I am DYING to show you

Owen's Christmas present! I have finally begun working on my nephew Owen's present, he is the only baby/toddler in the family and I am making him something, and I am DYING to post it. Unfortunately my sister is one of the 3 readers of the blog and I want it to be a surprise. Dang! I have been taking pictures and in late December I will be able to post his present as well as any other's I get done between now and the 24th. It is too...I can't use an adjective because I may give it away. No hints because I don't want my sister to guess!

I have had a rough week of surprise pests, and failed plans, but now I am back on track! Yippee!

Science Girl

My girl H is working on her Science Fair project. Here are a couple of snaps of her and her lab partner/BFF "L". They did a mandatory plant project...believe me, if D would have had a say she would have been splitting atoms or something. H has been hard at work all week on the dang thing, whilst Bubba has been homework free and rubbing it in.

Seriously Yummy. I Don't Know If I Can Wait...

This afternoon I made a "Caramel Fudge Cheesecake" for my staff lunch tomorrow. God Bless my Sister-in-law who gave me the recipe last Thanksgiving. What you can't see in the picture is a layer of my favorite brownies and a layer of caramel under that rich cheesecake top. I am drooling just thinking about it!!!Super easy...here goes:

Caramel Fudge Cheesecake

1 pkg. brownie mix (your favorite kind) + needed ingredients
1 pkg (14 oz.) caramels
1/4 c. evaporated milk
1-1/4 c. chopped pecans (I DO NOT use this because of my no nuts int he dessert rule!)
2 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz.) softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 egg
2 squares (1 oz each) semisweet chocolate (like Baker's) melted
2 squares (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate (like Baker's) melted

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Spread in greased Springform pan and bake at 350' for 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
In microwave safe bowl melt (unwrapped) caramels with evaporated milk. Pour over brownie crust and sprinkle pecans over caramel (or not). In large bowl combine cream cheese and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in melted chocolate and bake at 350' for 35 - 40 minutes or until almost set. Chill overnight. Store unused pieces (yeah, right) in the fridge.

H saw me putting the finishing touches on the cheesecake and asked when WE were eating it. I said there is no WE eating this cheesecake sweet pea. I promised that she and I would make another next week for a family Christmas celebration since her favorite is cheesecake and my favorite is brownies.

Do You Think So?

I went to the Doctor today. I was supposed to have a check-up/check-in from my recent hospital stay and after a sleepless night and finally popping an "in case of emergency" pill I decided that I would call and make an appointment. So, miraculously, I called in at 8:30 and was granted a 10:15 appointment.

The doctor listened to my heart and did an EKG. She said I was normal and everything sounded great. I asked why I had to take an emergency pill and admitted that I was up for hours last night and keep getting myself worked up over having another episode. She said it was anxiety. My ticker is good and isn't showing signs of distress. Just my head. I admitted that my house was for sale and my husband was about to move out of state and she confirmed the diagnosis. Anxiety. Can I have some of those happy pills?

I Will Survive...

I made it! I survived 16 hours of 3rd grade field trip. It is over and I only have 3 more days of work before I am off for Christmas. I will have 1.5 kid free days before the kids are out of school next Friday. Yeah, baby.

Unless something happens between now and 6:00 a.m....

I am stuck going on this silly field trip tomorrow. Yesterday I thought I had received a stay of execution when Bubba came home sick at 12:15. It turns out that eating rotten apples at your teacher's birthday party will make you have stomach cramps and barf in the bathroom. Who knew? Bubba bounced back and by 12:30 was eating his way thru the afternoon and evening and acting his normal kooky self. Dang. I am still going.

And?? We received this asinine letter home from the school telling us that we/kids/no one is allowed to bring electronic devices on the 3.5 to 4 hour bus ride each way. Humina what?? I have to admit to being the rebel and loading the ipod with a book on tape from the library and rockin music. They will never see the tiny white cord going up my chest and into my ear under my coat. And if they do? Give me a break. I am an adult and I am paying to go on this trip. It is a stinking ipod for pete sake. I am going to sit in the front of the bus and pretend I am asleep until we deboard.

I have packed a tote with books, sudoku, water and snacks and am going to suck it up and quit whining and make the best of this wretched trip. I keep chanting "It is for my beautiful boy. It his for my beautiful boy. I can do this. Stop whining!"

Screwed

As I mentioned in my last blog, I was recently in the hospital for heart issues. Today I receive a letter in the mail from Blue Cross Blue Shield. First let me say I have not received any paperwork from them regarding billing for my recent hospital visit. So the letter received today reads that they are "denying my request for approval for hospital stay." What? Their reasoning claims that I should have never been admitted to the hospital and I should have received care in a "observational setting." What? Believe me it was NOT my choice to stay. I begged to go home. And at one point during my stay, I was moved to a different room because the medication I was receiving was not working and they had to monitor me "closer" because of the risks. 21.5 hours in A fib is not an observational issue. Pu-leeze.

I am beginning to wonder why we even have medical insurance. When Bubba had his issues earlier in the year we fought a "denial" on his CT scan. We had to pay $600 out of pocket for a CT scan to show that his jaw bone was disintegrating so he could have a surgery. What?

As far as I am concerned I welcome the job change and new medical insurance as of January 5. Watch, our new insurance will be BCBS.

Believe me when I say there is some serious letter writing in my future.

Bidnes...

Just a post to take care of business (see the title for the southern pronunciation) and get caught back up so I can promise to be better and post every day again.

First, I can't post any of my projects because one of the three people that actually reads my blog is a recipient of something (no hints) so I am mums on projects until after Christmas.

Second, this has been the month/weeks of the health problems. My Mom has breast cancer (stage one) and had a very successful lump-ectomy, and will begin radiation soon. I was in the hospital because of an irregular and scary fast heart beat, which really stunk. And my Dad just keeps on getting bad news about his health. The most recent is a heart issue.

Third, my son is driving me crazy. His eating manners are atrocious. And I swear all I do is yell.

Fourth, our house has been on the market for 5 or weeks (lost track at this point) and we haven't had one single showing. I know the market sucks, but D moves to Ohio January 4th. Single parenting sucks.

Sixth, I am excited for Christmas. This season has been stress free (who da thunk it with the heart thingy) and I am very excited for our ski trip with my family.

