Dear President Obama

Carter brought home a paper today, an assignment from school in which he had to finish an open letter to Barack Obama. It is precious, and you know preciousness has to be blogged about! It begins with this first paragraph, and then the children were to finish the letter. I will keep the spelling as it is written on his paper.

Dear President Obama:

We learned in Scholastic news that you will be President for the next four years. Here is what I hope you will do for our country:

I glad your the 44 President. I howpe you like beaing president. i hope it is fun for you. Iv seen you on tv when you became president and my mom saed Yaa! iv seen your dooders (daughters) to. Angjoy beaing president all ways.

Sincerely,
Carter

The Making Of....Pinewood Derby 2009

Here we are again, fresh into the month of January, which means none other than Carter sharing his birthday weekend with the cubscout family. It's Pinewood Derby time!

This year, we actually started the car a full three days before weigh-in was supposed to happen. But, unfortunately the event was cancelled this weekend due to our weather delays causing schools to be closed - the venue in which it's held. Three days might still panic some folks, but that is SO much more time than is really needed to do this project. In fact, we didn't even open the box until less than 36 hours before weigh-in last year. And he had a top car, so we weren't sweating it this year. (we sound like pros now don't we?)

Um, here's a screen shot of this morning's temp and the reason why school and activities were closed. Brrrrrrrr!



Last year, Carter held the track record for the Derby, and won first place in his Tiger Cub Den. He qualified to race in the last heats against the other Dens in our Pack, but we had a few mishaps with his wheels falling off on the track. I guess after needing to race so many times, the car couldn't handle it. That, and probably the way he would play with it on the floor in between races - a sight that made most father's who are really into this, gasp in horror! It's not a hotwheel car afterall - it was a hand crafted vehicle that needed to be handled with care. Oh, who cares right? It's for fun - and he sure didn't care. Of course, until his wheels kept coming off and he couldn't continue to race.

But this year, we glued those axles into place so we won't have that looming over us again. He wanted the same design of car... a corvette, but wanted it red this year and the number 8, which stands for how old he turns this weekend. He's a patriotic boy, so he wanted stars and stripes again too. If you know Carter, he likes things to stay the same, so we couldn't really veer too far off from last year's model. Hopefully it will race as good as the blue one did!

Here are some pictures of the process, The Making Of 2009's Pinewood Derby car...

His block of wood cut out at Grandpa's house in the shape of a vette... the blue car is last year's model he made.


The underside needed to be cored out to fit our flat weights. That was a pain, and the most time consuming part!


Sanding his car...


Painting the vette... we were glad he had a red shirt on after this craft - he is a messy painter like his mom!


Spraying silver sparkle paint on his car in the garage - um, safe to say he has a pretty heavy hand on the trigger! I think the entire garage is covered in sparkles now!


Adding his stickers, his favorite part next to painting the car...


And lastly, the car cannot weigh more than 5.0 ounces. Got it right on again!


Of course I will add pictures from the actual Derby once we know when the rescheduled date will be. But for now, we can breathe a sigh of relief to know the car is done, the weight is perfect and it's ready to go. Now we just have to hide it until Show Time so he doesn't send it down his Matchbox ramp in the basement!

Happy 2nd Birthday Olivia!

T-W-O! Wow... time has sure flown by, it's hard to believe our little ray of sunshine was two years old on January 3rd.

Here are some pictures from the big day - enjoy!

Annual letter to Olivia....

Landscape Pictures

Recently I took some pictures while attending our family's annual winter reunion in Southern Indiana. The family has been gathering like this for decades, in the town church that dates back to the days when some of the wood used in the church came from the trees on the family farm, and were crafted thoughtfully by the hands before us. In these parts, generations have been born and passed in the same family homes sprinkled among the farms in these southern towns.

In the summer, the leaves are bright on the mighty oaks, the vast farming fields are rich with corn rows and beans, and the silver shining from the silos can be seen in every direction. The silence is hard to describe, not hearing the roar of the city like I'm used to hearing outside my windows. But it's warm and lush and peaceful.

In the winter, there is a barren stillness when one looks out into these fields. Snow crusted rows of overturned soil leftover from the October harvest, hides the livelihood of what the ground has to offer each year. The chill in the air that takes no effort to cut right through you because there are no big buildings to shield the wind - only land that outstretches as far as the eye can see.

