Today was a good day. We finished our schooling quite early today. The kids and I were both excited about that. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go to the homeschool playgroup today. My back is hurting, not bad, actually it's feeling better. But I'm not sure what kinds of seats they have at the gym, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I had pretty much decided we would stay home, and then I got a call from my mom who was in town and wanted to stop by for a visit. It was a great surprise. The kids were happy to see her, and we had a great time together. With the weather the way its been, we haven't been able to get out there, and she hasn't been able to get out here. It's been about 2 months since we've seen each other, and we only live about 1 hour apart, kind of funny. But northern winters close roads out here, plus gas prices, have kept us apart. Once spring and summer get here, we should be seeing each other a bit more. I guess the kids have grown a bit, my mom couldn't believe how tall they had gotten. It's funny because living with them I don't see a huge growth spurt, but I guess they have.
So that has pretty much been my day. I hope you all have a blessed night. Oh, do you like my new signature? I've been playing with my new software.
It's always such a blessing to have my sister here, and this was no exception. Her and her daughter showed up in the late morning, and the first thing we did was drop the girls off at the mall.
(Sarah's in the white coat)
I'm really not sad, it was just another milestone for my 12yo, almost 13yo, girl. I want to say how proud I am of her. First, in regards to the mall, she did great. She shopped wisely, got some good things, and behaved perfectly. But also, I have to brag on her, she graduated from Suzyscribbles writing workshop! Wahoo sweetie, I am so proud of you. She worked so hard on this workshop, and truly, Susan is a great teacher. Sarah's writing has grown since she started this workshop, and she is writing now in ways I didn't know she could. So I am one proud mama here.
OK, back to my sister's visit. After we dropped the girls off at the mall, we went carpet shopping for Carrie. She couldn't find any good deals, but it was fun going with her and seeing what's there. After we picked up the girls, we all just hung out at the house for a bit. The kids played Wii, and had a great time. Carrie and I just chatted, and said often we should have been working on our crochet projects. We all went out to a buffet restaurant, we being us four, my sister and her two children (my nephew showed up after he got off of work). It was such a great time. It was the first time our kids had been to a buffet and Carrie had such fun showing Sarah all the food, and that she could pick it all herself. She had such a great time. We all just laughed, talked, ate and enjoyed ourselves. And of course we ate way too much. We came home and we all settled down and watched a movie together. About half way through the movie, our nephew had to go home, it was around 8:00ish. My sister walks him outside to say goodbye to him, and then she comes rushing back in and says the eclipse is going on! We had all totally forgot about it. So some went outside, and Paul, me and the kids went into our bedroom and saw the eclipse out our window. Wow, it was cool. We didn't watch the whole thing, but what we saw was cool. After the movie, we got the kids settled on the floor in the living room, with Jessi sleeping on the couch and my sister got Sarah's bed. Of course the kids had Jessi up early with their giggling and playing. We had a few hours this morning to sit and chat, but they had to leave around 9:30am, so this day was short. It was sad to see them go, but we know that spring will be here soon, and we'll see them more often. It was a great time, and I can't wait for the next one.
We did do our normal schooling today, we just started later than normal. It went pretty good, but of course, it was hard to get the kids settled down and focused on their lessons, but we finally got it started. Then the mail came early and I got my Paint Shop Pro v9 !!! I'm so excited, though I have to say, the original project I started with is pretty hard and I've gotten a little frustrated. But I did make a small little graphic, my first one. If you want to see it you can go to my daughter's blog, it's her background purple/pink graphic. It's not much, and I threw it together pretty quick, but it's fun. I've made my first graphic, and it's out on the web. I can't wait to edit some photos with it too.
So that has been the past couple of days. I hope everyone has had a good time. I'm way behind on my blog reading, and I'll try to get to all of your blogs tonight, if I can. Have a blessed rest of the evening.
Well, I finally have time to update you all on how everything is going. First, Paul's truck was looked at, and though it's not warming up as much as it should, it is doing better. We are blessed by that.
