Alyson is 12!

She picked out these Hannah Montana cupcakes for her birthday. We went on a shopping spree at Walmart and she picked out a Monopoly game, an In a Pickle game, The Last Word game, and 2 Mylie Cyrus CD's, then she went to the Christian Bookstore and got a The Message Bible and a Jesus is Born CD. She had a fantastic time shopping.

Happy Birthday Sweet Alyson!

Shhhhhhhhhhhh.......... It's official......... I'm old!!! Aimee fixed my hair and make up that day, and she had to cleverly cut the picture off at the top of my forehead sooooooo that YOU can't see my gray hair. I think it's time for another "Nice and Easy" dye job.

Valentines Day

My Aimee is so sweet. She was out with her friends and she bought me this rose for Valentines Day. On the way home, the top of the rose broke from the stem, but you can still see how pretty it was when she gave it to me.

She's sweet sixteen, and I was touched that she thought of me while hanging out with her friends.

Monopoly Night

Sometimes things work the opposite for me. Most people relax on the weekends, but Friday's and Saturdays are my busiest days right now because I work 2 shifts on both of those days, and then I work a shift on Sunday's too. So today, when I got off of work I could finally relax a while. I decided on the way home to pick up some cheese dip and some popcorn because Alyson asked me yesterday if we could play monopoly when I got home.

When I got home I fixed some cornbread dressing for the turkey Steve cooked yesterday, then made salmon for dinner, then made the cheese dip and got out the Fritos for our game. We had such a good time. It was really good to be home, especially because Joey was home too, and his schedule and my schedule usually conflict, so we don't see each other much.

See the houses!! Those are my properties, and Joey kept landing on them and having to pay. And everytime he would get close to my properties he would start laughing, then I would start laughing, then he would figure how he was going to pay!!

Alyson had a great time being the banker. She had her calculator out and she was in charge of all the auctions. She even created some auctions just so she could "preside" over them.

What do you do during a Snow Storm?

Sooooooooooo, tonight, in our nice warm house, complete with lights, heat, hot shower, water, TV, computers, etc. etc. we thank Jesus for ALL our blessings, we thank him for our heat, good food, lights, warm beds and blankets, puppies and kitties, and most of all for our family. For keeping us safe and seeing us through... as He always does.

Something wonderful happened during the snow storm. The Saints won the Superbowl. I'm not a big football fan, but I am a Saints fan. I was so very happy for my father, who is a life long Saints fan, happy for my brother, who I heard was so excited about the game, and happy for the residents of New Orleans...

Go Saints Go!!!!!

What do you do during a Snow Storm?

And, you ask, where was Aimee during the storm??

At a friends house, in front of the fireplace, doing hair and makeup and generally having the time of her life!! They lost power for a very short time, but had it back within a couple hours.

We love you Aimee!

We stayed at home until the last night, then decided it was best to get a hotel. On Tuesday at around 2:00, we had electricity again and were very happy!!

We went to bed early in hopes of lights and heat soon.

What do you do during a Snow Storm?

Can you tell by the look on Stephen's face he's getting a little frazzled???

What do you do during a Snow Storm?

So we all bundled up. We had no power from Saturday at about 2 until Tuesday about 2.

What do you do during a Snow Storm?

Then a tree fell across road, snapped the power pole in half, and left the transformer in the middle of the road and 116 houses (including ours) with no electricity.

What do you do on a Snow Day?

And you sleep.... and you wonder exactly how much more is going to fall before it's over!!

Picture of tree taken at 1:00, snow isn't suppose to stop until the evening.

I wonder just how many days off of school this storm is going to be worth!!!!!

What do you do on a Snow Day?

You eat.

Potato Pancakes...... yum

What do you do on a Snow Day?

You hope you don't lose your puppies!

What do you do on a Snow Day?

You play in the snow.

What do you do on a Snow Day?

You try to beat your daughter in a Wii game.

Storm Pictures

These pictures were taken at 10am. It's suppose to snow all day!

Storm Pictures

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

The storm is here. We didn't get as much accumulation last night as we expected. It was sleet and ice instead of snow. But early am it turned back to snow and it has been snowing ever since.

Steve has been shoveling on and off all morning. Trying to keep the pathway to our house safe. Then shoveling the street so the neighbors can get out too. The plow came through this am, but left huge piles at the end of the road. My pictures were taken at 10am this morning, and it is suppose to continue to snow all day!

Aimee called me. She left Thursday night to weather the storm with a friend. She said they lost power and are keeping warm with lots of blankets. She said she called to tell me she loves me. Made my whole day....

Alyson and Joey haven't been out in the snow yet, but I'm charging the batteries to my camera so I'll be ready when they go outside.

