Month: October 2008

  • Second Post for Wednesday

    I don't believe I've shared this story on my blog.  If I have shared it, please just smile kindly and talk about me behind my back!!!!!

    About a week ago, in home school, we were studying The Lord's Prayer.  I read it and told the girls they should know it as they may NEED to repeat it in a church service and it was Jesus' example to us of *how* to pray.

    I read the whole thing through and then took it line by line, explaining what each verse meant.

    I got to the part, "Give us this day our daily bread" and I stopped.  I asked them, "Do you think he meant real bread?"

    All three girls nodded "yes" in agreement.

    I went on slowly and carefully explaining what it really meant was "give us what we *need* each day to get through the day.  Certainly we need food and shelter, but we also need wisdom, healing, faith, comfort, etc."

    So I asked again, "Does 'Give us this day our daily bread' mean just bread?"

    Annamarie very slowly said, "Well, yes."

    I asked why and she said (just as slowly), "Well , , , we need 3 slices of bread each day."

    Curiosity got the better of me and so I pressed on.  I asked, "Why do you say that?"

    Annamarie said,  "I need one slice of bread for toast in the morning and 2 slices of bread to make a sandwich at lunch."

    Feeling like I had totally missed it with my explanation, I agreed.  Yes, we do need to eat during the day.

    Then I asked, "Can anyone else tell me what we might need to get us through a day?"

    Rissy's hand shot up in a flash.  I was sure she had grasped the concept and called on her.

    Full of confidence and excitement she replied, "We also need peanut butter and jelly or bologna to put on our lunch bread."

    All was lost.  I rolled my eyes (to myself), grinned at both girls and enthusiastically said, "Good answers!" and then quickly moved on to "Forgive us our debts . . . "

  • Is it Really Only Wednesday?

    This has been the longest week of my WHOLE life!!!!!  For real - I thought for sure today was, at least, Thursday.  I've been putting out too many fires and feel achy - which tells me the fires have been real.  Let's face it, I'm too old to bend and lift like someone who is 25 years old!  The house is an absolute wreck - except for our bedroom and the foster bedroom.

    Here is my "Picture Village" of what went on yesterday.  Imagine my temper being held under wraps and then me exploding!

    It all started when I began to clean the girls (Annamaire's and Luci's) dresser drawers so I could fold their shirts instead of hanging them in the closet.  Rissy took little of my time, as her dresser drawers were in pretty good shape.

    After finding DVD's in underwear drawers, doll clothes in the same drawers, a bathing suit in the leggings and sweat pants drawers . . . I proclaimed an edict from my "high up" position of parenthood.  "Clean or I'll clean for you!"  Now, everyone in my house knows that *my way* of cleaning is pitching things and NO ONE wanted THAT to happen.

    The closet was (once again) vomiting toys.  Didn't I just clean this closet in spring?????

    Rissy's closet of toys dumped on the floor by yours truly.

    Annamarie's and Luci's closet spilling over with "toys" and junk from every orifice. 

    As you will note in the first picture, Rissy is *actually cleaning* while Luci was playing in the other room.  Loud voice of dictator Queen Mom (from her royal throne) was heard saying, "I said *clean* and DO NOT play!"

    I mean, c'mon, if I acted like I had all day and talked to every toy I picked up . . .  
    Of course, the flash from the camera startled the Lady in Waiting and she immediately picked up speed doing whatever it took to *look* like she was cleaning.

    The royal children have simply accumulated too much stuff.

    Not only were there DVD's, candy wrappers, and dirty tissues in the girls' underwear drawers, but underwear (i.e. dirty panties and one lone sock here and there) in their toy boxes, under their dressers, under their shelves, and . . . well, you get the idea!

    Rissy's idea of clean was more along the lines of what I consider clean.

    She even had room on the shelves, on her closet rod, AND two empty boxes to spare.

    And, her rod is letting the hangers breath with spaces in between her clothes.

    Did I mention I did 3
    loads of Jesse's laundry yesterday and then 5 loads of the girls
    clothes as we pulled them from various and sundry places?  Their
    baskets were filling up fast, so I decided to wash and pull all summer
    things immediately to be folded and go in the attic.

    The other two girls made NO progress and it became obvious they were going to need the help of Her Royal Majesty, who was quickly considering screaming, "Off with their heads!"