On this particular 2 hour drive to the reunion, there were several things that caught my eye out the window that would have made a great snapshot, and I wished that I had taken out my camera sooner. But with all the chatting and catching up, it is hard to step away and snipity-snap all the things I was hoping to.

Here's what I did get though... enjoy!

Above is the quaint church that stands proud. This is where we hold the winter reunion each year.

Above is the cemetary on the church grounds, tucked neatly between farmland.

Above is the headstone of my father-in-laws beloved parents.

Above is an example of the many working family-run farms that dot the town.

And above here, we have a train carrying loads of what appears to be coal. At the time, we were able to tell Carter that Santa has that train ready for naughty boys and girls coal-filled stockings....hahaha!

Santa's Cookies

Today was our annual cookie baking day so Santa would not go hungry on Christmas Eve.

Carter has been counting down the days until my parents would come over to get the annual tradition underway. He really enjoyed himself and of course his favorite part is covering the cookies with sprinkles. I stopped counting how many times we had to scrape the 1" of sprinkles off and have him 'do over' his cookies! Here he is making the inaugural first cookie cutout!



Do you like our coordinating aprons, Carter and I? Festive!



Olivia was not so sure about things, and she wanted the dough off of her fingers. She eventually enjoyed the shaking of the sprinkles and we gave her a small jar to shake and that kept her busy. Of course, she would shake once over the cookie dough, then a few times over the side of her chair onto the floor. By the time the jar was empty, most of it was on the floor. I gave up and just let her do it - the vacuum was close by! She mistakenly put a hunk of dough in her mouth and was not happy about it - then she refused an actual cookie that was baked because she thought it was the uncooked dough again. Hopefully she'll forget that experience tomorrow and enjoy a cookie! Here she is with my Mom...



She is not feeling so well today. I took her to the Urgent Care this morning and she has a double ear infection and bronchitis. We have Amox., a steroid and albuterol for the 3 x a day nebulizer treatments we have to give her. The medical equipment company came by this afternoon to drop off the machine - at least the guy got some cookies to eat on his way back to the office!

The end result! Can you tell which ones got a touch of sprinkles from a 7 year old?

Makin' Toffee

It's that time of year again, when a lot of us Moms bake goodies for the school staff, specials teachers, bus drivers etc. as a small token of appreciation at the holidays.

Tonight, was Toffee Makin' Night. We love this toffee and it never lasts long because everyone devours it. It's a unique recipe that my mother found years ago and it uses strangely enough, crackers!

It uses 4 ingredients, but it can be a little picky because you need to bring your sugar mixture high enough to crack stage, and not burn it. Or, the one complaint I hear a lot is that it was too chewy - which would mean that the sugar was not cooked to a hard enough stage. I've thankfully made this enough times (and screwed it up just as many before) to know what my sugar is supposed to look like when it's ready to pour.

It's a really easy and quick recipe you should try. Don't let the crackers scare you - no one knows they're in there until you tell them - trust me, the toffee is awesome!



Recipe for Toffee:
1 sleeve Saltine crackers (about 40)
1 pkg. 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 sticks butter
1 C packed brown or regular white sugar
Aluminum foil to line sheet
Crushed pecan pieces or any nut you like (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a large cookie sheet with foil and place the crackers to fit flat.
Bring butter and sugar to soft boil for 4-5 minutes in heavy saucepan.
Pour mixture over crackers evenly, spread if needed with a knife.
Bake in oven for 5-6 minutes (sugar will bubble and boil)
Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Put back into oven for 1 minute until chips are softened enough to spread with a knife. (note: chips will appear to hold their shape even when ready to spread)
Sprinkle with nuts if using.
Put into the fridge to harden for 1-2 hours. Break into pieces. Enjoy!

Tip: If I'm making several batches of this, I put them outside on my deck to chill in the winter, instead of taking up fridge space!

December Sky

Today we had the most gorgeous Indiana sky right before sunset... My camera is usually ready to snap at a moment's notice, so out I went to devour the beauty.

Carter and I sat watching the sky turn all different shades. These are my favorites... one from out front of the house, and one from out back.

