oh, and I

forgot to add one little thing. Petie stayed out the other night, all night long. This is a picture of him, I would say about 5 minutes after he came in...

good news...

finger is just badly bruised!! Poor little thing, she is still in some pain, but it ain't broke!!!

UGH...

I have been super busy, not a dull moment here, in the Wilson house. First last weekend, we picked up our new truck, and man, is it pretty!! I am loving the Sync feature it has. Our phones are "blue tooth" (what ever that means, dh told me) and anyhow, our phone is now "synced" up to the car. I push a button, and the lady that lives in my car tells me to say a command. I say dial, and then the # and wah-lah. I am now talking to someone through my stereo. hmmm... It is neat, in a creepy kind of way. Since when did cars get so smart?? We are still getting to know the little nuances of the truck but it is fun. :) We also got 6 months of free Sirus radio. It's O.K., not sure if I am that impressed.
second, I met the dean of the masters program. She was very nice and we decided I will be studying "TeSOL". That is teaching students where English is not the primary language. What that will do for me, is to give me different teaching strategies in the diverse classroom. Let's face it, the class rooms are not all white these days. It will also make me more marketable with a Masters. It is a ton of work, but I do like being back in school.
(did I JUST utter that??)
third... I have been making jelly like mad. I made grape and apple. It came out ok, I am waiting for it to "set". Jelly takes a bit longer than jam. while I was making the apple jelly last night, Kimberly was helping. She was getting me the apples from the table of the deck. Well, while she was walking out she closed the door, and her little hand got slammed in the door. She caught her middle finger, her ring and pointer. The middle one is the one that took the brunt. Her little finger is swollen (and a LOVELY shade of purple). Today, she is going to the peds to make sure there is nothing wrong with it. OY. -Did I mention she is in a wedding this weekend??
fourth- Dana is coming home on Friday for good. It went by quickly.
Fifth, Alex is having a b-day party on the 4th. I need to figure out what to do with several little people for 2 hours. Any ideas?? Pray to the God's that it is sunny. Ohhhh Beth..... :) :) :)
ok, that is enough of the mundane. Just thought I would update.

cans cans everywhere.

today....
7 pints of cinn applesauce. 14 pints pears, and 8 pints of peaches... I still have one bag of apples, and half a bushel of peaches. I have only about 2 pints worth or pears.... AND, for the love of all that is holy, I am out of jars. Phew. AND, today, I get the brilliant idea that I need to have my carpets and furniature cleaned... WHAT was I thinking???? My Ass is damp. he said it would take 4 hours to dry. 4 hours my eye! My recliner is soppin, and the sofe is damp. The love seat is fine, I didn't get that done, next time. I am pooped. I did a few loads of wash in there too. Not many, just two.
Marlene, I have no idea how my HDL got so high, but it is still with in range. I have no idea how I got any of the #'s I got...
and for those of you who want some, canned goodies are in!!
Tomorrow, I may make peach jam, I think I have some jars for that.
I gunna drop over now. Going to hunt up Petie and go to bed!!

busy, busy, busy...

Last night, or let me rephrase, yesterday, I picked apples with kimberly and ethan. No pics, dana has my camera... Anyhow, we picked cortlands and macintosh. YUMM-o. last night, I put up 12 pints of apple sauce. I have 2 more bags yet to do. (OY) I also bought a box of pears, and a box of peaches. I will get to them today.- In addition to, cleaning out the truck for the big swap-in on Saturday. It actually just needs to be vacuumed. Exciting stuff, really.
I got my results from my blood work yesterday, and all my #'s are great! BP is 92/58, sugar is 85, cholesterol is 163, HDl is 61, LDL is 89 and tri's are 64. Not to shabby, so this means I can get life insurance!!! lol
Dana comes home tomorrow night, so that is exciting as well. It will be nice to see him, although it will be a busy weekend with running around. I will be able to see some of the pics he took, as well as get my camera back. I can't tell you how many tim es this week I went to grab it to take a picture. Oh well, I wanted dana to be able to take pictures to show the kids where he was.
other than that, nothing to exciting.

Big Boy

Dana called yesterday, and told me he was going to a train museum. He was going to see a train called the "big boy". There are only six left in the world, and Green Bay had one of them. He also said that he saw a train the Eisenhower rode in while touring Europe. The train could do 120. Amazing. I only have this one photo, for now.

they get you coming and going...

three years ago, we leased a truck. It was (is) a pretty blue truck, loaded to the hilt. There is not one more option you could put on this truck, and we ave loved it. I have never been attached to a car,but this one, I am. There are memories in this truck. Some really good, and some not so good. Our lease is up on Oct 14. So, we decided that we ad two options. 1. (nd one we both thought would work best) buy the one we have. Why not, right? It has everything we want. Anyhow, I called Ford today, and they will finance it for 36 months. Ok, my residual balance is 18,500. They told me my payment would be 733.00 for 3 years. Are they flippin' nuts? Who does that? So, then I called my local dealer, and got a better deal. We are getting a new one, and we are financing this time around. The payment with an extended warranty will be 526.00. not really the dirrection we wanted to go, but whatever. It will have that new car smell (which we both love) and it is Dk. cherry red. (not to be mistaken with street walker red) We will pick it up on the 20th, when Dana flies home for the weekend. He will leave ont hat sunday for another week, then home for good. We are going to a wedding on the 27th, his neice, and kimberly is her flower girl. I am sure I will have lots to post about that!
time to get the kiddies from school.

he left on a jet plane...

