Kids Shows for Grown Ups

This is the Christmas picture we didn't use.

The other day, Abbie had some kid's show on, and there was a song that went like this: "I like to share, sharing is fun." They sang this line over and over and over and over and over again to a catchy little tune. I think that same line was repeated 20 or more times. The whole show was about sharing, and there were several other songs that went with the theme. Basically, I think it was a good message even though it seemed a teeny bit like brain washing.

So I got to thinking that they should make similar shows for grown ups because there are plenty of adults that don't seem to know right from wrong. There could be a song like "I like my wife, I will not kill her and throw her in the lake, I like my wife...." And another one like "I will use my turn signal, turn signals are fun..." I could think of tons more.

Kids Say Crazy Things

The picture above is when Abbie had some 12 hour bug and Baby got in bed with her during her nap. It is so cool that our pets always seem to be in tune with when we are feeling bad. Our deceased cat, Molly, was uncanny in her abilities to sense unhappiness/sickness. She would sleep on top of me when I was sick.

Overheard Abbie saying and doing the following things:

"I'm going to crave on this every December" - what she said after trying the white Christmas party mix I made yesterday

"Were you at Stephen's house today?" - What she asked Paul one evening after work. He said, "no." Then Abbie said, "then why do you smell like grease?" This is so funny if you know Stephen. He and Paul like to tinker with their Z cars and always have this funny smell about them afterwards.

Memory

Every day, as I am driving in the car, I think about things to blog about. Then when I get home, after supper, after homework, after playtime, after chores, after bedtime - when I finally get a little time to blog - I can't remember what my good ideas were earlier in the day!

Thankful

We have had a great and relaxing Thanksgiving so far. I got quite a few tasks/meal prep done yesterday. Today, all I had to do was make the Sweet Potato Casserole and heat up the ham. There were little things to do, but we ate by 1:00 which was our goal. Our menu consisted of:
Spiral Sliced Ham from Heavenly Ham - precooked, I heated it, so good, Abbie's fav
Sweet Potato Casserole - we have this every year
Green Beans - straight from the can
Rolls - Sister Schuster, yummy
Pineapple Glaze - for ham
Cranberry Salad - made with Jello and cranberry sauce, very tasty
Pumpkin Pie - thanks to the ring Annie sent me, the crust did not burn - thanks Annie!

Snack - before we ate, we had a relish tray and an Hawaiian Cheese Ball

Everything turned out really well! Thankful for that!

We are thankful for our family, our health, and having plenty to eat.

Before we ate, we opened gifts from Peggy. Then Abbie got lethargic and sickly. She had a slight fever. After some Tylenol and a long nap, she seems to have bounced back.

Crap in My Wallet

Have you noticed all the stuff you have to keep in your wallet these days. I need a discount card for all the grocery stores I go to (two stores), I have a Hallmark card, a Barnes and Noble card, a punch card for the coffee shop I go to (buy 8 and get one free), a punch card for the car wash (buy x amount, get 1 free), a stamp card for the ice cream parlor Abbie likes, a stamp card for Keva Juice, a discount card for Pet Smart (I don't know what that is all about, I never seem to get a break when I make a purchase), a card for CVS (I never use the coupons that print on my receipt), etc, etc, etc. These are not credit cards - they are just discount cards, or really, just tracking cards.
This drives me crazy at the grocery store - my cart is full of groceries, I start unloading on the belt, and the kid immediately says, "do you have a Kroger card?" I say yes while continuing to unload, but they look at me like they need to scan the card right then. Please! I just keep unloading and ignore them. They can scan it when I get done and get to the register. Come on! They've got me trained - I'm not going to forget to give them my discount card.
This is what I felt like blogging about today :)

Friday Nights

On Friday nights, we have family night. After work, we usually go out to eat and do some other fun activity. I always look forward to it.
Now that Paul has changed his work schedule, he is getting off work even earlier on Fridays so the fun begins even earlier in the day!
Today we didn't do much more than drive around for awhile and eat at a pizza parlor, but we always enjoy ourselves. Now, we are home waiting for the new episode of Avatar to come on.
After Abbie goes to bed, we are going to watch some episodes of The Office, last season -we get it on Netflix.
Tomorrow, Abbie and I are going to a holiday cooking class (it's mainly for her), and I am looking forward to that.

