The Compassion of a Teenager

Here is a quote for those times when people need to get a grip:

" Cry me a river,
Build me a Bridge,
and Get over it!"

said from my very compassionate 13 year old daughter.

I Elfed My Family :-p

Do Not Watch If Afraid of Elves

When my mother was sleeping and I had full control of the computer. I raided my mom's pictures and I Elfed my whole family. The dog in there is Max. Well I hope you enjoy :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Clean Room? 10 tips to help you get it clean and organized

I am going to give you guys 10 tips on how to clean and organize your room, so after the holiday rush ends you will know where to put everything.

10 Tips on a Nice Clean and Organized Room

1. Space-clear the room- Make three boxes/piles, one for keep (you can’t keep everything), one for donation, and one for trash. Take everything out of the room you are doing and put the items in the designated box
2. Mark containers-mark what is in there, when you put items away, so you don’t half to go looking through boxes to find a pen, when you could go to the box/container labeled pens and take one out.
3. Write it Down!-write it down where you put the stuff, maybe make up an inventory list, so you know how many you have
4. Keep Likes with Likes-put pens with other pens. Don’t put a pen with all of your nail polish, you wouldn’t look for it there.
5. Organize!-put items you use the most in front, or out in the open, so you can get to them quicker.
6. One Step At a Time-if you want to do your whole house, don’t expect to get it done in one day! Do a room a day.
7. Laundry. AHHHHH!!!-if possible get two tall laundry baskets put them where ever you put your laundry currently, then have one for lights and one for darks, that way you don’t need to separate them.
8. Do I Use This?-If you don’t know if you use this enough then put it into a box mark the box with the date and put this box somewhere for 1-3 months, if you don’t even remember that you put it there then donate it, if you need to take it out, then keep it.
9. Finished?-once everything is clean, give yourself some time alone i.e. read a book, take a bubble bath, have some tea. Just relax because you just accomplished a lot.
10. Keep it Up!-keep it organized, don’t let it get all messy again. If it does get messy again just space-clear it again.


I hope these tips help you keep your home/room clean throughout the upcoming holidays.

~C

Freaky Friday - Beaker's Ode to Joy

Review of the Twilight Movie compared to the book

The movie could have covered more of the book. They didn’t portray the vampire as pale as we think they are NBC does a better vampire color. Edward was white like my mom and I. Also when he showed himself out into the sunlight it was like someone dumped a bucket of sparkles over his head, not imbedded crystals as Bella described it. Also they covered on the three visiting vampires more than the Cullens, in parts of the movies you think that the Cullen’s are the ones killing people. The movie is on the long side, but if you have read the book I would not recommended on watching it, if you haven’t read the book I would say watch the movie than read the book and let us know how different it is.

By: C ;)

Taking the Christ out of Christmas - Merry X-Mas

Have you ever gotten a Christmas card that says "x-mas"? Have you ever gotten made at it? Well, here is something that my minister told us. "X" is a greek abreviation for the Greek word meaning Christ. So the next time you see x-tian, x-mas, x-tianity, don't say that they are taking the Christ out of any of those words. They are just using an abreviate that has been around for a while. So ask them why they use it.


By
<3 C

Twilight - Read the Book - Going to the Movie

Today at 11:35 I’ll be watching Twilight with a friend. I hope this movie will be amazing. I finished the first book in less than 24 hours. I couldn’t even put it down, and I made one of my friends read it to! There are two more books that I want to read: New Moon and Eclipse. The book is a lot of romance, with a little bit of adventure. I can’t wait until I see the movie. I’ll tell you how it goes!~!~!~!~!

By: C ;)

Kicking Off the Holiday Season with the Radio City Rockettes

I know that it is a little early for many of you to think about Christmas, but guess where we are today . . .



We'll let you know how it went.

What should I be when I grown up?

I know we must all get asked this question at least once in our life, “What are going to be when you grow up?” And yes the answer changes throughout the years as you get closer and closer to college, where you finally decide. Well, I want to know this answer. I have too many options and I’m good at too many things. Tonight, I got compliments on my fashion design (option one) and that I should go into college for fashion, but then I have my love and talent of horses (option two). I just love the animal. Then acting (option three) is also something I have always loved and would love to just go out and accomplish. Then I would love to be a minister (option four and final option). I just love the places my minister goes and I think it would be cool to do. I want to know what you answered the question as a kid.

What would you like to be when you grow up?

By <3C

Freaky Friday - Gummy Bear Song

I'll give you a 2 guesses which one of us found this:

10 Steps to Being Organized

I walked into my kitchen and opened our newly organized junk drawer, only to find people can’t open a plastic bag!!!! It took me hours to organize it – HOURS!!!! And they can’t even open a plastic bag?? So now I’m introducing a new rule. If you don’t put it away in the right place in the junk drawer, then you lose one hour of computer time. Let’s see if they will organize now!!! Mwhahahaha (aka diabolical laugh)!!!!LOL


My top 10 Organizational Hints
1. Take everything out of the space your are trying to clean.
2. Throw away things that don’t work or you don’t use
3. Put like things with like things
4. Find something to put them in i.e. plastic bags, organizers etc.
5. Put them back in with them organized
6. Put things you use more frequently in front
7. Spread out the work. Take on different project each week.
8. Organizing helps you clean.
9. Keep it organized as much as you can.
10. Have fun with it. The more fun you have, the easier it is to organize. Just don’t get off topic and forget what your goal is.

How Much TV Should Kids Watch?

My DF (dear father) wants my brother and I to graph our computer, tv, and phone time. Computer – ok. We’re only allowed on for an hour (whole different story). Phone – OK. I’m the only one that uses it and I am only allowed 30 minutes per time (one hour total). But – TV –I don’t watch that much non-educational tv – maybe 3 hours on Thursday (Survivor is a must!), but other than that it is the news or music choice. I feel that Dad wants to limit us even more. I already don’t have time like all my friends do, nor do I have that cell phone that everyone else does (excluding my brother, he is still in that age group that doesn’t need one), but why limit me on tv? It is usually news and music, but I don’t watch music. It’s not like I don’t ask to go and use it, but when I do it is only for 2-3pm or 3-4pm for A Haunting on Discovery Channel and on Thursday 8-9pm on CBS for Survivor. I always ask and my mom always has the right to say “no”.

What is your view on this?

By,
C

Note: At this time, there is no judgment of what DH is going to do with this information and frankly, I think it will be interesting to everyone to see what the truth is of their viewing habits.

By,
D

Obama Wins Election

Well, it looks like Obama is coming out with the lead. Right now at 10:43pm, 207 electoral votes for Obama and 135 for McCain. My own state went with Obama. There are still six more states to close (Alaska, Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho). The house is Dem for the next four years (again) 54 Democrats to 38 Republicans at 10:46pm. I might need to pull and all-nighter if the polls don’t work out.

“Will.I.Am” is on CNN right now via hologram it looks sooooooo cool. Too bad he is an Obama supporter (:(). I wish I could add an update as they come in but two problems; 1. I lost computer 2.I don’t have an account on blogger, to add me as an author for the blog, so I’ll just write it all down. California is closing in 5 in (11:00pm), so are the other 5 states (hmmmmm…….Let’s guess how Alaska is voting). If McCain wins, he would be the 20th Republican President, If Obama wins he would be the 30th(I think) Lawyer to become President. Virginia hasn’t gone Dem since L.B. Johnson (Obama won VA).

