Can I Cry Now?

When Lee is at sea I copy and paste all of my blog posts into an email so that he can read them.  He is very limited in what he can pull up online while aboard ship and unfortunately my blog is one of those off limits sites. He surprised me and made me cry today when he emailed me this (below) today in response to my 100 Things About Rebecca post last week.  I am so very proud to be married to my sweetheart.  He's a keeper! 

PS I have his permission to post this so don't give him any grief about being too sweet on his wife!

From Lee:

Wow! A list of 100 things about you, there is some really good info on this list. However after reading it I thought, "hmmm….I think I will make my own list." So here is my list;



100 Things About Rebecca (in no particular order)

She is beautiful

She is a great mom

She is a great cook

She enjoys cooking/baking

She hates to do laundry

She loves rice crispy treats

She loves cappuccino

She hates exercise

She is not a morning person

She likes pink (her favorite)

She likes orange skittles

She wears "Poison" perfume

She is definitely a casual girl

She does like to dress up for an occasion

She likes PBR

She really likes to read

She is beginning to enjoy learning

She loves to travel and see new cultures

She wants to learn Spanish

Her favorite scripture verse is Jeremiah 29:11

She has a dry sense of humor

"Private Eyes" is one of her favorite movies

She doesn't like to drive that much

She loves me and pampers me

She pursued cake decorating for a while & is rather good at it

She is very crafty

She loves Jesus

She memorized most of James

She likes crossword puzzles

She likes any puzzle

She enjoys sweepstakes

She is learning piano

She is incredibly supportive of me

She wants to be a nurse

She likes country music

She would go to the symphony with me

She liked Elvis

She likes watermelon

She loves berries, especially raspberries

She enjoys driving a Suburban

She has terrible sinus troubles/allergies

She loves most all animals

She has a hard time passing up a stray dog

She one day would like to have a small farm

She is a convert to Apple/Mac

She is a good military wife

She does not like to be cold

She likes to watch Monk

She prefers bath to shower

She has trouble with watches (they stop running)

She is a night owl

She slept through Old Testament and got a better grade than I did

She loves being a homemaker

She is silly

She claims the best omelet ever is at the MAC/Space A terminal in Yakota, Japan

She is loyal

She is faithful

She is trusting

She is committed to us

She is my only

She is a blogger

She is my cozy friend

She loves good music

She does not like saxophone

She (like me) keeps some things just between us

She is a realist

She is a random thinker

She gets nervous when Caitlin drives

She is quite handy

She is deathly afraid of roaches

She listens to my crazy ideas

She is afraid of bridges

She was wearing overalls the 1st time I saw her

She does not like to swim in the ocean

She is not that good at geography (getting better)

She can sing harmony

She wants to grow a garden

She is learning to like baseball J

She likes motorcycles

She has a tattoo

She used to collect cows, now collects wiener dogs

She is more outgoing than I am

She likes all the trimmings on a burger

She has friends around the globe

She is a good role model for our girls

She is fun

She keeps me interested

She is my right hand

She is very generous

She is intelligent

She is a confidant

She is somewhat adventurous

She cooks my favorites

She puts "us" first

She is a sucker for a yard sale

She loves Williamsburg

She loves the Mitford series by Jan Karon

One of her favorite books is Two from Galilee

She is worth it!



And the one to put it over the top, #101 you are my best friend. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think through these things today. Of course this is a list that I would have no problem sharing with someone else, or over email. There is another list about Rebecca that I must keep to myself, although it would fall into that "just between us" category.



I love you!



Lee Brown

Chaplain, LPD 17

USS San Antonio

chaps@san-antonio.navy.mil

Happy Birthday Mimi!

It's my mom's birthday today!  Everyone, give Mimi a big shout out and send some love her way!  We are sad that we cannot be down in the Sunshine State with her to celebrate another year, so we put together a little birthday greeting for "the nicest mimi we ever met".  You'll get that little joke later.  The girls got into the spirit of it all, especially Holly.  Her original greeting went something like "you look like my mimi and you smell like her too".  She's a girl after her Papa's heart.  Anyway, We love you Mimi and we hope you have a fantastic birthday!