    But she didn't. 

    She refrained from using her tongue, which would have been much more harsh than any ordinary switch that the world had ever known!

    See the animals and "stuff" sitting along the back of the closet wall?  See the doll legs hanging from the shelves?  And that blue box lid was to a box of tinker toys and other wood building things.  In that box, I found chap stick, a dirty sock and dirty pair of panties (?????), 3 playing cards, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!

    My idea of clean was seen on the clothing rod, but no where else was my definition of clean a piece of obvioius  evidence.

     They were missing the whole concept of orderliness and categories.  Maybe we haven't done enough work in home school in the subject of "categories" or sorting!

    Possessing no "men in waiting" . . . Her Royal Majesty hauled everything out of the closet again and dumped it on the floor and told them what was expected.  And they were told "very clearly" of the Queen's expectations.

    It never came to pass.

    Not in Annamarie's and Luci's room, anyway.

    Everything is now in a neat order with no straggling *anythings* on the floor of their room or closet.  The much coveted king size electric blanket is on their bed with clean sheets (forgot about THAT load of laundry, I did).

    Rissy is enjoying playing in her newly cleaned room and took it upon herself to throw away many things.  She even did away with the 3 stackable bins that were to the left of her dresser and held - well . . . junk!

    After many, many hours of the Queen of their kingdom encouraging them, cajoling them, role modeling for them, and eventually loudly threatening them, the Queen unceremoniously lifted her royal skirts and sunk to the depths of the muck and mire of toys and (horror of horrors) did the job  HERSELF!!!!!

    How, you may ask, did the Queen deal with all of those little pieces that once laid so pitifully in a heap on the floor among the dirty underwear, dirty tissues, candy wrappers, etc. - those things that were once called "toys"????

    Like this.

     This is exactly what it appears to be.  FOUR (count them 1, 2, 3, 4) trash bags of once priceless possessions!

    Honestly, I couldn't ignore the fact that some toys had cost a pretty penny and pulled those from the trash pile to be used by the foster children.  Several dolls, a view finder and discs, a xylophone, etc.

    I was so tired when I quit (at 7pm) that I couldn't cook dinner.  I was VERY thirsty and smelled like a goat.  Jesse offer to make slippery noodles, to which the girls giggled in delight (and I was tempted to say "no" just so they wouldn't get anything that would make them happy) and he allowed me to get in the shower. 

    I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich right before going to bed because I knew I had to eat *something* becuase of my blood sugar.

    And, NO -  we did NOT have school yesterday.

    The cold weather clothes are still in the attic, but all of the summer things are folded and bundled in Wal-Mart sacks to go upstairs when we bring the winter things down.

    I'm so sore today, you can't even imagine.  Did you know the backs of your ankles have muscles???? LOL

    I'm done feeling sorry for myself.  Thanks for listening. 

    I'm going to get dressed and teach school, which will involve a lot of catching up.  Good thing they aren't allowed to watch TV or any DVD's until next week.  They'll need *something* to keep them busy!


  • Tuesday - Moosday

    Good morning!

    I sure hope today turns out to be better than yesterday.  Monday was a huge disappointment.

    It wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be, with what I had wanted to accomplish.

     I learned that homeschooling must be done in the morning.  Waiting until after lunch to start school makes my children (ummmI) *sensitive* and unable to come up with correct answers.

    No kidding!

    Rissy was in tears because she couldn't do her math and repeatedly said, "I don't get it."  It's the exact same stuff she's been doing day after day, but yesterday she just *didn't get it* for some reason.

    Annamarie had to connect boxes with the words "black" and "brown" to bears with the same color names.  After 20 minutes on that one page . . .

    Luci had the same assignment as Annamarie and breezed through her book, but then fell apart in her math book.  She also moaned, "I don't get it."  Do you think Rissy might have started a pattern?

    Finally, Annamarie had to learn ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and decided one was "oneth" and two was "twoth" . . .

    After the grueling job of teaching English and Math, I gave up and moved penmanship lessons to today's agenda.  I skipped Bible entirely and wondered if maybe it should have been the only thing I taught!  Jesse walked in as I was cleaning stuff up on the table and he asked if we were already finished.  I told him, "No.  The teacher just quit!"

