My Guy

Today I am just full of gratitude to, "My Guy". I have been married to him for what is now almost 22 1/2 years (will be on the 26th). And I still feel like I am married to the right guy.

Have you ever had your guy come to the grocery store in the morning on his way to work because he had to drop a redbox DVD and decided to come into the store and find you, just to tell you to have a nice day and that he loves you? My guy did today. What a treat!

Have you ever had your guy come home from work after a long day and very tired, but washed the dishes because you didn't get to them?

Yes, I'm bragging, but I am so thankful to be able to be a stay at home Mom and housewife. My guy finds it more important than any amount of money, fancy vacations, fancy cars, and feels we benefit with the boys having me at home. I am so thankful that I can come home and work around the house and do what needs to be done. My guy likes me to be home when he gets home knowing the house is in somewhat of an order even if only the fact that the boys aren't strangling each other.

My guy is a natural Mr. Fix-It. He can fix anything.

I'm so thankful that all I have to do is let him know what is needed fixed or just ask for help.

I'm so thankful for my guy being close to Heavenly Father and honoring his duties in the church.

I'm thankful for him caring about the Scouts he is in charge getting their requirements done, including our boys.

I'm so thankful my guy is so smart with math and the other subjects that our boys have in school as he just "gets it" and can help them do it right.

I'm so thankful my guy is so patient. He never gets mad at me. If he does, it has never shown. He is so patient with the boys. He is so patient with everyone.

I'm so thankful my guy is a flirt. Believe it or not. He is lovable, fun, and I know I don't have to ever worry about him leaving or going astray. My guy just knows better.

Well, I've bragged enough about my guy. Yes, I do get upset with him, frustrated with him, but my guy is the best in the world. And, he is romantic, a teddy bear, and my eternal sweetheart.

I love you Steven and always will! Thanks for being my guy!

It's A Hard Life For ACabin-Fevered Cat In This House

Poor O'Malley. He is very unhappy being stuck inside with all this snow and ice. He has ventured out a bit but the cold snow and rain makes it hard for him with his paws and old body. After all he is 10 1/2 (about 71 in human years). Don't let him fool you. He's quite capable of hallowing it up in the middle of the night, running through the house all day and into the night, and begging without any problem for food, playing or wanting to maybe let out. And tripping me if it suits him. As I write this, he is standing on the top of the recliner butting his head against me and rubbing against me with his face and now laying on my chest as I am reclined back with the laptop on my lap. Ever since the other cats have been gone, O'Malley is now king of his domain and is thoroughly enjoying all the attention he can get or wants. No, I don't want another cat.

Our Pre-teen 10 year old

Jacob has grown so much this year. He just lost one of his baby teeth(has 11 more to go). He just finished the subtraction packet in his math class and now is working with multiplication. Jacob is also learning cursive and is really good at it. Jacob has made great strides with his emotions. It helps that he has great teachers. He loves his Legos and model trains. He has been really enjoying going out in the snow to play.

Jacob is now a Webelo in Cub Scouts. He is excited with the new activities he will get to learn. It's hard to believe next year at this time, he will be able to go on the Klondike Derby. At the end of February, he will be participating in the Pinewood Derby. He has his design planned out.

Our Handsome Teenager

Michael is sporting a new look. He started squinting when looking at things across the room and commenting that seeing the wipe board or over head wasn't as clear as he thought it should be. He tried on a classmates glasses and found he could see a whole lot better. Hmmm..... so off to the eye doctor(he was due anyway). Sure enough, the eye doctor found Michael needing just a touch of correction to see the board work at school. He also got transition lens when he has to be out in the sun. We figure this will be helpful at target practice at Scout camp this summer.

Notice Michael's teeth too. He is in the 2nd phase of his orthodontic work. This phase is to help get his bite straight. It is figured by late fall this year, the will have his braces off and onto the retainer. But we are thrilled with his beautiful smile.

Michael is doing well in school. He brought home a solid "B" average. He finally got art class for one of his electives. He loves the art teacher. She seems to understand Michael and his enthusiasm for art and drawing.

Michael will be receiving his First Class Rank in Scouts in a couple of weeks. He just participated in the Klondike Derby. Way to Go Michael!

Our 2011 New England Winter

For the 6 years we have lived here in New England, I don't remember the winters being this bad. I do believe we have ended up with a total of at least 50". That was just for almost all of January. And we are not done. More is due in tomorrow. Michael and Jacob have had 6 snow days. Steven thank goodness can work from home if necessary. But we are surviving. Thank goodness for seed and nursery catalogs to see bright beautiful flowers or lush gardens that soon in a couple of months, hopefully, we will be start seeing the snow piles start melting(and flooding) and green grass will start poking up through the edges of the sidewalks or walkways. So, with "Phil" not seeing shadow, we are supposedly supposed to have an early spring. We'll see.

