Wonderful Thanksgiving and Birthday Celebration

 Princess Four invited a Japanese friend from college to join us for Thanksgiving. 

We were thrilled to have her as we love meeting new people and are very social. It just so happened that it was her birthday on Thanksgiving so I asked ahead of time about her likes and talents and we found some birthday presents that we hoped she would enjoy. 

Princess Four and I were up late last night decorating with balloons, banners, lanterns and other decorations for her to see when she got up. The kids were thrilled with the decorations but even more so with the balloons. They played with them all day as shown in one of the pictures. 

The children also played outside even though it was quite cold most of the day. I loved how energetic the kids were through the day. We played, ate, visited, sang "happy birthday" and many other things. 

I cooked the traditional "Thanksgiving" meals and it was a GOOD meal. Every person at some point commented on the meal or how good everything tasted this year. I really enjoyed the meal even though I can't eat much of the items I cooked. I know Princess Four's friend really enjoyed the food asking how I make it and I was able to show her many items and also allow her to try new foods and she was really interested in the Dixie Salad (click here for a post about that.)

There were many things I had to pull out in the natural form to show her what it looks like to understand what the word was I was trying to share with her. Most times, she would get a little lightbulb over the head look and then nod acknowledging her understanding. 


We had a great day and I am very blessed to have girls that want to share what we have with others who may not have what we have. 

I hope you had a family filled and blessed day! 

Gratitude Moments Over a Hose Container - Happy Thanksgiving - God Loves Me

It is still super busy and crazy and my home and I am dealing with storm headaches as well as having the girls and the grandchildren at the house.

With that, I want to share a gratitude moment with you as it is Thanksgiving and I am giving thanks for this small thing. 

When I lived at my dads this summer helping him with his knee surgery, I worked in the yard quite a bit and they had a terracotta hose holder. I had never seen one like that before. 

I have purchased many hose containers over the years and the one I had in the front yard was so brittle that it crumbled apart. I purchased a square one to replace that open winding one a few months back. 

I hooked up the hose and then tried to wind it up and use it one day and it took me forever and a lot of muscle power to get the hose in and out of that square decorative holder. It only took me using it one time to know I WILL NOT be using that again. I pulled the hose off and put the holder to the side of the house to sell at a yard sale I thought I was having which never happened and that square hose holder is still at the corner of the house. 

I was going around it the other day to work on picking up sticks from the big tree which was pruned recently and I thought to myself, I wish I had one of those terracotta pot hose holders that my dad has as you just lay the hose in the pot and pull it out to use it and then just coil it in after you are finished and I really liked using theirs as it looked ice and was fast to clean up. At the end of wishing for one, I thought that I had never seen one for sale at a second hand store so it wasn't likely for me to find one. I then thought, "God has never let me down, when I ask for something I want or need, he always finds a way to get it for me." 

So, with that, I sent up a prayer asking God to help me find one of those hose storage pots so I can have my hose off the ground and in a contained place and also have it look nice.

The next day, I head to my favorite second hand store and walk thorough the outside part of the store and don't see anything I want. As I was leaving that space, I noticed this terracotta hose holder and the best part was that it was $3! Not only did He answer my prayer, He did it in a way I could afford! It took less than 24 hours for HIM to answer that prayer! 

I feel so grateful for a Loving Father that gives me my wants and needs and is so thoughtful of my needs. I feel truly blessed this Thanksgiving and will post more later on that! 

I hope you are having a Blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by those who love you! 

It's Four A.M. and I am TIRED

It is crazy at my house this week. Late night trips and situations nearly every night this week. Princess Four came home from college getting a ride with a friend and she brought home a Japanese student for the holiday. They got home after 1 a.m. and were hungry so by the time we got them fed and settled in it was after 2 a.m.

Princess Three was supposed to get home tonight, but ended up having a situation, and I got a text from her at nearly 3 a.m. saying she was in for the night at the place she was staying. Then, I needed to blog and get to bed so it is 3:59 right now and I am wiped! The grand kids will be up around five a.m. and I haven't slept well all week waking with a strep throat feeling two nights back and lots of hip and knee pain this week as well as numb arms while sleeping, so I am really hoping I get a few good hours of sleep.

