Tuesday 3/25/08 Easter eggs, moving, storage unit...

We colored Easter eggs a couple of days ago. It was fun. William didn't want to help so he was on the computer in the same room. We found an Easter egg coloring set that had dies, sponges and Q-tips to color eggs with, and a wax crayon and stickers. We ended up with one puddle of die on the table, no eggs dropping on the floor and we only broke two egg shells while coloring them. When the girls get too old, I will really miss this.
We are almost ready to move. The house is painted...on the inside...and we have taken a lot of boxes to storage. This past weekend William helped me take two book shelves to the garage and two tables to storage...the book shelves wouldn't fit in the storage unit. The living room looks a lot bigger now.

Monday 12/31/07 Happy New Year!!!...

Hello! Happy New Year!!! I am sorry that I haven't written in a while, I needed to stop and concentrate on Christmas. I hope that you have had a good 2007 and will have a wonderful 2008.

Tuesday 12/11/07 Christmas cards...

I am filling out the Christmas cards tonight. I had cards that were bought earlier in the year, but at the last minute, I misplaced them. I really didn't want to re-buy something that I already had, so I put off re-buying them. Finally, they never turned up, and I am just starting to address the cards. I really like to mail the cards about a week after Thanksgiving.

Monday 12/10/07 Pictures and snow...

We got our family pictures in the mail last week. They look good. We had wanted a picture of all of us before William went away to college. It is a relief that the picture is done.
We had our first winter storm last weekend. There was snow and ice and rain. It was messy. I ended up staying home.
There is a small amount of painting that needs done on the house. William's shelves for his closet need done and the heater in the bathroom needs some rust-o-lium. Maybe this week would be a good time to do it. Then I could quit thinking about painting.

Monday 12/03/07 Planning to decorate...

We decided to put up the Christmas decorations next Saturday. We had wanted to put them up sooner, but we wanted to make sure that we had enough time to put them up. We had thought about putting them up on a Friday night, but thought that if we started in the morning when we weren't tired and had a full day open, it would feel fun and not rushed.
We have an artificial tree. We also have a lot of decorations. We started out with some decorations. Each year the kids make some at school, and each year we make ornaments as a family, and a few years ago when my grandmother passed away, we got some of her decorations.
I like to take down a few pictures off of the wall and cover the picture with wrapping paper and put a bow on it. When we hang it back up, It looks like there is a present on the wall.

Sunday 12/2/07 my favorite plants...

There are a few plants around the yard that I really care about. There are some hastas from my grandparent's farm and also some rhubarb that came from the farm. There are the snow drop bulbs, the hastas from the neighbors down the street and the strawberries from my mom. If we move in the spring when the ground is still frozen, these plants won't be able to come with us.
A few months ago I bought some flower pots. Saturday I took some of each of these plants and put them into the pots and put them into the garage. Now I can quit worrying about moving without them.
I have two more plants that I care a lot about, my great-grandparents roses. I have brought seven cuttings of both of them in the house to root. All of great-grandpas sprouted. None of great-grandmas have. There is only one of great grandmas rose bushes outside, I didn't want to put it into the garage, for fear that it would die. The cuttings are still alive, maybe they will sprout.

Friday 11/30/07 The fridge quit working...

Our refrigator quit working last night. Its never a good time to buy a major appliance. I went to the store today to get a used fridge. They will deliver it tomrrow morning at about 11:00 am.
This sounds so simple...fridge quits...bought new one...new one (new-to-me) gets delivered tomorrow before lunch. In reality, we still have four hungery people at home who are ready to eat dinner, and who will want breakfast in the morning. I didn't think that this would be a problem, we have food in the cupboard. Everything needed milk to cook it. We ended up having macronni and cheese, from a box so that the cheese was in a pouch in the box, canned fruit, canned vegetable, and baked beans. For breakfast we have some instant oatmeal. The kids still like it without milk. I need to get some foods that only require water or that are already ready, like canned spagetti. Something that we could just heat up. Also...do the stores sell powdered milk in packets that make one gallon of milk at a time? How long would the powdered milk keep for in the pouches? We need to have a few ''easy to prepare'' foods for emergencies.

Thursday 11/29/07 The tree in front of our house...

The tree in front of our house was cut down this last summer. The city had to take it down before they fixed a broken pipe in the street. They were concearned that the roots would be cut when the street was worked on and the tree would fall. The city came back yesterday and ground up the stump. The did a really nice job. I have to say that they have really done an excellent job with our tree and street. I wonder if they will come back next summer and plant a new tree?

Wednesday 11/28/07 Decorating the church...

We decorated the church for Christmas tonight. It was fun. We helped decorate two trees and sang Christmas songs. There were twenty to forty people decorating. The first tree had a long...white...veil type (see through) piece of material that we draped around the tree first. Next we put on green plastic leaves and big bows. It looked very elegent. The second tree, in another room, had some ornament art work from the kids Sunday School class.. After the ornaments were up we took strips of paper and stapled them into a chain to put on the tree. We had about ten kids and three staplers. We were at a round table so we ended up having the kids staple one link to their chain and pass the stapler to the left. When we all had to go the kids stapled their individual chains together to make a long chain. We made a lot of memories tonight.