    Yesterday morning, I went through closets and got most of the clothes out of there that won't be worn again until spring/summer of next year. I never made it to Rissy's closet for the second sweep.  The clothes aren't folded.  They're still in a heap on the bar chairs and MUST BE folded today!  Today is the day I get to climb up in the attic to hunt down cold weather clothes. 

    In a way I'm dreading it, because I'm afraid clothes will be sparse except for Luci.  I'm at the point where the girls' sizes are big enough, it's hard to find dresses at thrift stores that aren't pageant or dressy dresses.  Especially sparse is Annamarie's wardrobe.  She is wearing juniors sizes but looks all wrong in the junior styles.  I may have to rely on mainly denim skirts and tops this year.

    Finally . . .

    I was relaxing at the computer mindlessly playing Solitaire and Jesse whispered to me that a friend had just called and invited the family to his son's last football game.  It was 6pm and the game started at 7pm and he wondered if I could get dinner together quickly so he could take the girls.  (Monday night has become my TV night that I hate to miss)

    I had taken ground beef out earlier and quickly (but not wearing a happy face) made beef patties, rice pilaf, and peas & carrots.

    The good thing that happened yesterday is that they all left at 6:45pm and I had until almost 10pm to be by myself.  I quickly (amazing what you can do when selfishly motivated!!!!) cleaned up the kitchen, scoured the sink with Comet, loaded the dishwasher, and filled the coffee pot for in the morning.

    I laid down in our bed at 8pm and watched my two favorite shows, "Jon & Kate Plus Eight" and "17 and Counting" and just  enjoyed the quiet in the house.   I mean I REALLY enjoyed the quiet.  Me being alone happens rarely and I savor those few hours here and there.

    Today's agenda:

    *  Teach school IMMEDIATELY after my shower.

    *  Finish pulling summer clothes, fold them, and put them in Wal-Mart sacks.

    *  Climb into the attic to throw down winter clothes and replace the bins with the Wal-Mart sacked summer clothes.

    *  Help (well not exactly "help" - more like, "do it ALL by myself") the girls tidy up their dresser drawers.

    *  Fold the girls' t-shirts and put in a dresser drawer.  Something new - they've always hung in the closets.

    *  Think about something "creative" for dinner and get the meat out of the freezer.

    *  Send out a few "thinking of you" cards

    *  Finish Jesse's deposit slip.  I entered all of the checks in the book last night.

    *  See what bills need to be paid next week and get them ready.

    *  Drag some wood from the side of the house to the plastic bin in case Wednesday through Saturday is really as cold as they say it will be.

    AND, in my *free* time (LOL), maybe read a chapter or two in my book.

    What's everyone fixing for dinner tonight?  I feel incredibly uncreative in the kitchen lately!

  • Good Monday Morning to You!

    Not only did I sleep like a log yesterday afternoon for several hours, I slept the same way last night.  VERY hard to get up this morning!  I feel like a hibernating bear!

    I think I'm acting like a bear, too!  The idea has gone through my head that lots of
    toys need to be thrown away.  There is such a mess in the girls' rooms,
    again.  No one can find anything to play with and I frequently hear the whine,
    "I don't have anything to dooooo."  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!  The current popular toy is their Leapsters; doll strollers, which haul
    anything from dolls, to animals, to random toys; and Rissy's tape
    recorder so they can sing songs.  Maybe I should put stuff in the
    garage again and start rotating their toys.  We have a battle every
    night, and again mid-day, with cleaning up rooms.  Less stuff means less mess. 
    Or, at least, that's what it's supposed to mean!  Before church, yesterday, Luci couldn't find her slip and was in hysterics.  I found it in a box of wooden blocks - still on its hanger!  I wonder why no one thought to look inside the blocks box for a slip???!!! LOL

    I was barely awake when the painter, Don, arrived today.  He had just a bit more to touch up and now we won't see him any more.  He's become like a family member over the past few weeks and, actually, he's been here more often than Jesse!!!  He had to touch up the kitchen cabinets and hang a few doors.  But, even though it's wet, here's the last of his work.

    Beautiful, smooth, clean white cabinets and drawers.

    I love them!

    And slightly wet, but clean, white drawers and cabinets - these look cream, but they aren't.