He asked, "Who makes that sky do all those colors?"

I answered, "God does. Isn't He nice?"

More Conversations with a 7 Year Old

Sometimes the conversations in this house don't get beyond a one-word answer. And I'm not talking about the kids...

*Scene* Watching the football game last Sunday

Carter: Daddy, I can see those cheerleader's belly buttons

Hubs: Uh... yep.

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Happy December

Wow - December's here already? I know I say that every year, it still feels like it came upon us so quickly.

The tree is up, and Olivia has already taken every ornament she can reach off and reorganized them. I will be finding ornament hooks in my carpet for years now, because every time she grabs one, the hook is nowhere to be found. My vacuum cleaner is not happy with this arrangement!

We already had our first snow of the season. Not much, just a couple of inches on the ground - enough to make it look pretty without being a nuisance.

Is your shopping done? Mine's not, and I'm very envious of those that shop year round, or have it already completed and can enjoy the rest of the season as it is without the mad dash to the store. I love the whole gift-giving part of Christmas time, but those that know me, know that I hate shopping. It's pretty difficult to avoid this time of year though. So I put on my Merry Best attitude and get it done. My favorite way is sitting right here, in my pajamas, hot cup of coffee or cocoa and the Internet at my fingertips. That's my kind of shopping! No crowds, no arguments from the children, no overheating in my winter coat inside the mall, no long walks in the frigid temps to the car, no traffic. Ah, sweet online shopping!

I like stalking the UPS and FedEx guys for my packages to be delivered too. One of my other favorite things about the gift giving season to do is wrap presents! Oh I love choosing the fun wrapping paper, the bows, pawing through all the surprises for everyone and sticking their tags on the boxes. All of this of course with Christmas music on in the background, the fireplace roaring and yummy smells coming from my Home For The Holidays Yankee candles.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas - Yay! Carter's already begun the countdown to our annual cookie baking day. It's on Dec. 21st this year, which happens to be the first day of winter and also the start of Hanukkah. He said so excitedly, "Mommy, we'll have to wish everyone a Happy Hanukkah!"....

Do you think all the Non-Jewish will be offended when he says that to people during that week?

I think it's cute - let's celebrate everything right? I suppose it's my job to inform him that not everyone celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas, but for now the joy it brings him to wish Merriness to all is priceless.

Day 30 - What Gets You Moving?

I MADE IT! 30 posts in 30 days - what a challenge! Here's my final posting for November - I'm going to go listen to some loud music in celebration!

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Loud music makes me forget about the sweat dripping into my eyes, my shins burning and how fast my heart is beating.

At my Boot Camp classes, I don't usually need to put on the iPod because the trainer has her own mixes blaring for us - but on the treadmill, eeeegads that's boring! Ours has one of those bells & whistles types with a built in TV screen (yes, it's even set it up with satellite and Tivo, and only men get all excited about those gadgets - but whatever gets one through the workout, right?). However, I cannot concentrate on anything on the tv screen, so I don't use it. It's too slow for me.

So instead, I plug in my iPod and get going. I need the loud music beating to the same pace as my heart is... or I'll quit. Or maybe it's my heart that will quit. Either way, it's as simple as that.

I cover the console of the treadmill so that I don't have to see how much time I have left, or the incline I'm torturing myself with, but I know that when the first 5 songs on my playlist are over, I have 2 miles done and I need a gallon of water to drink!

What beats get you moving? Here are mine... for right now, because the playlist changes often!

Day 29 - Tree Lighting

Tonight was our town's annual Tree Lighting ceremony. It's always a fun time, and Carter looks forward to giving his letter for Santa to Mrs. Claus, who makes an appearance every year to collect them.

Here's some shots from tonight...

Carter giving up his letter for Santa!



Standing in front of Carter's Toy Museum in town. He thinks that pretty cool that he has the same name!



The kids waiting for the tree lighting to take place.



Decorating the Christmas tree tonight, Olivia was amazed at the ornaments. Her favorite is the glass cupcake ornament we have, and she was so proud to hang it.



Tomorrow we will be busy finishing the decorations inside, and the rest of the lights on the outside. It will have to be done early, because it's our Do-Nothing-Else-Because-Football-Is-On day....

