Sushi and Pizza

Thing 1's Big Concert

2012-02-03T14:08:00.005-05:00

(I'm behind on a few recent events, so here's my first installment in catching up.)Well, it's the first of a couple of big concerts. Thing 1 has been diligently practicing violin with a group called the Festival Strings. It is a group of Junior High School-aged kids who play in an orchestra. They have somewhat infrequent, but insanely long rehearsals in preparation for a big concert this month.

Exciting News for our Book Club!

2012-02-02T10:38:00.008-05:00

Our book club is being featured in a book!The authors of the book found our book club website/blog and contacted us. After numerous emails back and forth between them and members of our book club, they chose one of our book selections (Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, the same author of The Glass Castle), some of our recipes, and several quotes from members of our group, and included us in a

February 1st

2012-02-01T15:56:00.010-05:00

December was busy with the normal December "stuff." On top of that, Thing 1 is part of an amazing group of string players that got to play with the Hershey Symphony for their Holiday Concert. It was AMAZING! She worked so hard and did such a great job and really enjoyed playing in a large group doing parts, etc.Her rehearsals are intense -- they are very strict and often quite long, but they're

Encyclopedia of Me - L (Stacy)

2012-01-25T16:33:00.006-05:00

Neville Longbottom & Luna Lovegood - They are my favorite characters in the Harry Potter series (note: I like them as individuals. I do not like how they contrived a supposed romance with them in the final movie -- what was that?!?). I can't help but smile at just about anything Luna says and her whimsical, dreamy nature is something I find refreshing. And Neville . . . well, to me, he's one of

Encyclopedia of Me - L (Mark)

2012-01-25T15:28:00.006-05:00

LEGOs: I have always loved LEGOs. I remember spending hours constructing space ships and landing sites and battle fleets and all kinds of awesome things. We would spend just as long on a Sunday afternoon creating adventures for of them as well. It's so cool to see our kids playing with them now, and I can't believe how many kinds there are. Plus all the video games! Even as an adult I like

Concert #3 - Moves Like Jagger

2012-01-23T16:10:00.006-05:00

Back in August, we and some friends decided to attend a concert together at Hershey Park. The line-up was too good to pass up! Not 1, not 2, but THREE great bands! Plus, the tickets were VERY reasonable (maybe because it was outside?).The opening act: Gavin DeGrawThe main acts: Maroon 5 and TrainAmazing, right?!?Only, there was one odd glitch. Two weeks before the concert, I was reading the news

Several New Posts . . .

2012-01-20T13:08:00.001-05:00

Just a heads up. Scroll down below to see a post from Mark and a post from me. Then head over to the kids' blogs (listed on right side of blog) to see their "Encyclopedia of Me" posts, too!

Encyclopedia of Me - P (Mark)

2012-01-20T11:38:00.004-05:00

Peter: We were talking the other night and realized that we've known each other for almost 30 years. Even though we don't keep in touch too well, any time we talk it's like we've picked up a conversation mid-thought. I also love how Peter is so expressive and honest. He's a great friend to have.Pizza Pirate: It's been years since I've been back, but I will always have fond memories of baseball

Encyclopedia of Me - P (Stacy)

2012-01-20T11:13:00.010-05:00

Paula Abdul - She is the perfect person to put on here to represent my love of pop music (yes, really) and all things 80s. While she may not be my all-time favorite singer, I have always loved Paula Abdul ("Straight Up," "Forever Your Girl," etc.) and I still do. Remember her video for "Opposites Attract?" with the animated cat? Oh, I love the 80s! That's when music videos were awesome. I also

The Plague of Technology

2012-01-19T17:15:00.004-05:00

I am generally a fairly optimistic person who loves everyone and likes feeling all mindful and zen and grateful.Today isn't one of those days.Today is one of those days where people are flaky, everyone irritates me, and I feel like I'm surrounded by morons.Today is one of those days where I texted my holed-up-at-home friend to say, "Be glad you can't go out among humans today. Idiots. All of them

Our Kids' Blogs

2012-01-19T10:09:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note that our kids have been writing and updating their blogs -- both their personal ones and their joint book/movie review one (and there's more to come!).I've put the links to their blogs on the sidebar of this blog -- they'd love to hear from you! And thanks to those who have already commented!

Doctors are Broke

2012-01-18T13:48:00.002-05:00

Well, according to this article more and more doctors are broke. I know, it sounds crazy. When Stacy started telling me what the article said I could sense the collective incredulity of this nation rising all around me. Here are a few actual comments (grammatical errors and all) that appeared below the article. By now they're almost certainly buried beneath the other comments that have been

A glimpse into this past November - NaNoWriMo

2012-01-16T14:44:00.009-05:00

I haven't posted pictures in a while, so I thought I'd do a post about this past November through pictures and words. Here is part 1 - NaNoWriMo.November is when our family participates in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so we all write novels in 30 days. We go to a local coffeehouse often and write, write, write with friends. Okay, so there's a lot of talking and playing mixed in, too.

