HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!!

so, how will you spend your new year's eve?  we have never been big party goers when it comes to ringing in the new year.  The kids are the ones who insist on watching the ball drop!

as for me, I would much rather spend it like this lady!  

This year we will meet somewhere in the middle.  We had dinner with the in-laws and then they took the girls to a movie so that hubby and I finish packing and cleaning up the condo since we have to be up and out of here early tomorrow to make our flight home.  Sadly the temperature in Indy is about 40-50 degrees colder than it has been for us in sunny Florida!  The good news is that we have Christmas part #2 waiting for us at home and 3 days to ourselves before we have to go back to the same old routine!

As you lift your glasses and count down the remaining seconds of 2008, take a moment to remember the good times and the bad and count your blessings!  I will be

Merry Christmas my dear blogging friends in cyper-space!  I hope that during this wonderful day you are all able to take a moment to pause and remember the first Christmas and the quiet birth of a blessed boy sent to be our savior.  The moments in that manger changed the world forever and I for one am certainly grateful!  As I look around the room at my husband and three beautiful daughters, I remember how blessed we are to have each other and to live the life that we are able to live!  I heard one time that if you have a roof over your head and 3 meals a day you are among the richest 1% in the world.  We are truly BLESSED!

Love and peace to you all on this wonderful Christmas day! 

Now we're off to the pool!!

Gayle

Christmas Eve

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house (or rather the Florida condo) not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (I certainly hope no mice, the monthly exterminator visit was just a couple days ago they said!). The children were snuggled up tight in their bed (hid-a-bed in the living room- all 3 together) while visions of sugarplums (ipods, webkins, dvds and cell phones) danced in their heads.  Ma in her kerchief (or rather my pjs and maybe a ponytail) and me in my cap (yah right, unless hubby decides to sleep in one of his million baseball hats) had just settled down for a long winter's nap (what long nap?  how about up too late and certain to be woken up way too early in the morning).  When what to my wondering eyes should appear than a little white sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer (do I really need to address this?  you are either 6 years old or taking hallucinogens - either way, I can't help you)

As you can see, the warm weather has not dampened my spirits!   We landed in Miami last night and it was 70+degrees out!!  It has been gray and rainy most of the day, but we didn't care since we had the usual first day errands to run, plus adding a little Christmas magic to the condo!!  I found these fabulous litte plastic things - they're sorta like clings, but they don't cling, you have to tape them up!  Anyway, we have a fireplace with a roaring fire in it, a wreath, two windows with snowy winter views outside and candles in the sill!  Actually does add to the ambiance!!  I had made new stockings for the trip and we hung them up on the wall with those removable hooks!  And of course a string of lights above the sliding glass door!!  Not too shabby for a Florida Christmas Eve!!  Much better than the ice storm we left behind in Indy!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas tomorrow!!

the new 12 days of Christmas

I found this and after I stopped laughing, I knew that I had to share this!  If you click directly on the image you should be able to see it big enough to see without binoculars!  

The artist is from South Africa and has an amusing sense of humor!  To give proper credit where credit is due, check out this link to his blog!  I may have a new favorite comic strip!!  http://madamandeveblog.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html

I think it would be great fun to have the family sit down and make up our own 12 days of Christmas - note to self, road trip entertainment idea!  

we all have those days!!

I really think the this sums it all up, don't you?  We all have those days, some more often than others, but we all have them!

What was your most recent OMG WTF day?

