falling behind in school. Her parents started tutoring her at home so she could catch up in her classes. The school found out and expelled her from school. Because her parents were trying to help her study. Then, since she was expelled, her parents began to homeschool her, so she wouldn't fall behind. The court removed her from her home! She was fifteen years old. They didn't even tell her parents where she was! When she turned sixteen, she left the foster home and returned to her parents home. This had gone on for a few months! But here's the kicker. The government in Germany will not allow parents to homeschool because they don't want to lose control of what the children are being taught. And this law went INTO effect when Hitler was in power in Germany! Amazing, isn't it? They want to be in control of what the children are taught! Because aren't the children the ones who will be in control when we are seniors? They must be controlled! Phooey. I want my children to think for themselves, to be able to act independently and to act on what they believe! Not what the government tells them, JUST because the government says so. Yes, obey the laws, but know how to think for yourself. Do you think it is just concern for the children that is prompting the state to fund and push public preschool and kindergarten? I think not. Who is raising your kids?

I may have offended some. I hope that is not the case. Hopefully, you will think about these things. They are simply my opinions and, like all of you, I am entitled to them. I made my choices, like you, for love of my children. I am certain that if we put them first and seek the Lord in raising them, they will turn out okay. Because isn't that the most important thing we can do as parents...to instill in them a love of God and a future in His Kingdom?

Bad Blogger...Good Mommy

Oooh, my bad. I haven't blogged in like three and a half months! Wow, where has the time gone. Obviously, my resolution went kerplooee. Is that a word?

It seems every time I get on the computer during daylight hours, the kids have some sort of crisis, during the 45 minutes I am waiting for the dumb thing to boot up. No joke. Scott doesn't like to use the laptop because it will lose signal for a few seconds and then come back on. The PC just sits there for ten minutes at a time, seemingly doing what is supposed to and then it either boots you off of the internet or you get some sort of error message. It certainly doesn't make me want to spend hours in here waiting for the dumb thing while the kids are wreaking havoc on the family room, bringing out every toy known to man from the playroom, down the hall and heaving them willy-nilly across the family room floor.

Scott's car needed new brake pads. Rears. The car apparently brakes from the rear first. Unlike every other car in the world. 26k miles and he needs new pads. Whatever. The car was at the dealer for the scheduled maintenance.

Service guy: It needs new pads, and did we want to do it? For $90 parts and $200 labor.
Me: No thank you.
Service guy: It needs to be done soon, they are almost completely worn and if that happens it will need new rotors, for an additional $260. And in order to do it, you need this special tool to remove the calipers and it has to squeeze and twist them at the same time.
Me: Thank you. I will call my husband to find out if he wants to do it.

Call Hubby. He suggests the auto parts store. I then call Dad.
Me: Umm, Hi! What are you doing tomorrow? Do you want to put pads on Scott's car? They are almost worn out.
Dad: I guess. I will call my parts guy and call you back.

No luck. His guy can't get them. I call the dealer. $400 for the tool. 3-4 weeks from Germany. Great. Stop at Auto Zone. Nice guys there. Helpful, too.

Me: Do you have rear pads for this car? Oh, and I need to find out about this special tool I need to remove the calipers.
Auto Zone guy: Our other store has the pads. The tool we can loan you with a $35 deposit.
Me: COOL! I need it!

So, today we dropped Scott off at the park and ride. At 4:30am. Then we stopped at Uncle Andy's Donut Shop. They were still warm. Yum. Then home, shower, run back to the dealer when they open because the dumb check engine light is on after taking it in for the service. Service guy says it is a coincidence. I think not, but there is nobody there that can help me unless I leave it. No can do. Thanks very much.

So off we go to the mountains to have the brakes done. Oh yeah. $25 for lifetime guarantee pads. Cool. So we get to Dad's. He gets the tires off. Goes to remove the calipers with this little tool that has different sized disks on it. Umm. Problem. They all have two little bumps on one side, directly across from each other. We need one with three in a triangle formation. This will not work. There is no disk with three bumps on it. Dad swears. Again. A couple more times. The car has been elevated from a car to a piece of s--t. He tries a few different things. Then I watch as he goes to the shop and comes back with a piece of paper. He's marking something. He's gonna make the freakin' part! And so he does. And it works! We end up going over to his brothers' place at the camp and helping them serve lunch to the campers who are there. The priest of the orthodox church has two daughters, ages 4 and 7, and they are just as bored as Jess and Bekah. So, together they had more fun. LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN! So I call Dad at 12:15 and tell him lunch will be ready at 12:30. He just got done with the car. Made the part to attach to the tool and saved me not only the money for the brake job, but also from having to buy the tool. Amazing. Dad is my hero for the day.

The girls ended up having a great day. We got the brake pads on. Saved lots of money and all is well. Oh, and it was pretty cool up there. Much nicer than at home, so we were able to enjoy the nice weather. And my aunt and uncle sent me home with a bunch of food from the camp. Neat! So, all in all we had a great day! We are going up next week to play with the same little girls and the girls will all get to go swimming in the pool there. Fun.

And their mommy is surviving summer...

It has been ten days...

and I didn't even realize it! I have hardly been on the computer at all, though, so I didn't notice that I hadn't been here! Did anyone else realize I was MIA?

Well, the cat has officially taken over. He really is our little Buddy, spreading his time out between all of us. He will play fetch with me at 4am, then sleep so close next to me that I cannot roll over. Then he will get up in the morning and go to Jessica before she wakes up, so she thinks that he has been there all night. He and Scott were messing around on the bed, and when Scott had his hand under the covers the cat gets this WILD eyed look, his pupils get HUUUGE and he crouches down, does the butt wiggle, puts his ears back flat and POUNCES! Then Scott jerks his hand up in the air and the cat goes, whole body into the air, straight UP and BACK about a foot, ready to pounce again. But you can't do it again, because you are laughing SOOOO hard at what he just did. It's very entertaining. Rebekah can't keep away from him either. When she picks him up, the cat goes completely limp. No claws, not tense, nothing. He just lays there. Even when she has carried him around the neck! He somehow knows she is not going to hurt him, not really.

His favorite toy is a paper ball. When you crumple it up, he does the crouch down to the ground thing again, his eyes so huge all you see is black and waits. When you throw it, he leaps into action, then brings it back! He will do this ten or twenty times. He plays fetch better than my dogs! And a pile of newspapers in the family room turned into a pile of fun for him. So does a brand new roll of toilet paper. It has to be attacked and shredded. Whatever that TP roll did, it must be punished severely for it. And then, just as quickly as he got started, he will jump to the top of the cat tree and curl up for a long nap. And sleep...and sleep.

We left the house in a hurry yesterday evening and left a pan with some chicken thighs in it on the table. Well, when we got home last night, it appears that Buddy had a feast! He ate one completely and dragged another off the table onto the floor. He wasn't interested in the food I poured out for him last night. I can't imagine why. I guess we need to be a little more organized and put our stuff away!

He is a great addition to our lives and we love him very much. Aside from learning to keep his claws off the furniture, he has been very good. And the last few days, he has been using the cat tree as a scratching post as well. He is doing well.

So much going on!

This is me holding a one-day old baby, Sean Patrick. How adorable he is! 9lbs, 13 oz. And so cute! Yeah, when she asked me if I wanted to hold him, I said yes. I got to hold Baby JJ when he was, I think, five days old. I guess I actually am getting more comfortable with the little ones. Oh, yeah, and Frankie when she was only a few days old, too. Wow, I held them all at less than a week old! I guess I am better! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that mine are growing up so fast! Rebekah will be four on the 28th! And Jess will be six in April. SIX! No way! I just had her! It does not seem that long.






