CelestialFamily

If you've never met my wife, Victoria, consider this fair warning.

Noah's question for today: "What is the point of using Jedi mind tricks on stupid people?"

Discuss!



Thank you, Teacherninja, for the nomination.
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
• Link the person who nominated you.
• Name seven things about yourself that no one would really know.
• Nominate ten “Sugar Dolls.”
• Post links to the ten blogs you nominate.
• Leave a comment on each letting them know you nominated them.

Finding seven things that people wouldn't really know is rather difficult. I thought that listing that I was a control freak would be considered universal knowledge, so I had to move unto something else.

1. I believe dogs and cats should be spayed, or neutered to help decrease the sad circumstances that are produced by unwanted and uncared for animals.
2. I have fond memories of square hamburgers because my maternal grandmother would drive in to Columbus near the "Bypass" to go to Krystals. She would always put napkins around the salt and pepper shakers because, "You never know who touched them before you got there." I love mustard, dill pickles, and bread. I don't deviate from what I order there, or Subway for that matter. My brother is autistic, but he hasn't cornered the market on repetitive behavior. For example, Subway has a menu that offers so many choices, but I always order: a 6inch Subway Club with pepper jack cheese, toasted with lettuce, sliced dill pickles, tomatoes, heavy on the spinach, and plain yellow mustard (I can't stand the other stuff, which surprises me, yet is absolutely true).

3. I like so many different things and enjoy talking about them without ever having mastered any of the subjects that I come off as a repository for useless and inane facts, but Hey I like it that way. My guess is this tendency has led me to spend an inordinate amount of time watching the series QI on youtube.com.


4. I consistently lose Scrabble games against my husband. He is a master of getting words that count in two directions, while I am looking to make the coolest word. This really is my only strategy because I don't think well on multiple planes. I'm like the triangles in Flatland...one dimensional and dangerous if you bump into me (that is why we stopped playing Monopoly too).

5. My daughter says I'm not funny...maybe I was twice...in her opinion. I sometimes get laughing so hard at something I, alone, find witty that my sides ache. That is a good time, my friends.

6. I will go to the store to buy something and find something incidental on the way. If I continue shopping I will make the case for and against buying the incidental object. Usually not buying wins out (even in the case of chocolate...tell no one).



7. I think the spork is one of the handy dandiest of cool inventions.


:::::::::::Book Review::::::::


Amelia Peabody is tired of the Victorian trappings both ideologically and physically. I think she would burn her bra, as well, but by the author's description of Amelia that wouldn't be a great idea. Amelia is someone who speaks her mind and due to an inheritance can do so without worrying to much about the consequences. The information on Egypt was interesting along with some of the preservation techniques. There were a few times where I would think to myself, "get on with it already" because the author rehashed things a bit too much, but the characters have a lot of potential. There were several pithy lines between the sparring couple Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson. I enjoyed their interacctions. Not an outstanding beginning to a series, but still worth checking out book 2.


:::::::::::::Yearbook Music:::::::
I have been working on the kids yearbook again this year and I'm becoming "snowblind" looking and relooking at photos, but I thought of this song and it made me nostaligic and I just think it's cool:

:::::::::::::Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

Spongebob Squarepants, as many people know. We had a request from a friend and her daughter to help make a 1 year-old's party a bit more fun in the cake department. I enlisted the help of my favorite creative genius and we used date night to help decorate this birthday cake:

Everyone pitched in. Favihola (grandmother to our birthday girl) baked the cakes, made the tube worm and some sea grass. Michael trimmed the cakes. I frosted and covered them with fondant. Michael made the pineapple the red & orange coral, and the cute pink octopus. Alex (uncle) made Gary the Snail and cut out the flowers, Christina (mom) made Nemo, the jellyfish, sea stars, bubbles and some seagrass. Favihola made Planktons body and ears and I stuck on his eye bits. Richard (dad) made a giant clam with a pearl.

The toothpicks will get pulled out today for the party. Happy 1st Birthday, Eliana!

