A Glance Back

It's hard to believe that I've been bloggin' for 6 mos! I wasn't sure at first if I'd find enough to write about, but I suppose if you think about it long enough, there's always something to blather on about. I've enjoyed spending a little bit of time today going back and looking at entries made earlier this year. I think that's the best part of blogging for me: keeping a diary of some of the more everyday things that happen in our lives (and some major events as well!) A few of my favorites:

A little Charlotte attitude
Troubles with the VCR

Mike gets baptized

Life doesn't go as planned

One fine rainy day

Favorite photos

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

I'm enjoying my family today, but scheduled this post in case you were able to grab a moment to yourself.

You know all the hoo-hah over the expression "Happy Holidays" in lieu of "Merry Christmas"? Personally, it's never bothered me either way. In this day and age, I consider it astonishing if a cashier wishes me a happy anything. So if it comes in the form of "Happy Holidays", I throw a greeting back at them and am on my way. When you think about it, there are a lot of events on the calendar this month. We live in a country that is a melting pot of ethnicity and traditions, so of course December isn't just about a Christian Christmas. For instance, there's the tradition of Santa, Kwanzaa, Omisoka, St. Lucia Day, Boxing Day, Al-Hijra,Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, and even occasionally Eid-al-Adha depending on the year.

I understand"Merry Christmas" is a Christian expression that a non-Christian may not feel at-home with (probably because it's a combination of Christ and Mass. Mass is a festival, so basically it's a festival honoring Christ.) But I think those people are the minority, at least according to polls stating that 80% of Americans identify themselves as Christian.

What I do believe is that most folks genuinely want to have a single, all-encompassing greeting during the month of December. However, I don't think "Happy Holidays" is the answer for the generic greeting. Why? Well, "Happy Holidays" doesn't mean what you may think it means.

"The word 'holiday' itself is a middle English derivative meaning 'holy day'. The word denotes a religious festival, a consecrated day called a 'holy day' – a day set apart. When people tell you 'Happy Holidays', they are, in effect, saying 'Happy Holy Days'. "

When I look to my trusty Webster dictionary, which I still haven't retired, it states that Holy means

"set apart to the service of God; characterized by perfection and transcendence, commanding absolute adoration and reverence, spiritually pure, Godly, evoking or meriting awe."


Further, when I look up in the dictionary the word holiday to see what it says, the first thing listed under the definition is holy day (the other meanings are a day off or vacation, which really doesn't apply to this discussion unless you're going skiing in Aspen, and if you were, I wouldn't say, "Happy Holidays", I'd say, "Have a nice holiday". Actually, I'd probably say, "Have a nice trip." Anyway, I don't think the cashier at Target is wishing me a nice vacation or a happy day off. I'm a stay at home mom. I never get a day off.)

So it seems to me that if someone is looking for a politically correct, non-religious, non-Christian, non-Jewish, non-Muslim, non-non way to wish everyone they meet a happy something or other, "Seasons Greetings" would probably be about the only safe bet I can think of. Just wait and see if it doesn't catch on.

Get 'Er Done

Looking at the calendar to see what was going on for the week of Christmas, I had to shake my head over the crazy schedule and all the things we needed to get done and the places we needed to go. I look forward to all the things associated with Christmas. I love going to church and celebrating God's amazing gift to us, visiting with friends and family, wrapping presents, all the goodies to eat, and watching all those Christmas movies!

What I don't particularly like, but always feel obligated to do, is take a few "formal" shots of my kids on Christmas Eve in all their finery. It never goes well; they're always cranky when I want to do this. I don't know why.

Christmas Eve 2007

Most people would give up, but I feel compelled to document every moment of my kids' lives, plus I feel like the "end of the year" photo is important. So this year I decided to try doing the photos before Christmas and see if I had any better luck.

Eric wasn't too keen on participating, but told me I could take two photos. No easy task since the kid has a fake smile plastered to his face every time the camera comes out. Talk about a little pressure to get them right the first time. After a bit of teasing and joking to loosen him up, one of those two photos was a good capture of Eric. I love the snaggle tooth out there front and center. It's real, ya know? And although Eric isn't in the nice sweater he'll wear on Christmas Eve, I find that I don't care what he's wearing since I got a natural and happy expression from my 'lil man! A bit of Photoshop here, a little Photoshop there.....and the cartoon character on the shirt is a goner!