Kid Interviews - Favorites of 2011

2012-01-05T18:31:00.009-05:00

Today, I'm interviewing our kids to journal their favorites of 2011.Thing 1 - Age 11, 6th GradeFavorite Color - YellowFavorite Food - SushiFavorite Drink - Pink LemonadeFavorite Board or Card Game - Settlers of Catan (Cities and Knights)Favorite Wii Game - Horse Life Adventures and Order Up!Favorite Online Game - WebkinzFavorite DS game - Harry Potter Lego GamesFavorite Hobby - Reading, Writing,

100 Foods (and a Facebook rant, apparently)

2012-01-04T12:59:00.010-05:00

I wasn't going to blog today, but I've got the flu and feel just sick enough to not be able to do much of anything and just well enough to want to do something. And I'm kinda grumpy from the body aches, so lucky you, you get a snarky post.Apparently there is a Facebook app making the rounds that has a list of "100 Foods To Eat Before You Die." I don't like Facebook and I don't particularly trust

2011 in Review

2012-01-02T17:42:00.002-05:00

Thanks AGAIN to my SIL Emily's for reminding me about this awesome blog meme. I can't resist these. I love writing prompts!What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Watched my daughter play violin in Carnegie Hall in May and then with the Hershey Symphony in December, took our kids to a Michael Bublé concert in June and an Elliott Yamin concert in September, watched our son read his

I didn't want the day to end

2011-12-21T14:47:00.006-05:00

I had a GREAT day yesterday. Mark made the entire day so special. I laughed, I cried, I relaxed, I had fun, I ate good food, I couldn't stop smiling.To celebrate our 15th anniversary, he set up FIFTEEN surprises for me - I received surprises and instructions throughout the day.It started when I woke up and found #1(a love letter letting me know about surprises to come)on my nightstand.Numbers 2

Fifteen Years

2011-12-20T10:30:00.006-05:00

Ever since the Scrubs series finale I've wanted to use that song for something like this. I've loved our first 15 years of marriage; I look forward to many, many more together.I love you!(Stacy--#4, by the way)

Our 15th Anniversary in Numbers

2011-12-20T10:18:00.000-05:00

I love writing prompts. So I'm giving myself one for this post. Today is my and Mark's 15th wedding anniversary (and next year is TWENTY years we've been together!!).So in honor of our anniversary, I'm doing a post-by-the-numbers. I'm numbering 0-15 and coming up with something for each number related to our marriage:0The number of times we've ever been apart. True story.Since being married, and

Random Ramblings (The Addendum - Fa La La La La)

2011-12-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

Stacy wrote a really nice post with some great Christmas ramblings. She wanted to include this picture so I'm posting it here. Also, she added a video of Scout and the kids so enjoy the post below.

Random Ramblings - 5 Days Until Christmas

2011-12-19T14:36:00.009-05:00

Well, for us anyway. We open everything on Christmas Eve so we have 5 days to be ready. For some reason, this year has been nerve wracking! It's always a busy time of year, but this year has felt especially NUTS.As of yesterday, though, we finished just about ALL shopping (except one or two little things we haven't been able to find). Isn't it always the stuff you're sure won't be that difficult?

Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

2011-12-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

So, during our Gilmore Girls Super Marathon 2011 Stacy hears this song playing in the background. It was an episode set during the holidays and Stacy tells me she remembers the song from when she was a kid. I didn't recognize it, and I certainly couldn't tell you what it was from the faint sounds coming from Lorelai's radio, but it took Stacy exactly 4.2 seconds to find it online. Here's what she

9 Days Until Christmas??

2011-12-16T08:53:00.002-05:00

SERIOUSLY??Where has this month gone??I don't think I've EVER felt so behind in preparations.It's been a busy past couple of months!Are you ready?

Laughing at Wall Street

2011-12-15T21:13:00.004-05:00

I got THIS BOOK through BlogHer and while I've not yet read all of it, I have read some and I have also read about it through several really positive reviews on Amazon.com.The book description on Amazon reads:$20,000 to $2 million in only three years— the greatest stock-picker you never heard of tells you how you can do it tooChris Camillo is not a stockbroker, financial analyst, or hedge fund

The Joy of Randomness

2011-12-07T19:54:00.007-05:00

Mark and I saw "Crazy, Stupid Love" this week. Totally loved it. Lots of fun twists and turns and a great cast with great acting. *************************** I love that we can alter learning experiences to our kids' learning styles. Wouldn't it be coolif kids in school were "sorted" by learning styles instead of birthday? *************************** I love mistletoe.It's one of my favorite

A few funny stories

2011-12-05T14:58:00.006-05:00

On 12/1/2011:Scout was barking at the window because someone dared to walk down the street near our house. Thing 2 went to the window to see what was up.He tells me there was just some kid walking down the street with his "pants on the ground" and we start talking about this "style."Thing 2: I've noticed that people with backward baseball caps often have pants on the ground. Me: Sideways baseball

Thing 2 Has His Own Blog!

