Sunday 12/11/11 cont. Christmas tour and New Years resolutions...

I went to see the Christmas decorations at a local historical house today. It was a nice tour. The house is always decorated so beautifully. About twenty rooms are decorated. Individuals, groups or companies can ask to decorate a room. Each room has a different Christmas theme. One room may have Christmas dresses, the next may have a lot of ornaments.The kitchen may have many old Christmas cook books one year and a lot of Christmas cookies the next year. The kids didn't want to go with me. They have gone on this Christmas tour many times. Years ago they would go twice, once with their grandma and once with me. After the tour I always want to do more needlepoint. It gives the house such a homey, warm feel.
I need to make some New Years resolutions. I am not sure what to choose. They should either be to start or to stop a habit, or be something that will bring me closer to God.

Sunday 12/11/11 cont. Christmas cards and haircuts...

I need to finish writing the Christmas cards and send them out today. We have already started getting cards from other people. We are sending out the picture of the kids in front of the tree.
We went out yesterday and got haircuts. William likes his hair really short, but still long enough that he isn't shaved, or asked if he is in the military. His was so long that it was starting to curl up around his neck. Maggie's hair is about waist long. She got an inch or two taken off. Beth's hair is between shoulder length and waist length. She got about an inch taken off. She also got her bangs cut. The style today is that the girls have bangs that hang in their faces. Beth get her bangs cut so that they could be high maintenance...every couple of minutes the bangs fall into her face, and she needs to brush them back. She is really delighted with her high maintenance bangs. I got my hair trimmed.
When the kids got to grade school they were allowed to pick their own hair cut., not their color, just the hair cut. William right away picked a spiky, shaved, cool cut to match the tail that he already had growing. We got gel to hold the spikes up. It didn't work. The spikes fell. It didn't matter if we gelled them when the hair was wet or dry, or at night or in the morning. We used a little gel. The next time we used more. We asked people for advice. The spikes wouldn't stay up. After about two weeks, the shaved parts on the sides grew out and no one could tell that they had been saved. He said that he wanted to go back and get a regular cut. He has had conservative cuts since then. He had his tail until high school. Then he said that it was too much of a bother, so he had it cut off.

Sunday 12/11/11 cont. decorating the tree..

It is cold now. Some days are 17 deg F. Next week it may be forty deg F. Last year it got cold and stayed cold. I don't know what the weather will be like this year.
We put up our Christmas tree last weekend. We had fun. We had Christmas music playing and my camera was out so Beth took some pictures. We had the branches for the artificial tree mixed. When we put it up there weren't enough of the largest ones to go on the bottom row. We left the blank spots in the back of the tree and went onto the next row. Later we found the rest of the bottom rows branches and put them on the tree. We used about five strands of lights. We have one strand of colored bulbs and the rest are white. This year the colored ones are on the tree going around from the bottom to the top. Last year, I think that all of the colorful lights were all in one area, like all in the middle, or all on the bottom two rows. This year it looks more normal.
We have enough ornaments to put three on each branch. There are a lot of stockings that are hung all over the house. We took a picture of the kids in front of the tree. We took a picture of the cat too.

Thursday 12/22/11 crispy rice treats, rain and shaving...

Maggie and I made crispy rice treats tonight. It is always nice to get to have some time with one child at a time. We put some M & M's in them and more on top. Christmas M & M's would have been festive, but I could only find regular ones. We used the non-peanut ones.
It is still rainy here. It should be about 30 degrees for Christmas. It would be nice to have snow, but they say that we won't get any.
William had said that he would shave once a month, at the end of the month. Christmas is this weekend. I have asked if he wanted to shave for the holiday, he is thinking about it.

Sunday 12/11/11 Wisdom teeth...

Maggie gets her wisdom teeth out this Friday. She is ready to have them out. Hopefully it will go well and she will heal quickly. They come out at noon but she is going to take the whole day off from school. She can't have anything to eat or drink for twelve hours before the surgery. The doctor said that she could go to school, but there would be a temptation to get a drink from the drinking fountain, so it was better to stay home, rather than to have to re-schedule the surgery.

Wednesday 11/20/11 cont. wisdom teeth...

Maggie goes the the Doctor / Dentist tomorrow to have them look at taking out her molars/wisdom teeth. Tomorrow is the first meeting. Hopefully they will come out soon. I hope that they come out without any problems. William's came out nicely. We don't know if Beth will need hers out, they don't hurt her.
Maggies teeth have been hurting. First we talked to the regular dentist about them hurting. He referred us to a dentist that takes the teeth out. It took a month to get into see him. Every week Maggis says" I can feel them growing today."
William just finished this quarter/semester at college.

Wednesday 11/20/11 cont. Christmas shopping and church...

The morning after Thanksgiving we did a lot of our Christmas shopping. I had asked the kids a few weeks ahead to start thinking about what stores they would like to go to. They said the mall and the book store. We got to the mall at around 6:30 am. It was busy but not packed. The kids each knew how much money they had to spend. I will go and get them a surprise gift later.
I am not sure what we are going to do about church on Christmas. Since the kids are older, they don't have a Christmas program to be in. Also, this is a new church for us I am not sure if they have a Christmas program. William and I were going to the new church last Christmas, but we were also going to the previous church too. So we went to the previous churches service too.

Wednesday 11/20/11 Beth's birthday, Thanksgiving...

We had Beth's birthday after the birthday date. She couldn't decide what she wanted for a present or even what store to look in. We tried to wait for her to decide, but we couldn't wait too long because we wanted to have her birthday before Thanksgiving. Beth likes cake and ice cream. We didn't measure the cat again.
Thanksgiving was fun. The day before we cleaned the house. One person vacuumed, one cleaned the bathrooms, one swept and mopped the floors and one did clean-up of all of the little things that needed to be put away. Two years ago on thanksgiving, when grandma and my brother came over,the whole meal was done and on the table. We all sat down and ate. It seemed wrong not to have any time together getting the meal to the table. Last year we didn't have anything done. The night before Thanksgiving we were still setting up the new chicken coop. When they arrived we had to finish up everything. Not good either. This year was better. I planned for the mashed potatoes and the deviled eggs to still need to be done after they arrived. We also had to put all of the other dishes onto serving plates and bake the biscuits. There was a lot for us to do, but it was fun. The kids took turns using the blender on the mashed potatoes, and we spent a lot of time saying to people "did you put a dish-up spoon in that?"

Friday 10/27/11 William's birthday...

We celebrated William's birthday yesterday. We had pie and ice cream. Trying to put twenty-two candles in a pie isn't easy. The candles are close together, but not close enough that if we light one, they all catch the flame. We measured William on the measuring stick. He is 6'2". He hasn't grown in a few years. We also measured our cat. I think that the kids were holding him differently from when we measured him at Beth's birthday...we measure his back, not the top of his head...his back must have been arched higher because he has grown two inches since Beth's birthday. Maggie says that if the cat keeps growing she is going to put a saddle on him.

Sunday 10/16/11 A new home for the chickens...