The torrential rains bring this song to mind:


::::::::::::Book Review::::::::::




The story of an ordinary girl with busy, unaware parents, in an extraordinary house. Coraline is brave and loyal and realizes getting everything you want isn't really what you want at all. The book is creepy, yet endearing. I was especially fond of the black cat with no name. He didn't need a name because he already knew who he was. My daughter, Rachel, recommended this book to me and I really enjoyed it.

::::::::::::::Another Oldie, but Goodie::::::::


:::::::::::::::Conversations with My Kids:::::

On Thursday Noah and Eve were having a discussion and Eve mentioned something about me being mom. I must preface this with a prior conversation that Noah and Eve had where Eve told me to get her water because I was the maid. Noah, vehemently, defended my position in the family as "mom". Eve finally relented and had to ask politely for assistance. Back to Thursday...Eve asked me something and I sarcastically asked, "Oh, I thought I was 'The Maid'?"

Eve replied, "You're THE MOM!"

Noah said, "You were demotted."

Mom: "So, being a mom is a demotion?"

Noah: "No...well yes. A maid gets paid."

Warm fuzzies...people...do you feel them?

:::::::::::::::Chad Vader:::::::

Rachel, Noah and I watched a show I found on HULU.com. Chad Vader,Day Shift Manager, is about the brother of Darth Vader. Chad works at the Empire Market, which is a grocery store. Each show is about 5 minutes long and completely nuts. Check it out if you are a sci fi geek.

Off to read.

The Noahism of the Day:

Noah: "Why do kids have to wear warm clothes?"

Mom: "So you want freeze your butt off."

Noah: "I will some day freeze my butt off to have that exact discussion."

Stay frosty!

Michael surprised me for our 20th wedding anniversary by taking me to a bed and breakfast in Hot Springs, North Carolina. Martha's Mountain Magnolia Inn & Retreat





We stayed in the Buckeye Room:



The footbridge into town:



Breakfast Day 1

Breakfast potatoes: russet potatoes with sweet potatoes and carmalized onions
coddled eggs with parmesan cheese
whole grain toast
biscuits
bacon
chicken sausage
plain yogurt
hemp nut granola
fruit platter:strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, honeydew

Dinner:

Seared Filet Mignon in
Demi glaze
sauteed spinach

Chocolate Mousse


Breakfast Day 2

Organic scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese
raspberry and white chocolate scones
apple cinnamon scones
baked cinnamon apples
Oatmeal
raisins
walnuts
cranberries
bacon
sausage
whole grain toast
orange juice
biscuits

The dinner and breakfast chefs are amazing!

We took a couple of pictures of Michael loitering because we wanted Rachel to laugh. It is a Brian Regan joke:




"Shovels and rakes and other implements of destruction"...



::::::::Grove Park Inn:::::


Michael drove us over to see the Gingerbread entries. Here are several of my favorites:


















































::::::Biltmore Builtmore, Less Taste:::

Michael took us to the Biltmore (Builtmore) House. We liked the decore in the servants quarters, the bowling alley and pool. The rest leaned to a house of ill repute decor.






:::::::::For My Dad:::::


see more Epic Fails

Smiles...

Victoria

I finished yanking most of the stuff out of the boys' room so I could steam clean their carpet. Best laid plans went a rye...so the boys furniture is in the hall and in our room until I can get the steam cleaner repaired/rent one/or my mom will replace my old machine with a new one for her that I can borrow. Either way it will get done.

2. I took photos for the yearbook, again today, of High Touch, High Tech. This program is an in-school field trip. Eve's class was there today. I was able to see her with the bugs, which was the theme.

3. I was also the library volunteer for the afternoon. I really dig this opportunity to talk books with kids and adults.

4. Made a pan of baklava for my Aunt Loly's Christmas present. My mom will deliver it on Saturday. Made up the fixin's for another pan for Thanksgiving at my dad's house. I just need to buy some more honey.

5. Laughed, but though it wasn't a bad idea, when Michael said that if a movie was ever made of his life he wanted the role to go to Tim Roth.

******Current Personal Reading Book***


I'm enjoying the insights.



