Project Linus

Yesterday evening, I led a meeting of our 4-H club's Project Linus Committee at Beverly's Fabrics and Crafts in Santa Maria. Project Linus is a charity that provides handmade security blankets to seriously ill and traumatized children. The blankets can be quilted, knitted, crocheted, or be made from fleece. There are local chapters that take these donations in all fifty states.

These blankets are made much like the "puffy pillows" that my Primary Project made a couple weeks ago. The materials needed include 1½ yards of double-sided fleece, fabric scissors, an indelible marker or chalk, a ruler, and masking tape. Double-sided fleece is reversible (the pattern appears on each side). And fabric sheers are a must on this. The fleece is thick and for the amount of cutting that is done, your hand would cramp up badly if you were to use the scissors from the kitchen junk drawer. (We all have one of those drawers.) There were a lot of darker colored fleeces at the meeting and my chalk got used a lot.

I was so happy to have nearly 100% attendance at my meeting. Amanda went to Stephanie's house for dinner instead, but Justina was there. We had six kids there, and we made six blankets. Justina's teacher happened to be in the store and stopped by, and Justina was so proud for her to see her working on a blanket. There were two sisters, two brothers, Justina, and another girl there. Justina and the lone girl made a blanket together, the brothers made two, the sisters made two, and one of the mothers and I made one.

Our next meeting is in late February. We will make the two-layer ones then; two layers of fleece are laid on top of each other, fringe is cut on all four sides, and tied together. Beverly's has agreed to let us have all our meetings in their store, and for that our club is extremely grateful. The plan is to hold three meetings to make blankets and then have a fourth meeting to deliver them to the Santa Barbara Chapter Coordinator.

If you are interested in making a blankie for Project Linus, visit their web site for more information and to locate a chapter near you. There are also free patterns available there as well.

In Other News . . .

Alyssa's team had an important game against Cabrillo High School in Vandenberg Village today. St. Joe's lost their home game against the Conquistadors 2-1 in overtime. But not today! They won 1-0, clinching a berth in the CIF playoffs. Way to go Lady Knights! Tomorrow, they play Lompoc High in Lompoc. This game was rescheduled due to rain. When St. Joe's played them at home, they tied 1-1 in overtime. Alyssa did not play in today's game but she is suppose to start in tomorrow's match. So this should be exciting!

Poor Abby. I had carpool detail for the game today. We had to leave St. Joe's by 1:30 p.m. So I had to wake her up early from her nap. I have carpool tomorrow as well. So I guess it will be the same thing.

Amanda had a meeting for the Cake Auction Committee for our 4-H Club. Every year, our club holds a cake auction as a fundraiser. The money raised from the cake auction goes back tot eh club with the exception of one cake - the IFOPA cake. One of the cakes is auctioned specifically to raise money for the International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association (IFOPA). Amanda's best friend and a member of the club, Stephanie Snow has this genetic bone disorder. And our local community is very active in raising money for the research.

Justina tagged along with me to the soccer game. She is anxiously preparing for her First Confession on Saturday. James will have Guard duty and will not be able to be there. I am getting a sitter for Abby so that I can attend the paraliturgy. After she makes her confession, then I will make mine. Let's not get into how long it has been since I last went. Later, in the evening, James, Amanada, and Alyssa will go.

That's it for now. I'm off to my warm bed. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Fight, Persevere, Savor the Small Victories

"Perseverance is not a long race;

it is many short races one after another."

- Walter Elliot

This afternoon was downright crazy. For starters, I had a parent-teacher conference with Justina's teacher. I was a little concerned because the second quarter conferences are on an as needed basis. Of course, this could be deemed as needed by either the parents or the teachers. I don't know why, but I was worried. It never occurred to me that could just be to touch base or even to discuss the best way for her to make her First Confession this Saturday.

Justina uses an FM system in her classroom and for extracurricular activites. The FM is a small device that plugs into the bottom of her earpiece of her implant. There is a cordless transmitter that has a microphone that the teacher or even a coach wears. The teacher can move freely about the classroom, and as she is talking, Justina can listen to her more clearly. Unfortunately, it has been on the fritz for a couple months. Somehow it is not making a connection with the implant's processor. Up until recently, she would unplug it and plug it back in to get it to work again. Now that doesn't even work. I shipped it off for repair. But her teacher wanted to let me know that even though she would does better with the FM, she is doing okay despite not having it right now.

We also discussed how Justina would make her First Confession this Saturday. She didn't want to do face-to-face. She wanted to have the screen. But I couldn't see how that was possible if she was not able to hear the priest. We decided on which of the three priests would hear her first confession. And her teacher told me that our parish has a confessional equipped with a microphone and headphone set for hearing impaired people. The microphone would be just for the headphones and wouldn't broadcast all Justina's dirty laundry to the people outside. Now the headphones might not be good sound quality for her. So we are going to use her Bose headphones that she uses in computer lab. How cool is that!

For Justina to be in a private school is a dream come true. Sometimes, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop and tell me that she doesn't belong there. When she was two, everyone in the school district's deaf and hard-of-hearing program told me that it would be impossible for a profoundly deaf child, implant or no implant, to be mainstreamed by kindergarten, let alone be able to attend the same parochial school as her older siblings. I made up my mind though that if it was not meant to be, it would not be because I didn't try everything I could. She mainstreamed in kindergarten in the same parochial school that her older siblings attended. From time to time, I run into one of the school district personnel who saidno way it could be done. And when asked, "How is Justina? Where is she going to school?" I say, "She is doing well. She is at . . . " And my heart dances with joy as I say it.

After the parent-teacher conference, I went home and helped her cleaned out a cage for one of her guinea pigs. And then we went to her 4-H Rabbit Project meeting at Stephanie's house. After that meeting, I had my 4-H Project Linus meeting, of which I'll write about tomorrow. Fortunately, she had no homework today because of parent-teacher conferences this week. So after our meeting we went to Subway and had dinner together.

In Other News . . .

Alyssa went to a teammate's house for a team dinner after her practice. And Amanda went to her friend, Stephanie's house for dinner. Stephanie's Himilayan rabbit had seven kits this morning and her one of her mini lops had five. She has one more doe waiting to have her litter. And with Justina and I doing the 4-H-a-palooza, that left only Abby and James at home. I am sure that this suited Abby just fine to have Daddy all to herself for a few hours. She is such a daddy's girl.

