Winter Promise American Story Week 6

Well, this week of school just zoomed right on by! I could hardly believe we had finished another week and it all went pretty well. I think Savannah's favorite part of this week was starting the Welcome to Felicity's World book. This is an American Girl book that shows you what happened in the time Felicity lived. She would have gladly had me read the whole book in one day, but I told her we had to stay on track with the others. We did finish up Pedro's Journal too. There were lots of projects this week and all were pretty good. The only one that was a little much was the Sea Port Diarama. It just had a few too many pieces for my liking. The 3d map of the Mayflower Voyage was really cool and I think we both learned alot by doing it. She also ate an authentic meal from the Mayflower - beef jerky, crackers, cheese and water. Actually, that was on last week's schedule, but we didn't do it till this week. She also made a Dutch Windmill and house when she learned that New York used to be New Amsterdam - settled by the Dutch. Below are the pictures of the week in review. The first is a picture of her Mayflower "meal", then the windmill, mini book about the pilgrims and finally her map of the Mayflower voyage. We are taking a week off of Winter Promise do to a demanding schedule, so we will be away from any hands on projects until next week.

Houston... we have BANGS!

After my last post about should Savannah keep her bangs grown out or should she get them cut, we talked and talked and talked some more over what to do. Of course, once I told her she could get them cut if she wanted to... she didn't want to anymore. Then, of course, I was excited that they were going to be cut short again. I am seeing a glimpse into what life could be like when she is a teenager and frankly, I am quite scared. Finally, one night over dinner, we told her we could cut them and then IF I HAD TO - I would let her grow them out again if she wanted. She agreed and daddy took her outside to cut those bangs right off! Personally, I love her hair this way. My mom loves it this way and Tim likes it pretty much too. She immediately said she hated her hair this way and was growing the out again. I told her that was fine, but she had to wait till I did her annual pictures because I wanted them to look right. We shall see what happens. I think I am going to be thankful God gave me two boys and only one girl.

50 things (actually 49 because there is no 17)

1. My roommate and I once: Does Tim count as my roommate? Once we went camping in Chiefland Florida. There was NOTHING to do there, so we sat on the floor of the SuperWalmart and played with the Leapfrog Explorer toys. It was so hot and Walmart had ac.

2.Never in my life have I: wanted to go skydiving, bungie jumping, or anything that requires jumping out of something way high up.

3. The one person who can drive me nuts, but then can always manage to make me smile is: Sebastian

4. High school was: mostly wonderful - I met Tim and had great friends

5. When I'm nervous: I pull my hair by my nose... goes back to when I was a kid and sucked my thumb with my hair by my nose.

6. The last time I cried was: This is hard. I get teary eyed all the time - could be a news story or a message board post or I am missing Debi. The last real all out cry was after reading a poem my niece wrote a few weeks ago.

7. If I were to get married right now, my bridesmaids would be: I think the same as when I got married the first time, only now my kids would be in the wedding. The first time my maid of honor was Tricia (Patty), Jorgena, and my sister Michelle.

8. Would you rather run naked through a crowded place or have someone e-mail your deepest secret to all your friends? If I could remember my deepest secret, then I guess it would be easier to decide if I really would die if anyone found out. But, I can't seem to remember what my deepest secret is... so I guess I would choose to have that emailed.

9. My hair: is long and stringy and in desperate need of a perm.

10. When I was 5: My best friend was Tricia (Patty) and we played in their shed all the time. It was our very special playhouse with lots of odds and ends from garage sales. We had a play kitchen and a seventies looking fold up table with mushrooms on it. I loved my life when I was five.

11. Last Christmas: we decorated the tree with Happy Meal toys and Beanie Babies because Sebastian would have destroyed real ornaments.

12. When I turn my head left: I see the tv flickering on my couch.

13. I should be: doing exactly what I am doing... relaxing since the kids are finally asleep... I think...

14. When I look down I see: my laptop

15. The craziest recent event was: Where do I start? Let's keep this a happy place!

16. If I were a character on "Friends": I'd be Monica. I am a control freak. I like things to be my way and I like things to have a plan, but I do have a good heart (most of the time).

18. My favorite aunt is: Tusie Karen (We call our aunts Tusie - means aunt in Romanian)

19. I have a hard time understanding: Sebastian's eating habits or should I say LACK of Eating habits

20. One time at a family gathering: My dad threw up in his plate during a family dinner at Denny's. I thought Tim was going to pass out and my mom just casually placed a napkin over the plate and took it to the kitchen. It was hysterical!

