Month: November 2008

  • Edit to Lazy Report from Earlier Today

    I emptied the china from the dishwasher and set all of it on the dining room table to be put away in the china cabinet later.  I can only do so much bending in one day!

    I hand washed all the crystal and sterling pieces and the big pans.  They are ON MY BAR (    ) drying, so the bar is crowded, as usual - yeah, what else is new?!!! LOL

    Haven't done laundry, BUT . . .

    I *DID* put up the garlands of greenery and mini-lights.  I will keep my comments to myself about *that* job.  I remember wrapping the new strands of lights around the garlands last year and how it was a beast of a job; but, I had completely forgotten how getting the garland to stay on the mantle (shallow in places) was an equally large beast.  And, I believe, I called the mantle that very name, several times this afternoon!  As I recall, I wore a heavy dress last year AND the fireplace was burning furiously.  I wasn't that dumb this year - I'm still in a sleeveless nightgown (yes, I know, it's almost 4:30pm) and the fireplace isn't burning.  I guess live and learn!

    Only lights and greenery for now.  After Jesse's b-day I'll add the flowers, pine cones, white doves, red cardinals, and red berries.  So this is it for now!

    Here is the bedroom hall's doorway.
     

    This is the foyer's doorway into "Sampson's" hallway (the little one that leads to the kitchen)!

       

    This is the dining room into the den doorway.  It's the one garland that has the least lights and some are white bulbs instead of clear.  It DOES make a difference in the amount of "twinkle."  If I feel up to it, before finishing it off with birds and berries, I may wrap more lights around the greenery.  But, don't hold your breath!  I'm thinking this is all looking pretty good just the way it is!!!
      

    And, finally, this is the den's mantle. 
     

    Not only is it hard wood and almost impossible to drive a nail into, if you fiddle with the heavy garland, the whole thing falls down - nails and all.  You have to be super careful.  At one point it was very important to me to get the ends even and the lights all facing forward.  Then I left "the beast" and decided the greenery was at least up and once I had a change of attitude, I could come back and fuss with it.

    Mind you, nothing is fussed over - just "up."  I will turn lights so they face forward, fluff the greenery sprigs, and do something on the mantle with different candles and hurricane lamps.

    Right now, it's just "up" and I'm done.  Man, I'm growing crabby in in my old age!

    I have to clear the bar of the hand washables, have Annamarie empty the dishwasher for me and then start dinner soon.  We ARE having the spaghetti and garlic toast I had planned to fix last night.

    I guess a day late and a dollar short is about par for me!

    But, there you have my day's work, or . . . errrr, ahhh . . . *yesterday's* work!

  • Lazy Report

    I am laughing at yesterday's lofty and idealistic list of things "To Do" since I *DIDN'T DO* but one thing!  Here's what was on the idealistic agenda:

    My To Do List: (from yesterday)
    *  Finish dishes  Nope!  Didn't touch the dishes yesterday except to make more dishes dirty
    *  Go to the vet to pick up tape worm medicine for Chirper (just found/saw them Thursday morning)  Done
    *  Maybe put up garland & lights in the doorways  Nope!  Not yet.
    *  If I put up garland, the washing machine will be free of bins and I can start laundry (!!!!)  (oh thrill) Nope!
    *  Figure out what to fix for dinner, maybe spaghetti  Nope!     

    What DID I do????   I mean, what in the world *really* happened yesterday???? 

    To those of you who marvel at my energy, this is what I did . . . I broke up squabbles between all 3 girls ALL MORNING LONG.  I drove to the vet sometime in the early afternoon to get Chirper's tapeworm pill, and picked up some other medicine for all animals.  Drove home and told the girls I was sorry they had ruined their surprise by being so ugly to each other.  No junior sundaes from Braum's!!!  Lazy me, I drove to McDonald's and picked up a double cheeseburger for each of us - BUT, no fries, as additional punishment!  (rolling my eyes at the fact McDonald's is more of a treat to them, than a punishment!)

    The atmosphere was seriously strained around here yesterday morning until my voice, which echoed from the heavens to the depths of hell, hollered, "Separate!  Right NOW!"  Three children scattered in three directions, because the tone of my voice clearly indicated I meant business.  The arguing and tattletaling ceased abruptly.

    I felt wiped out and was still having some female problems.  I decided to serve Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner last night - mainly due to the fact I had forgotten to take out anything from the freezer!  The girls and I had planned to watch "Little Women" on Thanksgiving Day, while we waited for the meal to cook.  Of course, there is no such thing as 2 hours of "free" time to watch a movie when you are cooking a meal for the masses, so we never got around to watching it.

    And, from the looks of my list, THAT'S what I didn't do yesterday afternoon. 

    Instead, I grabbed 3 pieces of chocolate from my hidden stash and propped my large (over stuffed) body on the sofa to watch a movie from 3:30 - 5:30pm with the girls . . .  And, I didn't feel one bit guilty!  I rarely take time to do something enjoyable, as I generally view myself as "lazy" if I'm  not in constant motion.  The only way I was able to justify "being lazy" was because I was angry with the girls' attitudes and fighting and figured (with my lower lip stuck out) "I deserved it!"