Just in, at 11:00pm Obama is elected president 297 electoral votes to McCain’s 139. This is CNN’S calculations, Alaska & Idaho went Republican, and the other 4 went Dem. Well now there is only one more issues to solve….Is he really the first African-American President? Obama in the beginning said he was not African-American, but once he wins he says he is African-American President….How does this work??? Life isn’t a One Way Street. It is exciting to have the first black president. Maybe next it will be a woman (C for President in 2028!). Obama will be sworn in Jan. 20th, 2009.

As I told my brother this morning “today will either be the best day, or the worst.” Seems like it is the worst. I hope people fight for the right to bear arms (I will be one of them), because Obama doesn’t believe in it. I hope Obama’s supporters enjoy their feast to night.

I hope you went out to vote, and if you didn’t, one thing left:
DON’T COMPLAIN!!!


Final Count: Obama 306 electoral votes McCain 145 electoral votes, well I need to go to bed mom wants me to. 11:29pm and that is the final count.

By: C

Somebody to Love Sheet Music

The Jr. Choir at my church is great (it would be great even if I wasn't in it . . JK) Well, I think it is time to do something upbeat and challenging. So I asked why don't we do Somebody to Love by Queen. The choir director said fine, if I could find the sheet music - can I tell you how hard this is? I finally (with the help of my mom) found it! I need to buy it still, but at least I know that I can buy it.



I really want to do this song!

What is your favorite song?

By C

Election Day

Well, we all know that tomorrow is Election Day. We need to get out there and vote. We need to choose our next President. There is one quote I love that says, "If you don't vote, then you can't complain". My friends and I are very political and we do complain. We would vote if we could, but we CAN'T. My friends don't all support McCain like I do, but that is ok. We like the difference. We can go on for hours debating with each other.

This year is major, and we need to get out and vote. So when tomorrow comes around, make sure that you go out and VOTE!!!!!!!



by C

Homecoming Dance Update

We successfully found a beautiful dress in record time. . . I should have known that trouble was brewing. The principal of the high school called to Friday around lunchtime to get emergency numbers and confirm that DD was "enrolled in high school". . . I should have never called back! I should have been a rotten mom and not tried to make sure that they had emergency information, but whoops, my rule abiding side made me call. . . what a mistake.

After two calls with the principal and one with the vice principal, DD was banned from the dance. She was 13 and not "enrolled" in their school. At first it was just her age, but when I challenged them that they would have 13 year olds in attendance i.e. Freshman with birthdays in November and December, they then added the phrase "and enrolled in their school". I've got to tell you as a person who pays my taxes in this district but does not use the school system, this answer burned my butt!

So she was super beautiful with nowhere to go, but she handled it like a champ. Even I would have to admit that at her age, I would have slammed the door, flooped on my bed, and cried. She put her earings, necklace, and heals on and danced to music downstairs. She even encouraged her "date" to go without her. As she said, this was his first homecoming and he should make sure that he went.

What did we learn out of the deal:
- she is taller than me when she wears heals.
- we emphasized the reason that we homeschool . . . the ability to make decision on an individual basis and not by "policy"
- that DD really is growing up not just physically but in maturity too
- Mom's kisses can't make everything better anymore

Punishment Turned Time Together

Things have been a little tense in the mom and me field. The me, C, is spreading her teenage wings. And mom, D, has been super frustrated on so many different fronts. So it was really good tonight to laugh together.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings

What seemed to be unfortunate, the loss of computer without complete parental supervision i.e. sitting directly next to you watching each and every keystroke (BTW - boy can C type fast), became a good laugh. She was IMing a friend from church. The subject turned toward Latin - one of my favorite subjects and my daughter's least favorite. We got very silly and had a good, long laugh. It is a very good thing that the cam was not on.

Homecoming Dance

DD was asked to the homecoming dance. This is a biggy. This is the first date / dance, she will go on. We have one week to find a dress. It is a semi-formal. She is aiming towards:







I think something like this may be a better choice.

Or this one, which comes in a beautiful Lagoon (blue) color:

It is frightening how quickly they grow up. She will be beautiful. I hope that she has a good time.

Freaky Friday - Peanut Butter & Jelly and A Banana Phone

Here's one for you:



and if that is not enough, check out this even more addicting one:



How about even faster:

How Much Do You Tell Your Teen?

Being a teen is tough. We adults know it because we've been there. You teens know it because your in it.

I've always tried to be honest with DD about life, but I'll be honest that I also have not given full disclosure about my life experiences. Some things are just better left in the past, but maybe she needs to know that I didn't come out as a fully formed, responsible adult. I made stupid choices too and got in trouble for them. I share these stories not because I want to encourage her to make mistakes, but so that when she makes them or are considering making them that she knows she can ask for my opinion or come to me to help her. The question is - how do you know how much to disclose? Do your kids really need to know all your stupid choices? Or is it better to be perceived as perfect? Do you tell them everything at once or disclose as they are having problems in specific similar areas?

There are days DH and I really wish there was a parenting manual.

From Carousel to Vampires to Obama on a Unicorn

I think that it is great that DD is still involved in Girl Scouts. It is a great program for her and a great opportunity for us to spend time together too. We may do a lot of good works, but this weekend was just fun. We went to see Carousel at the University of Hartford and then went to dinner. We were supposed to go the Cheesecake Factory, but with a 1 ½ to 2 hour wait, we opted to go to Cosci.



Theater tickets can be very expensive, but if you find a local college especially one with an acting / music program like the University of Hartford has the HARTT school, you can see excellent theater in an intimate setting for a very reasonable price.

Of course if you go with a group of five crazy teenagers in your car, you better be prepared for theater performance of your own on the way home. I was treated to the never-ending story (kind of like telephone, but each person adds a segment of the story) of a vampire, Jasper, and his human girlfriend, Tally. It was bizarre enough, but when we got closer and closer home and they realized that they had to finish up, the story took an even stranger twist when the dark dreary setting was suddenly pierced by blue skies and flowery meadows and out of nowhere a pink and white unicorn came prancing in with Obama on it. You can only guess that DD added that portion to which she “Dot, Dot, Dotted”(in other words, passed it to the next person to add their section). To which the next person added, “McCain then walked in since he didn’t have enough money to buy a unicorn and said, “My Good Friends” . . . Ok, I will not bore you with their craziness, but I will share with you the bases for their plot change, as we all know that every story has an inspiration.

Time for Some Campaignin' Funny Jokes at JibJab

Freaky Friday - vegetables

Some people just have way too much time on their hands. It is a little long, but very cute.

One Solution

Here is one solution we found to yesterday's puzzle:

In
Sin
Shin
Shine
Shrine
Shriner
shrinker

Palin Costume for Halloween

What should I be for Halloween?? I have been asking myself this question, especially the closer it is getting to Halloween, but now I have decided. I will be Sarah Palin. Now all I need are the clothing options. I need those glasses, that are her whole look, and then there are those pumps.



My mom has offered a couple extras: Pig with lipstick on it and/ or a baby. I think I’ll go with just carrying a fake gun. One of my BFF’s said that he would go as McCain. Maybe he will, but no matter what, I am still going to be Sarah Palin for Halloween.

