A birthday dinner

Tonight is my birthday dinner with my parents, sister and aunt. My dear husband has made me beef stew, homemade bread, and apple crisp.

And I have some confessions. I act all nonchalant that great, beautiful presents come into my home for me. "Oh, that's nice. Presents for me? You shouldn't have." But inside I am just as giddy as Ellie was as she made a grand entrance holding one and exclaiming that such presents were here for me. When I pass them, my head turns as my eyes lock on them and my brain searches to guess what fine things are inside. And although I do feel slightly self-conscience when I hear choruses of "Happy Birthday to You," I would miss hearing them if they were forgotten.

But really all the laud should go to my mother, for I had no say about being born, and she did all the work. She had all the pain and joy of that day (well, I guess Dad had joy too.) I don't remember any of it.

So why do I get all the acclamation?

I love you, mom. Thank you.

Friends

Here I sit at Myrtle's house. She didn't want to be alone. She had a horrible, awful, scary, terrifing day. She was shaking, her heart was racing from all the asthma meds she had to take, she was in pain, couldn't breathe well. She asked a couple friends to come over. They said they were busy. I told her I could come after Gary got home from a meeting.

God worked it that way. Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment during the time she first called me. I had switched my appointment because I didn't feel up to going. I didn't have a car yesterday, also making it more likely I'd be home to receive her calls. My mom was also off today, so she was able to watch the kids. I didn't have anything else planned today that I couldn't do tomorrow, so I was able to come.

She needed me, I came. I know that if she was able and I needed her, she would come.

Start your reading engines!

Ellie and Josh will be doing a lot of reading in the next several months. They have an opportunity to complete three reading levels: Bronze (400 min of reading) - a single dip cone or a game of mini golf, Silver (800 min) - $10.00 gift certificate to a local bike shop, and Gold (1400 min) - $20.00 gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse.

Ellie's revving to go. They both have four blocks already colored in. Ellie wants her ice cream.

Shopping 'til you drop

Mom, the kids and I went shopping today. It was a long day. We finally left around 10:00, over an hour later than planned. We were going to stop at my parents' bank to let Ellie count her change that she collected to send to Ester and Haiti. But we remembered that it was Martin Luther King Jr. day. Banks aren't open. We than headed to Aldi and Wal-Mart.

On the way to the stores, we passed a TD Bank. It was open (they are America's most convenient bank, you know) and they have a free counting machine. Ellie and I went in and counted her money.

We took entirely too long at Aldi and Wal-Mart and needed to get lunch before driving to Wegmans. We had planned to eat at Wegmans' cafe, but with the kids' behavior quickly declining from lack of food, we drove straight away to McDonalds.

Once fed the children were more pleasant to be around. We drove to finish our shopping experience. Wegmans is quite large inside. The kids, though fed, were fed up with shopping. On the way to discipline my dear child, I noticed a kid-like area. Blessedly, Wegmans has a child center, where kids can play and parents can shop in peace. I signed up Josh and Ellie in the blink of an eye. Mom and I finished our shopping in peace, and Josh and Ellie played and watched "Cars" again.

It was 5:00 before we returned home. We were all bushed. We only went to three stores and McDonalds. Really, how could it have taken that long?

Ellie giving to others

I was quite stunned and touched, today, when I went in Ellie's room at the end of rest time. The scene that greeted me was Ellie on her bed with the contents of her piggy bank seemingly in piles around her. She informed me that all the shiny coins (quarters, dimes and nickles) were for Ester. Ester is the girl we sponsor through World Vision. She also took the shiny pennies and added them to the pile for Ester.

Last week we received a letter from Ester, and it apparently piqued Ellie's interest, so we told her about Ester. A few days ago she took it upon herself to draw Ester a picture.

At dinner we told her about the devastation in Haiti. We tried to explain what an earthquake was and how much need there is there. We asked if she would like to send her money there instead. She agreed to send some there but really wanted to give some to Ester too.

I love that she decided to take her money and help others. Saturday we need to take her to the post office so she can mail her offerings.

