Misc. things

I have not picked up my camera in quite some time. I have not downloaded any photos from the camera in an even longer time. So that is what I did this morning. There were a few there that I want to share. Since I have yet to figure out how people get captions with their photos I'll just tell you that a lot of these are from Christmas. Some are of the girls are Noah's birthday party at A Flip Zone and the last ones are the girls making (and eating) the candy necklace and bracelet set Becca got for Christmas.

Getting it done

I have been working hard at getting my house to look how I want it to.SLOWLY--but it is happening. Our dining room does not serve that purpose. It is set up as the girls playroom and it is always the pit of the house. It really bothers me because it is the room that you see first when entering the house. Well, that is all cleaned up and looks presentable now. We got a piano at Christmas and it needed a place to live. So Bridget was more than willing to help me clean stuff out to make room in there. The only think I don't like so much is that the walls are still white, but that will have to be for now.

About painting--I'm not really good at this. I discovered that when we moved in and painted bedrooms. At Thanksgiving I took on the hall bathroom. I let the girls choose the color ( and yep it is BRIGHT) but it is still not done in there. Sad. Maybe, now that I have confessed that, I'll feel pressured to finish soon.

I really want my living room and kitchen painted, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Depending if I work this summer or not, maybe then. I have the colors all picked out though.

Right now, I have over 350 boxes of Girls Scout cookies in the house. I am hoping that most of them get picked up today. We will have to deliver next week. I am wishing that we didn't have to do this is such cold.

I am so happy to see the sun out this morning. It is still miserable cold, it is just a little better with the sun though. The cold and clouds get old very quick.

Both Bridget and Becca were invited to birthday parties yesterday. Bridget has been to a couple this year while Becca has not. She was excited about it and it sounds like she had a great time.
Speaking of parties, our season of parties is about to begin. Sawyer turns 2 this week and his party is over the weekend. Then we have Bridget's at the end of February. Kristin gave me a fun idea that I think we are going to use for her's this year. We have only had family parties, but she wants a kid party too.

At work, "they" added 3 more kids to our room. That maxed us out at 24 kids. I didn't think that 3 more would be a big deal but when 24 kids are trying to eat lunch, well, it is just exhausting and so messy. I have to be a lot more careful now. Every time I move one of them is right next to me and I am tripping over them. I am glad all the new children have been girls. The group is even an even split now. If you remember we started the year with 14 boys and 5 girls and it was not a good balance. There is such a big difference between the kids too. Some kids are just not Montessori material and they just seem to exist through the days. Other kids love it and are excited to practice their lessons and get new ones.

Bridget just got a report card on Friday. She got a good report again. I continue to be disappointed with what they are working on, or what they are not working on actually. It is getting better, more challenging things I see coming home. I have really stepped back and stopped asking so many questions and tried to let Bridget "coast" through this last quarter. We work on spelling words each week and any homework that sent home (which is thankfully rare and easy). Her teacher made a special note that we have done a fabulous job learning her sight words and that she is trying to build Bridget's confidence in math. The sight words thing is funny because we never go over those. Bridget does have a confidence problem when you ask her direct questions about school work. She can know the answer and still sit there and be shy and tell you she doesn't know. It is so frustrating.

That is about it for my ramblings.

Happy New Year!

I know my family is wondering about pictures. I always do pictures at Christmas time. This year I did not want to go to the same place, so I waited. The weather has been so uncooperative that my other plan just is not going to work out. So yesterday I took the girls over to Portrait Innovations again. They do a good job. I am just a little tired of the poses and backgrounds. We didn't do the whole family portrait, just the girls. Maybe we will do a family one in the Spring. Usually Bridget is my professional at having her photo taken, but not yesterday. Becca out did her, but that is okay since I need more pictures of Becca to catch up with all the ones of Bridget.

Tonight we are doing our traditional New Year's Eve celebration--stay home and eat snacks all night. We told the girls they could camp out on the sofa all night if they wanted (Bridget is super excited about this).