*********Book Reviews*******

I recommend this book to all tween girls and their older counterparts. I enjoyed the twist on the fairytale stories. There is a lot of bumps and bruises on the way to true love and the fairytale ending, but it kept the story lively. The part of the story with the leprechaun, the computer gremlins and Ding Dongs was quite amusing. Oh how I do appreciate shampoo and a good bath too after reading this book. It's fun read...give it a try.

A girl trying to figure out who she wants to be and trying to be comfortable in her own skin. This is a so so book for girls who feel a bit out of sorts becoming a tween.
I ended up reading this book on my walk to the park. I was supposed to return the book to the library because Rachel had already read it. I'm interested in the books she reads. She likes some of mine too. She will be reading The Help after she finishes My Fair Godmother. I actually read My Fair Godmother before she did because I saw it on Kim's shelfari.

*******Amazon Delivery that caused the most excitement at the house:

These new books will be our up coming family night reads:


We will actually read this one first.



:::::::::::NCIS...Power Down:

Check out the show if you have time . There is even a Dr. Who reference, which made me laugh. A Kojak reference too. I watch/watched both shows.

My sister, Katherine, called me last week and asked if I would make a topsy turvy cake for her daughter, Jessica's, 21st birthday. I said sure, so she and my stepmom, Alice, drove up and we shopped for the ingredients. We purchased French Vanilla cake and Strawberry cake mixes. We also got pink petal dust and rose gel coloring to use with the fondant. I mixed up the buttercream frosting for the cakes on Saturday. I put seedless raspberry in the middle of the French Vanilla like I did for the last cake creation. It seems to be popular.
Rachel and Eve wanted to help so they got to apply the luster dust to some of the stars and all of the fondant ball border. I spent the time quite amiably by listening to Pride and Prejudice playing on the television. Rachel wanted to watch it and I love the Kiera Knightly/Matthew McFadden version. It was great reciting lines from the movie while rolling, cutting and applying fondant decorations.
This is Eve helping put petal dust on the dimensional stars:



This one is Rachel putting petal dust on the balled fondant border:




This one is me making the pink bow to go around the top tier:


Rachel requests a slice of cake:


Michael says that it tastes good:

Jessica, Rachel and My sister Tracy:

My funny and cute niece, Haley:

Did I mention funny?

A satisfying outcome and a lot of laughs with my sisters. BTW, Katherine refused to be allow her photograph on the blog. She is beautiful, too. Her story of the homeless man that stopped her in traffic got funnier with each telling. Life is truly an adventure and isn't it lovely that cake is a part of that!

Smiles!

Hey, just been busy doing other things, like everyone else. Michael and I did our own version of Food Network's Challenge. I was volunteered to make a surprise birthday cake for my stepdad's mother's 75th surprise party. The request was a topsy turvy cake covered in fondant. I didn't know how to use fondant, so Michael signed me up for the class at Cake Art. Michael also volunteered himself to help me. The theme idea for the cake came from the many trips that Nancy and Jim take to Tybee Island, Georgia. With Peggie's okay on the theme the many drawings and ideas were put to paper. Here is the finished product:


The lighthouse was created from Rice Krispie Treats (Michael did the whole thing). He also created all the sea stars, sand dollars and horseshoe crabs from fondant. I did the middle tier from Devil's Food cake, then covered the layers in Chocolate Ganache. I did the bottom layer in French Vanilla cake filled with seedless Raspberry's and iced with buttercream. To create the effect of waves we tinted and rolled out the fondant in blue, created ripples, then Michael took an offset spatula and used white royal icing to create the white caps.





This is a layout of Michael breaking into song. It was quite late at night:






I finally create a couple of layouts of my final class project from Cake Art:




::::::::::Book Reviews::::::::::
I've been reading a lot for my book club and just for my own enjoyment. Here are a few reviews.

The State of Jones (This one just interested me)


A fascinating look at the lives of a group of Jones county Unionists who initially fight for the Confederacy due to conscription. The people had voted for remaining with the Union, but underpressure, their representative voted to seceed. The resentment of this fact and the belief that everyone is equal in the site of God kept Newton Knight fighting for the Union. Fighting from the woods and swamps, while trying to avoid the Rebel army and the dogs they used to hunt men down made for years of separation from family and friends. The separation wasn't complete, though. Newton fell in love with a slave who was owned by one of his family members who believed in slavery. He goes own to have childred with her and has both a white and black family. He ends up feeling more comfortable with his family with Rachel. She ends up converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because of their beliefs of families being together after this life. Newton doesn't convert, but doesn't stop Rachel either.