We found a new home for the chickens. William and I took the chickens to their new home today. We couldn't fit all four of us and the chickens into the car. We loaded the chickens into a cardboard box, with a garbage bag under it to protect the seat, and a towel on top to keep it dark. They didn't fuss too much on the car ride. The new place is more in the country and has a larger area for them to run. The family already has about seven chickens. They have a coop and an enclosed outside run area. They also have about an acre or two that is fenced that the chickens are sometimes let out to play in.
They said that they will keep them in the coop and enclosed area for a few days, so that my chickens can learn where home is. Then they will come back there at night and lay their eggs there each day.
It rained today so we didn't take apart their outside chicken run. We had had the chickens for about a year.

Wednesday 9/28/11 cont. School pictures, conferences and shaving...

Maggie had picture day last week, Beth's is next week, but we don't have her order form yet. Maggie has parent / teacher conferences tomorrow. She is in high school. We have an appointment time with the homeroom teacher. Then we can go see the other teachers as they have openings.
It is raining sort of hard. It has rained a lot this week. The tomato plant and the beans haven't needed watered in a long time.
Saturday 10/1/11 William shaved last night!!! He did an excellent job. This was his first time shaving at home. He said that he would shave once a month. In the past we have been having his beard trimmed when he got his hair cut. Last night was a clean shave.

Wednesday 9/28/11 Christmas cards and chickens...

I need to start writing the Christmas cards soon. In the cards I put a note about the things that we have been doing over the last year. Last year I had a terrible time thinking of what to say. The note should be more than just what grade the kids are in, but we haven't had any ''big'' events this past year. We have a lot going on, but it is all everyday things like homework and cutting the grass. On the cards last year we wrote that everyone was bigger and we were going to try to do more volunteering. Writing every ones address on the card is easy, thinking of what to say isn't.
It might frost soon. We have one tomato plant and a row of beans that will need to be covered.
We are going to get rid of the chickens this weekend. They aren't laying eggs and I need the winter off. If we can find a home for them before the ground freezes, we can pull out the fence posts. If we want more chickens, next spring we can get chicks.

Sunday 9/18/11 cont movie night with vegetables and fruits...

We got movies from the library this weekend. The kids watched some of them, but I only watched a few minutes of a couple of them. Some of them looked like fun.Oh..I'm sorry...I forgot...I did watch "K-9" staring Jim Belushi (sp?). It was fun. We need to have a movie night, get movies and sit down and watch some of them. We haven't had a movie night in a long time.
When we watch movies if there is food in front of us we will just eat because there is food there, not because we like it or are thinking about it. Sometimes we have food while we watch movies. First we have cut up vegetables, then we have cut up fruit when the vegetables are gone. Everyone has their own plate and dishes up for themselves. I like to have salad dressing to go with the vegetables. After the fruit we may have a main dish, then if they are still hungry, we have chips with cheese and salsa. It's a good way to get a lot of fruits and vegetables into the kids without any complaining.

Sunday 9/18/11 grass, a night off and basement cleaning...

William cut the grass today. It was warm today. We went for a walk without a jacket.The grass in peoples yards had just been cut. There was still grass clippings lying in the rows.
This week should be easier. We are getting William's alergy shot on Tuesday instead of Monday. That means that we will have Monday evening off.

My next project needs to be cleaning out the basement. When we were going to move a year or two ago, I packed up half of the house...half of the towles, half of the sheets, etc... and put everything into storage to make the house look less full. When the house didn't sell we brought everything back and put it in the basement. It all needs to be unpacked. If I could sort out one box a night it would help. I really don't want to move all of this when we do move. There are not enough lights in the basement, thats why I don't go down and sort the boxes there.

Saturday 9/17/11 Duct tape and styrofoam...

Beth needed duct tape. She has a three ring binder at school that is falling apart. She wants to tape it back together instead of replacing it. We got her some tape at the store today. They have a good selection of colors and designs. When I was young, it only came in gray.
William put styrofoam in the opening to the attic and in the two vents for the crawl space. He measures the openings and cuts the styrofoam. This keeps more of the heat in the house for the winter. We checked the boiler today to make sure that it worked. It does. I try to check it before it is needed, then if there is a problem we have time to schedule a repair before winter. Last year it didn't work. The motor needed to be replaced. The pipes should be bled before we start using it, then the water that is drained out won't be so hot.

Saturday 9/17/11 school lunches...

The girls have their sandwiches made for their lunches next week. I need to make mine. We put the sandwiches in the freezer, each one of us has their own container...William doesn't have one this semester, he doesn't have any day time classes. Maggie's container is round, Beth's is square and my sandwiches go in the freezer door. It makes the week go so much smoother if we don't need to make lunches each night. We also try to lay out our clothes for the next week on Saturday.
We took Maggie's Bible back to the store to exchange it. She wanted a teenage Bible.

Wednesday 9/14/11 School reports and cats...

Maggie has a big report to do this semester. She would like to do the report on women in the military. The report must be about something that happened over twenty-five years ago. My only concern with this topic is that there might not be many books about it. Maggie must have at least ten sources. We hope to go to the library this weekend and see how many books she can find. The report is due in about a month.
We need a second cat. Our first cat is sweet, but he is lonely. I would like to get another white cat. Our first cat is white. He is a mixed breed with an almond shaped face.. I want a white cat so that if we get up in the middle of the night, there is a better chance that we will see him and not step on him. It would be great if we could get a kitten.

12/8/11 Christmas tree...

We put the Christmas tree up last weekend.The boxes of decorations were in the basement. Every time that something was needed in the basement, everything is re-arranged. After a while the boxes get turned around and moved to different locations.When we needed the boxes this year, none could be seen. I went through the whole basement, sorting and moving and combining boxes until all of the Christmas decorations had been found.
Putting up the tree was fun. The kids helped. We had the local radio station playing Christmas music. Always in the past the tree has leaned so much that we had to tie it to two chairs to get it to stand up. Then we put blankets over the rope...to make it look more normal. We don't want the ropes in the Christmas pictures. Then...sometimes from the living room...we would hear someone call out "tree..." and we would all run into the room to help keep the tree up and re-secure it. This year we must have found the correct base. The tree is up straight, and it isn't tied to any chairs. I am going to give the other bases to Goodwill. We are keeping the rope behind the tree...just in case. I have found a green storage box to put the decorations into at the end of the season. Next year should go very smoothly

Tuesday 9/13/11 School pictures and volunteering...

The order forms for school pictures are starting to come in now. Maggie brought hers home today. I have always tried to treat the kids equally, but school pictures are now the exception. The girls go to different schools, so they have different choices, and William doesn't get school pictures at all, because he is in college. I would love to get a family picture, but William says that he won't go with us.
Tonight William's class got out on time. He had gotten his homework done during class. Maggie has a spelling test tomorrow. She had a small amount of homework tonight. Beth also had a small amount of homework. So far everyone is doing OK in school.
We need to get our volunteer hours done soon...before it gets cold out. Maggie needs 12 volunteer hours this semester. Last year we waited until the week before they were due to finish. It was difficult to find places to volunteer in the winter. We could have gone to the parks, but decided that that would be too cold. We ended up volunteering at the Food Bank and at church. A lot of places that we called said they needed volunteers in the summer, but didn't have any need in the winter. We all go together to volunteer. Sometimes we take a friend with us. My car can only hold 5 people, so we can only take one friend.
The leaves are starting to turn colors and fall. I am not ready for cold weather.