My sister made it out here safe and sound, early on Sunday. Earlier than planned because a snow storm started out by her. She lives where we use to live, which is essentially in the middle of no where. If a snow storm hits, there are only 4 roads into that area. And if the storm is strong enough, it can easily shut down all those roads. So she got here earlier than planned, driving through some really bad weather, but got here safely. On Sunday we just all hung out together for a while. Carrie (my sister) and I got to go to Wal-mart together, just us, that was fun. Then I made a pot roast dinner for us all, that turned out very yummy. The kids were sharing a room, because we gave Carrie Sarah's room. We all had to get up around 5:30am and out the door no later than 7:00am. So we sent the kids to bed somewhat early, and us adults didn't get to bed until 10:30. This is where the 'fun' began.
The wind was blowing so very hard, I thought tornado was coming. Seriously bad weather, which had us all wondering about the drive the next morning. But it was nearly 40 degrees out, very warm, and it was raining. Good, to melt snow, but very bad, because once the temperatures dropped, everything would freeze. So as I'm laying in bed, trying to fall asleep but my mind racing, Sarah comes in the bedroom saying, "Paulie is throwing up." Of course she was a little freaked out since she was laying on the floor next to his bed. So we go check, and yep, he had thrown up a bit. But it was warm in his room, because it was so warm outside. When he gets hot and tired, he tends to get sick. So Paul and I are cleaning everything up. We send Sarah to sleep on the couch, get Paulie and his room cleaned up and climb back into bed around midnight. By now I'm seriously wondering if our roof is going to blow off because of all of the wind. Next thing I know there is a flash of lighting and then a LOUD clap of thunder. Are you kidding me? It's midnight, in the middle of January in Idaho and we are having a thunderstorm?!?! So between the storm, and staying half awake to make sure Paulie didn't get sick anymore, I didn't fall asleep until 1:00am, which made waking up at 5:30am way to early.
I did get out of bed at 5:30, as did everyone else, including the kids. Paulie was fine, laughing and playing. So Carrie, the kids and I drag ourselves out of the house around 7:00am. We kept looking at the temperature, which was still in the high 30's and no new snow, everything looked clear. A little wet, but clear. So we take of for the 1/2 hour drive to her doctors, wanting to get there by 7:30 for her 8:00am appointment. I had barely pulled out onto the main road off of our street when I started to slide around. OK, so the roads aren't as clear as I thought they were. Figuring they would clear up the farther down I went, I was extremely bummed to find they just got worse. The highway, though it was better, was still slick. It was dark, windy and sometimes light snow. Though the speed limit was 75mph, I didn't go much above 40mph. So much for getting there early. We pull up to the hospital about 8:05, drop Carrie off at the entrance, and go park the car. It was light out now, but cold, windy and a rain snow mix. By the time she gets her paper work filled out, we get to the office, they take us to the MRI room, and then Carrie got in there, is was around 8:30am. Not too bad.
They set us up in a nice waiting room, and we started reading and watching a little tv. I was ready for a long time. Paul's MRI took over an hour. I took some pictures of Carrie going into the MRI and everything. After 15 minutes the MRI was done. I was so shocked, but pleased. We went back to the other office, and they took her to get her x-ray. That was pretty quick too. We were all pleased and blessed, packed back into the car and headed back home. The roads back to my house wasn't as bad, and we got back within 30 minutes, compared to the hour it took to get down there.