We have had a full day today and it is only 3pm! The mall had a Breakfast with the Easter Bunny program on today. A craft, free breakfast from McDonalds, visit the Easter Bunny and a nice man making balloon animals. There was a woman doing face painting, too. It was all free! The girls had a great time! We went with their friend Zack and his parents (my friends). The kids had a lot of fun, but it was crowded, so we left after a little while. Then we went to Mulligan's. There was hardly anybody there! We went on the bumper boats, the go-karts, we played lazer tag and miniature golf. Very fun, but we were there until about 1pm and it was getting really warm. We got a little pink from being in the sun and we were all getting thirsty and tired. But a good time was had by all!


And now, for pictures of our Buddy. He is a very good kitty. Except when Jess and Bekah were at my dad's overnight on Wednesday, Buddy was lonely. Jess was not in her bed to sleep next to, so he came in our room. Apparently Buddy has been sleeping during the day, so does not need to sleep at 1am. He was awake. Wide awake. And he wanted to play fetch. He will bring the paper ball back ten or more times before he gets bored with this game. Better than either dog. He waits for you to throw the ball and hauls butt over the side of the bed to retrieve it. Hilarious. He is a good kitty and pretty smart, too. Jess does really well with him. Bekah, not so much. She won't stop picking him up and, though he is very patient with her, sometimes she ends up on the wrong end of a claw. I think it is mostly accidental, when they are playing. He is very sweet and good about not scratching the girls. But I want her to learn to be nice to the cat! Anyway, he is a love and has already wiggled his way into our hearts. It wasn't hard.

Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

I was talking with Sandy and she was looking for a healthy recipe for something yummy. I created this recipe a while back for Scott's uncle, who is diabetic. The nice thing about these cookies is, they get better with age! The flavor of the cinnamon permeates the oats and flour and they actually taste better a day or two after you make them! And they stay soft, too, because they don't go flat like most cookies. They are yummy little mounds of goodness. And you don't notice the fact that there is only a total of 1/2 cup of sugar in them (the brown sugar and evaporated cane juice). Try 'em, you will like them!

Diabetic Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 C. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 t. baking soda
1 t. Stevia sweetener
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
Mix together and set aside.

2 sticks butter
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. organic evaporated cane juice
1/4 c. applesauce, unsweetened
3 C. oatmeal
1 C. raisins

Cream together butter and brown sugar, add eggs and vanilla, cane juice and applesauce. Add flour mixture in thirds, stirring to combine. Then stir in oatmeal and raisins.

Use large scoop (#40) to make uniform 3-inch cookies. Turn onto baking sheet (preferably baking stone) and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Dad and Ebay

I can't remember if I ever wrote about the problems Dad had with the guy he bought parts from on ebay. Well, he paid for them back in October and received them in November. The parts were junk, sloppy and worn out, but the guy claimed they were tight fitting and in good shape. Well, he wouldn't return them. So we complained to ebay. Took forever, but they replied and said we needed to talk to Paypal. So we did. The guy wouldn't budge. So we filed a claim. Took another five weeks. They decided in our favor. Return the parts, get your money back. So we did. Waited some more. Finally got the credit on the Amex. The guy was a complete jerk. Claiming the parts were in good shape when they were not. Porsche repair is all Dad has done for the last 45 years!

Dad called me up the other night to tell me the guy re-listed the parts. Said due to a "recent horrible experience with a rookie in California" that he would accept no returns on these parts. Trying to sell them again to some unsuspecting person that probably won't take it as far as we did!

It is irritating, though also comedic, that my Dad, who is very well known in the Porsche field, especially vintage racing, 356 restoration, etc., would be labeled as a "rookie".

The nerve of some people!

Here I am

Thanks, guys, for missing me. I am fine. All is well. I have just not even gotten to the computer for more than five minutes. Yesterday was Kid Day. We started out at the park, where my friend Lisa and I walked and the kids played and ran around on the grass. Then we went to the library for story time. Then we went to the mall and had lunch at Red Robin. Then we went to the play area at the mall and the kids played. We ran home and got Jess ready for ballet and dropped her off there. Rebekah and I went to the store and Albertson's was having an 8-hour sale. I spent $71 and saved $93. No coupons! Well, two coupons that they had in the aisle. I did good! Then we went back and picked up Jess and went home and had teriyaki chicken (marinated for two days), steamed broccoli, carrots and zucchini and steamed rice. Yum! I didn't get to the computer! The day before was much the same. No computer! Today I will be home most of the day, except for Rebekah's ballet lesson. She is so cute in her little ballet outfit. Jessica looks like a mini-ballerina, Rebekah looks like she swiped her sister's ballet outfit for dress up. It fits her fine, it's just she doesn't do much. Last week her teacher sent her out of class because "Rebekah wants to lie down on the floor instead of dance". Hmm. We had a little talk and sent her back in. I don't think she is a born ballerina. Jess is. She is graceful and loves to dance. Her only problem is that she wants to do it HER way instead of listening to the teacher. But she is getting much better! No complaints from her teacher in WEEKS! My baby is growing up!

My friend Mary is having her baby today. She called me last night to tell me she would be going in this morning at 6am! She was like 2 1/2 inches dilated yesterday when she went for her appointment. Maybe the dr didn't want to have to be called over the weekend? Anyway, he is a good dr (the same one I go to) and very nice, so she will be in good hands.

We still don't know what the baby is and they have not definitely decided on a name! She said when they saw the baby then they would see what he or she looked like and pick the name from their list.

We will go see them at the hospital on Saturday. Such fun!

We are off to ballet at 10am today, then waiting here for Fedex to deliver eight Pampered Chef boxes and the delivery company to deliver the lower foundation for the bed. Three inches lower - so I shouldn't have to take a flying leap into my bed because it is so high. No joke.

Speaking of the bed, it is VERY comfortable. I don't wake up in the middle of the night when I turn over. Actually I don't wake up in the middle of the night at all anymore. Scott's mom came over on Monday and she wanted to try it. She said she could easily sleep on that and that it didn't hurt her back. It is comfortable.

The kitty is doing very well. He sleeps on Jessica's bed all night. He is feeling much better now, too. He was playing with the girls a lot yesterday. They cut off pieces of curling ribbon and walk around with it trailing behind them and he chases after them. And he can go from that to curling up in your lap and taking a nap. He is really becoming a part of the family. And he is really cute. When you talk to him, he meows back. Then purrs. Really loud. His cold is almost gone. He still has a little cough left. May take him to the vet just to make sure it is all gone. I will see how he is next week.

So all is well and I am fine. Sorry that I haven't written. So much for my resolution! That didn't last long! I will still try to write as often as I can. But don't stop visiting if it isn't every day! Have a great day!

Heeeeeere Kitty kitty!

This should have been posted at 9am, however, blogger was being a butthead and wouldn't let me post. I kept getting error messages! But I'm not bitter...

No, he doesn't have a name yet. And he is going to be an indoor only kitty. Unless, of course, he pees in the bed. Just kidding. We lost two to coyotes and don't want to lose any more! He was very good yesterday and he is learning to not scratch on the furniture. We have a BIG cat tree, reaches almost to the ceiling. He was sleeping on the thing yesterday. It has a round enclosed area and he plopped himself in it, with his head sticking out the front and took a nap. The girls wore him out! Last night Dad spent the night because he was here all day and we decided it didn't make sense to drive home when everything would be frozen! So he left this morning after we made German pancakes.

The kitty sat on my lap for about an hour last night while we watched the food channel. Even Scott is getting into the food channel! He better not try to get in my kitchen! Just kidding, I like it when he helps in the kitchen. Something I like doing and doing it with someone I like. Anyway, while we watched Alton Brown, the kitty sat on me and purred and cleaned himself. He was very good. For a kitten, he is very calm. The kids tried to chase him out of the front room and he looks at them like, "What?" Not scared or spooked at all. Just kind of curious why they are yelling and waving their arms around. It's funny.

