This has been a very interesting and different week so far...
  Monday morning I decided to call the auto repair place to see if they'd take a look at our brakes...I didn't want to keep putting it off. They said to bring the van in and it should only take them 1- 1 1/2 hours to replace the brakes. Well, smart me didn't think about the fact that I MIGHT NOT be the only person there...after all, it was 10 AM till I got there. That place was FULL, which in my opinion means they have a good reputation! Anyway, we spent 4 hours in the small waiting room and outside on a park bench! I would have never went if I'd have known we'd wait that long, but on the other hand I'm glad it's done and it really wasn't that bad! The kids did EXCELLENT!! No fighting....maybe a little bit of "when are they gonna be done". After all, we were there from 10-2...right over lunch. We were hungry till we left!
 But I am happy to report the van brakes now work like they should... and the front end is happily singing along since it got a re-alignment that the mechanic said it needed badly! Now we just have to get two new tires before we take it too far and also find out if we have a power steering hydraulic problem...which it seems we might!

 Tuesday was sewing...

  I hadn't been there for awhile again...just seems like we take so many days off school. Anyway, Susan and Heidi made some yummy doughnuts for us ladies and kids for lunch.

 Susan cutting out the doughnut holes....

Ruth asked Danny if he'd like to sew strips together for a new quilt top. He was thrilled...so was I! I don't care for sewing and very rarely pull out my machine. He loved it and did a pretty good job! I think the ripper appeared a time or two, but Ruth was so kind to let him try this! She is a good teacher. Now he's been begging me to get my machine out, so that might have to happen soon! Maybe I could actually sew a dress for Tamara again!??

Danny, Tamara and Jay burned the ends of more ropes to finish the parachutes we did at the church social. (see previous post)

Ayla tries her hand at quilting!!

Time to fry the doughnuts!

Beautiful.....

Ready to eat.... yum, yum, yum!!

After sewing we went to Nancy's house to plan for our secret sister's supper. I am in charge this year and Nancy is my helper. I am excited for this event. We made our menu plans and decided how to decorate...it will be a coffee shop theme. Can't wait to see how it turns out

 Danny has been working on a model car....
....painting the interior....

Tamara took her horses on a field trip to watch this man painting..... Aren't kids the best?? I love to listen to them use their imaginations!!

 Today we did school and then after lunch went to the library and post office. This year in History we are learning about cultures and countries and are currently in the USA. Tomorrow we get to bake a pumpkin cake! I guess that is a native food of the US!? We are really enjoying My Father's World for History/Science!!

 This morning I was doing wash while we were working at school stuff and when the washer was draining I thought it sounded funny, so I opened the door and water was spewing everywhere! I quickly shut off the washer and located the problem...a hose had just come loose! So I reconnected it and finished washing that load then pulled the washer and dryer out (they are just in a closet) and cleaned up the mess on the floor along with a few months supply of fuzz, hair, money and whatever else gets on the floor under a washer/dryer!! So now my laundry is clean as well as some of my kitchen floor that I decided to wash up tonight before moving the table back in it's place. Ok, so that may not have all made sense, but my laundry is inside a big closet in the kitchen, so to pull out the washer and dryer I had to move the table!
 I also did not feel the greatest today...not sure what it is? I feel really tired and a little lightheaded a few times...with a headache to finish it off nicely. I think I should go to bed early!! So..... bye!!

**disclaimer-I am not going to take the time to proofread this!

Last evening we had a church social. Those usually happen when we have a 5th Friday in a month.
 This time, we were making parachutes to drop parcels into Colombia...into the area where the guerillas are. I don't know what all goes in the parcel (that wasn't part of our project), but then we wrote "Dios es Amor" three times on each parachute...translated "God is Love".

The group at this table was burning the ends of the strings to be attached to the parachutes so they wouldn't fray....

Maria looks on as Susan does her job....

On the instructions it stated that this is a job for adults....and guess who was crowded around the table?? All the kids!! There's just something about a flame!

Albin & Nelson were the "fan club"

Glennys was cutting out parachutes.

Amy & Joanna doing the same...

Martha was marking the places on the parachutes where the string would be sewed on.

And then came the job Dan & I helped with...writing the message on the parachutes....

Emily trying on a parachute...thought maybe she would become a nun! LOL!!