I have folded the last of the Ma and Pa laundry. (Wednesday and Thursday are our days, and I got it done in only one!) So I am off to bed. I have my scheduled workout session at Custom Workouts tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Society Craps Showdown

Believe it or not, our family had practically no after school activities today. I say practically because Alyssa did have soccer practice after school let out, but she was done early. So I decided to designate tonight as a family game night. Amanda's boyfriend Collin came over and we ate dinner. Afterwards the dishes got cleared and the game was on!

We played Society Craps, a game passed along by James' side of the family. To play, one needs a deck of cards, a pair of dice, and a mess of pennies. You remove the aces, sevens, and kings from the deck, and shuffle the cards. Then the dealer deals out the deck to everyone playing, cards up. The object of the game is to be rid of your cards, thus winning the pot of pennies that accumulates in the center of the table each round. The person to the left of the dealer begins rolling. If they have a card that matches the number they rolled, then they get to get rid of it and keep rolling. If they don't then the next person around the table that has the matching card gets to get rid of the card and take over the rolling. If no one has it, then the roll just goes to the next person. However, if you roll a seven, you must ante up a penny.When a person runs out of cards the losers . . . er, I mean . . .the players with cards remaining pay a penny for every card they have left.

The more people that play, the more fun the game is. At various points in the game, other people are rolling for you essentially. People with the twos and queens need snake-eyes and boxcars to get rid of those cards. And since statistically, these are the most difficult to attain, the more people rolling the better the chance of you getting rid of these difficult cards. When there are only 3 or less playing, then the game can drag on because twos and queens are usually the only thing left. At one point, I had to leave the game to put Abby to bed, James was working on a web site, and Alyssa left to work on an essay. There was a grudge match that included Amanda, Collin, and Justina. Amanda started with all four queens, and Justina had three twos. Then Amanda had a queen, Collin had a jack, and Justina had a two. Justina prevailed. In fact, she managed to prevail four times. She has always been a definitive threat in the game.

We had a fun time. And I think Collin enjoyed himself. If he didn't, then he was being very polite about it and never let on otherwise. It was just so nice to do something as a family and in our own house for a change. And speaking of change, no one is going to be treating the family to any steak dinners with their loot of pennies. We keep a large box of pennies just for this game. When the game is over, we just put the pennies back in for the next time.

In Other News . . .

Abby was a sweetheart today, although her sleep has been a little off lately. I would imagine that she is hitting another growth spurt. She is 27 months as of today. Albeit throwing just a couple toys in her toy basket in the family room, she does clean up before bath, puts her pajammies in the dirty clothes, and puts her shoes away after stuffing her socks inside. But she is still terrified of the vacuum cleaner. So I guess her vacuuming the stairs will have to wait.

Justina is practicing for her First Confession this Saturday. She was tested on her memorization of the Act of Contrition today at school. She has a very hard time pronouncing some of the words and gets frustrated. We just remind her that a lot of people have a hard time pronouncing them and that the priest will understand her just fine.

Well the kitchen is cleaned, the trash is emptied and hauled out to the curb for pick-up tomorrow. The family room is picked up and vacuumed. I am going to sort through James and my clothes for laundry tomorrow. Today was Towel Tuesday in the Weekly Laundry Plan. So I am going to grab one of those clean towels, take a shower, and get to bed early tonight some much needed shut-eye.

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Monday, Monday . . .

Today was pretty plain enough. It started off with some sprinkling as Abby and I went to Mommy and Me. Since the afternoon was going to be busy, I made the mad dash to get the table set and the lamb started in the crockpot for dinner tonight when Abby went down for her nap. While searing it, I got a call from the Team Mom that the game in Lompoc was cancelled due to the potential for more rain and poor field conditions. Oddly enough though, the sun stayed out the rest of the afternoon, at least here anyway.

So since the sun was out, I took Justina to her soccer practice. She really welcomed the chance to get outside and play after being cooped up from the weather for the past few days. Our contractor came over to repair the retractable awning that was damaged in the storm. Then Amanda and I headed over to her friend Stephanie's house to host our 4-H Sheep meeting. Stephanie is the teen leader and is still recovering from her surgery. So we held the meeting at her house tonight so she didn't have to go out in the rain and cold.

The kids made a judging board for the Judging Board Contest at the March community meeting. In the judging Board Contest, each project asks a question that pertains to some aspect of their project. They then give four possible examples of answers, ranging from the most correct to the least correct. The question Stephanie posed was: What is the correct way to shear a sheep? The possible answers (in order of correctness) were: a) from neck to back, b) from back to neck, c) from side to side, and d) in a zig-zag motion. The kids did a fabulous job. It was very well done and very creatively put together. Stephanie and Amanda lead the group in making the judging board while the parents held a little meeting in the adjacent room. Afterward, we cleaned up and headed home.

We enjoyed a nice lamb tangine, wild rice pilaf, and green salad. Yes, another family dinner accomplished! I have really tried to have family dinnertime as much as possible. It is only a little coincidental that I planned on lamb for dinner on the night of the lamb meeting. :)

Since today is Monday, I washed sheets today. And since there is nothing else really to tell, I will close this post and go upstairs and luxuriate in the cleanliness and crispness of my clean bed linens. :) Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Bill (Dec. 3, 2007 - Jan. 27, 2008)

This morning was a sad one in our house. One of Justina's guinea pigs passed away. It was one of the babies that was born in December. For some unknown reason, he just stopped eating and became weaker and weaker. With these little guys, a lot of times when you realize something is not right, it is just too late.

This morning after feeding her other pets, she came up to our bedroom carrying him and said, "I think he is going to die." She sat on the glider, holding him, and petting him with tears streaming down her face. We all said a little prayer to Saint Francis of Assisi, asking for his intercession that Bill not suffer longer than need be. After about 15 minutes, he died. She asked Daddy to bury him in the back yard. She went and got dressed and James went outside and dug a hole on the hillside out back. She went out and buried him.

It is so hard to see your child hurting. I think I would rather they hurt physically rather than emotionally if I were given a choice between the two. But death is just a part of life, and one that must be experienced by all. So we need to help her learn to deal with it healthily. It would be more hurtful for her to shield her from it all.

In Other News . . .

Friday night, James started his 4-H Shooting Sports Project.They alternate every other Friday with riflery and trap shooting. Fortunately, since it was raining, it was riflery (indoors) that night. He has three other 4-H clubs crossing over, so four clubs total. It was a much larger group than he has had in the past but it worked out all right.