I see to have those moments more as the girls get older.  They come up with the most "interesting" things sometimes.  For example, last night I went to say good night to Little G and I could fill a brown paper grocery bag with all the things she had under, yes UNDER, her pillow!  Not very discrete - her pillow was elevated off the bed with all the stuff she was trying to hide from me.  I immediately reclaimed all the things that belonged to me and filled her arms with it and instructed her to immediately return it to my room where they belonged!  The selection was so random that I have yet to figure out exactly what the goal was other than to see how many things she could stuff under her pillow!  Sad to say that Little G is the most likely source of my OMG WTF moments lately - at least she gives me some blogging material!!

handwriting analysis

What Your Handwriting Says About You

You are a fairly energetic person. You know how do pace yourself, and you deal well with stress. You are somewhat outgoing, but you're not a natural extrovert. You think first before you act. You tend to be independent, rational, and logical. You are balanced and grounded. You know how to get along well with others. You need a bit of space in your life, but you're not a recluse. You expect people to give you a small amount of privacy, and you respect their privacy as well. You are somewhat traditional, but you are also open to change. You listen to your head and your heart. You are a decent communicator. You eventually get your point across, but sometimes you leave things a bit ambiguous.

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

I don't know if I agree with all of that - but some of it certainly fits!  I love these quizzes - mind numbing entertainment!!

I'm so mean... apparently

Little G felt the need to express herself last week - I would have taken offense if it wasn't so darn funny!  It's one of those mommy moments that make you cringe and chuckle at the same time.  For those of you wondering, I sent her to go pick up her room and this is what I got in return!  I am soooo going to bring these back out when she has kids!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

This will be short since we have just a little time left until we have to head back to the kitchen, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!  Big S had a very interesting assignment at school this week.  They were giving the writing prompt of "even so, I'm  thankful..."  it was fabulous!  They had to take 10 things that they "dislike" and "complain" about and turn them all into positive statements that go "Even so, I am thankful for ...complaint... because it reminds me/shows me that I..."  They were really wonderful!  Things like I am thankful for homework because it reminds me that I am able to get a god education, I am thankful for having to eat foods I don't like because it reminds me that I have parents who feed me "nutritious" foods...  I think that today we should all reflect on the things that we complain about but really should be thanksful for!  Happy THANKSgiving everyone!!

At least I'm not the turkey!!!!!

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

I got this quiz off Amazing Grace's blog "Still Crazy After All These Years" at    www.ccdmom.blogspot.com and it's a fun little couple of minutes!!

And at least I'm not the turkey... are you?

Try this at home....

OK, Little S came to me the other day with an interesting statement.  She said "Mom, did you know that it is impossible to put on mascara without opening your mouth?  I read it in a book!"  So I tried it and sure enough, it can't be done - at least not easily!  Try it!  Let me know if you are more adept than I am!!

 

Dia de los Muertos

As I promised, here are pictures of some of the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) alters at the Indianapolis Arts Center's annual Dia de los Meurtos celebrations!  The alters are made by local artists, some individual, some collaborative, some in honor of people in their lives who have passed away, some in honor of people who were an influence on their lives from a distance.

This alter is in honor of John Lennon

This is a close up of one of the decorations from the alter below - a knitted skeleton - how cool!

This alter is a collaborative effort by several mothers in honor of their children who passed away early in life

these sculptures are part of a collaborative effort (see below) by students at a local school

the collaborative alter

This alter was done by a woman in honor of he niece who died at the age of 2 after battling cancer for more than half of her little life.  The photographs were heart wrenching and the paintings - esp the one at the very top - were beautiful

I believe that this shrine was done by the hispanic population at one of our local churches

This is the flagship alter by the front entrance - on the floor is a sand skeleton sculpture - just amazing traditional Dia de los Muertos artwork

This alter was done by the students of a local middle school in honor of a boy who had cerebal palsy.  It was so touching and the only interactive alter - at the bottom were paper leaves where they encouraged you to write something about someone who is your hero or someone who inspires you and attach it to the tree on the alter

very cool alter by an artist about an artist

They really do a great job at IAC honoring this amazing holiday that so many of us don't know anything about!  Check them out at www.indplsartcenter.org !!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

BOO!!!

Did I scare you??  I love Halloween!  Not as much as my sister mind you - she is Halloween crazy!  We have discussed the possible need for an intervention when she heads for the Halloween department at Target!  Every year she throws this fabulous Halloween party for her son, his friends (and some of hers!) and she goes all out (or so I hear - we're too far away to actually attend ;( )  Anyway, I love it too, but I pale in comparison!  This year my kids are even more into it than usual - don't know why but Big S was about to jump out of her skin on the way to school today!  We had the Kid's Bop Halloween CD playing and she was rocking out!

