Monday, December 21, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Christmas Program
Casey (the angel) & Cody saying her verse
Casey (in the middle)Cody stepped up to the microphone and said her verse, right on cue. Casey knew her lines, her song and dance number and her solo - she was the "Hipp. She was also beautiful as an angel in the last scene.
We are very proud of our girls and SO blessed to be in such an amazing church that helps them fine tune their talents while teaching them that those talents are God-given and should be used to glorify Him!
New Tradition
This year we have started a new Christmas tradition at our house. We bought a small pre-lit tree and put some very special ornaments on it. All of these ornaments belonged to either my maternal grandmother, my paternal grandmother, or Joe's maternal grandmother. As we hang the ornaments on the tree we tell the girls about our grandparents and other Christmas memories we have from our childhood. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see that our grandmothers had some very similar ornaments. The girls enjoyed it this year and we hope this is a tradition that they can continue when they have children of their own!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I know, I know
I know it has been a REALLY long since since I update the blog - I do apologize!
When Joe was not working I spent many mornings homeschooling the girls and then heading off to work a part-time job in the afternoons. Plus with soccer, choir, church etc... my computer time was put on the back burner!
It is with great thanksgiving that I announce - Joe got a new job! He is thoroughly enjoying it and although the hours are a bit crazy he gets a lot of days off. I am still working a little bit here and there to make up for the loss of income that we have with the new job. Fortunately, we have great benefits and the income is much better than unemployment!
So, thank you for your prayers during the past year and thanks to God for His amazing provision!
I will update again soon - I promise!!!
When Joe was not working I spent many mornings homeschooling the girls and then heading off to work a part-time job in the afternoons. Plus with soccer, choir, church etc... my computer time was put on the back burner!
It is with great thanksgiving that I announce - Joe got a new job! He is thoroughly enjoying it and although the hours are a bit crazy he gets a lot of days off. I am still working a little bit here and there to make up for the loss of income that we have with the new job. Fortunately, we have great benefits and the income is much better than unemployment!
So, thank you for your prayers during the past year and thanks to God for His amazing provision!
I will update again soon - I promise!!!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
New Chapter
Well, we have entered a new phase in our lives. Our oldest daughter now has a cell phone.
We wanted her to have one for emergencies and found that it was cheaper to add a phone to our account than it would be to get a pre-paid phone, which we had originally considered. Now that she is a middle-schooler and is doing more things on her own we felt it was finally time.
We are approaching it as a test for her. As long as she is responsible and follows our rules, (actually we are going to write up a contract) she will continue to earn more responsibilities. She is only allowed to call the people WE have programmed into the phone and is not allowed to send or receive any text messages. We are thinking of it as a rite of passage for her good behavior, good grades, and general helpfulness lately.
We think she is ready and feel comfortable with the boundaries we have set. Still a little nervous about it though!
I will keep you posted!
We wanted her to have one for emergencies and found that it was cheaper to add a phone to our account than it would be to get a pre-paid phone, which we had originally considered. Now that she is a middle-schooler and is doing more things on her own we felt it was finally time.
We are approaching it as a test for her. As long as she is responsible and follows our rules, (actually we are going to write up a contract) she will continue to earn more responsibilities. She is only allowed to call the people WE have programmed into the phone and is not allowed to send or receive any text messages. We are thinking of it as a rite of passage for her good behavior, good grades, and general helpfulness lately.
We think she is ready and feel comfortable with the boundaries we have set. Still a little nervous about it though!
I will keep you posted!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
More Blessings
My husband is now "officially" unemployed due to a lay-off and we are experiencing the Peace that passes understanding. I think one of the reasons that we feel such a peace at this normally stressful time is that we have really been focusing on our blessings and how thankful we are for what we have.
The list that follows declare a small portion of the blessings we have received since Joe found out about the lay-offs last November. It is kind of long but we have found that the more we focus on our blessings, the less we fell sorry for ourselves!
The list that follows declare a small portion of the blessings we have received since Joe found out about the lay-offs last November. It is kind of long but we have found that the more we focus on our blessings, the less we fell sorry for ourselves!
- This is an opportunity for Joe to find a job he really loves!
- This happened AFTER we got out of debt - thanks Dave Ramsey!
- His date of lay-off went from Jan 4 to March 31 in a span of 15 minutes.
- This can be Joe’s mid-life crisis! (He got the news the week of his 40th birthday)
- We decided to continue our giving to the church instead of lowering it when we completely renovated our budget. The next day my dad suggested looking at our 401k contribution. The amount of contribution that now goes into his paycheck instead of his 401k equals the amount we had considered lowering our tithe amount – plus some.
- That same day we received a monetary gift – enough to live by our Emergency Budget for almost 3 months.
- Someone who provides a service for us dropped the rate by $10 per month, without us asking.
