Tis the night before Christmas and all I had was a 27years old, a 14 year old and a 7 year old all running around the house getting ready for Santa’s arrival.

They left a few cookies and some milk along with a few last minutes notes.

The 27 year-old's note was an invite to Santa to take a load off and enjoy a beer.
The 14 year-old's note was short and sweet.
The 7 year-old's note well his was a bit different this year …





All I can say is AHHHHHH! After I seen that I just told them all to go to bed or he will never come!

Thank goodness Santa made it! Why I have no idea ! I guess I must have been good enough for them all for Santa to make it to this house .

Santa left a note stating that he was at our home about 2:23 AM.
He thanked Shannel for her kind gestures and he politely turned down the offer to the 27 year old for a beer. He also told the 7 year old that there is no drinking and flying!
With a PS for me: I always say if you believe, anything is possible.

Boy or boy he was right, all I wanted for Christmas was new motherboard and I GOT IT!
I look forward to caching up with all my new frineds after the New Year I have quite a few great stories!

From our family to yours have very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!




Remember, Believe, Live, Laugh often and Love much this year!

CAN HE DO IT ?

I HAD TO CALL SANTA …(THE SANTA800 IS PROGRAMED INTO MY CELL. HEY I HAVE THREE KID’S NATHAN, SHANNEL& BUBBA. IT'S NICE TO HAVE POWER!)

I HAD TO BEG & PLEA WITH HIM … OUR CONVERSATION WENT LIKE THIS.

ME:OHH SANTA I HAVE TRIED TO BE REALLY GOOD THIS YEAR.

SANTA: WELL DESIREE, YOU HAVE MADE IT ON THE GOOD LIST SO FAR.WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?

ME:ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A NEW MOTHERBOARD FOR MY COMPUTER .I AM LEARNING HOW TO HAVE A BLOG AND IT IS SURE FUN. I NEED TO POST ABOUT THE PROCESS OF THE ADVENT CALENDER, THE DOG PEEING ON THE TREE AND HIDING THE CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR THE KIDS TO NOT SEE.

SANTA:I SEE HE SAID, GO AHEAD AND SEND IT INTO TO MY ELF'S & WE WILL DO ALL WE CAN TO GET YOUR COMPUTER BACK TO GOOD HEALTH BEFOR CHRISTMAS.

ME: THANKS SANTA I.O.U. I WILL DO MY BEST TO STAY ON THE GOOD LIST, IT WILL NOT BE EASY BUT I WILL TRY!

SANTA: HO HO HO! OK DESIREE, YOU DO THAT! THE ELF’S IN THE MANUFACTURING PLANT USELY TAKE AND I SAY USELY TAKES 7 TO 10 BUSINESS DAYS.I WILL PLACE A RUSH ON IT! A FEW EXTRA MARSHMALLOWS IN THERE SNOWMAN SOUP SEEMS TO WORK WONDERS. HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY SEASON, HOPE TO SEE YOU ON CHRISTMAS. HO HO HO!

UMM…. WILL SANTA AND HIS ELF'S BE ABLE TO GET MY PC FIXED FOR CHRISTMAS? KEEP CHECKING BACK TO SEE.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Hero

Who's your hero?

The answer likely depends on how old you are, where you live and who you consider the "good guys" to be. There's also probably a little bit in there about your values and beliefs. They're the best of the best, exemplifying all the courage and nobility and genius and hard work and modesty and ambition and humility and grace that can be displayed in today's times.

They're the ones we really want to be like when the going gets tough, they're the ones I want to show my son and daughter and say, "See? See?"


Do you remember when you were a kid and you imagined meeting your hero or a famous celebrity?

We had an opportunity of a life time while in Chicago over Thanksgiving.
We all had the chance to participate in an autograph signing of one of our hero’s.

North Park men’s basketball team; Guard #3 Mr. Jason Gordan.



My seven years old thought this was the coolest deal ever.





My fourteen years old just did not know what to do.



Jason was felling it… The autographs were getting easier and the flow of the conversation was great.


Then walks up the guy that every celebrity hates to meet.

This guy had know idea what to do when meeting a super star, heck besides embracing himself and the rest of us still in line waiting for our autographs he embraced the 6.5’, 205 lbs. guard.





I tell ya the fans are getting crazy these days.

Who ever raised this guy should have gave him a few pointers on what to do when meeting a celebrity...

This is why Jason will be the greatest sports hero of all time.

Remember Jason we chose them...LOL

Chicago’s in my heart.

