Green Thumb or Black

Do you have a green thumb?  Not to brag, but I’m pretty good at keeping plants alive.  Heather has told me before that she wishes she could keep hers alive like I do.  She always wants shoots off of my plants as they have them.  She also always forgets to grab some, but like mother like daughter in that regards.  She calls it mommy brain.  You have 4 kids and you forget everything.  I say use whatever excuse works. :)

If we ever win the lottery, I am going to have Steve build a beautiful pond and fill it with pond plants and gorgeous fish.  What do you do with them in the winter though?  I don’t suppose they’d survive in the frozen water to well.  Do you have a built in heater keeping it warm?  Oh, Steve would love that electric bill.  We’re dreaming though, I won the lotto, he’d have no problem with me heating the pond. :)

What’s On Your Christmas List

I know, I know, it’s too early to be talking about Christmas….isn’t it?  Unless you saw this picture on Heather’s blog the other day.  (She said I could steal it.)

My grandson Jordan has been talking for months about wanting an iPod touch for Christmas.  Both his mom and his dad have one and he has iPod envy.

Next, he’ll be having iPad envy – wait, that’s Heather that wants one of those so badly.

Heather isn’t quite sure if he’s ready for one because he doesn’t take care of a lot of his things, but on the other hand, he takes excellent care of his laptop.  (Ask him where his phone is at any given moment and he’s not quite sure though. 

I was thinking it would be fun for myself to get an ipod nano.  Something to put all the cds on that I keep in my car.  Yes, I should really move into the digital age.  I think it would be great to have all of those on one small device for when we take trips.  Steve likes to play DJ, and sometimes I can even get him to sing along with me.  Being able to push a button rather than sort through all the cds in the visor would be great.

Too Cold Already

I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining.  We’ve had a wonderful October so far for Iowa, but it is time to break out the afghans.  We have our first freeze warning of the year for over night tonight and like most of the midwest over the last 2 days, the wind has been bad enough to take your breath away.
Good thing with it freezing.  Adios allergy problems!  Only positive thing that comes with the cold weather.  No ragweed or pollen until spring.  I can’t decide what is better – not dealing with allergies for a few months or having the warm weather.  Ask me in December and I’ll tell you the warm weather would be much better for sure!

Heather’s New Little Dog

Heather got the cutest little dog that she brought home tonight.  She tried to talk Steve and I into getting before she made arrangements to be able to take her herself.  Steve doesn’t want an indoor dog, so we couldn’t.

She sent me a picture of her, though I haven’t gotten a chance to meet her yet. 

I’m sure you will see that picture on her blog tomorrow morning, but I beat her to it. :)  I couldn’t help it, it’s such a cute picture.  Heather said that that is a Build A Bear Workshop bed if that tells you how tiny this little 3 year old dog is.

She has been running the barcode scanners crazy with all she has bought for this little dog.  She’s a rescue.  She was raised in a puppy mill and has been bread multiple times.  She was in a cage most of her life, somewhere along the line getting a broken jaw that was never treated, leaving hers crooked.  From what Heather has told me, this little dog deserves a lifetime of love and happiness and being spoiled.  Heather has raved about her foster mom and the care she received there.  How that woman turned a dog that was probably terrified and so nervous into this sweet little bundle of joy.  She hasn’t seem scared at all of Heather or her family, in fact, she climbs right up on Heather and buries down to sleep in her lap.

I’m sure if you follow her blog there will be many more stories of little Junie Bee to come.

May that little one have a long wonderful life from here on out.

The Pink Elephant

Did I ever tell you about how I started collecting elephants? One day, when I was 18, I had a light blue dress on that had pockets. On the pockets were navy elephants with red eyes. I stuck my hands in the pockets and moved them out and back saying, "Aren't my elephants cute?" My sister, Jackie, said "Oh, Kathy, aren't you ever going to grow up?" To that I said, "Probably not!"

The next birthday I had my sister bought me an elephant. She said, "Remember how you loved your elephants on you dress?" Haha! I didn't really love them, I just was acting silly, as usual. Well, the next birthday came and she bought me another one.

The following Christmas, my brother, Denny, gave me an elephant as a gift. And so forth, and so on. The elephants he got me usually had a story behind them. One was brought out of China when it was illegal to do so. One was made of teak which was illegal to cut.

Elephants became special to me from then on. Denny got me one every year. The year that he and his family (except Cory) were killed in a car accident, I didn't even think about not getting one. However, when my Mom and Dad went to clean out his house she found a stuffed pink elephant and knew it was for me.