I wish everyone a Happy New Year in 2009!

Winter Break

I have to say that a perk of working at a school is getting the school break like the kids. Friday was our last day. It was such a fun day! It was pajama day--I don't think I have ever gone to my job in my Pj's, but it was so comfy. The kids and their family's were so generous. I was surprised with the gifts I received--gift cards, lotions, ornaments, and lots of yummy baked goods. One of the teachers told me that the administrators get loaded with gifts, but they didn't say anything about the rest of the staff. We have a lot of thoughtful families.

I have not been very productive the last few weeks. I am still finishing up my shopping. I only have 5 people left and all but one I know what I want to get them. Not too bad. Now things need to start wrapping themselves and take their place under the tree. That would be sweet.

I have been holding off finishing the Twilight series until after Christmas. Those books were consuming me. I was staying up all hours of the night reading and I was exhausted all day. The third book left me in happy place with the characters and I felt I could stop there. I am getting weak though. I have the last book sitting on my shelf that I walk by 539 times a day. I actually picked it up last night and opened it to the first chapter, thinking I could just read a little. Then I closed the book, hit myself in the head with it. I will not be able to stop reading once I start. I must wait until after Christmas. I might have to give the book to my neighbor or Schaun to hide. I'm pathetic. Stupid vampire love story. Why do I like this? I do not like vampire stories!

Natural selection

Today ALL five chicks came out of the nest and I actually got a good shot of them all perched. The second from the right is a parent. You can sort of tell the color differences in this picture. The second from the left was the first hatched (this is Schaun's favorite one). I guess even in a cage, being watched by us, natural selection still goes on. I'm so bummed--one of the chicks, I think the youngest, (the dark one on the left) fell into the water dish and drowned. Poor thing. I have remedied the water situation so that should not happen again.

Baby birds

I went back and checked and I noticed the first chick hatched around November 17 and the other 4 hatched about 1 a day following. So all the babies look a little different each day. These pictures are how they look as they grow, which happens SO fast.

You can see in one picture, which was December 2, that I have 2 babies in my hand. One is feathery and one is not. Today, when I took the most recent pics, three of the babies are out of the nest and trying to fly. Two have not tried to come out yet. It is hard to tell because of the cage, but they all look different too. One is almost all white, one is a blonde color, and the third has a darker stripe down its back. The two in thenest appear to be darker all over, but it is hard to tell for sure.

December already

I cannot believe that Christmas is so close! Wow! Catch up time.

First, I started reading the Twilight series. I was not going to read these. I do not like vampire stories. It was getting to the point where everywhere I went these books seemed to be the topic of discussion. I was feeling left out. I decided to just read the first one, to have a little input and to assure myself that I do not like vampire stories. I am a sucker for great love stories though--and that is what this turned into. I read the first two books this weekend.

It seems like a blur of time since Thanksgiving. I feel like I am busy a lot, but not much has happened. I thought Bridget had pick eye, but turns out she has a sinus infection that I didn't notice any signs to. Becca has developed a hearing problem. It only seems to be related to hearing her parents, but it is getting to be a problem.

We have some Christmas decorations up and things are looking pretty. We put the tree up Saturday. I felt sad when it was done. After getting out the ornaments and realizing how many my Gramma had given us.

Yesterday I had a cookie exchange with some good friends. It was a good time. We do not see each other near enough. Now I have way too many cookies in the house. Yum!

I have some pictures that I have been taking of my baby birds. I'll post them later.

Being Thankful

Today is the day to give thanks. I am most thankful for my husband. This man supports our family, makes us laugh, can maintain a balance (that I often loose), cooks for us, and (besides my clothing choices) rarely utters a word about my quirks and general craziness.

I am thankful for Bridget. She always reminds me of the beauty in things.

I am thankful for Becca. She always makes me laugh.

I am thankful for my mom. She always tells me the truth.