    I've threatened the girls within an inch of their lives if they so much as "THINK" about closing a door or drawer!

    Speaking of "thinking" . . . I need to think about
    something to fix for dinner, tonight.  We ate leftovers for dinner last night.  After church we had
    beer battered fried fish, waffle fries, and canned peas for our lunch. 
    It was just "okay" and not great.  Don't think I'll serve that again. 
    My family is learning to love leftover nights and Sunday seems like a great day
    for that.  Less work for me.

    As far as work, this is my next project.  The guest room.  It is also a newly painted surface and very bland.

    It's kind of like a blank canvas, right now.  I haven't a clue as to what to put on the walls.  Something neutral, I guess.  Most likely we'll have girls, but there might be that occasional little boy brother thrown in there.  I don't want him living in a room filled with girl-things!  I've also been looking at bed cover sets that weren't so girlish and I'm thinking a solid green or blue might be best for a boy. 

    AND, I have to decide on the window treatment.

    Pretty barren looking, isn't it?

    I'll need to go through the cupboards and shelves in there to make room for the new children's things.  That way they can express themselves with "whatevers"!  I think it's the cream color I chose that makes it look so barren.  It's screaming for some personality!

    Speaking of personality . . . here's my bar.  Another neat, tidy day on the bar!  Full of empty hangers.

    The hangers are what used to hold these.

    Most of the spring/summer clothes from the girls' closets.  I'm contemplating going through the closets one more time and pulling many short sleeved t-shirts.  Surely, if they have a few short sleeve t-shirts, that will be plenty to wear between now and the permanent cool weather.  We keep our house pretty cool in winter, so, long sleeve t-shirts are necessary.

    We are supposed to have a cold blast of weather by Wednesday and not be
    back to the upper 60's until the next weekend.  Thus, the reason for
    the push to trade out clothes and get my mind back to thinking about
    casseroles and things that we haven't had over the hot summer.  I'm also going to start folding their t-shirts and putting them in their dresser drawers instead of hanging in the closet.  Right now, everything is in an upheaval with not much in their drawers or their closets.

    My poor little girls have nothing to wear but their smiles!

    Rissy


    Luci


    I have a lovely new electric blanket for the girls' king size bed and
    an old twin one to put back on my side of our king bed.  At least my cord
    is already run down the center of our bed and I only have to plug in
    mine.  I'm afraid Jesse will have to help me with the one on the girls' king
    size mattress.  Besides it being awkward, their mattress weighs 2 tons!  It's something like 22" thick and requires high dollar sheets.  That's the one we bought for us and hated because you sink down about 4" when you get in bed.  There is a hump in the middle where we never slept. 

    I guess that's all the pictures and story for today.

    Chirper knows when the camera is out, I'll soon be heading to the computer.  So, here he is . . . waiting for me!

    Today I am teaching school (the hard stuff - math, language arts, etc.) a little later than usual.  Since Don was here, I didn't get around soon enough to get things together.  We'll have to do school after lunch.  THEN, I *must" fold the summer clothes and put them up in the attic.  Then . . . the attic's warm clothes need to come down and be washed.  I've already done 3 loads of laundry this morning.  I have no idea what I will find up there.  I hope there will be enough to keep my girls warm!  I know I have bigger, new bathrobes up there.  Not *new* but *used* and new to them.

    So . . . why am I sitting here at the computer?

    Better go!  Bye!

  • Drugs Free

    I didn't intend to post today.  I'm trying to really *rest* on Sundays.  And I did, if truth be known.  I laid down with my book and read one chapter, put the book on my nightstand, and slept for several hours.  I slept HARD, too!

    I have a minute free before I start dinner (leftovers, yay!) and was remembering something one of the men in church said today before the offering.  He was talking about *knowing* Bible scriptures.  You know? - you've read the same verse 100 times.  But he added it was also necessary to have knowledge of the verse.  Too many preachers build sermons based on one verse taken out of context.

    He gave this example:

    Last week he took his teenage daughter to school with his young son in the car.  His son is beginning to read.  At the high school a sign was posted that said, "No weapons - Drugs Free" - indicating the school was doing it's best to maintain a safe environment.

    After dropping off the daughter and driving a few blocks from the school, his son said (in an alarmed voice), "Dad!  We need to turn around right now and go back and get Andrea out of there!" 