Hopefully, I can have time tomorrow for a good post. Have a Blessed Day!

Getting Lost and Sitting on Water - Princess Five Mission

On Tuesday we had our last District council of the transfer! 

On Wednesday we taught Duan and Pola they just moved so they gave us water bottles to sit on since they don't have furniture and they also made us this super yummy cinnamon drink from Colombia, I don't remember what it's called but it was good, they invited us to spend Christmas at their apartment, they are just the cutest.


On Thursday we went to Ellis Island, and it was so fun, and I only got lost 2 or 3 times on the way home! Then Ria accepted an invitation to be baptized! She's a little nervous and knows she has a lot to do to prepare, but she knows it's what she needs to do!

On Friday we had transfer Apartment Checks. Whoever has the cleanest apartment gets $10 And we are probably going to win this time. 🤞🏻

On Saturday our car monitor stopped working so we called IT, and the kid that answered had us drive around a little to check on something's, while we were waiting for our GPS to appear on his signal, he said, "Hey, we are having an office debate, on the TV show Hannah Montana did she ever date a super nerdy kid with glasses?" So that was a fun conversation with the IT guy, his name was Alex.

Princess Five in NJ

Blue Topaz Ring and Beautiful silver necklace in a $15 Jewelry Sorting Bag

I have a busy week with the holiday coming and Princess One is here with her family. Princess Three showed up late and is headed out early in the morning. I have only had a few hours sleep the last few nights total, so I am posting a jewelry video. I hope you are all ready for the big Thanksgiving day coming up this week. I am working on being ready. 

Have a Blessed day! 

Marshmallow Buttery Caramel Popcorn Recipe

I went to a scout activity tonight and someone brought a fun and yummy treat made of popcorn. It wasn't sticky and it tasted so good. 

I asked for the recipe and found out why it tasted so good. ha ha 

She said the recipe is:

Marshmallow Buttery Caramel Popcorn

1 - 16 ounce bag or marshmallows
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar

Melt all ingredients and once melted and mixed throughout, pour onto popped corn and mix. 
Allow to cool on cookie sheets. Serve

I will warn you now that if you taste this, you will not be able to stop. I ate several cups full of this and will NOT be making this unless there is somewhere to take it so I don't end up eating it. 

Have a Blessed Day! 

A Christmas Package For my Princess Five

I got an email from Princess Five's Mission President (leader of all the missionaries in that area) and they want to make sure that every missionary gets a package for Christmas. 

They sent a letter last year stating the same thing, and I hadn't had that before with the other three girls when they served as missionaries, so it was new to me. 

The letter indicated that they want you to send your packages by Dec 2 and make sure it is there BEFORE that date, as they have a mission wide meeting that day, and they want to make sure that each person has something for Christmas. Princess Five is in a not so good neighborhood, so we can't send anything directly to her apartment which makes it hard.   

She just bought herself some pepper spray and they walk around with rocks in socks as well so you know she isn't feeling all that secure in her neighborhood.

The only thing she asked for this Christmas, is some pictures of her with each of her sisters and some hand sanitizer! ha ha She is going through lots in this area she is living in currently. 

I sent her about 7 small bottles of different scents a month or two ago, but she wants more. Her sister bought some nicer smelling hand sanitizer and already sent it. I printed up some pictures this week and bought her a "picture mobile" so she can hang them on that. I bought her some of her favorite candy, new personal hygiene items, the grandchildren and I made some fridge magnets for her of their hand prints and the babies foot print. 

I think she will enjoy whatever I send as she is so easy going. I found this cute stocking with a name tag on it. I have to wrap a few things and finish up one more thing, but I am looking forward to having one more thing off my "to do" list. I am also grateful I have the means to provide her with a few fun things! 

Have a blessed day!  

Methane Gas Escaping Into the Home Through The Toilet - Gas Film In Toilet

I have posted several times about having methane gas escaping into my home due to a blocked sewer vent. 