I am thankful for my sister. She always reminds me of the other side of things.

I am thankful for my brother. We may not chat a lot, but I know he is just a phone call away.

I am thankful for my job. It is not glamorous. It is frustrating. It is perfect for our family right now though.

I am thankful for my mother and father-in-law. They always help out with babysitting, repairs, and lawn mowing.

I am thankful for our home. We were able to buy a house this year and I just love it.

I am thankful for my friends. I am lucky to have and know them all. I am especially blessed to have a life-long friend in Norma.

I am thankful for wonderful neighbors. This is a blessing I never thought about having.

I could do this all day. I am also sad today. Thanksgiving Day's of past, always meant a family gathering with Gramma. A big lunch with my family and a big dinner with Schaun's. It was hectic and way too much food with two big meals--but I will always miss that feeling. Now Gramma is gone, I will always miss her the most on this day.

With the loss of one tradition, we are going to try and start a new one. We are going to have a big Thanksgiving Breakfast. It was Bridget's idea and I think it is a great one.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends!

1 bird, 2 bird,and 8 birds more!

Let me tell you something about my husband and myself. We both like pets. It is a great thing we both feel this way--there would be problems otherwise. We both grew up with animals around us. Since we have been married we have had more pets than some people will EVER own. Here is the long story of how it happened.

Let me just start with my apartment in Lawrence. My (at the time) soon-to-be husband and I adopted a couple dwarf hamsters, a rabbit, and a lovebird. Well, wait....maybe the lovebird came later. Oh I'm not sure. Anyways.....then we moved into out apartment and we got married. Joining us in this marriage was my cat Ice (that had been living with my mom while I was in Lawrence), the dwarf hamsters, a beta fish, and aquarium of fish, and the lovebird. Around this time we adopted our first dog, Belle and a kitten, Arthur. The rabbit did not join us--he was a miserable pet. Did you know that rabbits can growl? Well, they can my friend.

After a while the fish and hamsters died, then we gave the lovebird away (she wasn't very nice either, but I think that was our fault). A lady that I worked with was going to take her pet Yorkie to the pound because it wet on her new carpet. She owned the dog from puppyhood. It was 5 and she was just going to dump it. I felt bad for it. It was a Yorkie and I knew Schaun thought they were cool. So of course, she came to live with us too. Her name was Belle (just like the first dog) but because of her oily Yorkie hair that didn't get bathed enough, she eventually got re-named Stinky.

Now unless I'm forgetting--Oh! Mice. Let me mention quickly. Quickly because mice should not be pets. They are yucky rodents. There is a VERY funny story associated with the stupid mice and Ice. (Remember Joanne?) We also adopted a leopard gecko. That was sort of cool, but getting the crickets for it was a pain. It did not live a very long time either. Around this time is when Daisy found us. She was the cutest little Dachshund puppy that wondered into our yard. We just let her in and there she stayed.

For a long time we had the 3 dogs and 2 cats. Then something happened to our cat Arthur. Somehow this indoor cat got hepititis and died from it. That was while I was pregnant with Becca. Around that same time, just a few weeks, Stinky's heart gave out and she died too.

When Bridget was two we set up an aquarium. We never took great care of the fish tank. Most of the time you could see in it, but the water was never totally clear. When we moved this past March, the water looked like a pond--a dirty pond. You couldn't even see in it. You know what though? There were still a ton of fish still alive in it. A nice teacher came and saved them from us.

We moved into our new house this year with a very old cat and dog, Ice and Belle and Daisy. Ice didn't make it long after our move--she was 18 years old though (and I still miss her a lot). So we were down to just 2 dogs. The girls had been after me to have their own pets. I told them that as long as we had Ice, we couldn't have little critters that she might eat. So after Ice we brought home Freddy and Barney, guinea pigs, along with Lucky and Jinx, gerbils. Shortly after we adopted the girls rodents, we brought Ruby the Golden Retriever home. If ever there was a dog that should be with us--it is Ruby! Then we sadly lost Belle. I think that was in August.