By:C

Word Puzzle Challenge - Help me with my homework

Ok, if DD and I have to be challenged so do you. She is working on her Language Arts homework . She has to create a puzzle where each word builds on the next. The letters have to stay in the same order, but you can one letter at a time anywhere in the word. You start with a two letter word and pyramid up to an eight letter word.

_ _
_ _ _
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

WARNING: This is much harder than it first appears.

Fashion Challenge

This message is to DD as much as anyone else. I saw this on YouTube and thought that she and you might be interested in this. Instead of reading Vogue and watching fashion shows, why not put one on.

Guidebook to Raising Teenagers

Someone please tell me where the guidebook is for raising teenagers. I am trying so hard. I remember how difficult it was to be a teen, to try to fit it, to have your body change before your eyes; but I think DD, thinks that I have no idea what it is like.

We tried the mall again this weekend and then they came back to the house to hang out. I could tell you the good and the bad parts of the day, but suffice it to say there was a few times that I spoke to them and apparently in doing so completely embarrassed DD. After they left, she broke down in tears. My heart broke for her and I apologized for her being embarrassed, but refused to retract or promise not to do anything I did. Trying to maneuver our way through this time is going to be very difficult.

I welcome all advice, especially from those of you who have been through this and endured.

She is such a smart, interesting, creative girl. I don’t want her to shortchange herself. I wish that we could offer her so much more, but we do the best we can. I hope the one thing that she knows is that we love her with all our heart.

Freaky Friday - One World

This one isn't freaky like the other ones that we have posted, but freaky in the sense of the commonality and differences of us all. And it reminds us of all our own blessings:

Mom & the Mall

DD had asked to go hang out at the park with two of her friends. I nixed the idea. If we had been down at the fields, she could have gone off with them, but I could not see the point of just aimlessly roaming. It seemed like a recipe for trouble (not that DD tends to be trouble). So I told her that she was old enough to go to the mall with me, but then she and her friends could go off a bit by themselves as long as they checked back with me at the coffee shop (actually I did one better, I found a Boarders Bookstore with a coffee shop) periodically. She was estatic and so the day was planned or so I thought. She and her friends spent all morning making and breaking plans. The phone rang almost continuously, even DD got annoyed at her friends I think. Finally, the appointed time came and we headed over. I actually picked up my father so I had someone to keep me busy too. And would you believe it, one of the "friends" never made it - - -Let me rephrase that, "He arrived just in time for us to leave, as we had other plans for the evening". Then to top it off the other friend decided to stay with him and mean parent that I am, I refused to leave until I made sure that she was with the boy and his father, which resulted in us being late to our next stop. I was supposed to be home at 4 to head to DH's dad's house and instead I was barely leaving the mall. UhOh! So much for trying to be the cool mother of a teen.



However, I did get the next book for my book club, had a great hot vanilla Chai, and had a good conversation with my dad. So it wasn't a total loss.



NOTE: I went to the Borders website to find you a picture of their cafe. I keyed in the location we went to and opened up that link and found this picture of their store, except it isn't a picture of their store in the mall we went to. I hope no one uses this picture when they go online to get directions, because they will drive in circles at the mall and never, ever see this.

Freaky Friday

I don't think this freaky one needs any introduction:



Could you sit still through that? or did you find yourself grooving?

Ear Infections in Older Children

Yes, I have an ear infection! I hate it. I am writing this while ear is on a warm cloth sitting on my pillow. An ear infection, how did I get it? I hate it!!!!

What is your remedy to help ease the pain?

By C

Ear infections aren’t just for babies. DD is not feeling well. Could it be all the time on the phone?

Actually, I think the fair has done her in. Monday, naps were back in our schedule. Monday and Tuesday, she complained about a headache, so we should have seen it coming. But boy did it come on fast. Why do kid’s illnesses always come on the weekend or in the evening? She’ll have to ride out the night with the help of Advil until I can call the doctor tomorrow.

By D

Mother Casts a Shadow Over Daughter, But Daughter's Brilliance Shines On

I know DD loves me, but there are times that I think that she is sick of me. Somehow I appear everywhere. She can’t get away from me. Even when I try to not get involved, it happens anyway. Today at her first class of confirmation, I was tapped to teach next week because our minister and the regular helper cannot. So a deacon and I are going to give the class.

Poor DD – It is like mom will never go away. I hope at least with this entry, she will know that I love her and apologize for always being like a shadow. She needs to know that her light shines bright enough to overpower my shade.

1 Hour Computer Challenge

I want to know how long everyone is on the computer daily. See my DM has this rule for one hour on the computer daily, but I would like to see her practice what she preaches. She is on me for being over by 10 or so minutes, but see I think she should try to use only 1 hour on the computer daily for a month. She and I use it for roughly the same thing: email, blog, house (for me it is IMing with my friends). So mom here is your challenge – You need to practice what you preach and only use one hour on the computer for a month.

By,
C

The difference, dear C, is that my chores and my homework is done. I also use the computer to balance our checkbook, pay bills, go grocery shopping, plan Sunday School lessons, and yes blog and look for houses for our family to live in. I help with DH's website for work and email my work. I write articles for the local paper & magazines. I will take your challenge to heart and try to do better, but I think there is huge differences in our usages and our ages.

By,
D

Pink's New Hat

I have got to show you what DD thought was worth $15.00 at the fair this weekend.



I’m sure she will be depressed to find that I found it online for less than $10.00. I must tell you though that this is a very Pink thing. I don’t mean that it is pink, although it is, but instead I am referring to DD. Since an infant, I have dubbed DD in Pink aka Pink-ree, Pink-sree. (Please note this was long before Pinkever hit the airways) How this nickname became even I don’t know, but why do parents nickname their kids anything. So given her name (and her attitude), this hat is perfect for her. I’ll try to get a picture of her in it for you to see.

By,
D

Survivor - Gabon

Watch CBS Videos Online

I figure we better get to know them, because I am sure this will be a huge part of our blog over the next few months. DD has been a fan since the very first episode. She would put off doing things in her "real" life to make sure that we were home to see her show (thank goodness for the internet and On Demand Cable - now we can live and still see Survivor). Some people questioned if she was too young to watch the show when it first came out, but not only have we found it to be a good family show. On those occassions that the content becomes questionable like nudity for peanut butter or Johnny Fairplay's Grandmother game, we have had some very good ethical behavior conversations. So I warn you all, don't call our home from 8-9pm EST on Thursday evenings - at least not for the next few months. And on those evenings that we have Girl Scouts first, moms, you better do your talking to me before the meetings, because I am under strict instructions to get home ASAP.

Is anyone else a Survivor Fan out there?

Marc Jacobs - Shoes and Bags

Mom, It’s just Marc Jacobs Signature they always look like drug addicts girls, or guys they ALWAYS look high. I don’t know why he does it, but I still luv his shoes & bags…… lol :-p




By: C <3

Mom Got A New Job

Announcement, Just In: My Mom got a new job!!!

My mom got a new job!!!! She went for an interview and got the job offer at 3:00pm. The only problem is that the car we have right now is as old as my Brother!!!!!!! Let me tell you he isn’t 5. My mom is now freaking out looking for a new car with good MPG, but still has a lot of room for me and all of my friends.

Congrasts Mom!!!

By, C


Wow! She learned a new skill on HTML. How cool.

