New additions to the family

Yes, it's true, we have a couple of new additions coming to our family...OK...hold on now, it's NOT what you may be thinking!!! The new additions I'm speaking of are Christen and Dominic becoming basketball players, so, it's the 'basketball' part of the family that's getting added to, no surprise considering that 3 of their older siblings were/are hard core basketball players. Next Saturday marks the beginning of them starting basketball in a youth program and they're very excited about it....me, on the other hand, I see it as yet another day of to an already busy week of sports. I'm sure it'll be fun for them though, D's pretty excited. Speaking of basketball, Christen participated in the Free Throw competition today, she was the only girl in her age group that showed up which means she automatically goes on to districts, so, in 2 weeks I have a band booster's bake sale to run, Christen has basketball practice from 9-11, D has practice from 11-1, and then Christen has the free throw competition at 2. Yeah, I think it's gonna be a hectic day.

It's snowing today, it's one of those very pretty snowfalls, the kind that that has big flakes and just keeps coming down, but not so much that it's a blizzard outside. Just pretty. We may end up with an inch, maybe 2, but nothing bad. They're saying that on Monday that we're supposed to get freezing rain, I'm not too excited about that, we're just now starting to get more snow on the ground since the last rain we had a couple of weeks ago. They're just now starting to get to snowmobile around here again too. Oh well, it's only the middle of winter, there's a lot left and I'm sure we'll get more snow again.

Tuesday is Alex's 17th birthday. He's pretty excited because they don't have a game that night, so he doesn't have to spend his birthday gone for most of the night. I'm sure he'll have practice, but that only lasts 2 hours. I still have to decide what kind of cake to make for him, I guess I could always ask him what kind 'he' would like.

The Junior class had a Soup Supper fund raiser last night, it actually turned out very well, I heard that they may have made around $700, that would be very cool and would help them to have a decent prom for the Seniors, well, them too I suppose.

Em and D are both sick. Both of them have had a fever for at least 3 days now getting up to over 101 at times. I hope they kick it soon. I'm just wondering who's going to be the next to catch what they've got. We all had that nasty cold, now this.....*sigh*

I wish I were still taking classes, there's such a part of me that feels the need to learn, that WANTS to learn something new or to expand on what I've started to learn. I wish I felt like this when I was in high-school, but, I guess it just wasn't one of my goals back then. Oh well.

I guess I have to go and look something up on youtube, so, I'll quit for now.

Y'all pray for more snow,
Love Ya :)

Windchill.....-7 and dropping.

Ummmm......can you say BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! I don't think we've had this cold of weather for a couple of years, at least it never got this cold last year. Tomorrow the wind chill is supposed to be down to -21 F. Not only do the nose hairs freeze when you go outside, but your lungs freeze as well! The Green Bay-N.Y. game is about to begin and it's Zero out there right now, and it's supposed to drop even more before the game is over with. I do NOT envy them at all.

Ben is home this weekend :) Yes, I'm happy! I got to spend a lot of time with him in Houghton Lake while the All-Star band was rehearsing. He doesn't have school tomorrow because of Martin Luther King day, I'm not quite sure how he's getting back, I think his brother will be taking him back.

I'm baking Lasagna right now and it's starting to smell yummy here. I still have to get the garlic bread made and probably some broccoli or carrots. I have to make up my supper list for the week some time tonight yet too, it'll be a short week because the junior class is having a soup supper fund-raiser, I do have to cook for that too but I have everything I need for my soup already. I think I'm the only person that makes a completely vegetarian soup, no meat in the stock. It's pretty good too. I usually make enough to put a bunch of it in the freezer in single serve containers, that way, I can take it out and enjoy it any time I want :)

My friends, Angie and Chad, had another baby on Friday, they named her Selah. She joins her older sister Morgan, brother Caden and twin sisters Sienna and Hope. I can't wait to see her and to hold her! Thankfully, my cold is almost gone so, I'll get to hold her.

