I have sinusitis; Caleb has strep throat. He started complaining Tuesday that he wasn't feeling well. At first I thought it was because he ate too much candy on an empty stomach at our homeschool co-op end-of-the-year party. He kept saying he wasn't hungry and that he felt like he needed to throw up. He didn't eat much lunch and spent most of his time hanging around the bathroom. I finally coaxed him to the van so we could go home.

He wasn't running any fever at first, but by mid-afternoon, his temp was 103. He took a short nap on the couch while his ibuprofen kicked in. He didn't want to eat anything for supper, so he went to bed with some Tylenol on an empty stomach.

The next morning, his temp was 102, so I called the doctor's office as soon as it opened and managed to get an early appointment. After a quick check of Caleb's vitals, the doctor recommended a strep test, which came back positive. This makes the second time this year - and the second time ever.

Caleb hasn't been real susceptible to viruses and bacterial infections in the past, but ever since he got his first loose tooth, he can't keep his hands out of his mouth. Now that that tooth's out, he keeps checking the one next to it. I explained to him that he's putting all kinds of germs in his mouth everytime he puts his fingers in there, that he touches things that other people have touched and have spread their germs to. It made an impression on him at the time, but I still keep catching him with his fingers in his mouth and have to remind him again.

Today, after two doses of amoxicillin yesterday, he seems more like his old self, although he's still not wanting to eat much. At least he'll be well enough to attend the AWANA awards ceremony Sunday afternoon. He missed out last year because he was running a fever that day. I'm just hoping Jacob and i don't get it. If we do, I hope I know by tomorrow morning so we can get to the doctor before the weekend...

Good-bye Golden Girl

I was really disappointed last night that Melinda finished third on American Idol. She was my favorite from the time she auditioned. She's got such a powerful voice and a great stage presence that I know she's going to be coming out with her first CD very soon.

I voted for Melinda Tuesday night and actually got through about 20 times in a 20-minute period. That didn't seem like a good sign to me, so I wasn't surprised when she got the boot. Still, I hoped...

Next week, I'll definitely vote for Jordin. Blake's beatboxing gets on my nerves and it's too gimmicky. I really don't want to see him win.

Adrenaline Rush

Last night's season finale of CSI: New York was excellent! I couldn't have asked for a more exciting, satisfying episode. My heart was racing through most of the show, and at the end, when everything was resolved, I was exhausted. I'm glad they didn't leave a big cliffhanger about whether or not a certain major character was alive. I'm looking forward to next season, but in the meantime I can watch more of my season 1 DVDs. And I can always catch reruns on Spike every day!

I'm sure tonight's season finale of CSI will be just as thrilling!

(No smart remarks, please.)

I've been taking my generic once-a-day allergy pill faithfully for several weeks now, and it's been doing a great job. I can breathe just fine. However, while it's been keeping the drainage from going down my nose and throat, it's done nothing to keep it out of my sinus cavities. They're packed with - well, let's just say they're packed. The sides of my nose are swollen and it hurts to even wear my glasses. (Since I can't see without them and don't have contacts, I'm pretty much stuck with the pain.) Sunday evening I started feeling like I had been hit in the nose, but I couldn't think of how or when that would have happened. Yesterday was worse and it took me until the afternoon to realize that my sinuses were swollen. Of course I had already taken my allergy medicine for the day, so I had to wait until this morning to take the decongestant form of it. Now I'm dragging and in a fog, which always happens, and I'll probably continue to feel that way for another 2 days or so until I get used to the medicine and get some good sleep again. (I've been sleeping okay, but after I get started on a decongestant, I usually have about 2 or 3 nights of sleeplessness before I'm so tired I just crash.)

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was really good! Billy and the boys gave me a new digital camera with a zoom feature. I'm really excited to start using it. It has several preset functions that I'd like to learn how to use, too. And it's the perfect size to carry around in my purse! (My old digital camera, which I've had for several years and kept handy in my purse, just wasn't working well anymore. At first I thought it was my batteries, but my new rechargeables worked as poorly as my old ones. I went through 3 sets of batteries in one day and took fewer than 40 pictures! It didn't zoom, either, so anytime I wanted a closer shot, I had to get as close as I could, then lean a little more. Zoo pictures didn't turn out so great.)

After church, we came home for sandwiches. We figured restaurants would be pretty crowded for lunch, so we opted to go out for supper like we did last year. The afternoon was a lazy one. We watched Happy Gilmore, then flipped over to the NASCAR race, which Caleb has really gotten into watching each week.

We got to Outback Steakhouse right at 5:00 and the line was already out the door! I was hungry and the boys had skipped their afternoon snack since we were going to be eating earlier than usual, so I didn't want to wait in line. We went across the highway to a less crowded part of town and ate at Spaghetti Warehouse. I ventured away from getting my usual angel hair pasta with garlic butter and mushrooms and chose the lasagna instead. It was really good, and I saved half to bring home for supper Monday night. Rather than get expensive desserts there, we stopped by Wal-Mart and bought Peanut Butter Panic ice cream, Oreo ice cream, and some sugar cones. We've enjoyed that the last two nights and still have plenty left!

We made sure we were back home before the season finale of Survivor came on at 7:00.

Bad Dreamz

Speaking of Survivor, I was extremely disappointed in Dreamz. He had made a deal with Yauman (and even swore to God!) that he would hold up his end of the bargain. He went on and on about how he wanted his son to be proud of him for being a man of his word. Then he went back on the deal at the last minute so that he would have a shot at winning the million dollars. That cost Yauman his shot at the million, which he would have won.

I don't know what ever gave Dreamz the idea he even had a chance. He stabbed so many people in the back throughout the game, not many would have voted for him, if any. Did he really think anyone would consider voting for him after he so openly and boldly double-crossed Yauman?

In the end, Earl won by an unprecedented unanimous vote. He was my second choice after Yauman, so I was glad to see him win.

Next season's Survivor will take place in China. That's going to be a change from the tropical settings they've usually used. I hope I have an easier time getting into it next season than I did this time around.

Season Finales

This is the big week for season finales of the shows I like to watch. Last night, Billy and I watched CSI: Miami. I just can't get into that show for several reasons. One, the scenes are very yellow. Two, the video effects are strange. Three, David Caruso is too even-tempered and monotone. He's a redhead, for goodness sake! Where's the fiery personality and bad temper? His character is just too cool, too smooth. Four, the lead female character is also monotone and her Southern drawl is too exaggerated.

The other CSI shows have me hooked! CSI: New York is tomorrow night and it looks promising. It's never let me down. CSI is Thursday night and it's one I definitely can't miss. I told Billy that I know something that will happen (I love to read spoilers.), but he told me not to tell him. I've been wanting to tease him everytime we see the previews for the finale, but I've been nice and kept things to myself.

ER's season ends Thursday night, too. So many people have talked about how this show has lost its edge because it's been on so long. Thirteen years now, I think. But I think it's still got holding power. I know more major characters are leaving, but there's always someone else who comes along and takes the reins. I'm pretty sure it'll be back in the fall, but I think it will be the last season.

Season Premieres

Monk and Psych will start their new seasons in July! Billy and I have watched all of season 1 of Monk, as well as several episodes from other seasons. We only started watching it late last summer. We started watching Psych because it came on after Monk and we didn't change the channel. It's really funny, too. Sometimes even funnier than Monk!

Well, I can't let my hurting face keep me from doing a few household chores. I promise not to overdo things, but I do need to get a little bit done. Duty calls.