By, D

Early Bird No More

I must be slowly migrating to a night owl, because it is 10:43 pm on Saturday night. I can’t sleep. I’m in my jammies and I just did all my homework including Latin (come on - - - that tires me out during the day!!!!). I’m not even tired. I don’t know why, but I’m not. I even just finished babysitting too!!! I used to be an early bird; up at six and be done by 12, but now I HATE mornings and LUV nights. I think I am turning into my mom and brother (They have always hated mornings and luved nights. I wouldn’t be surprised if my brother is still up.). I really need to go to bed . . . off to get some warm milk.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? What is your secret to falling asleep?

By, C

Freaky Friday

Ok - C and I both agree that this one is freaky. The sad part is that we have actually tested to make sure that it is not a cyber fake out. Mentos and Diet Coke actually shoots quite high. If you want to check out the science of it, Mythbusters has quite a show on it. This video is a blend of science and art. Check it out . . .

Quick, Clean! - We have a showing!

Selling the house puts a lot of pressure on everyone. When we got the call yesterday for a showing, only DD and myself were home. We had just cuddled up on the couch to read when the call came in. We had less than a 1 ½ hours to get ready for the showing. I was possessed. DD was doing everything she could to help and yet I seemed to pile on more or find one more dust bunny where she had already cleaned. Sometimes it is hard to break the way you grew up yourself. Instead of critiquing, I should have been applauding her for helping at all. There is no way that I could have gotten it done without her. I am very lucky to have such a hard working and generally responsible daughter.

So here it is publically - - - Thanks C for your help. Love, D

Apple Cider Hearkens in Fall

C and I love our tea breaks, thus the name of our blog. We enjoy our chias. I appreciate my flavored coffee, especially at night after the kids have gone to bed. BUT nothing really compares to hot mulled cider. I think that it is more that the flavor and the warmth, I think it is the season that comes with it. If you are from New England, you know that fresh apple cider also means crisp air and colored leaves are on their way.

Today, we had our first warm apple ciders of the season. Not only does it taste delicious, the house smells oh so good.

Certified Bow Hunter

DD is now a certified bow hunter too.

I remember when she was so young and cute. I wanted her so badly to continue to be cute, but also be able to kick the butt of anyone that took advantage of the cuteness. You know fathers sometimes joke about putting the boyfriends in place, but I figured we could only do so much and eventually she would be on her own. When she was in 1st grade, I signed her up for karate. She continued for several years and even competed. Eventually, her interest in theater overtook the karate, but I have always been glad that it is in her background. Three years ago, as I have mentioned, the kids started shooting competitively. Now she is certified to hunt with both a gun and a bow. Hopefully with such credentials, all her future boyfriends will think twice about behaving badly. Plus, I have always found in my life, that having / being something just a little unexpected, has suited me well and I hope that it will her too.

By, D

When the Boys are Away

When the boys are away, the girls will play . . .Of course I don’t think that this quote originally defined “playing” as Horseopoly and Life. I think DD is starting to enjoy when the men travel: She and I spend “Girl Time”. This weekend was cut short due to Board of assessment appeals, a sleepover at a friend’s, and her Bow Hunting Course.

I think later we are going to do a foot soak and then maybe I’ll redeem my foot massage coupon.

Foot Soak Recipe

Pan or Bucket that your feet fit comfortably in
Several towels
Very warm water that covers your feet
Several Tbs of Dry milk
Couple drops of Almond Extract

Put the water, milk, and extract in the pan. Soak feet as long as you wish. Rub with your favorite cream when you are done.

PS I won Horseopoly and she beat me in LIfe.

Freaky Friday

C wants us to start a new weekly topic - Freaky Friday.

C thinks this is pretty freaky . . . especially when the horse jumps and twirl




By, C


D thinks that C is right that the above is pretty freaky, but totally not my style. My style is reflected in the following freaky quiz. I came out as . . .

Take the Quiz here!

Who are you?

By, D


C also wants you to know that there are other versions of Charlie the Unicorn that you can watch on YouTube . . . Don't all rush there at once : )

First Cell Phone

My mom just got off the phone with Mrs. T. She talked for 64 minutes!!! (My mom was complaining about my friend, Eva, calling everyday). I looked at Mom as she hung up and asked, “How long was that?”

“64 minutes. Why?”

“And you are complaining about me and Eva?”

“Ya, but I don’t call 7 times!”

“She was seeing what she could do with her new cell phone.”

“ok”

“You know what it - - -Hold on. You haven’t had a phone until that one?!?!?! No way!!!!”

It was so funny. My mom being sooooooo old and not having a cell. OMG

By C

To read my version of the story, go here.

By D

Update - I Need a Babysitting job

Ok, how ironic that dd got a call for babysitting tonight. She now has enough money for her beloved Nintendo and another babysitting job to boot. She hasn’t has a babysitting job in several months so this really was surprising. (Note: the call was from regular friends of ours, not related to the post itself)

Don't they say if you write what you dream it is more likely to occur. Well, it sure appears to be true in this case.

Wacky Wednesday

Find "oo" in this post.

Certified Hunter

I just recently went to the local shooting club for a hunter safety course. It was two days long and at the end we got to shoot a .22 caliber rifle and a 20 gauge shotgun.

My brother and I do a Junior rifle club at a shooting range one town over. He and I have been shooting since 2oo5. My brother goes out with his friend, Chris, every Thanksgiving holiday hunting. So far he has only been able to be with Chris while Chris hunts. This year my brother can hunt with him.

Well, my dad, brother, and I went to the last class and went to the shooting part. We all did trap (you shoot clay pigeons). My brother hit 1 out of 3. My dad hit 1 out of 3. Me, I was scared of the kickback from the 20 gauge, but I hit 2 out of 3!!! I was so happy. After we all shot the .22 long rifle, we went inside the hall to take the test. The test had 100 questions: 50 true / false and 50 multiple choice. When we were done, we had to wait for everyone else to be done. As we waited, my dad was freaking out saying that he failed. My dad was the 2nd one done with the test. They called out the first person to get their scores – it just happened to the first person that had been done with the test. Then they went on without calling my dad’s name, 5 minutes later they called my dad. He got 99 correct. I told my dad that he did a great job failing. You need an 80 or better to pass. We all passed. I got an 85. Jake got an 84.

Once we got in the truck, I told my dad that I wanted a 20 gauge . . . I also want to shoot trap.

To learn more, go to http://www.ct.gov/dep/site/default.asp or www.nra.org.

This weekend, I’m off to take the Bow Hunting Safety Course.

By,
C

Of course that means the only one in the family not certified is Mama. I can only shoot you with a camera and I'm ok with that.

By,

D

Nientendo DS - $8 away

Well, yesterday I got my bank statement for my “spending” account (I also have a savings account that I can’t touch.) My brother and I both like Pokemon and with the new handheld games, they change the episodes. New games go the new handhelds. Well, my brother has a GameBoy Advanced – SP, but Pokemon Diamond and Pearl are only in Nintendo DS.I have just enough money to zero out my account, but I am part of a credit union, and my mom says that I should keep it in their since it is hard to get into one. I looked at my balance. I only needed $8 more dollars to keep my my account upon and buy a DS, Pokemon, trading case, and charger.



