Fab free stuff

Do you like free stuff? Do you like girly stuff? Then head on over to Michelle's place and sign up for her super duper giveaway!

Oh, and I have tried to post the last two nights and blogger won't let me load my pictures. So here is the three minute update, sans pics!

We had lots of great snow!! Yipee. The kids made snow cream. AND Bandit is no longer a problem with the "ladies"!!!! But he is kinda sore and moving slowly. Oh, and my husband has been more sympathetic to the stinking neutered dog than to , say, a woman who gave birth to a 10+ pound baby with no pain meds. Yeah, I'm that lady. This dog thing is killing him!!! LOLOLOLOL!!

teeheee

Okay, I will warn you that they say a bit of a nasty word in this. But we laughed so hard that I had to post it anyway. And just to set the record straight, my husband has sent me flowers! And we dance! Well, not Adrian and I personally, but we have dances at church all the time.

Any other questions? I will be glad to set the record straight!

Name ideas from the slogan generator

Look below at the slogan generator. It is really fun. I entered Tennessee first and let it give me about 15 slogans before I switched to inputting "Mom". Here are a couple of my favorites.

That's handy, Harry! Stick it in Tennessee


It's that Tennessee feeling


I can't believe I ate the whole Tennessee


I am no closer to making a decision about my name. Now I have more names I like rather than narrowing it down. Most of the advice I have gotten has been to pick something personal. I would like to think of something that we say around the house a lot. Maybe an insider joke. I guess we are not that funny Oh, I am having an epiphany. I always feel Catholic when I say epiphany. Anyway, I think I should somehow draw into my name my greatest daily struggle. It isn't actually great it is awful. Dinner. Not really dinner but the act of convincing certain people in the house that I am not trying to poison them. Maybe I should call this thing Eat Your Dinner! If I have it written at the top of my blog then maybe I wouldn't have to say it so often.

Or maybe some kind of alliteration with Cynthia. All you great poets and writers and middle school teachers think of something that goes with Cynthia.

Cynthia's Snapshots of Life

Succinctly Cynthia

So Cynthia

Oh, if I was a sewing blog I could be Sew Cynthia

****(Head hitting desk... Cynthia going crazy...why am I even worrying about this?)

This is helping me with the new name thing... Try your luck with it!

If You Like A Lot of Chocolate on Your Mom, Join Our Club.

Enter a word for your own slogan:

Generated by the Advertising Slogan Generator, for all your slogan needs. Get more mom slogans.

Fun Monday

Mariposa is hosting Fun Monday this week. Our assignment was twofold:



(1) Please share to us how the NAME of your BLOG was made? I can't wait to hear interesting funny stories!

(2) Please share to us (in words or photo, though a combination of both will be a bonus!) your favorite/ most common dish!

In a truly confusing fashion which is a trademark of my life I am going to answer number two before number one. So here is my most favorite dish in a ll the world. I even bought the ingredients to make it but forgot the cole slaw dressing, so no picture. Sorry. I will post one when I end up making it!

Cynthia's Chicken Salad

1 large can cooked chicken
3 cups uncooked large pasta
2 cups red grapes
2 cups celery
1/2 cup scallion
1 large can crushed pineapple
2 cups diced apple

Cook pasta, drain and allow to cool. Place diced apples in very large bowl and pour pineapple over them, mix well. This prevents the apple from getting all brown and gross looking. Now add everything else. In a smaller bowl mix the dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup cole slaw dressing

Pour dressing over salad. Chill if you can wait. Or eat it right out of this large bowl while sitting on the couch watching The Avengers- the episodes with Mrs. Peel, thank you very much!
*******************************************************************************
Now for the question of my name. I just kind of randomly thought of it. I originally called it Mom's Urban Myths in the Rural South and then one day I just changed it. And so here is my dilemma. Should I change the name of my blog? I have been thinking about Undercover Mother ever since Catherine Newman used the term in an article she wrote in Wondertime last month. It was an article about why moms blog. What does everyone think? I have no emotional attachment to Dahhhling I love you. I just picked it one day cause sometimes I feel like Lisa on Green Acres. But I don't even like the show Green Acres. So I have put a poll above this to get your opinions. I have made most of my blogging friends through Fun Monday, so you are the ones that I would like to get an opinion from. If you want to suggest something, just leave it in the comment. And when this is all said and done I am getting a new professional header from Carrie. So I am not going to change again if I do change now. Oh, and I also reserve the right to ignore every ones suggestions. Not that I don't love you all, but I am finicky. And I am going to want Adrian's opinion, and sometimes I like him best. Sorry to disappoint you all. Hey, what about Wife of Adrian? I may add that to the poll...

Sunday Summary

Maybe I should call this Weekend Update like they do on Saturday Night Live. Of course I have not seen SNL in years, so maybe I don't want to be associated with that show. I am drawing a blank on what to talk about this week.

hmmm...

Oh, here we go:

1. Ella gave her 4H Demonstration this week. Have I mentioned that she was voted 4H President of her class? Well, she was. She decided to give her demonstration on how to go frog gigging. What? Never been frog gigging? Me either! She did a great job. Adrian went to watch her and to carry the gig in and out of school since it is very much like a weapon. Okay, it is not like a weapon, it is a weapon! She had wanted to cook frog legs for everyone to sample but seeing how it is winter, she couldn't get any in the wild and I wouldn't have any idea where to buy them.