Monday 11/26/07 ''The Waltons''...

We needed a television series on DVD to watch at home. I wanted something that I had watched as a kid, so that the content would be ok for my kids. I first thought of "Little House on the Prarie" but there were so few boys on the show. Their brother came in years after the show started. The series that we chose needed to have boys and men so that William would be interested in it too. I also liked "My three Sons", but I can't find it on DVD or VHS. It has all men and one of the boys, is young, one is just starting to date, and one is..I don't know maybe high school. I remember watching it as a child and thinking that the oldest son was really old.
My third choice was "The Waltons". It had lots of boys and men, good values and a lot going on in each episode. My kids love it. William tries not to show that he likes it. Now and then when the show is on William will be walking through the room and he will stop to watch it before he realizes it, he is enjoying the show. We have now watched years one and two.
I didn't realize it when I bought the set that John-Boy is the same age as William. They are both finishing high school.

Friday 11/23/07 Holidays and shopping...

The kids have almost finished the Thanksgiving left-overs. We will be back to non-holiday foods tomorrow. That's OK. It was fun. We may put the tree up on Sunday. I had wanted to start filling out my Christmas cards, putting on their addresses one night, signing them another...but now I can't find them. I saw the cards last week, I must have moved them. William wanted to go to the bookstore at the mall today, and Beth had money from her birthday to spend. I don't go to the mall very often. I enjoy buying groceries, I just don't enjoy shopping at the mall.
While we were there we saw two little girls on a ride. It was a roller coaster ride. The kids sit in the seat and the view on the screen is what you would see if you were riding on a coaster. It was a ride for little kids. The girls were about three of four years old. Their parents were standing close by. As the screen changed from going up hill to down hill the seat where the girls sat moved so that the riders feel like they are moving on the ride. The little girls were so excited, hanging onto the handle and cheering. I remember when I was young and everything that happened was so exciting.
Beth bought dolly clothes with her money.
We played outside today. I raked up the dead leaves from the hasta plants and only found three of the kids toys under them. The mums have started to bloom. It is so exciting to have some color in the yard.

Thursday 11/22/07 Thanksgiving...

We celebrated Thanksgiving today. First the kids helped me to clean he house up. We vacuumed and put the odds and ends away. Then we made the meal. William finished the deviled eggs. Maggie mashed the potatoes. Beth stirred everything. Every year I say to myself that we should learn to make stuffing from scratch...and every year we don't do it.
We wrote what we were thankful for on the muslin cloth...I put it on the buffet so that we wouldn't spill on it. We all wrote ''friends and family'' on the cloth. I will put it away for next year tomorrow when it has dried. I need to put a note on next years calender where I am putting it, so that I can find it.

Wednesday 11/21/07 Thanksgiving preparations...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
We started getting ready for Thanksgiving tonight. We have a tradition of all four of us pealing the potatoes together. We started it years ago. The first year the kids weren't able to peal many potatoes, but they wanted to try. The next year they were excited to be able to try again. We all sat around the table and the kids all talked about how difficult pealing the potatoes was last year, and how much easier it was this year. Now the kids are old enough to help make another dish for the meal. It is nice to get to teach them to cook and they feel good at the meal that they contributed to helping make it.
Tonight William started the deviled eggs. He cooked and shelled them. The kids are very excited about having a whole day dedicated to eating.
We are starting a new tradition this year. I heard about this from a friend at church...They got a piece of muslin cloth and some cloth pens. Before the Thanksgiving meal they took turns writing on the cloth what they were thankful for, their name and the date. Then the next year they do this again on the same cloth. They said that it is nice to see what each person writes, how the hand writing of the children changes from year to year, and if a relative passes away it is nice to have what they wrote with them at the holiday. It is like having a part of their deceased relative with them. We are going to start this tradition this year.

Monday 11/14/07 Thanksgiving...

I like all of the holidays. It bothers me that Thanksgiving is now being pushed aside. The kids are now old enough to like all of the Thanksgiving foods. When they were young they wouldn't eat mashed potatoes or turkey. Now they like it. Years ago I told the kids that we won't start decorating for Christmas until all of the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten...not the left-over turkey that I froze, just what was in the refrigerator. It gives us a chance to think about this thankful holiday for a day or two.
This morning in the car Maggie asked ''What if we finish all of the left-overs at lunch on Friday, could we put the tree up that same day?'' The kids are really anxious for Christmas to get here this year. I wonder how fast they will eat the left overs? I need to explain to the kids again that my goal is not to have the left-overs eaten quickly, but to enjoy Thanksgiving. We will see how it goes.

Monday 11/12/07 Dying blue jeans...

Beth asked me the other day if it was possible to dye her jeans pink. I said that I didn't have any idea. She wanted her jeans to match her shirt. We have never dyed anything before. I said that we could get some dye and see if it was possible.
On Saturday we went to the Salvation Army store and bought Beth a pair of jeans for $4.99. Then we went to the Dollar Store and bought a container with a lid that was big enough to dye jeans in. Neither of these stores sold dye...so we went to a third store. This store had dye, but no pink dye. They had ''faded white", brown, black, yellow and purple. Beth chose purple. We came home and dyed the jeans. They are drying right now. The inside tag and the inside of the pockets are purple. We think that the jeans are purple, but we can't tell if they are purple, or if it is just wishfull thinking on our part. Beth was so excited to do this, I hope that they turn out.

