Ha ha ha ha

"Blowing a hoolie" I laughed out loud! I was reading a crafter's blog - she lives in Ireland - and she was talking about the horrible weather - said it was blowing a hoolie.

I had to look it up, even though from the context I figured it had to do with a storm. Cracks me up.

doubletongued.org - blow a hoolie v. phr. (of weather) to storm; to forcefully gust, blow, and rain. Subjects: English, United Kingdom, Slang

You'd think I would learn

If you don't use blogspot, I don't know if it's the same. But when I write a post, I usually write first and then insert pics. But when I do that, the pictures push the text down. And then I have to move the pics. And it takes a long time.

A shortcut would be to cut and paste the text back up to the top. But I've tried that, and it isn't possible. But then tonight, the lightbulb went on. If I toggle to the Html screen, I should be able to copy and paste. Yay! It worked.

But the pictures were still in reverse order since the last picture uploaded is at the top. I'll figure it out one of these years.

Baby turns 4

Yesterday was Baby's 4th birthday. She's getting so big. I tell the kids often about the day they were born. God forbid anything ever happened to me, I want them to know how excited we were to have them in our family. I've written it down in their baby books, but I hope they will remember me telling them.

We didn't find out the gender for either of our children from the sonograms. Our plan was to have only two babies, and we wanted their births to be as exciting as possible. Grandma wasn't so happy with our decision, but...

Here's a bit of what I tell Baby.

When Baby was born (C-section), DH says the doctor said the "It's a girl" thing, but for whatever reason, I didn't hear her. The first thing I heard was the doctor saying, "Did anyone know SHE was coming out bottom first?" I was SO relieved. I wanted a little girl so much. And then she was screaming quite loudly. DH got to hold her for a second to show her to me before the nurse whisked her away. I sent DH to be with her while I went through the rest of my surgery stuff.

I tell her a little, but not too much about the fact she was born the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I lay in the bed in the hospital watching all the horror unfold - praying that any mommies having babies were safe like Baby and I were.

I found Baby's baby album the other day while I was cleaning in the den, and she's been carrying it around with her. She knows the story well enough to tell her dollies all about it, but she comes to ask me questions repeatedly. I know she just wants affirmation.

She had a great party. DH and Little Boy decorated before we got to the lake house, and Baby and I finished up decorating the cupcakes. We joined them just as DH was finishing up the balloons. She was very excited when DH put her ribbon on her. She really is a girlie-girl. Until she gets angry, and then she's a pink Incredible Hulk. Thankfully, there were no meltdowns during the party.

Pics

Some of my sweetest memories of my Dad during the last years was him winning a race and driving around the track with the checkered flag. That meant so much to him. I tried to help him when I could - I held pieces of the roll cage while he welded, I painted the numbers, I scrubbed the wheels. I just wanted to be with him.

And before that, my dad traded this motorcycle with my Uncle John. It must have been a mess, because when my uncle saw it, he didn't even recognize it. (Might have been due to other reasons, but that's another story.) He used to take me for rides around the neighborhood. One of my friends asked me if my dad thought he was the Fonz. LOL

New Old Pictures

I sat yesterday and scanned a pile of old pictures. I have many more to scan, but thought I'd share a couple of them. Here she is - the BEST dog ever! Scruffy!

She would get so excited to play; she'd run in huge circles - always coming past us to be praised.

Scruffy wasn't always the best doggie - as a puppy, she chewed a stuffed animal my dad had sewn while in a hospital. He crammed the stuffing in her mouth and then spanked her with a rolled up newspaper - knocked the stuffing out of her! LOL I remember she ate the wooden beads off the ties on my mom's new shoes. Ha.

But as she grew older, she was so well-trained. She wasn't allowed into the living room - her hair fell out in collie-clumps. She would lay in the doorway with her paws on the carpet until someone told her to back up. We would balance a treat on her nose and she was trained to not eat it or anything on the floor unless we told her "ok". She would chase the goats back into the pen. She was in the house one day, and started barking to go out. We let her out and she raced down to the chicken pen - a huge hawk flew into the air. She would shake hands, roll over, speak, smile...

She was home with me the morning my Dad died. I was home sick that day, and Mom left with Dad in the ambulance. My great aunt and her son came to sit with me until we heard from Mom. When she got there, Mom called to tell me Dad had died. Scruffy went into the kitchen and threw up by the back door. I always felt sorry for her - she really loved Dad, too. But when that happened, it was a comfort. I felt like she loved me and felt my pain, too.

Blah. Enough tears! She was a sweet dog, and I don't know if I'll ever have a dog b/c it wouldn't measure up. That, and no one here wants to clean up dog poop. LOL

And here is a picture of our horse - Prince. He was too smart for his own good, but he was a great horse.

The Pit

I am trying to clean out our catch-all room - our den - so we will have a designated area for school this year. The end of the dining room table didn't work so well as far as keeping the mess contained.