Sunday 9/11/11 Arts festival...

We went to a local arts festival. Maggie needed another cultural event for school. We took a friend of Beths with us. We had trouble finding his house. I think that at 9th grade the kids haven't given directions to their house to many people. Luckily Beth had her cell phone and we could call him along the way to get directions. It was a big festival. There were at least 50 booths with work from individual artists. I think that all of them were local artists. There were a lot of pictures, sculptures, jewlery, glass work, drawings and paintings. Beth and her friend got their faces painted.

9/11/11 cont...school open house and birthday's...

Beth's open house was fun. We met almost all of her teachers, one was out. Almost every time that we go for an event there, they are giving out popcorn. We stayed a short time in each class. School had only just started, so they were group meetings.
Maggie's birthday was fun. She is 16 now but says that she doesn't feel any older. My mom and my brother came over for the party. We had spaghetti and garlic bread. Maggie doesn't like cake so we had pie and ice cream. She got her books and she wanted a Bible. After the party she asked if she could take the Bible back and get a high school one, instead of an adult one. We exchanged it on a different day. We measured everyone, including the cat on the measuring stick and recorded Maggie's new height. She has grown some. William is taller than the 6 foot stick, so we put his mark on the bottom of the board by whatever amount he is taller than the board.
Now that Maggie is 16, she can have her ears pierced, wear make-up, within reason, and get her learners permit. She says that she isn't ready for pierced ears, or to wear make-up. At first she said that she would get her permit, but now she says that she will wait for Christmas break to study.

Sunday 9/11/11 Busy evening...

Last Tuesday was a busy evening. William had an allergy shot. He had gone to the mall and wasn't home yet when I came to pick him up. He was a few blocks from the house when I got him. He didn't have his school book with him so we came home for him to pick it up. I took William to his allergy shot, picked up the girls, and took them home. Then I went and picked up William from his allergy shot and took him to the computer store to get a USB drive to save things on for his class, then took William to school. I went back home and got Beth and took her to her schools open house. After the open house I took Beth back home and picked up Maggie.There was a local book store that was closing and she wanted to get lots of books for her birthday. After that I took Maggie home and went back to William's school to pick him up. His class ends at 9:10 but if he has a little homework he can stay and do it there instead of going back another day. At about 10 PM the gentleman who was cleaning the rooms after the classes were done shut off all of the lights in the building. I went and asked him if one class was still there. He said no. I told him not to worry that William had probably walked home. He walks over there a lot. I went back home, William was already there. They had had a sub and had gotten out early.When I was driving over to pick him up, I probably passed him. The day was over. It was good to be home.

Sunday 9/4/11 driving the car, electricity and birthdays...

William wanted to back the car out of the driveway yesterday. He did a great job!!! Maybe he will want to get his drivers permit soon.-----There was a big rain storm here last night. The electricity went off sometime in the night. In the morning, the food in the freezer was still frozen but the food and the air in the fridge was not as cold as normal. The power came back on at about 9:30 AM. This time we had a flashlight with batteries. I would like to get a radio that has a crank to generate power. Then we wouldn't feel so isolated in a storm, we could tell if it was only our neighborhood or a larger area that was without power.-----Maggie turns 16 this week. I wonder if she will want her ears pierced? She also could have her drivers permit.

Saturday 8/27/11 Festival, beans and hurricanes...

We went to the German-American Festival today. William didn't want to go. We took Beth's friend. We tried some of the German foods, listened to the bands and watched the German dancers. It was fun. The festival wasn't huge, but it was fun.-----William starts classes next week.-----The beans in our garden are over one inch tall. The other rows haven't sprouted yet. We put some old hay between the rows to use as mulch. We do have a mulch pile, but the items aren't turning into mulch very fast.-----There is a hurricane going up the East coast of America. It came on shore in I think North Carolina and is going up by Boston, New York City and going through the middle of Main. There are so many large cities in it's path.

Thursday 8/25/11 Second day of school, festivals and computer screens...

Beth had her second day of school today. She had fun. They did projects, had to crawl through a string wall without touching the string and do a PowerPoint presentation about their group of four students. When school starts, they will not have classes for a few days, or maybe a week. All of the grades will be there...9th - 12th grade. They will be in groups of one student from each grade. They will do a project together. Starting school this way helps the freshmen to get used to their classmates and the school first, then to get used to all of the other students. The principal said that it cuts down on hazing of freshmen.-----Maggie has been in school for about a week. She isn't getting the piles of homework yet so we are trying to do a cultural event. This weekend we are going to the German-American Festival.-----William got his new computer screen. He took the whole computer apart and showed us how it worked and what it looked like inside. He did this at the dining room table. There were a lot more pieces than I thought that there would be.

Wednesday 8/24/11 Girl Scouts, starting school and cultural events...

Maggie got together with the Girl Scouts last week. They made smoothies and covers for three ring binders.-----Beth has her first day of school today. It is freshman orientation. She is so excited. She took off all of her bracelets and necklaces until she could see what was allowed at her school. She has two days of orientation. I am not sure what day classes start for her. She is going to ask a teacher which day school starts. We all prayed for her this morning for a good year, just like we did for Maggie, and like we will do for William. I took her picture. They also get their picture taken on the last day of school.----- Maggie needs a cultural event and volunteer hours this year. We need to do these soon, since she doesn't have much homework yet. I went to the library this morning and got all of the local free newspapers to see what cultural events were going on this weekend.-----Our beans have come up in the garden, but nothing else. I think that we put too much dirt on the other rows. I am going to re-plant the other three rows today. Each row is only about four feet long.

Tuesday evening 8/16/11 Fall cleaning, first day of school and bent computer screens...

We got everything done today except for having Lizzy pulling the car in the driveway and me calling the church. I called the church, but the pastor is on a mission trip and will be back in another week.-----We started fall cleaning today. We have a lot to take to Goodwill, the resale book store or throw away. It feels good to do deep cleaning. -----Maggie's first day of school went well. Her best friend was there. The kids had placement tests and talks about being polite in their college classes. They had pizza and bottled water for lunch. They could buy ice cream to support one of the clubs.-----Maggie saw a lot of her old friends and talked to two freshmen. She also got her schedule. That was a big relief to her. She really wanted to see what her classes were.-----William is ordering a computer screen for his laptop from E-Bay. He will know tomorrow if he won the item. His screen is cracked ...bent.... he is able to take his screen off of his laptop and put a new one on.

Tuesday 8/16/11 Starting school, todays schedule and calling the old church...

Maggie went to her first day of school today. They didn't have classes, but had standardized testing. Maybe this is placement testing. There weren't any parents there so I came home. If there had been a chance for some parent volunteer hours, I would have stayed. Maggie looked very comfortable with her friends.-----Our turnips have sprouted. -----Today we need to get William's allergy shot and get him a calculator for school, pick up Maggie from school and get Beth some safety glasses for school.-----I need to call the old church today and tell them that we are going to go to another church. I am not looking forward to calling. I need to call the Pastor and call someone from my Bible study. I don't want to call, but if I do it today, then I can stop thinking about it.