Anyway, I am looking forward to the fun of the day!  I will have LOTS of pictures later, stay tuned.......

Girl Scout camping trip

So, Big S's girl scout troop went camping last weekend (cabin, not tent, let's be clear on that!!)  and one of the tasks in front of them to earn one of their badges was to build a fire...

  
it looks promising!

 

the beginning of something... will it catch??

the moms have earned the fire starter patch!!  yea for us!!!!  

next season's winners...

I enjoy Dancing with the Stars but don't often get a chance to watch it, so if you hate spoilers don't look at the picture below!!

I got this picture from "still crazy after all these years" at www.ccdmom.blogspot.com and thought it was so hysterical I had to put it on my spot too!! I am refraining from making political comments because it has gotten so ugly that I can't stand to hear all the back and forth anymore - this on the other hand I enjoy greatly!!

family self portrait

So, I took the girls' pictures yesterday for our Christmas cards and we decided to do a family portrait with the self-time on my camera - it could be worse!  The goal is to make it b&w so all the jersey colors are less obvious - everyone has on a jets' jersey except me - mine is a GB Favre but since the # is the samd it will be fine in b&w!!  This will also appear on our Christmas cards most likely so sorry to those of you who will have to see it twice!

to the pumpkin patch....

Little G's girl scout troop went to the pumpkin patch/corn maze/apple orchard the other day and I thought I'd post a few shot of that beautiful October day in the midwest!!

Little G looking for the perfect pumpkin

Little S on the hunt too - she gave up, her perfect pumpkin just wasn't there that day!

Bid S found her pumpkin but wasn't thrilled with having to lug it back through the apple orchard to the car!!  As one of the 2nd graders said - you picked it, you carry it, if it's too heavy, don't pick it!!  Words from the wise!

Just a little perspective of how tiny Little G is (on the right) her friend is NOT big for her age!!

Some pumpkins waiting for a home....

When good pumpkins go bad....

Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund walk

 Saturday we participated in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.  This was our second year walking on the Steppin' For Sarah team and it was a wonderful day for a wonderful cause!  Our friends' daughter was diagnosed 4 years ago and I believe the team as a whole raised about $17,000 for juvenile diabetes research!!  The day was beautiful and there was so much to do before and after the walk - they do a really great job putting the walk together!  We'd be happy to walk without any of the frills, knowing what a great cause it is!!

Little G, Litte S and Hubby on the route by the river - more than halfway done!! 

Big S toting her backpack - apparently she needed some supplies with her!!

Part of the crowd ahead of us heading over the river and to the finish line!                             

Our team was a top family team!!  Go Sarah!

 

A picture of our top fundraising competition within the team!  He and his wife were a couple hundred ahead of us - we'll get them next year!!!

If you are interested in supporting JDRF or finding a walk near you go to  www.jdrf.org !!

my babies are growing up!!

So, school pictures came home yesterday and hubby took his copies to put in his office and this morning he sent me these images!  The quality isn't great, but you can't miss the obvious - they grow up so fast!!

 Big S - 3rd grade, 4th grade and now 5th grade - going on 15!!
 Little S - 1st grade, 2nd grade and now 3rd grade!!
 Little G - Ki, 1st grade and now 2nd grade!!

Hard to believe they used to be so tiny!  Big S and Little S were both under 6lbs when they were born!  Truth be told, they are all still small compared to their peers, but big when they are trying to curl up on my lap!  My how time flies!!!

Hubby's back

After 2 weeks in the UK for work, hubby is back!  We are all quite happy - there were some ggod times in the estrogen only house, like when the rabbits got loose in the garage and we spent 45 minutes flushing them out, like the week of bookfair in which the girls spent as much time with me in there as they did in their classrooms that week and of course when they got to come listen to me speak at Bible study at 8:30pm thursday night cuz I couldn't leave them at home alone that late at night!  I'm sure they appreciated my examination of the Stations of the Cross from the prespective of Jesus' Sacre Heart, but it did get them home later than I would prefer!  He even met us at the pumpkin patch with Little G's girl scout troop - the girls were thrilled!  He on the other hand was toast!  Jet lagged, exhausted and really wanting a shower after traveling for about 10 hours!  