On Saturday, Amanda and Alyssa went down to Santa Barbara for a retreat for Confirmation. Justina did not have a basketball game. So that was nice. I had to run up to a yarn store in Arroyo Grande and so Justina went up with me. Even though it was suppose to rain later that afternoon and it was quite breezy, the skies were clear. The yarn store, Yarnology is located in the village section on Arroyo Grande. So the parking is tight. We parked and walked to the store. I got the item that I needed, and since it was a yarn store, I picked up a couple items that I really didn't need as well.

The weather was downright nasty this weekend. Friday, there was a tornado that ripped the rooves off of a couple buildings at Port Hueneme, and there were tornado warnings in Santa Barbara. There were several trees blown down, closing off streets, and debris allover the roads. Several areas of Orcutt were without power last night Fortunately, our street managed to hang onto power despite our lights flickering a few times.

This morning, Amanda and Alyssa watched the movie, The Patriot, as a tribute to Heath Ledger. Then the incident with Jussie's cavy happened. Later this afternoon, Justina worked on her poster for school this week. She is the VIP for her class this week. Amanda had her friend, Collin over. So they, along with Alyssa, watched Walk the Line.

Well that's it for now. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

The Adventures of Abby

We have added storytime to Abby's bedtime routine. Before it was sporadic because she didn't want to sit for a minute for a book, but recently she has developed this newfound interest in books. She loves them and pretends to read them. So last night, we broke out the classic Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I love this book. I want someone to read it to me every night when I go to bed. LOL! She really enjoyed it. And after James finished reading it to her, she read it to him. Every few pages, she would read, "Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight." It was just precious.

And in that "great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon." This morning, Abby and I headed up to Arroyo Grande to Trader Joe's. In the checkout line, she was given a red balloon. You would've thought it was Christmas allover again. That balloon swiftly advanced to most favorite toy status. She played with it all day and didn't want to leave it alone at dinner time. I hope that it doesn't pop and last for a couple more days.

In Other News . . .

The rain continuously poured today. Alyssa's soccer game in Templeton was cancelled, of which I was relieved. I had carpool for this game and I was not looking forward to driving in all in this weather. Instead, her team had conditioning after school in the pouring rain. But that's soccer for you.

Amanda hung out with her friend Stephanie today after school and had dinner over there. One of Alyssa's best friends, Patricia, came over for dinner tonight. We had a makeshift chili and rice recipe, salad, and sourdough toast for dinner tonight. It was a nice quiet afternoon.

Well that's it for today, until the next time keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!

Rain on the Brain

It's raining. It's pouring. And it is starting to get old and boring. Yes, I realize that we were in need of some rain. But all at once? We have gotten nearly 3 inches in the past couple days. And it has been cold to boot. There is snow over the Cuesta Grade, just north of San Luis Obispo, and Highway 154 through the Cachuma Pass is closed because of snow. And Cuyama, both Old and New, are getting the white stuff too. Now Cuyama is considerably inland of us just at the foot of the Los Padres forest. But San Luis Obispo? We are on the Central Coast of California!

Alyssa and Justina's soccer practices were cancelled. And Alyssa's game tomorrow against Templeton High School in Templeton will more than likely be cancelled. The skies are dark gray and children are cooped up inside during the day. Although the inconveniences of rainy days can be disappointing, there is a silver lining in those dark clouds. And not just the obvious benefits of replenishing water supplies, quenching thirsty plant life, and refreshing the air, but beyond that. There is a slowing down of the hustle and bustle of life.

This morning it was just Abby and I here in the house. Abby was exceptionally clingy and in need of cuddling today. I was trying to go through and organize old photos on our computer. I was beginning to get a little annoyed of being interrupted until I stumbled on a picture of Amanda, Alyssa, and Justina when they were 10, 8, and 2. They are 16, 14, and 8 now.

Here is this 2-year-old crawling up and down on my lap with her blankie and sucking her thumb. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was pregnant nearly three years ago. And she is two already! So I stopped with the photo organization. We cuddled, sang songs, played with a puzzle, read a book, and stacked nesting cups and toppled them over again and again and again and . . . It is amazing how something so simple can bring a child such delight.

The truth is that Abby will probably never celebrate the fact that I organized the photos on the computer, if I ever actually complete that task. She will not even remember the errand to the UPS Store this morning, the emptying of the dishwasher, or the two loads of laundry that I did this morning. But just maybe she will be sitting in her own house on a rainy afternoon somewhere down the line and remember how rain has a way of slowing things down so that life can be refreshed.

Got Laundry?

Got laundry? Well don't bring it here!

Laundry has been the one household chore that I indeed would abhor. It was a never ending drudgery. And to be honest, I felt hopeless about it. I envisioned our laundry room floor as a giant petrie dish in a lab somewhere where the piles of shirts, underwear, socks, pants, bedding, and towels would grow like bacterial cultures and fester like incurable flesh-eating staph infections. And I was the lab rat that was being studied trying to clean up the toxic pile. Yes, I am quite the martyr indeed but hopefully not anymore.

I have really tackled my laundry dilemma in the past six weeks and I feel that I have finally conquered many of my laundry demons. After reflecting on what key issues to address, I determined that I had to battle with others in the house to use the machines, laundry was being piled on my laundry room desk rather than being folded and put away, and that we simply had too many clothes. So I set out to solve these wash load woes one by one.

The first was competition to use the machines. We have two teenagers who are responsible for their own laundry and yet I was waiting for them to take their clothes out of the washer and and the dryer. And their clothes were usually the ones piled on my laundry room desk, waiting to be folded and whisked upstairs only to be flung on their bedroom floors. Now last time I looked at the deed to our home, my name and my husband's name were on it. And I distinctly remember putting the purchase of our washer and dryer on our card.

So I created laundry times for them. One picked Mondays and Tuesdays while the other picked Wednesdays and Thursdays. Their time slot is from 2:30 until 9:00 p.m. The washer needs to be emptied before their go to bed, and the dryer needs to be emptied before they go to school in the morning. And their clothes need to be put away! Anything left on my desk become Goodwill fodder. For my part, I try to have my loads out of the washer by the time I leave to pick them up at school.

The next problem as putting the stuff away. For me, hiking allover the house to put things away, only to have to do it again an hour later, drives me crazy. I would much rather put away all the items that belong in my room at once, or the towels in the linen cabinet at once, and so on. To solve this, I created a basic weekly laundry plan. Mondays are for sheets, Tuesdays for towels, Wednesdays are for Ma and Pa (James and me), Thursdays are for teh rest of ours and any miscellaneous stuff, and Fridays for Justina and Abby. Amanda and Alyssa have Monday through Thursday evenings. I have implemented this for a couple weeks now and it has worked pretty well. Now I am not totally rigid about this. I occasionally have the emergency "load" of Abby's clothes. I average 2 to 3 loads a day. And with the exception of the Category Five clean up from Hurricane Abby, I rarely do laundry on the weekends.