Sunday 8/14/11 Walking, learning to drive, gardens and braces...

I did get a short nap today.-----The girls and I took a short walk around the cemetery today. Just a short walk. It was good to get some exercise. -----We have been having the kids pull the car up to the garage. Maggie pulled the car in today. It was her first time to drive. Beth is next. William was last week. I want them to start pulling in the car all of the time. They should get drivers licenses...someday. When they feel ready to get their licenses, I want them to feel comfortable in the car. William will be 22 on his birthday, Maggie will be 16 and Beth will be 15. They just arn't ready yet. No one wants to get the learners packet.-----We grew some melon plants inside from seeds for part of the summer. When we planted the garden in the backyard these two plants...and all of their vines...were moved outside. Their leaves have started perking up. I haven't seen any melons starting to form.-----William got his braces off today. He has such a big smile and his teeth look great!!!

Saturday 8/13/11 Planting the garden, school supplies and a movie...

We planted the garden today. William planted peas, Maggie planted spinach, Beth planted cauliflower and I planted turnips. Our garden is about four feet by five feet. We had some dry whole corn that the chickens wouldn't eat. The kids spread it around the backyard. We are hoping that the birds will begin to eat it.----- We got some of the school supplies today. Maggie didn't have a list of supplies, but she knew that she needed two more shirts and a planner. Beth had a list from two teachers and William needed lead for his pencil. We found everything at one store. If the kids get additional lists from their teachers, we will go out again when after school starts. -----We went and saw the movie "Cowboys and Aliens". It was a lot better than I thought it would be, and a bit scarier...I am a chicken... The aliens kept jumping out of nowhere.----- Tomorrow the only thing that we have planned is going to church.

Wednesday 8/10/11 School and the garden...

William signed up for school today at the college. He has a late class one night a week. He was excited to be signing up. -----The garden is ready to plant. On top of the newspsper, we have put flattened cereal boxes and straw. Then we dug up dirt from the chicken run. It has a lot of chicken droppings. On top of that I would like to put compost. The garden should be planted soon. When winter comes we can put the hoop house over it.----- School starts soon. The kids need haircuts this weekend and we need to look at school supplies and clothes.----- Maggie finished her summer homework today. I want to take a look at it before it is printed.----- I would like to move to a house that has a bigger yard and a wood burning stove.

Sunday 8/7/11 Choosing seeds and changing churches...

We need to plant the garden this weekend. Today we choose which seeds to plant. There are too many choices, so all of them can't go in. We want to switch churches. This is a painful decision. The kids and I have been going to another church for a few months, along with going to our current church. We all like the new church better. We fit in better. The current church is a traditional church, with most of the congretation coming from that area...we drive across town to get to it. It is in the area that I went to high school in. We are from another area...the kids don't go to the same schools, so they may have different holiday days off, and different snow days...and we have just never felt comfortable there. We have been there for about ten years, so we did give it a fair chance. I want to be sure that we are changing because this will be a better place to worship God.

Wednesday 8/3/11 Yard work, garden start-up and homework...

Last weekend William trimmed the hedges in front of the house. They look so nice when William cuts them. When I try, they look like eye brows. The girls cut the grass. Maggie cut the front yard and Beth cut the back. This was the first time that they had cut it. When we first bought the house we had an old-time lawn mower, a push mower with no motor. It might be called a reel mower. The girls were too short to push it. When we got a new one...with a motor (because we can't find anyone in town to sharpen the blades on the first one)...William and I mowed the grass. All three kids did a great job.----- I started the garden. The first layer on the grass is newspaper...to kill the grass, I put sticks on the paper so it wouldn't blow away. I planted some parsley, carrots and a few other plants. Not many plants, but a start. As we get more plants, they can go in, and when the compost is ready it can replace the sticks. I know that it is late in the year to start a garden, but the kids and I built a hoop house (framework for a greenhouse made of PVC (plastic) pipe) last summer and it can go over the garden when it gets cold out. School starts soon.----- Maggie is finishing her summer homework. She had to read three books, listen to three songs and watch three movies from the teachers list of choices. Then she needed to write a short paper on each one. She still needs to watch two movies. Tonight we all watched "13 Days". It was about President Kennedy and the Cuban Miscle Crisis.

Thursday 7/28/11 Garden planning, school supplies and chickens...

We are going to start a garden this week. I know that it is late in the year, but a lot of gardeners plant successive plantings throughout the summer. I looked at my seed packets and some of them mature in sixty days. If winter does not come until October, November...December, we could get a good harvest. The garden is about five feet by five feet. We didn't plant at the beginning of the year, there were rabbits in our neighborhood. The rabbits are gone now.----- School starts soon. I'm not ready. I need to order school shirts for Maggie and Beth. Sign William up at college, get school supplies and the rest of their clothes, and haircuts. Have I forgotten anything?----- We may go ice skating this weekend. There is a rink here in town that is open year round. We need to do something fun and different this weekend.----- Our three chickens have quit laying eggs. It could be because it is too hot, above 90 deg. each day.

Friday 9/9/11 Hi I'm back...

Hi, I'm back. I have missed blogging. There are entries in my journal that I would like to share. The entries start from July of this year. Since my last post, William is in college, taking programming, Maggie is in Early College High school. She is a Sophomore, but they have two years of high school, with a few college classes, then the last two years are all at the college. The classes move pretty fast. This school isn't looking for the brightest kids in town...even though she is bright..., they want the kids who could pass college if they got a chance to go...but maybe English is their second language, or their parents didn't go to college, or they are poor, etc....She is really happy there. We are all holding our breath waiting for all of the homework to start being assigned. Beth just started high school. I didn't want her in a public high school, I think that they are too rough. She is in a charter school, which is really part of the public school system...so it is free. This school studies engineering. She had wanted to go to the performing arts charter high school, but we couldn't find her standardized test scores from grade school, and the school filled all of their spots. She likes it there. -----We have three chickens that I call "Millie", "Hattie" and "Nettie". The kids call the "Breakfast", "Lunch" and "Dinner".

Saturday 1/24/09 growing up...

Beth has lost a tooth. She now has about three loose teeth. Maggie is growing up a little. She can see when she should change what she is doing. William has day classes this semester. It is nice to have him at home in the evening.

1/14/09 I will Blog again...

Everything is OK, but I will not be Blogging for a while. I have some things at home that need to be done. Thank-you everyone that has visited the Blog. I enjoyed the writing. Blogs will be posted now and then, but not every day or even every week. I will start writing as soon as possible. God Bless all of you.

Tuesday 1/13/09 snow piles...

We went outside to play today. We have a big pile of snow (about three feet high) in the backyard. The kids took turns standing on it...falling off of it...sinking into it...sliding down it...and my favorite, pretending to be the Statue of Liberty on it. We got about three more inches of snow today. Tonight it may get really cold and snow a little bit.

Monday 1/12/09 igloos...

We went outside tonight. The neighbor kids came out to play. There was a pile of snow in our front yard that had been built-up from when we shoveled the driveway. The kids added to the snow, patted it down, and tried to dig out a igloo. They added some snow from the front yard, the back yard and some from across the street. Three kids started to dig out the inside, so the door was three kids wide. Then they took off one more side, and decided to add a window. I mentioned that if they took off all of the walls, the ceiling would fall down. They really hadn't realized that. When we went inside, they still had one wall.