- We had our 2nd straight year of All Cash Christmas!
- We have had tons of encouragement and prayers from family and friends - thank you!
- We are living on an Emergency Budget and putting money in savings every month, we have realized that we can live on SO much less than we have been!
- Found out about using an antenna instead of cable and we disconnected our land line saving us over $600 per year and we still get great channels!
- Started using Cartridge World for our printer ink cartridges saving us over $10 per cartridge.
- After we prayed for provision, Joe continued to be extended in his job for an additional 4 months.
- I got a little part time that that will, hopefully, pay for our groceries each month.
- We put in a raised-bed garden and it has provided over $200 worth of free food this summer.
- We are healthy.
- We were given a really cool entertainment center that looks great in the living room - AND hides the TV when it is not in use!
- We thought we had a major car issue but it turned out to be only a fluid problem.
- We have found so many ways to go and have fun for FREE!
- We were blessed to be able to spend time with all four of our parents this year.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Jungle Flight
"A harrowing near-crash at a remote airstrip, a deep-jungle rescue mission, a jaguar attack, spiritual warfare, terrorist attack, a mass evacuation in the face of a militant uprising. Who says being a missionary is boring?!? "Jungle Flight was written by the Pastor of our church in Virginia and is based on a personal trip to the jungles of Southeast Asia and private interviews with the pilots and technicians of JAARS (originally, Jungle Aviation and Radio Service).
I am so excited to let you all know about it and I hope you will enjoy it!
"Jungle Flight will ignite your imagination and inspire your heart to read about survival and rescue missions made possible by the miracle work of Jesus Christ, the Pilot of our souls.
This collection of short stories will allow you to peer into the cockpits of airplanes set apart for missionary service in the Name of the Lord and learn how aviation has contributed to carrying out the Great Commission. As a pilot myself, I have been amazed at how God has used planes and helicopters as effective tools to elevate Bible translation for the purpose of evangelism in the most remote parts of the world." Franklin Graham President and CEO,
Samaritan's Purse and The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Jungle Flight is the gritty reality and harrowing adventures of JAARS mission aviators and technicians living and working on the edge of the civilized world come to life in this new book by Dane Skelton. , this book tells it like it is, taking the reader inside the cockpit and into harms way with men and women of deep faith and profound commitment to service through professional excellence.
BEGINNING AUGUST 1st YOU MAY ORDER BY CALLING - The JAARS Gift Shop at 704-843-6104.
JAARS will get a portion of the proceeds if you order directly from them.
For bulk orders leave me a comment and I will get you the information.
What others are saying:
"JUNGLE FLIGHT is a compilation of real stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things in service to God. I couldn't put it down. Read it for heart-soaring adventure as well as soul-stirring inspiration.", Professor and Pastor, Dr. Max Anders, author of 30 Days to Understanding the Bible
"After 40 years of serving the US space program, I find myself awed by what the men and women of JAARS have done to impact the global ministry of Bible translation. What they do each day requires more than just being made of the right stuff: it takes extraordinary faith in the One who created the mountains they fly over, the people they serve, the One who's guiding their flight from start to finish." Tom Overton, Multiflow Integration Manager, PH-O Kennedy Space Center, FL
Dane Skelton is a pastor, an aviation nut, a motorcyclist, and is interested in anything that rolls, floats or flies. Dane has been married to Krista for 25 years and they have three daughters.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Happy Anniversary!
Engagement Photo for newspaperWe have seen good times and bad, sickness and health, been richer, been poorer, seen both joy and sorrow, but have loved and cherished through it all.
I am so thankful to have Joe as my best friend, husband, and father of our children. Thanks Joe for an amazing 17 years, I love you!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
"So What Do You Eat?"
We are vegetarian, have been for about a year and a half. We went vegetarian for health reasons, my husband dropped his cholesterol by 170 points and my children rarely get sick anymore. I will be posting another blog with details on my children's health as soon as I get copies of their medical records, but I will say it has been miraculous.
One of the questions I get asked the most, well probably tied with, "Where do you get your protein?" (the answer is "From vegetables, nuts, beans, and dairy. Plus, Americans get WAY more protein than our bodies need - that's another post!) is "What do you eat?" The answer to that is so extensive that I could not answer it completely! Think of your favorite side dishes, for instance at Thanksgiving and Christmas we eat everything except turkey and ham.
Or think of your favorite types of food. Mexican and Italian are our faves so we eat rice, beans, guacamole, veggie quesadillas, chips & dips, breakfast burritos, pasta with meatless sauces (tomato, alfredo), mac and cheese, vegetable lasagna, garlic bread. We eats LOTS of fruit and vegetables but not a lot of salads.