    Before dinner, Jesse's friend, Shaun, called and we talked for quite a while.  When Jesse walked in the door there wasn't even the presence of leftovers on the coutertop, indicating dinner was under control!

    Amazingly, the Thanksgiving pots & pans and the crystal and sterling are still lying dirty on the countertop and in the sink.  No fairy maids came to surprise me (in the past 24 hours) by cleaning up the mess, nor did they empty the dishwasher of the china.  Oh well, it looks like I'll be back to my slave laboring again today.  But, I'm still glad I watched "Little Women" as it's a perfect movie to watch this time of year.

    We took pictures (which I'll give as gifts in frames for Christmas presents) and I will show you the ones I decided on.

    These are of JanaLyn and Stephanie

    I can't remember which two Stephanie wanted me to send.  I think she liked the last pictures above and this one.
     

    I took a few pictures of JanaLyn with her Dad, Rob, and will give this one to him in a frame.
     

    Stephanie took the following pictures of us.  I don't care for the first one as much, since it isn't a close up, but I think we are more "natural" in this one.

    I like this one better, unless I can crop the one above to get rid of most of the blinds.
     

    And, Stephanie took some of just Jesse and I (a rarity, as I'm usually BEHIND the camera!).

    And, this is the second picture I have chosen to give as a gift.

    Any opinions?

    Yesterday, while watching the movie with the girls, Rissy turned and pointed to Chirper on my lap.  She quietly slip off the sofa to bring the camera, so I could catch this priceless position.

    Chirper must have been washing his tail and fell asleep with his head between his back legs, the back leg falling over his head!
     

    I don't think it will be necessary to print a "To Do" list today, as it is the same as yesterday's, minus the trip to the vet!

    We have just enough leftovers for a meal after church tomorrow.  Then there should be stray pieces of turkey to make a turkey noodle soup next week.  Despite the 24 lb turkey, as always, there weren't many leftovers.  I didn't even send Rob or Stephanie & JanaLyn home with very large leftover containers.  Probably enough for one meal each.

    I REALLY want the garland up in the doorways today.  Like I said, Jesse's b-day is the 4th and I won't add the decorations to the garlands until AFTER his birthday has passed. 

    It will be a chilly week-end and I probably will get a fire going in the fireplace when I get off of the computer.  Nice and drafty, as well as chilly, in here . . . Brrrrrrrrr!

    Be blessed  ~ 

  • The Morning After

    We had such a blessed Thanksgiving.  We really did.  The company and food were good.  The weather was cool enough for me to step out the back door to cool off when the kitchen became too stuffy and hot.

    Rissy was my right hand (and sometimes my left!!!) helper.  She made the preparation so much easier on me this year!  I continued with a painful low back ache and I think it would have been much worse if Rissy hadn't done so much to help me.  She ran to the garage pantry, garage refrigerator, & garage freezer numerous times to fetch things.  She made several of the food items all by herself.  What a trooper! 

    I'll start with pictures of our day.  Warning!  There are a lot!

    Rissy made Auntie Louise's Pink Goo with only a few of my verbal instructions.  She has her own recipe card, now.


    I pricked holes in the sweet potatoes before baking them and Rissy grabbed the camera when Chirper wanted to see what I was doing.  He didn't TOUCH - just watched, as he does most everything!.
     
    He's on Rissy's step stool. 

    Rissy made the stuffing almost totally by herself.  I helped a bit with the measurement of spices (I eye ball - have no explicit amounts) and I was very proud of her reaching into the turkey to take out the bags of neck bone and giblets!  I had to rinse the bird, since it was so heavy (24 lbs), but she stuffed it.

    A smiling and content cook. Her presence in the kitchen while cooking looks VERY natural to me!

    We got the turkey in the oven, but only after lowering the rack REALLY *L-O-W* because of the huge size of the bird!  Even with the lower rack, the turkey almost touched the top of the oven - and I have a HUGE oven! 

    I don't know if it's my imagination, but is that rack bowing downward????
    I did something different this year.  I cut out different colors of paper leaves and each person was given four leaves.  On the back, they were asked to write something they were thankful for this year.      The leaves were then placed on the table as part of the decorations.

    I finished eating and read "the leaves" while others were finishing their plates.  We tried to guess whose leaf I was reading.  Some of the "thankful's" were touching - Luci: "I'm grateful I was adopted." and some were funny - Tango (our cocktiel) "I'm grateful for the Andy Griffith show" (she loves to whistle the theme music!).  It made the table pretty and made everyone appreciate each other.  It was such a hit, I was asked to read them a second time.

    FINALLY, the turkey was done and the finishing touches were going on with only a few things.
     
    I served from the kitchen, rather than clutter the table, and only placed salads, olives, and rolls on the table.

    Here are pictures of some of us during dinner.
     