It's interesting to realize what memories tornadic weather will bring to the surface...

There was a large open field across the street behind my childhood home. A large silo once stood there, taken down bit by bit every time a tornado or damaging winds blew through the area. I think the last bit of it was blown away the year a tornado wiped out one house and part of another just down the street from my grandparents, at the corner where our two streets came together.

I remember one afternoon while we lived there, probably close to Easter, when a tornado warning had been issued. The sky had a greenish tint to it as we hurried around the house, opening windows and doors before hiding in a bathroom. I heard on a local weather report this morning that was a myth that many people held to back then.

When we lived in the Shreveport area, there always seemed to be bad weather on Easter weekend, usually on Saturday. Several years before we moved there, a big tornado destroyed a big section of Bossier City on Easter weekend. It was referred to on the news every year around that time, especially if that type of weather was forecast.

One November, when Billy and I lived up north of Shreveport, we had gone to my parents' house to celebrate Mama's birthday. Sometime that Saturday morning, Billy's parents called us to let us know a tornado had passed through our neighborhood and that we had some damage to our property. We didn't know the extent of things and worried the whole way home; I was also very concerned about my cat. When we got there, we saw that several pine trees had the tops twisted and broken. Our storage shed in the backyard had been turned, then flipped onto its side. The riding mower that Billy kept chained to it had been dangling from a corner by the chain; our neighbor Ron had let it down so it wouldn't end up crashing to the ground if the chain gave way. Strong winds had come up under the front porch and lifted it up, posts and all, off the foundation of house. When it came back down, some of the posts were half perched on the foundation and others were precariously balanced on the edge. Limbs and twigs were scattered all around the yard. One small twig had been drilled by the wind right through one of the shutters on the front of the house. I forgot where our rocking chairs from the front porch ended up. The cat was fine physically, but ever since then, whenever there's thunder or high winds, she gets spooked and hides. Even the slightest thunder makes her nervous.

A few years later, after we built a house in north Bossier, we went to Hot Springs, AR, for a weekend. It was near Easter, maybe even that weekend. We woke Saturday morning to news on The Weather Channel that a tornado had destroyed a trailer park and several homes in Benton, not far from where we lived. We immediately headed home, not knowing what to expect. As we drove into the Benton area, we saw total destruction in some areas: trailers splintered, some completely missing from their concrete pads. Others had been ripped in half. Several people were missing; many had been killed. As we headed further south, things were calmer. You could see the path the tornado had taken, from its beginnings in North Shreveport, across the Red River, and through Benton, before lifting and disappearing. Thankfully our home, nor any others in our neighborhood, had no damage. Our neighborhood was new enough that there were no trees in some areas and very small ones elsewhere. An older neighborhood across the street had some tree damage, but not a lot.

We were living in that same house when Caleb was born. He was six days old when we had another severe storm system move through the area. It was a Saturday evening in mid-March, not long before Easter. A weather alert came on the TV, warning that a tornado had been spotted in our area. Billy had already cleared out room for us in the small coat closet in the entry hall and put some blankets on the floor. I sat there, on a broken tailbone, holding my newborn and worrying that I wouldn't be able to hold on to him if a tornado ripped through our house. Billy stood outside the closet for a little while and I worried about him, too. Then he squeezed in with us and pushed a pillow over us to protect us in case anything fell. It passed without incident.

A few weeks later we were at Aunt Susie and Uncle Mike's house for Easter. More bad weather was passing through the area, bringing with it quite a bit of hail. Aunt Susie reassured us that we could all fit and be safe in the large closet she affectionately calls "the tomb". I don't remember actually having to hide in there, but things did get pretty scary for a while.

When Jacob was two or three months old, we had another close scare. We were living in an older house in an older neighborhood not far from where we had previously built. Billy and I were awakened in the night when debris started flying around, hitting our house and windows. He switched on his weather radio and heard a tornado warning for our area. He got Caleb out of bed while I got Jacob; then we met in our bathroom and waited it out. The boys slept through the whole thing, but Billy and I had a hard time getting back to sleep after it was over with. I don't remember any major damage from that storm, but we may have had some limbs down in the back.

Since we've been in Texas, we've had our share of scares, but nothing like last night. We've always planned out where we would go in each place we lived. In Richardson, we had a huge closet under our upstairs neighbors' indoor stairway. In our last apartment, there was the boys' bathroom, or ours. The only problem there was that we were upstairs and didn't know our downstairs neighbors, so we didn't feel we could evacuate to their apartment if the need arose. I really don't know what we would have done, not that it matters anymore. In our house, we have the utility room or either bathroom to take shelter in.

It was nearly dark when we got home last night, and it was still raining a little, so I didn't check out the yard. When I got up this morning, I went out the front, but nothing was amiss. There were a few stray leaves from someone else's tree on the sidewalk and scattered in the yard. Our tree was just fine. The fence around the backyard was still standing, surprisingly.

Today is just cold and windy. The 40-degree temperatures and 20-30 mph winds kept most of the little kids away from baseball this morning. When we drove up, there was only one little kid talking with our coach. She came over to the van and said it was up to us if we wanted to play, that she had a conflict and wouldn't be able to stay. We decided it was too cold, windy, and wet, so we left to run a few errands. After getting out in the cutting wind a few times, we decided it was time to go home and stay. The boys ate chicken noodle soup and goldfish crackers for lunch and loved it. I ate a can of chunky steak and potato soup. Now that we're all warmed up inside, maybe we'll hole up and watch a movie or curl up with some good books or play a game. It's another lazy weekend with perfect weather for staying inside and doing . . . whatever.

Billy and his friend Aaron left today for Hot Springs to do some hiking this weekend. The boys and I were supposed to go to the DTS campus this afternoon for the annual Spring Fling festivities with our friend Kim and her husband Daniel and their two boys, but it was postponed until next week because of the predicted severe weather for today.

I called Kim earlier today to make sure she knew it had been postponed and she invited us over for pizza and a movie for the boys. I told her that sounded great, but that I would watch the weather and let her know for sure at 5:00 this afternoon.

I started keeping an eye on the storms west of us around 4:00, and by 5:00 they were still in the same area - about 2 hours away. I called her and told her we'd be there around 6:00. Shortly after we got there, we saw on the news that there were severe storms around Fort Worth and a tornado in Haltom City (north of Fort Worth). Once the system started moving, it didn't hold back! About 45 minutes later, while we were enjoying our pizza, the tornado warning sirens started blaring. We watched the weather update and it showed the most dangerous activity several miles north of us. Apparently, if there's a tornado anywhere in the county, the whole county's tornado warning sirens sound off.

About 10 minutes later, we heard hail hitting the windows and bouncing off the metal porch roof. Soon after that we heard a funnel cloud had been spotted along I-30, heading east. Kim lives maybe 2 miles south of the interstate. Her husband was monitoring things from the TV in their bedroom while she tried to soothe the boys with a Bear in the Big Blue House video. Then she started gathering a few books and a flashlight for the bathroom in case we needed to take cover.

Daniel came into the kitchen where we were and said it was time to head into the bathroom. Caleb was on the verge of tears; Jacob was just following everybody else. Kim's two boys weren't happy about having to go into the bathroom because they wanted to keep watching the video. I stuffed my cell phone in my pocket, hooked my keys through one of my belt loops, and grabbed my purse as I headed in behind all the boys. We stood around in there for a while, listening to the radio. A few minutes later, Daniel came into the bathroom and said it was a couple miles away, still following the interstate. We tried to keep the boys entertained and occupied while still listening for the rain and anything else we might hear.

