Cooties, Beans, and Musical Traps

It is a holiday weekend and we did something kinda fun. We had a game weekend as we sorted through the house. 

We decided to go through our games so we could get rid of the games that the girls have out grown and games we may not want to play anymore. 

As we started going through them, we had some great laughs. Several of the girls didn't want to get rid of the "Cooties" game saying it was one of their favorite. 

Princess number two and her girlfriend had some fun playing "Cooties" when they had a "girls" night the other night. Her friend won before she even got a head. 

In the end, we got rid of about 15 games. Princess number two is still selling things to make money for her sisters service mission. One room of the house looks like a second hand store but I'm happy that with that, we have been going through each room and cleaning out things that we haven't used in years. 

The money is nice as we have a large payment due each month for a few more months to pay off the Mission but I am almost more happy with the deep cleaning that is helping find the stuff to sell. 

Princess two said that my room cleaning has motivated her to do more on hers. She went through more of her clothes today and anything that needs mending or hasn't been worn, left. 

She has been getting $5 a game on the yard sale site so selling just the games alone will bring in $100 or so. 

It was really fun to play those games that haven't been played in years as we knew we were letting them go, we all had some good laughs while reminiscing. 

Thanks again to Princess two for instigating this and helping with the fund raising. What games are hidden in your closet that may be fun to resurrect?

Just One of those Crazy Days - It Should be Illegal

I think I mentioned last month that, right after I returned to the US after my trip with my mom, that we found out that she had been donating over $300 a month to different charities and sometimes up to $500 a month. 

There was $310 just in withdrawals from her checking to charities. Those were from actual calls made to her home by charities. Here are some of the one's on her debit card:

American Indian Fund
Children's Wish Foundation
Republican National (3 times)
American Conservative
E donations
Philanthropies
Media One
FRC Action 6
Tea Party Patriots
Southwest Indian
Next Generation (4 Times)
College Republicans
Republican National
Conservative Majority
Republican Leadership
Tea Party Express 
ETC..

Each time was for a different amount. Always ten dollars or more. sometimes as much as $25. I think they keep it small so that you don't raise flags at the bank.

The photo at the top shows the junk mail she received the week we were gone. There is a stack about three inches thick. All asking for money. Most are different organizations than those taking out of her checking using her debit card. 

Then there were the checks she sent as well as the debit card withdrawals. Most were political in nature which was funny since they were all AFTER the election. 

This is all on top of donations to her church.

For months she was complaining that she had no money. Finally, after looking at her bank statements, we figured out the problem. We got her a new debit card but that won't last long as the calls are coming in. She isn't good with her memory since her accident, (See here about that post) and when we confronted her with all the donations, she got upset and said, "They are good organizations and I want to help." 

However, when I called the numbers where the charges came from off the debit bill, it was a man's personal phone. 

My mother lives in an assisted living center and even though people are not supposed to do sales in the building, she is forever buying "health drinks", "Vitamins" and health insurances that as soon as the person leaves, she doesn't remember she even has.

There is no way to block her door or mail from all the junk. We put her home and cell number on the "Do not call" list but for some reason, that guy with the personal phone that is doing all these donations..... He didn't get the message.!

Today, I was on the phone with my oldest brother talking about the latest bank statements and we talked with my mother to see how she was doing with the calls. I was pleasantly surprised when she said she has been telling them that "because she donated before, she didn't have money to live and would they please take her off their list." 

I love my mother but sometimes it is a great deal of work taking care of someone that has had brain trauma. I am grateful that we were able to get her into assisted living but I am sad that there are people out there who take advantage of others mental issues or emotional weakness and prey on them for their own gain. I can think of how much our family could have used that $500 a month to support her later or, to help her grandchildren going on service missions or college etc. 

You know it is going to be one of those crazy days when you wake to a text at 8 a.m. telling you "there is no power in room number six again!" I had quite the text conversation with someone who has "no power" and wanted me to take care of it. They finally figured out they had the wrong person but the day just goes from there. Funny though, my computer cord just quit and I had "no power" unless I crimped the cord and pushed it around. I spent time looking for a new one but after finding one that was actually a Panasonic, it was out of stock. I don't want to use an after market one as i haven't had much luck with those in the past.

I washed all the blankets from the stash in the family room along with the "neck pillows" which left blankets drying all over the house. I had so many on doors that I had to use both floors of doors in the house to get them dry as many can't be put into the dryer. 

