Halloween Round Up

I know, I know, this is late in coming. But I've been busy lately!

Halloween actually began on Wednesday when Zoe had her preschool party. I'm room mom and planned the party for the kids. Zoe went as a cowgirl and I think she is the cutest cowgirl in Illinois. We didn't know it, but her teachers dressed as cowgirls, too. Mrs. Voirin repeatedly introduced Zoe as "her sidekick." Zoe grinned ear to ear each time her teacher said it. We made a craft, ate some cupcakes and brownies, then ran a relay where the kids had to scoop up candy corn on a spoon, run across the room, dump the candy corn into a bowl, then run back and pass the spoon onto the next person. The kids loved it and the I had a lot of candy corn to pick up off the floor when the game was done!




Here are my three kids getting ready to go out trick or treating with their Dad. Ian was Ash, the trainer from Pokemon. I made and sewed the symbol on his hat out of felt and cut the fingers out of the gloves for this costume. You can see Pikachu peeking out from the back of his backpack. Zoe is, of course, Scooby Doo. Emma chose Shawn Johnson of Olympic gold medal fame as her costume this year. I cut the letters U S A out of white felt and sewed them to her gymnastics suit. Then I cut a circle out of some cardboard, painted it yellow and sprinkled gold glitter all over it. After punching a hole in it and stringing white ribbon through it, she had a gold medal. The final touches were a ponytail and make-up and cheek glitter.

Here is each one on there own.

Ian

Emma

Zoe

I think my favorite part of the costumes this year was that they cost me all of $1.50! The gloves for Ian's costume and the blue bandanna for Zoe's cowgirl costume were the only things I had to buy. Everything else I had in the house somewhere. (Zoe wore the Scooby costume last year, too!) I did however have to spend a few nights hand sewing the USA onto Emma's costume and the Pokemon symbol onto Ian's hat. But, I love that their costumes were unique and exactly what they wanted to be. No princesses or Darth Vader's for me this year!

I'm also realizing that I love the set-up we have for the annual trick or treat fest. Brendan has always taken the kids out, and I've always passed out the candy. I saw several sets of both parents going with their kids, which led me to question who is passing out candy at their house? I understand not wanting to miss any of the cool things your kids do, but I also think they need to do special things with each parent separately. And for us, this means getting candy door to door with dad. I hope my kids look back on this and remember it happily. (With Brendan working in the city, they get to do loads of things with me. Doing something with Dad is extra special.) Besides, I really like the hour or so to myself in the house while the four of them are all out gathering goodies. I've come to find it relaxing and equally exciting to hear their stories when they get back and dump all their candy on the floor. It's a good set-up.

Hope your Halloween was as much fun as ours was!

The Flip Side Of Pleasing Everyone

The elections this year seem to have sent an unprecedented number of political phone calls our way asking us to vote for candidate A or candidate B from everything from the presidential election down to the Will County Auditor's office. My husband and I were discussing how we can't recall an election with this many phone calls asking us to vote one way or another.

Maybe it's because my husband and I generally fall on opposite sides of the political spectrum, or because we actually voted in the primaries, but the number of calls was really out of hand. And since I am a stay at home mom, I am generally around to pick up the phone. One day it occurred to me that the fastest way out of these phone calls, besides not answering them, was to agree with whatever the caller was telling me.

"Can Candidate A count on your support on November 4th?" Absolutely!

"Will you be voting for Candidate B on election day?" Sure!

"Would you like a sign for your yard?" Not at this time.

This was how the typical conversation would go. First of all, I didn't have time for most of these phone calls. Second of all, I didn't always know what the candidates were running for at the time (I did educate myself before today, but sometimes they called before my research had been done.)

I know this isn't exactly productive, but I enjoyed it.

But this afternoon I got another phone call. "Hello! Did you get a chance to vote yet today?" Yes. "Did you vote for the _____________ party?" No. Awkward pause. "Ooooh. That's okay." Click.

Yeah, it was a little weird. I'm sure I told this perky lady I would vote for her candidate, but then didn't. (I know for a fact I told two opposing candidates I would vote for them.)

I actually felt a little bit bad. But only a little.

It's Election Day!

It's time to go vote! Get in line, stay there until it's your turn, and let your voice be heard. Whether you lean left or right, red or blue or maybe green, go vote. It is your right and responsibility as a citizen of this great country. Go now. Vote.