Happy Birthday Mimi! I know that the last year has been one of many changes and life changing events for you (and Papa). I am glad that we have had the opportunity to share much more of the past year with you than we could over the three years before. I pray that this next year will be full of God’s blessings. Love ya, your favorite son-in-law.

Hey Mom, Happy Birthday!  I'm sorry we could not be there for your special day.  We did want you to know that we are thinking about you today.  I hope you will go do something fun and exciting.  Enjoy your day!  Let me know what you think of Charlotte's gift.  I helped.  I Love you!!  Bec

Happy Birthday 2

To my Mimi on her birthday,

I hope you have a wonderful birthday. You have been a blessing to me.  You help me with my curly  hair(which I got from you!) I straightened it for this picture. You have helped me with make-up and shoes and everything else too.  I thank you and I hope that you will enjoy many more birthdays!  I Love You! Caitlin

Dear Mimi,

I hope that you have fun on your special day. I wish I could be there but I can't so eat lots of cake, cookies and other party junk.  Things that will later on make you say "why in the world did I eat all that junk?" DO it all for me and when the 3 extra pounds show up, don't worry, I will run them off for you. LOL! I love you and I hope you get something shiny on you birthday.  Hint, hint...Papa.  Love ya Lots, From probably your favorite granddaughter, Holly

Happy Birthday 3

Dear Mimi,

I want to wish you a happy birthday.  I don't have a card or a gift but you have my love!  Happy Birthday, Love Abbie

Ode To My Mimi

You are cool

You are Fun

You are the nicest Mimi

I've ever met!

Dear Mimi,

What I sed in the poum is true.  You are cool. You relly are fun and you relly relly are the nicest mimi I ever met. 

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Gracie

Sunday Suppers

Today's Sunday Supper recipe I totally snagged from the Pioneer Woman blog.  It looked so delicious and since I'm always on the lookout for a winner, I had to give this one a try.  It also has a surprise ingredient which made it that much more appealing.  I even copied PW's style of taking pictures of some of the steps during the prep.  I do not claim ANY of the talent she has for photography.  Hers always have a Martha Stewart-esque look about them.  Mine? Not so much.   

I made these yummy dumplings this morning before church.  We had a pot-luck lunch after the morning service.  Remember what I told you was the true test of the success of any pot-luck dish?  Check out the last picture.

I Dew Love Apple Dumplings

2-3 Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and sliced into eighths.

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

2 sticks of butter ( I never promised it was good for you)

1 1/2 C Sugar

12 ozs Mountain Dew (yes the soda)

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon

 *** Open your crescent rolls and separate the triangles.  Roll two slices of apple up into each triangle making a little bundle.  Lay them into a 9x13 casserole pan like shown below.  I fit about 15 bundles into my pan but I had to get a little creative. 

Next you will need to melt your 2 sticks of butter and stir your vanilla and sugar into it.  The trick is to not stir too much.  Pour the sugar/butter mixture over the top of your bundles.  Then pour your 12 ozs of Mountain Dew down the middle and around the edges.  I had a 20 oz bottle so the girls had fun finishing it off for me.  I hope they'll sit still in church!
Next you sprinkle the whole top with cinnamon and pop it in the  350 degree oven for 30 minutes (or so).  When I got mine out there was alot of juice floating around the bottom so I ladled some of it out into a bowl.  After it cooled a bit I could not help taking a little taste of the juice and oh my stars was it ever good!  If I'd a had a straw...  My little bowl of juice is in the fridge awaiting a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream to accompany it later this evening for a snack.  YUM-OHere it is bubbling away in the hot oven.  The one on the left is the cheesy chicken casserole I was obliged to make since man cannot live on apple dumplings alone.  The recipe for it will be in another Sunday Suppers edition.
Here we are, all ready to go to church.  Remarkably we will be on time today if something unexpected does not happen on the way.  