I wanted to clean off a few computers to donate to charity and ended up cleaning out my file drawer on my desk instead as I dropped an Sd card into it and thought it was a sign to clean it out. (More accurately, I couldn't find the card without cleaning it out. :-)

Having only gotten a few hours of sleep due to coughing, I dragged all day. I did make a wonderful roast for dinner and cooked up the squash and potatoes that froze in my garage due to the cold winter we are having as well. We now have lots of frozen squash and mashed potatoes for Princess 3 to take back to college this long weekend.  

Believe it or not, I didn't even turn on the computers needing cleaning. However, I am glad to know they are all going to good homes once I get them cleaned off. We were blessed to have a friend give us hers this Christmas as she got a new one so we thought we would share the wealth and donate our old one's to a family member and charity. 

Thanks for letting me rant on about the donations. It is so frustrating not being able to do anything about all that money they took. At least we can keep an eye on it now. She may have so much now that she doesn't donate, that she may not know what to do with it all all! 

Well, we can always hope anyway.. . . . . 

Inside Yard Sale - Not a Bad Idea

For the past two weeks, my darling Princess number two has been having an "inside yard sale" using facebook yard sale groups in order to make money for Princess number three to go on a service mission to Thailand. 

Many times, people may not be willing to donate money (or have any to donate) to a good cause but will donate items they have laying around the house they aren't sure what to do with. Once you collect their unwanted items, you can have yourself and "Inside" yard sale.

Princess 2 has been going through the house with the other princesses and is helping us get organized and remove things that we aren't using. 

Even though I have been in bed for the better part of two weeks now, she has been shaking down the house. She has gotten all the boxes of "get rid of" donation out of the garage and gone through all the girls clothes, shoes and has tried to help me do the same. 

With me not feeling well, she has been a trooper as some days, I can handle it and others, not so much. We got through all the prom dresses, evening gowns and lots of our books, video's, cd's and electronic stuff. Some things I bought for prizes at our Bunko family reunion and they weren't chosen as prizes so she has gone through those.

Listed here are four posts about how we do our family reunions and play bunko. 

Part one here
Part two here
Part three here
Summer version here

I have some left over prizes that I purchased when I could find a good deal on new items. Princess has been listing them for twice what I payed for them and then if they don't sell, she lowers the price down a few dollars and only sells them if they are selling for more than I paid for them. Otherwise, we will keep them for a prize or gift.

It seems to be a good thing to keep her busy and as we are fund raising to help Princess number four go to Thailand on her service mission, it is better than a yard sale as we don't have to drag it outside, we have hundreds of shoppers and if it doesn't sell on the first round, (which many of them do) she can lower the price and try again. Some of the shoes didn't sell in the past few days so she just marked them all $1 a pair and sold three pair today. Not much for one item but when we were going to get rid of them anyway, it all adds up. 

The little "Troll" piggy bank at the top sold for $10 within 2 minutes of being posted. The "Stetson" hat sold for $45 within an hour of being posted. Both have been sitting in my home for some time. I bought them thinking I would try selling on ebay again but as a busy mom (as you know from reading this blog) I don't have time right now for that. So, thanks for doing the yard sale for Princess four, Princess number 2. 

It has worked out nicely and since I have been sick and not able to do much, going through things is a good option as it doesn't take much effort on my part to decide what to keep and what to sell. It was helpful that over the holidays, I had the girls go through and choose items they would want later for their kids, such as toys and books so if there isn't any interest in the rest, I can get rid of them. It is nice for them to know what they each get to take with them when they leave, it keep them from having any arguments over "things" and makes it nice for me to be able to clean out my house of unwanted items. 


Try it yourself, there are all sorts of online yard sale places, free posts in the paper and on the radio websites to list items and try the larger cities newspaper classified section to list items. Like I said before, people may not have extra money to donate but want to help and will donate items they have laying around the house they aren't sure what to do with. Once you collect their unwanted items, you can have yourself and "Inside" yard sale. Just a thought for those looking to raise money for a good cause.

Scarves - How to Make Them - Part 2

The yarn you need to make these scarves is by Red Heart. They have several brands but for the most part, the best colors are the Sashay brand by "Red Heart." 

You can see many of the colors available on yesterday's post. The yarn needs to be pulled open so that one side that has decoration on it is a way from your needles and the side you start knitting on is towards your left hand. 


Next, take your needle and go into every other hold on that far left side until you have six stitches on your needle (or mechanical pencil) as the case may be.