"Well, what about when you travel and have to get fast food?" Good question, Taco Bell will substitute beans for beef, Burger King has a veggie burger, Wendy's has salads, baked potatoes and fruit, and we love most of the sides from KFC.
One of the best things about becoming vegetarian is that we are trying really great vegetables that we have never eaten before! I will be posting soon about our adventure with spaghetti squash soon!
So, we basically eat anything and everything - except meat. Easy enough...
One of the questions I get asked the most, well probably tied with, "Where do you get your protein?" (the answer is "From vegetables, nuts, beans, and dairy. Plus, Americans get WAY more protein than our bodies need - that's another post!) is "What do you eat?" The answer to that is so extensive that I could not answer it completely! Think of your favorite side dishes, for instance at Thanksgiving and Christmas we eat everything except turkey and ham.
Or think of your favorite types of food. Mexican and Italian are our faves so we eat rice, beans, guacamole, veggie quesadillas, chips & dips, breakfast burritos, pasta with meatless sauces (tomato, alfredo), mac and cheese, vegetable lasagna, garlic bread. We eats LOTS of fruit and vegetables but not a lot of salads.
"Well, what about when you travel and have to get fast food?" Good question, Taco Bell will substitute beans for beef, Burger King has a veggie burger, Wendy's has salads, baked potatoes and fruit, and we love most of the sides from KFC.
One of the best things about becoming vegetarian is that we are trying really great vegetables that we have never eaten before! I will be posting soon about our adventure with spaghetti squash soon!
So, we basically eat anything and everything - except meat. Easy enough...
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Summer Fun!
Summer is here and we have our "list" of summer activities ready to go! Due to Joe's current job situation we will not be traveling and are on a limited budget so most of activities are cheap or FREE! Here is what we have lined up:
1. Movies in the Park. FREE event each month at the park with jumpy things, face painting, music, and a movie at dusk.
2. Bowling. Our local bowling alley has a program for kids to sign-up and bowl for FREE through August 30 - shoes not included.
3. Zoo. Considering a membership.
If we go 3 times it will be worth it.
4. Swimming. Since we have already joined the Rec. Center, admission to the outdoor pool is FREE.
5. Morning movies. A local church is showing a different kid movie each week for FREE. They also have FREE popcorn and 50 cent juice boxes.
6. Hiking & Letterboxing.
7. Library Summer Reading Programs
8. Jump Rope Club. We have started a club for the kids to learn jump rope skills, we have 16 kids participating!
9. Church Camps and VBS.
We are always looking for new ideas, what are your summer plans?
1. Movies in the Park. FREE event each month at the park with jumpy things, face painting, music, and a movie at dusk.
2. Bowling. Our local bowling alley has a program for kids to sign-up and bowl for FREE through August 30 - shoes not included.
3. Zoo. Considering a membership.
If we go 3 times it will be worth it.
4. Swimming. Since we have already joined the Rec. Center, admission to the outdoor pool is FREE.
5. Morning movies. A local church is showing a different kid movie each week for FREE. They also have FREE popcorn and 50 cent juice boxes.
6. Hiking & Letterboxing.
7. Library Summer Reading Programs
8. Jump Rope Club. We have started a club for the kids to learn jump rope skills, we have 16 kids participating!
9. Church Camps and VBS.
We are always looking for new ideas, what are your summer plans?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Better Late Than Never?
My dear husband just wrote a post on his blog about his (and my) #1 Pet Peeve - Being Late.
As I thought about the comment I was going to leave on his blog I decided that, since it was going to be more of a dissertation than a comment, I would write my own post about it. So here we go...
My number one pet peeve is being late. I can't stand to be late, my husband can't stand to be late, and my children can't stand to be late.
It started in my childhood, back in the days before cell phones. Yes, there used to be a time without cell phones. Then there came a time of HUGE car phones. Anyway, back in the day my family used to go a lot of places and meet up with a lot of people. Mom and Dad always used the 15 minute rule, it goes like this. Let's say we were going to meet another family downtown and go window shopping, wait, that is something my dad would never do. Let's say we are in the mountains skiing with several other families and we decide that after skiing we will all meet at a certain place at 6:00 and go to dinner. Dad would say we would use the 15 minute rule which states that at 6:15 whoever is there leaves and goes to dinner, no hard feelings. Everyone knew that they had a 15 minute window and then everyone was leaving. No one got mad and if someone was late they would always apologize profusely.
After I got married, my dh and I took a parenting class and one of the lessons solidified my inner most need to be on time. The lesson was about stealing. Yes, stealing. The writer of the program stated that people who you can count on to be late are STEALING. They are stealing your precious time. Time that you can never get back. Now, they were not talking about a person being occasionally late, we get it, things happen. They were talking about taking responsibility for ones actions and respecting others enough to regularly show up on time. THAT stuck with me.
