This has been a really weird Christmas season.  It's my favorite time of the year but I was so distracted by so many things, that I've been caught off guard and am not prepared nor really enjoying it.  I usually buy quite a few Christmas gifts during the year and/or know what I want to buy for particular people.  Yesterday, Stephen and I were panic shopping at Wal-Mart for our son.  He's a great kid, fascinating and fun, and yet we just didn't know what to buy for him.  Today I'm staring Christmas Day right in the face and I have one little tiny gift for Stephen.  This roller ball massage thing that I got at Bath & Body Works.  He's off somewhere today and I have a feeling he's going to get a new stainless microwave for me.  If I could go out right now, without the kids, and money were  no object, I STILL don't know what I'd get for him!  It's a mental block, maybe.  I have to run to Ross in a little while and finish up a gift basket for my SIL.

Worst of all, I don't think we're going to make it to the Candlelight Service tonight.  The first time we've EVER missed.  IF I can get the house all ready and the food ready for the Christmas Eve party tonight, and IF I can finish my SIL's gift and hopefully get something for Stephen, then there's a chance we could go to the 4 p.m. service. 

In spite of my unpreparedness, I've been trying to emphasize the wonder of Christmas to the kids.  Also, to cover for my lack of organization, I informed them last night of "Christmas WEEK!"  All the things we didn't do before Christmas, we will do this coming week.  (None of us had ever heard of Christmas WEEK before!)    Last night, to make up for not doing ANY Christmas reading at all, I made them both sit down and listen to six different Christmas story books!  LOL   I have about eight more to go, so maybe after lunch I'll make them listen to those.  See what I mean??  I'm unprepared and am trying to cram everything in at the last minute. 

We're also in the process of buying a new truck.  This morning at 8:30, the salesman from the dealership called us.  "Why don't you guys give me a call later today?"  Yeah, right. 

I did have an inspiration for a fun gift for my brother.  They're leaving for Hawaii tomorrow with my parents, and we're sending some small gifts with Mom and Dad.  I think I'm frustrated that the creative side of me hasn't been able to kick in due to the mental fog I've been in.  I don't know how else to explain it. 

I think it looks like we're ready for Christmas because the trees are gorgeous and there are loads of presents under them.  You know what saved my neck?  Kidstop Toy Store.  They wrap all your gifts for free!  That's where we bought most of the kid gifts and that's why I had very little wrapping to do on my own.  I just remembered three more gifts I need to wrap for Grammy and aunties, but at least this year we won't be scrambling at 1 a.m. wrapping gift after gift.  Whew!

Also, we're going to become Secret Santas to a needy family.  The kids don't know it, but the family of their friends Michael and Katie have been struggling.  Their mom asked me for some winter hand-me-downs for Michael since she couldn't afford any new clothes.  We ended up with a few extra kid gifts, and we'll drop those off at their house late tonight.  I think that will be something our kids will always remember.  I just hope they keep their mouths shut because I don't want KL (the mom) knowing it was us.

Gotta run.  I need to make up menus for what I'm serving tonight and tomorrow morning.  I'm pretty sure I have all the ingredients but want my menu in writing so I don't forget to prepare or serve something!!

I want to blog this down before I forget it...

A few days ago, ds used about half a roll of toilet paper on his little 6 yo bum, and lo and behold!  The toilet got plugged up!  I tried using the plunger, but that only made it worse.  For a day and a half, the hall bathroom was off limits.  When my MIL came over to watch the kids on Wednesday, she said, "Oh, haven't you heard?  The latest thing to take care of stopped up toilets is dish detergent."  Well, I pretty much take her various home remedies in stride, but when I came home later that afternoon, that toilet was working perfectly!  I asked a plumber friend of ours', and he said, "Oh yeah, it dissolves the toilet paper and helps everything slide right through the pipes."    Wow! 

*  Our new Chinese niece arrives home in America tomorrow afternoon!  We are very excited and the timing couldn't be more perfect!

*  After being an independent homeschooler for a year now, we'll be re-joining a homeschool group in January.  It's mostly for the benefit of my son, my little extrovert who desperately needs to be with other boys his age.

*  I'll also be going back in time and doing some KONOS.  Although there are aspects of My Father's World that I still like, the dependence on workbooks can be stifling,  I have a business trip in early January, and after that, we'll jump into a KONOS unit.

*  Also in mid-January, I want to schedule a sewing class for some of dd's friends.  They're all about 8 or 9 years old, and I think they would have a lot of fun sewing their own pillowcase.  I'm excited to have them do this!  I've never taught sewing before, but how hard can it be?? 

