A Hoosier in Nevada

Nerd Alert: St. Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

It's Valentine's Day again! I've always liked this holiday, even when I didn't have somebody. I guess in a way it reinforced my hope of finding someone someday. In elementary school I always like giving and receiving cards and candy. My mom always bought us each a box of valentine cards to give to our classmates, but it always seemed that one box was never enough. We always had to make about 5 extra that didn't match the others at all. I think it was aconspiracy on the part of the card companies. Make us buy two boxes instead of one. Now I love making cards myself. My kids have little cards to give to their classmates and we taped a chocolate to each one. Mmmm, dove chocolates, so good. No envelopes, though. This year my kids made valentine mailboxes at school. I kinda wanted to do it, but I guess the teachers had something else in mind. Hey, it's their class; I'm not the boss. I still like this holiday now that I have someone to share it with. I think I have the best Valentine - Derek is awesome. He already gave me my present a few days ago. He got me the first three "Twilight" movies. He even watched a little bit with me, which was a huge surprise. He's kinda anti-Twilight. He did enjoy the ending of Eclipse, though. You know, the battle scene. I have to say, as far as battle scenes go it's one of the best that I've seen.
On another note, I'm a huge nerd, so I just couldn't post about Valentine's Day without going into the history of it. Here's what I found at history.com. Enjoy!

The Legend of St. Valentine

The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine's Day: A Pagan Festival in February

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial--which probably occurred around A.D. 270--others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "Christianize" the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat's hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine's Day: A Day of Romance

Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”--at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine's Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Typical Valentine's Day Greetings

In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.

Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap." Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

Shoulda Taken the Camera

2012-02-11T22:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight, the kids and I went to a Valentine's dance at church. It was a lot of fun. At first the kids didn't know what to do. Andrew said he was too shy to dance. Emmy would only hang on to me. Slowly they started to feel more comfortable. Andrew mostly ran around and played with a paper airplane, but he did dance to a few songs. Then some slow song came on and he asked the little girl sitting next to me if she wanted to dance. She said no, which surprised me. I told Andrew I would dance with him and so we did, but very soon the little girl had this look of regret on her face. I asked did she want to dance now and she did. I helped them get there hands into the right positions and they were very cute to watch. Emmy had a lot of fun dancing with an older girl she's friends with, but near the end she danced with a little boy her age. They were so cute together. Of course the room was dim, so my phone didn't take good pictures. I hadn't even thought to take a camera. My friend had planned to bring hers, but she also forgot. I guess we'll just have the memories. So, by the time we left Andrew was engaged to a little girl he's friends with. Not the same girl he danced with, but a different girl. Emmy was very excited that Andrew got engaged.

The Frog Story

2012-02-02T21:36:00.001-08:00

I know, I've been really bad. I haven't had anything cool enough to write about happen lately. The funniest thing happened today, though. So, the last couple of days Derek and I have been playing a sort of game with each other. One of the kids got a little toy frog for Christmas and Derek and I have been hiding it places for the other to find. This morning I found it in my closed laptop, so I put in in his shoe. I took the kids to school and when I got back Derek said he had hidden it. I was skeptical because it didn't seem likely he'd put his shoes on yet. I asked him how he knew where I put it. He said he knew as soon as I put it there. I said "how did you know it was in your shoe?" He said "you just told me." Ugh! I played his little game! I had to hide it again. Derek took the garbage out a little while later and he told me he would hide it while I was picking the kids up from school. I went out to my van and there it was on my steering wheel waiting for me. I laughed the whole way to the school.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

2012-01-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

This was me the Tuesday before Christmas.

Derek took this picture. We wanted to remember what it looked like because later we were going to the salon. Yep, I cut it off. I think I shed about 1½ feet. Now I look like this.

Emmy took this picture for me. I think she did a pretty good job, once she kept her own fingers out of the way. We mailed the hair to Locks of Love in the hopes that they can use it.

Some people were really surprised when they first saw me, but everybody seemed to like it.

Happy Holidays

2011-11-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know we did. We got to spend time with some of Derek's family and some of my family. This morning Emmy and I put up the Christmas tree. Later we got some candy canes at the store and Andy and Emmy put those up. The stockings are hanging, the mistletoe is up, the bell in on the door handle. Yes, Christmastime has finally come. Now it's time to figure out what the heck I am doing for gifts!

I Thought This Generation was Good with Computers

2011-11-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get so mad at my kids. Recently, Derek dropped his computer and the screen broke. We had a cord to connect the computer to a TV, so he started using his computer that way all the time. That was fine with me; I still had my computer. A few days after Derek's screen got broken Emmy broke my screen by slamming it shut and banging the mouse on it. So, two computers, one cord. Not so good. I made Derek buy a second cord so I could be in the living room on this TV and he could be in the game room on that TV. Okay. Today Andrew dropped my computer on the floor at just the right angle to rip the cord out of it to break the cord. Wonderful. Two computers, one cord, one angry mother. This is why we can't have nice things.

I Must Be Getting Old

2011-10-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went trick-or-treating. No tricks were performed. Of course the kids were dressed up, but some of the people handing out candy dressed up as well. We saw a wolf, a zombie in a trash can, a clown, baby doll, devil, things like that. One house we went to had a man in a white sailor hat and red shirt with blue pants. I said "Oh, it's Gilligan!" The man and his wife smiled and said I was right. As we were leaving my 9 year old niece said "who's Gilligan?"

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to a Halloween party at church. Derek and I each had three bowls of chili. Emmy and Andrew were a little too excited for the trick-or-treating later to eat. Derek's mom made the kids their costumes. Emmy decided to be Alice from Wonderland again. You may remember that she was Alice a few years ago.

Andrew was Handy Smurf. I decided not to paint his face blue. I thought he looked really good.

I made the hat this afternoon. It turned out better than I thought it would, considering that I didn't use any kind of pattern. I just went off a picture I found on Blue Buddies, a smurf website I found. After the chili we went from classroom to classroom getting candy. I was glad that we got to do it inside. It's been getting so chilly outside lately. I'm planning on Trick-or-Treating with my sister-in-law and her kids on Monday. It should be a lot of fun. It's nice to see the kids having fun, and we all love the candy.

Haunted House

2011-10-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the kids and I went to a haunted house at the mall. It was pretty cool. They tamed it down for kids, which is the only reason we went. Emmy didn't want to go in, but I made her. I probably shouldn't have since she was so scared she wanted me to hold her the whole time. At first that was okay, but after a while my arm really started to hurt. Most of the workers were dressed in Alice in Wonderland themed costumes, but there was also a pirate and a gorilla man. Before we went into the haunted house Andrew got to pet the Pirate's birds. Grampa told me they were a macaw and a cockatoo. Grampa was there taking pictures for people, so we got one of Andrew with the pirate and his macaw. The kids kept calling the guy Jack Sparrow.

Then we were waiting in line to get into the haunted area. The Queen of Hearts came and talked to Emmy. Nana was out there helping Grampa and told the girl that Emmy is gonna be Alice for Halloween. Emmy thought the queen was pretty cool. After we went all through the scary house we came out and there was the Queen again, so we got a picture with her, too.

I had a lot of fun, but that house would be really super scary on a regular night.

They call him Jack O'Lantern

2011-10-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Derek and I got a couple big pumpkins the other day. Today I finally carved them. The kids were so excited to have them! As soon as it was dark tonight Andrew insisted that I light some candles in them. Here the first one I did.

The second one was easier because I kinda knew what I was doing.

Here they are together. You can get a feel of how big they are here.

They take up most of my table.

I found this fun story at www.history.com. I enjoyed it and I thought others might, too.

The Legend of "Stingy Jack"

People have been making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack-o'-lanterns.

Another Field Trip?

2011-10-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, another field trip. This time I went to the pumpkin patch with Emmy's class. We started off in the classroom for breakfast.

Then we loaded up on the bus.

When we got to the pumpkin patch the first thing we did was go on a hayride.

We rode all around the pumpkin fields.

Next we played by the barn.

When we went into the barn the kids got to do a small craft

and listen to a story called "Too Many Pumpkins." We sat in a barn stall while the lady read to us.

The we got to go back and play some more in the yard in front of the barn. They had bean bag toss games, sling shot games, a teepee, a shed full of dried corn kernels with buckets and shovels, and a hay maze. I really enjoyed the maze.

Then we got to see a lot of the animals on the farm. Some of the goats liked to do tricks.

The teacher's husband got everyone a little goat-feed so the kids could feed the goats. Emmy wasn't scared at all.