The history of the Civil War from the perspective of a Southerner who never wanted to secede and didn't believe in slavery is a compelling read. Mans inhumanity to each other is boundless. Newton Knight stood against those who would enslave others for their own enrichment and base desires. A sad, yet fascinating read

***

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Book Club)


Flavia de Luce is a chemistry loving 11 year-old with a bit of macabre since of humor. She lives with an aloof, philatilest father, one vain sister and the other with who loves books. a cook who isn't a very good at it, and a the kindly, but shell shocked gardner named Dodger. The book has great tidbits about poisons and their antidotes, as well as, some history on the Penny Black stamp. The book was an interesting mystery and I look forward to the next in the series.

His next book is available for pre-order at Amazon. The title is: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Hand
***

Lost Christianities (Another just because I wanted to read it books).


Another well researched work by Bart Ehrman. Fascinating book.

***
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society (Book Club)


An enthusiastic thumbs up! I am fond of characters that you find in small villages. There is so much quirky, yet lovable goings on in such places. This book reminds me of the characters from one of my favorite television shows, "The Vicar of Dibley". You quite quickly come to care about the people in Guernsey along with the main character, Juliet. I also love history, so learning about what the Channel islanders had to deal with during the German occupation was of keen interest. I really like the literary device of using letters, so the authors' writing style worked for me, as well.



:::::::::::::Yearbook:::::::

I've been working on the yearbook for the kids' elementary school again. The kids call me "Eve's mom!", "Hey, your Noah's mom", or "You're the Yearbook Lady!" I love having the SLR. I'm going with quantity of photos to get the diamonds in the rough. Kids move fast! It was fun to take pictures for "Crazy Hat Day" and the Wildlife Wonders show. The lunchroom ladies even smile at me now. I was able to strong arm the school's custodian to send me her photo for winning the county honors for her excellent work. She is a super lady, but hates to have her photo taken. I have been tinkering with the layouts and learning some of the new software offerings.

::::::::::::::Room Mom:::::::

I'm also one of the Room Moms for Evey's class. The other mom, Kathy B., is so cool. We will be working with Eve's class for the Fall fun centers. Kathy is doing a game like the one the used to play on The Bozo Show with the ping pong balls and the buckets. I will be working with the kids to put their handprints on some aprons with the date. Another mom will be helping the kids put together apple foam frames with photos that Kathy will be printing. We even have some things ready for the Christmas party. The theme is gingerbread. We will have the kids decorate gingerbread cookies and making foam gingerbread boy/girl ornaments with their photos.

::::::::::::Rain:::::::::

Rain has come to Georgia in abundance. Many neighbors have moderate to severe damage from the rain. We live high enough and on a slab that we had no water damage. The Great Flood of 2009 was the title for what happened at the end of September. My mother and I were in Columbus, Ga. for my Great Uncle Dewey Posey's funeral during the worst of the rain. We were able to make it back safely. The kids will make up the 2 days they missed in February, I think.


:::::::::::::Chorus Performance:::::::



Rachel had her first choral performance for 6th grade. The shirt was wayyyyyyy to big and the shoes I found for her were too small. The poor girl has 4 quad e feet. I bought 5W shoes. I sat in the chair trying to force the shoe on her feet like the guy in Cinderella. We had 30 minutes to exchange the shoes. We ended up buying 6 1/2W. They were a bit too big. I gave her tissue paper to stuff in her heels. She waddled into school with a bit miffed. The performance went well. I carried her on my back to the steps that led to the parking lot. She said she would walk the rest of the way. one of her friends asked her to join her family at Steak and Shake. We asked a couple of more friends. Rachel ended up sitting with Lauren S., Julia B., Brenna M. and Julia's brother, Jack. I enjoyed a chocolate/banana malt. Rachel loves the chili cheese fries. Any excuse for Steak and Shake is a good one.