I don't know if Sarah came home this weekend, I guess I could have called her parental_units and asked, I'll be really sad if she did come home and I missed seeing her again

The child_units are now officially half way through the school year, Christen is excited about this because it brings her that much closer to being a middle schooler. OYE! Next year she's going to be in Jr. High.....wow, that time sure did fly by!

I better get going and finish stuff up for supper.

Y'all plug in the thermal blankies!
Love Ya :)

All things spring.

I found myself looking through a Better Homes and Gardens magazine while I was doing laundry this evening, I wish I could have a garden like the ones in that magazine. They were showing beautiful spring flowers, I think my favorites were the Bleeding Hearts, I've always loved them. I guess I'll have to wait until we move because I'm not gonna work hard on a garden just to have cats go in and use it as a toilet! The magazine also said that the Bleeding Hearts and a few other flowers were no very favorable to deer, which is just the kind that I'll need!

It's snowing again, big, wet, fluffy flakes. I don't think that we'll get enough to worry about, but hey, it's Michigan, you never know! I don't really want it to snow that much anyhow since I'm supposed to be a chaperon for the band this weekend. We're going to Houghton Lake this year, which makes the kids very happy because we get to spend the night. I've heard rumors that the place we're staying has access to a water park of sorts w/ a neighboring hotel. I just hope that they have a treadmill!! There's only 12 kids going this year, of course, Emily is one of them which is why I'm going along. I think I'll take along a book or two to read, either that or I'll nap while they're in rehearsal. In a few more weeks they get to go to Solo/Ensemble, well, the Sr. High band does. I'm sure I'll go along on that one too, but we'll probably take a bus, not sure yet if the school is gonna help out with that or if we'll have to car pool again.

Yes, I still feel icky, my cold is still in full force but now my nose is starting to get really red and sore and dry all at the same time!

Sarah is supposed to come home this weekend, I won't get to see her until Saturday night though, but that's O.K.! I can't take my Christmas tree down until she comes here and gets her gift, so I'm really hoping that she does come home this weekend!!! hehe.

D is watching Shrek the Third, so I have to sit here and type with my headset on and music blaring in my ears so that I don't hear the ending. Em and I started to watch it and got interrupted half way through, so I don't want it to be ruined! Maybe I'll take my portable DVD player to the band thing this weekend and we can finish watching it at the hotel. Yup, I just talked myself into it.

Ahhhh, we have a new family member, so to speak. Christen is now the proud owner of a rabbit. Just what we needed!!!!! I'm sure y'all know what this means.....yeah, "I" will get to take care of it as soon as the newness wears off, either that or it's rabbit stew for supper some night!! NOOOO, you know as well as I do that I could never do that! It really is a cute bunny, it's mostly white but has brown ears and brown around its nose and its feet have a little brown on the tips. Now the talk is that it needs a friend....OYE! The cats all want to be it's friend >:) muwahhahaha....heh, not really, but they do seem to be hanging around the hutch a lot!

The last time I went to see Whitney (my horse) I had to do some mane control...she had some dread locks going on from the wind, whew, they look worse than they really are, but they only take about 5 minutes to untangle. It looks pretty after I get them all out and brushed, looks like she got herself a perm :) Right now she looks like a nanny-goat with all the hair she has....I say nanny-goat because right under her chin she gets a big clump of hair, just like a goat.

I wonder when I'll hear from the Tom about Em's basketball game. I don't usually go when it's an away game because of the two youngest child_units, plus I don't feel well. They should be on their way home by now, I guess I'll just have to wait until his phone comes into range. I hope they won!

I think I want to go out and watch some Food Network now.

Y'all enjoy some band music this weekend,
Love Ya :)

From bad to worse...