Fun Monday - Spooky Edition

Sayre, over at SayreSmiles is our hostess this week. Keeping with our Halloween time of the year she has given us the following assignment:

Tell us about your favorite Halloween as a kid (pictures, if you have them!), and show us your costume for this year. If you're not dressing up, show us a picture of a pumpkin carving that really tickled your fancy or how you decorated your house.

I grew up in England during my prime trick-or-treating years, and I don't know if it has changed much, but back in the early 1980's they didn't really trick or treat over there. I remember one Halloween my mom loading me and my two brothers and my sister into the car and driving us to all of our American friends houses to trick or treat. Needless to say, we didn't ever get a lot of candy while we lived there.

Another Halloween in England my mom threw a big Halloween party for all the different families we were friends with. She went all out and hung up creepy homemade decorations and had scary music playing. We had a long window over our stairs right at the front of the house that we could open. She strung a ghost made out of a white sheet to a tree outside and then strung the end of the rope into our house through that window. It was the kid's job to pull on (or let go of, I can't remember now!) the string and send the ghost flying right down to the entryway outside our front door. It was great fun scaring adults and kids alike, though my best friend at the time wouldn't come into my house after that! My mom also served foods with scary names like witch's brew for green kool-aid or Vampire's blood for red punch. I'm sure the adults had stronger concoctions, but I wasn't aware of it.

I don't have any Halloween pics of costumes for myself this year (though one of my favorite costumes was the first year after I was married and my new husband went as Fox Mulder and I went as Dana Scully!). So here are our pumpkins we carved for last year's Halloween. One is the traditional scary pumpkin, and the other is a little more artsy fartsy (we like to say "creative.")



Here's a close-up of the scary pumpkin.


And here's a close-up of our creative pumpkin.


Finally, here is a picture of my youngest daughter helping her Dad to make our creative pumpkin. She is 3 1/2 in this picture. (Yes, that's an electric drill if any of you were curious how we achieved such an effect.)

Another Cake

This is a cake I made for my sister-in-law's husband for his birthday. It is a dark chocolate cake with fluffy peanut butter frosting and chocolate frosting. On top are chopped up chocolate and peanut butter chips. This was very decadent and tasted wonderful. I did not get a picture of the cake sliced, but it looked so pretty. My only complaint was that the cake turned out a bit crumbly. It was made from scratch and was not quite as sturdy as a box mix cake. But, it did taste great.

The recipe I used was for Dark Chocolate Cake from Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe websites. I followed the directions exactly, EXCEPT I baked it in two nine inch pans and made six cupcakes. Also, grease and flour the pans, otherwise you risk the cake not coming out after all your hard work! After baking and cooling, I split each cake in half. I then made the peanut butter frosting and it turned out great. It was difficult to spread at first, but after adding a little more milk it spread very easily. If you are a peanut butter lover, this frosting is amazing! It reminded me of the inside of a Buckeye candy. So delicious! I also made the fluffy chocolate frosting recipe from the Cake Mix Doctor book and then layered the cakes as follows: cake, peanut butter frosting, cake, chocolate frosting, cake, peanut butter frosting, cake, chocolate frosting. I topped the cake off with chopped up chocolate and peanut butter chips. This turned out to be a really decadent cake and a great way to celebrate Patrick's birthday.

Here are my daughter's posing with the cake.

Eight Percent

I have lived in or visited eight percent of the world countries. The really sad thing about that is all but two (the Bahamas and the USA) were as a child. As an adult I've pretty much gone nowhere.


visited 18 states (8%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Thanks to Irish CoffeeHouse for the links!

Funny Things My Kids Say

- Ian got in trouble yesterday for screaming at his sister. When I asked him why he did it, he said, "Do unto others as they do to you - the Golden Rule." Apparently his sister stuck her tongue out at him as she was walking up the stairs. I clarified the Golden Rule and our house rules.

- Zoe told me that if I ever had another baby and if it was a girl she would sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor so the baby could sleep in her bed.

- Zoe gave me a special hug and kiss last night because she thought that someday Brendan and I wouldn't live together anymore. (Brendan's parents are divorced.)