Now Charlotte is a natural in front of the camera (most of the time)....a natural ham, that is. She was also very anxious to give the ole Christmas Eve clothes a trial run.

Oops, cut her toes off. It's still sort of a cute photo :-)

While I was shooting the photos, I paused to take a quick peek at some information on the camera and happened to see this photo below. Tears pricked my eyes as I stared at the image. Charlotte is such a loving, giving person, who is always thinking of others. She's silly and funny, sassy and smart. She loves Jesus, loves helping other people, and can light up a room with her brilliant smile. It's all of those wonderful qualities on the inside that makes her the most beautiful little girl I know.

Oh Look! Another Christmas Card!

I love to mail out our annual Christmas card, but this year I'm refraining from doing so in an effort to not spend money that we don't have anyway. This is the first year in over a decade that I haven't sent out Christmas cards. It feels unnatural. Okay, okay, I did send out just a few cards, but you can hardly fault me for sending cards to our out-of-state parents and siblings.

However, I figured I could at least post it on my blog. If you're someone who loves to decorate around your house with the cards you receive, and you want to pretend that you received my card in your actual mailbox, please feel free to print it off. No one will know.

Merry Christmas All!

click to view larger

Bailey The Unknown Reindeer

This hysterical Youtube video was shared with me. You will laugh out loud!!

(tip: If your speakers are on, turn off my "radio" down on the right before hitting the play button.)

Mint Chip Freeze

It's recipe time......Here's a dessert that's likely to please most folks. Makes a 9x13 pan full of it.


1 (15 oz) package cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter cubed
2 squares (1 oz ea) unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened (peppermint ice cream would be awesome here too...or cherry garcia....or.....)
1 (8 oz) carton cool whip thawed

Place cookies into a blender or food processor. Pulse a few times till it's crumbs. Dump into a large bowl and add 1/3 cup melted butter and mix well. Press into buttered 9 x 13 dish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, cubed butter, and chocolate. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly....at least 10 minutes. (Now here's where I deviated from the recipe. I also put in about about 3 tbl of cornstarch to help it thicken up a lot. If you don't do this, the mixture will be a gravy-like consistency. It'll eventually be put in the freezer anyway, but it seemed a bit runny to me. Just my preference.) When thickened and bubbling, remove from heat, cool completely (place some plastic over the top to keep a skin from forming.)

Remove crust from fridge. Spread ice cream over the top. Spoon cooled chocolate sauce over the top, spreading evenly to cover. Freeze until firm. Depending on your preference, you can either spread the cool whip all over the top and freeze it that way or put the cool whip on when you serve the dessert (depends on if you want cool whip frozen or not.) Either way, remove the dessert from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving to making cutting easier.

I wonder what this recipe would taste like using mint patties instead of Oreos, and the mint chip ice cream replaced with chocolate. Hmmm???

A Woeful Tale of Slow Death

(Oh I can hear you saying, "And a Merry Christmas to you too. Geesh.")

So back to our pre-lit Christmas tree. I had discussed some problems we were having with it a couple weeks ago (see story here). After the cheap fix, things were looking good. That is, till Thursday. I was in Eric's bedroom hanging out with the kids after dinner. From his room you can partially see the tree in the living room. And that's when I noticed that the lights on the top 10-12" of the tree are unlit. I can only conclude that the 6th Christmas for our tree is it's undoing. Mike and I are just (sort of) laughing about it and holding our breath, quite unsure how our tree is going to look come Christmas Eve and morning. We're of the mind that the only lights on the thing that'll be working are the $2 strand we picked up at Menards a couple weeks ago.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I'm thankful for today, in no particular order:


1. Photographs. Yours, mine, and everyone else's. I love looking at them!

2. Pizza. Thank you to whoever invented it. I love it and will never tire of it.

3. My new winter coat that I found in October (there's a whole story to go with it.)

4. The Library. Our local library has a great selection of books and movies and has great kids programs. I've always loved going to libraries, and still do.

5. Palm Trees. What an awesome tree to look at.



Feel free to share what you're thankful for today!

A Few of My Favorite Ornaments

I'm not sure why you would be the least bit interested in our tree ornaments, but I feel like posting a few photos of some of them. So there you go.


An angel blowing a trumpet. My Mom gave this to me years and years ago. I love how it reflects the tree lights.