I detest colds in the worst way! Just overnight, my cold has gone from bad to worse and it stinks. Hmmm...well... I guess I can't really say it 'stinks', BECAUSE I CAN'T SMELL ANYTHING!!!!!!!!! I took some actifed but it hasn't seemed to help much, if any, at all. *sigh* I guess sighing is all I can do for now, other than blowing my plugged up and runny nose. Amazing how it can be both at the same time...I often wish for a special vacuum just to suck out the stuff that's plugging everything up, but it would all be in vain for there's nothing really there!! ARGHHHHHHHH!!!! I know I'll regret saying this, but I would prefer the 24 hour, incredible puking disease, otherwise known as the flu, to having a cold...you vomit, you get it out of your system and you're done...unlike the 7 days of misery that accompanies a cold. Oh well...*sigh*.

Oops, I got sidetracked by cooking supper, I guess I'll quit for now and do another blog later.

Y'all take some vitamin C,
Love Ya :)

Estoy enferma

Well, I guess it couldn't last forever. When one person in a large family gets sick, EVERYONE gets sick. For the past month now, everyone in the household has gotten this bad cold, except me. I guess I'm not so lucky anymore. Last night I was dreaming that I had a very bad sore throat, only to wake up realizing that it wasn't a dream. It's really not any fun to have a cold, sleeping is just about impossible because you can only breathe through one nostril, if you're lucky! Then, if you get lucky enough to fall asleep, you usually wake up in a sweat...OYE! As if the nights weren't bad enough, I walk around sneezing all day and blowing 'nothing' out of my plugged up nose that seems to be running.....*sigh*. Yes, I know, this too shall pass.

I made an amazing salad for my supper this evening. It was a spicy pork loin, broiled to perfection cubed up and tossed with Romaine lettuce, pepperjack cheese, corn, cherry tomatoes and a homemade, low fat, buttermilk dressing. Jon was the only one who would eat it with me. Oh well, I guess I have some left for lunch tomorrow. I just hope that the lettuce doesn't get too soggy. Everyone else had pork chops, rice and carrots, which in it's own rights was just as good a supper as mine.

It was still snowing today, but nothing is staying on the ground because it's still too warm out. I guess that's going to change this weekend. The high temps for Saturday are only supposed to be around 12 degrees F*. Yup, those are the temps where you walk outside and the hairs in your nose freeze!! It's also the weather when you're 9 years old and dare someone to stick their tongue to the flag pole, hehehe...or any other source of metal. Yes, I remember doing that when I was little. Here's a question for you...which is worse...sticking your tongue to a freezing flag pole, OR licking the end of a 9V battery?!?! Yes, I've done that too...in case you didn't know, I'm the baby of the family with 2 OLDER brothers...so yup, been there, done that.

Just so you know....Deal or No Deal is one of the MOST ridiculous shows on t.v., it just goes to show you that the average person has absolutely NO common sense and doesn't really need money at all when it's handed to them on a silver platter. Enough said.

I miss Ben. I caught a glimpse of Em's profile during the National Anthem at her last basketball game and hers' looked so much like Ben's profile. Yes, I teared up.

I'm tired, therefore I'm going to bed.

Y'all cuddle up and stay warm,
Love Ya :)

Kiss my couscous....

*sigh* The diet is going....well.....I'm hungry, seemingly, all the time. I'm enjoying the prospect of cooking things I've never cooked before though. Last night I made a marinated flank of beef. Only a couple people in the family ventured to try it, none of them would try the cabbage salad and homemade dressing that went with it, though. The two that did try it, liked it, well, the meat anyhow. I get so angry sometimes when I see some of those recipes that I would love to try, but I know that when I go to the store to purchase the separate foods that I need, they won't have most of what I need. For instance, whole wheat couscous. I mean seriously, there HAS to be people that eat this stuff or else they wouldn't have it in recipes!!!!!! Grrrrrrr. I searched all over wally world for it, but NO, no couscous, let alone the whole wheat variety. (I did happen to find a couple of boxes at our local grocery store...amazingly enough!!! (not whole wheat though). I am undaunted though, I will still continue to try these new recipes, they may have a substitution here and there, but should turn out just the same. (even if I AM the only one eating them).