A few years back my son, Steve, started buying elephants for me again. I cannot tell you what they mean to me. It doesn't matter if it is a big elephant or even one gotten out of a machine, I love them all. Most of the older ones are out in the building we store things in (because our house cannot hold them all). The elephants are probably pretty dirty, possibly moldy, from being out there that long. We're talking 16 years or more. I'll probably have to wash them with something to kill the mold.  Yuck!

Do you have any collections that you didn't intend to start? Let me know how it all started!

I Love My Entertainment Center

Have I told you that?  Steve’s brother gave us his HUGE entertainment center when he moved and we gave ours to Heather to replace her old one, it wasn’t one of the sturdy tv stands.  The kids had tried to climb on it one too many times and she was nervous it was going to fall on them, even when she kept them off.  (It’s usually Katiana, the little monkey climbing up on it.)

There’s just something about this entertainment center, it’s lighter and bigger and just just seems to bring the living room together.  So much more room for TV equipment and dvd’s and even old vcr tapes – although, I think those are actually in another table at this point.

Now to keep Christiano out of it.  Love that child to death, but he gets into everything.  He keeps his mama on her toes when she is out here. :)

Time with Jadah

Steve and I went to Steve II's house so Steve could help our son work on his van. Jadah was supposed to be taking a nap but that didn't work real well. I even tried to bribe her with a Tootsie Roll Pop after she wakes up. To no avail, she stayed awake, but I will say she did stay on the couch. Here's a pic of her, not a great one (I think she had something in her mouth..oh well), but you can see how cute she is.



I was really hoping she'd take a nap because her Grandma was tired and needed one, too! Oh, well, after her Dad said she could get up we went out on the back deck to watch the guys. Jadah decided to collect rocks at the bottom of the deck, to place one rock on each step so she could count how many steps were on the stairway. What a hoot!

After they quit working on the car, Jadah showed me her Halloween outfit. I think she's going to be a mermaid. It's pretty cute.



At that point I told Steve it was time to leave, I was getting hungry once again and it was supper time by then. Sometimes all I can think about is food. We've been trying to buy good things to eat such as apples, yogurt, juice, etc. I seem to be stuck at the weight I'm at. I think it would be great to take fast weight loss pills but, my doctor won't prescribe them due to my bp and cardiac meds.

I actually am down one pound but it's frustrating when you're trying and you stay stuck at one level. Oh, well, eventually I'll get a handle on it (probably just in time for Turkey day, right?). Have a great one!

Why is it?

Every time I get on my laptop I immediately get sleepy. Anyone else experience that? I have to fight to stay awake. It's not that what I am doing is boring, far from it. I think it's crazy that all I can think about is taking a nap.  You would think since I am playing on one of my toys doing something that I enjoy, I would be awake and happy to do it.

It’s a conspiracy, my laptop releases something that makes me tired so that I can do more mundane browsing on the web instead of getting work done.  KIDDING!  I never do mundane browsing, it all has a purpose!

Let me know if it happens to you, too. Maybe someone has some ideas about how to combat this. Let me know!

Do you like your furniture

I’ve thought about getting designer furniture, it would be nice to have my house look chic and put together and right out of a magazine.  Then I think though, almost every piece of furniture in my house has memories, attached to my children, attached to my parents, attached to something important in my life.  And they are all pieces that are classic.  You would never know by looking at my recliner that it came from my dad’s house and that he spent so much time reclined in it doing crossword puzzles.  It still looks as nice today as the day they got it.

And none of it was ever covered in plastic either.  Did your parents ever do that?  Cover the good furniture in plastic?  I’m trying to think back to if mine ever did.  I don’t think they did.

Heather was mighty glad when she got a leather couch.  No more steaming her microfiber couch that even water would leave a mark on.  See, there you have it.  She had a nice piece of designer furniture and went with the old standby because it’s easier when you have little ones.

Setting Goals

Do you set weight goals?  I do.  I get so excited when I’m down 5 lbs or so.  It’s hard to keep it off though and I can’t take anything to help with it due to other meds I am on.  I do go to the Y with Steve to work out and I love warm water therapy.  Moving in the warm water helps ease some of my back pains. 

When I do drop down to where I want to be I’m going to buy me a pair of skinny rocawear jeans to show off where I got.  This will be before Thanksgiving or after the holidays are over.  Pumpkin Pie and fruit salad and stuffing will be the end of me. :)

Gruene by Baccus Steam Cleaner

I've been at my daughter's place and watched while she used her old steam cleaner on her couch, microwave, and refrigerator. I was impressed that something could clean and sanitize in one step and without using any cleaners, only steam.