    Stephanie is still seperated from Rob, but we invited him anyway because we like him! 

    And, here are my own Porky Pig plates of food!!!  A little bit of everything! 


    I made two pumpkin pies (no energy to make chocolate pie or anything else).  Cookies or pie was the dessert..

     Such "innocent" faces!

    The little girls and I are the only ones who ate dessert.
     

    And what good is dessert without good conversation???!!!

    Poor, shy Rissy!!!  She needs to come out of her "shell" and be more expressive, don't you think???!!!!

    I think Tango was also grateful for the fact she wasn't a turkey!!
     

    Stephanie had to meet up with friends, so she left and left JanaLyn to spend the night.  She picked her up this morning around 9:15am.
      
    I used to be that skinny!!!!

    That left "yours truly" to do the clean up.  Guess who was the first to spring to action???  Rissy, of course!  Fortunately, all the other "littles" (including JanaLyn) copied Rissy's actions and dishes were quickly removed from the table, leaving only drippy candles, crumbs, and some "pink goo" stains on the table cloth.

     

    The kitchen was another story.  I sent Rob home with leftovers and made a set of leftovers for Stephanie to pick up this morning when she came for JanaLyn.  I got the dishwasher loaded & started.  I left the crystal and sterling (hand washables) and some large pans to be washed today.  The turkey roasting pan was left to soak over night.  I ran out of steam QUICKLY and SUDDENLY.

    At least the stove area was cleaned and washed before my body protested, "NO MORE!!!"
     

    And this was what I said "good-night" to when I turned out the kitchen light and headed to my bed.

    Rissy's art work on the refrigerator.

    I'll post family pictures tomorrow.  I think that's enough pictures for one post!!

    My To Do List:
    *  Finish dishes
    *  Go to the vet to pick up tape worm medicine for Chirper (just found/saw them Thursday morning)
    *  Maybe put up garland & lights in the doorways
    *  If I put up garland, the washing machine will be free of bins and I can start laundry (!!!!)  (oh thrill)
    *  Figure out what to fix for dinner, maybe spaghetti

    Not too cumbersome of a list and, I didn't write it down, but, I'm thinking of watching "Little Women" with the girls after we return from the vet's office!

    Be blessed  ~

  • Happy Thanksgiving!

    To all of my readers in the United States,

    Happy Thanksgiving! 

    I'm on here briefly because my husband just woke up and I need him to get the turkey from the garage refrigerator to the kitchen.  I'm done straining my back trying to lift that big bird!

    I plan to serve dinner at 5pm.  Stephanie has plans earlier in the day at a high school friend's house and, since it's Rissy and me doing the cooking, I figured I needed lots of time to cook without knocking the stuffing out of myself!  The older you get, the harder it gets.  Well, in some ways . . . I truly believe I could make a Thanksgiving dinner with my eyes closed, but my body rejects the opportunity to spend hours on my feet!

    The girls are so excited.  I don't know why.  They don't care for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and they don't get anything except a turkey dinner . . .   I guess my deprived children rally whenever there is a chance to celebrate *anything* around here!

    Speaking of my children:  To show their level of excitement, I took some pictures yesterday. 

    We had the Seasonal Music Channel going on our television

    I'm happy that the girls are beginning to learn some songs.  Also happy they aren't learning the "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" song or other such comical seasonal songs.  Whether this is the date Jesus was born, or not, they have picked songs like "Joy to The World" and "Angels We Have Heard on High "  Songs that meet my strict approval.

    While the music played, I made up some pumpkin pies and taught Rissy the basics.


    And while the pies baked, my children found a way to relieve their pent up energy.

    Explanation first:  Our bedroom hallway is somewhere around 25 feet long.  My girls recently saw pictures that my friend, "the other Lori," posted about her girls' gymnastic meet.  So, my girls (in pursuit of imitating the other Lori's children) set up their own practice gym.

    Here's what I found as the explanation for all their screams and excited laughter.

    Annamarie
     
    She had a pretty good spring from her spring board (Is that what it's called, "other Lori"???)

    Rissy
     
    Rissy doesn't have the spring the others had, but I'm happy to see these pictures.  She is the child they thought would be a "vegetable, IF she lived" and we're thrilled she exceeded the medical staff's predictions.

    BUT . . . LUCI got the first place blue ribbon award in jumps for her heigth and "form"!!!!

    Bye Byeeeee Luci!
     
    Note:  Look back at some of the pictures and you will see Chirper's hind end under the step stool!  I prayed the step stool didn't cave under the girls' weight!  I had to get him out from under there, as the whole enthusiasm and jumping made me nervous for his safety!

    He was content playing with one of the girls' stuffed animals.  REALLY content!

    He dragged this from one of their rooms to the formal living room and proceeded to kill it!  Gently, of course!

    I didn't hang the garland like I had hoped.  "Female issues!"  I was hoping I was done with all of that.  What great timing, right?  The day before cooking a huge feast!  Oh well.  Mainly I have horrible low back pains.  Annamarie rubbed my back this morning and loosened me up quite a bit.

