Even though my family was gone from 10-7 yesterday and I was alone, I decided to make today for me. I worked out, came home, ate lunch, showered and just sat at the pool for 3.5 hours. I decided I was too white for this late in July, LOL

I think I did well!

No explanation needed......just maybe some tissues.....

Dance with My Father
by Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child
Before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high
And dance with my mother and me and then


Spin me around till I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure
I was loved


If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
How I’d love, love, love to dance with my father again


Ooh, ooh


When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way I would run from her to him
He’d make me laugh just to comfort me, yeah, yeah
Then finally make me do just what my mama said


Later that night when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he
Would be gone from me


If I could steal one final glance
One final step, one final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end
‘Cause I’d love, love, love to dance with my father
again


Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
And I’d hear her, mama cryin’ for him
I pray for her even more than me
I pray for her even more than me


I know I’m prayin’ for much too much
But could You send back the only man she loved
I know You don’t do it usually
But Lord, she’s dyin’ to dance with my father again
Every night I fall asleep
And this is all I ever dream

All through the school year, 3 of the children in Stephanie's class were living in homes that were going through seperations and/or divorces.

The one girl, Cathy, used to give Steffi so many details and say she was moving to Oregon, but then she would say that it wasn't true. I felt very sorry for her, as she would cry in class every day. They are really moving, next Wednesday. It was supposed to be last week, but the hearing for the divorce got postponed until Tuesday.

Her mom just called and asked if I would watch Cathy so the parents could go to the judge.

After I got off the phone, I started to tear up.....I felt very sorry for the two people whose love didn't work out, I felt sorry for Cathy who is very upset over this, I felt sorry that the mom and daughter will be moving away, I felt sorry for Steffi who will be missing a good friend.....

That all just must suck so bad. I really have never been affected by divorce, either through the family, or close friends until this. Yes, I know people who have gone through this, but this is really close, where I am actually watching someone's kid as they close this chapter in their lives.....

:-(

Hi there.......I'll start answering some comments first, LOL

First off...Tommy did NOT have the chickenpox......however, there is some virus going around that has a fever, BAD headache and when it's real bad, is accompanied by a HORRIBLE stomach virus. So, I betcha he had some part of that. I think my husband had a touch of it too, as he was WRITHING in pain Sunday night from a headache, and a slight fever.

My recipes for the strawberry dishes were a HIT. The rhubarb, which I've NEVER had, was so yummy. I'm bummed I'm out of strawberries, because John's rhubarb patch is flourishing. So, adding strawberries to the list of things to get in the house this week.

We did not make any watermelon drinks......John ended up buying two bottles of white wine and a zinfadel

As for Stephanie's present, which she has NOT stopped playing........she fools around with the organ and piano at MILs house and she always talks about using my sister's keyboard, so I was out of ideas of what to get her, and figured this was a good choice........and WAS IT EVER!! However, it does not cook for us, hehe

One of the 100 songs programmed into it is Happy Birthday, so when we woke up on Sunday, Johnny was dressed in dress pants and a dress shirt and was pretending to play HB as Steffi came down the stairs to see her presents.

Since Sunday, I've perfected my playing of The Entertainer.....I've learned and mastered La Cucharacha and Swanee River. This is all with my right hand, so I will be trying to learn how to play the left hand as well.

I've also started teaching Steffi how to read music, at least let her know what EGBDF (lines) and FACE (spaces) are and how to figure out on the keyboard which keys to strike.

Tommy started SafetyTown on Monday and he is gone in the mornings. Johnny is at basketball camp all day this week and is really starting to enjoy that as well.

The kids are finally able to start playing with the hoop on the side of our driveway, as they are actually hitting the backboard, or making shots as opposed to underthrowing the balls and having them constantly fly into my neighbor's yard.

Saturday is Steffi's "friend" party and I will have 8 girls over here swimming. I've found a bunch of games at familyfun.com and I think it will really be a good party (without the boys) this year.

Time to go play some GameCube and continue on with my adventures of Star Fox. I think I'm about 34% done with my tasks.

This is what I picked up at BJs tonight for Stephanie......it came with a bonus stand and adapter all for $149.99.... There was another one there with 73 keys, and normally sells for about $100 more, but was reduced to $125.90. The box was all beat up and I was real skeptical, so tomorrow, it's time to cook

Made the BEST chili tonight for dinner.....Ugh, it's not healthy to feel this stuffed, LOL.

We also had Midnight Cellars Full Moon wine as recommended by the guy we buy wine from. All of a sudden, I'm finding it hard to get motivated to go out shopping.

2000 Full Moon Encore Red Wine - Paso RoblesThe color is a medium brick red and the nose is rich and full of Bing cherry, black raspberry, minerals, and is accented by an American oak nuttiness. It has a medium mouthfeel with a variety of flavors that include black fruit, currants, and spice, with hints of black olive. The finish is long with accents of spice, almonds, and minerals.

This wine is a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon all from the Paso Robles growing region. This wine is a medium bodied red wine that was created to be consumed young. It is a perfect wine for the Chef at work in the kitchen or out by the barbeque. Aged 27 months in primarily American oak barrels. Can be enjoyed with a wide variety of food or enjoyed equally by itself.

$10.99/bottle......for me, who is usually not a red wine drinker, this was good.

Yeah, so, right now I'm concerned that Tommy may have chicken pox and I was watching 5 other kids this morning for an hour. He was in my bedroom and the other kids remained in either the boys bedroom (where he didn't sleep last night) or down in the family room.......

He did have the shot, so........

My girlfriend's daughter, who also had the shot, had a mild case of them in the spring.