Seems small to worry about boots now.

Boots

I finally saved up enough money and bought a pair of LLBean snow boots. I was so excited. Alas, when I tried them on, I felt like I was wearing Gary's boots. They felt big and bulky and a little heavy. I had one my regular white athletic socks at the time. It was probably not wise to not wear a pair of thick socks instead. My reasoning was that a pair of thick socks would not take up all the space in there. I should have actually checked that theory out. But it is too late, I already sent them back.

I was able to try on a pair of snow boots at a local store, I forgot to try before ordering online. I tried on a size smaller than I had bought. Those were too small in length, but they still felt too roomy elsewhere. Which then leads me to believe that I had ordered the right size after all, and I just need to accept that snow boots feel clunky on and wear really thick socks. Do I reorder the LLBean ones, do I order different brand and maybe they'll feel better, or do I just put up with the clunky feeling?

Updated

Here is Ellie with her tooth coming in. You can sort of see it. She says she has more loose teeth, but I haven't confirmed that yet.


Note: I haven't done much with our photos, since getting our computer back from having it wiped clean. My photos, though not lost on the computer (I hope,) are all lost from Memory Manager program, the photo software I had been using. They are all in Picasa (not our pick) which is not necessarily bad photo software, just not software I know how to use, nor care to take the time to learn right now. So, all my photos are just sitting in Picasa in a haphazard fashion. Just trying to locate one is a pain.

I have done fairly well at not freaking out because all my 5000+ photos are not where they were when I handed over my computer, and the amount of work needed to recreate what I had is quite daunting, to say the least. I mostly just ignore the fact that all my photo organization is lost, and I have to start over.

The scoop on the poop

It seems that not having dairy has helped Josh. His little bottom has not hurt, and I think his diaper filling has lessened and more is produced when he goes. Though there have been days when it seems like that's not so much the case, like today. I know it takes about 2 days to see the results of having cow milk. I can't recall him having any dairy, but it's still a new experience with not giving hin dairy, that I very well may have accidentally given him some. They sometimes sneak milk into things where you might never expect to look.


The best option for plain milk is the lactose free milk. He has a like/dislike relationship with it. One night it's the bee's knees (whatever that means), the next he gags it down. He is just fine with goat cheese and yogurt. Though the cheese has to be cut in the correct shape. I cut it differently once, and he wouldn't eat it.



In case you were pining away about the meaning of the above phrase - "The Bee's Knees" is a term indicating excellence - the highest quality, because bees carry pollen back to the hive in sacs on their legs. The allusion is that the concentrated goodness is found around the bee's knees. It became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s.

A bit of this and that

Today I am wearing my fish oil pants. I am quite pleased that the odor is gone. It took many treatments, but they are wearable now.

Also, I am also, hopefully, able to wear my leather brown shoes again. They hurt my feet whenever I wore them, so I hadn't been wearing them. Not long ago it occurred to me that they could be stretched, since they were leather. I took them in to our local shoe repair place Tuesday and had them back Saturday. I tried them on and could tell they were looser. I am not wearing them today since I am in slippers all day.

The reason for that is because Josh is just getting over a cold, and we didn't think we should share any germs he might still have with the other children in the twos and threes room at church. So instead I told Josh about Jesus helping Peter and friends to catch a boat load of fish by throwing their nets on the other side of the boat after they were out all night and hadn't caught anything. Then the story of when Jesus calmed the storm. Then we watched "Dave and the Giant Pickle", and two "Real Trains" videos.

I also made our dinner of ham and bean soup to sit and cook all day in the slow cooker, and I started a batch of bagels. The bagels of yesterday are a different story.

Lost tooth

Ellie's first tooth was loose for over a week, than came out today. She thought it was a hard cheerio and held it out to me. I looked at it, and told her it was her tooth.

She danced around and wanted to tell everyone she lost her tooth.

She put it under her pillow and received 50 cents. A quarter for the tooth and a first tooth bonus.