So far the only thing we've called him is "Kitty kitty". And that doesn't seem like the right name for a boy kitty. So we will have to confer on this one and come up with something that works. I have always liked Siatee (pronounced C-A-T), but that also sounds like a girls name. So, I don't know. Scott likes Edgar. I think that was it. How about Tommy. Any suggestions? Definitely open for suggestions.

The bed is working out fine. I didn't wake up in the middle of the night, which I used to do. I feel like I sink in and can curl up into a comfortable position. I sleep wierd, kinda twisted over, with one leg crossed over and bent on top of the straight one underneath. Hard to describe. Anyway, it is much more comfortable in this bed than the other one! And Hubby is happy. Much happier than he was in the Number bed. That was such a joke!

Gotta go. Have a great day!

I'mmm Baaaaack!

THE MATTRESS

The Hubby didn't wake up with a backache! Yeah! He usually does. He slept well. Me? Oh, well, I need a little time to get used to it. It's just me. I DID sleep more comfortably than I did on the mattress we HAD. And much better than the Sleep Number Bed. Dad still loves his, by the way. Scott even took a nap yesterday. He had a couple of hours between the mattress arrival and the cat pick-up, so he took a little cat nap. Ha. He loves his new mattress.

They brought the wrong foundation. The mattress is....fourteen inches high. To the edge. The top is actually a bit higher. And the foundation is five inches. Put that on top of our Ethan Allen bedframe and the whole thing is like thirty-seven inches off the floor! My feet are like 6-8 inches off the floor when I sit on the edge of the bed! Well, they were supposed to bring the low-profile foundation with it. It is two inches lower. They didn't. We ended up with the regular one. Even though Scott talked to the Aireloom rep beforehand, called and left the message for the saleslady and she called him to confirm. It didn't say low-profile on the order form. So, they are going to order it now. So they have to come back out here. Bummer for them.

Scott is evil. The delivery guy, when he is getting ready to drag the old mattress out, takes a blade and slices the side of it, so he can put his hand in and haul it out. After he slices it open, Scott says, "Oh. We were going to keep the old one." He said the guy turned white. I couldn't do that with a straight face. The Hubby can.

THE KITTY

He is so cute! The girls spent the night looking after him. Rebekah says, "He is SOOOO CUUUUUUTE! He is just a baby!" She likes anything that is a baby. Won't eat baby carrots. You know, 'cuz they are babies. Loves everything tiny. She just adores the kitty.

Jess is really good with the kitty. She is able to pick him up and he doesn't have a problem with that at all. He is very calm and well behaved. She is learning to watch him and follow after him to be sure he doesn't scratch the furniture or anything.

We are going to have somewhat of a transition period, but you know, when you get a new puppy, they have accidents and stuff, too, so this is not surprising.

Should be interesting...

It's Coming

Don't bother me today. My mattress is coming between 9 and 1 and I will be busy after that. Scott stayed home today for this momentous occasion. So, we will be trying it out after it's arrival. Then we have to go pick up the newest member of our family. We got to hold him yesterday and he was just as adorable as I thought he would be. Very sweet. So, what a day! A new bed and a new family member! Wahoo!

My 200th Post

Wow. A momentous occasion. 200 blog posts. I'm good. Pretty soon my number of posts will catch up to the number of profile views. Which means my number of readers is not very high. Oh well. To my five loyal readers - THERE'S LOVE!!!!

So, we, well, more to the point, I, decided I was ready for a cat. It has been a year since the whole cat bite incident and well, I miss having a furry friend to cuddle up on my lap, to wake me up in the morning, to play with the kids, to just generally be there for us. So, The Hubby reluctantly agreed to let me look. Found a few prospects in the Pennysaver, but he shot them all down. And none were kittens. Newspaper? Nothing. Really. Nothing. Petsmart. One cute cat. Eight months old. How long has he been in the cage? Didn't seem all that friendly. Truth is, after what happened the last time, I was pretty nervous about ANY cat from there. The adoption places just get feral cats a lot of times and after the supposedly "nice" cat bit me, I was really nervous about that. So, we went to the pound. All the while The Hubby is warming up to the idea. A little. He's worried about his leather recliner. So am I.

So we go to the pound last week when he was off of work on Wednesday. They had some tiny kittens. They were on hold. They had this cute black one, but he was just found, so we couldn't hold him, take him, nothing. Well, we decided to put a hold on him (that's the way you do it if they are not available yet) and they told us we could take him out of the cage on Saturday and take him home on Monday, after his little snip-snip. So, we dutifully go over there on Saturday.

Animal Control Person: Oh, it hasn't been five days, so you cannot take him out of the cage. It has to be five days and that will be on Monday.

Me: So, you are telling us that the other person got the dates mixed up and we cannot hold him and visit with him until we come to GET him on Monday?

ACP: Yes. And he will be having surgery on Monday morning, so he will be a little groggy from the surgery.

Me: So, we will have no idea of what he is like prior to taking him home.

ACP: Right. But we offer a two week trial period. So you can bring him back and exchange for another animal if it doesn't work out.

Me: Great.

So we go back to look at the cats. All new faces, it seems, except for Junior. (We already named him, since he looks just like Scooter.) So we find the cage numbers for a couple of other cats. No go. One just came in, so he has to be there for five days first and the other has a hold. THIS IS FRUSTRATING! We leave and plan to come back on Monday between 3 and 6, like they told us.

So I get a phone call this morning.

It's the Animal Control Person.

"This message is for Amy. We couldn't do the surgery on the cat you were going to pick up because he ate food after he was supposed to and the vet didn't want to do the surgery on him. So you can't take him home until tomorrow between 3 and 6."

What a rebellious cat. He chose to eat after being told not to! He was probably thinking, "Hmm. If I eat, they won't do the snip-snip on me. Let me think..."

So, why didn't they remove the food so he couldn't eat? He's only four months old. He isn't going to listen if they say, "Okay Jr., don't eat tonight, okay? Good kitty."

Mm-hmm. Scott described the guy working there as Inbred Jed. Not the brightest lightbulb in the box.

I guess we will go visit Jr. tonight and maybe bring him some flowers or kitty grass. After all, he is having surgery tomorrow.

Actually this is good. The Hubby has sympathy for him and his procedure tomorrow. And we could use another boy in the house.

And he's really cute.

My Secret Fairy Friend

Well, here it is. These are the things my secret fairy friend sent me! SSSOOOOOOO COOOOLLL!!! All things chocolate! And when I thought there was nothing more there, we found a little chocolate bar in the bottom of the box! She thought of everything! Stuff I didn't know existed! Everything was so nicely packaged and the girls thoroughly enjoyed opening all the little red packages! It was beautiful. We received it a week ago, two days after Valentine's Day, so for us, V-Day lasted longer than normal! It is so fun to get things in the mail. In this day of email and telephones and all things digital, it is nice to get an old-fashioned package. Especially one brimming with goodies that you don't know about! Such fun! She made a beautiful card that was just adorable! There was an adorable little painted canister full of Hershey's kisses like I have never seen before! Raspberry and Cherry Flavored kisses! Who Knew!!! There were altoids. Chocolate ones! The regular ones are way too hot for me, but when they are paired up with chocolate, I could eat the whole box! And the girls just LOVED the M&M's flavored lip gloss. Such fun! And who ever heard of candy-covered, chocolate dipped sunflower seeds. Rosemary, you gotta try these! And the cutest little magnet and key chain! So many nice things!

So, thank you, my Secret Fairy Friend, Stefani, for making this Valentine's Day a day to remember!

When I joined the SOSF, I didn't think it was going to be this much fun! I thoroughly enjoyed this!