:::::::::::Halloween Prep.:::::

So far, the kids want to be:

Aaron- Samurai, Rachel- Rubik's Cube, Noah- a molecule, and Eve- a bioluminescent jellyfish.

Well, have a fabulous weekend!

Book Reviews:



Ehrman presents the New Testament gospels with a very practicle assessment, "...authors of the New Testament were very much like the scribes who would later transmit those authors' writings. The authors too were human beings with needs, beliefs, worldviews, opinions, loves, hates, longings, desires, stuations, problems-and surely all those things affected what they wrote." (p.211) The Gospels present Jesus from different perspectives. Ehrman says people want to make the Gospels say the same things when, in fact, they don't. Anytime you try to make one gospel meld into another and encompass everything you are creating your own gospel. The canonized scriptures have gone through a whinnowing process with some seen as heretical during one generation to become the orthodoxy of another. When you pick up your Bible try to read vertically and take the stories at their face value to see what the author was trying to convey without trying to meld them into one.




The gals at my book group did not even get a smidge interested in my most recent read. The Lives of Ants by Laurent Keller and Elisabeth Gordon. I did not let that deter me in my enthusiasm to learn about ants. This book did not dissappoint. To preface my comments I was the kid who was forever fascinated by ants in their various forms and also quite happy to mow them over with the lawn mower.

To pull the lawn mower stunt, do the following:

1. Wear long pants (light colors are best)
2. white socks (the better to see, flick, fling and squish)
3. Tennis shoes (they love to sting the webbing of your toes)
4. make sure the bagger attachment is off
5. zoom over them...feel free to giggle manically...and make sure you don't step in the very angry swarm of ants.

I used to grab my brother, Denny's, cool Matchbox cars (the ones that the doors opened and the trunk) and would create people out of juniper berries or ants. Apparently the ants I used were not fire ants or Solenopsis Invicta, because they were larger and didn't sting me.
Once,my brother was attacked by fire ants, and being autistic, didn't know what to do. Luckily my mom thought quickly and tore off his tube socks (rockin' 70's coolness) and put them on her hands to create gloves and slap them off. Poor Denny spent awhile in the tub as mom lanced the venom sites and gave him Benadryl for the antihistamine.
I used to feed the ants whole Ritz crackers just to watch what they would do with it. (This can create a good hour of fun for kids you just don't know what else to do with). My grandmother would get the small black ants in her kitchen in Phenix City, Alabama. She called them "Piss Ants", but my mother says that is not the correct term, nor is it polite. I think it pretty muched summed up how Mama Doris felt when they got into her kitchen.
At Girls' Camp, one year, we feed peanut M&Ms to the ants to change them colors. It was so cool to see a bunch of yellow ants walk by, then the next day to turn them green. This history should give you a little insight into why I'm fascinated by ants.

Back to the book, ants are in every part of the world and invasive species have hit in a big way with no turning back. Thanks to the trade we get to live with fire ants in the South. I've heard that Texas officials are using Crazy Ants to combat Fire Ants, but I don't know if anyone wins in the long term with that approach. The writers of the book would love to see the genome decoded for the fire ant since it is the most studied. They hope to learn about the disparity of aging among the queen, workers and males. Humans may benefit by learning how to live longer. We may learn how to use some of the chemicals that ants use as fungicides among other helpful uses.
This book explains that ants evolved from solitary wasps. They have an advanced chemical communication system. Some can produce sexually, asexually and some can clone themselves. There are monogynous and polygynous colonies. There are even supercolonies. Scientists have used computer modeling based on ants to help with traffic patters, telephone networks, and identifying defaulters for bank loans. There is so much to learn and so much we don't know. This book is well written and presents some amazing information about the ever present ant.


*Eve stated incredulously, "Why would someone blog about ants? That is weird!"