The last item of concern was to decide if we just had too much crap. For me, the answer was definitely Y-E-S! Justina wears uniforms to school and her school has reduce the number of free dress days down to a week. So she didn't need the amount of clothes she had. So we reduced her wardrobe by half. Last night, James and I did the same thing.

Clean, folded laundry in the closets, drawers, and linen cabinets, ready and waiting. It's like giving my family a warm embrace. So far, it is working out prety good. I'll update you on the progress later.

In Other News . . .

Today is my cousin Susie's birthday. Happy birthday Susie!

It was cold and rainy here all day. Alyssa's team had a game against Morro Bay this afternoon at home. I was really hoping it would be cancelled but it wasn't. Alyssa played the second half, and unfortunately, they lost 2-1. Later on in the evening, she had a 4-H Swine Project meeting at her leader's house. Oddly enough, we had pork chops for dinner.

This year for her school book bag, Justina picked a messenger bag. And by Christmas break, she hated it and was bugging me to get a new back pack. I told her that she would have to finish out the school year with it. On Saturday, I had to take Marshall to an appointment and her book bag was laying on the floorboard in the front. Marshall got sick allover the book bag. So congratulations to Justina, she got a new backpack after all.

Oh, and today was Tuesday, so I knocked out two loads of towels. LOL! Anyway, that is all for now. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Scrab-tabulous Weekend!

Well I took a little break from blogging this weekend because our family went to visit my mother and two older brothers in Bakersfield this weekend. The kids had a three-day weekend and it was a relatively light schedule as far as children's activities go. James was home and didn't have Guard duty. Unfortunately, we didn't get over for a visit this Christmas break. And the kids and I were in need of a "Nonie" fix. ☺

Justina did have a basketball game Saturday morning and then a birthday party to attend in the afternoon which ended at 3:00 p.m. So the plan was to leave no later than 4:00 in order to make it over to Bak-o by dinnertime. While Justina was at her birthday party, James and I cleaned out the pit . . er, I mean . . . my car. James even busted out the shop vac and vacuumed! The car was loaded and James picked up Justina. The trash and dishwasher were emptied. The rabbit and guinea pigs fed and their water was topped off. We filled up with gas, oil, and windshield washer fluid, and away we went. To my amazement, we actually left on time!

We got to Bakersfield around six, and drove the Residence Inn. We checked in, unloaded, and set up the sofa bed for Justina and the portable crib for Abby. (I am so glad we did this ahead of time. We normally go to the house first and the hotel later when we are all too tired and cranky - by that point- to deal with all that.) We love staying at the Residence Inn because they have a two-room suite that can sleep all of us for the price of two connecting rooms anywhere else and they take pets. I grabbed Abby's pajammies and off we went to Nonie's house.

I have to say that I absolutely love Abby's age (with the exception of the screaming phase, but more on that later). The toddler years are filled with something new everyday. They learn new things everyday - new movement, new concepts, new words (some of which you don't want them to learn). And it is so fun to watch another one of our offspring get excited about visiting their grandparents to the point of saying their name over and over and over again until you arrive.

We had a wonderful dinner. Uncle Chris grilled a few racks of lamb. And it was so delicious. Abby really enjoyed the bones. After dinner, Mom introduced me to her computer Scrabble game. Great! Another word game for me to get addicted to! LOL! We played a game and then realized that we needed to get going. We got back to the hotel around midnight. It was nice to put the kids in beds already made up.

The next morning, we filled up the car and headed over to Nonie's for breakfast. I got the portable crib set up for Abby's naptime and toss in the laundry from yesterday. We had waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, and orange juice. After that, more Scrabble on the computer. Uncle Chris ventured out for the board game and we played a game of that with Nonie, Uncle Chris, Alyssa, and me. Justina kept score. We also watched the New England-San Diego and Green Bay-Giants games. After dinner, I gave Abby a bath and dressed her in her pajammies. I packed up the portable crib, a half-case of Big Head Red vino, and a box of oranges in the car.

I was hoping to leave by seven but the Green Bay-Giants game went into overtime. So I had to settle for 7:30 instead. I didn't want to get back too late. We made it home by 9:30 p.m. And much to the older children's dismay, I cracked the whip to unload the car and put everything away when we arrived. Normally, we just pull into the driveway and go to bed. The car gets unloaded eventually . . . several weeks later. But the whole process of unloading the car and putting everything away took 15 minutes, including tossing Marshall's blanket in the wash. This morning when I got in my car, it was wonderful to see it clean. So I can deal with their disappointment. LOL! Overall, it was a wonderful visit with Nonie, Uncle Chris, and Uncle Pat Pat.

I wish we could have stayed longer. But a few years ago, we visited one of the grandparents' houses (which one I cannot remember) on a Labor Day weekend. For some reason, we had to come back on Sunday night. We discovered that having that full day at home was better than coming back late on the Monday night and having to get tired and cranky kids up and driven to school by tired and cranky parents. We stumbled on that and have tried to stick to it when we have to travel during the school year. If it is a two-day weekend when we are visiting then we like to get home early in the evening on that Sunday. As much as we enjoy visiting our families, spending the week after, recovering from the long drive and late night arrivals ends up defeated the whole point of the trip. I guess it is quality and not quantity as one might put it.

In Other News . . .

On Friday night, Alyssa's team played Templeton High School at home. Alyssa was the starting keeper and St. Joe's won 3-0. This game was a make-up from a rain cancellation. They will play Morro Bay at home on Tuesday and then Templeton again on Thursday in Templeton.

Abby started a mommy-and-me gymnastics class this morning. It is a small class to begin with. And because it was a holiday, she was the only one there. This was perfectly fine with me. She got to do some climbing, jumping, walking on the little balance beam, and playing on the trampoline. She also got to meet her teacher. So next week when the other children are there, she will have a little familiarity.

After that I ran Marshall up to Kittenkapoodle Pet Grooming in Arroyo Grande for a much needed bath. He was like a new dog! Dana did such an awesome job. Of course, this is not Marshall's favorite place to go. So he was happy to see me and get home.

Alyssa had soccer practice this morning and then hung out with her friend Penelope for most of the day. Justina had soccer practice also. It did rain earlier today and it was sprinkling this evening. We had a dinner guest tonight. Amanda's "friend" Colin came over for an unpretentious dinner of pizza and salad. They watched a movie in the family room afterwards. James and I enjoyed a glass of wine in the next room.