I almost blew up . . I just need one hour of babysitting. Now I need $8 to that DS for my brother and I. I can’t wait until I get enough money. My brother will be happy 2 : )

Confirmation

For those of you that were concerned about dd being confirmed in “Her Church”, the house hasn’t sold yet and so we signed her up on Sunday. We got special dispensation from the Reverend to allow her to take the class a year early and so she will start on the first Wednesday of October.

Marc Jacobs Fashion

Marc Jacobs, what were you thinking? This advertisement is scanned out of my daughter’s copy of Teen Vogue. May I emphasize “Teen”. How does using a cross dressing man as a model sell clothes? Frankly, I have seen cross dressers that wear clothes better than I do, but this is NOT one of them. Does his advertising team think that this advertisement is attractive? Does he really think this model does his fashions justice? Does he think our daughters will want to run out and buy his clothes? Or is he hoping for our sons? If there is any beauty in these dresses, it is lost on the model.

Of course the other side of this question is why does Teen Vogue accept advertising like this? Doesn’t an advertisement like this annoy more readers than attract. I’m all for cutting edge fashion, but isn’t there some moral obligation about what you show when you are marketing to such an impressionable age?

What's for Dinner?

I went camping as a helper with a younger troop. The first thing and the last thing on the agenda is “What’s for dinner?” It was either to be a pork roast or tacos. Most of the troop went for tacos, but the moms & a few girls, including myself, went for the pork roast. Therefore, we are having pork roast with potatoes and carrots. The troop leader, Mrs. S is a great cook especially with cast iron(my dad and brother, who camp with her in Boy Scouts, rave about her cooking). But tonight the girls will be making dinner with her help. . . I hope it is good.



The question always comes up though (yes, I say it too), “What’s for dinner?” My mom says that I always eat . . . which I do even when I’m bored. Which is to say, when I’m bored, I ask, “What do we have to eat?”. Which is easier to do than say “What can I do?” The problem with that is that it is hard to stop eating with boredom. However, even at the Girl Scout camp with nothing going on except writing and hanging out, I don’t find myself asking this question. I’m not hungry because I know dinner will be done. Maybe I just need a planned time to eat and I’m good . . .I guess . . .for more about the camp, check out some of my other posts.

By,
C

I think the difference is that at camp you know there is no other food available. Of course, if the answer is really knowing the schedule and plan of all meals, I will happily turn over meal preparation.

I will admit our dinner schedule is a little crazy because of my husband’s schedule. We kind of joke that we should live in Europe where a late dinner is the norm.

By,
D

Not Back to School Picnic without a Bathing Suit

Today, the kids and I spent the day at the beach with fellow homeschoolers. A Not Back To School Picnic, for those of you that don’t homeschool, is a celebration of our freedom to homeschool. We get together to enjoy the sunshine while other children are stuck inside stuffy schools (We always wonder what the other beach goers think when we are there).





Of Course, our house would not be the home with a teenager in it without a little bit strife on our way to the beach. Apparently, she never took her swimsuit out of her father’s truck when we went to Salisbury Beach – ONE WEEK AGO! Grrrrrr! Even in this she has to fight with me, “It’s Fine. I’m not going to swim anyway!” I was going to call the whole thing off, but relented and just had her bring an extra pair of clothes. Good thing too, because she spent most of the day is the water. Proof she is my dear daughter. If mermaids were real, we’d both be one.

S'more Please

How did s’mores come along? Who created them? Why do we only seem to eat them during campouts? Well, I don’t know, but I would love to figure it out. These are the most delectable food on a campout . . . unless you camp with Mrs. S, who is an incredible outdoor cook and then everything is delectable.

Did it happen like this? One person put a marshmallow and a chocolate bar on a graham cracker and ate it. They gave it to someone else to try and they said “S’more. Can I have s’more?”

Well, now I want to know who made the first one? How did it get its name?

By

C

I don’t have most of the answers to her questions, but I do know that s’mores are no longer relegated just to campouts. Have you seen some of the s’more stuff out there.



For goodness sake, Ben & Jerry’s even has a s’more flavor.

By

D

Wacky Wednesday

In the MASH post look for !z!

Let us know if you find it.

MASH

You know how you play MASH and all of your friends make horrible funny predictions about what will happen to you. Well, durring my way up to a Girl Scout camp with a troop and my friend, Audra, and I decided to play MASH. During my turn I got horrible things, but all we did at the end was laugh. We then did one for her mom. It was fun!z! While we were playing I learned that this game makes no sense . . . it was only a game that builds friendships and makes you laugh . . .Trust me. It accomplished that. We laughed forever and we are a little closer friends : )

By

C


See - - -All things change and all things stay the same. I remember the very same game more than a few years. I was always thrilled to get a mansion, a ton of kids, a jaguar, and the love of my life and laugh when I ended up in a shack.

By

D

Girl Scout Cookies . . . or Not

In Connecticut all Girl Scout councils have combined to one. I am okay with that, but my mom went the the first SU (service unit) meeting, and they told her that cookie sales this year will be December 19th - 30th. How can I sell cookies during Christmas??? Well, I don't know. How would this sound, "Oh! Thank you Aunt Emily. Would you like some Girl Scout Cookies?" Last time I checked, it will not fly. My mom said that people wanted it earlier. I DON'T WANT IT EARLIER. I WANT IT LONGER!!! Well, I guess I will have to live with it. I hope Mass. has a later cookie date . . .BTW . . .would you like some cookies?

By C

Pink Bunny Pajamas

Two nights and two days at the beach and DD was either in her bathing suit or her pink bunny pajama bottoms. She even went out on the beach in them. This is definately my DD who used to ask me to paint each nail a different color.

My own little Pipi Longstocking.

By D

Hint: Shut the Window when you come to a Sprinkler

Ok, funny DD story. We were driving to the grocery store. Unfortunately, my car does not have a/c, so my windows were open a bit. As we are coming to a light, I can see the road is wet as the sprinklers for a commercial lawn cycle they are over spraying the road. I know that she sees it too. We get closer. I expect her to shut the window - Tch, Tch, Tch the sprinkler pivots. It hits the hood of the car. The window is still open. Tch, Tch, Tch in the window and in the face. . . Mind you that she looked very stylish in her blinging black diamond eyeglasses, but she was soaked. I was very glad that she took it in stride. We all laughed and laughed.

Showing Day

Today was one of those chaotic days . . . only because Mom was stressing about the house looking PERFECT today for the people to look at our house. The house was fine and looked really good, but Mom didn’t think so. After about 1 ½ hours of power cleaning my mom took me to the library so I could do Book Buddies. After my mom picked me up we (Mom, J, Max, James and I) went down to some public open space. We played there for an hour with the dogs. As we were driving home my mom asked, “ Do you think they went? “ (see our second showing was postponed due to a family emergency of the real estate agent. -: : ) :-Only to reschedule and to say that our house was too small.)

“Mom, I have a feeling that they went and LOVED IT” (you know those type of feelings?) “Plus, if they put in an offer on the house, I will wear this necklace every day of the showings.” (See I combined two necklaces from my grandmother – the shoe /heart is one and the chain is another one. The chain for the shoe / heart is broken, so I put it on this one.)

My mom only laughed. As of 8:03, August 26th, 2008, there is no word from our real estate agent. But there is proof that they were here. Downstairs there were size 11 men’s workboot footprints in the rug. I hope they liked the house.