Seventh, my son has a field trip this Friday. When mentioning my plans (to be on the field trip) to other parents at school they (every single one of them) have told me this is the worst trip for the school. We have to go to Jamestown (I've been 3 times) for the day. It is a 3.5 hour drive one way. We leave at 6:15 am and do not return until 10 pm. Every comment made about the trip is negative because of the drive, but as well the fact that Jamestown is outside and it is bitterly cold and wet. All day. Outside. Why do they schedule an outside field trip in DECEMBER? Originally D was scheduled to go with Bubba, but with the job change I told him I would go because D's last day at work is 12/24 and the clock is ticking on his experiments. I have done everything...bribe Bubba with a day at an amusement park...money...nothing works he wants to go. AND I paid hansomly for this silly trip back in October when I thought D was going. Hopefully one of us will get sick before Friday. Maybe I should go lick the cart handle at Target or something.

On a lighter note...here are a few pictures from the last week or so. H had a band concert and is showing off her Tammy Wynette curly hair-do and uniform and Bubba went to an (ALL GIRL) horseback riding birthday party. His first ride.

Driving Miss Psycho

I was driving home from picking up the kids this morning and got kind of sad...as I drove down the main artery that connects our house to school I passed 5 cars with people I know coming the other direction. It was almost too weird. It made me sad to think that in a few months (hopefully sooner) I will be in a new place and I won't have familiar faces again. It made me think of Rochester and how I had such a hard time (B.J. H.-that is before Jennifer) because I just wanted someone to smile or recognize me in the grocery store. What crazy things our minds do!

Brought to You by the Letter C

I know it has been ages. I am a looozer and hopefully will pull my head out of the ground and start blogging again. To kick things off I received a challenge from Jennifer and Susan.

Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things . . . nothing made up. And you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name questions.


WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Cara
Four Letter Word: Crap (My daughter gets silent lunch for saying this at school, but I say it every stinking day.)
Boy Name: Colin (I always dreamed of naming my son Colin, but D wouldn't have it.)
Girl Name: Camile (Bubba was going to be a Camile at one point before he was officially a boy.)
Occupation: Cabana girl
Color: Chartreuse (Because I like green and it sounds cool.)
Something You Wear: Cami
Beverage: Coke (Diet)
Food: Candy or Cheesecake
Something Found in a Bathroom: Cotton balls
Place: Colorado
Reasons for Being Late: Congestion
Something You Shout: Crap! or Oh Crum! (My mother's new word to replace crap.)

Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose

My daughter has to wear a knee length skirt to chapel every Monday, and if she wears a skirt to school it has to be at least knee length. This is a good thing, but a pain to find. Last week she tried to wear her denim skirt, but realized it was far too short for the dress code. So, after looking for days, I bought a $5.00 pair of jeans at Ross and ripped out the seams and made my own.



It worked so well that I took a pair of white corduroy high water pants of H's and made another. It took about 30 minutes...each skirt and was really easy. Start by ripping out (picking out the threads, NOT tearing or cutting material) the seam that runs along the inside of each thigh (don't rip out the seams on the parts of the leg you are cutting off, just cut the leg off at about where you want the hem + a few inches to save time). Next rip out the seam in front up to the zipper and in the back up to the base of the pockets. Keep the natural fold of the material, it is like having all your sewing prepped and ready to sew! The worst part is picking out and off threads, it makes a mess.



Then just play around with how you are going to lay the front and back so they are flat. I used the base of the leg (the part I cut off) for the gore (the V in the front and back). Pin it together and put some thread that matches the other stitching in the machine and go for it! My sister suggested a cute floral corduroy or something funky, but H wanted plain because she is wearing striped knee socks with it.

If you need further directions/help let me know!

Okay...Okay...

I know...I know. I am a slacker and blogging has not been a priority lately. I promise I will try and make an effort.

Here is Bubba and his tooth loss this week. Including the two that got popped out of his mouth by his peer's hand playing football this week, he has lost a total of 5 teeth. He is slow at loosing teeth, which I guess is a good thing. Stronger teeth? This boy and his mouth. Oi Vey.

It is a cool and rainy day here. So I am making homemade tomato soup ala Angry Chicken. Recipe here. Also Chicken and Wild Rice Soup ala PAIIR's cookbook. Sorry no link. If you aren't cool enough to own a PAIIR cookbook, then call Jennifer, she may still have some in her basement??? Who knows. Anywho...soup's on...and already bought my roasted garlic Artisan loaf...maybe serving with a Gorgonzola Walnut Salad...who knows? I am in a mood. I need a change of pace from the hum drum food we've been eating all week.

Vindication.

It is me, the long lost friend and sister. I have been busy keeping the house immaculate (for no one to view no less) and haven't been in the blogging world in a while.

Today I substituted again. This time it was for the Computer Lab teacher. On Friday she teaches computer to 8th graders, 6th graders, 5th graders and Kindergarten. It was a very boring day. All the classes had free play or easy programs so I basically baby sat all day, but hey, I got paid to do so.

My only highlight was making a first grader cry hysterically. I had heard her say diarrhea to a boy sitting next to her twice and asked her not to use potty talk to tease or get a rise out of the boy sitting next to her. She looked at me disrespectfully and smirked. A few minutes later she did the same thing using pee and poop teasing the boy next to her that he "peed and pooped his pants." I looked at the teacher and told her that the little girl was using potty talk and the teacher sent her to sit in a chair off to the side, the class happened to be in the computer lab using the computers for their Accelerated Reading quizzes. The little girl started to cry so hysterically that she was sent to the office to the principal.

My work was done. I felt vindicated.

Chloe Stole The Show

It's pretty bad when the dog steals the show on Halloween night. And it is also pretty bad when you are scrambling to make costumes for your children at 5:30 p.m. Halloween night, and your dog has had her costume for weeks.


Bubba was a Red LEGO with a little help from a moving box, solo cups and a can of red spray paint. Hannah was Sacagewea with a little help from the fabric stash, my brown belt and some make-up. And Chloe stole the show as Pooch-a-Hontas, complete with tomahawk and wig.


Don't get me wrong, I am NOT the "buy a costume for the dog" type. Nor do I baby my dog or carry her around in a bag or basket. She is a dog. A pet. Hannah bought her the costume at Petco for $5.00.

Isn't It Purty?