It's hard to see, but if you look on the photo, there's an itty bitty 10 mos old baby sitting on the floor in front of the tree (hard to believe Eric was ever that small!). At the time I worked about 30 hours a week, and our baby sitter took the photo and made the ornament.



Long before Keats and Milo were adopted into our family, I had two other cats - Alice and Trixie.Shortly after I got pregnant with Charlotte, Trixie died from cancer at 15 years of age. I bought this ornament the Christmas after she passed away. I still miss her persnickety ways.




Mike knows I love pretty ornaments. He picked this one out as a gift a few years ago. It's got spun glass all around the inside of the globe and reflects all the lights from the tree. Very pretty!



And here's the newest addition.....an ornament I picked up in Orlando. The year 2008 is on the reverse side.

It's A Happy Day In Illinois

I'm not a big political type person, but I have to disagree with some who say it's a sad day in Illinois. For me it's a happy day.....a day of rejoicing that our crooked governor was finally hauled off in handcuffs. For years he has abused his position and alienated the people of Illinois, who he is supposed to be serving. My prayers are for Patrick Fitzgerald and his team as they clean house in Springfield.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

So we finally got the tree decorated. I really would like to know what happened to our tree skirt. It went missing last year, and I have no idea what happened to it. It didn't magically turn up this year either. I'm positively perplexed what happened to it. Is it lost in our attic somewhere? Why didn't it get packed up in 2006? Was it thrown away, and if so, why? Guess I'll have to drag out a sheet to throw under there to give it a more finished look. Anyway, here it is. We must have at least a 100 unique ornaments on there, which you probably can't see (unless you click on it to view larger). I've been adding to the collection each year (I buy one for myself/family, each kid gets one, plus we receive them as gifts too.) It's an eclectic tree!

And just in case you missed it, let me zoom in for you:

Our kitty boys, Keats and Milo, who thankfully only like to hunker down under the tree, rather than up in it.

Thankful Thursday

I saw this idea on someone else's blog a couple months ago and thought to myself, "What a great idea!" This time of year tends to bring out some materialism in me, which I try to rebel against, but I'm only human.....I like to spoil my children at Christmas because we don't buy much for them during the year. This year I've had to to put the brakes on the "spoiling", and it's been a real exercise in self-control. So it's good for me to pause and be thankful for what we already have instead of focusing on the have-nots! And combine this with last week's message at our church (gratitude), and I think I've got myself a topic on which to blog!


Here are five things I'm thankful for today (in no particular order):

1. A computer with an internet connection! (of course!)

2. A warm, toasty home on this frigidly cold day!

3. My dear friend, Lynda, who visited last week. I always look forward to her annual visits!

4. My husband Mike, who has not shied away from taking on some odd side jobs this past month to help make ends meet. He's such a good provider for his family!

5. Charlotte's giggles. They're infectious.



It's good to hear other people being thankful. It's not that I don't want to hear out your problems, but listening to people being thankful is uplifting, don't ya think? If you've ever listened to someone complaining all the time you can probably relate to what I'm saying. So tell me, what are you thankful for this Thursday? Just click on the "wonderful comments" link and let me know (You don't need an account to leave a comment.....just click on the Anonymous option but remember to sign your name in the body of the comment.)

How I Torture My Kids Part I

I don't actually have a Part II in mind, but I'm sure something will come along that I can share with you all.

As for Part I, this is how I did it (unintentionally, of course. I would never seek to torment my own children. ;-D) Traditionally we put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. So Mike got down all the containers and boxes, including our pre-lit Christmas tree. Said tree is going on year 5 and has held up beautifully. But not this year, of course. Not the year Mike is laid off and we're pinching pennies more than usual. This year the pre-lit tree is only partially lit. The bottom row of branches is not lighting up. Mike tried changing the fuse, looking around for obvious problems, but nothing fixed these lights.

Of course the kids are jonesin' to decorate the tree. It's set up in the living room, it appears ready to go. But I told them they had to wait till I could do a "quick" (aka "cheap") fix for that bottom row of branches, which is blatantly unlit (to me. The kids didn't seem to notice or care). So for going on 3 days now they've been looking at this undecorated tree in our home knowing they have to wait to put their ornaments on there, although I see that there is one lonely ornament on the tree which Charlotte hung up there on Saturday night. She made an angel at church and came right home to hang it up. Each of the kids has their own little collection of ornaments going because every year I buy them an ornament, plus the ones they make, and they've also picked up a few more along the way from Grandparents. Each year they're responsible for putting their ornaments on the tree. It's been pure torture for them to wait when the tree is in plain view.

