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Merry Christmas 2007!

A Home for the Holidays?

Recently, I have come across two local families who have experienced great tragedy & have lost their homes. One was a house fire--- they have two daughters, almost exactly the same ages as mine. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The other was a situation where the daddy just left the family, suddenly. So there's a mom w/a two year old, with no home & no car. So they are in strange places, not their familiar homes, this Christmas. Temporary homes. They both have lost things dear to them. All of this, just in time for Christmas. I cannot imagine.

For me, it is a good reminder of what Christmas is about: giving and sharing. To celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ child, by looking outward & making ourselves available to share a smile, a meal, a ride out of the rain, whatever. I pray we can all open our eyes and look around to those who may be hurting around us. Maybe if all of us could just give one or two people a helping hand, it would snowball, & lots of people who would be lonely & discouraged will not give up or feel left out & will be reassured that they are greatly loved and not forgotten. We are the hands & feet of God when we show love & take care of each other.

God, keep my eyes open & off of me for a change.

All Dressed up & Nowhere to Go

seems like every time we make plans to go visit grandparents or great grandparents, someone gets sick, or at least gets enough symptoms to make us wonder whether to share the joy or just stay home

usually it is us, but one time we were headed out the door to visit my husband's parents and they called us to cancel with a possible stomach virus...

that was sometime this summer and we took pics of the girls all dressed up cause they wanted to show Grammy and Papaw how dressed up they were

they slept in foam curlers the night before, so their hair has little ringlets in it
i know these are not great pics, but i thought i would post them while i was trying to decide whether to stay home today or go on our scheduled visit with husband's grandmother (because of course we have a couple of stopped up/runny noses)

I guess I should poll all 3 of you who are reading. Should we stay or should we go?

Baby Boy 6 mos

went to dr. for checkup, Baby Boy is strong & healthy , coming in at a whopping 16 lbs, 5 oz. (right about in the middle for those of you who care about percentile charts---I don't)

he is sitting up, though a little wobbly, & I don't leave him alone close to Big Fat Kitty.

The other day we were on my bed, & I had him sitting up. He flopped over on his belly, & rolled, wiggled, & scooched his way to the end of the bed & smiled really big as he grabbed kitty's tail. Don't worry, I was right there to save the kitty & keep Baby from scooching over the edge. He also likes sitting in the walker & throwing toys over the edge :)

Dancer Girl is still wiggling that tooth, it is hanging on by a thread

Wiggler Pics

mom & dad came by today, & we had a good visit
Dancer Girl continues to wiggle that tooth, as you can see
everyone is feeling better, thanks for your thoughts & prayers

The Wiggler

Dancer Girl's 2 top front teeth are loose. She is so happy. She has been singing the song, All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. (not her in the video, by the way). Yesterday, all day long, she wiggled the one that is the loosest (if I can say it like that). She wiggled, and fiddled, and pushed her tongue through and her fingers through. She has been carrying around this little plastic tooth-shaped thing the dentist gave her to put her lost teeth in. I am sure we will take a pic when the tooth comes out :), and hopefully remember to post it.

I think we are finally at the end of the stomach virus thing, and unfortunately, we shared it at least with Motherkitty, my mom. Little One, now 3, who had no symptoms at all the whole time, threw up all over herself Sunday night in her preschool class at church. I never saw people move so fast except when that child was born. Thankfully I was there to help. As an afterthought, I got an upset stomach off and on for a day and a half, and worshipped (is that 2 p's or 1?) at the green porcelain god of great flushing in my bathroom a couple of nights ago. Yesterday I felt puny and rested. And today, after cancelling everything else, including family visits with people from across the country, we all seem to feel fine. Figures.

I started to make Baby Boy, aka FencerBoy, a winter hat cause I couldn't find the one navy blue one both girls used (I got it for Dancer Girl knowing someday I might have a boy who would wear it, but now that I have a boy, well, I can't find the hat). The pattern was quite vague. It said things like, use baby yarn and a smallish hook if you want a small hat, and a bigger hook and sport weight yarn if you want a bigger hat. Of course that didn't bother me cause I normally don't bother with gauge cause I just make baby afghans mostly, and I mostly just make them up as I go (ah, yesss, that looks big enough.....).