By C

Wake Up Wednesdays

Ok, here is the fun. Every Wednesday’s post will have something hidden in it. Your job is to find it. Once you find it don’t tell other people. The farther along we get the harder it is going to be. Today’s post will have -:: ):- Good Luck!

By C

Cake Wrecks

I'm sure we have all screwed up a cake in some way or some how . . .Like having the top two layers fall off? We'll here is a blog that my mom found. This site Cake Wrecks is devoted to showing cakes with issues. If you need a laught go look at cakes that could be better. I hope you enjoy. : )

By C

"Like having the top two layers fall off" - - -Hmmm! that seems very specific. I wonder if that happened to anyone DD knows. (She actually won first prize with that cake too --- a very long but funny story)

The best thing about this site is sharing it with someone. I looked at it once by myself, but laughed even harder when I shared it with her. We also enjoyed It's Lovely! I'll Take it!

By D

Are you 2?

I am beginning to see huge similarities between two year olds and thirteen year olds, especially as it relates to independence and temperament. Remember when they were two and you incessantly heard “No. Me Do!” The words may be slightly different now, but the defiance is the same. And while the tantrum may not be on the floor, the rolling of the eyes and the slamming of doors sure sends the same message. On the positive side, Moms, this means we’ve been through this stage before. We survived it once, we can do it again.

My greatest reassurance lately comes from SuperNanny and Nanny 911 as they give mothers of two year olds advice. I have taken to watching the show even though my children are well older than most of the children they work with. Their advice to remain calm cannot be reiterated enough. Also, if the kids watch it with me, they are old enough to see how foolish the behaviors appear. I personally get a good laugh when they comment how silly a child looks when they XYZ which is exactly the same behavior my children had showed 15 minutes earlier.

Of course, I am not faultless. The other thing that this show reminds me is that I need to spend more time with the children. Time to shut off the tv, close out the computer, and do something with the kids.

A Coffee Treat

DD was gaining extra points today when she bought be me a coffee as we were out doing errands. I didn't ask. I didn't expect it. She went in the gas station to pay for our gas (it is significantly cheaper if you pay in cash) and bought me a coffee with her own money and then the sweetie appologized for it only being a medium and not a large.

How could she have been any kinder?

Ok, if it was a Starbucks Chai, but we don't have that around here.

PS. Jack and Diane is by John Mellencamp, DD.

Song for you Funeral

Today on the radio, Courtney of 95.7FM was asking what song you wanted played at your funeral. She would only accept funny answers of she would hang up.

Later in the day as the kids and I were driving around checking out towns, "I am a warrior" by Scandal came on the radio. DD delcared, "Mom, here's your funeral song." I personally took it as a complement and gave her a high five.

My own choice would have been "Spirit in the Sky". It may no reach Courtney's funny factor, but I love its high spiritedness.

Do you have a song that you would like . . .not the traditional hymns, but one that would be a little funny?

Peach Tea

In honor of our blog name, today we picked up some peach tea bags at the grocery store. What makes it even better is that we got them on sale. Have you ever noticed the racks tucked in the back corners of your grocery store – the discount or day old racks – sometimes they have dented cans. Deals. Deals. Deals. And if there is one thing that DD and I have in common, it is our love of a good shopping deal. We found tea and some yummy coffee flavors including Chocolate Raspberry . . .I just could not resist.

Peach is such a refreshing flavor. I especially love peach tea iced.

Moving Won't be So Bad

How can you explain to someone who has never experience a move that they will resettle and be ok?

This move seems so shocking to the kid’s system because they know nothing else. Both DH & I grew up in this town. We lived elsewhere for a few years but only by a town line or two and truthfully we only slept there, we still lived here. We moved back when DD was just shy of two and I was pregnant with DS. This town is all they have known.

They are somewhat excited about a new house and more land, but they are horrified by the idea of new Scout troops and new churches (as evidenced by DD’s entry “My Church”). She cannot fathom that although it will be different at first, it may be even better than it is here. DS doesn’t seem to understand the implication of moving. Every so often he’ll come out with a comment like “when we enter the fair” or “when I get my Eagle Scout with the Troop”.

Of course, even I must admit I’m a little apprehensive.

Have any of you endured moving to another state? How have you made it easier for your children? If you have any stories about “surviving” a move, let us know.

Happy Birthday, Max!

A couple of months ago, my mom bought Max, our Bernese Mountain dog, this colorful, squeaky thing.

All of a sudden it went missing and no one could find it. A couple of weeks later my mom and my brother went to the same store to get some pet food. While they were there they found a thick black and green rope toy with a tennis ball on it.


Mom and my brother came back and gave it to Max . . . I guess that fixed the lost toy situation.

Today on Max’s 1st birthday, my cat, Bandit hit a golf ball that my brother found on his canoe trip off the coffee table and under the couch. My brother groaned so I got up to get it for him. I pushed the couch forward thinking it would have rolled to the back . . .I looked under and I saw Max’s long lost toy!!! I cleaned all the dust off and called max over. Once I showed it to him, he grabbed it, ran into the other room, and started playing with it. I guess that is his birthday present.

Happy Birthday, Max!

By C

My Church

Okay, okay it isn’t my church, but I qualify it as my church. My mom and dad were married in that church, I was baptized in that church, I grew up in that church, and I even spent over 5 summers a total of 1 month 1 week with the 40 odd number or people that went to the Kentucky Summer Trip (including the minister) from our church.

In my church, we get confirmed at 9th grade (being confirmed means that you become a member of our church and afterward you can take communion). With the recent new about my dad taking a job up in Massachusetts and selling our house, I told my mom there has to be a way for me to be confirmed in “my church”. Once our minister Elven heard the news about us leaving, he told me that he would be glad to allow me into the confirmation class a year early as long as I was able to be confirmed at the church. My mom told Elven that we would think about it. I don’t know why she makes the decision since she is already confirmed and all of that, but this is me we are talking about. I am going to get confirmed in “MY CHURCH” as I call it. I then told my mom that I will use her laptop with the webcam and go via webcam to get confirmed. My mom and I then have a conversation in the Car.

“What happens if Elven doesn’t have a Webcam??”

“I will buy a $20 webcam for him and he will download it……or I will ship your laptop down every Wednesday to him and I will use dad’s laptop and we would use the built in webcam. Plus you were married in this church, I was baptized in this church, I grew up in this church, I have spent 1 month 1 week of time with most of the church, I will get confirmed, and my husband will suck it up and we will get married in that church, and my funeral will be at that church.”


My mom only laughed, a couple days later my mom and I are in the van and she brings up that she might take Elven’s offer for letting me go into confirmation class. I just looked at her like ‘I was going to do that no matter what’. Right now Elven is away, but I told her that once he gets back I will either tell him in person at church, or I would email him to let him know. I can’t wait until Elven gets back. I want to be confirmed in my church……..and now I can!!! : )

Is the Water Boiling Yet?

DD just received a practical physics lesson. She is trying to cook ravioli before she heads off for teen night at the middle school, but the pot was taking forever to boil.

I kept asking, “Is the burner on?” She would check.

“It is hot but not boiling.”

She must have come to me two or three times, it seemed odd, but she is old enough to troubleshoot.

After 44 minutes, she came to me again. This time I got up to check. This was impossible. Well, apparently not really. The pot was just beginning to bubble. I was very concerned that we had burned an element or the stove’s electrical system had somehow been hit in the thunderstorm that had blown through just hours ago. Then I looked more carefully. She had the big pot on the smallest burner.

