Kindergarten

It's official, she's all signed up. We requested and managed to get afternoon kindy for baby-pukes-alot.

Now I think I need a tranquilizer. I can't believe my very last baby is going to kindergarten.

Music Soothes the Savage Beast

(BTW if you're thinking to yourself, Sara's pretty nice. I wouldn't exactly call her a savage beast then I can only say you obviously haven't been around when I have PMS)

I don't know exactly why my brain works this way but I can remember the year an artist put out a particular album and yet I struggle to remember which day is my anniversary or what I had for breakfast this morning. However this means there is a theme song in my head for every occassion. Sometimes there is more than one.

For example I have quite a few songs that chronicle my relationship and feelings with Steve. REO Speedwagon did a song called Can't Fight this Feeling in which they sing: what started out as friendship has grown stronger. We knew each other in high school - since I was fourteen years old.

Alanis Morissette sings Head Over Feet which describes how I feel exactly but particularly this line: You held your breath and the door for me. Thanks for your patience. He has always been such a gentleman. He persisted and won me over.

Anyway you get the idea.

Today I had to run to WalMart for laundry detergent and I caught a piece of Rod Stewart singing Have I Told You Lately which, again, has a line or two in there that makes me think of Steve (You fill my life with laughter) and it started me thinking...

Is there a song out there that sings about love and yet tells the whole story? Don't get me wrong, I like mushy love songs just as much as the next person but really, "take away all my sadness?" As in I'll never be sad again? Or how about, "Ease my troubles, that's what you do." Frankly sometimes he's the source of my troubles.

So here's how I think this song should go:

Have I Told You Lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one else except God above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away most of my sadness,
Sometimes cause me troubles, that's what you do.

For the morning sun in all it's glory,
Meets the day with hope and comfort too,
You fill my life with laughter, somehow you make it better most of the time,
Sometimes cause me troubles, that's what you do.

There's a love less defined,
And it's yours and it's mine,
Like the sun.
And at the end of the day,
We should give thanks and pray,
To The One, to The One.

Repeat Chorus.

Love you Darling!

Shopping

I love shopping online! I found these wonderful prints at AllPosters.com for my living room and


I found a place that custom makes scrubs and I managed to get two made in fabrics I haven't been able to find anywhere else. They're well made and fit beautifully. They're a little more than what I'm used to paying but I've been spoiled by the outlet. They have a fantastic dragon fabric that I want to order next but here are the two I just received Saturday.

Crab Corn Chowder

I'm so proud of myself! Sometime last month (I think) we had dinner at the Canal Street Pub where they have the most awesome Crab Corn Chowder on the planet. I found a recipe for Corn Chowder and I played with it a little. I think I managed to make something very similar to what they served at the Canal Street Pub. Even if it's not exactly the same, it was very good and my family liked it! Now I need to play around and see if I can still get a good flavor out of a less fattening version.

Here's the recipe:

¼ cup chopped green pepper
2 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
1 can (14-3/4 ounces) cream-style corn*
2 cups milk
1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 can (6 ounces) crab meat**
Cajun seasoning to taste***

In a large saucepan, sauté the green pepper, onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in the soup, corn, milk, cream cheese and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until the cream cheese is melted. Serves 4 – 6. Prep. 30 minutes or less.

* I also added about ¼ cup frozen corn because we like corn.
** I used canned crab meat because I didn't want to spend $15 on crab and have the soup end up tasting terrible.
*** I think next time I will also add a little Cayenne Red Pepper. It was spicy enough for the kids but I would have liked a little more bite to mine.

Murder Anyone?

Steve and I have hosted numerous Murder Mystery Parties over the years - usually about one every other year - but it's been probably close to three or more years since our last one. Recently one of our regular party invitees was asking me when we'd be having another and has put me in the mood for murder.

I think I've officially talked Steve into refinishing our living room and dining room floors and once that's done Ed will deliver our new dining room furniture and once that's done.... someone will die.

I'm thinking of buying this murder: Honky Tonk Homicide

A “Texas Style” MURDER MYSTERY DINNER GAME

You lucky redneck! You are about to play a “Texas Style” murder mystery dinner party game!

