The DeCoursey Project

Seattle Part One

2011-07-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

We went and had ourselves a lovely vacation. Seattle was the destination. We took the girls to the aquarium, zoo, and the science center.

The day we went to the aquarium was really the only summer like day we had in Seattle. It was really nice though. We went down to the piers and it took us a good 40 min to find a parking spot. We finally got one in front of the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. That worked out great because that was going to be our last destination for the day.

I can say that our solid favorites were the seals, otters, octopus, and the touching pool...or whatever it's called.
We then explored the piers. We found some cool shops and a carousel. I just can't ride them. Put me on any roller coaster or thrill ride and I'm fine. Put me on a carousel? I'm going to barf, can't do it!
The Curiosity Shop is always a winner. We made sure to have enough quarters to do all of the cool vintage coin op stuff. I think we all liked the fortune teller the best.
Later we went back to the hotel and swam for close to two hours. It was the best way to unwind after walking all day, my feet hurt, bad. The hot tub was nice and miracle of miracles I got Jeff into it too. Jeff hates hot tubs and he insists anyone that has taken microbiology would share the same opinion. The hotel had nightly fresh baked cookies that were ready after our swim. Ahh, gotta love a vacation!

Box of Awesome is Ready

2011-05-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

That's right! The Box of Awesome is getting shipped out this Friday. The final touches have been added. I only regret that I wasn't able to make anything edible for it's journey to the East Coast. I worried about freshness, sorry. Don't be dismayed though, I think the box is still very awesome.

And, while you're waiting for your Awesome to arrive,
please enjoy this awesome photo.

And the winner IS.......

2011-04-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Yellow Tupperware Bowl has spoken! We don't need no stinking random .org! Just some paper and a bowl. Without further ado.......(imagine a great drum roll)
Congratulations!!! Please let me know what you'd like to find in your Box of Awesome. Tell me a little bit about yourself so I can get a feel of what I think you need as well.

Also, thanks to all who entered and good luck next time. :)

Announcement!

2011-04-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Winner will be announced tomorrow!

BOX OF AWESOME

2011-04-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Like I promised, it's Box of Awesome time once again! Leave your comments, up to five entries a person. If you commented last week those shall count as entries too. The entries will be assigned a number and will be randomly picked out of a circa 1982 Maize Gold Tupperware bowl.

What comes in the Box of Awesome, you might be wondering. It is full of whatever I think will be awesome and would delight you to no end! I do encourage you to tell me things you'd like to find in your Box of Awesome, that will aid in the delighting. Don't get your hopes up for anything expensive or lavish though. Of course, the homemade peanut butter hot fudge that was in the box last year could've been considered lavish I suppose...awesome. Don't doubt the awesome!!!

Thanks for reading the DeCoursey Project and please enjoy the contest. It ends Friday, Friday, gotta be entered by Friday...5pm.

Box of Awesome

2011-04-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

Starts MONDAY! All of you that commented this week get extra entries...because it's my contest and I'll do what I want. :)

Should I even bother with the awesome?

2011-03-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

It's Box of Awesome time again. Blog traffic has slowed down to a near trickle and I don't know if I should hold the contest? Would anyone even care to enter? I don't know. What do you think....anyone?

Daddy Daughter Dance

2011-03-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Jeff was gone this Valentine's Day. He was taken over to Seattle to do training for BOA. This was particularly sad for the girls.

Valentine's Day has been a family holiday for years. The dinning room is decked in hearts and roses. We have a fancy dinner by candle light and Jeff gives the girls flowers and cards. Some years we even get an impromptu performance of interpretive dance from Lindsay. Having been uprooted from anything familiar the girls hold tight to these traditions. Not doing it our way and not having their Daddy there was a problem and stressful.

Luckily, I got a call from my aunt Janice. Apparently, my uncle Craig and my cousin Miranda go to a Daddy Daughter Dance every year and she was thoughtful enough to see if Jeff and the girls would want in on it. Of course I said yes! What's even better? It was the weekend before Valentine's Day so it was a way for the girls to spend some special time with their Daddy.

{Just for a point of reference, Miranda and Abbey are 2 days apart, Abbey being older. They are also the best of friends. Janice isn't much older than me is why we have children closer in age than most aunts and nieces. What do you expect from a family that had eight children?}

So the girls got dressed in their favorite dresses, I did their hair super fancy like, we did some light makeup, and I even got corsages to match each dress.

They were so excited to say the least. Jeff met Craig and Miranda at a diner for dinner before heading to the dance. It is of honorable mention that Jeff loved his dinner. He got a full prime rib dinner and dessert for 12 bucks. The reason it's of honorable mention is because he mentioned it on more than one occasion when recounting the nights events. I don't have much detail past this other than there was much dancing and merry making.

What did I do? I stayed home, got in some comfy pj's and watched two great movies. The first was An Affair To Remember, swoon! I love this one, LOVE! I love most anything with Cary Grant though. Then I made it through about half of GONE WITH THE WIND. It has to be all caps, it's just too epic. LOVE that movie too, parts of it are just soooo wrong. Halfway through, Jeff and the girls made it home and were filling me in on how much fun they had. Jeff did the Hokey Pokey and jumped up and down and sang many a Taylor Swift song with them. I'm sure they'll go back next year. A few pictures are from my phone, so not the best, but better than nothing.

Christmas 2010

2011-03-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

A Christmas post in March? Better late than never I suppose. I'm looking at the pictures that were taken on Christmas and they are very few in number. I only took some after Santa came. I think I was having a battery crisis. My camera eats batteries like M&M's.

So, you can see our tree and the load of presents that was underneath. They didn't all belong to us remember, we live with my parents and my two brothers. We were represented well enough though.

The big gift this year for all four of us? We all got iPhones! The best part about that? They were FREEEEEEE!!!! Oh ya! We needed to update our phone plan, but we were waiting for a good deal to come around. Jeff caught wind that one day only, Best Buy would be giving away free iPhones 3's with new accounts or resigning contracts. This wasn't advertised by Best Buy though, it was just circulating as a rumor. They only had a limited amount so we had to get there early, you never know who else reads obscure tech blogs in the 3C. I made Jeff call in the morning to confirm the rumor and that we could indeed get 4. The answer was yes to both questions, so we threw some clothes on and were in the car on our way.

Jeff and I used ours as soon as we got them and the girls were quite jealous. The main things they wanted for Christmas were cell phones. We were asked, "If they were free, then why didn't you get us one too?" We had reasons and they reluctantly accepted them, some more bitterly than others...(cough, Lindsay, cough)

When I wrapped them they were each put into different shaped and sized boxes. I was going to do my best to keep them surprised. Christmas morning came and they picked other presents to open first. I wondered who would get to their phone first. Lindsay was the lucky winner.

I was relieved because I wasn't sure how well she'd take it to see Abbey get an iPhone and her box was a different shape, so surely hers couldn't be one too, and that's not fair Abbey gets everything, nobody loves me, everyone loves Abbey, I hate Christmas, and crying up to her room. I don't really think that would happen, but I was preparing for the worst. Lindsay does have a hard time being the youngest and second born you see, bless her heart. She's really a sweet girl I promise.

However when she opened it there was some excitement, but not enough to satisfy my need for the dramatics. Just to clarify, Lindsay was excited and very grateful, she just doesn't get all crazy excited. It's more subdued, a little too subdues for my tastes. They get that from Jeff, they really do come by it honestly.

Abbey saw Lindsay get a phone and her demeanor changed to soooo laid back. She knew she was getting one too and directly picked up the one that was hers. Despite my attempts at trickery she saw right through them, dang. She opened it to even less fan fair and I was annoyed. Again, it's Jeff's fault. I told them that was simply not acceptable and I better see some jumping up and down, yelling, praising, running around, hyperventilating, and just plain revelry going on or I'm taking them back! They performed a most righteous hootenanny. Christmas could carry on.

There ya go, the rest was typical. We ate holiday food. We saw Jeff's family. We had Christmas Eve at my aunt Janice's house, at which we had the traditional tacos and ice cream sundaes. We hung out longer than other guests and watched the Grinch.

It was also the last time I saw my Grandma. She died a couple weeks later. I got to see her smile. I got to hug her and rub her back. I could hear her voice when she spoke with me and other people at the party. She laughed and got excited during the white elephant, she won a sweater fuzz getter thingy. She hugged and kissed my girls and gave them each a Christmas present. They each got a 5$ McDonald's card, a total Grandma Brinkerhoff classic gift. A big sacrifice too, she didn't have much money to spend. We knew she was getting near the end, but it just came so fast. I'm glad I have those last detailed memories of her.

Alright, here's the few pictures that I do have. I just can't do a post without pictures. Even if there are only two.

Palace Fairy

2011-03-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

Lindsay was able to participate in the Nutcracker last year. After her audition for a part, we found out she was assigned to be a Palace Fairy. I say assigned because I believe everybody gets a part in the ballet. With the younger girls, they're mostly placed by what costumes they would fit into. Lindsay loved the Spanish Dancers and said she would like to have that part when she gets older.

If you're familiar with the Nutcracker, then you'd have a pretty good guess as to when she appears. If you're not familiar, shame on you, just kidding, mostly. Towards the end of the ballet before the Sugar Plum Fairy dances, Clara and the Nutcracker go to his palace to be entertained and have a big party. Lindsay and the other Palace Fairies were in that opening scene and did a welcome dance to the Sugar Plum Fairy. Of course, every Nutcracker story will vary from company to company.

Fun fact! Did you know that sugared plums are really just prunes? Oh yes. Not as pretty sounding huh? The dance of the Prune Fairy, nope, doesn't quite work.

Oh, and Lindsay was wonderful. Jeff, Abbey, and I were able to catch one of her performances. She was beautiful and her costume was personally one of my favorites.

Crazy Hair Day

2011-03-04T11:10:00.001-08:00

This past week has been spirit week at the ol' Canyon View Elementary, and our very own Lindsay Lou has participated whole heatedly.

Yesterday was, I'm sure you've already guessed, Crazy Hair Day Day Day day day..... Thanks echo announcer guy.

My inspiration you ask? It's no surprise that I am having Spring fever pretty darn bad. I'm about to drive up the street to Home Depot and walk through their flower isle whilst I play bird songs or Vivaldi on my iPod. I would sport a pair of my longed for capri pants and sip on a fast food cup of lemonade. Ahhh.... Anyways, Lindsay's hair was turned into a little flower patch. The buns, of course are the flowers. The parts of the buns that fell out and refused to stay under their bobby pins? Leaves. (just go with it) The stems or vines of the flowers were the twists of hair connecting to the little knobby buns. Throw in some butterfly clips and a purple flower headband, voila!

She was very happy with the results and had quite a few complements, which I had her repeat to me a few times. I'm a sucker for praise, I'm not gonna lie! I was amazed that it stayed all day honestly.

A quick update on Jeff's job, he LOVES it. I haven't seen him be this happy to go to work in years. He loves it and it will do great things for this family. :)

A new year and a new job

2011-01-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

JEFF GOT A NEW JOB!!!!!

He starts on the 18th. He will be a Personal Banker at Bank of America!

This message brought to you by the Happier Life in 2011 For the DeCoursey's Foundation.

A sweet surprise from a sweet friend

2010-12-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Lindsay has been participating in the Nutcracker this year. We've been busy getting her to rehearsal and now the performances have started. Last night was opening night. Lindsay was so excited. I was working security backstage all night, but I did get to see Lindsay come through and go to wardrobe. I gave her some loves and wished her good luck, which now I don't know if I was supposed to do that or tell her break a leg...hmmm.

When it was over I saw all the girls going back through, many of them leaving and many of them had bunches of flowers. Oh oh. I didn't buy and flowers. I also forgot to get Lindsay 24 opening night gifts to hand out to her fellow Palace Fairies. Crap. Double strike. I knew Lindsay would be understanding and pretend that she didn't need flowers. I still felt like a heal.

I got back to the green room, ready to apologize, that's when Lindsay ran to me and she was holding a beautiful bouquet of orange roses and deep maroon mums. They were lovely and arranged so perfectly. Who gave her flowers? She was just smiling and so proud of her roses. I remarked how pretty they were and looked at the card. It read:

Lindsay Loo!
So proud of you.
Way to go!
{heart} Seth, Keely,& Daisy

It was my sweet and thoughtful friend Keely and co. She mentioned on her blog that she loved the Nutcracker and was going to attend. I let her know that Lindsay was going to be a Palace Fairy and in the front, so watch out.

I am so touched. I teared up at the loving gift. You saved my hide and made Lindsay's night perfect. Thank you so much dear friend. I love you bunches.

Halloween 2010

2010-12-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

The weather was great this year. No coats or layering needed. I didn't take many pictures, my camera has been acting up and not so reliable.

The first time ever there was a division of the group. Abbey went off with her cousin Miranda while Lindsay stayed with Daddy and her friends Michael and Nicky. Girls are getting older. The candy haul was really light this year. I hope next year yields more fruit.

Abbey was a Jedi

Lindsay was a Leprechaun.

I made both costumes. It reminds me why I only sew once a year. I managed to get a shot of both of them when we went to Jeff's parents house after tricks or treats.
One funny little thing I need to mention. Lindsay's teacher at school wanted all of the kids to come by his house on Halloween. He said his was the scariest house there ever was and kids had been known to run screaming in fear. Lindsay speculated that he must have F's everywhere. We had to go. We got there and the guy had one of the coolest yards I've seen in a while. Very neat, but Lindsay was a scoffer, she wasn't scared. Lindsay dinged the doorbell and there was her teacher. He gave Abbey some candy. He gave Lindsay some candy. She was about to leave when he told her to wait a minute. He then handed her a math worksheet with about 30 big multiplication problems. He told her he wanted it finished and turned in the next morning. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!

Post about Abbey, or Abburt, if you're in the inner circle.