So Yesterday I had Mike pick up a $2 strand of 100 ct lights at Menards, and I finally got them strung onto the tree just moments ago (stuck them on top of all the dead lights.) The tree looks considerably better, in my humble opinion. And yes, Eric and Charlotte will get to put their ornaments on today after their lengthy wait.

Oh You Crafty Thang

I spent a few hours Monday whipping this baby together. Well I started Sunday with a plan (cause I gotta have a plan), followed by measuring and cutting. Then I whipped it together. Here it is:




I can hear you now. "What is that hideous thing, and what is up with all that......is that lime green?"

A year and a half ago my Mom completed a quilt for Charlotte's bed. We picked out the fabrics together and went with a lavender and pale lime green theme. Mom then gave me all the extra fabric because I was to use it to make a bed skirt. That fabric sat in a corner of my bedroom for all this time and then the mood struck me the other day, and I went with it. So I sat down and figured out what I needed to do, took measurements and then pulled out the material scraps. I was a little dismayed to find that there weren't too many large pieces. Given that I had no pattern or directions and a scant amount of fabric, it wasn't looking favorable for me. I wanted it to look like a $29.99 bed skirt from Sears, not some homemade junk.

I consider myself a frugal person, perhaps even a tad on the cheap side. It's a condition I've been dealing with since we chose to become a one-income family. I was (and still am) the queen of clearance and the guru of garage sales and Good Will. Why pay retail when you can find other people's perfectly good stuff for a fraction of the price? Well, nowadays they call this being green. Just call me a trail blazer on the frontier of environmental issues.

Anway, rather than waste gas and time to spend money on a new piece of muslin for the portion of the bed skirt that lays on top of the box spring, I was able to sew together two smaller pieces of fabric from the scraps to make the piece I needed. And with very miserly hems, I had just enough (barely) of the lavender gingham fabric I needed for the skirt drop.

I think it screams $29.99 department store bed skirt!

Giving Thanks

I hope you're able to catch your breath for a moment today to enjoy some of the many blessings in your life! I know I personally have much to be grateful for, many things that I take for granted each day. I know I'm thankful for my family, our warm cozy home, and the feast of food that I'll be diving into later today (I don't care what you dieters say; calories don't count on holidays :-D). I'm also thankful that my 5.5 year old computer is still working and giving me the opportunity to connect with you all in cyber-space. But most of all I'm thankful to Jehovah-Jireh, God the provider.

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I found myself curious about the origins of Thanksgiving Day. Sure, it started with the pilgrims, but is there more? I found the information below to be quite informative; some stuff I knew, other stuff was news to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thanksgiving Day in the United States is an annual day of thanks for the blessings of the past year, observed on the fourth Thursday in November in each of the states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. It is a historical, national, and religious holiday that began with the Pilgrims. After the survival of their first colony through the bitter winter, and the gathering of the harvest, Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony issued a thanksgiving proclamation in the autumn of 1621. This first thanksgiving lasted three days, during which the Pilgrims feasted on wild turkey and venison with their Indian guests.

Days of thanksgiving were celebrated sporadically until, on November 26, 1789, President Washington issued a proclamation of a nation-wide day of thanksgiving. He made it clear that the day should be one of prayer and giving thanks to God. It was to be celebrated by all religious denominations, a circumstance that helped to promote a spirit of common heritage.

Credit for establishing this day as a national holiday is usually given to Sarah J. Hale, editor and founder of the Ladies' Magazine (from 1828) in Boston. Her editorials in the magazine and letters to President Lincoln urging the formal establishment of a national holiday of thanksgiving resulted in Lincoln's proclamation in 1863, designating the last Thursday in November as the day. Succeeding presidents annually followed his example, except for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be the next to last Thursday of November rather than the last. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought this would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would aid bringing the country out of the Depression. At the time, it was considered inappropriate to advertise goods for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. However, Roosevelt's declaration was not mandatory; twenty-three states went along with this recommendation, and 22 did not. Other states, like Texas, could not decide and took both weeks as government holidays [hey, I like Texas' idea!]. Roosevelt persisted in 1940 to celebrate his "Franksgiving," as it was termed. In 1941, Congress adopted a joint resolution setting the date on the fourth Thursday.

