Free Museum Day

Every year in the Sacramento area, 26 greater Sacramento area museums will be offering FREE admission during the 11th Annual Sacramento Museum Day. Sacramento Museum Day is Februray 7, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (all participating museums close at 5 p.m.). Click on the above picture so you can get more details.

Silly Questions

100 ThingsRULES: There are 100 statements and you bold the ones you have done. Grab it and play for yourself!!* 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyworld 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Had stitches 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - on the beach, at least 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept in an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitchhiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse (solar) 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten cavier 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chicken pox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a lawsuit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100. Read an entire book in one day

We are Off

to 1820. We will be at Fort Ross State Historic Park if anyone would love to come and see us in action (Jan 26-27 a Mon-Tue). We will be in time period clothing, cooking on an open fire, churning butter, hunting for fish, making lanterns out of metal, etc. To learn more about our characters, please visit us here.

Photo taken from: http://www.fortrossstatepark.org/

By the way, we are still waiting on the check for $800. Why, oh, why did I NOT double check before clicking a final ok? Thanks to my folks and for Nat's mom for lending us money and buying our food for our campout. That we are still able to do this field trip.

Still Waiting

Oh, the joys of being an adult. I want to go back to being a kid with no real responsibilities. We are still waiting for the $800 check to arrive back into our checking account. We thought that the company was going to do it automatically (that's what they said when I talked to them... a 5 days ago). But, come to find out, they couldn't process it that way, they are sending us a check. What?! Your kidding me! Now, I wouldn't be so upset if it was gonna be a couple of days, but No, it is going to be here sometime next week. Unfortunately, Nat's paycheck won't be enough to get us treading water. Stoping all auto payments is a hassle. Overdraft charges are eating us alive (our bank won't refund anymore), now, the hassle of getting the company to pay for the overdrafts, especially since they are taking their sweet time on giving us back our money. Well, I guess 1 good thing has come of this... our health, but that is deteriorating quickly as we try to figure out how we are going to be buying groceries (all of our spare cash is spent, on milk). Now, if it was just Nat & I, we can go a week or two w/out milk, but not with having a houseful of kids. Luckily, we are able to eat from our food storage, but, I am out of powdered milk. I am kicking myself in the rear right now for not stocking up the last time I went to the store (let this be a lesson for the rest of you!)

Major TYPO

picture from www.illustrationsof.com

I love online banking. I don't write checks as much. I love the fact that I can just punch in the amount due, and not even worry about it. Until, you check you email account and there is a message from your bank, saying that you are overdrawn. Yep, this happened to me yesterday. (I hear all of your gasps!) Now, mind you, I am very, let me repeat that, VERY, carefull with our money. I was shocked to get that message, so naturally, I log into my bank account to actually see if the email was right (you never know now days). Sure enough, my account was in the RED. and I don't mean, just a little in the red, -HUNDRED's, to be exact! What! I scream, the kids and Nat come in to see what happened to me! Can we say heart attack time! I do some investigating and find the problem... I am SOOO STUPID! (not to mention in the DOG HOUSE for the rest of my life) Instead of paying a measly, $90 bill, I paid... hang on, I have to get up the nerve to tell you... $890 to that certain bill. Nat went into the bank (thankfully they weren't closed), and told them about my major OOOPS. They said that they would credit all (except 1) the Overdraft charges, and that we had to call that company up and tell them that they needed to put the $800 back into our bank account. We called & they said they did (we playing the waiting game now). Dontcha just love 3 day weekends? I sure hope that it posts quickly, we need to go and buy food... I keep saying that it wasn't me, it was the computer's fault, but Nat just pats me on the back and says, "No, it was all you." I have to say, I just love this man I asked Nat if he wanted to do the books, but he said, "No, I will mess them up even more than that!" I hope that I am not the only one who is really good at typo's.

Why am I Nesting, is the MILLION dollar ?

Yes, I am in the 'nesting' stage. BUT, I am not pregnant.

The kids have gotten into the cleaning too (much to MY urging). Take a look @ their pretty/handsome rooms...

I would have posted B4 pics, but you all would have gone RUNNING for cover, screaming! and asking yourself, "how on earth did she put up with THAT?"