The Aireloom Mattress

Okay, we ordered THE MATTRESS. We finally decided on which one to get. And we got the killer President's Day sale price. We were the proverbial "Wheelers and Dealers". We talked 'em down till they were exhausted. We left em in tears 'cause they didn't make any money off the deal. Yeah, we did good. And we got a mattress that is so comfortable, I am going to sleep like a dream. Scott is pretty happy. He said every day till we get it, he's going to be miserable. It's a paradox.

So, we finally got this whole mattress thing done. I can't wait.

Now, what if we don't sleep any better on the new mattress?

Today I am Thankful For...

My Secret Fairy! I will show you all the things she sent me within the next day or so. SOOO Nifty! We got this oh-so-cool package in the mail on Friday afternoon! Thank you!!!

John Harvey

There is a lady at our church whose son is in Iraq. He has a birthday coming up in a week. So, I got this brilliant idea to send him a package from anyone and everyone who wants to participate! We are going to make some cookies and brownies and send a birthday card with happy wishes for him and anyone who wants to comment and send a birthday greeting his way can do so. In fact, we encourage you to do so! If you want so send something along with the package, I will be sending it out on Wednesday, so whatever you want to include (baked goods, toothbrushes, toothpaste, chewing gum, something cool I am not thinking of now), then let me know and I will plan to include it in the shipment. I figure if we get too many things, he can share them with the guys he is with. I am certain they can't have too much! Chocolate bars are happily accepted and I am told Butterfingers are his favorite! So, if you want to be included, please write something nice and I will print all the birthday wishes and if you want to just send a generic hey, how are ya to the guys in the troop, we will send that along as well. No matter what your feelings are on the war, these guys are over there doing their job for their country and deserve to be acknowledged, right? So let's do right by them! Please feel free to post well wishes in the comments!

Pie Soup

I never made a lemon meringue pie before. But Hubby wanted one for Valentine's Day. I was so worried about the crust (it has been 20 years since I made a crust) that I just didn't concern myself about the rest of it. The good news is the crust was excellent! I had a good recipe, using all butter, no Crisco. And I had a pastry blender that Pampered Chef just came out with last year with a long handle and it made cutting in the butter a breeze. I had a silicone pastry mat (also from PC) that shows you how big to make the piecrust and then you just lift it up, turn it over and peel the crust off of it and into the pie plate. Voila! Easy. The rest of the pie - not so much. I did something wrong with the lemon filling. It tasted really good, but it didn't set up. It seemed fine when I was making it, it just never got really solid. More like lemon pudding consistency. And the meringue. Well, I added the sugar too early. I didn't know you have to whip it up first and then add the sugar. So it took FOREVER! And I never achieved the volume that meringue is supposed to have. It was only about an inch high and then that shrunk. Tasted good, though.

Oh well. This just means I have to try again! It was a fun experiment! So I have had a piece of pie soup for dessert and Hubby had a brownie and milk. Made the brownies the other night when we were watching the chocolate special on Food Network. Couldn't NOT make something chocolate that night.

When I get the recipe right I will post it on the Bon Vivant website. Until then, I am going to practice. I have lots of lemons left!

Today I am Thankful For...

My cold going away.

Finally.

Thank You

Thank you to everybody for all your caring words and concern about me. I am actually really getting better now. I thought I was doing okay the other day, but then I got bad again. Now it has been a week and a half. This thing stinks! I have only a little bit of stuffiness left and a little cough, but it has really zapped all my energy! But this too shall pass and I am feeling better everyday!

So, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYBODY! Hopefully yours is full of chocolate and love! I made some chocolate caramel turtles yesterday with pecans in some and almonds in others. Then I had more chocolate, so I covered some mini-marshmallows and added a few walnut pieces to that. The girls really liked that. I am trying to temper the chocolate so that it sets up properly. The Food Network (one of the only channels we get that is any good) has been having chocolate week and they have had some really good information on there lately. So, I figured I would give it a try. I may need to buy a chocolate tempering machine, though. Please feel free to tell this to the hubby, in case he is looking for a cool present, oh, in say, mid-September! Or earlier. Maybe in April. Or now. You know, if it comes up! Because chocolate is pretty temperamental, you know. Anyway, everything tastes good, so that is half the battle!

I am going to call a friend. Got to get back into the normal swing of things. The girls are doing better. They are just getting over their colds, too.

Lots of love and hugs and kisses to all of you out there! I will be back at this again regularly! Have a great day!!!

Still Yucky

This is the cold from hell. I haven't slept for the last two nights. I am wheezing so much it wakes me up. Then I start coughing and hacking and I wake up The Hubby, too. Yesterday Mary dropped off three lemons so I could make her cold remedy. Lemon juice in a shotglass. Squeeze a clove of garlic in it and drink it down. Well, I didn't think about it last night after making dinner. But this morning after I got up I took this:

2 Sudafed caplets
1 AirBorne lozenge in a cup of water
1 shot glass of lemon juice with 1 clove of garlic

Anybody else have any suggestions? I certainly won't have any vampires after me, that's for sure! This thing is harder to kick than I thought, though. So far, the score is cold 2, Amy 0.

Oh yeah, and I haven't had any sugar or anything bad, either.

Feeling a little better...

I don't feel like I am going to die now. That's good. Apparently I can't treat my body like I am nineteen anymore. Too bad. But I do feel a little better. Maybe it's the rest, or the 12000 mg of vitamin C I have taken today, or the astragalus, or the ibuprofen. Or a combination of all of them. Whatever it is, it's working. Thank goodness, because the hubby doesn't know what to do with me. He has never seen me sick before and isn't coping very well. Although he did help get dinner on the table (Campbell's chicken noodle soup) and served me my hot tea. And helped the girls get ready for bed. All this after working all day. What a good hubby! I sure hope I am back to normal pretty soon. I don't like feeling useless.

I sent off a package on Thursday to my Secret Fairy friend. I signed up for a parcel exchange a couple of weeks ago at the Society of Secret Fairies blog page here and sent out my handmade card and chocolate parcel. Along with a couple of other things I thought she would like. I don't actually know if I will be receiving a package from the same person I am sending to or if it is someone else. Kind of fun, though. I will be posting a picture of the package I receive when I get it. I can't wait! It is fun to buy a little present for someone and anticipate getting something in the mail. Some of the SOSF fairies are in other countries, mine is in the US. Other than that, I don't think I can say much yet. You all will just have to wait.

Have a wonderful day!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???

Well, Friday, I was cleaning the house until 4am on Saturday morning getting ready for the baby shower on Saturday. I slept from 4-8am, then got up and got back to cleaning. My friend Lisa, who did the shower with me, came over at 12:00 and we started in on the food. My house was almost clean, and her husband actually picked up the last few things that were on the table. So nice! We made a fruit platter, veggies and dip, chips and dip, ham and swiss on croissants, heavenly pink salad, mandarin pasta salad. I think that's it. And another girl named Amy, a friend of Mary, brought over some spinach and artichoke dip and french bread and crab stuffed mushrooms. YUM!!! And then she proceeded to stay in the kitchen and put the pasta salad and heavenly pink salad together. What a nice person! I am so glad I have such nice people around me. I wouldn't and couldn't have done the shower without Lisa. I called her up four times for stuff I didn't get a chance to get and she was so kind and never said no, I can't do it. She is such a gracious friend! She even drove over to the party store on Saturday morning and got some stuff to decorate. I totally forgot about that until about 2am on Saturday. Once all the junk was gone from the family room and living room, I looked around and said, hey, I forgot about the decorations! So she made a really cute banner and bought the streamers and she and her husband decorated the living room and it turned out great! What would I have done without her? And Amy was a big help in the kitchen, too. We are going to get together and hang out in the near future. Such fun!