    His dad asked, "Why son?" 

    To which his son replied, "The sign back there said they the have free drugs!"

    We need to have knowledge of God's message and not just be able to read the words.

  • Saturday/Busy Day

    I reluctantly woke up with little JanaLyn and 3 other girlies giggling their socks off!

    I went to a women's meeting at church from 10 - noon and Jesse watched the group of four until I returned.  It sure is easy to be somewhere at 10am when you are the only one who needs to be dressed and hair done, etc.  Usually I have 3 more who put shoes on the wrong feet and come out in torn play dresses, only to be sent back to wear a "going out in public" dress.

    JanaLyn was proud to be wearing a new shirt I gave her (one my own girls had worn), so I took a picture of her with Annamarie this morning.


    Before lunch, I took some pictures of our completed (almost) newly painted white cabinets.

    Except for a few doors, they are almost all painted and rehung.

    The ever present Chirper.

    The even present Chirper!  AND, my bar area is almost cleared off!

    When I walked in from
    the meeting, I found Luci had dusted, Rissy had vacuumed, Annamarie had
    unloaded the dishwasher, and Jesse had hand washed the big items.

    Yay, Family!

    The kitchen ALMOST looks like humans live here instead of party animals!  I was even able to put my basket of apples and some candles on the dried woodwork of the ledge.  I burned a fresh apple candle today and had all the windows open.  WONDERFUL!!!

    Everyone was hungry, so I opened the refrigerator to look for something for lunch.  This is what I found.

    The white styrofoam boxes hold 12 pounds of ground turkey.  I've decided to try ground turkey in as many recipes as possible since it's cheaper than ground beef.  I also spied one more giant package of turkey hotdogs.  I've already repackaged 4 of those big packs into smaller freezer bags for the freezer!

    With all those hotdogs, it was difficult to come up with something different for lunch.  So I cut 7 hotdogs into bite size slices and made them into beanie weanie (cut up hotdogs in baked beans).  Served with some pineapple chunks, I was told I was the "best cook" EVER!!!

    The girls enjoyed their lunch and a cookie for dessert, then it was time (past time, actually) to start school.

    Saturday is the day we play catch-up (but we were all caught up) and the day I teach Bible, Oklahoma history, and Greek & Latin.  AND, I spend some time with JanaLyn in beginning reading skills.  I just didn't have it in me to do Greek and Latin.  I figure they have lots of years ahead to learn new word roots and one Saturday won't stunt them.

    After school, they were "released" to go play in the backyard.  The temperatures are lovely and it won't be much longer before it will be too cold to play outside.

    Here is Luci without a ponytail and straightened hair.

    She looks totally different without all of her curls!

    Some group shots of the four girls.

    I'm not sure what the broken neck thing is with Rissy.  I just broke Luci of putting her hands together like she was praying and tilting her head, and now I have Rissy who hangs her neck to one side as if it's been broken.  They must practice "posing" in their mirrors!

    It's after 7pm and I HAVE to go fix taco salads, as everyone is starved.  We'll see how turkey meat with taco seasoning turns out!

    See you on Monday!

  • Catching Up on Photos

    I
    think I may have spoken too soon yesterday about not having any more
    headaches. Last night, I was dreaming I had a headache and some strange man was trying to
    steal my narcotics I use to relieve my headaches (I don't have any, unless
    Fiorinal with Codienne is considered a narcotic).  The man persisted
    and my headache (in my dream) raged on.  Then he wanted my engagement
    ring, if I wouldn't give him narcotics.  The dream went on and on until
    I woke up.  I had a HORRIBLE head ache - for real!!!  It felt like a piece of my skull
    had been removed!  I kept thinking maybe I had slept wrong and had gotten a crick in my neck.  I figured if I
    changed position it would go away.  It didn't.  I got up around 3:30am
    after laying there a while and took 2 of my pills.  It took a while to fall back to sleep.  I woke up without a
    headache, but feeling the hangover of the headache.  Kind of floaty
    feeling and like my ears are plugged up.

    Enough about my maladies.  I'll catch everyone up on the kitchen painting AND the
    family "portraits" from the other night.  We were playing around with
    the camera.

    Chirper was first.  He was right there in my face when I got my camera!  A regular photo hog.


