Not My Week - Breaking Things

I think this week isn't my week. My car broke down on the way out of town the day after Christmas and the engine fan broke. When I got it to the mechanics, they said it was good that I didn't head out of town as the steel treads were showing on one of my tires. 


I had the tires rotated a month ago so that was a surprise to me. I could have been on the highway far from town when the fan went or the tire blew so I was grateful I drove around town for a few minutes to make sure the car was working ok.
 
I was grateful for the blessing that the part I needed was at the local wrecking yard. When the mechanic went to put it in, someone had put the wrong part in before and that is why it broke down. They had wired in a different part. 


I was able to get a used  tire for the car as well and Princess Two ran around town getting what was needed and picking it up while I was in bed sick. 

I was putting some change from my wallet in our family "money jar" where we put loose change we use for different things when needed. 

I bent over to put change in it tonight and hit the sconce on the wall and it fell and broke the money jar. I can't understand how the glass candle holder didn't break but the large thick money jar did break. The glass shards went everywhere and were in the coins as well. 

I didn't want anyone getting glass in their hands digging through the coins so I figured I had better sift through it and make sure I didn't leave any glass. I actually got a few shards in my finger when I was sorting them. There was quite the pile after I got finished. There were shards into the bathroom and several feet away as well. 

The sad thing about this was that the jar was probably worth more than the coins in the jar. I have been breaking things lately. I broke the ear off this Mickey Globe I bought for a gift. I also broke a jar I bought for Princess Five the other day. 

It must just be my month for breaking things. I'll have to keep my eye out for another jar to use. I broke another one a few months back that I used for holding bags in the laundry room. 

Not sure what is going on this week but between my car, my health and today, I think I may just stay in bed tomorrow. 

Perhaps the new year will bring in some better luck!

Human Barometer - Flu and Migraine

I tried for awhile now to upload some pictures. For some reason, my internet isn't working well and keeps freezing where I have to restart everything.

I had one of the worst headaches / migraines I have had in years. I knew I should have taken something for my head the night before but woke early with a headache and tried to sleep it on for a few more hours. I woke in so much pain I threw up immediately. I started feeling better after a few bouts of kneeling to the porcelain bowl. I got up and showered and played a few games with the girls.

After a nights sleep, I figured I had gotten over it and actually attended church today only to come home and start with the flu.

Not the best two days of my world but glad I got to spend time with my girls, at least most of them.

Hope your past few days have been better than mine.

Here is a post where I tell about my headaches. And another post here.

You Spin me Round - Spinning Dice

We started playing a dice game called "Farkle" lately and have had dice out over the last few days. 


Princess Five has been spinning dice for awhile now but until a few days ago none of the rest of us could spin die. 

She showed me a week or so ago but I wasn't very good. Christmas Eve, she showed her sisters how to spin dice. 

Princess Three got it down quickly and leaves her die on the table to make it spin. Princess Four kinda lifts hers in the air as she spins it and it leaps a bit before landing on the table. 


For about 20 minutes, the girls were all spinning dice on the table and they were flying back and fourth and the girls were giggling and they were trying to see how many dice they could get spinning at a time. 


We had four going at one point. It was fun.

To get the dice to spin, you put your middle or pointer finger on the back of the die while it is resting on one corner and place the thumb of the other hand on the front corner. 

Pull the thumb back towards the arm and and pull the middle finger from the other hand towards that arm and this spins the die on its corner and it can last anywhere from a few seconds to about 45 seconds. 

It took Princess four a few minutes to figure it out and when she finally figured it out, she was so excited about it that she pointed both fingers at it to show everyone.

It was really cute. I hurried and took a picture and with the flash on, it captured the die almost still so it looks like she is pointing at a die that is standing on one corner. 

You would be surprised at how much fun your family can have just spinning dice. Give it a try. I am sure we could make a fun game out of it with a little thought.

"You spin me right round, baby right round" would be a good song to play while you spin! 