Well, it turns out I made a really cute little hat for Little One, age 3, with FencerBoy's leftover blue variegated yarn. So what to do? Start to make a matching poncho, of course....I would take a pic, but she is at WalMart with her sister (who of course is wiggling) buying groceries for me.

How good is my husband? I think he is wonderful! So I watched TLC's Baby Story (I know, I know), did some laundry, and carried FencerBoy around in the sling til he fell asleep. And, of course, I blogged. Typing with both hands, too. Now that is something.

Please Pray

Dancer Girl was throwing up yesterday & still has a tummy ache this morning. This means we may have to stay home for Thanksgiving :(

can't wait to see those pretty feet dancing again

Potato Pancakes

Hey Mom, I forgot to get the stuff for the potato pancakes. Please remind me to go back to the store, because we NEED the potato pancakes :)

just for fun I googled potato pancakes and was reading what Wikipedia had to say about them, and found this recipe (see below after the rambling, and then after that you can click and hear a silly Latke song). It looks easy, and those are strong words for someone who is just a tiny bit cooking challenged. I mean, I do cook. My family eats the stuff. They even say they like it. (we have officially only had one food funeral around here....we held the stuff over the garbage cans, said a few words, and then ordered a pizza). But you can ask my mom, I am such a picky eater. Half the time, I don't even like the scrambled eggs I make myself, ha ha ha ha. Then again, aren't most cooks severely critical of themselves?

Anyway, the potato pancakes. They are very important. I will go back to the store, but just for your viewing pleasure, and for those of you with a little more gumption, you can try this recipe and tell me how it is :

Potato Latkas
Ingredients:

4 large potatos - peeled & grated
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon flour
Oil

Directions:

Drain potatos to remove most moisture.
In bowl, mix eggs, baking powder, salt & flour
Add potatos and mix.
In frying pan, cover bottom with 1/2" oil.
Heat oil. (Electric skillet set heat to 400 degrees).
Drop mixture into hot oil by large spoonful.
Brown on both sides.
When cooked, drain on paper bags covered with paper towels.
Notes:

Mixture will turn brown during preparation or cooking. No problem.
A food processor or blender can be handy for grating the potatos.
Sometimes a tablespoon or two of finely grated onion are added to the mixture.
Can be served with any of all of: sour cream, sugar or apple sauce.


And, that is not all. You can even go here and hear a very silly song about Latkes.
And, there is even more. If you click the picture, you can go to even another potato pancake recipe (these look more like the ones my mom makes, yum)

And will someone please come over here and take all the candy corn out of my house?
(mutters to self...."I will not eat the candy corn, I will not eat the candy corn, I will not eat the candy corn)

And, here is my blessing for you today: May your Halloween candy be all gone, may you have friends and family to go home to this week for Thanksgiving, and may you have lots of yummy food to eat with them.

And, because I just cannot stop (it is just so much fun adding another terrible sentence beginning with "And," just to annoy those of you who find it terrible grammar), let's not forget all the people around the world who really do not have that much to be thankful for.....war zones, poverty, forest fires, family gone/working, loved ones who have passed away. For my friends and especially my family, even if you never hear from me, I am extremely grateful for you, even if you don't make me French toast and potato pancakes (thanks mom, i love you)

Possible Future

this is soooo funny!
another mommy blog, it is

thank you, lifenut, I needed that laugh today!

Gourmet Kitty

I opened the big bag of Purina cat chow & got this free shiny blue can of Fancy Feast

White Meat Chicken and Cheddar Cheese Souffle with Garden Greens

...and, NO, I am not kidding. That sounds better than what I had for dinner last night!Big Fat Kitty's eating good today!

Fall Slideshow 1

Moonflower Santana
(hey, by accident i was playing this you tube music my dad posted while watching my slideshow, & it worked well together. Sorry I am not more technologically advanced, but if your browser lets have multiple pages open, then you can play the music, & then come back to watch the slideshow :)...well, you will have to copy the link to a new browser page

First Cold

Well, my baby boy is 5 mos old & he has his first cold. First stuffy nose, runny nose, with fever. I forgot what it was like staying up with a baby who can't settle down to sleep because of a stopped up nose. My oldest was always very determined. When she was a baby & had a stopped up nose, it didn't stop her from nursing. She would nurse for a while, pop off to breathe through her mouth, & then nurse again. Baby boy just got mad & complained after he nursed. He was mad cause he was full & sleepy & he couldn't figure out how to breathe through his mouth instead of his nose. I went to run a warm bath for him & when I got back to get him he had just snuggled up to my husband & fallen asleep. Very sweet. So, what's a girl to do? Well, I went & took a nice hot bath. I was up anyway :)