    In an instant he was on his back and rolling around from side to side. Then, he pulled himself along the back side of our sofa like a slug!


    He seems to know exactly what the camera likes!

    Is it just me, or does he look more filled out and healthier?  Besides me doing all I know to do to keep him healthy, I've been praying that God would heal him from his Feline Leukemia OR suppress it, so he lives a longer life.

    Rissy was next, although a little blurry.

    My camera has this fine line where too close is too close.  It wasn't blurry in the viewer, but the result was.

    Next was Luci with chocolate cookie all over her mouth!


    Then is was Annamarie's turn.


    Dad HATES being photographed, so Rissy decided to jump in and help him smile!


    Whatever she did, it worked.  This is one of the best pictures of him because it was so natural.  Rissy has a way of making people laugh and did a good job on her dad!


    Rissy was quite proud of herself!


    This is the condition of the kitchen (sigh).  Don didn't come yesterday so after school, I put the drawers back.  I can't tell you how many times I reached into those empty holes to open a drawer!

    This was the night we ate leftovers.  As you can see, there wasn't counter top space to prepare a real meal!

    And the homeschool table!


    This picture is of me standing in "Sampson's hallway" looking into the kitchen.  The room on the other side of the sink is the den.  That's a "Mulled Cider" candle burning on the ledge above the sink.

    Every usable space of counter top was in use.  It only got worse.  He took down my towel holder to paint the side of the cabinet and I ended up closing the end of it in the dishwasher so it would be in close proximity to the sink.  The dishwasher is under the coffee pot.  That's IF you can find the coffee pot.  Kind of like, "Where's Waldo?"

    Don is here this morning rehanging cabinet doors. I think he's painted both sides of all of them, but I'm really not sure.

    Yesterday, I never got to the winter clothes in the attic, nor did I take the summer ones from the girls' closets.  I ended up straightening the homeschool bins and finding some books in the guest room cupboards I had forgotten about.  I also found the perfect math books to start Luci and Annamarie in next week.  Some books (from the cupboards) will go to JanaLyn.  She's at about the right age level for beginning numbers and reading & writing letters.

    Not only did I rearrange books for school, I made up the next two weeks of lessons in my planner.  I normally do the next week at the end of the prior week.  It's easy because I just continue on to the next couple of pages in each book.  It feels good to have 2 weeks planned.  Of course, that all depends on if some surprise comes up where we miss a day.  No harm done, since we school year round 6 days a week.  BUT, it will throw off my planner.  That's one reason I don't plan too far in advance.  It's easy to circle a lesson and arrow it down to a future date.  Planning more than 2 weeks in advance has the potential of making a planner with so many marks and arrows I'd be unable to read it!

    I pulled out some stew meat last night and can't decide if I want to make stew or vegetable beef soup.  Most likely it will become stew, since I have the girls' therapy appointment this afternoon and it will be the easiest to throw in the Crockpot.  I was also thinking about beef tips over rice, since we haven't had that in ages.  Decisions!  Decisions!

    I need very few things from the grocery store, today.  In fact, many things are home school supplies - like divider tabs for their binders, etc. and Stormy's little cans of cat food.

    I have a spelling and math test to give Rissy and a few things to teach - today is my easiest school day.

    Better go eat some breakfast.  I don't want to miss a meal!!!!

    Be blessed  ~

  • Thursday Thirteen #38

    THIRTEEN THINGS THAT ARE
    THE BAD NEWS AND THE GOOD NEWS

    1.  The bad news is that my kitchen is a torn up mess.  I'll post pictures tomorrow.  The good news is that I cleaned the nooks and crannies which will still be clean once the painter has put things back in order.

    2.  The bad news is that our painter dripped quite a bit of paint on our kitchen's tile floor.  The good news is that the paint on the tile can be picked off with fingernails and we DO need the exercise!

    3.  The bad news is that the cost of Chirper's cat food has gone up from $28 a case to $35 and he's eating more.  The good news is he is eating more, gaining weight, and much more healthy.