2. William turned 16 this week. I tried to do a birthday post with baby pics and all that but I am too much of a computer dork. You will have to just trust me when I say that he was a beautiful baby. Today he celebrated by going to a local comic book store that has an Xbox room in the back. You can play on a 135 inch projection TV. They said it was great. Then they played paintball on a coarse that they built in the woods. They were muddy and laughing when they got done, so it must have been fun, right? Rachel has posted birthday pictures.

3. Adrian sold the house out at Teakwood. Yippee. Now he only has two houses besides the one we live in. He has his eye on another one, though. He loves him some real estate!

4. I made a new recipe. You can find it here. Not only did I make it but most people in my family liked it. Some even loved it. Ella came running into the office to tell me she wanted to give her comments to the chef cause it was so good. UMM, do you mean compliments? Yes, whatever, I love it!

5. Lucy had her bottom braces removed. She is now braces free. And can't stop smiling.

6. Harrison participated in a Halo tournament tonight and came in third out of about 20 kids. The kid has skills!

7. Molly won the bingo game this week at her class Valentine party. (it got snowed out on Valentine's Day)

There, I think I mentioned all of us. Now go to bed people. It is late and church is in the morning.

PS: How happy does it make everyone that my very good friend spellcheck is back on blogger? Yes, I love spellcheck. It saves you and me from having to read the spelled teh. Cause I always typo that word. You may have noticed.

Now GO TO BED!

Friday Funny

I have a few funny random stories from this week. The first one happened this morning. Now that we are a Rock Band family my kids know the lyrics to a wide variety of older songs. Molly and Ella love to sing these songs. SO this morning Molly is walking through the house getting ready for school.

And singing.

It went something like this..."He's a juice box hero with stars in his eyes. A juice box hero..."

Yesterday she was singing the radio jingle for O'Reilly Auto Parts. If you haven't heard this jingle before this may be a little hard to see the humor but anyway, she was singing: "Oh, Oh, Oh, O'Reilly. O'Reilly Auto Parks, OUCH!"


And then there is my husband. He was making some scrambled eggs the other day. As he was stirring them a little bit flopped over the edge of the pan. Most of us would use the spatula and flip it back into the pan.

Not my smart husband. Apparently he was a little distracted cause he picked up the pan and LICKED the egg off the side. Yes, licked the pan. He said there was a nice sizzling sound as his tongue was seared by the hot metal pan. He had a nice blister in a straight line across his tongue.

Don't hurt yourself laughing at him.

Photo Recap

KG photography has offered a little challenge. Really it is more of a good suggestion. She did this in January, but I am just now getting around to finishing this post.

She suggests that we take 10 of our favorite photos from 2007 and post them with a caption of 5 or fewer words. Since I only started taking any pics after I started this blog, I don't have a lot to choose from, but I am game.

I see you , Mom.

Dancing Queens

Hale, Hale, the gang's all here!

I just like this one...

Scratch him till he purrs!

Splat!!!

(No words necessary, I think)

Not the Harlem Globetrotters

OR

Harlem Globetrotters meet Charlie's Angel's

A witch and her Chicken?

Is this tooth broken?

And yes, it is broken. Still is.

possessed dog

Does anyone know any "cold shower" ideas for a dog? THe neighbors have a corgi in heat and Bandit has figured out how to get in their fence. Since being a good neighbor is one of my main goals in life, (stop laughing. I can neighborly. Or at least pleasant. STOP LAUGHING!) I am trying to keep Bandit in until she is done or until I get him to the vet.

But he is DRIVING US CRAZY!!!!

Whining and barking and pacing around. He is a dog possessed. Anyone have any ideas?

Huh?

I guess this means I am suppossed to stay away from Chrys!

You Are a Pinky

You are fiercely independent, and possibly downright weird. A great communicator, you can get along with almost anyone. You are kind and sympathetic. You support all your friends - and love them for who they are. You get along well with: The Ring Finger Stay away from: The Thumb

What Finger Are You?

Eagle Blog

I have started a Blog dedicated to William's Eagle project. I have a lot more to add. I will have to backdate a lot of it. I have gotten 1 post up though, so go and check it out:

http://towlesfamilyspring.blogspot.com/

Pictures from our date

*************SCROLL DOWN FOR FUN MONDAY*********

Life in our family is just like a walk in the park. Here are the pictures to prove it. Since Blogger only lets you upload 5 at a time I decided to pick my favorite 5 and just post them today.

Here is a picture of the dam. Ella thought that it was beautiful the way you could see the reflections of the trees and sunset in the water.

Molly being a cutie patootie

Ella and Molly posing

The sun set while we were walking and I shot this of the railroad tracks as we left. I like the spooky haunted look that they have.

Fun Monday

The Fun Monday assignment:

Every day as I go to work, I see things around me that
make me laugh. Usually these are in the forms of signs. So take your camera with
you as you go about your business and take a picture of the things that make you
laugh along the way (but it doesn't necessarily HAVE to be a sign).

I could not think of anything to post for Fun Monday. I even left a comment last night telling her to take me off the list. Well, now I have thought of something. I don't have a pic, but since people are comeing here looking for Fun Monday, I thought I would post this.

I live in the self proclaimed Nursery Capital of teh world. And along the road at one of these nurseries there is a series of signs. They are lined up with about 300 yards between them. Here is what they say:

There are three things a man should do in life.

Love God.

Love his wife.

Plant a tree.

I have the tree.

Now go to Sayre's site and see what funny signs people have around their houses. I have looked. THey are really funny!