21. You know I like you if: I make my famous Hershey's brownies for you. P.S. you can get the huge box of mix from Sam's Club.

22. If I won an award, the first person I'd thank: Probably my husband, Tim.

23. Take my advice: Life is short, look for the blessings in everyday, do the things you want now and don't take it for granted.


24. My ideal breakfast is: I don't really eat breakfast, but when I do - I like the Denny's Original Grand Slam - pancakes, over easy eggs, homefries, and bacon.

25. If you visit my home town: you will find it to be a really boring and depressing place.

26. Sometime soon I plan to visit: Williamsburg

27. If you spend the night at my house: you will notice that we are all nightowls and as my mom says - the house comes alive after 11pm.

28. I'd stop my wedding if: I didn't love my groom? I don't know, that is an odd question.

29. The world could do without: Screaming Car Dealership Radio Ads

30. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: ever go on Splash Mountain again

31. The most recent thing I've bought myself is: OH... I know this one! A vellum adhesive thingy for scrapbooking. It goes on clear to attach vellum paper.

32. The most recent thing someone else bought for me is: I think it was the chocolate Tim bought me that was a subject of a recent blog post.

33. My favorite red head is: I believe the only redhead I know is my sister-in-law, Jennifer, but even if I knew somebody else, I would still say Jennifer is my favorite.

34. My favorite brunette is: I can't pick one... all of my kids and Tim are brunettes.

35. My car must have a sign on it that reads: Please slam your car door into mine and leave a ding... I think I have like 5 tiny dents!

36. The last time I was drunk: I was in St. John last year (not this trip)and had a great evening at home with my hubby!

37. The animals I would like to see flying besides birds: Somebody else said it, but I like it... Pigs - so I could really mean "WHEN PIGS FLY".

38. I shouldn't have been: speeding past Hardeeville SC. It was wrong and dangerous and that ticket has stuck with me for the last 7 years. I have learned to use cruise control and not speed like that.

39. I should have: told my Dad I loved him the last time I talked to him before he died and I should have homeschooled Timmy from the very beginning.

40. Last night I: stayed up too late like usual and I watched the season ending of Windfall on my dvr.

41. There's this girl I know who: just got engaged, bought the most beautiful wedding dress, and will be a gorgeous bride.

42: I don't know: what the future holds....but I know it will all work out the way God has planned....

43. A better name for me would be: MOM... it IS what I hear all day long afterall.

44. If I ever go back to school I'll: probably be crabby because I can't remember anything for more than 2 seconds.

45. How many days until my birthday? A lot? My birthday is April 14th... figure it out.

46. One dead celebrity I wish I'd met is: Elvis popped into my head. I don't think I really would want to meet him, but I would enjoy seeing him perform.

47. I've lived at my current address since: MY SON says I have to put it this way... I lived in THIS HOUSE from October 1990 until December 1996. Then we moved a few blocks away to our first official home. Then we bought this house from my parents in July 1999. My son says this is his one and only home.

48. I've been told I look like: My Tusie Karen.

49. If I could have any car, it would be: I don't know... I like my car. It isn't fancy, but I like it. It is a Hyundai Sonata with all the bells and whistles.

50. If I got a new cat tomorrow, I would name it: I WOULD NOT GET A CAT TOMORROW! Sorry, I am done with pets. We have a dog and she will stay, but then I think I am done with anything that sheds, pees, pukes or does anything else to my floor.

Friday Feast

Feast One Hundred & Nine
Appetizer What are some lyrics you have misheard (such as, instead of "Gettin' Jiggy With It" you heard "Kick a chicken with it")?

About 11 years ago we were driving home from SC. We could only find country music stations. At the time, I didn't listen to country music. Now I listen all the time and love it. Anyway, George Straight was singing "Check Yes or No" -

Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend? And if you do, well then dont be afraid to take me by the handIf you want to.I think this is how love goes, check yes or no.

Well, I didn't hear it as CHECK YES OR NO... I kept singing CHECK GAS AND OIL until my music critic husband told me I was singing it wrong.

Soup What is the worst movie you have ever seen?

This one is really hard because you don't tend to remember the names of the bad ones. Heck, who am I kidding... I can hardly remember the names of the ones I liked. I don't know if this is the worst movie, but worst movie RECENTLY would be Syriana. It was so boring! I am sure if I spent time googling, I could find something worse, but this is the first one that pops into my head.