Cute Shower Gift and Baby Blanket

We are headed to family parties and I wanted a quick post. Princess One had a work Baby Shower and someone gave her this really cute gift. 

They use diapers rolled up to make the wheels. Then stick flowers in the center of the wheel. Use two receiving blankets wrapped around the base made of diapers and bibs for the hood and under the ribbon for the crib part. 

A few yards of ribbon and a bib hanging out the back and it is really a cute gift. 

Princess One has been working on a baby blanket for months now. She is getting quite close to finishing it. She worked on it while we were at the drill competition the other weekend. 

I think it is quite cute and she is getting close to finishing it. 

Sorry it is such a lame post but I needed something quick and I thought it was a cute idea. 

Hope you have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy time with family!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The girls came home and we decided to do our Christmas a day early. My family has a family party the day after Christmas each year in another town. See that post here. We always have to do Christmas, clean it up, cook the Christmas dinner and pack for a few days all in one day. 

This year, I figured if we did Christmas a day early, we could have our Christmas, do the dinner and have a day in between where we could clean up slower, eat the rest of the left overs and not have to put all the left over food in the freezer etc. 

I LOVED doing it early. We enjoyed ourselves so much more as we didn't have to take the Christmas tree down on Christmas and I could spend more time with the girls rather than rushing to cook, put it away and pack. 

We opened our "One present" after we got our matching pajamas. See our post about that here. Everyone got new footie pajamas. We changed into them and then opened our "one present" and then we were ready for some fun. 

We decided to play "black jack" and use the money in our money jar to bet with. We had to figure out the dealer and how to pay out. It turned out to be more like a black jack Poker game. It was fun and we played until one of the girls ran out of her money. 

We played a game of choice for each person before that as well. We played Scattergories, Clue, Ark of the Covenant, Nertz, (See that post here) and Farkle. 

We really enjoyed playing games together all day and into the night. It was cute to see the girls stacking their coins and working on figuring out betting. It wasn't our thing but it was worth a try. Perhaps if we bet with candy that the girls liked, it would have been more exciting to them. 

I think we will be doing Christmas early every year as long as my siblings party is on the day after Christmas. 

I got more sleep than I have in forever for a "Christmas Eve" night as I always have to pack the extended family gifts an get those ready as well so we can head out of town soon after. 

What I would really like to do next year, is to take all the girls to New Zealand for Christmas and enjoy the warm beaches for Christmas and visit all the host families I made while there. It can't hurt to dream. 

We hope you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Secret Santa and Christmas Treats

Princess Five told me the other day that she wasn't feeling the Christmas Spirit. I suggested that she do some service to help her feel the "spirit" more. 

We had all those prizes left from our family bunko Thanksgiving party so I suggested that she do the "12 days of Christmas" for someone. She started to sort through the items and asked if she could do it for three people she knew. There were two girls at school that she thought it would be good to do the twelve days for as well as her best friend.

I started making our neighborhood gifts while she sorted out presents for different people. We also had two new families move into our area with young children so she sorted out gifts for them as well.

I finished making our Christmas treats and then bagged them and labeled them. Here is a link to the recipe that I use. 

I did add some new things this year. I put in crushed peppermint candy canes in the mint chocolate batch and then I added the round caramel bits in the butterscotch flavored mix. 

I made the mixes "gluten" free this year by taking out the pretzels that I normally add. With my thyroid problem, I am on a gluten free diet so I was happy that the mix is gluten free other than the pretzels but as you can see, I found other things to add to the mix. 

All the mixes came out great and I like the way they looked in the bags by layering the flavors. I purchase the gift bags after the holiday for the next year and Chex cereal always goes on sale before the holidays so that is a plus.

We then spent the rest of the night wrapping the presents for the "12 days" and put them all in bags and delivered them to the homes or schools where they would be needed. 

We asked the school the next morning to call the students to the office and to give them the "Gift" bag that had the 12 days of Christmas presents in them. I asked Princess Five if she felt more of the "Christmas Spirit" after doing the "12 Days" of Christmas for others, and she said she did. 