The baby shower was a huge success. There were about fifteen people here. We played stork bingo, the chocolate diapers game, guess how big around the pregnant woman is, guess how many smarties in the baby bottle and I think there was something else, but now I can't remember. And we had some great prizes! Mary brought a $20 gift cert. to Applebee's, Lisa brought two different body lotion/spa treatment type gift sets. I got a stained glass candle holder, little boxes with See's chocolates in them, and a box of pretty, embossed note cards. Of course Lisa and Mary's prizes were the ones that got stolen when we did the game where you can steal a prize or take a new one! There was a lot of stealing going on! Amy even stole the Applebee's card from a little girl! However, when the little girl ended up with a box of chocolate, she was quite happy! A good time was had by all!

Then on Sunday I had a friend over who I had not had a chance to spend as much time with as I would have liked. We had a blast! She has quite the interesting past and found out about a portion of it. What an amazing woman! Talk about handling adversity! I wish I could tell you all her story, but some things are better left unsaid! I can say, though, if you ever met this woman, you would all love her as much as I do! She is truly amazing and has been through so much!

Well, by the time Sunday night came, I was so exhausted, I ended up getting Rebekah's cold. I really hope my friend doesn't get it! I could hardly sleep, I had the chills. And I stayed in bed for like twelve hours! Then on Monday at 11:30, we had a reservation for tea at Molly Kate's Tea Room. It was so nice! The first time I have taken the girls for tea. They both behaved very well. They had dinosaur shaped grilled cheese and chocolate chip and cherry scones and clotted cream, red grapes and strawberries. And raspberry lemonade in footed goblets! And Jess had her pinky in the air the entire time! Then they had a tiny chocolate cupcake with swirled pink icing and little candy hearts on top, sitting on top of a paper doily on a china plate. So cute! My lunch was a delicious broccoli cheese soup, chicken salad (with raisins, walnuts, celery) on a croissant, mini cucumber sandwiches with dilled cream cheese on wheat, a chocolate chip and cherry scone with clotted cream and for dessert, chocolate cake with chocolate raspberry syrup and cream on top! Yum! We all had tea and the girls got to put "Sugahhh" in theirs. That was supposed to sound fancy. All the time with the pinky in the air, of course. I got a couple of pictures of them there. A great time was had by all. Hey, Joann, they can seat up to twenty for a ladies tea! We could get the whole place to ourselves!

Hope you are all well. If you don't hear from me, it is because I am a little under the weather still and I am trying to recover so we can go visit my aunt this weekend! Have a great day!

My Mom

Well, this is depressing. I sat down a couple of days ago, to write all about my mom. And I realized I don't know enough to write down anything. I know she was born in Florida, that my Grandma was married to someone I never met before, but I don't know much else. And the only one who knows any of it is my aunt, my mom's sister. I am going to have to talk to her to find out more. But when I realized I don't know much, it made me sad. Because I should know about my own mother, shouldn't I? By the time I was at the point in my life that I wanted to know anything, she was so sick that talking was a struggle for her. It just seemed like everything was so difficult. Her mind was getting very fuzzy. About current things. She would ask the same question five or six times and forget the answer. And if she got something stuck in her head, she wouldn't stop thinking about it. For weeks. She had a something on her ear. I don't remember exactly what it was. But she was worried about it forever! She was so worried about this that she finally went to the doctor and I don't remember what they did about it, but then it wasn't an issue anymore. She thought it was cancer or something. And she didn't want to get cancer! But all the while, when she wasn't worried about dying of cancer, she was praying that the Lord would take her home, because she didn't want to live anymore. She was miserable, not able to do anything, couldn't lift a finger by herself, literally. But she was sure she didn't want to die of cancer! Some things just didn't make sense for the longest time. But talking about her history was not really possible at this point. And I should have made more of an effort to do so, but I didn't. And now I don't know much. That makes me sad. But now I will have to piece this all together. Because there aren't many people left.

And on a lighter note. My mom's mother was Grandma Aurlette. Her husband (the man I always knew as my grandpa) was named Arthur. So, Art and Aurlette. My dad's parents were Oma and Opa. It never occurred to me that these were not their real names. Art and Aurlette were so close, I didn't think Oma and Opa (the German name for Grandma and Grandpa) was too much of a stretch. Didn't know until I was like a teenager that their names were Anna and Joseph!

So, after this baby shower is done, I will have to start doing research on my mom.

Today I am Thankful For...

Our friends. New and old. For the happy times we share with them and the wonderful memories.

Our Friends Are Leaving!

My friend Lana is leaving. Boo-hoo! I am sad. Jessica is very sad. Her friend Melanie and her brother Austin are leaving, too. We went to Chuck E Cheese with them yesterday so the kids could play. They are moving to Nevada on Monday. Sold their house and bought one in a small town in Northern Nevada. About 11 hours drive from here! They had looked in Idaho (yes, she knows exactly where Sandpoint is) and some other places and they ended up in Nevada. Got some land and they are going to have chickens again. I used to get eggs from her before they sold their house in Palmdale. Rebekah wants to move to Duh-vad-a. And Jess does, too, when she turns eighteen.

I met Lana a few years ago when the kids were in gymnastics together. Neither of our kids go to the gymnastics center anymore, but we remained friends. And she has been my best Pampered Chef customer! She has had like four kitchen shows in three years! The last one on Friday last week.

I remember when my best friend moved away when I was four years old. She moved to Cincinnati. When we got old enough to write letters back and forth, we did. Covered them with stickers. I think I had to pay extra postage because of all the stickers on the pages! Now she is a television producer! And I visited her in New York when she worked at NBC before I got married. We stayed in contact through the years. Still do. I hope that Jessica and her friend Melanie stay friends.

Rebekah is sad that Austin is leaving. He gave her some cotton candy at Chuck E Cheese yesterday. You would have thought he gave her the best thing in the world. She gave him this look - smile, with lips pressed together, head tilted to one side, shoulder lifted up to rest her cheek on, eyes half closed. Trying to look sultry. Only succeeded in looking funny and cute. That's Rebekah! Then when we laughed at her, she kept doing it. Then she winked at him and I lost it! It was pretty cute.

I know Jessica will have more friends. She makes friends everywhere she goes. But Melanie has been her best friend and her first real friend. That she got together with and played with. That is special. They have had their differences, but for the most part they have gotten along great. And Jess has always told me if they disagree. Melanie is the one she wanted to call when she lost her first tooth! Thank goodness we have Vonage and calls to anywhere in the US are free. So they can still talk on the phone and send each other letters.

So we are losing some good friends, but maybe we can get up to northern Nevada and visit them sometime. Hopefully! Well, we are not really losing them, but we won't be able to get together like we have. What a bummer! But I wish them well in their new adventure.

Now Jessica wants to move because she thinks it is exciting to move.

The Doug Jones Experience

So there's this guy who goes to our church. He's an actor named Doug Jones. And he is a great guy and a wonderful example of Christ. And he has a beautiful voice. And he has done some very interesting movies. So I am looking up his site, the Doug Jones Experience, and I click on the link for his store. Well, it just seems really funny, to ME, that I could buy t-shirts, hats, trivets and teddy bears with Doug's picture on them. With "The Doug Jones Experience" emblazoned across the front. Now granted, this is not HIS site. He does not maintain it, it is maintained by a fan of his, a very nice one at that. Still, it made me laugh out loud. And I know he would be laughing about himself, which makes it even funnier. I may have to buy one of the children's shirts for the girls.

Today I am Thankful For...

My mother-in-law. Who watched the kids for me yesterday so I could go to the doctor. So I didn't have to explain to the kids at this age what the dr. was doing. AND she put the kids to work and straightened up my family room and kitchen! I'm going to have her over more often! What could I do nice for my m-i-l that wouldn't cost a lot? Any ideas?