No Leftovers 

Extreme 8 Seconds

There has been a little discussion here (and in my email box) about one of the items on my 100 Things About Me list.  Yes, I admit it openly that I am a PBR fan.  PBR= Professional Bull Riding for those of you who do not know.   I cannot exactly pinpoint why I like it so much.  I just do, so that's enough explanation for now.  I think I got hooked in the early 90's after watching the movie Eight Seconds which is the true life story of Lane Frost.  He was a bull rider who was fatally wounded by a bull during a competition in Wyoming.  Secretly, after seeing the movie I wanted to name a son Lane.  Of course you all know that didn't happen.  

My favorite cowboys are Adriano Moraes (3 PBR World Championships) and Chris Shivers(2 PBR World Championships).  Adriano is getting a little old for this sport but boy I tell you, in his heyday he sure could ride.  I've been known to hop around the living room hollering "hang on Adriano!!!" while watching him ride his way to a world championship.  Exhilarating! 

One of my life goals is to someday go to the World Championship Rodeo which is held every October in Las Vegas.  What a coincidence, my birthday happens to fall sometime near then. That would be a nice birthday gift!  I'd settle for going to the Git-R-Done Invitational in Orlando in June.  Hint, Hint!

Anyway, who couldn't love a sport where some of the players are named things like Bodacious, Soulja Boy and Tighty Whitey?  I'm referring to the bulls of course.  

Below is a clip from a ride by Zach Brown.  There was a bit of controversy as to whether he actually covered the full 8 seconds.  My favorite announcer, Don Gay would say "that bull wrecked 'em up and flung 'em like a yard dart. " 

And Winner Is......

The movie line contest is officially over.  I had a lot of fun with it and would like to thank all of you who participated.  Our winner is Carma, another fabulous homeschooling mommy from Arizona who got 39 out of 40 of the movie lines correct.  Great job Carma!!!  She chose a gift card from Bed, Bath and Beyond which is in the mail on its way to her as you read.  Check out Carma's blog and store.  Stay tuned for May's contest coming soon (it will not be so difficult!).  In the meantime, here is the answers you've been waiting for.  I'm sure you will all sleep a little easier tonight.  

1 Inconceivable!
The Princess Bride

2
You play ball like a girl!
Sandlot

3 If lack of attention to personal finances is a
mark of refinement then the
Marches are the finest family in Concord.
Little Women

4 In the mornin' I'm makin' waffles.
Shrek

5 Go make yerself a dang quesadiller.
Napoleon Dynamite

6 My name is Tuhmater without the tuh.
Cars

7 A bird could love a fish but where would they
live?
Ever After

8 First we'll see what he's sellin, then we'll
shoot him.
Secondhand Lions

9 This place is a geographical oddity, 2 weeks
from
everywhere.
O Brother Where Art Thou

10 I don't know nothin bout birthin no babies.
Gone with the Wind

11 You're standing in horse ca-ca.
Private Eyes

12 Fish are friends, not food.
Finding Nemo

13 I want both. You heard the man, give him both.
Radio

14 I do believe in fairies, I do, I do.
Peter Pan

15 Those are historical babes.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

16 Why does it always have to be the rum?
Pirates of the Caribbean

17 Do or do not. There is no try.
Star Wars

18 I see dead people.
Sixth Sense

19 To Infinity and beyond!
Toy Story

20 They may take away our lives but they will
never take away our freedom!
Braveheart

21 You'll shoot your eye out.
A Christmas Story

22 Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

23 He's a
vegetarian. That's ok I make lamb.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

24 Half doe, half buck, I'm a duck!
Open Season

25 Wax on Wax off
Karate Kid

26 Gort! Klaatu barada nikto
The Day the Earth Stood Still

27 I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash
ya got.
Raising Arizona

28 You not numba one, you numba ten!
Operation Dumbo Drop

29 You're gonna need a bigger boat.
Jaws

30 Surely you can't be serious. I am serious, and
don't call me shirley.
Airplane!

31 If you build it he will come.
Field of Dreams

32 Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?
Raiders of the Lost Ark

33 As God as my witness, I will never be hungry
again!
Gone with the Wind

34 There's no crying in baseball.
A League of Their Own

35 Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
Dirty Dancing

36 That'll do pig. That'll do.
Babe

37 I may not be a smart man but I know what love
is.
Forrest Gump

38 I will break my foot off in your John Brown
hind parts and then, you will
run a mile.
Remember the Titans

39 Oh George, not the livestock.
O Brother Where Art Thou

40 My house, it is full of ransackery. ( one of my favorite lines because it translates so well into real life!)
The Master of Disguise

Get Lost!