While Carrie was in the MRI her daughter called me and said that she was probably going to have to spend another night by us, because all the roads were closed and she probably couldn't get back home. We didn't mind though. We all thought it was great that she got to spend another night. Plus, the MRI results were going to be done today. So, since she had to spend another night, she made her appointment with her doctor today to find out the results. So yesterday, after we got back, we just sat around and enjoyed our time together. My sister and I have always been very close, we are only 2 years apart, she's older. And the kids just so love their aunt. We had fun, watching movies, munching on snacks, and just enjoying each other. Then we decided to do some shopping at Wal-mart since she was out here, and she bought dinner for us. The first night she was here we watched Ice Age, she had never seen it before. So of course, the moment Paul heard she was staying another night, he said, "Of course we have to watch Ice Age 2". She hadn't seen that one either. So we all munched on our chicken, enjoying ourselves, and got ready for the movie. While we were finishing up dinner, her son called (he lives closer to us, so he wasn't snowed in) and came up and joined us for the movie. It was a fun night, and we all had a great time. We got to bed at a better time, fell asleep right away and no one got sick.
Carrie left today after lunch. We started missing her right away. She made it down to her appointment safely, even though the roads were more slick today than yesterday. The doctor said she has some bulging disks, and that her nerve endings are starting to shrink, and that is why it's hurting so bad. They are not saying surgery yet, but they want to give her a steroid shot in her back. She has an appointment in a few weeks in February where they will go over the pros and cons of the shot and consult her on everything. So, the results were o.k. The main road that comes out here was closed again, and a drive that should have only taken her about 40 minutes on an alternate road, took her over an hour. The last half of her drive it was a white out. Plus, I don't know that she even got to go to her house. Her driveway was so snowed in that my dads snowplow truck got stuck in there. There is no way she can get her truck in there, and it won't be dug out until tomorrow sometime. So she will probably have to spend a night at her daughters place, but at least she's back in her town. We were blessed to have her here, and we all had such fun. I'm glad she got home safely, and we miss her already.
I have pictures to share, and I know this is long, but I wanted to say too, my brother will be having surgery on his shoulder on February 6th. I don't know the name of the surgery. I'll find out more, and update you when I can. Thanks for lasting for this long story. Sorry I was away from blogland for so long, but know, I was having a great time, and truly didn't want it to end. Here are a couple of pictures Carrie said I could share. Sorry about them being so dark, but I think you can see here being slid in the machine. Thanks for all your prayers and concerns.
Here she is laying down and getting ready to go into the machine.
They have slid her about half way in.
Now she's in the machine all the way.
And here are the kids enjoying the nice waiting room they had for us.
My sweet, darling daughter Sarah has awarded me the Blogging Friend Award. And though I am not really doing awards right now, I of course had to accept this one. Thank you sweetie for awarding it to me.
Today is Paul's birthday. I am so blessed that the Lord brought us together and that he gave me this wonderful man as my husband. Paul is a man who loves the Lord, and I am truly humbled seeing that love he has for the Lord lived out everyday. He encourages me with the Word more than I can number, and is always there for me. He is funny, serious, goofy, responsible, a hard worker, but knows how to have fun. He has always done the goofiest things, just to make me laugh. He is an awesome father, and does even more goofy things to make the kids laugh. I love my husband so very much, and I thank the Lord that he was born 37 years ago.
Lynn, over at eclecticeducation is having a great contest on her blog. You have to write about your favorite Christmas memory as a parent. I really thought this was a fun contest, because I've read so many Christmas memories from when we were kids, but what about us as parents? I love it, so here is my favorite Christmas memory as a parent.
Well, truly, all Christmases are special to me. I love watching my kids open their presents, and see their smiling faces. And though I have many memories I would love to share, I will pick one. I guess it was about a year or two ago, I can't quite remember. Anyway, I was talking to the kids about setting up the Christmas tree. Now, I usually set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Not sometime after Thanksgiving, but the day after. Well, that year we had decided to try a real tree and Paul had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so we had to put it up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was telling the kids that and they got this very sad look on their face. I asked them what was wrong. They answered, "Mom, it's tradition, we always put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, we drink eggnog and we watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' while we are working on the tree. Then we put all the other decorations up around the house." Wow, I was so completely touched. I had never realized how much my kids enjoyed doing that and truly looked forward to it. That year we did wait until Saturday, but we had our tradition. We drank eggnog, watched 'It's a Wonderful Life' and decorated the tree and the house. And most years, like this one, we put it up the day after Thanksgiving. And this year, the countdown wasn't to Thanksgiving, it was to the day after to set up the Christmas tree. I know this isn't a Christmas 'day' memory, but it is a Christmas memory, and truly my favorite. To know how much my kids enjoy just being with their mom and dad, watching an old black and white movie and just enjoying our time together is a memory I will always treasure.