If I am late I am not showing respect to the other person and I am stealing from them. I do not want to represent myself that way.
This is how it works at our house. We generally plan to leave in enough time to get where we need to be 15 minutes EARLY. 10 minutes if it is right here in town. That way, even if things come up - they normally do- a lost shoe, a pit stop, I can't find my keys, we still have a window of time. Having that window of time decreases our stress levels IMMENSELY! We arrive leisurely and are often able to help with any last minutes preparations or it gives us a chance to sit in the car and talk, uninterrupted by technology for a few minutes.
So, I am still striving for us to be known as the family that is always 10 minutes early!
If I get to your house 10 minutes early I have probably been driving around wasting time for 10 minutes so as not to some over TOO early! And if I am right on time, I am stressed. If, for some reason I am late, please know that it was something VERY out of the ordinary and I will apologize profusely!
The last thing I want to do is to steal from my friends.
So, there is my dissertation. I hope you have learned something about me you did not know before!
As I thought about the comment I was going to leave on his blog I decided that, since it was going to be more of a dissertation than a comment, I would write my own post about it. So here we go...
My number one pet peeve is being late. I can't stand to be late, my husband can't stand to be late, and my children can't stand to be late.
It started in my childhood, back in the days before cell phones. Yes, there used to be a time without cell phones. Then there came a time of HUGE car phones. Anyway, back in the day my family used to go a lot of places and meet up with a lot of people. Mom and Dad always used the 15 minute rule, it goes like this. Let's say we were going to meet another family downtown and go window shopping, wait, that is something my dad would never do. Let's say we are in the mountains skiing with several other families and we decide that after skiing we will all meet at a certain place at 6:00 and go to dinner. Dad would say we would use the 15 minute rule which states that at 6:15 whoever is there leaves and goes to dinner, no hard feelings. Everyone knew that they had a 15 minute window and then everyone was leaving. No one got mad and if someone was late they would always apologize profusely.
After I got married, my dh and I took a parenting class and one of the lessons solidified my inner most need to be on time. The lesson was about stealing. Yes, stealing. The writer of the program stated that people who you can count on to be late are STEALING. They are stealing your precious time. Time that you can never get back. Now, they were not talking about a person being occasionally late, we get it, things happen. They were talking about taking responsibility for ones actions and respecting others enough to regularly show up on time. THAT stuck with me.
If I am late I am not showing respect to the other person and I am stealing from them. I do not want to represent myself that way.
This is how it works at our house. We generally plan to leave in enough time to get where we need to be 15 minutes EARLY. 10 minutes if it is right here in town. That way, even if things come up - they normally do- a lost shoe, a pit stop, I can't find my keys, we still have a window of time. Having that window of time decreases our stress levels IMMENSELY! We arrive leisurely and are often able to help with any last minutes preparations or it gives us a chance to sit in the car and talk, uninterrupted by technology for a few minutes.
So, I am still striving for us to be known as the family that is always 10 minutes early!
If I get to your house 10 minutes early I have probably been driving around wasting time for 10 minutes so as not to some over TOO early! And if I am right on time, I am stressed. If, for some reason I am late, please know that it was something VERY out of the ordinary and I will apologize profusely!
The last thing I want to do is to steal from my friends.
So, there is my dissertation. I hope you have learned something about me you did not know before!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Photos
We went to a local park yesterday and took some photos. Thought I would share a couple of them with you!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
New Blogger
My dear husband put off joining Facebook for months after I joined. He finally joined and is having fun connecting with people and reconnecting with old friends. He is of the few people who grew up in the same small town from the time he was 1 year old until he left for college, so he has a lot of people that he really grew up with.
He also put off for months the whole blogging thing. I LOVE blogging and I do it mainly for friends and family to keep up with what we are doing. I am one of the many people who moved around quite a bit as a kid and I have friends and relatives in lots of states.
Anyway, he is now blogging and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what he has to say. Whereas my blog is more about our daily activities, his site is "deeper" and is on a different level than mine. He has a lot of incite to share.
I encourage you to head on over to Common Threads and A Golden Needle and check it out!
He also put off for months the whole blogging thing. I LOVE blogging and I do it mainly for friends and family to keep up with what we are doing. I am one of the many people who moved around quite a bit as a kid and I have friends and relatives in lots of states.
Anyway, he is now blogging and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what he has to say. Whereas my blog is more about our daily activities, his site is "deeper" and is on a different level than mine. He has a lot of incite to share.
I encourage you to head on over to Common Threads and A Golden Needle and check it out!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Garden - Part 2
Everyone said not to plant before April 15. Did I listen? Of course not! The weather had been so beautiful so we planted our tender little seedlings early. Yes, all of those people were right, sort of. There came a few days of frosty weather causing us to tarp or otherwise cover our little plants. And yes, it was a hassle. But we are now reaping (pun intended) the benefits of planting an early garden! It amazes me that God can pack the whole plant and all of that food into a tiny little seed!