They also had cows, pigs, emus, a llama, a yak, a kak (cow-yak mix), and horses. I saw a couple rabbits running around, too.
The last animals we saw were the chickens.

The lady tour guide went into the chicken coup. She showed us the different colored eggs. There were white, brown, and a sort of off white. She accidentally dropped an egg and the chickens all scrambled to eat up the innards. I was surprised the chickens would eat that.

Then the lady brought a chicken out and let the kids pet her.

Then we all got to go into the pumpkin fields and pick out our own pumpkins.

Then back on the bus. I got a pumpkin, too.

Emmy wanted her friend to sit with us on the way back. She talks about this boy at home a lot.

A Trip to the Fire Staion!

2011-09-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a field trip to the fire station with Emmy's Kindergarten class. We had lots of fun. I got to meet all the kids in the class and figure out who these kids are that Emmy is always talking about.

Here's Emmy sitting by me on the school bus.

When we got to the fire station we met three Firefighters. Fireman Rodney, Fireman Noe, and Fireman Dan.

Here's Fireman Rodney telling the kids all about the two brush fire trucks

and some of the equipment they use. This things floats in any kind of body of water they can find and sucks it into the hoses in case their tanks run out.

Emmy has many good friends. Here she is with Yvette.

Here's Fireman Dan showing the inside of a brush fire truck.

Then we went out and saw the big fire truck.

They showed us some of the cool things on there, too.

The kids all got a chance to go in the fire truck to look around,

but then the alarm went off. There had been an accident in town and they had to go, so we waited for about 20 minutes.

The kids played games and sang some songs. As they were marching in the parking lot singing "The Ants Go Marching One by One" the firemen came back. Yay!

Now it was time to go with Fireman Noe to see the inside of the station. We saw the kitchen and lounge area.

There was also a livingroom area, several bedrooms and bathrooms, and a workout room. Noe answered any questions we had. Somebody asked if they had a dalmatian, but he said no. I asked what Dalmatians would do and he said "nothing." I thought that was funny. We saw maps on the wall that they can look at to see where they need to go, but Noe also said that the trucks have GPS. That's nice.

After we toured the inside we met back up with the other class that had gone with us in the garage where Fireman Rodney showed all the equipment he had to wear. Noe told us earlier that all the gear weighs about 75 pounds. Here's Fireman Rodney getting started

and all dressed: pants, jacket, hood, mask, helmet, and airtank.

Here he's showing how he breathes with the tank.

He wanted all the kids to hear what it sounded like when he breathed so that if they were ever in a fire and heard that sound they would know that it was a "good guy." They all gave him a hug. Emmy was one of the last ones because she's so shy and had to work up to it.

Time to get back on the bus to go back to school in time for lunch. You can see Emmy's teacher, Mrs. Brown, on the right with the blonde hair.

I stayed for lunch with Emmy. Here she is being weird.

It was a very fun trip. I'll probably go with them when they go to the pumpkin patch next month.

After lunch I went back to Emmy's class with her for the rest of the day. I read a couple books, helped kids write their numbers, and threw away trash from the cut and paste time. It was a lot of fun. Andrew wants me to come visit his class one of these days. I told him I would talk to his teacher about it.

Phobia

2011-08-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

I've passed my fear of spiders on to my kids, Emmy more so than Andrew. Today Emmy was in her room and she locked the door. She started screaming and crying. Andrew and I told her she needed to unlock the door, but she was too scared to walk past the spider. Finally she was gonna let Andrew in. He came into the living room to get a shoe to smoosh it. As he was running back to Emmy's room he started singing in own hero theme song. I couldn't help but laugh. Emmy let him in and he killed the bug and I heard Emmy sing "Hero of the day! Saved my life, saved my life". It was so hilarious! I love that they get to have all these little adventures. I'm also glad that Andrew took care of it so that I wouldn't have to.

Emmy's First Day of School

2011-08-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here's Emmy almost ready for school. Nana made this dress.

Here's Derek walking Emmy into the schoolyard.

She's still excited for school at this point.

They lined up before going into class.

She started to get anxious when she realized that we would leave her there, so Derek talked to her to ease her fears.

She sat at a table with a little boy named Fernando and two girls named Jasmine and Chayanne.

She was happy when we came to pick her up. She said she had a nice time in class and that they played "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?"

Andy was happy to see Daddy after school, too.

We've Moved!

2011-07-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

We have moved into our new home. We are renting from a friend of ours. It's closer to Derek's work, cheaper and bigger than our last apartment. We're in a small town next to the biggest little city in the world. So far I like it. This past Friday we got the keys and brought a load of stuff over Friday night with the help of Derek's parents. When we got here we found that the keys didn't work in the locks. I called my friend and she realized that she gave me the wrong set of keys. This was about 10pm, and very dark out. She got on her way to bring us the right keys, but in the meantime we decided to break into the house. I tried to open a window and fell to the ground. That was my last attempt. Derek found a doggie door and somehow squeezed through it. I couldn't stop laughing! I didn't think he was gonna make it because he's such a big guy, but somehow he squeezed through. At the same time Derek's parents found a window they could open in a bedroom and my Mother-in-law got in about the same time as Derek. They let the rest of us in and we started unloading stuff. Our landlady came soon after that and we tested out the keys to be sure we got the right ones this time. It was all just a very funny situation. so far we like all the people that we've met. I have one person who lives near that I've known for years since she we both used to live in another town. The kids have already started school. Actually, Emmy's only done an assessment. The kindergarteners start a week later than all the other kids. Andrew's been doing well so far in 1st grade. He still hasn't learned any kids name, but he has friends that he plays with everyday.

Midnight Premier

2011-07-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

So I let my sister-in-law talk me into going to the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 last night, which was actually this morning. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I've never gone to a midnight showing for any movie before, so I didn't know what to expect. Earlier in the evening I went to the theater to buy my ticket and I'm glad I did because the 2D theater I wanted was selling out fast. When we got to the theater last night at 10pm there was a long line that went around the building on three sides. We were at the end of the line for a long time until finally one other group was behind us. The theater started letting us in around 10:30 and we went and found some seats in our theater. I think I had to show my ticket about three times on my way to theater number 3. When I went to the bathroom I made sure to take it with me just in case. So, I like to sneak snacks into the theater so I don't have to pay the outrageous prices at the concession stand. The downside to that is I get no popcorn, which is almost essential to movie watching. Derek and I had gone to a store to get some snacks. We both got a liter of soda and a bag of munchies and some candy. He said there was no way I could fit all that into my bag. When we came home I made a really big shoulder bag and everything fit just fine. Of course then it was very heavy. The thing that I thought was very funny about the whole midnight premier thing was how many people came dressed as Hogwarts students. Some of the costumes were pretty good and some were kinda lame. There was this one girl who did her white blonde hair in big loose curls and she was skipping around in her Ravenclaw student attire. She totally looked like Luna Lovegood, except she was a little too tall. Another girl had on two ties, one Gryffindor colors and the other Hufflepuff colors. I thought she looked pretty good with her robes. Some girls in the bathroom had awesome wands. I almost asked where they got them, but I chickened out. I wish I could carve my own wand. I think it would be neat to carve things out of wood.
So now I'm so tired. After we came home at 2:30am I was still awake so I watched Big Brother online. I think I fell asleep around 3:30 and the kids woke me up at 7:30. I don't know if I'll ever go to another midnight showing after this, but it was fun.

I Hate It!

2011-07-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

You want to know what I hate? Moving. I hate moving. I hate packing all the boxes up and taking them away in a truck. You know what I love? Unpacking. It's like getting a whole bunch of gifts! We are moving in a couple of weeks. As I pack I'm finding things to sell at a yard sale. Unfortunately the keep boxes out number the sell boxes. I wish it was the other way around. I only have one box of books to sell and about four to keep. Also, I've only found two games so far to sell. I'm not even halfway done with the game closet though, so hopefully I'll find some more I can bear to part with. While I was in the game closet I realized that I need a refresher course on how to play Mah Jongg. It's been to long since I played and I was never very good to begin with. I remember that I enjoyed it, though. So, we are moving to Sun Valley which is by Sparks and Reno. I need to get the kids enrolled in that school and figure out how I'm going to get their school uniforms. I don't know if I have to buy them from the school, or if I can get them anywhere. The lady I need to talk to won't be in the office until next week, so I really don't know much about anything yet. We'll be close to the school, so we may walk most days while it's still nice. I'll have to see how long it takes us. If I remember right the school is about 4 blocks away. School is starting before our vacation to Indiana, so we don't get to go. I don't want them to miss that many days, and since our vacation was supposed to last a couple weeks it isn't feasible do take it. I'm really bummed about it, but I'll get there sometime. It's been 4 years since I've been back in Indiana and I miss it, but Nevada feels like home. I guess home is where you hang your hat. I've lived in Indiana, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. They all have pros and cons, but I've enjoyed myself in all those places. Anyway, Sun Valley looks like a nice place for us. It's closer to Derek's job and we'll save lots of gas. Plus the rent is cheaper than this apartment I'm in now. I'm looking forward to it and also not enjoying the packing.