    Yesterday evening, I washed all the large pans and ran the dishwasher after dinner.  Jesse brought home a bucket of "on sale" fried chicken and I made acorn squash (recipe from my friend Shanda) and that was our dinner.  I was beginning to suffer from back pain and quickly went to bed to get off my feet.

    As I think of what needs to be cooked today, I think it's all doable.  So, I should be fine if I pace myself.

    There you have my yesterday and today.  Maybe I'll have pictures tomorrow of the festivities.

    Be blessed  ~ 

  • I May Be Rushing Things

    The old song from the play Mame keeps running through my head. 

    "Haul out the holly, put up the brightest string of lights I've ever since.  Slice up the fruit cake.  We may be rushing things, but, deck the halls again, now."

    I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS IN MY WHOLE LIFE (and that's been many, many years!!!), but, I have taken down the boxes that contain the garlands of greenery wrapped with clear mini-lights BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!.

    Everything is on top of my washing machine.  A convenient way to keep me from having to do laundry today!!!  (hey! whatever works!)    The bins are cleverly colored in red & green for easy pickin'!!!  No one knows of the plethora of boxes in my attic!  A lot!

    Before and after pictures of my naked door frames, all unadorned, but not for long!

    The wide doorway from the formal dining room into the den.


    The double doorway into the bedroom hallway (right next to my desk).

    And, finally, the doorway from the foyer into "Sampson's hallway" - the one that goes to the kitchen.

    We have a double wide doorway from the den into the kitchen table area and, depending on how much energy I have left after hanging the garlands, I MAY wind lights around more garland to hang in that doorway.   I bought new garland and lights last year and have not forgotten my statement that I would NEVER wrap new lights around new garland again!!!!  It's still a nightmare I remember well!

    I thought it would add warmth to our Thanksgiving dinner to have small twinkling lights in the doorways.  I won't add the cardinals or berries until after Jesse's birthday, December 4th.  We try to not mix holiday stuff with his birthday.

    Our first piece of excitement this morning was the two cats catching a spider.  Probably Stormy first and Chirper coming in as a curious second.  Stormy is my bug catcher - bugs of all kind!  She's awesome!

    I was especially thankful, as the spider was crawling out from under my desk RIGHT WHERE MY FEET REST!!!!  Good kitty kitties!  And, yes, I know I need to vacuum!

    I took a bath last night and soaked for a long time . . . A "long time" for ME!  My muscles felt sore and stiff - I think I'm too old to crawl around the attic, I really do, but hate to admit it!  Of course, each of the girls suddenly had all kinds of things they needed to tell me!  Why can't a relaxing bath be just a *relaxing* bath????  It's not like I'm in there for hours.  In fact, I never stay in there an hour - 20 minutes is leisurely, for me!!! LOL

    I climbed into bed thinking I would have trouble falling asleep.  I was wrong!  And, I slept like a log!

    I decided to serve our Thanksgiving dinner around 5pm.  That way I will have enough time to slowly prepare everything.  I'm doing all I can to make huge productions of meals easier and easier.  I'm not down to using paper plates yet and will still plan to use china, etc.; but, I'm streamlining my methods as more and more years go back.  Rissy wants to help again.  Now that she has her own recipe box, she wants to write down my stuffing recipe and Auntie Louise's Pink Goo.  (if anyone doesn't know what that is, take a look at yesterday's post!)   

    The doctor's office called yesterday to cancel the girls' therapy appointment on Friday.  The therapist didn't realize the office was closed.  I had considered calling to cancel and was glad to hear they were closed.  I have NO WHERE TO GO until church on Sunday!  I will NOT shop for groceries on Friday.  In fact, I will avoid ALL establishments on Friday!  My dislike of crowds grows stronger and stronger with each passing year!   Jesse said, if we run out of milk, we can drive up to the corner 7-11 and that sounds like a good plan to me, too!


    Everyone is on high (work) alert around here this morning.

    I put the girls to work already (before 10am????!!!!) and they came in loaded with toilet paper for their bathroom and our bathroom!

    Well, maybe not Luci.  She is very good at getting out of any type of work.  *She* still needs a lot of "work"!!!!

    We finished school yesterday.  The 20 minutes of lesson plans I had took 2 hours.  Can you tell the natives are restless???!!!  LOL

    Many of you won't read blogs tomorrow; so, to you I say, "Have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving holiday."

    Now I'm off to read blogs and *think* about making two pumpkin pies!

  • 48 Hours From Now

    Will I really be serving a meal and putting the finishing touches on it 48 hours from now?  I guess so. 

    I checked on the turkey this morning to see how the thawing process is coming along.  I would say, "Not very well."  I bought it on Friday afternoon and was thinking there should be a bit more squishy feel to the poke test!

    THE *BIG* TURKEY!!!

    Because of its "hugeness" . . . I may have to help it along by taking it out of the frig a bit each day.  Our garage is cool, so I don't think I'll be creating any salmonella if I take it out of the frig here and there!