Here is our first little harvest of zucchini, parsley, basil, mint, and one little carrot - and the resulting dinner! This time we had to add store-bought squash and red bell pepper, hopefully in a few more weeks our peppers will be ready.
We have about 5-10 little zucchinis, 10 squash, 15 peppers, a couple of cucumbers, and countless tomatoes ripening out there right now and I can hardly wait to start making freezer spaghetti sauce and dill pickles!
I am also planning now for a garden to be harvested in the fall and winter. If you are considering a fall or spring garden you need to plan now, seeds will not be as readily available after the summer! Hopefully, I will post soon on what I am planning to plant. As I have never planted a fall garden it will be completely experimental!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Field Day
Last week the girls attended the area wide homeschool Field Day. There were a couple hundred kids and lots of family and friends there. The girls had so much fun and always look forward to it.The things I love about it are:
FRIENDS! (Mine and the girls')
Kids who did not know each other were pairing up for team competitions
I heard NO bad language at all
Kids were cheering for each other
I did not see anyone making fun of anyone else
Lots of good sportsmanship
Lots of fun and good exercise!
she won second place in the back-to-back with her friend Alyssa,
she won third place in the girls team relay with Addison and a girl she did not know, and she ran a mile.
Cody won a first place ribbon for participation,
second place ribbons in the 1/4 mile run,
backwards run, girls team relay with her friends Camille and Prairie, the frisbee throw, the hula hoop, and a third place ribbon for the short yard dash.
Good Friends!It was fun and exhausting and we need an entire year to recover and be ready for it again next year!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Laundry Soap...Again
I have used my homemade, super frugal, laundry detergent since November 1 and still have about 1/4 of the bucket left! Apparently, in our household, we will only need to make it twice a year which means we are spending less than $6 PER YEAR on laundry detergent! None of us have been able to tell a difference in the cleanliness of the clothes so we are sold on this recipe!
Here it is again:
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Bar Ivory soap
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax 20 Mule Team Powder (laundry aisle at Publix next to the previous item)
A 5 gallon bucket with lid
Saucepan
Empty laundry detergent container
- Grate the bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add soapy water, washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved.
Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight.
-Stir it up well (it will be "gloppy") and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
Even though you use a 5 gallon bucket, it makes 10 gallons because you fill the empty container half full of detergent and fill the rest of the way with water.
The washing soda and borax cost about $5 and I used only a fraction of each. Buckets are about $5 as well from Lowes and can be reused each time. I love homemaking!
Here it is again:
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Bar Ivory soap
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax 20 Mule Team Powder (laundry aisle at Publix next to the previous item)
A 5 gallon bucket with lid
Saucepan
Empty laundry detergent container
- Grate the bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add soapy water, washing soda and Borax. Stir until dissolved.
Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight.
-Stir it up well (it will be "gloppy") and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
Even though you use a 5 gallon bucket, it makes 10 gallons because you fill the empty container half full of detergent and fill the rest of the way with water.
The washing soda and borax cost about $5 and I used only a fraction of each. Buckets are about $5 as well from Lowes and can be reused each time. I love homemaking!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Missing Moms on TV & in Movies
A friend of mine recently brought to my attention that many of the "princesses" in Disney movies do not have a mom. I then started thinking about missing moms in other movies and on tv. I do not know what the significance is, but it sure is interesting! Please comment and add any you think of!
Cinderella
Snow White
Ariel (Little Mermaid)
Jasmine (Aladdin)
Bambie
Pinocchio
Ella Enchanted
Kung Fu Panda
Nemo
Belle (Beauty & the Beast)
Opie Taylor (Andy Griffith)
Jonny Quest
Full House (one father plus one uncle and one other single guy)
Punky Brewster (Technically no mom OR dad, but lives with single father figure)
Buffy & Jody (Family Affair - again no parents, but live with Uncle Bill)
Dukes of Hazzard (3 cousins with no parents? Living with Uncle Jesse, who I assume is a great-uncle)
Diff'rent Strokes (raised by single father figure)
Nancy Drew
Main character in Herbie Fully Loaded
Land of the Lost (Was there a mom? I only remember a dad)
Sound of Music
And these, which are more recent and on Disney Channel
Cory in the House (there is a mom, I guess, but she lives in another country?)
Naked Brothers Band
Hannah Montana
I am sure there are more! Would love to keep adding to the list and let me know what reasons you see for so many shows and movies without mothers!
