Monday, January 28, 2008

Trivits!

I love making bread and the smell of it when it's baking...



And today Susie gave me a trivit that she had made... Isn't it beautiful!




Saturday, January 26, 2008

Play Date

Samantha had a new friend over to play today... Her name is Olivia and she is in Samantha's class... She is a nice little girl and I am so thankful that Samantha chooses nice friends... They made play-doh food for all the Webkinz... When it was getting time to go I had Olivia call her mom and tell her she could pick her up between 7:30 / 8:00... So, Olivia says to her mom: you can pick me up at 7:38pm... We all laughed...

Friday, January 25, 2008

Math & Science Night At School

Samantha and I played Tug-O-War aginst 2 3rd grade boys... We lost... Who knew 9 year old boys were so strong!

In school they had been talking about momentum and every time Miss C said balls the children would giggle... So not a lot was accomplished that day... I told Miss C we giggle at our house too when someone says balls... So, at dinner time John came into the kitchen and asked Samantha what I was making for dinner... She said: spaghetti and meat spheres!... No one says balls anymore now, we say spheres and we still giggle!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Dress like a character from your favorite book day...

Yesterday the kids got to dress up like their favorite book character... Samantha chose Lucy a Beagle dog from the chapter book she is currently reading... I'm not sure who her teacher was supposed to be but she is cute... And again I have to rave about Samantha's teachers this year, they are absolutely wonderful...

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

This is how cool our car guy is...

Samantha had a blister... and he set her up on the counter and put a band aide on for her!

I Finally Finished It!

I have been making so many things for other people over the holidays and I began thinking that I had not made anything for Samantha. Whenever I would finish a project she would come over and look at it and tell me how much she liked it... She must have been wondering where her present was...

Friday, January 18, 2008

sometimes it's nice just to sit quietly and think...

The bulb on the big TV in the living room blew out Wednesday night. Ugh! You have to order a new bulb and they cost around $80 plus they way over charge for shipping. We will never buy that stupid bulb kind of TV again because this is the 3rd bulb in 4 years! Anyway, that left me with quiet last night. I know I could have gone into another room to watch TV, we have a TV in every room, but it was kind of nice to sit in the peace and quite, crocheting and listening to the sounds of the house and my family. I could hear John talking on the phone to someone at work and Samantha in the big bed commenting & answering questions on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader". But the new bulb should be here today and I am glad. One day without TV is plenty... I am addicted to my shows!

Yesterday after school we took my Element in to have the windshield replaced... I love this new place... We had stopped at McDonald's and I was gathering up the trash when one of the service techs came over and said: "Oh, I'll take your trash for you!"... They are so nice there. So, I am driving a little red Accord... It's cute but I miss my Pumpkin...

I think I have mentioned before that I love Samantha's teachers but I was just sitting here thinking for the one millionth time, I really love Samantha's teachers! It is so comforting to know that she is safe, happy and being well educated. Her teachers seem very conscientious about the children really learning. and, one of Samantha's teachers is quite crazy so Samantha is learning that it is not just her mother who exhibits bizarre behavior.

Thursday, January 17, 2008


I found the most beautiful purple yarn that I mixed with some beautiful green wool that I already had and made a scarf and a small purse. The button on the purse is really cool too, pweter with a house, tree and deer etched on it.

Monday, January 14, 2008

It's Snowing

Everything is so pretty and magical when it snows. I love snow. This morning the ground was sprinkled with a light dusting of snow but now it is falling in big beautiful flakes that you can catch and feel melt on your tongue.

So, Saturday Samantha and I went in to the other Honda place to have the other guy look at my cracked windshield. I love this other Honda place... not only are they super nice but they have no problem fixing my windshield...Chris, guy at other Honda place, also washed my Element and sat Samantha up on the counter and put a band aide on her foot where she had a blister... so nice these other Honda guys... While I was there this guy was wandering around. We had exchanged pleasantries and I asked Chris what he did. Chris said he didn't work there, he is just a guy who loves them and every so often stops in to say hi and bring them donuts... Needless to say, the next time I have to deal with a Honda dealership it will be them, they are great...

After Honda Samantha and I went to the thrift store. She found 2 tee shites with sayings... I am pretty particular about the sayings on her clothes but these were okay: "I have a bad case of the Mondays" and "Be careful, I had a bowl of cranky this morning"... On several past thrift store outings Samantha has found some old Garfield books... She loves him so the whole Monday thing is even better to her since Garfield hates Mondays.

The rest of the weekend we did absolutely NOTHING... It was divine... I got all caught up on the shows I had DVR'd and Samantha mostly played on the computer... John was off on Sunday and he finds it really boring when we hang around doing nothing...

Thursday, January 10, 2008

The weather has gone from in the 60's to back in the 30's. I know this is really what January is supposed to feel like but I don't care very much for the cold.

I am finding it strange that it does not feel like a new year to me. I wonder if it is because we were on vacation and I was not at home with time to reflect on 2007 and make resolutions for 2008. As I have mentioned before I love making lists and so my resolutions are rather more like lists of things I wish to do.

I guess now is as good a time as any to make a list for 2008:

1. Clean out Samantha's bedroom and playroom
2. Drink more water
3. Go hiking in the Hocking Hills with Samantha to identify birds and animal tracks
4. Convince John and Samantha to go canoing with me
5. Finish making Samantha's blanket (I feel bad... she sees me making things for everyone else and I haven't made her anything yet...)

(To be continued...)

So, the other day I was driving home and heard a pop and there, on my windshield, appeared a crack. It is right up against the molding around the windshield and keeps growing. 2003 and 2004 Honda Elements have windshields that "crack with little or no impact". There was no recall but rather a class action lawsuit settled where "Honda will repair cracked windshields presumptively under a special campaign". But the dealer where we purchased 2 brand new vehicles in one day will not fix it because they say a rock caused it. Duh... We went round and round and got nowhere. But then John said Mark has a friend who is the service manger at another Honda dealer and I called him. I am taking the Element in on Saturday and he said he is 85% sure he can help me. I certainly hope so. It turns out this guy's dad was Eddie at the police department. I loved Eddie and wave to him every time I go to the cemetery to visit Terry. Terry, Mikey and John's grand father are all in the same general area but Eddie is in a mausoleum a ways away so I usually just wave to him. So anyway, this Honda guy, Chris was telling me how cool he is. Then we moved on to talking about Mark. I said I love Mark because he has a Corvette and he let me drive it. Chris said he's never gotten to drive it and that wasn't fair. I replied: That's just how cool I am! He sounds like a good guy and I hope my Element thinks so too.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A New Year

We made it safely back from vacation. It was amazing... we drove from Ohio to New Mexico to see John's dad. I will be posting pictures soon. I have to say, Samantha is the easiest child to travel with. She had an area set up in the back seat where she slept, read, colored and watched movies. You wouldn't have even known she was there she was so quiet! A few times I had that panicked feeling like we'd forgotten and left her somewhere.



So, New Mexico was great. On the way there we stopped in St. Louis and went to the Arch and then in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma City Memorial Site. John's dad lives in Alamogordo, NM where we went to the space museum and White Sands. We also went to Mexico, walked over the boarder and everything. I will post pictures soon.

Samantha had library day at school and she brought home a book about wildlife in the desert southwest. She was so excited to show me all the pictures that looked like Grandpa's house.