Sleeping in - not with a cat

Today, I could have slept in, but Baby (our cat) had other ideas. She wanted to be fed. To make sure that I have not forgotten that she lives in the house and must eat every few hours, she acts incredibly cuddly. Being cuddly is nice, but Baby is one fat kitty. I think she is genetically driven to be fat. She is currently on diet cat food, which she is not happy about, but it is not making a difference. She is as round as ever (and I know she is not able to steal food from anywhere else in the house). Back to sleeping in...
So Baby jumps on the bed and climbs on top of me (I am a side sleeper). She trots all the way up to my shoulders and plops down. It is hard to ignore her since she is so heavy. She will gladly sleep this way until I get up, which doesn't take very long since I can't go back to sleep with that big load laying on me. If we don't close her up in the laundry room at night, she will come into our room bright and early and knock things over to wake us up.
Our (deceased) cat Molly was similar, but she didn't climb on us. She would just make a lot of noise to wake us up. If we closed the door to our bedroom, she would pound on the door with her big paws. If I got up and put her outside (so we could get more sleep), she would climb onto the windowsill and pound on the screen (which made a lot of noise). That was pretty annoying.
It is actually cat feeding time right now. Baby actually meowed at me to make sure I knew what time it was. Okay, okay, I'm coming...

Tagged - 6 facts about me

Are these supposed to be little known facts?
1) This is not a little known fact - I love animals. I'd like to have one of about every kind. I wish I could have a job working with animals. I make a huge effort not to kill bugs unnecessarily. I pull over and help lost and wild animals. The other day, I was driving down the interstate and saw a turtle attempting to cross. I didn't have time to pull over. I felt a lot of guilt about not stopping to help the turtle, and I ended up having a turtle nightmare. I swerve to avoid squashing wooly worms that cross our country roads. Some day, I'll probably be the crazy cat lady.
2) I love to read. Sometimes, now that Abbie is in school, I spend all day reading. Sometimes I have to force myself to put the book down so I can run around the house to get things done. Then, before I know it, I have devoured a wonderful book then I am sad that the book is over, but I can't seem to pace myself when the book is really good. When I really need to get a lot of housework done (or projects), I have to avoid the bookstore at all costs. There is a book that I really want to write. I just need to make myself sit down and write some every day. I was just thinking about this today (I think about it a lot), but I still have not accomplished much.
3) I'm a little embarrassed about this one....Lately, I've been listening to a lot of rap/ghetto music. Not sure what to call it. I downloaded several songs with the explicit lyrics. I can't listen to this stuff with Abbie in the car, but I sure do like it. And it's all basically about sex in some way or another. Same as all the 80's rock music I liked. I still like all that 80's rock music too. I have discovered that I like making my own mixed tapes (CD's). I download all sorts of stuff, including country music. I can be diverse.
4) I've been thinking a lot lately about getting older. About my life being half over (maybe). About the fact that I may never lose weight, that I may never be skinny again, that physically, this may be the best shape I'll ever be in. This may be the best I'll ever look - it may be downhill from here. It's depressing.
5) On a more positive note, I am a "glass is half full" kind of person. I get up everyday renewed with a lot of hope in my heart. I am a peacemaker. I want everyone to get along and be happy. I try to smooth things over and point out the positive things in a bad situation (sometimes I think this drives Paul crazy). For the most part, I am Pollyanna Sunshine. It keeps me sane.
6) I would like to travel to so many places. But I don't like to fly. Flying scares me. I get pretty anxious on flights. I prefer non-stop flights so that I only have to deal with one plane that day. There are so many places I want to go (places I want to experience with Abbie) so I will fly when I have to. I have made a list. Hopefully, I'll get to go someday. And I'd like to go to the beach at least 3 times a year.