Cinderella
Snow White
Ariel (Little Mermaid)
Jasmine (Aladdin)
Bambie
Pinocchio
Ella Enchanted
Kung Fu Panda
Nemo
Belle (Beauty & the Beast)
Opie Taylor (Andy Griffith)
Jonny Quest
Full House (one father plus one uncle and one other single guy)
Punky Brewster (Technically no mom OR dad, but lives with single father figure)
Buffy & Jody (Family Affair - again no parents, but live with Uncle Bill)
Dukes of Hazzard (3 cousins with no parents? Living with Uncle Jesse, who I assume is a great-uncle)
Diff'rent Strokes (raised by single father figure)
Nancy Drew
Main character in Herbie Fully Loaded
Land of the Lost (Was there a mom? I only remember a dad)
Sound of Music
And these, which are more recent and on Disney Channel
Cory in the House (there is a mom, I guess, but she lives in another country?)
Naked Brothers Band
Hannah Montana
I am sure there are more! Would love to keep adding to the list and let me know what reasons you see for so many shows and movies without mothers!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Guest Writer
My husband posted a funny story on Facebook and I thought I would share it here as well.
Enjoy.
Starlings and the Dryer Vent Love Shack - or - Bye, Bye, Birdies... (Your choice, but personally I like the first one.)
Yesterday upon arriving home from my dungeon of a dead end job my girls said, "there's something making weird noises in the laundry room." The Dad Man (that's me) springs into action. I walked into the laundry room expecting nothing and thinking that they were hearing things. To my surprise I did hear a faint scratching in the vent. I left Casey in the laundry room with instructions to turn on the dryer on my command. I went outside and raised up the little door on the dryer exhaust vent to told her to turn on the dryer. Immediately I was plastered in the face with a wad of freshly cut grass. Beautiful... at least I have learned to keep my mouth closed while looking up! After wiping all the grass off my face, blowing the dirt of my glasses, and reminding myself to control my tongue I stomped back inside to the laundry room. After a brief moment of dragging all the laundry room stuff into the hall I wrestled with the dryer. It lost, and inside of five minutes I was headed back out the door with the dryer vent hose in hand. Back inside two little girls were pouting and saying, "what about the baby birds Dad?" I stomped my way across the back yard and out the back gate all the while muttering to myself, "no darn Starling nest is gonna cause my house to catch on fire no matter what!" (Before everyone gets fired up about baby birds... Starlings were not native to North American and were imported by an European immigrant. I'm not a fan of non-native avian species.) (OK, everyone breath now and stop looking up the number to PETA.) I proceeded to dump the rest of the grass, that did not land smack in my face, out of the vent hose. To my girls delight, no babies and no eggs. Apparently my sacred dryer vent was just a tunnel of love at that point. Well, one thing lead to another and I ended up getting everything back together. All was well and the Love Shack was closed.
Yea, right... My dear wife of almost 17 years calls me at 7:15am. She had been bounced out of bed at 6:15am to a horrendous noise. Needless to say no one at my house was singing "Kum-ba-Ya" early this morning. The Love Shack was open and the band was rockin'. Apparently this one went up to 11! (Shameless Spinal Tap reference.) She ran Mr. and Mrs. Starling out of the vent pipe and then proceeded to tape the little flappy door shut with electrical tape. (Yup, that's my girl. She sure showed those amorous avians.)
Yet, The Dad Man's job is never done... So again, I spring into action. With 1/2" expanded metal, a plasma cutter, two vise grip clamps, a piece of angle iron, two different hammers, a wire feed welder, and a little galvanizing spray paint the permanent closure sign was posted on the front door of the Love Shack.
Now we can sing "Kum-ba-Ya". Mr. & Mrs. Starling were pretty torqued, but I'm sure that found someone else's dryer vent. I'm feeling good that my drier vent hose won't be catching on fire anytime soon. The girls were glad that, "no animals were harmed in the making of this story". And hopefully my Mrs. will get to sleep a little longer in the morning.
Enjoy.
Starlings and the Dryer Vent Love Shack - or - Bye, Bye, Birdies... (Your choice, but personally I like the first one.)
Yesterday upon arriving home from my dungeon of a dead end job my girls said, "there's something making weird noises in the laundry room." The Dad Man (that's me) springs into action. I walked into the laundry room expecting nothing and thinking that they were hearing things. To my surprise I did hear a faint scratching in the vent. I left Casey in the laundry room with instructions to turn on the dryer on my command. I went outside and raised up the little door on the dryer exhaust vent to told her to turn on the dryer. Immediately I was plastered in the face with a wad of freshly cut grass. Beautiful... at least I have learned to keep my mouth closed while looking up! After wiping all the grass off my face, blowing the dirt of my glasses, and reminding myself to control my tongue I stomped back inside to the laundry room. After a brief moment of dragging all the laundry room stuff into the hall I wrestled with the dryer. It lost, and inside of five minutes I was headed back out the door with the dryer vent hose in hand. Back inside two little girls were pouting and saying, "what about the baby birds Dad?" I stomped my way across the back yard and out the back gate all the while muttering to myself, "no darn Starling nest is gonna cause my house to catch on fire no matter what!" (Before everyone gets fired up about baby birds... Starlings were not native to North American and were imported by an European immigrant. I'm not a fan of non-native avian species.) (OK, everyone breath now and stop looking up the number to PETA.) I proceeded to dump the rest of the grass, that did not land smack in my face, out of the vent hose. To my girls delight, no babies and no eggs. Apparently my sacred dryer vent was just a tunnel of love at that point. Well, one thing lead to another and I ended up getting everything back together. All was well and the Love Shack was closed.