Poor Steven found out the hard way to not leave the garage open overnight with an impending snow storm. He had gone to get a couple of grocery items the night before the storm started and being so tired, he forgot to close the garage door. To say the least, there was no use to have placed the van in the garage. Now, every night, storm or no storm, the garage door is checked many times to see if it has been closed before bed.

Along with the storms, we have endured strep, colds, and sinus infections. We have found out the TV, Wii, and other media become old hat after awhile. I had bought a panoramic puzzle of birds. I didn't think anyone would be interested to help putting it together. But this became a family project. We got it done on the 5th of February. Now I will glue it and place in a frame to hang in our livingroom. And we will get some other puzzles to help us get through the rest of the winter.




Jacob is loving this winter. He's definitely an outdoorsman. He has built a snow fort. He and the neighbor, Avery, have been busily digging into the tunnel as far as they can. Jacob has also been cutting my the pampas grass and so it will be trimmed back when the spring thaw comes and be ready to start showing new leaves. Michael and Jacob have been helping with shoveling the snow when it is fresh. Now the snow is so right for making tunnels, forts, and igloos. But yet, it sure isn't good for shoveling out the snowed-in mailboxes and icy patches. Thank goodness for snowpants, waterproof coats, and waterproof boots and gloves.

Many people don't like squirrels. I used to feel like they are such pest. But this fall, we didn't get the pumpkins we carved at Halloween put into the woods. As the weather grew cold, we found these inventive pests to be very skillful in finding food when it was getting hard to find. Frozen pumpkins don't discourage a squirrel. This photo shows how skillful these creatures are at getting to the yummy seeds. After the snow fell and covered the deck up, the squirrels would burrow down in the snow and dig up their open treasure of seeds and continue to stuff their cheeks and take off back into the woods and up the trees to their nests. And yes, the squirrel proof bird feeders sure are a big marketing scam. The squirrels will lay their bodies flat over the bird feed cage and use their front paws as scoops scooping the bird seed out to the ground below and then help themselves with another scoop from the bird feeder. And fight each other for a turn. I just decided that the birds that want or need the food would get it or find it somewhere else. But the squirrels need to eat. And this winter has proven that the winter is being very rough for these guys. I have been putting out unsalted in the shell peanuts out on top of the snow, down in the holes they have been digging to get other food, and some birdseed as well. They have been coming up to the patio window and pawing at the window because of their shadow confusing them. Michael even saw a field mouse down in the snow tunnel that is open against the patio door enjoying a peanut too. This has been a great teaching tool for Michael and Jacob. We enjoy watching them as we are getting ready for our day before the boys head off to school and Steven to work. We have found the amount of media has lessened a bit due to our fascination with watching these "pesky" creatures finding necessities to survive the winter.

Choo Choo!!

Back in early December we went as a family to the New England Model Train Expo held every year in Marlborough. This is the second year we've gone; the boys get in free if they wear their Scout uniform, and they really enjoy the displays.

Here you can see the type of displays at the expo:

Unfortunately for me, this set a very high expectation for Jacob. He wants one of those! I had to explain there was a reason why all of the guys who run/own the displays are old - they are rich and retired, with time and money to devote to the hobby. Plus, they probably have an entire basement of space.

Jacob has shown an interest in model railroading, and dug out my 20-year-old HO scale model train set (which I never got around to setting up anywhere permanent). It wasn't in the best of shape, but he was playing with it a lot before Christmas. Guess what he got for Christmas?

We told him we'd set up an 4' x 8' layout up in his room, complete with a table stand and everything. This is where woodworking-challenged Dad comes in. I designed a layout which was relatively light, and had foldable legs (so we can get it up the stairs). Here are pictures of the construction:

Here I attached a thin layer of luan (essentially thin plywood):

The banquet table legs were attached to cross braces for extra support:

Here it is set up in his room. I was surprised at how much space i takes up in his room - barely room for his bed (which is to the right behind the picture-taker):

I used a program called Right Track (freeware) to design a layout with Jacob:

(the piece of track which curves across the top and then down the left side will be elevated, as there will be a mountain in the upper left corner of the track).

We put down  the beginnings of the layout temporarily so that 1) we can see if it will work, and 2) to give Jacob something to play with right away:

I've never assembled a layout before, but I've been reading a lot about it (checked out about 8 books from the library of different layout techniques). I certainly can't do as much as those old timers do, but I don't want to do the snap-together half-baked job either. So it will be a work in progress. Of course there's going to be a good amount of electronics involved (you can see the switches already). I've still got to design the control panel. Luckily there are a few model railroad hobby stores in the area for supplies, and I've been getting some good deals on eBay. There's also another train show coming up the end of January in Springfield!

I'll update the blog with new pictures as they come along.