Days Go By

Today, I worked on cleaning up the house. It was a wreck due to working long hours on closing our business. While cleaning, I decided to reorganize Abbie's bookcase. We always have a steady stream of new books coming in - trips to the bookstore, the book fair at school, classroom Scholastic book orders, etc. Abbie has more books than toys.
I have actually cleaned her bookcase many times (I like to reorganize), but I have only put books in storage once. Today was the second time that I have removed books that I will put in storage. This made me feel really sad. I removed board books - favorites that we don't read anymore but have read so so many times in the past. Favorites that I just couldn't bear to take down. You hear the saying, "kids grow up so fast" many, many times. And while I've always believed it, I actually felt it to be true for ME today. Abbie is now 45 lbs, mostly too heavy for me to carry for very long. She can now reach the sink while brushing her teeth without needing a stool. And now we are reading chapter books - Judy Bloom - instead of Mr. Brown Can Moo and Guess How Much I Love You. I felt a profound sadness today as I cleaned her bookcase. This will strike all parents, in different ways, at different times. The passing of time in books; that is where it got me.

Strange Questions

These days, Abbie is filled with questions, and she comes home with odd facts that she has learned from other kids in her class. I have to remind her not to believe everything she hears. Today, she asked me if it was true that you could burst a blood vessel in your throat if you cough too much. Yesterday, she asked me if you can be dead and your heart still be beating. Earlier this year, she asked me if there was a pink bee that could kill you. There are many more questions like that and not all of them are death or health related. Many times, we have sat down at the computer and researched things (something I love to do) to see if there is any fact to the things she hears, for example, the pink bee. We never did find a pink killer bee, but we did find some great educational bee and ant videos on National Geographic. For a while, she liked to talk about army ants (while her harvester ants were busy tunneling in her ant habitat).

While it is great that she is inquisitive, I never know what subject we are going to be discussing!

Missed My Calling

For a very short time period, I was a cheerleader in middle school. I LOVED it! Sometimes cheerleaders get a bad rap (plenty in my family have made fun of me), but I truly loved cheering for my school. I was a cheerleader before I knew being a cheerleader was cool. Once the school posted tryouts, every girl under the sun signed up. If the judges had seen me at a game, I think I would have gotten picked for the squad. Unfortunately, a shy girl cheering in front of 3 strange judges (without a real ballgame going on), did not do so well. I didn't make the squad. After all these years, this is still one of my greatest disappointments.

Fast forward to now, I am still a cheerleader at heart. I'm not embarassed to clap, hoot, jump up and down when I'm excited. Last night, at Abbie's penultimate soccer game, the score was 2-1 (our team had 1 goal). It was 2nd half of the game, maybe 10 minutes left on the clock. The Panthers ran the ball down the field, Damon passed the ball to Matthew. Matthew kicked a goal. I was on my feet yelling, arms raised in the air, hooting, and jumping in a circle. As I was completing the circle I realized I was the only parent on my feet creating this display, but the other parents were clapping and yelling. Since Paul wasn't there and Abbie was on the field at the time, I re-enacted my cheer for them when I got home. I think I need a special uniform :)

Today, Saturday, we went to the office to do a lot of packing, sorting, and garbage disposal. Norma got weepy as she cleaned out her desk. For some reason, packing up her paper clips made her sad. We've become really good friends. She and I plan to do lunch once a week.

Family Videos

We just got the DVD's from Pierre today. We are watching part 1 tonight. 1973 seems to be the year of Marc and the backhoe. Paul says Marc loved that backhoe, and that they all got their fingers pinched while they were playing with it. I enjoy hearing Paul's comments while he watches the home movies. It would be fun to watch the movies while Paul, Marc and Pierre were all watching them together - so we could hear their collective comments. Paul and I are impressed that Pierre and Paul seemed to know how to ride a bike without training wheels at a young age. Abbie may be a teenager before she accomplishes that feat.