Birthday Cakes

Way back in August we had a double birthday party for Ian and Emma. Ian's birthday is in July and Emma's is about two weeks later in August, so it just makes sense to combine them when it is going to be a family affair. Since they were little I've been making their cakes myself. I love seeing their faces when they see the cakes they requested.

This year was no exception. Emma changed her mind repeatedly and finally decided on a cake with hearts all over it. Ian initially talked about a Pokeball, which I thought would be pretty easy. And in the end he did pick a pokeball, but not the regular recognizable one. No, instead he chose a Masterball, which are more successful when being used to catch Pokemon. After asking Ian to describe the Masterball to me, I decided to Google it for an image I could understand. After finding and printing out a picture of the pokeball, I went to work.

The resulting cakes looked like this:



Emma's cake is on the left. Her's was a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. The hearts and her name are made out of marshmallow fondant. I brushed some pink luster dust on her name, and she wanted me to add more to the hearts. Here's a close-up of her cake:



Ian's cake is the Masterball on the right. He requested chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. I used the top of two cupcakes to make the bumps on top of the cake. The cake is covered in marshmallow fondant. In the end Ian was thrilled with his cake. Here is a more detailed look at it:



Actually, they both were happy with their cakes, which made me happy. I can only imagine what they'll come up with for next year!

Fun Monday - Storytime

Our lovely hostess this week is Mommy Wizdom and she gives us the following:

So, this is the assignment:

Themes to choose from:

A visit by your mother in law

Bedtime Stories

Raising a Teenager


The words: Ostrich, goosebumps, magazines, soup, cats, lethargic, noodles, tequila, doorknob, biscuit

Wild card words: prehistoric, Jedi Knight, cactus, periscope, humor

Your job is to write a story (true or made-up), poem, song, letter... whatever strikes you ABOUT one of the three themes. You must INCLUDE all 10 words. Wild cards words may be used in addition to or in place of the main 10 words.

Sounds fun, huh?

Here's my entry:

Riiiiing. Riiing. "Hello?" I answer the phone.

"Hello, Heather. How are you doing?" It's my mother-in-law.

"Just fine, thanks. How are you today, Sally?"

"Great, just great. I was out running some errands, you know, picking up some noodles for the soup I was going to make for myself for dinner tonight. And since I had to stop at the Food Mart in Naperville, I was wondering if I could stop by for a visit. I've got biscuits!" (That last sentence was said in a sing song voice.)

"That sounds great! Come on over," I reply as I silently swear to myself. I hang up with Sally and start running around the house trying to clean up. I shake the lethargy out of my head as I wipe down every doorknob with an antibacterial wipe. I grab all the magazines strewn on the kitchen table and pile them neatly in the basket under our end table. I clean up the cat's litter box to ensure that there are no lingering smells in the house. Finally, I grab the tequila from the fridge, take a swig, and paste a great big smile on my face.

Ding Dong. The doorbell rings and I open the door with a smile that would fool even the most honorable Jedi Knight. He will not feel a disturbance in the Force from me today!

Sally walks in and immediately turns my thermostat up three degrees. Her goosebumps are visible through her two layers and she shivers just a little. I again silently swear to myself that I should have turned the heat up. Oh well.

We sit down to a cup of coffee and Sally gets the biscuits out of her bag. They are looking a little dry and old, but I don't want to insult her, so I smile sweetly and dip one of the prehistoric rocks into my coffee. It softens only slightly.

After a long discussion about her latest crocheting project, the fact that her Christmas cactus is blooming in July, and her possible investment in an ostrich farm, (I talked her out of it) she got up and decided it was time to go.

We hugged goodbye and I told her to come again anytime.


This account is purely fictional and any resemblance to my actual wonderful mother-in-law is purely coincidental!

Apple Picking Recipe

On Saturday we hopped in the van and headed to Woodstock, IL for some apple picking. Apple picking has become a family tradition for us now and each year we seem to bring home more and more apples. This year was no exception. After all the fun we have each year, and all the great things we can make with the apples we pick, we always can find new recipes and uses for the apples.