Make sure you stop by Lynn's blog and enter the contest. I can't wait to read other blogs and see what memories people have.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was great. It was nice and relaxing and really fun. We got the turkey in later than we planned, but that's o.k., since it was just us. We actually got to watch the Macy's Day parade live on TV. I'm sure most of you know this, but unless you live on the east coast, the Macy's Day parade is not shown live on TV, it's recorded and they play it later. Well, we have satellite tv, and because we don't get local channels, we get east coast and west coast stations. So because we have the east coast station we got to see the parade live. I know it doesn't mean a lot to some, but to us it was great. It was so much fun, and one of the reasons we got the turkey in late. After we got the turkey in and had our breakfast, we just enjoyed each other as a family. We watched football, then we all played Nintendo Wii. That is such a fun system. It really helped us work off eating so much at dinner. Which, dinner turned out great. The turkey was nice and moist, though my gravy didn't turn out the best, but it was good. The stuffing/dressing was good, so were the deserts.
Then on Friday we decorated the tree and the house. It's turned out very nice. We all had a blast. We drink eggnog and watch It's A Wonderful Life, and just enjoy the time. It really was a sweet and fun time. Today was a bit lazy, which was nice. Then Sarah and I started on our Christmas cards. We send out cards with a yearly letter and wallet size pictures. So Sarah and I worked on the cards this afternoon. She stamped them all for me, and I'm working on the rest. Which is what I should be doing right now. But I hadn't blogged in a while, so I thought I would let everyone know how our Thanksgiving was and to show some pictures. We are watching 'A Christmas Romance'. It is a movie we all enjoy. So we are watching that while I'm finishing up the cards. I hope all is going well with you. I hope to blog again soon. Here are the pictures.
This is our turkey. We don't do the 'whole' turkey on the table thing. Paul carves it all before we bring it to the table. That's me starting my gravy.
The kids having fun doing their favorite things, Sarah blogging and Paulie playing Nintendo Wii. And our feast that day.
This is the before and after shot on Friday when we put up the tree and decorated the house.
And then this is Sarah and I working on the Christmas cards today.
Sarah and I baked for most of the day today. It started out with the idea I would make a batch of cookies for Paul to take to work to share with his friends. Then we decided to add brownies to that, then we thought one type of cookie wasn't enough, so we made another kind. That meant we made brownies, snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies. I like to bake, but I'm a simple kind of baker. I don't make to many extravagant desserts, though I have been known to try one or two once in a while. But these are what my family likes, so that's what I make. No matter what I'm baking, I usually always try to make some chocolate chip cookies, since that and brownies are what Paulie eats. My sister makes a great peanut blossom cookie. I can never make mine come out right, but who knows, maybe I'll try again this year.
This baking time was special for Sarah, because I was actually showing her how to make all this stuff. She pretty much did everything, except I rolled the snickerdoodles into balls, and she smashed them with a glass. This was the first time she's baked from scratch, because Sarah has an allergy to raw eggs. Not cooked eggs, thank goodness, just raw ones. So obviously baking poses some challenges. I made sure every time she was done putting eggs in the mixture, she washed her hands. With the brownies, we think the spoon had some egg on it, because by the time she was done stirring it, one part where the spoon was resting in her hand, was itching. But other than that, she did great. But that is one of the reasons I rolled the snickerdoodles into balls. I know as she gets older, she'll find her own way to work with this. But I am so thankful to the Lord that all went well today, she got to bake things from scratch for the first time and we had a great time together.