*  I'd like to make my blog more interesting looking, but I just don't have the time to figure out everything.  I know how to post pics and keep meaning to do that.

* So far we've made just one type of cookie for Christmas: Sunshine Kisses.  They're lemony and one of our favorites!

*  A cute idea I got from somewhere is to give an award to the home in your neighborhood that has the best Christmas decorations.  We walked around our neighborhood last night, choosing the best-dressed house.  We'll give them certificates and, maybe, a plate of cookies for being the winner on their street!

*  We just got hit with a $1300 car repair today.  Ouch that hurts!  And just before Christmas!! 

*  I have a handful of gifts to buy and some cash to pick up for a few gifts, and then we'll be finished and ready! 

*  I hosted a luncheon yesterday for my team of Pampered Chef Directors.  We ate at a darling restaurant and then I gave each of them a Brighton bracelet.  They were just like little kids when they opened those gift bags!  It was a thrill to see how excited they were!  They deserve it for all their hard work during the year, and it felt great that the luncheon was a huge success AND it's now over!   Whew!

I have been researching the various Republican candidates for a while now.  At the moment, my support is for Fred Thompson.  I'm looking for a true conservative.  We wholeheartedly supported President Bush in both elections.  In fact, we just took our W '04 sticker off the Tahoe last week!  He did appoint some good judges to the Supreme Court, he was willing to put terrorists on the offensive in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but he made the Dept. of Education more powerful than ever, passed some of the biggest spending bills in the history of the country, is in favor of the Treaty of the Seas Act, has been miserably and frustratingly obtuse in seeing the danger posed by massive illegal immigration.  He has yet to pardon Ramos and Campeon, the two border agents convicted of murder for shooting at a Mexican drug dealer trying to cross the border illegally. Would I vote for him again?  Probably, but I'd do it while holding my nose.

I'm not a single issue voter.  Abortion is an important issue, but the best a President can do, at this point, is appoint conservative judges to both Federal courts and the Supreme Court.  Another option is for individual states to begin the process of their own constitutional amendments to either limit or outlaw abortion, which is what Fred Thompson favors.  Just because a candidate is personally against abortion does not mean a whole lot if they are unable or unwilling to put the right judges in place. 

National security is another huge issue with both the war on terror and illegal immigration.  If the terrorist violence we see around the world comes to America and we live in fear the way we did the first few weeks after 9-11, what else matters?  Since 9-11 Muslim terrorists have been responsible for nearly 11,000 additional attacks around the world!  It's only by the grace of God and President Bush's intense focus on terrorism that has kept it from our shores.  I have no doubt whatsoever that there are Muslim terrorists in America at this very moment.  My own cousin has been called to work for the FBI in D.C. with their anti-terrorism unit.  He says that if Americans knew what he sees and hears all day every day, we'd be terrified.  What that knowledge, how can I vote for anyone who doesn't favor strong action against terrorism world-wide as well as cracking down on our porous borders? 

I know a lot of homeschoolers will disagree with me, but Huckabee is not all that he appears to be.  The NEA in New Hampshire has endorsed him.  I wonder what they know about him that the rest of us don't know?  When he was Governor of Arkansas, he actually opposed school choice.  He lied on stage about having a theology degree.  After Clinton and his wife, I have a HUGE, HUGE! issue with politicians who easily lie.  As Governor of Arkansas, he granted pardons to roughly one violent criminal every few days!!!  In spite of the state law requiring him to explain each pardon, he never did!  Many of those criminals went on to rape and murder additional victims.  To say Huckabee is soft on violent criminals would be an understatement. 

Huckabee currently supports a nationwide ban on smoking!  Yikes!  What other individual rights might he want to outlaw?  (I'm a non-smoker and always have been, but if one group's rights can be trampled on, then eventually my rights will be in danger as well.)  As Governor, he consistently favored illegal immigrants and wanted them to be able to vote without having any I.D .  Over and over again he wanted to give the rights of citizenship to illegals.  When the citizens of Arkansas protested, he called them racists.  (I can provide links of these examples.) He has zero experience with foreign policy, just like Jimmy Carter, and HE was Disaster #1 as President.  Oh, and he flaunted his Christianity just like Huckabee.  I am way more interested in someone demonstrating the integrity of Christianity and less in them talking the talk.  When Huckabee attacked President Bush this past week, I was stunned.  It left a bad taste in my mouth as to his judgment and character.  He sounded exactly like any left-wing radical.