Book Show Invite

this ended nov 3

You are invited to an Usborne Books eShow to explore the world of Usborne Books. A child's interest in reading and learning is stimulated by the lavish illustrations and informative content. There are over 1300 bright, colorful and fun titles covering activities, puzzles and a wide range of subjects for children of all ages.Usborne Books - the books kids love to read!


I am having a children's book show online for the next few days. If you order online, your order will be shipped directly to you. I love these books. They have really good baby board books, and they also have books all the way through high school. They have craft kits, science kits, all kinds of stuff. They have beginning children's books in Spanish, French, & German. They have puzzles & kids' cookbooks. They have some good online sales, lots of books under $10.

The more I sell, the more free & 50%off books I will get for my kids. Hurray! Thanks ahead of time.

Free Rice

very addictive game, but good because for every word you get right 10 grains of rice is donated to help end world hunger

i got 42, but it took me a while
some of my friends got up to level 50
i only got to donate 700 grains of rice so far

how many want to bet what Motherkitty gets ? :)
i bet at least 100

from Dancer Girl:
I love everyone

Scariness

I know it is close to Halloween, but there is no point to scaring a mama like this:

"Some of the drugs — which include Wyeth's Dimetapp and Robitussin, Johnson & Johnson's Pediacare and Novartis AG's Triaminic products — have never been tested in children, something flagged as long ago as 1972 by a previous FDA panel."

this is from the article FDA Panel: Cold Meds Should Not Be Used for Kids Aged 2 to 6

Ok, first thing...1972 was a long time ago! That essentially means that almost no drug testing of these cold medicines has gone on almost my entire life!!!!

The article says that there have been "just 11 studies of children published over the last half-century. Those studies did not establish that the medicines worked in those cases..." & "For the most part, the results from tests in adults have been extrapolated to determine whether the medicines work in children. " Aaaaahhhhh!!!! (head desk thunk)

Where's the FDA's common sense, people? Ok, ok, I have not actually researched this myself and the article has no footnotes or list of sources for these statements, sooo I could be jumping the gun. Let's just say that if it really is true, then I am not surprised :o.

Really, though, this is terrible. I have bought all of these products at one time or another, usually at the recommendation of my pediatrician (picks head up and thunks down again)

And, as a Grand Finale, here is the scariest part of all .....

"Later Friday, the panel also was to examine whether the dizzying array of medicines that combine multiple ingredients. The FDA wants to know if drug makers should do away with the combo products."

Ok, now try to read it again. And again! Yes, Virginia that is actually how it appears in the article, in all of its fragmented glory. It just about made my head explode. (for all of you sleepy-heads out there, that first one is not a complete sentence, and the fragmenting is so expertly done that at first glance you wonder what you missed. I have no problem with the content, just the sentence structure, ha)

Oh, & by the way, I finally finished that pink & lavendar baby afghan for my friend last week. What a relief! And, yes, Big Fat Kitty thinks it is hers....

Below is a copy of the article, in case the link does not work: (feel free to skip)

FDA Panel: Cold Meds Should Not Be Used for Kids Aged 2 to 6
Friday , October 19, 2007

Cold and cough medicines don't work in children and shouldn't be used in those
younger than 6, federal health advisers recommended Friday. The
over-the-counter medicines should be studied further, even after decades in
which children have received billions of doses a year, the outside experts told
the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of
its panels of outside experts but does so most of the time. "The data that we
have now is they don't seem to work," said Sean Hennessy, a University of
Pennsylvania epidemiologist, one of the FDA experts gathered to examine the
medicines sold to treat common cold symptoms. The recommendation applies to
medicines containing one or more of the following ingredients: decongestants,
expectorants, antihistamines and antitussives.

The nonbinding recommendation is likely to lead to a shake up in how the medicines — which have long escaped much scrutiny — are labeled, marketed and used. Just how and how quickly wasn't immediately clear. In two separate votes, the panelists said the medicines shouldn't be used in children younger than 2 or in those younger than 6. A third vote, to recommend against use in children 6 to 11, failed.