Day 28 - I'm Turkey'd Out

It's official, I'm sick of turkey. How can that be, Thanksgiving was just yesterday?

Well, I'll tell you.... after gorging on the feast for lunch with the family yesterday, naturally the only logical thing to have for dinner later that evening was the ever-traditional Turkey Sandwich. I'm my house, we grew up eating it in layers of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, salt & pepper and a smear of mayo. Sounds good doesn't it?

Well it sounds good, unless you had it last night for dinner, today as your lunch, then again tonight for dinner. Each time it was a small sandwich, on a leftover roll from The Feast, but still. So, needless to say, if I as much as hear a mere "Gobble Gobble" from someone, I just might be sick.

I would hate to waste the remaining leftovers, so I may be serving some form of turkey again tomorrow for lunch. Although, I might put the energy into changing things up a bit, and serve it hot with gravy and some leftover mashed potatoes. By then, my family will REALLY be sick of the bird 'ya think?

Are you turkey'd out yet?

I'm not complaining about the leftover dessert though am I? Funny how that happens....

Day 27 - Here's Some Free Music

Thanksgiving is over, and it's time to start blaring the Christmas music!

Oprah's giving away free music downloads to 8 songs from some new Christmas albums, until Friday afternoon.

You can go here to get the holiday songs and check out her other Holiday Tips...

Here's the list of tunes: (you can right-click on the songs, and choose "Save Target As" and it will download the song to your computer from my blog too).

Faith Hill, "Joy to the World" from the album Joy to the World
Tony Bennett, "I'll be Home for Christmas" from the album A Swingin' Christmas
Il Divo, "O Holy Night" from the album The Christmas Collection
Josh Groban, "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" from the album Noel
Brian McKnight, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" from the album I'll Be Home for Christmas
Amy Grant, "O Come All Ye Faithful"
Harry Connick Jr., "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" from the album What a Night! A Christmas Album
Aretha Franklin, "Silent Night" from the album This Christmas

Enjoy!

Day 26 - Ready For The Big Day

Turkey in the brine - check
Stuffing ready to stuff - check
Set the Table - check
Drinks chilled - check
Misc lists - check
Alarm set for 6:00 am - check

Well, it's official. I'm ready for guests to arrive with arms full of dinner accompaniments tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I'm already salivating.

Carter made a cute little turkey at school that is proudly displayed on the dinner table (pic above). This, I'm sure, will become a yearly staple at the Thanksgiving table. My husband's turkey from about 2nd grade still makes an appearance at his Mom's table too. It's what us Mothers are all about...

We're ready for the big day - have a terrific holiday with your families!

Day 25 - The Redecorating Blues

How long before you redecorate a room in your house? Do you keep the same motif for years and years, or is your Being incapable of withstanding sameness for too long?

When I was younger, I used to be the type of person that changed around her living spaces all the time. I needed a change, even if it meant moving everything back to the way it was 6 months before, it was still a change. Now, not so much. I pretty much stick with something and it remains. I am going to be one of those people that has the same photos hanging on their walls for 20 years, in the same place. Nothing wrong with that, I'm just saying...

Which brings me to my son. He's not the type who likes change too much, he is comfortable in his surroundings and likes things 'just so' too. But he wants his bedroom changed to Football "stuff" now, and it's not a quick fix. I suppose I don't have a problem with that, except for all the time and effort I put into his bedroom 3 years ago. We are in Indy, so he chose a racing theme. He dreams of Fatheads now (life-size wall graphics), goal posts, lockers to put his gear in...
My head is spinning. We have so much football going on this time of year that I think he has just been brain washed.

Hopefully it will pass once the Superbowl is over? I don't really know, but I do know that it's less work than a puppy. A puppy that he has been obsessed about in his mind and can't wait until he turns 11 (which is when we said we could discuss it).

Perhaps Santa will drop a couple new jerseys under the tree and it will distract him from wanting a giant Peyton Manning or Marvin Harrison on his wall charging at him?

Maybe we'll tell him he can't have a Football room until he's 11. It will ease my redecorating blues I have about this situation.

Here's what it looks like now, although the furniture is different from this picture, the walls are the same. Wouldn't you have a hard time changing this after all your blood, sweat and tears too?