It's Too Early

2011-06-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

What is an acceptable time to start installing new carpet in an apartment above somebody? This morning I was waked up by banging and booming sounds. I thought whatever they were dropping on the floor up there was gonna come down through my ceiling. Then there was just an awful lot of hammering. I couldn't figure out what they might be doing. Derek somehow figured out that they were laying new carpet. That makes sense, but did they have to start so early? This was maybe 8am. Couldn't they have waited till 10am? Maybe I just wanted to sleep in since I had a restless night and all. Andrew wasn't feeling very well yesterday. He had a fever and wanted to be near us. I slept on the couch so he could sleep next to Derek in my bed. Yesterday Emmy went swimming and went to a movie. She saw "Rio" and seemed to like it. Andrew didn't get to do either of those since he was feeling sick. He was pretty bummed. He did get some licorice, though. We always sneak snacks into the theater, and even though Andrew didn't go, he still got a snack. We stayed home and watched Star Wars. He picked it. It makes me so proud to see his good sense.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-06-22T12:06:00.001-07:00

Wow, I guess I've been slacking. I haven't posted in a couple weeks. Well, I had a birthday this past Monday. I got great presents. My mom got me the first two Narnia movies and helped my kids get me "the Singles 2nd Ward". All very good. My sister-in-law Heather got me the book Emma, which I've been wanting to own since I borrowed it from someone else. My mother-in-law gave me the next two books in a series that I've been reading. They're the Culinary Mysteries: Lemon Tart, English Trifle, and Devil's Food Cake. I'd gotten the lemon one before and liked it so she got me the others. There's two more after those, so I look forward to that. We went to Derek's parents' house on my birthday and played cards. It was fun. Unfortunately, I've been battling a cough and so have the kids. Emmy didn't come that night because she wasn't feeling well at all and stayed with my mom. She's a nurse, so there's no one I'd feel more comfortable leaving a sick child with. Yeah, that's right, I ended that sentence with a preposition! Whatcha gonna do about it?

The "Tea" Party

2011-06-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

What could be better than a nice lunch?

A nice lunch with good company.

My niece Kyah had lunch with Emmy and me. We had cucumber and cheese sandwiches, various berries, salad, and pudding for dessert. A very fun time was had by all. Derek took Andrew and our nephew Charles fishing.

Summer is (almost) Starting!

2011-06-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

Andy's last day of school is tomorrow. The two very best days of school are the first one and the last one. I don't think he quite realizes that he'll be done with school for the whole summer. Emmy's birthday is this Saturday and a friend of hers is having a birthday party that day. This year Emmy finally gets to go to this girl's party because Emmy isn't having a party. Their birthdays are so close that every year their parties have been on the same day. Emmy will be having a birthday dinner this Sunday at Nana and Grampa's house. She's very excited. My brother EJ is coming to visit for a couple of days. We're looking forward to that. As of now he's still driving. He's bringing his girlfriend so we'll get to meet her. I don't know anything about her, and I have no idea what's been told her about me. Lately there's been a lot of visiting going on. One of my sisters was here this past weekend with her three kids. Last night two of my nieces and nephews came to town for a month long visit. They are staying with Nana and Grandpa, so we'll see them frequently. I'm not going anywhere till August when I go on vacation to Indiana. Two of my siblings live there and most of my family will be there for a family reunion. The kids and I are really looking forward to it. As of now, Derek will not be going with us. It's been a few years since he's come to a reunion with me. Once I went to his family's reunion without him. It's not that he doesn't want to go, it's just that it never seems to work out. Secretly I think he thinks we're all a bunch of weirdos. Well, maybe it's not so secret. Anyway, that's my update for now. We're enjoying the niece and nephew, ages 10 and 9. Maybe I should take pictures of fun things so their parents can see them. I'm sure their being greatly missed.

A Little Bird with a Yellow Bill

2011-05-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Emmy was helping me clean out the car today. We went inside when we were done, but I had forgotten to take all the loose change out of the cup holder. When I went back out to get it I saw a bird sitting very still on the rocks next to the sidewalk. I was surprised it hadn't flown off. On my way back to my apartment it still didn't budge. I got a piece of bread, the camera, and Emmy and went back outside. It didn't eat any of the bread, but it still didn't fly away. I let Emmy pet it after I did. I even picked it up. I've never seen a bird do that. Finally the bird hopped away and we went back inside.

That's my hand in the picture. I thought it would be cool for Emmy to see some nature up close, but I was pretty wary of her getting too close.

A Poem Written For Me! by Logan (my nephew)

2011-05-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

there once was a aunt named ruth
who once kissed a man in a kissing booth
then when they kissed
she tryed to slap him and missed
but at the end just lost a tooth

Need Good Project Ideas

2011-05-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

i feel the need to get crafty again. i'm just itching to do something fun. the problem is i don't know what to do. i've seen a lot of good projects that other people have done lately and i think maybe i've seen too many good ones. maybe i'll do all of them and give them out as christmas gifts this year. that sounds like a good idea. if you see any good (cheap) projects send me a link!

Why?

2011-05-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

why do companies use over seas phone centers? really? is it so hard to hire people from our own country? the other day Derek was talking to a person with an Indian accent. he always turns the phone up so loud i can hear the other person. this lady could not understand Derek when he gave his name and address. i don't even know how many times he tried to spell our last name. after the third time he said she had too many O's i started to giggle uncontrollably. she couldn't even understand our street name. we live on "such and such" parkway. she kept saying archway. i was dying! of course Derek is trying to keep his composure while on the phone. eventually there was something that he needed to talk to someone else for. he got a man on the phone and this guy had an american accent. Derek made sure this guy had the right address, but he thought the lady had finally gotten his name right, so he didn't ask about that. he even used communications codewords (alfa, bravo, charlie). today the package we were waiting for arrived and it was addressed to Tootrin Derec. the address was correct. so, my thing is, maybe they don't have parkways in India. maybe she didn't know that word. obviously she's not familiar with words like Lima, or Charlie.

May is Upon Us

2011-05-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

i still can't believe that it is already May. this year seems to be going by so fast. andy only has a few more weeks of school until summer vacation. i think his last day is June 3rd or something like that. one of my sisters is coming to visit for memorial day weekend. i think she's bringing all three of her kids. i'm looking forward to her visit. we like to play games when we get together.

andy gave me a mother's day gift already. he made a plate

and a card

in school and gave it to me yesterday. so cute. it was a great gift.

"Oh, Woe is Me"

2011-04-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

time for a complaining post. our car is broken. it will probably cost more to fix it than it is worth. we've had it for about 6 years now and these last coupled of years it's been really having problems. something like a rack and pinion is broken and it's leaking stuff in different spots. i think we'll just try to get another car. a newer one. i wish this had happened a week earlier. then andy would have been on spring break and we wouldn't be figuring out how to get him to school and back home. hopefully we'll get it all figured out soon. derek is looking into getting a car loan and he's found some nice choices on craigslist. also in the bad news department, i've lost my palm pilot. i feel lost without it. i dont' know if i have appointments coming and some numbers i need are in there. ugh, i hate to complain on here. i don't want to be a "debbie-downer" or anything, but sometimes it seems like everything happens all at once.

on a better note, the weather has been really nice lately, which has caused our gas bill to go down quite a bit, so there's that.

Shipping Costs

2011-04-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

i was on amazon tonight looking up a book i'd like to get: the wonderful flight to the mushroom planet.

i found some for really cheap. 1¢. of course shipping cost was almost $4. i mean, how much can it really cost to ship? that is where they make all their money i guess.

on a side note, my birthday is coming up.

More Birthday Pictures

2011-04-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

here's some more pictures from dinner tonight.

Andy blowing out the candle.

Aunt Heather and Uncle Dan gave him some giant marshmallows.

Nana made him a quilt with baseball players on it.

Derek picked out a star wars gun from us.

and Aunt Rachel, Uncle Tim, Anastasia, Logan, and Caelin gave him a necktie.

Andy's 6th Birthday!

2011-04-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

today we celebrated Andy's sixth birthday! we went to Nana and Grandpa's house and had a lot of family come over. we ate roast, cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, tossed salad, and cake and ice cream. i made two cakes. one was chocolate and the other was funfetti.

here's most of the loot.