Christ has come

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ~ Galatians 4:4,5

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ~ Luke 2:6

There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word Made Flesh And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ~ John 1:9-14

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16

Growing Kids God's Way

Since starting this class, I have noticed a difference in our parenting and our children's behavior. I want to wax poetically about the instruction found in the workbook, but I can't seem to put it into words.

Here goes my waxing.

Three things I have learned:

1. My job as a parent is to raise a woman and man to obey God. As they learn to obey me, they learn to obey God.
2. If I give an instruction, and it is not obeyed as it should be, and I do nothing or ask again and again, I am teaching my child it is OK to disobey.
3. Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent.

For all that is covered in the class, my list isn't much. Just know that it is definitely worth the time. We have a few classes left, and I will definitely miss our weekly support in parenting.

Snow days

The biggest snow fall in December since 1909 blanketed us Saturday. It was forecast to be a big one, and by noon I thought they were all hot air. But it picked up sometime late afternoon and became the storm they said it would. We ended up with about 10-12 inches. Myrtle in Virginia near DC had about 22 inches. It was heavier snowfall southward.

We went to Gary's mom's for dinner. We are thankful we have our Honda CRV. It handles great in snow.

Yesterday, we finally made it out to play. Church was canceled, so we didn't have to be out early. We ate breakfast at a leisurely pace, and then I searched the house up and down for snow apparel. Found the snow pants, hats, scarves, mittens, and boots for Josh. No where were there snow boots for the pink princess. She ended up in her rain boots with two pairs of socks (one being mine since they go up her leg farther.)

The kids had a grand time making snow angels and frolicking. Before we even were up, our neighbor was out with his snow blower. He cleared half the block, including all our walks. Gary was very grateful.

I made an arc around Hunter's area, so there would be no mistaking where the yellow snow was.

I asked on freecycle.org for snow boots and had a very prompt response. A lady had a pair we could have. We picked them up on our way to AJ's for dinner with the Arnold crowd.

Today the kids begged to go out again. Ellie had off, since she's morning kindergarten and there was a two hour delay. They had to endure shopping first. But we did get out again, and Ellie had on her "new" snow boots. I, on the other hand, still have my duck boots that are at least 13 years old and are dry rotting. I was all set to buy new snow boots, insulated ones, at Wal-mart today, but everybody else beat me too it. The only size left I found was gigantic. Quite disappointed.

Josh and Ellie wanted to make a snowman. I tried, but I couldn't get the snow to cooperate and we ended up with a two foot tall little snow man. He has sticks for arms, stones for buttons, lavender for hair, and Ellie had the great idea of M&Ms for eyes, nose and mouth. The leftovers were eaten, of course.

Happy Birthday in December

Matt and Claire sent the kids their birthday present. I had to call and check that it wasn't a Christmas present. It was a wonderfully large tent system. A tent, a tepee and two tunnels. The kids enjoyed themselves immensely.

The tent became a collect all.

The children were rather upset as pieces of it started disappearing. We only have so much room.





We can get it out again on the next snow day.

Thank you Aunt Claire and Uncle Matt!

Fresh air, almost

I armed myself with Nature's Miracle (NM), NM laundry detergent, and NM laundry booster. I divided the load in half and soaked the first half in all three for several hours. I washed it and did it again. Smell is gone. Second half-same thing. Smell gone.

The almost is ground zero - my jeans. They still stink. They are currently soaking for the fourth time and have been sprayed with NM at least four times. I have confidence I will wear them again without nary a fish boat smell.

Stuck with a smell

Monday night I finally got around to folding a load of laundry I did last Wednesday. I picked up my jeans and put my hand in the pocket to smooth it. I noticed the corner was stiff and there was an awful smell. I sniffed the pocket corner and grimaced. I had Gary smell it; He suggested cat urine. I thought that no, definitely not cat urine, because I am quite familiar with that smell, and this wasn't it. I thought ans thought what I could have had in my pocket that would create such and odor. I knew I recognized the smell and finally put a name to it. It smelled like an algae encrusted fish tank. Now to figure out why that smell was in my pocket.

