I lost my cookies

We got a new computer and then the computer had to go to the computer hospital. When I got it back it had no cookies. Whatever that means. Anyway, it wouldn't let me blog because I didn't have my cookies on. Having no idea what that means, I had to wait patiently for my hubby to turn my cookies on! Hence, no blog for many weeks! So sorry!

I will be blogging soon of a family update. I probably cursed myself when I sent my blog address in all my Christmas cards for family updates! It's late now though. I gotta go to bed!

Ahhhh, it's good to be back!

So, what's the deal with Peanut Butter?

I love shopping at Sam's. At first, when I wasn't a member, I used to say "Why would I pay to shop at someone's store? Now, that my mom and dad bought a membership and put me on it, I'm addicted! I bet I go at least once a week. Who can resist all the food samples, the 5 pounds of tub butter, the box of 60 tacquitos, 6 pound package of frozen hashbrowns and the 3 pound tub of cottage cheese?? It's so awesome!!

Went to Wal-Mart yesterday to buy regular sized groceries when it became a reality to me that we are never going to get to have peanut butter again, are we? At first, they just cleared the shelves of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value. Now, there is NO PB except 3 jars of "natural" or "organic". I should have bought the huge jar at Sam's!! Any other mothers of young ones out there holding their family together with Peanut Butter?? It is a staple at our house. Somehow, I'm not going to be able to slip in Tuna Salad as a subsititute!!

Anybody watching "The Amazing Race-All Stars"? Can you believe Amber and Rob got eliminated?? Wow!

Don't you want me, baby??

My kids were walking around the house singing "Don't you want me, baby? Don't you want me, oh...oh..." Now if you are a child of the 80's you totally recognize that as a song by Human League. I ask them "What are you singing?"

"Oh, it's just our new favorite song. Ya know, the one with the cookies?" their reply.

Hummmm, I don't remember cookies in the music video?? I don't remember my kids watching 80's music videos??? They explain further..."It's the commerical for the chocolate chip cookies. The cookies are riding in the car and one by one they get eaten. Except for the driver, he is the last one and starts singing really slow...don't you... want...me...baby?" This produces fits of laughter at just the thought of the commerical!

I finally saw the commerical myself the other day. Pretty cute. But is this what my mom and dad felt like the first time they heard their 50's/60's music in the elevator? OLD??!! I remember riding the elevator to go to the dentist office when I was a kid and my mom started rocking out on the music in the elevator. Totally embarrassing! Of course, I would never embarrass my kids with my singing "the oldies"...

Kid's say the darnest things!

What to blog about...what to blog about... I haven't had any good idea's in awhile so I will share with you funny things Ike has said recently.

Ike..."When I grow up I want to be the guy who checks on the animals to see if they are about dead." (That would be a vet...)

Early in the morning Ike is always the first one out of bed. That's usually our cuddle time. I told Isaac I wanted to be like him because he was such a funny and kind kid. He told me, "Don't be like me. Be like Jesus."

Ike and Jake both got in trouble and were sent to the bathroom for their punishment. Jake immeditaley starts repenting and is remorseful and I give him mercy. Ike is watching what Jake is doing the whole time and you can tell he is thinking...if this works for Jake, I'm doing what he's doing! Jake was excused from the bathroom and Ike was up. He starts this fake weeping and says "Mom, do you forgive me for being a bad little kid?" What could I do but just lower my head and try for him to not see me laughing. I explained that it was not about being a bad little kid but it was about obeying. I had no choice but to extend mercy to him as well. I hope he got the point at least!

Ike is different. He has this sense of humor that seems way too big for a 4 year old. He cracks me up often! This is not a positive...it makes it really hard to discipline when you are wanting to laugh!! All my kids have these awesome little personalities that are completely God given. They have nothing to do with genetics or inhertience! It is my prayer that they will serve Him all the days of their lives with what GodHe has given them!

You can teach an old do new tricks!

When the electricity was out after the storm, I invited a friend over to do her laundry. She did something that I have hardly ever done with mine. She looked through all the clothes before they went in the washer and used a stain remover. Now, I knew about stain removers and the purpose of them, but I never really trusted them. My thinking was the washing machine should do the job. Ya know, like the dishwasher, I don’t want to scrub all my dishes clean before I put them in the dishwasher!

Well, after seeing her clothes come out of the dryer stain free I decided I would have to try this tactic! So, choosing Marissa’s outfit and bib after her first meal in the high chair I carefully read the directions about pre-treating from the Cheer container (I had no actual stain remover product) and did as I was told, including the soaking for about 10 minutes. Viola! LIKE BRAND NEW!!! I’m a changed person! I never really knew why people would want that big, huge utility sink in their laundry room, but now I get it!!!! Now, I am searching for any spills among the laundry. It is so rewarding to pull that previously messy, stained article of clothing out of the dryer and seeing not a trace of what used to be there! Oh, let me tell you, I’m all about rewards!

So, if you have slacked off from pre-treating or have been disbelieving of its powers before, let me encourage you to try it again! You will be pleasantly surprised!

Beware of long post because of not posting for so long!!!