We took a mini vacation to Chicago over Thanksgiving. We spent time with family. We also decided to take in some sites. We even had our own personal guides (thanks Tiff & Jason) for the day. We had a list of events all planed out.

We took the train brown line/red line, Sears Tower, Macy’s, Street side shows, Chicago Dogs, Lego Land, Water Taxi, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate so many exciting events to do all in one day.

It was cold and crowed but we were not going to let that stop us.

During the day I just kept looking at everyone and everything. I just could not seem to take it all in. My mind was going 100 miles a minute. I kept thinking…

All these people they all have homes, friends and families, beliefs all with a different walk of life.

I kept getting this warm fuzzy felling inside,it has been many years since I have experienced the true meaning of family.

I was on the train on the way back from a fun day of events an was thinking back to years ago there were television programs that offered however so gently, honest, home grown values, beliefs and characters so true you felt like they were family.

I remember watching sincere people, portray honorable characters and live humble lives. Is it old fashion to still enjoy the Andy Griffith Show, Little House on the Pierre (my favorite), or even the Cosby Show?


For me deep inside there is a profound desire to hold on to the safe security that accompanies knowing nice, sweet, caring, none threatening people, even though at times I thought they were only in books and on television

I fell that the innocent sense of togetherness, dare I say that sense of family. Dictionary.com first defines family as “a fundamental social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” It is the second definition that is perhaps more accurate however, defining a family as “two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.”

I have learned real family fights and makes up, argues and agrees to disagree and loves unconditionally. I have been given a gift of a full family. I define family every day by our actions, our words, our beliefs and our unconditional love.

It’s funny to me, how I can go to such a beautiful city and look forward to learning some history of the this great city and I reflect back to relies I have taken much much more. I will always have a piece of the (Chicago) city in my heart.


Thanks Chicago!








Family is everything!

History of Thanksgiving in the eyes of a Seven Year Old

My seven year old came home from school an explained to me that he was learning about Thanksgiving.Then he asked me what Thanksgiving was?

It got me thinking back throughout history, mankind has celebrated the bountiful harvest with thanksgiving ceremonies. It is my understanding before the establishment of formal religions many ancient farmers believed that their crops contained spirits which caused the crops to grow and die. Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them. Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits.

In The United States In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770's) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.
In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

I may be a bit off but I found my self going in great detail such as I did just then with my son. He was just sitting there silently looking at my like I was crazy.

So I apologized to him and said to him we all do not a have the same beliefs or the same traditions.At that moment he interrupted me and said Mom Thanksgiving is just about spending time with Family right?

I teared up and laughed … Lesson learned.

So many everyday things to be thankful for!

New definition

Seems to me our family works had to give NORMAL(the town we live in) a new definition.

Since we moved here we have seen something’s, done something’s that are just not Normal.

Odd enough most of them are in our home.


Let me just ask you all how normal this is.

What do you do when “everyone “is grounded for the weekend?

How is this Normal? Heck how is that possible? (I have no clue but it did) Well in our house anything is possible.


When we all deciced we were grounded (No details will be given at this time on why we all have been placed on punishment..lol)I can tell ya I was looking forward to curling up with a book and a nice warm cup of hot coco and my soft blanket. One day with out any worries.We had no TV, Phone, IPod, radio ,game boy, football, baseball, basketball just to name a few. Nothing to monitor, Nothing to get us into trouble or to get us hurt.

We were to stay inside and think of why we were all grounded.
What would we do with out all of things we so call necessities these days.

From a Mom’s stand point I was thinking this would be some great down time!

WHAT WAS I THINKING…?


I will let this first photo explain:




This is what happens when a 27year old and a 7 year old get grounded at the same time!





Then you add in a 14 year old confined to her roomthis is what you get.







Seems to me she has either has gone mad or she just loves taking new and improved self portraits.


Well after looking at what these weirdo do when they are grounded, Maybe reading a book with a nice warm cup of hot coco and my soft blanket is to much to ask or just to Normal. So I thought I would just get a jump strat on the stuff around the house.




Yep you got it laundry.



Ahhh who am I kidding, I have to join the rest of the community to change the definition of Normal.









So if you can’t beet them join them!

Thank you for believing

I know this may seem a bit odd, Well heck for the people that know me, I am odd all in it self!

I would like to dedicate this post to all the teachers out there that truly make a difference.

You know who you are!

Teachers

Getting us ready for our future,
we get mad, cry, yell, laugh, and have some of the happiest moments we could ever experience with our teachers.

If anybody deserves to be recognized, it is our teachers.
But no trophy or award could ever express our gratitude.

