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Brigid graduated and Earthquake

2010-06-23T16:30:00.002-04:00

Brigid graduated from pre-K today. It was very cute and she is totally ready for Kindergarten. I will post some pictures later when I get them off of the camera. She was asked what she learned this year and her reply was, "I learned to clean a kitchen well." I kid you not, those were her words. We all laughed nervously and Mark leaned over and said to me, "We did something right." I never would have thought of it that way. We are already the weirdos who force me to stay home with the kids without a life and are still happily married to each other. Which I now realize, we were married ten years ago yesterday! Wow, time flies.
Anyway, after we got home from graduation, Mark went to bed and the girls played for awhile. I got on the computer to find my banana bread recipe and an earthquake hit. Now, we don't have them often, and when we do, they are very mild, but they are fun. The earth rolls because they are so very deep in the ground. They say this one was 11 miles below the surface of the earth. The girls didn't feel it, but Mark came running downstairs thinking something was amiss. I love earthquakes. They really are the best way to add a bit of spice to your day!

Monster Snow and Spring

2010-03-11T17:24:00.002-05:00

We got hit with a huge snowstorm that dumped 2 feet of snow. It was so beautiful, actually rather breathtaking. I especially loved that I didn't have to leave the house. The girls didn't have school for two days and it was great fun. We played outside, baked, watched movies and played hard.
The next week, I got a sinus infection to end all sinus infections! I thought I was going to die. Mark took me to an emergency care place and they sent me home with a script. I felt better after one dose. It's the first antibiotic I've been on since Brigid was in the womb.
Last Thursday, you could feel the season change here. The sun felt warmer and the air got drier. Now, all the snow is melting away and you are starting to see the grass here and there. I have some tulips and daffodils spiking in the back garden. Trees are starting their buds. I love the renewal and the awesomeness of it all. Spring testifies of a deity with every emerging plant and bloom. I have some of my vegetables starting to sprout in my indoor greenhouses. Soon enough I will be outside almost constantly. I really can't wait!

Sick, sick, sick

2010-02-16T10:43:00.002-05:00

We have all been down with a nasty cold for almost a week and a half now. Mark had it, then Brigid, now Fiona and I are sick. All I want to do is sleep and veg out, but there is always so much that needs to be done. The house has been a bit of a wreck and there is no end in sight for a cleaner house.
Fiona spent the night with my mother-in-law last night, so it was a Brigid and Mommy sleepover. We ate dinner, watched a movie, took a bath and then fell asleep. When we talking in bed, I found out that Brigid thinks that if you kiss a boy, you marry him. When I asked her if she kissed a boy, she told me, "no," but she giggled that entire time. I am pretty sure, she is the girl kissing all the boys.
I have been working on long term food storage lately. I have canned dozens of jars of beans and 10 pints of ground beef. It is the BEST! I am shocked at how easy and convenient pressure canning is. Time seems more urgent now than it ever has in the past. Every time I turn on the news or radio there is something else that is telling me to prepare. Have you felt that too?

Super Cold!

2010-01-12T12:52:00.002-05:00

It has been unbelievably cold and snowy here since New Year's Day. We haven't been above freezing since then. It was -8 degrees the other morning. The kids hate having to wear long underwear all the time, but I know it is keeping them warmer than their classmates. In addition to the cold, we are getting lots of snow. It falls about an inch or more a day. Up near Lake Ontario they have like 60 inches just since January 1. We have about 2 feet, which is not all that bad, just a nuisance. The bright side with it snowing everyday, is that the new snow covers up the ugly brown snow before you see it. It is always pretty.
On the regular homefront, Mark got me a kitten, he also brought one home for Brigid. They are brothers and we adore them. My kitten is named Jack and is black. Brigid's is named Pumpkin and he is an orange tiger. They are 10 months old and full of life. It has been wonderful for them to be together. One of their grandparents was an Abyssinian cat, so they are 10 lbs a piece right now and really long. They will grow quite a bit in the months to come and I am a bit worried to see how big they will get. It's funny, you pray for the pitter patter of little feet and you end up with 3 cats and 1 dog. Heavenly Father answers prayers in ways He sees fit.

2009-12-22T18:31:00.000-05:00

my hair, what's left of it...

2009-11-22T14:46:00.003-05:00

So, about three weeks ago, Mark decided to take Brigid to school and then he was going to go over and get his haircut. He said he was getting hippie hair. That usually means he actually has to comb it, I think. I went with him and ended up getting eighteen inches cut off- yep 18 inches! It is now shoulder length and is really cute on me. I still wake up every morning and am aghast at my image in the mirror, but it has been totally worth it. I haven't has a headache since and am using about 1/4 of the shampoo and condition I was. I never thought I would ever cut my hair. It has been 18 years since my hair has been this short. Here's to a new look.

