Tea for Four

The other day was absolutely gorgeous!  Unseasonably warm, I would guess in the low 60's.  Some friends stopped by and Mandy decided to host a tea party in the little yellow house.  She served her special strawberry tea from Santa along with some blueberries.  Not bad, for a tea party on the spur of the moment!:-)  The girls had such fun!  I had to peek in and take some pictures....

Mayan Adventure

The girls and I attended the opening party for a Mayan museum exhibit last week.  It was quite the adventure!  Medallions were made, pyramids were built, and Mayan ruins were explored.  We also enjoyed chocolate candy, Corn Nuts (corn was very important to the Mayans) and Mexican beverages.  Katie's favorite part was walking across the bridge at the entrance to the exhibit and Mandy's favorite part was spending time with her new friend, Bridget.

Birdy Num Nums

My parents thought up the term "birdy num num" when I was little and it has stuck with me.:-)  The girls and I have been busy making "birdy num nums" the past few days.  We are studying birds and we love watching them "dine" in our backyard.  We made pine cones with peanut butter and bird seed- always fun.  Then, we tried a new "recipe" that included fat mixed with birdseed, bread crumbs, cookie crumbs, etc.  First poke a small hole in the bottom of a plastic yogurt container and thread a string through the hole.  This is so you can hang it later.   You take melted fat (we used the fat left over from bacon, sausage, etc.) and add whatever you have handy- birdseed, cookie crumbs, etc.  Mix together and pour into the yogurt container (we used Yoplait). Put in the freezer until solid and then hang outside for your little bird friends!  

She makes everyone smile:-)

Starbucks coffee (and cocoa!), video games, and Disney movies are all part of the fun when Mandy goes to the orthodontist!  The girls ask me, quite frequently, "When do we get to go again?"  The people are all so friendly there and, most importantly, Mandy's teeth look fabulous!  Her favorite part is picking out prizes.  She accumulates points for arriving on time, wearing her t-shirt (yes, she has a special t-shirt!), taking good care of her teeth, etc.   We don't have to go back for 6 months, but I have a feeling we may have to stop by at some point, just to say "Hi" (and get some hot chocolate).:-)

Snow, crafts, cooking and John Boy

We are supposed to get some winter weather tonight and I am really excited!  As soon as we get our schoolwork done, we will head to the store and get stuff for making soup and cookies!  Then, I plan on us watching some of the new "Little House on the Prairie" and "Waltons" DVDs I got for Christmas- thanks Annie!  It will be fun to break out the board games, too.  We have the game "Great States" that we have not played yet (summer yard sale purchase) and it got great reviews from Family Fun magazine.  Snow and board games- yes!!  By the way, Martha Stewart had the CUTEST mitten animal craft today on her show.  I think the girls would love some of the pony mittens...  Check it out on marthastewart.com.  The templates are on her website!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

I can almost hear Neil Sedaka singing, "They say that breaking up is hard to do...".  Now I know, I know that it's true- la la la.....  I really like my doctor, but our relationship is becoming a struggle.  She has changed offices and no one there seems to know what is going on.  They can't even tell me if they take our insurance or not!  That should not be a tough question.  Anyway, I needed to have some lab work done before my next appointment but, get this, they don't have a lab yet.  SO, I had to drive to their office yesterday to get my lab order. Well, the appointment lady hands me the paper and tells me, "I think you have to go to the hospital."  Not my favorite place and one that I avoid, if at all possible.  So I squeak out, " Can you check with the nurse?"   I have visions of the girls and I wandering the hospital begging someone to please take my blood- shudder.  Anyway, she comes back and tells me that, yes, I will have to go to the hospital. Good Times.  We hop into the car and toddle off to the next stop on our scavenger hunt.  We arrive at the hospital and ask the nice volunteer lady where the lab is located.  Then, we march down the hall and are greeted by a sign stating that "you must register before being seen."  Huh.  Back we go to the entrance of the hospital where all the lucky ladies and gentleman sit waiting for various forms of torture, I mean, surgery and such.  At this point I call Jeff and ask him if I should just change doctors.  He tells me to go ahead and complete my mission.  So, I register (which did go quickly and the man was very nice) and am awarded with my prize- a plastic hospital bracelet!  We head back to the lab where I get to play "I Spy" with the girls while I pretend that my right arm is not part of my body.  (I do this to avoid passing out- I'm a wimp).  Mission accomplished!

Miss America

When I was young my Mom, my sister, and I liked to watch the Miss America pageant together.  We would make lists of our favorites and we were quite vocal about who we did NOT like!  It's a girl thing.  Last night I saw a few minutes of the new "jazzier", as they are calling it, pageant and I was disappointed!  First of all, the girls were all homely!  I know this makes me sound shallow, but I kept checking to see if it was some other kind of bizarre, unheard of event.  Nope.  Then, the talent was pitiful, too.  The singing- ugh!  Miss Virginia did do a wonderful ballet number from the Nutcracker, though.  I am sad to say that I did not have any desire to watch until the end.  Maybe I just needed my Mom and sister so we could make catty comments??  Maybe I'm just getting old- ugh.