I've been home all morning working on the house and "styling" it so I could take some pictures for the MLS. I am trying to convince D that we should put the sign in the yard tonight when all the trick-or-treaters are out roaming the streets. He doesn't want to because he thinks they'll call and we won't be ready.
The top one was the study, this one is of the back yard.
Aren't bedrooms boring?
My artsy bathroom picture.
Trying to be artsy in the living room...
And I had to hide the hole in the island (where the outlet used to be before we tore up the floor) with the chair. Can you tell?
Man! Rooms are so hard to take pictures in.

Multitasking

It has been a shock to learn that my sister of 39 years, who is the queen of multitasking cannot do anything else while talking on the phone. I have personally seen her make a four coarse meal for her family, feed her grandson, bake cookies, answer the door and let the dog out simultaneously, but the other day I was fabric shopping while talking to her and it blew her mind. I do everything while talking on the phone! She admitted to me today, while she was talking to me, that she had been trying to clean while talking on the phone and ended up just carrying the sponge around with her :)
Isn't it strange to learn something about your sibling after so long? Or did I know that and just forgot it? My memory stinks.
My hurdles? I seriously cannot broil anything without burning it. I am distracted too easily. I know there are a ton of things...
So here is a question...what can't you do?

Is There Time?

H and I were researching costumes this afternoon and came across this family costume:
I want to be Mt. Rushmore for Halloween now. And did you see the little Liberty Bell? Can we do it? Should I even try?

Sniff....sniff...she's getting old

Can you believe that she is Eleven today? What a beautiful girl. We have been
battling the "I'm tired of yelling at you, your tired of listening to me" fights lately. Ever have those days that you feel as if your only communication is to yell? Pick? That is us right now. When I look at the picture I ask myself why? Are you crazy? She is beautiful, smart, has a wonderful, giving heart and everyone loves her.

My Cookie Man

Bubba had a project due today. It was a cookie bake-off/contest.
Each 3rd grader brought in a batch of their favorite cookies, decorated their desk with a theme, and entered their cookies in a category to compete in. S and I made my world famous Melting Moments renamed to "Bony Moments" by S ( I didn't even going to go into the weird connotations the name may suggest). He made them in the shape of small dog bones and frosted them. I ponied up and sewed him a dog bone table cloth and apron, he made a chef's hat with dog stamps on it, and I bought two dog dishes to serve the cookies in. Here he is after the contest, posing in our dining room. He took home "Best Small Cookie" awards, but claims that he won every category he entered because his were the favorite cookie, but the teacher had to give some of the awards to the other students. Humility? Maybe they teach that in the fourth grade.

Beuller? Beuller? Anyone?

Yes, I survived Substitute Teaching '08. I came home unscathed. TO tell you the truth it was a little weird. First, the teacher was there (she had to drive the bus for a 5th grade field trip). Second, she did not have a lesson plan prepared until I sat down with her at 8:30 (school begins at 7:55, but her first class did not start until 8:53). Third, and I know that I am jinxing myself but here goes, I don't think I would ever choose to teach the 7th grade. Ever again. Ever. This particular teacher teaches Bible to the ENTIRE 7th grade at one time. Yes, I know that I am a wimp and when you ask how many 7th graders are in the entire school you will roll your eyes, there are 30 7th graders. Big whoop. But can you say disrespectful age?
I also taught two 4th grade Spanish classes, that were very easy considering I don't speak Spanish, a 6th grade Bible class that was a breeze (probably because I know all those kids and can call them by name) and finally a 7th and 8th grade enrichment speech class.
My favorite? Probably the speech class (with some of those same rotten kids) and surprisingly the Spanish classes. The speech class was very interesting because I felt like I contributed to actually teach and make them think about their assignments. I read over the speeches they were working on and gave suggestions and ideas. That was cool. Getting locked out of the classroom during speech class because they closed the door on me? Not so cool.

A Little Less Crabby

Now that I have gotten my early voting and political badgering issues off my chest I wanted to tell you how grateful I am to have such wonderful friends like you. Thank you all so much for my birthday wishes yesterday, Rhonda or Bailey must be next? I'm thinking Bailey was late October...
All the wishes were great and made my day. I also wanted to thank you for the wonderful comments and helpful hints! It makes me feel close to you and happy that I am not going thru any of my stuff alone.
I am off to substitute today. I'm a tiny bit nervous, but have packed some back up at my sister's suggestion. I have a few group games in my bag that I can whip out if need be. Off to teach Spanish! Oi Vey!

To All You Evil Polictial Phone Solicitors...

I have already freaking voted. I happen to live in a state that has early voting, and my favorite local library, that is less than a mile away from my home, offers two weeks of early voting. So why are you still calling me 6 times a day? Stop calling me.
I find your new tactic of using a residential name and telephone number listing on my caller id particularly frustrating and deceitful. Stop calling me.
Every person that I come in contact with during the coarse of my week has already voted, every friend and co-worker has also already taken advantage of the early voting as well. Heck, one local establishment offers "in car" voting for the elderly and disabled. Even my disabled and elderly friends and parents of friends have all voted. So why are you still calling me and running incessant ads 24/7 as well as sending me at least 3 pieces of political junk mail in my mail each day? Stop bothering me!
Don't you understand that I vote on policy, but when you bother me to the point of stalking me I tend to want to vote for your opposition because I hate you so much?
I promise, when I move, I will never again register to vote as "undecided party." I think there should be a disclaimer below that box stating that you get twice as many calls and pieces of junk mail when you check this box.
I already know I voted for the winner in the Presidential race. Woo hoo!

It'sBeen A Long Time...A Long Lonely Lonely Lonely Time...

I am very sorry it has been so quiet around here. A few words to describe my last few days...quiet, stress, busy, stress, hormones (NOT my own), tired and annoyed.

First let me say that the house stuff is coming along, after a painting debacle that added years and time to my life and project. We are not done, but I think I can see the light. Marital counseling has not been considered or ordered, so that is a plus. Funny fact/info...our Realtor told us to take EVERYTHING down that is a photograph, has a name on it, etc. His advice, which I am taking since I am desperate to sell and don't all together disagree, is that any person, regardless of race should be able to picture them self in your home. I must say that when I look at houses I don't like seeing photographs, but I swear that I have patched every wall and am practically repainting every room because of this advice. That, and my house looks completely bare.