Silly Monkers!

2009-09-17T14:53:00.000-04:00

Things going on...

2009-09-17T14:41:00.002-04:00

Fiona loved her dance class. She has spent a lot of time since then practicing her steps and rhythms. It is so amazing to see her blossom in an activity.
Brigid had a doctor's check-up. She is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. She still is super skinny though. I have to pin all her pants up. The doctor was impressed that they only see my kids yearly. She absolutely loves that they don't know who she is. I took Brigid out to lunch as she had 4 shots and did not cry at all. She is my brave little trooper.
Our other cat, Poe, has not acclimated himself well to being an only cat. He wanders everywhere looking for the other cat. He seems really depressed. We may have to get a new cat sooner than we anticipated for Poe's sake.
Mark and I have been taking inventory of our property and trying to figure out what we can do with what we have. We are thinking of doing a mini-homestead here! We planted quite a bit of edibles this year, but we are going to expand. We are thinking of putting in some grape arbors with concord grapes, more raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and more veggies. The pear tree has given us more than we can eat this year. I was forced to make pear jam. One apple tree died, but we can still use the other. We shall see how far we are able to go.
There is a family in California that grow 99% of their food on 1/10 of an acre, in PASADENA! I am utterly amazed and enthralled by their work. That is what we would like to achieve, vegetable and fruit wise. With Mark and I both hunting, we may need the grocery store less and less as time goes on. That is my ultimate goal. Next up, I am thinking about my own bees....

Better today

2009-09-14T15:30:00.002-04:00

I am certainly feeling worlds better today. I know Hamish is in a better place with people around him to love and that has given me a lot of comfort. Actually, my friend Diane was the one who thought that maybe Heavenly Father will now wake up to kitty massages every morning. It's funny, I really didn't feel up to church on Sunday, but the Relief Society choir was singing and since I am first counselor, I had to be there. Sacrament was truly uplifting. The music is what really got me. It was about consoling grief and finding hope. Heavenly Father certainly watches out for those who need it. But, then, the ladies sang. I had chosen "Beautiful Savior" from the old Children's Songbook. It has a stunning descant and is just amazing when sung by a large group that truly believe the words. There were only 15 of us, but we sounded like 300. Our group always has a few angels that like to sing with us. It is always a wonderful experience.

Monday morning dawned, and it was off to school for Fiona. She seems to dislike first grade, so far. I think she is a bit intimidated by the amount of work. We shall see how it goes. She brought home homework and has not been entirely excited about it. She starts irish step dance tonight at the Center for the Arts. She has sooooooo been looking forward to the lessons. It has been her entire focus this summer. Wish her luck!

RIP- Hamish 9/12/2009

2009-09-13T08:52:00.002-04:00

My beloved cat, Hamish was struck and killed by a car last night. I am beyond upset still over 12 hours later. They closed the bridge on the end of a main street and so we are the detour street. We have 1000% more traffic and no one slows down anymore. The two girls that struck him did the right thing, though and went looking for his owner. They found some neighbors who recognized him, called my in-laws who called Mark. I am glad that we didn't see him being killed, especially the kids. This will devastate them when we tell them after church. I have never ever had a cat who didn't die of old age or a lethal disease. I am beyond hopelessness over this loss.
Hamish was a stray that a local man found and took in to his shop in Cortland. Hamish was the office cat, then named Snuggles. When we bought the house, I had to have a cat, so we rushed over there. He couldn't find any kittens, but my girls couldn't pull themselves away from a long haired, overweight, over-affectionate cat. Scott put him in the car with us and away we went. Hamish loved riding in the car because the driver had to endure him sitting on your lap while you were forced to pet him. I woke up almost every morning to Hamish kneading my back to get me to wake up. I will severely miss the kitty massages.
I am so grateful that Hamish got to have a familywho loved him beyond words for a little over a year. He lived a short 4 years, but the last was the best.

This is so funny!

2009-08-09T21:54:00.002-04:00

Pictures!

2009-07-17T10:26:00.005-04:00

Mark's cell phone has its own memory card that fits in my computer. So here are some pictures of what we have been up to.

This is a picture of Fiona from May, before school let out. They are all about the fairies now.

This is Brigid at the Relay For Life at SUNY Cortland. There was face painting and Brigid loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider song.

This is a scene that Mark came home to the other day. Brigid woke up with a night terror and crawled into bed about midnight. Fiona got up at 3, realized that Brigid was sleeping with me and crawled in too. I love that they feel close enough to sleep in my bed, but Brigid spends the entire night trying to get as close as she can to me. Some nights, I fall out of bed from her advances.