2010-12-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

Abbey turned 12 in July and to be honest, I don't remember what we did. It was on a Sunday, we had cake, she requested a certain kind of dinner, and we had presents. I'm a bad mom, I know. I should have pictures and a clear memory of what happened. I do know that that was shortly before we packed up a bunch of clothes and abruptly moved to Kennewick to be closer to Jeff. I'll have to ask Abbey when she gets home from school if she remembers if we did anything else.

She did start a new school this year. It was a very rocky beginning. She had a very difficult time making friends. For the first month of school she was so depressed about her life. I didn't know what to do for her, I was depressed myself. I comforted her and tried to brainstorm with her on what to do. I asked her who she ate lunch with, it made me sad to think of her sitting by herself at a table all alone. She then informed me that everyday she would eat her lunch with the Life Skills kids. They are the kids with mental disabilities by the way. Abbey has always had a soft spot for anyone with a handicap. She told me that sometimes it was the best part of her day. Aww, I love her.

Soon after that I would start to hear certain girl's names mentioned. I would inquire as to the friendship status and it was looking good. Abbey was slowly, but surely, gaining friends. She started to eat lunch with these girls at their table. She made sure to let them know though, that two days a week were still devoted to the LS kids. She also let it be known that they were free to join her.

Since Abbey is in the 7th grade this year, she was able to participate in school sports. First up, volleyball! She was very excited about this. Her previous volleyball venture was cut short due to a broken thumb. Volleyball was a good experience for her. The most important thing she needed to learn was teamwork, supporting your teammates, and really being open to constructive criticism and learning from it. She made progress in all areas so I think it was well worth her time.

She became closer with some of the girls on her team, which in turn made her happy. Yay. She also looked cute in her uniform. I went to most of the home games as did Jeff's mom and his sister. Lindsay would come to support her, but bring the DS for backup.

Just to do a quick round up on Abbey now. She's getting really good grades, almost made the Principal's List. Next time. She's got a good group of friends at school. They genuinely like her and are excited to see her in the morning. She's part of the Buddy Club at school. Buddy Club is the official club for the LS kids. She didn't want to do dance. That was the sport option after volleyball. She is going to go out for basketball in January though.

Abbey is still sad with leaving our home and having to move to a new place. She is happy too. She's learning that it's possible and OK to be happy and sad about the same thing at the same time. Feelings and emotions are complex. She's my daughter, she needs to learn the term "I'm complicated". I'm proud and relieved that she's making the best of her situation. I am so lucky to have an Abbey. She is certainly cream of the crop. Oh, the purple and teal are the colors of Horse Heaven Hills. Just thought it would bring a nice theme to the post.

Time for something new

2010-12-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

I actually didn't want to post until Jeff got a new job, but who knows when the heck that's going to happen. My life has sucked pretty hard since the summer and I didn't feel like talking about it and getting pulled over by the "you need to be grateful" police. Don't need or care to hear it, thanks.

The reason I'm posting now is that I was looking over old posts of mine. It's been a great scrapbook and that's what I was intending it to be in the first place. My life has taken a dramatic turn and not for the better, somethings are better. I think I should still write down and take pictures of my families life. I've almost completely lost the will to care and I don't want it to be that way. I want to look back and see some good that was mixed in with all the crap. There is good, there is.

I also miss my friends that I've made in the blog world. By shutting my blog out I've accidentally shut you out too. I include family in this as well. I'm sorry.

I also wanted something else up because for months when I come to check my blog sidebar I see the old post header and it's just winy and annoying. It was how I was feeling at the time, but I'm tired of seeing it. I would delete it, but it was a true representation of how I felt and I want to be honest.

I want to start with Lindsay's birthday. She turned 10 this year. My youngest is in double digits! I love that little girl so much. She didn't get a party this year. We had to leave our house and live at Grandma's so all of her friends were 2 hours away. We did make it up to her by taking her to lunch and treating her and Abbey to pedicures. Later in the evening we had a family dinner and invited the Rosenstocks down the street. Lindsay has been best friends with their two boys since she was 4 0r 5. Jeff and the girls made the decorations and I made the food. We had shredded beef tacos, beans, rice, salsa, chips, and vanilla cupcakes with real strawberry frosting. The weather was nice. It did threaten to rain, but never went through with it. Lindsay got so many presents. It was like Christmas! She's never got a haul like that from a regular birthday party. I believe she literally got everything she wanted. How many people can say that and mean it!? Probably a few, but I still thought it was cool.

Things worthy of notice. Lindsay picked out those candles and was very proud of them. My mom made the dress Lindsay is wearing. I think it was made for her birthday if I'm remembering it correctly. I showed Jeff how to make the pompoms, but he and the girls made them. He lovingly strung them up under my picky guidance. With the threat of rain we did get a rainbow. If you can't tell one of Lindsay's favorite colors is pink.

sigh

2010-09-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Why can't I have one thing go right? Just one. Please? (rubbing forehead)

On a less winy note, Jeff's interview went perfect. It couldn't have gone better. Maybe him getting the job will be my one thing right. Please Lord?

Good news!

2010-08-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Jeff has a job interview tomorrow!!! I'm so excited. This one is for a job we've been hoping for for a while now. YAY! Cross your fingers, I know I am. :)

It's about time

2010-07-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Abbey wants me to put something up about her new glasses. She opted for the same frames, just a different color. So, with out further ado....

Old and Busted

New Hotness

Lest we forget Lindsay

Abbey's new glasses were greatly needed. Not just because her other pair were broken either. Her prescription had drastically changed from last year. So, for about the first hour of receiving them, we got to hear about how she had never really seen all the world had to offer before. Spontaneously bursting into song, "I can see clearly now the rain has gone!" Good times.

So what'cha what'cha what'cha want?

2010-07-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Me: Oh Lindsay Lou! Your birthday's coming up ya know.

Lou: Oh, I know Momma. I've been thinking about it for a while.

Me: So, you've put some thought into what you want?

Lou: I got it covered.

Me: MmmK.

I didn't think much more of that conversation. The day went on like it usually does. The girls went to bed. After a few hours past I followed. Upon waking up and about to head downstairs I find that Lindsay had posted something to her door.

What the what? It was a birthday list, nay, a birthday wish poster! My heart swelled with pride. I love the moments when you see bits of yourself shine through in your children. So creative! So well done! So completely her idea! Abbey liked it so much, she made one for herself too.
I have to say, they're very helpful. I should make one and put it on my door. {smile}

So, what was in the Box of Awesome?

2010-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

It's embarrassing how long it took me to mail out the Box of Awesome this year. I finally did it though. Last Wednesday, the girls and I set out to get everything made and shipped by golly!

Mike Brinkerhoff won this year and he requested goodies. I do know that Mike loves peanut butter. What goes great with peanut butter? Jelly. That's right, er, well, I went with chocolate. That goes great too! They made an edible cup out of that combo after all.

What did I make? The possibilities were endless. I opted for brownies topped with peanut butter fudge and marshmallows.
Kettle corn with a peanut butter chocolate drizzle.
And last, but not at all least. Hot peanut butter fudge. All from scratch I might add.I threw in a few other little goodies. A balloon launcher, cuz, well, I think it sounded like fun. Mike is a fun guy, so there ya go. Those washcloths that are supper compressed until they hit the water. The fact that they were some of my favorite Sesame Street characters didn't hurt either. (Death to Elmo) A large candy Resse's Peanut Butter Cup candy bar. A box of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. I threw in a bag of Lindt Peanut Butter Truffles for good measure.
Fweew, check the Box of Awesome off my "this is now embarrassing" list. Hope you loved your box Mike. Awesome box, Awesome guy!

Saying goodbye, why is it sad? .....

2010-07-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

.....Makes us remember the good times we've had. Much more to say, foolish to try. It's time for saying goodbye. (tear)
Muppets Take Manhattan folks, check it out.

The beginning of June marked a sad moment in Abbey and Lindsay's lives. Their best friends of nearly 4 years moved away. Kaylee and Kassidy lived right behind us. Kaylee and Abbey were a set. Kassidy and Lindsay were a pair. They shared birthdays, teachers, holidays, summer evenings, laughter, and tears. They weren't moving under happy circumstances either, which makes it harder. They now reside in Pennsylvania with their Mom and her family.

I do know that the girls still play Webkins together, email back and forth, and Kaylee called Abbey on her birthday. They were on the phone for an hour.

I can tell that Abbey and Lindsay's zest for summer is slightly diminished since their bosom friends moved. I hope they can stay in touch. I also hope that Abbey and Lindsay can meet someone new...don't tell them that though.

Somehow I know, we'll meet again.
Not sure quite where and
I don't know just when.
You're in my heart.
So until then,
Wanna smile,
Wanna cry,
Saying Goodbye.

we miss you

Flashlight decorating contest?

2010-07-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before in other posts, this was Abbey's first year at girls camp.

We attended one of the pre-camp meetings. This would've been a huge waste of our time if it weren't for the little words "flashlight" "decorating" and "contest" uttered in combination with "I'm the reining queen. No one beats me." ( I must make it clear that I didn't say this, the camp director did. I've never been in a flashlight decorating contest before.)

HA! Until NOW!!! HA!

I love a challenge. Especially in a category I know I'm good at. It's on baby. Abbey straitened up and looked interested for the first time too, she was definitely on board.

Abbey- "Momma. Do you think we could decorate a flashlight?"

Me- "Absolutely."

Abbey- "Do you think we might win?"

Me- "Oh Abbey, you don't even need to worry about it.
They won't know what hit em"

Abbey and Me- (rubbing our hands menacingly) "heh heh heh eh heh, excelent."

I had drawings of 10 different concept flashlights the following day. After presenting them to Abbey we had to decide the best materials to achieve the best look.

Materials: model magic, markers, craft foam, and stick on jems.

The finished product? Jeff named her Birdie.

Did she win? OH YAH SHE DID!!! WHOOOOOO!!!
See ya next year!

End of the school year

2010-07-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

I know, school has been out for a while. I still need to talk about the notables.

Lindsay had her end of school 4th grade concert. She got all spiffied up and lookin' good. Oh ya, she curled her own hair, so proud. She sang her little heart out and hand gestured with the best of them.

I have to let you know, I do not like going to those concerts. They pack that gym so full that if you don't arrive early enough (at least 30 min) you're going to stand for the whole thing. It then gets really hot and at times smelly. I sometimes get a little antsy around large confined crowds. I went though, cuz I love her!

Abbey had received a special award at the end of the year from her school. She was nominated and selected for a Citizenship Award by her teachers. This is a really special honor since it comes from the teachers that see her everyday. Only two other kids were selected to receive this. I attended the awards ceremony and I was so proud. I always new Abbey was kind, helpful, respectful, and just an all around great kid. Now, I have a paper to prove she's bona fide!

Ballet on Broadway

2010-07-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

Lindsay's potentially last ballet performance happened at the end of May. Instead of a classic ballet they opted for a more traditional recital.

Broadway was the theme this year. Lindsay's dances were to Jellicle Cats and I Feel Pretty. I Feel Pretty was definitely the stronger performance of the two. She did great.

I feel bad that we didn't get very many pictures this year. The video camera ran out of tape after a few seconds of her first dance too. I don't want to blame anyone here (coughjeffcough), but a mistake was made. She did look beautiful though.

After her show we took her out to eat at the place of her choice...Golden Coral. Oh yeaaaaaah. The last picture is that of Lindsay and her teacher Miss Sandra.

4th of July, 10 days later

2010-07-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July. It's a big holiday for our family. The best were spent at aunt Doris' pool. We'd get there about 11:30 and us kids made a B line for the pool. Living in the Tri-Cities almost always promised a hot lovely day. The food was always plentiful and good. The day went like this, swim and eat. Swim and eat. Launch each other off of the inflated water bed mattress and then more swimming. If we were lucky, my mom's little brothers would be there. It was then guaranteed our days fun to be magnified 10x.

We set off our own fireworks. I miss that. Seeing the block come together with a show of pyrotechnic American pride. Running in the front yard with sparklers. Homemade ice cream passed to the neighbors.

The DeCoursey family got just a little bit of that nostalgia back this year my friends. Tired at the thought of going anywhere for the 4th, we opted for staying home. We did want to go over to Seattle, but it would've been too short of notice.

The weather report wasn't good for the 4th. It got to just about 71 that day, much to cold to swim or play in the water. The girls didn't seem to mind much. Lindsay did give the slip n slide a try, I must commend her for that.

We thought a good way to pass the time till the evening was to go to the movies. Popcorn and soda were only a dollar and the movie was 5 bucks a person. Good deal. The girls picked 'The Last Airbender'. We all loved it.

Jeff grilled burgers and riblets, I made your typical side dishes. I was quite proud of the watermelon-strawberry-lemonade, very refreshing.

I must make it clear that fireworks are banned in our area and we always follow the rules....heh. Evening came and the girls could wait no longer. The sparklers must be used (or maybe they weren't)!!! Our whole neighborhood was lit up with personal displays of fireworks (allegedly). People even splurged on large aerial explosions (somewhere else). Jeff and the girls played with ground bloom flowers (for pretend only, I swear). We also had a gorgeous fountain that was huge and seemed to go on forever. It was so loud! (I'll deny it to the end)
Before bed, we broke out the homemade ice cream. Delicious.

Next year, I think we'll be up at the Brinkerhoff lake houses. I hope it will be hot next year, I hope, I hope!

Surprise, it's a cake!

2010-07-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

We were in Kennewick during Labor Day weekend. Jeff needed to work through the weekend and we did want to see him.

I'd spied this cake a while ago. I loved it and had to try it. It was really fun to let the kids guess what flavor it was going to be.

So, I got the recipe here. I was really interested in it because the recipe used real fruit in each layer. Real fruit? Oooooo that sounds marvelous! This will be the bestest cake EVAH!!! Sadly, it is after making it that I realized it only sounds good in theory. You could really only tell the flavors in the citrus layers. The fresh fruit also imparted an undesirable spongy texture to the cake. No worries though. I'm always looking for ways to improve things. If I ever venture to make this cake again (unlikely) I think I'll use kool-aid powder to flavor each layer. I think it'll bring a nice artificial froot loop quality. Completely acceptable when you take into account the amount of food coloring you add. You'd expect that to be the flavor. Organic shmorganic.