I know Huckabee says he is pro-life, and he proposes to overturn Roe v. Wade and pass a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Both sound great, but he doesn't have the power to do the first, and the second can only be accomplished with huge pro-life majorities in the House and Senate.  Considering his track record as Governor, I can't vote for him just because of his pro-life rhetoric, which, when push comes to shove, is meaningless.  He's a conservative when it  comes to abortion and gay marriage, but liberal everywhere else. 

Whew!  It's a good thing that pretty much nobody reads my blog, but I love politics and can't keep my mouth shut.  The more I learn about Fred Thompson, the more I like him.  Maybe I'll opine on that topic next time!

Well, I did take the kids to see "Cinderella".  It was actually three Cinderella stories.  One from China, another from Russia, and one from Native Americans.  We enjoyed all three, and it gave me an idea for writing a literature unit.  A couple of years ago we checked out about 15 different versions of the Cinderella story from the library and had fun reading and comparing them with each other.

I'm tying up loose ends for Christmas.  I've been enjoying all the preparation because we haven't been overwhelmed.  We have about 20 big Rubbermaid bins in the attic filled with ornaments and decor and garlands.  I hate having them stacked everywhere and feeling that Christmas is just too much work!!  This year Stephen brought in just a few bins at a time for me to empty, and then he put the empties back in the attic and brought down a few more.  It worked out great.  I have two more garlands to put up somewhere....I just remembered where the big one goes....then we'll be done. 

I promised the kids we'd make a gingerbread house.  Ugh.  That means buying a tons of candies for decorating, and I'm feeling tightwad-ish right now.  We'll be making maybe 4 or 5 different kinds of cookies in the next few days.  This is just about the only time I ever bake anymore.  My poor kids are growing up not even knowing what homemade cookies taste like!  They'll thank me someday. 

Now, if I can get something together for dinner tonight, life will be good.  I've been reading up on Mike Huckabee and what a disastrous Presidential candidate he would be, and I still have some laundry to do and the kitchen counter is once again covered with STUFF.    Story of my life.

* I wish I had discovered Webkins ages ago!  What a great way to keep a kid busy in a safe, cute little area for hours on end!  Ds only has two Webkins that he calls, "the boys".  Tonight when I looked in his online "room", he had them sitting side by side on a sofa watching a big screen TV!    They are wearing matching outfits:  black ski caps with the word, "DUDE' on them, camo shirts, camo pants, and black sneakers.  It looks like he's setting up his own little street gang in there!  LOL

* It is so easy to buy gifts for dd.  Last night I made a list of everything I've purchased for her so far.  Then I made a list of what we have for ds.  His two little gifts came to about ten bucks.  Yikes.  He is so difficult to buy for.  He loves stuffed animals (he just turned 6) and actually plays with them.  Every day.  But he doesn't need any more, except maybe another Webkinz or two.  I may have to break down and buy him some "plastic crap": Star Wars/Power Rangers stuff. 

* What we won't be buying is anything related to GAMING.  Webkinz is about as close as I want to get to that for as long as possible.  I think that the whole internet world of fantasy is a dangerous trap for kids and adults alike.  My kids need physical activity.  They need to interact with real kids in the real world.  We thought of getting a Wii, but not now.  Maybe not for a long time.  Ds is very influenced by what he sees on TV and what his cousin gets into, and I want us to keep that in mind. 

* I need to find a different phonics program for him.  I am very not happy any more with what we're using.  I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy (BORING!!!) Lessons with dd, and it worked.  I'm just worried that if I start that, he might be confused.  I've been forcing him (not a good word for a HS mom to use, I know) to do one lesson per day at www.click-n-kids.com.  He just hates it!!!  LOL  I think we'll take at least ten days off from doing any school, and that will give me time  to consider what to do next.

* I got my hair cut really short this past summer.  I have to say, I think I was meant to wear short hair.  I have to get it trimmed and colored every four weeks (a pain), but it takes just about five minutes to go from just-washed-hair to I'm-ready-to-leave.  Can't beat that!  I'll post some pics for my many fans who visit my blog!  LOL

*January is around the corner, and I'm dying to start the new year!  I've made some decisions about our outside activities.  We are going to drop ballet.  Dd has many talents but I fear that becoming a professional ballerina is not in her future.  There's just not the interest, passion, or, it seems to me, an obvious God-given talent in that area.  OTOH, she loves piano.  I rarely need to remind her to practice, except during weeks that are unusually busy with outside activities.  Also, in January we'll re-start attending HS P.E. classes.  This will be an activity that both kids can enjoy, will keep dd in touch with her friends from ballet, and will provide another day of physical activity.  I think it's a good move overall.