2011-11-30T19:17:00.003-05:00

You're invited to check out Thing 2's Blog--enjoy reading I Don't Eat My Drumsticks! This is a great outlet for our little drummer boy (heheheh) and resident comedian! And I'm sure, he, like all bloggers, enjoys comments, so have at it! :)

We did it AGAIN!!

2011-11-28T20:00:00.004-05:00

We started later than we wanted to, didn't get to it every day, didn't get it done before Thanksgiving like we'd hoped, BUT we did it(and before the end of the month, too)! We all won NaNoWriMo again!!Mark and I wrote an over 50K-word book togetherand we're both really pleased with it and our impressive teamwork on it.Thing 1 wrote an over 35K-word bookand says it's a delightfully odd and

Random Thoughts

2011-11-14T17:34:00.003-05:00

I just sat down to work on my novel,so of course I'm writing a blog post first.I am a HIGHLY distracted person.*************Since writing that thought,I have written 2 texts,taken a picture of Scout,and charged a battery.*************Jerry Sandusky has an autobiography called "Touched."How is that scumbag not in jail?Did you know that he and his wife adopted 6 childrenand took in several foster

Double Dating in the 21st Century

2011-11-10T15:38:00.004-05:00

It's not the same. But it will do for now.(This is a picture of all 4 of ustrying to figure out how to take a screen shotof our double date.We figured it out and smiled and took the picture --apparently a picture of the Johnsonsworking on figuring it out themselves).Note the time. We were just warming up.3 hours later (that's 2AM for the math-challenged),we got to bed.Insanity.But totally worth

Halloween Costumes

2011-11-02T14:23:00.001-04:00

Here are the kids' costumes from Halloween this year. I think you'll agree they are cute kids! Harry Potter fans, name this Quibbler-reading character. Complete with Spectrespecs and radish earrings (and yes, those are real radishes). It's Luna Lovegood! He collects Charmander and Piplup and Pikachu(at least, I think he does). He has the ball to prove it. He's a Pokemon Trainer! Don't

November 1st

2011-11-01T14:03:00.007-04:00

It's NaNoWriMo time!------------This past September,a random older man walked up to us one day and said,"This is a tough economy.I don't envy you and your generation at all.You have it way tougher than we ever did."I had mixed feelings about his statement:a bit of stress at the truthfulness of it,slightly odd that he just walked up to strangers and said it,and gratitude that he recognized it.----

Concert #2 -- (Do NOT laugh)

2011-10-27T16:13:00.006-04:00

So, you've read my blog posts about the fun "Girls' Weekends" we have around here now and then -- two of my girlfriends with whom I grew up (Cathy and Kellie) come from MA/RI and NJ respectively and we get our party on. We've done it several times over the past few years and it's always a ton of fun.I'm so grateful for them and love when we get together. It's special to have friends you've known

Working Titles

2011-10-25T09:12:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again -- NaNoWriMo! There is great excitement at our house over this. I don't know what hypes the children more sometimes, this or the holidays. It's HUGE around here. Anyway, everyone is super excited. Mark and I are working on a book together this year and the kids are each working on a book themselves.Here are the titles we have for our books (working titles anyway) --

Recent Reads

2011-10-24T08:02:00.000-04:00

Besides watching copious amounts of Gilmore Girls, I've also been doing a fair amount of reading.A few books I've recently read:Water for Elephants -- loved it, loved it, LOVED it!The Help -- Excellent! Great characters -- missed them when I was done.The Elegance of the Hedgehog -- reserving comments on this one(it's one of the books in the SIL book club my MIL gave us all for Christmas, so I

A Rainbow of Random Musings

2011-10-21T19:18:00.002-04:00

X-FactorLove it! I love that Simon Cowell has the moxie to create a competing hit show and pit it against his previous hit show. Genius! This one is a keeper. They don't waste too much of our time with stupid, attention-seeking auditions. Instead, they show us real people with real stories who can actually sing. Novel concept. They have the VERY good sense to get the lovely Paula Abdul back on

Gilmore Girls Tribute

2011-10-21T10:48:00.003-04:00

So, we just finished the series yesterday. How had I missed this show?!?We started season 1 this past summer and then watched all of seasons 2-6 in two months. I know!I'm so glad that we didn't watch this show when it was on, because waiting a whole week between episodes? Torture! I absolutely love this show.And though Lorelai and Rory should each weigh about 300 pounds the way they eat, there

Concert #1 - Michael Buble (yes, again)

2011-10-11T16:33:00.019-04:00

Only this time, we took the kids! We're officially groupies. :P Granted, I haven't been as many times as the lady in the front row, who was wearing a "This is my 7th concert - can I have a hug?" t-shirt, but I'm so doing that when I am (and yes, she got a hug, as did the guy whose girlfriend made him a t-shirt to commemorate his 13th concert).I can't think of many more famous people I'd like to

One more number . . .