I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say.

2010-07-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

With the faint smell of candle smoke still hanging in the air, it reminds me that I do have things I need to report. I don't know if you want to know all of the reasons as to why I haven't blogged in like, forever. I'll spare you the boring details. Let's just say, depression, lack of interest, nothing to say, and no access to the much easier to use laptop. Blah, blah, blah. Well, I was looking at the pictures that have been on my memory card since May today. I did have things to talk about. Life isn't all that bad, really, so try to wash that depression right out of my hair and use the desktop. I have a lot to say.

Sunday was Abbey's birthday. My sweet little lovely is now 12. Sigh, 12. She had just spent the prior week at girls camp. A sleep away church camp, just for girls... Anywho, we didn't really have the time to put together a party this year. We told her she could do whatever she wanted to do. She wanted to have lunch at Red Lobster and then hang out at the mall. Hanging out at the mall? No thanks, I'll hang out on the bench and read my latest book of choice while you cavort about with your sister. I'm in a Ray Bradbury kick. The 'Illustrated Man' is what I'm working on right now, work probably not the best word. Soaking in, enjoying, relishing, you get the drift.

Abbey would like you to know that the Chinchilla Webkins (AKA Chico) is the bestest Webkins ever made, next to the Alley Cat (AKA Thomas). I'm sure Abbey will do a post about all of her presents. Mean while, Abbey and Lindsay had been watching YouTube clips of Chinchilla's being adorable all afternoon. I tried to entice them with the slip n slide to no avail.
One summer birthday down, two more to go. Lindsay handled Abbey's birthday remarkably well this year I might add. Very proud. I have two beautiful, sweet, smart, confident, lovely girls.

Happy Birthday my dear little Abbert!

For Lisa, Elisabeth, and the angry athiest.

2010-05-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is my response to my sister in law's blog. She has recently been under fire for her decision to not abort her youngest child.

Well, we've all heard what the angry atheist had to say.

I think it's interesting that Lisa never mentioned god or any other deity, yet that's what you pulled out of thin air to attack. Someone had an agenda and was just waiting for the right moment to attack. Why can't you just leave people alone about their personal beliefs anyways? It's none of my business if you want to worship a pink unicorn, or Satan. Feel free.

For your information though, not that it will do you any good since you are one of the worst types of ignorant people, the root reason for keeping Elisabeth had nothing to do with God. It was the very primal urge and instinct to keep and love what is yours. Lisa and Donald created her and loved her from the moment they knew her heart beat. That isn't from indoctrination, that is animal, that is natural. That is the human condition. That is also their choice. I do believe women still have the freedom to choose in this country, right? GOT THAT? THEY LOVED HER AND WANTED HER! No religion entered into that decision. There is your answer. You don't have to be curious anymore. I hope you're not too thick for it. If you think that is selfish, you're welcome to whatever warped opinion you want.

If you are going to attack them on the Darwinian belief system, then I hope you make that your standard for all life including yours. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be a self righteous hypocrite.

So, if you see a child run into the street while you are driving, don't slow down. You must run them over, it's scientifically the right thing to do. Must thin out the week and stupid. I suppose that goes for anyone that has any type of accident or misfortune that befalls them, or you for that matter.

I also hope that you don't utilize modern medicine. Tisk, tisk. That just serves the purpose of preserving life that otherwise wouldn't exist. So if you or your child were to get AIDS, diabetes, hit by a car, or cancer the responsible and unselfish thing to do would be to do nothing and let yourselves die. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to live a less than normal life. It would also be the unselfish decision.

I also find it hard to believe that someone, such as yourself, would comment on something you know nothing about. Have you ever known a mentally handicapped person, intimately? I grew up with one. My brother Shawn. He is happy and lovely. I can't imagine my life without him. I'm sure he can't imagine having no life at all. If you were to ask him, 'Shawn, would you rather not exist?' He would let you know that not only does he exist, he thrives.

The bottom line here is you are ignorant. You are hateful. You are a bully. You are also dabbling in Nazism, eew. If it were my standard of 'normal' it would be people like you who wouldn't have kids. Your children will no doubt be just as hateful and ignorant as their angry atheist mother, why would we want them poisoning OUR world?

Climb every mountain.

2010-04-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Fold every mountain in this case. I don't mind though. I love laundry. I especially love laundry products. Soap, pretreater, softeners, even bleach in it's various forms.

It is well known, by those that know me at least, I can't go to a store without spending some time in the laundry isle. I have my favorites that I will open and smell, but I always try a few new ones. If it's a box I have a patented squeeze and sniff method. I don't recommend squeezing an open liquid bottle though. Something to do with Gain squirting up ones nose, then said someones husband took a picture with his phone, while laughing, and laughing, and telling her he knew that would happen someday. Any who, I love, love, love it.

Jeff's gotten over his embarrassment over the years, lucky for him. In truth, I tune him and everybody out when I'm in that isle. I don't care if I look like a weirdo, and I know I do, opening and squeezing bottles and boxes one after the other. I even thought about making it a profession. Someone as dedicated to laundry products as I, should be in the field, creating, testing, and getting paid.

I used to be so in tune with the scents of each soap and softener, I could tell which ones you used. I am a little bit embarrassed to admit, but I browse laundry websites to see what is the newest thing they're working on. It's fun time for me. I also cruise them for coupons and samples, I'm not completely waisting my time.

The smells of certain detergents leave me feeling nostalgic. They bring back certain times in my life. Tide with bleach powder for instance, reminds me of being pregnant with Abbey. We lived with Jeff's parents during that time and that was what she used. I would stand above the open box and inhale. . . inhale. . . inhale. . . it cured any sickness I was feeling. I only threw up once with that pregnancy, and probably only because I didn't have access to the Tide. My gratitude to Tide with bleach.

Purex original scent liquid is what I used in our new townhouse after Lindsay was born. I did so much laundry that first 8 months. Lindsay threw up after EVERY feeding. She would loose just about everything, for 8 months! So, Purex and I got to know each other. I had gotten a super deal at Kmart and got 4 big jugs for around 10 bucks. Every day, load, pour, start, dry, and repeat. I'll open a bottle and Abbey is only 2 and coloring at the kitchen table, singing a made up song. I'll be bathing Lindsay for the third time that day and putting her in warm clean clothes, and then hold her. She didn't like to be put down. We held her. Abbey would come sit with us and give me kisses on the arm and on Lindsay's head. "She's our sugar baby, isn't she mama!"

When I go past a venting dryer I remember the year of the snow fort. Donald built an incredible snow fort in the front yard. We played outside for hours, everyday. On days when the laundry was being done, we'd warm up by the dryer vent. It was warm and smelled really good. We also experimented with melting just the outside of our snowballs to create an icy layer. We called them stingers, well I did, I can't remember if Donald agreed to the name.

Tide original scent powder reminds me of my Grandparents house in Bellevue. Every time you went out to the backyard, you passed through the laundry room to get there. I know that smell. It's so clean and fresh. I'll wash my towels, pull them out of the dryer, put one to my nose, and I swear I'm out back bouncing on the giraffe hippity hop.

It's funny. I just set out to do a "look what I have to do today post". Oh, how the mind will wander.

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

The DeCoursey family had a lovely, homey, and relaxed Easter. The bunny hid the baskets so well this year, Lindsay thought she didn't get one. We had to give her some hints. It ended up being in the dryer. Silly bunny. Abbey's basket was in the shower. I thought that would be a really good hiding place actually. What 11 year old likes the shower?After Lindsay claimed her basket then then noted that there seemed to be plastic eggs everywhere. It dawned on them that the Easter bunny gave them an egg hunt too. That bunny is so nice. So thoughtful. So wonderful. So lovely. So pretty...ehh ehhm. Moving on....The Easter bunny also brought them a really nice kite. It just so happened to be great kite flying weather that day too. Almost too windy actually. Jeff took them out to the back yard. I stayed in the warm family room and watched out of the glass slider. Bruce was captivated, yet terrified of the flying contraption. The best was when the kite dive bombed toward the slider and Bruce puffed up, hissed, and ran for his little kitty life. Mookie napped quietly in the other room, indifferent to Bruce's distress. Over all the kite was a big success. I'm planning springtime picnics with copious amounts of kite flying. Not to mention "Let's go fly a kite!" was constantly running through my head.We had our own brunch planned. I made a raspberry danish from scratch. Turned out really well. With that we had eggs, bacon, grapes, and an array of drinks.Dinner was very predictable. Ham, check. Cheesy potatoes, check. Fruit salad, check. Deviled eggs, check. Homemade rolls, check. Delicious? Check!

We watched our Sunday family movie and it was time for Jeff to leave shortly after. The girls have been having an increasingly hard time saying goodbye to their daddy. When will this disjointed life end? I don't know. Until I find out, I'll just eat some more chocolate. The Easter bunny did bring me a box of See's chocolates. :)

Hello there

2010-03-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

We're in the Tri-Cities and the Box of Awesome is getting shipped off today. After I get confirmation that it's been received, I'll do a post about it's contents.

We'll be here all week folks. I hope to have a post everyday. I think that hope and good intentions are in the same bucket sometimes. You know, paving roads and such.

Anyways, have a good week. It's spring break for us. Is it spring break for you?

Tried to add a picture, but blogger is being naughty. So sorry.

Sorry for the delay, but the winner is......

2010-03-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

There was a technical delay on Monday that stood in the way of the winner and their Box of Awesome! The technical problem is now fixed and we shall proceed. After calculating all of your entries, then randomly assigning those entries their own number, then using Random.org to pick a number from all of those excited little...numbers. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

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Well, Mike Brinkerhoff, you're the winner of the Box of Awesome! Congratulations. To everyone who didn't win, thanks for playing and check back regularly for other contests. They aren't as big as the BOA, but still awesome in their own right. This contest will reconvene next March 10th. See ya next year!

Give Away!!! Nifty Gifties!!!

2010-03-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

It's been a year, but the time has come around again. That's right. It's the........Box of Awesome!!!

A year ago today I had the idea for my first giveaway and it was a huge success. I made some new friends and learned that I can make my own Snuggies. Without further ado, here's the rules. They are mostly the same from last year, with just a few changes.

So, this could contain anything. It's gonna be good stuff. {hopefully you'll think so too} It could have something I've made, candy, toys, crafty stuff, books, it might even be tailored for the person who wins. I can tell you with all certainty that it won't be a flat screen TV though...sorry. I hope you like it anyway and decide to enter. The rules are as follows...

1. Leave me a comment. Each comment is another entry, Limit 5 per person please.

2. Please announce this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, or myspace. Doing
so will double your entries. If you post it on more than one of those choices, you
get an extra entry for each outlet. I will be checking too, so be honest please.

3. Tell me something you would like to find in your very own box of awesome.
If you say you want rainbows or miracles...I just don't know what to do with that
really. So Skittles and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers? That sounds right.

4. When you receive your box of awesome, let me know how you like it and feel

free to show it off on your own blog.

Well, there ya go. Maybe this will entice some of you lurkers to come out of hiding. I just love meeting iiinteresting people you know. : )

So, come and get some nifty gifties!

The winner will be chosen Sunday night at MIDNIGHT!!! Random.org will provide the winner. Then the awesome person will be announced on Monday.

Beauty, Bruce, and something awesome!

2010-03-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a wonderful weekend. It was really fun and really fast. We stayed at Jeff's parent's house the whole time. We were able to make it to my parent's house for Sunday dinner though. I would've never heard the end of it if we hadn't. :)

We had the play to go to later Saturday evening. During the day we visited and made a trip out to Costco. I know, high excitement. The whole family met up at Dale and Tracy's house for dinner before the show. I've only had taco soup a few times in my life, but each time I've really loved it. I'm going to have to make some. Before leaving for Richland, I had to show my nephew's how to get through the big castle on Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. I took the controller and Lindsay said, "Watch the Master at work." HA! Love that kid.

Beauty and the Beast was really good! Like I said before, my niece Amicherie was playing Bell. She was amazing!!! She has such a beautiful voice and she delivered every line perfectly. Everyone in the cast was spot on that night. I was certainly a proud aunt. The girls really loved it too.

Sunday dinner was good at my mom's house. I got to see my adorable nieces. You know you're loved when one of them makes a bee line for you before saying hello to grandma first. I love my nieces.

We of course left really late that night to go back to Spokane. We stopped back at Jeff's parents house to get our stuff and we got sucked into the vortex. The vortex being visiting and then more siblings that show up so you then need to visit with them. I can tell you, married to Jeff has trained me to be a first class visiting fool.

The ride home was uneventful. I had my big cup of ice to munch on. The girls watched their borrowed copy of Beauty and the Beast on the computer. We pipped the sound through the car so I could listen.

So, busy, busy, busy. I apologise to Miss K for not calling her and meeting up. I beg for your forgiveness. We can most certainly get together during spring break. We will be there the whole week. Let me know if that works.

Now, a follow up on Bruce. He was fine. He didn't have anything wrong with him. It was decided that he was upset about Jeff being home that weekend. If you need to know anything about Bruce it's this. He LOVES me. He follows me everywhere, even if everyone else is home. He sits with me wherever I sit. He kills Lindsay's rabbit fur and brings it to me every week or so. He will get in between me and someone if they are close to me. I guess that weekend we were gone a lot and he got pushed off one too many times. He hasn't done it since. It was only that once. We were able to get the smell out with a special cleaner and a carpet shampooer.

Lastly I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that I detect something awesome on the wind. It seems to be coming from somewhere. I think it will land here tomorrow....hmmm.

Trip

2010-03-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

Jeff's mom called last Sunday and invited the girls and I to come down to the Tri-Cities, her treat, and she wants to take us to see Beauty and the Beast. My niece Amicherrie is playing Belle. I'm really touched that Jeff's mom thought to do such a nice thing. So, that's where we'll be this weekend. Now I just need to clean the house, pack, and set the kitties up. This will inevitably take all of the time leading up to when we have to leave. I better get started. I hope you all have a fun weekend too! So does Mookie. I had to have some kind of picture.