Salad Using the letters from your favorite number, write a sentence. Example: Tomorrow has really easy experiences.

F O U R T E E N

Freak Out Under Really Tall, Endless, Evil Noodles.

Main Course What was the most interesting news story you have heard this week?

Where the Housing Boom Lives On - Business Week Online
It said that Tampa/Clearwater/St. Petersburg was Number 2 on the list of hottest markets that are not in a bursting house bubble. NO... this doesn't mean we are moving. It just means that our house may not lose all the wonderful value it has racked up during the last two years.

Dessert Which word(s) would you choose to describe your wardrobe?

SAD! SAD! SAD! Seriously, it is sad because I am not happy with my weight. Surprise, surprise. I have jean shorts and t-shirts, mostly. I do have lots of cute summer tops that I so hope to get back to one day.

RV - Could it be a 2006 match for National Lampoon's Vacation?

I guess I am going to get into the movie review business on my blog now. We have that Blockbuster In the Mail deal. I have no idea how many movies we have watched since we joined nearly 2 years ago. Let's just say it has been A LOT of movies. I think one in every 5 or 6 movies is pretty decent. That is a whole lot of not so wonderful movies. I clicked on RV with Robin Williams and popped it into my queue. I couldn't remember if it had good reviews or not, but there hasn't been a whole lot of new dvd's that we could watch with Savannah. It came in the mail on Monday, I think. It laid on the counter. Can you feel the enthusiasm in watching another movie that may or may not be good? The last movie we watched was Final Destination 3... I could have lived without ever seeing that. Tim comes home from work tonight and says that he would like to let Savannah stay up late when she gets home from AWANA so they can watch this movie. Sounded like a great idea to me... another perk of homeschooling - no early morning wake up for her. Savannah got her blankie and I got my blankie. Sebastian actually laid down and went to sleep without me having to even go back in once. I was happy even if I thought the movie was probably going to be dumb. Then it happened... we were laughing in the first few minutes and again a few minutes later and pretty much through the whole thing. Sure, some of it is just plain corny and goofy, but it was funny. Oddly enough there were several incidents in the movie that we have actually lived through a few camping trips! I don't remember how old I was when the original National Lampoon's Vacation came out. I am not talking about the Christmas or European one. I am talking about the one where they all go to Wally World. My friends and I thought that movie was hysterical. I still think it is funny when I flip through and find it on cable on a Saturday afternoon. My sister-in-law, Jessica, had never seen it. I told her she was deprived and bought it for her for Christmas. I mean who wouldn't laugh about "Dead Aunt Edna" on the roof? When we had several mishaps on our Florida Keys vacation a few years back, we kept calling it our "Griswald's Vacation. I don't know if I can give RV the very top rating on funny, but it really was funny and I enjoyed it. It had a really good message. One I should probably take. It was about being with your family and that doesn't mean it has to be a fancy trip. I have been lucky enough to take a few really nice trips with Tim these last two years and part of us wants to take our kids on a really nice trip in the next year or two. Then it occurred to me that we STILL haven't taken Savannah camping and she will be 8 years old soon. It sure gives me something to think about! Anyway, if you have Blockbuster in the Mail or Netflix, add RV to your queue. If you don't, drop by the rental store and pick it up. It is a fun movie and I think worth watching at least once! Enjoy!