Monday 1/12/09 snow and school...

It snowed another four inches yesterday. Today should be clear, and then the snow returns tomorrow. We have shoveled, gone sledding and the kids had a snowball fight...I am ready for spring.
William has his first full week of classes this week. The books that he has for this quarter (semester?) are much lighter than last quarters were. I am glad about that.

Saturday 1/10/09 shoveling...

No one was sore from all of the sledding yesterday.
We had a busy day today. We matched up clothes for next week, and made sandwiches, took down the Christmas tree (the living room looks so much bigger now) and shoveled the sidewalk and the driveway. We had between five to eight inches of snow. After we went in, it was still snowing. They say that the snow will end tonight, but we will get more snow this next week. Usually, one snowfall melts before the next one comes in.

Friday 1/9/09 sledding...

We went sledding today. It had snowed all afternoon, dry, puffy flakes. It wasn't great sledding at first, the kids needed to pack the snow down by going down the hill a lot of times. After a while the sledding was faster. There were a lot of kids on the hill...a lot to see and to look out for while going up and down the hill. Lots of kids makes it more interesting. We take extra gloves so the kids can change if the first pair gets wet.

Thursday 1/8/09 starting college and days off...

William started college today. When I picked him up and asked him how it went, he said ''OK''. He doesn't give out a lot of information. He did get a book on programming Linux (I think that the spelling is correct). William was very excited about this. He wants to learn to program.
The girls have the day off tomorrow. It may be a teacher ''in-service''day. They got their toys ready to play tomorrow.
We went outside tonight. We shoveled our sidewalk, and the sidewalk at the house that doesn't have anybody living in it. Then the girls played. One of the neighbor kids came out and played with them.

Wednesday 1/7/09 registering for classes...

William is registered for his classes and he also has the books. What a relief. I'm a mom, I worry. He starts school tomorrow. He still has notebooks and pens from last quarter (semester), so he didn't need any supplies.
It was really slippery out today.
This weekend we need to take down the Christmas tree.

Tuesday 1/6/08 registering for classes...

William registered for classes today. He is really happy with his choices. They are all freshman classes like math and English. He will be done each day by four PM, so I am happy, no evening classes. He starts Thursday.
It snowed today at lunch. It was a pretty snow, light and fluffy. Just enough to cover the ground, but not enough to need to shovel.

Monday 1/5/09 snow and school...

Almost all of our snow is gone, but it may snow a lot this week. I do like the snow on the trees and on the grass, it is so pretty. We would like to sled too.
The girls went back to school today. They were missing their friends. William goes back on Thursday. He will go in and register for classes tomorrow. We are all hoping that he can get all of his classes during the day and doesn't need to be there during the evening too.

Monday 1/5/08 school anad snow...

William starts school this week so we wanted to get him a haircut. The girls don't want haircuts, they are trying to grow their hair longer.
The weather people think that we are going to have freezing rain today, then they say that it will snow. So there will be snow on top of the ice. What a mess. The snow is OK, I just don't like the ice. Maybe we can go sledding next weekend.

Saturday 1/3/09 volunteering and back to school...

We were scheduled to volunteer at the Food Bank this morning. I had really looked forward to it all week...planning what time to leave home to be on time, what to wear to keep warm (it is in a warehouse without heat, but out of the weather)...but there was no one there when we arrived. We waited for a while and no one showed up. We also drove around and came back...maybe I had written the time down wrong. It never opened. We will try again next month. They are only open on one Saturday a month.
The girls go back to school next week, so today we started matching clothes for next week, and making sandwiches to freeze for lunches. It is always so nice to have everything done ahead.

Friday 1/2/08 New Years vacation...

It didn't snow or rain today. It may rain tomorrow. We do want to go sledding this winter. I hope that we will have snow again soon.
Next week the girls go back to school and William has another week off. We have had a good vacation. Christmas vacation went by so fast...it was preparation, and the singing at church the night before, and Christmas day, and spending the gift certificates and writing thank-yous. But New Years is a lot of free time. It has been nice to relax without a lot of activities.
Maybe next weekend we can take the Christmas tree down.

Thursday 1/1/09 dirt and snow...

It is a new year. It always seems strange to put the new year on the date...like going from '08 to '09. We didn't do a lot today. We bought dirt to go around the foundation of the house. The bags are frozen and in the garage. When they thaw, we can put them around the house. We have a little bit of snow. About an inch. It is pretty, but there isn't enough of it to shovel.

Wednesday 12/31/08 Happy New Year!!!...

Happy New Year!!! Have a safe and happy holiday.
We had a quiet day. We had rented movies from the library yesterday, so we watched them today. I put plastic on some of the windows. If we don't move by this spring, I may replace another window.
The kids didn't have any New Year's resolutions this year. I usually have a lot...but this year I just want to help the kids and move.

Tuesday 12/30/08 the last full night of 2008...

This is the last full night of 2008. The year has gone by so fast.
I bought calenders for next year today. It is amazing how many appts. we have already.
The weather has gotten relatively warmer, it is thirty degrees. I need to put plastic on more of the windows.
I think that the next big project for next year is to paint the living room ceiling. I have been putting it off because the couch will need to be moved.

Monday 12/29/08 programming, friends and hats...

William has downloaded a new computer program, Linux, I think that that is it's name. He is going to try to start programming in that language. He really wants to learn to program. This is a good time to try, since he is out of school for a while.
The girls had the neighbor girls over for a while. The group never sat still. They started a movie and then went to another room. There was a lot of laughter.
The snow has melted, and the rain has stopped.
I have started crocheting hats. I was getting board making blankets.

Monday 12/29/08 finishing one year, and starting another...

These are the fun days...between Christmas and New Years. The kids are out of school and get to play, the world seems more magical. We have shared with others at Christmas, and will celebrate the past and what is to come on New Years. I like to make a list of things to do over the next year, and to look back and see if I have accomplished anything over the last year. We have come a long way, William started college, Maggie and Beth are both in Junior High, and I feel very ready to move, the house is in good shape.

Saturday 12/27/08 resting and warmer weather...

We relaxed today. It was nice to not have anything set that we needed to do. We played games and watched movies. It was about sixty degrees out. Everything was melting. The yard was so wet, like a sponge, and the road was full of water...it had all been ice before. I think that tomorrow it will be about forty deg. and then back to the thirties for next week.

Friday 12/16/08 Christmas and Thank-you cards...

We had a fun Christmas. My mom and brother came over and spent some time with us. The present that the kids were the most taken with was the Cube World. It is a plastic cube that has stick people in it. They can be stacked together like an apartment complex and the stick people will go and visit their neighbors. Some of it is OK, sometimes they get mad at each other and fight...so it is not for little kids. It is interesting to watch. The kids got some gift certificates, so we went to a few stores to redeem them. Better to go now while the sales are going.
When we came back, the kids and I wrote out our Thank-you cards. It is nice to have them done.
I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday 12/24/08 Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! May all of you have a safe, happy and prosperous 2009.
I need to wrap the presents tonight. I don't know how I got so far behind. Next year I will start sooner. My Mom and brother are coming over at seven AM to have Christmas with us. We do have a large family, but we are the only ones who live in this town. We call or e-mail everyone else.
We went to the Christmas program at church tonight. It was fun to see all of the little kids on stage. I will miss it when my kids aren't in it anymore.