Right now there are only 4 spots and a fever for two days

Listening to Jimmy Buffet from the Today show right now.......remembering hanging out with good friends, singing and dancing every weekend to a one-man guitar player/singer

Hmmm.....maybe I'll make frozen watermelon margaritas too.....oh and Denise posted that Comfortable Watermelon something or other also......

Right before dinner tonight, Tommy went from being a cute little energetic boy to a slug in a matter of 5 minutes, which is REALLY unusual for him... During dinner, he ate his broccoli, a spoonful of mini garlic shells, and a piece of chicken and said he really didn't feel good. After dinner, he came downstairs with glassy eyes, red cheeks and a fever :-(

I hope it's a quick bug that will be gone by tomorrow morning......

Hey, has anyone tried Turkey Hill's Peanut Butter Ripple Ice Cream Sandwiches......Mmmmm

Okay.....I also got the "menu" for Sunday planned out. I was going to go for something with more flare, but then I decided not to, LOL. With the boys, I only do cake and dessert anymore, since their birthdays are right after Christmas and my FILs birthday, and those are usually big shindigs, so I feel like I should only do cake and dessert for Steffi too, but it's more enjoyable to have 25 people over outside in the summer.

Hamburgers
Hot Dogs
Rolls

Strawberry & Chicken Salad

Perfect Potato Salad

Corn on the Cob

Soda
Beer
Ice Tea/Lemonade

Chips/Dip
Veggie Platter

Friendly's Watermelon Roll
Strawberry/Rhubarb dessert

I haven't started planning either Steffi's family party OR her friend party......still haven't gotten a keyboard either.....summer is nice, but I think I'm taking it a little TOO easy, LOL.

Silly me.......I forgot to mention that Tommy learned to ride a bike over 4th of July weekend!! (edited:: I did mention it briefly, it appears, LOL) We had a mini-bike (bike shown not actual bike, LOL) that had training wheels on it, that I thought would be easier for him to learn to balance, but it was harder for him to pedal and steer once the training wheels were off. There wasn't enough room for him to really pedal and get speed going, so John put him on Johnny's bike, and within a couple of tries, he took off!!!

It's SO much easier teaching the 3rd child to ride a bike. We had a talk with him and explained that it would make more sense for Johnny to get a new bike, and to get Johnny's hardly used old bike, and he was fine with that. The reason that it is hardly used is that when we want to go biking, we have to pack the van up with bikes and such and go somewhere big and somewhat flat as I had 3 different levels of riders and our driveway and surround roads aren't very conducive to neighborhood bike riding.

We got him a 24" Mountain Bike with 18 speeds and he seems to be learning how and which speed to use fairly easily.

Oh......has anyone else joined Blockbuster's Kid's Club I thought all 3 kids could join seperately, but it's only one per membership, which is understandable. So far this summer, we watched Pippi in the South Seas, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and Baby Geniuses.

I was very disappointed that my children didn't like the Pippi movie......for some reason I can remember watching them when I was little and rewatching them when they came out on HBO. However, even when I was watching a little bit with them the other day, I was like....what the heck did I see in this, LOL. Maybe we should have rented the original Pippi movie.

Anyway.......the kids are looking forward to blazing their way through the movies.....Air Bud (all versions), Little Rascals original tapes (in that collector's set) and other Disney movies from the 70's.....The Apple Dumplin' Gang..... I also want them to see the original Freaky Friday, hopefully that'll go over better than my other choice, :-)

So I've been researching and browsing online for a keyboard for Steffi. My sister told me about a cool one that has 100 songs and lessons programmed into them. With buying an adapter and other accesories, it will run about $200.....a little more than I wanted to spend. There is no problem getting her a basic keyboard either.

I ran up to WalMart tonight to get a rollaway under bed storage thing for Steffi's Barbies because they've outgrown the other 4 smaller containers they are in. I think she has maxed out on Barbies. Wouldn't you know they have 4 freakin' lids and NO bottoms, grrrrrrrr. I decided to check out the keyboards they have there, and I don't even know if what I am looking at is gonna be too big for her anyway. The keyboards (that are gonna run me about $200) came in a HUGE box, while the other ones looked more manageable. I would imagine if I got her the larger one, we'd need the stand too....she's not gonna be able to lay that on her bed and play...... Looks like I have more researching, browsing and shopping to do.

Speaking of dinner, John's coworkers asked him to go over the border to NY and purchase $190 worth of PowerBall tickets. Uh......they didn't check to see that NY was actually a participating state, LOL.....and he wasn't about to drive to CT or PA. On his way home, he stopped for dinner. I told him I wanted a chicken and eggplant parm sandwich. Meaning, breaded chicken cutlets, breaded eggplant, sauce, mozzarella cheese on a roll. Somehow, he came home with a grilled chicken, breaded eggplant, roasted red peppers and provolone sandwich....... I was bummed to say the least..... He said he ordered the right thing.....I believe him as my sandwich concoction is not on the menu and I always have to REALLY specify what I want.

Looks like we'll hit BJs and BestBuy tomorrow so I can scope more keyboards out in person.

Ah......back to no schedule.....

Steffi's birthday is this weekend, so I have to plan and buy, etc....... I can't think of anything to get her, and she can't think of anything that she wants. After a bit of thinking, we've decided to get her a keyboard.....so I need to scope out different ones, and find some books so she can teach herself. She started reading music a bit at my MIL's, so I think this will be a good present for her. It's either that or clothes ;-)

I need to do a few things around here before we hang outside for the rest of the day. Have a good one.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

We've been busy doing nothing. Tommy is now riding a bike without training wheels, I finished and loved Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and VBS is over.

Time to figure out if I want to tackle any kind of big jobs this summer or just hang out.

Okay, done thinking, I'm just gonna hang out :-)

Need.....to......change......this......background!!!!!