$55 car repair? Just kidding

You didn't really think they would fix my car for $55 did you?

First quote: $55
Final bill: $214
Working from home the day they fixed it: Priceless

Fall fun

Over the weekend we had two beautiful 70-degree days. The kids played their little hearts out in the great outdoors, enjoying the yard -- climbing trees, playing with the dog, riding their bikes and scooter. I enjoyed it from my front porch swing and felt incredibly happy and blessed.

The beautiful weekend quickly morphed into a 40-degree, rainy and drizzly Monday, which morphed into an even yuckier Tuesday. And wouldn't ya know it ... the heater quit working on my car over the weekend! Thank the Lord it's just a $55 fix (switch). All in all, life is good. The weather now has me feeling Christmas crazy. They announced our Christmas bonuses (and a whopping 2 percent raise) yesterday (but hey, in an economy where so many are getting no raises and one out of ten workers have no job at all, I'm quite thankful for a bonus and a raise.) So bring on the winter weather and the Christmas shopping! Until then, here's a picture of the little monkeys playing in the yard.

Fun with EU students

Last weekend we had six EU students over for a big dinner and game night. I remember my college days when it felt so good to spend an evening out of the dorms -- in a real home with a home-cooked meal and enjoying some family time. College kids are great fun to hang out with. And Big A and Little A just love having the "big kids" pay attention to them.

The girls helped me prepare a nice meal. On the menu: brisket, Texas potatoes, corn casserole, green beans, Jell-O salad, rolls and Big A's famous pumpkin cake. We even had cider brewing in the crock put. YUM! We then played a Cranium. It was a fun night. More fun because my team won. (To be fair, I should admit that I had a secret weapon on my team: Big A!)

Little A and CATS

Little A started her adventure in CATS yesterday. CATS stands for Curriculum for Academically Talented Students. It is the "gifted" program in our school district. The program takes her out of the regular classroom one day a week. She is one of seven students in her CATS class. There are two first-graders (one is Little A) and five second-graders. Aside from a rather traumatic lunch period -- because she did not like eating with "big kids" -- she loved it. They are studying "great thinkers" right now in CATS. Yesterday they learned about the Wright Brothers and learned all about airplanes and flight. They made several different airplane models, did experiments, etc. It sounds like it will be a lot of fun for her. (Even though she currently says she's not going back due to the little lunch issue ... I think we can get past that.)

Little House on the Prairie ... The Musical!

Yesterday, thanks to Grandma D, we were able to go see the Broadway production of Little House on the Prairie the Musical, starring Melissa Gilbert as "Ma." It was fantastic. It was such a treat, and it was a wonderful gift from Grandma. Our family just loves Little House. B and I begin reading the books to Big A when she was about 4 and a half. It was when Little A was born, and I was looking for something quiet I could do with Big A to keep her occupied while I was rocking and nursing the new baby. I had been looking forward to reading the books with her since the day she was born, but I wasn't sure if, at age 4, she would have the patience or comprehension skills for chapter books yet.

Well, she did! We read through all seven of the books right in a row. One day she asked me to make her a calico dress. Being that I can't even sew on a button (I'm no Ma!), I wasn't sure what to do. But Papa P saved the day when he paid a friend's mother to make her two. She has been wearing those dresses now for six years. They just used to be almost floor length and now they are knee length. She says she has worn them as long as Mary and Laura had to wear their calico dresses! In fact the dress she is wearing in the Halloween post below is one of those dresses.

The farm where Laura and Almanzo raised Rose is about an hour from our house. We've taken Big A there a couple of time. We also own most of the Little House on the Prairie TV shows on DVD and watch them regularly.

We are, in every sense of the word, a "Little House" family. So, yesterday was really special for us. If Little House the musical comes to your town, go see it ... it's well worth the ticket price! Thanks again, Grandma!

Job advice from Big A

My 11-year-old just said to me,

"Mom, if you ever want to be an inventor or a saleswoman, here is what you must know. The job of an inventor or a saleswoman is not to meet needs, but to create needs."  Woah. I always knew she would write a book some day. But I think she may be ready now.

The perfect fall weekend

Halloween weekend was perfect. B and I had a little (belated) anniversary getaway, and the girls spent the night with Grandma and Papa. We picked them up just in time to take them to the big "10-31" party at church. Big A dressed up as Mary Ingalls and Little A was Pocahontas. They got plenty of candy at church, so we bypassed trick-or-treating. Since we live out in the country, we really don't have a good place to go anyway. Little A played her first game of Scrabble that evening. The only trouble spot of the night was when Big A BEAT Mom and Dad at Scrabble. We were not trying to let her win. It was not pretty. This is war kid! Here are some pictures.

Taurus trouble no more

I have very nice co-workers who wanted to make sure that I don't have any more trouble finding my car in the parking lot at work ... this is what I found when I got to my car yesterday afternoon. Obviously, by the lighting, this photo was taken this morning. Sadly, I didn't have the camera yesterday.

Too many brown Tauruses

Yesterday when I left work, I got into the wrong brown Taurus. I sat in the driver’s seat and thought that it was suspiciously clean. So I looked in the back for the booster seat and ballet bag, and at that point I realized I was in the wrong car. But I forgave myself when I realized there were two brown Tauruses (Taurasi) parked next to each other. And so I got into the next one. But it wasn’t mine either.

I had to walk south about 10 more cars until I found my brown Taurus. It was locked, and messy, and the booster seat and ballet bag were in the back seat, and so I knew I was finally home. Sometimes B feels it is not safe to send me out into the world on my own, and I feel that he may be right.