If you are looking for old fat gramma, I am here:
www.xanga.com/oldfatgramma

Terrible Tues???????

Yesterday was not one of our better days. It began with a flat tire on the Explorer.(the plan was for Wm. to take the tire to the tire place on the way to work and then have it repaired and put back on the vehicle at lunch. Matt decided he and Papa should not walk Ali yesterday before Papa left but they should go to the garage so Matt could work on a "project". Ali was upset and left the garage and came into the house. Matt came in later and Will took the tire and was off to work. After a few minutes I realized I had not seen Ali. Matt and I searched the house and then the yard (remember it is fenced in) Frantic, I called DH who said to check the garage. The door had been open and Ali was going in and out. She was not there either. Wm. came home from work and took the leash and Matt in the car to try to find Alice. After a while they came back. Apparently, the gate was not closed, we have no idea who left it open but Alice decided to take herself for a little jaunt around the neighborhood. They found her over in the next block, behind us.

Matt decided he would paint some more boxes and I would start the chili for dinner. That worked out quite well, so well in fact, I decided why not roast the chicken so I could make chicken and rice soup for Wed. dinner. We have 2 crock pots so I could try my hand at Suzy Homemaker. I cut up the celery and carrots and when the chicken was done I took it off the bone and started the soup. I had some carrot left over so I decided to eat it, raw carrot is good for you, right! I took one bite when I heard a loud crack. I hoped it was the carrot but I was certain it was going to be my tooth. Yep, my front tooth broke right off at the gum. (dejevu??? yes, I did the same exact thing nearly a yr. ago) I got an appt. with a dentist (I was not satisfied with the job they did with my bridge last year so I called someone else) My appt was 9 AM but after xrays, impressions, etc. I can not have the remainder of the tooth extracted or a new bridgework completed until 10/22. Yep, 3 weeks without a front tooth. Needless to say, I will not be going outside of this house until then.

Monday, was spent outside so we were sure not to miss the garbage man. If you remember, he told Matt he could dump the garbage. It was misting on and off and feeling cold and damp only aggravated my sinuses and arthritis. I had given Matt 2 little packages of choc. chip cookies one for Matt and the other for the garbage guy. Matt ate one pack and when it began to get late with no sign of the truck (we could hear him all around our street but not see him) Matt asked if he could eat one of the cookies from the other package. I told him he ate his and the other ones were for the garbage guy. He walked away but came back with a huge smile on his face and said "but Gramma, he doesn't know how many cookies are in his package!"

Susan and Stephanie take Matthew and Anthony to the zoo boo at Halloween. Last year I made Matt a Bob the builder costume. This year he asked if we could make a baby jaguar costume. This may take some thought!

super Sunday

Today was a very good day. We went to Church of the Ressurection (not our home church) because Andrew, Kathy and John Eastmond were ministering there today. If you are not familiar with their ministry, "New Heart Ministries" you should check them out. Andrew teaches and ministers through his music in over 25 sates in America and other countries of the world. He has a wonderful gift and after the service he prays for/over anyone who desires it and stays until everyone has had prayer. We have known Andrew and Kathy for over 20 yr. when they ministered in a church we belonged to when we lived in Pulaski, NY. They spent the night with us and Andrew, a New Zealander, taught Joshua about New Zealand (we home schooled ) We had not seen them since we moved down here 3 yr. ago. It was so good to see that their son John now played guitar with his father.

Jon Christian got a call back for a second interview on Tues. I would appreciate your prayers for this. It has been 5 months since his job was sent overseas. He spends a good part of each day looking for another job. His severance pay will stop next month and although he can get unemployment for a yr; he would prefer to have a job. They have cut their expenses as much as they possibly can. Please pray that this is the job God has for him.

Friday, Matt and I spent a lot of the day cleaning. He loves to clean as you can see, he is washing the dishes and I have a dishwasher! He used to love to run the vacuum, but since we got the new one, he said it is too loud for him and he goes into the other room and closes the door when I turn it on.

from the pumpkin patch

Papa told Matt it was time to cut some of his pumpkins from out of his pumpkin patch. I think he can be very proud of himself considering it was his idea to grow some pumpkins and he was diligent to turn them every day.

