Month: March 2008

  • Pictorial Recap

    Today I'll post pictures.  Couldn't do it yesterday because JoAnn and Jesse went to Amarillo to see their dad and I found out Jesse had taken the camera.

    So . . . (drum roll, please) . . . here we go.  Better late, than never!

    Five little honeys in a row (or, the back seats of my car)!!!

     

    The birthday guests:

    JanaLyn, Rissy, Luci, (the birthday girl) Annamarie, & Aolani.

    Next picture:  JanaLyn and Luci

    Last picture:  Aunti JoJo

    The birthday table:

    Playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey and the "end" results!!!!!!!

          

    Lots of pretty gifts to open.

    And always a cake with a "trick" candle!!!

    Annamarie had a great time.  The fact her Auntie JoJo and cousins Jennifer, Aolani, & Abreeana were here from Tacoma, WA put the sparkle on top of a perfect birthday!

    All that is left today are the balloons floating everywhere and some stale cake!  And . . . an eight year old!  

    Boy they grow up quickly!

  • HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNAMARIE!!!!

    Today is my middle child's birthday, ANNAMARIE.  Eight years old!  Wow! 

    Seems like yesterday she looked like a tiny munchkin or a replica of Dora the Explorer!!!

    Where in the world did the years go?

    We're on our way out to celebrate with a Mexican food lunch (her choice) and then later this evening will be her birthday dinner, party, and gifts.


    She is no longer Dora Explorer, by my sweet and kind-hearted Annamarie!

    Happy birthday, Sweetie, Mom and Dad love you!

  • Tempting Photos

    Just to tempt everyone with what I'm enjoying, here is my youngest niece, Abreeanna (age 1yo)

    From head

    To feet

    She sure is sweet!!!

    More pictures to follow soon!

  • House Full of Girls

    Our company arrived yesterday evening and we are thrilled.  We went out for Mexican food last night, a taste they don't get to enjoy in Tacoma.

    Jesse's sister, JoAnn, looks great.  Her daughter, our niece, Jennifer, also looks good.  She's a great mom taking care of her two daughters, Aolani and Abreeanna.  Abreeanna is the prettiest little thing and cute as a button.  Jesse is a "baby person" and Abreeanna took to him immediately.

    I'll try to post some pictures as soon as I can. 

    They are visiting other family members today and Luci has her standing therapy appointment at 2pm.  It will be a busy day - getting everyone where they need to be.

    I never did get Annamarie's gifts wrapped and that's the only "chore" looming over my head today.  Her cake is ordered and will be ready at noon on Saturday.  I'll also post pictures of her birthday after-the-fact.

    Today's weather . . . 38 degrees this morning and only expected to reach the low 50's by this afternoon with LOTS of wind.  A bit of a change from yesterday's 80 degrees!!!

    I need to run.  I have lots to do. 

    Poor Jesse!  A house FULL of girls!

  • Thursday Thirteen #17

    Thirteen Things
    THAT DIDN'T GO SO WELL

    Lest anyone look at my recent lists of accomplishments and think I've been boasting; I will list 13 things of an imperfect nature that ALSO happened to me!

    1.  To save money, I attempted to use a new recipe when making biscuits from scratch.  Rock hard with an "interesting" taste was the result.  I had to throw the leftovers (a lot of them!!!) away.  So much for saving money.

    2.  I moved my desk and file cabinet down the wall to make room for the second file cabinet (that I never got around to purchasing this week).  It took me forever to figure out why the printer was "disabled" and I found that I had unplugged it from the CPU when scooting things around.  A waste of precious time!

    3.  Stephanie & JanaLyn were here Saturday and I fixed enough dinner (barely) for all of us.  Rob came to get JanaLyn right as we were sitting down.  I fixed an extra place at the table for him and rallied everyone into the kitchen.  I hissed into my immediate family's ears as food was being put onto the plates, "Don't be a pig.  Don't take too much food, so there will be enough for Rob!"  No one took seconds and there was PLENTY of food put in the refrigerator afterwards!  I wonder if anyone was still hungry, but too afraid to say so?

    4.  I decided to make a point of remembering my dear friend's (Tina) birthday on the 24th.  All day, on the 24th, I was bothered that it was someone's birthday and kept telling myself, my brother's birthday was the 23rd and I was getting so old I was confusing the dates.  I totally forgot Tina!

    5.  We let Stormy (the cat) out before we went to bed.  She rarely stays out long and is definitely an indoor, cuddling in a bed, type of cat.  I forgot about her and the next morning there was a very disgruntled Stormy at the door, who was freezing because the weather had changed to COLD. 

    6.  I let Sampson out the same morning Stormy came in and forgot about him.  He was out almost all day in the cold temperatures.  No fur, always freezing, and no bark since Jesse-boy died.  I FELT HORRIBLE when I heard his pathetic whining at the back door.