We ventured out from the bathroom around 7:30 and peered out the windows to make sure things were okay outside. Nothing looked out of place except for a few stray tree branches scattered here and there. Kim got the boys settled back down with their video, then we went back into the kitchen to visit a little more. Not 10 minutes later, she got a call from a friend down the street. One of their trees had uprooted and fallen across her truck.

Apparently some really strong winds, if not a tornado itself, passed by less than a mile from where we were. Several trees were uprooted and blown over and Kim's friend's trampoline ended up resting against a house two houses away. Daniel went down there with his chain saw to help get things cleared up. I decided it was time for us to head home before it got too dark out. The worst of the storm had passed over and I wanted to be able to see the roads in case any trees or power lines had blown down across them.

Thankfully the drive home was uneventful. The worst we saw were a few small tree limbs and branches scattered across the road. The power was out along a section of road not far from our church and one traffic light was out. We pulled into our neighborhood to see lights on and clear streets. I think our electricity must have either surged or flickered briefly because the night lights in both bathrooms aren't working anymore. They were on when we left, but not when we got back. Whatever it was must have been pretty minor, though, because neither the microwave nor my clock radio were flashing.

The bad weather has moved on to the east and now we're just having a little light rainfall here and there. The wind gusts at times, but at least I'll be able to sleep tonight without worrying about the possibility of more tornadoes. I'm tired now from everything. I think I'll sleep well tonight.

Today was absolutely gorgeous! The sky was bright blue and cloudless, and the temperature was in the upper 60's. Too nice a day to stay inside.

After we finished school this morning, I decided to take the boys to a nearby park to play for a while. I asked Caleb if he wanted to walk or drive, to which he responded, "I want to walk. I need the exercise." I warned him that it would be a long walk, but he insisted that was what he wanted to do.

We set out for the park around 11:45 a.m., strolling along the curving sidewalk through the greenbelt. We stopped atop the two bridges along the way to look for fish, and we stopped along the creek bank a few times to watch the turtles sunning themselves. By the time we finally made it to the park, it was 12:15 p.m. I didn't realize it was going to take half an hour to get there! I knew the boys wouldn't play long before they started getting hungry and we'd need to head back.

They headed for the huge wooden pirate ship while I went to the swings. (I love to swing!) I wasn't there long before a bunch of kids from the church school next door came running over with their teacher to play after their lunch. I vacated the swings and helped Jacob climp up the big plastic-covered chain net on part of the ship, then I stood near one end of the monkey bars to watch the boys play.

All of a sudden a bird flew overhead and fired a missile. I wasn't able to get out of the way. Splat! Right down the front of my shirt and jeans. Jacob saw it and asked, "What was that?!" I told him, and that's all he could talk about on the 30-minute walk back home.

We didn't head back home immediately. I wanted the boys to get a good chance to play, to wear themselves out a bit. The school kids had gone back and the playground was fairly empty again, so the three of us went back to the swings for a little while. I mentioned the time to Caleb and asked him if he wanted to play a little longer or start heading back home. He decided he was ready to go since he was starting to get hungry. Thankfully - and surprisingly - I didn't have to fight to get them to leave.

On our walk back, between Jacob's questions and comments about birds and poo, Caleb kept complaining that he was tired and thirsty and hungry. Jacob and I stopped a few times to watch the turtles and ducks (9 of them!) in the creek, and we stopped on the bridges again to watch the fish - all while waiting for Caleb to catch up to us. At the last bridge, I heard a big splash, but I was too late to see what it was - most likely another big turtle that we surprised when our footsteps echoed off the wooden planks. I got tired of Caleb complaining every few minutes about how hungry or thirsty he was, so I finally stopped walking and said, "Okay, I'll wait while you get yourself something to eat and drink." He looked around with a puzzled expression and asked, "Where?" I answered, "Exactly. We're going home now and as soon as we get there, I'll fix your lunch." He didn't complain anymore after that.

For the most part, our outing was fun - except for the bird bomb. Next time we'll drive, and I may keep a spare set of clothes in the van...

Delish!

Tonight we had Jamaican grilled pork chops with pineapple chunks, sweet carrots, and green salad for supper. It was amazingly good! Billy said it's in his top 10 meals (something Caleb is always interested in sharing or knowing...). The boys loved the pineapple, but thought the pork chops were just okay.

I marinated the pork chops in Pampered Chef's new Jamaican Jerk Rub and olive oil, then grilled it in my grill pan. When the meat was fully cooked, I dumped in a can of pineapple chunks (drained) and grilled them until they were golden. Fast, easy, healthy, and delicious. What more could you ask for? It's something I'll definitely make again!

...read the directions!

I got my first "bad" grade (B) in school in the second grade when I didn't read the directions on a worksheet I completed. I cried. I thought I had learned a lesson then, but apparently not.

Last night at our monthly sales meeting, my director handed out a math "quiz", part of an object lesson in host coaching. She went into great detail explaining what it was and that we had 2 minutes to complete it. She handed them out face down, set her timer, and told us to begin. I jumped right in, answering the second-grade-level subtraction problems as quickly as I could. I even had time to go back and double-check my answers. She commented on how quickly we were working and that she must have given us too much time. After the timer beeped, she read off the first answer and asked who had gotten it correct. It wasn't the answer I had. About half the group raised their hands. She grinned and asked who had read the directions at the top of the paper. Not me. Hey, hadn't she just gone into detail explaining what to do? Not really...

Tonight I was going to cook something new for supper, a recipe for mini frittatas that I found in an old Family Fun magazine. Caleb cut up ham and mushrooms while I chopped the tomato, onion, and bell pepper. Then I made my substitute half and half, added the eggs and seasoning, and poured up the little servings in my muffin pan. We took turns dropping our add-ins into our individual cups, then topped them with cheese. We oohed and aahed over how great they looked and I put them in the oven to bake. I went back to the magazine to look over the recipe again and read how much half and half I should have put in - half as much as I actually did! Uh-oh! I didn't mention my mistake to the boys, and I hoped they would turn out halfway decent. I ended up baking them an additional 8 minutes to be sure the insides were not too runny! Caleb liked his but commented, "They're kind of juicy." Ugh! He ate all of it, though. Jacob ate about half of his. I was surprised he wanted any because he likes all his omelet ingredients separate. I ate most of mine, but I didn't like the texture very much. The flavor was good, so I'm definitely going to try them again. Next time, I'll have half and half on hand so I won't have to mix up any substitute. And I'm going to read the directions more carefully.

Caleb announced after supper tonight that he has a loose tooth! He's really excited about it, especially since he's probably the only one in his Sunday school class who hasn't lost one yet. He asked me if it comes out the same day it gets loose. Too cute!

What I want to know is this: Do you keep the teeth after they fall out? And if so, why? What do you do with them later?

I remember finding a box or something with some of my old teeth in it once. Mama kept Lindsay's first tooth, but that one got knocked out, root and all, when she fell off a push toy in the driveway at age 2. That was one long tooth! She kept it in a glass bottle with small rocks, I think.

I don't have the stomach to look at loose teeth, so I hope Billy's around when it comes out. Now I'm going to worry about brushing Caleb's teeth every day.

