Cheerios

Lily had two friends over today. They are twin sisters and one of them is in Lily's class. She has been sooooo excited for today's play day. They all played well together and Lily wanted to do a tea party. So we pulled out the tea set and they had grapes and water. She held up her cup to toast her friends and said, "Cheerios". I'm guessing she was trying to be British and say, "Cheery O". I got the giggles listening to them toasting their Cheerios.

Snowball Fight

Snow day troubles

I couldn't sleep last night. I was freaked out that the kids would have a snow day, and I would still have class. I got up at my usual time and check the school's website, and school was canceled. The college said classes were running 2 hours late, and I had no idea what that meant for my 11:30am class. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to driving in the snow, so I just figured I'd have to skip class. By 9am this morning, my instructor e-mailed the class saying it was canceled, yipee!! So we are home having a snow day.....but the satellite wasn't working this morning. I walked outside to make sure the wind didn't blow it away, or that it wasn't covered in snow. I played with buttons, turned it off and on, and still no TV. So, I tried what seems to work when things go wrong in this house, I unplugged it, and plugged it back in......alakazam....we have TV! I'm starting to think that the wiring in the house is kooky, and somehow it's messing with everything electronic. For instance, the celing fan in my bedroom is known it go off on it's own during the night. The light has even come on by itself in the middle of the night. So at least we have TV back, and maybe I can get homework done today? Now that would take some magic!

February Snow

The Snows got snow today. The kids think this is great, but I'm ready for spring! Nate thought he could ride his bike in the snow, and Lily was catching snowflakes on her tongue. It was beautiful this afternoon, all pretty and white. All I know is that I'm not putting away the snow clothes until April this year. Last year I put them away three times.....I'm not playing that game again!

Turkey Noodle Soup

I just finished a wonderful bowl of turkey noodle soup. I had to say that because yesterday I was asked why I would cook a whole turkey for just my family. Well, the first reason was because I was having my brother Marty and family over for dinner. Second was that leftover turkey is great, and I love turkey noodle soup. (Turkey and wild rice is right up there too!). I have to say that in our fast food society, people don't plan meals like they used to. My mom always made a roast on Sundays, and we had leftovers later in the week. It really is a great idea to think ahead and plan leftovers. I have to admit that I hate leftovers, but I love makeovers. So leftover turkey put into soup is a makeover. Sometimes I when I'm making a casserole, I double it to put the second one in the freezer. Or if I'm cooking chicken breasts for dinner, I cook a couple extra for later in the week. When Tiffani makes enchiladas, she makes a batch of 7 dishes....it's an all day chore, but will last her a couple months. So plan ahead, even for just one meal this week.

Tiffani.....don't forget to put the roast in the crock pot in the morning!!!

Can I borrow your shoes?

Nate has been growing.....again!! What is up with this kid? Why does he grow so fast? I know this is normal, and I was ok with everything, until today. Nate had holes in two of his three pairs of shoes. So after church today we went to Walmart (not my favorite place, but it's cheap) and looked for shoes. I was getting very frustrated because we only found one pair of size four in the whole isle of boys tennis shoes. Nate was fine with those, but wanted to try the size 5 in another color. They were a little roomy, but fit him. Here's the scary part.....they fit me too! I wear a 6 1/2 womens, which is the same as a boys size 5. Seriously!! He is 8 for goodness sakes, and he has the same size feet as me. I kinda like the keds he picked out, would it be weird if I borrowed them sometime?

Translaters anyone?

I have aliens in my house and they speak strange languages. Lily came running up to me tonight and told me something about a blue penguin, and then her penguin turned yellow. Can anyone out there translate the language of Club Penguin for me? Nate is worse with Toon Town. He talks about defeating CFO's and taking down cog buildings. Dan is just as addicted and they work together gathering true friends to get jelly beans and finish toon tasks. Last week they were really excited that Dan earned a cool drop gag. Seriously, I need a translater!

February Teaser

We have been loving the February sun that we have had for the last week. It seems that every February we get a patch of sun and we get excited for spring. Then spring hits and we miss the sun! This picture is actually from last February, when my sister and I took the kids to Hovander Park. We took a long hike around the pond and climbed the towers. I'm thinking we may have to do this again before the rain starts! Anyone up for a hike on Saturday?

Yummy Ribs

Dan did barbecue pork ribs tonight and they were fabulous! He wanted me to blog about it, so that it made up for the bad Valentine's dinner the other night. Love you honey, thanks for the yummy dinner!

Earthquakes, Tsunami's and more.....

In Geology this week I studied earthquakes, tsunami's and mountain building. Some of this stuff is way over my head, but the earthquakes were very interesting. While doing my research I found out that there are moonquakes! Moonquakes last up to 10 minutes! Ok, so while reading all this stuff I started freaking out again about Dan going to California. I do this about once a year, most of the time it is triggered by some natural disaster or threat. Earthquakes in California are frequent, and the major problem there is that they cause fires. Fires at the refinery SCARE me. Then there are tunami's that are triggered by earthquakes. The terrorist threat level makes me nervous, expecially when he is in LA harbor. Dan tells me I have nothing to worry about, but I have to have my little freak out, then I'll be fine.....for awhile.