It is “last call” for someone at Bubba’s Bar in Cactus, Texas… A nasty murder investigation sure can disrupt Karaoke Night, especially when everyone in town is a suspect. The residents of the Cactus Court Trailer Park must find the murderer among them. For a small Texas town, Cactus has plenty of dirty secrets, double lives, torrid affairs and alien abductions!

This is a one of a kind party your friends won’t forget! Treat your guests to our fabulous Trailer Park and Texas Favorites recipes! Find out who picks up the tab for this Honky Tonk Homicide!

THE SUSPECTS:

SHERIFF SISSY WESSON –She is as beautiful as she is treacherous.

CARNEY FOLK-A sleazy carnival worker just passing through town.

ROWDY LAWLESS-A member of the feared “Angels of Hades” biker gang.

REVERREND JIM BOB ETERNITY-A fire and brimstone TV preacher.

MARY KAY ETERNITY-Reverend Jim Bob’s wife and TV sidekick.

DUSTY DIAMOND-A hometown boy who dreams of musical stardom

TWYLA FLEETWOOD- Bingo addict and owner of the Cactus Court Trailer Park.

CRYSTALLINE DANIELS-A barmaid at “Bubba’s Bar” and the town tramp.

EXTRA GUESTS/NON-SUSPECTS:

VIRGIL ROSWELL-An oilfield worker and alien abductee.

HENNA BOUFFANT-Beauty shop owner and the town gossip hound.

The last time I had a party my friend Md was a lady of the evening. When I told her I was thinking about another party she said she was game but I had to promise not to make her the prostitute this time. I made myself laugh out loud thinking about her reaction to being given the part of "Crystalline Daniels."

Now I have to start thinking about the menu. I was leaning toward BBQ but I'd either have to buy it pre-packaged or I'd have to find a restaurant that would make it as take-out because I was reading a blog about making BBQ from scratch and there's no way I'd ever have the patience to do all that. I'm waaaaaay too lazy. Although now that I'm typing this it popped in my head that we have a Smokey Bones close by. I'll bet they have a curb-side take-out thing going on. Or I could do Tex-Mex. That gives me more options for having courses. And I happen to know from first hand experience that my BIL has a great recipe for Rice n'Beans.

I'm going to have to borrow some country music cds from my in laws. Maybe get a red checkered table cloth. Hmmm. Lots to think about. I love this part of the party planning. The hardest part will be limiting my guest list to four other couples. *sigh*

You're A Keeper

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I'm not big on holidays in general and I've never been terribly romantic. That's not to say I don't like romance; I'm just not good at coming up with romantic ideas and sometimes I have trouble appreciating my husband's romantic gestures. Steve is an incurable romantic which is not something I think most people would suspect about him. Years ago he used to buy me a dozen red roses for Valentine's Day and another half dozen for each of our mothers. Finally I forbade him to do it anymore. I told him I could think of a lot better ways to spend $50 than on flowers. See, not very romantic am I?

Anyway, two days after Valentine's Day one of our kids ended up getting sick and being the good man that he is, he ran to WalMart for medicine in the middle of the night. He came home and told me he had a present for me. This is what I found in the bag:


One of the things I love best about this man is his sense of humor.

Prize Winning Artist

Ty entered two drawings into the Elementary Fine Arts competition under the category Art: Monochromatic and he won both first and second place! I am so proud of him!

The tree frog is the first place winner. He started drawing it a couple of weeks ago and originally intended to draw two other frogs with it but he became ill and wasn't able to finish the other two.

The dolphin took second place and it was one he drew quickly last night when we realized the artwork was due today!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I ran home from work, caught an hour nap on the couch and then ran out to the school for G's 2nd grade chapel program. Every year each class takes one of the chapel programs that they have every Wednesday and they perform a little skit. The first year that S3 was in one I went thinking it was just a little thing. It is a big deal. They put costumes on and do a little play. They prepare for it for months and months. They memorize lines. They have a reception afterward.

I slept through it.