I had a friend come and put an electronic plumbers power snake down the sewer vent on the roof.  It was only a 50 foot snake and after he left, I could still hear the glugging sound in the house where methane gas is escaping into the home. 

I had hoped that the power snake would have fixed the problem and send the foam that had dropped down into the vent down into the sewer line and solve my problem. 

I then figured maybe if I flooded the sewer vent with a hose, perhaps I could flush the entire vent line. I called my sister for some help with this. I bought 2 new 50 foot hoses. I linked them together and hooked them up to the spigot on that side of the house. 

I had one girl working two baths in the basement to turn them off if the water started to back up into the house. I had one girl looking at the floor drain in the basement to make sure no water was backing up. I had one girl at the base of the ladder to turn on and off the hose in case it backed up. 

I had my sister go into the house and flush the upstairs toilets hoping we could flood the line enough that any of the foam left in the line would be forced down and out to the sewer line. 

I dropped the hose down the straight portion of the line and it was out about thirty feet. It hit the bottom and I couldn't get it around the corner so I had them all turn on the water and flush the toilets. When all that water hit the sewer line, it pulled the hose down into the line very quickly and the hose was fully extended into the sewer vent and line to about 70 feet as the hose had about 20 feet from the spigot, up to the roof and then into the vent. 

Once again, I hoped that the sewer vent was now clear. Within a few minutes, I could hear the glug glugging of the methane gas escaping into the house. 

I began to think that maybe the methane block had been cleared up and that maybe the glugging wasn't methane leaking. I noticed over the next few days as we had lots of hot days, that even when there had not been any water used for ten hours or more, in the afternoon for three days in a row, I heard lots of glugging, but it seems to be on hot days only. 

I have noticed for years that there is an oily / gas water mixture on the surface of the basement toilet water and it looks like gas has been leaking. I have always thought that the noise was coming from the toilet in the basement, but have poured over a gallon of acid drain cleaner down through those drains in the past few weeks. 

I have flushed that toilet in the basement several times in the past few weeks and when I flush it, the oil look leaves and for a few days, it is clear. Then, I hear the glugging and the oily substance is then back in the basement toilet.

After a few weeks, that basement toilet will have moldy lines and bacteria in it even though no one uses that toilet. Also, the water in that toilet gets lower and lower over time and I figured it was just evaporation, but I think the gurgles make it evaporate quicker as sometimes it is super low. 

Also, I am still having symptoms of heart palpitations, dry skin, brain fog, and other symptoms so I am still trying to figure out what is causing the methane to come into the home as obviously my sewer isn't backing up, so I am not sure what is causing the problem. I am still trying to figure it out and am probably going to dig up a sink hole in the yard next. Stay tuned. 

Have a Blessed Day! 

Princess Five Finding 10 New Friends in NJ

Hola hola!

This week was one of those long weeks, you know?



On Tuesday we went to district council and on the way home we had to stop at a Nissan dealership to get an update done on our car. That night we met with Tina We followed up with her praying and she said she has been praying to gain more understanding. Then she has been STUDYING the Book of Mormon and the bible together. Every time she comes across a footnote from the bible she would look it up and make sure that the books agreed. She shared that she had never read the bible before but has a strong desire to come closer to God. She is incredible! We taught her on Thursday as well the plan of salvation and she understood very well and said a super sincere prayer at the end, AND THEN she came to church!! Not many of of members have cars and our chapel is a 15-20 min drive from where most of our friends and members live. So it's super hard to get friends here, and on time, and then getting them back home. But Tina seemed to really enjoy it. The branch went to the temple the day before so there was a lot of talk about baptisms for the dead and Tina was quite concerned, but between classes we were able to explain everything and we will be seeing her again tonight!

This week we had a push called NJMM 500! As a mission we set a goal to find 500 new friends, where as before the most found was somewhere around 380, or 430 or something. We all were on a finding high! We as a companionship set a goal to find 8 people but we ended up finding 10 new amazing friends to teach! And finding 510 new friends as a mission! We kept experiencing one tender mercy after another!