I love being a mom. :)

2009-07-13T17:22:00.003-04:00

The BBC has a list of 100 books you have to read. The average person has read only 6 out of 100. I have read 68! Thank goodness for no television. It really does make a big difference in your life. Here's the master list. The ones I have read have an X after them.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (movie) X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling -- X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper LeeX
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte X
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman -- (I think not!)X
10 Great Expectations - Charles DickensX
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy X
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du MaurierX
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger X
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George EliotX
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X
23 Bleak House - Charles DickensX
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy X
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor DostoyevskyX
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo TolstoyX
32 David Copperfield - Charles DickensX
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen X
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen X
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha -X
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X (
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie CollinsX
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery X
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood X
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert X
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zifon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X )
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley X
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John SteinbeckX
62 Lolita - Vladimir NabokovX
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre DumasX
66 On The Road - Jack KerouacX
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen FieldingX
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram StokerX
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James JoyceX
76 The Inferno - DanteX
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray X
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice WalkerX
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo IshiguroX
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert X (Yuck)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad X
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre DumasX
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor HugoX

Now, not all of these are the best of literature, but so many of these are old friends. Dune I read at least once a year. Little Women is another that is part of my yearly reads. Some of these I will never read again, like Les Miserables and Heart of Darkness. It's not that they weren't good, it is just that I want something a bit more uplifting.

So are you a freak when it comes to books? I bet you are...

Mark got the job!

2009-06-10T14:42:00.002-04:00

Mark got the job at TLC Ambulance! First interview, and a job offer on the spot. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much these last few months and now to top it off, a job with better pay and better benefits than Rural Metro. Mark is happy, but cautious. He worked there years ago, when Fiona was born and it wasn't the right fit then. But, Mark has grown up and I think that working here in town will be better for him in the long run. The two greatest things about this job are that he can walk to work, and HE DOESN'T NEED TO WEAR A BULLET-PROOF VEST TO WORK! In my mind, as the mother of his children, this is the best part. I don't have to worry about the gang violence and the murders like in Syracuse. He will still have to see crappy stuff, ie child abuse, but he will be safer in the long run. Yipee!!!!!!!!!

Life always seems to get in the way

2009-06-09T16:01:00.002-04:00

It has been an incredible 6 months! Christmas was awesome as it always is. Lots of love and family. Even my Aunt Mary and Uncle Dan were here from Illinois!
January was a bit of a bummer. Mark got into an accident with his ambulance and they fired him. The accident was not his fault. He was going to a call with lights and sirens and some idiot T-boned him. He has not found a new job yet, but has an interview this week. :)
The upside is that Mark has reorganized this house top to bottom. He keeps me constantly worried about some mess the kids have made or that there are dirty dishes in the sink. Gotta love a husband with mild OCD.
Spring came and it was so hot that I decided to start the garden a wee bit early. According to the U.S. government, we are now zone 6 for planting due to global warming. It is sheer baloney as we had frost on June 1st! I lost my squash, zucchini, green lettuce and some tomato plants. I think I should sue Al Gore, but I won't. He needs the money to pay his electric bill.
Fiona graduates from kindergarten on Thursday. I just cannot believe she is no longer a little baby anymore. Of course, she is becoming a young woman I love even more everyday. She has been writing books on a variety of topics and does a great job!
Brigid has become the funniest skinny chick I know. First off, she has developed a habit of shaking her fist at people when she angry and asking them if they want a knuckle sandwich! She never has followed through with her threats and actually most of the time does it to make someone laugh. In her housework abilities, she has moved on to washing dishes. She is amazing at them!
I am busy as ever mainly trying to keep Brigid from digging up my plants and housework. That's life I guess!

Christmas Already?