I know, I know, I get worst mom of the year award. G didn't know what time it started and I asked the boys who have both been attending chapel every Wednesday for years and years and they told me ten. I got there at nine thirty and it was over. Fortunately G was getting so much attention over her hot pink cast that she didn't seem to really care that much.


After that I ran home, grabbed a shower and then E and I scooted over to a diner to meet Phil and his family for lunch. I know I mentioned Phil in another post about books but I don't believe that I mentioned that his lovely wife just gave birth to their second daughter. I was beyond honored that they took the time to visit just so I could hold the baby. She is so precious! Before I went I told Steve that either I needed to hold this baby or he was going to have to buy me a cat. E will be five this year. In thirteen years this is the longest amount of time that I've gone without being pregnant or having a baby myself. I think the plan backfired. That baby is so tiny and lovable (you should have seen the teeny diapers!). I couldn't talk Tiffany and the baby into coming home to live with me so I guess I'll be looking for a cat.

I had to cut that visit shorter than I would have liked because I had to run Ty to the doctor's office. He has been home from school for the whole week mostly with complaints of a headache. I needed to get an excuse note from the doc since he's been out longer than three days and it turns out the poor kid has strep throat. So one more day home from school and a little amoxicillin and he'll be good as new. I just can't figure out why he'd have a headache but not a sore throat.

After that I was supposed to meet up with some girls from work for dinner and a drink (and to pick up men but I was planning on skipping that part) but I ended up passing out and sleeping like the dead for the rest of the night. When I got up today I had a message on my phone from one of the girls saying they were all beat too and going to make it another night.

I think I saw Steve yesterday. I waved to him when we passed on the road when I was coming home from and he was going to work. I must need to slow down.

Mass Movie Reviews 2

I've watched a bunch of movies the last two months but I haven't had a chance to review them for you lately so I'll do another mass movie review. I'm going to start with the worst and work my way up to the best.

Gattaca
It's about a guy whose parents chose to have a child naturally with flaws and imperfections rather than have a geneticist manufacture a perfect child. Because of his flaws and imperfections he is classified as being a lesser person and despite his intelligence and hard work, he is a janitor instead of an astronaut. So he trades lives with a man who is genetically manufactured but who has broken his spine and is now paralyzed, all for the singular goal of going to outer space as an astronaut.

This movie has a great premise and some really good (or at least really attractive) actors in it. I'm not sure where or why it failed but it was so boring I fell asleep about twenty mintues to the end of the movie. Steve watched to the end and filled me in on exactly what I missed which wasn't much.

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law with fun little apperances by Tony Shalhoub and Ernest Borgnine.


Crank
I am madly in love with Jason Statham. I'll just confess that right now. The guy is hot and he knows Kung Fu. Just thinking about the oil fight scene in The Transporter is enough to melt me into a puddle. However much I love Mr. Statham and wanted to love this movie, it stunk. I mean it was horrible. Finally about half way through I realized either it was so bad it was funny or I have a very twisted sense of humor because I started laughing. Once I decided it was a comedy and not an action/drama I actually liked the movie a little bit.

This one is about a hit man who gets injected with some "Chinese $#!%" that slows his body down until eventually his organs just quit working. The only way to counter the injection is with adrenaline so he must keep moving, keep shooting, keep performing dangerous stunts and also apparently have sex in a public place.

My favorite scene in the whole movie was during a shoot-out. Bullets were flying and the camera was grabbing typical random shots of car windows imploding because of random bullets and things of that nature. They panned to an old woman sitting in her apartment with a green parakeet in a cage. One of the random bullets flew through her window and the bird ended up as a splat of green feathers on the far wall. I HOWLED. I laughed so hard I cried.

So if you like really dumb movies - so dumb they're funny - then rent this one. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

Starring: Jason Statham and Amy Smart.


Tian di Xiong Xin ("Armageddon")
Again, I have the hots for the main actor in this movie, Andy Lau so I was prepared to like the movie no matter what. It wasn't bad but there was only one scene in the whole movie that involved Kung Fu. The premise was kinda weird too.