2011-10-11T16:19:00.001-04:00

5The number of concerts I have to report on.Oh yes, it's been a fun, eventful summer.More to come . . .

House Guests and Concerts - the numbers

2011-10-11T14:33:00.003-04:00

Yep, that sums up our summer pretty nicely -- that and a very nice week at the beach.I'll post about concerts in the next post.I've posted some about our house guests (though, really, there's so much more to share and post!). Mark and I did a little number crunching just out of curiosity and here's what we came up with:For 2011 (so far) . . .We've had 23 unique house guests.Number of nights we've

Things Kids Say

2011-10-02T17:38:00.003-04:00

THING 2:"I’m glad we have a family where we all treat each other nicely." – (On 9/15/11, as I helped him clean up an "owie" -- not his word there; just have no idea what a grown-up word for "owie" is anymore). :P THING 1:“There are good and bad things about growing up. The good things are things like having more responsibilities, like being

And now for something non-flood related . . .

2011-09-12T11:43:00.004-04:00

Everyone is still cleaning up from the flood. Many of our friends had damage and some even had to be evacuated. Streets are still really damaged. There are still parts of our town we can't get to and there are TONS of damaged, roads, bridges, and detours.BUT.The sun in shining and I even see blue skies and today is supposed to go up to 78. Beautiful. Just like the rest of our summer weather has

Update, Part 2

2011-09-09T21:25:00.002-04:00

You have got to see these pictures to get AN IDEA of how bad it got. And remember, this is after the rain stopped, so it was even worse than pictured! The rivers are still rising. Lots of curfews and boil water advisories. Scary stuff.

Update

2011-09-09T14:17:00.003-04:00

It has stopped raining, but many roads are still closed. Hershey is completely under water and shut down for the weekend, if not longer.We are in a State of Emergency and just found out that we are also on water restriction. It's ironic to me than an excess of water (flooding) can cause the need for water restriction. I understand why, but it just strikes me as very ironic.Some of our friends

Wet.

2011-09-08T15:36:00.005-04:00

Did you see us in the news? It's been headline news on CNN and MSNBC. So much destruction.This Pizza Hut is totally submerged.People had to be rescued by boat.There is also a gas leak.I heard the whole thing has since collapsed.We were just near there the other night . . .We have had a VERY wet summer. We've had a ton of rain and we've also had a tornado, hurricane, minor earthquake, a tropical

Friend Spotlight: The Johnsons (I feel like I'm 19 again! )

2011-08-03T14:42:00.022-04:00

This summer is just WHIZZING by and we've been having so much fun doing so many different things. Mostly, though, we've been hosting LOTS of house guests. It feels like our time is split about evenly between having guests and not, that's how often we have people at our house. And I know that to many, that may sound like a lot of stress, but for us, we've been enjoying it so much.We've had family

Summer Haiku

2011-07-21T08:54:00.001-04:00

Hot humid kitchenThermostat says ninety-oneNo central A/C

Blast from the Past -- Harry Potter, Book 7

2011-07-11T11:12:00.002-04:00

When we started blogging years ago in October of 2006, we started a family blog for Mark's side of the family. Since then, every family has started their own and the Family Blog has gone private and continues to be used by the whole family now and then.Here is a post from July 21, 2007 at almost 1am (I'm editing to use nicknames. Also, this is when we were living in our townhouse):We LOVE Harry

Carnegie Hall

2011-06-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

We've been to New York City before, usually in an attempt to see everything (crazy taxi drivers, Kazakhstanian pedicab operators, human fire hydrants), but this time we went with a very specific purpose, and then tried to do everything. As many of you know by now, Thing 1 has been preparing for months to perform at Carnegie Hall with her violin group. Her group instructor was trained at the

Party at our house!