We like Valentine's Day

The night before Valentine's the kids ecorated and set the table. We normally do a big breakfast, but William had school so we decided to do a fancy dinner. I tried to make something that everyone would be happy with. That means making several different things, since besides Dominoes there really isn't anything that everyone likes. So we had BBQ baked chicken, baked potatoes, mac and cheese and yummy bread.

Another weird thang about us. Here are our Valentine Boxes. One for each family member. We exchanged Valentines before dinner and then opened them after dinner.

We do not feel costained to give eachother traditional Valentines. We had some beautiful cards, but also received cotton candy(from me), balloons(from William) and lemon meringue pie(from Ella). Drinking milk from champagne flutes is kind of hard. Each swallow emptied the glass and then it had to be refilled.
I have to brag about the cotton candy (you may know it is cotton floss?) I bought it in mid-January on the Christmas clearance rack for .25 cents a piece. Total bargain. and such a treat. We normally only even see it for sale at the fair in September.This sure made me wonder. Was I third choice? Did the first two women he tried to give it to reject it? Actually, I can tell that Molly was in charge of wrapping this. It was a DVD of Pride and Prejudice. YIPEE!!! Mr. Darcy is my secret boyfriend.

The carnage that we left. We had to run as soon as we finished to be to church by 6:30 for a baptism. A family of 3 was baptised!! What a fun Valentine's Day!

Sunday Summary

Another week has flown by. Here is a quick rundown of the highlights:

1. Ella was voted All-Star by the coaches of the other teams in her league. This was a very exciting moment in her sporting career!

2. On Friday the boys went skiing in Gatlinburg. Everyone came home in one piece and Adrian was again reminded that his body is getting older. And sorer. And fatter. He is sitting next to me and added that. He really has blog envy but is too shy to have his own. He says he is not too shy, just too smart. Feel free to leave BOLD comments for him at the bottom of this post! He's of the opinion that you should keep your dirty laundry to yourself. So my question to him is why doesn't it bother him when he has on dirty clothes?

He has gotten up to pace around so we can get back to the juicy details of our life!

3. We had 2 snow days this week. And Friday was a holiday. And Monday. A 6 day weekend. It has so rocked!

4. Today I went to a Visiting Teacher luncheon at church. It was really great. They spent a lot of time planning it and it showed. The talks were very motivational and the food was yummy.

5. In case you missed the post about Rachel's new blog, you need to go and vist it. Thank you Allison for visiting and leaving a comment. Rachel was running and jumping through the house about how Berkeley had been on and how she had gotten a comment from someone named Allison, but not her friend, Alyson. She was going crazy with excitement!

6. William was home sick a lot this week. He felt really rough. Harrison was sick Sunday and Monday also. we seem to finally be well. Let's hope we stay this way!

7. William will turn 16 on Tuesday!!!! Since he had this long weekend Adrian wanted to go and get him his birthday present Wednesday night. So we hopped in the car and told him we needed to get some stuff for the ski trip. As we passed the display with Rock Band on it, Adrian said, "How about we get this tonight?" It was great, William was speechless! He just grinned and carried that big box through the store while Harrison bought a wrist rocket and Rachel tried on shoes. and now we are one rockin' family!

8. With school out so much this week, we have stayed home and played a lot. Not a very interesting week, but we had fun, fun, fun!

Make way for another generation of blogger

After my daughter started putting secret posts on my cooking blog I decided she needed her own blog. Of coarse I never look at my cooking blog cause I am a slacker, so really I was the only one that didn't know she was posting over there. Not really secret posts. Go and check her out in all her teenage glory!

www.pinkbasementdweller.blogspot.com

CONTEST

Does anyone out there want a cute new blog header? Leave a comment HERE and you might win one!!!! This is a contest on CARRIE'S blog. ANyone who hangs around my blog often knows how I feel about her! So get your tail over there and enter.

Date Night

Today Adrian took the boys to Gatlinburg to go skiing. Lucy and Rachel had a babysitting job. That meant I would get to spend the afternoon with Ella and Molly. What should we do? Well, if I wasn't so tired I would post the amazing pictures we took while we took a lazy walk on the Greenway along the river. We had such a fun time. We enjoyed the river and the trees and the flowers (Yes, FLOWERS!) and the wierd squirrel that we are sure actually fell out of a tree. We couldn't find him, but he actually fell!

We ate dinner at McDonald's. It cost me $6. Really. We are such unsavvy McDonalds people. The girl was tring to take our order and we didn't know what we wanted and she asked Molly, "What do you normally order?" Molly said, "We don't ever come here."

SAD! My poor kids. We have been to Mcdonald's. We just usually go through the drive thru cause we are usually on a road trip. We finally got some chicken sandwiches and apple dippers. We ate in the Playplace so they could play. Molly was thinking that they hadn't been in there since her 5th birthday. Or maybe her 4th. I think she has been in there since then with her Papa. But I don't really know. Anyway, you are getting the idea that we were trying to do something novel and different. Molly went down the slide once. Ella decided she didn't want to. We left. Another 2 years and we will be ready to go back!

Then we went and bought candy and went to the movies! As you can see from the pic we saw The Spiderwick Chronocles. It was diferent in a lot of ways from the book, but that didn't hurt it in anyway. It was very intense and exciting. We gave it 3 thumbs up. Ella liked how teh mom didn't help at all and that kids were the heroes. I liked the special effects. Nick Nolte played teh Ogre. And he is creepy. In real life. It was good casting! Molly was most amazed by how she saw kids smaller than herself looking so perky and playful after the movie ended. She and Ella were both exhausted and ready for bed. It ended at 8:50. They go to bed early! Ella slept till 10:15 this morning, so youthink she would have had more energy! It really blew her away when I pointed out the kids going in for the 9:15 show. I agree with her, I would not be able to watch a movie that late at night.