Recycled Dollars - Part Two

She asked about it. Yesterday. Oh boy. Then she started looking for it. Frantically. Because she wanted to show it to her friend. I told her she needed to get ready to go to the library for story time and I was able to delay her for a while. So, we got home from the library and I had to go to the USPS website, get the phone number for the post office in Santa Clarita to find out if their stamp vending machine still gave change in dollar coins. Yes! So, on my way back from the dr's office yesterday, I stopped there and deposited a $20 bill into the machine. I had to buy a whole book of stamps! Oh well, it is for a good cause. I got twelve golden dollars and two dimes back! Now I have enough for later, too! I got back home and deposited eleven golden dollars into the monster safe and carefully placed the other on the floor of her playroom, right underneath where the tooth box had been on the shelf. After a little while, I casually asked her if she had a chance to look for the missing dollar. She said no and we went to look for it. I showed her where I had found the box and told her to look on the floor around there. There was plenty of debris on the playroom floor, so she had to do a little digging. She found it! "There's something here and it is shiny! And it is round!! It's my golden dollar!!!" Me: "Oh, good, you found it! Now put it someplace safe, okay? So you don't lose it again." Well, we put it in the monster as well. In a separate location from the other eleven. Phew. Done. I was so worried all day, since I had used the same one. What if the post office no longer had them? What if they only had susan b anthony dollars in the machine? I have received those as change before as well. So I was very relieved when I got golden dollars out of the machine!

In answer to your questions, Rosemary, golden dollars are the Sacagawea $1 coins that came out a few years ago that are no longer being minted. They were originally called Sacagawea dollars, but when people started to call them "Sucky's" because Americans don't want to carry coins around, they changed the name to Golden Dollars. They are a gold color and tarnish very quickly, so then they look almost copper-colored. They are the same size as the Susan B Anthony's. Apparently, the US Mint could save over $500 million per year if we would switch to dollar coins instead of paper dollars, but we the public are so whiny about it that they keep the paper and get rid of the coins. Since when do they listen to us about anything? JUST MAKE THE CHANGE. People will adapt! The campaign should be about saving the money, not making the money! But I digress.

Jess has her golden dollars from the tooth fairy. My guilt is gone. Today will be a good day. Now if I can just keep Rebekah from hitting her sister...

Recycled Dollars

I am a bad mom. I didn't realize that her tooth was as loose as it was. She was able last night to push it straight out forward, at a 90 degree angle from where it should have been. We put the Baby Orajel on and waited. It takes about ten minutes for it to take effect. So then I tried. She cried. I tried again and it came out. Then she bled. But she was happy! She really wanted the tooth fairy to come last night. Then she wanted to go to bed so Roy, the Tooth Fairy, would come. Then she was asking all kinds of questions. How does he get in the house? What does he do? Too many questions. I had to admit that I didn't really know that much about him. Well, then there was the problem of the golden dollar. She was anticipating a golden dollar. She wanted another one! But, being the bad mom, I did not plan ahead. Alas, there was no golden dollar to be found. EXCEPT...the one that was still left in the little tooth box from the first tooth! I went looking for the little tooth box and found it, with the gold dollar inside. I put the gold dollar in my pocket and brought the little box to her, where we together put the tooth in it. Then we put it under her pillow. Then this morning, she came to me and said, "He was HERE!" and produced the golden dollar! Ouch. Another twinge of guilt. She didn't ask about her other golden dollar. She hasn't realized yet that it is missing. However, she will. Just a matter of time. So, I need to find another golden dollar. And a third for the next tooth that is already loose. Nothing like planning ahead.

Today I am Thankful For...

The Tooth Fairy. Who paid another visit last night and made my daughter very happy. She's not going to have a tooth left in her head at this rate!

crazy week!

This IS going to be a crazy week. I have so much going on and the baby shower on Saturday! So far, there are going to be eight of us here for the shower. Maybe nine or ten. Not too bad. And I have only had two calls. Mary has had three people call her and one of them called me. Good thing it wasn't a surprise! Yes, I know the shower is a week away. And they haven't had a lot of time to think about it yet. But I will need to buy food and plan the menu. Some of you understand how frustrating it is when people don't RSVP. They don't seem to know that it means RESPOND PLEASE. Not "Call if you can make it". I have been guilty of this myself. I forget to call. I always feel bad when the shoe is on the other foot. So to speak. I mean, if I do it and I realize I do it, then what of all the people who don't give it a second thought? Nobody RSVP's anymore. My sister once gave a baby shower and one guest showed up. And I gave a baby shower last year that nobody called to say they were coming. We had NO RSVP's. So, I had to call everyone. We ended up with about 13 people. Who hadn't called. Who we would not have known were coming if they hadn't been called. Oh the shame of it! We all, myself included, have such bad manners now! I do vow to from now on figure out what is going on in a timely manner and RESPOND when I get invited to something.

Okay, I feel better. Let's move on, shall we? I gotta get my house cleaned!

Poor Scooter!

So, my friend was over yesterday and during the course of the conversation, she tells me that the last time we were down to visit her (about two weeks ago), she accompanied Rebekah to the toilet. And Rebekah was telling her about Scooter. Scooter was the best cat I ever had. He was the brother to my dad's cat, Grey Kitty. Dad also has Orange Kitty. Scooter was originally called Black Kitty. My nephew was three when he named them. (As a little aside, when I took them all to the vet for their first shots, the vet asked which one was which. Duh.)

Well, Scooter loved living in the San Fernando Valley, and he spent his days chasing birds and insects, rolling around in the dirt and sunning himself in the sun. He would come in sometimes, but mostly enjoyed being outside. He had spent the first two years of his life as an outdoor cat. He was given to Dad's neighbor, a guy that mainly cared about himself, because he had mice in the mobile home. When John left, he abandoned the cat. When I moved to an apt. that I could take him in at, I went up the mountain and took the cat home. He loved it. Anyway, when we moved to the desert, he stayed inside most of the time. Didn't like it. No trees outside, since we moved into a new house. He liked chasing mice, but we also had coyotes, which is most likely what happened to him, since he just didn't come home one night. Rebekah doesn't really remember him. She was very small when he disappeared. Jessica remembers him and loved him. He would curl up on the bed while she was asleep and take a nap with her. He loved her, too.

Well, occasionally Scooter will come up in conversation. Jess says she is going to cry. Rebekah says the coyotes got him. She elaborated on this in her conversation with my friend.

"Scooter DIED! The wolves got him!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, they tore his feet off and ate them up!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, then they tore his tail off and ate it up! Then they tore his butt cheeks off and ate them up! Then they tore his ears off and ate them up! Then they tore his tummy off and ate it up! Then they tore his nose off and ate it up! Then they tore his BUTT CHEEKS off and ATE THEM UP! "
"Do you just like saying butt cheeks?"
"Yes."

Somehow, I don't think this little girl is going to grow up and be a vegetarian. My friend said she related this story with such glee! It was all she could do to keep from bursting out laughing.

Hmm. The things girls talk about when they go in the bathroom together!

Today I am Thankful For...

Sling.

I was trying to figure out how to link to someone's blog and a very nice person, with a very interesting blog gave me some directions. So, I am going to try to link to his blog and see if this works.

Sling's Domain is here.

I think it worked. Thanks, Sling! Have a great day.

I feel smarter already. I was probably the only person on the face of the earth who didn't know how to do that.

For those of you who didn't know...

I have allowed for anonymous comments on the blog. So, for those of you who don't have a blogger account and don't want to get one, you can still comment. So, post a comment and let me know you were here!