Something awesome is going to happen
next week....

Things that make me feel good

2010-03-03T07:18:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. I'm kind of doing cop out posts. Lists and stuff. So, here's another one. I was just sitting here thinking about stuff I like and how they make me feel, hence the tittle. I will share some with you, please share some with me. I like to know what makes other people feel good. Only a couple have pictures. I only found two that I thought were good enough to make me feel good.....goood.

Cat pictures with captions. They just make me laugh. I don't care if it's not cool. I say they're good.
Taking my children to the doctor. He's one of the best I've ever seen and he loves us. We've been going to him for almost 6 years. Every time we go he let's me know how much he likes my girls and tells me that I am a good mother. He assures me that we are a breath of fresh air. The girls and I always feel good after seeing Dr. Luber.

Eating more fruits and veggies. You get in a habit of excluding these gems in your daily diet. Then you try some and it's like, where have you been all of my life! I can't wait for fruit season to start. I'm dreaming about peaches in the summer.Doesn't this picture make you hungry? Well, it works for me.

Songs from the 500 Days of Summer sound track. I've been listening to them on Playlist and I really want the CD. Maybe I have a generous uncle that might have it already? Well, maybe not. I'm a gonna get it though.

My girls love me. They love to give me kisses and hugs. Sometimes I just have to look at Lindsay and she'll give me a kiss on my forehead. If I look at all sad, Abbey will spring out of nowhere and give me a hug and tell me that she loves me so much. So good!

My friends. I have great friends. I'm going to hang out with one of my great friends tomorrow. I had another great friend call and invite us over for dinner tonight. I have great friends that live far away from me, but as soon as we get together it feels like there's no distance at all. I love my friends! They definitely make me feel good.

Lastly, comments make me feel good. So, please leave one if you've read this.

New Week. New Opportunities.

2010-03-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

That's right. I'm trying to find, well, myself actually. I feel that I'm not who I completely want to be. I feel that I've lost of what used to make up Heidi. I chalk a bit of that to just growing up, but I still think there were other things lost along the way. I want to take advantage of everything life has to offer. I want to maximize and amplify every talent and aspect of my life. I want more for myself, I want more for Jeff and I as a couple, and I want more for my family. I know that I may loose heart and focus. I know that I may get discouraged. I hope that I will still press on and be the person that I want to be. I've been simmering over some inspirational things I've seen, read, or witnessed and I think I'm about to boil. This is one of the things that has stayed with me since I saw it. I think it will stay with me forever actually. It's the last thing Conan O'Brien said in his final farewell.

"To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

I don't know why this statement touches my heart so much, but I tear up every time I read it. It makes me feel young again. It gives me hope and makes me remember what it felt like to succeed at something. I used to be the kind of person that would see something and do everything in my power to get it. I hope to get some of that back. I'm looking for new opportunities. I know I'll find some.

Friday

2010-02-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

Well, we have someone coming to look at our house today. So, yay. Downside, I have to get the place looking really good and I just don't have the energy. It'll get done, it just might not be as sparkly spankin' clean as it usually is when someone comes.

Oh my gosh, I have an embarrassing confession here. Lindsay was late for school and I had to drive her in. Usually I'll throw on yesterday's clothes. I think I've hit a new low of disregard for my appearance though. I wore something like this.

and a pair of these.

with this thrown over to give me a little bit of dignity. Oh, I think it worked.

I was just missing these. SEXY!!!

Have a super Friday. I know I will.

Just a List of To Do's

2010-02-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

These are things on the schedule today. Get ready...are you ready? Here goes...

*Take the Lou Lou to ballet and head to Goodwill as she dances the hour away.

*Clean my room and bathroom. I feel guilty telling the girls to do the same thing when mine looks like it does.

*Plan something with fun with some of my friends. I'm not going to have any left if I keep living like a hermit.

*Roast a chicken. Make yukon gold mashed potatoes. I got a 15 lb bag for about 2 bucks, I gotta use em up! Stir up some gravy and butter some corn.

*So, I had the worst stink crop up in my fridge the last day or so...maybe 3, who's counting. Anyways, I found the source. It was an empty pickle jar, inch of liquid, poorly closed, and tipped on it's side. It leaked all over the middle shelf and down onto the bottom shelf....which is the bread shelf. I threw away most of the bread and wiped down and sanitised the shelves. The stank still LIVES!!! So, today I'm deconstructing the Frigidaire and giving it the deep clean. It is stopping me from going into the fridge for snacks. Maybe I should rethink this.

*Get my camera out and take some new pictures of the girls.

*Under no circumstances am I allowed to take a nap...NO!

*Bake some banana bread. I like to sprinkle brown sugar on the top of my loaves. I might bake some regular bread too.

*Watch some of my Netflix stuff. Oooo and Modern Family is on tonight! I love that show.

*One last thing. This isn't a to do item. Did anyone watch the ladies figure skating last night? Did anyone else cry during and after Canadian Joannie Rochette skated, or was it just me and Scott Hamilton?

What I like

2010-02-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I'm going to make a bigger effort to post more on my blog. I've been absent lately because I've been a little depressed...more than a little actually. I've even tried to get all of my negative, bad, sad, and undesirable feelings and thoughts out of my mind and onto a blog. It's my negative blog. It's been really been therapeutic. I feel good enough to start posting on here again. Since this blog is for posterity, I can't have a lot of "life sucks" and "woe is me" on here.

Now I've decided to just do a random post about things I like. These are things that you might not know about me. A small glimpse into what makes up the complexities of Heidi. They might also just be things that have happened as of late that I like. I would in turn invite you to share an interesting tidbit about yourselves in the comment section. I promise not to misuse the information that is given...for less than a 5 spot.

And here we go....

I love the banjo. LOVE. I love the tin sounding melodies that come from it's plucked strings. This love may owe itself to Kermit the Frog and The Rainbow Connection, but I digress. Even that creepy kid from Deliverance can't change my mind. I will say though, if a man can play the banjo, I have an instant attraction to him. It forced my crush to intensify for Ed Helms. Yes, Jeff knows and he's coping.My kids wanting to cook dinner. YES!!! Sure Abbey. If you want to make pancakes, you go right ahead my dear. Oh Lindsay! Grilled cheese sandwiches and "tomato soup" that isn't really tomato soup but tomato sauce that you added water and salt to and so in your mind is now "tomato soup" sounds lovely! Thank you girls so much.Hollywood gossip. Oh, it's embarrassing and kinda trashy, but I love it! I don't buy any magazines, I just check my websites. TMZ is the main one. I'm not proud of this one, but I like it none the less.I like caramel better than chocolate. Now, don't misunderstand, I loooove chocolate. I just looooooooove caramel. When I was little one of my most favorite treats was just a simple Kraft caramel. When I'd go trick or treating Kraft caramels were as highly prized as a Hershey bar.I love the Beatles. I discovered this love at the age of 15. It all started with the Double Blue album and I was hooked. I couldn't get enough. I've spread the Beatles love everywhere I could. I've helped add a few members the the Beatles army. When I worked at Michael's Craft Store in my teens, I would take my breaks next door at the Future Shop. I spent a good portion of my puny pay at that store. Every other week I'd add another Beatles album to my collection. When I was pregnant with Abbey, I wanted to name her Penny Lane. Instead I named her after my favorite album, Abbey Road. My hope is that one day Abbey will marry someone with the last name of Rhodes.I love laundry products. I can't go to a grocery store without finding the laundry isle and smelling my way through it. I have a few different detergents and softeners at my disposal at all times. I always have Tide in some form. I try different brands and smells all the time though. I visit all of the major players websites to see whats new and coming to a store near me. I have also been know to see what people have at their house...and then smell them all. Jeff thinks I have a problem. I think it just gives me character.I really like Goodwill. I've loved thrift shops since my teen years. I frequent the one by Lindsay's ballet on Wed and Thurs. I've found some pretty sweet stuff. That's actually a really good post idea. Stuff I got at Goodwill.

Well, that's it for now. I guess I should've said that these were going to be things I love, not just like. Oh well. :)

My food tonight

2010-02-21T19:19:00.000-08:00

I just tried to post this on facebook, but it ran into character limits. (This is Jeff by the way, not Heidi.)

Warning! This is a longer update than usual. I just had the best meal I've had in a very long time. To say that Heidi took it up a notch doesn't quite describe what happened. She mercilessly threw the dial past 11! She worked for 4 hours on a pasta bolognese. You could taste every minute of love that went into that sauce. This doesn't even count for the prep time of shopping for some very specific ingredients.

There are not many dishes that I love enough to willingly hurt myself by overeating, but this one makes the short list. The only thing that kept me from that end was the chocolate cake that she decided to try to make from scratch for the first time. I don't know if you know this about her, but baking is her thing. Some legends used oils, marble, or watercolors. Heidi uses flour, sugar, eggs, and an oven set at 350. This was her attempt at this type of scratch cake. You'd think the Food Network had her on retainer. I'm supposed to bring some of this cake to the Tri-Cities with me tonight to share with others. I'm not entirely sure that it will make it there. Ritzville might be a good stopping point where I can find a fork.

Heidi, Excellent job!!

Love your Fat and Happy Best Friend.

What should I do?

2010-02-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

Bruce has done the unthinkable. He is peeing on the carpet. It has been only over the last few days. He has never done this before, ever. So, is it a health problem? Is it a behavioral problem? What should I do? There is a no tolerance policy in this house for cat pee on carpet. I'm pretty sure it's not a bladder problem. He's been on special UTI health food for a few years and he's not exhibiting the tell tail signs of bladder infection. If it's behavior, I don't know what to do about that. If it doesn't stop, we might have to say goodbye to Bruce. I think we'll take him to the vet next week. We'll have our tax return by then.

It's not like we can make him be an outside cat either. He's been an inside cat since he was born. He would be eaten by a coyote and he would just cry to be let in all day and night.

Oh Bruce, why are you doing this?

Help, I'm LOST

2010-02-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

I've been logging in as much Lost as possible. Not familiar with Lost? Well, get caught up on one of the best TV series EVAH!!!

So, I stream them on Netflix...constantly. I've seen all of the series, but there is so much to it, I wanted to catch up so I can get the most out of this season. The final season, and I want all of my questions answered! For the last 2 weeks I will watch it while the girls get ready. I will watch it while I do the laundry. I will watch it while I do the dishes. I will watch it while I shower. I will watch it in the house. I will watch it with a mouse. I will watch it here or there. I will watch it everywhere!

I haven't watched this seasons premiere yet though. I'm waiting till Jeff gets home this weekend...I know, I know. I'm the nicest wife ever. It's been hard to wait. It taunts me every time I look at my DVR listings. Watch me, it says, ever so softly...kind of like the whispery voices in the jungle. NO! I must wait for Jeff!!! We're going to make a date night of it. We'll put the girls to bed. Get into comfy jammies...is it wrong to say jammies when you're referring to your own sleepwear as an adult? Have lots of yummy snacks and goodies. Snacks=Savory. Goodies=Sweet.

Do any of you share my love of Lost?

Why I like Thursdays

2010-01-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

This is the last night of the week that I have to sleep without Jeff.

I get to watch The Office and 30 Rock {two of my favorite shows}

The fact that I can't sleep until 1:30 in the am doesn't matter as much because the girls have late start on Friday...so an extra hour of sleep...I love sleep.

If it's payday the next day, I take the girls and I out to dinner after Lindsay's ballet. Tonight we went to Skippers.

It's weekend eve. Who doesn't like something with eve tacked on at the end?

I feel happier on this day than on any other one leading up to it.

Thursday is my netflix day. I have to finish watching all of my selections and return them in order to get fresh ones for the weekend. Today I finished Gossip Girl Season 1 disk 2...don't judge me, I'm sharing a guilty pleasure with you. Moliere. One word, no two, FABULOUS and Breathtaking. OK, that was technically three if you count the and. The third selection was My Best Friends Girl. I sat through about 5 minutes of it, decided 5 minutes was overly generous, and turned it off. In my opinion it was pure TRASH! I was also deceived, I thought it was PG-13, but they sent me the unrated version. I hate unrated versions of movies, for so many more reasons than it is guaranteed to be more raunchy. I am strongly suspecting that that movie was never PG-13 to begin with. I think Jeff put it in the que.

Thursday feels like a fresh start. On Thursday I think, tomorrow will be better, and it is.

Taking a break

2010-01-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a break from the blog. I'm only putting this up because I didn't want something with the tittle Poor Heidi left out there.

Hopefully I'll come back.

Oh, I now have word verification. The spam was getting to be a huge pain in the butt.

Poor Heidi

2010-01-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

I'm just kidding. : ) Well, mostly. I've had a toothache for about a week and it came to a head yesterday...my head...getting puffier by the minute. A failed root canal. FAIL! Now that we have health insurance I thought I'd do something about it today. So, I spent about 3 hours in a dentist's chair getting one of my left lower molars drilled and scraped. It wasn't horrible, it wasn't pleasant either, but the really nasty part is done. I have a lovely prescription of hydrocodone and penicillin. I think I'll be able to eat and sleep soon. I haven't done much of either for the last two days.

The dentist was a really nice guy. Very talented with the shots. He also found a root that the last guy missed. Which happened to be the offending root.

He tried to convince Jeff to go the dentist school route instead of the doctor. He told Jeff that being a dentist is the "good life". He was pretty funny.

Anyways, I might need to just let this be the last post for a while. Perhaps until Monday. Oooo, the novocaine is starting to wear off. I can start to feel my lip again.

Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!

2010-01-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

Waking up at 6:25, not my favorite thing to do. I wish I was a morning person, but the warm softness of my bed and sleeping is one of my favorite things to do. When I heard the alarm this morning, I was in the middle of a phone conversation in my dream. I was talking to a physical therapy office and arguing with some lady that a 31 year old woman shouldn't have knee problems and they should take me seriously. Weird.