The best gift that we could ever give our teachers is to succeed in life.

That's why they are here today and have dedicated their lives to teaching our children who are special, smart, gifted, tall, thin and husky.

That is exactly what a child is to a teacher, and that's why our children will touch the sky, and when, God willing, they will sometimes go beyond the moon.

Thank you for believing !

Top of the Gateway Arch

We had a few days off this pass week, so Nathan and I decided to take the kids to a place high in the sky.

So the kids and I piled in the jeep on Wednesday right after school and we took a 2hour and 42 minute road trip to Saint Louis to meet up with Nathan.

We had arrived to the hotel just before dinner time, we decided to take a quick dip in the swimming pool and then we would get some take out to eat in the room so we could watch the first game of the World Series.(Err we will talk about the on a latter date!)




After swimming we all got ready to have dinner in bed ( This was great fun for the kids.)We took a bit long on figuring out sleeping arrangements then I would have liked but we finely snuggled in our beds and enjoyed our White Castles for dinner.

For those of you who know anything about White Castle know that you don’t eat these in one room with four people and one bathroom! I new it was going to be along night…

We made it threw the night!
We all got up and got ready ,packed up our belongings and we were off to visit to the Gateway Arch Riverfront.




This visit would not be complete with out going to the top of the 630-foot-tall Arch. At the highest point in downtown St. Louis, you’ll experience unforgettable views of the city and the Mississippi River.

The entrance to the south leg of the Gateway Arch features life in St. Louis as it was during the 1800s, returning to a time when the St. Louis Riverfront was bustling with steamboats, and merchants.
The north leg of the Gateway Arch takes you back to the year 1965 when the construction of the Arch was completed. We were able to see what it was like for the construction workers fitting the final piece of the Arch.






Back to the Old West we had the chance to visit the Museum of Westward Expansion. We saw rare Indian Peace Medals and weapons. The Museum of Westward Expansion preserves the past so that we were able to experience an important part of history today. We also discovered the land that Lewis and Clark explored. We seen how the mountain men lived in the 1800s and we took a peek inside a covered wagon.







Then we all loaded in our little bubble and I mean little and we were off to the top ! The ride up was quite we all were just listing to the sound this little bubble made while we claimed to the top of the arch,not to mention the offal smell that filled the little air we had with left over White Castle... ( Nathan).




We made it ! We Finley had clean air to breath in.

Then it kicked in were at the top of the Arch . It was Breath taking.






You could see up to 30 miles on a clear day I would guess. Our luck was only about 15 miles due to the rain. Looking West, you’ll have great views of downtown St. Louis. My favorite was looking inside of Bush Stadium. The kids seemed to be in Ahh over all the swimming pools on the tops of the hotels! Looking East, you can see the Mississippi River and Illinois.




I have to say it was one of them fun filled rainy days as a family that we will always remember!

Mile High Magic

It's been an incredible few days of baseball !

The Rockies are going to their first World Series.



The fans rally towels will be ready !We will survive one more round at the World Series !

LET'S GO ROCKIES !!!

Baseball ... it's amazing how the game plays itself out.

How long can you last.

When we went to Minnesota last month we had the wonderful opportunity to experience many different activities.

Tubing on the lake was one fun highlight of many. Nathan & I were telling my brother how hard is was to throw us off the tube last time we had went. My brother just looked at us both and laughed, go for it he said.

Nathan went first, he tried to get on the tube and that was a challenge in it self.

Try One: Got on fell off.

Try Two: Got on fell off again.

Try Three: He swam to another boat to try and jump on,he thought that plugging his nose would help him get on this time.



Heck maybe it does work, he made it!!!!



The three people that were in the boat that Nathan had jumped off of were all laughing hysterically. Now what I said to my self… Oh my goodness I shouted out load he lost his shorts!!!



He caught them just in time to keep it PG13!
After all that he was on,he was ready we had received a thumbs up.My brother said I’ll be nice for a swipe around the lake but he will work for it .



What a beating it was ...
Jumping in the air,Back and forth,Up and down & Side to side.




He’s gone … After one swipe around the lake, it was a matter of just a few seconds…



Before we picked Nathan back up, my brother asked me if we should just tell him he had been on the tube the longest? We both laughed aloud.



Nathan got back in the boat and exhaled … He said, I did not last very long did I? We all laughed!

I was next …

The batteries went dead in the camera I was on for so long!

Baseball is a simple pleasure.

Yesterday was a pretty emotional day for me all day long (women I know...). I had reflected back to the previous four years of my life. I felt like my life was on a constant roller coaster. I had to find some sort of balance in my life.