Winter Promise American Story Week 5

We started full-time school two weeks ago. Over the summer, we had completed the first 3 weeks of just Winter Promise American Story 1. These last two weeks we have done it all - math, reading, spelling, etc. I am so surprised how smoothly it is all falling into place. Yes, I realize it has only been two weeks. I know from the last 7 years of homeschooling that things could change at any minute, but for right now... it has been really great! I had hoped to post her American Story highlights each week, but that just didn't happen. Weeks 1-3 had us reading The Birchbark House. We absolutely loved this book. When it was finished, Savannah was so sad because she was going to miss Omakayas (the little girl in the book). It was a big hit and made me feel a little more secure in my Winter Promise choice. Weeks 4 and 5 have us reading Pedro's Journal. This book is about a shipboy that sailed with Columbus. I would not say we are liking this nearly as much as The Birchbark House, but we are enjoying it. It is a good story for her age and really gives you the idea of what it might have been like to sail with Columbus. It also has great sketches that are supposed to be the work of Pedro. This week was full of activities. I took another Winter Promise user's advice and whited out the activities I knew we wouldn't be doing. If they are out of my sight, then I don't stress over not doing them. This week we chose a lot of the Colonial America Activity Book projects. We did the map of 13 colonies. This is actually a work in progress. Each time we do a project for one of the 13 colonies, we are supposed to find it on the map, label it and color it in. She really enjoyed trying to find two of the colonies this week. Next we read about the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I am ashamed to say that I didn't even know about this! Once again proving that I am learning more as a homeschool mom than I ever learned in school. If you don't know the story of this, click here and read about it. After we read about this, we made a scroll where she got to fill in what SHE thought happened to the colonists. Her version went something like this - "The Indians came to cook the people and then they ATE them!" I know... YUCK! Next she made a diorama about the men who found the only clue to where the colony went. The last hands on thing we did was really cool. We made a 3-d diorama of Jamestown. This was a lot of fun and she was particularly excited because we are going to actually visit Jamestown in October. It really made it interesting. I would say we learned a lot about these things this week and the activities were definitely helpful in cementing the facts into place. So far, 5 weeks into Winter Promise, I am really, really pleased with everything. The rest of school has gone really well too. Savannah has taken off with reading and just keeps amazing me each day. She loves her new spelling program (Spelling Power) too. When we were coloring and cutting out the Jamestown diorama together, I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be able to do this with her. It so much more fun than helping with homework like did when Tim II was in 3rd grade. I am so excited we get to travel to Williamsburg to see what we are studying. I guess that is feasible now, but I don't think we will be able to travel to Egypt when we study that in a few years! Maybe I need to start saving my pennies now. The pictures show all the projects she made this week.

Crazy Everyday Blessings

Hey, isn't the title of my post the same as the title of my blog? Why, yes, it is! As I was driving to work yesterday, I was thinking about an im chat I had with my brother-in-law the night before. And... yes, for those that read my blog a lot... I do tend to think A LOT on my drive to work twice a week! I guess it is because I am alone and have quiet. Anyway, I had been chatting on AOL with Keith and he had asked me if Tim and I had thought anymore about moving to SC. My reply to him was not really a simple one. It went something like this...

Tim II has teenage drama going on with his best friend of forever and forever. It is making me nuts and I wish he and Patrick would just make up. It is all over a girl Patrick likes and he can't seem to figure out how to be with a girl and still be a good friend. I hope he figures it out soon because it is sure hurting my heart.

Savannah is not happy because I put her in homeschool PE and she is the ONLY GIRL and how on earth could I do that to her and ruin her life?

My niece who lives in Virginia is planning a WINTER WEDDING in Missouri and we are in Florida... How can we help her plan something that is over three different states... will the airline tickets go down, will the weather be good, etc...

Sebastian has been sooooooo incredibly busy and into everything. He opened a pocket knife, ate some glue stick and dumped the whole silverware drawer in LITERALLY (I am not kidding here) 2 to 3 minutes.

After I typed that answer to Keith, he came back saying I sounded "worn out". Which I guess I am, but what mom isn't? The truth is that none of these thing are earth shattering. Okay, it will be really sad for me if Timmy and Patrick don't heal their friendship. That may be on the very slight level for me as a serious problem, but the rest are just normal things. These are the things that take up the conversations Tim and I have. Should we be talking about moving and possible future plans? Sure! But, the truth is that right now, for this season, we are talking about the above and maybe sometime in the not so distant future... we will talk about some bigger things. That brings me to my titles - Crazy Everyday Blessings - and what it means. My title sprang into my head when I started my blog and I knew it was the right one for me. My life is usually somewhat Crazy. It is definitely Everyday. And finally I want to try to look at things at the blessings they are - even if they are the things I listed above. These are the blessings I can find in the things above.

Tim II has a compassionate heart. He really cares about people. He has been friends with Patrick since he was 5 years old and though it hurts to see him hurt, I am glad he is the type of guy that would hurt if he was missing his friend. That means he is a good person and I am blessed with that.

Savannah didn't like her PE class and I felt dumb that I hadn't thought she might be the only girl in there. It turns out another girl started this week and Savannah had a blast with her! Another blessing. Not to mention that if I can put Savannah in a PE class, then that means she is healthy enough to run and play and do all those things. That is a huge, huge blessing indeed!

My niece, Sarah, getting married ANYWHERE and at ANYTIME is a blessing because she is happy. The summer before this one, she sat on my couch saying she would never find THE ONE and now she has. It is also a blessing because she asked us to be a part of her wedding and that is a special request and for that I am thankful.