A long awaited day has finally come.   Lost comes on again tonight.  

My Mistake

I was perusing Blogging Basics 101 this morning and ran across an alarming tidbit of overlooked information. Evidently it is tradition to do a "100 Things About Me" post after your 100th blog post. Sort of a right of passage in the blog world I guess. I did a little research and found that I hit 100 on Dec 10, 2007. It's hard to believe that I have been blogging for that long! Who am I to mess with tradition, right? So I sat right down and typed out 100 things about me. It's a lot tougher than it sounds. I present to you my retroactive 100 Things list, read on if you dare....
100 Things About Rebecca
4 daughters
Only child
Happily married almost 18 years
Christian
Love sushi
Love seafood especially crablegs
Homeschooled my girls for 9 years
Parents still married to each other
Republican
Love to take naps
Favorite dessert: warm rice crispy treats
Favorite hymn: Wonderful Grace Of Jesus
Have a Dacshund named Snickers
Have a Morkie named Wrigley
Have a kitty named Fraidycat
Love to watch Pro Bull Riding on TV
Hooked on Lost
Size 5 1/2 shoe
Dyed my hair a weird red color
Natural hair color is dark brown
In-Laws still married to each other
In-laws live in middle Georgia
Married a Georgia boy
Have an AA degree
Have moved 18 times since marriage
Got married in 1990
Had a baby in 92
Had a baby in 95
Had a baby in 96
Had a baby in 99
Spent most of the 90’s pregnant or nursing
Grew up in Central Florida
Was not a good student
Loved to watch Little House on the Prairie when young
Worked Daycare as a teen
Worked at Disney for one summer
Have had the chicken pox
Have had 4 surgeries
Have broken several toes
Been to Japan
Been to Indonesia
Lived on the island of Guam
Been to Saipan
Love to cook
Hate to clean
Love dark chocolate
Not too crazy about french fries
Don’t like peas or beans
Have friends in many places
Knew 2 of my great grandmas
Have one grandparent left here on earth
Love the color pink
Love willow trees
Not too fond of winter
Love to Blog
Am NOT a morning person
Took hubby to work this morning at 5AM
Wish I could be thinner
Love to read
Can’t dance
Messy
Love garlic
Think I should have been born Italian
Would like to trace family origin
Ice cream makes my tummy hurt
My toenails are ALWAYS painted
Fingernails won’t grow
Drive a Suburban named Jet Puff
Like to ride on the back of motorcycles
Never want to live in Louisiana or California
Failed typing class miserably in High School
Drove a school bus for a couple of years
Would like to have a tiny farm someday
Have never gotten a speeding ticket
Hate to exercise
Could eat Italian food everyday
Ate a biscuit with honey on it for breakfast
Love to travel
Don’t travel enough
Have a teenager who is learning to drive
Am taking piano lessons
Been a Survivor fan since season 1
Lived in Texas for 3 years
Rode an elephant once
Never seen the Grand Canyon
Been to Canada
Saw the Statue of Liberty
Saw the White House
Caught a glimpse of George W Bush in person once but not at the White House
Can’t run
Lived on a Marine Corps base for 2 years
Remember exactly where I was when the twin towers fell
Know the agony of having a husband deploy
All my house plants die
Enjoy watching my girls live life
Was born on October 1st
Born in North Carolina
Love my husband
Love my kids
Love being a stay at home mom!

Sunday Suppers

Today's Sunday Supper recipe came from my granny.  She hand wrote this recipe card before Lee and I got married 18ish years ago.  As a kid I was no big fan of the sweet potato but was talked into trying this delicious concoction by my dad.  I figured that anything covered in marshmallows couldn't be all bad.  Of course I discovered that I loved it and from that point forward have never found another recipe to be its equal.  If I'm eatin sweet taters, I'm eatin em like this!  My granny is gone now and I miss her very much.  My memories of her do not really revolve around food and the kitchen.  She wasn't that kind of granny.  Turns out this little gem that she was known for bringing to every Thanksgiving feast was clipped out of the newspaper in the 1950s.  Way to stay up on the news granny!