I make my way to the girl's rooms, Bruce is waiting for me when I open my door. It hurts his little kitty feelings that I don't let him in at night. Sorry Bruce, I don't want to keep getting woken up by a cat that wants attention because he's bored. Oh, or that he HAS to be snuggled right up against or on my legs.

Abbey's first to hear the morning call, "Good morning Abbey, time to get up." in my singsong lovey voice. She stirs in indignation. Lindsay's next. Same result, but Lindsay manages a "Good morning Mama".

I wait for them downstairs in the usual spot, the family room chair. I know that they're going to need a little bit more persuasion to come down. One last "come on guys, get out of bed" ought to do er. Yup, here they come.

Abbey first, followed by Lindsay. Abbey is in a foul mood. Dang it. Lindsay, luckily, isn't. I'm not feeling in a cooking mood this morning, so cereal it is! Lucky we have just enough milk. Abbey needs a little bit of convincing that the way she's starting her day, really isn't the way she should, with the grumpiness and all. After a few moments of reflection, she decides I'm right, and starts climbing out of Sourville.

I'm so glad they picked out their outfits the night before. This is always the plan, but not always executed. It SO makes the difference. It will still take Lindsay 15 minutes to get dressed. It just shaves off the extra 15 minutes of her looking for an outfit. Nice.

Abbey's out the door and in a good mood. Awesome. She loves school and has been looking forward for it to start again. "Goodbye Mama, I love you, have a good day!". Maybe even as much as me.

Time to remind Lindsay to wrap up "getting dressed" aka "playing with toys" because times a waisting. She has a very sweet and free nature, sometimes it works against you when you have a time table to keep though.

Today is my day. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, and I love spending time with them. I also love to have time to myself. I don't have to go anywhere really, just run to the store to get toothpaste, milk, and a few other odds and ends. I should really go before this alleged snow starts. I plan on reading some of my book today. Cleaning the house, more than just the surface. I need to make a treat for family home evening too.

I may even get a little cat nap in there somewhere. I need to cherish the freedom of the stay at home mom lifestyle. I'm not going to have it for much longer. These days are definitely numbered. It's the sweet life, but it's got an expiration date.

So, the not so good about the girls going back to school, waking up so darn early, getting them ready in the morning, not having them around to help, and missing them while they're gone.

Now to list the good; I've got all day to do what I please, a quiet house, I get back on a better sleep schedule, don't have to listen to any arguing, and missing them while they're gone. Yes missing them is a good thing too. I eagerly await for them to come home, funny how soon I forget how eager I was to get them out the door. I get lots of loves and the report of the day.

I'm so glad that school has started again.

Happy New Year! A decade in review

2010-01-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

It's seems like only yesterday that the threat of doom and destruction of Y2K was upon us. I remember Jeff and I in our Pulman apartment, watching our 20 in color TV, and the clock struck 12. We knew that nothing was going to happen, but we were still wondering, what if. The world, of course, was just fine and Abbey slept peacefully in her crib all the while.

2000- This year will always hold significance as the year that Lindsay was born. Jeff took a break from school and we moved back to Kennewick. We lived in our townhouse of 10th and Olympia, we made 900 a month, and these were some of the best and worst times in our lives. I wish I had more pictures to show for this year, but I didn't have my own camera yet and you still had to buy film you know.

2001- I met one of my friends for life this year. My good friend Kenice. We lived in the same complex and went to the same ward. She, and her two children Alec and Hailey, brought us a plate of the best cookies ever and introduced themselves. There hadn't been more than a hello between us before Abbey took one look at Hailey and said "Go away!" Oh, don't worry, Hailey shot right back at her "You go away!" They have been good friends ever since. We just went to visit them this summer too. I can't forget the tragic day of 9/11. I don't know why, but I was at Jeff's mom's house for something. Jeff's brother in law Chet was staying with Jeff's parents. I was in a back room. Chet came down the hall and told Jeff's parents what happened. I had just overheard what he said. I went into the living room and saw the video of the first plane go into the first tower then a second. It didn't seem real. I thought that maybe that was some other Country, not mine. I felt numb all day. Stories of people that should have been on the plane but weren't were floating around. I was at my mom's house in the late afternoon, looking out the window to the park. The park used to be a place that you could play and be safe, not anymore. It was overrun by gang members and their hangers on. I watched as two little boys were outfitted with boxing gloves and made to fight each other by the throng of older boys. Such ugliness and hate right across the street. Don't judge me, but I wondered why couldn't the plane and building have been full of those kind of people. I mourned with the rest of this country. Jeff also got a job in Salt Lake. We were on one of the first flights out of the Pasco airport after 9/11. It was tense to say the least. We moved there and Jeff took a job as the front office manager in the downtown Red Lion. Adam and Kenice moved back to Utah shortly after we did.

2002- The Olympics came to Salt Lake. Jeff saw many stars and celebrities. I stayed far away from downtown and stuck to Taylorsville. Abbey turned 4 and learned how to read using Dick and Jane books, just like her mom did. Abbey was also in ballet and tap. Lindsay turned two and was never terrible, she was spicy. Her favorite thing to do was cuddle with me and blue blankie on the couch. We also got to know Jeff's aunt Leah very well. The girls loved her and loved to see her.

2003- We moved from our horrible apartment to our spacious and lovely 1400 sq ft townhouse. With the exception of were I live now, I've never loved a place so much. I loved everything about it. We had a yard, for the first time. We had a playground, a pool, and neighbor kids for Abbey and Lindsay to play with. It was perfect. Abbey went to kindergarten and Lindsay was sad. Not for too long though. Lindsay brightened up when she realised that she'd have momma all to herself, all day. We also met our other friends for life, Amy and Steve. Lindsay and their Lexi were good little friends. We double dated and played games into the wee hours of the night. Game night was looked forward to all week. We had lot's of yummy snacks and played D&D while our kids slept. That's right folks, I'm a total nerd. I'm only slightly ashamed. {smile}

2004- This year is kind of a blur. It mixes in with the previous year because we did many of the same things. Lindsay was three and NOT potty trained. The ballet bug had bitten Lindsay early in life. She wanted nothing more than to go to ballet, but you had to be potty trained to go to ballet. Well, she decided to do just that and she was in about 3 days. The sad thing was, we couldn't afford to send her. Abbey had been very sick and had large medical bills we were trying to pay. I promised that someday she would get to go. In the last of the year Jeff got a new job in the company and they were moving us to Spokane. I was excited to have more money for our family, but very sad to leave our good friends.

2005- Lindsay was able to go to ballet as soon as we moved to Spokane. She joined Sandra Olgard's ballet studio mid year. She danced in the ballet Don Quixote as a little village girl. She also started going to pre-school at Hearts and Rainbows and learned how to read. She also turned 5 and started Kindergarten. Her teacher was named Miss Honeywell, isn't that the perfect teacher name? Abbey started at Mullan Road Elementary in the first grade. It was a very hard year for her. She didn't have any friends all year long and she just couldn't get any school work done. I had suspected that she had the same problem I've had my whole life. We took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with ADHD. She started taking medicine for it and her life changed. She had friends at school for the first time. She not only finished all of her work, but she was one of the first kids to be done.

2006- We moved into our first house. We picked the plan, the lot, and all of the colors. We got a kitty to live with us in our house too. We named him Gary. He wasn't with us long. He died from kidney failure six months after we got him. We were all in the room with him when he was put to sleep. All of our hands were petting him as his spirit left for heaven. We had gotten Mookie shortly after we got Gary. Mookie was very sad after Gary died, so was Jeff. We decided to get another kitty, that's when we got Bruce. Bruce Wayne, that's right, he's Batman. On a happier note, Abbey got baptized this year too. We had all of the family over and it was lovely. My mom made Abbey's pretty white dress with a light blue sash. The girls also started school at Windsor. The best school we've been in yet.

2007- Jeff and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Abbey and Lindsay played soccer. And we, as a family, went to, DISNEYLAND!!! I'm so glad that we did. It was the best vacation I've ever had. I took so many pictures and I have a fabulous scrap book to boot. Jeff changed jobs in the company again. We bought our van. We also had a visit to Salt Lake to visit our friends and family.

2008- Lindsay turned 8 and was baptised. We had one of the best 4th of July's at Uncle Richard's lake house. Jeff lost his job and our lives were changed. I had pictures I took of the girls get put on the news. We had over 5 feet of snow. School was canceled for almost two weeks.

2009- We celebrated all of the holidays at home and by ourselves. This may not seem like a big deal, but with lot's of family very close it's kind of impressive. I'm glad we did. 2009 would be the last year we would get to spend in our beloved house. We've tried to enjoy every last minute. We put our house up for sale this year. Jeff got a job with Red Lion again. We decided to move to the Tri-Cities and go back to school. The girls and I got to visit Utah this summer. I've made some great friends in 2009. We had snow in June.

What's going to happen in the next 10 years? I have no idea. The one thing I've learned in the last decade is that everything is uncertain and anything can happen. Year 2000 Heidi could have never predicted where 2009 Heidi would be. I do feel encouraged however, things will change and hopefully for the better.

Merry Christmas from the DeCourseys...a few days late.

2009-12-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

I want to thank everybody
for sending us
such lovely Christmas Cards
I didn't get any sent this year
Most all of the cards we got
were from our
Friends
and
Family
that blog along with us
Please accept this as our belated Christmas Card

Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

2009-12-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

The presents have been opened.
Stockings were pillaged.
Breakfast was breakfasted, delicious too by the way.
Ham and potatoes are in the oven and the rolls are on their last rise.
We'll be putting on Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas in just a minute too.
All is well.

It's Christmas Eve!!!

2009-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

Just waiting for Jeff to get off work and then we can set off for home.
We have an evening full of fun planned.
We have Christmas movies to watch,
delicious food too eat,
Christmas eve presents to open,
treats to hand out to friends,
cookies to make,
a gingerbread house to decorate,
and stockings to put out for Santa to fill.

What are you planning on doing tonight?
What are your traditions?

Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go!

2009-12-20T15:40:00.001-08:00

Well, we're all ready to head to the Tri-Cities for the week. Jeff's gotta work on Christmas eve, we'll be heading home after his shift ends. We have a big family party on Monday. Then for the rest of the week we'll be spending with family.

I'm back and I'm better

2009-12-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

I'm healed and happy. I, for the first time this year, feel the full spirit of Christmas. I took my complete sadness and depression to my savior and he lifted them off. I tell you, I feel physically lighter.

Anyways, I'm feeling better and I feel ready to fully celebrate Christmas. I think I'll start with some cookies. :))

Today

2009-12-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

Jeff comes home today! I'm so excited. Yes, I know it's only been a week, but every Friday feels like this now.

We're going to have dinner together at the table tonight. Then we're going to take the girls to go see Santa. Maybe take a free carriage ride through the park, and then come home and have some coco and read Christmas stories.

While I wait for Jeff to get here I've decided to take myself to the temple. I can't tell you how tired I am of feeling sad. I just can't stand it. I don't like to feel this way and I've done everything I can think of to fix it. I think when I really examine why I'm not feeling happy during the holidays, it' cuz I'm depressed. Well, I'm going to try and fix that today. The temple is peaceful and serene. I hope that I can feel closer to my savior while I'm there too, which is the whole reason we have Christmas to begin with.

Christmas Cookies and Candy

2009-12-16T11:16:00.000-08:00

I wish that was my book because I'm making cookies and candies today. I'm not going to be super fancy this year. We've got sugar cookies and gingerbread boys on the menu. As for candy... I'm not sure yet. I did make some popcorn balls. Maybe I'll make marshmallows too. Don't you think it should be spelled marshmellows? Like, they're mellow marshmellows. Just me? OK. :)

What do you like to bake for Christmas?

I would also like to say thank you to everybody that left such sweet and kind comments on my Blue Christmas post. I wasn't expecting them, but they were just what I needed I think. I feel a whole lot better, still not very Christmasy, but I feel happier.

Blue Christmas

2009-12-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm having a really hard time with Christmas this year. I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I just don't feel any Christmas spirit and it really bothers me. It could be the middle of March and I don't think I could tell the difference. I realize why, Jeff's not here.

He's gone in the Tri-Cities all week long and comes home on the weekends. I just feel half gone all week. The weekends a far too short too.

I'm trying to fill my days with all of the things I'm supposed to do. I'm also trying to do a few extra things that would be very Christmas like, but to no avail. I've watched all of the movies and specials, holiday baking, holiday parties, service, shopping, music, and gone to church. It just feels like it shouldn't be Christmastime yet I guess. Hard as I've tried, I just don't feel it.

My mom told me she's felt this way about the holiday for years. I can't be more clear when I say that scares the crap out of me. I don't want to feel like this! Last year I couldn't wait to start celebrating Christmas. I'm missing the important piece I guess, Jeff.

I wish our house would sell. I wish Jeff never lost his job. I wish things would just go back to the way they were. I don't want to be refined.

Sorry if this post isn't upbeat and happy. I'm looking forward for this week to be over. We will be spending next week with Jeff and I'm sure my blue Christmas will take a turn for the better.

What to do with a pound of hamburger?

2009-12-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

Last night I was really exhausted. Thinking of dinner didn't help my condition either. The only meat that wasn't frozen solid was a little boring pound of hamburger. I know that it is really quite a versatile meat, shouldn't be too hard, right?

You must understand that my brain was almost at critical shut down. So I was stumped and unmotivated. Meatloaf? No. I'd have to get out the mixer and I think we're out of ketchup...no I don't mix my meatloaf by hand. Stroganoff? Nope. No mushrooms and I wouldn't have enough milk the next morning. Goulash maybe? That takes a whole lot more work than I'm willing to put in right now and I'm running out of time, Lindsay has ballet at 6. So what was left....tacos.

Tacos, great! Abbey and Lindsay love tacos. I open the fridge, believing that I have everything necessary for them. I know I have the meat. I had a bit of shredded cheese, sour cream, and some taco sauce. I didn't have any good lettuce or tomato, but the girls don't care for those items and I could do fine without them. I was just searching for the last ingredient, tortillas. No tortillas. Nada. Not even crunchy corn, or soft corn for that matter. Dang it!