Sebastian getting into everything... where is the blessing? Again, I could go with the easy answer that it means he is healthy and he can get into everything. The not so easy answer is that I can look at his little mind moving and I know he is going to make my life interesting all the rest of my days. I will have memories and stories to tell and all because God put him in my life. That is a blessing!

Yes, there are times I am worn out and yes there are times when I feel like I will lose my mind, but in the end these Crazy Everyday Blessings are exactly what I have always hoped my life would be.

Friday Feast

Feast One Hundred & Eight
Appetizer
If you could have a free subscription to any magazine, which one would you like to have?
My first thought was a scrapbooking magazine. I can't remember exactly which one I like though. I guess I would have to go to Barnes and Nobles to browse. Then I read somebody answered People. I really like that one too, but I never buy it. I just hope the check out person is slow when I want to read about Tim McGraw or somebody like that.

Soup - Describe your living room (furnishings, colors, etc.).
My living room is two shades of blue, but I think it just looks like one shade of blue. I have a white chair rail that goes all around my living area. I have a traditional blue sofa and two burgundy rocking chairs. I have a large, rectangle, blue area rug. I have an enormous 6 ft long, 150 gallon saltwater aquarium on one wall. It needs fish and live rock, but this is Tim's expensive work in progress. I have lots of family photos on the walls and a print of Jesus - Keepers of the Promise. The print is a rendition of the Jesus statue in John Pennekamp National Park in Key Largo. Finally, I have my favorite thing. I love, love, love this... I have a 60 inch Sony HD TV. It feels like my own mini theater and I don't even have to leave home.

Salad - What does the shape of a circle make you think of?
Walmart Smiley Faces!

Main Course - Name 3 things in your life that you consider to be absolute necessities.
Okay, I pondered this... does this mean things as in people, feelings, emotions or does this mean things as in inadamant objects? Top things would be family, love, Jesus if you take it one way. Top things as in THINGS would be House, Car, Electronics (that wonderful tv with a DVR, computer, digital camera, laptop, microwave). How did we live before electronics?

Dessert - What was the last really funny movie you watched?

The last comedy was Failure to Launch. It was cute... super funny - NO. I can't remember what I watched before that that was really funny.

To have bangs or not have bangs... that IS the question?

I can't remember when Savannah decided she wanted to grow her bangs out. I think it was sometime around Christmas last year. Now, I am not so out of it that I don't know the style is to not have bangs, I guess. I mean none of my nieces have bangs and I knew that. When Savannah was a baby and needed her hair trimmed, I just automatically gave her bangs. I had bangs, so it made sense. My mom liked bangs, I like bangs, shouldn't Savannah like bangs? And so the day came when Savannah realized that most every other girl she knew did not have bangs. She came home and told me, "Mom, Elizabeth has longer bangs that I do... they go down the side of her face. I want mine like that." I cringed! I remember when my niece, Kristine, wanted to grow her bangs out. Her mom sort of cringed too. She bought her some headbands and told her she had to keep her bangs out of her eyes. I took that wisdom and went out and bought headbands. I bought thick ones and thin ones, bright ones and pastel ones, you name it... I bought it. Barrettes don't works so well in her hair because it is really fine. That brings us to this whole last year. There were days when I wanted to grab the scissors and cut those blasted bangs SO BAD! They were always in her face and I could not see those beautiful eyes. I bit my lip and let her grow and grow them. I reminded her, my mom reminded her, my sister reminded her that she NEEDED to keep the "growth in progress bangs" pulled back with a headband. I would say she only listened half the time. Finally, in the last few weeks or so... there has been a sort of light at the end of the tunnel. Her bangs have gotten long enough to part to one side or pull all her hair back in a pony tail. I will take her to get her annual pictures soon and I was thinking I may be able to actually like her hairstyle with no bangs now. THEN... THEN... THEN... she comes to me yesterday morning and says, "Mom, I want to cut my bangs and look like yours again." Just like that! AHHHHHHHH!!! I told her no. She was like why??? I told her I had to think about it. Why do I care? I care because I am so afraid she will get them cut and then a week later decide she wants to grow them out again... Thus beginning the whole long hair in the face trauma again. I CAN'T DO IT!!!! I told her I had to ponder it for awhile. Part of me wants to cut those bangs and do it quick. I really love her with bangs, but I know it is not the exact style all the other girls wear. These are the kind of problems I like to have. They aren't real problems, but they fulfill my life and are what memories are made of. By the way, the pictures below are as follows - Savannah as Cousin It, Savannah will all her hair pulled back in a pony tail after swimming today, Savannah with bangs, and ME when I was little. Those are my parents in there too, my picture is stuck in the frame permanently. So, you get my parents too... cute couple, huh?