I smelled other pieces of laundry in that load. All the same nasty smell. I put the load back in the basket to be washed again.

Well, now the load has been washed three more times, one just another wash, one with Nature's miracle (the cat urine remover,) and one with almost an entire box of baking soda. Each time I rewashed, I let the load soak. Still smells, but I believe the smell is decreasing.

After the first rewash, I finally remembered what I had in my pocket: fish oil pills. I took them with us when Gary and I had dinner out. We forgot to take them, and I forgot to check my pockets before throwing them in the washer.

I know Nature's Miracle will get the smell out, I just wonder how many washes it will take.

Sisters?

Perhaps Ellie should have had a sister?

Josh doesn't mind dressing up. He likes to have his nails painted. And he likes to have his hair done.

All great fun for Ellie.








And here is miss cutie pie with pony tails she put in herself. I didn't know she could do that.

Our tree and Lego train board are the background.

Milk and soda update

Josh's bottom has been doing much better. And there have been less diaper changes needed. We still have rice milk to use, and I don't know if I'll be buying more. I might try goat's milk again. Just for kicks, several months ago, I bought goat's milk for the kids to try. They actually asked for it, though I must have suggested it, since they wouldn't have come up with that request on their own. They didn't so much care for it.

With taking Josh off cow's milk, I thought I'd try some very expensive goat's cheese, since the soy cheese didn't work out. He didn't have a problem with the grilled goat cheese sandwich. And today I found goat's milk sliced cheese and goat's milk shredded mozzarella cheese and goat's milk yogurt at Trader Joe's.

We haven't had Josh exclusively off cow's milk, but for the most part he hasn't had any. I was wondering if we should try putting him back on it to see if the symptoms return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I found a less expensive natural soda. Much more economical.

What a day!

UPDATE: The previous posts are as complete as they are going to be. And whatever I was going to say on this particular post, is lost to me.


This and several previous posts are works in progress. I decided to post the titles for you all to wonder what I might write about.


OK. I while downloading (or is it uploading) photos, I remembered what I was going to say.





Ellie was in the Souderton parade today on her school's float. She was a present.




























One comment - when someone is in a parade, and you are going to pick them up when it is over, I recommend having a predetermined location for said pick up spot. I drove around for over a half an hour in the rain/snow (see comments below) looking Gary and Ellie. I was mostly concerned that they were continuing to get even wetter and colder. It turns out that Ellie had to use a restroom. Once that was accomplished, I found them right away.







And we had our first snow of the season, which started as rain before the parade ended. [We got wet and colder.] You can see the water drop on the above photo.










And Gary started setting up our Lego train board.

A new soda

In my attempt to eat healthier, I have not been drinking as much soda, not that I drank much anyway. But since I do still crave the occasional carbonated beverage, I decided to look for a healthier soda. And since "soda" and "healthy" seemingly don't belong in the same sentence, I wasn't too hopeful.

But alas, Giant Food Stores, the only one I checked so far, had several natural soda options. I went with the cheapest. It only has a fifth of the ingredients of regular sodas, and it does not contain high fructose corn syrup. Although it was the cheapest, it was still pricey. I got a 6 pack for the price of a 24 can pack.

Here you see Josh and Ellie displaying a can. (When I get a chance to download the photo.)

Rice milk anyone?

Josh had his three year checkup. I told his doctor about his bowel issues. [Call me if you don't know and want details.] He suggested buying Lactaid milk. After looking up much information about lactose intolerance and milk allergy on the handy Internet, I decided that if his problem is milk, than he should be off dairy altogether, not just switching milks.

So, today started our journey of no dairy for Josh for two weeks, a road Josh doesn't really care for even though he doesn't know he's on it. He cares not for rice milk and tried, emphatically, to wipe it off his tongue. He didn't like his brush with soy cheese, but I can't blame him.

It was also suggested to add more fiber to his diet. I used my trusty Internet and bought prune juice, very high in fiber. If I mask it with the correct proportion of apple cider, both kids drink it.

I still have ground flaxseed to buy and bran muffins to make.