I wanted to have her bring her steam cleaner to my house so I could have her clean my angel statue before I glued the wing to reinforce it so it won't break off. That hasn't happened, thus far, so when I was chosen to review the Gruene by Baccus Steam Cleaner, I jumped at the chance.

Heres a 'Before' Pic

My daughter was with me when I cleaned it, she said this steamer has more power than most steam cleaners she's seen and used. I am excited as there are many attachments with this Steam Mop & Steam Cleaner! Now watch it in action!



See what it comes with:

• Squeegee Hand Tool Designed to make quick work of cleaning windows and mirrors.

• Garment Hand Tool Great for taking wrinkles out of clothes and curtains. It also works great for sanitizing matresses

• Nylon Brush Set Includes three brushes to handle most of your cleaning needs. Large Brush for wide coverage. Great for scrubbing tile and grout lines. Triangle and Detail head brushes for getting into tight spaces.

• Wire Brush Makes short work of cleaning golf clubs. Designed to take the elbow grease out of those really tough jobs.

• Scraper Nozzle Perfect for removing wallpaper. Seriously it cuts the job in half.

• DirectJet Nozzle Shoots out a jet of steam. Great for hard to reach areas.
  

Here's some info directly from the company:

GrueneSteam Cleaning System

The Gruene Steam Mop and Hand Cleaner is the answer to your household steam cleaning needs.

If it is floors you are tackling, simply fill the water tank, and seconds later steam is at your fingertips. Using steam means that you can toss out that bulky, messy, mop and bucket and trade it in for a better way to clean. Never again will you barricade the kitchen while you wait for floors to dry, when you use Gruene Steam the floors practically dry as you go. If you have children and pets you will love that Gruene Steam is chemical free system.

Perhaps one of the most unique and innovative features of the Gruene Steam Mop and Hand Cleaner is its ability to convert to a hand steamer. Unlock and remove the center section, and viola! The Gruene Steam Hand Steamer comes with 10 attachments. When attached to the hand steamer these tools make even the toughest jobs a breeze.

Take for instance the Garment attachment, this tool can be used to steam the wrinkles out of clothes, lift stains off mattresses, and even remove wallpaper. The small, large, and angled nylon brushes can be used for anything from removing stains and mildew from tile or grout to cleaning countertops and sinks.

Don’t forget, steam is nature’s disinfectant so when you use Gruene Steam you sanitize as you clean!

Can you imagine being able to do that with just one product? I'd call it the Cadillac of steam cleaners. I cleaned my statue with it and the dirt just rolled off it. Now, don't you want to go out and get one? Heres my 'After' Pic, if that doesn't convince you, nothing will!

Jordan's Run

This is a long time coming but I wanted to blog about Jordan's 1K run. We were there and so proud of Jordan finishing, not to mention going through with even doing the run when he wanted to back out. Yay Jordan!!! There were some 7th and 8th grade girls (7 - 10 of them) cheering the kids on.

They cheered Jordan and it was sooooo cool. He couldn't understand how they knew his name, but it got him trying to run again. He was so tuckered out by then he just wanted to lay down.

I don't blame him. When Mom, Kat, Grandpa, and a volunteer helper started running with him, he picked up speed to get to the finish line. I had tears in my eyes. After he passed the finish line, I said to Heather, "I wished I had a camera to show you how cool it looked from the back seeing you all running with him for encouragement."

Little did I know a picture was taken from the front by a DM Register reporter. She walked up to us afterwards to get Jordan's name and also the names of everyone who ran with him. I'm inserting here my daughter's comments from The Infamous Mile : The 24/7 Mom:

On the way to the car, a lady with a camera that I dream of came up to us and said, I got a picture of the 4 of you running at the end. Do you care if I put it in the paper on Thursday? My mom had just said, I wish I could have gotten a picture of you 4 at the end. It was so neat! I guess Thursday she will get that picture. The lady took our names and got a quote from me then left.

That cheered Jordan up a little bit.

And his picture was in the Register, I encourage you to go see it! His pic is #20 so press the left arrow to go back to 20 (it's faster). Jordan finished what he set out to do, no matter how hard it was for him. Jordan has a goodness in his heart that shines out to everyone close to him. Grandpa and I were so proud! Way to go Jordan!!!!!