Twelve Things

Okay, 5:30am and I have just finished washing all of the dishes and the dishwasher is going. It sure doesn’t take long before there are no more clean spoons, bowls or pans! The kids go through so many sippy cups, you would think they are disposable! And I actually get paper cups so they won’t use as many. Their main liquid is water and they are allowed to get it freely from the refrigerator. This does mean, however, that they leave water cups on the table. At least if they are open cups, I don’t have to retrieve them later from unknown places. Sippy cups are mainly used now for non-water items and for the car. But I digress.

I need to clean up this messy house today. Finally put away the Christmas tree. But in a few months I will have to pull it out again. It seems the Christmases come much closer together now. It used to take SOOOOO long for Christmas to get here and now, before I know it, there is another one around the corner.

Yesterday I actually got some stuff accomplished! I poked around in the shed for boxes for the Christmas stuff and ended up rearranging part of the shed. The Hubby actually noticed! And it was driving me crazy that there was only a small area to walk around my car in the garage, so I swept and rearranged part of the garage and now there is a decent amount of room to get around my car. My goal is to get The Hubby’s car in the garage, too. I do have a few things I would like to accomplish. Maybe I should make a list and see what gets done. You know, if you write it down and tell someone else, you have a better chance of getting it done, right? So, here goes:

1. Put away Christmas tree.
2. Clean out garage.
3. Clean up patio, sweep, get rid of tumbleweeds, wash table and chairs.
4. Organize closet (been working on this)
5. Clean up and organize computer room.
6. The computer room is such a mess, I need to put it on here twice.
7. Clean up and organize play room.
8. Clean up kitchen.
9. Vacuum.
10. Shampoo carpets.
11. Wash floors.
12. Wash windows.

Okay, twelve things. Some small, some big. Average one per month, though some will have to be done more than once and some will take longer than a month. So, once I get the tree put away, I will have to get started on a couple of the big ones right away, so I make sure they get done before the end of the year. I can’t be out in the garage in the summertime, so that will have to get done soon, if it is to get done at all. I am going to print this out so I can put it on the refrigerator. Wish me luck! This is the year I get organized!

I hope.

My Mom

So, after reading Rosemary's blog http://rosemarys-attic.blogspot.com, I have been thinking a lot about my mother. So, I am trying to put this all together in my head, but one day soon, I am going to start to tell my mother's story. Parts of it, anyway. And from my perspective. So, stay tuned!

I got to hold the baby!

A one week old baby girl! Yeah, I know, but her mother handed her to me and how could I say no? She was wide awake, bright-eyed and beautiful. So tiny, but she seemed so comfortable. So, I put her in my arms and both of us were just fine. She was absolutely beautiful! Tiny ears and hands. She is half Filipino and just beautiful. Her mother is doing well. We took dinner to them last night. Just Jess and I. The Hubby was nice enough to meet me on his way home and take the little Sister home. Jess got to sit on the floor and hold the baby. I felt like an octopus, keeping my hands directly underneath her arms. She held her for about two minutes and I figured we were doing good, so stop while you are ahead. Well, I asked her, when we were in the car later, "So, what did you think of that little baby?" "SHE WAS SOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUTE!" Just as I thought. She loved holding the baby.

Today I am Thankful For...

Sleep. When my children are asleep. I get a little quiet time before they get up again. Besides, they look so beautiful and peaceful when they are sleeping!

Three

Three is the new two. I don't like three. There are some things about three that I like, but there is a lot I don't like. Like the hitting. Of the big Sister. Why? I don't understand coming up to someone and hitting them for no reason. And when asked, "Why did you hit your sister?", the answer is, "I don't know." That's not an answer! I want to know what is going on in the mind of a three year old and she can't explain that to me. It is frustrating.

The things I like about three are that she is finding her independence, but still needs Mommy. She is learning about the things around her and what her likes and dislikes are. She gives great hugs. She has a great smile. But there is an ugly, wrinkled up face that she has, too. Oh dear. What is four going to be like? This one is different than the big Sister. She is mostly love and hugs and trying to please. A little rebellion now and then, but for the most part she just wants to love everyone and have a good time. The little Sister has somewhat of a mean streak. This one is going to be my challenge.

"I'm In"

Hillary has finally admitted she is running for President. We've all known since she left the White House that she was going to attempt to get back in. Well, now it is official. Why can't we have someone in office that does a good job and is looking out for the best interests of the people? Republican, Democrat, whatever, a good candidate that has a chance of winning. Because of the way the electoral college is set up, nobody other than a Republican or Democrat can win. So all those votes are wasted. Let's all pray that in this election we end up with someone who will do the will of the people and do what is in the best interest of the country. I guess part of the problem is that the will of the people is divided in half. The country is divided down the middle with half the people on the left and half on the right and no middle ground. Well, we can hope and pray that it works out, can't we?

Today I am Thankful For...

That Jessica asked for prayer when she got sick. Her faith in God is amazing!

MOMMY?!?!

There's nothing worse than being awakened in the dead of night by a child's cry for Mommy! I leaped out of bed. It was 12:30. She was vomitting in the toilet. Scott also was awakened and went to check her bed. Nothing. She woke up from being sound asleep and made it to the toilet to puke. What an amazing girl! No mess anywhere! Well, we stayed up from 12:30 until 4:30 in the morning when Scott left for work (he had gone back to sleep) and she had about twelve episodes of heaving. Poor thing! There was nothing left to come up! Well, she slept until about 9:00 this morning and she felt much better. No more throwing up. But we only fed her top ramen for lunch just to be on the safe side. She seems to be all better now and is running around like normal now. I am so glad. I hate when she is sick! Hopefully Rebekah doesn't get it! I don't think she will. Jess has a sensitive stomach and picks up every stomach thing just because she doesn't want it to get away, it seems. This one was bad, but not very long. My baby is healthy again!

Upgrade!

Well, I am upgraded now. I have joined the world of the new blogger. I try to avoid changing things on the computer until everyone else has worked out the bugs. It is no longer in Beta, so I think I will be okay. Everything seems to be fine. I think this will work.

Little changes around every corner, but nothing dangerous. I think. Bear with me whilst I figure this out. And let's begin a new adventure with a new year!

Welcome to my new(er) blog!

TodayJessica is thankful for...

Sleeping. And flowers and dogs and all our life.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.

And it's cold inside, too. Went to Grandma Alice's house to visit yesterday. Well, let me back up. First, we went to storytime at the library. Then we went to the mall. The girls and I and two friends. So, the kids played at the library, then played at the mall for about 2 1/2 hours. Then we went to See's and they each picked out a candy. This, in addition to the sample candy that each got and they were both in chocolate heaven. So then we went to Grandma Alice's house. Hubby's mom was there too, since her house still has no carpet after the big flood. For those of you who don't know, they were in Oklahoma for three months and she didn't have her heater on in her house. In early December, Hubby's uncle went to check on the house and when he opened the front door a wave of water poured out. The ice-maker line apparently froze and expanded, cracking the plastic and gushing water for two days. This caused a flood in which all the carpet in the house got soaked and had to be replaced. Anyway, they have been staying with Grandma Alice since then. SO, we visited the girls' Grandma and Great Grandma. Grandma Alice will be 96 this year. She's gettin' up there. Pretty amazing for a woman who survived polio in her twenties, the death of her husband in her thirties and raising two children by herself. But then she is an amazing woman. I wish I had met her sooner. She is amazing. Anyway, so I was talking to the Grandmas and Bekah comes in and sits down on my lap. Then I turned her sideways and cradled her in my arms and within a few minutes she was asleep. It was very sweet. She slept like that for about an hour. Then we had to go and I put her in the car and she continued to sleep. I got to have a nice visit and Jess played with Lincoln Logs in the other room. She got to play undisturbed and I got to chat. What a nice way to end a day! We were gone all day so I didn't get anything done, but it was a fun day. AND since Grandma's house is kept at 74 degrees, we got to thaw out a bit. Such fun!

Today I am thankful for...