* Thank you, Jesus, for a prosperous year.  I think dh is tickled pink about how his year is ending up.  (Is it just me or was that some pretty terrible grammar?)  I'm so proud of my introvert husband who is so in demand in his field that our advertising budget is $0 and he is constantly busy.  I have learned a lot by watching him push himself out of his comfort zone on a daily basis.  What a wonderful man.

* I have no idea why I felt the need to get back into blogging.  Tonight.

* Dd wants to be a missionary.  She's just 8.  "And a half!"  As part of our curriculum this year, we've been reading about missionaries in the series, "Christian Heroes: Then and Now".  They can be purchased at www.ywam.org  Anyway, I told her that I sure hope her Dad and I like the country she'll be in, cause she AIN'T GOIN' THERE ALONE!!! 

* Re: scrapbooking.  I don't have the desire to do this at all, and there's probably no other hobby out there that makes me feel so guilty!!!!

* I recently went to a Stampin' Up party.  Spent about $100 on rubber stamps, ink pads, and paper, and have made two $50 cards so far.  At a holiday boutique last week I found an extremely talented gal who makes gorgeous hand-made cards for the same price as a Hallmark.  Guess I'll be puttin' my supplies on craigslist sometime soon!

* What an odd assortment of Republican Presidential candidates!!  There is not one of them that I can get behind 100%. 

* This week I'm going to work on our annual Christmas newsletter.  I have a lot of fun with it each year because I strive to make it unique and fun to read.  Last year I included a multiple choice "test" that gave people information about our favorite TV shows, where we traveled during the year, etc.  The Christmas before dd was born, we included a poll for people to vote on what we should name her!  I'd like to think that our friends and family actually enjoy reading our newsletter.

* We have had the healthiest year ever!  It's been a year since the kids have been to the doctor's!!

* I had some other things on my mind earlier tonight, but it is really late here, and I need to get some sleep.  We're supposed to go on a theater field trip tomorrow, but it is way, way across town, and .....  Who am I kidding?  I'm sure I'll end up taking the kids.  Probably.

So, I began homeschooling with the belief that I knew everything.  I had been a classroom teacher for about ten years and had been a mentor teacher for another three.  KONOS was my first choice of curriculum because I strongly believe in the integrated unit approach, and I loved the concept.  www.konos.com provides all the details. 

Our first year with KONOS went well.  Dd was just in kindergarten, ds was about 3 yo, and we had a lot of fun with it.  The following year, though, everything changed.  My home based business suddenly required 30-40 hours from me each week, and homeschooling got pushed further and further aside.  I found that KONOS was too easy to ignore since there are no concrete daily lesson plans.  To make matters worse, dd and I had come to hate our 1st grade Saxon curriculum.  Day after day went by with very little homeschooling.  I was at my desk working and the kids were watching TV.    I began dreading the day when my mom would begin asking my daughter how to solve simple math problems or spell a word! 

Fast forward to last summer when I heard that a rep from My Father's World would be in a town about two hours from our home.  A friend had been raving about this curiculum for a couple of years, and I talked another HS mom into making the drive with me.  I had resisted the idea of a curriculum that would tell me just what to do every day, so I was pretty humbled walking into that hotel conference room! 

We've used My Father's World curriculum, www.mfwbooks.com,  for about six months now.  I LOVE having daily lesson plans already prepared.  We don't always follow it exactly, and I'm nearly always "behind" in one subject or another, but dd and I love being able to check off each subject as we do it.  Even on days, like today, when we take some time off, I like being able to say to dh, "We did math, spelling, and reading today."  I guess I'm the type of person who really, REALLY likes to see that I'm making progress.  It's a great feeling to see that we're more than halfway through this year's curriculum.

English is definitely in line with Charlotte Mason's model, and it took a while to get used to it.  Now, I love it.  We're using Singapore math and finding that it's a much better fit for us.  Our spelling text is from Rod & Staff, and dd has been able to do the lessons pretty much independently from the beginning.  She's also quite a reader, and American Girl books have been major players in our Reading.  Per our curriculum guide, we always have a Book Basket filled with books that cover the topics we are currently studying.  We've also enjoyed each read aloud recommended, and provided, by My Father's World.

The result has been a much, much more organized school year.  I'm finding a better balance between schooling and business.  In fact, I've recently revved up some areas of my business and everything is STILL in balance!  I love it!  Also, I'm a huge history buff, and our study of American History and the 50 States has been right up my alley.  It has also been very easy to incorporate our studies with our family travel.  Woo-hoo!  Thanks to this curriculum, I finally feel successful as a homeschool mom. 