    It weighs almost 23 pounds!

    When I bought it, I stored it on the rack under my grocery cart.  I lifted it for the cashier to scan and put it back on the cart's rack.  I lifted it again to put in the car, and I lifted it once more to place in the refrigerator.  I had some major chest pains on Saturday which culminated to a really big chest pain on Sunday.  My ribs felt broken and bruised.  That's when I remembered picking up 23 pounds of dead weight!

    I can't wait to make the sweet potatoes.  I will just cut them and put glaze and marshmallows over them this year.  We haven't had them that way in a long time.  I've mashed them with orange juice & butter.  I've mashed them with orange juice AND added pineapple tidbits.  Last year I think I made sweet potatoes with a pecan and brown sugar crust.  No one liked it because they thought it was *too* sweet. 

    So, this year, I'll let the sweet potatoes shine all by themselves!
     

    The croutons for the stuffing are patiently waiting in their bags.  As I recall, from the past, two bags is too much.  I may only make a bag & a half.  Stuffing doesn't go over as well as other items.  I put raisins and fresh apple pieces in mine - a stuffing recipe I've eaten ever since I was a little girl.

    I keep cranberry sauce on hand, always.  Some cans are with whole berries and some are jellied.  Either way, I think I have plenty in our pantry!!!
     
    And I spy some fruit cocktail to make Auntie Louise's Pink Goo.

    To make WHAT?

    "Auntie Louise's Pink Goo" is simple and usually goes over well with most everyone.  My friend, Louise, made it years ago when Stephanie was a baby.  She wanted to be Stephanie's "aunt" and that's how her name came to be.  She brought it to a dinner I had at my house.  Stephanie's dad (with his less than tactful mouth and personality) said, "What's this pink goo?"  I explained *Louise* had been nice enough to bring it . . . all the while dying of embarrassment at his comment.  From then on, it has been ceremoniously called, "Auntie Louise's Pink Goo."

    Just a bit of recipe history, there!

    The Recipe:  Gently mix small package of cherry jello with a container of Cool Whip.  Drain fruit cocktail and gently stir in fruit and one small carton of cottage cheese.  Chill for several hours.  Voila!  Pink Goo!

    I also have more than enough cans of pumpkin for pies.  I make mine more spicy than the ones you buy.

    And our menu?  That's one of the few things I accomplished from yesterday's "To Do" list!

    Turkey
    Stuffing
    Corn
    Green Bean Casserole (Stephanie will bring)
    Glazed Sweet Potatoes
    Mashed White Potatoes
    Auntie Louise's Pink Goo
    Waldorf Salad
    Cranberry Sauce
    Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls
    Pumpkin Pie

    Believe it or not, that will only provide leftovers for 2 more meals.  We're some big eaters around here!

    And here is a picture of some of "Them Who Eat"

    And, yet, one more "Them Who Eat"

    I'm really enjoying taking these early morning pictures, because they look like sweet and cuddly little girls!

    I did barely anything on yesterday's "To Do" list.  Instead I ordered books for Rissy from different sources.  I think she will be an avid reader.  She's zipping through Pathway's textbooks for reading.  I had her read some A Beka book samples online.  Looks like she's close to a third grade level, right now.  I can't shop without them, so I did my shopping online and found some used A Beka books through Amazon.com and two new books for me from the same place.  Then I mailed an order to Pathway's Bookstore for books that should be in her reading range.  If not, she will be there soon.  She reads every night and sometimes curls up during the day to read.  Also, I ordered a snow globe from The San Francisco Music Box, Co. for Rissy's February birthday.  An, "I Love Luci" globe for half price.  She loves those shows!

    We finished our Science book yesterday.  That means 4 books behind us and 3 new textbooks for history & geography, science, and health.  BUT, I decided to introduce those the first of January.  Instead, I have a book called,  "What Your First Grader Needs to Know."  I flipped through it last night and think it will be perfect for the next few weeks.  It has stories, poems, history & geography facts, math facts and explanations, famous art, and even a section on music.  I think I'll pick from that over the next few weeks and just give a page, here and there in math to keep their memory up.  Lots easier for me and probably a good change for them, as well.

    I think I'm kicking back these few days (yesterday and today) because I know my "cooking full speed ahead" mode will be needed, starting tomorrow, as I prepare pies and mix dressing the night before our feast. 

    Be blessed   ~
     

     

  • A Nice Crispy, Cold Monday!

    So much to write.  I'll try to be brief - a talent I'm desperately trying to acquire, and practicing, without much success!

    The home study lady, Karen, came out (on time) Saturday to finish our interviewing process.  The little ones and JanaLyn were at the table busy with Thanksgiving art projects, after eating a barbecue beef sandwich for lunch.  So they were fed AND occupied and that means everything went smoothly - right?  Of course NOT RIGHT!  This is *MY* life, not a normal person's life!