Earlier, the panelists voted unanimously to recommend the medicines be studied in children to determine whether they work. That recommendation would require the FDA to undertake a rule-making process to reclassify the medicines, since the
ingredients they include are now generally recognized as safe and effective,
which doesn't require testing. The process could take years, even before any
studies themselves get under way.

Simply relabeling the medicines to state they shouldn't be used in some age groups could be accomplished more quickly, FDA officials said. Indeed, the drug industry could further revise the labels on the medicines to caution against such use. The Thursday-Friday meeting came just a week after the industry pre-emptively moved to eliminate sales of the nonprescription drugs targeted at children under 2.
Pediatricians pushing for greater restrictions told the FDA advisers Thursday that the over-the-counter medicines shouldn't be given to children younger than 6, an age group they called the most vulnerable to any potential ill effects.

But FDA officials and panelists agreed there's no evidence they work in older children, either. Still, panelists held off from recommending against use in older
children. Some said they feared such a prohibition wouldn't eliminate use of the
medicines by parents. "They will administer adult products to their children
because they work for them or feel they work for them," said the panel's patient
and family representative, Amy Celento of Nutley, N.J. The drug industry says
the medicines, used 3.8 billion times a year in treating cold and cough symptoms
in children, do work and are safe. It says that more parent education is needed
to avoid overdoses that in rare cases have been fatal. A group of
pediatricians petitioned the FDA earlier this year seeking action on the
medicines.

An American Academy of Pediatrics official earlier Friday told the
experts the medications should be relabeled to tell parents they don't work in
children under 6 and may be dangerous.
"Why not label these products with
what we actually know?" asked David Bromberg, a Frederick, Md.,
pediatrician.
Some of the drugs — which include Wyeth's Dimetapp and
Robitussin, Johnson & Johnson's Pediacare and Novartis AG's Triaminic
products — have never been tested in children, something flagged as long ago as
1972 by a previous FDA panel.
An FDA review found just 11 studies of children
published over the last half-century. Those studies did not establish that the
medicines worked in those cases, according to the agency.
For the most part,
the results from tests in adults have been extrapolated to determine whether the
medicines work in children. But even that evidence is "modest at best," said
panel chairwoman Dr. Mary Tinetti of Yale University School of Medicine. Indeed,
all but one of the 22 panelists then voted to say that extrapolation is
unacceptable.
The panel also recommended drug makers provide standardized
droppers with their liquid cough and cold medicines. Experts had told the panel
the sometimes hard-to-use dosing devices contribute to parents unwittingly
overdosing their children.
Later Friday, the panel also was to examine
whether the dizzying array of medicines that combine multiple ingredients. The
FDA wants to know if drug makers should do away with the combo products.
One
health expert told the panel that children catch five to eight colds each year.
Those colds don't necessarily require treatment beyond comfort measures that
don't involve drugs, said Patricia Jackson Allen, of the National Association of
Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

Toilet Paper Conversion & Other Nonsense

I have started to write this post at least 2 times.....and hopefully you will find it slightly amusing & totally useless information, just like I did.

It all started when my children started unrolling almost the whole roll of toilet paper in the bathroom floor. I would go into the bathroom & have to spend about 10 minutes rolling up the toilet paper. I have my suspicions as to who did it, but so far Not Me is who they say did it.[here is where I wasted about 10 minutes googling around looking for a Family Circus cartoon that goes with the Not Me saying, and not finding one, you will just have to imagine it in your head, that is, unless you are too young to remember that, and then, never mind....]

I have always been a pull the toilet paper from the top (click here to read an article I did not even read) kind of person. [insert here all the silly male/female toilet paper, seat up/down jokes you ever heard] . One day, however, in my sleepless nursing a newborn state of mind, I put the toilet paper on upside down, and was too tired to fix it. It turns out that the children don't unroll the paper all over the floor this way. [this is how that guy discovered coca cola too, by accident]

[I was going to insert this really cute video of kittens unrolling toilet paper from You Tube but actually wasted about 15 minutes looking, 2 different times, so you will have to go look yourself]

So now, I put my toilet paper on the holder upside down, on purpose.
[very sorry to all of you, if I had not wasted all of my time looking for useless things online, I probably could have posted really cute real pics of my children, my cats, my yarn, the crossword puzzle I have yet to finish, stuff like that....better luck next time]

The Long Yarn

I have been trying to finish this baby girl afghan for a friend for a while now. I can't seem to be satisfied w/it. I made all these big squares in pink & lavendar & I stitched them together & even added a border...technically done, except that I hated it. It was 2 rows of 4, & it didn't look right.