.

No, I did not lift a finger in their rooms, they did it all by themselves. I just pushed the broom around the rooms when they were finished. (it only took a GOOD 4 hours or so, but I may be exaggerating just a little). .

Excuse the unmade beds, they are about to make forts.

If you have ideas why I am cleaning, cleaning & doing more cleaning, please let me know.

I'm on a Roll

Since I am in the mood to be cleaning. Spring Cleaning to be exact! After going through and doing a major cleaning job on my living room (dusted baseboards even) and washing all the windows (outside only, so far), NOW, onto a real job... THE PANTRY. I try to keep it swept and organized (some-what), but, I think I will be doing a lot of dusting, washing, throwing away, and RE-organizing.

.

Here are the Pantry BEFORE pictures

Don't worry, we are BIG on recycling. All the cardboard on top of the cabinets & next to it will be taken to the recycle center. I am also lucky to have an entire room dedicated to the pantry (for now anyway). Now, I just need to restock my food storage.

.

Here are the AFTER pictures

Imagine that, I clean and straighten, and I GAIN 2 full shelves! Whooooo Whoo!! I even moved our aprons so they aren't always falling on the ground by constantly bumping them while walking in and out of the kitchen/pantry.

Choices, Choices, Always Choices!

Picture from http://www.wpclipart.com/

I am one who doesn't like to use chemicals in or out of the house to clean, so, I use all natural cleaning porducts. Needless to say, since switching over (its been about a year now), the kids, Nat & I haven't been sick as often as we used too (I also contribute that to homeschooling as well).

Anyway, to the point of this post...

I am in a CLEANING mood. I am starting off with the living room. I dusted, and washed all windows, and pictures. Now, I need to polish my furniture, but after scouring my cleaning supplies, I come to find that I have no furniture polish. So, I get onto my classroom (the computer, what else). Have I told you how MUCH I LOVE the Internet? All I did was type in 'homemade furniture polish', and a bunch of links came up.

Here are just a few: EHow, DIY, TipNut, Frugal Living, and many many more!

So many to choose from, what to do, what to do? But, I think I will make this one:

Furniture Polish Recipe I (from frugal living) INGREDIENTS: White vinegar Lemon juice PREPARATION: 1. Combine equal parts white vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl or spray bottle. 2. Use a clean cloth to rub a small amount of the polish into your furniture. 3. Wipe dry with another cloth.

.

-or, maybe this one:

.

Homemade Furniture Polish (from EHow)

Step1 Measure out 1/2 a cup of baby oil using a plastic measuring cup. If you don't have any baby oil, olive oil works just as well. Step2 Pour the baby oil into a disposable plastic bowl. A bowl not used for food items is best. Step3 Add a few drops of lemon extract or fresh lemon juice to the bowl of baby oil. Use 3 to 5 drops of lemon extract but you can use more if you like a stronger scent. Step4 Stir the polish mixture with a kitchen spoon until the lemon extract and baby oil mix evenly. Step5 Cover the bowl of homemade furniture polish with plastic kitchen wrap until ready to use. Stir again with a spoon just before using to reactivate. Step6 Use polish by dipping a dry clean polishing cloth into the mixture a little at a time. Gently rub polish mix over wood surfaces to give a clean non-toxic shine that smells fresh. Step7 Store homemade polish covered with other cleaning products in a dry safe place.

All these choices. How is a girl to choose?

.

Update: I did the first one. I might as well disinfect at the same time as polishing the furniture, right?

You can't read this,

and stay in a bad mood! Thanks to my MIL, you can sit back, relax, sip some cocoa and SPIT it out as you read this (but, please turn your head away from the computer monitor, I've already taken 1 shower today & don't need another one!)...

from www.wackystock.com

1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit? Unique Up On It.

2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit? Tame Way.

3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest? They Take The Psycho Path

4. How Do You Get Holy Water? You Boil The Hell Out Of It (I love that one!)

5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall? Dam!

6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long? Polaroid's

7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work? A Stick

8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours? Nacho Cheese.

9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers? Subordinate Clauses.

10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand? Quattro Sinko.

11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow? Spoiled Milk.

12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire? Frostbite.