The movie starts when a scientist is pretty much vaporized at the same time Andy Lau's satellite company loses a bunch of their satellite signals. The movie sets me up the whole way for it to be a sci-fi thriller and I was expecting there to be some crazy outer space weaponry that allowed someone to be microwaved via satellite, similar to the weapon used in Brimstone by Preston and Child. In reality it turned out to be the literal end of the world and Andy Lau was supposed to be set up as a sort of Antichrist, a job offer which he then turned down (sorry to spoil the ending for you).

All in all it wasn't the worst movie I watched. It was a little weird and I probably wouldn't watch it again. I do not recommend it if you're looking for lots of action.

Starring: Andy Lau, Michelle Reis, and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang.


The Seat Filler
A struggling law student, Derrick, takes a job filling empty seats at celebrity awards shows in order to make enough money to pay off his school debts. At one occassion he finds himself sitting next to a gorgeous and famous singer, Jhnelle and they seem to really click. She mistakes him for the seat's actual occupant, a famous celebrity lawyer Al. He woos her using the lawyer's identity believing that if she knows he is really a broke law student and not a rich lawyer, she will not look twice at him. Eventually her exboyfriend does a little research and exposes Derrick for what he really is, a seat filler. The question remains can Jhnelle be in love with a nobody?

The plot sounded so much like a cute little romance novel that I couldn't resist the rental. I actually ened up watching it on Netflix's new "Watch Now" feature which worked great with absolutely no pauses to allow the bandwidth to catch up to the movie. I wasn't thrilled that I couldn't fast forward or rewind (at least that I could see) but there was a pause feature that comes in handy when watching a movie while children are awake in the house.

Anyway the actual movie ended up being very light and very cute. I enjoyed the romance. Don't watch it expecting some big piece of drama. It plays out exactly the way romance novels play out. They only lightly touch on conflict and everyone ends up happily ever after. Perfect escape movie.

Starring: Duane Martin, Kelly Rowland and DeRay Davis.


The Hiding Place
I'm sure most of you know the story of Corrie Ten Boom but if you don't, I highly recommend you read her book rather than watch this movie. While the story stayed true to the original there were parts that were glossed over or completely cut, probably for length purposes.

Corrie, Betsie and Casper "Papa" Ten Boom hid Jewish people in their home during the Nazi occupation of Holland in the 40's. Eventually they were caught and sent to concentration camps where their faith carried them through the horrors of their daily lives.

I rented this because my friend's daughter needed to get the story read for a class. Her teacher gave her permission to watch the movie instead of reading the book but it wasn't available in the store so I bumped it up my queue for her. I had read the book years and years before but the story is no less moving now than it was then. Unfortunately it was made in the 70's and I believe by a Christian studio so the quality of the filmography is not what it would be if the movie were made today. It is also very slow moving without tension despite some very scary situations. However that being said, the movie does stay true to the story and the main message of Corrie's book which is Christian love and forgiveness. Well worth the rental.

Starring: Jeannette Clift, Julie Harris, and Arthur O'Connell.

You can read a much shortened version of "The Hiding Place" here: "The Secret Room"


The Illusionist

Edward Norton plays Eisenheim, a magician in the early 1900's Vienna. He falls in love with Sophie, a girl who is above his social station and they plan to run away together. She is caught and he spends the next fifteen years or so wandering and learning to become an illusionist. When he returns to Vienna he finds Sophie is engaged to marry the Crown Prince who is an cruel man plotting to overthrow his own father. Eisenheim attempts to free Sophie from her engagement and a mystery ensues as a result.

I don't want to say too much because I'd hate to ruin the movie for you. I did figure the mystery out right away but it didn't spoil anything for me. I highly recommend this one, especially if you like romantic, mysterious, period-pieces.

Starring: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell (another hottie and a good "bad guy"), and Paul Giamatti.

You Make A Better Door

A couple of nights ago I was watching TV and E decided to peel an orange into my little trash can that I have next to my chair for my stitching trash. I looked at her and I said, "E, I can't see."

She kept peeling her orange and said to me, "Do you have your eye-tacts in?"