For her best friend, she just put one gift in her locker each day and several in on the last day of school. It was kind of a fun way to do it as her friend lives in a neighboring town. 
 
I learned a long time ago that if I don't feel the "Spirit of Christmas" that I need to do service. It seemed to work for Princess Five as well. 

We used to the 12 days of Christmas for a few families each year but with the surgery and travel last year and the crazy life with the wedding the year before over the holidays, we haven't been doing it. 

It was nice to get back into that routine this year. We are so blessed to have the means to share with others.

This May or May Not Be a True Story - Christmas Shoes Blues

I may, or have may not, have had a shoe incident when attending our church Christmas program. Sunday, the girls and I were scheduled to arrive at church early to warm up with the choir for the annual Christmas program. 

The night before, I carefully set my alarm for 8:45. The only problem with that was that we were supposed to be at the church at 8:30 to warm up. I set the alarm on my clock for 7:45 but not my regular alarm clock. 

I guess when I was tired last night, I set the regular alarm for an hour later than I should have. In my deep dreams, I heard my phone alarm but not quite enough to wake all the way. 

Princess Five came in and told me we had 1/2 hour to be at church to warm up with the choir. That was fine. I actually had plenty of time but I guess I wasn't quite awake when I put my shoes on. 

I saw the reflection of myself in the door as I approached the church and noticed I needed to pull my skirt down a bit but didn't notice anything else out of the ordinary. We were on time to warm up with the choir.

We were on the stand where the choir has raised seating so I couldn't put my feet out in front of me as they would hang down. We stood up and down most of the main meeting so I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. 

We had new members move in this week so after the meeting I rushed to welcome them into our congregation. I remember thinking back that one shoe was a bit looser than the other as I talked and walked with them but didn't notice anything else. 

The Sunday school meeting was next and I was kind of falling asleep sitting in the back row as there were many family members visiting so there wasn't much room to move. 

For the woman's meeting at the end, I sat in between two new members and introduced myself and then introduced them to each other. It was a bit cold as we were now on the front row. I put my jacket over my knees and enjoyed the meeting. I crossed my leg one direction for most of the meeting and at the end, my backside was feeling a bit sore so I swapped and crossed my other leg. That was when I noticed that the shoe I had on one foot WASN'T the same shoe I had on the other foot when it was crossed. 

When I put the second shoe on, it had been upside down so I flipped it with my foot and started putting on my jewelry while I put the second shoe on. 

I was asked to say the closing prayer on the meeting for the day and as I got up to pray, I told the women that I was going to give them a good laugh for my Christmas present to them. I told them I had on different shoes all day and that I hadn't noticed until a few minutes before. Not one person said anything all day. 

Princess Five came in after the meetings and I asked if she had noticed and she just shook her head and said, "Oh mom...." smiling as she said it.


Several people came up after and told me stories of wearing two shoes to a funeral, wearing a crock and a sandal to WalMart, and one woman told me she has done that same thing more than once. 

I told them I was just starting a new trend. Princess Three doesn't wear matched socks EVER for years and it is now the rage to wear mis-matched socks. I figure I am just a trend setter wearing two different shoes. 

At least they were both black sandals with the same size heel on them. I actually bought the one pair to replace the other as the one with bling on them got loose and my feet slip too far forward so I purchased the other to replace them. I should have just thrown the first away. 
 
Princess Four got a package of socks from a friend for Christmas that is just mis-matched socks! Crazy what people will buy. Princesses had a discussion about it today and some like it and others refuse to get on the "non-matching sock" wagon. 

Today reminded me of the Sunday when I went through the day at church and then on to other meetings and finally someone at the end of the day told me I lost an earring. I felt one ear and it had no earring in it and then I felt the other, and I had both earrings in the same hole. I couldn't believe that no one noticed only earrings in one ear or that I had two in one ear. Both these stories let me know that people don't really notice much about what others are wearing as they are more concerned about what others will think about what they are wearing. 