WEC Week was good, but very tiring! I spent the first half of Friday's session helping corral the 4-year-olds. Jacob stuck to me like glue and wasn't happy when I left when my shift was over, but he stayed with his group and had a great time playing. Billy and I picked the boys up a little early so we could beat the crowd to the cafeteria. After enjoying some pizza, we went to the coffee shop on campus and got some frozen chocolate custard. That's some great stuff!

We had made plans to spend Saturday with Jay and Allison and their 10-month-old, Grant. (He's so adorable, and he's a really good baby, too!) After encountering several traffic jams on the way to their house, we finally got there - an hour and fifteen minutes later. (It usually only takes us about 40 minutes!) I stuck Paula Deen's corn casserole in the oven and played with the boys while Allison ran out to the grocery store to pick up a few last things. Jay and Billy were busy turning pens in the garage for an order Jay had. We took a lunch break for some delicious grilled Angus burgers, French fries, and corn casserole.

After lunch the guys got back to work, and Allison and I took the boys to a nearby park. The boys played on the playground for a little while, then we walked a leisurely 1.2 miles around the pond, watching for ducks and geese to feed. We tossed some kernels of corn out to some ducks in the pond a few times, but none of them were interested. The turtles weren't interested either. Finally we found some geese that were pretty hungry. Jacob showed no fear as he held out his few kernels of corn to one of the geese. It would've taken it right out of his hand if I hadn't told him to toss it. (Geese frighten me when they get close. They're aggressive, and I've seen them chase someone before.) Before long, that goose was right in front of Jacob, grabbing at his arm with its beak. He didn't freak out like I expected - or like I know Caleb would have. I wonder if Allison got a picture of that...

When we finished our stroll around the pond, the boys decided they wanted to ride in the paddle boats. We were all going to ride in one earlier, but they wouldn't let Grant in the boat since he's a baby. (Their rules said children had to be at least 30 inches tall and 30 lbs.) I'd never been in a paddle boat before, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Of course, I had to do all the work. Caleb couldn't quite reach the pedals. I had to take a break a few times, and Jacob always scolded me for it. I guess he thought if I wasn't pedaling, we would sink or something. During one of my breaks, Caleb took pity on me and said, "You rest, Mom. I'll pedal for a while." Then he leaned down, put his hands on the pedals, and tried his hardest to get us somewhere. He wasn't able to do that for long, but it was a really sweet gesture. He mostly steered us while I provided the power. Jacob gave orders. After about half of our allotted 30 minutes, I was nearly wiped out. We ended up being out for about 20 minutes. Exhausted, we made our way back to Allison and Grant and loaded up in their van to go back to their house. (Allison took a few pictures of us in our yellow duck boat. I'll post one later.)

Before we left that afternoon, we saw four hot air balloons floating across the sky behind their neighborhood. That's the second time we've seen hot air balloons from their back yard. I wonder how often they get to see them. I'd love to go up in one. Tethered, of course.

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Caleb's 7th birthday! I can't believe he's already that old! It doesn't seem like that long ago...

We started out the day at LIFT, our homeschool co-op. I baked a double batch of brownies for him to share with all his friends. They sang "Happy Birthday" to him while he grinned and hung his head, a little embarassed from all the attention.

After LIFT and our group lunch, we headed to the library for our weekly trip. I had thought about going to the zoo for his birthday like we had done for Jacob's last month, but the skies were threatening rain and I was still exhausted from last week, the weekend, and playing tag for nearly an hour with the two P.E. groups earlier in the day. After staying in the library for an hour, we came on home. I cooked Caleb's favorite food for his birthday supper: fried rice. We also had stir-fried veggies (broccoli, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and baby corn) and Billy and I each had an egg roll. We ate the leftover brownies for dessert.

Caleb opened two of his birthday gifts after dinner and dessert. First was a dice game called "Toss Up", which is a lot of fun. We all played a round of it after things settled down a little. He also got a 110-piece Magnetix set (to add to his many other Magnetix and GeoMag sets). Those are so much fun! We played with them after our dice game and ended up losing track of the time. He'll open his other gifts this weekend while Billy's parents are here.

It's been nice to have a stay-home-day today. I've been able to get my kitchen cleaned up and some laundry done. I can still think of several other things I should be doing instead of blogging right now, but I needed a break. I think we'll have an easy supper tonight - BLTs. I'll cook Tuscan chicken with angel hair pasta, salad, and garlic bread tomorrow night. Mmmm... I need to start posting my weekly menus again. No time like the present.

Monday night - frozen Totino's pizzas (I had a cooking show and got to snack on a few slices of Sun-Dried Tomato and Cheese Pizza and some Chocolate Trifle. Yum!)
Tuesday night - Caleb's birthday dinner: fried rice, stir-fried veggies, egg rolls
Wednesday night - BLTs
Thursday night - Tuscan chicken with angel hair pasta, salad, garlic bread
Friday night - leftovers or sandwiches
Saturday night - out
Sunday - sandwiches (standard for Sunday nights since we don't get back in from AWANA until around 7:00.)

Idol Chatter

Last night was the first night of competition for the final 12 contestants. The girls outperformed the guys by a wide margin. My top picks: Melinda Doolittle (who had Paula in tears), Lakisha Jones, and Jordin Sparks. I still like Chris Sligh, but his rendition of "Endless Love" was not good. He was the only consistently good guy until last night. I hope he's able to stick around, though. He's too good to go home yet. (Who am I to say? I don't even vote.)

Pick to go home: Sanjaya Malakar is by far the worst in the bunch, but I doubt he'll be the one going home tonight. I'd guess either Phil Stacy or Brandon Rogers. They're both okay, but just okay. They aren't standing out much, especially when their performances are sandwiched between the much better, much bolder ladies' performances.

We'll find out soon. At least AI isn't on Thursday nights anymore and I can get back to watching Survivor instead of flipping between the two shows.

My voice is back. It started coming back last Tuesday, and just over a week later, it's still not at 100%. Close, but not quite.

WEC Week

We've been really busy this week. DTS is having its annual World Evangelization Conference (WEC) this week, and the boys have their own Kids' Konference that they've been attending. They've been learning about missions in different countries each day. Tuesday was Canada; Wednesday, Greece; today, Australia. I can't remember what country they'll be "visiting" tomorrow.

While they've been playing, learning, crafting, and eating, I've been attending chapel services and a few 45-minute sessions on missions. Tuesday I went to a talk about "10 Myths about Missions" with my friend Jenny. Wednesday I attended "The Role of the Local Church in Missions". It was okay; there was some good information there, but it wasn't what I expected. Instead of going to one today, I sat out in the warm sunshine and worked on rough drafts of two book reviews I need to get turned in for my self-study program. It was fairly quick work; now I just need to polish them, type them, and email them to my faculty wife advisor. I saw her on campus today and was able to discuss substituting a few books that aren't on the list. I have one review left to write, then I'll finish reading What's So Amazing About Grace?. I've been reading a little on that book for over a year now. It's time to finish! It's a good book, but not one that I can just breeze through. It's a thinking book, and after a chapter or two, I have to put it down and...think. Then I forget that I'm reading it and I get involved in another book, and another book, and another book...

On the homefront, I've been too busy or too tired to get much done. Dishes are piling in the sink because I haven't unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher yet, and laundry is starting to pile up again. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some things done. Or Saturday morning.