2011-06-07T14:55:00.019-04:00

So, I mentioned in my previous post that we had several guests come visit in February. And being that we love to host and do nice things for our friends and just generally because we're awesome that way, we rearranged one of our rooms into a library/guest room. It is AWESOME. Like a quiet living room upstairs.Library Guest RoomTwo of my closest girl friends growing up (Cathy and Kellie) came for

Good Friends and Birthday Flashback

2011-06-05T19:18:00.011-04:00

So, I think I have SAD. You know, seasonal affective disorder. I hole up and retreat slightly from about mid-January to mid-March. And I wait and wait and wait for the sun. And soon, I'm craving the warmth and light of sunshine the same way I crave chocolate once a month.There's probably some element of post-holiday let down/anniversary of my Dad's death/my Dad's birthday thrown in that timing,

5 Things About My Wonderful Son

2011-05-31T18:22:00.005-04:00

I would've called him "beautiful," but he has informed me over the years that "handsome" is the more appropriate term. ;) Therefore, my handsome son is a GREAT kid who has loads of character and his own unfiltered charm. He is a ton of fun and a wonderful addition to our family. We are all better people because of him, as he has a natural ability to keep things light and mindful (in other

Two more days to enter . . .

2011-05-30T09:43:00.002-04:00

Our familyThis is the 5 of us celebrating the 4th of July this past year. We don't usually do the matching T-shirt thing, but every once in a while, it's fun. Well, today is another 3-day-weekend type holiday (Happy Memorial Day!) and you have today and tomorrow left to enter this giveaway to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.See Scout in that picture of all of us? Click here to see more cute pictures

5 Things About My Beautiful Girl

2011-05-25T17:02:00.012-04:00

My beautiful daughter is growing up and continuing to be the impressive human being she always has been and simply one of my favorite people to be around. Here are 5 things about Thing 1 that I'd like to share:1. She loves to read and write and does so almost constantly. In fact, she's been blogging a lot lately. I love her stories and posts. She especially loves the fantasy genre (Harry Potter

The finale of no reason

2011-05-24T22:02:00.007-04:00

So, American Idol started the night with a video of a shy Carrie Underwood singing at age 8. Hmmm, a video of a country singer. Shocking. That was followed by home videos of the two country singing finalists when they were kids. I did NOT see that coming.The L-A-U-R-E-N sign holders in the audience got it right. That's a step up from the S-C-O-T-Y-T fans from this past week.They brought out a

A chance to win $100

2011-05-23T11:09:00.006-04:00

Scout's 1st birthdayWe made Scout a peanut butter and toast "cake" for her first birthday.This summer, she turns 2!I wonder what we'll do . . .Want to hear more about Scout and enter to win $100 Visa gift card?We love birthdays.$100 sure is handy for birthdays,birthday parties,birthday presents,or just because.How can you get a chance at winninga $100 Visa gift card?(AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU READ OUR

Who's in the finale?

2011-05-19T21:31:00.002-04:00

Ryan said he was welcoming us to American Idol, but for the first 15 minutes I was confused, because the only thing resembling American Idol at all were the 4 very bored contestants watching a "Super 8" movie in a room. They said "Super 8" 867 times. Actually, I don't know that for sure, because after the first 73 times, we fast forwarded the rest. That got us to the :15 spot on our TiVo line.At

Top 3 Sing 3

2011-05-19T00:58:00.005-04:00

It's 1am. Don't ask. I'm on a hedonistic bender. Bear with me.So, dweeby Ryan tells us how it's going to go down. 3 songs -- one contestant's choice, one Jimmy Iovine's chioce, and one judges' choice. Beyoncé was the mentor. She was super nice and has seriously muscular legs. We fast forwarded many things, so the SYTYCD dancers were jumping at me through the screen really fast.Contestant's

Because It's Been That Long

2011-05-17T14:48:00.000-04:00

I really don't post on this blog very often, and that is pretty obvious. If you think I do then you haven't really been paying attention very well. I don't know why I don't other than I just don't take the time to say anything. But it bugs me that sometimes I gloss right over this part of life, sharing my thoughts and feelings. I decided to write a short post because despite all the things we are

This is a MUST read.

2011-05-17T11:58:00.002-04:00

Because it's the funniest thing I've read in a while.Courtesy of my kids, I present their most recent book review.Welcome to my life.

$100 for you!

2011-05-16T15:08:00.002-04:00

Sweet ScoutCouldn't you use $100?Here are 5 things you could do with $100:1. Replace your van battery.2. Help pay for your annual car inspections.3. Buy some food.4. Pay part of an unexpected bill.5. Pay for your kids to participate in sports.Yeah, sure, I just made those up.Would you like a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card?Keep reading . . .Click here to see more cute pictures of Scout, read

Well, hey, would you look at that.

2011-05-14T13:46:00.002-04:00

I CAN be more bored with this (highly inappropriate for "family" viewing) show. Lamest top 3 ever. I've never been so UNinvested in a finale. Ever. We watched tonight's show in about 5 minutes (thank you, Tivo). Stupid, stupid, stupid results. Lame, lame, lame. And one more "highly inappropriate" for good measure. Bah.(Also, as a note, Blogger was down for a couple of days and they're working on

Could I be any more bored with this show?