    Luci had one of her major meltdowns.  I guess you can call the whole episode providential, as Karen is also a counselor!  She watched with interest as I "handled" Luci.  Luci was whining and griping about everything and how unfair the other girls were and how their crayons were better than hers and how . . . Well, you get the picture.  I decided she needed a nap and told Karen, most likely you will get to see a fit close up and personal.  She did. 

    Luci had to be "guided" (dragged) back to my bed and the volume of her screaming almost awakened the dead.  After leaving the bedroom and closing the door, I sat back at the dining room table with Karen.  Luci came out 3 or 4 times saying she was over her fit.  I explained she wasn't sent to bed because of a fit; but, because she needed a nap and I asked her to please not come out again.  Of course, she kicked screamed and pleaded, BUT she *did* return to my bed unaided.
    Karen noticed the fact Luci obeyed me & applauded me for having gained Luci's respect.  (  huh?)      We continued with the interview amidst the screams and threats made against my life - all heard loud and clear from the bedroom.  So apparently I *AM* in control and Luci recognizes that.  I suppose that's a "good" thing???

    Luci continued to scream from the room such things as "You have made me VERY aaaaaaannnngrrreeeeeee!" and "I'm gonna tell Daddeeeeeeeeee what you've done to meeeeeee.  You'll be sorreeeeeeeeee!"  At that point Karen remarked, "She certainly expresses herself well!!!"  (I guess that IS something positive to gain for the whole experience!!!)  We talked about how hard it was to find a way to handle Luci's outbursts and she was interested in what I had to say and how I "did it", since she counsels parents with children like Luci. 

    ANYWAY, we covered "Luci" and then talked about holidays and how we celebrate or don't celebrate them.  She asked about what school district we are in and a bit about Luci and Annamarie having attended the public schools for a short time.  She asked HOW I homeschooled.  After that our house and it's safety features were discussed.  She was kind enough to include the girls by "interviewing them" and even included JanaLyn.  She praised us, again (maybe she should come weekly!  she's good for my ego!)  I asked her what she wrote when she came to houses that were sub-standard.  She said she writes what she sees.  If it's a filthy home with "debris"  (wondering here if my constantly cluttered bar would fall into that category!!!), she reports it.  If she sees a functioning house that is exceptional "like yours" (yes, she said that), she writes a glowing report.  She said since our caseworker didn't send his interviews with our references, she'll be calling them again.  Mainly Stephanie, Jesse's sister JoAnn, and our Pastor C.J. will be called AGAIN.  All she had was Lori K's and (Jesse's friend) James G's references  (rolling my eyes).  She had everything else she needed to finish the report, will write it, and come back on the afternoon of Dec. 3rd for Jesse and I to read it and sign it.  THE END  (or, so I'm told)

    We went to church yesterday morning, bundled up in warm dresses and wearing our winter coats.  Jesse had intentions of going out to eat but every place was crowded (as usual) and I didn't want any more "buffet places."  We came home and I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.  Gone was the Chili's burger I had been craving. 

    THEN (don't know what's up with me lately), I climbed onto our bed to watch TV with Jesse and the girls and FELL ASLEEP FOR 2 1/2 HOURS!!!!!  Is it my age, do you think????

    After the "nap,"  I put my headcovering and shoes back on and we went to the hospital to see Jesse's mom, who needed a few items we had picked up for her.  We visited for about 45 minutes and left.  The desire for a Chili's burger was gone and we stopped (can you believe "by choice"!!!!????!!!!) at McDonald's for burgers and fries and brought them home to eat! 

    I was worried my long nap would prevent me from falling asleep.  I barely made it past the weather report at 10:15pm!!!

    Now for the pictorial part of my "short" (yes, I'm laughing at my lack of success, again) blog!

    This weekend, FALL finally FELL. (literally fell onto our property)!
      
    My tree's leaves finally let go and fell right down onto my front porch and walkway!!!!  I guess this will be the end of your having to watch my tree's progress through fall.  At least not until it begins to revive itself in spring!!!  Then you can watch it "blossom" again!

    Speaking of "blossoms" . . . I woke up this morning to strange little blossoms all over the dining room and formal living room floors!  What in the world?  They looked familiar and I checked out the dining room table floral arrangement . . .

    The once occasional "stick" has become MANY sticks no longer containing flowers!

    Who was the culprit?  Hummmmmmmmm . . .
          


    Surely not my precious Stormy?  I have a feeling she is more guilty by association!  And, I believe the flower in her mouth wasn't taken from the table arrangement by her, more likely from the floor!  But, "GUILTY" nonetheless!!!!

    The little honeys slept hard and woke up in different shifts.  And, staggered, one by one, to the den!

      
    First Luci, then Annamarie.                                                  The last was Rissy.

    Trust me.  They are no longer this sedentary or quiet!

    I caught my dear husband pouring himself a cup of coffee "to go" before he headed out the door to go to work.
     
    Look at all those candles needing to be burned.  Those are all last years candles and range from chocolate, to oatmeal raisin cookie, to butter cream, to mulled cider.  That's a fresh apple candle in the basket of red apples.  All of them smell like I've been more productive in the kitchen than I have been!