    7.  I cleaned the drip pans under my gas burners and had the stove nice and sparkling clean.  That evening, my potatoes boiled over and then my gravy did the same.  So much for "clean" drip pans.

    8.  I washed the WHITE table cloth from our formal dining room table and threw my woven place mats in at the same time.  The place mats look like little woven rugs.  I opened the washer to find a BLUE table cloth and matted woven place mats.  I put the place mats in the dryer and rewashed the table cloth with bleach, praying for the best.  I opened the dryer and fuzz exploded from the inside.  My place mats had shriveled into "smaller size rugs" and there was lint EVERYWHERE.  Fortunately, my white table cloth had been restored to its original white color.  But, the newly swept kitchen floors had blue lint bouncing everywhere and that was carried onto the carpet everywhere in the house.

    9.  I placed frozen meat (Angus cube steaks) out to thaw for dinner and proceeded with my daily chores.  Perfect dinner: steak and a salad - easy, too.  At meal time, the steaks were still frozen together in one big block, so Jesse picked up chicken at the truck stop, when he filled my car up with gas.  I attempted to fix the steaks the next night and found the meat had gone bad in the freezer.  So, once again, Jesse picked up burgers from Burger King. (sigh)

    10.  One night while washing dishes, I exclaimed in horror, "Oh no!  My Grandma's ring is gone!" as I looked at my bare left hand.  Then I remembered my ring was on my other hand (and has been for 12 years!!!!).

    11.  I paid ALL of our bills and got that nasty task out of the way.  I cleaned up my desk,  put away my checkbook, debit card, and sighed a sigh of relief that  the bills were ALL paid and statements filed.  I felt very smug until I realized I had forgotten two bills and they were the ones that were due the soonest!

    12.  I took our old bath tub shower caddy shelf down and opened the box of the new one.  I allowed 20 minutes to take down the old caddy, clean the tub, and put up the new caddy.  An hour later I was still messing with poles and washers and little shelves to get them the correct height for the tub to ceiling gap.  I finally threw away the new poles and put the new washers and shelves on the OLD pole (that was rusted and corroded at the bottom) and installed the whole thing.  Of course it was the right height . . . but, an HOUR of my precious time???

    13.  Yesterday, I talked about the scarf valance in the formal living room.  I tackled the second rod and scarf and NOTHING went well.  The scarf continually unraveled from the rod where I had draped it.  The rod came out of its brackets more times than I can count and fell to the floor.  THEN, the rod that was already finished from the day before, fell to the ground.  Another hour, of reaching above my head and sweating, gone!  Today, I have to tackle the first rod again and get the valance up on that side.  I finally tied the second valance in a knot at both ends of the rod and that's what I'll attempt to do today.

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  • My Last Spring Cleaning Fling

    Last night was a long one.  I didn't sleep well.  We have to close our windows to set our burglar alarm and yesterday was warm, so the house was still stuffy and warm at night.  We just HATED the thought of turning on the air conditioners this early in the year, so we didn't.  Restless sleep brought weird dreams, too.  I dreamed we were back living in our first (small) house.  ALL of us and ALL of our large furniture!  My little boy cat, Jesse-boy, was still alive.

    I laid awake from 4:30 until I don't know when.  I was afraid to look, but I'm sure it was at least an hour - maybe more.  I might not have slept well because I knew the work that was facing me today.  It's all just general house cleaning, but I'd like to get it out of the way before it gets too warm.  I think they expect it to be 75 degrees today and 80 degrees tomorrow.  Then, we'll be back to the upper 50's and mid-60's.  That's such typical Oklahoma weather!

    Yesterday evening, I put up the formal living room's cascading valances.  They are something like 20' of silk scarf.  They wrap around a decorative rod.  NOT the easiest thing to work with.  They slip and slide around while you're wrapping the rod.  I gave up halfway through the second rod and have to adjust the cascades today.  I was tired and couldn't do one more thing yesterday evening.  I messed up dinner (meat still frozen) and Jesse picked up chicken when he went to fill my Suburban up with gas.

    I got Annamarie's birthday gifts consolidated into one bag late last night.  I think I used the last piece of forced energy within my body!!!  Since I'd been shopping a little bit here and there, the gifts were stored in my closet "here and there."  I don't think I need to find boxes for anything.  The stuffed animal monkey (cute!) can go in a gift bag.  I had two boxes for all of the tops I bought her.  If I get my chores done in a reasonable amount of time, I'd like to get her boxes wrapped so I only have to put ribbon or bows on them at the last minute.

    This will be my last day's cleaning fling for a while.  Spring cleaning will be officially done!