Well, that's it for now. Until the next time keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!

Pink Puffy Pillow

Today was my Primary 4-H meeting at our house. Primary 4-H members are ages 5 through 8 (also known as Mini Members. They cannot participate in some 4-H projects (e.g. market animals, shooting sports, archery, etc.) because of their young age. So the Primary Project makes it possible for these youngsters to participate in the 4-H experience through exposure to a cross section of activities like crafts, cooking, sewing, non-market small animals, social gatherings, and so on.

The tough part about holding the meetings is that 5 years through 8 years is a greater age range than one might think. A 5-year-old's ability to cut something out will be lesser than an 8-year-old who is in the second grade. Also, there can be a gender gap between boys and girls in that age range also. So the challenge is to find something that can somewhat appeal to both boys and girls, from kindergarten to second grade. At our last meeting in October, we made Autumn Picture Frames. We did not have any meetings during November and December as it is too difficult do anything during that time. Today, we made no-sew fleece pillows.

The materials used were 24 inches of double-sided fleece, a 12-inch pillow form (or Fiber Fill but not recommended), fabric sheers, masking tape, a ruler, and an indelible marker. On my example pillow that I made a few days ago, I did use a rotary cutter on a self-healing cutting mat to trim the fleece, but I do not recommend that children use these. They are extremely sharp and require a steady hand. In my Project Linus group, they are not allowed even if used by an adult. At least that is the policy of the craft store where we hold our meetings.

First, I needed to trim the fleece so that it a 24-inch square. The pillow form is 12-inches. The fringe around the pillow needs to be 6 inches on all sides. After that, I measured a 6-inch wide border on all four sides and mark it with masking tape. The picture on the left doesn't show it as clearly as I had hoped. But it ends up looking like a tic-tac-toe board. I then cut out the corners using the masking tape as a guide. I saved the squares from the corners for another purpose.

Then, using a ruler and my indelible marker, I marked 1-inch wide strips along the border. Using the masking tape as my guide, I cut strips from the edge to the tape. The ink from the marker will fade. And it is very important to use fabric sheers. Ordinary scissors from the kitchen junk drawer will not do. They will not be sharp enough to cut.

Next, I tied the strips together by double-knotting them on three sides. I then put the pillow form in and continued to knot the remaining side. Viola! It is done! This project is good for all children ages five and up. Depending on the child's age, there may need to be some parent assistance. But measuring, cutting, and tying are good developmental skills. And fleece is very forgiving of crooked cutting. And there are variations as well. You could make larger reading pillows or shams, adjust the width of the fringe, and even use pink sheers to make your strips.

In Other News . . .

Abby and I ran a lot of errands today. We finally reserved our camper for fair this year. We were delinquent on reserving the 36-foot trailer with the slide-outs and so it is gone. But we got a 28-foot trailer that sleeps six and has plenty of room for Abby's portable crib. I really think this will work out better.

Alyssa's team played Santa Maria High today and won 12-0. She didn't play today as she is starting in a make-up game against Templeton tomorrow. Justina cleaned out a couple guinea pig cages before our meeting today. Today, she cleaned the sows'. Tomorrow, she'll hit the boars. James took Amanda, Alyssa, and Abby to Orcutt Burger for dinner while Justina and I had our meeting.

That about sums it up for today. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Alyssa's Big Win

Yesterday, Alyssa's team played Santa Ynez High School. St. Joe's has not beaten Santa Ynez in varsity women's soccer - ever. And Alyssa has not been playing that much. She is a freshman and that was to be expected. But she started this game - a pretty important game against a pretty tough opponent. They were a very physical team, and those physical games are tough to watch as a parent, especially when your child is standing in a box with a target on her. Well she did an awesome job as did her whole team - a shutout win 3-0 against a team that had not had a loss this season. You can read the article in the Santa Maria Times about St. Joe's upset victory. Way to go Lady Knights!

In Other News . . .

I had Lemon Garlic Chicken in the crockpot and made a pot of Brown Rice and Rye Pilaf earlier that day to reheat later. After I threw together a salad in a large plastic bag and set the table, I left the house to pick up Amanda and Justina from school and headed to Santa Ynez for the game. When we got back, I reheated the pilaf and grabbed the salad. We ate dinner and then James took Amanda, Alyssa, and Abby to their monthly 4-H meeting. I stayed home with Abby.

Abby is still teething. She had two massive meltdowns today. And she mostly sucked her thumb with her blankie and cuddled in my lap. I didn't get too much done today. But that is okay. Amazingly, I had no laundry to do today (thanks to a laundry routine I devised - I will write about that later).

Justina had soccer practice today. A couple who coached her in arena soccer this past summer are trying to form a U10 girls team that can get together and practice and play in a few local tournaments. Right now they are still short players, but she enjoys it and is learning a lot from her coach. His English is not that good and I think he worries that it is difficult for her. But he is very patient and very good at showing the girls what to do. They will probably play in the YMCA's winter arena league which is very low key. We still don't know yet. She was going to do softball this spring, but I think we are going to skip it this year. So much is going on with her receiving her First Communion this year. Many of the softball tournament dates coincide with First Communion activities and Alyssa's club team tournament dates. And if James has to travel for work, then I am in a pickle on taking Alyssa somewhere. Instead, she may do the late spring volleyball deal. Amanda did that one year and really enjoyed it. It was very non-competitive and the focus was on skill-building. I guess we will just wait and see.

Alyssa received straight A's on her first semester report card and made the Principal's Honor Roll. She is really excited and is looking forward to getting her Scholar-Athlete patch for her letterman jacket.

We are holding a lamb meeting soon. I need to find out how many of the kids in my group know where they are getting their lambs. Amanda is getting hers from Frank Farao this year. Many of his went to the champion drive at the fair last year. Amanda really wanted one of his from an auction we attended last April. But when the bid climbed to $600 and was still going, we just shook our heads and said no way. She got a nice lamb from Fresno State University. It was a shame that she wasn't able to take it to the fair. It was a nice lamb. As for the lamb that she wanted, it sold for $675 and the girl never walked it. That lamb should've shown against the swine in the other barn. It was fat as a pig! As with anything, it really is what you put into it.

Well, that's it for today. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Where Did the Weekend Go?