    4.  The bad news is that I'm still driving on the tank of "expensive" gas I bought 3 weeks ago and I'm a little below 3/4 of a tank now - prices have come down and I have no room to hold very much of the cheaper gas.  The good news is that gasoline prices have come down!  LOL

    5.  The bad news is that the temperature is 45 degrees at 9am, today, and the house was freezing last night as the temperature began to drop.  The good news is that I turned the heat on and the furnace, that services the bedrooms, came on immediately.  Also, Jesse woke up this morning and turned the heat on in the front of the house, so it wasn't too terribly cold when we got up.  The TRIPLE good news is that I no longer feel hot all day long!

    6.  The bad news is I (without thinking) overcooked many of the meals during the past week and the table,where  we eat, has three drawers sitting on it.  The good news was that I didn't have to cook last night and we were able to have leftovers on paper plates.

    7.  The bad news is every bit of the girls and my clothes for colder weather is up in the attic.  The good news is that I was able to shop early and bought each girl a new pair of black shoes (boy tie shoes) and some heavy black socks before everything was picked over.

    8.   The bad news is that since finishing my book about Mrs. Lincoln, I haven't been able to decide which type of book to start next.  The good news is that I actually finished the book about Mrs. Lincoln.  AND, the other piece of good news is that I made a decision to start the next book which is also about the Lincolns.  I might as well make the subject matter "the same" while my mind is fresh!

    9.  The bad news is that Rissy is reading my personal notes and anything (personal) she can get her hands on.  The good news is that she is mastering cursive writing very easily.

    10.  The bad news is I've been sleeping like a log and it's been very hard to wake up before 8am.  The good news is that I'm no longer suffering from headaches or insomnia!

    11.  The bad news is that our adoption subsidy (a considerable amount of money) didn't arrive yesterday on the 15th in our bank account.  The good news is that I didn't count on it.  AND, the better news is that it was deposited this morning.

    12.  The bad news is that Medicaid won't pay for Rissy to go to a chiropractor and the chiropractor I called charges $45 for an adjustment.  The good news is that the gal who answered the phone told me if my medical doctor would order the x-rays (she told me what type to order) Medicaid would pick up the cost of the x-rays and I can bring them to the chiropractor's office for him to review.  X-rays are a major portion of the new patient bill.

    13.  The bad news is that I can't get into the laundry room because the painter is coming in and out.  The good news is that I cleaned the laundry room of much junk and even washed off the washing machine and dryer last week end.  The room will still be clean and orderly when he is finished and I can, finally, get back in there.

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  • It's Not My Party, So I'll Cry If I Want To

    Did my title get your attention?  Sniff!  Sniff!

    Nah . . . I'm not gonna cry. 

    But . . . it is TWO SPECIAL people's birthdays and not mine.

    My sister-in-law, JoAnn, is celebrating an (um) important (clearing my throat) MILESTONE birthday!!!!

    And Jesse's (and now MY) good friend, Shaun, is celebrating his birthday.

    Many many blessings are prayed for both JoAnn and Shaun to have a blessed day and a year of good health and happiness.  They are some of the nicest people we know.

    Our plans are to take Shaun to lunch this afternoon.  I mailed JoAnn's gift on Friday, but I don't know if it will reach her today or tomorrow.  Hopefully, today.

    We're struggling to get up and moving around this morning.  Another dark morning that made getting out of bed difficult.  Even Chirper yawned (3 big ones) before he stood up and stretched.  I would have let him sleep in bed, but he follows me around everywhere.  Especially in the morning before he's had breakfast!!!

    I'm not sure how we'll accomplish home school with Shaun's lunch, plus, the painter, Don, will be here soon.  "Too many cooks in the kitchen" is the same as too many family members in the kitchen while the painter is painting cabinets!

    The girls' electric blanket for their king size bed arrived yesterday.  The past few nights and mornings made it ALMOST necessary to use one.  I'm not going to cave yet, nor am I going to turn the furnace on - but, we WILL tough it out and save money on utility bills for as long as we can!

    Nothing much to write about.  It's too early and too many things are up in the air.  When will we meet Shaun?  When will the painter be here?  When will Luci (who is throwing a fit) calm down and come out of her room?  When will the person doing our home study call us?  Our caseworker called Monday to say our case had been assigned to someone.  I didn't write down the person's name, as it doesn't really matter.  They will call us when they call us.  He said he was sending me an email with the person's name and wanted me to write back immediately that I received his email stating the person's name.  The email never arrived.