So how long will it take me to clear the Pit? I don't know, but I don't think two little people playing with an old kitty will help it go any more quickly.

But I can't kick them out - their laughter and one kitty getting well-deserved attention trumps the frustrations.

PS - last night the deer came back for a visit.

Cardboard Testimonies

Saw a great video slide tonight.

Just wanted to share.

I want to be her

I need to do something about my weight. I just can't stand it.

9 years ago...

I was finishing up with a massage, and taking a shower at the spa.

It was going to be a long, exciting, stressful, wonderful day!



Thankfully, today is going to be more relaxing!

I love you, Dearheart!

This week...

has been quiet since my sister and her two boys left Monday morning.

I posted about our Monday. It's been quiet since then. And I've loved it.

Monday evening we were sitting in the living room when a birdie hit the window. The poor thing sat on our step for over 40 minutes before it flew away. I was so relieved when it did. Here it is in it's dazed state:

This morning, there were two baby deer running around. The momma leaves them to hide under the neighbor's huge pine tree or in shrubs by houses. But apparently, these are two naughty little deer.

My husband ordered a weather station to mount onto our house. We are trying to figure out if solar and wind power generators are feasible to cover our needs in a cost efficient way.

And then the package she's been waiting for arrived. The ballet clothes I ordered. She's so beautiful in this picture, she takes my breath away a little.

My right to boycott

"Three companies who run ads during Glenn Beck -- NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Proctor Y Gamble and Progressive Insurance -- today distanced themselves from Beck. LexisNexis has pulled its advertising from Beck and says it has no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Both Proctor & Gamble and Progressive Insurance called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.

The decision by the three companies comes as over 45,000 ColorofChange.org members call on advertisers to pull their ads from Glenn Beck after the controversial news host called President Obama a "racist" who "has a deep-seated hatred for white people" on "Fox & Friends" last week.

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," said John Michaels, Senior Communications Manager at LexisNexis in an email to ColorofChange.org. "We have suspended further advertising during Mr. Beck's program."

So they have the right to do this, but I am proposing a boycott of their companies and products. That's MY right.

Monday

My sister and her sons were here for a week-long vacation. We had a very good time, and my kids and I were sad to see them leave. My kids came in the house and sat on the couch with very sad looks on their faces.

I told them we would go to lunch at "Bessie's shop", and immediately they perked up. They both wanted to know if Bessie was going to be there. Even though they get a little bashful around her and don't say much to her, they really like her.

I decided yesterday to start calling around for a dance studio where Baby could start taking Ballet lessons, but I wanted it to be a class with just ballet. The first place I called was having registration start last night.

So we went to eat lunch and then went past the ballet studio. It's not much to look at from the outside, but inside it's sufficient.

After naps we went to check it out. There was another little girl who will be in Baby's class, and the two of them wanted to see the studio. So they went in. Baby didn't want to leave. An older student showed her some positions, and Baby was mimicking her. The teacher and the older girl's mom both seemed impressed. Baby woke up this morning and asked if today was the day of her class. It's going to be a loooonng wait for her. Class doesn't start until Sept. 8.

Little Boy was heartbroken. I had told him that while I took Baby to the studio, Daddy could take him swimming. But while the kids were sleeping we had a huge storm come through. Daddy played games with him on the Wii, and I think he was placated.

We ate leftovers for supper, and put the kids to bed. I ordered a black leotard, black skirt, and a couple pair of pink tights. We'll need to go to Payless and get her fitted for pink ballet slippers. I'll post a pic when she gets the whole outfit.

I need to get to bed earlier. I've been up too late the last couple weeks, and I'm starting to feel it.

Get out while you can

Any politician, regardless of gender, race, political party or personal likability, who votes in favor of a bill which he or she has not read, needs to resign and move away.

2010 and 2012 are going to prove very difficult for any said politician to speak above the roar, much less run a successful campaign.

Staying home from church

My legs and hips are really hurting. I'll be glad when this storm front is completely gone. Add to that I have company coming tomorrow, DH is at work, Little Boy never took a nap, and Baby woke up from her nap coughing and completely cranky. And top it all off with a sermon by someone for whom I have absolutely NO respect. Even the prospect of a reimbursement check for $100 doesn't make me want to go enough to ... well ... go.

I need to deal with the feelings of contempt I'm feeling. I cannot let this person's ignorance keep me from wanting to attend or serve. I am not there to please that person, so I shouldn't avoid church because of him, either. I will just continue to do what the Lord leads me to do, and if he gets in the way, I'll let God push him out of the way.

But for tonight, I'm keeping the kids home.

It's a mommy thing

Am I the only one who gets too busy to go to the bathroom? Usually, as I'm tucking the kids in, it hits me that I haven't gone for a really long time, and I REALLY need to go.

Gotta love bedtime!