Second, I fear the change is near. H was unbelievably moody and hormonal yesterday. Practically broke down in tears at the book fair yesterday after school. My parents had sent each of the kids $10 to spend and she wanted these "emoters"-a cute little face that clips on to your ipod headphones. (Hannah worked at summer camp all summer and saved up enough for a shuffle). Well Sam had already bought them for her for her birthday on Monday and I was trying to steer her away from them telling her that Nana said a book, not other crap. She had been all leechy and clingy since we hooked up at the fair, so much so that I kept asking her what was wrong...and she lost it. I swear that I can barely survive my own hormones sometimes. What am I gong to do about her now?

More soon. Got to go to work...BTW, I have my first subbing gig on Friday! I am teaching Spanish, Bible and Public Speaking. And I don't speak Spanish...

Maybe I am A Little...Goal Oriented?

I know, more blogging about goals and accomplishments. Why am I such a freak that I measure my day and it's success by how much I did?
Today I weeded (with the help of the kids who did an AWESOME job) all the flower beds, spread 8 bags of bark (mulch to you Southerners), weed-eated everything in the yard, cleaned out all the weeds from around the AC unit and BBQ area, DE-caulked the master bathroom, cleaned the baseboards in our room, closet, and the upstairs hall, changed all the furnace filters, and cleaned a portion of the garage to store my new free Craigslist boxes.
My husband? Worked in the lab from 7 - 11, then got home, ate lunch and worked on a Sudoko, then went to work in the garage. He came in to the bathroom where I was de-caulking really excited at about 3:00 pm. He wanted to show me his progress on the bonus room media center doors. I stopped what I was doing and walked upstairs with him to see ONE, uno, ein, decorative door hanging in front of the tv. He looked at me and said, isn't it cool? (It is frosted/etched glass in a solid wood frame.)
And do you know what I thought? Said? Wanted to say? What the H*E*C*K have you been doing all day in the freaking garage??? He looked at me expectantly and I said I really liked the design, which I did. He sighed and asked what was wrong because I wasn't very excited by his door. What I wanted to say/scream/sob was...can you stop being so freaking perfect about this stupid media center that is in a house we are trying to sell and put some damn doors on those cupboards?
Later, now, I realized that he needed the time to work some ideas out, and he is not a psycho goal oriented person like me. What is my problem? D is right. If the media center is done right and is a great design, it could make our house sell faster.

Crazily yours,

Me

Just Getting Ready

Sorry that there is no real news here. Since the decision was made on Wednesday, we have been thinking and prepping for the move. We need to finish our bonus room project...D needs to make some doors...we need to caulk the master bathroom because it is kind of mildewy...and work the magic eraser until the doors and walls are sparkley. I have been painting (all touch up except the ceiling in the bonus room. The ceiling had basketball marks all over it from that blasted game that David bought the kids a few Christmases ago.) I have been taking the dangley beads down from H's closet and replacing the doors.
I went on Craigslist today and snagged our first set of moving boxes (free).
And I took all the crap out of both the kids closets and threw away two garbage bags of trash, one to the "store" at AWANA, one to goodwill, and put two bins in the attic.
Now for the other closets, painting and attic.

Thank you all for the wonderful kind words and prayers. I am very glad to be closer to everyone, at least by a few hours. We will be closer to my brother in Knoxville even. AND Dayton is a non-stop to my parents again. Wooohooo!

And the winner is....

Ohio. As of January 5, 2009 my husband will be working in Ohio. Depending on when we can sell our house, we will be there too!

Now if I can just convince my husband that I don't want to live on a hobby farm...

Fat Greasy and Happy

I am nursing a food baby, a greasy ring around my lips and horribly bad breath as we speak. Tonight D had a bee in his bonnet and had to have Red Robin for dinner. I prepped and thought about what I was going to have, psyched myself up to eat healthy and get my diet moving since only one pair of pants (capris-thank God it is still 80 here) fits currently. I got to RR, sat down and looked at the menu, which I have memorized and started to make my decision. Apple/goat cheese salad, French onion soup with a side salad, a terriaki banzai burger? No, I freeze when I see this French dippy special with garlic fries and cave. I felt I needed the red meat-don't ask-I can justify my food anyway I see fit. JH will understand-shark bait.
We haven't been out to dinner/lunch in ages (not counting the pretzel and other fast food in Washington DC) and I caved! I sat there and only ate half my sandwich, but consumed all the greasy fries. Now I have a food baby (see the movie Juno) and I am a groaning greasy mess.
And No. We have not decided on Ohio. Yes, I do realize it is closer to MN and IA and WA-yahoo!!! But we heard some good feedback today from D's current boss, so things are moving forward. I will let you know as soon as I do.

No progress

So we spent the day talking about the opportunity in Ohio. Should we go? How ae we going to sell the house here?
We spoke to a friend who is a Realtor. We asked him all the Days on Market/pricing questions.
I THINK we are leaning toward moving, but honestly the feel changes by the second here.
Aaargh!!!

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Sorry I have been off the radar. D got a job offer yesterday and it is consuming me/us and I wanted to call Lola and tell hr over the phone before she found out on the blog. She claims she is always the last to know. Which isn't entirely true.

D interviewed for a job in August near his brother and Mom in Ohio. He found out yesterday that he got it and they want a decision on Tuesday. They "had to wait until the end of the fiscal year" before telling/offering him the position. The crappy thing is that D also just got a job/one year research faculty where he currently is. So the conundrum is do we stay or do we go? His big argument is that the housing market is crap and we'd have to sell our house for him to start in January...yikes! And I don't have a job/prospects for Ohio so that means that our income would actually decrease. Throw the kids into the mix and we are sweating bullets and tossing and turning.

Waxing Matilda

It has been my goal in blogging to start showing off projects and sharing ideas with everyone. Here is what we did today. Waxing leaves. Waxed leaves are *supposed* to last from year to year and preserve the leave color. I took a cheap candle I bought at Michaels (yes, Susan, we do have Michaels :) and placed it in a disposable pie plate on the stove on low. I don't know what you'd do with a gas stove or a stove with burners, my stove is smooth surface so I didn't have to worry about spilling wax and making a huge mess. FYI: I tried melting the candle in the microwave and it didn't budge...in fact I melted the bowl handle!