    I think I'll get something to eat before Don arrives.  I've only eaten a banana - not nearly enough!

    Oops!  Don is here.  Chirper just ran out to meet him in the kitchen.  Don's made a little friend, I think! Awwwww!

    Be blessed ~

    P.S.  I FINISHED MY BOOK LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! 

  • Tuesday? Really???

    Woke up early
    again.  Jesse and I felt it was important to attend Sharon's mother's
    funeral.  It is a cold and drizzly day.  Definitely F-A-L-L type
    weather!  Of course, every single article of our warmer clothing is up in
    the attic.  We wore our purple dresses, black aprons, the girls wore
    leggings in black and we all wore black shoes and socks.  Jesse wore a purple shirt.  We looked like the "purple family" for sure!

    The only time
    it was chilly was at the cemetery.  Water was dropping in "plops" from
    the nearby trees.  Other than that, we were inside and the girls
    carried heavy black cardigan sweaters to slip over their shoulders.  I'M SO
    GLAD WE WENT.  Due to yesterday's holiday and other confusion, Sharon
    said she didn't think many people in the church even knew her mother
    had died, much less the funeral had passed.  There was more family
    at the church than friends, and I was REALLY GLAD to be there on behalf of
    Sharon.  One other friend that has known Jesse's brother forever also
    was in attendance.  Other than us, there was only a smattering of
    friends.  We went back to the church to eat and then it was time to
    head back home (45 - 60 minute drive).  Rissy began to cry.  She didn't
    want to leave Frank and Sharon.  She said she felt so sorry for Sharon
    (losing her mother) and fell apart in the reception hall where the meal
    was being served to the family.  Quite a scene . . . but we made it out
    to the car.

    I came so close to finishing my book last night.  I had miscalculated,
    thinking there was only 25 pages left.  There was closer to 75-100
    pages and I really tried to read fast.  I could have finished the book,
    but felt my sleep was more important, since we had to get up so early. 
    Maybe tonight will be the night I finish.  I'm getting anxious now that
    the end is so close.

    Jesse came home and is trying to nap in our bedroom.  I hear the
    raucous laughter of our 3 little girlies.  Giggles galore!  I'm sure he
    is egging them on!  I've just made them some hot chocolate in mugs to lure them out of the bedroom!!!

    Since we went to the funeral, we had to tell Don not to come paint today.  Here's where we left off in my kitchen.

    Doors, doors, everywhere, except where they're supposed to be!

    I guess since they are close to the garage refrigerator and freezer, they ARE in close proximity to SOME food!  Yes, our garage (the double car side) is carpeted!

    This is how I lived for the first year or so after moving into this house.  It was great because I could easily see everything in the cabinets.  No guess work involved!  We couldn't find anyone who would charge a reasonable rate to rehang the doors.


    I was afraid to cook last night, for fear of dripping something on the paint before it cured.


    All of the drawers had to be left open at least one inch, so the painted drawers wouldn't stick.  Although I clean up after myself, I'm a VERY messy cook and didn't trust myself making a regular meal.  I made a tuna casserole recipe but used chicken and cream of chicken soup instead of tuna and cream of mushroom soup.  The girls and Jesse (who ate one bite) thought it was really good.  It took one sauce pan for the mixed vegetables and macaroni, then I mixed it with the cheese packet, milk, butter and drained canned chicken pieces.  I put it in a square Pyrex dish and covered it with Saran Wrap to let it cook in the microwave.  Perfect!  No mess at all.

    We ate off of paper plates to keep dishes to a minimum.  Just one dirty saucepan, some silverware, and glasses.


    After returning from the funeral this afternoon, Annamarie emptied the
    dishwasher (something else I was afraid would knick the paint or drip
    water down the front of the cabinets) and I have to put those away.  I'll still make
    dinner simple tonight to be sure the paint is really curred.  Maybe Shake 'n' Bake chicken with flavored pasta and a green vegetable.  I'm not feeling lots of energy right now - no motivation, either!

    No school was done today, so tomorrow will be another one of those catch-up days.  Yuck, I hate that intense pushing through to stay on schedule.  I used to use Saturdays for catch up, but since JanaLyn is in Saturday school, I have to keep with the "Saturday subjects" and only a bit of make up work.

    That's it from me today!