2011-05-11T22:03:00.000-04:00

I don't think so. Thankfully, writing about it dulls the pain.The Top 4 sang tonight. 2 rounds. The first one was meant to inspire (meh) and the second was from the Leiber and Stoller songbook (also meh). Jimmy Iovine wasn't around for the first round, so I'm guessing he needed some time off. Or perhaps some interventional therapy. I know I do.James - "Don't Stop Believin'"I think it was pitchy

Want to win $100?

2011-05-09T10:34:00.002-04:00

Our family on vacation at the beachReady for summer?Gas prices are up again.$100 sure would help.Would you like a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card?Keep reading . . .Click here to see more cute pictures of Scout (do you see her in the picture above?), read more about her, and see what she thought of Purina Pro Plan Selects, and enter to win (plus, there are SEVERAL more ways to enter to win --

My Weekend In Mexico

2011-05-06T14:35:00.000-04:00

Well, not really. But the food was amazing. So, Stacy already gave a little teaser about my weekend, but I've got to tell you how amazing it was. She was in our local coffeehouse and noticed a poster for cooking classes at a relatively new bed and breakfast here in town. They call them "Acclaimed Chef Weekends" and the programs they've held so far look great. She happened to notice that there

Steven Tyler Says Beautiful Things

2011-05-05T22:26:00.005-04:00

Now that Casey left, I'm so bored, we watched both shows in one night.The Top 5 performed 2 songs each and it was all over the place.Randy started the night by stating the obvious and saying typically non-profound things and either someone held up an "applause" sign or the audience is getting stupider by the season and truly will clap for anything, as Mark says.James - "Closer to the Edge"Was he

Congratulations to Thing 2!

2011-05-03T12:44:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our other writer in the family! Thing 2 is one of the winners of our library's annual poetry contest! Needless to say, he's ecstatic about it. He'll even get a chance to read his poem at a special celebration along with the other winners. Thing 1 got to do this last year and it was a very nice event. His poem is called "Dragon's Roaring." Here it is: Dragon's Roaring The

Adorable Puppy

2011-05-02T12:15:00.003-04:00

Scout sitting behind Mark while he worksIsn't she cute? Would you like a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card?Click here to see more cute pictures of Scout, see what she thought of Purina Pro Plan Selects, and enter to win!

Play Ball!

2011-05-01T16:46:00.005-04:00

Thing 2 has started little league baseball and he absolutely LOVES it. And like I said before, he is SO STINKING CUTE in his baseball uniform.Thing 2 at his first gameFather and son -Mark is an assistant coach for the team!The team -They were supposed to besponsored by the video game place(the kids were really excited about that!)but had a last-minute switch.It's okay, though -- everyone loves

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T09:01:00.003-04:00

We all got up early and just watched it while eating a fairly traditional English breakfast with tea! Because, well, why not? The dress was lovely and they kissed twice on the balcony. So much fun to watch. Yeah, it's a lot of pomp and circumstance and I am not one for fancy hoopla, but it was still fun to watch a bit of history like that and neat to share it with the kids. And it's kind of nice

Tornado News

2011-04-28T12:19:00.002-04:00

Yes, the storms came up this way. And yes, we were up from 4:30-7am watching and listening to a crazy storm and the national weather broadcast system. Unnerving, scary stuff.Some tornadoes touched down in a few different places around us, but thankfully everyone is safe. Lots of tree/structural damage, flooding, road closures, school closures, roofs torn off, wires dangling, etc., but everyone is

Praise God, It's Idol!

2011-04-27T21:57:00.004-04:00

Hallelujah! Can I get an "Amen?"It was some kind of religious revival for Carole King night on Idol (who knows?).Steven saw God and Randy was channeling his inner Jesus as he kept telling all the contestants that they were turning the other cheek. What? He didn't even use the phrase correctly. What he meant was that they took constructive criticism well, but that would be too erudite, and not

15 Random Thoughts

2011-04-27T15:01:00.006-04:00

-------------------------Folded laundry this week with my family.We've never really discussed how we'd do this task.We all just pitch in and do it.I thought of that as we folded together and smiled.-----------------------This made me think of how Mark and I never really discussedhow we'd function as a couple and family.We didn't hammer out specifics and divvy up responsibilities.He has just

Dear Idol

2011-04-20T21:54:00.005-04:00

Dear Idol Producers,You don't like us, do you? Why on earth would you bring back the contestants who have been voted off to sing for us again? They're not on the show anymore because we didn't like them.And tonight? They sucked.I like Paul, but he shouldn't sing in groups. Also, could you buy him a new suit?And Naima needs a sedative. Stat.Tonight's show could've been 60 minutes long instead of