Lesson: You can’t boil in a cauldron, if you only have it lit with a match.

Energy emitted from a small burner is not equal to the energy needed to boil a large pot of water.

By, D

God Has a Plan

My mom and I got home today from my volunteer work at the local library and as my mom turned her laptop on and checked her email: there was a house that my dad loved. It was a log cabin, but my parents can’t buy any of the houses until ours sells, but my mom looks at the log cabin that was perfect and now it is even more. It dropped 50k!! My mom was sad. She really likes this house and we can’t afford to own two houses and two mortgages and all of that type of stuff, so I told her that if God really wanted us to own that house then he would have a plan in someone else’s life to come and buy ours.

See I go by God has a plan written out for you. He makes these issues….(i.e. houses)…….in our life and we need to choose the path that we want to take. See this time we can’t buy the house. So I guess we are stuck in out raised ranch for a couple more months. But what if God had someone come down our road and offer and we take it, would we then buy the log cabin??? Who knows, but God has the plan written out and in your past, present, and future events. You will get to them always. You might just take a couple detours, or you might not take the straightest road, but you will get there. God can only straighten a road to a point. Does not God promise that He will help you make most things easier when you believe in him and you trust him that you will follow his paths and guide that he made for you.

With the house selling and having the “perfect” house lowering 50k , if God really wants us to buy that house, he would show us and so far he hasn’t. Maybe we weren’t meant to own that house.


By, C

We're International

Just wanted to let you all know that today while I was checking out our counter to see how many people have come on and when they came on, I saw that on Tuesday, August 12th we went international. We had someone from South Africa check out our blog!!! I am sooo happy and I want to thank that person for coming and checking out our blog. I hoped you liked it!!!

By C

Titanic Exhibit at the XL Center

Today I went to the Civic Center to see the Titanic Exhibition. The Titanic always has fascinated me and I love to learn more and more about it. Today, my mom and my grandfather went with me to see the exhibition on the Titanic. As we descended down the stairs (after we bought our tickets) to the exhibit I wait for my mom and grandfather to catch up with me. We bought the audio tour……which I was really happy that we got because it explained everything that we were seeing. When we started, we were given a boarding of an actual person who went on the Titanic. At the end of the exhibit, we got to see if our person survived.

As we walked around I was amazed to see how many artifacts they have brought up from the wreck. There were some playing cards; plates from 1st class, 2nd class, and 3rd class; there were the ropes and pulleys……there were a lot of artifacts that you would think would not survive. Right before the end, they recreated the iceberg and you could touch it to see how cold it was. Let me tell you it was COLD!!! Now I can see how so many people died from hypothermia. I felt like I could die right there and then if I held my hand there for a while. Just think of the people in the colder ocean.









Once we all made it to the end I looked for my person: Miss Kate Florence Phillips (aka Kate Marshall). . . .She was 19 in 2nd class (which in other ocean liners would be 1st class) and pregnant. She survived. My mom had Dr. Alice Leader age 49 in 1st class Cabin D-17 and she also survived. My grandfather had Colonel Archibald Gracie 4th in 1st class cabin C-51 and he also survived. I was amazing to see who lived and who died. So many Crew and 3rd class didn’t make it. It was amazing!!! I loved that exhibit and I can’t wait until they find more artifacts!

By C

A Game Called Life

With the men away, DD have been finding ways to spend time together and reunite with old friends. As she knows that I have about had it with the game of Spit, she recommended the game of Life. We played yesterday and today. Yesterday, I played a respectful game. I started with college, got married, bought a house, had children and LOST MISSERABLY! Today, I changed my tactic. I skipped school and started my career, got married (there are no options to that), lived in my car, remained childless, and CHRUSHED HER : ) What a great life lesson ; ) at least we had fun.



What games do you and your daughter enjoy playing?

Sleepover Report from C

One of my BFF (Best Friend Forever) had a Birthday party this past weekend. 6 of her closest friends (aka VIP) were going to go laser tagging at A New World in Middletown. It was fun to play. We played two games. The last one, I got 3rd place. Her dad then drove us all back to her house to meet up with the rest of her friends and go swim in her pool.

Around 8:00pm, we all got out, had some Pizza, and she opened her presents. Well, my present was going to be a heart necklace from Icing……. (Store in the mall.) But we never got to the mall. So my family and I were at Cabela’s in East Hartford and my mom goes “How about you get Eva a gift here?”

“Mom, Eva probably doesn’t even know what Cabela’s is. Plus she wouldn’t like anything here.”

“She isn’t dumb C. she probably knows what Cabela’s is. Let’s look!”

Well once I got to my friend’s party and she was opening my gift, she looked at the two shirts I got her. And asked the question that I wanted to hear:

“Hey C. where did you get these?”

“I got them at Cabela’s why?”

“Where?”

“Cabela’s Eva. Do you know what that is?”

“No, is it in the mall?”

“No, it’s not.”

I almost laughed, but I didn’t. Only one other person knew what Cabela’s is and that was my friend, Sydney, but she is outdoorsy like us…….and her father is a police man and she goes there with her father all the time.

Once all the boys left, the girls all ran downstairs and we danced and played truth and dare……….which was really funny. Then we sent a Get Well Soon video to Donny. He came to the party, but got sick and was leaving for Canada the next day.

We then watched Camp Rock and went for a midnight swim. Right before we went to sleep Eva came over and asked what Cabela’s is, I simply told her what is was and she asked why they had such cute clothes for that type of store. I just looked at her and laughed. We went to bed around 1:00am and then woke up at 9:00am…….8 hours of sleep……….not good to function on.

My mom came to pick me up at 12:00. The first thing I said as I got into the car was……

“I was right!!! Eva didn’t know what Cabela’s is!!!”

My mom just looked at me and then was just like “you asked her if she knew or not” type of look. I just looked at her then we laughed a little and just drove back to the church, so I could say bye to my dad and brother………they were leaving for a 50 mile Boy Scout Canoe trip.

By, C

An introduction of me : )

Well let’s start off with my name. My name is C……or……DD because that is how I go by in the blog. I have been homeschooled since 2nd grade and I love it : ) I am what most people call horse crazy and an animal lover…….I have 3 pets: 2 dogs and 1 cat. The cat’s name is Bandit, and he loves to eat flowers………including flowers that are gifts. I also have a Bernese mountain dog puppy named Max. He is the cutest, and then there is the Keeshond named James. He is 12 in human years. I love country music. My favorite singer is Randy Travis.

Interests: Acting, Reading, Talking on the phone, Going to the beach, Dancing, Talking to friends, Sleepovers, YPCCA, Horses, Jonas Brothers, Dogs, Randy Travis, Carrie Underwood, Acting, Reading, Talking on the phone, Going to the beach, Dancing, Talking to friends, and Sleepovers

Favorite Music: Jonas Brothers, Randy Travis, Carrie Underwood, Gwen Stefani, Grease, and another Pop, or Country

Favorite Movies/T.V.Shows: Jonas Brothers Living the Dream, Survivor, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Legally Blonde the Search for the Next Elle Woods, Made, Catching up with the Kardashinaisns, the Secret Life of an American Teenager, Legally Blonde 1 & 2, Harry Potter, Camp Rock, Bring it on 1, 2 ,& 3, Mama Mia, and Grease 1& 2

Books: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter, Missing Persons, The Circle of Blood, The Christopher Killer, The Angel of Death, and Lush……….and more to come : )

Left to Our Weakness

There are a lot of things that my dd and I are good at. We can conquer a lot together, but the hardware of technology is not our forte. But today, we conquered this field.