Tuesday 12/23/08 ornaments and warm weather...

The Christmas shopping is done, but we still need to make the ornaments. The ornaments are on the dining room table. We need to get colored pens and color them. William usually doesn't want to participate in this, so the girls and I do one for him. The weather is supposed to get to about forty degrees today and melt a lot of the snow. If it does, I hope that a lot of it drains away so that when it re-freezes tonight we don't have really thick ice.
The kids are really excited for Christmas, and for being off from school for a while. This is such a fun time of the year.

Monday 12/22/08 dresses and snow...

We found Beth's dress today. It was hard to find one that didn't look like a prom dress. Tomorrow we will color the ornaments, and on Wednesday we have choir practice early in the day.
I have heard that it will be a white Christmas. I am hoping that it will not be as cold as it has been.

Monday 12/22/08 candy canes and holiday preparations...

We went out yesterday to hang candy canes on peoples doors to invite them to our Christmas Eve service. It was so cold. We were out for about twenty minutes, and were cold.
Today we need to find a dress for Beth, and if we can make ornaments for the tree. I hope that your Christmas preparations are going really well.
The first weekend in Jan we are...hopefully...going to volunteer at the Food Bank. I am really excited.

Saturday 12/20/08 cold weather and preparations...

I am sorry that I am late with this blog. We made the Christmas presents yesterday, and got two dresses. Beth still needs one. We also started the cookies. We will finish them tonight. It is really cold. Winter came in early and hard this year.
Everything should be done for Christmas. Today we are going back to church to hang candy canes on peoples doors with notes to invite them to the Christmas Eve service. Then we can come back and relax for a while.

Friday 12/19/08 crunchy snow and plans for the weekend...

A storm came in last night. There was snow and then rain, and then it froze. What a mess. It made the snow crunchy on top. Beth said that her favorite part was walking on the snow and having it break under her. She was so excited. The eyes of a child see many wonders.
Tomorrow we are going to have the kids make their Christmas presents. Then we are going to get dresses for the girls. William already has a suit. I asked him if he wanted a Christmas tie to wear. He said ''no'' very quickly. Then we are going to make cookies. We each also need to make an ornament for the tree. This will be a full weekend. The kids are so excited. The girls are out of school for the holiday also. Maggie is happy to have more time to read and Beth already misses all of her friends.

Thursday 12/18/08 snow and hats...

We went outside to play today. The snow was too fluffy and dry to have a snow ball fight or to make a snowman. The kids made a hill out of snow. They shoveled the front yard, and the sidewalk. The neighbor kids came out, so they shoveled their sidewalk and grass for the snow. The snow was hauled in a wagon and on sleds.
I am starting to crochet hats. Tonight was my first try. I started to late, so the hat won't be finished tonight.

Wednesday 12/17/08 Christmas...

There was no more snow today. I think that it may all melt later this week. I have made a list of things that need to be done before Christmas. It is a lot longer than I thought it would be. I did cross one thing off today. Most of the things will be done this weekend...like the kids making Christmas presents and all of us making ornaments. I need to buy more film for the camera.
William is enjoying his vacation. I think that he is reading.

Tuesday 12/16/08 snow and Christmas cards...

It snowed today after we got home. We drove home with no snow, but an hour later, everything was white. We went out and shoveled. Now,looking outside, it is all covered up again.
The Christmas cards are almost done.Cheer, cheer...I need one address, and they can go out tomorrow. Maybe next year we will have moved and then I can address them sooner. Maybe.

Monday 12/15/08 broken tooth and rain...

William re-broke a tooth. He had broken it when he was in grade school. At that time they said that it would need repaired again in ten or fifteen years. It has been about that long and it broke off. We went to the dentist today to have it repaired. I was hoping that with all of the new technology the new repair would last a lifetime. They said ''no'', it would last another ten or fifteen years.
It rained last night, and then got really cold today. The water from the rain on the top of my car beaded-up and then froze. It looks like art on the roof of the car.

Monday 12/15/08 presents and ornaments...

I need to get one more present, then I have Christmas done...everything still needs wrapped. The kids have decided to write everyone a card for their gift. We will probably do that next weekend. We also make an ornament each year. Each person makes one. Lately they have been wooden designs that we color with markers, or sparkles. Then we put our initials on the back with the year. It is fun to see them all on the tree each year. William sometimes doesn't do one...so we do one for him.

Saturday 12/13/08 winter boots and vacation...

We bought boots today. It is a relief to have that done. I guess that we are not late, winter hasn't even started yet. When we got home, the girls wore their boots in the house, to get them worn in a little bit.
Today was William's first day of vacation, he looked very relaxed. I didn't get the Christmas cards finished today, maybe tomorrow.

Friday 12/12/08 snow and school...

It snowed today. For a while it was almost white-out conditions.Then it stopped. The forecast is that it is going to get warm on Sunday, and all of the snow will be gone.
William is finished with his finals. He looks happy. It will seam strange not to take him to school each day. I take a picture of the kids on their first and last days of school each year. Then when they are grown, the pictures can be put into frames and we can see how they grew.

Thursday 12/11/08 weather and to-do lists...

We have started to receive Christmas cards. I still need to write out eight cards. We do have the stamps now. I will write them out this weekend. The warm weather a few days ago melted all of the snow, now it is just cold. We went outside to play today. It felt good to get out into the fresh air.
The other day I found my list of things that I wanted to accomplish before winter got here. I was able to cross off a lot of items.

Wednesday 12/10/08 selling goldfish, winter boots...

Beth wants to start a business. She wants to sell goldfish. When we buy crickets for the frogs, the tank of feeder fish is next to the crickets. Beth has been looking at the fish for a long time. She is now going to go to school and see if she can supply the goldfish when they have a fair, and to ask her friends if they would buy a fish from her. I said that she should get a note from her friends parents before she delivers any fish. The fish are ten for a dollar. Beth has already named the first ten. She hasn't bought the fish yet, but she has the names ready.
The kids tried on their boots today. William's fit, the girl's don't. Maybe we can get boots this weekend. If we wait too long, they will be all sold out.

Tuesday 12/9/08 giving...

My kids and I have been loaning money...25 dollars at a time...to people in other countries at www.kiva.org. We haven't given a lot, when the person pays the money back, the kids and I pick a new person to give the money to. It is cool to see the people that the money goes to and read about how they want to change their lives. It is inspiring. We don't make any interest, but it is so nice to be able to help someone. There are people that don't pay the loans back, but most of them do.
I heard today on the World News that there is another site where teachers can go and post their needs, like paper and pencils. I am going to get onto the website tonight and see if it is something that the kids and I should do. It is at www.donorschoose.org.
It is a balance to teach the kids about making sure that they pay their bills...and take care of themselves...and give to others. They can't neglect themselves to help others, but they should be happy givers too.

Monday 12/8/08 rain and game night...

