Echo

Echo won the seventh grade spelling bee at her school. So today we went to the regional one. She lasted till the third round and the word incense, as in: They burn incense at the Chapel of the Dolphins. This is a word I have always had troubles with. I thought she did a great job.

WAHOOO!!!!

WAHOO!!!, We made it. We are done changing diapers!!!

It has been a week since Daniel told us he wanted to wear underwear to bed. I gave his diapers away yesterday. (We all know how handy wipes are, so I kept them).

We have been changing diapers at our house since June 12, 1993. For those of you who don't want to do the math, that's 14 1/2 years of changing diapers. I will admit that we have had a few dry spells in that time, but they have not been very long ones.

Danny I am so proud of you.

Lillie

Friends and Family Plate

We were brought a plate of goodies yesterday, we thought it was to say welcome, or something like that, after we ate the plate we could read the poem on the plate, and I thought I would share it with you.

Friends and Family Plate

This plate shall have no owner
For its journey never ends.
It travels in the circle
of our family and our friends.

It carries love from home to home
For everyone to share.
The food that's placed upon it
Is filled with love and care.

So please enjoy what's on this plate,
Then fill it up again,
And pass along the love it holds
To famiy and your friends.
_______________________________

It reminds me of the star in the window at Christmas, the heart at valentines, the ghost at halloween. yet, it is for the rest of the year.

On the back of the plate the families sign it as they pass it on.

What a wonderful Family Home Evening

Little things mean a lot.

I have been thinking about some of the joys in my life right now.
There are my husband and my kids.

When we moved I threw my electric skillet (with a bent lid and a broken leg)away, my new one is much nicer, with a detatchable bottom so it is easier to clean, and bigger, I can cook a larger roast, or six hamburgers or pancakes. WOW, its amazing how much faster dinner cooks when I can do six burgers instead of the old four.

I also have a new vacuum. My old one had a bag which I could never remember what size to buy, it also did not have a very long cord, or hose. My new vacuum has a very long cord, and the hose is quite long too. Though I am also excited about the "stair paw" which is good at cleaning stairs as well as the riser, I have not tried it on the furniture yet.

Here in South Dakota, My kids came home and told me that they were allowed to take home made treats, In Missouri, we were only allowed store treats. Jim has taken brownies, and Carie and Echo made treats for their classes for Valentines. hoorah for homemade school treats.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I want to wish you all a

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

School

It is 10:00 and the kids just left for school. here in South Dakota there is something called late start. When you get up in the morning, you turn on the TV. and watch to see if you have school, or late start, or if school has been canceled.
Today, the TV said 2 hour late start. Yesterday, Thomas was not well, he turned on the T.V. and was watching the early show when down at the bottom it was talking about school closings it said late start,so we told the kids they could go back to bed. I went to school. Right after my first class got over at 9:50, Tom called me to tell me that school was cancelled due to the bad storm that was supposed to be on its way in, and to be extra careful as I drove home after my noon class. i went to my 10:00 class, but then went to talk to my 12:00 instructor and told her that I was going to skip class since school was canceled for my kids and I did not want to get stuck in the storm. She gave me my assignment and told me to hurry home. What a great lady.

Today we woke up, woke up the kids checked the TV, sent the kids back to bed, sent Tom off to work and at 9:30 woke up those still in bed, and then sent them off to school at ten.

Mikey gave me a great big hug when I told him he gets to stay home with mommy today. and told me he likes Mommy days.

Now I am hoping I can get some school work done while my boys are helping me.

Lillie

Tom's Grandfather

We got a phone call yesterday, telling us that grandpa kirby died. To those who loved him, my prayers are with you. He no longer is held back by his earthly body, he has no elderly pains and he is with is wife Marion, whom he loved and took care of for many years.

I want to say to him, that Tom and I have been married for more than 15 years and we still like to sit next to each other on the couch, at church, or simply whenever we can.

For those of you who don't know, When we had been married for 2 days and were returning his cake plates, and tiers, we were sitting on his couch talking with him, and he asked us to scoot apart becuase we were making him uncomfortable as we would not want to sit next to each other a year from then.

Any way, we do still sit next to each other and we still enjoy it. Especially after a long day of work and school, and kids.

Lillie

Danny, Jim and Carie

Danny stayed dry last night!! We have been working on this seriously for a week. For two night he has stayed dry! The daycare ladies told me to tell them what I was doing with him, and they would do it to. Yesterday, when I went to pick him up, they gave me the diapers and wipes he had not used yet. and told me good job. I thanked them for their help. Danny stayed dry all day yesterday. with only one accident the day before. Tom told me that I am a "mean mom" since Danny's treat was to get a drink of water out of a "joke"cup from Dixie, everytime he went potty. I laughed and said I was simply refilling his water level in his body, to ensure he would need to go potty again. Tom laughed and told me good job. I love that we are done buying diapers. Interesting thought: We have five boxes of wipes plus two refill packs floating around our house.

Jim started Drivers ed. this morning. He is excited, so am I. It will be after school and on saturdays ending in the middle of March. He will not start his driving hours till school gets out in the middle of May.

In South Dakota, at the age of 14 kids can get their license though they can only drive during certain hours of the day.

Carie got 100% on a spelling test yesterday.

Here's the News

We have lived here for a month now. I think I am as unpacked as I can get before we get more shelves. I unpacked a box of lotions and one with towels today. I also made curtains for my living room. The curtains clash with the couch, but I am planning on recovering it with denim. They will look good together. I even made a little curtain to cover the window on the front door, they all look really nice.

Tom hung most of our pictures today. It really helps me to feel moved in to have the pictures up. Another bonus to hanging pictures is that there is no longer a big huge box, (we managed to find a box big enough for all the pictures)sitting on the edge of my computer room. He also found my spoon rack in the picture box, and hung my spoons. (I can't find the new spoons we bought during the move, which is probably a good thing since my spoon rack only has room for one more spoon, and we bought more than that). I will keep looking.

The girls got to go to sleepovers last night. Katie went to the home of a friend from school, the other girls went to The Smiths from church, ( the branch pres.) they have three girls (and a boy-17) the girls all had a lot fun.

We are looking forward to church tomorrow, It will be the first sunday since we got here that we are all well.