Next, you put the second needle up through the top stitch on the first needle so both needles are in one stitch. Then, you pull down the yarn so you can see the top line and there are two little lines every inch or so. You count down two sets of little lines and in the next space, you pull that up and over the second needle. 
 
Once again, you stick the second needle into the top stitch on the left handed first needles. Pull out your yarn and look for two sets of the litte two lines. Take the third space and put it over needle number two. Then pull that stitch down through as you can see the yellow needle doing here. 

 
Now you should have four stitches on the left needle and two on the right. 

Continue putting the right needle into the left top stitch and then pulling the third open space over the right needle and pulling that through and letting that stitch off the left needle. 

If you do it  right, you should have six stitches on the right needle and none on the left when you have finished a row. 

After that row, the needle in the right hand now changes to the needle in your left hand and you start all over.   

Once you have knit all the yarn into a scarf, you should leave about a foot of yarn hanging for your last casting off row. You knit the top two stitches as you did all the other rows. However, once you have two stitches on the right needle, you take the lowest stitch and pull it up over the stitch on the top and pull it off the tip. This leaves you with only one stitch on the needle. 

You knit another stitch from the left needle on to the right needle. Once you have two, you pull the lower one over the higher and slip it off leaving you with one stitch on the right needle again. 

You continue doing that until you only have one stitch left on the right needle. 

When you have only one stitch left, you pull it out so it is a little larger hoop. You take the dangling end of the yarn and pull the entire "tale" through the loop and pull. The pulling will make the yarn fall tighter and "close" off the loop. 
 
Just to make sure it is very secure, I then tie a knot on both ends of the scarf where the raw edge hangs.

THere are videos on youtube where you can see it more definite but being sick and having the slow internet, I figured I would just show you the basics and you can search for details if you aren't a knitter, this is an easy way to understand and learn  knitting as you can see, even my niece and nephews who are younger figured it out. It is easy once you get the hang of it.   
  
You can see the knot here. Sometimes I tie two knots just to make sure it is secure. I then cut off any excess "tales" just under the knot so they don't hang down past the end of the scarf. 

There are lots of color combinations and  they often look very different once they are made up into a scarf than they do on the skein of yarn. 

Once you know what you are doing, it goes rather quickly taking about 4-6 hours per scarf depending on how quickly you knit and if you are watching an interesting show while you knit. :-) Happy Knitting!

Scarves, Scarves, Everywhere Scarves - Part 1

My sister showed us how to knit these cute frilly scarves over the holidays. We decided to make one for each of the drill team members. We knew we had to hurry so we could have them made before the competitions so we could give them as a "good luck" gift.

We tried to buy the color we wanted online and they had none available. We then called all the craft stores around the larger cities in the state. We were unable to find more than three anywhere. 

We called and had them look up how many would be on the next trucks and at 9 a.m. the next morning, the truck would be unloaded and on the shelves. I had to spend three hours driving around town to buy enough of the one color to have enough to make the scarves for the team.

They have some really cute colors and we thought we could have Princess number 4 sell some around the neighborhood as a fund raiser for her Thailand Service Mission trip. My sisters and their kids, along with several of my Princesses, all helped make them. Luckily, my older sister had just purchased a bunch of knitting needles. She bought 2 sided bamboo. When my sister from out of state was returning home, we purchased some fun colors so her kids could each make one for themselves on the long drive home. 

I didn't want to spend the money on knitting needles as we had some at home and she didn't want to spend money on buying some just for the trip home as she had some at home already as well.

With that, I brainstormed what we could use that was cheap instead of knitting needles. I thought of bar-b-cue wooden skewers but they are too thin. I thought of wooden spoon handles but we would have to sharpen one end and they are longer and still not cheap. Someone my sister knows said they used chop sticks. They still cost and splinter. So, I said a prayer and headed to the dollar store. I looked at the cooking isle and found nothing.

I did the electronic isle, still nothing. I then thought of colored pencils and thought that perhaps I could use them on the dark colors so they lead wouldn't stain light colors. Pens would leak ink. Then, I had the perfect thought. Mechanical pencils are perfect. 

My sister used bamboo double ended knitting needles and we kept losing stitches off both ends so she used rubber bands to keep the knitting on. The mechanical pencils have the little clip that holds it onto a pocket and it is perfect to hold the stitches on when you aren't working on it so they don't fall off. Since using them, we have had far less problems dropping a stitch. Tomorrow, I will show how to make the scarves. Instead of a few dollars for each set of knitting needles, it was less than $.25 for a pair of pencils. 