A recap of our family reunion week...

As I was driving to work this morning, I realized I hadn't posted a lot of the pictures I took from our family week. Some of my pictures didn't turn out, but I did still get quite a few good ones. I just need to contact everyone and have them email me their shots. There were LITERALLY times when we had 5 different people taking pictures with their cameras at the same time. It was a little obnoxious! Let's see... My sister, Leann, new hubby, Chris, and son Josh arrived on Sunday evening, as did Sarah and Daniel. Tabi, her boyfriend, Caleb, and Joanna arrived on I think Tuesday evening. My mom had a nice dinner at her house on Sunday night and then again on Tuesday night. Everyone got to just hang out and visit with each other. I forgot my camera on some of those nights, sorry. Thursday night, my mom reserved the back room at Applebee's and had a sort of reception for Leann and Chris. My sister, Michelle and my mom got them a real wedding cake. It was so nice and a great idea. No, I didn't think of it. I don't know why I lack in that area, but I do. My mom and Michelle always think of those things and I am way behind them. We had a nice dinner and just enjoyed each other's company. Sebastian was really good too. We don't take him out to eat much since he doesn't like to sit. It was really nice to have the whole backroom to let him wander around. Everyone left to go back home at varying times and days, but it was really nice that everyone got together. I guess the next time we will all be together will be at Sarah's wedding. Here are the photo highlights.

My kids being nice to each other!

Tim II and Savannah
Our mom, my sisters - Leann and Michelle and me.
Tim II and Caleb

The cutest little boy...

Sebastian

Me and my sweetie...

Yes, I am hiding from the camera!

My boys having a good time!

Tim II and Sebastian

Sarah and Daniel

Future Bride and Groom

Joanna and Josh

Not a couple!

Brother and Sister

Leann and Chris

Newlyweds
Tabi and Caleb

Longtime Sweethearts

Future engaged couple
My mom... probably the sweetest, most kind person I know.

Friday Feast on Sunday

Feast One Hundred & Seven - Yet another blog I found does these feast questions. I know I should get a real life, but for now... my mind is tired and these give me ideas to write.

Appetizer
What color is your car?
Blue

Soup
If you could wake up tomorrow with full training in another occupation and a job in that field, what would it be?
Hmmm... I had to think about this one. I would not actually choose another job over being mommy to my kids and homeschooling them. I do have a job that is a form of employment and while it is not very exciting... it is a wonderful job that allows me to be home with my kids. If I could do any other job, I guess it would be some type of research. Maybe a research for a lawyer or a journalist type research job. I don't really know exactly, but I like looking for info on things, trying to figure something out and I think that would be a fun job.

Salad
How many times in your life have you had the flu (or something similar)?
Gosh, I would say if I am 34... then I probably have had it 34 times. Some years not at all and some years a few times.

Main Course
What is something that has happened to you this week that you didn't expect?
I went to Toys R Us with my mom and got Sebastian his birthday present - a Simon Says Sit n Spin. I wasn't planning on going to Toys R Us at all. I was going grocery shopping! The next thing I knew we were there. I had originally gone to see if there was party stuff for both Savannah and Sebastian. I didn't even know this Sit n Spin existed and did not have that on my list of things to get for him. Then I saw it and decided it was a good match for him! Shhh... don't tell him what he is getting for his birthday!

Dessert
How old were you when you had your first kiss?
I kissed Jeff Cotton when I was 12.

I was mistaken... the woman in our freezer is NOT Superwoman... she is Invisible Woman...

So, I was talking to Tim about my last blog entry. I asked him if he had seen "frozen super woman" so I could take a picture of her. It was then that he informed me that she wasn't Super Woman and even sort of had the tone of like "how can you NOT know she is NOT Super Woman!". Ummm... I guess I don't really have all of my superheroes straight. It seems that Tim recalls exactly how she came to live in our freezer. Sometime when Timmy was about 8 years old, they had happy meal type toys at one of the fast food places. He, with much delight, came into possession of this Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four superhero group. It seems that Miss Invisible Woman would turn BLUE if placed in the freezer and a magical "4" appears on the front of her. If you take her out of the freezer, she "dissappears" - okay, she really just turns white and the "4" goes away. At any rate, we created a new superhero because she is the HEADLESS Invisible Woman these days! And, yes, I actually talked to Tim about how when Timmy gets his own place someday that I think we should wrap her up as a gift and give it to him. It seems only right that she should move on with him since she has made it through 3 freezers and one house move with us!