Uncle PJ, Aunt Annie, and Molly gave him hi ho cherry-o

Aunt Michelle, Uncle Tony, Hannah, and Austin gave him a set of water guns. don't worry, Austin's birthday is still coming so we have plenty of time to get even.

Gram and Grandad gave Andy a Wii game. he's very excited to try it out.

well, for some reason i can't seem to add anymore pictures. maybe i'll try again later.

It's April!

2011-04-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

yay! warm weather! we've gone to the park two days in a row. yesterday andy was so worn out he went to bed an hour early. he woke this morning saying he was tired. hmm, maybe we over did it. anyway, i love not needing to wear a coat, and i love wearing capri pants. now i just need to get a new pair of sandals. andy also needs sandals, but emmy doesn't. the ones she got last year still fit her.

i'm also looking forward to yard sales! i'm hoping to find an old desk phone.
we had one like this when i was a kid. it was a beige color and was in my mom and dad's room. i want to put it on the little table in my living room. i have a phone there now, but the base is so light it falls off every time i pick up the phone. so irritating. plus i like having the buttons away from my face so i don't accidentally hit them while i'm talking.

anyway, i'm glad spring has sprung. andy's birthday is this monday. we're having a birthday dinner for him on sunday and on monday he's gonna take some cupcakes to school with him. i'm gonna try to make the cupcake cones that i loved as a kid.
i hope they turn out right.

I Feel Emmy's Pain

2011-03-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

i got a copy of emmy's immunization record. the lady behind the desk at the health and human services building showed me where the shots she still needs were listed. emmy started crying when i told her that she needed shots. she's got a well check appointment with the doctor in a couple of weeks. i'm hoping they'll do it that day. i don't believe in lying to my kids about hard things. i told her she needed some shots and that it would be okay. it just makes me tear up when i see her crying over something like this.

Can You Catch a Leprechaun?

2011-03-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

think this would catch a leprechaun? i guess we'll see. this is the trap that Andy took to school today. i never heard of setting leprechaun traps 'til i came out here to nevada. the pieces of gold are really just yellow buttons, but that's all i had. the rest is just cardboard, paper, tongue depressors, and of course a little bit of rick rack.

Andy's Teeth

2011-03-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

andy just lost his first teeth. the front two bottom teeth just came out. i'm pretty sure those were the first two teeth he got. we are so happy for him. he's growing up. we could see the new teeth popping up through his gums so we figured we'd better help him get the baby teeth out. we've got them in a plastic baggie now and i guess i'll put them in his baby book. i don't know if we'll keep all his teeth. my mom was like that and derek's parents are like that. we'll see how it goes. andy's birthday is coming up soon. this year we'll just have a family party. andy is turning 6. he's doing well in kindergarten. his teacher's all love him and he gets pretty good grades. this summer emmy will turn 5 and then she'll start kindergarten. it's so neat seeing them grow up and become responsible people.

Down The Brae

2011-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

this is my uncle. i like to go to youtube and watch his videos. his name on there is speilbox. you should all check it out.

Never Would Have Used that Combination

2011-03-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

i went to a dinner tonight and there was this salad that thought i would hate. spinach and strawberries with some kind of dressing already on it. has anybody ever had this before? i actually really liked it. i want to know what kind of dressing it had one it. i don't know who made it so i'm gonna have to ask around on sunday when i see those ladies again. i don't normally like sweet fruits in my salads (mandarin oranges), but i was pleasantly surprised with the strawberries. i had to have two helpings of the salad.

My Husband Rocks at Gift-Giving

2011-02-19T18:05:00.001-08:00

i had a great valentine's day. derek got off a little early and we went out to dinner. some mexican restaurant inside one of the casinos in town. i can't remember the name and no, we didn't stay to gamble. he also got me chocolates and a set of dishes. they are very pretty and i like them a lot. they have little blue flowers on them.

i have to say this. just now i decided to play some music. i was scrolling through my zune and asked andy what he should listen to. i happened to stop on the backstreet boys. he said "that one, it's my favorite." hee hee hee. i don't think he's ever listened to them before. anyway, i thought it was cute.

I'm Done With Winter

2011-02-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

ready for spring. ready to be done with the cold weather that brings no snow. ready to start avoiding bees and killing insects that sneak into my apartment. ready to stop bundling the kids up everytime we leave the house. so ready for spring to come.

Clean Rooms

2011-01-27T20:12:00.000-08:00

yesterday, a friend of mine came over and helped me clean up my kids' bedrooms. it had been a while for the bedrooms. i think we found about 15 pairs of pants under andy's bed. he always seems to need more pants and now i know why. it's so nice to be able to walk in their rooms and not be afraid of stepping on a lego or breaking some toys. andy was at school, but emmy was a big help. of course i had an allergy attack from all the dust. i got really stuffy and my throat got scratchy. blech. anyway, i now have a garbage bag full of toys they don't need and clothes that are too small. we really need to get rid of more toys. emmy's toy box won't even close. andy doesn't even have a toy box. i'm sure we could make him a toy box. that would be lots of fun. and maybe we could build emmy a table so she can have tea parties in her room. that would be splendid! and then i could post pictures on here to show.

new topic:
i've come to realize that i have a basket fettish. i love them. everytime i go to a thrift store i have to look at the baskets. i don't even need anymore baskets, but i got one the other day anyway. emmy got one also. i like to have baskets on hand for when i need them. yesterday i was glad to have some small ones. andrew now has somewhere to keep all his rocks and emmy has something to hold her porcelain tea set she just got. i didn't realize how many rocks andy had 'til we picked up everything in his room. i don't understand why he likes rocks so much. they don't seem like pretty rocks to me. just basic rocks. i guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

History Repeats Itself

2011-01-15T18:46:00.000-08:00

i was in the living room and i heard emmy crying and saying "owie". i thought maybe andy was bugging her, so i went off to see and solve any problems. what i found made me laugh. emmy was alone in her room and she had successfully tied herself to her bed. she couldn't even raise her arms, poor little thing. luckily she was easily released by me. immediately i remembered something that had happened to my brother, samuel, years ago. he had handcuffed himself to his bunkbed. unfortunately he'd dropped the key and his "spare key" so he was trapped. he yelled for help, but he woke up my mom. her room was right below his. she slept during the day because she worked at the hospital during the night. she was so mad that she'd been woken up that she went upstairs to yell at samuel. she laughed, which of course made us all curious. she got him down, but then wanted him to rechain himself so she could get a picture. samuel didn't go for that.

Opening Gifts

2011-01-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

i realized that i never showed pictures of the kids opening their gifts. here's emmy on christmas eve night.

every year the kids get new jammies on christmas eve.

and andy opening his.

bowser!

i think he likes them.

here's christmas morning. andy was excited to get a boba fett blaster. it goes well with the storm trooper blaster from last chrismas.

emmy didn't wear her jammies that morning for presents. she wanted to change right away.
here she is opening some paints.

here's the grandparents' tree. this was before all the gifts were under it.

i didn't take any other pictures there. we were too busy opening gifts.

Back in the Swing of Things.

2011-01-05T10:48:00.001-08:00

the holidays are over. we partied, ate, played games, and partied some more. derek had his birthday. he seems to think he's so old. he still seems young to me.

speaking of seeming young, i got called "miss" yesterday. it was a nice surprise since i usually get called "ma'am".

anyway, back to derek. i think he's just great. sometimes i can't tell him how great i think he is. years ago he asked my why i married him. i was sarcastic and told him that i figured since nobody else was signing up i figured i'd better. now it's become a joke between us. sometimes he'll say "thanks for signing up" to me. it always makes me laugh.

derek is a good daddy. he's loves our children so much. i know he wishes he could spend more time with them. when he is with them he's very fun. this morning he tickled emmy for about 15 minutes, of which she loved every minute. i finally had to tell him to stop. andy loves it when daddy picks him up after school. then he gets to "work" with daddy sometimes. it really makes andy feel special to know that daddy thinks he's special.

i guess what i'm trying to say is, i love derek. i'm grateful he signed up to marry me. i'm grateful that he works to so hard to give us a nice life.