Idol Chatter

American Idol isn't hooking me like it has in the past. The guys are pitiful for the most part. The only consistently good guy is Chris Sligh. I really liked Sundance and was sorry to see him go home tonight, even though he has struggled. He sounded better tonight during his farewell performance than he did Tuesday night, but nothing beats his "Mustang Sally" from the week before. He was awesome then, and I had hoped he was making a comeback. I can think of plenty of other guys who should've gone home tonight. Mainly Sanjaya. I think he's got a huge teeny-bopper fan base. (And he's the new pick of Vote for the Worst.) Poor guy. They're gonna push him through, then watch him fall flat on his face. Oh, Jarred was sent home tonight, too. I won't miss him.

As for the girls, I'm so glad that Antonella was sent home tonight. She was the only one of the four sent packing tonight who really deserved to go. Sabrina is good, and I don't understand why people voted for Haley (who?) instead of her. No surprise that Melinda and Lakisha made it to the top 12. They're the top two, respectively. They're the main reasons I'll be watching the rest of the season. When they're gone (if they're gone), I'm done for this season.

Disappointments

Is anyone else as disappointed in Survivor as I am? While I find myself rooting for the constantly losing tribe, I haven't really chosen anyone as a standout pick to pull for. Everyone on the winning team seems really haughty. There are definitely some I don't like, just none that I really do like.

The Amazing Race has let me down this season, too. I thought the all-star race would be a good idea, but I don't like many of the teams they chose. My favorite is Uchenna and Joyce, who won the million a few seasons back. I liked them then, too, but why do they need to compete for another million? If they're going to put previous winners in there, they should've included BJ and Tyler and the Cho brothers. They need to just let me pick my own all-stars... I can't stand Rob-n-Ambuh, mainly Rob. Most of the other teams get on my nerves, too.

Why are so many shows in reruns right now (CSI and CSI: New York), or not being aired (ER) so that something lame can air in its place (The Black Donnelly's)?

I guess this would be a good time to go to bed and get some extra sleep before my last day of WEC Week. I'm helping out with the 4-year-olds tomorrow during the first half of the morning, and I think I'm going to need my energy plus some...

Good night!

Tags: amazing race, american idol, family, survivor

Now beginning day 4 of not being able to talk. Caleb's happy to not have school until I get my voice back.

Nod for yes; shake for no. I smile like an idiot as I bob my head one way or the other. I've lost my voice.

It started Thursday evening, feeling kind of dry and a little scratchy. I took an ibuprofen and some Robitussin before bed.

Friday morning, I was hoarse-sounding, but not too bad. I was hoping my voice would stick around since I had a show that night. I did okay until about halfway though the show, then my voice started cutting out on me. I apologized many times and followed it with a swig from my water bottle. I took another round of ibuprofen and Robitussin before bed.

Saturday morning, I could talk a little, but I sounded rough. By noon, it was mostly gone. By the time our small group from church arrived, it was totally gone. I smiled and nodded through dinner and dessert. I whispered a time or two, but everyone said, "Don't strain your voice." What voice?

I thought it would be back this morning, but the best I've been able to do all day is whisper. I've got a few shows that need to be closed out soon, so I'm hoping my hosts will check their email. I'd like to be able to call them tomorrow, but who knows?

This is so annoying!

Real Competition

The ladies' performances on American Idol were so much better than the guys'! In short, my favorites are Lakisha, Melinda, Jordin, Sabrina, Stephanie, and Gina. Antonella should've gone home last week, but she (along with Sundance) has been picked by Vote for the Worst as their top female pick. Their goal is to push through the worst singer to win the final and get the prized record deal. What's up with encouraging someone to fail? They're twisted, and I hope there are enough other votes to offset their attempts.

I don't like that the AI eliminations are on the same time as Survivor. It's no fun missing half of Survivor while finding out who's being sent home from AI. I could tape one and watch the other, but I don't ever think about it in time. This is one time a split screen TV would be good! This same thing happened last year, and I remember watching Survivor on the main TV while keeping an eye on AI on our pocket-size portable. I may have to find it again for this year.

After the boys were both treated with antibiotics for their different ailments a few weeks ago, I thought we would be finished. Not so much. Caleb started complaining of his ear hurting again Saturday morning. I took him to the weekend clinic after deciding it would be best not to wait the whole weekend if his ear infection didn't get cleared up with his first round of Augmentin. I checked him in over the internet, and when they called to verify everything, the receptionist said it would be about a 2-hour wait. Three hours later, I called to make sure he hadn't gotten lost in the shuffle. The receptionist said there were still a few people ahead of us, but to come on in.

We didn't have to wait too long after we got there; I guess we got to watch about 5 minutes of Rudy, which was also playing when I took Jacob there 3 weeks ago. One of the doctors took us back, saying the nurses were really slow that day. She took Caleb's vitals, asked a few questions, and began examining him. She didn't see a sign of an ear infection, but she did find a rupture with a blood clot in his eardrum. She wasn't sure so she called in the other doctor for a second opinion; she agreed with the diagnosis.

The first doctor also said that Caleb had some knots under his neck and had a "strep smell", so she did a strep test. I told her Jacob had that a few weeks ago, but Caleb had been on antibiotics, too. The test came back positive so she prescribed a stronger round of antibiotics, along with antibiotic drops for his ear.

Caleb couldn't hold down the first (as we found out at The Black-Eyed Pea) or second dose of his strep antibiotic, so I called the clinic to have them double-check his dose (1 1/2 tsp. twice a day!). They didn't call me back Saturday night, so I called again Sunday morning. A nurse returned my call only to say I had called the wrong clinic, the North Dallas location instead of the South Garland one. I double-checked the number I had called and compared it with the one she had given me. It was the same one, so I called again and left another message. They finally called me back about 8:30 last night, but I wasn't able to get to my phone in time. I tried calling back, but the message I got said the clinic was closed and that I needed to call back during regular office hours. The nurse had left a message saying the same thing. Grrrrrrr....

Thinking about the situation off and on during the day, I decided I need to double-check everything with our pediatrician. The doses seem extreme to me. As soon as their office opens (15 minutes from now), I'll leave a message with our doctor about Caleb's symptoms, diagnoses from the clinic, and the prescriptions they gave.

I had a sudden thought this morning while I was lying in bed, trying to urge myself to get up: I ate the rest of Caleb's cole slaw at Chick-Fil-A Friday night. Billy ate part of the remainder of Caleb's chicken sandwich. I've never had strep before, so I don't know what it feels like. I also don't know what the incubation period is from the time of contact until symptoms begin showing up. I hope my immunity to strep continues to be what it has been all these years, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

Better Things

We also had some good times this weekend. Mama and Daddy came to celebrate Jacob's and Billy's birthdays with us. They arrived Friday night and went back home Sunday morning. We played games, watched movies on TV, talked, and ate good food while they were here. Caleb's lengthy trip to the clinic knocked out mine and Mama's plans to go to The Rock Barrell, but we'll try to go next month when they come for Caleb's birthday.

I haven't had time to post in a while, things have been so crazy. For about a week I was getting things ready for three out-of-town shows, along with preparing host packets for anticipated catalog shows. (I've got 7 for this month!)

While we were out of town, the boys got sick. First Jacob started running a high fever. By the time we got home Sunday afternoon, his temp was up to 103.5. I took him to Care Now and they diagnosed him with strep throat. The next afternoon Caleb started feeling run-down. Late afternoons he would start dragging and would curl up on the couch under a blanket. He didn't eat much, but he wasn't running any fever. I kept thinking about taking him to the doctor to make sure he didn't have strep, too, but he always felt better in the mornings. Then he'd always go back to feeling puny in the afternoons. He woke up in the wee hours of the morning last Thursday because his ear was hurting. I took him in to the doctor, who said Caleb had "a whopper of an ear infection". He never even complained about it until that morning. He's finishing up his round of antibiotics.