Sweet Granny Sweet Taters

(Goes perfectly with Ham)

4 med sweet potatoes baked and mashed

4 eggs well beaten

1 1/2 C sugar

1 1/3 C milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 stick of butter softened (6 Tbsp)

1 C pecans chopped very fine

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Bag of marshmallows for topping

*** Combine all the ingredients until well blended.  Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.  Take out and cover the top with marshmallows and put it back into hot oven long enough for them to get puffy all over.  

Enjoy!

ROUS In My Wall!!!!

See that corner down there in the first picture?  We discovered earlier today that there is an animal trapped somewhere behind that corner.  You could hear the little creature back there scratching away trying to escape.  It was quite a scene in my garage this morning with five rodent shy females wielding hammers, fly swatters and umbrellas, staring at the wall wondering what to do next.  The man of the house who would typically handle all rodent related issues is, well, not here.  What's a mom to do? Find out what this mom did by looking below at picture #2.

I used my weapon of choice to knock a hole in the wall.  It was super easy and surprisingly fun.  Never once while swinging did I stop to think about several important things.  First: This is not my house, it's a rental.  Our hard nosed land lady will be laughing all the way to the bank with our deposit.  Second: Lee is probably going to give me "that look" when he sees this.  Third and maybe the most important thing (which Caitlin voiced mid swing): What am I gonna do if a rabid squirrel hurls himself out of the hole and attacks my face?

There's my handiwork.  Turns out I hit the wall where there is alot of insulation and a pipe of some kind.  I peeked in but Mr. Rodent was no where to be found.  After I knocked the hole in the wall, the creature stopped scratching.  This caused a small panic among the  Brown girlies. The conversation sounded a bit like this: 

A: Oh no what if it died? Mommy you scared it to death!

G: Ahhhhh the poor thing.

C: Ah man if it died it's gonna start stinking. (Followed by gagging noises) Our house is gonna stink like the J's house.  UGH!!!   

H: Mommy,  daddy's gonna freak when he sees that hole!

*** The J's are friends of ours who just moved across town.  While packing, the hubby decided to put the contents of their meat freezer into an extra suitcase because they were out of boxes.  The movers put said suitcase into their new closet and all was forgotten for about 2 weeks. UGH!!!!!

As best as I can figure, Mr Rodent got in through that dryer vent right there.  The thing is, it's 10 feet off the ground!  Can a critter scale a wall and get in through something that high? All I know is that I am now regretting my decision (months ago) to remove the grate that covers that hole.  It kept getting clogged with lint and keeping the dryer from doing its job. We kept having to drag the ladder out there and clean it out.  I say we but Lee did it the first time and at that point I said he should leave the grate off so that we won't have to do this again.  He said (remember this because I am humbling myself here) "No it needs to be on or an animal will get inside" I'm hanging my head for not listening.  The next time it clogged up Lee was at sea and I dragged the ladder out in the middle of the freezing night and cleaned the vent.  All the while grumbling and swearing that the grate was staying off because I was NOT going to do this again!

Here's a little perspective on just how high up that hole actually is.  I called the land lady and of course she was unreachable (she always is).  I left her a message and then called the emergency #.  Can you believe, no one answered the emergency # either?!    Several HOURS later she called me back and left a message on my machine saying that animals stuck in walls was not an emergency.  Hmmmm.  I'm not sure how to respond to that.  It has now been a full day and still no sign of the Rodent Of Undetermined Size.  We think he might of had a heart attack when I started hammering.  

I guess my next step will be to buy a case of Febreeze and sign up for the Home Depot class: 

How to repair the drywall in your rental house 101. 

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEE!!

WE LOVE YOU!