    My To Do List:
    *  Call Luci's prescription refill in (done)
    *  Call about Jesse's clinic appointment and prescription     (done)
    *  Laundry (Luci wet the bed yesterday, so I'm behind on towels, etc.)
    *  Put sheets back on girls bed (I only dried the mattress pad and waterproof sheet)
    *  Clean kitchen (some large pots need to go to the garage)
    *  Teach school (will try to make these last 2 days more exciting)
    *  Make list of what I'm cooking for Thanksgiving (necessary at my age, so nothing will be forgotten!)
    *  Finish picking winter clothes out of bins and place summer/spring clothes into the bins)
    *  MAYBE (I'm really wanting to) hang evergreen garlands with mini-lights in our interior doorways

    Doesn't sound like much, does it?

    Be blessed  ~

  • My Cousin

    My cousin, Claire, left a comment on my blog on the 20th, and today is the first day I knew she had signed up on Xanga a short while ago.  She may not wish to write daily like me (may just want to read and leave comments) but she is one of my all time favorites!  Rissy's middle name is "Claire" - named after my cousin.

    Please take time to go to her site and wish her a warm welcome and give her a  Xanga Bloggy hug!

    Hi Claire!  (waving at you from Oklahoma!)

    www.xanga.com/ccampbellandrews

    Thanks, friends!

    P.S.  If she ever writes on her blog spot, you'll love her, too!

  • Things are cold and busy around here this morning. 

    34° cold!

    I did well at the grocery store yesterday afternoon.  I bought regular grocery list items, as well as Thanksgiving food (including a HUGE turkey, one that weighed almost the same weight as one of my children!!!) and my bill was slightly under what I normally spend each week.  I have no idea why, but, "Thanks God!"

    Jesse said he woke up around 5am and JanaLyn and Rissy were chattering in bed!  He wasn't happy!  He told them to go back to sleep and now Rissy is in "one of her moods" and overly sensitive.  Jesse is a little bit the same way, since his sleep was interrupted.

    This is the day the home study person is coming back out after lunch to do more interviewing with me for her "report."  My plan is to homeschool the girls a little early, as well as feed them lunch, and get them busy on a project at the kitchen table while Karen is with me at the dining room table doing the interviewing.  I pray we have no meltdowns and "art disasters" while she's here!  If we do, I guess she'll get to see how I handle children!!!

    We let Sampson outside to do his business this morning.  He's old, doesn't have much hair, and has always gotten cold, easily.  We forgot about him and we heard a bark outside.  We, immediately, rushed to the door to let him back inside.  I think that makes the 5th time he's barked since Jesse-boy died.

    Lori K., you can tell Sarah this picture is for her!

    Things are rarely without "event" around here.  I went to the kitchen and found Chirper trying to get to his kibble bowl (we have to pick up his and Stormy's bowls so he won't contaminate her dish), which means he was on the coutertop.  He didn't eat much last night and I guess he decided to take "breakfast" into his own hands (paws!)! 

    The face to face confrontation and my stern, "No!  No, Chirper!" scared him and made him fall into the sink!

    Chirper caught!  Kibble bowl in lower right corner!                Climbing out of the sink, after his fall!

    We received a new "American Girl" catalog in the mail last week.  Normally, I give them to Rissy because she can read and can also read the prices.  Annamarie had the catalog this morning (Rissy was still asleep) and informed me there was something huge for $10 and $5 dollars.  It was actually $105 and her heart sank!

    No question about it, they definitely make some darling things.  But, when a pair of doll's slippers costs $22 dollars and our own slippers are closer to $5, it makes buying the doll's slippers a bit over the top!

    Another bit of excitement this morning:  Luci woke up first, came out to the den where Jesse and I were talking and promptly had a bloody nose.  We caught it before she dripped on anything.  The doctor visits haven't helped.  They say she needs to use a nose spray (Nasonex) and take prescriptions antihistamines.  Their answer is ALWAYS medicine.  I prefer the pediatrician, but it's almost impossible to get in to see her.  They also said to use Neosporin inside her nose because she has little sores that she picks, and that's what's causing the bleeding.  Luci DOES use that, but it makes me wonder:  Those must be some huge scabs because the bleeding is always heavy. 

    Luci healed, woke up some more, and now she's busy and on the run!

    Her hair is finally growing.  For years it's been short and curly.  More new hair would grow in, about 2" long, and stop.  Nothing would every stay up in an elastic - too many short pieces - so she's had a baby "fountain" on top forever.  It's finally become long enough to wear down.  She's loving having a "big girl" hair style!

    The last of my crazy crew to wake up was the set of girls who talked in the wee hours of the morning!!!  Here they are, JanaLyn & Rissy with JanaLyn's "Blue Blankie" and her stuffed animal friends.  Those things go EVERYWHERE with her and she's been hard to ween from her "Blue Blankie," which has rules as to when and when it may not be carried!

    JanaLyn asked me to take a picture of her "friends" and I obliged.
     