Friday... Five... I started on Friday, but it ended up being Saturday morning when I finished!

Because I love reading things on the computer, I find other great blogs. Somehow that led me to this one and she does a Friday Five sort of like the My Life Monday that has taken a vacation for the time being. This is her blog... Quiet Life . I tried to upload pictures, but blogger is not being nice. Maybe I will add them tomorrow. Enjoy!


Friday.....Five Things Meme

Five things in my freezer: waffles, homemade lasagna, somekind of saltwater fish food stuff, philly cheese steaks, and a headless frozen super-woman figure... she somehow made it into our freezer 9 years ago and has lived there ever since. She did fall out and break her head off about 7 or 8 years ago... thus... she is the HEADLESS frozen super-woman figure!

Five things in my closet: Which closet? Technically, I don't have a bedroom closet... I have a laundry room that used to be a walk in closet and I have a tiny space to hang my clothes. Someday, it will be a walk in closet again. Not sure when that day will arrive. So, what is in the little tiny hanging clothes spot? Clothes (who would have thought?) boxes of tile to finish "said" walk-in closet, Pokemon Limited Edition Gold Trading Card in Original box (yes, it is my HUSBAND'S), an Othello game that has been played exactly once, and a very special tablecloth that Debi gave to me awhile back. At the time she gave it to me, I really liked it... now I love it even more because it reminds me of her.

Five things in my car: sunglasses, work badge, packing tape, cds, stroller

Five things in my purse: checkbook, debit/credit cards, a little bit of money (shhh... don't tell anyone) keys, and a St. Christopher Patron Saint of Travelers coin that Tim bought me when I was traveling every weekend in May - 3 years ago.

Five things on my mind: Did I make the right homeschool co-op choices? How will we find the money to get to Sarah's wedding? Should I put Savannah in a homeschool PE class? Which things should I get Savannah and Sebastian for their coming up birthdays and/or Christmas? Making myself lift those dreaded weights at least 5 times a week.

Wedding dress shopping...

Before I write anything on this topic, I want to stress that NONE of these pictures shows THE dress that Sarah will be wearing. Just in case on the off change her groom would see the photos. These dresses were the runners up to THE dress. Okay, back to our regularly scheduled blog post. My nieces, their brother, their mom, her husband, and two boyfriends visited all last week. During that time we stole away and went wedding dress shopping! Wow... it was fun! Sarah tried on 5 or 6 dresses. Her sisters tried on several bridesmaids dresses and even Savannah tried on a few dresses for fun. None of the dresses Savannah tried on really suit her age, but she had fun being all girley with the others. In the end Sarah found the perfect dress. My mom, Grandma, bought it for her and yes, I forgot to take pictures of the actual purchase because I was about to cry! I don't know why, but I am sure been a weepy soul this last week or so. Oh and I don't have any shots of Tabi except with Sarah in THE dress. Darn! Tabi looked so pretty, but you will have to wait till after the wedding! Anyway here is a little photo shoot of our day out shopping! Enjoy!

Did you know I am related to Mr. Clean???

Yep, Mr. Clean is my new Brother-in-law! Do you think he can get me a deal on Magic Erasers? Maybe it is all in who you know!

Saying goodbye to our highchair...

