It Is Hereditary.

I am pretty sure now. You'd think that after yesterday fiasco I'd give up on trying to find gadgets for family. Apparently, I inherited my Dad's love for all things technical as well as his lack of judgement in that area. Because this morning as I was getting kids ready for school, I started thinking about mom-in-law really missing her daughter who lives in AL. And you know what was the first thing that came to my mind? Vebcam. Wouldn't it be great? It's free with high speed internet, they would be able to see each other often and it would be killing two birds with one stone, for I am pretty sure S (the daughter) doesn't have one of those, either. So, we can get two, mail them early and they can have a virtual Christmas together. What a present!
Well, in-laws don't have high speed internet. Ooops! Hubby says that it's not available in their area, but I am sure he is wrong. I e-mailed mom-in-law today to check on that. I also talked to sis to get her prospective. She will be discussing it with her hubbs and calling me back. I do hope it works out, it would truly be a present that keeps giving.
We will see.

Eating Cake And Being Frustrated.

Christmas is not about presents, no doubt. Still, it's a tradition to give presents on Christmas and I had what seemed to me like a good game plan. I was going to take full advantage of Cyber Monday and get a Kindle for my husband and a digital frame for my parents. Easy enough, right?
Um, not for me. First, i don't buy anything without reading reviews. So, let's start with the frame. I read so many reviews on so many brands and models I can't keep them straight anymore. It seems like every frame has at least one review saying 'this one freezes after a month. Don't buy', 'it goes dark and quits', or 'it says it has internal memory, but it really doesn't' (the last one's not a problem, flash cards are so cheap these days) Every.Single.One. After spending hours on the computer I am not even sure they will like it. They are attached to their computer anyway and Dad carries his lap-top everywhere (he even brought it here when they came to visit, because, you know, we live in Africa and don't have a computer. LOL) Also, Dad LOVES playing with electronics, they have lost sooooo many computers because he thinks he knows what he is doing. I feel that no matter the quality of the frame it will be short lived. I have no idea what to do.
Now, to the Kindle. I though that would be an awesome idea for M. He LOVES to read. The thing is, I can't find anything under 150$. Also, he loves reading BLOGS. I don't think you can get those on Kindle. I doubt I will be able to get books that he would like, either.
I am back where I started this morning.
As to the cake, it's soo good and we have a lot of it left...

Parade Of Lights.

Parade of Lights takes place every year after Thanksgiving. It's wonderful and colorful and a lot of fun especially when it isn't too cold. This year it was on Jadin's birthday and it was also the warmest it has ever been. We parked the pickup along the rout early so that we had a comfortable place to sit.
Here we are, all ready for the show to begin:


A few of our favourites:


This one is done by our Airforce base and the airplane was moving! It was awesome!


We went out to eat (I baked all day and didn't realize that the kids hadn't been fed until it was time to leave for the parade, so we all were starving!) Rachael fell asleep on the way back from the restaurant. I took her out of the car, dug her out of the snowsuit and put her warm jammies on. She never woke up. I don't think she has been that sound asleep ever in her life.

So Many things to Post, So Little Time

First, my firstborn son, Jadin, turned six on Saturday.
I am still in denial. He can't be six! I remember his birth like it was yesterday. And now look at this tall young man!
It is a family tradition to invite our friend and doula and her husband to dinner on Jadin's birthday. This sweet lady was on a romantic getaway with her hubby when my water broke. She left their expensive hotel in the middle of the night and rushed back to assist me in labor and delivery...

Mr. and Mrs. G had other plans this Saturday so we got together on Sunday night. We also had Pastor and his wife over.


From left to right: Jadin, Pastor's wife, Pastor, Mr.G, Mrs.G, the doula.

I made a dinosaur cake for home and a spider man cake for church:

It took me two days and an extra batch of dough to figure out the baking thing (this cake is half a sheet, big enough to serve 50, so having to bake it twice wasn't fun). It was so worth it, though. Both cakes were divine! The cream cheese filling is perfect and I was able to find a good recipe for butter cream icing that would be stiff enough for piping and still taste good. I still remember having to throw the whole dinosaur cake out a few years ago when I used store bought icing (it was so bad even the kids who normally eat anything with sugar in it refused to eat it).
One of the highlights of the weekend was receiving a package from my family. Mom sent real Ukrainian chocolate and caviar and presents for all the kids (for Jadin's birthday) We were in caviar heaven! All three of my kids L-O-V-E caviar and we ate two cans! M. says that though he doesn't mind it, it's not his favourite. Fine by me! LOL.
I also made chocolate cars on a pretzel for Jadin to take to school today, but be had to stay home because of the weather. Oh, well, he's be happy to take them there tomorrow.
Now, with Jadin's birthday behind I have Rachael's to plan for. I am considering making one of those dolly cakes where the cake is the dress and you stick a plastic barbie on top. That should be interesting.
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Christmas time is great for flute. I had so much fun playing all those carols on Sunday and quite a few people said they really enjoyed it afterwards.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of Those Days.