I am sitting here at my desk looking at my partially completed weekend to-do list and wondering where the weekend went. Out of the 14 items on my list, I managed to complete four and partially complete three. Perhaps laundry does not count as that is a never ending process. I got half of my car cleaned out, the majority of my 4-H mailings out, and some laundry. I got derailed in the laundry department by a flash flood in Abby's crib. Even the stuffed animals needed to be evacuated. But if I look back on the weekend, Justina had a good time with her friend Erika at the movies, and I am grateful for the things I did get done.

Today, we managed to get some hooks on the back of Justina and Abby's bedroom door. The hooks are for Justina to hang the clothes she will need for the next day. And I will hang Abby's up. Lately they have been laid on her dresser. Laying the clothes out the night before has solved a lot of morning issues. Justina wears uniforms to school, but I guarantee it is still better when she has her white shirt, uniform skort, school sweatshirt, white socks, and school shoes out and ready to go. Justina was having a difficult time opening and closing her dresser drawers and so we realized that we needed to go through her clothes and weed some out. It took a half hour. We had three piles - tops, bottoms, and pajamas. I held each one up and asked, "Yes? No? Maybe?" To which she gave quick responses to each. There were very few maybes and a lot of yeses. So her cousin Naomi will be getting a care package soon. So the hooks on the door and cleaning out the dresser were two of the items on my list that got done.

I went to Betty's Fabrics (not Betty's World of Discontinued Yarn, although they are in the same building). Alyssa had a dark grey sweater with three large snaps that she purchased from the Gap. The thread was broken on all three. So I got some yarn to match and began sewing them. They are sort of a pain to do. So I am doing a little bit at a time. I got only one finished today.

After Betty's, Justina and I went to Big 5 to get shoes for basketball. She had been playing in her tennis shoes that she wears to school, but I would really prefer that she wear her school shoes to school only. She is rough on her shoes and I find that I don't have to replace them as often this way. So fortunately we found a somewhat popular pair in her size - ON SALE!!! Apparently, her size wasn't moving. Let's hear it for size 3! The thrill of the sale was short lived when our next stop was the gas station and fifty dollars at $3.45 per gallon only filled my tank up halfway.

Tonight was my night to work Bingo at St. Joe's. This is a requirement for all parents whose children attend the school. Each family must work four shifts per child. So for us, it is eight shifts. Many of the people who play are regulars, and the time goes by quickly. My job was to walk up and down the aisles and sell cards for the next games. There are usually six to eight parents available to do this. One of the parents gave the illusion that she was working but she wasn't even working hard at the illusion part. She stood around for the most part. We were all annoyed but we can you do. It is what it is. Anyway, we have four more shifts to work.

James was home with the kids. And Amanda has a young suitor, Collin, who came over. They sat on the front porch as Justina would go to the living room window that was behind Amanda's head. She would hold up bunny ears and Collin would start laughing. Of course, Amanda did not think this was funny. But Justina sure did. James said that she even declared herself as being funny. I started laughing about this because I remember irritating one of my oldest brother's buddies years ago by calling him "Puppy Breath". Don't ask. LOL!

Anyway, that's it for now. I will end this with a cute picture of Justina and Abby before bedtime. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Everything Must Go!

We're practically giving it away! Ah, no practically about it. We are giving it away!



Everything but the dog!



















This morning, we took advantage of the Saturday garage sale traffic and set out items that we needed to get out of the house. So out to the curb they went with "FREE" signs. Within a half hour, half the crap . . . er, I mean, items were gone. A few more were taken within a couple hours, and by the end of the evening, only an old nightstand remained. It will probably get snatched up tomorrow.







Justina had a basketball game this morning at 8:00 a.m. Her team won 8-4, unofficially. They don't keep the score for this division. Justina did very well. She had a couple assists and a few steals. James finally got to see her play. So that made it even better.







Alyssa had soccer practice this morning. And then later, she had a birthday party to attend. They played laser tag at a local laser tag place in the mall, followed by a sleepover at the friend's house. Amanda hung out with her friend Stephanie most of the day.







I decided, after talking to a friend earlier, to take Justina and one of her friends to see the movie, The Water Horse. This PG movie is not for every child. I don't think it was anything too harsh for Justina or her friend, but it defintely is not a Disney flick. The producer and special effects team were that of the Lord of the Rings. The movie was set in Scotland during WWII. Fortunately, the Scottish accents weren't anything to difficult to discern. LOL! The scenery was breathtaking. And the girls really enjoyed it. James and I took them to dinner along with Abby. After dinner, I took them to the movie theater. They giggled constantly except during the movie. I dubbed them Justina the Goofy and Erika the Silly.







Well that is all for now. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Munch About Lunch

This school year, I have really made a stronger effort in providing a nutritious lunch for Justina and Abby. Amanda and Alyssa are teenagers and I cannot battle the menu options available at their high school. There are salads and turkey sandwiches available there. But for the most part, it is what is. And so I focus on the younger two for now.

In a quest for better kid-friendly lunch options, I read a couple cookbooks by Cathe Olson, a local writer here on the Central Coast. She has authored Simply Natural Baby Food and The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook. Both titles can be found at Amazon or at her website, Cathe's Kitchen. Personally, I am not a vegetarian, but I guarantee that there is a lot in both of these books for omnivores and herbivores, young and old.

One of the problems, I was having was that no one insulated case could fit different containers and make it easy for an 8-year-old to eat their lunch in a timely manner. For example, If I wanted to send heated leftover soup with some crackers, fruit, or even veggies with some dip, I would have to stuff a Thermos®, several plastic baggies, and a small plastic container for the dip. The Thermos® took up 80% of the insulated lunch carrier, the baggies were being purchased nearly every month, and let's not forget about the plastic spoons and forks we would go through. Plus, there had been a recent report about the lunch carriers containing lead. Lovely . . . not! This seemed like such a waste, both for the landfill and the pocketbook.

This past summer, I was reading Cathe's blog and clicked on one of the links for The Vegan Lunchbox. There I discovered Laptop Lunches. The pictures were pretty intriguing and I decided to read up on them some more. The insulated carrier is lead-free, and the plastic containers are dishwasher safe. It defintely cuts down on the waste. And everything fits neatly in one container. So I decided to purchase one and give it a try for Justina this school year. It is very user-friendly for kids and and has solved a great deal of my lunch-packing woes. Most of all, the layout makes the lunch more appealing.

Justina's school lunch today (cw from upper left) included Brown Rice and Rye Pilaf, Almonds, Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing for Dip, baby carrots, Peanut Butter-Banana Roll-up in a Whole-Grain Tortilla. and water.