So, I can neither confirm, nor deny the facts of this story. However, if you ever run into any of the princesses, you could ask them the validity of it. I know I brought a good laugh and a few smiles to more than a few women today!

Sprucing Up Leather Items Using a Sharpie

I have to laugh when I post this. Years ago, I was single and in high school. I had black leather boots I used to wear very often. I used a black Sharpie to color in the scuffs and scrapes on the boots.

A year or two later, my girlfriend called me and told me she had watched a movie called "Pretty Woman" and said that the actress in the show reminded her of me so much. She told me that I needed to watch the show. I don't like watching "R" rated movies so I told her I would have to wait until it came on TV.

A few years later, it came on TV and I watched it and it was so funny. In the first few scenes of the movie, Julia Roberts is coloring her black boots with a Sharpie Marker. I actually laughed out loud when I saw it.


Since then, over the years, many people have told me they think I sound and look like Julia Roberts. I used to get it all the time when I had permed long hair.

My Father and Mother-in-law lived in Thailand for a few months and watched "Nodding Hill" while there. My mother-in-law looked at my dad in the theater and said, "How is it watching your daughter on the screen?" I personally have never seen the resemblance but I have actually had strangers tell me I sound like her and they came around to look and see my face.

That really has nothing to do with anything but I just had that flash back when I started to write this post.

I have used this method for years. It works great. If you have read any of my posts, you know that I LOVE Sharpies and use them for all sorts of things.In fact, I searched my posts and I have 36 posts where I mention "Sharpie" for different uses.


Just fill in the scratches with the nearest color of Sharpie. Use brown on brown leather and black on Black leather etc.

When I look at the finished project, you can't really see the fills in's unless you look really closely. It is a nice easy "fix" for small scratches and worn patches.

This will also work on couches, leather chairs etc. It is nice that I can spruce up older things and make them look fresh again within just seconds and for little or no cost.

Grand-Princess's Baby Shower - Princess Number One

Princess One is expecting her baby mid February. Since she will be moving soon once Prince number one finishes up his masters this week, they decided to have a shower for her now before she moves. 

Since she knows she is having a girl, it made it easy for everyone to be able to purchase things she could use. 

It was the weekend of Thanksgiving so many people were out of town but gave her gifts at our family dinner the day before. 

She had a great surprise when her aunt who is an award winning quilter gave her this adorable hand made quilt. You can see her mouth dropping open as she viewed it from above as she opened it. 


Her cousin was so wonderful to host it. And, her cousin's wife had it at her home. She made these cute fan wheel decorations for the wall.

She put up the ultrasound pictures on the centerpiece. Everyone helped with food. It was a wonderful afternoon and everyone enjoyed the shower. 


Princess Two and I purchased lots of Disney outfits for Grand-Princess. She got the one's I didn't and we made sure that we got lots of different sizes so she would have many months of cute Disney clothes to wear.

We figured that Prince Number One would be excited to dress the little angel if she had Disney clothes to wear. Princes One LOVES Disney. 
 
We were able to see some long time friends and one of Prince One's Aunts came in from Hawaii. 

My niece is expecting a baby a few weeks after Princess One. It will be so fun for them to have babies together. Don't they look adorable together!  

She had another shower at work last week and she has gotten quite a large pile of things for the baby. I know she is excited to start putting things together but with the move and the graduation of Prince Number One, they will have to wait. 

I remember getting the nursery together and putting up the crib etc. She hasn't been able to do any of that as she needs to finish her job to keep the insurance until the baby. 

I think she has done remarkably well keeping herself sane while working at a VERY stressfull job, moving not once but twice as of next week while being pregnant and having her husband finishing his masters project while he worked and took classes. 

It amazes me how much people can endure and how they are able to sustain even while under so much stress. As far as stress factors go, they have about nine out of ten. 

Lets pray that after the next few weeks, their lives can calm down some and that everything will be great for Grand-Princess number one's entry into the world.