Pretty Pretty Papa

What wouldn't a grand-dad do for his grandchildren or shall I ask allow them to do?   I'm pretty sure that not too many grampas out there would go this far.  Papa deserves some kind of "Papa of the Year" award for this extraordinary act tolerance and humility.  Way to go Papa!  You have to admit though that he was doomed to resign himself to this sort of treatment.  After all he only had one child, a daughter (me of course) and then only 4 grand-daughters.  That's a lot of estrogen!  Can you say, tea parties, barbie dolls and makeovers?  I would not think of this as a liability.  What other Papa can claim to be so well kept?

Sorry Dad! Your grand-daughters made me do it.

Thought for the Day

Global Warming?  Whoever said the planet was getting hotter has obviously not been to Virginia in mid April.  Global warming my foot! 

A TAXING Day

I love my kitty but....

he doesn't love me.

What-Ever!

Sunday Suppers

My new weekly blog post: a fabulous recipe from my files, worthy of any Sunday supper. You don't have to keep these just for Sunday, they will be scrumptious any day of the week.  

This weeks recipe originates from Lee's grandma, passed on to Lee's mom and then thankfully passed on to me.  It is not necessarily a favorite at my house, only two of us enjoy eating it. Can you guess which two?  But every time I take it to a pot-luck I get tons of compliments and requests for the recipe.  I also rarely bring any leftovers home which as far as I'm concerned is a true test of a pot-luck dish's success. SO without further ado, I give you:

Give Peas A Chance Salad

1 can tiny english peas (drained)

1 can french style green beans (drained)

2 stalks celery (chopped fine)

1 small jar chopped pimentos

1 small onion-I use a red one for color (chopped fine)

*** Put all of these ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir together.

Dressing

1/4 C vinegar

1/4 C Oil

1/2 C sugar

*** Mix these ingredients together and pour over bean/pea mixture and stir.  It's best to let this sit in the fridge overnight.  Transfer to a pretty bowl and serve.  

That's all there is to it.  I usually double the recipe for a church supper.  Lee's sweet grandma had a special crystal bowl that she always served this salad in.  To this day, Thanksgiving and Easter meals include Lurlene's salad in the special bowl.  Funny how traditions get started and end up being such a comfort to those left behind.  

Identity Crisis?

Wrigley and his best buddy Domino from next door join "Operation Dig To Guam". 

Wrigley takes a break and lets Domino have a turn at digging for a while. 

Is this the same dog?  You betcha!  This of course is AFTER a good shampoo bath and fluff dry. Only wait, does he look a little humiliated to you with that bow in his hair? We like to see his eyes but this may be too high a price to ask a tough little digger to pay.

The Pressure Is Off

Piano recital has come and gone. We have all been taking piano from our teacher Melissa for the last 4 months.  Caitlin and Gracie have a bit more experience under their belts.  They both took lessons in Guam.  The rest of us are newbies.  Melissa gave us our recital music after only one month of lessons with her.  I looked at mine and thought "ummm I can barely play a scale and you want me to play this?!!"  I put on a brave face and practiced, practiced, practiced.  There were a few tense moments and I really did believe that Melissa had more faith in us than we had in ourselves.  The other girls seemed to be struggling along also.  Weeks went by and gradually you could begin to hear what sounded like actual music coming from the direction of the piano.  Recital day arrived and lo and behold we had our music memorized and we were ready to play.  Ahhh a sigh of relief breathed deeply!  The recital took place at our house.  Caitlin and Holly, Abbie and Me, Gracie and teacher Melissa played duets together. 

Melissa helps Caitlin and Holly put the finishing touches on their duet before the recital.

Gracie and Melissa run through it one more time before the big event.

There we are on the back row awaiting our turns.

What's Up With That Music?

I guess you've been wondering why there has been nothing but 50's music here on the blog lately? The simple answer is that it was miss Holly's birthday and she chose a 50's themed party. Any opportunity to get your friends to join you in a dress up party is not to be missed. Thankfully Mimi was here to help sew a ALOT of cute poodle skirts. Papa and Mimi together showed all of Holly's guests how to dance the stroll, and the jitterbug and how to do the hand jive. Before long the living room was full of teens looking and acting like they stepped right through time from 1955. It was fun!

