cookie madness!!!

It's true!  It's that time of year again!  

The door to door sales actually occur in the freezing days of late January, the cookies that were pre-ordered have been or are being delivered, so now it's time for cookie booths!

Now march in Indy is a crap shoot - and I I wouldn't say we got the crap, but it wasn't glorious either!  Walmart made us set-up our booth outside and although it was hovering around 50, it was overcast and a little windy, so it felt much colder than it should have.  After about 30 minutes, I called hubby to bring me a warmer coat and a lap blanket (now don't feel sorry for the kids, they were dressed well and they were busy moving around trying to persuade people to shell out $3.50 box a box of love!).  Anyway, next  year I will suggest different outfits, like these below!!

I think the girls would look darling and probably sell a ton for cookies just because people would feel sorry for them, don't you?

On the other hand, I'm more like this poor girl.....

don't get me wrong, I LOVE eating them, I just hate all the door to door stuff - both the orders and the delivering!  The booths aren't so bad - when they're done, they're done!  I'll be glad when the girls get the rest of their orders delivered - why can't people know to be home when we are trying to deliver their cookies?

what is the square root of pi?

Yea, I don't know the answer either, but some of these kids do!!  Big S participated in her elementary school math bowl team again this year (as 4th graders, they train with the rest of the team, but the night of the competition they keep score, so last year she was a score keeper, but this year, she was a competitor!!).  The actual competition that we attended was between all of the elementary schools in our town - there were about 10 schools competing.  The teams are presented with a variety of challenging math problems and they work on them against the clock, to get the right answer, then at the end of each round (there are 4) they tally the scores and rotate the kids around (only 4 of the 16 are at the table at a time).  There are tie breaker questions in case of a tie (last year it came to a tie and we ended up in 2nd place).  This year our school came in 3rd place that night, but then the scores around the state and we ended up 5th in the state of Indiana!!  Not too shabby for a bunch of 10 and 11 year old kids!  We were so proud of them!  The kids train for 1 1/2 hours every day after school for about a month before the competition.  Lots of hard work goes into and once again it paid off!!  You kids rock!!

The Simple Woman'sDaybook

I found this writing prompt over at "What is it now" (link above in my title).  I thought this was a neat idea!

For Today...

I am thinking... I need to get off the computer and get a few things done before I head out for the day, I always forget how windy it is here in the spring, that I actually knew that St.Patrick was Italian and not Irish!!

From the learning rooms... Big S's MATH bowl team took 3rd place in the city wide competition!! way to go kids!!! 

I am thankful for.... my husband, my girls, my sister, good friends

From the kitchen... perhaps chili for dinner - it's cold and windy again today and chili season won't last much longer, I want to make some raisin bran muffins this afternoon (hopefully!)

I am wearing... jeans and a long sleeve shirt - soon to add a sweater or sweatshirt before I head out for the day

I am reading... several books at once as usual!  On the bedside table is "Nicholae" from the "Left Behind" series, "7 Steps to Financial Freedom" by Phil Lenahan for the small group at church, a book of readings for Lent based on Pope John Paul II, another Philippa Gregory book - love all her stuff!!!

I am hoping... that I get everything on my to do list done this week, that the weather warms up again soon, that the kids don't come home with too much homework today so we can finish delivering the cookies, that hubby's workload lightens up soon

I am creating... again, multiple projects.. almost done with my nephew's scarf (which he'll be wearing next year because it took me so darn long to get it finished), patches that need to be sewn on 3 girl scout vest, several other things to make aprons and throw pillows that I really want to get to 

I am hearing... dogs sighing in their sleep beside me on the couch, Hoda and KathyLee on the tv in the background, the wind blowing around outside

Around the house... a million projects that need to be finished, girl scout cookies that need to be delivered, signs everywhere that this home is filled with love

One of my favorite things... chocolate, which had to give up again today - uugh!

A few plans for the rest of the week... grocery store, eye doctor appt for Little S, 3 meetings on my calendar, vet appt for both dogs (fun fun!!), lunch with Jenni from Totus Tuus School, girl scout meetings, girl scout cookie booths, mass and PRE, hubby traveling again

Here is a picture I am sharing with you....

this is a barn not far from our house on one of the few remaining agricultural plots that remain in our immediate area.  Were it not for the economic slump, it would probably already be knocked down to make room for another subdivision full of cookie cutter homes.  I love this old barn, it's faded red paint, it's sagging roof and walls, how it has become part of the land around it.  I have driven by it for the last six years and often said that I needed to stop and take pictures of it, so one day last week, I grabbed my camera and did exactly that!  I probably took 20+ pictures from both sides, from close up and farther away - now I can enjoy it even after they eventually tear it down!

so, how's Lent going folks?

So, how is it going?  I must say that over the years, I have tried a variety of things for my Lenten sacrifice.  Yes, one year I even gave up chocolate - WHAT was I thinking?  That's like giving up oxygen!  40 days without chocolate?  Surely God doesn't really want me to make those kind of sacrifices, does he?  For the second year, our family has chosen to do TOM and GUS jars (did I mention this in my Ash Wednesday post?  if so, I apologize).  Take On More and Give Up Something, thus TOM and GUS!  Each jar has 40 slips of paper with a variety of appropriate options in them and we draw a new one out of each jar at night for the next day, for example, yesterday we gave up tv and we are to read a story (not a passage, a story that the kids can follow) out of the Bible.  Other TOM things have included "tell each person in the family one reason why you love them", "do an extra chore", "do a decade of the rosary", "call your Godmother/Godfather"... you get the idea!  