We have two new dogs

Here are our new dogs, Ellie and Josh.

Using their creativity, Ellie and Josh decided to move about the house with leashes, found themselves doghouses (which they are inhabiting in the photo,) and even asked to be tied up for a short time.

I drew the line at eating on the floor.

Camping in the cold

I think we are starting a Josh's birthday camping tradition. This is our second year of camping in November. And it's very important to remember the space heater.

After the camper was set up, Gary got our campfire burning. He roasted our hot dogs and kielbasa over it. I organized the camper. It is no fun to camper, even for one night, with stuff strewn about.












Here are Josh and Ellie being crazy.













Our humble little camper getting all wet. It rained on us last year too.

What are you waiting for?

Yesterday was the start of the Advent season - a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the birth of Jesus. In our household, we have an advent wreath. It consists of three purple candles, one pink, and a center white candle surrounded by holly. On the first Sunday of Advent, one purple candle is lit. The next Sunday, two are lit, and so on. Christmas day all candles are lit. As we lit the first candle, we said a blessing. With each candle being lit, we say a verse and prayer.

Here is what will be said as three candles are lit: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4. Lord Jesus, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, on God, now and forever. Amen. 'Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding! "Christ is near," we hear it say. "Cast away the works of darkness, All you children of the Day!"

Ellie and Josh enjoy the lighting and blowing out of candles the most. They also enjoy opening the little paper window on our Advent calendar, telling the story of the birth of Jesus.

We are trying to instill the importance of what this time represents to us as Christians. A time of waiting, anticipating the salvation that Simeon's eyes were allowed to see. Jesus, God with us. Savior, Christ the Lord.

What are you waiting for?

Everywhere I go . . .

. . . my truck comes with me.

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Josh's day started out with "Happy Birthdays!" from his family. He got to choose what he wore, and what he ate for breakfast. He got to watch Dumbo. He got to be the main character in our Bible devotions. He got to cut a second birthday cake (not a train, but I did drizzle pink icing on it.) And he picked me to rocked him before bedtime.





Josh received a Hess emergency truck with a rescue vehicle from us for his birthday. Once we got the batteries in and the vehicles working, they played until bedtime with them. He also received his very own coloring book, but that was forgotten as soon as the truck came out of the bag. The rescue vehicle only lights up, so Ellie was producing her own siren. All I got were videos of Josh and his truck, because he didn't sit still with it. The video is a little dark, because to see the lights on the trucks properly, so say Josh and Ellie, the lights must be out. When told it was time to put the truck away, there were much tears.

We're having a party!

Today was Josh's 3rd birthday party. My parents and aunt, and Gary's mom were able to make it. Gary's dad and Judy caught the flu, so needed to stay at home and rest. And Jess had a paper due today she needed to work on.

Josh picked pizza for dinner and a pink train cake for dessert. He was quite set on pink . . . I think Ellie had something to do with it. He knew what he didn't want for the inside color (flavor,) and finally agreed on spice cake. We ordered the gigantic 28" pizza again. This time we had it delivered.

We bought train plates and napkins. Josh helped me make the cake, but then went down for his nap. He recieved three matchbox cars, a train peg shelf, goofy bug things that crawl down the window, a CD with his name inserted in all the songs, a roll of smarties, and a shirt. He has to wait until his actually birthday for our gifts, not that he noticed he didn't get them yet. He immediately set to playing with the cars. And the trains that my dad set up while we visited before dinner. He received from Dan back in April, but we never took time to set up because of them being broken. I finally pulled them out today to see if we could get the in working order. They still don't work, but Josh has a grand time playing with cars and track anyway. He likes the track even without the train cars, since anything will ride on them. I think if we get fresh batteries, he might get to see them move on their own. And hear a regular sounding whistle, not a sick cat sounding whistle.


Ellie had a hard time letting it be Josh's day. She tried her mightiest to stick herself in the middle of everything. We feel it very important to teach her that everything does not revolve around Elisabeth Virginia Kulp, even if she thinks it does. She still has to make it through him getting extra attention on his actual birthday.