We have more tomatoes and cukes and few peppers still to be harvested but considering the fact we are fast approaching October, and that the nights have been getting colder, I am not sure how long we will be able to have fresh veggies.

We are thinking about going to NC the first week of Nov. I am missing the southern grandbabies and would love to see them again. Will told Matt we were going and he said "I want to go with you Papa". His mother told him it would be a very long ride. "I want to see Max and Morrigan, Papa. I will be able to go for a very long ride". It would be fun to take him but I am not sure he is ready to leave his Mama for a week.

Update on Jon: He did not get a call back yesterday. When I called this morning he was looking for a job. He says he spends most of the day looking and sending out resumes. Thanks to all those who prayed. I know God has the perfect job for him.

Stephanie came by this afternoon when she picked up Anthony from preschool. The boys have such a great time together. They play so well with each other.

afternoon thoughts

I have had a lot of time to think this afternoon. I have not felt well for almost a week now. At first, I thought it was allergies or my sinuses. Now my arthritis is flaring up and the past few days I have had a lot of muscle aches. Not sure what it is but I feel horrid, I was sure I would feel better as the day wore on but the opposite has happened. I will need to get groceries after church tomorrow as I could not bring myself to go today.

Wm. worked on Matt's bed. Oh, it looks wonderful. It was put together once but he took it apart so it could be painted. I can not wait until it is completely finished and Matt sees it for the first time. Funny how this whole construction theme idea came from a lamp I got at the Christmas Tree Shop for $2 when he was a baby. Then I made the Bob the Builder for him to hang up his clothes (or in Matt's case, his broom and dust pan, don't ask) Then we made the cornices to look like road block signs and now Wm. made the bulldozer bed. I am so excited about this. I promise to take pictures as soon as it is painted and in the room.

ramblings of an old fat grandmother....

First, I want to take a minute to say how thankful I am for my DH. I know I eluded to this on our anniversary but it goes so far beyond that. Over the years he has allowed me to stay at home with our children, homeschool - even when it meant he had to work 2 jobs. He has never had a vacation that was not either "homeschool related" or a working vacation. He allowed me to go back and get a certificate in interior design at age 50 because it was something I had always wanted and my parents felt business was the wiser choice when I was ready for college. Thank you Lord for this man of God you chose for me.

In one short week Matt has decided he likes to blend his paints. He is also a collector A collector of everything. Our walks amount to nothing more than a chance for him to pick up rocks, pinecones, etc all along the way. His well dr. visit showed he was 39 1/2 # and 41 1/2 " tall. That is the 96 and 97%. Ali is still his constant companion and he is forging ahead in his "school work". (his words, not mine) He knows the alphabet, numbers to 30. He still remembers all 27 of the signs we learned and can use them if I ask.

The weather has cooled down so walking has become much more bearable for me. Matt and Ali have no problem walking in any weather. Our little garden is looking pretty shabby now but we do have 5 orange pumpkins, a ton of green tomatoes (the storm the other night blew the tomato cages completely over and they are much too tomato laden to stand back up) There are a few green peppers and some cucumbers and even a few more hot banana peppers. This little garden turned out to be another blessing. I love that we had fresh veggies every day, and no I never seem to tire of fresh tomatoes and cukes.

Ike

We got the very tail end of Ike last night. Rain and wind and then about 2:30, the power went out. It did come back on a little after 8 this morning though. Our yard was littered with tons of branches and sticks and Matt and I picked them all up, I am talking many, many arm loads of branches in both the front and back yards. Not any real damage, PTL.
Our neighbor, Don, was not quite as fortunate. He has a tree in his front yard that he was very proud of. He told Wm. how it was an Aspen and how it grew like a triangle.

When it came down, it landed on the wires. If you look closely you can see it is burning where it touches the wires. First, the fire chef came, then the fire truck which waited for National Grid to come. They waited 4 hours to be exact. (National Grid never did come) Finally, they just taped off the area and left. The news said there were 40,000 homes in the area without electricity this morning.
Exciting stuff going on right out side our house you say. I thought so, I thought Matt would love the fact that a fire truck was directly in front of our house. Not Matt, he wanted to play with the story reader video plus and the click start computer. I kept asking if he wanted to go outside. His answer, "Absolutely, when is the garbage truck coming" All righty then!