I'm studying again. Reviewing the rules for signed numbers before going on to order of operations. I hope to ace this entrance exam.

One to Two Feet forecast for tomorrow. Yikes! It hasn't even started yet and the school systems have already closed.

Picture for Grandma

The Eye Doctor

A couple weeks ago, both of Alyson's teachers told me she was having trouble seeing the board and they thought she needed to get her eyes checked. I decided to make an appointment for both girls.

So today at 1:00 we were on our way to our appointment. We got there and Aimee decided she wanted to go first. Alyson read magazines and I studied for my entrance exam while waiting for Aimee to finish.

Finally, Aimee came out and the doctor said her vision was good and she wouldn't need any glasses. Now it was Aimee's turn to wait for Alyson. She decided that it would be fun to try on glasses.

She tried on several pair and finally Alyson comes out and the doctor says that Alyson's eyes have gotten worse since the last time she was in, and she needed to wear glasses all the time, except while reading. Alyson starts trying on several pair of glasses. Aimee is over at the sunglasses counter and finds a pair of sunglasses that she 'has to have'. I tell her maybe when we get our income tax refund I would bring her back to pick out some. The doctor overheard us talking and said, wait.... your plan allows her any frame up to 130.00 that she would like, even though she doesn't need a prescription. Since the sunglasses lense is already in the frame, she can pick out a pair and you only have to pay the difference between 130 and the total. Plus, you get 20% off of whatever the difference of the total is.

Sooooooooooooooooo..... Aimee's 157.00 sunglasses cost me 13.00 (thank you Jesus!) and Alysons glasses were free! Steve has a wonderful vision plan.

And at the end of the appointment, I had 2 happy girls!!!

I am very happy tonight. It's cold outside, but I'm underneath my softest, warmest blanket and feeling very content. My son just came into the room and offered to take the girls to school in the morning to give me a break. He's so good to me.

Tonight we had Shepherd's Pie for dinner. I cooked it while playing golf with Alyson on the Wii. The Wii has worked some magic in our family. It brings everyone together. Alyson and I 'practiced' so we could beat Daddy in a game when he got home. She would take her turn, then go to the piano and play while I took my turn, and while she was playing, I was cooking... well, you get the picture. It's fun trying to improve our scores and it's been fun for me to watch Steve leave the computer to play a game, and Joey leave his room to play a game etc. It's just good family fun.

I've promised myself to study for an hour each night for the entrance exam for school. Tonight was my second night, reviewing GCF, LCM, Fractions, etc. etc. I want to score well, and math has always been fun anyway. When I get stuck on something, Steve comes in and helps me out and we both learn something new. I think the most fun is trying to work the word problems!

Aimee has been hanging out with her friends most of the week. She came in today with her friends shirt on. I don't know what it is with teenagers trading clothes, but they do it often. She came in with a red shirt that had Faith across it and the name of her friends church.

Tomorrow the kids go in an hour late and I pick them up 2 hours early. It's eye appointment day. I get my new glasses (bifocals!) and Alyson and Aimee get a check up. Friday and Saturday will be busy as I'm working all day both days, unless of course, it snows a foot.... then we'll see about the roads and whether or not I can get there.

I just can't wait for school. It provides such hope for a good future. Nice things for the girls, fixing up the house etc. And the most fun will be working in the job I believe I'm meant for. I would just love to work in an assisted living facility, passing out the meds, chatting with the residents, and helping them to and from activities. The elderly are so interesting.

My sweet outside kitties hung around the house longer this evening. Maybe they know the snow is coming and want to get plenty to eat before hand. The one kitty that lets me hand feed him came up to me and started sniffing my shoe. He doesn't back up anymore when I go outside. I think he's trusting me more. Now.... if he would just let me pet him!!

It's 10:40pm and has been a good day. Sweet Dreams............

Another Best Friend Photo

No... No.... No... not more snow. Last Saturday I woke up to a few flurries as I was headed out to work... and 6 hours later came home to this. My ride to work was 30 minutes, my ride home was 2.5 hours.

And now, they are forecasting more snow for Friday night....................

The girls were off of school today. They will be off tomorrow. Alyson has had a great time creating puppet shows and playing her Wii. Aimee has been hanging out with friends.

My poor husband had a toothache all weekend. He called the dentist and made an appointment for first thing Monday morning. When I came home from work today, he had an icepack on his face. 4 hours in the chair and 2 root canals....all in one day.... and he's planning on going to work tomorrow.

And my plans for tomorrow???? Study, study, and more study. Steve says it's all on go for my school. Soooooooo..... my next step is to pass the entrance exam. Watch out July 19th, here I come.

No work for 15 months, it will be school, school, and more school............ then finding a job at an assisted living after I graduate. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!