Dog Biscuit on Wheels

:::::::::::::::::::::::Photofunia.com:::::::::

ROCKS! I love playing with these photo effects!

My sister, Tracy, is a looker!

Noah is a cutie pie,too!

Base jumping...or rather Bill board jumping:

::::::::::::::::::::::Family Book Reading::::::::::::

I finished reading this book to the kids a few days ago. I had never read it before and the kids had a bit of a hard time following the parts when he got into Medieval jargon, but Rachel and Aaron followed it okay. Noah found it boring and Eve often fell asleep. I, on the other hand, found it amazing. I loved the parts about chivalry, free will and monarchy. If you are a member of the Catholic faith you might be rather offended. The main character wants to overthrow the monarchy for a Republic and get rid of the power of the Catholic church over the people. Twain writes some persuasive and insightful ideas in regards to free will. I can't recommend this book for a family reading book for everyone, but for an older teen and adults it is great food for thought.

::::::::::::::::::::Feeling Puny:::::::::::

Eve fell asleep in my arms about 5:30 pm. My guess is she is still sick. I suppose going to school today wiped her out. Poor kid.

I'm off to get everyone to bed. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite! :)

Spring has Sprung

This is what I hear when Aaron is at the table. He inquires if his siblings are going to eat what is left in their plates or bowls. He is growing too. I had to take him to the store for 18 slim pants because he grew out of the 16 slims I purchased a month and a half ago. I am so happy to know I can find slims at JC Penney's.

::::::::::::Spring:::::::::

...and so are the gnats and mosquitos! Thanks to the load of rain we have received in the last few days there are ample amounts of stagnant water. Rachel and I did a quick step through the woods at the park to get to the library. I dropped her off and walked another couple of miles, then went and got her so we could go to the Art Show at her school. I showered first...a major necessity.
Eve stayed home with me today and played on the computer, watched tv and got trounced in several games of Connect Four. She thought I should let her win because she was home sick. Hey, that is the best time to beat somebody! She is starting to sniffle, so apparently what she has been fighting with a headache and low grade fever has developed into a cold.

:::::::::::::::::Eve, The Builder...Can She Build It?...Yes, She Can!::::::



Eve goes to Chick-Fil-A with Grampa Jim after building:


::::::::::::Pinewood Derby:::::::

I am almost finished with Noah's Pinewood Derby pages. He had a great time and he even won one heat. That was exactly what he hoped to achieve. Being last every heat last year was a bummer, so a couple of second place heats were cool too.

::::::::::::Art Show Pics Forthcoming, as well:::::

Eve's Kindergarten used Mary Cassett, Noah's was Grant Wood and Rachel's was Frieda Kahlo. I hope to have them up tomorrow. Well Aaron is finished bathing and Eve has gone to sleep. Rachel is reading and Noah is building Legos. They all need to be in bed, so adios!

Cardboard Boy's Idea Factory

Living with Noah's imagination requires a lot of discarded cardboard and even more tape:



I need to fold laundry, so later gators!

A Long Winded Post...Literally and Figuratively

My mom was requested to play at Camp Creek by Eve's former preschool teacher, Crystal. Crystal now does Read Across America, so she read a story, then my mom explained about the Highland Pipes, the Shuttle Pipe, the chanter, and the history of the Georgia tartan. She performed for Eve, Noah and Rachel's classes and a group of 2nd graders and kindergartners that she didn't have a grandchild in attendance. Here she is playing for Eve's class:

She played classics and a newer composition by Sir Paul McCartney.

Mom had squealing sounds and couldn't tell from which part, so Rachel came up and made the diagnosis.


We ran over to the local eatery called The Blue Rooster and I bought two of my favorite gals lunch.


Oh yeah, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My sister-in-law, Melissa posted that on Facebook and I love any chance to relive Muppet Show episodes.
:::::::::::::Noah's Art:::::::::::
Noah's art teacher has been teaching the third grade about the works of Grant Wood. Here is Noah's take on a classic:

I did a successful run to Ikea this morning. I grabbed a cool small shelf unit called "Trofast" with some slip in white drawers. I got the lids, too. Now I have Eve's art supplies all in one place. Yeah!

:::::::::::::Current Personal Reading Book:::::::

I'm really enjoying this one.


::::::::::::Family Reading Book:::::::

Noah has read this one already and suggested it for everyone.

Double Dumas on You!

For those of you who are Star Trek geeks, as I am, you will get the double entendre in my title. Rachel pointed out to me, yesterday, that I was reading two books with the author's last name being Dumas.