Yea, right... My dear wife of almost 17 years calls me at 7:15am. She had been bounced out of bed at 6:15am to a horrendous noise. Needless to say no one at my house was singing "Kum-ba-Ya" early this morning. The Love Shack was open and the band was rockin'. Apparently this one went up to 11! (Shameless Spinal Tap reference.) She ran Mr. and Mrs. Starling out of the vent pipe and then proceeded to tape the little flappy door shut with electrical tape. (Yup, that's my girl. She sure showed those amorous avians.)
Yet, The Dad Man's job is never done... So again, I spring into action. With 1/2" expanded metal, a plasma cutter, two vise grip clamps, a piece of angle iron, two different hammers, a wire feed welder, and a little galvanizing spray paint the permanent closure sign was posted on the front door of the Love Shack.
Now we can sing "Kum-ba-Ya". Mr. & Mrs. Starling were pretty torqued, but I'm sure that found someone else's dryer vent. I'm feeling good that my drier vent hose won't be catching on fire anytime soon. The girls were glad that, "no animals were harmed in the making of this story". And hopefully my Mrs. will get to sleep a little longer in the morning.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Chicklets
This is for those of you old enough to remember Chicklets. We used to get them when my parents would go through the Drive Through at the bank.
Joe: "Cody, we have GOT to pull that tooth, it looks like a Chicklet hanging there!
Me: "Joe, they don't even know what Chicklets are!"
Cody: "Yes I do!"
Me: "No you don't, you've never even had one."
Cody: "So, I know what it is!"
Me: "No you don't!" (beginning to laugh)
Cody: "Yes I do.....it's a baby chicken!"
All: HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER
Joe: "Cody, we have GOT to pull that tooth, it looks like a Chicklet hanging there!
Me: "Joe, they don't even know what Chicklets are!"
Cody: "Yes I do!"
Me: "No you don't, you've never even had one."
Cody: "So, I know what it is!"
Me: "No you don't!" (beginning to laugh)
Cody: "Yes I do.....it's a baby chicken!"
All: HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER
Monday, April 13, 2009
Our Easter in Pictures
We had a really wonderful Easter, hope you did too!Enjoy our pictures taken by Casey (except the ones OF Casey!)
Making Easter Story Cookies
Can you tell who likes the taste of salt and who doesn't?
Sealing the "tomb"
Eggs
From start to finish
Basket!
New Dress!Saturday, April 11, 2009
Easter Traditions
Every Easter we do some of the same things that a lot of families do, we dye eggs, have an egg hunt, and read about Jesus.
Some other things we do are a little more unique!
1. We fill the girl's Easter baskets (yes, we tell the Bunny that we like to fill them ourselves) then we hide them so that in the morning they have to first find their baskets. They LOVE doing that!
2. They normally get a new set of summer pajamas in their baskets.
3. We go through our set of Resurrection Eggs that tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.
4. Easter Eve we "egg" a few people's houses - no, it's not what you are thinking - we put filled plastic eggs in the front yards of a couple of people we know, changing families each year. This was actually started by a neighbor of ours who did it to us a couple of years ago. The girls LOVE secretly putting eggs in their friend's yards. Oh, we always leave one large egg that tells the family who did it so they won't freak out about letting their kids eat treats from an unknown source!
5. When we come home we make Easter Story Cookies (recipe can be found at http://www.allhomemadecookies.com/recipes/drop/easterstorycookies.htm).
As we make the cookies we read Scritpure about Jesus' death and resurrection that correspond to the ingredients going into the cookies (meringues actually).
6. And, of course we head to church in the morning after eating a cookie or two!
7. After church we have lunch and then our big Easter dinner in the evening with our china and crystal. Now that we are vegetarian we do all of the side dishes that we did before, but we don't have ham like we used to! Our menu this year is: sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing (Joe's grandmother's recipe), crescent rolls and chocolate pie. Actually, that is the basic menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas too with a couple of variations!
We always want the girls to remember that Easter is about our Savior and are always looking for new ways to do that. Any ideas?!