Growing Up

I had a good laugh yesterday when Dan asked me to pull all the child safety plugs from the outlets that were over 4 feet tall. I have always had this house childproof, and don't think twice about it. Even though my kids are getting older, I do babysit younger kids sometimes, along with my nieces and nephews that visit. I like that fact that kids feel welcome here and that I don't have to worry about child safety issues. On the other hand, Dan has a point. The kids are getting older, and I can start putting away things like that. I have had a hard time lately deciding what to let go and what to keep. I still have a playpen so that visiting babies have a place to crash. I have held onto a booster seat for the table, so that we can strap in any little ones. It would be nice to not trip over those things, but I like to have them around. By the time I don't have any more babies around, then the grand babies will be right around the corner. Oh.....maybe I don't like this growing up stage!

Romance in the air......

Dan and I have never done anything big for Valentine's Day. I don't like to go out that night and fight the crowds, and I don't want to buy things just to buy them. Being the man he is, he hadn't come up with anything by Friday night. I told him that I would be really happy if he got me a mocha in the morning along with a gift certificate. (The way to my heart is through Mocha's!!). So yesterday when I got out of the shower, there was a mocha and a gift certificate, and I was happy. Dan felt bad that he didn't do more (or come up with his own idea) so he offered to cook dinner. I picked appetizers since we love appetizers, and he is good at them. I pulled out the deep fryer, and helped cut up onions for onion rings. Let me back up and say that I hate the smell of the deep fryer. It stinks up the house for days, so we don't use it very often. So we were making onion rings, yam fries and chicken strips. The oil smelled horrible, and at one point Dan made it overflow. Oil was running all over the counter and on the floor. We got that mess cleaned up and started picking at the food, which wasn't great. The whole dinner tasted funky, so I made a salad and gave the dinner to the dogs. The whole house smelled like a nasty fast food place. I was putting extra smellys in my Scentsys, and spraying the house with Fabreeze. By the time I went to bed my stomach hurt. And this morning Dan was puking. What a lovely Valentine's day! The deep fryer is not allowed in the house anymore, and the oil got dumped out. Next time he offers to cook, we will go with BBQ, or pizza, or anything but the deep fryer.

Valentine's Day

It's tradition. Mom gets us girls panties (I got chewed out for calling them undies in a previous post) for Valentine's Day. I love this tradition, especially when the panties come from Victoria's Secret. Yes, I am crazy enough to show you my panties, aren't they cute?!
The funny thing is that we all love getting underwear (boys and girls, so I can't call them panties!) for holidays. My brother Marty always asks for socks and underwear for his birthday. As his sister, I just can't buy him underwear, but sometimes I'll pick up socks. We threaten the younger generation that they will get socks and underwear for their birthday, and they don't like that. Yet my generation gets excited for new socks and underwear. Yes, we are a practical bunch. On the Dennison side of the family, all the men love these blue socks that Grandma bought them all. It became tradition that if a new guy got blue socks, he was accepted into the family. They don't make those blue socks anymore, and the sad thing is that Grandma is giving away used blue socks now........that's pretty desperate!
Hope you all have a great Valentine's Day! (Don't tell anyone what panties I'm wearing today!!)

Valentine's Parties

The kids had their Valentine's Parties today at school. I was lucky enough that they were at different times, so that I could help with both. You can tell from the pictures that both classes had frosting, and my kids are messy! They both had fun, got sugared up, and their teachers were happy it was Friday!

Frame That Receipt

I was so proud of myself today. I had a $10 off coupon for JC Penny's and wanted to go check out their clearance racks. I was there a couple weeks ago, and got some great deals for the kids, but didn't look for anything for myself. I was shocked today to find racks that were $2.97!! I ended up with 7 tops, take away my coupon, and I paid $13.88. My receipt said that I saved $138. I am so proud, I want to frame my receipt! What, people don't frame their receipts? That would be weird? Hey, if you found a great bargain like that, you would be proud too!

I love rocks

Today the online network of Angel that my online Geology class is on, had technical difficulties. My instructor Eric posted these tips to help...... I just had to share how funny it was!

Meanwhile when errors occur with Angel these are the steps to take:

1. Breathe Deep.

2. Refresh the course and try again.

3. Say "I love rocks".

4. Still problems? Email your work......

I guess you need a sense of humor to handle all these freaked out students. Thanks Eric!

Valentine Gifts

Is it just me, or are Valentine gifts a little cheesy? I went to Target this morning before class, and wandered around looking for meaningful gifts for my children and hubby. The Valentine isles are filled with candy and stuffed animals, things that we have way to much of and do not need any more! So, what do you get for your hubby that has meaning and is not a big waste of money? I reverted to my Mom's old stand by for Valentine's day.....underwear!!! I ended up buying Dan some boxers. The kids would be mad if I bought them underwear ( I hope they will appreciate it later when I start that tradition), so I got them each a small game/puzzle. So, I'm asking everyone out there, what do you buy your family for Valentine's Day? Please share!!