Are they going to make it?

Here you see our brussel sprouts actually trying to grow after 5 months of waiting. I'm not holding out for them.

Leaves all around

I decided that our leaf population had increased to an unreasonable high. I got out the rake and the bags, cleaned up the dog poop, and got to raking. Josh helped.


Here are the leaves I raked off the street. If you look closely, you can see that these are 99% oak leaves. We have maple trees. All these leaves aren't even ours. They belong across the street.






Ellie home from school, showing off her tongue and the cleaned up sidewalk and street. I didn't get to finish all the raking by the time she got home, but I at least got them off the sidewalk and street. You can see them on the far left of the picture covering the grass.



Did I mention that I walked Ellie to the bus not once, not twice, but three times this morning? Yesterday I finally got the schedule they said I would have last week. First Student transports students for Penn View Christian School and Grace Christian school. So the schedule is different when the other school is closed, as it was today. The last time Penn View didn't have school, we didn't know about the different schedule (the note not getting home to us.) I thought surely today will go fine, we have the altered schedule, which states the stop - York and Cannon, and time - 7:45 am. I was at the appropriate corner by 7:40 am. By about 7:57, I walked back home with Josh and Ellie to give ol' First Student a call. The bus driver claimed he was at the stop at 7:45, and I reminded her that wasn't true. She told me the bus would be there in 10 minutes. I walked back to the stop with both kids and waited another 15 minutes. At 8:30 (when her school starts,) I headed back home again, kids in tow. Another call, another promise that the bus would be coming in 5 minutes, we went back to stop. Before I even got there (we walk down our street, then turn and walk another block,) the bus was headed by on the cross street. I had to wave to him to wait. Good thing there is a stop sign. But she got on the bus.

I am quite put out with First Student, if you couldn't tell.

Friends, scrabble, entertaining, and such

Myrtle came over today. Some might not think that odd, since she lives in Virginia and never left her couch to come over. First we just talked on the phone, while I beat her at scrabble, then she went and beat me. We sang a few hymns, and then she came over to watch the kids while I prepared dinner. She read them Frog and Toad, The Napping House, and then the kids showed her books. As you can see Josh didn't last as long as Ellie. He started playing. Then she joined us at the table for dinner. It was a lovely afternoon. All thanks to skype and a camera phone.

Herbs and Spices, Coffee and Tea

It was brought to my attention, thank you Claire, that I have not given an account of what we are selling. So, in case anyone is in need of something and close by, we are selling (all of it organic) apple spice, pumpkin spice, mulling spices, poultry seasoning, pickling spices, bay leaves, 100% pure vanilla extract, seasoned garlic salt, cinnamon, rosemary, basil, herbs de province, whole chilies, chili flakes, cinnamon sticks, sage, paprika, chipotle powder, cayenne powder, parsley, Earl Grey tea, spiced coffee - regular and decaf, and house blend coffee - regular and decaf, to name a few.

On our first day we had the first seven I think. Since then we've grown.

To market, to market

We've had a few late nights, and it has nothing to do with the Phillies. We have a store location to put our spices. Yeah! But since we didn't plan well, we were up past midnight for two nights getting stuff ready. An acquaintance of Gary's from high school has an antique type shop and offered us a spot for our spices. Gary and I are exhausted from getting everything ready.

We did, however, have our biggest sales day at the farmer's market today. And Ellie was Daddy's little helper. She was there all day with him and was well behaved. Josh stayed at Grammy H.'s overnight for his birthday. Each had a special treat and Mom had no kids for half a day.

Now, even though I had no kids, I had no relaxation. Gary and I scrambled this morning to get him off to the farmer's market. Things that went wrong - 1. Ground coffee too fine and had to grind more. 2. When grinding the second batch forgot to add the spices, so instead used already ground spices and just mixed it in. 3. Since he was so late, we just brewed the coffee and mulled the cider at home and hoped it wouldn't spill on the way over. After Gary left, I took a record time shower and went over with Ellie to help him set up.