The first half of the party was spent on scavenger hunt.  The kids split up into teams and I had them going all over town doing some crazy stunts.  While one team might be at Lowes "washing" a yard ornament pig in the display bathtub another would be doing the chicken dance beside the lobster tank at Wal-Mart.  That's just a little sampling of all they had to endure in the celebration of Holly's 13th.  They were all very good sports about it.  It was a great time but very exhausting.  Why do you think it took me so long to get these pictures up here?  I'm just now recovering that's why!  Enjoy the pictures and take a peek at the whole album in the Picasa Web Album.

PS-the music will now be changing!

The Gratitude Campaign

A friend sent this link to me by way of email.  I was impressed by how simple it is to say thank you in a way that will be completely understood.  Watch the little movie to see how easy it is to extend a thank you.

www.gratitudecampaign.org

Its History:
For the past several years as I've been traveling around the country, I've been approaching soldiers in the airports and thanking them for serving for us. On several occasions I have noticed that it felt a little awkward for both of us. There are several reasons, some of which I am even just now learning as I produce this film and talk to more soldiers. But they have always appreciated being thanked, and I have always felt better having expressed my gratitude.

I started to think that it would be nice if civilians had a gesture or sign that they could use to say "thank you" quickly and easily without even having to approach. I did some research and found the sign that we are now using.

Is this limited to the military? Not at all. If you look around you I'm sure that you'll find lots of people who are serving their communities, from local to global. If you appreciate their service, give them a sign. Say "thank you."

Contest Contest Contest!!!

My first ever Lovin' Life At Home Contest! I'm so excited! 

I should be blogging about Holly's birthday or the piano recital we just had. Seriously we practiced our little fingers to the bone to entertain family, friends and complete strangers with piano hits such as "Boogie Woogie Goose" and "The Purple Cow". But no, here I sit making up a contest that will boggle your brain for MY personal entertainment. I have discovered that sometimes I have to obey my "inner blogger", that quirky little voice in my head that tells me to post nonsense instead of real blog worthy material.  

Here's the deal... I love contests and I love movie lines so you guessed it, the contest is going to have you guessing which movie the lines came from. Some of these are embarrassingly simple and some might challenge you a bit. I have to thank my sweetheart and my girls for helping me come up with a few when my mind simply could not think of any more.
I will leave the contest open until Noon (EST) on Monday, April 21st or until someone wins. The first one to guess every movie correctly wins. If no one gets them all correct, the prize will go to the person who has the most correct answers. Don't forget to put your name and email address on your answer page and please put "movie line contest" in the subject line.

Send your answers to: snickerdoodledog@yahoo.com

Oh, I almost forgot something.  A little hint, some of the movies are represented twice.  


THE GRAND (only) PRIZE: A $10.00 gift card from the store of your choice (within my capabilities) Plus you get your name mentioned here on Lovin' Life At Home. I'll even put your picture on too if you'd like!

Happy Guessing!

1 Inconceivable!
2 You play ball like a girl!
3 If lack of attention to personal finances is a mark of refinement then the Marches are the finest family in Concord.
4 In the mornin’ I’m makin’ waffles.
5 Go make yerself a dang quesadiller.
6 My name is Tuhmater without the tuh.
7 A bird could love a fish but where would they live?
8 First we’ll see what he’s sellin, then we’ll shoot him.
9 This place is a geographical oddity, 2 weeks from everywhere.
10 I don’t know nothin bout birthin no babies.
11 You’re standing in horse ca-ca.
12 Fish are friends, not food.
13 I want both. You heard the man, give him both
14 I do believe in fairies, I do, I do.
15 Those are historical babes.
16 Why does it always have to be the rum?
17 Do or do not. There is no try.
18 I see dead people.
19 To Infinity and beyond!
20 They may take away our lives but they will never take away our freedom!
21 You’ll shoot you eye out.
22 Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
23 He’s a vegetarian. That’s ok I make lamb.
24 Half doe, half buck, I’m a duck!
25 Wax on Wax off
26 Gort! Klaatu barada nikto
27 I’ll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash ya got.
28 You not numba one, you numba ten!
29 You’re gonna need a bigger boat.
30 Surely you can’t be serious. I am serious, and don’t call me shirley.
31 If you build it he will come.
32 Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?
33 As God as my witness, I will never be hungry again!
34 There’s no crying in baseball.
35 Nobody puts Baby in a corner.
36 That’ll do pig. That’ll do.
37 I may not be a smart man but I know what love is.
38 I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts and then, you will run a mile.
39 Oh George, not the livestock.
40 My house, it is full of ransackery.