P.S. I will try to post Easter pictures tomorrow.
Some other things we do are a little more unique!
1. We fill the girl's Easter baskets (yes, we tell the Bunny that we like to fill them ourselves) then we hide them so that in the morning they have to first find their baskets. They LOVE doing that!
2. They normally get a new set of summer pajamas in their baskets.
3. We go through our set of Resurrection Eggs that tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.
4. Easter Eve we "egg" a few people's houses - no, it's not what you are thinking - we put filled plastic eggs in the front yards of a couple of people we know, changing families each year. This was actually started by a neighbor of ours who did it to us a couple of years ago. The girls LOVE secretly putting eggs in their friend's yards. Oh, we always leave one large egg that tells the family who did it so they won't freak out about letting their kids eat treats from an unknown source!
5. When we come home we make Easter Story Cookies (recipe can be found at http://www.allhomemadecookies.com/recipes/drop/easterstorycookies.htm).
As we make the cookies we read Scritpure about Jesus' death and resurrection that correspond to the ingredients going into the cookies (meringues actually).
6. And, of course we head to church in the morning after eating a cookie or two!
7. After church we have lunch and then our big Easter dinner in the evening with our china and crystal. Now that we are vegetarian we do all of the side dishes that we did before, but we don't have ham like we used to! Our menu this year is: sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing (Joe's grandmother's recipe), crescent rolls and chocolate pie. Actually, that is the basic menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas too with a couple of variations!
We always want the girls to remember that Easter is about our Savior and are always looking for new ways to do that. Any ideas?!
P.S. I will try to post Easter pictures tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Toothy
Cody just lost her first tooth! (With the help of her dad!)Oddly enough it is a top tooth. Most kids lose their bottom 2 before their top 2, but that's our Cody - doing everything in her own special way!
It makes me sad when they lose their first baby tooth, their toddler smiles are gone and it, in some strange way, is the beginning of really growing up.
But, it has to happen and we are happy that it finally came out! She was beginning to look a little like Nanny McPhee with that one tooth sticking out farther and hanging down lower than the others! She would even walk around the house saying, "Hello, I'm Nanny McPhee." with the accent and everything!
Her new smile is beautiful and she had a great time showing it off to all of her friends and teachers at our homeschool co-op!
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Garden
Well, we finally did it!Our garden box has been built - thanks to Joe and Casey! We filled it with "dirt", 1 cu yd of topsoil + 1 cu yd of compost (and I even did the math to figure our how many cubic yards we needed!). Whoever said, "Hard work never hurt anyone" must not have hauled 2 yards of dirt using 5 gallon buckets from a trailer in the driveway to a garden against the back fence!
We have sectioned the garden off so that we know exactly where to plant everything and have added marigolds to help with pest control.
We will begin adding seedlings that we started inside along with some seeds either today or tomorrow, and we have the tarp ready to throw on top for the cold nights we still have awaiting us.
Plus, thanks to a new friend's blog I am hoping to talk Joe into building us a compost box to help "feed" our plants throughout the summer.
I will keep you posted as the days get longer and warmer!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Locks of Love
Last month Casey made her second hair donation to Locks of Love. This time she gave over 12 inches of her hair! She had been growing it out for a year and a half and finally decided it was time. We had a bad experience last time with the salon that we went to so I cut it myself this time. She LOVES her new haircut and can do so much more with it. I love that she did this, it shows that even a child can make a difference in someone else's life. She is learning that sacrifices are good and that she can give just as much as any adult, sometimes more.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Free Food!
Thanks to my friend Angel over at Faithful & Frugal for helping me learn how to shop better!Also, thanks to Casey for taking the picture!
Here is the photo of the groceries and household items that I bought today. You should be able to double click the photo to see it enlarged. Every item on the table was bought on sale, buy one get one free (BOGO), and/or bought with a coupon (or two!).
The total price before sales, BOGO, and coupons was $220.19, about what I used to spend every other week for a very full shopping basket of groceries. My basket was every bit as full but for all of this I only paid $116.26. (Some of the items that are hard to see are as follows: 28 rolls of toilet paper, 10 boxes of frozen vegetables, 8 boxes of pasta, 6 containers of 100% apple juice, 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, 3 cartons of orange juice, 12 cans of soup, 2 bags of frozen biscuits, 2 bags of pizza rolls, and 2 small cartons of strawberries).
To me, that is $104.13 of FREE FOOD!
Happy Shopping!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Cave
Here are the photos from the cave at Cheeks Bend Bluff trail. Although it appears to be well lit, it is, in fact, VERY dark in the middle! It is also not as big as it looks in the photos. Here is a link to another website with all of the information about the trail and the cave, as well as a book that lists other hikes around Nashville.Special thanks to Casey for taking the majority of the photos on this post and the previous one.
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