We were going to a lesson with a man named Diver and his Mom, and when we came into the house his sister was leaving with her daughter and said here is my address come over to my house tomorrow at 4... what?! So we went over the next day and taught her the restoration and now we have a return appointment with her and her to sons on Friday!

Our friends Van and Payla came to our Thanksgiving dinner and they LOVED IT! Van was asked to help carve the Turkey, he was so happy and loved being able to help even though he was so tired from his work!

One of our friends is going through a really hard time, and so he wasn't going to be able to meet with us for English class, we called him to get the number of another lady but we ended up reading the Book of Mormon with him for the next half an hour, so that was really good! Hopefully we can meet with him soon.

Cuídense 

Hermana Princess Five 

Pictures

My cute comp!
Thanksgiving Dinner
Us eating a French-toast Bagel!

Six Hour Drive and a Birthday Surprise

I was out of town for a few days and had a sibling with a milestone birthday in another town than where I was visiting. I had a six hour drive today to get to his party and then home and it is after 1 a.m. and I am VERY tired and won't make this long. 

It was really nice to be able to see many family members and support my Brother and his family that planned this surprise party for him. 

He told me he was in his pajamas and his wife told him he had better get dressed as someone was coming to visit him. Yep, lots of people visited him. 

I got to see a good friend that lives near him as well and sweet Princess Two drove a few of the hours with me so I had some company to keep me awake as I didn't sleep well while I was away. 

All in all, it was a good long day! I hope you have a blessed day! 

Fixing Eyes on Stuffed Animals, McDonalds Toys, And Fixing Hanging Fabrics Loops

We bought the McDonalds collectors toy ornaments each year when they were all the rage in the late 1980's and Early 1990's. They had the cutest sewn toys from the newest Disney movies and many had little voice chips in them as well. 

It was something we looked forward to getting each holiday season and then they stopped making them so adorable and started going to just hard plastic toys and they lost their charm. 

We kept the softer and nicer Disney toy ornaments and about 15 years ago, I made all our McDonalds toys into ornaments and we made a tree for a tree show and donated the tree to the local woman's shelter. I got the local McDonalds to donated a bunch of free gift cards to also adorn the tree and it was a VERY cute tree. 

Upon my request, my sister made a cute sign saying, "Every Meal Should Be A Happy Meal" and the shelter was my donation as I used the shelter when going through my divorce to get some help leaving my marriage. 

I thought I had posted about our trees we used to do yearly for the tree show, but I guess I didn't post about that. I will have to make a post on that as we did some really cute trees. 

Anyway, back to it, I went through all our decorations with the girls just over a year ago now and Princess One wanted those handful of ornaments that we kept. I visited her recently and she already has her Christmas decorations up and those ornaments are on the tree. 

She asked me if I could fix the hanging parts on two of the ornaments, as over the years, I guess being played with, those hanging parts got ripped. I was able to just sew on a ribbon on the "Oliver" ornament and able to fix the felt one that had ripped on "Dodger." I just used a similar color thread and was able to stitch the two ends together using a needle and thread. 

The eyes were really scratched up on Oliver and it looked like I fixed Dodgers eyes already and do remember doing that as I was giving some away at some point, but I think it was so hectic the weekend we did all the ornaments that it didn't get done on all of them. 

I basically just use my Sharpie Markers (if you read this blog, you know I am a Sharpieaholic) and find the one that matches the color of the eyes the closest, and then use it to fill in the scratches by dabbing it over the scratch rather than "coloring" it. I try not to color over the actual color, just fill in the scratched area. 

The Sharpie will smudge on plastic/ smooth surfaces, so don't touch it or let it touch anything else overnight or it can come off and smudge. Also, you may want to put some masking tape around the eye so that you don't accidently get it onto the fabric as it is REALLY hard to get Sharpie off fabric.

Just know that I use Sharpies for so many things that you may just want to search "Sharpie" and "Duct Tape" as I have LOTS of posts for those two products because I LOVE Sharpies and Duct Tape! 

Feel free to ask questions. You can do this on any stuffed animal or plastic toy. It works on fabric, stickers, plastic, and even wood. I made a short video showing the ornaments and how I did the ribbon and eye repairs. Have a BLESSED Day!