    My list for today:

    *  clean bird's cage (a REAL mess)
    *  sweep and mop kitchen floors (AFTER the bird's cage is cleaned!!!)
    *  sweep and mop bathroom floors
    *  clean bathrooms
    *  put up new shower curtain liner and corner shelf in bathtub
    *  dust all of the house
    *  vacuum all of the house

    With the girls help, I should be able to knock it almost all out this morning.  I still have to declutter my kitchen bar and some of my desk area.  Those two places are a catch-all for everything my hand touches!

    Even though it's going to be warm, I'd like to make some banana bread with some squishy bananas that I don't want to throw away.  I know I can freeze them and use them later, but the idea bothers me for some reason.  It doesn't seem "natural" to freeze bananas!

    Okay, I've just had a breakfast request.  Waffles.

    NOOOOO!!!!!  Not "real" ones (from scratch)!!!  They're gonna get the frozen kind (from Wal-Mart)!!! 

    Toodles!

  • Some of My Accomplishments

    Yay!  Good news!  I've actually accomplished a few
    things!!!

    Suffice it to
    say, we ate off of the kitchen table last night!  That's GOOD news
    because it means the last of the homeschool junk was put away! 

    As you
    can see, my kitchen is pale yellow, with red accents (apples and
    roosters) and "decorated" with homeschool wall charts!   

     
              

    If you
    look closely in the back corner, you can see our small piano sitting on
    the bench under the window.  It's the perfect height for the girls to
    stand and play and an OK height for me to pull up a chair and play



    Another accomplishment . . . The guest room beds are clean, made up,
    and ready for company.  Also, the shelving and cupboard wall is
    organized.  Remember that one free, empty shelf in the cupboard????  I'm going
    to temporarily fill it with my mending (an embarrassingly tall pile of
    mending!!!). 

    That's a king bed on the left and a twin bed on the right.  We have the extra king because we weren't happy with it after buying it and bought another one.  It has something like a 22" thick top mattress and requires special sheets, etc.  As you can see, the bottom of the blanket that's tucked in shows because that's a regular king comforter.  Nothing "regular" about that bed!

         

    I went through the last of my files last night.  I don't
    know if I'll
    have time to buy that new file cabinet before our company arrives.  I
    have an old, putty, metal office file cabinet I've used for years, so
    it's not like things are piled up
    in stacks where everyone can see.  I just WANT the wood one that
    matches my desk.  I have one, and have saved (4-EVER) the money to buy
    the second file cabinet.

    The agenda today is to:
    *  keep up with the
    laundry,
    *  finish putting file cabinet things away (until I can buy
    the nicer file cabinet),
    *  gather up my mending and stuff it all in the
    empty guest room cupboard (grin!!),
    *  MAYBE clean off the kitchen
    bar,
    *  empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen, so . . .
    *  I can
    cook dinner tonight and mess everything up again!

    The story of my
    life!

    My prayer is that God pushes me so I don't loose momentum!  Kinda
    like I did with that pile of mending!!!  I have an idea of what I need
    to do for these next 3 days.  Tomorrow is the day to dust, vacuum, and
    clean the kitchen & bathrooms with Comet, etc.  I won't have much
    time Thursday (when our company arrives) because two of the girls have
    medical appointments and that's my day to grocery shop.  Their planes
    comes in at 4:30pm and Jesse will be picking them up.

    Of course, tonight, I have to allow time to watch
    "American Idol" because I've been successfully sucked into another
    season of talent!  You know how that goes with me?  LOL  

    I'm off of here and on to
    bigger and better accomplishments!

  • Apologies

    Oops!  Made a mistake with that last entry.  I'll try to fix it and get the pictures inserted.  So sorry to waste everyone's digest space!

  • Do Not Attempt to Try This at Home

    It was a busy,
    busy week-end for us!  I got so much done!  Of course, I could barely
    walk or step into the bathtub last night!  Jesse was a tremendous
    help.  He moved the big furniture for me and did all of the laundry. 
    We washed the sheets, blankets, comforters, etc. . .  No, HE washed the sheets, blankets,
    comforters, etc. from the guest room.

    I have been praying for a long time that God would give me the strength to do what needed to be done and the wisdom regarding WHERE to put everything.  He answered my prayers AND supplied the strength needed.  I'm so glad that my health has 99% returned.  I wasn't sure I'd ever see this day.

    I touched every single toy the girls own (that includes the McDonald's
    Happy Meal toys  & every party favor they've ever received!!!) and
    every toy was categorized and arranged into bins.   The bins were arranged in Annamarie's
    & Luci's new room's closet, which held an amazing amount of bins.