On Saturday, I bought Abbie a Webkinz. A friend at hers at school has several so I've been meaning to buy her one (even though I wasn't really sure what it was all about). Now, it's all about the Webkinz. She has a husky named Snowflake. When she is at school, I play for her online so that I can earn her some Webkinz cash.

I found out today that Ellie (our calico cat) does have cancer on her face (or in her mouth). We are going to continue to give her antibiotics to get rid of any infection she may have. Other than that, we will just wait and see if it gets worse. She is feeling fine right now, eating 2 cans of food a day, wanting to be petted, etc. She's had a long full life - we've had a good time together. :)

No Cavities

Okay, there actually has been good news in my life.

On Wednesday, Abbie and I got pictures made together. It was supposed to be a family portrait session, but I couldn't clear Paul's schedule. I wore a white shirt and jeans. Abbie wore a white sundress. Neither of us wore shoes - the photographer suggested our wardrobe. He and his assistant made it really fun. Abbie laughed so much. I can't wait to see our pictures. The photographer is one of the best in the area so whatever we order will be pricey. I guess I'll ask for this for Christmas.

At the dentist on Thursday, I got a good check up and had no cavities. Yay!

On Thursday evening, I was given a free couch and chair for my dad. Turns out the fabric is butt ugly so I may have the cushions recovered before delivering it to my dad.

Today, Saturday, I went scrapbooking with my friends.

My week is looking up.

Practical Jokes

Today, Paul and I brainstormed some practical jokes to play on a friend. Actually, we had to check ourselves because we were coming up with so many. We only really need to play one prank on this friend to get him back for the one prank he played on us. But it was so hard to just stop at one good idea. We came up with some pretty good stuff. I can't reveal it all here....shhhh! But we plan to revive an old prank that was played on us once upon a time. It involves sardines (Marc knows all about this). Another idea involved mushroom soup (Pierre knows about this one), but we want to put a new spin on it.

In other news, as part of Abbie's reward for riding her bike, today we went to visit the kitten that we recently took care of - she is so sweet. I'd really like a new tiny kitten, but I need more chores like a hole in the head. I have plenty of pet chores as it is. Someday.....someday, my wish is to be a foster parent for kittens taken to the Humane Society.

Confusing Information

Due to my work schedule and forgetfulness, I sometimes start a load of laundry then forget about it until the next day. Of course, that results in a sour smell. I have two "cleaning tip" books. One book has all sorts of helpful advice such as how to get candle wax out of linens as well as recipes for making your own cleaning supplies. The other book is helpful too, but it advises NOT to do at least 5 of the things that the other book says to do. Either one book is more up to date or Windex is paying them to refute easy solutions with everyday household products.

I plan to try using white vinegar in the rinse cycle to see if that gets the sour smell out otherwise I'll be redoing this load of laundry.

Decorate and Redecorate

I've enjoyed playing around with the look of this blog. I'm sure I will redecorate frequently.

I'm still not sure what topics I will blog. Probably a lot of stuff about Abbie. Probably my random musings.

We are planning another trip to the Creeper Trail. For a successful trip, Abbie needs to get more comfortable on a bike. She still needs training wheels and feels anxious when she goes down even the smallest hill. Today, we encouraged (it took A LOT of encouragement and a reward) her to ride her bike to a neighbor's house and back (1/4 mile). The Creeper Trail takes 3 or more hours depending on how often you stop. Last year, she rode inside a bike cart that Paul pulled behind his bike. This year, we'd like her to ride on a tag-a-long bike that would be connected to Paul's bike. A little voice is telling me that I should probably pull a bike cart behind my bike just in case.....

First Blog Post

My first blog post! I'm going to play around until I get it just right....