We have been having trouble finding orchards that don't make a carnival out of picking apples, while charging an arm and a leg for the carnival activities. The last few years we've gone to orchards that charged upwards of $4 or $5 for the kids to go and play at a special playground, ride in a tractor pulled "apple wagon" or get into a petting zoo. The worst part was that the orchard would charge for the adults to go into the playground area as well, but children could not go in unattended. Our kids had always had a great time picking apples, simply for the act of picking apples and spending time with their family. We usually bought some apple cider doughnuts and called it a great day. But since going to these orchards that tried to make apple picking an "event," we got tired of telling our kids "no" only to hear them whine about how all the other kids got to go to the playground.

So this year we searched for orchards that were actually about picking apples and found several great options within a two hour drive of home. We decided on Homestead Orchard and after lunch headed out there. We discovered a small family run orchard with many cars parking on the road outside the entrance to the orchard. This was surely a good sign and we pulled in and parked. There were no gimmicks or slides to be found anywhere! And lo and behold, not one whine from the kids.

We were given directions of which trees we could pick from and each of us was given a bag. The girls received 1/4 peck bags while Ian, Brendan and I all got peck bags. We spent about 45 minutes picking and eating apples, then went into the shop to buy them. We bought $40 worth of apples and headed back home. My only complaint would be that they didn't have any apple cider doughnuts, almost as much a part of the tradition as the actual apple picking. Zoe was the only one to mention it, so I promised her an ice cream sandwich when we got home and she brightened up considerably.

It was a great day, and now I'm gearing up for pie, cake, muffin and applesauce making.

I made my first batch of applesauce today and thought I'd share my recipe with you all. We all love it, and it is very easy!

Applesauce

Enough apples to fill up your crock pot (I used 20 small apples)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Peel, core, and quarter apples. Place in crockpot. Pour in water. Add sugar and cinnamon. Stir apples to mix in sugar and cinnamon. Here is what my crockpot looked like after this step:


Turn crockpot to low. After two hours stir. Your apples should look something like this:


After two more hours (4 hours in crockpot) stir again. Here's what my apples looked like at this stage:


An hour and a half later (at the 5 1/2 hour mark), stir apples and begin breaking them up against the side of the crockpot. They should break apart very easily.

If you like chunky applesauce, stop here. If you like a slightly smoother texture like I do, you can take about 1 1/2 cups of the applesauce and put it in a blender. Blend until smooth like baby food. Pour back into the applesauce in the crock pot and stir together. When it is done it will look something like this:


This is absolutely delicious warm, and the way my nine year old son likes it best. you could easily make this without sugar if you want to make it healthier, and cooking it on high would be fine, but it should only take about three hours total. This applesauce freezes great! My batch made about 6 cups of applesauce. I plan on making at least one more batch in the next few weeks so that we will have plenty of applesauce for the upcoming holidays and whenever else we want to have some.

Enjoy!

Tagged

So Irish Coffeehouse has tagged me with the following rules:



So here are my seven random facts, in no particular order:

1. I graduated in the top ten in my high school class. (I know, boooorrrring!)

2. I had an appendectomy when I was 19 weeks pregnant with my first baby.

3. I love Barry Manilow, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and the Barenaked Ladies.

4. I made it to the Ohio State finals in high school track on the 3200m relay team.

5. I dropped out of accounting in college when I decided I no longer wanted to be a business major and was getting a C in the class. I was a religion major for one semester before I decided on elementary education.

6. My husband and I love going to Wisconsin for a weekend away from the kids. We've stayed in bed and breakfasts in Racine and Stoughton.

7. Every year right before Thanksgiving, our family orders four kringles from O&H Danish Bakery in Racine, Wisconsin. (We discovered them while at the B&B in #6). We eat one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, and the other two whenever we want. (They freeze great!) Our usual order is two almond, one cream cheese, and one cherry cheese.

I'm going to tag Alison.

Dinner

This is what we ate for dinner tonight. It probably doesn't look all that remarkable to all of you, but to me it was everything.

I've been married for 13 years now, and I do all the cooking. I make lots of different meals, and keep everyone fed pretty well. But the one thing I had never made was a chicken. Now, I've made countless boneless skinless chicken breasts over the years, even adapting multiple recipes calling for whole chickens or chicken thighs or drumsticks or whatever it may be to boneless skinless chicken breasts. But I've never made real, bone-in chicken.