Help! The Teenagers Are Taking Over!

Well, not really but I thought I would use a little of that teen drama in my title.  We now officially have two teenaged girls in the house!  Holly turned 13 on Monday.  Happy Birthday Bus!  We had a huge celebration which I will report on before too long. In the meantime, here's the birthday girl as she is today and a couple of her as a little stinker.  

The two teenie boppers.  Holly's the one in blue.

What a little toothless cutie!

Here she is making a mess with her first birthday cake.

Mimi & Papa U-Haulin'

U-haulin' from Florida to Virginia with a geriatric Sheltie in the backseat. What a sight!  Papa said that he never passed a single car on the would be 12 hour ride to our house.  Pulling a trailer, it took them more like 15 hours and they did it all in one day.  What troopers!  Inside the little U-haul trailer was treasures for us left over from Mimi and Papas recent move to a smaller home. Amazingly they were able to pack that little trailer tighter than a sardine can. It was full! All of the girls got new to them dressers, Caitlin inherited a whole queen sized bedroom set, and I got an ottoman and a nice antique table.  Our friends and neighbors were kind enough to lend a hand to help unload, although I believe Pastor Rob would endure aplenty for a cup of coffee. Even if the coffee was made by Holly!

Ok, who's gonna carry the heavy one?

Papa kept hitting his head on the ceiling

SO the girls provided him with some protection

All clean!

Watch out world, mama's got a power tool!

Is There A Support Group For This?

Our 5 year old Wii obsessed little friend.

Look at that form! 

She actually left the ground here.

Having A Ball

Easter at our house is not quite what you would call normal.  After living on Guam for 3 years, our "normal" has been adjusted in a few areas.  Our first year on Guam we wanted to let the girls and a few friends hunt easter eggs, so off I went to the stores a week before easter in search of plastic easter eggs.  No one here (except me) has ever been a big fan of real hard boiled eggs.  After a complete search of the island's stores (which are few) I came home empty handed.  That is when I learned the my lesson about buying early on Guam.   My motto became: "If I need it and I see it on the shelf, I better go ahead and buy it." Lesson learned.  Anyway, I presented the "no easter egg" problem to Lee and he came up with a solution.  He's good like that.  We drove down to the acclaimed "worlds largest Kmart" and bought a bag of 100 colorful balls like you would put in a kid's ball pit.  We hid them all over the yard on Easter Day and the kids hunted them.  

We had each color represent a prize.  For example, if they found 3 red ones then they got 3 bags of skittles.  The green ones that year were dollar bills, that went over REALLY well!  

The girls liked this so much that they now want to hunt balls every year.  Below are a few pictures of our 4th annual Easter Ball hunt.  

Out of the front door, where are the balls?  Oh I see one!

Way to go Blair, you found one!

Sorting the balls, ready to cash in.

Just a little of the loot to be had.  What's Easter without Peeps?!

Later after it got dark, our neighbor (the kid on the right) invited everyone to hunt the glow-in-the-dark eggs his parents had just hidden.  As you can see they are already hyped up on sugar and now they've stolen my baskets for more hunting.  

More Easter pics in the Picasa Web album.

Catching Up

I know I know, I've been a bit slack lately. I even had the dog doing the laundry! Well not really, but I can wish right? Our household has been in a whirlwind of activity since just before Easter.  With that and an uncooperative modem (that is now fixed) I have sorely neglected my blog.  Never fear, I am back and hopefully life will settle back into a routine again thus allowing me time to blog away.  Ideally I would like to post once or twice a day for the next few days to get you all caught up, so here goes....