:::::::::::::New Vehicle:::::::

Well I am happy to say that I'm driving a manual transmission again! It is funny that Americans have such a disdain for stick shifts. I do have to keep readjusting the seat because Michael loves to drive it too. We got a 2009 Subaru Forester. The kids love the moon roof and the reclining back seats. Did I say I get to shift the car when I went. (Control Freak...NOT). Bonus, it is green. Michael asked the salesman if it came with an optional bumper sticker package that had a "Love Your Mother" and "Coexist". He wondered if there was a "no shaving your legs" clause. This dealership did not, apparently, participate in such programs. In fact, I had shaved my legs that very day and they let me drive off the lot with the car.

Our other vehicle was donated to WABE, a public radio station, and we are waiting to see if they get anything for it. Any funds will be tax deductible. We remembered to take the cotton candy machine out of the back for the guy came to pick it up. Can't be without that thingy.

:::::::::School Stuff:::::::

I'm back to being "The Yearbook Lady", volunteering in the Media Center and being Eve's Room Mom. One of the biggest struggles is making sure everyone has clean socks. It is one of the few things I can control to some degree.

::::::::::Nursery Stuff:::::

The nursery was split this Sunday. As overwhelming as it is with the sheer numbers of kids I still miss the little ones. The sisters in the younger nursery are awesome ladies. The young woman who help are behind amazing. I was running back and forth to get the new nursery their snacks, extra toys and books. The new nursery got a locking cabinet, so we will get everything set up by Sunday.
One of our little girls is having a hard time readjusting after summer vacation. The young woman I mentioned brought in a couple of Barbies which helped a lot. About an hour into the day our little one sat next to me when I invited her to play with blocks with another girl and she said, "I'm sorry." I said what are you sorry about? Crying?" She said yes. Then I asked her if she wanted a hug, but that it was okay if she didn't want one. She said, "No." I told her that was cool and I was glad she was feeling better. Michael was listening to this exchange and trying not to laugh at loud at how serious she was when say this. I told her mom and her mom said she is in a "Sorry" phase. Never a dull moment, people!
We have a new nursery chorister and she is so enthusiastic. Michael helped her husband change a flat tire on Sunday. I'm so thankful that Michael is a Jack of All Trades, so he can help people. He didnt' even get his tie, or white shirt dirty...sweet!

:::::::::::Busy Night:::::

Michael took Eve to gymnastics so I could attend a PTA Board Meeting. More good hubby and dad points for him.

:::::::::::Cake Final::::



This cake was for my Wilton Art Class III final. Eve loved eating the green leaves. The girls requested the Easter Lily, so I piped 33 of them. A few are left in the shoe box. It is a white cake with buttercream icing and covered in vanilla fondant. Michael and I are collaborating on a cool cake that is a surprise for someone and I hope it turns out they way we envision it.

Well, that hateful laundry calls. I usually subscribe anthropromorphic traits to my laundry. It makes me feel better somehow.

Later, gators!

This is one of the things we learned at Dialog in the Dark. Even our guide said he didn't know that one. Michael, Aaron, Rachel and I found the experience amazing. We explored a park, a grocery store, took a boat ride, crossed the street, went to a cafe and sat down for a Q and A...all in pitch black rooms. We were provided with walking sticks. All our belongings, including eye glasses, went into a locker. I found the sounds from tapping things were the most helpful due to the different timbre of various objects. If you get the exhibit in your town give it a whirl.


::::::::::::The Grim Reaper Philosophy::::::

Michael was talking with Rachel and me about how time speeds up when you get older and closer to death. Rachel's response was immediate, and classic, "Sounds like somebody needs a Happy Meal!"



:::::::::::Digital Layouts from Scout Camp:::::::










:::::::::::::A Walk::::::::

I took a walk today and watched what happens when humidity doesn't let the sweat do anything but pool up on your arm. I looked like a white, freckly, wet tarp. Yeah, me!

I did get to listen to some great podcasts from Brian Dunning's Skeptoid site. I was really impressed by the one about Sarah Palin and others. The title is "Sarah Palin is Not Stupid". He talks about avoiding ad hominem attacks when people don't agree with your view, instead be polite and present your evidence. Otherwise, you just come off looking like a petty jerk. Really thoughtful piece.

:::::::::::::Cake Art numero Tres:::

I'm looking forward to my class tomorrow.

Later, gators!