We had a really good turnout and good fellowship!!

Sherita finds Amy's style of sewing HILARIOUS!! Or maybe she was laughing because I made her get back in the picture when she tried to slip away!

Alma, JoAnn, Ruth and Amy sewed the ropes onto the parachutes...

Our pastors wife, JoAnn Nissley.

Amy....notice the pile of rope beside her...I think she said they completed 89 parachutes, and I think they put mroe than 4 strings on each one...that's alot of sewing.

Ladies in the kitchen getting the snack ready. We each were supposed to bring one kind of dip and something to dip in it. I wish I had taken a picture of the bar full of food....people got very creative!!

Sarah getting Logan to share his "new found" voice of squeals!! What a cutie!!

 We enjoyed our evening immensely!

The kids have been asking me for quite some time to buy a tub of vanilla ice cream so we can make some blueberry milkshakes. So yesterday I finally did that!
 Dan is the official milkshake maker in this house. He does a great job and just adds a little of this and that and they turn out perfect!!
 I forgot to take the blueberries out of the freezer early enough so my job was to chop them up since they didn't blend real well. If you don't have Tupperware's Mini Chopper, you need one! They hold a nice amount of food and you just twist it between your two hands and voila!! That little blade is mighty!
 I love mine~

Adding the ice cream....

Getting it to the perfect consistency. Doesn't it look yummy? I was going to take a picture of my cup full but got sidetracked. We enjoyed them while watching a few more episodes of Andy Griffith!

 The perfect way to end a day...with my family!

 Life has been good!
 Last Sunday evening we had Mike & Jo Martin over for supper and the evening. They are currently home from Haiti till Jo has her baby (any day). Then they will be going back for a few more years... It was good to catch up on their lives and hear what life is like in Haiti...something I can only imagine since I've never been in a third world country. I hope to get that experience someday!
 
 Josiah had fun on this rocking horse we bought at my Grandparents sale....

Such a cute little guy...he is growing up so fast!

 I took a pic of them before they left, but sadly, I didn't check to see how it got. Sorry about the shut eyes, Joanna. One day I'll learn to use the red eye...it flashes twice and very rarely will someone have their eyes closed.
 ~Mike, Jo, and Josiah~

 This week we have been doing school full force. I am so glad for a week were I can just stay home and keep up with school and my housework! It is a relaxing week! I am trying to enjoy my children more and sit at the computer less.
Yesterday Tamara went to a birthday party for her friend Hannah Grace, so Danny and I ran some errands, checked out a local antique shop (would have went to more second hand stores, but they are all closed on Monday!!) and spent some time at the library. It was good to spend some one on one time with my son who is growing up so fast!
I came across a poem last week that is my goal for 2009....

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JUST
FOR THIS DAY
by Sally Meyer

Just for this morning,

I am going to smile whenever I
see your face, and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning,

I will let you wake up softly,
all rumpled in your flannel pajamas, and hold you until you are ready to stir.

Just for this morning,

I will let you choose what you
want to wear, and smile and say how beautiful you are.

Just for this morning,

I am going to step over the
laundry to pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning,

I will leave the dishes in the
sink, and let you teach me how to put that 100 piece puzzle together.

  Just for this afternoon,

I will unplug the telephone
and keep the computer off and sit with you in the garden blowing bubbles.

Just
for this afternoon,

I will not yell once, not even
a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will
buy you one if he comes by.

  Just for this afternoon,

I won't worry about what you
are going to be when you grow up or who you may turn out to be.

Just for this afternoon,

I will let you help me bake
cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to 'fix' things.

Just for this
afternoon,

I will let you put all kinds
of barrettes in my hair and lipstick on my face, and I will tell you how pretty
you have made me look.

Just for this afternoon,

I will take you to McDonalds
and buy us both a Happy Meal, so that you can have both toys.

 

Just for this evening, 

I will hold you in my arms and
tell you a story about how you were born, and how much we love you.

Just for
this evening,

I will let you splash in the bathtub and not get angry when you
throw water over the floor.

Just for this evening,

I will let you stay
up late while we sit on the porch swing and count all the stars.

Just for this
evening,

I will bring you glasses of water, and snuggle beside you for three
hours, and miss my favorite show on TV.

Just for this evening,

When I kneel
down to pray, I will simply be grateful for all that I have and not ask for
anything.