Not to worry, not to worry. I turn to the modern day housewife companion, the internet. I look up a flour tortilla recipe, I have everything, let's get started.Lindsay offered to help by cooking the hamburger. She really did a great job. I'm very proud of her and thankful to her. I need to let my kids do more in the kitchen.They were delicious and easy. The girls loved them and thought they were fun and very impressive. Needless to say, I was praised the entire time for the miraculous culinary achievement. Not bad.I'm now looking forward to breakfast. Breakfast burritos. YES!

A wise list from a wise lady

2009-12-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

I received this in the good old email today. I'm sure it's probably making it's rounds , but I'm going to share it anyways.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, columnist for The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves. Thank you for being my friend

Treat plate or not to treat plate?

2009-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

I'm making some Christmas goodies today. I don't know if I'm going to hand out a cookie plate, marshmallow bag, or ice cream toppings...or nothing. Do you hand out goody plates? I love to get them, but I'm not very good at handing them out. I'll figure it out I guess.

So, I remember doing a give away a few months ago. The winners will get something homemade from me and I have a year to do it. Well, I'm ready to send those things out and somehow my post was deleted. I need everyone who remembers winning to speak up. I remember most of the people, I'm just missing a couple.

Giving Tree

2009-12-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Do you participate in a giving tree? If not, you should. It's a great family activity, especially for the kids. Nothing can make you feel better during the holidays than to give to others.

Lindsay picked a 15 year old girl this year. I think it's because on the tag, the first thing you notice is the sentence " Likes Tinker Bell". This girl would like a shirt and a pair of jeans.

Abbey picked a 12 year old girl. She was drawn to the fact that this girl wants slipper socks, just like Abbey. She also wants shampoo and conditioner, hair stuff, and a pop/rock CD.

I hope you will consider getting one of these tags yourselves this holiday season. You can find them at just about any grocery store. These kids really don't ask for very much, but what it gives back to you is immeasurable.

Can you guess what I made?

2009-12-07T07:43:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we made the trek to our corner tree lot and picked out our Christmas tree. It was so cold. The whole time I was thinking about how soon I could get my hands on some coco.

And yet, I was left thinking about something else. Something that was made for coco, among other things. So, I made some...

Did you guess marshmallows?

They were actually pretty easy to make. They tasted better than any marshmallow I've ever eaten. You can find the recipe for the coco here, but I suggest using all milk chocolate chips. That is, unless you really like the semi-sweet taste. The marshmallow recipe is here. You could add any flavor you want in the end. I think peppermint or coconut would be yummy.

Thanksgiving dinner

2009-12-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm behind. I'm just having the hardest time getting myself jump started into the holidays. I was all gun ho for Halloween and then it just kind of petered out. I just don't feel the Christmas spirit yet. Maybe when I get the decorations up this weekend I'll change my mind.

It might also have something to do with having Jeff gone during the week. He's only home on the weekends and it's a mad dash to get everything done that we need to. I think I'm just feeling a little bit blue. I'm going to try to make it a little better though. I think I'll make some treats today... or take a nap. NO! No nap! Fight the urge!

OK, here's the pictures from our Thanksgiving meal. The plates use to be my moms. I was able to complete the set though. Lots of searching and thrift.

I didn't get to use all of my pretty serving wear this year. When we were condensing the kitchen, that was the fist stuff to go. So, the table isn't as picture perfect I like it to be for Thanksgiving.

The girls also got a gift. They were such big helps the day before, they totally deserved it. They wanted fuzzy socks and could talk of nothing else for the last two weeks. I found a great deal at Walmart. Lindsay stayed in her PJ's the whole day...everyday. She didn't wear regular clothes until school started back up.

Hmmm, where have I seen those before?

2009-12-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

I was looking for interesting Christmas photos on Yahoo and I came across this picture.

It made me think, "Now why are these so familiar?" Then I remembered where I saw them first.

I think we'll be going traditional green this year, the wooden type. I'm sure if Lindsay were to see any of these she'd strongly disagree with my choice.

What kind of tree are you getting?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2009-11-26T10:24:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for my family and the fabulous food we'll be eating all day.

I hope you all will have a wonderful and thankful day too.

*HAPPY THANKSGIVING*

Final Thanksgiving Prep

2009-11-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it's after 10 and I'm all done. The kitchen is clean and ready for tomorrow and everything that needed to be made in advanced is.

There is one casualty. I'm opting out of fruit salad this year. I know. It's sad, and maybe I'll change my mind tomorrow.

I got all of my pies done and I think they are going to be wonderful. Especially the banana cream pie. My aunt Janice came to the rescue and gave me grandma's tried and true recipe. I got a little taste of it and I can tell you it is DIVINE!!! I strongly urge you all to try it. You'll find it in the comment section in one of the posts below...ya, I'm too lazy and tired to tell you which one, sorry.

So, here are the remaining pictures of my prosperous day. I feel very accomplished.

This is for the stuffing tomorrow.

These are for the vegi platter. I cut up other stuff too, but didn't photograph it.

Ya, it's u-g-l-y. It does have an alibi, it's yummy! Ya ya it's yummy!

I made a cheese ball for tomorrow and it's killer yummy. I didn't have a recipe, maybe I'll put it up if anyone's interested.

Finally, the miracle of it all...the kitchen is clean and ready for tomorrow. {sigh} It was a good day.

Thanksgiving Prep Part 2

2009-11-25T18:16:00.000-08:00

I've finished with a bunch of stuff on my list. I don't have the list with me, so you'll just have to take my word for it. : )

Georgia Pudding stuff all done and ready for the oven tomorrow.

Went a different route with the cherry pie this year. I thought it would be fun to use these and make it closer to scratch.

I'm hoping that they look better after they're cooked.

It looks pretty now. :)

Pie shells for the pumpkin pie. They were a pain to get into the pan. Then I remembered my little trick with wax paper...on my last crust of the day.

Loverly.

The natural light is gone, so the pictures aren't going to be as nice looking.

Jell-O ready for the white stuff.

I'm still not done. Man, I'm wishing I'd have skipped the nap. I'm way behind. Jeff couldn't come home yet. He's going to be late because someone called in "sick". I would've made them come in anyway.

Thanksgiving Prep Part 1

2009-11-25T14:47:00.000-08:00

OK. I've got items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 off the list. The nap was longer than I expected...it's kind of embarrassing how long I slept so we'll just move on. {sheepish grin}

Starting the yams for the Georgia Pudding

They look and smell great!

Lindsay came home from school ready to help with pie dough

One soon turned into 5. I LOVE my food processor!

Time to start the very traditional Cranberry Raspberry Jell-O salad. The first layer ingredients.

Time to start the Pumpkin Pie. Abbey came home just in time. This is one of her favorite things. Not so sure about the pumpkin. I'm wishing I'd have just bought Libbie's. I'm a sucker for a deal though.

Well that's the first bit. I've got a bunch more to go. Stay tuned. :)

It begins....

2009-11-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today is baking day. It's been my tradition for the past 10 years to do a marathon prep/baking day, the day before Thanksgiving. I'm soooo excited to start. I have about 18 things on my list to tick off. Yes, I made a list. : )

One thing I still need to do is to find a really good recipe for a banana cream pie. I'm looking for one that uses flour instead of cornstarch, so if you happen to have one....do tell.

I can't lie though, I'm feeling the strongest urge to go take a nap while the kids are in school. I'm really tired. Jeff has a temporary job in Pasco, so he's gone all week and comes home on the weekend. I'll be single parenting it for a while, but it's not so bad, just a little bit more exhausted at the end of the day. I just really miss having him around. I'm SO excited to have him come home this evening though. {SMILE}

I would like to get a little sappy right now. I just want to proclaim my thankfulness. I'm so thankful that I have food. I can't help but think of those that go without everyday. I can't help but be thankful for a kitchen at my disposal, full of food.

I will try to do posts throughout the day showing my progress....but that nap is calling.

OK, let's try this again! Thanksgiving email

2009-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

OK, so here are the pictures that I was sent. My favorite is the turkey lamp. Pesky Blogger!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Only 2 days left!

Just for David

2009-11-21T16:20:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to post my review for the last hour on your blog. Blogger isn't letting me leave any comments. So, here it is. I hope you still count this as an entry.

Meet Me in ST. Louis!

The first thing I have to say about this movie is that I'm sad I hadn't seen it earlier in my life. All those wasted years!!! It is so cleaver and lovely. If movies had relatives, it would be siblings with "It's a Wonderful Life".

The plot is centered around the Smith family. It's just at the turn of the century, picture Disneyland's Main Street, and everyone is abuzz about the World's Fair coming to ST. Louis.

It opens strait away with the tittle song. In the Smith family you have Mom and Dad, Grandpa, the four sisters, the one lone brother, and their housekeeper.

The movie mostly centers on Esther Smith, played by Judy Garland, and her love for the new boy that's moved in next door. It's also mingled with the father's unpopular decision to move the family to New York and how they resolve it.

This movie weaves a rich tapestry of life and family experiences. You get to watch this family for a year. The ups and downs.

This was Judy Garland's breakout roll as an adult. She had her overall look changed as well for this movie. New hair color and new makeup style. Garland was so pleased with the new look, she kept the same stylist for the rest of her career. She was also directed by her first husband, Vincente Minnelli, in this film. You can tell how smitten he was by his star. If you notice solo shots of Garland, he will have her framed as if in a beautiful picture.

Her portrayal of 17 year old Esther Smith was light and effortless. You can't resist her. She is sweet and confident, but there is always an underlying insecurity that Garland can't help but bring with her. It's fascinating to know just what a professional actress she was. Growing up in Vaudeville really conditioned her. In the trolley scene, from start to finish it's one take. ONE. Singing, acting, going through the trolley to find her seat, it is amazing. An interesting fact is she accidentally changed one of the original lyrics to the trolley song. The guy that wrote the song was on set during the filming and noticed the slip in words. He asked that she do it again the right way. The director pulled him aside and let him know that if he were to tell her she made a mistake, they would never get that perfect of a performance out of her again. She would be too self conscious. The director then said, "Sorry, but your lyrics are now changed".

Now, this movie is a musical. Not a traditional one though. The songs they sing in the movie are meant to appear natural and forthcoming. Not staged and produced. They aren't big Hollywood numbers. The songs are very catchy and one has been a Christmas Classic ever since. I'm sure you've heard of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the second little star of this film. She plays little Tootie, Margaret O'Brien. She has been called the best child actor of all time. She is just amazing. I love that Tootie has a little bit of a dark side to her. All of her dolls eventually come down with something and die. Tootie holds beautiful funerals for them and then buries them in the Doll Cemetery in the back yard. She is precocious without being obnoxious.

That's one thing I love about this movie and this movie family. They aren't squeaky clean and perfect. They are normal and have weird quirks like everyone else, but it's not ever ugly and awkward.

You will laugh and you will cry. You will feel full and happy after you've watched this film.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, Best Music, Song (Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin for "The Trolley Song") and Best Writing, Screenplay. Margaret O'Brien received an Academy Juvenile Award for her work that year, in which she appeared in several movies along with Meet Me in St. Louis.

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 2005, Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years.

I'm sure this isn't a very well written review. I just love this movie so much and want everyone to see it and love it too. I know there are things I probably left out...so sorry about that. Just do yourself a favor and put it at the top of your movie list.

What is sweet potato casserole?

2009-11-19T07:15:00.000-08:00

About 12 years ago we were exposed to the best way to eat a sweet potato. My aunt came to Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house in 97'. She brought with her a casserole dish topped with a crunchy praline streusel topping. What was inside was a total surprise. When we broke into it, it had a bright orange interior, my heart sank. You see, I didn't like sweet potatoes AT ALL. I tried, I really tried! As a kid, how could I resist something covered in toasted marshmallows? But, when I got to the watery, stingy, and odd flavored pulp underneath it I could go no further.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying them however and I was feeling adventurous. I took a small scoop and my perception of the sweet potato had been changed forever. My family has embraced Georgia pudding completely and it's as much a staple as cranberry raspberry jello salad (which has been on the table for as long as I can remember)

I hope some of you try it and love it like we do.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes or yams

1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
1/3 cup of butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
2 tsp vanilla

Topping
1 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of melted butter
1/3 cup of flour
1 1/4 cup of chopped pecans

Cover and roast the peeled potatoes or yams until completely soft and mashable. When they reach room temperature mix in all of the ingredients. Make sure to whip them with a blender to ensure incorporation of ingredients. Mix the topping in a separate bowl and sprinkle on top of the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the oven at 350* for 35 minutes.

Stuff to do

2009-11-18T08:11:00.000-08:00

I'm pulling together my Thanksgiving feast and it's gonna be so awesome. I just need to make a final list for the store and I'll be done.

Thanksgiving Menu:
Roasted Turkey

Herb Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Homemade Pan Rolls

Georgia Pudding

Cranberry Raspberry Jello Salad

Fruit Salad

Corn

Cranberry Sauce

Sparkling Apple Cider

This of course will be preceded by sticky pull apart rolls for breakfast and appetizers for lunch. We are going to go easy on the pie this year. We're only going to have pumpkin, cherry, and a cream variety.

Everything will be made from scratch and nothing will be diet friendly, but everything will be delicious. I can't wait. I think of Thanksgiving as the cooking Olympics. I love it.

I would like to know what everyone is doing for Thanksgiving this year and what makes your meal so good. :)

I forgot to write about this

2009-11-11T09:18:00.000-08:00

This summer, Miss Abbey was on the Cheney swim team. She went everyday bright and early in the morning. She loved it and it got her into good shape. Jeff was the one that would take her every morning, with the exception of a few times.