Then Bubba and H collected leaves and started dipping them in the wax. I was a little leery at first, but the kids handled it well and never got burned. Bubba even dipped fingers at one point (without touching the pan). We dipped the leaves then laid them out on waxed paper (good side up) to dry. Drying didn't take long...maybe less than 2 minutes.



The leaves are real pretty. I used them in my dining room table arrangement with some pumpkins from Michaels I bought on clearance last year, and super cute mini pumpkins/bats/crows/corn cobs I bought at Moon's craft store in Rochester before they closed. I think I paid 10 cents for a pack of these mini things. Super cute.




Here is the close up.

No pictures please.

Sorry, no pictures. Because I am A. too lazy to go and get my camera and take one and 2. I couldn't find any on the Target.com site. Yesterday I ran to Target to get something for preschool and an item for Bubba to put in his classroom's Silent Auction basket. The theme of the basket is "Scrapbooking." I know that Target isn't where one would usually go to get scrapbooking things, but I was in a "I only want to go to one store" mood.
In the dollar section of the store I found VERY cute packs of sports themed papers, including volleyball-which I NEVER find, chipboard letters and shapes for said pages and some SUPER cute mini albums. The mini albums our store carried were (a dollar-duh) and the kind where they have a cute cover, a few pages, then a little ribbon to tie the thing together.
My sister is the queen of the mini album for my kids. Every time they come to visit she would make them a mini album about their trip to look at on the way home in the plane and to show all their friends. (My kids always cry on the way home). Bubba still has his from years ago and they are still looked at almost weekly. They are a little tattered, but that is okay.
So I bought a few mini's for myself to stash when I need something for my mom or for a cute little gift.

Only two more years...

My sweet, calm, wonderful husband is having a birthday today. Last night we celebrated by grilling fillet mignon and asparagus topped off with a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting (see picture) from Martha. Today he took these fabulous chocolate cookies from Gugelhopf (a local German bakery) to work. Currently I am baking him his other cookie favorite, snickerdoodles. He requested tacos for dinner and I'm throwing in the snickerdoodles for good measure.
Geez! Are we all about the baked goods?

I also got him this mug (which he will L*O*V*E). The states change color to all blue when the mug gets hot. He and his boss will be fighting over it at work I am sure.

It was a...good...time

It was a fine time. We learned lots of lessons...had more than a few disappointments, but are excited to go back now.

Here is a pic of Bubba on his first ride on the Metro. We dropped H at the bus and had to run home for something, so never actually followed the bus. The bus went straight into the city and we went straight to the Metro station next to the hotel. We rode the Metro in thinking we didn't want to park, etc.

We arrived about 45 min to an hour after the bus, right when the kids were entering the Archives, which was perfect. We met right up.


Here is a really dark pic of H looking over the DOIndependance. I was really into the Archives and couldn't help think of National Treasure the entire time!


After the Archives we went walking with the group H was in (not very exciting or a good use of time, but we learned a lesson.) We went into the Senate Building and ate lunch, looked around for Senators (not really my thing since there was so many other things to do) and got a Representative from NC to give us Gallery tickets (by suggestion of a security guard in the subway to the Capital-almost every person in the Mall that worked there was overly nice and helpful.) We had to meet the group at a certain time for our Capital tour and did that. It was good, beautiful, but was very short. After the tour we went with our special Gallery passes and looked at that, the Rep's were supposed to be meeting about the bail out package, but were on break. So we went to the Library of Congress and hung out 'til we were supposed to meet up again.


Then we took H to meet back up with the group at Union Station for dinner. Where we passed her back to the Chaperone for the 3 hour trolley tour that we did not have tickets for. We then met up the teachers and parents and there was a mutiny by the parents about waiting 3 hours for the kids. We all wanted to go back to the hotel and wait and sleep. We worked that out and were headed to the Metro, when one of H's friends parents said she was going to stay because she didn't want to drive back alone. We (I) offered to drive back with her rather than go on the Metro, adding about an hour to our trip.




We went back and slept.

Friday was a bust. We got screwed in traffic...met up with the group late and H was back in the gallery (decision made by her chaperone) so we spent forever trying to find her and get her back with us. We then, with no clue, walked about 2 miles to get to the Bureau of Engraving to show the kids the money being printed, not realizing that the free tickets were gone by 9 am. Hoofed it all the way to the White House lawn (about another 2 miles), to find it closed because of a VIP, then to the FBI building (about a mile) to find they don't give tours anymore (our guide book was from 1997!). D was so angry by this point that we were all surly and crabby and only had 15 minutes to tour the Portrait Gallery before we were to leave for our Monument tour.

We toured the Monument, which was awesome and highly recommended. Then sat and waited for 30 minutes to tell the teacher we had Hannah and were permanently splitting from the group. By the time we walked back up to the Mall to the National Gallery it was closing in 20 minutes and we ran through. We toured the outside sculpture gardens talking about how the day was a bust and how D thought we were doing one thing and all we ended up doing was walking. D and I (mostly me) decided that we really stink at communicating and need to really plan our vacations so everyone's expectations are met. We found a bunch of things we wanted to see after everything had closed and the one museum D wanted to go to was still under construction and wouldn't be open until late November.

We rode the Metro up to Bethesda where our van was. We ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda and drove to Havre d Grace where P & E live. They lived much farther than we ever expected and we didn't get there until after 10 and we were all so tired we were practically in tears.

On Saturday we ate B & Lunch with P & E and walked around HDG. It is on the N side of the Chesapeke and very cute. We then jumped int he van at 2:30 and drove S to IKEA. When we got off the exit we got lost and had a big meltdown. D was PO'd, I was PO'd and the kids were crazy tired and fighting. We recovered and made it inside. We found a couch that we both liked and were walking thru the store at a very fast pace. I didn't pick up anything I wanted thinking that we were getting the couch. At the end of our fast walk thru the store we stood at the couch trying to decide if we really wanted it/could afford it. I was hungry so I suggested we go upstairs and eat meatballs to conserve time (we were supposed to check in at the B & B at 4 and were obviously super late). By the time I was done, D said since we weren't standing there anymore he didn't want it. I was PO'd and we left after spending a whopping 1.5 hours at the IKEA.