Yup. Dana is in Wisconsen. he left yesterday,a nd will be there until the 26th. Alex misses him soemthign terriable, and it hasn't been 24 hours yet. (poor guy)
My classes start tonight, I have been taking an Ethics and Philosophy class for about a week now. It is interesting, to say the least. Tonight, is another class although, I forget the name of the class...(I haven't looked at the book yet) so we'll see. It feels weird being back in class, even though I have been going for eons. It was nice to have a break!!!
kind of boring on this end today, maybe later something will be worth blogging about! :)

Shelter from the storm...

so, I always blog about Petie. Sometimes, I even blog about the kids. I seldom blog about Puff. Puff and Herman (his brother) were born the day we got married. We kept Mama, and her 4 babies. We lost Bandit this past spring, and the other two, a while ago. So, now we have these two "old men" They are going to be 14 next month. Anyhow- most of the days, the "boys" (as I have always called them) spend the afternoon sleeping in the mulch in my garden. Puff, however, has found a new local. He sleeps on the roof of the garage. It is pergect for him- he has the eve to protect him from the weather, he has the shade of the blackberry bush. (For those of you that are going to, or have recieved a sprig of said bush, beware.- just sayin' is all, don't say I didn't warn you. I too started out with one harmless sprig-thanks, Julie)
Right now, as the world gets ready for hurricane what's-her-name- Puff is hunkered down on the roof. It is raining at a pretty good clip here now, and he is nice and dry.

it's JUST a mail box....

or is it?? for all of my SCS lurkers (all 2 of you), this is where I send and recieve all my happy mail. :) Consequently, I recieve my bills there too. :( It also doubles as a fort for Petie. he had to showhorn himself inside, but it is a fort none the less. He had great paw-snagging vantage. he is at the perfect height to sniff the zinneas growing in my garden. His fort keeps him protected from the elements. The willow tree beside the box provides ample shade. What more could he ask for you ask? (maybe a lean-to for skinning his mice) lol.
I cannot take credit for these pics, dh did them. He was watching the older two, while I gave Ethan a bath. (I missed the fun of King Petie) While in the bathroom, I hear this blood curdling shreek. (that was from Kimberly) any how, apparently she was trying to play with Petie in the mail box, and he scratched her. She was fine, but.. I think she was his first victim from his fort...
AND- today is Peties birthday. He's one. :)

First day of school

dawned bright and sunny. The kids were excited. I was excited. It was a strange day- Kimberly went to preschool, Alex went to first grade. It was just Ethan and I for the morning. We waited for the bus, and while waiting, I took these:
Kimberly, refusing to smile, ticked that she could not wear her sandles, waited impatiently for the bus. I load her on the bus, and walk the boys to school. We walked this road a million times, since we take the kids there to play all the time. This time was different, he was going to be there ALL day.

With him, I remember bring him home, and taking the laundry to hang outside. I remember hearing the bell, and all the kids playing. I remember thinking "will this squalling pink blob EVER be old enough for first grade, and will he EVER stop eating every 2 hours? OY. It is very surreal that today was that day.
after taking Alex to school. Ethan and I went to the grocery store. SOme of the employees that i see all the time inquired where the other kids were. I was still pretty stoked that it was just me and Ethan. Bring the groceries home, and put them away. While doing so, I hear the same bell I have heard for years, but this time, I knew MY baby was on the playground. His voice was making up the plethora of noise that was coming from the general direction. Was he happy? Was he playing with anyone? What did he have for lunch? did he actually EAT lunch? I get Kimberly off the bus, and feed she and Ethan. When I can stand it no more, (and it is time for us to go get hair cuts) I pack the two little guys in the truck, and go look at the school play ground. -thinking to myself, I just need to see him out there, running around. Nope. No luck. I hardly saw any of the other kids, Well, giving up, I go get hair cuts. (which is a whole NUTHER saga...)
Good news is, I survived. Of coarse he survived. This was the conversation we had last night at bed time:
A: "Mom, school really knocked me on my butt"
Me: "oh, how so"
A: "well, it was REALLY, REALLY hard"
Me: " that's ok, you're not expected to know it all today"
A: " I don't think I want to go back to school"
me: " well, look at it this way- I am still in school"
A (grins at me) : "is it hard, mom?"
Me: "nope. it's just like first grade, only I don't get to color."
A: " WELL, just so you know, I didn't get to color much today, either."

After a few hugs, he was ready for bed. I think he'll be just fine. I'll be just fine. - come talk to me when Ethan goes, I'll be a blubbering mess...

Tagged, I've been tagged.

My buddy Beth tagged me, and this is what I am supposed to do...

So now its my turn!! Just follow the rules below and let the person know you tagged em! 1. Link to the person who tagged you 2. Post these rules to your blog 3. Write 6 random things about yourself 4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them 5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog. 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.
Six random things- they may be tough to come up with (most of you who know me, know I *can* be random. I am mostly concrete sequential so, but here goes...

1. I coulda' been a mob wife. I so coulda been a mob wife. ~sigh
2. If I were a muppet, I would be a cross between Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker. I would be cute like Beaker, but smart like Bunsen.
3. I think cats are far superior than smelly 'ol dogs, even if I do own two. Petie is a prime example.
4. I want to be reincarnated as a squirrel. But, not ANY squirrel. I am going to wire a tree with 110 before I die, so in the winter I will be a *toasty* squirrel.
5. This is way harder than I thought, I am pretty mundane, compared to those who answered before me.
6. Family Guy TOTALLY rocks.

Ok, now that you have my *randomness* I will inform Beth that I did the facts. I will tag Cyndee, and well, I am not so sure! I will post some later, if I think of someone else!