Whew!!!  Is it December 27, already?  Where did my month go?  I want my month baaaack!    We had a busy month filled with shopping, festivities, very few family conflicts , decorating, and even a trip to the ballet.  This year I took both Olivia and Andrew.  He did surprisingly well, but I found out belatedly that the Symphony Hall doesn't allow food or drink inside.  Yikes!  How do they expect a little five year-old boy to get through an entire ballet??  LOL  Here are a couple of pics of the kids in their finest at the ballet.

  

                     

• The decorations.  We even put up lots of lights outside.  We finally bought a faux tree, pre-lit, of course.  I had fun adding more ornaments to it with my red and gold theme.  We also have the Kids Tree, which is filled with all our keepsake ornaments.  That one is fun to decorate since every ornament has a story to go along with it.
• We got along well with our family members.  :o)  All of mine came over on Christmas Eve and all of Stephen's came over on Christmas morning.
• I hit about six homeruns with dh's gifts!  He's hard to please and claims that even HE doesn't know what he wants.  But, he really loved everything I got him.  Woohoo!  He's even wearing his Tommy Bahama shirt after nearly twelve years of swearing I'd never get a Hawaiian-style shirt on him!
  

• I'm usually a pretty good cook, but my Christmas morning breakfast bombed!!!  It was layers of hash browns, vegies, cheese, and Canadian bacon -- and about a cup and a half of water that I didn't add!  Yuck!
• My SIL's girlfriend started calling her "honey", "sweetheart", over and over in front of our kids.  Up until now they haven't done anything to make us feel uncomfortable about their relationship, but we will need to have a conversation with one or both of them. 
  
• Andrew was pretty much unhinged for about four days.  The whole Christmas Event was just more excitement than his little body could handle, and he just about drove me nuts!!!

My 7 yo daughter's bedroom door is closed, and I can hear her talking and making all sorts of sound effects as she plays.  It's so funny to hear her creative and happy play. 

I love hearing my two kids play together.  Recently, they were in the tee-pee with an assortment of Hot Wheels.  I heard them talk about this car getting married to that one, and these cars over here being a family.    That probably comes from the influence of the Pixar/Disney movie, "Cars".

Our house is quiet now.  We did such a good job getting our school work done this week, that we finished by 11 o'clock and then took off for the Y.  I feel like we have discovered a gold mine in that YMCA.  I put the kids in the childcare area, I did the stationary bike for about 20 minutes, picked up Olivia and we worked on the resistance machines.  That took about 25 minutes.  We picked up Andy from childcare, changed into our suits, and swam for half an hour.  I am feeling great! 

Tonight my parents are going to watch the kids while we go to a fabulous outdoor mall in north Scottsdale.  My mom said it is beautifully decorated for Christmas, and there are two stores I want dh to see.  I'm looking forward to being bundled up and walking hand-in-hand with my sweetie through beautiful shops.  Oh, and it doesn't hurt that my favorite restaurant is there -- The Cheesecake Factory!  Yummy!  I wonder what their seasonal cheesecakes are....  ;o)

The kids at Disneyland...

(If it weren't for the squint, this pic would be Christmas card material.)

(The great thing about this carousel in California Adventure is that no one is ever on it, and the kids can ride it as often as they like without having to get in line.  Another good thing, the carousel has two benches for tired parents!)

(If you've never been to Disneyland at Christmas time, it's truly magical.  This is the large tree right in the entrance to Main Street U.S.A.)

(Liv is finally comfortable posing with costumed characters.)

Andrew's Birthday Party

(Andrew decided that he really wanted an Animal Hospital toy.  This is from his Grammy and Aunt Peggy.  At some point I'm sure he'll use the various medical instruments to torment our dogs.)

(The kids decided it would be cute if they both wore the Spiderman pajamas that Andrew got as a gift from Aunt Cat.  They look pretty cute, huh?)

Nothing drives me over the edge quite like not being able to find everything we need for a particular activity.  Case in point.  Dd takes ballet every Monday at 11:30 a.m.  She needs her shoes, tights, leotard, a white belt, a white headband, and her bun hugger (one of those little things you put on a bun to keep all the hairs in place).  Oh, and bobby pins. 

Around 10:30 I'll say, "Olivia, go get ready for ballet."  At 11:00, "Where's your white belt?  That's part of your ballet uniform.  Go find it."  11:05, "Where's the white belt?  And your headband?"  Olivia, "Mom, I don't know where they are. I can't find them."  I try to stay calm, but sometimes I do lose it.  Just a tiny bit.    Everything related to ballet needs to be in her ballet bag.