We drove like crazy people to David's surprise B & B and it was way further than expected (as usual) and we didn't get there until after 9:00. We were met by the proprietor and taken inside to find that the 2 bedroom/living room suite was: door less, our kids were at the top of a common staircase in the house and we had no way to lock our room or theirs, it was super musty and there was dog poop and pee in our rooms because their dogs had come up and left us a present.

We sat there really mad deciding that we had made another bad choice, as was the theme of the trip, and decided that we were less than 100 miles from home and we would leave and go home. We arrive home at 11:45 and went to bed.

I didn't have a horrible time, but I am realizing that D and I are not communicating and need to start talking about things!

More pictures later...

Oooo...she's in tru-bull....

We are leaving for Washington DC tomorrow morning, if I haven't already mentioned that a BILLION times. Today, my darling daughter was going to spend her entire Science period discussing the do's and don'ts of the trip with her primary chaperone the 6th grade Science teacher.
My daughter gets in the car and I ask her for the itinerary. She says she has it (before I pull away from the curb) and tells me she give it to me later. We get home. I ask for the itinerary three times and she does not respond. I FINALLY go upstairs and start rifling thru her bag and she fesses up that she has lost it. I start yelling...weeping and gnashing of teeth...I help her look...no itinerary. I tell her calmly that I don't even know when and where to meet the bus to drop her off in 12 hours...I have no idea what I can and can't bring into the buildings (I am assuming that the Capital building has some no-no's...firearms...hand sanitizer...etc just like an airplane?) and I have no idea even what buildings we will be touring at what time. I am freaking out!
So I call the school. No answer. I call a friend. No answer. I look the teacher up in the phone book. No number. I am a little scary at this point. I tell my daughter that I am a control freak and don't want to look like an idiot and would appreciate having all the information that the other parents are receiving.
Finally my friend calls back and tells me she is at the school picking up her daughter and will go on a hunt for me. Multiple teachers, hunting thru school...she finds a fellow 6th grade parent with a copy that she can xerox. She calls back telling me that she has the 4 page packet of information (yes, 4 pages, the night before we leave...come on people!) and that she will be wonderful and drop it off for me.
When she arrived I told her she saved my daughter's behind. Figuratively and literally.

Is there anything else?

I am feeling rather triumphant in the chores to do before we go category. I have: filled the van, changed the wiper blades because when it rained you couldn't see at all, gotten my TB test, bought my baby shower gift for the shower I am missing on Saturday, washed a ton, purchased extra camera batteries, cleared all the photos off my camera so it is primed and ready, gone to the library and checked out a bunch of books on tape, sewed little pouches for my kids to wear under their clothes for their money/phone numbers (I know. I am a Frrrreak!), purchased snackage for the ride, set up a babysitter for Chloe and informed our neighbors about the mail. Is there anything else? What am I forgetting? I'm going to need a vacation to go on vacation.

Babies

Did I tell you that while we were at the wedding (see below) we saw the cutest baby. She was about 6 months and cooed and smiled at us. D turns to me and says "why don't we have another baby?" The rest of the night we talk about how much fun a baby would be and why we don't have six.

No, I don't think we are serious, but it is always fun to dream.

Wedding

We all went to a wedding this afternoon/evening. D had given this couple marriage counseling for months, weird I know, and today was the big day. The couple is super sweet and really fun.
I have never been to, please don't think less of me for what I am about to say, a wedding held at a steak house. There was a pretty little pond behind the steak house with a gazebo on a walkway out in the water. It was a very nice setting. We drove up and D looked around at the fellow wedding guests and looked at me dead pan and said "Man I should have brought something to chew on." He was BUSTING up trying not to say judgmental things. And now, in my own little blog world I can let loose.

May I just tell you that I have contemplated getting a tattoo before tonight, but could never decide on something I would want on my body for-evah. The guests at this little soirée displayed enough tat's to fill a wall at the tattoo parlor. This was a museum of tattoo-age. Bad tattoos. Scary tattoos. Weird tattoos. Every freakin person under 50 had at least 5 tattoos. And can I tell you that I don't think I will ever get a tattoo now?

Second? Can you say dentist anyone? At one point my darling husband and I were watching the bride and groom walk up the aisle for their departure and caught sight of a woman, maybe 5 years older than me, that had one tooth. ONE. No exaggeration. Right in the middle on the top gum. And since we were at a steak house weddin' the first thing out of my mouth was "How in the Hell is she going to eat her steak?" And she wasn't the only one with less than 5 teef in her mouth.

Next? Can you tell the waiters and busboys at the steak house to hold off on the garbage dump-age and metal pan throwing out the back door while there are wedding ceremonies taking place 50 feet away? D looks at me at one point during the wedding and mutters, "I hope they don't start the trash compactor too."

And? Cigarettes. I don't like them, but I am not super freaky about smokers smoking outside, just don't make me smell it and breathe it. This group had chain smoked until the wedding began, then stubbed out the butt and put it behind their ear for later (out of respect), and two seconds after the wedding they lit the butt. The one tooth lady who was about a size 00, drove her HUGE truck with a ton of weird people hanging out of it from the wedding site to the other side of the parking lot where the restaurant was, I walked faster than her truck and it was less than 100 feet total, chain smoking like she was trying to get oxygen and she'd been deprived for 10 minutes. I know, I know, we are highly snobby and tend to be people judg'ers. But it is so much fun since we are perfect and odor free.

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL. Her colors were orange, pink and fuschia which was stunning. The flowers were gorgeous. And the company? Excellent.

A Little of This and a Little of That

Today was run of the mill. I went to a quick breakfast with D, went to a meeting for potential substitute teachers at school, scheduled a TB test, shopped at Target and found a SUPER cute wooden beaded table runner for $3.74 (sorry Target.com didn't have a photo), then came home and worked on my Philosophy paper until I went to pick up the kids.

Now we are getting set up to eat dinner and watch some "Chuck" on DVD. Our kids LOVE Chuck and we never watched it during the first season. We love watching shows after they've aired so we don't have to deal with commercials and other stuff. We're weird.