Growing up, I had zebra finches. I loved them and have wanted birds ever since. Ice was a sweet cat. Totally declawed, but she was a hunter. I didn't dare have things she could kill (the pet mice were sitting ducks for her). So a few weeks ago I got some Society finches. I wanted the Zebra finches, but Schaun talked me into the Society's. I brought home 2 from the pet store. Then last week a lady on Craig's list needed to get rid of some Zebra finches. I brought home those 3 birds. The pet store said they couldn't tell what sex the Society finches were. Guess what? They are male and female. Within days of setting them up here, there were eggs in the nest. I thought that I could have 2 females. They will lay unfertilized eggs. Nope--not here. Those eggs started to hatch this week. So far there are 5 baby chicks in there (with 1 eggs not hatched yet). It is pretty cool watching them though. The first one that hatched looks double its size from Monday.

This is not the end of my very long pet story. The lady that I got the 3 Zebra finches from emailed me. The 3 she gave me were 3 out of 4 babies that her original 2 Zebra's had. She kept the 4th one because it was a mutation which is all white. Well, it seems that the parent birds were not being nice to the lonely, left behind sibling. All the sibling birds are happily reunited now in my living room.

The end. For today.

You didn't miss much

Things were pleasantly boring this week. Well, almost. Schaun had some turmoil at his job that almost made me hysterical. Things are (hopefully) fine now though. Cheerleading is over, so running around for that is done. The only event this week was dance for the girls. Dance is much improved this year. Bridget's class is learning more techniques and Becca's teacher really has the little ones excited about starting to learn for the recital.

Oh! I did have a Daisy Scout meeting on Monday. I was not prepared for it. I should have been doing that (preparing) the week before. Which brings me back to thoughts of Gramma.

We had a memorial service for her last Friday (not yesterday). It was a very nice service. Since she didn't want a service at all, we probably made her mad. It helped though, especially Bridget. I was feeling like I reached a stable place in dealing with her being gone--until last night. Now I'm feeling very sad about it again. Maybe it was my mom telling me how she is getting paperwork finalized. I don't know. Maybe it is because we tried to go visit on Saturdays and since school started and things were happening on Saturdays, we didn't go often enough. Now my Saturdays are free again, and she is gone. Regrets.

On the other hand, the Holiday season seems to be here. We are doing a Secret Santa exchange at work. I got my person's name yesterday, and that will be fun. I have pulled out stockings to make for Schaun and me. I don't know if I will have time to finish them, but I will try. I bought a couple presents for the girls last night. Now I need to figure out where I am going to hide things until I wrap them on Christmas Eve. Ha! Maybe I will try to wrap presents earlier this year too!

Velma Barbara Rider

Velma Rider, 90 years young, of Overland Park, passed away on November 3, 2008 at Shawnee Gardens Nursing Home. Velma was born May 18, 1918 in Morristown, NJ to Rose and Herbert Copeman. She married her long-time friend, William E. Rider, settling in KC. Preceding Velma in death was her husband, her parents; her brothers Herb and Russ Copeman. She is survived by daughters Kathleen Tuttle, Overland Park, Barbara (Sam) Sangetta, Olathe; five grandchildren Kerry O'Brien, Kristin Greenwood, Kenton Tuttle, Nick Sangetta and Robin Hedstrom; six great-grandchildren; niece Christine Copeman and nephew, Herb Copeman. A Memorial Service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Friday, November 7, 2008 at Valley View United Methodist Church, 8412 W. 95th St., Overland Park. Memorial contributions to Wayside Waifs. Velma was a strong, supportive and loving matriarch to our family and will be sorely missed. She always reminded us that "nothing's so bad that it couldn't be worse from the moment you're born 'til you ride in the hearse". So long, we love you. Your family. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.kccremation.com. (Arr: Cremation Society of KS & MO, 913-383- 9888)

They just amaze and amuse me

First, the breaking news..........