Random Thoughts on a Rainy Day

2011-04-19T11:31:00.005-04:00

Our 10-day forecast looks something like this:Rain 59Sun 79Rain 58Rain 50Rain 69Rain 71Rain 69Sun 73Rain 71Rain 66Spring is a fickle tease.-----------------We are totally addicted to these.Healthy, crunchy, and delicious.Great movie snack.----------------No more daytime soaps for ABC -"All My Children" and "One Life to Live" are being canceled.Not sure what's more shocking -- that they're being

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

2011-04-15T18:00:00.003-04:00

Practice, practice, practice.That was the theme of today's concerts. Thing 1's Suzuki violin group put on two concerts today at two different school assemblies. They were both excellent concerts and a lot of fun, too.Practicing before the 1st concertIt's pretty neat that they were able to perform like that, because since each family only gets 2 tickets to go to the Carnegie Hall performance in a

Holy Sh%#dizzles!

2011-04-13T23:11:00.004-04:00

So, 8 idols remain and only two of them are XX. And I have a feeling they won't last long when there are so many hot, talented XYs sharing the stage.And whether they're male or female (or unsure), they were all judged by "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World" Jennifer Lopez, hereafter referred to as TMBWITW.THIS is American Idol!Paul - He sang "Old Time Rock-n-Roll" and he sang it really

Family Bliss - Study Reveals Happiest Combos of Kids

2011-04-12T12:18:00.002-04:00

This article was so interesting! It talks about a study that reveals what combination of kids (number and gender) tends to relate to the most harmonious family lives (obviously somewhat subjective).The short article is worth a read with stories and anecdotes to illustrate the findings, but here is the list from "best to worst" combination of siblings:1. Two girls2. One boy and one girl3. Two

Goodnight, Ladies!

2011-04-07T22:43:00.002-04:00

Until tonight, 4 girls had left.One more joined them tonight.5 have left and 2 remain.I could see all of the girls (and Stefano) leave without a problem.Bottom 3 tonight: Pia, Stefano, and Jacob (his spot rightly belonged to Haley)Pia leaves.Shocking, but not really. There are others worse than she. But she has really dragged lately.Other thoughts from tonight:Ryan's a dork.Constantine is hot,

Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame

2011-04-06T23:17:00.004-04:00

We almost went to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame on our road trip. Almost. But we live close enough that we can just do it as a weekend trip sometime, so it's all good. But I digress.Nine Idols sang. Some sang amazingly. Others sang adequately. And, since Naima has finally left, no one stunk.Jacob - He decided to switch from singing about "doing the nasty" to Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror."

Quote for Today

2011-04-04T19:24:00.002-04:00

“Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions”--Alfie Kohn

Tax season is here again!

2011-04-03T14:17:00.004-04:00

I read this article today. It tells us that we work for 3 months just to be able to pay our taxes. Well that's depressing.And in our case, given that we have massive overhead and student loans (on which, we have a max on what we can deduct, despite the fact that we pay way more than that max), we have at least several more months of work just for that.So, basically, we're keeping less than a half

Happy National Doctors' Day

2011-03-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

It's National Doctors' Day today.There are a lot of misconceptions out there about doctors.We have often thought about writing a post about them.It's a grueling job - mentally, physically, and emotionally.It's often a thankless profession.The word "Doctor" can evokelooks of respector looks of disdain.The common social supposition for manywhen they find out that someone is a doctoris to

American Idol Recap (and I'm not holding back)

2011-03-30T22:45:00.012-04:00

Okay, so I didn't blog AI reviews at all this past week because I was more excited about enjoying our house guests. :)Here's my mini recap of the results from the week before (yeah, didn't do those either, because I was having a very blah and down week and, lucky girl that I am, I have a dear friend who could tell and so she showed up at our house around 11pm with a box of donuts and stayed up

Super Quick Post

2011-03-30T11:45:00.001-04:00

Okay, I've gone back through the past 6 posts and responded to comments. I got very behind these past few weeks.I have a lot more to post, so hopefully I'll get to that soon!Oh, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 Revue have some updates that you may or may not have seen -- enjoy!More to come . . .

SUCH a great visit!

2011-03-28T20:35:00.017-04:00

We absolutely LOVED having Scott, Lindsay, and Ada visit us this past week.Like LOVED it.Like it went by way too fast.Like we got choked up when they left.Like it was so comfortable and easy when they were here that it felt so so so completely natural to have them with us.Like we knew it would be great and the reality exceeded any and all expectations.Yes, it was that great. No exaggeration.Loved

Itinerary

2011-03-17T16:43:00.012-04:00

We are so excited to have our first ever "sibling family" visit!We all want a mix of hanging out at home,playing games,and seeing fun, local sites.And of course, we all love food.I mean, the name of their blog IS "You're Still Hungry?!"And we know our family loves food.So, here's what we've come up with:DAY 1Happily pick Scott, Lindsay, and Ada up from the airport at nightPick up a Duke's Crab

Ballads and more ballads

2011-03-16T21:17:00.003-04:00

This week, I'm blogging WHILE watching. New approach.Ah, we begin by being reminded of the TIMELY exit of Diva Ashton Jones. Good riddance.Tonight's theme - songs from the year they were born. 1984?!? Dude, I'm old.Naima - "What's Love Got To Do With It?" (I hate this song!)HUNDREDS of amazing songs from which to choose and she chose this?!? Holy crap, she's WAY WAY off. She was a waste of a wild

Geez, do I ever post pictures?