All in all a very fun date with my sweet "little" girls. They aren't really that little but will always have that moniker since it differentiates them from the "big" girls.

Okay, so what movies have you all seen that you recommend? I don't watch R rated movies and I usually find a reason to avoid PG 13 also. Though I am planning on watching Elizabeth, Umm.. I think it is Elizabeth Warrior Queen? I put it in the Netflix Queue. Has anyone seen it? I'm afraid I am a sucker for anything that is remotely related to Jane Grey and since Elizabeth was her cousin I want to give it a go.

Oh, and here is one for my British friends. I just found copies of the show 'Allo, 'Allo on Netflix. It was my fave show in 11th grade. Do you remember this show? What did you think of it?

This t-shirt is cool. And it can be yours.

It is an awesome giveaway at Judith Shakespeare's place.

Head over and enter!

Thankful Thursday

Allison is hosting Thankful Thursday this week.

I am very thankful for snow days. There are many of you that live in parts of the country that don't get to experience the random joy of an unexpected day off of school. I had never experienced snow days until we moved to Princeton, New Jersey when I was in 10th grade. We missed oodles of days for snow the year I lived there. It was so much fun.

Now that I have my own kids snow days are even more fun. In Middle Tennessee we don't usually have "real" snow. Yesterday we woke to some snow on the deck and on the dirt around the trees. We have nursery fields in front of the house and you could see white stripes in the furrows that the plow left.

Almost a BLIZZARD! NO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yesterday and today. I have no idea why today. We ran around yesterday. THe roads are dry. It didn't get above freezing yesterday, so maybe they want to protect kids that have to stand at bus stops. I don't know and don't care. I love snow days. We spent the day watching the two movies I bought and saved for the first snow day. I got Charade and I Dream of Jeannie. We had seen Charade before and loved it. Harrison says it gives him nightmares. It is so suspenseful! And who doesn't love Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn? Nuff said. I Dream of Jeannie was okay. It was cheesy. The boys left during it. It is loosely based on the life of Stephen Foster. It has so many musical numbers in it that I am not sure what the story was. Okay, I didn't relly watch much of it. I have admitted here before that I can't really watch TV. I breezed through and listened to the movies from the next room.

After movies came karoake. And more karoake. And piano playing. And more karoake.

We had a big crock pot full of warm cheese dip and chips for lunch. YUMMY

The boys went and moved railroad ties for William's eagle project. In the cold. And William and Harrison didn't wear coats. My kids do not know how to deal with cold weather. It was 17 degrees when they were outside. They put a hoodie on over their t-shirts. And wondered why they were cold.

Today has been filled with more karoake. I wish I could video Harrison this morning. He is wound up. He has sung Over the Rainbow, Material Girl, I will Survive and I Just Called To Say I Love You. Oh and Eternal Flame. Yes, this from Mr. Kissing and Hugging And Love are DISGUSTING. He was cracking us up singing Material Girl!

Last night the kids decorated teh table and dining room for Valentine's Day. We would have had a fancy breakfast, but William's school decided that there was not enough snow to close today also, so William had to go to school. :-( He goes to a private school and the rest go to public school.

So today we will bake and play games and sing more karoake. Because it is free, found day. With no responsibilities. And it is wonderful to have since our lives are so filled. Sleeping in and playing all day is such a treat!

I am so thankful for SNOW DAYS!

And what makes these snow days even better is that this Friday and Monday we are off for a winter break. That means 6 days off in a row! YIPEE!!!

Now head over to here to see what everyone else is thankful for!

Bloggy Love

Allison at RDHMom sent me this little bit of bloggy love. And I am so happy to receive it! She is so sweet and I enjoy reading her blog so much. Her adoption stories have been excellent! You need to run over and read them. She has them on her right sidebar so you can get at them easily. I can see that this award originally came from Hootin' Anni's. If you have not visited her yet, get your tail over there. She is a HOOT! Thanks, Allison for this award!
I would like to pass this along to Laura at Synchronization of Us. She is always leaving such lovely comments for me. And she is PREGNANT!! Lucky duck! Oh to be young and pregnant with a husband still in school. I remember those days fondly.


********************************************************************************** ********************
This award came from Angela at AOJ and the Lurchers. She has a love of dogs. And is Welsh. Actually Allison is Welsh, also. But I think she is Welsh-American. Hmmm... I have never heard that term before! But back to Angela. She likes dogs with pointy noses. She rescues greyhounds and fosters them until they can find permanent homes for them. Good work, Angela. And thank you for this award! I love being yummy! I want to pass this one to Lucy who has two blogs that I visit. Her regular blog is mybyrdhouse and the second is the very special Sassy Apron Swap she has organized. Oh, that reminds me. I have to finish my apron. I have washed the fabric. All I have left is the actual cutting and assembly. I love the tutorials and now recipes (yummy) that Lucy has on her blog. And of coarse I love her name!

Wordless Wednesday : My 7 Year Old's Calender (Guess where we are going for spring break!)