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-22T23:37:00.000-08:00

i know, i know. i haven't updated recently. i've been busy with christmas stuff and taking funny pictures of the kids. here's emmy as she fell asleep one night.

anyway, some people had expressed an interest in seeing my tree, so here it is.

this year i added some new decorations. i thought that i would try out some glass ornaments. at least one is broken already. they are martha stewart brand, but i paid about 50¢ a box at a yard sale this summer, so it's no big deal. also i found some glittery plastic snowflakes at the dollar store. i got two boxes. i got three beaded garlands from kohl's. they were on sale, so each strand was about $3 and i used my kohl's gift card i'd gotten in the mail, so they were free! yay! we love free stuff!

this year i decided that we needed a new star. the other one weighed too much to be on the top of the tree so i got one that doesn't light up. i like it. very pretty.

okay, so here's all the gifts that are under the tree this year.

i think this is the most we've ever had under our tree at home. maybe i'll snap a picture of my in-laws tree. there's sure to be a lot of presents under that tree.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Near.

2010-12-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

well, things have been just going along for us. i still need to get all my Christmas presents together. at least i've given my sibling-whose-name-was-assigned-to-me's gift. she liked it. it was not much, but i'm not in a place to give expensive gifts. anyway, i still need to decide what to give derek's siblings. i don't know why i feel like i need to overanalyze everything.

New Lights

2010-11-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

the day after thanksgiving is the day i put up my christmas tree. i started with the lights, then the i did the garland and all the other ornaments. after i was all done i plugged in the lights and they didn't work. i was so upset. i then plugged them into different outlets and still they didn't work. so irritating. i carefully removed them and chucked them out. derek got me twice as many lights. i just finished putting them on the tree. of course i tested them beforehand. i'll never forget to test them first thing from now on.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T10:39:00.001-08:00

i'm ready for thanksgiving. i've got all the food i need and won't need to go to the store 'til this weekend. after we dropped off andy at school, emmy and i went to my mom's and then the grocery store. i was afraid that they would be out of turkeys. boy, was i wrong. so many turkeys to choose from! and i got a good deal. 14 lbs for $6.50. nice! anyway, i am making thanksgiving lunch here at my house and my parents are coming over. they are bringing pies. yum! i've been guaranteed pumpkin! later we'll be going to derek's parents' house for thanksgiving dinner. yum! two thanksgivings? i must be a hobbitt!

Shopping

2010-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Am I the only person who refuses to shop on "Black Friday"? Just the thought of it scares me. I don't want to be a part of that madness.

Happy Veterans Day!

2010-11-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

is an active duty serviceman a veteran, or are only survivors of past war considered veterans? my brother, ej, is serving in the army and he's in afghanistan. he's only a year older than me. we were really close growing up. he was kind of a rebel. didn't like to be told what he could and could not do. i was just shocked when i found out that he joined the army. now he's told what to do, where to be, when he can talk to family, and all that. we're not as close as we used to be, but i think that's because he's not as available to me as he used to be. we do talk on facebook. either we'll leave comments to eachother, or we'll chat online for short snippets of time. he's engaged to a girl named jen. i wouldn't be surprised if they get hitched just as soon as he gets back to the states in february. i've never met this girl, but the way that he talks about her makes me want to. he hasn't had the best of luck in the love department, but he says now that he knows what love is. i believe him. he's gonna be coming to california for his next assignment, which means we'll get to see him more often. more than now, for sure. of course, it's been a year since i've seen him. he came to visit at christmas last year.

thanks ej for serving our country and protecting freedom!

All About Andy

2010-11-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

yesterday morning, derek and i went to andy's parent teacher conference. he's doing pretty good. his best subject is math. the teacher said that his behavior has improved so much and she was really happy with his progress. we thought that was pretty nice. after the conference andy had class. the rest of the day went pretty normally until the evening. andy and emmy were in his room playing on his bed. they told me that he was trying to jump on emmy, but he hit his head on the bedpost. he got a gash that started bleeding. once i got a good look at it i decided that he might need stitches. we went to the ER. it took forever! actually, three hours. they ended up not doing stitches, they used some kind of glue. the reason it took so long was that they were really busy and andy was lower on the list of priorities. once we were done we went up the third floor to the rehab unit to visit my mom. i knew she'd be working. at first when she saw us she smiled. then she saw the band aid and her look turned to concern. andy told her what happened. we didn't stay too many minutes, since she needed to care for patients. oh, i guess i should explain about emmy. she was with us when we went to the hospital. derek called while we were in the waiting room and thought that he could hear in my voice that emmy was being naughty. he called his mom, and she came and got emmy. i was so glad.

Trunk or Treat

2010-10-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

here's the kids right before we left for the party last night. perseus and andromeda. i made andy's tunic and cloak, and my mom and dad make his accessories. derek's mom made emmy's outfit and i made her beaded headband. i thought they looked pretty good.

and now, for some of my favorites at the party. what can i say, i'm a big star wars nerd.
here's my friend with her son dressed as wickett.

and of course i had to snap a picture of yoda and luke. these two are the younger siblings of my friend maura.

there were lots of great costumes, but these were my favorites. once again, i did not dress up.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2010-10-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

we've made it seven years so far. my husband and i got married in reno seven years ago. our wedding was at 1pm, so in the morning i bleached my roots, showered, dried and curled my hair, did my makeup, made sure i had everything i needed, showed my maid of honor my new nightie, and was finally ready to go. what did derek do that morning? he went duck hunting. he took today off and our kids are spending the day with my mom. they spent the night there last night and my mom took andy to school this morning and will pick him up also. we went out for breakfast and we'll just eat at home for lunch, but we'll go out for dinner. so far it's been a good day.

My Latest Project

2010-10-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

my hands are so sore. i've been crocheting a scarf for andy, and i'm really slow. it's only a little over six feet long. andy wanted a scarf like harry potter, so i tried to get the gryffindor colors. i think i did okay. he's really happy. he should be able to use it for a few years.

please disregard his tongue. i don't know why he wouldn't take a nice picture. this was the best one.

Don't Worry

2010-10-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

i haven't fallen off the edge of the earth. i've been sick. i've also been crocheting. andy wants a "harry potter" scarf. i'm doing my best to make one, but i am very slow. must be my technique. i'll post a picture of the scarf when i'm done with it.

on another note, andy has been doing much better in school. he hasn't been sent to the principal's office in weeks and he been getting really good marks each week. i think it must have just taken him some time to adjust to school. i hope next year emmy is not as hard as andy was at first.

Medusa Beware!

2010-10-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

andy went to a birthday party today where he was to wear his halloween costume. he's dressed as Perseus.

we went with the harry hamlin style and not the newer perseus.

I Love

2010-09-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

my friend, deborah, had a list on her blog of things that she loves. i really liked the idea, so i took it and made my own list.

I Love...
1. my husband, derek. he is the best.
2. my son, andy. he is so sweet.
3. my daughter, emmy. she is so helpful.
4. my angel, mary. i know she's watching over me.
5. my extended family.
6. making crafts.
7. going for a drive. i don't get to do this anymore because gas is too expensive to waste.
8. lemon anything. i love the smell, taste, look...
9. getting my hair done at a salon
10. watching movies with friends or alone
11. talking through movies we've seen a hundred times
12. going to church
13. reading silly romance novels.
14. eating popcorn.
15. making lists
16. being cool in the eyes of a child.
17. talking to a girl friend for hours
18. playing card games or board games
19. seeing my children grow and become more independent.
20. doodling

The Candy Dance

2010-09-25T09:25:00.001-07:00

every year a town near mine holds an event called "the Candy Dance". i went last year for the first time. my sister-in-law and i were looking at all the different bags trying to get some inspiration for ourselves. i don't remember much candy, but i wasn't really looking for it. last year i had my kids with me. they were barely potty trained, and emmy pooped in her pants. this year i am not taking the kids. i'm going with a different sister-in-law and her mother and sister-in-law. it should be really fun.

Dear Readers,

2010-09-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

hi,
how are things? stuff here has been fine. nothing too exciting is going on. that's why i haven't written in a week. i just don't have much to say.
sincerely,
ruthie

p.s. derek said i had to post since it had been a week.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2010-09-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

i made fried green tomatoes today. i found a really easy recipe online and it had the only ingredient that i knew should be in it: bacon grease. i cooked all my bacon to get enough grease and i coated my tomato slices with the cornmeal and pepper and fried them up. i think they taste okay by themselves, but i like them with ketchup. is it weird to put ketchup on a tomato?

I Love Sewing Projects

2010-09-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

you start with fabric and trim.

you pin your pieces here and there.

isn't that pin cushion awesome?! my friend, Dawn, made it for me and gave it as a birthday present!

finally, ready to sew.

andy's bag almost done.

aah, one down, one to go.

emmy's bag almost done.

success!

got them both done in under two hours. not bad at all. and i only broke one needle.

now they have reusable trick-or-treat bags for halloween. no more buying cheapo plastic pumpkins every year.

Congrats, Maura!