We went bowling last night. OH MY GOODNESS! I LOVE TO BOWL!!! I know my child_units are far superior to me when it comes to sports, BUT, *grinning widely* I did happen to beat one of them last night! Woo hoooooooo. Oh no, I'm not bragging (cough, cough), hehehehehe. My first and last games were about my average with the first at 134, my second game was my best at 178 and them my third game was a 138, I was happy :) I can't wait until they decide that they want to go again. It was a sort of parents against the youth...the parents kicked butt...the kids retaliated saying that it's not fair because bowling is a game for "old people" hmmmm, they're just poor losers.

Basketball is in full swing again with 4 games a week. This past Thursday, the boys and the girls played the big rivalry school. The boys game was VERY intense, they should have won the game in regulation time, but noooooooo, they had to drag it out into overtime...not just once.....oh no, not even twice....but TRIPLE overtime! Yes, triple overtime, but we finally beat them. You couldn't even hear in the gym, well, you could hear screaming and hollering and cheering, but you couldn't hear the whistles! Em has had a cold and with her hollering so much at the boys game, she lost her voice. She didn't exactly lose it all the way, they just called her "Squeaky" the next day. Our girls played the same rivalry on Friday night and won it in regulation time! That was a fun game to watch, not only because it was a good game, but the boys got a huge cheering section together and were doing a fantastic job with school spirit! Every time one of the girls would score, they would do a push-up for each point scored. Alex even looked very proud of his sister, he wore her warm up shirt with her name and number on the back and when she would score, he would stand up and face the crowd and point at the back of his shirt with his thumbs as if saying, "Yup, that's MY sister!". A happy parental_unit was I.

I have much to do today, so I must quit for now. I have a baking order to fill and I still have to get my walk in for the day....not to mention doing dishes and cooking supper and doing more dishes. So, yeah...fun, fun.

Y'all eat healthy today,
Love Ya :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! So yes, the new year has begun and so has my healthier living regiment. I'm hungry. I've already drank so much water that I have that 'I've drank to much water and now I feel nauseas' feeling, my gut reaction would be to eat something starchy to counteract it, but, I know it'll pass soon...literally, heh. Now that I'm not going to be eating everything in front of me, I'll be baking up a storm. I guess you could say it's a therapy for me, I'm not sure why, but if I bake it, I don't really feel the need to eat it. Yeah, I never said I was normal. I also already walked 3.1 miles today. It's been a couple of weeks since I walked because of all the holiday stuff going on, not to mention all the basketball games. My resolve is strong now, especially since there's a bet going on!!!!

Sarah is home, but I've yet to see her.

It snowed a little bit last night, it has made everything look pretty and clean. It's supposed to snow another couple of inches today and then a couple more tonight. It's sad to see all this snow come because in just a few days we'll be getting rain and it'll take all of our lovely snow away :( Of course, this IS Michigan, the temps could drop and then we'll get more snow! Doubtful, but we'll see.

I've come to the conclusion that I need a new crock pot. I've never had a new one. The one I have now used to belong to Tom's grandma. The outside of this crock pot gets terribly hot, so hot that it melted all the butter in the butter dish which was sitting at least 10 inches away from it. I'm sure they make newer models that have a cool touch outer shell. I guess that means I have to go shopping....darn...heh.

Christen came home from the U.P. with a fever. I knew she was sick as soon as she walked in the door, I think she was just about the same shade of white as the snow that had fallen outside! (sorry, for those of you that don't know...U.P. stands for Upper Peninsula, which is which is what the norther most part of Michigan is called....Da U.P., eh!) Anywho...her fever is gone, but she's still feeling quite yucky.

Did I mention that I'm hungry?

I guess I'm gonna go and get something to eat.

Y'all celebrate the day!
Love ya :)