AWANAS:  both kids need to have their vests, Bible, and AWANA book.  Sounds simple?  If you're a mom, you know it's not simple!! 

So, here is my brainstorm:

I found this at IKEA for a very reasonable price.  The top two drawers contain everything the kids need for AWANAS.  The second holds their t-shirts for P.E., and the third holds all of Olivia's ballet accessories and clothes.  I LOVE THIS!  I need one more drawer, twice the size of these, to hold things we'll need for going to the YMCA: our I.D. cards, swimsuits, goggles, etc.  I also want to add large labels to the bins but haven't decided exactly how I want to do that.  For now, this unit is in our family room, but as soon as we can get our laundry room organized, that's where it will go.  So far the system has been working, and my blood pressure has returned to normal! 

We visited a new homeschool group that meets at a park in our own neighborhood.  As it happened, winter arrived at about the same time and not many moms were there.  However, a couple of the moms went out of their way to introduce themselves to me, and my kids recognized a couple of other kids from AWANAS and our church.  We'll visit the group again next Wednesday to see how it feels.  In the meantime, there's another group that meets on Friday, and I'd like to check them out, too.

I'm not sure why, but I feel like a new wind is blowing through our lives.  We joined a nearby YMCA last night, and our whole family went tonight.  I loved it!  It was great being able to do a resistance training circuit with dd and dh.  Ds was in their child center which is managed by grown women -- moms!  Other gyms, even very expensive ones, always seemed to have teenagers.  The Y's child care center is free, and Andrew loved it.  Our family loves to swim, so we tried out their pool.  It was a warm 84 degrees and felt great in spite of the chilly air.   I swam several laps.  Today my daughter commented that I was fat, and that hurt!    She felt bad for hurting my feelings, but maybe it was a wakeup call for me to start focusing on my own health and fitness.  It's about time.  I've never been this fat and out of shape.  :o(

Dh has agreed to attend a Sunday School class at our church geared for people ages 40 and above.  They are a VERY active group with many social activities during the month, including a home Bible study.  I suggested that we try it for two months beginning in January and see if we feel comfortable and at home there.  Dh is an introvert, but he also needs to be around other Christian men.  That is one of the things I have been praying about.

So, between taking steps to get healthy via the Y, looking for a homeschool group and joining an active Sunday School class, I do feel optimistic that GOOD things are happening in our lives. 

I have decided that it's time to look, again, for a homeschool group to call home.  I thought we had found such a group two years ago.  Unfortunately, this past spring events caused us to leave the group and the friendships we had formed.  (I posted some of the details in my November 13, post.) We then joined another much larger group, but I always knew that it was only a temporary stop for us.  This second group has over 100 families, but only about 20% of them participate in Park Day/P.E., and there just isn't time for my kids to form real friendships.  Also, we don't attend the church that the group is affiliated with, which is even more limiting.

Our state homeschool organization, www.afhe.org, is a great resource, so after doing some research last night I sent emails to three different groups mentioned on their site.  One meets at a park located about 200 yards from our home.  I'm wiser now, not to mention a bit older, and will make this decision very slowly and even more prayerfully.  I do not want to drag my kids from group to group, but I see that they NEED other friends.  And I need other moms to talk with.  By nature I am an extrovert, and I get energy and ideas from being around other people.  So, if you read this, say a prayer that our family will find just the right group, and that we'll know it when we see it. 

Do you ever have times when you sit back and say to yourself, "Wow, I pulled it off!"  Those very words came out of my mouth tonight.  I had a pretty intimidating To Do list for getting everything ready for Andrew's birthday party, so I did the only thing a mom can do under such a high stress level.  I slept in until 9.  So did the kids.     Olivia had ballet at 11:30, and we managed to get to two banks and do some grocery shopping and STILL be at ballet by 11:45!  WOW! 

Andrew was just manic.  Each morning for the past five days the first words out of his mouth were, "Am I five today?"  Well, by today the poor kid was nearly out of his mind with all the anticipation a little boy can muster up when he knows that Today is His Big Day.  He was looking a little shaggy, so after ballet he got a haircut and two new pairs of jeans. 

