Goodwill Finds

It had been a while since I'd been to my favorite store--Goodwill.  Most of the time, they have just what I'm looking for.  Sometimes they have items that I'm not necessarily looking for (like the books above), but some I just can't pass up!  For the books I paid between  $0.75 and $1.25.  Some of them are classics!  The prices for the appliances were: $5.95 for the ice cream/sorbet maker and the crockpot on the right, $7.95 for the programmable crockpot on the left.  It was a good day of shopping!  Anybody got any good crockpot recipes?

Daisy Scouts Bake-Off

Ava and Shelby made Butter Squares for the Girls Scouts Bake Off.  Curiously, we had to use the recipes provided by the troop leader.  Ava is a Daisy Scout, Shelby a "Tag Along" since she's not old enough to be a Daisy yet.  They got second place in the bake off. 

My girls handle that mixer like pros! 

The finished product.  Ava got to taste it, but Shelby couldn't because of her allergies.

Thanksgiving RV Trip

For Thanksgiving, we decided to rent an RV and go visit my aunt & uncle in Maryland.  I hadn't seen them in over seven years.  They had a houseful, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring our own accomodations.   She was a 38 footer and sooo nice!

The drive turned out to be longer than planned.  But it was OK, we had good drivers.

We had a very good visit with our family.  Delaney was a little monster the whole time we were there.  I think it was due to her sleep schedule having been disrupted.  I think she now has a bad reputation with the kin.

Here's my brother and me with Aunt Serena (who hates taking pictures) and two of the girls.

My dad with Ava & Shelby

Some of my crazy cousins.

I got to see two of my old Air Force friends while up there.  Gwen and I were stationed at FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wy.  I left there in 1991, but we have stayed in touch through the years.

Karen and I were stationed at Hickam AFB in Hawaii in the 80's.  We experienced our first pregnancy together.  Our due dates were 3 weeks apart, but we ended up delivering one day apart (I was late, she was early).  I looked up to her, and she helped me navigate some of my marital woes.  We had lost touch in recent years, but I managed to find her through her daughter on Facebook.  It was so awesome to see both of them, but sad that we couldn't spend more time together.

We also took advantage of being up there and did some quick sightseeing.  I wanted the girls to see where the president of the United States and his family live, among other things.

The Capitol

The White House

The Wahington Monument

The trip cost much more than we'd calculated, but it was a great expereince overall.  We REALLY want an RV of our own, but that won't be doable for a long while. *sigh*

Fun Birthday Outing 11/09

For birthdays, I like to plan fun family outings.  For Shelby's 4th birthday, we went to Babyland General Hospital, in Cleveland, Ga, where the Cabbage Patch Kids are born.  It just so happend that it was the grand opening of their new location.

Above is the Cabbage Patch.  The setup was sooo cute!  Babies are born when the mama cabbage is 10 leaves dilated.  Sometimes the babies need a dose of imagicillin.  The nurses are LPNs--Licensed Patch Nurses.  Our girls weren't too impressed with the whole experience.  We spent a fortune on dolls they don't even play with!  Oh well, I had fun--except for dealing with Delaney's bad attitude that day.

God & Religion

The last time the girls went to Miss Lisa's (our daycare provider) she sent us off with the following little anecdote:  "We were singing Christmas carols and having lots of fun.  (This is the first year they've been exposed to them and really don't know that many).  We sang "Joy to the World" and when we came to The Lord has come, Ava asked, 'Who's the Lord?' "   I was both amused and uncomfortable.  I believe in God, but not necessarily in religion.  I have NEVER told my girls about God because...I don't know what to say!  I don't believe the human mind can fully grasp the concept of God.  It boggles my mind when I try to understand.  God is the ocean and we are molecules of water.  What do you say to a child?  Living in the South, the subject is bound to come up again...and again.  They  need to have some infortmation on the subject!  I ultimately want them to reach their own conclusions.  My son (23) has some pretty wild beliefs, and I have to take some resposibility since I was always open to new ideas as I raised him.  Whenever the subject of religion comes up, Hubby always throws the phrase "bible-based" in.  Although he went to church growing up, I doubt he could quote you a verse if you paid him $100.  He really knows nothing about the bible, but seems to feel that he should and the anything having to do with God should be "bible-based."  I don't take the bible as the only divinely inspired text.  There's the Torah, the Koran, and the Quitab-I-Aqdas to name a very few.   I find it a little offensive to think that the bible is the ONLY book in which God reveals him/her/itself or gives instructions for living.   I plan to introduce the girls to the Creator....soon. 

Tears For Teeth

I don't care what the lab test said, I think my hormones are out of whack! The silliest things get me all teary-eyed. Like Ava losing her first tooth. It had been loose for over a week, and we had been wiggling it daily. I even tried to twist it out that morning. But when she ran into the kitchen, all excited becasue the apple she was eating made the tooth come out...I had to fight back tears! I told her I was sad, and sweet nurturer that she is, she kindly asked "Why, Mommy?"
"Because this means that you really are getting to be a big girl."
"But, Mommy, if I get big, I can help you cook."
That is one of her highest aspirations. Although she already helps me cook...sometimes. Apparently what I let her do is not enough.
So if I'm crying over a loose tooth, Lord help us when we shop for her first bra...

Fall Photos 2009

At the pumpkin patch

Georgia Aquarium

Shelby

Ava

Delaney

On the Walking trail

One big happy family

Runaway butterfly

A Monarch butterfly, Tinkerbell, Belle