    The kitchen is ALMOST done, as you can see from my "table" picture! 
    The bench in the kitchen (under the window) used to be stacked high
    with text books and materials.  Most of those things are now in Luci's old
    room in the cupboard.  All of the games that were in a cabinet in the den
    and on Luci's shelf in the (NOW) guest room are tucked away in a cupboard.  I still have one
    empty shelf in that cupboard and can't decide what to store there.  Imagine having more room for your "junk"????!!!!!!

    The linens for the guest room's king and twin beds are washed and piled
    up, waiting to be put on the bed.  I may have to give my body a day to
    "heal" before bending and stretching again!  Today, I can work on the last of the
    desk files and pay bills while sitting down.  Once those final files are purged, my plan is to buy my second file cabinet that matches my desk set.  That will complete the change in the
    formal living area.

    Here is the messy kitchen bench and table (ALMOST clean)!!!  When I started to clean up, I transferred stuff from the bench to the table and it was piled high with (who knows what) stuff!  (broken pencils, pieces of crayons, rejected art work . . . )

    And, my new kitchen storage bins to get things organized and off of the bench.

    This is the cupboard where most of the kitchen school books and all of the girls' board games ended up.  All is tucked neatly away behind doors with one shelf to spare.

    And the clean bedding waiting to be put back on the guest beds.

    Last of all is Annamarie's and Luci's closet.  Lots of bins on shelves.  Luci's clothes are to the left and Annamarie's are to the right with extra hangers and bins on the floor in the middle.  The rod needs to be moved higher, and, hopefully, a more sturdy rod put in there.  (Notice the bowing center of the rod???!!!!)

    I noticed many of the girls' dresses don't fit or are too wintry.  That means getting the clothes bins down from the attic to pull out spring dresses.  That will be great ON ANOTHER DAY and AFTER OUR COMPANY HAS GONE HOME!!!!  

    Doing the laundry and washing the big dishes from Sunday's leg of lamb dinner will seem like a breeze today, after this week-end's monumental cleaning spree.  Jesse also washed off the dirty dishes last night and put the food away so I could get in the Jacuzzi bathtub and nurse my wounded muscles!  What a guy!  What a guy!

    Four more days until our company arrives!  I wouldn't recommend this type of cleaning to anyone.  You know the disclaimer, "Do not attempt to try this at home."  LOL!!!  That's my advice!!!

    I hope I don't meet them at the airport in a wheelchair!!!

  • More Company Coming

    My brother-in-law, James, got safely back to Tacoma, WA and all of his "food" made it safely, too!!!  He froze and took home 10 dozen tamales (made by our friend's wife), two large loaves of banana bread (my friend, Emily's recipe), and 3 packages of brownies from Braum's (a local ice cream store).

    His flights were on time.  He was able to get aisle seats on both flights so he could stretch his leg, the one that had knee surgery last fall.

    Then, the announcement came . . . Jesse's sister (the one who went to India and takes care of James) wanted to come see us.  Of course, we said yes.  I talked to her today to get arrival dates, etc.  She, her adult daughter (Jennifer), and Jennifer's children (Aolani and Abreanna) will be arriving next Thursday afternoon and staying until the following week-end.  Aolani came last summer with my bil and had a great time with my younger girls.  Jennifer's youngest girl just turned a year old a few weeks ago.  They will arrive two days before Annamarie's birthday party.  It will be nice to have a baby around (for a week!!!!).

    We bought extra party favors yesterday when we grocery shopped.  Annamarie is ecstatic about the visit and the fact it is falling on her birthday!  I'm glad for her.  This is the last big celebration for her and it couldn't have been a better surprise.

    My operating speed for switching the girls' bedrooms around has accelerated.

    I guess my next 5 days will be very, very busy!  I figure we can clean house (the right way!!!) Tuesday and Wednesday.  The laundry is never caught up, so I won't even try.  Annamarie and Luci have doctor appointments the same afternoon everyone arrives, but Jesse will have to pick them and their luggage up without us, anyway.  The Suburban is big, but not THAT big!

    I bought a leg of lamb for Sunday's dinner and some small red potatoes.  Other than picking up a bag of apples and oranges and some slicing tomatoes that I forgot to buy yesterday, I don't have any errands planned until Monday.

    On Monday, Jesse said he would go with me to buy my second file cabinet.  I've had the money saved up since last May!

    Got more done today with switching the girls' rooms around.  Luci packed up all of her toys and moved quite a bit to the new bedroom.  I have groups of toys left that I was not sure where to put.  I may have to buy some more shoe box size plastic bins.  Rissy collected most of her things and moved them to her new bedroom.  Right now, things look like a big mess, but the whole move is closer to be completed than a few days ago!

    Tomorrow I will work on transferring the homeschool kitchen chaos to Luci's old cupboards.  The kitchen ought to feel lots bigger and more organized after that!

    It's almost 11pm.  Time to say "night-night" and go relax!