To make along story short a dear friend of mine told me that I need to get out and try new things, experience life’s simple pleasures. So I did just that, I went to my first T-ball game with my son, we meet some great people we even meet a few that we thought were a bit crazy, but we had a great time!


Not long after that I went to my first baseball game at Coors Field home of the Colorado Rockies. What a day that was. From finding parking, to the fans in the streets, peanuts, popcorn, hot dogs,nachos(only if you are good)& everyone has to have a #1 foam fan finger.

You could not help but to smile, laugh shout at the top of you lungs G-O R-O-C-K-I-E-S! That was the day I fell in love with the true meaning of baseball each and every bit it.


For some baseball is very boring.Not to me yelling at the TV , laughing at myself for spilling my bowl of popcorn while sitting at the foot of my bed last night. Watching when the Colorado Rockies were down two runs and not even out of the top of the 13th inning of National League Wild Card tie breaker then a fly ball for the winning run in a 9-8 tiebreaker victory what a great time.

Just then I realized I had learned that life is a game of baseball, it’ll throw you for a curve, sometimes you may trip and fall, but you'll get what you deserve. When you step up to the plate, you don't know at which you'll swing, but for all you know, it may not mean a thing. You might end with a walk, or maybe you'll get a run, you may not end, until you're back where you begun.


My dear friend that told me long ago I need to enjoy life and the simple pleasures it has to offer, I can say I'm excited to be part of each and every minute of what ever it may be!

Tiger Cub

We made the leap to Cub Scouting this year .







We will have lots of fun, adventure, and activities with our den and pack. But there's more to it than that.Today being a Tiger Cub Scout means we (not just our first grader, the whole family) are members of a worldwide youth movement that stands for certain values and beliefs.

Cub Scouting is more than something to do. It seems to be all about the boy’s they are today and the person they will become.

Last night we had our first pack meeting.The boys had to dress in their class A uniforms. They all looked like such little gentlemen standing there saluting the flag. Truth be told I love a guy in uniform.

Let me tell you this first grader is the most handsome I have seen yet!

Boy I'm in trouble!

I'm sure you will hear more from this handsome first grader. He will tell you all about all the fun he has had and his upcoming adventures.

He will even ask you to support his pack with large pop corn purchase.

Stay tuned for more Tiger Cub Tails.

The Ants go marching one by one.

Have you ever observed ants one by one in action as they work to create such unique fascinating tunnels?


Well on our kitchen table we have ants doing just that!

You might be thinking that is just not normal ...
Well welcome to Our Home !

My son received the most interesting gift,a new age ant farm!

He received this gift about a month or so ago. We even had to mail order the ants for this funny little farm. Every day my son went to the mail box to see if the ants had arrived,to him it felt likes months. Finally we received the ants we all we very excited. They sent us about thirteen or so red fire ants .We placed them in the blue gel habitat and they were off to work.

I have to say my son thinks this is very neat.He looks each morning to see how hard his ants worked threw the night.He is now the most popular kid in the first grade.He brought his ants to school for show and tell last week this was a great hit!His class just finished up with a lesson about how hard ants work together as a team.

Even the Orkin bug guy thought it was neat.

I have found that the adults and teenager in our family and the adults at school find these hard working ants just as fascinating as all of the seven year old little kid’s.

Evey kid and recycled kid or teenager should have one of these, it truly is that neat.

Thanks Ralph & Char .This has been another great adventure in our home!

ManyYears Ago

Today is a great day in Blog Land …


It is the author of Homespun Headlines 60th Birthday !
OK maybe not 60 but SOR told me too...

Join me in singing Happy Birthday to one of the good old boys.


Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday old Ralphhhhh
Happy Birthday to you!!!!
& many more!!!!!!!!

Have a great day!

We will enjoy the cake we had here for ya!

Got ya!

Don't forget we do Love You!

Family Time

We have a great bike trail here in Normal called Constitution Trail.

This paved Urban open space trail is 5.9 miles long.

We noticed this trail upon our arrival here to Normal.It looked like something we all would like to do as a family.

One problem the two adults in this family need bikes...

Last weekend we decided to go buy two bikes on Friday night at the local Wal-mart so we could all go on a bike ride Saturday Morning .

We arrived at Wal-Mart first mistake is the bike aile is way to close to the toy aile and you can not let a 27 year old & a 7 year old near the toy aile, nothing but trouble.

Finally we made it to the bike aile, We were looking at all the bikes,we new we did not want to spend a great deal of money being we would probable not use these bikes as much as we probable should.We came to a decision on two bikes oh and one toy(witch I will tell you about another day.)