By the time the party began at 4:30 I had made homemade salsa and guacamole, a fabulous Hot Artichoke Dip, and onion dip (yes, the classic Lipton soup and sour ceam combo).  After hearing everyone raving about the "great spread" we had, I realized that the secret is....lots of dips!  I'm not kidding.  The only other food we had out were vegies and dip (store bought) and hot dogs.  Oh, and a disaster of a birthday cake.  It was supposed to look like this one at Family Fun.com.  My white border of frosting kept rolling off the crushed chocolate graham crackers.  I finally decided that the cake was speaking to me and telling me that, in addition to tasting good, it should also teach a lesson in driving safety.  So I positioned a third Hot Wheels car plunging off the edge of the cake right where the white border had rolled off.  Indeed, it looked as though the unfortunate vehicle had broken through a barrier and plunged over an embankment.  Quite impressive, if only to me.  LOL  Believe me, the next time I'm driving a race car on a figure eight track, I'll remember to use my brakes!

All in all, we had a truly fabulous night.  Andrew was just overwhelmed by the variety and number of gifts.  He had been lobbying for a hamster, but he just isn't mature enough to take care of a pet, and our four Basenjis would probably terrorize the poor little animal.  I'll post some of the birthday pics here soon.  My SIL and her gf were the last to leave.  You know, there must be something about our home and family that draw them to us.  Tonight the gf said, "I just love coming over here."  She feels accepted, and I'm certain my SIL feels the same way.  I know there will come a day when dh and I will have to explain their relationship, but God has that covered, already.  I'm certain of it. 

...my two sisters-in-law.  Isn't that sad?  I get butterflies in my stomach in spite of my love for everything about Thanksgiving and Christmas.  One SIL is a lesbian, and dh just informed me that she and her girlfriend want to go see Happy Feet tomorrow with us and our kids.  I think they're going to go to Disneyland with us in three weeks or so.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk the line between approval and "love the sinner but not the sin"?  Especially when I know that my children are studying everything we do and say.  Will they remember that we showed Christ's love to Rebecca and her gf or will they come away with the belief that, "it's just a different kind of family"?  Wow, that's tough. 

My kids are so black and white when it comes to sin and Satan and God that I am just dreading the day when they find out about this relationship.  They're bold and outspoken in spite of their ages.  What on earth will they say to these two, and ... does it even matter?  They can say anything they want, but I will absolutely not allow the SIL or gf to try to normalize their lifestyle.  Do any of you have words of advice on this topic?   

My other SIL loves to call the shots and watch us jump.  About three weeks ago she announced that Thanksgiving was at her house this year.  She loves to be the Queen Bee, and it really hasn't mattered to me that we have Thanksgiving at her house every year.  But it dawned on me this week that my kids have never had the experience of hosting Thanksgiving and all the prep and excitement that goes with it.  She's divorced and has no kids, and in many ways is just a big kid herself with few obligations.  We have an annual July Fourth party, but this past year she announced that, "July fourth is at my house this year."  We weren't going to cancel our party, but gosh that's a lot of chutzpah because she fully expects that we'll go along with whatever she plans.

I don't want my blog to be filled with griping and complaining, but believe me, it's better that I vent here than all over my poor dh.    He's a saint.  LOL

About three weeks ago Mom-the-Boss decreed that henceforth children in the household would be allowed to watch two 30-minute TV shows per day.  No more of having the TV on constantly and begging, "Can't I just watch the rest of this?  It's almost over."  I hate, HATE! the constant drone of the TV and knew I'd enjoy the peace and quiet.  However, the results of our TV turn-off surprised even me.

My kids have rediscovered play.  Yes, they played before, but now they keep themselves occupied with all sorts of creative and inventive play for hours at a time.  We have a large playset in our backyard that spends months doing nothing but collecting cobwebs.  Now the kids have turned it into a fort, a castle, a spy-on-the-neighbors headquarters , and more.  All of this play is reinforcing their friendship with each other.  Olivia has even discovered Hot Wheels, although her version of playing with them involves one car getting married to the other, and Andrew, bless his little heart, heartily goes along with it!  LOL  Olivia is also reading a lot more.  Last Friday she read a "whole American Girl book in just one day!", and boy, did that boost her confidence and self-esteem.

I am so glad we've cut waaay back on TV time at our house, and I have someone's blog to thank for it!  I just can't remember whose, but she wrote about getting rid of their TV entirely.  I don't care to do that, since dh and I are major '24' fans (Go Jack Bauer!), but keeping it off for nearly the entire day is definitely working for us.