I finally made it over to The Shabby Attic with our spices. I had the display all set, then remembered I forgot the bags of coffee to sell. When I got back to the shop with the coffee, Karin asked about the coffee Gary said we would brew for samples. Back to the house I went to grab the coffee Gary accidentally ground too fine and mixed in the spices. After stopping at four grocery stores looking for 8 oz. cups for said coffee, I ended up buying foam ones, which I was loathe to do. I wanted the cardboard/paper kind. Apparently I am the only one who does.

I raced back to the shop to set up the coffee maker and then took a needed bathroom brake. As I got back to check on the coffee, I saw that it had overflowed and made a large mess. The full pot of full strength coffee became a half pot of weak coffee. But I was told, since I don't drink coffee, that it had good flavor. Perhaps the orange juice drinker should not be put in charge of the coffee. And to top it all off, I forgot cream and sugar.

But there were some high points to the day. What seemed as wrongs, were actually rights. Thank you God for looking out for us. When Gary got to the farmer's market, he discovered that the electricity had been turned off. If we hadn't brewed and mulled at home, we wouldn't have had coffee or cider ready to sell. It did eventually get turned back on and keep the drinks hot. And since Gary brewed some coffee that didn't work for the percolator, I had coffee to take to the shop.

And the best part of the day was that Ellie had a great morning with her dad and Josh had a great morning with his grandmother.

The Full Moon

The children ate all their dinner tonight. An unusual occurrence, to be sure. And not only did they finish, they had seconds (and thirds if more were available) of the broccoli and cauliflower, and seconds (and thirds for Ellie) of the noodles. They did not however want anymore meat. And who could blame them, since I cooked it to death. I made it chewy and mostly tasteless. I mistakenly thought what I was cooking was thin ground beef, but it wasn't. One might wonder how I could make such a mistake, but we won't bother with that now. I have another package of it, and I won't make that mistake twice. I'll actually pay attention when reading the label.

Anyway, I also thought I'd make a gravy to go on the meat and noodles. Sounds good until I decided, foolishly, to add hickory smoke flavoring. I added too much, and because it was not real flavoring, it was yucky. Eventually I had to remove the pot from the table, the smell bothered me so much. I am throwing that bottle away.

Now the vegetables were the highlight of the meal. And that actually means something coming from me, the one whose tongue generally cares not for such healthy things. I sauteed them in grape seed oil (I can talk about that later) and Gary's seasoned garlic salt. Very tasty, highly recommend cooking them that way, especially for those who don't want to eat their greens. I should have made more.

And to top it off, we had told Josh he didn't have to finish his meat. He declined our offer and ate the last two pieces. At that point I wondered allowed if there was a full moon tonight? I immediately looked at the calendar and discovered that indeed it was a full moon. Go figure. Maybe at least once a month they'll eat all their dinner!

After much searching, I think I like the Harley-Davidson Softails with saddlebags best. Either brown or black. I just have to wait twenty years to purchase one.

Happy Birthday Karen!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Karen!
Happy Birthday to you!

You know, growing up, my mom and cousin had birthday celebrations together and my brother and grandfather had birthday celebrations together. Although my aunt and I have birthdays next to each other, I never really got to celebrate with her. She lives in North Carolina and apparently never was up visiting during January.

Ellie gets to celebrate with her cousin since they share a birthday. And another cousin's is a few weeks before. Gary could join in since his is only a week before, but really, he'd rather just let the girls have their day. He isn't into pink, princess or girl stuff anyway.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Mom!
Happy Birthday to you!

What makes doing housework fun?

Listening to my favorite songs on my iPod. Want to listen too?

"While I'm Waiting" by John Waller from the movie Fireproof




"Unknown Legend" by Neil Young

Heading to the World Series - again!

Last night the Phillies won the National League Conference Title and another shot at winning the World Series.