I woke up this morning feeling a little bit under the weather. Not really sick, or anything, just a sore throat and low energy (that last one I should be used to by now, right? No, not really) And it's 3F outside. I HATE having to do anything when I am cold.
What I want to do is sit at home with a book. What I have to do is run to the store and get things for Thanksgiving dinner and for Jadin's birthday cakes (yeah, there going to be more than one), buy Jadin's birthday present, clean the house (in desparate need of being cleaned, too) and do laundery.
When I am done with all that, I need to go work out, though Rachael said this morning 'Momma not work out, momma not faaaaat!' (I wish! With Thanksgiving and a birthday coming I can't really afford to not go to the gym)
Oh, and than there's Jadin's Thanksgiving program tomorrow morning. I decided I am not going to make food (being Daniel's room mom and having to organize Thanksgiving for 150 people on Monday was enough).
And than there was the incident yesterday with Rachael and the teacher of the other pre-school class. I was at school before 8 am chopping, peeling, arranging, getting the food ready, recording the program on two different cameras and cleaning up afterwards. Rachael didn't get any of my attention. She was such a good girl, never really making a fuss. Until it was time to serve the food. She saw the toys in Mrs.H's class and went in to play with them (I am not talking fancy toys, stuff like babies and blankets). Mrs.H discovered here there and brought her out kicking and screaming telling me she can't touch the toys. She will break them. SERIOUSLY??? You can SEE I am helping with the food, you KNOW I have been here for 3 hours with her. How hard is it to give her a baby? Is she really going to break it in the 20 minutes while I am serving the food? Rachael cried the whole time while I was trying to feed the boys, help with the food and clean-up.
I am upset. I understand rules, but there was not compassion or understanding. Just rules. She can't touch.
Oh, well. I am glad Daniel's in Mrs.R's class. And for Easter I am going to stay low. After all, Mrs. H has a room mom, too.

'Tis The Season

I LOVE Thanksgiving and Christmas season. I love driving around in the cold weather looking at Christmas lights decorating people's houses. I enjoy fixing hot cocoa for my family and going Christmas tree hunting with our church, and watching the parade of lights.
But not only is it a festive time of year, it holds a special significance to our family. Two days after Thanksgiving our firstborn son took his first breaths, made his first cries and wore his first outfits. I even picked the day of his birth (no, not a c-section, my water broke two nights after Thanksgiving just like I predicted a month earlier.) Also, a day before New Year's Eve or third child and first daughter made her appearance.
This time of the year is very special not only for us but also for my sister-in-law and her family as they celebrate birthdays of two of their children as well. Needless to say, it means LOTS of shopping.
Though I really hate shopping for myself I LOVE shopping for my family and extended family, especially if I can do it by myself. M likes to participate, too, and I never buy anything for our children on my own, but since he is so very busy and I know what my sister-in-law wants for her children (because we are girls and we TALK (and LISTEN!) it's much easier for me to do it with just Rachael in tow while boys are at school and hubby is at work. In fact, Rachael and I held the following conversation in the car today. Me 'Rachael, mommy needs to stop by the house and get a coke.' Rachael 'No-o-o-o. I want to go shopping!' What can I say, it's a girl thing :)
So, we went to T.arget (couldn't find the lacing beads for Daniel's class but I spied a couple of things that will make a good birthday gift for Jadin. Now I need M's approval and we are good to go.) and TJ.Maxx and bought Christmas gifts for all the nephews and nieces a birthday present for E., my niece. I am going to get a bottle of wine from our local winery (their wines are exceptional! when Sister-in-law and family were visiting, they bought a whole case to take home, so I figured that would be a good present) for sister and brother-in-law, wrap all the presents and mail! I am doing it early because E's birthday is in the beginning of December and that way we only have to go to the post office once.
Here's what I got

Oh, and since I couldn't find those beads for Daniel's class I showed the lace-and-trace that I got for one of the nieces to his teacher and she said that she loved it even better than the beads. Problem solved!
Can't wait to start wrapping them up!

Things Work Out.

Somehow they always do.
I called the pastor's wife yesterday to see if she would watch the kids. She said she would exept she needs to take another church member to the airport at that time. She called another lady from our church to see if she would do it, but she had things going on, as well.
I tried calling other parents to see if they would take my place at school serving. The food was ready to go and I was even willing to bring it to the school.
No one answered the phone.
Great.
As a last resort, I called my neighbor. She works so odds were not good. But I had no one else to turn to. We are not close, though they are very friendly and we exchange dog sitting services when one of us has to go out of town. Lucy (my cocker) loves them! She loves S and plays well with their dogs.
So, I called. You never know, if she is willing to watch my dog maybe she can watch the kids for an hour and a half. She said she will take time off work and come watch them!
WOW! I could not believe my ears. After all, we are not really friends, we just chat occasionally. She said since she works alone (cleaning houses and running errands for people) she can leave and go back later to finish the job. I was moved to tears. I could not believe someone would do that for me. She also said she would be willing to do that any time I need her to. For free! I would never use her generosity without a very serious reason, but what I relief! For years I've lived in this city with no one to turn to in case of emergency. The words are not enough to express my gratitude.
I made her a loaf of bread that night since she commented on how good the house smelled (I baked some bread to take to school) You should have seen the expression on her husbands face when I walked in with a bag of groceries (she came back from the store and had her hands full so I helped her carry stuff inside) and a loaf of bread! it was precious. LOL. I explained that she babysat for me earlier hence the bread.
What a blessing it is to have neighbors like that!