My Kids ArtWork

When my kids get too old to bring home handmade crafts and cards, it will be a sad day. I live for this stuff. My fridge is covered in it. I've even strung fishing line between two hooks on the walls above each kid's bed. When the work comes down off the fridge, it goes into their room to display for a little while longer.

I love my kids' artwork. It's precious to me, and each year I have the difficult task of going through the rubbermaid bin to pull out the "keepers".....the ones that will go into the scrap albums for safe keeping. The one below, a creation from this month, will make it into the scrap album. For sure.

Home Schooling

I can hardly classify myself among those ambitious and on-the-ball parents out there who are home-schooling their children. I stand in awe of what you do! I battle with Eric just to do 20-30 minutes of homework a day. I would be putting my head in the oven if I had to home-school that boy.

Charlotte, however, is a whole other ball game. She's a teacher's dream. Eager to please, hard-working, rarely complains, catches on quickly, wants to learn. How do I know this? Well she wanted to learn how to read. I have no idea how to teach a person to read, but I didn't think that should stand in her way. So I did some research this past August/September and found a program that I thought fit our needs.

Charlotte and I sit down each weekday morning after we drop Eric off at school and work on her Adventures in Phonics. She's coming along amazingly well, and this past week she read her first book to me. It was such a treat to share this moment with her. Charlotte was so proud and pleased with herself for reading a book on her own! And me? Well of course I was proud of her, but I was also just a little pleased with myself for having played a role in helping her get to this point.

I have no doubt by the end of this "school year" that Charlotte will be reading way above her grade level. She's one highly motivated girl!

I Love.....Part II in the "I Love" Series

Part I is here

I love a good fitting pair of jeans. Who doesn't? There's just something about a pair of jeans that fits you just right. Not too tight, not too baggy, doesn't gap in the back of the waist, hugs all the right curves without cutting off your circulation, the perfect shade of blue with factory fading done just so, and the length......not so long that they're dragging on the ground behind you, and not so short that they look dorky with a pair of boots with heels. These jeans simply make you feel good when you wear them. And I'm here to say that said jeans don't have to cost $200 either.

Well, I admit I've never actually tried on a pair of $200 jeans, and I'm sure I'd eventually find a $200 pair of jeans that fit just right, but since I could buy half a wardrobe on $200, I settled for trying on a pair of $48 Apt. 9 jeans at Kohl's this past September that were on clearance for $19.98. And they fit perfect, even the length which is often a problem for me since I'm 5'3.5". Petite lengths are too short (which run up to 5'3") and average lengths are too long (which run from 5'4" and up). My height isn't on the radar of clothing manufacturers. I usually settle for average lengths with them dragging on the ground because I really can't stand pants and jeans that are too short.

Anyway, these Apt. 9 jeans? I Love Them. And I fell head over heals with them when they rang up at $9.00 at the register. What's not to love?

Sweet Remembrances of Summer

It's official. The down-filled coat has come out of the closet and any hint of summer has flown off with the wind. I look at my garden, nothing but dried up leaves and keeled over stems, barren of any buds. Spring-time seems a long way off (actually, it is......5 looong months off.) It's a good thing I like to take photos; they remind me of what is dormant below the surface.

I planted this Lilac bush the year Mike and I got married. It's off on the corner of the house just a little way down from the master bedroom window, so when it's in bloom, the sweet fragrance drifts in to our room.

These may be your standard Stella day lily, but these flowers rock. They start blooming in June and the last flower I saw on it was in late October. They just keep going and going. I can see them all summer and fall out my living room window.

A new addition to the garden this year: A Hydrangea! I'm going to experiment next year with the soil acidity to see if I can turn these mammoth flowers a bluish-purple.

Now here is the most beautiful and fragrant Bearded Iris. Open your hand right now. That's how big these blooms are every May! I really look forward to seeing them each year, and wish their blooming season lasted all summer long!

My sturdy, dependable Daisies never fail me every June!

I really think these flowers got the shaft when someone named them Gladiolas. They surprised me late this summer when they bloomed. I'd forgotten all about them being in my garden!

And I think these babies are my favorite.....Peonies. Aren't they stunning? I have them in white, pale pink, and raspberry.

It's What's For Dinner

Well, OK, it was what was for dinner on Thursday, but I just now got around to getting the photos off my camera.

