I don't watch television. I don't even own one at this time. I watch a couple of shows online and that's about it. So I miss out on the good and moreover bad commercials. My sister-in-law sent this one to us. And I laughed! I thought you'd enjoy it, too.
We just have a great visit from a friend of a friend. A dear friend and old college roommate sent her son's class project to us! Here's the letter we got with it. The P.S. made me laugh. So whether freely chosen or just by the virtue of living outside of Utah we got Flat Stanley (in an envelope, but that doesn't make as fun of a picture.)
Imagine my surprise when I found this in the mail. That's right, Flat Stanley! I know that you are all jealous! We had so much fun with him in our Little City. He got here just in time for out Winter Break! So both girls were able to have fun with him!
He was able to go to Art Camp with Sweetie Heart. Here he is posing with her completed piece of art work. He enjoyed watching all the kids work intently on their art projects.
The next day we all went up to out local library for story time. We heard stories about trucks and were able to do another art project. Here is Flat Stanley with Mrs. G (our Children's Librarian), Sweetie Heart, and Sweet Girl. He had a great time looking at all the books and meeting all the new people!!
This is how he got around. Our town is small so we walk everywhere, not to mention that we don't have a car during the day. The backpack rides allowed him to have a great view of everything. Our town is about 2 square miles. Down town is only 3 blocks long. It's a great town and a very peaceful place to live. I enjoy the simplicity we have found here. I believe Flat Stanley did as well.
Thank you Mr. C for let choosing us to be a part of this fun project. I hope the project for the whole class goes well and that everyone has had a great time! Flat Stanley is on his way to my sister's home in Pennsylvania. I hope he has as much fun there as he did here!
This is so funny. A friend posted this in FaceBook. And I have to say I needed this laugh. It was so funny. The kids asked if I was laughing or crying. Well, both really. So I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. It is gut wrenching funny.
1. I love cool shoes. My favorites of all time were my military jump boots and my black and white wingtips.
2. My favorite band is Barenaked Ladies. I saw them in concert at a small club TWICE when I was in college and met them!
3. I home birthed both my kids and love it!
4. I sang, with my choir, at Carnegie Hall when I was in high school.
5. I've known my husband since middle school, but he was the last person I ever thought about dating let alone marrying!
6. My birthday is 9/6 and my husband's birthday is 6/9. I'm older by 9 months!
7. I live in a house full of redheads.
8. I use song lyrics and answers to questions whenever possible. Sometimes I have to contain myself. I also change lyrics to fit a situation and sing about it.
9. I can't type worth crap. Actually, I'm usually just one letter off to the left or right, top or bottom.
10. I love working in libraries. My favorite job was as a shelver at the BYU library. I found many kindred spirits there.
11. I used to be know for my hats and the weird way I dressed. As quoted from a girl I knew in college when someone asked who I was, "You know Sarah. Everyone knows Sarah."
12. From birth to 18 I lived in 3 "houses", all in the same city. From 18-34 I've lived in 13 different different "houses" in 4 different states.
13. I've moved 8 times in 9.5 years of marriage, which accounts for 8 of those moves.
14. I love green curry.
15. I want to visit/ live in Greece.
16. Every night before my youngest goes to bed she has to "kiss all over the place" (in this order: neck, chin, nose, left cheek, right cheek, left eye, right eye, forehead, top of head) and if we get out of order we have to start all over.
17. My oldest is an artist, not sure where she gets it from.
18. I'm more popular with teenagers now that I'm in my 30s then I was when I was actually a teenager.
19. I don't have a TV, microwave or toaster in our house, on purpose!
20. I watch 2 programs, on the Internet, House and LOST.
21. I loved watching Gilligan's Island when I was a kid.
22. I can't swim very well.
23. I love the ocean and big thunderstorms.
24. I've never been to the west coast.
25. I've only had 2 boyfriends. Actually, only one. The second one, we went from being friends to engaged too quickly to count it as dating. :)
Most of us have been experiencing this brutal Arctic air front. I never thought that 20 degrees would be something to look forward to. Really? I thought water froze at 32 degrees...oh wait it does.
