A Treasure for My Heart

A church member was asking about my Grandma last week after church and then was sharing memories of her trip to the Holy Land with my Grandparents. Grandpa was a Pastor and went to the Holy Lands several times. It was fun to hear about the trip again from this church member.

Today she brought a treasure. She brought a picture of my Grandpa next to a sea. He was standing there with his pant legs rolled up to his knees and was all smiles. I loved being able to see that picture. I wish I had a copy of it. Maybe I'll have to ask her if I can borrow it so that I can scan a copy.

It's such a neat treasure to share memories of someone you love.

Spring cleaning

That's what we've been up to this week. It all started with a new vacuum cleaner. I love my new vacuum! I started vacuuming everything. That led to decluttering so that I could vacuum more.

A very sweet friend of mine kindly gave us her keyboard. (the timing was amazing - I had just found out that our keyboard can not be repaired when she contacted me) I picked that up on Monday. That led to rearranging my music room/living room. It also led to more vacuuming.

Ladybug gets confirmed on Mother's Day, so I'm hoping to keep up this progress. I love having a clean, decluttered house. Unfortunately, most of the time, I fight an uphill battle. Both ways. In the snow. Barefoot. (that is the kind of humor you get when I decide to blog at 1:50 a.m. ...)

Puppy

Well, in a little over six weeks, we will be the owners of a new puppy! Yes, I have lost my mind - but, you already knew that anyway.

I fell in love with shih tzus after dog sitting for my friends two shih tzu dogs. They are so sweet. My mom has a friend who was raising them, so I asked her to tell her friend that we would love to have one if they had another litter sometime. A week ago Monday, mom's friend called her to tell her that they had another litter.

This friend is so sweet that she is willing to sell us a female at a discounted price! I am so thankful! I have never actually purchased a dog. We have always found one at a humane shelter. But, we really wanted an indoor dog and the only way to make sure we get one that is small is to make sure we actually have the right breed. The other issue is that we don't want to cause problems with any students who have allergies. Shih tzus are supposed to be ok in that area.

I cannot wait to see these puppies. We still don't know exactly what they look like, so I still haven't thought of a name yet!

My Grandpa

Well, for the 2nd Wednesday in a row, my grandpa fell/passed out/fainted at church. Thankfully, he was at church where he was among people who could help and people who love him. So, now the question is what to do from here? He is 92 and has been living alone since Grandma passed away in July 2009. The concern is that no one is around to help him if he is alone and has one of these issues. But, the tricky part is that he likes him home and he loves his church. He does volunteer work at the church and it keeps him going. I hate to see him lose that.

I have offered to take him into our home. We live only 30 minutes from his church and could get him to his church and to his Braille volunteer work. Ladybug has been fascinated with Braille - so, we could all volunteer together and really learn something!

So here's the positives:
*He could have our room and bathroom - all on the main level. We could clean all our stuff out of the room and bathroom so it could be all his own stuff and his own space. We could easily move to the downstairs bedroom/bathroom.
*We are around all day. He would not be alone.
*I could get him to his church and Braille work and we could volunteer with him.
*He loves to walk. We have a beautiful bike path close and we could go with him so that he wouldn't have to walk alone. I know I could use more exercise!
*He used to play Yahtzee with my Grandma every afternoon. I have children who would eat that up! They love games.
*When my dh and I were discussing all of these possibilities - my kids got so excited at the idea. They asked when he could move in!

Amazed

Butterfly amazes me with her musical ears. She sat down at the piano this morning and figured out the melody of a song that one of my piano students was learning 4 months ago! She remembered it after all that time.

In the News

Check out this link to see Brian and the girls in the news. Their clip is about halfway into this news story. Panda is the one sledding down on her own. Naomi is climbing up the hill. And Rachel and Naomi sled down together. We borrowed the sleds from our friends and their son was able to join the girls as well. They had a blast!

Here's the link: Sledding

Locks of Love

Monkey donated two years ago and had grown her hair out again. It was finally long enough to donate again. Here's her new haircut:

Imagination and odd dreams

Panda came in this morning and snuggled up in bed with me. (I love that) Then out of the blue, she looks over to the side of the bed and said, "Great. My unicorn wants a snack." After that, she crinkled up her nose, looked to the side of the bed and said, "No, I told you no more snacks". I told her to put the unicorn outside. So, she got up out of bed and went to the door. She came back rolling her eyes and said, "Now I suppose the unicorn will bang on the door all morning."