In a VERY serious voice--running in the house from the backyard where she was playing--Bridget says "Mommy, I'm serious. I'm tired of my name. I don't want to be called Bridget any more. I want to be called Rosetta....no wait......I want to be Silver Mist."

Ummmmmm, okay. Can you spell that?

There is a book fair going on at Blue River. After we took Bridget to school, Becca and I stopped in to shop. She picked up a book about the Solar System and was looking thru it. It was a cool but technical book with interactive pages. The front of the book had the Sun and the Planets on it--or so I thought. Becca looked at it, then turned it to me and said "Mommy this is wrong. They forgot Pluto."

I looked at what she was showing me, my mouth gaped open in astonishment. First she was right, but HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT? I looked at her (closed my mouth) and told her that she was right, it wasn't there. I then told her that some people think Pluto is a star and not a planet. I don't know where I got that information from. I don't have any idea if that is really true or not, but that is what I said.

She listened to me and then said "No, they forgot it. It IS a planet."

I believer her. If she can tell me that Pluto is missing when she is 4 , she must be right.

Sad, sad times

Yesterday my Gramma passed away. She was such an important part of my life. I will miss her so much. She lived a long life. She turned 90 years old in May. Here is a picture of us from her birthday.

Wishes and ruby slippers

This year for Halloween Bridget was a Dreamy Jeanie and Becca was Dorothy. We had a lot of activities to go to. First was the Daisy Scout party, then Becca's school party, next Bridget's school party, and finally trick or treating! Since I am working at Becca's school there was some pressure for the teachers to be in costume. So I went an easy route and was a scarecrow. This was the first year in our neighborhood and it was nice to stay home and walk where we live. Schaun had a good time too. He stayed home to pass out candy and hot dogs. Yep....hot dogs. He set up a table and his grill and people loved it!

Louisburg Cider Mill

Also last weekend we joined Scott, Tonya, and kids at the Louisburg Cider Mill. We saw more pumpkins there. We ate some cider doughnuts, caramel apples and watched this kids play. The girls were impressed with all the apples going into the Mill to be processed. It was windy, but another fun day.

Red Barn Farm

Last weekend we went to Weston and visited the Red Barn Farm. Schaun read about it and thought it would be fun. It is a very cool place! They had a store, pumpkins and gourds all over, pony rides, wagon rides, a corn maze and food.

We did a little of it all and had a great time. It was a beautiful day and it was so pretty there.

Oh and notice Bridget's earrings. She begged me to buy her some dangling earrings. She is getting too big!

Yummy!

Bridget (more than Becca) has decided that she loves to eat BBQ ribs like Daddy. Even though she is missing her bottom two teeth and the top two are loose, she still rips thru them.

First Musical

Bridget's First Grade class put on a musical last night. It was cute. It was called (I think) "Mice from Space". The costumes were sweat suits turned inside out to look like fuzzy mice. A few kids had short speaking parts, but most of the class was the chorus, including Bridget. She was in the front row so it was difficult to see her too, but it was still fun to watch them.

So tired!

Yesterday Becca fell asleep on the sofa. If she falls asleep (before bedtime) it is usually as soon as we get home from school, or my favorite time (laced in sarcasm) is just before I have dinner ready. Yesterday it was the dinner time nap. Just as we were finishing our meal, she got up and started to head up the stairs. I called her name and told her we were in the kitchen. She just stood there looking blank. I thought maybe she was sleep walking. This is not a normal thing for her to do. Then she just got situated on the steps and went back to sleep. Poor girl! So sleepy!

Love chocolate?

I do! I have come to accept a few things in life. Things like, wine--it is the "thing" to drink in social settings. I don't like it. It is like coffee to me, just too bitter. I drank it for many years trying to like it, but I don't and I'm done with it.