The customer service is very good. The outer container I originally received was slightly warped in one corner. So it didn't close all the way. I called the company and they sent a new one right away. There is one drawback, and that is that I need to cut the crusts off Justina's sandwiches in order for them to fit. But I guess to kids, that is not really a drawback. This kit isn't just for school lunches either. It can work for other scenarios as well.

When Alyssa started practicing soccer down in Santa Barbara again, she was missing dinner at home a couple nights a week. And sometimes, she would end up eating at a fast food place because she was famished after two hours of soccer and couldn't wait the hour it took to get home. Well that seemed counter-productive and expensive. So I looked at the other products available on the web site and got the Lunch Date. Usually, I try to start dinner when Abby is down for a nap because I do not have a lot of time to prepare it in the evenings. This way, all I need to do is re-heat it. So now dinner, is ready for Alyssa to take with her.

In Other News . . .

Today was pretty calm. Abby and I hung out and played with blocks. Alyssa had a soccer game against Cabrillo High from Lompoc. They lost in overtime 2-1. The next team they face is Santa Ynez, and it will definitely be another tough match. I was mistaken about a make-up game this Friday. Apparently, it is next Friday.

That's all for now. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

The Terrible Two-Year-Old Molars

Well, Abby had a rotten day. As I mentioned a week ago, she was getting her two-year-old molars in, and today her little emotions were allover the place. The day started off with "Meebee" (the blankie) needing a bath this morning. She had to be without her blankie for an hour. She cried the majority of that time. And the time she wasn't crying, she was drooling. She wanted to be held and cuddled one minute and then she was screaming and pushing herself away the next. A nurse practioner in our pediatrician's office told me once that if we as adults had to endure what babies and toddlers endure when teething, we might want to do ourselves in.

Justina wasn't feeling good today. She woke up with a headache and flushed cheeks. So she stayed home and just rested and did schoolwork. Amanda and Alyssa started back at school today and got their second semester schedules. I managed to finish some 4-H stuff that I put off during the Christmas break.

Well, it was obviously a slow day. LOL! Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Let's Hear It for Ze Hat

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I finished Amanda's hat. And it came out remarkably well if I do say so myself. Even though I did not use the yarn I had originally intended to use, I was very pleased with my alternative. Amanda tried it on Friday night when she got home and she liked it. She loves blue and it is an awesome color on her.

I used a yarn called Puffin by Crystal Palace Yarns. It was 100% polyester fleece in the color Dotty Blues (No. 0202). The yarn is machine washable in cool water on gentle cycle, and can be dried on low temp or flat. Each 50 gram ball was about 84 yards (78 meters). I used about 1⅔ balls. The yarn strands were like very narrow strips of fleece fabric. It was extremely soft and a nice ease to work with. I used five bamboo double pointed needles US 10 (6.00 mm). I could've used circulars and then changed to the double-pointed needles on the decrease. However, the number of cast on stitches was manageable on the double-pointed needles and I don't like to switch needles if I don't have too. As the saying goes, keep it simple sweetie!

As for the pattern, once again I used a pattern from Just Hats: Favorite Patterns to Knit and Crochet by Lion Brand Yarn Company. It was a stockinette stitch with a two-inch 2x2 ribbed band. Normally, I can knit something like this without a pattern if I have the head in question available to help shape it. However, she was not available and I was knitting it as a gift afterall.

One of the things I like especially about this book is that each of the patterns are written for different yarn weights, from super fine to super bulky, and sizes ranging from Child's to Adult Large, and even for different gauges. Of course, this book is published by a yarn manufacturer, one of the more mainstream companies at that, and naturally they will give their own yarns as recommendations. But because of the versatility of the patterns, you could use nearly any yarn. You could knit hats on auto pilot. And sometimes we all need a big no-brain-er.

In Other News . . .

I took a break from blogging this weekend and used the last remaining days of Christmas Vacation to clean out closets, cabinets, and drawers. It is amazing the amount of crap we hang onto. But the anxiety of holding onto it all has definitely be replaced by the peace of not being smothered or bogged down.

Justina had a basketball game this Saturday. She did very well. She got a couple rebounds, steals, and made a great assist on a basket. She was also tripped and landed pretty hard. But she was a little toughie out there and got up and played on. I have to say that I was amazed when her implant nearly fell off as she was dribbling the ball down the court. She continued running down the court, dribbling the ball with one hand and putting her implant back on with the other. Were it me, I would have to stop, put the implant on, and then resume dribbling. No chewing gum and walking at the same time for me.

James had guard duty this weekend. Amanda, Justina, Abby, and I met him at the base on Saturday for lunch. Amanda hung out at her friend Stephanie's for the rest of the day. The girls had Confirmation class Sunday. Justina started back to school today, while Amanda and Alyssa go back tomorrow.

Alyssa had a game today against Lompoc, resulting in a 1-1 tie in overtime. St. Joe's was a bit flat. And some kids on the bench were eating pizza. This clearly did not sit well with the coaches. And I can certainly understand. She has two more games this week on Thursday and Friday - to make up for the rain cancellation from last week.

Well that is it for now. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Hurricane Homecoming

Well a huge storm front had been forecasted for today, and boy howdy, did it ever land! James left at 6:00 a.m. this morning to drive to Victorville to pick up Amanda. The winds were horrible this morning. About 10:00 a.m., I looked outside and it was clear the flagpole in the front yard had to be brought down. It is weather like this that makes me glad we picked the telescoping pole over the straight one. It was not an easy task as the wind was blowing hard against it. The wind also blew over a couple of our trash cans. Fortunately, they were empty as the garbage service was yesterday. So no mess. I did see that our neighbor-from-Hades was on a ladder, in the wind, cleaning our his rain gutters with the leaf blower. All I have to say is, "You go ace!"

James made it to Victorville around 10:30 a.m. and stayed for a couple hours. On their drive home, they had to stop in Maricopa for a couple hours to wait for a rock slide to be cleared on the 166. By 6:30 p.m. they were back on the road, and made it home safely.

We kept the fire in the fireplace throughout the day. I did lots of laundry, cleaned out a few cabinets in the kitchen, vacuumed the family room, and mopped the kitchen and downstairs bathroom floors. I vacuumed only the landing and the bottom half of the stairs. I swear on a stack of Bibles that if I ever live in a two-story house again, I will not have carpeted stairs. And that is why I only vacuumed half today. I'll hit the other half tomorrow . . . maybe.