Yesterday, I was almost late getting ready for church. I was dreaming that I was at work and when my alarm clock went off it went into my dream and I was told by my boss that every time I hit that buzzer I would get 20 points. I don't remember how many times I snoozed my alarm before I figured out that I was dreaming!

I Forgot

Another reason this poor blog is so neglected is that I think of things to write and then forget about them by the time I get a chance to find my blog again! I had two things on my mind to blog about earlier today and they are gone now! Oops.

Getting Dressed

Panda was getting dressed this morning and came to my room and said with a dismayed voice, "Mom, I'm trying to get dressed and the buttons go in front on my pants, but the tag is in front!"
I replied, "Oh, honey, sometimes they put the tag in front, so it's ok. What were they thinking putting tags in the front?! Those silly people"
She said, "Well, I'm pretty sure they messed up."

About that snowday...

It was certainly a nice gift. I had a list beyond what I thought could be accomplished, but with Brian's help, I got so much done today.

Here's what puzzles me, though. I don't understand why this school system doesn't utilize a late start instead of canceling all day. This school rarely takes a snow day because the superintendent knows that there are children out there who really need a warm place and need the food they receive at school.

After several hours this morning, the ice wasn't too bad. Most of it was melted. A one or two hour delay would have been sufficient to clear things off and get to school safely.

Oh well, I won't complain. It was a blessing to have my husband home today!

Surprise!

My hubby got a snow day! (It's really due to ice) This so rarely happens that it deserves a blog post. :)

Family Game Night

I know a lot of families that have started a family game night. I've always been envious - it sounds like so much fun! So, we decided to start one here. I'm sure it won't be without it's interruptions, but it should be fun.

We started last night using the Wii. Over Christmas the girls received several games, but this time of year it's hard to find the time to play the games.

We started with Mario Cart. Butterfly whipped us all! Brian and I lost miserably! Lots of giggling was heard. We moved on to Just Dance and Just Dance 2. Ha ha ha - a game where I can excel (not that I can dance - I've just used it as a workout, so I know the dances better. :) ). Lots more giggling. I took a break when they decided to play Wii Ski and Snowboard (we are one nunchuck short), but they enjoyed racing down the mountains together.

We'll see what next week has in store for the game night. Should be fun!

For my Dad

Hi Dad!!!

He was asking why I haven't updated my blog. By now, he may be the only one reading anyway...

Need a cello?

A friend of mine found this post on Craig's List. I had to copy and paste it just so I have something to come back to for a giggle after a rough day.

So my sister gave me this cello a couple years ago. It's a nice cello. Actually, it's a great cello. It's probably the best cello, but I don't really know much about cellos. Also the neck snapped off. Of the cello. So it's really more like 3/4's of a cello, but the other 1/4's still there, it's just not attached. It's kind of like you're getting two cellos, only one of them doesn't have a body and the other doesn't have a neck. But if you stand them up next to each other it's like old times. You could probably fix it with like some music glue or something like that.

She also gave me a cello bag that I can give to you too, now that I won't have a cello. It's a really nice cello bag. You can fit everything in it. Actually, there might even be a bow in the bag, I'm not sure. I don't want you to think that there's 100% a bow in the bag. It's way over there, I can't check right now. But if it's in there it's yours.

If you're like me and you don't know how to play the cello then you could use it as a coin bank. It's hollow and there are two S's on the front that you could drop the coins through. Then when it's filled up you could drop it off of your roof or carry it around like a change purse. Ooh, in the cello bag. It'd be like a cello purse. I'd do it but I'm moving across the country and it won't fit in my car. What else could you do with it. You could saw the front off and use it as a sled. Or give the neck to a baby as like a wizard stick for Christmas. Totally give this cello to someone for Christmas. Or Hanukkah.

Please come get it. I'd actually go somewhere to meet you if wherever we're going is a cool place. Like the desert or something.

I'm 90% certain the bow's in there.