I thought that the week started out pretty bad. I think it was about 20 degrees as we were walking to school. Yes, it was cold...but it got worse. By mid week it was -6 degrees when we were walking to school. Introduce frozen eyelashes about half way to school. It's only 4 blocks! But by Friday it was...wait for it...-20 degrees. We had frozen eyelashes half way down the block, and it's a short block. Frozen eyebrows halfway to school and runny noses. We are lucky though. Santa brought us Ninjaclavas for Christmas! You may have of you everyday, run of the mill balaclava, but the Ninjaclava by Outdoor Research is far superior! It can cover everything but the eyes and is super comfortable, very light weight, and easily fit under helmets for skiing and the like. And you can wear it like 7 different ways. Who knew? They put a nice illustration on the packaging! They even make them in kids sizes!! So we bundled up and went to school. There weren't any delays for something as insignificant at a little cold here in Little City, New England!!
We mock the cold! We laugh in it's face! You call that cold...please...the show goes on!
Here's a little something to warm the heart in this cold season.
That witty title is given to you by Webby. And yes, it is true, I have let all of you down by focusing my attention on updating my status instead of blogging. I am so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?? I have sat down to blog several time, but something always happens. Most recently I couldn't get my video to upload so I didn't post. Lame.
So her it goes. Sarah is trying to eat a runny egg sandwich while blogging. Sarah is trying to upload a video to blogger without success. Sarah is happy Sweet Girl is at least pretending to take a nap. Sarah needs a nap. Sarah...just kidding!
So a few weeks ago Webby was sitting at the computer. I was standing next to him talking. He looked at me and said, glancing at the computer to my un-updated blog, "Where is Sarah's Blog" in a very sing song voice. He told me he missed my updates. I looked back at him and said, "You here. Do you really think you need to read the updates of our life?" I guess he does. So in case he missed it, here it is.
Well, not really. I'll get to the wrap up post maybe someday. Suffice it to say we had a wonderful Christmas, without too much stuff. We spent the afternoon and evening with some friends, who are like family. New Years I was invited to a party by the teens of my church. Very funny that I am so popular with the teen crowd...now that I'm 34! I was never that popular when I was actually a teenager. But it was fun playing games, eating, and talking.
Sweetie Heart is doing great in school. She's reading at an upper 2nd grade level. She also loves math and is doing well with that too. She's still doing her art thing. She just loves it!! She was able to do an art day over Christmas break, which was a lot of fun for her!
Sweet Girl is doing well, too. She has suffered since birth from food allergies. At out appointment in the fall she had grown out of her egg allergy and the appointment this winter found that she is growing out of her dairy allergy! This is just amazing! She is really enjoying cheese for the first time and my life is so much easier. She is still allergic to nuts and sesame, but that's pretty manageable.
Webby has been moved for an electrical installer to the software department at work. In a time of layoffs, we are immensely grateful that he was able to move to a different department instead of being out of work. He is still in school and doing great with all that electrical learning. He just got back his midterm and got a 99%! Congrats Webby!!
I am me. Don't know what else to say. I'm here, being a mom and trying my best to be a better parent. I was working for awhile but with the economy they let me go. Which is fine by me. I was getting a bit frazzled working and it was only 1 day a week. What I learned, is that I'm not supposed to work right now. I am still loving it here in Little City. I have never been so happy. There really is a tremendous sense of community here and I love it! I am still volunteering up at the library. Sweet Girl is really the one in charge there. She's even befriended a widower who volunteers the same day we do. It's very cute seeing them together.
Sweetie Heart had a Christmas concert that Webby recorded on our camera, but I can't seem to get it to upload to Blogger. Someone tell me what I'm doing wrong! Because, really, you're missing out!
My cousin mentioned to me (on...ahem...Facebook) that she's been missing my Tip Tuesday. Can you believe that I actually forgot I was doing that! What is wrong with my brain. Let me guess...Facebook ate it!
So here it is
TipTuesday Do you hate wasting plastic wrap?Do you hate the way it doesn't stick to things except itself? If you know anything about me, you will know that I make bread at least twice a week. I never have been able to do the "damp towel"thing. I almost always let the bread rise too long and then it sticks to said towel. I hate that!! So I was using plastic wrap, but that's a lot of plastic wrap and a pain to use. So here comes the tip.
Get a pencil...I'll wait.
Ready?...Good.
I go to the dollar store. I go down the isle that has the shower curtains and stuff in it. And I buy a pack of 10-12 shower caps. They are just the cheap plastic ones. Probably not that great as shower caps but great to cover my bowls. I use them ans wash them. I'm able to use them over and over again. I can cover almost any bowl with them. Plus I cover my bread pans when the bread is rising in them too. I just pull it up a little, making a bag at the top over the bread. And if the bread over rises, no big deal. I can get it off with a spatula OR wait until it dries and it will fall right off.