Lindsay even had her first swimming lessons this year. I never put the girls in when they were younger. I just assumed they would have the tenacity to teach themselves the way I did when I was younger. Well, Lindsay just wouldn't do it. She's been like that with quite a few things in her little life. So, Lindsay had swimming lessons with children with the average age of 5. She didn't minds though. I think it's just about impossible to embarrass that kid. At the end of the lessons, Lindsay was able to take the swim test for diving board privileges. Very proud of her. Let's hope she doesn't have to start all over again next summer.

I was only able to get pictures of Abbey on the last day of swim team. When we move I really hope I can find something similar to put her into. I will definitely be prepared for the damage the chlorine does to her hair. Special shampoo won't cut it, the kids going to wear a swim cap.

This is Halloween, This is Halloween! Part 2

2009-11-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

I was so busy during the last two weeks of Halloween. I was sewing costumes, keeping the house clean enough to show, and just plain living life. I didn't get a chance to post pictures of the girls getting their pumpkins. We opted for the picturesque venue of the grocery store this year. We could have gone over to the pumpkin patch, but it's at least twice the price and we've done that enough during the girls childhood that I don't feel that bad depriving them of the experience this year.

I remember getting my pumpkins from a grocery store every year. If we ever went to a pumpkin patch, I don't remember. I just remember loading up in the family car with the brimming excitement that comes with "what kind of pumpkin am I going to choose?". They would have a few pumpkins spread out on pallets, mostly they were in those tall cardboard containers, so you would have to dig.

The earliest pumpkin trip I can remember, was picking out a very perfect, round, smooth pumpkin. My mom told me it looked like Bunsen Honeydew from the Muppet Show. That clinched the decision for me. I insisted on keeping it on top of my dresser in my room. I remember giving it baths and brushing it's pretend hair. I couldn't wait to see the real Bunsen Honeydew face carved into it. I only wished I had a tall skinny pumpkin to be Beaker...meep meep meeee. I liked the idea so much I did it the following year. I even have a picture to go along with it. I'm sure you've seen it over at my mom's blog, but for those that haven't here it is.

Anyways, this was about the girls and their trip. I have pictures of that too. I don't, sadly, have pictures of them carving. We did it on Halloween and I was busy all day making treats and food. I'm also throwing in a picture of Mookie in his costume. We found it at the Dollar Store, we couldn't resist. Don't feel too bad for him, he only had to wear it for a couple of minutes.

This is Halloween, This is Halloween! Part 1

2009-11-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

It's taken me this long to recuperate from Halloween. It was crazy busy and super fun! So fun, I didn't get all of the pictures that I wanted. Isn't that usually the way it goes? (Lisa excluded of course tee hee)

We went to our church Halloween party. It was the last one before our ward split. Lindsay won cutest costume and Abbey's costume was misunderstood, as usual. Oh, I haven't said what either of the girls were this year. Lindsay was a genie and Abbey was a demented baby doll. Anyways, I was very happy to have Lindsay win something. I made her costume. If you've ever wondered what a labor of love actually looks like, just look at her costume. I will take close up pictures of it and post later. I don't think I've been this proud of myself in a long time.

The night before Halloween, Abbey's school was having a Halloween Party in the evening. Her first middle school activity. So exciting! She and a few of her friends went and had a blast. They did crafts, ate pizza, played games, and danced.

For Halloween itself, we were having a party before trick or treating. Jeff did the decorations and they looked awesome! I could have left them up for a few days, but they were down the next morning. We had a few families over and it was crazy! The kids couldn't wait to go trick or treating, which means noise level was off the charts. I think Jeff wished for a tranqualiser blow gun after the first 30 minutes. For dinner we had chili, baked potatoes, and hot dogs. The chili was my SIL Lisa's recipe, delicious! Lots of compliments too Lisa. For treats there were caramel apples, scary cupcakes, and cookies. Half the parents took the kids out and half stayed back to help hand out candy. We played Beatles Rock Band and American Idol all night. When everyone was back we enjoyed scones with honey butter and assorted hot beverages. It really was quite lovely.

The one thing that made Halloween really special this year was my friend Melody came over from Kennewick to hang out with us. After everyone left the party we left to get out of the house. We ended up at Applebees. We had grand plans of staying up all hours watching scary movies, but alas, we are old women now and gave up around 12:30. Melody is one of the positives of living in the Tri-Cities. I'm glad that I have her.

So, this ends our Halloween of 09. So busy this year. I made costumes, treats, attended parties, did hair and make up 3 separate times,watched all Halloween TV specials, threw a party, and celebrated Jeffoween. One thing I didn't get to do for the first time in my life? Gut and carve my own pumpkin....well, it might have happened before. Next year I think I'll opt for a more laid back schedule.

Now, here comes a bunch of pictures.

Do any of your Jack O Lanterns look like this?

2009-10-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

I was looking around for some interesting and fun ideas for our pumpkins on Halloween. I came across these and I had to post them. My favorite is the third one down. It makes me think of something my uncles Mike and Brian, or my aunt Janice would have done. Anyway, enjoy these cool and unique Jack O Lanterns.

Really? That's what your letting her wear?

2009-10-26T16:23:00.000-07:00

I was going around the old interweb today and I saw a headline about Miley Cyrus's little sister Noah. They were pointing out the costumes that she and her cousin were wearing to a Halloween party. The question was "Are these as inappropriate as we think they are?" I would have to say a loud YES!!!!! Someone slap the mothers that got them dressed. I think we need to have them talk to Drew Barrymore and see what she has to say about treating children like little adults. What do you think? Oh, I forgot to mention that they are 9 and 8.

Got some stuff checked off

2009-10-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

So Jeff's birthday went off really well. We took him out to breakfast and then let him do what every he wanted the rest of the day. I got him one of his favorite things for lunch, BBQ hot pocket...I know I'm soooo thoughtful! ; )

All though we did plan on making his favorite Asian salad, we went for the backup plan and had pizza. Don't worry about Jeff, he had his salad the following night.

I shopped for Jeff's gifts and the girls wrapped them. Jeff opened the gifts and LOVED them. He got a new WSU hat, Lego Batman, and a big box of Gushers.

I made him a Lemon Cream Cake. It was not too hard and it was delicious! It's originally meant to be a cupcake recipe, but we just did the traditional rectangle. Afterward, I could see why it needed to be a cupcake recipe. The batter was so dense that it cooked the outside a bit more than I would have liked. Still delicious, but I think I'll try two rounds or cupcakes next time. The frosting I made was awesome. It was a little reminiscent of lemon heads, so it was delicious! I will definitely make this one again.

I'm now going to tackle the Halloween costumes which will include a trip to the fabric store to get some trim. We have our church Halloween party this weekend. I am also going to put together a Halloween trick or treating party. It's Tuesday already...doesn't it feel like Tuesday is the top of the hill before you start rolling down the rest of the week? It sure does to me.

Happy Jeffoween!

2009-10-17T08:23:00.001-07:00

It's finally here, Jeffoween! Oh, you don't know what Jeffoween is? Well, I'll tell you. You see, it kicks off with Jeff's birthday that starts today and ends with Halloween. When Jeff was little he thought that the following two weeks from his birthday were just an elongation of celebration for his birthday. The origin of the term Jeffoween is unknown. It was in existence before we got together. New holidays are always fun and I thought it was cute so we celebrate it every year.

Today's Jeffoween activities will include the making of any cake of Jeff's choosing and dinner of his choice too. He's chosen Asian Chicken salad for dinner and Lemon Cream Cake for dessert. I don't think we'll go anywhere today. I'm pretty sure we'll see a lot of Lego Star Wars, Zelda, and the History channel on the T.V. today and that's OK. I promise to not ask him to do anything on his birthday. I even got him a surprise treat for his lunch.

The next following weeks will be filled with treats and T.V. specials ending with Trick or Treats.

I love Jeffoween and I love Jeff. He's been my best friend for 14 years and everyday I wonder if other couples have as much fun as we do.

So here's to Jeffoween! Celebrating a lovely husband, a great father, and just an all around good guy.

Happy Birthday Jeffery!!!
Happy Jeffoween too!

To Do List

2009-10-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost two weeks till Halloween. This year has gone by faster than any other I've known. I've also noticed when it hits this point it get to what I like to call the point of no return. Kind of like when you reach the peak of a roller coaster and start zooming down to finish the ride.

So, Jeff's birthday is tomorrow and that starts it all off. Then I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. On top of all that we are trying to sell our house. I'm not stressed though. I feel excited and happy. I love the holidays and nothing other than perhaps the location is going to change. Even if things don't turn out the same, it's still OK. We're good.

Well anyways, I thought I'd post my list of things I need to do in the next two weeks. I was thinking of my SIL Lisa today, she's sick, and I remembered her love of lists, thus inspiring this post. Here goes....

1. Make Lindsay's Halloween costume

2. Make Abbey's Halloween costume

3. Buy last remaining parts to Lindsay's costume with coupon that I'm waiting for

4. Get Jeff a birthday present and wrap it

5. Make Jeff a beautiful lemon cream cake (we'll see on this one)

6. Get food for Jeff's birthday dinner

7. Get pumpkins and carve into fabulous Jack O Lanterns

8. Go to final ward party...our ward is being split...Lame

9. Buy Halloween Candy

10. Put up Halloween decorations (we need to wait till the day of or the one before)

11. Make Halloween treats for our own consumption and for friends

12. Plan and execute the Halloween party the girls both want to have (we'll see on this one too)

13. Blog more frequently...with pictures

14. Try to find time to work on my first quilt

15. Try to attend a baby shower. Gas might be too much. Might just send gift

16. Start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner

I think I'll try to make these themes for posts. Well, maybe. We'll see about that too.

School Nurse Stories

2009-10-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

We just got a call from the nurse at Abbey's school. Apparently she has a headache and needs us to bring her something for it. Now this isn't just any run of the mill headache, not for our girl. The nurse let us know just what Abbey said.

She described it as her brain growing too big for her skull and her scalp was receding at the same time.

Needless to say, the nurse had never heard a child describe an ailment so uniquely. Jeff and the nurse had a good laugh over my very dramatic and pained child.

All I have to say is....That's My Girl!!!

Random Picture Post

2009-10-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I've been a terrible blogger. This is supposed to be my online journal that I let other people read and I've neglected it badly.

I don't have much to report. The girls have a dentist appointment today. They love the dentist, so that's in our favor. They both have their costumes picked out and I only have to sew Lindsay's and part of Abbey's. Abbey is getting a 4.0 in school, SO proud! Lindsay, I believe is doing well too. I guess we'll see when parent teacher conferences come around.

We've had a terrible cold snap the last few days. It's gotten to around 10 degrees on a couple of the nights. Really cold during the day. All of the pretty flowers have had their Indian Summer cut off and are now going to seed.

No one has come to look at the house yet. I'm not worried about it. If we get to stay through Christmas, I'll be thrilled. I would love to spend the holidays one last time in our first and very loved home.

Now, I'm going to share random pictures from my file. They don't really have anything to relate to this post other than I like them.

House is up for sale

2009-10-05T10:27:00.001-07:00

I haven't taken any extra pictures of the house yet. My realtor took some and they are on the listing. If you want to get a sneak peek here's the MLS#29026113. I'll put my own pictures up later. So, if you know anyone that wants to buy a house...send them my way. :)

Almost Done

2009-09-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

Just a few more things to finish around the house. It's taken longer than I though it would. We had a little touch of the flu in the mid-week that slowed us down. We've got a little bit more trim to paint, pack up, vacuum, wipe down, and finish staging the house. Our grass is coming in. It feels like it's taking forever, but we only had it done a little over a week ago. I'll post pictures hopefully tomorrow.

I can't even tell you how much I wish I could go on vacation. I would go here if I could go anywhere. Just a little random thought I'd thought I'd share....or just in case I had any wealthy lurkers that would like to help a sister out. :)

I see the end to this tunnel

2009-09-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've decided that life is one huge subway system. Sometimes we get to choose which line to take, and sometimes not. You never completely leave the system though. After all, you have a long way to go. You'll come to the end of one line, get out on the lighted platform and start on the next leg of your trip. Always setting off or coming to another lighted platform.

It has almost been a year since Jeff was laid off. It has been one of the worst years of my life. I have never been this stressed out for this long of a period. Being mentally and physically wiped for that long will either kill a person or make them stronger...I'm still here to type this, so it's probably the later of the equation.

In this long dark tunnel I have lost many things along the way. I have been stripped of all my pride. I've had to do things that I never thought I would have to and accept help from everyone. I have been to the edge of loosing everything that Jeff and I have spent 11 years building and acquiring. Now I seem to be leaping off that edge into the wide abyss, hoping that I made the right choice in hurling not only me, but my family. I have been put in a situation that I can't afford to buy my own food for my family. We're having to sell our house that we waited a long time to get, not to mention we love. I've had to rely on someone else to help clothe me and my children, because everything we get goes to a bill of some sort...thanks Mom. I've spent a year of not knowing what is coming next. I felt hopeless, scared, angry, and depressed. This is the darkest tunnel. I just couldn't see any light. I've even fell so down in spirit at times that I've questioned the existence of God. This has been to date one of the largest, longest, and hardest trials I've ever had in my life.

I want to tell you all though, I see the light. I am so filled with relief and joy because of this light. With the blessing of retrospect, I'm now able to see that this was also the best year of my life. My pride was broken. "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." I have had help from friends and family. In the winter, I was so cold. We had our heat turned down to save money. I would wear the thickest socks, sweatshirt, and two blankets just to keep the shivers away. My sweet aunt and uncle sent us some money so we could turn our heat up. I will never forget such a loving gesture. It has been hard to accept these blessings, but they fill me with so much gratitude and love it's hard to express.

Because of this long tunnel, Jeff and I are pursuing a life long dream. Without this year, neither Jeff or I would have the courage or inclination to do this. It's going to be one of our greatest endeavors. Jeff will realize his dream of becoming a doctor. I have wanted to go the dental hygienist route ever since I was a teenager. I feel confident that Jeff and I will succeed. I know that with these chosen professions, we are guaranteeing a great life for our family. We will be able to have and do what we want. The most important thing will be the ability to pay it forward. I think the best way to payback all of the help and love we've received, is to do the same for someone else down the line. I, in fact, can't wait.