Geez, we had a sight to come back to from vacation! We went from 84 degrees to barely above 0! Thanks be to God for His protection during the ice storm! It worked out well for my parents, who live next door, to come over to our house and stay warm with the wood stove. We came home to a dark, but warm house and sometime in the middle of the night the electric came back on! We lost quite a bit from the freezer, most of 2006 deer meat, but that is minimal compared to what others have gone through!

We had a GREAT time in Fort Myers, FL!!! Ron and Julie's house is awesome! (We loved swimming in their pool!) And it was great to see the nieces again! Traveling went smoothly, weather was great, food was great, La Quinta Inn was decent, shopping grand. All in all a great vacation! The most unusal thing we saw was this bank chain called "Fifth Third Bank". What in the world? If you are the 5th bank that ranks 3rd, wouldn't you kinda keep that info to yourself??? Why not bank at the 1st third bank? Why does it even matter what number bank you are if you are already 3rd??? I really didn't get it but it cracked us up every time we would pass another bank!!

I want to apologize for being so long in posting a blog. For Christmas Ike got three Rescue Hero computer games. Oh my! Is this boy happy! First thing out of his mouth every morning..."Is it my turn to play on the computer?" All three kids are computer game crazy and I probably let them spend way too much time on the computer but that's my mama card. In order to keep Jake focused on school he gets to take a break every time he finishes his assignments in two subjects. That break is usually spent on computer time! Same motivation for Molly. Bruce offered to buy me a laptop computer but even if I had one between schooling the kids and regular life...I can't really get on the computer for more than e-mail/blog checks a few minutes at a time. So, my interesting stories of life and times at our house may not come as quickly! As if!
You can see I posted no pictures. Yip, haven't figured out the camera yet!

Marissa's One Year Old Birthday is today!! She's the littlest one year old I've ever seen! She is such a JOY!! She crawls around and grabs everything!! She's still not sitting up on her own and the First Steps Physical Therapist says it's partially because she doesn't just want to sit...she wants to go! She is going to start getting PT once a week to help with sitting and weight bearing on her feet. She is getting better but with therapy they think she will catch up quickly. She also will be getting OT (Occupational Therapy) once a month. That is too help her isolate her thumb and finger for picking up stuff. Like right now she grabs things by doing this sweeping motion with her hand. So, it's hard to pick up small things like Cheerios. She will get Speech Therapy at some point because she tested delayed in that area as well. Well, delayed according to Baylee and Peabody. These are the standardize test they use to check for development. Too bad Marissa didn't read the book to know where she is supposed to be!

So here's the scoop...

Well, we are all better now! We are left with this lingering cough but ready to tackle the world again! Being sick at Christmas and New Years was not as bad as it might have sounded. We just kinda buckled down at home and watched movies, played games, read books, which was a nice twist from the hurry, hurry lifestyle we have become accustomed to! Now we are ready to go to Florida for vacation!

We bought a new camera so I probably won't be posting any pictures for awhile until I figure out all this new equipment and software. I hope we didn't purchase beyond my capability with this camera. It's actually a hard drive video camera, but with the software you can capture any still shot. With this we have the features to edit the video, add music and titles. It will make really neat DVDs if I can pull this off. I'm really not a 'read the instructions' type gal. I just kinda get there and try to figure it all out by hands on. Bruce made me promise that I would actually read the instruction book!

Last night I watched "High School Musical"...pop up edition. I love anything "pop-up'. It's interesting learning the tricks of the trade and finding out the back story from the pop ups. One time on TV Land they had marathon episodes of "The Brady Bunch" in pop-up. That was the bomb! Anyway, last night I learned from "High School Musical" pop up that the kid who played Ryan, Sharpay's brother, was from Springfield, MO. He was discovered in a smoothie line. So if anybody has any aspirations for Hollywood, there must be people right here in Springfield that can discover you if you are standing in the right line!

When we brought Marissa home from the hospital I told Bruce we should look for an agent for her. Ya know how all babies born on TV and the movies look like there are about 3 months old? Well, I thought Marissa would be perfect for the newborn roles since she still looked newborn at 4 months old weighing only 5 pounds and about 16 inches. She probably could have made movies for awhile as the newborn! By the way, did you know that when a baby is born on TV or movies that they mix together cream cheese and grape jelly and spread it all over the baby to make it look like they just traveled down the birth canal? I didn't read that in a pop up but in a magazine about the show "ER" when it was at it's height. Interesting, huh? Or too much information??!!!

Well, we are excited to be taking our first vacation outside of Missouri...ever! We are flying to Fort Myers, FL to see Bruce's brother and family. It will be like a little family reunion because Bruce's mom and sister and her two daughters are going as well! We aren't going to do the whole Disney thing but plan to go to the beach. Jake watched a thing on the Discovery channel months ago about jelly fish and he is not too keen on the whole beach idea! I thought he would be worried about sharks or crocodiles, but nope, it's jelly fish that has him nervous! You can pray for us traveling grace and that we don't get any relapse from the flu!! Maybe I'll have my camera figured out by the time we get back and I can post some pics here!