Fun Monday

OOH A Shiny Pen is hosting Fun Monday this week. Here is the assignment:

Music plays a vital role in most of our lives. It is everywhere. I want to hear
the ONE song that is you. The song that whenever it is heard, you smile. I am
not looking for the soundtrack of your life, just that one song. Your friends
hear it and think of you. You can post the video, the lyrics, the wav file.
However you want to post it is great.

I have thought about this all week. I am not much of a music listener. I spend a lot of time in the car with no music. I enjoy silence. But there was a time in the 80's that I listened to a lot of music. I carried a piece of paper around this week and made lists of bands on it. I couldn't really narrow it down to a song. I decided that I will ask my husband what song makes him think of me. He is my only friend. Sort of. Anyway, here is the list of bands that I came up with:

Duran Duran: Junior High, I lived and breathed John Taylor.

INXS: these guys went to my rival high school in Hong Kong. About 10 years before I was there. They went to KG5. They had apartments in HK and people would spot them on a regular basis. I think this made me like them more.

B52's: the greatest band E.V.E.R.

R.E.M.: also fom Athens, GA like the above band. In college we camped out for tickets. It was just in the student union across from my dorm.

Pet Shop Boys: Nick and Chris. They are sooo cool. I saw them in HK, in high school. 2nd row. So much fun. I have turned my 9 y/o into a PSB fan. You should hear her sing West End Girls!

Thompson Twins, Howard Jones: the list gets pretty long. So I went and asked my husband and this was his response:

If I hear any R.E.M. or B52's I instantly think of you. Or any 80's song that I din't like makes me think of you since if I didn't like it you probably did.

So there you have it. I have been visiting You Tube for an hour really enjoying watching old videos when it suddenly hit me. The one song that combines B52's and R.E.M.

Enjoy...

*******If that top one doesn't want to work, here is a "version" of the song that was done for younger viewers.***********


Now check out the other participants:
Swampwitch
Serina
Janet
Sauntering Soul
Megnificent
Sandy
Shorty
Lil Man - G Rated comments only - Underage user
Nikki
Tiggerlane
Beckie
Jientje
Katie
AFF
A Slice of Life
AOJ & The Lurchers
The Rotten Correspondent
Sieglinde
Karina
Alison
Alisonwonderland
Jan
Peter
MJD
Cynthia
Kim
Sayre - So graciously offered to host next week 02/18/08
Lisa Marie
Patience
Kaytabug
Terri
Chris B
Mariposa
Linda
SwampAngel65
Melanie
JuneBug
Southern Doll
Ann
Alix
Songbird
Retrohipster
Sarah
Carrie Sue
Jetti
Jo Beaufoix
Mamalang
Ari_1965
Gattina
Karisma
Ped Crossing
Faye

Sunday Summary

Is it Sunday again already? I am so behind on my life. That could be the whole summary this week.
1. Cynthia didn't get a dang thing done again this week.
Okay, I did get stuff done but I am not sure if I have moved two steps ahead or 762 backwards. I did get the sewing machine carried in from the back of teh Suburban. I took it to the repair shop about 4 weeks ago. So I am that much closer to getting William's patches sewn on his new Scout shirt that he got for Christmas. That is really kind of pitiful. Let me try and raise my self esteem by listing some things that we did this week that really are worthwhile.

1. Ella played in 2 winning games. next game ,Monday. When they lose the season is over. Will they go all the way?
2. We watched Mr. Smith Goes To Washington tonight. It was as great as I remember. Patriotic, romantic, funny, poignant. Harrison mocked my movie choice the whole time we were watching. That kid wouldn't know a good movie if it hit him over the head with a lightsabre!
3. Lucy and Rachel went horse back riding today. They have been on a horse before but not actually on a ride. One hour trail ride. They said it was great fun.
4. We have been passing around several nasty viruses this week. It actually started last week, but it was so much fun to have sore throats or headaches or diarrhea or vomiting that we decided to keep them this week. Maybe next week we will all feel better.
5. we ended the dreaded diet today. Yes, we made it from Monday all the way until Saturday morning. We both lost 9 pounds and hope to find it again very soon. We are sorry if it has come for a visit at your house, I am sure we will claim it again in the near future.
6. We upgraded our Netflix account. Riveting information, I know.
7. I started a blog dedicated toWilliam's Eagle Project. I would post a link but I ahve not put anything on it yet. It just has a name. Maybe next week...
8. Adrian and I went to a Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting today at church. It was really great. They emphasized, again, the importance of families and their eternal role in the plan of happiness. I am grateful to get to be a part of our family and that I am aware of the eternal role of families.
9. William had his last season game Friday night. He warmed up with his team and about 3 minutes before the game started headed tothe locker room. he had felt bad all day and to use his words he needed to "get reaquanted with teh toilet." We went home as teh game was starting.
10. I taught English lessons on Thursday. I had not been teaching them lately, but we seem to be back on track.
That is all we could think of this week.

futile fabric search or why wal-mart sucks

I purchased the fabric to make the apron for the Sassy Apron Swap. This caused a Friday morning panic attack. A few weeks ago we were in a town 50 miles away. This is the closest town to us that has a store besides Wal-Mart. I do not go to this town very often since it is 50 miles away. One way. It would be an all day adventure and would cost some serious cash in gas money. So while in this town I went to HobbyLobby to look at fabric for the apron. After looking at about the 10th good fabric choice my head started to hurt and the fabrics began to all look the same. So I decided to just use a few solid colors and put pretty embelishments on it. Some cute ribbon, buttons, rickrack, etc. So I decide to purchase this at my local Wal-Mart since the prices were lower than Hobby Lobby.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. i drop the kids at school and head to Wal-Mart. I walk to the very opposite back corner of teh store and am greeted with 3 racks of fabric. And a very large empty area. Sort of a void that really was screaming, "FILL ME!" So I ask the nice lady, "umm ma'am? Where are the 5 other racks of fabric. Especially the one that is covered with seasonal fabric. i.e. SPRING FABRIC?" she said, "Sold it all." This is going to take too many quotes like this so I will cut to the chase. THey are closing the fabric dept. Yep. I will know have to travel 50 miles one way to get a yard of fabric. It will be cheaper for me to shop an etsy shop now. I finally found 5 fabrics that were springy. 5! They had no solid fabric left. I got two yards of one and a yard of another. I have been freaking out about this anyway and the fabric nightmare has not helped.