Of course I have pictures to share. And, yes, we have tried all of the desserts and they taste great. It's funny how now there is only one plate of snacks Paul is taking to work, the rest stays home.
The start of our baking time and the lessons have begun.
Sarah cooking on her own and the first time working with raw eggs.
Pouring it in the pan and the finished results, with the happy baker.
Yep, I got to do some of the work, and that's a picture of the happy baker and the result of all her hard work.
OK, all of you great bakers and chefs out there, I have a question for you. Jenn was talking about freezing her Christmas cookies, and that really got thinking about this. I really like the idea of the once a month cooking, where you freeze a lot of what you make, so you can have easy to put together meals later. Now, I don't actually do the once a month cooking, what I have done in the past is when I'm making something I want to freeze, I will double or triple the batch when I make it. Then I freeze the extra for quick and easy meals. But I have always been stuck on baking goods. I have muffins we all like, but I would love to make a batch that would last a month, instead of them only lasting a week. Plus this cookie thing. I would love to have batches of cookies in the freezer for a quick snack, without having to buy boxed stuff. But how do you do all of that. Would you freeze muffins after they are baked? What about cookies, after they are baked, or in some sort of cookie 'roll'? How do you defrost them? If they are already baked, then frozen, should they just be brought up to room temperature or defrosted in the microwave? Lets hope that microwave defrosting is not the only option, since we still don't have one. I'm sure I could do a search online for all these answers, but I would really like to know what you, all my blog friends, do. How do you freeze your baked goods and then defrost them. Inquiring minds want to know.
Our day was a nice, lazy, family day. The biggest thing we did was take our yearly family photos. We take them at home with our digital camera. Before we took them kids played outside with their new friends in the neighborhood. They are really enjoying playing in the neighborhood. Paul and I relaxed and watched a movie. Then we took the photos, now I'm getting ready to work on my cross-stitch projects I have to finish by Christmas. So not much blogging today, just mainly pictures. Have a good weekend.
I am a wife and mother of two. I started this blog to share the things the Lord shows me in my journey as a wife, mother, homeschool mom and His daughter. And in it all to "grow in the grace and knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
II Peter 3:18
It was a great surprise. The kids were happy to see her, and we had a great time together. With the weather the way its been, we haven't been able to get out there, and she hasn't been able to get out here. It's been about 2 months since we've seen each other, and we only live about 1 hour apart, kind of funny. But northern winters close roads out here, plus gas prices, have kept us apart. Once spring and summer get here, we should be seeing each other a bit more. I guess the kids have grown a bit, my mom couldn't believe how tall they had gotten. 
We all went out to a buffet restaurant, we being us four, my sister and her two children (my nephew showed up after he got off of work). It was such a great time. It was the first time our kids had been to a buffet and Carrie had such fun showing Sarah all the food, and that she could pick it all herself. She had such a great time. We all just laughed, talked, ate and enjoyed ourselves. And of course we ate way too much. 
We came home and we all settled down and watched a movie together. About half way through the movie, our nephew had to go home, it was around 8:00ish. My sister walks him outside to say goodbye to him, and then she comes rushing back in and says the eclipse is going on! 
We had all totally forgot about it. So some went outside, and Paul, me and the kids went into our bedroom and saw the eclipse out our window. Wow, it was cool. We didn't watch the whole thing, but what we saw was cool. After the movie, we got the kids settled on the floor in the living room, with Jessi sleeping on the couch and my sister got Sarah's bed. Of course the kids had Jessi up early with their giggling and playing. 
We had a few hours this morning to sit and chat, but they had to leave around 9:30am, so this day was short. It was sad to see them go, but we know that spring will be here soon, and we'll see them more often. It was a great time, and I can't wait for the next one.
and out the door no later than 7:00am. So we sent the kids to bed somewhat early, and us adults didn't get to bed until 10:30. This is where the 'fun' began. 