It rained today. The snow is probably all melted by now. It is going to get cold tonight and make ice...and then it will get warm, in the forties. I spend a lot of time driving slowly.
We had game night tonight. We like to play Blokus. We are getting "Apples to Apples" and a second game for Christmas. I don't know the name of the second game yet.

Monday 12/8/08 Christmas tree...

We put the Christmas tree up on Saturday. We re-arranged the furniture and brought up the boxes of decorations from the basement. Last year we had a problem with the tree tilting to one side. This year the kids tied it to the base with twine. It felt really sturdy. I hope that it stays up. We have two trees, so we have two tree tops. We couldn't find the correct top, so we decided to put up the incorrect one and add a lot of decorations and lights. We all put up the lights...we all stand around the tree and pass the lights around the tree to each other. This year Maggie and Beth are tall enough to reach almost to the top of the tree. When we plugged in the lights only two strands turned on...we forgot to test them first. We decided to leave all of them on and to re-arrange them so that the tree was covered. Next we put on the ornaments. Most of the ornaments must be in storage, usually the tree is covered. The tree looks great, but it has considerably less ornaments than it would normally have. I guess that this is better if someone is looking at the house, but it seems a little empty to us. When we were all done, we found the correct tree top of the tree in the bottom of a box. We decided to leave it there. While we decorate we have Christmas music playing on the radio. It adds a nice spirit to the room.

Saturday 12/6/08 roller skating...

We went rollerskating yesterday. There were a lot of kids. They were mostly junior high and senior high age. There were a few younger and older ones. The music was ''today's''music. There wasn't one song that I knew. The events were similar to when I was young. There was a backwards skate, a girl only skate, a boy only skate, a couple skate...another big difference was that last time a lot of kids were playing the games to get tickets for prizes. This time only one or two kids were playing the games, but a lot of kids were sitting on the floor by the game machines. They were all talking and having fun, on the floor.
The kids faces looked so young, like they didn't have a care in the world. I want to enjoy life that much.

Friday 12/5/08 snow, roller skating and school...

It has started snowing. At first is was so light that I needed to look twice to see that it was really snowing. Now the snow is a bit heavier. We may have one to two inches of snow tomorrow. Tonight we are going roller skating. The girls are very excited. I need to finish putting up the plastic on the windows in the living room before we put the Christmas tree up.
William is finishing a paper that is due next week. He is almost done.

Thursday 12/4/08 weekend plans...

The girls are going to go roller skating with their friend tomorrow night. Saturday we are going to put up the Christmas tree. William has finals next week...he has already taken some this week. We still need to try on boots, I can't remember to have the kids do this. This is the last winter item that we need to get. The Christmas cards aren't finished. I need to get Christmas stamps. It sounds like a long list, but as soon as the tree is up, and the boots and cards are done, we can all relax and enjoy the season. I hope that all of you have a restful month.

Wednesday 12/3/08 day off and volunteering...

William had the day off today. I think that he did homework. The girls and I got more crickets for the frogs and then went to their choir practice.
I want our family to volunteer. I called the Food Bank to see if families can help. They said that they are open one Saturday a month and we would be welcome. I think that we will wait until next month, William has finals next week and I don't want to pull him off track. I am very excited about doing this.

Tuesday 12/2/08 decorating...

We started listening to Christmas songs on the radio today. We are going to try to put up the Christmas tree this weekend. Sometimes it goes up really easily. The tree just stays in the stand...and sometimes it doesn't. We start early in the day to put it up, in case it isn't an easy year.
It snows a little bit each day. The snow hasn't stuck to the ground yet, it is just pretty floating in the air.

Monday 12/1/08 other houses and windows...

There are forty-two other houses in my area that have four bedrooms and are in the same price range as my house. I was going to look them all up on the computer and see what features they have, but instead I am going to make this house the cleanest house on the list. I can't make this house into something that it isn't, but I can make it clean.
The plastic has fallen off of the window in my room. It needs to be taped back up. It is nice that the kids windows have been replaced. Their rooms are warm and they can look through their windows year-round.

Monday 12/1/08 snow and playgrounds...

It snowed yesterday. There was no accumulation, but it was pretty to see it fall from the sky. The Christmas cards are almost done: one needs an address, and eight need the paragraph about the kids written onto them. Oh...they all need stamps.
I think that I am going to start taking the girls to the park at night after school to play for a while. After dinner it is so dark and the neighbor kids aren't out. This would get us some exercise.

Sunday 11/30/08 blogging, TV and moving...

OK...I have not been blogging consistently. I am going to try to blog earlier in the day. I have been waiting to blog until I get everything else done, then I am too tired. I will move it up on my list and see if I can regain the consistency.
I watched Kenneth Copeland on TV this morning. He is always good at recharging me.
I lowered the price of the house yesterday. It would be great to be moved before the end of the year. I would like to get the girls in a new school at the beginning of the new quarter. I hope that this works.

Saturday 11/29/08 shopping...

I went shopping yesterday. I think that this is my first ''Black Friday" shopping trip. The parking lot was really full. I have never seen the parking lot so full. I was worried about how long the lines would be. There were two carts in the cart area. There were enough people there that I had to go slowly down the isles, but the crowds weren't huge. Everyone was filling their carts and some people had arm-loads of items. The checkout lines were long, but the wait was only about ten minutes. From what I have heard from my friends, this wasn't normal. But it was fun.

Thursday 11/27/08 Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We had a lot of fun today. The kids helped to prepare the meal. I always want to try to make a new dish, but I don't get out any new recipes. Maybe next week I will get out the cook book.
We have a white piece of cloth that we write what we are thankful for on each Thanksgiving. We use permanent marker. (If you do this, put some newspaper under the material. The ink can go through to the table underneath). We write our names and the date by what we wrote. Then years from now, we can see what we had thought about in the past.
The kids helped to put the left-overs away. It is always fun to see how they will work together. When they were young, the girls looked up to William. He would ask them to get him a lid for a container or put something away, and they would do it. Now, they all think that they are in charge. One will say to the other, "I need a lid for this container", and the other will say, "yes you do". They were all putting a left-over away and didn't want to leave their spot.

Wednesday 11/26/08 Thanksgiving break...

William has been on Thanksgiving break this week. Yesterday he walked to the mall and stopped off at a store on the way. He said that he walked for four hours. He enjoys walking and doesn't want to get his drivers license. If he rides his bike, then he needs to get off of it at each intersection and walk it across. He is careful about this because he was hit by a pick-up truck a few years ago. His leg was broken. Now he is more careful. William says that it is faster to walk than to get off of the bike at each corner. Also, I don't think that there are any bike racks at the mall. William wanted to buy a new computer game during this break.
The girls have off Thursday and Friday.

Tuesday 11/25/08 Thanksgiving and game night...

OK, its one day until Thanksgiving...mom has brought over the turkey for me to cook...she is bringing the pies and green bean casserole and rolls with her on Thanksgiving day...we are making the mashed potatoes and stuffing and sweet potatoes. It is not too late to buy the ingredients. We can get them tomorrow...peal the potatoes together tomorrow night (we always peal the potatoes as a family...it is our tradition) and put the potatoes in water in the fridge overnight. and make the rest of the food in the morning...we should be OK. I won't panic yet...
Tonight we had game night, we played Blokus.Then I put plastic on some of the windows. The rooms always feel so much better after the plastic is up.