The fabric I got is flowery. I like it. The main part of the apron will be made with it. Then I got a blue and white polka dot to be the pockets and the ties and some pink rickrack. I hope my partner is not mortified at my sewing. It has to be mailed out by March 1. I would like to actually have it done this week.

If the woman who has my name reads this post let me tell you that you have the most humble partner and your work is being compared to some very sustandard sewing (mine) so please know I will be very grateful for whatever you send my way! Really.

Freaky Friday

Fridays Feast is having technological turmoil. Bethany posted some Freaky Friday questions for us to answer. Since I love a good meme, here goes:


Freaky Friday Questions
What are some of your favorite websites? Yahoo news and the online library that lets you download books for free. I am not on my computer, and don't remeber the URL.
If you had boy/girl twins today, what would you name them? I have a set of girl twins already, Rachel and Lucy. But I like Ruby and Margaret if I had two girls to name right now and Joseph and Porte if I had boys.
What was your favorite grade in elementary school? ????????
Did you have a favorite teacher? No
What types of punishment did your parents use while you were growing up? Which were most effective on you? ???????
Can you parallel park? I used to live in Chicago and could parallel park like a pro. I owned a Ford Tempo then. Now, 15 years later I have lived in rural Tennessee and driven a Suburban for so long I am sure that I cannot do it anymore!
Did you have to parallel park for your driving exam? Yes. I took the exam in Nebraska.


Bethany had a bonus. We were to go to this site and see where we should live. and then asked if we had been to the top 5.

Here is my top 5 and no, I have never been to any of them!

1. Salisbury, NC
2. New Harmony, IN
3. Oberlin, OH
4. Hendersonville, NC
5. Arrow Rock, MO
6. Hutchinson, MN

Oops, that is 6. I would like to go to MN so I had to make sure it made it !

Little House of my Dreams!

I want to live in this house. Very, Very much. I will probably never spend the money to have it built. We are not money spenders. We are money savers. Not that we have a lot of money, there is not a lot to save after 8 people get through living each month. I have this bizarre desire to live like Jane Austen. Or Nellie Olson. Notice I didn't say Laura Ingalls. I don't actually want my life to be hard. Just a little more simple. I wish there was a way to raise normal kids while never leaving the house. I know some of you out there are trying to do this. I have my fingers crossed for you. BUT... I don't think it will work very well. I guess I would like to leave the house to go to the library. I can't get every book that I want through the online library.



I think a lot of the problem with wanting this house is that I don't need a different house. I am a big one for only getting things when you need them. This is not because I have a strong desire to save the environment or anything like that. It is just my environment. When I have more, I have more to take care of. More clothes=more laundry. More bathrooms=more bathrooms to be cleaned. I really try to follow the advice of this bloggers mom. "When you start to buy something first decide where you will store it. And how much time it will take to clean it. And will it improve your families time together or take away from it?" I may have expanded her advice, but I think about this a lot. My possessions do not bring me happiness, my family does. So I get a little cranky with things that pull my family apart. That is one of the reasons we left Girl Scouts, but that is a story for another day.



Now that I have rambled on in no particular direction I will get back to my point. This house is beautiful and so "me". And it doesn't hurt to sit and think about sitting in the keeping room of this house with my grandkids around me (I am hoping I will have 36 grandkids!) while I read them a story.



Just an idea...

Look! What am I worried about. I took a quiz. My weight isn't so bad. I am gonna throw out the scale!

You Should Weigh 175

If you weigh less than this, you either have a fast metabolism or are about to gain weight. If you weigh more than this, you may be losing a few pounds soon!

How Much Do You Weigh?

Feed me, Seymour!

Yeah, I am still struggling with the diet. I am obsessed with dessert. Or pudding, depending on where you are. While reading a confession on the Lurchers I ran across this site. Now I want this dessert also. Right after I make the rhubarb cupcakes.


http://bayley-sage.co.uk/newwindows/recipes/recipe_30_hrc.htm

Oh, that is a link to a recipe for hot raspberry crumble. I know, I want it too...

I am now a fancy house blog, for a post or two

This is the bathroom that had the "OUT OF ORDER" sign on it. Have I mentioned it before? It is a little scary. We have a pretty bathroom. This one is NOT pretty. I won't go into the details of why this bathroom looks the way it does. But the time has come to make a change. So it looked like this.

Pretty light. Is that an antique? Me thinks, NO! It is out of here.

How do we feel about mildew? Really? You think it is not an attractive look? What kind of house snob are you?

How about fake tile and wall heaters. Taped up outlets? G.R.O.S.S. So let's tear this puppy out! Sledgehammer, Please!