Singing

Also yesterday...H's singing group performed in front (literally as well as figuratively) of the whole school. She sings in "Praise Band" with this small group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Each week they lead the Chapel singing, but yesterday they performed at "See you at the Pole." I am quite amazed that she does these things and feels perfectly comfortable. Next week we (all four) are going to Washington DC with H's class for a field trip. We leave Thursday at 5:00 am (yikes!) and travel to DC, spend the day on tour, spend the night in a hotel, then tour again on Friday all day, then the rest of the class will go home and the four of us will stay the weekend and visit friends in Havre de Grace, MD (which I keep calling Huevos Racheros because I can't remember what the silly city is called).

Hopefully, too, which is really lame of me, we will also be able to visit IKEA since ours doesn't come until Spring '09, and I am Jonesen.

But I digress...we get to go to the Washington Monument with the class as well as a private tour of the Capitol Building! While H is on the rest of the tours, Bubba, D and I will go do a Smithsonian or two and the National Gallery. I can't wait!!!

Was He Abducted By Aliens?

Here is a picture of my bea-you-tea-ful girl at her party. We had the par-tay yesterday...I went to the kid's school and picked up a van load of 13 third and sixth grade kids. And I drove them to our church gym, where I was met by my darling husband who left work (gasp) arriving long before I came with the kids and D finished setting up the party without my asking (double gasp). The kids (17 by the time everyone arrived) played volleyball, skated, played dodge-ball, played X-Box DDR and Sponge Bob, and ate lots and lots of special junkie food that the kids picked out (pizza rolls, chips, cheese, apples, brownies, ice cream, sugar cookies, frosting, and candy toppings for the desserts. We all played hard (even D and I) and the party went by quickly. I had to take two of the kids back to school to meet their parent so D stayed behind and had the entire party cleaned up by the time I came back 15 minutes later (triple gasp).
This morning I was re-hashing the festivities with one of my friends and making the comment that D was really helpful and we had a great time (D took the kids to school this morning, too!) and lo and behold my husband calls me at work to tell me how much he appreciated all the effort I had made for the party and what a good job I had done. Was my husband abducted by aliens?

Robo Mom

I was going to go all techno girl on you and photoshop my face on Robo Cop's body, but my neck hurts too bad for the effort. My neck pain is back again, I usually go thru this two to three times a year, and I am Tylenol/Advil-ing myself through the day. Now I am, as D loving refers to my condition, Robo Cop. You know, the kind of person that can't turn to see something beside them without turning their whole body? My neck doesn't work. And believe me it is not fun. Maybe it's 'cuz I had stress puppies at work yesterday? After my crazy long Dental appointment with Bubba was done and I was FLYING across town to get to work (and stopping for the mandatory post-dentist patient milkshake) I walk in the door at work and "lice girl" is sitting on the floor outside my office. The accompanying teacher looked up at me like "here we go again." So I got to play phone tag with the physician that deemed her "lice free" that morning and wrote me a note stating so, and talking to caretaker again and breaking the bad news. This in the midst of all the other usual day at preschool crap. Neck pain? Yeah, it could be stress. Tomorrow's the kids burfday (another southernism) party after school and I am picking up 14 kids from school in the church van to supervise, make sure they don't kill each other, for 2 hours. Quite possibly stress related neck pain.

Not For the Faint at Heart

Do NOT scroll down to the pictures on this post if you faint at the sight of blood, or don't want to see something gross. Today the boys had two "procedures." First, Bubba had two teeth extracted. Scary long rooted teeth might I add. No wonder the poor boy doesn't loose teeth. The first was a molar that was abscessed by another tooth coming in on top of it (see the gross close up). Bubba was a trooper, and won the patient of the day award. I was a wimp, and didn't make the poor lad go to school because he was swollen, and wasn't supposed to elevate his heart rate. When he told me that I looked at the dentist like, "He's 8. What do you want me to do with him all day idiot?" So it was a DS and movie day. Bubba's favorite.

The second procedure, I will spare you the pictures-and yes there were pictures taken, was D's scary mole removals. One we lovingly call his third nipple, one on his temple that has grown crazy big suddenly and was the catalyst of the bunch, and one on his neck. D thought they'd be cut off, but she ended up freezing them off. D has never had anything frozen off before! I swear I have had warts and such frozen off for years, it almost seems like old technology.

Freebies

I was just blog bouncing and found this great site that has over 500 free designs. They are kind of deco-ish but very cool for bookplates (something I haven't done yet), Christmas cards or other I need a cool design thing. Check out Briar Press!

Lazy Saturday

This morning our neighborhood had a garage sale day...in the past it has been pretty good, but today it kids of stunk. My great/fun/cute find of the day was this new ceramic acorn knick-knack from Target. I have a TON of pumpkin stuff, I've always collected them for Fall, but now I think I am going to start adding some acorn pieces, here is my first. For 50 cents :)
Other than garage sale-ing we've done NOTHING today. It is kind of nice, but you know I can't sit still for long. Or should I say that my dining room table can't stay clean for long. So I got out the new Bernina and started a shirt for myself, and another tote bag, because I can never have enough. The tote bag is in the browns, and the shirt in the polka dot. I have made this shirt pattern twice for myself already, and once for H, so I decided to try it with some longer 3/4 sleeves for Fall. The pattern is SUPER easy and looks kind of retro with the right fabric. I've made it in a tropical print in blues, a brown almost native floral geo on cream and now in a longer sleeve in the polka dots. We'll see. I don't want people to notice that I have three of the same style shirt...so we'll see how it turns out.

And finally, on my day off yesterday, I shaved the dog again. She was starting to look a little mangy, and was starting to mat in her armpits, AND she's doing that scratching thing again. I read somewhere that Shih-tzu's are scratchy because they are allergic to red dye in their food, but I don't know if I trust the internet enough to change food. I'm too cheap. Chloe basically gets whatever food is on sale or I have a triple coupon for-even cat food. She's one of those dogs, maybe because she is a rescue dog, that will eat anything except nails.

AWANA

A friend of mine wrote on her blog today that she was having some concerns about her three boys attending an AWANA program. So I thought I would answer some questions about AWANA and do some 'splaining. My two have participated in AWANA since they were 3 or 4, and I have taught Preschoolers, Junior High and High School aged AWANA for about 5 or so years. I'm not bragging that I am in the inner-sanctum or anything, or that I think the boys should go, my intent is to provide info for you to make a decision.