Till now. Tonight I made this chicken and everyone loved it! I did cheat a bit and buy a chicken already cut up into it's pieces. But other than that, I did it all myself. And not only did hubby like it, but all three kids (!) enjoyed it as well. Now that's something!

Here's the recipe, if you're interested:

Garlic Roasted Chicken

3-4 lb chicken, cut up into pieces
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
garlic salt
Italian seasoning
pepper

In a large bowl, toss chicken with lemon juice and olive oil until well coated. Place in a 13 x 9 inch pan and sprinkle with garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Simple, fast, and delicious. You can't beat that!

Fun Monday - What's In Your Closet?

Cassie over at RDH Mom would like to know the following:

I want to see the inside of your closet!! I want to see if your closet is as messy as mine!!! You can't organize it before you take the picture!!

So, I followed the rules closely this week and will take you on a tour of my (walk in) closet.


Here's the look from outside the door. I have to share with my husband. I get the left side, he gets the right side.



These are my clothes. I don't care which way they hang and sometimes my winter clothes mingle with my summer clothes, though I try to keep them separate, mainly so they'll be easier to find when I want them.


These are my shoes on the floor. I try to use the shoe organizer, but I have too many shoes. So they get paired up on the floor.


These are more shoes, only they are in their boxes. These are mainly my nicer shoes that don't get worn as often.


This is one of the messier parts of my closet. On the shelf at the far end of my closet. Clothes that I don't have any other space for get folded up and put up here. But I'm lazy, so after I wear them, sometimes they get loosely folded and flung back up on top of the pile.


These are my crafts and other assorted junk I have collected. I used to do a lot of cross stitching and that basket holds most of my cross stitching stuff. I keep thinking I'll do it again someday.


Shhhhhhh! Don't tell my kids, but this is where some of their gifts are hidden. Obviously they are not very good lookers and finders or I couldn't do this!


Finally, these are clothes for my daughters and a few baby gifts. Sometimes I buy a gift when I see it and love it, and save it for the right person. And when I buy something at the end of the season for one of my daughters, I have to put it in my closet, otherwise they will want to wear it immediately and bug me to no end until they do. In my closet it is basically out of sight out of mind.

Well, that's my closet. Now, go check out everyone else's closets!

Fun Monday Host

Cassie, over at RDH Mom will be hosting the next Fun Monday. Head on over to sign up!

Hosting Responsibilities

Anyone interested in hosting next week's Fun Monday? Please leave me a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Fun Monday - Sports Allegiances

I grew up and live in a family of sports fans. Every Sunday was devoted to football in the fall, and we followed the 1990 Cincinnati Reds go wire to wire. I was a three sport letterman in high school and went to sports camps in the summer and played slow pitch softball since I was in second grade. I love sports. So here are my teams, the ones I'm devoted to and would never forsake for another.



1. Ohio State Buckeyes football. Even though I now reside in Illinois, I am an Ohio girl, born and bred. My whole family lives and breathes Ohio State football. My sister and brother-in-law went to the 2003 Fiesta Bowl when the Buckeyes won the National Championship over Miami. We all love Jim Tressel and criticize anyone who doesn't wear scarlet and gray on game day. The marching band is The Best Damn Band in the Land and dotting the "i" in script Ohio rocks! Go Buckeyes!

2. The Cleveland Browns. I am forever disheartened and yet compelled to return year after year and root for the lovable, Super Bowl-less, Browns. I love the brown and orange jerseys (I wear mine many Sundays of the season), I love the Dawg pound, and I love Bernie Kosar. My hope springs eternal that one day they will get out of the playoffs and into the Super Bowl. One day.






The teams I hate:

1. Michigan. Need I say more? Really.

2. I used to hate the Denver Broncos (curse you John Elway!) because of all the years they dashed my beloved Browns hopes of a Super Bowl appearance. But I no longer have hatred for the Broncos. That is now reserved for the Baltimore Ravens, who stole my Browns out from under us and left the city of Cleveland without a team for almost four years. Luckily, the people of Cleveland would not allow this to happen to any other city and took an expansion team in 1999 over a relocated team. And because of Art Modell and the Baltimore Ravens, I can NEVER root for them to win.

That's about it!

Now, go check out everyone else's allegiances or share your own!