Oh look, the vanity and toilet are sitting in the hallway.Those drawers are still holding the useful things that the kids use in the morning. Easy access in the hall. We hope no one decides to, umm, use the toilet there in the hallway! Oh, and if you want to use the old bathtub...It is sitting on the FRONT PORCH!

You gotta love life in the country!

Snow In Tennessee?

Yes, we do get snow sometimes but this week I get some REAL snow! Rocky Mountain snow. All the way from Colorado!! Thank you so much Nekked Lizards. You guys rock. I love the lizard keychain and the snow is hanging on my refrigerator!

Cupcakes that are calling to me....

I love rhubarb. I just found this site and am DROOLING over these. My husband had this idea that we should lose ten pounds. Okay, really we need to lose about 60 pounds. But we both HATE being on a diet, so he had the idea that if we just did ten pounds, maybe it wouldn't be so terrible and we might keep it off cause we would not be so miserably deprived for so long. We started yesterday. We both are 5 pounds lighter today. That just goes to prove what BIG eaters we normally are.

But anyway, I am going to make these after we lose are ten pounds. Go and look at these. YUMMY!!!


http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2008/02/baby-loves-rhubarb-cupcakes.html

I am still wearing the tag me sign on my back!

*****Before I start this I have a question. Is anyone else having trouble with Spell Check on Blogger? It will not work for me. I have tried accessing my account from 2 different computers and I get nuttin' when I click the little ABCCheckMark.****

I have been tagged by Katie. She has a decorating business that you can get to by clicking here. (Hope your business soars, Katie!) She is an adoptive mom, and if any of you read this you will know how much that makes me wanna give her a pinch and a squeeze. Figuratively, of coarse.

So here goes. This is going to be pretty bad, I honestly do not have answers to a lot of these!


4 Jobs I've Had:
1. I worked at Subway for a week when I was in college. And then they wanted me to work on the weekend and I wanted to got out of town to a friends parents house. The nerve. I am afraid I had to quit a place with such unfair practices!
2. I was a daycare worker a couple afternoons a week. College again. WAAAY too stressful to be there when they told me to. (Anyone seeing a pattern here?)
3. After I had my 4th baby I decided to go and get a job at a Daycare that was opening in our little town. They hired me and since they offered free child care for employees I thought, this is great. I get paid to be with my kids and we get two free meals a day. After I was hired and another girl, that had 4 kids still pre-school age, they decided that they could only pay for 2 kids per family for free. Once we did the math I was going to have to pay $10 a week to work there. So after 6 weeks (when they made the change) I had to quit again. I think I would have stayed there for a while if they hadn't changed the perks.
4. I have subbed in my kids classrooms the last few years, but I have not done it this year. I have to get up so early to actually get dressed for the day and be ready to go so we are not late. I am SOOO lazy!
Hey, I have a number 5!

5. I teach English to Japanese women here in my little town that has two Japanese owned companies. We actually spend a lot of our class time cooking for each other, but we have fun and since some of them have a tendency to not speak ANY English all week except when they are with me, I think they benefit.



4 Movies I've watched over and over:
Ummm. I am not a TV/Movie person. I own a few movies, so I have watched them a few times, but not over and over. I will go a month or more without looking at the TV.
1. Sense and Sensibility
2.The Work and the Glory
3.ergh... I am out of ideas. I did ask for Pride and Predjudice from my husband for Valentine's Day and since he called me from Wal-Mart tonight to ask what movie it was that I wanted, I am pretty sure he got it. I have seen it twice. and will watch it again, so that can be my number 3.

4 Places I Have Lived:

1. New Jersey, two different times, 3 different towns

2. Illinois, 2 times

3. Hong Kong

4. Nebraska. Yes, I was a Cornhusker. But I never went to a game. And I didn't graduate. I guess I should put graduate college on my bucket list. But I only want to graduate so I can be the head librarian and control the library. I like to be in control, it is NOT a "good thing"

4 Shows I Watch:I believe we covered this in Number 4, and we don't have any kind of broadcast TV. Yup, no cable, no satellite, no antenna even. I do have some DVD's of TV shows, though.
1. The Avengers. I own the complete Emma Peel set. She is the coolest. A catsuit in every episode. And then there is Mr. Steed. Harrison wants his Bowler and Umbrella. We have found the umbrella for sale. It costs a fortune.
2. I like Little House on the Prarie
3. Lucy has all of the I Love Lucy series on DVD and we have watched those quite a bit.



4 Places I've Been:
1. London
2. Jakarta
3. Manilla
4. Kathmandu



4 People Who E-mail Me Regularly:
1. Mrs. Lambert, Ella's teacher
2. I send myself a bunch of emails. When i am on Adrian's computer and see something I like I send myself an email so I can investigate further. That is really lame, isn't it?
3. My daughters like to forward stuff to me. (Lucy, Rachel, and Ella. Molly does not have email yet, but she talks about it!)
4. Deseret Book



4 Favorite Things to Eat:
1. Pudding
2. Chicken Salad
3. Ice cream with no artificial stuff in it. I am not a health freak by any stretch, but I get completely grossed out by ice cream that melts and looks funny. I am kind of Breyers or nothing
4. Skim milk. I love skim milk. If it has ave 1/2 percent milk fat I think it tastes gross. And the milk in Hong Kong tasted gross. It was really sad for me there. But I like VitaSoy, which is even more popular than cows milk there, so I was okay.



4 Places I'd Rather Be:
1. Asleep. I love sleep. I have Apnea and I do not sleep so well.
2. In a cottage in Wales
3. In a house without acres and acres to stress me out. Really, it is the mud that comes with the acres. I so do not like dirt.
4. ???