2010-09-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

i'm going to a wedding today. i absolutely love weddings. the bride is my good friend maura. she's getting married to brian, who i still don't know very well, but would like to. i'm so excited to go and see them commit to each other for as long as they both shall live. i should probably take tissues.

Need a Pick-Me-Up?

2010-09-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

now, don't you feel better?

Can I Just Say Something?

2010-08-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

i'm a Christian. i believe in Jesus Christ. usually i don't do things like this, but i felt that i was called out today on facebook. actually, i felt attacked by other "so called, but not acting like it" Christians. anyway, that's all i wanted to say. i know, i'm weird.

I Scared My Sister

2010-08-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

i'm pretty talkative usually. i like to talk on the phone for hours. i was on the phone the other day with my sister, sasarh (not her real name), and i got a knock on my door. i told her i needed to go. that was on friday. she called sunday and left a message while i was out. i got the message too late in the night to call her back. she called on monday while i was out. sunday and monday are my busiest days. anyway, i guess it worried her that i hadn't called her back. i mean, that just isn't normal. she called one of our other sisters, who lives here in my town, to ask if i was okay. i was at this sister's house last night helping to put bunk beds together and she told me what sasarh had said. i laughed and laughed. i called sasarh first thing this morning. her mind was put at ease.

oh, and by the way, i call her sasarh because that's how her name was put on her driver's license in michigan when she first got it. ha ha! i've been calling her that ever since.

Andy's First Day of School

2010-08-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

andy started his day off with a good breakfast.

here he is with his backpack ready to go.

this is his classroom.

hanging his backpack in his locker.

he still had some time to kill, so he played in the playground.

the bell rang, so the kids lined up and went to class. that's his teacher, ms. donaldson, at the door.

emmy and i went back to pick him up later. we were early so emmy wanted to swing.

andy had fun at his first day of school!

he hasn't told me much about what he did, but he did say that he put puzzles together and sat on the mat.

Is It Friday Yet?

2010-08-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

it doesn't seem like it's been a whole week since the last time i made a new post, but apparently it has. nothing much is going on here.

derek and i are going to start working with the cub scouts in our area. our first night is tomorrow. i'm nervous because i don't think that i relate to young boys that well. in fact, i don't think that i relate to most males in general. i have to really get to know them before i start to be comfortable around them. i guess it's a prejudice that i have. i will be nice to become familiar with the scouting program before andy joins in just a few years.

speaking of andy, this friday is his kindergarten open house and then he starts school on monday. still can't believe that it's really happening. i know that people say "oh, it's like he was just born yesterday and i turned around and he is all grown up." i really don't feel that way. it will be nice for emmy and me to have some time together, just the two of us, while andy is in school. he'll only be there for almost 3 hours. not too much time without him. i think next year will be even weirder when emmy goes to school. then i won't have either child with me for part of the day. i get that sometimes, but everyday will be really different. i hope that when andy is at school emmy doesn't miss him too much. they are practically inseparable. neither one wants to leave the other usually. well, i'm sure it will pass quickly if that's the case.

Gotta Start Working on Halloween Stuff

2010-08-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

so, i want to make candy bags for halloween that my kids can reuse every year. my husband said that they could just use pillow cases like he did as a kid. i told him that emmy wouldn't be able to carry a pillow case very easily and he seemed to agree. the real reason, though, is i just want to be crafty. ease for the kids is just an added bonus. i think i'll just appliqué some pumpkins onto the front of the bags. we'll see how they turn out.

School is Starting Soon.

2010-08-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

andrew is gonna start kindergarten this month. i'm still waiting for a letter from the school to tell me what all supplies he needs. he is so excited! i don't know how i'll feel on the first day. andrew will be so ready. i just want him to learn to get along with all kinds of kids, and learn to write letters and numbers. he's still having a hard time writing his name. he recognizes the letters and he can type it, but can't write it very well. he tends to get frustrated when i help him, but maybe somebody who has a degree in children's education can help him better than i can. i hope so.

Just Some Random Thoughts

2010-07-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

i hate not knowing things when i know there are things to be known. right? i hate when someone tells me that there will be some kind of surprise, but i have to wait. just don't tell me anything to begin with, please.

so, the other day i went to my friend's house with my sister and we got a lot of rhubarb. i used my recipe for apple crisp and made rhubarb crisp. it was so good. the stalks of rhubarb were so big i only cut up three and they filled my pan. i was afraid i wouldn't have enough room for the topping. i was happy that i got it all in there.

this morning i was hanging out on youtube and i watched all these cool videos of dancers. mostly it was guys doing pop and lock, or liquid dancing. i was trying to find futterwackin', but i didn't have much luck. anyway, some of it reminded me of some dancing my nephew did in a movie he made. i find the video to be kinda cute, but i know the creator. apparently he was helping a friend of his with his homework assignment.

here it is.

anyway, if you don't want to watch the whole video just skip to 3:15 and watch the dancing. i don't know who the white boy is, but my nephew is the dancer wearing the hoodie and the other dancer is his uncle. i thought it was really cool. i didn't know my nephew could dance like that.

Need a Blog Name

2010-07-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

i'm going to make my husband start a blog about the funny things that people do when they interact with him at work. he manages a pizza place. i'm taking any suggestions for names. please come up with something good.

Word of the Day: Luthier

2010-07-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

so i was at my Dad's house the other day and he happened to mention a luthier (loo-ti-er) and said that it was a violin maker. i couldn't find the word in my dictionary at home, but i did find it at dictionary.com. it's a maker of stringed instruments, like the violin, but the root is from lute. i just found that interesting. it also makes me a little disappointed in my dictionary. a dark day for us all.

Rice Pudding

2010-07-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

i want to try to make rice pudding. i think it is just delicious, but i hate having to always buy it. anybody know any good (easy) recipes?

and speaking of rice pudding, have you ever watched the movie "candleshoe"? it's very good.

Cousins

2010-07-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

we are having some cousins over for the day. andrew was sad because nobody wanted to sit by him on the wall while they played mario. finally, chelsea sat by him and even started to rub his back. it was so sweet! i just had to get a picture.

they noticed that i was taking pictures.

Weird Dream

2010-07-08T02:15:00.000-07:00

earlier tonight i was watching a documentary about UFOs and alien abductions and i fell asleep on the couch. at some point i woke up enough to turn it off, but then i fell back asleep. i had a very vivid dream that there was an alien in my apartment and he was coming to get me. i screamed really loud and woke myself up. i was still on the couch and i was very scared. i asked my husband if he heard me screaming and he said no, but then i woke up for real and i was just fine. i've never had a dream within a dream before. i thought that was something the tv people just made up. it was so real, too. i actually thought that i was awake. anyway, i guess the moral of the story is don't watch scary things before bed. yeah, right. like i'll stop doing that.

At the Movies

2010-07-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

okay, so i was on facebook earlier today and a friend was talking about a movie that she went to see. i also saw this movie. it's PG-13, and has some scary images and violence. no swearing, no sex. i don't mind violence, but i hate swearing and nudity. it'll ruin movies for me. anyway, the thing is, she couldn't believe that some people brought their little kids to the movies. when i went, one lady had a baby. it cried sometimes. i didn't mind the baby and i could understand why she brought it. for one thing, it won't be scared by the movie. it probably slept most of the time. however, there was a little 2? yr old girl running around. the running around didn't bother me, but i don't think she should have been there. i think the movie should have been to scary for her. i wouldn't even think about taking my kids to a movie like that. i only take them to kids' movies. i think that the parents should have found a way to not bring their kids. when my son was a newborn one of the star wars movies came out in theaters. my husband and i wanted to go see it, but we didn't want to take andrew. we traded kids with my sister. she kept andrew and we took her two sons to the movie. it worked out great. i don't think anybody is so friendless they can't find a way to leave little kids with someone. i just was surprised. oh, and when we went to star wars that one time there was a little kid behind us that was so loud and kept hitting derek's chair. it was very annoying. and that was PG-13, too. the kid was probably four. anyway, if i can't find a way to not take my kids to the movies, then i don't go. that's all i'm saying. of course that also means that i don't get to go to the movies very often.

Breakfast Time

2010-06-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

i'm out of cereal at my house. emmy would eat cereal for every meal if i'd let her. i had to come up with something for breakfast that she would like just as much. yup, quesadillas, breakfast of champions. i got two tortillas out and started covering one with cheese. emmy flipped out. she said she didn't want cheese on it. say what? she said that she was gonna tell daddy on me. i sent her off to tattle and i promised that i would take off all the cheese. then i dumped a bunch of cheese on it, put the other tortilla on top and microwaved it for a minute. silly girl doesn't know she's eating cheese. i don't like lying to her, but sometimes it's the only way.