Except just one more day.

 I Love you, Danny & Tamara!!!

 So, what is it????

 Well, a few of you guessed very, very close!! But what you saw was ice covered blades of grass!! Yeh, I know, pretty cool, huh??

 

Last night, since we knew it was going to be in the 20's overnight, we decided to set out our yard sprinkler and let it make some winter magic overnight!! This is what desperate Yankee's do when they miss the ice and snow!! LOL! (I am speaking solely for myself here! and maybe the kids but not the husband!! Although he was gracious enough to set everything up for us in the cold, cold evening!!)
 So this was at 6:30 this morning.....

It was still a little too dark, so I waited till the sun came up to get more pics. Here you can see the sprinkler and the icy trees and grass...

Sun shining through...what a beautiful morning!!

Ice on the Crepe Myrtle branches...

And on to my favorite...the grass. I couldn't get over how cool the grass looked!! It's like it formed "bubbles" over all the blades of grass.

My "sea of bubbles" as I call this picture!

Another shot more "down on".

Some of the grass around the perimeter just looked like this....

Mocha!
 He looks cold with little ice droplets on his whiskers He couldn't contain himself once the children came out to play, so we let him loose. He seemed to enjoy crunching on the ice with them!!

Gotta taste those icicles

Look, Mom, no hands! He didn't want to take the time to find his gloves (I have a special basket for gloves this year, but do you think they can get in the habit of putting them back?? )

The holly tree covered with icicles...

I loved the formation of these ice sticks!

 
Sharing an icicle with Mocha

 So the mystery is solved....and we had fun experimenting!!
  Sleep good and stay warm tonight....whatever part of the country you are from!!

Can you guess what this is??

Another picture of the same thing
I'll let you know sometime tonight what it is....one clue, it's not in my house!

My facebook friends must be quiet since they already might know!! 

 On Sunday, we were invited to Eric & Yolie's for lunch and to celebrate Carmen's 7th birthday!
 We had a yummy meal of Haystacks and then of course cake and ice cream!!
  A picture of the table full of kids!
(I was poking Danny, trying to get his attention. I was asking him what all he wanted on his "haystack" and he wasn't paying attention to me...too busy yacking or something! And of course Dan chose that moment to snap the picture. He actually took two, but the other one was blurry!  LOL)

Lighting the candles....

And blowing them out...

Carmen and Anslie....2nd cousins.

Danny crocheted a bracelet and necklace for Carmen and added some beads to them!

Oh, the fun of opening gifts!!

Danny and Nathalie ....I think Nathalie was trying to see if he could split his fingers like she was...he can't do it, can you?? I can.

Anslie surfing on the cardboard surfboard that was on the back of the box with "Ken" in, that we gave Carmen.

Not a very centered shot, but this is Michelle with little Collin, Eric's 5 week old baby!

 And that's all. I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I've been staying home and indoors as much as possible. Trying to get over a cold! I think I'm on the mend...
 We've just been staying busy with school work and more organizing! I bought a 6 drawer Sterilite tower to keep my scrapbooking stuff in. instead of a big tote that is so hard to dig through! Not sure why I didn't do it earlier? I love it! Now, one day I need to scrapbook! Ugh! I am so far behind, but I think a good goal for 2009 would be for me to print out pics for each month and scrapbook them as each month ends...then at least I'd have this year caught up to date!!

 Well, the painting is ALL done, but the room is not finished! We brought in another bookshelf from the walk in closet and are working at organizing that as well as pitching out things we were hanging onto for what?? A rainy day?? Ugh! I hate our packrat tendencies!!  Will I ever be an organized person with not so much "stuff"?? Probably in my dreams!
 So here are 2 pics...the wall were the colors meet.....

And a dark pic of our bed!

 More to come later!
  This week we got back into school full force! It took the kids a little to get back in the "groove", but they are both doing well. Both of them took a Language Arts test and scored above a 95%!! Glad they didn't forget ALL they learned!
 I was also kept busy...I had 75 inmate Bible studies to grade! All from the last 2 weeks!! This must be the time of year for them! I never did so many at once before! It was a good reminder for me to pray for the inmates that my husband is around every day. And for Dan!
 Well, that's all for now! Thanks for stopping by! Comments are always appreciated! *broad hint*