Players:

1. Tanya
2. Judysteapot
3. Hootin' Anni
4. Rayne
5. Gattina
6. Ali
7. Grace
8. Storyteller
9. HulaGirlAtHeart
10. Chrisb
11. jsi
12. Swampangel65
13. karmyn r
14. Alison
15. Jan
16. Swampy
17. {i}post
18. debs
19. sauntering soul
20. robocop
21. beedancer
22. margaret
23. tiggerlane
24. Mommywizdom
25. kitten
26.

Fun Monday - Sign Ups!

Fun Monday sign ups are done here!

The topic: Sports. More specifically, the sports team that you are rabid about. Maybe you love the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe you never miss a Cincinnati Reds game. Perhaps you follow every goal of the Fighting Illini Water Polo team. Or maybe nobody can tear you away from a Manchester United game. I want to hear about whatever sports team(s) that make you cry tears of joy when they win and tears of sorrow when they lose.

And on the flip side, I also want to hear about the teams you love to hate and why you hate them so much. You know what I mean. Like when you meet a new friend who is really cool and fun, and then you find out they root for your most hated rival team and you actually consider for a moment that you can't be friends anymore. Those teams.

That's it. And if you don't like any sports at all, I don't know what to say to you. Tell us something else you are impassioned about.

If you would like to sign up, leave me a comment with the link to your blog and I will get you signed up. Then come back Monday and make some new friends, maybe a few enemies, and get to know your fellow Fun Monday participants just a little bit better!

Fun Monday Participants

Having some trouble with Blogger, so leave a comment in the above post, and I'll list all players in this post.
Players:

1. Tanya
2. Judysteapot
3. Hootin' Anni
4. Rayne
5. Gattina
6. Ali
7. Grace
8. Storyteller
9. HulaGirlAtHeart
10. Chrisb
11. jsi
12. Swampangel65
13. karmyn r
14. Alison
15. Jan
16. Swampy
17. {i}post
18. debs
19. sauntering soul
20. robocop
21. beedancer
22. margaret
23. tiggerlane
24.

We Grow Them Big Here In Illinois

I took Zoe in for her preschool physical yesterday. It should have been taken care of this summer, but I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I wasn't worried about anything with her, but was interested in getting her dimensions, etc.

Well, let me tell you, she came in at a whopping 97th percentile in height, and 86th percentile in weight. I knew she was a big girl, but this definitely confirmed it. She actually is thinning out, because last year she was 95th percentile in both categories, if I recall correctly. I guess when both your mom and dad are 5'11", you probably aren't going to be a petite little thing.

Fun Monday

Well, I've been away from Fun Monday for quite some time now, but I'm back! Our hostess, Rayne, over at Crunchy Bits gives us the following assignment:

Almost everyone I know keeps things that others would consider junk. Twist ties, used wrapping paper, etc. What thing or things do you hang on to, and why?
Or, if you are one of those super organized and practical people and don't hang on to things like that, do you have a collection that you would like to share with us?

I had to think awhile for this one. After all, everything I keep is important, right? But as the week went by, I came up with a few things that I keep that probably drive my neatnik husband crazy, but I do have my reasons!



1. I have a plastic box filled with pantyhose and tights. I no longer wear them in the warmer months, but I will occasionally wear them in the many cold months we have here in Illinois. I have a hard time getting rid of any of them unless they are terribly holey (yes, I keep some with holes, depending on the location of the hole(s).) I even keep colors that I will probably never wear, because there may be that one time that burgundy tights are necessary and I would kick myself for throwing them out for no good reason other than the fact that they are burgundy colored.



2. I keep almost all sizes of scraps from stamping and scrapbooking. This is just one of the folders filled with pieces of cardstock and designer paper pieces. I have at least two more.



3. This empty perfume bottle. I got it (full, of course) when I was a little girl and we went to Wales on vacation. My parents bought it for me because of the name on the bottle, "Welsh Heather" I still can smell it a little bit if I sniff the top of the bottle.



4. I keep these pop tabs for a neighbor girl who is collecting them for the Ronald McDonald house. As soon as the baggy gets decently full, I give them to her and start a new baggy for them.

Well, those are a few of the things I keep around my house. Go check out everyone else's junk stuff!

Politics

I have tried to keep my blog fairly apolitical, though I am not shy to admit my political leanings. However, I just have to speak up with what I am hearing and seeing on TV in the last day or two.

Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska for two years, was chosen as John McCain's running mate. I had personally never heard of her before the announcement. So I started investigating and listening. She has done a lot in her time as a public servant. Besides being the first woman governor in Alaska for the last two years, she served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, as well as two terms on the city council of Wasilla. She obviously has had a lot of experience running local and state governments.

Now, many of the media pundits, as well as the Democratic party, are arguing that she has very little leadership experience. I understand why they are doing this. The Republicans have been pushing the lack of experience of Barack Obama since he clinched the Dem nomination. Turnabout is fair play, right?

Except it doesn't work. Obama truly has done little when it comes to leadership. He was elected to the Senate against a non-Illinois competitor. He hasn't even served one full term. He did serve eight years in the Illinois Senate.

But the appalling thing that I have heard from the media (at least two sources yesterday) was that he has led a campaign of some hundreds of staffers. Are they kidding? He has led a campaign? So has Sarah Palin, when she sought to get elected as mayor and governor. Running a campaign with staffers who want to get you elected is not comparable to running a city or state with a multitude of citizens who may or may not agree with you leadership decisions. I really had to laugh, because anyone who thinks that simply running a campaign full of staffers who obviously agree with their candidate (otherwise why would they work on someone's campaign?) gives you the leadership skills it takes to become president is simply ludicrous.

Palin has actual credentials. Look at her resume.

The second opinion that angered me as I watched TV last night came during Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show." I flipped over to this show remembering how much fun I've had in the past watching it during election years. Newt Gingrich did a good job of pushing back Stewart's obvious leftist leanings. I also know it is Jon Stewart's job to push and rile. But then Stewart brought up Palin's oldest daughter's unplanned pregnancy. He said it was fair game because, according to Stewart, Palin announced that her daughter had made her choice, and it is to marry the baby's father and keep the child. Stewart then proceeded to say that as a father of a daughter, he finds it hypocritical that Palin wants her daughter to have a choice, but if elected with John McCain, they would get into office and take that "choice" away from his family and all other families.

Now, I didn't actually see Palin's announcement about her daughter. So I don't know if "choice" is the word she used. If it is, perhaps she should have said it was her daughter's decision. Because as we all know, pro abortion groups have co-opted the word "choice" to only mean one thing, abortion. Her daughter may never have even been considering abortion. Her choice may have been between keeping the baby and giving it up for adoption. But Stewart took it to mean that she chose not to have an abortion. Knowing how Sarah and Todd Palin feel about abortion, and teaching this to their children, her daughter was probably never even considering abortion. I find it very condescending and twisted that Stewart brought this up during his show with Gingrich and further that he assumed Bristol Palin was even considering abortion. Contrary to what many people think today, not every girl or woman who makes a mistake with an unplanned pregnancy considers abortion.

Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air, as far as I'm concerned. And the fact that John McCain chose her for his running mate only makes me more impressed with him.

There. If you didn't know I was a Republican before this, you certainly do now.

A New Teacher

For the better part of August I've been waiting for a letter or a phone call from Zoe's speech teacher letting us know what days and times she will be attending speech class this year. I waited and waited until finally last Friday I called the Early child Learning Center where she goes to find out the information. They told me something about how the teachers don't come in until Monday and that they will be contacting me sometime next week (now this week). So Tuesday I still hadn't heard anything and decided to call again to see what was going on. This time I was told the speech teachers didn't come in until Wednesday, and that they would be calling me by the end of the week.

So today when the phone rang and my caller ID showed it was the ECLC I was relieved and a little excited to find out what Zoe's days and times would be. However, I was not prepared for what I heard. The woman on the other end of the line said politely, "Hello my name is Miss Anna _________, I'll be your child's speech teacher this year."

WHAT? That's the first thing that went through my mind. What did this woman just say? She would be my child's speech teacher. But this can't be right. Miss Jan is Zoe's teacher. She wasn't supposed to have a new teacher. So without saying all of this, I quickly stammer and say, "What was that? I thought Miss Jan was Zoe's teacher."

To which I get the polite reply, "Miss Jan took a job closer to home."

Oh. I am in shock at this point and try to compose myself. "Umm, what did you say your name was?"