So, this dark and long tunnel of my life has finally come to it's end. I'm stepping out onto the lighted platform. I get to choose the line to ride this time. This time I'm not scared. I know what lies ahead, for the most part. I know when we reach the end of it, life will be even better. I know that the Lord will never leave me to go it alone.

What's going on at our house

2009-09-16T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ya, life is still marching on and I'm just trying to keep up. We are packing up all superfluous items and getting the house ready for the market. After going through the rooms I have determined that we have a lot of stuff. I think we are finally going to tackle Lindsay's room and I'm a little scared. I've found so many weird and gross things other times I've cleaned it. The funniest was when I found an egg buried deep in a laundry basket. It was so old that the yoke would slap against the sides of the shell. I asked her why on earth she was keeping an egg in her room. She told me she was trying to hatch it...for the last 2 months. WHAT! So glad it didn't break. Uhg, could you imagine? Horrifying yet so cute at the same time. :)

Anyways, that's what I've been up to and why I haven't been posting. Life has also just been kind of boring to. School's fine, girls are fine, Jeff and I are fine, everything is fine. Fine is boring, but fine.

New Direction

2009-09-08T10:16:00.000-07:00

For the last 11 months Jeff has been unable to find work. He has applied everywhere and to everyone. He's even tried starting his own business. I have tried to find work as well and that has been a dead end too. I can say without a doubt, we have exhausted all avenues of finding employment. Especially in Spokane.

When we went to visit Tracy in the hospital, we sat down for a meal break and had a very deep discussion. We {I mostly mean Jeff} finally faced the facts about the job front and that we need to think of something else. We made some very important decisions that day. It's going to change our life for ever and for the better.

Jeff has decided to go back to school and finish what he started when we were first married. That means that in a short 8 years he will be known as Dr. DeCoursey. That's right, he's going to go to med school!

We've got a plan in place and we've been setting it in motion. We're selling the house and moving to the Tri-Cities. Jeff will finish his Biology degree at the WSU branch there and I will be going back to school myself. I'm going to do the dental hygienist program through CBC. That will take about 3 years to complete. In that time Jeff will have about a year and a half left for his bachelors, study and pass the MCAT's, and apply to a medical school. We're hoping for UW.

Yes, we have our living arrangements all planed out. I won't bore you with the details here. We are hoping to get this all launched by January.

There are two casualties in all of this, Abbey and Lindsay. They're not to keen on moving away, Abbey most of all. I just feel like this is the right thing for us though. I know that they'll make it through. I know that as long as they both make new friends, Abbey gets to keep her beloved cats, Lindsay will continue with ballet, then they will not be too upset.

Jeff and I feel like this is the right thing for our family. We've prayed that something be thrown in our path if this isn't the thing to do. So far, it's just been clear and paved. So, anyways, that's the news around here.

If you read this, please leave a comment.
I would love to hear from you.

Labor Day....

2009-09-07T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, I get a day off from getting the kids up and ready for school. That three days in a row last week was grueling you know.

I have a pretty full schedule today. I have two boxes of peaches to can. First time doing this, fingers crossed. :) I really can't wait. One of my favorite things to consume is canned peaches. I could eat a bottle a day... mmmm...peaches....{drooool}.

Pig Out in the Park is having it's last day today and my good buddy Lanae and I are going to hit it up for lunch. My brother Kelly was just here over the weekend to enjoy a little bit of Pig Out. Free bands, dirty weird hippies, and all the mostly over priced food you care/can afford to eat. Good times.

Later this evening is the annual Parker corn feed. They are a family in our ward that hold a BBQ on every Labor day. They supply the chicken, fry bread with honey butter, and of course corn. We need to bring the side dishes. They have a nice house out in the more rural area of where we live. It's good times. We also have a family that throws a Memorial day BBQ every year in our ward. Ya, our ward is pretty much the best ward ever.

After putting the kids to bed, Jeff and I will pop in a movie and probably pop a can of peaches open too. I know I won't be able to wait. I hope you all enjoy your day as well.

The big announcement will come tomorrow.

Fight Fight Fight for Washington State! On to Victory!

2009-09-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

First game of the season! WSU vs. Stanford. Will we win? Probably not. ; ) Will that stop me from giving love and support? Never! Still, in my fan's heart I still feel like they'll win, especially since they are playing in Martin Stadium.

GO COUGS!!!

Fondue Feast

2009-09-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

To celebrate back to school day, we had a fondue feast last night. Oh and what a feast it was. Of course I don't have any pictures of it, we were all consumed in, well, consuming it to be bothered with pictures. So, we'll have help from google.

First we started with our lovely CHEESE course. It was comprised of med. cheddar, swiss, and mozzarella cheeses. We dipped thick sourdough bread and tart green apples.

Next was our meat course. We use a broth to cook the meat this time. It was a beef base with all sorts off seasonings. We cooked pork loin, sirloin steak, and some kielbasa. Mandarin sesame dipping sauce was for the pork, while the blue cheese cream was served with the steak. Lindsay tried both of them and liked them. Abbey turned her nose up at both sauces.
Last and certainly not least, we had the chocolate course. Have you ever been to the bulk food section of a grocery store and you see those huge hunks of chocolate? Well I couldn't resist and got one. We had half dark and half milk chocolate and some half and half to smooth it out. I think we could have just used spoons and eaten the chocolate plain. We did however dip strawberries, bananas, and cheesecake. Maaaavolous!
The whole process took a bit of time to prepare and about two hours to consume. We had wonderful conversation and great family time. I highly suggest you go out and get yourselves a fondue pot, or dust off one that you already have. Not only was it delicious, it was a memory to last forever.

Do You Fondue?

p.s. Anyone that wanted the autographs, email me your address and I shall send them off to you. jhdecoursey@gmail.com

School bag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning.

2009-09-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

That blessed day has finally come! It's the first day of school and everyone here is excited for it. Monday we got all of our school supplies. Tuesday we finalized the outfits for the next day. Today we sent them off with light hearts and studious minds {hopefully} to their respective buses.

Abbey is starting the 6th grade feeling a little anxious, but mostly ready and happy. She asked me to help her pick out an outfit for today. I'm sure this will become a more rare occurrence, so without hesitation I obliged. She looks grown up to me. She's still my little girl, but I see her changing so quickly. {sigh}

As we were downstairs getting Abbey ready we heard a loud thump upstairs. That could only mean that Lindsay was awake. Still warm from sleep and very frowzy morning hair, she crawled into my lap and we snuggled for a while. She has done this ever since she was old enough to get out of bed on her own. I couldn't help but wonder how much longer I have till she thinks she's to old to snuggle with momma.

School supplies are organized and issued by Jeff. Lindsay went with the satchel design of backpack this year. Abbey kept hers from last year. She still loves it. I also think that the fact that she bought it with her own money has made her a little more attached.

Here's this years back to school morning pictures. I just keep having that ABBA song roll through my mind. Hence the inspiration to the post tittle. :)
The haircut? New!!!{singsong voice}

Just an inconvenient scrape on the chin. It's healing quickly.

Happy back to school everyone!

Tracy is home

2009-08-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Just a little update on Tracy. She is recovering nicely at Jeff's parents' house. Big relief. Big changes in this DeCoursey house too.

I'll share more later. :)

Update on Tracy

2009-08-28T09:34:00.001-07:00

Tracy has made a turnaround. With almost dying twice and being in a two week coma, she is having a miraculous recovery. She has sustained life long lung damage, but it can be controlled with daily asthma meds. Tracy is awake and doesn't even have an IV in anymore!! Her strength is returning every day and the outlook is bright. She has survived a condition and illness that has an 80% mortality rate!

Thank you for your prayers.
I know that they were the key for her survival.

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-08-23T10:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. Heidi {me} is turning another year older and hopefully a little wiser too.

It's kind of weird writing your own birthday post. It's not that I can write the 31 best things about myself. That would be a bit braggy.

Today I'm here in Kennewick and I'll be having dinner with my all of my family. Yesterday Jeff took me on a "surprise" trip to Portland. It was lovely. We first went to IKEA. We ate our cheap, but good breakfast. Looked about the store for a good 3 hours and had some really good people watching.Apparently, there was some Twilight movie event there at noon. They had Edward's body double and one of the extras in the high school. The line was short so we got some autographs from them. I have one set for my cousin Kaylee. Then I spouted out two other names for them to sign. So if there is an Ashley or an Alica that wants a set, they're yours.

Then Jeff and I went to the Portland temple to do a session. The grounds were some of the most beautiful I've seen yet. We had a good time.Our final stop was at the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner. It was delicious and decadent. The white chocolate chunk caramel macadamia nut cheesecake was sinful and devoured.As we made our way back to Kennewick, the sun was setting and our conversations were light and dreamy. I love those kinds of conversations. I guess I fell asleep after our last gas break, because before I knew it, we were home.It was a great day, an exhausting day, but great. Happy birthday to me. I'm firmly planted in my 30's now. It's good.

Lindsay is 9!!!

2009-08-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so a week late isn't too bad right? This is a happy birthday post for the Lou.

Lindsay is a very special girl. I was going to have a party planned for her last Friday, but didn't get around to it. That apparently didn't stop Lindsay from inviting people to it though. So, after a call from a couple of mothers wondering what time it was at and that they had presents wrapped and ready, I told them we would have it on Saturday at noon. That's right, I had 24 hours to pull together a party. I got on the phone with a few other mom's and explained to them the events that had transpired that week and if their daughter's could attend a party on such short notice. It was on. I had come up with activities (American Idol, manicures, swimming), decorations (my signature balloon chandeliers), and food (mini-burgers, chips, cucumbers, watermelon).

I have to tell you, it turned out really well. I think it might have been one of the best actually. Well here are a bunch of pictures to show what we did. If you need a party put on in a jiffy, I'm your guy. :)) You can wish her happy birthday here too. She has her very own blog.

Smart.
Silly. Sassy. Sweet.
Lovely. Funny. Mamma's.
Graceful. Goofy.

Crisis in the DeCoursey family

2009-08-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

I obviously didn't do a follow up birthday post about Lindsay. I'm still planing on doing one, just not for a bit.

We had some very serious news about Jeff's youngest sister Tracy. She went to the hospital on Friday for a chest cold. It got progressively worse and worse. On Lindsay's birthday she had been admitted and was starting to go down hill very fast.

We decided to come over to the Tri-Cities on Lindsay's birthday. She wanted to be with her Grandparents above anything else. The following day, we were ready to go home when we got the call. The antibiotics weren't working on what ever type of pneumonia Tracy had. She was ceasing to breath on her own. Her oxygen levels were dangerously low and the infection was spreading through her body.

About an hour later we got the call. If Tracy didn't improve, she wouldn't make it through the night. We headed to the hospital to try to see her. While we were on route they had to put her on the ventilator just to keep her alive. She was also put completely under to stop her from pulling the tubes out. The good news, her oxygen levels went back up to a safe level. They have even graduated her from 100% saturation to 50-50. They have now been able to identify one of the infections in her system and they're fighting it as hard as they can. It's a staph based phenomena. She must have gotten it while she was at work.

The bad news is they can't move her to do a chest scan. Her oxygen levels keep dropping if she moves. She is too delicate to even move to prevent bedsores. We don't know if the infection has spread to other parts of her body. She has a temperature that has the doctors worried that it is spreading.

So, because of this going on, I haven't really thought of anything else these last few days. I'm going to try to resume as normal. We have just been on high alert since Tuesday and we're waiting for things to make a real positive turn.

I would like to ask you all to please keep Tracy in your prayers.

Time for bed girl...What THE HECK!

2009-08-10T05:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, being Sunday, we let the girls choose a family movie. They picked the Jungle Book, which was a fine selection. Jeff and I however didn't really feel like watching it, so we let them watch it in our room.

We could hear them singing to all of the songs and having a good sisterly time together. After the movie, they were checking out the extra features. I think was hearing them start the Bear Necessities for the second time that Jeff and I decided it was time for bed.

Jeff being the nice husband went upstairs to disperse the party. I then heard him say, "OK, time for bed girl...HA HA HA HAH HA!"

He came back to the family room wiping tears from his eyes. I asked him what happened. He then told me what he saw.

Abbey, the oldest, was jumping on our bed like a trampoline. Lindsay on the other hand, was dancing in front of the TV, doing her best Mowgli impression. She had stripped off ALL of her clothes. She also had found and fashioned a towel into a Mowgli style diaper.

Am I surprised? Not really. Am I entertained? Thoroughly!

It's also Lindsay's birthday today. She is turning 9. Special post to follow.

I am in...

2009-08-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

I am in Utah this week. My posting will be sporatic and sparse. I will be sure to post a bunch about it next week though. We are busy, busy, busy! Hope ya'll are having a good time. :)

Are you somewhere interesting right now?

What's in a name?

2009-07-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

When I lived my short stint in Utah I heard some crazy names. It was a contest to come up with the most original combination of two or even three names. Most of the time they sound very made up and very ridiculous. I think that little Ashergenesis will wish he was named James by hour two of Kindergarten. Annekette is going to be known only as Anne, her close friends will tease her about telling her awful secret to the world. If your dad's name was Don, than your name would be LaDon or Donnette. If you didn't catch that, you just add a La or Ette to the end of something.

Some people name their children after a place...Paris seems to be popular, or Brooklyn. I know of a little girl that was named Andalusia, after a town in Alabama. She went by Andi.

Nothing tops the name I heard of a poor unfortunate girl in the grocery store the other day though. At first I thought, "No, that can't be for real. Maybe she brought her dog in and she's just yelling after it." I wish that was the case. I heard her mother call, in a raspy haggard voice.

"Tequilla!! Tequilla!!! I said Tequilla!!!! Girl, get your butt* over here! Whatchue got in yo mind? Runnin off like that. Now, get my grabbin stick and reach that!"

So, does she have a brother named Michelob?

*Substitute for real tearm.