Alyssa's soccer game against Templeton was cancelled. Praise the Lord and pass the peas! I had a sitter lined up to stay with Justina and Abby just in case I had to go watch it in the rain. Soccer games are rarely cancelled because of rain unless the fields are shot or the weather is really bad. And I for one am really glad I get to stay inside on days like this.

But days like this are good for some things - like knitting. I finished Amanda's hat! I shaped the top last night while in bed and had the last stitches left for me to sew through. I also had a few yarn ends to weave through. But my yarn needles were downstairs in my knitting bag. And I was way too warm and toasty under my covers to go downstairs for it. So I set is aside and finished the it this morning I put it by the Christmas tree with Amanda's presents. I will write about the hat tomorrow.

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Jimothy Jackpot

Well James came home from work with a big Ziplock bag full of Timothy hay from his co-worker (or Jimothy hay as she has named it). Normally I have to drive to Nipomo for a six two-gallon bags of the chaff. We go through it so quickly, that I have been making that trek almost every 2 weeks. This bag will probably last a couple months or more. All I got to say is Stacie, you rock! Thanks so much!

Today has been relatively quiet. Alyssa had soccer practice this morning. I did some laundry, vacuuming, made some cranberry butter, and worked on Amanda's hat. Oh, and I cleaned out the fireplace. The downside to raising the sunken floor in the living room is the fireplace is flushed with the floor. So when the ashes get to a certain level then they begin spilling our into the living room. So I donned the dust mask and broke out the shop vac. I was like a modern-day Cinderella. Bibity, bobity, boo.

Justina's basketball team resumed practices today. And Alyssa is at a teammate's house for a team dinner. I am ready to shape the top of Amanda's hat. So that means I will finish it tonight. James is leaving tomorrow to pick up Amanda from Grandma and Grandpa's.

That's really about it. Until next time, take care and God bless. :)

Katie and Roxy are patiently waiting for Justina to serve up the Jimothy score.

Back to Work Wednesday

Well after about ten days off from work, James went back today. It was very quiet. I had gotten used to him being home. I guess someone has to earn money to pay our internet bill. ;) We are out of Timothy hay for the guinea pigs and the rabbit. A co-worker of his has 17 bales for her horses and offered to give us some. So he took an XXL Ziplock bag to her today and she will fill it up with "Jimothy" hay (as she put it). Of course, the vacuum cleaner malfunctioned when my free tech support went back to work. But he was able to fix it when he got home. Look, I told you all that I was not technically inclined.

I wanted to start on Amanda's hat yesterday evening. However, I ran into a snag with the yarn. It would seem that my memory was over-exaggerated of how big that skein actually was because the yardage was just not going to be enough. I decided to purchase another skein, and since yarns are usually dyed in lots, I would have no guarantee that the dye lot for this color would be available six months later, let alone the color itself. But I figured that if I couldn't find more of that color, then maybe I could get a complementary color and make the hat striped.

So since I had purchased it at Betty's Yarns in Santa Maria, I hopped in the Suburban Assault Vehicle and drove to town only to find that the yarn in question was discontinued. Of course I should have known this since it was Betty's. They need to call that store The Discontinued Yarn Barn or The We Never Have Enough of the Yarn You Need for A Project Store. (But the latter lacks marketing appeal I suppose. ) Well I did find some other yarn that will work even better. I started the hat this afternoon at Alyssa's soccer game. I will post about it when I am finished.

This afternoon, St. Joe's played Morro Bay High School and won 4-0. Alyssa didn't play in this game. She does have a game on Friday evening when it is expected to rain. She said that it would be her luck that she would play that game. LOL! Maybe so Boo. :)

The drive on Los Osos Valley Road from San Luis Obispo to Los Osos, and then up South Bay Boulevard to Morro Bay, was beautiful as usual. The rolling hillsides, oak trees, scattered farms, and the estuary give me something to be grateful about living on the Central Coast of California. One of Alyssa's teammates was with us and it was the first time she had seen it. She said couldn't believe how cool the view was.

Before anyone even asks, I did not go by the former 420 Morro Avenue. I just couldn't bare it, seeing all those condominium eyesores. On the way home, I drove back by the estuary.

Well I am going to sign off and finish the ribbing on this hat before I go to bed. Hopefully, I will make significant progress on it tomorrow and have it finished when Amanda gets home on Friday. Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)

Auld Lang Syne

At the stroke of midnight, nearly everyone drunk and sober, sings Should all acquaintenance be forgot, blah blah blah blah blah blaaaaaaaaah! Should all acquaintenace be forgot and blah blah auld lang syne. There is also something in there about taking a cup of kindness yet but you get the idea. What the heck does that song mean anyway? And what are the words anyway? Well, in case you're wondering, and since I stayed in for New Year's Eve with our younger children, I researched it. Lucky you!

According to Wikipedia, Auld Lang Syne actually originated from the Scots language. This was surprising to me because I always thought it was Chinese. Anyway, the translation from Scots is old long since. Here is a snippet of the lyrics:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?Should auld
acquaintance be forgot,And days o' auld lang syne
CHORUS:
For auld lang
syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And since one of my New Year's resolutions is to shed light on the thickness of Scottish accents, here is how the song would sound if sung in a Scottish accent (courtesy of Wikipedia):

Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,an nivir brocht ti mynd?Shid ald akwentans bee
firgot,an ald lang syn?
CHORUS:
Fir ald lang syn, ma deer,
fir ald
lang syn,
Wil tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
fir ald lang syn.

Anyway, the song was a favorite among the Scots and then eventually the Brits. As they emigranted, the song was spread elsewhere. And even though it was sung here in teh States, it was Guy Lombardo who is credited for its widespread popularity as he would routinely end broadcasts with it, and went on to record it on several albums. Well that is probably more about Auld Lang Syne than anyone really wanted to know.

In Other News

In other news, Justina stayed up until midnight as she wanted to watch the ball in Time Square drop. She was so giddy with excitement and gave hugs and kisses and exclaimed, "Happy New Year!" to James and me. Then she asked if she could sleep in the family room. And I said yes. Poor thing didn't wake up until 10:00 a.m. this morning after Abby crawled under the covers next to her to cuddle. This morning I put up the rest of the pear butter, cleaned out a few cabinets in the kitchen, and did some laundry. Alyssa came home about 4:00 p.m. today. She had a really great time. I will start on Amanda's hat tonight and hopefully finish it by Friday afternoon when she gets back. I'll post pictures of it when it is finished. But first I must cook pork chops. (Don't hate me cuz you ain't me. ;)

Until the next time, take care and God bless. :)