I like to make my own pizza. It's a lot cheaper than ordering out, and is super easy to do. I use my bread maker for the dough, and wing it on the sauce. Here we go:

Bread Maker Pizza Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour
8 oz. warm water
2 tbl olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1-1/2 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 tsp salt


Place all liquids in the bread maker. Throw in the salt. Slowly pour in the flour. Create a small well in the center for the yeast. Add yeast. Set bread maker to the dough cycle (should take about 1.5 hours.) When cycle is complete, preheat oven to 400 deg. Spray a 9x13 cookie sheet with cooking spray. Dump dough out on the cookie sheet. Flatten and spread out to fit the pan, making an edge with the dough (see photo.) Pop into the oven for 2-3 minutes.



Remove crust from oven and top with pizza sauce, about 12-16 oz. of cheese (I personally love all mozzarella with a sprinkling of fresh parmesan), plus any other toppings you like such as sausage, peppers, onions, olives, bacon, mushrooms, chicken, etc. Here I put 1/2 Italian sausage and 1/2 meatball (both precooked - had some odds and ends leftover in the freezer.) Bake for about 15-18 minutes till brown around the edges and all the cheese in the center is melted.

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As for my pizza sauce, here's one I use frequently:

1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
seasonings to taste (e.g., Italian seasoning, garlic powder or minced garlic, onion powder/diced onion, basil, pepper, and a bit of sugar to take the tartness out.)


Also, since there is a nice crusty edge on this pizza, you can dip the crusts in either leftover marinara, pizza sauce, olive oil, or my kids' favorite: melted butter with some garlic powder.

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Then for dessert I tried a new recipe out called S'more Muffins. Relatively easy to make, but does require buttermilk. If you don't have any on hand (like who does?) or don't remember to pick it up at the store, you can take regular milk and add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to it, let it sit for a few minutes, and that'll turn it into "substitute buttermilk".

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup ground graham cracker crumbs (I threw whole crackers into the blender and hit pulse!)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/4 cup miniature marshmallows, divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, and oil. Mix well. Stir wet stuff into the dry ingredients just until moistened (i.e., it will be lumpy). Fold in chocolate chips and 1 cup marshmallows. Line muffin cups with paper liners or go daring and go without. Either way, spray with cooking spray. Fill cups 3/4 of the way full, top each with 2 miniature marshmallows, and pop into oven for 14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm if possible. Yummy!!

The $152 Tooth

Eric has been losing his 3rd baby tooth (top center) for at least 6 weeks. It started getting loose in late September, but not loose enough to yank out, and then as the permanent tooth started coming in, it crowded out the baby tooth and pushed it to the front. A regular snaggle tooth it was. I constantly reminded him to wiggle that thing to loosen it up, but it was no use. That thing just didn't want to come out, despite the fact that his permanent tooth is over half way in! So I reluctantly called the dentist to have him do the deed. I had so many of my baby teeth yanked out as a child. I hated going to the dentist because it seemed every time I did, there was unpleasantness involved. I was trying to avoid this with Eric, but unfortunately he may have inherited my stubborn baby teeth.

So off to the dentist we went. The dentist did get the tooth out, but even he said it was stubborn and didn't want to come out. Eric was brave and did great, although he couldn't wait for the numbness to wear off! So we're checking out and the woman behind the counter tells me it'll be $70. I asked her if she was going to submit it to the insurance company first. She looked at me kind of funny, then printed out the statement, showing that the insurance would be billed, and the $70 was my portion of the bill. Eeek! $150 to pull a tooth out?? That 'ole Tom & Jerry method with the string and door is looking mighty appealing. Then we had to leave Eric a couple bucks from the Tooth Fairy (figured he'd earned an extra buck, ya know? Which got me to thinking that maybe I'm due some extra money for all the teeth I had pulled out the hard way. Mom?? Dad???)

Anyway, $152 later, he has a more normal looking smile, the snaggle tooth is gone, and he can eat normally again.....at least till the next tooth gets loose.

Don't Mess With The Arm

Charlotte went in yesterday for her 5 year wellness appointment and to get a few immunization shots (four to be exact.) She weighs about 40 lbs. and is 43.75" tall (she weighs about as much as Eric, lol.) A couple of the shots really hurt, making her arm very sore. Poor kid.....she was hoping they wouldn't have to go outside for recess today at school, but I suggested she could stay home with me instead. She was all over that. :-) I asked her if her arm was too sore to play a game. I was thinking a good ole fashioned board game, like Trouble, Go Fish.....Charlotte assured me that the aching arm wasn't the one she needed to bowl (on the Wii). Well, what a relief it is to know her immunizations didn't put a dent in her video gaming.