Monday 11/24/08 windows and houses...

The bathroom window now has plastic on it. The upstairs is now done!!! If we weren't going to move, next I would have gotten a new screen door for William's room and replaced the bathroom window and the girl's closet windows. It would be nice not to have to put plastic on anything on that floor.
I am going to lower the price of the house after Thanksgiving. I am hoping to move before Christmas. Can a sale be completed that fast? I am tired of having half of our things in storage.

Monday 11/24/08 raking leaves...

I'm sorry that I didn't post on Saturday, the electricity went out on our street that night. It came back on in the night, but too late to post. I need one of those phones that connects to the Internet so that if the power does go out, I am still connected.
We raked the back yard this weekend. The kids and I raked all of the leaves to the front curb. The kids are so much older now and were very helpful. Maggie and Beth like to be in front and rake the first parts of the pile to the curb. William likes the end so that he can do the detail work of getting the last leaves into the pile. The yard is green again.

Friday 11/21/08 library movies and house cleaning...

We went to the library to get movies today. They had a lot fewer VHS movies. I asked them if a lot of people were checking out movies today. They said that they are phasing out the VHS movies, and selling them. They will be replaced with DVD's.
When we got home, the kids and I started to clean the house. They vacuumed the rooms, and I washed the bathrooms and mopped the floors. The work is easier when a lot of people are helping and there are movies at the end.

Thursday 11/20/08 neighbors and Thanksgiving...

We went outside to play today. The neighbors were out raking their yard. It was so nice to see them. We are a close neighborhood. In the summer we are all outside a lot. It is difficult in the winter when we don't see our friends as much. We took the neighbor girl with us to pick William up from school. It was a night that he had a test, so he was late coming out. We had her call home to say that she was OK and we were waiting for William.
We need to get ready for Thanksgiving this weekend. I still need to finish the Christmas cards...I would really like to send them out just after Thanksgiving. You know...if I spent as much time addressing them as I do writing about addressing them, they would be done. I should buy the stamps tomorrow.

Wednesday 11/19/08 screen doors and choir...

In William's room he has an outside door with a screen door. Today William and I put plastic around the screen door. It is an old screen door that doesn't keep out much of the cold. The door is on the second floor in the back of the house, so very few people will see it. I will try to put plastic on the rest of the windows this weekend.
The girls had choir tonight. They like to sing. It is very casual, they get a lot done, but it is not tense, the kids have fun. I think that they enjoy seeing their friends as much as they like singing.

Tuesday 11/18/08 crickets...

We got more crickets for the frogs to eat today. We buy fifty crickets at a time, then we don't need to go back as often. We feed the crickets carrot shavings. In the summer we also feed them grass.

Monday 11/17/08 flu shots, homework and plastic on windows...

We got our flu shots today. Maggie had a lot of homework to do tonight, we have a new educational computer game that Beth played since she didn't have any homework.
It has turned colder. I need to put plastic onto the windows. I called the real estate lady and she said that it would be OK. Then people would see that they would need plastic on these windows too. She didn't think that it would hurt the sale of the house. I wonder...as soon as the plastic goes up, will we start top get people coming over to see the house again?

Monday 11/17/08

It has been snowing here for three days. The snow is not sticking, but it has been snowing. The kids get flu shots today.

Sunday 11/16/08 signing up for classes and "Bratz" dolls...

We signed William up for his next terms classes yesterday. It was a lot easier this time, since we have signed him up one other time. Then we went to get him a winter jacket. We went to the mall. I don't think that there is a recession in my town. The mall parking lot was full. It took a long time to find a parking spot. Also, everyone that we saw coming out of the mall was caring a package. Usually when there are rough economic times, no one has bought anything, they are all just looking. Yesterday, they were buying.
We literally went into every store in the mall that sells men's clothes to look for a winter jacket with a hood that does not come off (no zippers or buttons) and does not have any fur around the hat. William does not like the fur, he thinks that it looks like a girls jacket. We couldn't find a winter jacket. Last week when we went to look, we went to four stores. We were all tired after looking at the mall, and still didn't have a jacket. Beth had received some money for her birthday, so she wanted to go to another store to spend it. She had seen an MP3 player...is that the one that music can be loaded onto?...so we went to look. It was a store that we had gone to last week for winter jackets, but since we were there, we looked again...you never know, more jackets may have come in. We found a winter jacket for William. Cheer and clap... Beth decided that she didn't want the MP3 player. so she bought some "Bratz" dolls.
Have you seen the "Bratz" dolls? They are the ones that the feet come off and you can put different feet on them. Then the child doesn't have to slip the shoes on and off, they just put on different feet, that already permanently have shoes on them. It is really freaky to go around the house and see these stray feet laying around, or to see these dolls without feet. The new dolls have legs and feet that come off. The doll then had from its stomach up attached. The one that Beth got has three sets of legs. So we have two sets laying around without a body. This is even freakier. Maggie had the two sets of legs dancing, one set had ballerina feet and the other were regular with every day shoes on. Beth likes them. They come with lots of clothes.

Saturday 11/15/08 birthdays, Christmas cards and busy weekends...

We had Beth's birthday party last night. She is twelve years old now. Beth has grown about two and a half inches in the last year. She is as tall as William was at eleven. Right now she is my most petite child...I don't know if she well end up that way.
I started the Christmas cards last night. They all have our return address on them. I have written the note that I want to put into all of the cards, but it still needs written into each card. I decided that this could wait for another day. Maybe I will put all of the stamps on next.
Today we need to get William registered for the next term in college, get William a winter jacket, and get haircuts. The weather is turning chillier and it is raining.

Thursday 11/13/08 this weekend...

The weather was spring-like today. It started off chilly, and turned out to be beautiful. We will need to go to the library soon. The kids are almost done with their books. We don't have much planned for this weekend. It may be nice to rest.

Wednesday 11/12/08 pictures...

I like to change the family pictures around the house now and then. We have a lot of pictures, but they are in photo albums. To get some of them seen, they are rotated in the picture frames in the house. I was hoping that the kids would look at the pictures and recognise that they are different, but they don't. So after the pictures are changed, I take them around and point out the new ones, and answer any questions that they have about who is in the pictures or where we were. It is like having a rotating picture show.

Monday 11/10/08 decorations and weather...

We still have our Halloween decorations up. We need to take them down. Maybe tomorrow. The kids had a good day, they were warm in their winter jackets. The weather turned cold so fast. I am ready for spring.

Tuesday 11/11/08 board games and Christmas cards...

We had game night tonight. We played "Blokus". It is a board game where each person has pieces that they take turns adding to the board to see who can find a place to put all of their pieces. Beth had a plan this time on how and which pieces to use next...Maggie made lawnmower noises. Have you guessed yet that Maggie is the class clown? It was fun.
Tonight I am going to start filling out the Christmas cards. I found a new saying to put on my computer. It is ''You choose what to do with the time that you are given" It is from "Lord of the Rings". Making all of the lists in the world won't help me if I don't choose to get anything done.