A Day Out

2010-06-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

we went to chuck e. cheese today. is was nice. the kids had fun. i don't think that i'll ever eat there again. the food was good, but way too overpriced. that's probably where they make most of their money. anyway, the kids won a few tickets and got some prizes. we went with some of their cousins and aunts. it was nice to visit with people.

Not So Young Anymore.

2010-06-19T09:34:00.001-07:00

my husband is six months older than me. this always makes him feel that i am so young and "so next generation". tomorrow i will turn 30 and no longer be so young. it's not only a mile stone for me, but also for my parents. all of their children will be in their thirties. i like feeling special on my birthdays. i'm glad that i get to spend it with my husband. since my birthday is on his day off it works out really nice. he doesn't get to come to my party tonight, though, but that's okay. there will be plenty of people there.

Life Plans

2010-06-09T10:07:00.001-07:00

one of my sisters just did a blog about what she wants to be when she grows up. this got me thinking about my life and where i am right now. when i was a kid i wanted to be a wife and mother. it look longer than i would have liked, but now i'm there. i enjoy my life. i have good family and friends. i have hobbies that i enjoy and responsibilities that i can accomplish. i even went to college, though as a kid i never intended to. sometimes i need to just step back and look at my life so that i can appreciate what i have. i'm not rich, but my family is healthy, and we don't have much debt. i look at other people and hear about their health problems and think that i'm so fortunate. there is a lady that i know who lives in the fanciest house i've ever been in. it was so fancy i felt like an intruder. i used to be jealous of her, but then i heard about her medical problems. i was so glad that i didn't have her life. i try to think of what my hardships might be. the loss of a child. i'm sure there are people that look at me and wonder how in the world i deal with that. i think that we are given the trials that we can handle.
so, anyway, back to my original thought, i surpassed my goals for my life plan. college was a bonus. i even got a degree. i majored in social work and when i had one semester left to earn my associates my coworker, brent, showed me how to look up other majors on the computer and see what was needed for them. turns out that to get an associates in sociology i just needed one more class. i thought "why not?" then we found that to get an associates in psychology i only needed four more classes and one was the same as the first one. and that's how i got three associates degrees. hopefully my husband will live until the kids are grown, but if for some reason i ever need to find a good job i'll have some college degrees to back me up. i guess i'll call that plan c.

Emmy's Party!

2010-06-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

emmy's party went well. there is hardly any fighting and the kids seem to enjoy themselves. a few people dressed up.

here's emmy in her new "cinderella" dress.

here's molly. emmy said she's aurora.

i dubbed him sir logan the gallant.

anastasia dressed as an evil step sister.

the kids made castles out of wafer cookies and frosting.

here's logan's.

and rachel's.

emmy's.

caelin's. i don't know why she looks angry. she didn't seem to be in a bad mood.

austin's castle.

andy's cake.

anastasia's.

all the presents.

all the gifts.

here's the cake. we hired my friend maura to make it.

singing happy birthday to emmy.

blowing out the candles.

she did it!

when people left they got to take their cookie castles and a royal scepter. my sister emma made these for us. they are pixie stix with foam stars staples to them. the front of the stars have card stock on them in various styles.

so, that was the party. it went well. we played another game, but i didn't get any pictures. it was a pin the crown on the princess poster game and hannah won.

Emmy is 4!

2010-06-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

emmy was born on a sunday night. she was about three weeks early. she was so tiny. the tiniest baby i'd ever seen in real life. she was 4 lbs and 12 oz. her legs were long, but she would curl them up and then she would be just a little bigger than daddy's hand. usually the hospital won't release babies until they are at least 5 lbs, but the pediatritian who checked her out couldn't find anything wrong with her. in fact, she said that emmy could have been born three weeks earlier and been just fine, except for the weight. we don't know why she was so small. she's still really small. when she was a newborn i had her in the snuggie and i was pushing andrew in the stroller at a store. i was looking at whatever and this lady saw emmy move. she was surprised because she thought i was carrying a toy for andrew. another time we were at a relative's house and there was a babydoll on the floor near the front door. derek came in the room and couldn't believe someone just let emmy lay there where she could get stepped on. then he realized what it was and we all had a good laugh.

here's emmy about a month before she turned 1.

here she is on her 1st birthday.

here she is at a park in indiana.

in line waiting for santa claus.

and swinging with andrew

2 yrs old.

3 yrs old.

i need to get some more recent pictures. her party is tomorrow, so i'll be posting again soon.

I'm Almost Thirty

2010-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

sometimes it's weird to think that i'm gonna be thirty. my birthday is less than 3 weeks away. i'm not upset about getting older. i've known people who want to stay 25 forever. "i'm having the 7th anniversary of my 25th birthday". i actually have an ex-family member who said that. she would never say her real age. i just don't get that. i've never wanted to be older or younger than i was. i guess that's a good thing. now all of my siblings and i will be thirtysomething.

Memorial Day Plans

2010-05-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

i'm looking forward to memorial day. we are gonna picnic at a park. i want to play croquet. emmy is gonna wear her sqeaky sandals. every step she takes they make a squeak. i told her she is not allowed to wear them to church and she seems okay with that.

last night we had my newly 12 year old niece babysit the kids for us. it was the first time we had her babysit the kids. seems like it all went okay. emmy's shell anklet broke again, so she called and talked to me while i was out. when i came home i reworked it. emmy was so happy. andrew wants one now.

Back Home

2010-05-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

we made it back home safely last night. we had a fun, very quick, trip. we only made it to spanish fork and woods cross. i would have liked to go up to logan if i'd had more time and visit some more relatives. i had fun with my sisters. we played games and talked. i got to see an old friend, amber, that i hadn't seen in about 6 years or so. she came to emma's house to see me. it was really nice to see her, and to meet her friend whose comments i see regularly on facebook. amber has an etsy shop called "orange you happy" where she sells the jewelry she makes. sometimes i think that i would like to open an etsy shop, but i don't make enough things to sell. plus i never think that my stuff is any good for anyone besides me. meaning, only i would settle for it. anyway, it was nice to see amber. we figured out that the last time we would have seen eachother was at a wedding back in '04. i tried to see my friend kristen, but she happened to go on vacation just that weekend. anyway, we had fun. can't wait to do it again! that is, if i don't have to do all the driving. i tried to get my mom to drive, but emmy wanted gram to sit next to her.

At Naomi's House

2010-05-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

we're in utah. we made it safely. i did all the driving and mom kept the kids entertained. today we are spending the day with naomi and her family. her daughter graduated from kindergarten today. we got to go and see that. it was really neat and andrew enjoyed seeing the school. naomi is going through chloe's old clothes with emmy to see which ones she wants, so i'd better go and help. later!

The Trip

2010-05-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

i'm leaving for my trip to utah on thursday. i'm not gonna be able to visit all the people i wanted to. my mom is coming with me and the kids to visit two of my sisters. they live about an hour apart from eachother, so we can see them both fairly easily. one of my nieces is graduating from kindergarten, so we will get to see that.

i think it will be good for andy to see some school stuff since he'll be starting kindergarten this fall. he hasn't really had any school experience except for a few performances by his cousins, like plays or recitals. andrew never went to preschool. we didn't feel it was necessary. we've worked with him on knowing his colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. he can write an A very well. we are still working on the rest of his name. just yesterday he wrote ANDY. the A was great, the N was way too tall, and D looked like a triangle, and the Y looked like an X. he's getting there. we've got plenty of time. i think the only thing he would have gained from preschool would be social skills. he does learn social skills at church on sundays. his class has several kids his age and he gets along well with them. at least, that's what i hear. i know that when there have been problems in the past i've heard about them.

so, back to my visitin' plans. i think we are going to have a lot of fun. my one sister is looking forward to playing games, and she's promised to make scones. it's been a long time since i had any of those. whenever i'm at her house we have fun laughing and talking. my other sister is a really good story teller, so i'm looking forward to talking with her. plus, all my nieces and nephews are way cool. can't wait to see them.

Dear Andrew,

2010-05-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

when you are older and want to take a girl to prom i will be excited. i'll be happy for you when she accepts your invitation. however, if on the night of the prom your date is dressed like a skank, you will not be going.

love,
mom.

Word Day

2010-05-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

hake: it's a type of fish. this will be very useful in boggle. i was skimming throught the dictionary after learning the defintion of another word and stumbled upon hake. i'd never heard of it before, but now i can used it in word games.