This past week we said goodbye to our highchair. Silly, you may say, but it was in a sense a sad goodbye. You have to know the highchair's history to get a sense of why it is hard to say goodbye. As some of you know, my kids are way far apart in age. Tim II is 9.5 years older than Savannah. I had wanted a baby girl desperately from the time Tim II was about 6. When I was pregnant with her I planned and dreamed of every last detail. I looked at baby furniture, supplies, clothes with a strange passion. My co-workers gave me a great shower and a Toys R Us gift certificate. Many, many months before she was even born, I headed out and purchased my dream highchair. Who knew a highchair purchase could give a person so much joy? We didn't use that highchair for at least 6 months. There is sat waiting for its day! Over the next 2-3 years, we used it daily. I took pictures of her little face eating and sleeping! LOL! Over this time, Tim and I had decided with pretty much complete certainty that we were not going to have anymore babies. I gave away most of the baby stuff... all but the highchair. I have no idea why I was not going to part with it. We would clean the garage many times and Tim would say something about getting rid of the highchair. It was like a little bit of hope that maybe someday there would be just one more baby. As much as he would have liked the big highchair out of his garage, he put up with it. I think he realized early on that I was irrational about it and it was not worth the fight. Go forward 5 years from Savannah's birth. At this point, I really do believe we are not going to have anymore babies. Afterall, she is 5 years old. If we were going to change our minds, we would have certainly done it long before this. For those that don't know, I would pray and pray often that God would either take my want for another baby away or change Tim's heart to want another baby. Well, Savannah turned 5 in October and on a Sunday morning in December, Tim woke up to tell me we should have another baby. I remember it as clearly as if he said it yesterday. By January, we were pregnant with Sebastian and he entered our lives on the last day of September - very close to 6 years to the day Savannah was born. Of course, we didn't have any baby things. We had to get all new everything. Except for the highchair that was sitting in the garage just waiting to make its re-entry into our lives. Sebastian will be two soon. My other two kids used their highchairs until they were about 3 years old. Sebastian is NOT like my other kids. He doesn't really eat. I don't know how he sustains life on what he ingests in a day. I have found that he will snack a little here and there if he can walk, but not sitting in his highchair. With this knowledge, I decided it was time to move on and pass the highchair down the road. I listed it on freecycle and by nightime it was gone. This is just one more step in knowing my last baby is growing up.

This child does not play with TOYS...

I know I have not been blogging as much, but I really plan to get back at it. I think all the illness is gone and I think I have a somewhat clearer head now. So, on with it... Over the last few days I have really noticed that my little boy does not play with toys. Actually, I have known this for a a long time, but have noticed more these last few days. We have a nice little area where we keep lots of age appropriate things. You know the light up, bells and whistles, board books, cars, etc. He rarely ever looks at these things. I have tried the switching out a different batch every month or so to make him think they are new. It doesn't really work for him. He does, however, love anything that is real. He likes pots and pans, phones, remotes, dishes, craft supplies, keys, printer paper, pens, dvds, cds, etc. He will spend time plotting how he can get to something and make a mad dash off with it. I am pretty happy that I can put my hand out and say, "Please" and he usually gives it to me. Another good thing is that he is a little fanatic about putting things back. Even though we pulled all those pans out of the cupboard, he also put them all back. (Okay, so they were backwards, upside down and thrown in there) They were still put back. Oh and in the first picture he is ACTUALLY PLAYING with TOY TOOLS. I only suspect he did this because he believes he can take something apart with those tools. Here is a little photo album of what Sebastian does to entertain himself!

Chocolate...

Do you all remember the post where I told some of the many things I love about my husband? One of those things was that he buys me chocolate. This evening, we had the not so brilliant idea of watching movie before the kids went to bed. Now, if it were a kid movie, that probably would have been fine... but it was not all that interesting for kids. So... they were not super quiet and content. I, however, was enjoying the movie. I really wanted to HEAR it! Let's just say I was ready for bedtime and quiet. Tim must have got the idea when I clenched my teeth and said "TIME FOR BED" and off he went to buy some chocolate! What a sweetie! I think I will keep him and oh... they are asleep and it is quiet! Ahhhh... I love bedtime and chocolate.

Christmas in August???

Well, not really... but I did just get back from rubberstamping Christmas cards! A friend of mine, Melissa, made her own cards last year. I absolutely loved them, but for some reason have been quite intimidated by rubberstamping. About 11 years ago, my sister-in-law, Debi, tried to get me interested in the whole rubberstamping hobby thing. I just didn't really do well with it. Next she tried scrapbooking and that did finally click with me! Anyway, back to the present... so Melissa made these wonderful cards. We joked about how I wanted to make some next year, but I would need to do it early or I would be too stressed to get them all done. Much to my happiness, Melissa bought stamps to share and ordered me the cardstock I needed. Then she cut all of my paper to size and folded it. She walked me through the whole process and I did it! I completed 40 cards in one evening! I am so excited. I would love to post a picture of them, but some of you are getting these in the mail in a few months... no peeking! Anyway, I am so happy she helped out and I got really nice cards done. Do you think it is too early to mail them or would that be silly??? (Okay, I am not serious, well... maybe a little, but I won't mail them yet!) I just have to remember where I am going to put them... note to self... top shelf of book closet. Don't forget to mail!