And then, I found one more square I made that the girls had carried off or something. So now I had 9, so I completely took apart what I had done, & rearranged the squares in 3 rows of 3. I picked a different scalloped border from a pattern book, & figured out how to adapt it. Hurray!

So you would think. I am on the last few stitches of the last row & I see that I have dropped a whole 3 stitch treble crochet cluster from the row before, a long way back. For those non-crocheters, it means a big hole where should not be one.

So I am sitting here w/tons of things to do (laundry, dishes, etc....what if my friends drive by:), & I am contemplating taking the whole border out & re-doing it.I never intended this project to stretch out this far. It was just something to do for a friend after I finished baby boy's afghan (that's right, I was working on this way back when I was pregnant). Both our babies are almost 4 months old, & I have not finished hers yet. This & all the squares were totally done before my baby was born. I has just been assembling them that has thrown me for a loop (I could not resist, ha ha).

I also wanted to blog about this cause my Big Fat Kitty now thinks this is her afghan, & she gave me a pitiful look when I kicked her off of it. She was pitty patting, all ready to curl up for a nice nap, too. She is the only kitty I let in most of the time now. The other 3 stay outside, they are more wild. Big Fat Kitty was 1st anniversary present from my husband & she is 11 yrs old. Here she is, as a baby on her afghan....

9/11 Remember

http://www.9-11heroes.us/v/Gregory_Wachtler.php

My Dad's thoughts

Happy Grandparents Day!

We love you. Life would not be the same without you. We live close by, by design. I want my children to know you. Thanks for all you have done for us.

Love you.

sept 2005 flashback

scroll down to see what i was thinking on sept 7, 2005
it is at the bottom, with the white kittens

Building Cathedrals

This is one of those things that got e-mailed to me (I didn't write it), & though I don't totally relate to every part, it is a good reminder of the sacrifices of love we mothers give. I wanted to thank all you mothers for all you have done in love for your children, & hope some part of this is encouraging to you. I really like the cathedral part. (this was just a quick copy/paste & I tried to fix the spacing errors I found, so if it looks funny, sorry....)

The Invisible Woman

by Nicole Johnson

It started to happen gradually...One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, 'Who is that with you, young fella?

''Nobody,' he shrugged. Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, 'Oh my goodness, nobody?

'I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family - like 'Turn the TV down, please' - and nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, 'Would someoneturn the TV down?' Nothing.

Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, 'I'm ready to go when you are.' He just kept right on talking. That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me. I'm invisible.

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going... she's going... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after whichI could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.

I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,'You're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Tomas Birthday :)

HAPPY

Birthday

Dad!

I love you.

Slideshow

2 Month Checkup

Talon had his 2 month checkup this morning, and is doing great. He is over 12 pounds, and over 23 inches long. He even smiled at the doctor, ha ha.

Pizza Party

Week of Fun

Last week we visited all the grandmas & grandpas & had a blast

here are the girls at a Golden Arches play area we went to w/Motherkitty & Tomas

Goin' to Grandma's

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go.....Motherkitty, it won't be long til you are holding your new grandbaby again :)

well, Talon is 7 weeks old and we are finally going to my mom and dad's house this week to visit

Natasha, Dancer Girl, will be 6 very soon and we are planning a pizza party at a local place, not Chuck E. Chz. Eliana, now 3 (Little One) is growing, growing, growing.

my aunt Sandy and her crew will be coming too. Hurray!

hoping and praying that everyone will be well and there will be no technical difficulties

Got Milk?

Baby Boy just had his 1 month checkup. At 5 weeks old he weighed in at 10 lbs 6 oz & is now 21.5 inches long. June just zoomed by. Finally, my parents were able to come visit today & we had a great day! Dancer Girl went to a special ballet workshop in June & they did a rumpus dance, like in Where the Wild Things Are. Actually, I think they are at my house :)