I use them for everything! Bread dough, pie, bowls of salad or other leftovers. The best part to me is that when the elastic wears out or melt, in my case, I can just throw them away and I don't have to feel bad about it. I know the grocery store sells those multi sized ones, but I don't like those. Yes, they are a heavier plastic, but I don't have very many uses for the small ones and the big ones aren't really big enough and only give you one and they cost a couple dollars more. So there's my tip.
Here's another place you can donate. This one isn't a long term commitment. Sometimes these just are easier for our busy lives and empty wallets. Give the gift of clean water.
Since apparently we've been in a recession since last December, no kidding! Were you surprised to hear that? I most definately wasn't. I have been reigning in my spending for awhile. Not only that but I'm decluttering. For four people we have an amazing amount of "stuff." And, quite frankly, I'm tired of tripping over and picking it up all the time. Not to mention that we just don't need it all.
So here comes Christmas. I have always loved Christmas. I love presents, too. I have always loved opening presents!! Christmas and my birthday were always the best because of that. The way I think about gifts has changed though. I now understand what it must have been like as my parents to shop for Christmas. Kids love toys but parents love the practical. How do you find the balance? How much is too much? Will our kids feel deprived because they didn't get enough/ the new thing/ what they really wanted? Or will they be content with what they have because there is a balance?
I am lucky in a lot of ways. My kids don't watch television at all. We don't even have a television now. The television we had had been bought by my parents when I was a teenager. I'm 34 now, so it's probably about 20 years old. The picture tube still worked but everything was tinted pink. Not so good for watching James Bond. But I digress. Sweetie Heart told me thins year that she wasn't going to make a list of things she wanted because she wanted to be surprised at what she received this year. Sweet Girl is too young to realize that she could actually ask for things. So, even though, Sweetie Heart sometimes feels left out at school when her friends are talking about or playing a game about a television show, overall I think she does great about not having things.
But this year some big ticket items are needed. I did get a deal on a couple of twin wool comforters ($45 each with shipping!!) and a flannel duvet ($15 with shipping) but the rest will be small. Are tree isn't empty by any means though. Because we live so far away it gets filled up with all the gifts they will get from grandparents and other family.
Back the the original topic. So this year will be small again. There isn't much "extra" money and I really want Christmas to be about Christ, his life and teachings. I want my kids to grow up knowing that the reason we are celebrating is about Him, not about Santa and presents. We still do the Santa thing, but Santa only fills their stockings (which are actually custom plates with their name and birthdays on them) and gives them a present at the end of their bed that they can open whenever they wake up. The rest of the gifts come from family and friends.
We have a budget and will stick to it!! We spend only the cash we have, we do not buy on credit! We look at what we are wanting to buy and think about if it will really be used. Doing all this takes time. It also makes us really think about where our money is going. Are we being good stewards of the monetary blessing we have been given? Or are we junking up our lives with things we don't need? It also makes me think about what other things we could do with our money. There are so many needs in the world. If each of us cut back on our excessiveness how could we change the world?
Along these lines I saw these and wanted to share:
If you're looking for ways to make a difference there are so many to choose from. Look around they are everywhere. Consider adopting a child from Compassion International. Read Shannon's story about her trip to Africa with Compassion. It really makes you think about how much we have and how a little personal sacrifice can change a life.
So I was online day, surprise, and found this article. I do most of my shopping online so it seems to me to at least look and what they have linked to in the article. I went to the price grabber site and really liked it. It's much better than Zappos. Laid out well and took me to sites I didn't even know existed until today. I went to Alibris.com and they sell used music, books and movies and looks to have a pretty good selection. So I'll look there this year and compare with Amazon and see who wins. Happy Shopping!
Did you like my choices in songs?! Okay, maybe most of them aren't really my theme song, but they are fun to watch and laugh at. Milli Vanilli and Vanilla Ice were in there prime when I was in middle school/ high school. They still make me laugh!
But the reason I posted all those songs is that I couldn't really think of a theme song. But while visiting blogs last week I came upon a song that I love, from an artist that I loved when she was in her prime and I was in middle school. And I really think that this probably is my theme song and has been most of my life. What do you think?
If you want to see the original video you'll have to go here.
I really like this one too! I hadn't heard of Eva Cassidy before today but I really like her. She was truly talented.
And if you're as bored..interested as I was here are are few other renditions for you to enjoy.
All that said my favorite song by Cyndi Lauper is this one!! It's the reason I started listen to her music and was probably my first real, personal experience with music. What's yours?
Again, you'll have to watch the original video here.