Thanks to Mandy over at Mandy's Ramblings I found out about the 2006 Cookie Swap being managed by Amy Beth.  In addition to her beautiful blog, she's somehow finding time to do this cookie swap!  Here is a recipe for one of my favorite cookies, Sunshine Kisses.  When I bake for the holidays, I like to create a variety of goodies that appeal to all kinds of sweet-teeth (is that a word?).  These cookies are for those who like lemony goodies.  I got it many years ago from a now-discontinued Pampered Chef cookbook.

Check out all the yummy recipes at the Party Page.

Sunshine Kisses 

 
1 package (18-19 oz) lemon cake mix
1 egg slightly beaten
1/3 c. oil
2 T water
1/3 cup pecans, chopped

GLAZE
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 lemon

Preheat oven to 375F.  In medium bowl combine cake mix, egg, oil & water. Stir until thoroughly combined; mixture will be dry.  Chop
nuts & sitr into dough.  Using a small scoop drop dough 2-inches apart onto a cookie sheet or baking stone.  Bake for 13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 3 minutes on stone.  Remove to cooling rack and cool completely.

In small bowl, whisk powered sugar, 1-2 T lemon juice & 1 t lemon zest. Drizzle glaze on cooled cookies.

YIELD:  3 dozen cookies

Okay, I've been tagged, but this should be an easy one...

1.  All cupboards and drawers in my house must be shut at all times.  I've been known to go from one end of the house to the other doing nothing but shutting drawers and cupboards.

2.  I dislike massages.  It's not that they don't feel good.  I just get very impatient.  I want to get up and Do Stuff! 

3.  I dress my kids according to the calendar, not what the reality of our weather is.  In September my poor kids were sweltering in their new fall togs because, by golly, "It's Fall!"  Of course it was about 105 degrees outside...

4.  I met dh over the internet.  We've been married 11.5 years, so I guess that makes us pioneers of a sort!

5.  My motto:  If it's worth doing, it's worth OVERdoing.  My kids' birthday parties are a prime example. 

6.  Up until this past April, we owned five dogs.  All Basenjis.  All were/are house dogs.  When our oldest female had pups, there would be times when there were up to 12 dogs in bed with us!    Our mama-dog, Chase, passed away earlier this year.    I'd own 100 dogs if I could!

7.  I cry at the drop of a hat.  I stay away from Hallmark stores and try to only buy humorous cards for this reason.

8.  I hate fried chicken, too!  Dh loves it. 

9.  I love Star Trek!  All the series.  All the various captains.  Dh and I have ongoing debates about which series was best, which captain was best/worst, etc.  Our kids are Trekkies, too.  LOL

Olivia and I don't often have a girls-day-out, but this past Friday we had the Mother of All Girls Days Out!  We were in Anaheim for our periodic visit to Disneyland, and the two of us drove into Los Angeles to The American Girl Store.  I was quite nervous about driving by myself, but Olivia turned out to be a great little navigator.  We got there even with one missed exit, thanks to our AAA map!

The store was just fabulous and so large that we didn't know quite where to begin.  Since the guys weren't with us, we were in no big hurry.  We meandered through the Historical Girls department, looking at each display, and talking about the books we've read so far.  Olivia tried on lots of cute outfits, just for the fun of it.  (They were pretty pricey, with one of the cute tops I liked being $42!)

We met up with one of our friends and her daughter who have been into the whole American Girl scene for many years.  In fact, they loaned us a Felicity costume that is the exact replica of one worn by Felicity in many illustrations.  They even loaned us the matching doll outfit.  As you can imagine, Olivia and her matching doll were quite a sight!

Olivia had her picture taken at the studio, we ate lunch in the Cafe and at the end of the day, we went to the musical revue.  It was such a special day -- just me and my little girl!  I love spending time with my smart little chicky-wicky! 

Olivia says:  I liked getting my picture taken at the photo studio.  I liked trying on the jazz and Greek costumes just for the fun of it.    I had a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we leave for California for a few days.  And...guess what!!  Dd and I are spending all day Friday at The American Girl Store in L.A.!!!  Woo-hoo!  I have waited at least seven years for this day!  There's an American Girl Store in Chicago that I have been visiting every year for the past several years.  I longed for the day when Olivia was old enough for one of their expensive dolls, and in fact, Samantha was one of her birthday gifts this year. 

However, the store!  The one in Chicago is four floors high (if my memory is correct) and has a cafe (with high chairs for girls' dolls!), a doll hair salon, a theater, tons of shopping, a photography studio and more!  Since L.A. is so much closer, that's where we're going.  I feel so giddy that it's embarrassing! 

Saturday and Sunday we'll spend at Disneyland, also one of our fave places.  I love going places with my family, even if it's just Costco.  :o)