I've got a ticket to ride

After four classes, a bit of hurrying, and an extra ten dollars, I have my motorcycle license. We arrived late for our first class. They say they are very strict about not letting late comers in, but they took our information and let us in anyway. I put my permit in my pocket since they said we would need it later. That was a Thursday. Friday I did laundry. Yes, I forgot to remove the paper permit and washed my jeans. What was left of my permit when the washer stopped would have fit in a thimble, with room to spare. I tried getting a new one, but the driver's license center was closed during the hours of operation.

So I went to our first riding class without a permit. They didn't ask for it, I didn't bring it up. I did go to the driving center again the next week and paid for a new one. The riding class was excellent at teaching beginners about motorcycles. First you just stand next to it and look at the bike. Then you sit on it. Move the levers and buttons. Next you turn it on. You practice rocking back and forth, recognizing the friction zone - the place where the engine starts to engage and move the bike. Then you move across the range in first gear, both feet still on the ground walking with the bike. Then you move a little faster, picking your feet up. And so on practicing basic techniques. It was fun. I had a blast.

At our next classroom class, I was nervous about the written test. Gary knew I'd do fine. We both passed.

At our final riding class (at which God answered my prayer to stop the rain,) we would be doing finer skills, like u-turns and such. We practiced, received some advice, then came the test. Gary was in front of me. On the second skill of the first part of the test, Gary dumped the bike. I wanted to shut off my bike and run over to him, but you can't go running across the range. He didn't even realize what he did wrong, until later when an instructor talked to him. He had braked while swerving, which is a big no-no for a motorcycle. His was the fourth mishap that day, but since his was during the test, he didn't pass. I wasn't sure how I'd do after having watched my husband land on the ground. Although I was armed with the advice on how to do slow u-turns, I hadn't gotten to use it yet. I did fine. The rest of the test went well, also, and I passed.

If there is room, Gary can be a walk-in at another class this weekend and try again.

Now, I just need to find a motorcycle to practice on and a way to get it to the school parking lot.

Fireproof

Gary and I watched the movie Fireproof soon after it came out. A local church was showing it. It is good. I recently rented it from our local library. I watched it many times. It is great story about what happens when two people don't love unconditionally in a marriage. And then one of them is dared to try things differently - God's way. At first Caleb isn't really trying, just going through the motions, but he soon realizes that he can't give what he doesn't have. To love unconditionally, one needs God's love. God gives us the love we give to others. Caleb then starts loving his wife with God's love, doing it God's way. His wife starts to notice and eventually wants what happened to him to happen to her.

A companion to the movie is the book The Love Dare, a complete version of the dare that Caleb follows in the movie. It's a forty day dare to love your spouse unconditionally. I dare you to try it.

The tale of our weekend

The Chatter Box, where we had dinner Friday night.














Cruising the boardwalk in a surrey Saturday morning.
























Our favorite pizza place - Mack and Manco's.















A couple getting married on the beach.












Going for a helicopter ride.














Going down the slide.
















Stuffing as much cotton candy as allowed into mouth. Ellie saved her money to buy it.












Having fun at the new playground.














Exploring the sand.













Posing on the beach (before Ellie and Josh were soaked.)












Ellie and Josh enjoying the ocean (very soaked.)

Ocean City, NJ

Today after lunch we will be heading to Ocean City, NJ. It will be the first trip we will be taking with Gary's mom. We are all excited. Gary, because the shore is his favorite place to go (he is a bit saddened that we didn't make it to the shore when it was actually swimming weather.) The kids, just because. Josh and Ellie get excited to go anywhere. Gary's mom, because it will be her first real break from regular life since Dan got sick 9 years ago, and me, because I will be away from the business of home.

I plan to take all my MomSense magazines that I have neglected to read over the past year. I also have my bag of God books, though I need to get a bigger bag now. Myrtle asked her pastor to send me a hard back copy of The Book of Concord. I have wanted one but didn't feel right asking for one and didn't take the money to buy one. Since I found out he was sending me one, I hoped it would arrive before we left for the shore. It came today! Now I have the treasure of a book and it is a precious gift.

But before I have the chance to read it at the shore, I have to get ourselves packed.

Phillies Win!

Phillies are 2009 NL East Champions! (Three years in a row!)