2008-12-05T14:23:00.002-05:00

I just got finished getting Thanksgiving put together and am slapped with all the rush of Christmas. Man, oh man, I am behind. I am making almost everyone a present this year. I have been working on them since the beginning of November, but I still have mountains to move. I love sewing!
Mark is working hard. He has been working as much as humanly possible and it makes me love him more each day to see how hard he works for us. He is truly the best head of household I could have asked for.
Fiona is in the Advanced Placement Reading Group at school. She spends every waking moment sounding out what you say to her. It is a hoot. She tried spelling "Bethlehem" the other day. She is quite the thinker and work in progress. She is also one of the moodiest kids I have ever met. She will be Miss Doom and Gloom when she is older, but I will still love her for it.
Brigid is her usual cheerful happy self. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when he sent her second. She is my blessing everyday. She has been helping with my daily chores and has gotten very adept at bed making. This morning when I told her how wonderful her side looked, she threw herself in my arms and told me, "No, Mama, you did a great job!" She then proceeded to jump up and down until I hugged her and whisked her off for kitchen duty!
I have been reading up a storm. Just for kicks, I am almost done with the entire works of Jane Austen. She is truly my hero. Actually, I have her action figure in my kitchen. I have read them before, all except Mansfield Park. I can never get into that one. I dislike every character in it. No one seems to have any redeeming qualities and there is very little humor. On the other hand, I could read Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility over and over and over again. I discover something new each time. On top of the reading, I have been writing A LOT! I put on the ipod and the stuff just pours out of me. Maybe in a few years, I will be a famous writer! Who knows?

Random Kid Quotes

2008-10-15T18:40:00.001-04:00

On Monday, we were driving to the mall with my parents when I asked Brigid who her favorite superhero is. Her answer, "God." I guess we are doing something right. :)

It has been a long long summer...

2008-10-08T12:35:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe that it is October already! We have moved into the house almost completely. My in-laws are working hard at emptying the last few areas. It has been very grounding having a place all our own. I planted some this summer, but we moved in too late to get a good vegetable garden, so I have a tomato plant for my kitchen. Even if I only get one tomato all winter, it will be worth it.
Fiona has started school and it is just Brigid and I all day long. She loves being with Mommy, but misses Fiona terribly. She asks all day, "Is it time for sister yet?" She has gymnastics one day a week and that certainly fills her day. She is actually a total natural at everything she decides to do or touch. I wish I had her blessings.
Fiona loves school and loves Mrs. Davis, her teacher. She has bloomed in kindergarten. She is no longer painfully shy and she talks non-stop. I guess she channels Great Grandma Frankie like I channel Grandma Ethel, my Dad's Mom. She is also in a gymnastics class and loves it. She, unfortunately, is as uncoordinated as Mark and I.
Mark is still working in Syracuse, but he got a new shift and works Monday through Thursday every week. It has been a real blessing to have him home mornings and on the weekends when everything happens.
I have been busy baking and cleaning. I sew on occasion and knit when I can. I finally finished Mark's Irish Scarf with all the cables. GO me! It is time for Miss Brigid's nap and I want to find something constructive to do. More tomorrow including the best cake recipe, that needs no frosting!

I am trying to do better

2008-05-28T13:54:00.002-04:00

But, it has been so beautiful here. The lilacs are blooming and everything is covered in caterpillars. It has truly been a wonderful Spring.
Mark started painting our new house yesterday. He scraped and primed the back and it looks really nice. I got to pull weeds at the apartment house that my sis-in-law owns next door. My herb garden is still thriving since I put it in 7 years ago. If anyone needs peppermint let me know. I could open a shop.
The girls are well and growing like weeds. Fiona has quite the green thumb and insists on knowing what every plant is called. Her favorite right now is the Poppy and Johnny jump ups. She is my little lady.
Brigid is her usual self. She is always on the move. She also wants to know everything. I hear "Why?" at least one thousand times a day.
Fiona gave the scripture in Sharing Time. She has memorized, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." She now recites it on command. I am so happy that she loves Primary. Both girls do. We have been blessed with that.
I added a quote on the bottom that I think is rather interesting. I happened on a website called womenagainstfeminism.com. These are women who believe that feminism is a lie. There are lots of articles about homemaking, modesty, and anything related to the home. It is a treat to look through and heartening to see others want a good home on one income too.
Well, the sunshine and my laundry call. Have a wondrous day!

I am really horrible at this!

2008-04-30T22:06:00.002-04:00

We have been busy busy here as usual. First of all, until yesterday it was summer here. We played outside almost all day. And I mean all day. The girls ate breakfast and lunch on the porch. We rode bikes, gardened, and played on the swingset. It was absolutely wonderful.
Then, when I woke up this morning, it was SNOWING! Luckily, tomorrow will be nicer, 55 and sunny. I hate being cooped up after all that glorious sunshine.
Mark's birthday is Cinco de Mayo! He loves that millions of Mexicans get together to celebrate his birth. We are going to Garcia's Mexican Restaurant on Saturday with everyone to celebrate. It should be a lot of fun!
Well, I am off to bed. More tomorrow!

Phew! Busy Busy!