I have been planning to watch The Good Earth tonight after I finished the book. But as I popped in the DVD, I saw the picture, but had no sound. I started to grumble at my husband who had now left for a canoe trip with the Boy Scout Troop. He had hooked up his computer to show us the YouTube version of The Last Lecture. And while it was certainly a worthy show for our whole family to watch, I was not feeling very thankful when my evening was being spoilt. So I pulled out the DVD / VCR to look at the connections (as if I knew what I was looking at – HA!). Two connectors, a red and a yellow where not plugged in, but where to put them? I made a best guess, but nothing. Tried something else – nothing. Ok, I’ve got to move the tv. DD needed to be called. I hollered down the hall. Sure enough when we were able to pull out the tv, there were three connections undone. Hmmm! We tried a couple of times but to no avail. Now, I could get sound, but I lost picture. I swore at my husband under my breath for not putting it back in order. I put the tv back and dismissed my dd. I gave up and sat down. But not to let this situation get the best of me, I quickly called her back. We would not be defeated! She helped me pull out the tv again. We fiddled, replugged, changed the AV channel and SUCCESS – picture and sound. My evening was back on track.

After all was said and done, I must admit that I liked the book better and felt the movie kind of ruined the pictures in my mind. I personally think that Hollywood should seriously consider remaking this video with a truer rendition of the book. My dd and I would be happy to consult with any hardware issues that they may run into.

Slumber Party

DD is at a sleepover tonight. It is her BFF’s birthday party. They were going to Laser Tag and having a pool party with boys and girls. Then just the girls were sleeping over. My DD is growing up. It wasn’t too long ago she was able to go her first sleepover – period. Slumber Parties are a rite of passage for girls. They have their good points and there propensity for problems – does truth and dare sound familiar? And my baby girl (I’m sure that she will hate that term, but all you mom’s understand the feeling) has passed through this cusp. It just reminds me how few years we have left before she won’t be sleeping under our roof period. Parenthood is such a fleeting period of our life. It can seem like forever when you are getting up for the third feeding in a night and it may seem never-ending when you are shuttling them to and from all their social activities. But truthfully, it is just a blink in our lives.

Hopefully DD will have a wonderful and relatively uneventful overnight. I’m sure she’ll have lots to tell us about – especially the part about boys tomorrow.

By, D

Outdoors Women

Great daughter quote when we were in Cabela’s today.




It dawned on me as we were eating lunch that she still needed to pick up a gift for her friend’s birthday party tomorrow. “Why don’t you buy something for Eva here?”

“Mom, she probably doesn’t even know what Cabela’s is. She isn’t an outdoor girl like you and me.”

How nice it felt to be in here camp “you and me”. I guess I’ll have to keep up my hiking.

Working Out

Okay I need to admit I am one of those people that say that it can’t be hard to loose weight. All you need to do is eat right and exercise. Well was I wrong!!! I recently started eating healthy and exercising with my mom. It is fun to have a partner to workout with, but when you see the infomercials on the TV. with you will lose 50 pounds in two weeks. Well that seems highly impossible right now. I just recently ended Acting camp a couple days ago and I was dancing every day, so that was my exercise. I didn’t need to do anymore exercise in that day, but now that that is over. Now I need to lose weight. Well I don’t want to lose weight, just keep the same weight and grow taller, but I don’t think that that will happen anytime soon, so now my mom and I are working out for a half hour doing some type of exercise. Right now we are doing yoga.

But then it comes to eat right and not over eating and watching the portion you want to eat and the portion you should eat. Well with eating healthy it isn’t just what you eat it is how much, and what is in it. Like today we had chicken tenders (home-made), but instead of frying we grilled them with the breading on them, and they were still good!!! Most people think that they need to give up good food while they “eat right”, but I don’t look at it like that. Ya you do need to stop eating 5 pieces of pizza every Friday night, and when a dessert comes out take 1 piece not 3. I know it isn’t easy and I am slowly figuring that out. That you can’t always eat when you want to. For me when I am bored I want to eat and I do. Yes most of the time it is healthy snacks, but I am still hungry and eat more and more and it isn’t healthy for me to do that, even though it is a healthy food. This afternoon before lunch I offered something that I wanted and really liked was hot dogs in egg noodles……All I got was the ‘you want to lose weight and you want me to make that’ look. I wanted it, but then I realized that is two lunches in one meal.

Now when ever some goes oh I am trying to lose weight. I know how hard it is to do and I don’t know if I could ever do it without my mother to help me through exercising when there is a part I don’t want to do.

By C

Welcome to our Blog

Just what I need another blog. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with my others, but how do you refuse a teenager that wants to spend time with you and commits to total parental control. So needless to say, DD and I will by creating this blog together. Truthfully, she has developed a great writing voice which I look forward to seeing her develop further.
Dd is just entering the teenage years. She is 13 years old and will be posting an introduction of her own.

I am as my profile says a 30 something mother of two children. My husband and I have chosen to homeschool our children. We are in a bit of transition. My husband changed jobs in February and I left mine in April. DH has been working at his previous job for 18 years and I was there since I was old enough to see over the counter. It was my family’s business. Unfortunately, things change and we have to move on. In this case, we are going to have to literally move too. When my husband and I bought the house we live in now, we thought it would be our forever house, but now we are packing it up. I enjoy scrapbooking, reading, and travel. You can read more about me in my profile.

So along with this craziness, I am blogging. DD thought that this was a very interesting idea and wanted to join in. So we have worked together to create “A Cup of Tea with Mom and Me” (to see how we came up with the name – see C’s entry, “Naming Our Blog”). We will both be posting on the many mother / daughter activities, trials, and triumphs in our life. So that you can tell who posted what, we will sign our posts: C is DD and D is Dawn, me. Only my email will show, but I will happily forward appropriate emails to her.

We hope that you will take a few minutes and join us for a cup of tea.

by D

Naming our Blog

Okay, this is what I would think is one of the easiest things to do in the world, but it has taken me forever to name this blog. I asked my mom if we could do a blog together and I thought like a writer’s block, or something, but now we are having fun doing it. Sure I still haven’t figured out the name for the blog, but I love writing about all of this. I have thought of a name, but we want it to involve that this is a mother daughter blog………which it is, but I can’t think of how to put that into the name. Every day she would ask “Have you thought of one yet?” and I would always respond with the simple two letter word “No”, but I still can’t figure it out.

I would usually look at someone who is trying to find a name and just give them one ‘like duh’ type of thing, but now I can’t think of one and I want it to be good. Plus I want people to look at the name and say “Hey that looks like a cool blog. Lets read it.” Just like I do with my mom when she looks through people that blog about the same thing she dose.

I think I have the name ‘A Cup of Tea with Mom & Me’ I like it and it explains that it is kind of about our life, since when you have tea that is what you do. You catch up on this in each others life. I think this will be the name for the blog. So if you’re reading this on A Cup of Tea With Mom & Me blog. Well I think you know how it played out. :)

By C