Blogger. Without which, I would not be able to keep up with the people around me and I would not have met some nice, new friends! There's love!

I Already Blew It!

Oops, only a few days into this and already I didn't blog yesterday! Sorry! Life gets in the way sometimes. We went to Santa Clarita to visit a friend and we walked around the mall. Looked at the puppies in the pet store, the kids played in the play area, and we had lunch at the Asian Food place. Then we went and looked at the sparkly store. I love that store. Everything in there is sparkly and pretty and pretty affordable. More so than the $7500 necklace at the jewelry store next to the pet store. And that was 50% off! I got a pretty pair of green earrings for $7.99. Such a bargain!

Anyway, all in all, it was a good day. Even if I didn't have a chance to blog!

Today I am thankful for...

That I can be a stay at home mom and be at home with my kids. It is such a joy to see them grow up!

I'm so jazzed!

Okay, went to the monthly pampered chef meeting tonight. Got the brochure with all the new stuff for spring. I AM SOOO EXCITED!!! I want it all. Since I can't have it all and I don't have any money, I will have to figure out a way to earn it all. Anybody wanna do a Show and get some free stuff? There are some totally cool new products...

Yeah, yeah, I know, I am too into this stuff. (There's new tropical themed recipes and shows, too!)

Aireloom Mattress

Been looking into a handmade mattress made by Aireloom. Anybody heard of it? It is supposed to be VERY well made, all natural, and it feels like you are sleeping on a cloud. We tried them out at three different stores so far. Very nice. Please let me know if you have any experience with them.

Today Rebekah Is Thankful For...

Rebekah, what are you thankful for?
I don't know.
Okay, WHO are you thankful for?
God. Why did He made us?
Why DID He make us?
FOR HIS GLORY!!!
Anybody else you're thankful for?
No. Just God.

ANOTHER Baby Shower?!

Yes. I am going to give another baby shower. My friend is having her baby before the end of February. She has two sisters that live within 1/2 hour of her and neither of them has said anything about having a shower. So, my friend and I talked about it. I introduced the two of them to each other. In December. Lisa said that wouldn't it be sad to think later on that this baby would ask her mother, "How come nobody gave you a baby shower when I was born?" It was too much. Besides, I wanted to do it six months ago when she told me she was pregnant, however, I held back because I figured one of her sisters would do it. Nope. So, Lisa and I are going to give it to her. I can't wait. I like giving baby showers. But this will be a rush! AND...we don't know what she is having! She isn't going to find out! That makes it fun! SO, here goes, with another baby shower! If anybody has game ideas, let me know...

Today I am thankful for...

My Hubby. He's pretty cool. He likes me. And he is a good daddy. Jess asked yesterday if he was staying here today. When I answered her yes, he is, she got all excited and started saying, "Daddy's staying here! Daddy's staying here!" She was very excited. Then, this morning, she was hugging on him for quite some time. She loves her daddy. And it is rare that he gets to stay home with us when we don't have all kinds of things going on. Yeah, I am thankful for my Hubby. He's good.

Yard Update

The gardener came. They guy who pulled all the weeds. He was here all day last Sunday. He planted all the plants. He even rearranged part of the dirt above the lawn. He planted a hedge on the other side of the driveway, by the neighbors yard. He did a nice job. And he worked all day and it was FREEZING! He brought his brother with him. They are from Jamaica. The weather is a little different here than there. He was saying it is too cold here for him and he will be moving. But, I hope it is not too soon! I got someone I like and he is good! Hopefully he won't move. Anyway, all we have left to do is the slope on the side of the house. It is 12 feet high and 90 feet across. This is the section above the existing grass. Only the top half of the slope. The guy never called Scott back when he asked for more time, so I guess it is okay that we are not done yet. It is a work in progress and it is costing a fortune that we do not have, but it does look nicer. So, for a while we will be eating mac and cheese (no problem for Bekah, that's her favorite food) and we will suck it up while we are working on the slope. Such fun!

Today I am thankful for...

That I do not live where it is -6 degrees.

NYR

New Years Resolution

I intend to blog everyday. I will probably bore you all to death, but there it is. Tune in if you dare. I will try to be witty, artistic, and forthright. So, here's to the attempt. Oh, yeah, and everyday I am going to post something I am thankful for. Starting today.

Top Ten Reasons...

Today is a good day. This is more for me than for you, dear Reader. I just need a little pick me up. I could easily come up with ten reasons that it is not a good day, however, then I would be being negative, wouldn't I? And my intent here is to bring myself up. SO, for Thursday, January 11,

The Top Ten Reasons why Today Is A Good Day
10. Because it is almost Friday!
9. Because, although it may snow, I will not have to shovel snow.
8. Because God loves me. (This is, of course, really number one, which just goes to show these are not in order)
7. Because there is a beautiful blue-eyed five year old named Jessica.
6. Because there is a beautiful brown-eyed three year old named Rebekah.
5. Because my daughter will read me a book today!
4. Because there are no weeds on my slope!
3. Because my husband loves me. He told me so last night.
2. Because it may snow today and my children love the snow!
1. Because, well, just because. :-)

Hot Tea

Tea is good. Tea is my friend. Hot tea. Steaming, warming up cold hands. No calories. Tasty and free. I like tea. I never really gave it much thought. Then several days ago, I saw my teapot sitting on the stove looking all lonely. So, I decided to make some hot water and throw in a tea bag. It was good. My mouth was happy. My hands were no longer chilled. Life was good. My tea and I were at peace.

Tea is good. Coffee, not so much. In order for me to drink coffee, it has to be loaded up with something else. You know, to get rid of the coffee taste. And I always end up with a stomach ache from coffee. It doesn't agree with me. Tea agrees with me. I never really realized it until now.

Don't get me wrong. I have had tea before. I like to buy tea. It smells good. I have made iced tea many times. In the Iced Tea machine. Brews it into a three quart pitcher you fill with ice and you have a whole pitcher full of iced tea. It's cool. No pun intended. But it's been a once in a while thing. Not all the time. Until last week. I have made tea every day. Hot tea. It has kept me warm. It has made me feel good. I have even ordered tea the last two times we went out to eat. Last night, mexican food. This place with good mexican food in Rosamond. At the airport. I had hot tea. It was good. Darjeeling. You know, the kind Buzz Lightyear drank with Mrs. Nesbit. And at home yesterday it was the one from Pampered Chef with orange and spice in it. Very good. The day before was Cinnamon Spice tea. How could this be bad? And I have yet to try the Hibiscus tea. I have about six different teas at home to try. Hmmm. Imagine the possibilities. Hopefully, you, dear Reader, are not bored with talk of tea. Take comfort that I have found something that is very enjoyable with no guilt. I already have it, so it costs me nothing. It warms me on the inside and tastes good, too. And it warms my hands. And hearing the sound of the teapot whistling leaves me in anticipation of what is to come. I think I have become a tea drinker.

Global Wha?

Okay, I just checked the weather. Twenty four hours from now it is supposed to get to 14 degrees here. That's freakin' cold! Dad's weather report for the same period is 22 degrees. Ours is colder!? He lives in the mountains. He's supposed to have the dang cold weather. I live in the desert. D E S E R T. Okay, it's supposed to get more extreme than the valley, sure, but not THIS! And the record here, from 1987 is 17 degrees. To me, that seems to be getting colder. Yeah, yeah, I know, it is just one temp from one area on one given date, yada yada yada. That's freakin' cold, though! The high is supposed to get to 43 degrees tomorrow. Woo-hooo! Let's go out in our swimsuits and run around in the sprinklers. So, as for me, I don't see the temps going up any. It's cold here. Talk to me when it gets to be summer here, maybe mid-August and I am dying because it is the hottest summer on record. Then we'll talk about global warming. Cuz right now, I'm not buying it.