2008-04-20T18:14:00.002-04:00

We have been so busy here with the much improved weather. It has been in the 80's since Thursday. With the elevated temps comes outdoor play as much as possible. Last Sunday, it snowed, so we will take this summer weather.
Girls are good, but crazy. Brigid hates coming in for anything. She even wanted breakfast outside on Friday. Fiona is quite the gardener. She loves to dig in the mud and see the worms.
I got to go to some of the year's first yard sales. Yipee! I love yard sale season. I got a nearly new iron for free, and the neatest measuring cup. The cup measures ounces of flour, sugar, then regular cups and fluid ounces. Then, the handle is a mini cup that measures tablespoons. I paid a dime! I just need a dining room table for a quarter!

Rain, rain go away come again some other day

2008-04-11T20:28:00.002-04:00

It rained here today, but nothing too bad. Brigid still has a runny nose and is now coughing, but you would never know it by the way she acts. She is the only kid I know who still seems to be cheerful when sick.
Today was pajama day at Fiona's preschool. She didn't want to wear her jammies because no one else wears footie pj's in her class. I LOVE footie pajamas, in fact I own a pair in my size. Mark bought them as a joke, but I love them. So, Fiona was a lump on a log and didn't participate. Other than that, she had a good day.
The missionaries called at 3:30 to inform me that they were coming to dinner. I couldn't stretch what was on my menu, so Dad sprung for a pizza and wings. It was super yummy!
I finally got to watch some of the mini-series, The Capture of the Green River Killer. I don't normally watch anything on Lifetime, but I was interested in this. I saw the first part and it was really interesting and quite good for a made for TV movie.
On the book front, I got a book on the 1854 Cholera epidemic in London. It is called the Ghost Map and it is really about how the world's reaction to epidemics and epidemiology changed because of this particular outbreak. So far, a fascinating look at the poor of Dicken's London. Check it out, but you have to order it. I got it from the Ithaca library.

Hectic Day

2008-04-09T08:37:00.002-04:00

Brigid and I went for a forced march yesterday. She loves her walks. I love that they tucker her right out. Mark and Fiona went to Ithaca for some daddy daughter alone time. She had a blast running around the mall and Daddy bought her a painting your finger nails kit. She loves make-up.
I actually got most of the house in order, except floors. That is my goal for today, after my Salvation Army trip. Today is half-price day and Brigid needs some things for summer.
I actually went grocery shopping yesterday at 5 p.m. I will never shop at that time ever again. It was so busy and Aldi's was out of a lot of things. I prefer my early mornings when no one else is around. I sometimes even have the store all to myself. Which has allowed me to befriend the girls there. They let me know who manufactues a lot of their products. It has been a real eye opener.
Well, I have kidlets to get dressed and ready for the world. :)

Another Warm Day

2008-04-08T11:43:00.002-04:00

It is going to be 65 again today! I already took Brigid for a walk this morning. Mark took Fiona to her kindergaten orientation. She really is enjoying that, though she doesn't want to go to kindergarten. She wants to stay home and have Mommy teach her. I think she is scared of the bigger kids at Parker Elementary. We'll see how she does when she actually has to go.
Our snowdrops are all blooming and some purple crocuses are beginning to peek. Soon we will have tulips and leaves on the trees. I love the rebirth of spring.

Brigid Cuteness!

2008-04-07T19:21:00.004-04:00

I found this on the camera and thought it was cute enough to share. Unfortunately I need new batteries and can't get the others off of the camera. This is from Fiona's Princess Tea Party. Poor Mark really wishes we had a son. He has had enough pink and purple craziness for the rest of his life. :)

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

2008-04-07T11:08:00.002-04:00

I just tried a new recipe and I am in love with these cookies. As some of you know, Mark and I live with my parents and my Dad is a dessert man, actually so is Mark. I like to have sweets on hand, but as Dad is a diabetic and we are all on the pudgy side I was looking for something a bit healthier. Here it goes:

2 sticks of butter, melted
1 1/2 c. sugar + 1-2 T. molasses
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
3c. oats
1 1/2c. flour, I used whole wheat
1/2-1c. chopped apples, I used fresh, but you can use dried apples
I also left the skin on the apple. I prefer them that way.

Mix everything well. Roll into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten a little. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool for 5 minutes and then cool on rack. These are chewy and filling without being too sweet. Next time, I may try some other spices with it too. Make them seem like apple pies. :)

First Day!

2008-04-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

Everyone is blogging and I love to journal so here goes nothing!
Yesterday, I got to see President Monson speak in Conference. It was so beautiful. I love to hear these old guys talk about their wives and their lives. It makes them so human and loveable.
Mark is off for the next couple of days. I am glad to have him home, but the girls really needed him. That being said, I love the 4 days on, 4 days off schedule. He gets a mini vacation every work week.
It is supposed to be nice here today. Upper 50's! And last Sunday we had snow. Time to get the kiddies out to play!