I love chocolate. I am really not interested in a dessert or treat if there is not chocolate involved. There are a few exceptions like pies and lemon treats, but I'm picky about those too. Just make it chocolate and life is good.

These are the cookies I made this week. The Montessori school is doing the annual fund raising for the Make-A-Wish group. They asked the teachers to provide the baked goods. This was my creation and they all sold!

Lots of complaining

I've been hearing a lot of complaints about my blogging--or lack of it. So it seems you all really just want to read chatter. I don't feel like I have much substance recently.

Today I sat through 6 hours of Girls Scout Leader training. It was a lot of information. They fill you with ideas and things to remember and rules and piles and piles and piles of books and papers to read. That is what I should be doing--reading all these papers. As you can tell, I'm not.

When I got home, we took the girls to dinner. We tried out a place we have never been to--Bandanas. It is a BBQ restaurant. It was nice, the food was good, best of all the service was fantastic. We will go there again sometimes just for that reason alone. I told Schaun to night that with all the crappy economy stuff, I hope one thing happens. Maybe people will need their jobs more and service will get better in places as workers are more desperate to keep a job. I get tired of crappy service everywhere I go. That's one of the many reasons I love Costco so much. They are nice and attentive to the customers. Anyways, dinner, it was good. The girls were silly and sweet--good times. Nothing like watching your pretty daughters rip the meat off some rib bones!

After dinner we drove through our old neighborhood to check out the neighbors that put up the most fantastic Halloween decorations! They go all out and it so fun to look at it all.

Then we went to visit Schaun's parents. The girls love it when Gramma and Papa are home. They get yummy treats and lots of play time. It is weird going there and talking about Kelsie in California.

And to close this rambling, I just want to share that I am loving all the High School Musical 3 music I hear on the radio and I am excited about seeing the movie soon.

Ren Fest

Last Sunday we went to the Renaissance Festival. It is something we love to do each year. It is fun to hear what the girls remember from year to year. On the way there Becca talked about the Fairies that gave them dragon tears last year. That was especially funny to me because she was totally freaked out by those same Fairies a year ago.

It was fun as expected. We skipped the Joust this year though. The girls highlight is face painting and we saw some of a large bird show. I love birds. They are so fascinating to me ( I think I got this fascination from my Gramma).

While we were out having a good time, my father-in-law was at our house working. We came home to a beautiful mowed yard. That was so awesome. Thanks Dan! It seems my FIL has a little not-for-profit mowing business going on--he is mowing several lawns at a time.

Bridget has good days and bad ones still. So far, I do not like First grade. I hate seeing her so distraught at times. She still feels like she does the same work everyday. Honestly, there has not been a lot of change is the worksheets and things eh brings home. Report cards come out next Friday, that will be interesting.

Becca is doing fantastic. She is learning a ton. She practices aloud the letters and sounds she learns. She spouts off information she learns, like this week was "we learned about our bodies--the inside and outside." Then she repeats the facts she knows. She takes in information quickly, stores it, and doesn't forget. I'd like to be more like that.

Schaun has a new thing going on at work and he is traveling a bit. He spent this week in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. He just got home today, that is a relief. Things are more balanced when he is home. There is a different energy in the house when he is gone. The girls are clingy and I feel more on guard all the time.

The girls and I are all off tomorrow. We are going to check out the official Girl Scout store and we are having Chinese buffet for lunch. Fun stuff. Saturday I'm going to my Girls Scout Leader training. It is from 9-4 on Saturday. That is a long day, but I have heard it is a good training.

I'm off to go catch up on this week's Tivo'ed shows with Schaun now.

7 random things about me

Maricar tagged me, here is my list.

1. I eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream almost every evening.
2. I have terrible hand to eye coordination. Typing and video games are not my thing.
3. I love Fall. the festivals, the leaves, the weather, the pumpkin patch--love it all!
4. I hate driving.
5. I love watching HGTV.
6. Costco is one of my favorite places.
7. I love the smell of coffee, but I don't like the taste of it.