The girls were fighting over the leads in the pencils for their favorite mechanical pencils and we still had the pencils to use for knitting. In my opinion, they are better than knitting needles as they hold the stitch and are small enough to fit in my purse. The needles are slick, the stitches fall off and they are longer so they keep getting stuck into the finished scarf where as the small pencils have the rubber eraser and don't tend to get caught and keep the stitches on.

I am still sick and have been in bed most of the last two days. Making scarves has been about what I could handle. I haven't been this sick forever. Can't seem to shake the sinus and lung issues. Crazy stuff going around. Even with all my knowledge of health and healing, this is a hard flu... I am sad for babies and elderly with this thing out there.

Another Gold Medal Winner - Drill Sargent Mom. . .

There was another drill competition. They are almost every weekend through December and January as State happens around February. 

At each competition, they do team competition and then an individual "drill down" to see how well the girls can follow commands and take "orders." 

Well, Princess number four is getting good. She has always done well like her sisters and there were probably 12 teams in her division and average 22 girls per team. They drilled down and wouldn't you know,  Princess number four took the Gold Medal. 

I sat laughing in the audience as I remember when Princess number one was drilling down. I would get so nervous for her and stress for her. Now, I video near the end if the girls are still in and take some photos if they get near the top ten.  There was a mother in front of me video taping the entire group her daughter was in (different division) and talking with another mother. Her daughter got to the top few and they were discussing why one got out and not another. She was upset when she didn't see what her daughter did wrong to get tapped out by the judges. You can see in the photo that there are women standing all around the outside. In the right corner, there are three discussing which girl got out first.

Sometimes, it really comes down to one judges opinion. However, flinching or false starts will get you out quickly. They also call different numbers than you are on to trip you up. If you move on the wrong number, you are out. 

They also have you following by command and then pull out and delete a command in the middle and have you execute all the remaining commands. Then, they have you march, stop marching and remain by the numbers and call a command and many forget that it is by the numbers. 

Many times the judges even mess up. It really is a difficult contest and takes lots of concentration. I follow directions well so that may be part of it but I really believe it is I am a "drill Sargent" with the girls and if I ask them to do something, they know they better do it or when they ask me to do something, it doesn't get done. 

Take the dishes last night, Princess 5 rinsed them and decided not to put them in the dishwasher. Now, she is washing the dishes for a week. They, for the most part, get them done when they are to be done but for some reason, at certain ages, they think they need to test it to make sure you will follow through with threats or punishments. Age three and thirteen seem to be the magic numbers. Then a bit more at 7 and 15. It is just to make sure you are still there and still care before they gain more freedom in life or something. 

Someone asked me why my girls are so good at "taking orders" as they always do well with drill down. I sat and talked after the competition to her for an hour. She is a friend and just had her sixth child. Her oldest is on drill with Princess number 4. Since she asked, I gave her some advise.... 

"Hold them until they aren't mad and don't cry anymore..." When the child doesn't get what they want, they usually throw a tantrum. At that point, I pull them into my arms and hold them until they stop throwing the tantrum. Sometimes they tell me they "hate me."  Other times have tried to spit, bite, scream etc. I just tell them it is "ok to feel upset but I love them" no matter how upset they get, I don't get upset. I just hold them firm and tell them I love them. When they were getting older, sometimes we ended up laying down with them screaming at me but in the end, they would get the anger, upset or behavior out and they would relax and tell me they love me and they were sorry for the behavior. A few times, I let go when they "calmed" but were still mad, that didn't work. I had to learn to hold them until they cry and get the anger out. I think they just need to know they are loved and have boundaries. Sometimes when they feel like their life is "out of control" in another way, they try to take control in a negative way. 
 
I have had to leave stores before as a child threw a tantrum about not getting to buy some candy. We left the store, sat in the car holding her for about 15 minutes until she calmed and we talked and her behavior, then we went back into the store. Her behavior was much better the second time around. I never had to take her out of a store again but neither did I, or other shoppers, ever have to hear her whine or cry about not getting something at the checkout, candy or sugared cereal isles. 

One trip out of the store at age three is much better than years of a child whining for what they want at the store every trip. They can ask for an item, I will decide if I want to buy it. If I say "no," that is the end. Sometimes it is "yes" just to reward their behavior or it is something I want anyway. I never bought it when they did their tantrum or that showed them that if they threw a fit, I would buy it for them. 