I said, "Yes I have my contacts in but I still can't see because you're standing right in front of the TV."

Presidents' Day Trivia

And you were wondering why you didn't get mail today, weren't you?

I came across an interesting piece of trivia while I was researching my, er... I mean Ty's fourth grade president report on Martin Van Buren and I thought today would be a good day to share it with you.

"Van Buren was from Kinderhook, New York, sometimes referred to as Old Kinderhook in speeches and print. O.K. Clubs soon formed to support Van Buren's campaign. "O.K." later came to mean all right."

Happy Presidents' Day!

Big Brother Rule #13:

If a younger sibling attacks...


Make sure you pound her into the dust so that she never forgets that you are Big Brother.

The Best Birthday Ever

Sometimes I think G gets lost in the shuffle, being number three out of four kids and so I wanted to make sure her birthday was as fantastic as she'd been imagining it would be. On her actual birthday she wanted a cake to take to school with her picture on it.













After school I took her to a pottery painting place which ended up being a total trip. The owner of the shop didn't acknowledge us when we walked in the door and when she finally did ask if we were there to paint and we said yes, she just waved her hand and said, "Go ahead." I had to ask her what specifically we were supposed to do as we'd never been there before. Ty had a couple of really good questions about the whole process and even though he stood next to her when he asked the questions, she completely ignored him. While we were painting she was talking to a guy about business being slow and barely making the rent and I could only think, "Gee I wonder why." (Insert sarcasm here) But we didn't let it ruin our fun and Grace painted a fantastic little mermaid. They've finished firing it and I'm going to go pick it up tomorrow.

She wanted ribs for dinner so my in-laws drove up and we met them at TGIFriday's for dinner where G had two orders of ribs. On the ride home she moaned that her tummy hurt. I guess so!

The next day we got a phone call from G's friend V. Her family had gotten their hands on some last minute tickets to see Monsters, Inc. On Ice and wanted to know if G could go along with them. I sent her with $40 - twenty for dinner and twenty for some sort of souvenir. She came home with $4 change and told me for dinner she'd had cotton candy, icees, popcorn, Sprite...



Then we planned her birthday party for today. She is always fascinated when I have my toenails done and since last summer she's said she wanted to have a pedicure for her birthday. We invited two girls from her class (V and C) to come to the mall with us and have a pedicure party. I realized afterward that they were like Charlie's Angels or something - blonde, redhead and brunette. I know there are a ton of pictures but they were just so cute and the people in the nail salon were so tickled to have them there that I went a little camera mad.

That scrub they do on your feet really does tickle a LOT!

I thought this was so cute! What typical girls, having themselves a little goss.

C knew exactly what she wanted done to her toes and she was not shy about it.

They were all ready for the bathroom by the time it came to getting their nails dried. I had to do a lot of talking and picture taking to get them to sit there LOL!

The guy who did their toes was so into this birthday party thing. He posed them for this picture.

They held hands all the way to the upstairs food court and jumped over all the dark tiles.

They were starved and Steve was asking them if they wanted just one fry or one chicken nugget. They were telling him that they wanted one of everything on the menu.

Gift time! Both her friends must know her well because she got crafty stuff and makeup.

I put together a little foam craft kit for them to make and fill with their goodies. I had a foam magic princess wand kit for each of them but we ran out of time. Who knew four hours wouldn't be enough?

I wanted them to pose for this cute picture but...

They wanted to pose for this picture.

Cheers!

Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came...

The staff at the urgent care center in Elverson are starting to recognize and remember us I think. Soon they'll be calling child protective services on me... Either that or dedicating a room just for my family.

Yep, you read that right. We paid another visit to urgent care. G broke her thumb. It's a nondisplaced fracture of her left thumb which means it isn't knocked out of position so we didn't have to rush right over to the ortho. She's splinted up and I have to get her an appointment for next week.