I finished reading Funny in Farsi this afternoon. I loved the story of the different family members. It is as endearing as the story from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The father is my favorite character in both of these stories. Firoozeh's dad and his inability to fix things well, almost winning in Black Jack, saying "Yes, yes" and smiling when he doesn't have a clue what you are saying is so funny. Our family shares with her family the stopping at Denny's restaurants. We only go to Denny's on vacation and the kids make a game of finding the next one for the next meal. I appreciate the fact that her father has such a deep love and appreciation for America without losing his Iranian identity. I remember the anger and hatred that flowed during the taking of the hostages. We had Atollah toilet paper and a poster that did not have a nice message. Firoozeh likens the situation to the kid who spits a spitball in the class and the entire class gets detention. Group mentality is hard to deal with, especially when it comes to mob mentality. The story is mostly a light tone and has such a sweet story of a neighbor who bakes her a bundt cake to thank her repeatedly for "saving" her during an earthquake.
This book was a quick and fun read. Michael came up to ask me why I was laughing so hard. The part where the author goes to get blood work drawn and the receptionist mispronounces Firoozeh Dumas made me howl. My mother gets her name mispronounced all the time, so it was especially funny. Give this book a read if you like stories such as the one from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I am really hungry after reading this book due to all of the wonderful foods she mentioned. I am a fan of stuffed grape leaves.

Warning: Spoilers!
Now, I have to say my brother-in-law, Marcus, warned me that the movie and the book of The Count of Monte Cristo were very different. I think Dumas is a masterful writer and really enjoyed the first 3/4ths of the book. My problem is my inability to reconcile the level of revenge that was maintained through the end of the book. Dantes did extremely kind things for those he felt were good to his father, but even within that he made "good" people suffer to prove themselves. I really abhorred what he did with Valentine and Morrel. I wanted to give Dantes more sympathy, but I felt it being wrung out of me with each chapter. I am also a romantic (I should probably wear a Jane Austen sticker on my forehead). I really liked how the servant in the film reminded Dantes to be better and rise above the hatred. I also liked that the son, in the movie, was his. I felt that far too much of the good Dantes could have done in the world was wasted in machinations and that he gets the cute young girl at the end was trite. Oh well, it was still well written.

I saw more bluebirds, so yeah.

Interesting article about the cost of red light traffic cameras being too costly appeared in the paper today. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/03/13/red_light_camera_cost.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

The use of the lights for citations will be suspended in many cities due to lack of revenue, man power it takes to go through the photos, postage, and the cost of the service to an outside company. I think they can make people make some bad decisions when coming in to an intersection.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Order of the Arrow:::::::::

Aaron was tapped out for Order of the Arrow on Monday. I will put some photos up this week. He is not in the Order, which is Boy Scouts of America service fraternity, yet. He has to pass a weekend long test where he does a service project in silence. Silence is none of our strong suits, so I hope it goes well.

The bus is coming down the street with 3 Taylor kids, so later gators!

I Have to Gush...

I really enjoyed this book that was recommended at our recent book club group. If you like Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, or books like William Golding's Lord of the Flies

you will like this book. I actually more than liked it, I think it is amazing! The use of letters sent to different characters to tell the story was perfect. The transformation from a literate and ordered society to one that is paranoid, fanatical and destroyed within mere months is really not far-fetched. The whimsical telling of this story takes us down the primrose path into the thorny briers of this little island of Nollop masterfully. I highly recommend this one!

Take care! We are off to play with aunts, uncles and cousins...oh my!

Trying to Catch Up

Yes, if you are desirous of Girl Scout cookie goodness. Let me know and I'll try and hook you up.

::::::::::::: www.indexed.blogspot.com

This is so true:



:::::::::::::Another Page for Rachel:::::


I have the completed page with journaling, but don't want to have all the kids' names on-line.

::::::::::::Photos from my Mom's Surprise Party::::::

I made 45 royal icing violets and Eve made me use them all. She also showed me where she wanted them place on the cake. She kept telling me that symmetry was what's all about.

My mom gave me some silcone cupcake molds, but I couldn't figure out a great way to display them, so I crisscrossed some toothpicks to keep them upright on their small bases.

Great Mom and Great Pop Towhey brought some super tasty pretzel bites. Just a bit of mustard and they are bits o'heaven!
Mom with my nutty family:

Mom with Nan and Jim:
Mom with Melinda, Jason and Suzanne:

Tweedle Guy and Tweedle Jim with mom and Lani:
Mom, Carol and Debbie:
Debbie and Terry:
Aaron:


:::::::::::::::::There has been so much sad news on the animal front:::::::::::
Please:


Take Care!!!!!!!