On top of all that, I've got a cold now. Most nights I wake up several times, always with a stuffy nose. By the time I get back to sleep good again, it's almost time to get up. That's no fun... After several nights of sleeplessness, I'm tired. I actually slept better last night, so I'm hoping that trend will continue.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old now! The first thing he said when he woke up yesterday morning was, "I turned four!" (He had been counting down the days for about 2 1/2 weeks.) Everywhere we went, he said the same thing to everyone: "I turned four!" Of course, everyone congratulated him. I remember when Caleb turned four. He told everyone he met, too.

Tuesdays are usually busy days: twice a month for Bible study and once for our homeschool co-op. Since yesterday was the one Tuesday this month that we didn't have anything planned, I decided to surprise the boys with a trip to the zoo. I packed us a picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, nacho flavored Doritos, a banana, string cheese, carrot sticks, granola bars, and water. Then I told the boys we were going to run an errand and go for a picnic since the weather was so nice. Caleb wanted to know where, but I told him he'd have to wait, that it was surprise. It's only 20 minutes to the zoo, but traffic on the interstate was congested; we were at a standstill a few times. I'm surprised Caleb didn't realize where we were going. He finally figured it out when we were across the street from the gigantic giraffe statue. They were really excited to be there.

Right off the bat, Caleb wanted to ride the carousel, but Jacob emphatically let me know he didn't want any part of it. Caleb climbed up on the tiger and held on for dear life. When the ride was over, we headed to "The Wilds of Africa" to see the new penguin exhibit. They weren't very active, so we didn't hang around. Next was the colorful mandrill, but he wasn't very active either. We were looking for something we could watch while we ate our lunch. On our way to the gorilla habitat, we ran into a neighbor/friend of mine from the SWIM Board who was there with her two younger children. We chatted and walked along together until the boys decided they couldn't wait for lunch any longer. We parted ways and settled in at the chimpanzee exhibit to eat. One chimp was sitting on a wooden structure in the middle of the "yard". We sat down on a bench and watched him do nothing while we ate. All of a sudden two other chimps ran across the grass, chasing each other and screeching. One of them ran all the way to the end where a big metal wall was and banged on it - LOUDLY. They retreated to their hidden corner as quickly as they had appeared. The chimp in the middle had discovered us and moved to a closer fallen tree trunk to watch us eat. I guess he was perturbed that we weren't sharing our food, because when I started getting our things together to leave, he threw a few small rocks at us. I heard them skittering across the concrete and turned to see who had done it, but no one else was around. I looked at the chimp and he was still sitting on his tree trunk, still watching. I turned back to finish packing our backpack when another few rocks clattered nearby. Jacob scolded the chimp: "Don't do that. That's not nice!" (PoMonkey, I guess it could have been worse, huh?!?)

We continued on our way for the next hour or so, watching for active animals. The elephants, the white-cheeked gibbons, and the flamingos were the only animals who were doing much. I was having a good time watching the gibbons, but the boys were getting tired and bored. They kept saying, "Mo-om, come on!"

Of course we had to stop by the boys' favorite part: the Underzone, part of the Children's Zoo. They have cutaways in the wall where you can watch all sorts of ground-dwellers. My favorites are the naked mole rats continuously scurrying back and forth through their maze of tunnels. There's also a kid-sized tunnel the boys like to go through. Halfway through are three window bubbles where kids can stand up and look into spoonbill and mongoose "rooms". I have to practically drag them out of there. Too bad the gibbons aren't in the same spot. Then we'd all be happy.

After 3 hours there, we finally made our way back to the van, but not before one last trip to the carousel. This time Jacob decided he'd ride, but only if I'd ride with him. He enjoyed riding the tiger, and Caleb had a blast riding in the spinning bird's nest. (It's a really cool carousel!)

I cooked Jacob one of his favorite meals for his birthday supper: spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. I made cupcakes for dessert, but once Jacob unwrapped his "I Spy: Mystery" computer game, he decided he had had enough to eat. He stayed glued to the computer screen for the rest of the evening. Whenever family called to wish him a happy birthday, he quickly told them he had turned four, then turned his full attention back to his game.

Both boys were so tired from the day that they crashed pretty quickly after going to bed. I know all the activity of the day wore me out. I guess that's why I slept better last night. I guess that's also why I've been dragging all day today. Let's hope for another decent night's sleep.

Sweet dreams...

Caleb participated in his first spelling bee today. He did great - second place and a good attitude. There were only 4 first graders taking part, and he was the only boy. The word that got him out: "what". He spelled it "w-a-t". I realized that I had consistently overlooked that word on his list, focusing more on simple words he wasn't very familiar with (cuff, moss, suit) and words he was having trouble with (people, would, could, should).

He waffled on whether or not he wanted to participate, and I didn't work with him on his word list like I should have. I think we didn't start on it until right before Christmas, and we didn't work on it any during the Christmas break. I'm going to download the second grade list early so we can start working on them in plenty of time.

After the second graders finished with their bee, we walked around the library and looked around. We were in Rowlett, a small town north of Garland. We don't have library cards for Rowlett or Sunnyvale, but we do for nearly everywhere else around here. (We don't have Dallas because we'd have to pay for one since we don't live in the city limits, and then it's not for full library access. Isn't that dumb?!?)

Next we headed to Braum's for ice cream sundaes. Caleb is enrolled in Braum's Book Buddy reading program. After every six books he reads, he gets a coupon for a free ice cream treat, six total. The first time we went, he got a scoop of Rocky Road on a cone. This time he ordered a Rocky Road sundae with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and nuts. Jacob ordered a Cookies 'N Cream sundae with chocolate syrup and a cherry. I ordered a Peanut Butter Cup sundae with peanut butter topping, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry. Mmmmmm... Was that ever good! Now, in order to keep with eating fewer calories and less fat, I think I'm going to have to eat only carrot sticks and lettuce for supper tonight. I have some tortillas, so maybe I'll have a low-fat wrap with a little meat and a lot of salad.

Tomorrow night's menu: chicken and dumplings, garlic bread, and salad. Can't wait for that!

Here's today's Ten on Tuesday: 10 Guilty TV Pleasures. This one shouldn't be too hard...

1. Monk - I absolutely love this show. If I had to choose only one TV show to watch for the rest of my life, this would be it because it makes me laugh so much. (Thankfully I don't have to do that!) I've watched some of the first season, which I got for Christmas, and it's really good, too. I like Traylor Howard's character (Natalie Teeger, Monk's current assistant) much better than Bitty Schram's (Sharona, Monk's former nurse). I also love the Monk books. I'm reading the third one now, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, which was just released this month. The fourth one in the series is scheduled for a July release.

2. CSI:NY - I've recently started watching this most recent addition to the CSI trilogy(?) and have really enjoyed it. I've watched an episode or two of the original CSI series, but it's been on so long that I feel like I can't catch up with all the character relationships. Plus, it comes on at 8 p.m. and that's when I'm busy getting the boys to bed, making business calls, and doing some last-minute cleaning in the kitchen. I tried watching the Miami version, but for some reason, I can't get into that one. Billy got me the first season of CSI:NY for Christmas and we watched the first two episodes Saturday night.