Want to guess how she did it? Girl on sled, sled on thumb. *sigh*

Retro Day

The kids' school had a "Spirit Week" two weeks ago (it's taken me forever to upload pics from my camera). Every day had a different theme such as Hobo Day, Color Day, and Retro Day. It took a lot of talking to convince Ty that Retro Day didn't necessarily mean G had to dress in 50's or 60's like he and S3 did. She went as a flapper. S3 said they practically had the cast of Grease in his 7th grade class. He wore a leather jacket over his "costume."

Happy Valentine's Day

I can't imagine anything more romantic than this:

Skeleton Couple Locked in Embrace for 5,000 Years

"Buried between 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric lovers are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig."



Locked in an eternal embrace

"We have found plenty of women embracing children but never a couple. Much less a couple hugging -- and they really are hugging. It's possible that the man died first and then the woman was killed in sacrifice to accompany his soul."

Happy 8th Birthday Gracie!

New Spread for the Bed

I've been un-enamored of our bedding for a little while now but Steve is not keen on change so even though our spread is almost ten years old and even though it's a bright pink, purple, yellow and green plaid and even though he never much liked it in the first place, he really didn't want to get a new bedspread. Well finally it started ripping and now the rip in the spread is so bad there's no choice but to get a new one.

So today I was at the Pennies outlet looking at scrubs (they have the best prices) and on a whim I went upstairs to look at the household section and wound up buying a new comforter. It's jacquards, velvet and silk and best of all because I got it at the Pennies outlet it was only $60. I still need to get the shams and curtains but they didn't have them in the store. I'll have to order online. I guess since right now our walls are pink it's time to get out the paintbrush again. I want to paint them that buttery tan color in the spread.

Sleepless in Pennsylvania

Well it's been two years and I was just laughing at my dad for getting his juror notice in the mail so it figures it's about my turn. I don't know how it works but every two years both my father and I get jury duty notice within months of each other.

So Monday I worked then went straight from work to the court house. I ran into a really nice lady in the parking garage and sorta attached myself to her. She was pleasantly chatty and that helped me keep my eyes open. There were 150 or so of us that day and they split us into two groups for two criminal cases. Luckily for me I was not chosen to serve on the jury and by 11:30 I was back in the holding tank with my jacket, fantasies of my pjs dancing in my head.

It was not to be.

The guy in charge told us to go to lunch and come back by 1:15. They were going to take the losers from our group and the losers from the other group and throw us back together to form another jury pool. That case was horrible, horrible, horrible. The stuff of nightmares. I was praying the whole time I wouldn't be picked. I didn't even want to be in the same room with the defendant. I think just about half the jury stood up at some point and said they just didn't think they could be fair and impartial. It was bad. Again luckily for me, I was not picked to serve on that trial jury. I heard later that he was convicted. I hope it helps bring peace to the victims' family.

I think I got out of there around four, picked up E from my sister's house, grabbed Ty and G and ran to Body Zone for G's first indoor game this season. They ended up getting totally creamed. The score board went up to 10. I lost track at around 15. Eventually I saw on their website that G's team lost 25 - 0. Ouch. She really played her little heart out. She is a very intense competitor and afterward she invariably falls apart in my arms, her little body wracked with sobs. Then she's ok again. It's like she has to cry out all her tension before she can move on. She even cries when she wins. Her coach said to me, "We're going to have to work on that. This is supposed to be fun." Yeah. Good luck with that Coach.

I think I finally crawled in bed around 9 pm. Nearly 36 hours awake which I think might be a record for me but I'm not sure. I've heard one can be declared legally insane after three sleepless days. I was half way there.

Here's a bonus funny story for you:

While we were at soccer E was getting bored so I pulled my mp3 player out and hooked her up. She immediately started dancing as she usually does, executing beautiful pirouettes and butt-wiggles. She was performing a particularly complicated pirouette and ran *SMACK* into the clear glass wall that surrounds the soccer field. Being the good mother that I am I immediately started howling with laughter. This sweet grandmotherly type - you know the stereotypical little old lady with white hair and cookies type - turns to me and says, "Maybe we shouldn't laugh until we find out if she's ok."

I said, "Right now I can't see anything through my tears of laughter anyway."

By the by, she was ok. A little embarrassed but ok. Just don't tell her I told you this story.