My Next Car

If money weren't an issue, and I never had to haul more than a few bags of groceries at a time, and of course if Mike or I had a job (minor details, right?) my next car would be the Mini Cooper in British Racing Green (although the oxygen blue and nightfire red are pretty cool too). It gets some great gas mileage as well (37/hwy, and 28/city, which is double what I get now.)

Only problem is the lack of rear doors, so the kids would be complaining about getting in and out of the thing, especially as they get older and bigger. "Welcome to the hardships of my own childhood", I'd say. Followed by, "Get over it." The Mini Clubman has one small rear door on the passenger side, but then the car loses the cuteness factor by looking like a midget station wagon, so what's the point?

Cute little bugger isn't it?

Not-As-Cute

Strange Website

A while back I stumbled upon a site that has an interesting concept: People take photos of things on vacation or where they live that seem to "Fail" logic, their purpose, the English language, etc. Here are a few that had me laughing (I have a strange sense of humor):

What were they thinking?!

Cinderacula

This is the first year Eric opted for a "scary" costume, and of course, Charlotte wanted to be a princess. Kudos to me for finding it this summer at a garage sale for a few bucks, lol! They sure are in stark contrast to each other.

The kids hauled in boat loads of candy last night. It'll be July 4th, 587 sugar highs, and several cavities later before they get through it all.

Easy Come Easy Go

This is a phrase that should not be applied to jobs. Unfortunately these days it's all too true for so many people. You find a job, it's a good job, things are humming along nicely, and then one day you get the "it's not you, it's the economy" speech, and you find yourself standing in line at the unemployment office along with hundreds of others......others like my husband, who got the speech from his boss last night and now finds himself laid off (SO glad we purchased the Wii this week, Ugh.)

It's been nearly two years since the last time Mike was laid off - just a few weeks before Christmas of 2006. That time I was a bit panicked, at least the first few weeks before I realized that God was in control of the entire situation. Just like He is now. Mike had received a call while we were on vacation (something I don't regret spending the money on, even now) that if he was interested, to put together a resume for this company that was looking to hire on soon. This is a company that is very difficult to get into and by referral only. We were both praying on it, asking for some clear direction on whether to stay put or go for the new job. I'd say Mike got a crystal clear indicator last night that "staying put" isn't what God has in mind, whether it's moving to this new company or somewhere else altogether.

So as Mike left this morning to file for unemployment and call the Union hall to get his name on the (undoubtedly long) list, he said, "Well, we're heading off down a new path on another adventure!" I gotta respect his enthusiasm. I wouldn't exactly say this is an adventure I'd choose, but knowing that God is leading the way sure makes me less worried about where we're going.

At The Bowling Alley

So Mike joined a bowling league. Not just any bowling league, mind you. This is a Wii bowling league that was jokingly formed on Saturday nights at the home of some friends who host a pot-luck most Saturday nights after church. They have a Wii, and some of the folks there are getting into the bowling thing. It's Mike's first real chance to play the game for longer than a couple of minutes. I knew he was going to get hooked. Just knew it. Sure enough before we left on vacation, and before his birthday rolled around, he said he wanted a Wii (if we could afford it.....and if one could be found.)

We still had some funds left over that weren't spent on vacation ('cause we fed our kids ice cream for meals instead of blowing the wad on $8 hot dogs), so we decided to go for the Wii. I was at Best Buy last week to get new speakers for my computer since the old ones blew themselves out.....certainly not from me jamming on them or anything. Anyway, at BestBuy they were sold out of Wiis. I wasn't thinking I'd find Mike his present after all......you know, it's getting to be Christmas Shopping season don't you know (eye roll.)

On a lark, I called Toys R Us last night and they actually had them in stock! Not delaying, I left Mike in charge of bathing children while I dashed off to the toy store. Mikey was one happy camper when I got home, and we had to bowl. This is my first time bowling on a Wii. And I kicked his butt. hehe. Maybe I'll join the Saturday night bowling league now. ;-)

Florida Vacation - My Favorite Photos

With nearly 800 photos, there's bound to be a few that stand out and speak to me. Here are a few of them.

Sunrise on our last day in Florida

Yay, Mike got a decent shot of me!