13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches? A Nervous Wreck.

14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup? Anyone Can Roast Beef.

15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs? Right Where You Left Him.

16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils? Because They Have Big Fingers

17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive? Because It Scares The Dog.

18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic? Sanka.

19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover?! The Location Of The Dirt Bag.

20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down? Because They Wore Their Belt Buckle On Their Hat.

21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a B ad Skydiver? A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack , Dang!A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang, Whack!

22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee Divorce The Same? Somebody's Gonna Lose A Trailer

Now, admit it. At least one of these made you smile.

The MOM Song

I never tire of hearing this song! Remember to pause my music (down on the left)

May the WOOF be with You!

This is in honor of all you Star Wars fans out there.

From Nat

What Animals Say

My sister told me about this conversation that she and her family had at the dinner table one night recently. (J=my sis & M=2 year old niece)

J- M, what does a cow say?

M- Moo

J- What does a cat say?

M- Meow

J- What does a dog say?

M- Woof

J- What does a sheep say?

M- Baa

J- What does a pig say?

M- MEAT!

My sister and her family were raising a pig for meat, and it finally went to the slaughter house (sorry for all the vegans & animal lovers out there).

A DUH Monent!

Ok, I am soooo STILL on vacation, and not even using my brain yet. We have been back in school mode for a week now (well, slowly getting back into the grove), and I need a WAKE UP call BIG time!

Today we went to the library (our usual Friday field trip)...

.

Wait, I need to back up and start from the beginning...

.

Last week, Nat said that he wanted to return all of the library books that we had. I said, no, we have time, the books aren't due until the 5th of January. The kids and I will do it next week (can you see where this is going yet?). So, all week long, I had that Friday (today) was the 5th. No biggy, but kept wondering why I was getting calls all week long from the library saying that we have some overdue books, not even realizing or even making the connection of what the date was.

So, back to today, we go in and look around, get all the books needed for this week. All the while the kids are looking, I go up and ask a question about some books that they sent me a notice on. Luckily, those 2 books where on the shelves (yah, saves me $10.00, as well as the price of 2 'lost' books).

Then the librarian says, "Did you know that Mareal has over due books?"

I was in shock, here is where I am a total IDIOT! "Umm, we came in the Friday before you were closing for 2 weeks, and the librarian who checked us out said that the books would be due on 1-05-09."(I can hear you all laughing and agreeing with Nat) The librarian is just looking a little confused on how she can help me... (probably thinking... Wake up and USE that brain, if you even have one!)

Then, I have the AH-HA moment! Today is the... (here's the kicker; hee, I'm laughing as I type this), 9th! Can I get anymore STUPID?

So, I can't save myself any from any more humiliation, I ask her to check the other kids accounts. Since Mareal had over due book balance was $17.75, the boys must to, right? Well, they both did, Jim's balance was $4.50, Charlie's balance was $13.50. This brings our total bill to... $35.75. As an after thought, I said, "Check my card too, please." My balance was $1.50. Now, our total is $37.25.

.

Of course, the late fee is 25 cents a day, go ahead, do the math. How many books did we have overdue? Um, 25 books altogether.

.

(funny thing, this morning I said this on Facebook: Nicole is getting ready for our weekly trek to the library... wonder how much $$ I will be paying in fines after a month of not going) Why did I have to jinks myself?

.

I call up Nat as we left the library and told him what happened. I gave him permission to say, "I TOLD YOU SO" but, being the wonderful husband that he is, he said, "I won't say it."

Go ahead and laugh, I am.

.

I do have to say, the librarians were all very nice about the whole thing, and understanding. I guess that's what happens when they know the kids and I so well. Especially after going every week for the past 2.5 years.

Malfunctioning Dog

Hey, Nat here. I found this, showed it to the kids and they got a good kick out of this.

New Year's Resolution

Please, we need your help! Our 1 major New Year's Resolution is to be more like Christ in our everyday lives. I have set up another blog (I know, I am addicted to blogging). Go here, to see what we have set our goal at so far. We are still working out all the details, but would like to have some advice from all of you, our beloved readers and family. We are calling this year 'Our Walk with Christ'.

Happy 2009