2011-03-14T17:47:00.001-04:00

I have every intention of posting pictures. I mean, this blog started as a means of keeping in touch with far-away grandparents. But in scanning over the past several months' worth of posts, there are very few pictures (I don't think I've posted ANY since July--except for the Michael Bublé concert!?!)! So, let's do a little 2010 in random review, okay? I'm challenging myself to choose just a

Why do I get sucked in EVERY year?

2011-03-10T22:42:00.004-05:00

It's getting tiresome, right? And no Simon, right? And seriously, J-Lo and Steven Tyler?We didn't even bother watching auditions and I said we'd "give it a shot" once Hollywood started. I fast forwarded so much this year. So unlike me.And then the Top 24 sang and I didn't feel compelled to blog. And besides, I have other things I want to write about! I just got caught up on A LOT of stuff hanging

It's a Birthday!

2011-03-03T09:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Little Miss! Another year has passed and you are still the same wonderful, beautiful, perfect girl for me. I love you!

Sometimes

2011-02-20T12:38:00.008-05:00

Dear Daddy,Today would have been your 76th birthday and it pains me that I can't call you and wish you a happy birthday. So, I come here and write as a way to sort of do it anyway, I suppose. Though a "Happy Birthday" on a blog doesn't seem sufficient, it is the best I have. Sometimes I feel sad. I miss you and it doesn't feel good. It catches me off guard, this sadness. It's more spaced apart

PA Dutch 101

2011-02-14T13:32:00.019-05:00

I know today is Valentine's Day, but I won't post about that yet as my honey is still finding clues for his Valentine from me to him. I'll likely post about that later . . .No, today's post is about local speak, or what locals call "Dutchy." This area was not settled by the Dutch. It was settled by Germans. The "Pennsylvania Dutch" are descendants of German immigrants from Germany and Switzerland

New Reviews . . .

2011-02-09T09:54:00.001-05:00

. . . on the Revue!

Life Comes At You Fast

2011-02-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

(I wrote this post on October 19th and just saw it sitting in my drafts, so I'll post it today. I'm thinking it got away from me with NaNoWriMo getting into full swing. It seems fitting since this month in our homeschool group, our kids are taking classes on finances -- spending/saving/budgeting/interest/credit cards/investing/bills/taxes/etc.).Photo from www.WNYC.orgFun Fact #1:In the past month

Fantasya

2011-02-05T18:03:00.002-05:00

The Magic Violinist has posted the first four chapters of her NaNoWriMo book (unedited) on her blog.See, when you do NaNoWriMo, you're supposed to put away your inner editor (Mark and I turned ours off. Thing 1 put hers under her bed. Thing 2 put his at the bottom of the clothes hamper -- and he keeps turning up in the laundry!) and just WRITE.And write we do!Enjoy her story!

Unveiling . . .

2011-02-02T20:24:00.003-05:00

Thing 1 and Thing 2have something new!And they want to share it with you!It is not a frog.It is not a log.It is not a hog.It IS a blog!Introducing!Thing 1 and Thing 2 RevueWhere Thing 1 and Thing 2 review Books and movies!They would love to have you as readers . . . Click here to see it!And please add it to your blog reader. :)

Listen up, Groundhog.

2011-02-01T11:13:00.003-05:00

Photo from MNN.comI know who you are and I know where you live. We don't live far from you. Someday we'll actually be in Punxsutawney when you come out of your burrow and the strangely dressed man holds you up in the air for all to see. It's on our Bucket List under "Foolish Things We'll Do Anyway." But that is besides the point.It's been a fine winter. Lovely even, though cold. I, myself,

More Random Happenings

2011-01-25T13:21:00.004-05:00

I'm having another GIRLS' WEEKEND in a few weeksand I am SO excited!Cathy and Kellie are coming(and Cathy is bringing her girls).And maybe EJ, too.And maybe even my Mom.-------------------I get annoyed when people try to talk to mewhen I'm singing along to music,especially if it's a great upbeatKaty Perry type song.-------------------Thing 2 recently turned 8.On his birthday, he said (of this

No wonder I didn't want to get out of bed . . .

2011-01-24T08:26:00.005-05:00

Double Click on that pictureand look closely at the blue boxin the bottom right corner.