We finally made it home,we looked over each bike oiled them up checked all the nuts & bolts and tested them out. My son an I went around the block and next was just a big BOOM the front tire blew out ! Ahhh I could not believe it !

Off I went the next morning to get a new tube .I have never changed a bike tube befor so only oh an hour and a half latter it was fixed!



So let me introduce you to The Big Red Machine.




Finley ready to go !
Hang on !Not gone yet I get over by my bike to get on it to leave and this is what I see...





I had to laugh , I always wanted my own bike plate with my name on it but we could never find "Desiree" so this worked !



It is 10:15 ,beautiful weather and we are off down the road .



It is a very nice trail it is very well maintained with beautiful gardens,ponds & a creek.The trail was filled with bikers,runners & walkers.

It is now oh about 11:AM and we stoped to look at some wildlife and to take a drink of water and the two adults in the family are starting to realize that they had not done this in a while.

I just have one question have you look at a seat on a bike lately ?







All I can say is OH MY GOODNESS !!! The seat on my bike when I was 7 was the same size ! OUCH !


We continued on the tail back home we reached the house about 12:45 and parked our bikes.






We had some lunch,shared a few laughs,smiles & quite a few EWW'S & AHH'S !


I look forward to seeing the remanding five miles of this trail on our next family bike ride.

Everone has a fishen story ...

When I was a little girl I remember my grandpa,my dad,my uncles & my brother all had a good fishen story or two to tell.

The stories were told over and and over.

They all had the same quest at one point in there life to get the biggest walleye ever!

The stories all where told about the type of bait they used ,what the weather conditions were,the time of day ,Ohh an the fish always seem to grow in inch or two each time the story was told.

So today I would like to share our little fishing story.

We loaded up the truck with all the gear,hooked up the boat
and were off to start our great fishing adventure.













We went to Garrison Minnesota a known lake for the locals " Mille Lacks Lake"
Most people know this lake for holding some of many record braking Walleye ever caught.

Well just like the rest of my family we were out to get that fish,the one that I have always head about . Today was the day we could show'em all up.

We got the boat in the water & practiced our safety. We new that one of us were going to get that big fish .










It is now 1:30 in the afternoon , The weather if warm and sunning, We placed a large brown earth warm on our hook and we ready to get that BIG FISH .







2:00 PM No Fish

2:15 PM No Fish

2:45 PM No Fish

3:30 PM No Fish

It is now 4:15 we are not having much luck the only thing that Bubba(Tony) caught was a baby Bull Head .





We were all getting tired ,The weather was getting cloudy & cold & We were all very hungry .





Then 5:30 it happened the boat was drifting back and forth ,The bobber went under everyone just watched for a minute.

Then we all started yelling


GET THE NET !
GET THE NET !
THIS IS IT !
IT'S THE BIG ONE !!!

Their it was HOLY COW it was the biggest Walleye we have ever seen! He was beautiful.

He may not be the biggest in the lake but it was bigger then most.
It took allot of mussels to get this guy in .









We had to get this fish back to show everyone that we really caught a record breaking walleye .

The news traveled fast, we had locals from all over wanting to meet us and to take photos of us and the Walleye.








This photo was published in the Garrison News.







Hmmm I wounder why my Grandpa,Dad,Uncle,& Brother all have this same photo just with them in it ...


Remember everyone has a good fishen story an now we have ours !

Blog gone too the dogs .

I have not seen my brother in sometime and I had a wonderful opportunity to spend this pass weekend with him. We had a great time!

We did have one quite strange conversation.He stated that he read an article in some paper that 95% of all dog owner look like their dogs.

I replayed to him ,So you think your cute adorable little sister looks like a dog ? He says no not just any dog but your dog ...

So I have to ask is it true that after a while owners start looking like their dogs ?



Exhibit A

A photo of me ...











Exhibit B
A photo of my Dog Tubby ...





Maybe I should have had this conversation with my brother before I introduced him to my dog Tubby .

Being that he is still my big brother I keep it quite but his gray ,10 year old, 30lbs over weight yellow lab is looking quite familiar...

Normal has gone Bananas !!!

I live in a nice home in Normal IL.

Some days I fell like I live with three monkeys, Two dogs & a turtle.

Today has been a petty laid back day.The NORMAL Sunday house chores,movies,a nice nap for some of us & even a nice lunch.

After lunch I though I would take a walk out to the front yard to see ...






















A place I once new as Normal has gone BANANAS !!!