Monday 11/12/07 William and College...

William has always wanted to go to college. A few years ago I was saying that he should go to the community college. It has smaller class sizes and might be a good place to start. He said ''no'' he wants to go to the local four year college. I finally started to agree with him that he was ready for larger class sizes.
The other day William mentioned that we were almost out of toothpaste. I went to show him again which cupboard the toothpaste was kept in but he said ''no'' he would be leaving to go away to college soon and he really didn't need to know where anything was kept. I said ''away'' to college? He has now decided that he would prefer to go away to college. I have always told the kids that anything is possible, as long as you work hard for it. I hadn't thought that they were listining to me.
We were all talking a few days later and William mentioned that he would be gone in about six months. He said that after he finishes high school he will be filling out his college paperwork and leaving. I have never seen so much enthusium in him. (Where did my little boy who wanted to stay at home go?) I tried to explain that most freshmen classes started in the fall quarter and he may be with us all summer. He is so excited about college, which is cool, and he does truely believe that he can start college the day after he graduates from high school. I do wish that he wanted to go to a local college, and live with us. We will miss him so much, but I don't want to take away any of his excitement and drive.

Friday 11/9/07 Hobbies for me...

There are some hobbies that I would like to have if I had some free time. Here are a few of them:
I would like to buy a sewing machine that embroiders cute pictures on jeans, like hearts or birds. I could buy jeans at garage sales cheaply and put the designs on them. They could be re-sold at my garage sale for more money. I think that the sewing machine could be programmed by someone else and I would just need to put the correct thread into it. The problem is that the machine will probably cost a lot, and I would have to sell a lot of jeans just to break even.
My second idea is making sock dolls. I got a book on making these, and have made one. It took about one evening. The doll is about six inches tall, and really cute. Then I decided to move and didn't have time to do any more. When I am at the store there are so many cute sox that it is hard to say ''move first then get more sox''.

Thursday 11/8/07 Rock Tumblers...

Maggie turned twelve this year. She collects rocks with the neighbor boy. Her birthday present was a rock tumbler. It looked like a nice, low maintence gift. It came with a small base that has a small motor in it and a container with a lid to put the rocks in. There were also three kinds of grit to put in to make the rocks progressively smoother. We had a tererible time getting the container to seal closed. The directions said to put a small ammount of vegetable oil between the container and the lid to get a good seal. It kept leaking. After about ten tries we got it sealed. The problem is that the container sits on it's side in the base as it spins. After we got it sealed we put it in the dining room by the frogs. We needed an open spot by an electrical outlet. When it was turned on it was the loudest thing in the house. We couldn't talk on the phone or hear the TV, and I am sure that the frogs didn't like the noise. We moved it to the living room. That was on Friday night. When we went outside we turned it on...and back off when we came in. It is now in the kitchen, away from the frogs, the phone and the TV. Maggie really likes the gift and is glad that we found a place for it.

Wednesday 11/07/07 Zoo...

We went to the Zoo over the summer. We havn't gone in ta few years. It was fun to go back again. The reason that we went is because the Zoo had a butterfly exibit. We wanted to see what that was like, all of those graceful, fragile creatures flying around us. When we got there the exibit was a room that was warm with a lot of flowers and plants in it. They also had some bowls with sponges in them. In the bowls was a red liquid. I asked the Zoo person that was in the room what the liquid was. She said that it was red Gatoraid. It attracks the butterflies. We went late in the summer, so there weren't a huge number of butterflies, but there were a lot. Some did fly onto us. Whe we left there we went and saw the fish and the monkey exibits. It takes us a long time to go through each area, so we don't see many exibits.

Tuesday 11/06/07 Postcards...

The kid's don't bring home any homework. At their school they have study hall the last class of the day. Their school set this up so that they can do their homework at school where the teachers can help them if they need it. My kids do need help with hand writing...I used to have them keep a journal. Most nights after school, while I am making dinner, they write a few sentences. I have them put the date on it also. They can write about their day, or their favorite toy...or anything. Any writing is good. It all helps their handwriting. The journal was only fun for the kids for a while.
Now I have them send postcards to their cousins. A postcard only needs about two sentences. This made the kids happy, Their cousins have started writing back.
It is cheaper to send a postcard then to send a letter. The stamps are cheaper. Also...the Post Office only requires that the postcard be the correct size, not have any folds in it, and be sturdy. It doesn't make any difference to the Post Office if you make or but the post card. I bought one post card to get the correct size. Then I took some cereal boxes and began tracing and cutting them out. I did need to draw the line on the postcard and tell the kids to only write on the left side of it. If they cross the line there isn't enough room for the address.
They like writing fewer sentences and also getting mail from their cousins. I'm glad that if they make a mistake and want to throw it away to start over, it's ok because it was free.