"Miss Anna _________________"

But because Zoe is talking I have to ask her a third time what her name is. And, I'm not only using a line for her last name because I don't want to reveal her name on my blog, but because I still don't know what it is.

I say something completely stupid, like, "Umm, oh my daughter adored Miss Jan, but I'm sure she'll do great with you."

But I don't believe it completely. I'm sure Miss Anna is great, but Miss Jan was AMAZING. Not only did Zoe love her and improve dramatically in her speech, but I loved her. It's like a punch in the gut knowing Zoe won't have her this year. All summer Zoe talked about how she couldn't wait to see Miss Jan again, and as the date approached, I know she was getting more and more excited. And honestly, so was I. Miss Jan has a great energy and knew how to get the best out of my little girl.

Then I thought, I have to break the news to Zoe. I did and she had about three or four weepy minutes where she muttered, "I don't know about this." And I let her have them. But then, she brightened and I reminded her how she had liked the other speech teacher (a different one from Miss Anna) she had to go with on the few days when Miss Jan had conferences. And she thought maybe her new teacher would do fun stuff, too. And maybe even some new things. And I joined in her new found hope and happiness about her new teacher because I want her to have a great experience with Miss Anna.

But inside I didn't believe what I was selling. It will be hard to measure up to Miss Jan. But I'm going to give Miss Anna a chance. It's the only thing I can do.

First Day of School

Yesterday a new school year started. My son is a fourth grader and my daughter a first grader. Along with all the excitement of the first day we managed to snap a few pictures before we set off to school. (My youngest will be starting pre-school next week - pictures to follow!)

Dad stayed home for the big morning, which made it even more special.

I had to get in a picture, too!

And for dessert I made a brownie pencil cake. The girls helped me mix the colors into the frosting. The kids think this should become an annual tradition. I agree.

Shoe Shopping

I have a six year old daughter. She is starting first grade tomorrow and we bought her a very cute pair of white and pink slip on shoes for her to wear everyday to school. What we have not bought yet is her tennis shoes for gym days. Now, my daughter is extremely picky, and sensitive to how her shoes feel. So last night I took her out by herself to shop for a pair of tennis shoes. She wanted laceless shoes, so she doesn't have to worry about them coming untied.

Our quest started at the Children's Place where she found a very cute and sparkly pink pair that fit her quite nicely. She definitely liked them, but wasn't 100% sure of them. So I told her we could go to a few more stores and look. Fast forward to four more stores, an hour and a half later, and all we came home with were these:


Yeah, they're not gym shoes. But they were on clearance!

I guess we'll keep looking . . .

24 Excuses For Not Blogging In August

I'm sure the few readers I used to have probably no longer even check to see if I've blogged lately, as it has officially been 24 days since I last posted. So, I offer my most humble apologies and 24 excuses as to why I have neglected my blog for so long.

1. I had to make and decorate my daughter's 6th birthday cake. (Pictures to follow, soon)

2. I had to make and decorate my son's 9th birthday cake. (Ditto on the pictures)

3. I had to plan and bake brunch for about 15 people for my son's and daughter's combined birthday party.

4. I have three kids who all use the computer throughout the day, limiting my time on the darn thing.

5. This website. (If you are a stamper, you will know what I mean!)

6. My son had his first official sleepover with two neighbor boys that I organized and hovered chaperoned over.

7. The Olympics.

8. Back to school shopping responsibilities.

9. Going to the pool several times a week.

10. Having four play dates in one week, all at our house.

11. We went to a Kane County Cougars game.

12. Having three kids, home, all summer!

13. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days. (Pictures to follow soon)

14. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

15. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

16. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

17. I went to Wisconsin for vacation for 5 days.

18. Tori & Dean (I'm sorry, but I love it!)

19. Project Runway (I won't apologize for loving this!)

20. Spending time with the hubby.

21. The Olympics (did I mention that one already?)

22. The Wii

23. Dentist appointments

24. I'm lazy!

Hey, I didn't say they were good excuses, just that they were excuses!

An Award

Last Monday, my friend Alison over at RDH mom gave me this award! It is the Share the Magic Award.

I have to say that it is Alison who shares so much with me and so many others through her blog. I have enjoyed reading about her adoption journeys and all that she does with her family. She is both genuine and kind, and I cherish our bloggy friendship dearly.

Thanks, Alison!