The GUS jar includes things like: "bedtime music" (my kids all fall asleep to music or a book on cd, so it's a true sacrifice), "pleasure reading" (the kids freaked out with this one, they all love to read, but they also all have free reading time at school and were afraid of getting in trouble - there is now a caveat the these things don't interfere with school or work!!), "computer" (again, hubby can use his computer at work and I can do my photography stuff, but no fun time on the computer!).  Anyway, you can imagine that none of us are excited about the GUS jar, but it's part of it, and it's just one day at a time - even though most things are in the jar more than once, we do have a rule that we don't do anything two days in a row - gotta mix things up!!

Anyway, the whole point of this tangent was that one day last week we had to give up chocolate (just for ONE day) and everyone but hubby was in a tizzy!!  Men just don't get it!  Chocolate is a food group for us women - all females of all ages actually!  Little G is as bad as me when it comes to chocolate - maybe even worse!  It is not beyond her to ask for chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, or a candy bar - she can't help herself really!  Anyway, that morning she is beside herself!  Big S, being the smarty pants in the house, wants to know if "chocolate flavored" counts!  I admire her tenacity and creativity!  Way to think outside the box honey!  Hubby immediately says "of course chocolate flavored stuff is ok!"  She of course didn't take his word for it - he's a man and she innately knows he doesn't have the same relationship with chocolate!  So, she calls upstairs to me and says "mom, if this has cocoa in it can I have it?" to which I reply that chocolate is made from cocoa and so, no.  Hubby later explained to me that he thought chocolate meant just chocolate candy bars, silly man!  I had to explain that a woman's need for chocolate can me met in many other ways than just a chocolate bar - ice cream, milk, cookies to name a few.  He got it intellectually, but he didn't REALLY get it - he probably won't poor thing.  Perhaps men are lucky that they aren't under the thumb of chocolate.  That of course means that they don't derive the same joy from it that we do, so I guess I'll take the agony in order to be able to experience the joy - isn't it often that way in life??

spring cleaning....

Spring cleaning time?  I'm so glad I live in the Midwest when I hear those word!!  Although we had a little taste of spring, and the crocus and daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground, It will be in the low 40s for the second half of this week, so I don't have to spring clean yet!!  Isn't there some rule where you have to have at least a week of over 50 before we have to roll up our sleeves and begin the ritual that we all dread, but we are so glad we did when it's over?  There is nothing like opening up all the windows and having a nice spring breeze (or in our case, gale force winds and the occasional tornado) blowing through the house!  Something about those first few sunny, cloud-free days of spring that force a smile on your face and a spring in your step!  I don't mind spring cleaning all that much because it's so nice to air out winter from the house, pull back the curtains and brighten up the windows so that the sun we haven't seen in months can shine through!!  I absolutely love working out in the yard - I am always sore and dirty and blissfully exhausted!  Won't be long before I can get out there and clean out the remaining dead stuff from last year to make room for this year's growth!  Time to hose down everything on the screened-in porch so we can sit out there with a glass of wine and listen to the sounds of children playing everywhere - including ours!!  Spring is indeed a wonderful thing and my favorite time of the year (although I do prefer the summer temperatures and lack of school), but I don't mind waiting another month to break out the heavy duty cleaning supplies!!  All in good time!  

I'm going to be a SIL!!!!

It's true!!  I'm going to be a SIL!!  My darling little sister got engaged last night to a wonderful man and we are all very excited!!  Little sister deserves a great man and a great life, things haven't always been easy - not that they are for any of us, but I'm a protective big sister and I want the best for her - even though I'm still not over the whole "The Rose" thing!!  That one exclusion made, they are great together and I wish them a lifetime of happiness together!!  My darling nephew was in on the whole thing and he was so incredibly excited - there's nothing cuter!!  He will have 3 new brothers along with his soon to be step-dad - they are all older than him, so I'm certain there are some good blogging stories to come with 4 boys in the family!  Anyway, on to what everyone really cares about..... the ring!  I haven't seen it since they live half the country away, so I am going to do some speculation of my own!

It could look like this, but I don't think so...

Perhaps he went with the classic cut like this...

Perhaps he tried something a little different like this... tho purple isn't her color...

There is this more classic, yet modern design that he may have gone for....

and who doesn't like the ever popular cutsey cut.....

Dubai is the new "greatest place on earth" they know how to do it up right there, but this may have been a little out of his price-range and a little too big for her finger....

I'm guessing that it is more along these lines.....

Any guesses?  I am hoping to see a picture of the real deal soon, in the mean time, I have a lot of work to do as Matron of Honor - I'd like to change the name, Matron sound so... matronly!  I'm thinking of something grander like "supreme assistant to the bride" or perhaps "favorite bridesmaid".  I'm still working on the new title - I'll let you know when find the right one!  The best part is that I am in charge - OK, little sister is in charge, but I'm second in command!!  I have 2 bridesmaids, a junior bridesmaid (Big S) and 2 flower girls (Little S and Little G) to boss around!!  We all know how much I love to be in charge!  I've already got a list of things that I can make them do!  Fun, fun, fun!!

The big day is July 31st so I, I mean Little Sister, has a lot to do!!  Let the countdown begin.....

Congrats to the happy couple!

silly sunday!!!

It's true you know, no where in the 10 Commandments is blogging mentioned.  Certainly the content of you blog should be guided by those commandments, but blogging itself?  I'm thinking it's totally kosher with the Guy upstairs for us to share our lives together out here in bloggyland!!  I'd love it if God had a blog - I mean a REAL blog, where He sits down once a day and voices his frustrations, shares his joys and reaches out to the rest of us connected to our laptops!!  I shall make an effort to hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil and yes, even blog no evil, but I will blog!!  There's always the chance that someone out there actually wants to read what I have to say!  You never know, it could happen!!