Background: AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. The Bible verse that represents the name/ties the Bible to it is 2 Timothy 2:15: Study to show thyself, approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. You can interpret this verse a few different ways. You can interpret it that you can gain information in different places, including the Bible, approving your belief in God, but you shouldn't be ashamed in whatever you believe.

As an AWANA leader in Rochester and Durham, the intent of the leaders is to present the Christian facts to the child, help them study the Bible and learn verses and let them make their own decision, hopefully accepting/believing in Jesus. The leaders/teachers are doing their part in their evangelism beliefs reaching out to the child, in turn reaching out to the family/parent in hopes that AWANA provides information to those that are searching for something or still trying to find their faith.

If the boys are going to First B...now I guess it is called Autumn Ridge, the program is very light...VERY social and low key. Autumn Ridge has so many kids, don't get me wrong-they do a great job of organizing, it's just that when I was there they were so busy going through the motions and trying to get all the "boxes checked" and not spending a bunch of one on one "Come to Jesus" time. Autumn Ridge's AWANA program is NOT reminiscent of a Hitler-Youth organization where they stand in formation, wear uniforms and pledge to the Christian Flag, the Bible and the AWANA flag. (That is the first 10 minutes at our church's AWANA).

Each AWANA is broken up into 3 segments. A council time-watching a video about people in a different country, making a scrapbooking project, having a Bible lesson, they do lots of different things. A handbook time-where they do their memorization and get AWANA dollars for work they learn (dollars are used to buy things at an AWANA store). The goal in handbook time is to finish segments of a book, then an entire book to eventually get thru the entire Bible from Cubbies to Varsity (preschoolers - High schoolers in layman's terms). Game time-they play dodge ball, soccer, prison break...all those crazy kids love. Basic PE time. The kids are broken up into age groups...if you are really interested in all that I could give you the low down.

The conclusion? I think Susan is right. I think you should talk to the Mom-invitee' and lay it on the line. Tell her what you believe and that you are not opposed to your boys going or making decisions on their own, but you feel a little guilty about the fact that your boys are participating in something that you aren't necessarily reinforcing at home and you feel a little like you are using her.

If I were the Mom I would be totally fine with that. I, Cara, have made the decision to support my kids in their choice of attending AWANA, I want to be there and be involved because I want to support the program, and I'm driving there anyway, so why wouldn't I provide a night out for someone else?

Heck, maybe I should add that this year in AWANA I only teach every other AWANA because I am selfishly going out to dinner with MY husband and pawning my kids off for a night alone with D. I know my relationship with D can always use some alone time, and I am sure that yours, and every other marriage, can always use some marital time. As I always remind my work-a-holic husband...we are going to be married long after our kids are in college and adults, we'd better work on our relationship now so we still like each other then.

20 Done!

Update on the school front:

Paper Magic class complete. Mailed the last package of assignments to the instructor today. Yipee! Hoping my dining room is back to operational soon.

Philosophy of Religion class under way. I have watched two out of three of the video's. Still need to read 5 books and write a 6 page paper. I'm expecting to be done by tonight :)

Slipping into Southern

Today, as I was speaking with a native of North Carolina I actually uttered the phrase "we might could get..." ??? It flew off my tongue without a moments hesitation. What the heck? The other day I asked if one of my co-workers might could go and get me a something-something. I swear I beginning to slip in to Southern. I would like to clarify that I would never get to the point that I would ever use the term " make my picture" for taking a photograph, or "cut off the lights" for turning off a light switch, or my personal all time Southern-ism favorite...."un-thaw the meat." I may be slipping into Southern, but I draw the line at un-thawing my meat.
Next thing you know I am going to be celebrating my birthday like this:

Wanted:

D and Bubba were watching the cooking channel this weekend and saw a chef they loved. The reason they were hooked on the chef, other than watching him in HD, was because he was wearing a shirt with the above statement. Now my husband and son are coveting the shirts. The problem? There is a site out there that has profane language in the web address under the Y (pigf***er). AND my husband is too cheap to spend the $20 a shirt.

Cruelty to Animals

Chloe is so humiliated in this picture that she won't even look at the camera. Or me. After asking my children their opinion on great birthday theme after theme (such as a "backward" party where everything is backward-streamers on the floor, cake upside down, singing song backwards...) they decided on NOTHING. So I decided to torture the dog and make their invites from scratch. So I took a pic of Chloe for the front, a picture of H & Bubba on the inside being goofy, and added some funny text to the inside: "my two smaller humans are having a birthday party..." and called it good.

On a crazier note, today was school picture day. Yesterday I realized that my darling H hadn't washed her hair for...lets just say we can't remember the last time...so I encouraged her to bathe. This morning. Before school. As she was sudsing her hair I realized that I did not have a hair dryer in the house. I lent it to VBS in July and had completely forgotten about it. Yikes! Wet hair. T minus 30 minutes. We went for the pig tailed (her idea) idea with hot roller'd tails to dry and curl the 'do.

A friend of mine was "helping" the photographer at school today (the same friend that co-directed VBS with me this year and made me give up my hairdryer!). She called me this afternoon to tell me that she was overseeing H's picture session when my friend went to fix her pig tail and H shouted "No! My Mom will kill me if anyone touches my hair." Good girl H!!!
I had given her strict instructions not to let anyone comb thru her hair sprayed hot rollery curls because I knew they would collapse in their crunchy state when combed. We made it!!!

Lazy Day

I spent the day suffering through my cold and trying to get this paper class done and sent out of my dining room. This has been the worst day of my first cold of the season and hopefully all the PO juice and Airborne I've consumed will kick in soon and I will be back among the land of the living soon. Everyone here is having a lazy napping Saturday, even Chloe, so hopefully when the other three get the crud they won't get it as bad. H and I have watched 6 episodes on Monk while I do the paper thing and she creates her own masterpieces of hole punching, while D and Bubba have lounged in the air conditioning of the bonus room watching movies on the new TV.

This morning at breakfast Bubba spotted something moving in the grass outside the kitchen and look what we had visit us:



We fed him lettuce and peppers, which he didn't eat, then watched as he high tailed it down to the woods. This turtle hauled! I love turtles, my favorite reptile, but was soon freaking out as to what other reptiles were lurching in the un-mowed tundra of the backyard. So when D got home from his breakfast at 10:00 he mowed the grass in the 90 degree heat. No wonder he spent the day in the air conditioning.