Scentsy

I always said I wouldn't do the home based business thing...I just didn't have the time. Well......one of those came along that was just too good to pass up! I signed up this week to be a consultant for Scentsy. I love the Scentsy products and I would love to get everyone I know hooked on these smelly goodies. If you haven't heard of Scentsy, you can check out my new personal web page.
www.scentsy.com/23447 or www.scentsy.com/hollysnow.
I'm planning an open house for next month (my spring break) and I'll let you know when that will be. Until then contact me if you would like to host a party and earn free products.

Lost in Homework Land

Yes, I'm still alive. I'm lost somewhere in my office buried in homework. This last week has been Geology labs that I didn't understand, and frustrated me to no end. I had my big presentation for my Ed class and earned 100% on it. I also had a test in Ed and Music that I got perfect scores on. So a week of up and downs for me. Right now I am working on Geology again and studying plate tectonics. Fun stuff.....I won't bore you with details.

My Hero

Joe Moser was our neighbor when I was growing up. He and his wife Jean were like Grandparents to us kids. I remember shelling peas from their garden with Jean on her back patio. They always made popcorn balls for us when we stopped by on Halloween. I knew as a child that Joe was a war hero, but had no idea about the details. Last week Joe received the Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to him over 60 years after he should have recieved it. He also wrote a book about being a pilot in World War II, and being shot down and sent to a concentration camp. It's an amazing story that even his own family didn't know about until 20 years ago. He is a kind, loving man, very humble with few words. Last night there was a gathering for him to show a video of him getting his award and to have him sign books. My family all attended and we were excitted to be there to support our hero. I can't wait to read his book, it's called A Fighter Pilot In Buchenwald. Joe thank you for your service to our country, we are so proud of you and your sacrifices.

Nate's Great Glasses

We picked up Nate's first pair of glasses today. He is amazed that he can see more. I loved the look on his face when I dropped him off at school and he sat at his desk and looked at the board. He got a smile on his face like, hey, I can see it now! His glasses have transition lenses, so they go dark when he goes outside. He thinks this is pretty cool that they are sunglasses too. I can't believe how much older he looks with glasses. Dan says it makes him look smart. Let's just see if he keeps them on! Here's the promised picture.

Cute little tag

Tiff at Still Seeking Sanity tagged me again!! She may be trying to loose her title as my favorite sister in law! You would think with four kids four and under, she would have better things to do than tag me!! Oh well, I accept and will post the little picture and tag others, who will complain about me for tagging them. If you need a laugh check out Tiff's blog.....you will learn that God has a great sense of humor and he thought that Tiff needed to see that through her two year old twins!


Here's the rules....if I tag you, you must copy this little tag, mention who tagged you, then tag more people. Don't forget to link their blogs so that everyone can find them easier. Good luck.

I tag......

Renae at A Walk in My Shoes, sorry Renae, just sharing the love!
Lisa at It's Miller Time, like Lisa has better things to do while taking care of a cute baby?
Jaimie at Jaimstar just because I can!!!
Jenn at The Samelsens only because Jenn needs to change the Christmas music on her blog!! :)

I'm supposed to do 10 but, I still want friends tomorrow!

Chocolate Class

Mom agreed to do a chocolate class for any of my friends (or family) that might be interested. Next Tuesday the 1oth, 7-9pm. The cost is $7 and you get to make and take home chocolates for Valentine's Day. Let me know if you are interested and I'll give you directions to my Mom's (hint, she lives 1/2 mile from me). It's going to be fun and yummy!

Rock Hunt

I was home with Lily today and told her we were going on a field trip. I needed to find a rock outcrop for Geology homework. So we went on a rock hunt. Ok, it was more like a drive, so off we went. I figured the heading up to the hills would be a good bet. Problem is I hate going up twisting, curving roads, because I get car sick. Thank goodness I found what I was looking for before I got queasy! I took pictures of the rocks, took one for a sample, and back down the hill we went. We made another stop at the river to take a couple pictures and play at the park. When I got home I uploaded the pictures, wrote my report, then TRIED to attach my pictures to my homework. The online program wouldn't let me attach files that big. I tried to copy and paste, I tried compressing and e-mailing it to myself. I worked for hours, and it still didn't work. Hopefully my online instructor realizes it's the program and not me with the problem (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). So I am showing you a picture of rocks so that my day was not in vain. Oh, and can anyone identify it?

Poppa Wayne

My step Dad Wayne is wonderful. It took me a a couple years to realize that he is almost always joking, and is great at keeping a straight face while doing it. When he married my Mom over 8 years ago, his grand kids called him Poppa. It just became easier for us kids to call him Poppa too. My kids call him Poppa Wayne, until recently. One day he was teasing Lily and called her Freddy. Lily threw a fit and yelled, "My name is not Freddy, it's Wilwee, L-I-L-Y, Wilwee!" She was really upset until I told her to call Poppa, Freddy. Ever since, they have had a little war going on, calling each other Freddy. He does the same thing with my neice Emma, except he calls her Larry. Oh, and Tiffani and Wayne call each other Buddy, and have Buddy Days. So, there's the story of Poppa Wayne Freddy Larry Buddy.