Yesterday me and Big S went for our hair appts - she got quite a trim - agout 4+inches!  I had decided several months ago that I wanted to go dark in the fall and so I did - well, we tried!!  My girlfriend is in the final month at cosmetology school and she does a fabulous job, but sometimes when you are there, there are too many cooks in the kitchen - that was the case yesterday!  Amazingly she and I both pointed to the same dye swatch the very first time, so we both knew what I wanted and how to get it!  Being a student, she has to have a teacher sign off on her formula before she mixes it and the teacher told her to add some red to prevent me from getting too ashen - a reasonable point.  Well, it didn't work out that way of course!  The red she told her to use had a blue base (rather than an orange base I guess) and my hair picked that up and although I LOVED the depth of the color and darkness, it had a purple hue that apparently was quite noticable in the light!  Big S said it was perfect for Halloween!  Just what I had in mind!  My friend was really upset because she did what she was told instead of going with her instinct and she was right!  Anyway, they used some sort of clarifying concoction on me - it involved salt, peroxide and some other stuff - anyway, the purple came out, but so did most of the color, bummer.  So, I am going back on friday to try again - the way we wanted to this time!!  Fingers crossed!!!

Dear Paul..

 

Dear Paul,

You made many hearts flutter with your gorgeous baby blues.  You championed many causes, made others aware simply by putting your name in front of ith to get their attention, chose to be a real man rather than a womanizer (which would have been any easy choice) and stayed with your lovely wife through thick and thin, filled many pantries and refrigerators with your fabulous foods, but most of all, I will remember you for a night that was probably nothing more than ordinary to you.  When I was 16, my parents surprised me and my sister on our way back from visiting family in Canada and stopped in NYC for a few days!  We were so excited to see the Big Apple!  One of those nights, we ate dinner at a restaraunt called a Dish of Salt and while our patient waiter was trying to take our order, my mother glanced across the room and saw you and your wife dining together.  She was totally start struck and tongue tied and I'm pretty sure that he gave up and came back later to take her order when she had regained the gift of speech!  As a teenager, I thought it was cool to see a star, for my mom, it was even more since she had adored him for a long time!  Thank you Paul, not only for all you did for the public at large, but also for all the things you never even knew you did that touched our lives and made us feel even the tiniest connection to you!  Rest in Peace.

Finally, the girls' weekend report!!

The destination this year?  Reno of course!!  We rented a house up in the hills with a very nice view of the golf course below and the hills beyond.  Of course all we really need is a place to sleep, a compfy living room with enough space for the 5 of us to sit, chat, eat, drink....  and a decent kitchen for Miss Bloom to work her magic in!!   It really doesn't matter where we are as long as we are together!! 
  and of course we always have our needles going while we do all the rest!!
 I believe that Miss Bloom may have started this one last year!!
 H doing her magic with the needles!!
 The ToeTat5 on the rooftop over Reno!  Friends are one of our greates gifts from God!
 Me and Ranch Girl
 H, Miss Bloom and Ranch Girl
 Jen, the Mom from Cheaper than therapy - one of the few times that the camera caught her before she caught the photographer looking her way!  I believe that she was playing "Butterfly Kisses" on the bottle!!

The trip is always too short and the time in between them too long.  The thing about the weekend is just being together, catching up on all the things that have happened during the year that never seem to warrant a seperate email or phone call, but always seem to come up in conversation when we are together.  It is knowing that there are four other women in the world who love for who I am, just the way I am, fat, thin, happy, sad, crazy...!  It is so great to just be together and hang out without any other distractions!  Those 3 or 4 days together are worth the 12 month wait each year!  Love you girls!!  See you next year in SB!!!