3. ER - I started watching this show when it premiered, took a 4-year-long hiatus beginning during my pregnancy with Caleb because I couldn't stay awake that late, and started watching again in 2003. Even though the show has lost popularity, I still enjoy it now just as much as I did in the early days.

4. The Amazing Race - I got hooked on this show during its fifth season. I love seeing all the places the racers have to go, as well as all the physical, mental, and relational challenges they have to overcome to compete. There's always at least one team I love and one team I can't stand. The only season I didn't enjoy watching was the family edition. I taught one of the competitors, Brock Rogers, about 6 years ago when he was in my 8th grade science class. I was pulling for his family, but they were eliminated about halfway through.

5. Survivor - I couldn't get into this show the first few times I tried to watch it, but I finally did about 3 or 4 seasons ago. Now I hate to miss it. I like that my parents and my sisters like to watch, too, so we can compare notes about the competitors and talk about strategies and so on. So far, we've all liked the same people.

6. Dirty Jobs - What a great show! I love to see all the different types of jobs out there that I never knew existed. A lot of people have some really nasty jobs! Mike Rowe has a great sense of humor about everything, and I love how he gets right in there and does the grunt work with the others instead of sitting on the sidelines, watching and commenting.

7. Psych - Billy and I first caught this show because it comes on right after Monk. It's another fun detective show to watch, and we're looking forward to seeing all of the second season after seeing only a few episodes of the first one.

8. MythBusters - It's always fun to see what ideas Adam and Jamie are going to test. I think these guys have more fun at work than anyone else I can imagine.

9. American Idol - I can't wait until it starts back up next week! I originally started watching to see all the bad singers trying out, but each year I find a few people who have real talent. Last year my favorites were Chris Daughtry and Mandisa. I was disappointed when Mandisa was sent home, and even more so when Chris Daughtry had to leave. This year, I'm watching with a different view: It doesn't really matter who wins the title because everyone gets to see who has the real talent.

10. Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond reruns - It doesn't matter how many times I've seen these episodes, they're always funny.

I'm a day late, but I'd like to start participating in the weekly Thursday Thirteen. There's no weekly theme; you choose what 13 things you want to write about. I think it's going to be challenging, though, because I often have trouble coming up with 10 things for my occasional Ten on Tuesday.

Here this week's Thursday Thirteen: 13 Christmas Ornaments
(BTW, I have more than 13 ornaments!)

I think I'm going to divide this into categories: handmade, nostalgic/personal meaning, and collectibles.

Handmade:
1. a burgundy and yellow-gold ornament my mom made - It's got burgundy velvet sections, alternating with print material in coordinating colors, glued onto a styrofoam ball; each section is divided with a gold-colored cord that forms the hanging loop at the top and a tassel at the bottom. The print material has glass glitter on it.

2. a red and silver peppermint swirl sparkly ornament I made - It's a satin ball ornament that I covered with sequins, seed beads, and straight pins. I got the idea from a book Melissa gave me a few years ago - Christmas Ornaments: Exquisite Handmade Ornaments for the Tree. I've made several of them over the years. A few years ago I came up with several different designs and color combinations to make to sell at a craft show. The only one that sold was my Texas flag design. Mama bought one later on, so I gave her a special deal since she had helped me at the show: two for the price of one. (Lindsay has the other one on her tree.) All the other ones I made for that show are hanging on my tree: two blue ones with silver snowflakes; a gold one with a wreath; a gold one with zig-zag stripes in green and red; an iridescent one; a black, gold, and silver striped one; a green and silver peppermint swirl; and probably another one or two. I need to give Melissa one since she gave me the book that inspired me...

3. a crocheted snowflake I made - I bought a book several years ago with 101 snowflake designs to crochet. I started at number 1 and made my way through several different ones. Then I starched them and gave them away. I did that for a few years, always picking up where I left off. Finally I kept two for myself. I never finished the book. Maybe I'll get back to that next year...

4. a crystal Christmas spider ornament I made - Can you tell I like to make things? I found this design online a few weeks ago and thought I'd give it a try. Mama has some gold ones that she bought several years ago and I always liked them, even though I'm not so wild about its legend. I'll be giving away several of these this year...

5. Billy's hand-turned wooden snowman ornament - Billy found a magazine at the local woodworking shop that had ornament patterns in it. Using that as a guide, he came up with some of his own designs. His office had an ornament exchange this year, and he made a bell ornament out of tulipwood, which turned out really beautiful. Anna Jean loved it and felt honored that it was the first bell he made. He also made an antique-looking design, which is also on our tree.

Nostalgic/Personal Meaning:
6. a sock monkey - Mama found this for me at Cracker Barrel several weeks ago. Billy and I both had sock monkeys growing up - I don't think anyone in our age bracket didn't! However this little sock monkey is different: it doesn't have a red behind!

7. a scented Starbucks coffee cup ornament - Billy got this yesterday at his ormanent exchange party. He often goes into work with a Starbucks cup, and now the campus has a coffee shop that serves Starbucks coffee (and frozen custard, which is absolutely delicious!). Sabrina couldn't have chosen a more perfect ornament!

8. my carousel horse ornament from 1993 - I've always been a fan of carousels and carousel horses. I always said that if I ever had a daughter, her room would be decorated that way. Well, my boys hate having their room decorated like a carousel, but I told them - just kidding! They have a Spiderman room.

9. a teacher ornament from one of my students - It seems I got tons of coffee mugs or Christmas ornaments from students every year. One of my favorites is a teacher made from a shiny red glass ball ornament, which serves as her body. Her brown hair is piled on top of her head, with a pencil tucked through. She's holding a book in one hand and an apple in the other. Sadly, I can't remember who gave me that ornament, but I'll always treasure it and take special care that it doesn't get broken.

Collectibles:
10. Snowball & Tuxedo - I started collecting these for Caleb when he was one year old. We just bought his sixth one the other day: Snowball, the polar bear, and Tuxedo, the penguin, are sitting in the snow looking at a book: 101 Snow Games.

11. Nick & Christopher - I started collecting these for Jacob when he was one year old. We just bought his third one the other day. It was the last one in the store - the display. I almost waited too long! The big brown bear and his little gray mouse friend (I can't remember which is which) are sliding down a hill on a patched innertube with a sack full of toys.

12. Lionel Trains - Billy has been collecting these ornaments for 11 years! He keeps these out year round on his top bookshelf in his study. He installed a light along the back of the shelf to light up his collection. It really looks nice.

13. Carousel Ride - I've got my own carousel now! Hallmark came out with this series 3 years ago. I have the carousel (which plays music and lights up), the two original horses that came with it, the lion from the first year, and the giraffe (my favorite!) from last year. This year's ornament is a prancing reindeer. This is another collection that's kept out year round.

Nameece Doddidod
I can't tell you how many times I've heard it on the radio - and I can't stand it! Jacob, however, loves it and starts singing Feliz Navidad his own way.

Merry Christmas to you!
I won't be posting again until after Christmas, so have a merry one! And take the time to remember what it's really about.

Each week, Cindy Swanson participates in the Thursday Thirteen, and this week she wrote about 13 "Carols of the Year". She inspired me to write about my 13 favorite Christmas CDs. In no particular order, here they are:

1. Sounds of the Season: The NBC Holiday Collection - I bought this CD at Target three years ago. I glanced at the list of artists on the front, saw Josh Groban's name, and had to buy it.

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas - Billy bought this one for the boys last year, and they love it. They listen to music each night when they go to bed, and this one's been playing for them for about 3 weeks now.

3. Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas - Don't you just love Ella Fitzgerald?!

4. Rhapsody in White - I bought this CD after watching a Christmas pageant at a church back home in Louisiana. The church pianist, Carlton Gilmer, played several Christmas carols during the intermission and won my heart. I bought his CD before I left.

5. Midnight Clear - Self-described as "an eclectic collection of Christmas classics", it features artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crobsy, and Nat King Cole along with Rebecca St. James, Big Tent Revival, and BeBe and CeCe Winans.

6. Harry for the Holidays - I'm a big fan of Harry Connick, Jr.

7. Miracles: The Holiday Album - There's nothing like Kenny G's smooth sax to soothe holiday stresses...

8. Faith: A Holiday Album - Kenny G's first Christmas CD was so good, I had to buy his second one.

9. This Is the Time - Don't laugh, but I love Michael Bolton's voice. He's got an awesome duet with Placido Domingo on "Ave Maria".

10. A Christmas Tribute to Mannheim Steamroller - I bought this CD to replace my scratched and missing Mannheim Steamroller CDs, and later realized it was by The Westwind Ensemble instead. It's still good.

11. America's 25 Favorite Christmas Songs - This has some great classics on it like "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "White Christmas", and "Silver Bells".

12. WOW Christmas - I'm not sure how often these are produced, but the one I have is from 2002. It's pretty good. I may need to see if there's a more recent one out with some of the newer artists.

13. The Jingle Cats' Meowy Christmas - No, it's not a favorite, but it is unique. I may have to play this one for the boys today. I haven't listened to it in a while myself. It gets really annoying after one or two songs. (And it doesn't even take that much for some people!)

I have to throw one more in for good measure. It's not really a Christmas CD, though. It's Snowfall by Yanni. He's always great to listen to.

Weird Weather

Wednesday I wore a short sleeve T-shirt and blue jeans and had to run the a/c because the temperature was near 80. Thursday we had sleet and snow (and taco soup!). There wasn't much coverage, but it was pretty to watch. I also liked the sound of the sleet hitting the window in the 20-30 mph gusts of wind. Today's forecast is sunny and cold, with highs in the lower 40s.

Guess What?!?

Jacob is now potty-trained!!! He's been dry since Wednesday. It's not that I've been catching him on time, either. He told me Wednesday morning that he needed to use the potty, so I took him and he did. He told me every time he needed to go that day! And yesterday! And this morning! No accidents whatsoever! I knew he could do it. I think this just shows that he was being stubborn about the whole thing. I guess he finally decided he'd rather use the potty like a big boy and get to play the computer and watch TV than wet his pants all the time and miss out. I'm not packing away the Pull-Ups or the training pants just yet, though. Better to be safe than sorry. Especially on the brand new carpet in the house we're renting...

From the files at Ten on Tuesday...

1. turkey (Dark meat, please.)
2. ham
3. dressing (Ginny's cornbread dressing seasoned with sage. Mmmmmm....)
4. sweet potato casserole (With a pecan and brown sugar topping!)
5. cranberry sauce
6. cheese straws
7. pecan pie
8. broccoli rice casserole
9. sweet potato pie with whipped topping
10. LEFTOVERS!!!!!!

I guess it's time to start exercising again.

Speaking of food, I found a recipe for an excellent - and easy - apple crisp the other day. Caleb had a math project where we taste tested red, yellow, and green apples to see which one we liked best. Caleb and I like red apples better; Jacob and Billy prefer green. (No one we've polled so far likes yellow apples.) With all the apples around, I decided it would be nice to make an apple dessert. I started to make Apple Bundles, but the recipe calls for orange juice. I wasn't sure how that would taste, and I didn't have any on hand anyway. I jumped online and searched for apple crisp on All Recipes (one of my favorite go-to places for new recipes) and found one that looked quick and delicious. I was not disappointed! Caleb loved it! Jacob wouldn't try it. (Of course Billy and I liked it.) I even had enough topping left over for a smaller one, which I think I'll make next week some time.

I made Baked Potato Soup last night and it was great! Jacob ate two servings and wanted more. He even wanted some Tony's sprinkled in his to spice it up a bit. Caleb liked his, too, but I think he preferred the Asiago Cheese Bread we picked up at Panera earlier in the day. Plus, I think he was holding out for some leftover apple crisp.

My cousin Josh and a guy he works with are coming to Dallas next week for training, and I've invited them over for dinner one night. I guess I need to talk to him soon and find out the details so we can make definite plans. I have a few ideas...

...blow your fence down!

That's what the wind did last night. It blew down part of our back fence! When Billy was leaving for work this morning, he had to stop and pick up large sections of fence that had blown over into the alley and push them over into the backyard. I've got to keep a watch on it today to make sure more doesn't blow over in the 30+ mile per hour winds we're supposed to have all day long. They said we've had gusts up to 40 and it could get windier this afternoon.

I've got to call our leasing agent and let her know about the fence before the appraiser gets here at noon. She's coming to inspect the house because the owner is wanting to refinance. I don't know if the fence being down will affect any of that or not.

It looks like a great day to stay home - only I have a few errands that have to be run this morning before the appraiser comes and before my friend Amy brings her 2-year-old daughter over for me to babysit this afternoon. Caleb's worried that he'll blow away.

There'll be no napping for me today - despite the fact I was awake most of the night. I think it's the Allegra D I'm currently taking that's keeping me up, but at least I don't have sinus pressure and congestion right now. I haven't slept well since I started taking it Friday, but last night was the worst. Instead of waking up every hour, glancing at the clock, and dozing off again, I stayed awake for about 3 hours, tossing and turning. By the time I finally got to sleeping better, it was time to get up. Isn't that the way it goes?!?

"I won the red apron!
I won the red apron!"

Yes, I finally won the coveted red Pampered Chef apron last night for having the highest October sales in the Dallas High Five Cluster! I submitted over $1600 in sales, and I still have some October orders that I'm waiting to submit. Those will go toward my November total sales.

Speaking of November... I have only one show booked - a catalog show in Louisiana. I know things get busy with the holidays, but I want to wear the red apron! Several ladies I've called have said they'd like to host in January after things have slowed down some. I've got a few more to call today, and if I get nothing, I'll just have a show of my own. I'm thinking I may do either a holiday-themed show or a cookie show, which was demoed (sp?) at last night's meeting (where I got the red apron!).

I have two shows in December that are early enough I can wear the apron before having to give it back for November's Top Achiever. I need to double-check when the apron has to be back, but I think it's not until Dec. 12.

Jacob's Song and Dance

Have you seen the Geico commercial with little person Verne Troyer? "It's my birthday. Got my car fixed. New headlights, new bumper..." Jacob loves that commercial and goes around singing that rap all the time. He's so funny, so I taught him to do the dance, too. Billy was able to get him on video, so if you're ever here and he won't perform for you, we can show you the video instead. Jacob is such a ham at times!

Childcare is provided at our Pampered Chef training meetings. Since they're currently being held at my director's house, the boys go upstairs and hang out with whichever teenager is available for the night. Last night I heard Jacob doing his song and dance for the babysitter, who was laughing hysterically and saying, "Do it again! Do it again!" He performed a few times, then decided he'd had enough. I tried to get him to do it later for my director (who had heard him earlier), but he said, "Not right now." Maybe another time... I'm sure! Watch him break into it at the library today for his friends Ben, Mason, and Matthew!