Emmy Likes Fantasy Movies

2010-05-03T10:33:00.001-07:00

wow, it's been a while since i posted last. nothing really exciting has happened lately. we had a couple of yard sales. made some money to go to utah with. haven't gone yet. we'll go in a couple of weeks. my mom is gonna go with me and the kids. it'll make the trip easier.

you know those "lord of the rings" movies? emmy loves them. she wants to watch them all the time. i think the thing she likes best about them is gollum. she thinks he's a frog. we have the hobbit cartoons from back in the day and in those gollum kinda looks like a frog. i keep telling her that he's a man like the hobbits. of course hobbits aren't men, but she's three, so it's a little too complicated to explain to her. i enjoy the movies, which is why i was watching them. i really didn't think that the kids would like them so much. i mean, there are some scary images. ghosts, monsters, violence, but they don't find it scary. i guess they are like me in that way. i was raised on creepy and scary movies, so to me they are fine.

Emmy's "Victorian Style" Necklace

2010-04-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

check out this necklace i made for emmy. i think it turned out pretty good. i got the idea from another blog, but i didn't follow the directions. i just sorta made up my own. there is a clasp in the back, but i used elastic string, so emmy can pull it over her head if she wants.

Stop Picking-On People

2010-04-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

am i the only one who has never been a victim of internet bashing? i hear, or read, about other people who get comments on their blog or on facebook about what a terrible person they are, or how could they do such and such. even in the real world i've never been a target. at least, not that i know of. the only thing i can come up with is that people do this sort of thing out of jealousy, and since there's no reason for people to be jealous of me i've never been a target. i guess i'm glad that i haven't been.

Toads

2010-04-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

i found a really cool website today. toadilytoads.com. i'm not crazy about toads, but i really enjoyed learning about them. my sister recently caught a toad and was doing some research about it, which then made me want to research. now i want a vegetable garden with rock garden and water feature and some toad houses. oh, if i ever get a house with a yard...
i think what sold me on wanting toads was the idea of the toad houses. the ones that i saw were so cute! of course even a clay pot overturned would work. that's probably what i would have to do.

Andrew's Party

2010-04-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

we had quite the turnout. many of andrew's cousins were able to come and a few kids from church came. they played games, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream. here are the presents that andrew got.

aunt heather showed up in time for cake and ice cream.

molly and annie came.

ivan, eleanor, and sydney were there. they are friends from church. somehow i forgot to get a picture of eleanor.

aunt michelle, hannah, and austin all came.

here's andrew with the lego cake

and blowing out the "5" candle.

emmy took a picture of me. i don't know why i'm so pink. must be the shirt.

here's a close up of the cake. i tried really hard and this is the best i could do. it's supposed to look like a giant lego.

it was fun, even with all the crying and fighting and temper tantrums.

Andrew Turned 5!

2010-04-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

our little boy turned 5 today! we went to nana and grampa's house. they are derek's parents. my parents: gram and grandad, aunt heather and uncle dan, uncle ira and aunt emily, and uncle kurtis and his girlfriend: jenny also came. we ate ham and mashed potatoes. aunt emily made these dinosaurs for andrew. he was very excited.

the striped one is daddy and the plaid type one is andrew.

here's emmy with auntie heather. you might remember her from the interview in my last blog.

here's andrew and daddy. andrew is wearing the outfit that heather and dan gave him as a present.

Interview Time Again!

2010-04-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

it's been about a year since i interviewed the kids last, so here goes!

what is your favorite color?

andrew: blue

emmy: pink

what is your favorite book?

andrew: thomas books

emmy: the monster one

what is your favorite movie?

andrew: thomas and his friends

emmy: thomasina (it's about a cat)

what is your favorite food?

andrew: broccoli

emmy: chicken

who is your best friend?

andrew: dougan

emmy: caelin

what song do you like the most?

andrew: thomas theme song

emmy: mamma mia

what do you like about daddy?

andrew: that i can sleep by him

emmy: his sister heather

what do you like about church?

andrew: we be quiet

emmy: toys

well, that's all i can think of for now. hope you enjoyed the interviews.

Easter Baskets √

2010-03-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

ever since i got married we have been buying easter baskets each easter. it's time to stop. this year i decided that i would make our baskets and then just reuse them every year.

last year we bought the kids some really expensive baskets. they were probably about fifteen dollars each. so, thirty dollars total. sure, the baskets came with stuff in them, but really, it wasn't much. so, i went to the dollar store and i got four baskets. then i went to my favorite fabric store, mill end fabrics in carson city, and i got about a quarter yard of four different fabrics, and about a yard of ribbon for each basket. oh, i also got some cheap paint and the kids helped me paint the baskets. i think the paints were about 60¢ each, or so. all together it cost about ten dollars. that's for four baskets, not just two. i think i made the right choice.

anyway, here's the before and after.

i think emmy has a future on the price is right as a model.

What to Do?

2010-03-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

my sister, emma, wants to give some things away on her blog. she wants people to show pictures of things they've made and then have something to give away. i don't know what i could make to give away. i don't think that i have made anything good enough. well, the couch is good, but i'm not mailing anybody a couch. any suggestions?

It's Egg Balancing Time: Welcome Spring!

2010-03-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

first of all, i'm not a pagan or a wiccan. i belong to the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, aka the mormons. i still like celebrating holidays using the old traditions. i just like to know where the traditions come from. many of our Christian holidays and traditions come from paganism and were just given new Christian meanings. i find this sort of stuff fascinating.

here's something that i found on the internet.

Eggs represent new life and new potential, thus they are often used as symbols of Spring festivals. According to folklore, eggs easily balance on their ends during equinox. Eggs are often colored and covered with symbols that represent wisdom, strength, and fertility. Eggs are often given as gifts or charms to children or other loved ones during the festivals
Read more at Suite101: Rituals and Traditions of the Spring Equinox: Pagan Holidays Celebrate the Change of Seasons http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/rituals_and_traditions_of_the_spring_equinox#ixzz0ikA5tfWW

another good site about eggs at the equinox is snopes.com. go there and search "egg balancing". they say that the tradition of balancing eggs started with the chinese. also, you can balance eggs on end at any time of year. the point is that they are a symbol of spring. balancing them is just a fun thing to do.

i always use hardboiled eggs. that way, if they drop, there's no big mess to clean up. i boiled 8 eggs, but only had enough patience to stand up three of them.

emmy ran in the kitchen and made one egg fall. i colored it with some crayons and stood it back up.

as an added bonus you get to see some of my chicken salt and pepper shakers on top of my bread box. how befitting.

An Irish Blessing

2010-03-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover...

2010-03-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

my husband told me the other day that he's never found a four-leaf clover. i thought that was interesting. i've found several throughout my life. i don't think that they are as uncommon as people think. whenever i see a patch of clover i search for a four-leaf one. usually i don't find any, but sometimes i get lucky. so, why would derek never have found one? i think he doesn't take the time to look like an idiot and search the ground. of course, i have no problem looking like an idiot. i do that on a constant basis. i would love to somehow have a way to preserve a four-leaf clover so that i could put in on display. hmm, it's starting to seem like i'm obsessed with clovers. must be the irish in me. i'm a quarter irish. we're something called orange irish. so i'm supposed to wear orange and green on st patrick's day. unfortunately i don't have anything orange or green to wear. literally. if you were to look in my closet you would find white, pink, purple, red, blue, and very little black. my favorite colors to wear are pink, red, and purple, not necessarily in that order. i really need to figure out what i'm gonna do for st patrick's day. i always feel so guilty when i don't wear green, or at least some kind of pin that says "i'm irish". of course i probably won't go anywhere this year, so i guess it doesn't really matter. we'll probably just stay home and watch "darby o'gill and the little people". i think that's the only "irish" movie i have. i do have another movie, "the happiest millionaire", which predominantly features two irish people. they sing and dance a lot. one guy talks about the good fortune he's having now that he's come to america. the lady dances a dance that she and her father used to dance. if you haven't seen either movie you should definately check them out. anyway, hurray for being irish! hurray for four-leaf clovers! hurray for holidays!

Truly Neverending

2010-03-11T12:27:00.001-08:00

emmy has been watching all three installments of the neverending story constantly since monday. we had watched them at my mom's house, but she said that emmy could keep them since no one at her house watched them. thanks mom! i swear emmy thinks she's the childlike empress. i think emmy can almost quote the movies verbatim. i've seen the first one, but the second and third i've yet to sit down and watch. the only thing good about the third one is that jack black is in it. other than that it is so ghetto, as derek would say. at least the second one seems sort of similar to the first. anyway, i hope that emmy gets burned out on them soon. i don't know how much more i can take.