No one in life gets everything they want and children need to learn how to take that and deal with it appropriately. Most of the time, they handle it fine, just at those critical ages, they test the boundaries of your love and need to know that you love them even if they "hate you."   For me, spanking didn't work. I felt bad and didn't feel it was getting the point across and I had one that didn't care if she was in "time out", got her backside swatted or had things taken away. The only way to get her attention was to hold her until the behavior stopped. Funny, that another hated things to be taken away. Each child is different but I did the holding thing with each. Some only needed it once, others more often.Now we sometimes joke and say, "Do you need holding time?" if one is in a bad mood. I haven't had to do it for years now as they catch on fairly quickly.

The last photos is Princess number four watching herself perform on the way home. I must have done something right in there somewhere to have been blessed with such amazing and kind beautiful princesses. How is one women blessed so much....

Click here to see Princess three's gold medal.
Click here to see another of Princess four's medals  
Another post where both girls did well.  

I didn't blog when the older two drilled but they did well and had lots of medals as well. Today was a brag day but the girls have asked me to put parenting advice on so when they have kids, they can know how to handle different situations. So, since my friend asked, I thought today would be a good day for "tantrum" advice.  

Lemon Ginger Blast - Laryngitis and Cold / Flu Fix

This recipe drink has been used in our family for a few years now. I am not sure where my older sister got it but she has been wowing people with it for about ten years if I remember right. 

We have a friend that is a popular local artist and she gave him some onetime when he was singing at a conference and had a cold. He called her a few years later saying he was making a new album and had studio time and had laryngitis and could she make some for him. After that, he got the recipe and made it himself. 

I don't get sick that often so I forget about it. My sister shares it with others for many ailments and has people calling her regularly for the recipe. I thought I had posted it years ago but looked for it today as I have one of the worst illnesses I have had in years. I think it is mold related while I was out of town cleaning but whatever the illness, I am having a hard time shaking it. 

I can't get any "Seagate" nasal spray (see my post about that here) which works wonders in my small town so I am trying all the other wonderful things which help and am hoping to shake it soon. My sister reminded me about this recipe today and I made some with a few substitutions.

My sister throws the entire apple in, strains it, drinks the juice and throws out the pulp as it says in the recipe. 

I core the apples using the cutting/corer and wash them so I can drink the entire thing rather than straining it.  

It does go down quicker strained but I like the taste and texture of the pulp so I usually just drink it thick.    

Also, I didn't have ginger root on hand so I used some dried ginger and threw in a few pieces of sugared ginger root which gave some texture to the mixture. It didn't have quite the power as fresh ginger root but it still did something so feel free to alter the recipe as needed for what you have available. Ginger root is for sale in most grocery produce sections of your supermarket. I was sure that they didn't sell it in our small town. I was wrong. They do have it. I suggest you get some and try this recipe if you are feeling the slightest bit sluggish. It will really get you feeling great.  

Lemon Ginger Blast

BEGINNER Recipe:
1 - 2 inches of fresh GINGER ROOT (peel any bad parts)
2 - 3 APPLES (peeled if not organic)
1 - 2 LEMONS (peel the yellow part off and discard it as it makes the drink bitter)
1/2 tsp CAYENNE PEPPER (or fresh hot peppers...any kind) 2 - 3 cups of PURIFIED WATER

If using a blender:
Puree all ingredients.  Strain in a large strainer.  Drink the liquid.

If using a juice machine:
Juice all ingredients in the juice machine (except cayenne pepper).  If using fresh hot peppers, juice them first.  Add the water and powered cayenne pepper and stir.  Drink.
 

INTERMEDIATE to ADVANCED Recipe:
CAYENNE PEPPER: 
Gradually go from using the spice rack variety of cayenne pepper to the 40,000 and then finally to the 90,000 heat unit cayenne pepper available at the health food store.  Then gradually increase it to 1 Tablespoon total.

Fresh GINGER ROOT:
Gradually increase it to 5 or 6 inches.

FYI...The Lemon Ginger Blast is anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-fat, anti-mucous, anti-tumor and is great for the heart and circulation!

That last part came on the recipe as I got it. Of course, I must add the disclaimer that this has not been verified by the FDA or anyone to my knowledge but we have used this for years and it works wonders on the sick and weary.  

One last warning, the pepper you get in the spice rack is mild compared to the cayenne you get at the health food store. It comes in 40,000, 90,000 and 120,000 btu strength and depending on what strength you buy, depends on how much you add. Start with a little, taste it, if you can tolerate it, add a bit more etc. As you get used to it, you can tolerate more and more.