4 Things I Look Forward To This Year:
1. Finishing the bathroom
2.finishing the screened in porch
3. finishing the new laundry room( I am going to have a luandry room!!!)
4. having the heart to let my husband see those 3 things above since I will just watch as he works his tail off doing those things. He is such a WONDERFUL husband!

I almost forgot to tag somebody. So I am going to tag:

AOJ and the Lurchers cause she mentioned that she is Welsh and has LIVED in Cardigan. OH MY GOSH!!!

Ms. Cellania Cause she has been in Wales.

-Ann at For The Long Run cause she lives in Ireland but I think she used to live in the next town over from me in Illinois.

Fun Monday

Tiggerlane is our fab hostess this week. She has told us to make a Bucket List. Apparantly there is a movie by this name and it is a list of things we want to do before we die. Well, this is kind of a bugger for me. I am not much of a plan for the future kind of person. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not spontaneous by any stretch. I am just kinda sit still and read a book. My husband is a big goal setter. I would like to think that I am supportive and part of the team when he gets his goal notebook out. Reality is that my eyes start to roll back into my head and somehow all that I can hear is lalala. I am just greatful that he is so patient with my lack of maturity on these things. Since we have gotten married I have figured out that money does not grow on trees and that it is better to not put off for tomorrow what should have been done yesterday but I still have a long way to go with actual planning.

So this is almost like goal setting. A list of stuff I would love to get to do someday. Hmmm... I have a hard time deciding what to do with tomorrow. But, I am up to the challenge.

1. Learn to play the piano
2. Live in a cottage overlooking the windswept Cardigan Bay in the town of Cardigan. It is a small town in Wales that my ancestors lived in before they emigrated to the U. S. in the 1600's. Blogger seems to NOT want to let me upload a picture right now, so you are going to have to follow the link to enjoy the beauty of the area.
3. While living in this windswept cottage I am sure that I can write an amazing mystery. I have started it a hundred times, but I really think being in Wales will make all the difference in getting my creative juices flowing.
4. I want to be librarian. This one is a little scary to me since being a librarian will require getting up and going to work, something I have never really done for more than a few weeks at a time.
5. Adopt a baby from overseas. I used to live in Hong Kong when I was a teenager and we would spend our Saturdays on the outer islands volunteering in the Vietnamese Refugee Camps. Hong Kong agreed to be a staging country for the refugees and then the U.S., Canada, Australia, etc were suppossed to take them. There were families that had been on those islands for 20+ years! Whole generations born and raised in the camps. It was crazy. We would bring groups of the kids to our school on Saturdays and play games and make crafts. I have always felt very connected to the Chinese and Vietnamese children. My husband has not made that connection. YET!

Well, Tiggerlane said that we needed to list at least 5. That is about all I can think of.

Now head over to Tiggerlane and see what everyone else wants to do someday!

Sunday Summary

A recap of our week. In no particular order.

• Harrison's ball season ended Tuesday night. It was not a winning season. There is always next year. Ella is still in the tournament, they lost tonight, though. Now they will have to fight their way up the loser's bracket. Tonights team had every one of our plays written down in a play book. They could stop us at every turn. Kinda competetive for 9 year olds I thought. Oh, and Ella fouled out of Friday nights game. She's kinda competetive, too!


• Molly has been sick off and on all week. Is it strep? We have not yet had to go to the doctor since we left corporate insurance that paid everything. How sick is sick enough to go and pay all that money to find out they have a virus and they will get better on their own in a few days?


• Will Mitt be able to pull of a victory? Super Tuesday is this next week. We will be voting early and often. Umm... oh, I don't live in Chicago anymore. Here we just vote once.


• Harrison went on his first Temple trip. All 4 big kids and Adrian went. The little girls and I ate pizza and watched 3 episodes of The Rifleman. Yes, the one from the fifties starring Chuck Connor.


• Our dear Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley passed this week.


• Pebbles had puppies on Friday. They will be ready to sell as soon as we return from Disneyworld. So everyone start planning now for that Maltese pup you have been dreaming of getting. You can put it in your Easter basket!


• Spell check is not working on Blogger. Are you all sick of my typos and misspellings? I know I am!


• William had Hayden over today to play paintball. And to work on the archway for his Eagle project. Harrison helped them. More to come later on all that.

• Ella had her first piano lesson on Monday. Adrian pointed out that we now pay more per week in music lessons than William's private school tuition.

Molly's Friday Feast

Molly is home from school today because she is sick. I decided to let her answer today's Friday Feast and give us a 7 year olds perspective.

Appetizer:What is your favorite kind of cereal?
Molly says she doesn't really like cold cereal but she loves loves loves Cream of WHeat!

Soup:When was the last time you purchased something for your home, what was it, and in which room did it go?
Molly bought clothes for her American girl doll (also named Molly) at Target. She hung them in the little pink wooden closet that her sister built for her. It matches teh bed that they also built for her.

Salad:What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever seen?
We don't have TV, so Molly can't think of any commercials. (note from Mom who is typing. YAY. I am so happy that my kids don't have to deal with TV and commercials! Molly is reading what I am typing and thinks that it is pretty funny)

Main Course:Make up a name for a company by using a spice and an animal (example: Cinnamon Monkey).
Molly thinks Tarter Sauce Zebra sounds good.

Dessert:Fill in the blank: I haven’t _been to school_____ since _yesterday_____.