    Besides Blue Blankie (or "Corner" - a corner of which is no longer attached to Blue Blankie) we have a nice picture of "Nella" and "Nella Wella Curly" (I knew about Nella's name, but not Nella Wella Curly)!!!

    JanaLyn has informed us that Blue Blankie's guts have fallen out, but Blue Blankie and Corner are still okay.  She likes to put Corner under her nose to comfort herself.  Corner is the (once) binding from the blanket and I've tied knots in the long straggling string to make it feel more like a corner.  She says she can easily find Corner and it wasn't necessary for me to have tied knots in it.  What do I know???  (rolling eyes)  I'm just Granny!

    Children definitely keep you young . . .  or . . . kill you!  I think they are keeping me young except for my stiff bones late at night and in the morning when I first wake up.  I don't think anything except Florida or Phoenix can cure *that* winter problem.

    Well, it's 9:30am and I should proof read this and then keep moving.  Gads!  Did all of the above really happen before 9am????????

    Be blessed  ~

  • Cold Day

    We woke up to 20° ish temperatures this morning.  Electric blankets felt great!  Jesse kept the house a little warmer last night, just in case the girls accidentally threw off their blankets and fell back asleep.  They are almost old enough that that rarely happens.  They pretty much wake up and snuggle back under the warmth of their covers.

    It was a cold, windy day yesterday, but I stayed busy doing all kinds of "fun" housework and laundry!  I never started a fire in the fireplace.  I hate to start one this morning, because we will be leaving for our afternoon appointment and errands.  It will be another cold day, but with no wind.  That makes grocery shopping (and unloading the cart's contents into my car) less of a chore.  I wouldn't have wanted to be in the wind and hauling groceries yesterday.  Brrrrr!  Even Sampson went out and immediately came back inside when he had to go.

    Rissy was having problems in math this week, so we took a day to work on the "issues" and she caught up yesterday in her book.  Imagine her "UNhappy" face when the other two girls were dismissed from the table and she stayed another 45 minutes with her math book!  But, the time spent on Wednesday was worth it.  She DOES understand and has also gotten past her mental block of filling in the missing addends.  (___ +  3 = 5)  She used to add the numbers together and fill the blank in with an 8.  The mental block started this time last year.  I pulled the subject of math from her curriculum for four months to give her "despair" a break!  We didn't do ANY math from December through March.  Then, picked up the book again while she continued to struggle.  Yesterday she breezed through all of those problems, including the subtraction problems.  Yay!  She didn't know how to write numbers over 100.  She could count, but didn't know what order to place the numbers when writing, so that's why we took an extra day to learn.

    They are all tired of school and I'm doubly tired of teaching.  We finished with history and geography yesterday and only have a science book left.  We will be finished with that one next week.  They are looking forward to new books after our break and Luci is excited that I ordered a third book for her.  She was still in daycare when I bought the last set of books, so I didn't include her.

    The girls had great fun, the other day, pretending Chirper was "Prince Chirper" the "royal" cat!  He was carried around on his "royal" pillow!  And, some "royal" laughter ensued!

    Isn't this a pathetically, spoiled cat???!!


    Of course, he soaked up all of the attention.  HE'S no dummy!

    I keep saying this, but it's true,  He is the "kissingest" cat I've ever had.  This may make some of you ill, but I have always kissed my pets, including our pony.  This is the first pet that kisses back and actually ASKS for kisses.  He paws at your lips and wants you to bend down and kiss him!  He butts back with his nose when being kissed.

    Annamarie pretended to ignore him and he tried to grab her hair to pull her down to him.

    His claws are clipped way back, but he is naturally a gentle cat.  Even with claws, he's never hurt us.  He doesn't bite, either.  He pretends to "attack" us but barely touches us.  We play the same way with him - VERY gently.

    Eventually, His Royal Majesty was carried off to bigger and better places and I caught pictures at he left my presence!

    With Rissy on roller skates, nonetheless!

    The closest I have ever come to royalty!

    Today's To Do List:
    *  Take a shower and wash my hair so it can dry while I'm teaching school
    *  Teach school (VERY QUICKLY, since no one is enjoying it these days!)
    *  Start Jesse's laundry, have Annamarie put her clean laundry away (she left half of it in the kitchen)
    *  Make a grocery list to include Thanksgiving food items
    *  Go to girls' therapist
    *  Stop at post office box
    *  Make deposit at bank
    *  Wal-Mart for groceries.  "My one stop shop!"  (snicker! - I sound like the commercial!!!)

    If that's not enough to keep me busy, I don't know what will!!!  I feel stiff these days and I move really slow in the mornings compared to my normal tempo.  I think my body is getting used to the colder weather.  I hate to think I'm old enough to feel less than supple, but I think it may be true!

    Last night, "it" happened.  I was chilly in the house and mentioned to Jesse, "It seems cold in here."  His reply, "Yeah?  I'll remind you of that next summer!"  I knew if I made a "cold" comment, it would come back to bite me!

    Be blessed  ~