Proud Aunt

My sister sent out this email yesterday. Her son, Caleb, is my favorite oldest nephew! He's 9 and a half. I am proud of him, too. I can just picture him giving these answers! It's funny and touching, just like he is! He's a hoot, yet he has a sensitive heart.

Caleb was interviewed by The Witness (our church newsletter) for its very first edition. I wanted to send it along so you could read it. It’s just precious and totally him. (Ok, it’s pretty funny too!) I’m so proud of him and am just overwhelmed sometimes with how blessed I feel to be his Mom.

The Witness - What does Easter mean to you?

Caleb - It means talking about Jesus rising from the dead at the tomb.

The Witness - How did he get in the tomb?

Caleb - Roman guys put him on the cross and then he died and then they took him to the tomb.

The Witness - What kind of tomb was it?

Caleb - It was a small cave with a cylinder rock and there was a bed and they put oils on him so he didn't stink.

The Witness - How long was he in the tomb?

Caleb - 3 days

The Witness - Then what?

Caleb - Mary, his mom, came and an angel and they got the tomb open and the angel said he rose from the dead.

The Witness - Why did he rise from the dead?

Caleb - To save us to be able to go to heaven and save our hearts from sin.

The Witness - Which holiday do you think is more important, Christmas or Easter?

Caleb - We don't really know when Jesus' birthday was. We give presents and have dinner. Santa doesn't have anything to do with Christ except the giving part. Easter, we're talking about a really, really important day where if it didn't happen we'd be in a different place. It would be horrible. The Easter Bunny (lengthy pause) comes in and gives eggs in your basket. It has something to do with Christ because he or she is giving.

The Witness - What will you do on Easter?

Caleb - Go to my grandma's house and have dinner or stay home and Mom would say "close your eyes and pray". It is a big possibility that we will go to my grandma's. We will have mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy. My favorite foods are mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy…and crab. I only get crab at Red Lobster or if we go for Chinese.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I am part Irish, so I wanted to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's a calm Saturday morning; I'm enjoying my coffee.

On my agenda today is laundry, cleaning, scrapbooking, paying bills, and running some errands. Exciting stuff, I know! But I love Saturdays like this - nothing really "planned."

Next Saturday, however, I'll need to leave the house at 5:45 AM (gulp) to set up for an all-day scrapbooking event. It'll be a fun day, but it will be a long day, too.

Yesterday was a snow day so I didn't go out of the house except to shovel. I was reflecting on how many blessings I have and being thankful for those blessings:

My health

My home - it's warm and
cozy

My job, which allows me to
afford heat and food and many other necessities and fun things. If I'm
cold, I just turn up the heat or add another blanket to the bed. It seems many people aren't able to do that. They're having to choose between heat and food or food and medication. It's sad.

My family - my mom, dad,
two sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and 3 adorable nephews!

My friends

And many other people and
"things"

What are you thankful for?

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!

Just two days ago, it was 70 degrees out! Today, it's snowing and 28 degrees with a wind-chill factor of 20 degrees! So it's cold outside:


But I'm warm and cozy inside my house! After shoveling snow, I made a white chocolate latte and poured it in my favorite snowman mug!

While sipping the latte, I read a few chapters from this book:


The perfect snow day! Even though some of you are having spring!

Here's the recipe for the white chocolate latte:

Prep: 5 min., Cook: 5 min

2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup white chocolate morsels
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Whipped cream (optional)
Garnish: cinnamon sticks

Stir first 4 ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat until white chocolate morsels are melted. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts; pour evenly into 4 mugs. Top with whipped cream, if desired. Garnish, if desired, and serve immediately.

I cut the recipe in half for myself and I didn't have any almond extract. It was still yummy!

Cuteness

This 4-year-old little guy is too cute! And he's not even my nephew!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQPEsa5e7K0

I tried to embed the video, but it wouldn't work!

It was my lucky day!

Yesterday, I decided to park at a parking meter in front of our office building instead of the parking garage several blocks away since I was running late.

I pulled into a parking space, gathered up a total of six quarters from my purse, which would give me an hour of parking. That's right - only 10 minutes of parking per quarter!

When I pushed the button on the meter for my space, I noticed that the empty space next to me had some time on it so I pushed the button for that space. It had 2:52 minutes on it!

I got in my car, backed up, and pulled into that space, added my 6 quarters, which gave me 3:52.

After lunch with Mom, she asked me to add quarters to her meter. I didn't have any more quarters with me, so being a Mom, she gave me some! I was just going to risk it for the afternoon. The meter maids haven't really been giving out tickets.

I added to her meter first. I put the quarter in, it added 10 minutes, and the quarter came back out! I continued to do this for many times, enough to give her 4 hours on her meter!

I put in the same quarter for my meter, it added 10 minutes, and the quarter came back out! About the 20th time, it kept the quarter, so I put another one in, it added 10 more minutes, and kept the quarter. I added another one, it added 10 minutes, and then I got all three quarters back! Well, all three of Mom's quarters!

It was a lucky day!

Spring Reading Thing 2007

Katrina over at Callapidder Days is hosting a Spring reading challenge, Spring Reading Thing 2007. She also hosted Fall Into Reading; I didn't participate in that one, but I'm looking forward to the Spring Reading Thing! I love to read and I have a pile of books on my bookshelf; yet I just don't seem to make enough time for reading.

Not so for this Spring! I'm going to participate in the Spring Reading Thing 2007! It starts March 21st and concludes on June 21st. AND, AND, there's a prize for one random participant ! Who doesn't love a prize?!

I'm going to be putting my reading list together for this challenge! How about you?

Head over to Callapidder Days to read more!

Catching Up!

Wow, it's been a while since I wrote a post!

It's snowing again today, and I closed the office! All the schools are closed, so that works for me!

I'll have to head outside to shovel the snow shortly, but on the inside of my house, I am ready for spring!

On Saturday, February 24th, Vickie and Ellie came to my all-day scrapbooking event at my house. We had fun scrapbookin', chattin', and eatin'!

I babysat my two youngest nephews this past Friday night - overnight! What an adventure! They both woke up crying around 11:00. It took a while to get the youngest settled, so Aunt Jada didn't get much sleep! LOL Mom came down Saturday and we went out to lunch. The boys and I took naps Saturday afternoon. They slept for over 2 hours!! It was a fun and memorable time, and I'll look forward to babysitting overnight again!

They liked the paw prints on the picnic tables; they're 'ordering' lunch.

Here's a picture of Penni, stuffed in a shoebox, all of her own volition!