Earlier this week, we were bombarded by hail. It was pretty amazing. The hail started out small, but got bigger and bigger. We were enjoying our dinner at home when it began. I looked out the window and noticed the hail. Thinking the kids would love this, I commented on it and sure enough, we were ...

In January, MaryEllen became a teenager! :) The day before her birthday, she baked her delicious white cake. Yum! She was eager to decorate it with a picture of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. We were wondering how we were going to accomplish black frosting, Toothless being all black. I thought they only made ...

About a week and a half ago, we went to the humane society and chose a new kitty. I know it was shortly after Sunbeam was shot, but we enjoyed having her around and the kids wanted a new kitty. It is SO hard going into the humane society. We want to take them all. We ...

Today, MaryEllen found Sunbeam in the street, apparently hit by a car. Luckily she was not bloody or messy. Don was heading out to the car, ready to go to work and we were saying our good-bye's. Usually Sunbeam will come out to greet us, but not today. MaryEllen called for her, but she didn't come. As ...

On Monday, we went into town to do some back to school shopping. We usually do not need much besides a few composition books and filler paper. The kids' binders don't get beat up like when I was in school, so they can be used again. Pencils are something we always have available. I remember ...

Lately the kids and I have been enjoying the game of Scrabble . Right now, we aren't keeping score, we are just having fun building words. The kids and I use the Scrabble Dictionary to find new words or to check our spelling. It would be great if we had a few more Scrabble Dictionaries. I ...

Last month Donnie had a birthday. My wonderfully funny son is now eleven years old. He baked a yummy white cake and decorated it as Captain America's shield. We didn't have any red food coloring, so we improvised and he used a purplish red color. I took pictures of his wonderful cake with my new camera ...

Okay, maybe I am behind the times, but I never knew there was such a thing as a Battery Operated Eraser. Don ordered one with MaryEllen in mind since she is always drawing, but it comes in handy with school work too! It actually works really well. I think we just about wore out the first ...

Ugh! Two days ago, I woke up with a mild sore throat, but yesterday is when it hit me. At 4:30 am on Sunday morning, I got up coughing and it felt like knives were piercing my throat and the left side of my face hurt from sinuses. I said to myself, 'Uh-uh! I don't ...

Yesterday, while the kids were playing outside, they noticed smoke and  asked me where it was coming from. It looked like dirt and I thought maybe someone was turning up dirt somewhere via some type of mobile. As I was thinking, MaryEllen noticed it coming from the trees and exclaimed that it was pollen. We ...

These mugs by far have been one of our favorite Christmas gifts this year. After having to give the kittens up, I brainstormed on a personalized gift to get for the kids. I thought of a calendar, maybe a mouse pad, or a framed picture. All these were good, but the one that won, was ...

My sweet wonderful daughter turned 12 last week. It is hard for me to believe she is twelve. Since Don worked on Monday, her actual birthday, we celebrated on Saturday. It was Don's only day off, so we went into town to do a few errands and grocery shop. We decided to make it a day ...

   I have never won so many before!! "Cynce," that is ME. Can you tell I am excited? I joined Swagbucks back in August when a local lady I met told me about it. She explained how she would earn free gift cards that her family would use to eat out free. Intriguing, I thought. So, now I am ...

  I am taking a break from finishing up the tests for English From The Roots Up Book 1 (I will upload them in the next few days). I thought, 'maybe I should go and put up a quick post on my blog.' I am going to take a few minutes to catch up. Before the last post ...

We had to get rid of the kittens last month. I was having an allergic reaction to them which landed me in the hospital for a few days. I began having shortness of breath a few weeks after we brought the kittens into the house. It just got worse and soon my inhaler was not working. ...

Last Friday on our weekly visit to see grandma, the home where she is at had a cute display of Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. I thought they did a wonderful job. Maybe we will try something like this next year.               Last year, they had an Elvis display...wish I would have taken pictures. Watch It's The Great ...

We don't celebrate Halloween, but we designated the day to do a few fun things. They have a trunk-n-treat in our little town, but Donald had to work, so we decided to stay home and we... Made Caramel Apples and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds The kids wanted to make caramel apples, so last week, we bought a couple ...

now that they have to wear glasses!! We have been noticing with Donnie that he cannot see very well with things far away. When we are watching a movie and there is something to read, he cannot see it unless he gets closer. Don also noticed while playing catch. And, Donnie has noticed it himself. Don Don, has ...

Isn't it funny how we can get excited about bookscases! Yesterday, the kids put together a 3-shelf and a 5-shelf bookcase for me. They did it all on their own and without arguing. I was proud. :) They only put on two shelves upside down, but who'll notice right? Especially when they are loaded with books ...

The other day when I opened the door, I was greeted with this... The kids got a kick out of Sunbeam's gift to us. LoL! They discreetly buried it under a tree. :) I guess that means she likes us.