Bad News.

Not that a child throwing up is ever good news. But a child throwing up on that one day when your hubbs is out of town and you HAVE to be at the child's school serving teachers lunch...What am I supposed to do?
I am the room mom for Daniel's class. It means I help organize things, like Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter and serve teachers lunch once a year on the designated day (all of us room moms take turn doing that once a month to show our appreciation. It's not hard, there's only 15 people to cook for including secretary and the principal) Today is my day. And Jadin was sick as a dog last night. He threw up all over his bed and the chest of drawers, the living room floor and the bathroom, of course.
Fun.
We have no family in town, no one to watch them. All my friends work. The only person who might agree to watch them for me would be pastor's wife. She is a sweetheart and I know she will agree unless she has other plans. The thing is, if Jadin has a stomach bug, I don't want to expose J. to it. The are leaving early next week to go visit family.
I have no idea what to do. I can't bring Jadin to school with me. I can't leave him alone at home. I don't have any one to watch him. And I can't re-schedule.
Last year, when I was room mom for Jadin's class, I made sure the lunch was scheduled on M's day off. He would take the kids and I would go and do my thing. The night before M came down with a stomach virus. He was miserable. I was miserable. Neither of us slept. I had three kids in tow including a baby.
I think this is the last time I volunteer to be room mom.

Meet Adam

And here he is in all his glory. Like I said, I am not good at these things.

Now,so you don't think that those three years of humiliation at school didn't pay off, here's my semi-successful project (the dress and the hat,not the baby, she is drop dead gorgeous and a total success :)

Why I don't like school. ANY school.

I don't like them because of projects. I HATE PROJECTS! I am not creative, or handy, or patient. I do not see in my mind how things will turn out. My worst nightmare was home ed class back in 6th-8th grades. We were taught to make clothes from scratch, to measure, make patterns, cut and sew everything from a house robe to dress clothes. My teacher always showed my projects to everyone in the class to demonstrate how things should NOT be done. I once permanently attached a pant leg from one of my projects to an arm hole of another project. And then had to take the stitches out and cut a hole in the said leg while doing it. (Sigh.)
Now, fast forward a week ago. My son comes from school with this huge paper turkey saying that he has to decorate it and they will hang it in the school for their Thanksgiving festivities. UH-OH! You mean, I am supposed to HELP you buy the stuff to decorate the turkey with and then GLUE it on and EVERYONE in the school will see it???? All freaked out, I started contemplating the possibility of switching schools after our 'art project' is seen by others. (I love my son too much to make him go back to that school the day after). No, we already payed for the school year.
(SIIIIIIGH)
(God, can I exchange my musical abilities for a little bit of creativity and a new pair of hands? No? What do you mean it doesn't work that way?)

At least he is still little and in time the turkey will be forgotten.

On top of all that he called his turkey 'Adm' (I did write another 'a' in there not that anyone will notice after they see the poor guy)

Why I Like My Boys' School

The size of the class
The wonderful teachers
The christian curriculum
The fun they are having while learning new things
And, of course, this:


And here is Jadin and his Itsy Bitsy Spider

What We Have Been Up To.

I know, I know. I haven't posted in a while. There's simply not much going on worth to be mentioned here, unless you want to listen to me bragging about my flute accomplishments (I can now reach all the notes except for third B and forth C. YAY!)
We've been having wonderful fall weather here, staying in the 60s for the most part. I do NOT care for fall or winter because of the cold, the wind and the muck so I am really happy it's still warm.
Halloween was nice. I have a hard time celebrating the evil spirits, so we don't decorate or dress up (we can have fun dressing up and playing on any other day, and there's plenty of candy in stores) Our church hosted a nice Reformation day evening service complete with singing, a great message by this man and treats and fellowship afterwards. The kids had their treats and we didn't have to compromise our values. Wonderful!
Kids are having no school this Thursday and Friday and M's bosses have been insisting he take his vacation days. So, we are going to visit grandparents. And since we have wonderful neighbours who are willing to take in our dog, we don't have to worry about M's parents chaining our Lucy in their barn and listen to her desperate cries all night. She simply loves S and A and their two dogs. S keeps Lucy in her house at night and lets her play with her dogs during the day. I L-O-V-E them!
Rachael is talking more each and every day. We went out to eat on Sat. night to our favorite place and the kids always get ice-cream after their meal. I was holding Rachael's bowl so that she doesn't dump ice-cream on herself. She said 'Don't touch it! Momma get her own ice-cream!'. She is not yet two! What am I going to do when she is 13?