Happy New Year!

B's birthday!

Twelve years ago today Brianna Joy was born at 7:37p.m. It was so fun to here the words it's a girl. In Bri's words we had a great day today. First off Bri slept in which she does every opportunity she gets.

She likes to stay up late and get up late. Later in the day the whole family went iceskating. What a nice thing the Clipper has going on there the atmosphere was fun and relaxing. I did not skate. Just looking at the skates made my ankles hurt. I instead took care of my grandaughter. When we got home we had some of Bri's favorite things. Shrimp, seven layer salad, and pizza. After dinner B opened her gifts. Then for her birthday cake we had sticky buns. I have an easy recipe for them. Yeah, she doesn't really like birthday cake. Then we watched "Invinceable" B had been wanting to watch the movie all week. It was finally the right time to watch it. Good movie. Really got me in the mood to watch the Eagles play on Sunday. It was a fun day. I should mention we weren't quite all there today we missed Elijah he was with his other grandmom for the day. We did see him later though.

God is good!

I have two things that kind of bother me. One is how come you here people say God is good when something good happens. God is good all the time not only when something good happens he is good even when not so good things happen to us. God has good in mind for us in all things especially the hard things. Cause it's during the hard times that we potentially have the ability to grow a lot. Isn't God so good to allow things into our lives so that we can grow in our faith and trust in him. So next time something not so great happens to you think to say God is good because he is all the time. =)






Next thing is something that is close to my heart. How many times have you heard someone say "stop acting so retarded" or "that person looks so retarded" or something along those lines and usually people laugh. Haveing a son who is mentally challenged it really disturbs me to here those words used in a negative way. I know that most people I here saying those words aren't trying to be mean spirited about mentally retarded people. They just aren't really thinking about what they are saying. But we do need to think about what we say. So say what you mean and mean what you say. And let's choose our words wisely.

breakfast...........

Saturday morning we woke up to a nice surprise. The girls had a friend overnight and they all decided to make breakfast for Edwin and I. First they set the mood with nice smooth jazz playing in the background, then set the table fancy and made place cards so we knew where to sit. =) They did a great job and the breakfast was quite good. They also cleaned up after themselves which is always a big plus.

What a nice way to start the day. Thank you girls!

my caregroup

Tuesday night our caregroup met together for a wonderful meal provided by everybody from our group. Upon arriving the Christmas mood was evident from the warm ambiance of candles and an inviting home to the beautiful set table. Karla did a fabulous job. As always we had a fun time talking, joking and eating. Hmm let's see is this beef stew or chili? Only the cook knows for sure. And wait is this the one with nuts or the one without I'm not sure. And ahhhh does this foot warmer, massager thing feel nice and look at the cool disco lights on it. Ahh yes fun stuff.

You guys are great. Love all my caregroup homies. Thank you Geoff and Karla a good time was had by all.

Fab 5........

So some of you know of the Fab 5. The Fab 5 consists of myself and 4 of my good friends from way back in the day before we were all married. We lost touch with one another for many years until a death of a mutual friend brought us back together again. I think Connie was the one that called us all to get together. We are all so glad to be back in each others lives and now we get together on a regular basis. Every few months we get together for a sleep over at Sharon's. That my friends is fun times. So recently we had our annual christmas gift exchange and this is a pic from that time.

So here's to the Fab 5!

left to right: Roxanne, Sharon, Carol, Connie, Phyllis

decision..........

I have made my decision. Drum roll please..........................I like the Volume Exact Mascara by Cover Girl the best. The Exact Lash is also nice. But the volume gives me just that.. more volume. The exact lash is good for those of you who just want your lashes to be more defined.

So there you have it.

Here's another tip. For those of you who add a little color to your life. Well when those roots start popping out before you are ready to color again just find a mascara color that is close to the color of your hair and just kind of fill in a little bit over the roots with the mascara just enough to blend it in. Aside from making your hair a little stiff it works great.

highway robbery.........

I thought this year was going to be kind of easy with the gift exchanging. I had 3 or so people who just wanted gift certificates to Park City. So I go out to P.C. to get them. And WHAT!!!!

You can't get a gift certificate for less then 20 bucks and to top it all off they charge you 2 dollars for just buying one. Hey ya all that just ain't right. Guess I'll be given hard cold cash. Ya heard!

a funeral..........

My Aunt Marian passed away on Dec. 3rd. Yesterday my husband and my sisters and our parents attended the funeral. Marian was married to my dad's youngest brother Aaron Jr. She died of cancer. It was a nice service attended by mostly Mennonite family's as my Aunt and Uncle are Mennonite. The older I get the more I appreciate my heritage. My parents left the Mennonite church a long time ago when I was but a wee child. But we definitely grew up around the Mennonite faith since most my dad's side is Mennonite. Something I really noticed yesterday during the service was the singing. Singing all accapella. Beautiful singing. Harmonic singing. Singing like you sing when you sing the songs over and over again where you know the tune inside and out. The sound was so calming and beautiful. Marian and Jr's oldest daughters family has 11 in there family sang a beautiful song together a song that there mom enjoyed. That was very touching. One of the pastors was reminiscing a little bit and quoted a phrase that my Uncle Jr. would say. It struck us all a little funny. It goes "If that doesn't ring your bell then your clapper must be broke" Ahh good stuff. Marian was buried at the Weavertown Mennonite Church's cemetary. That church holds a lot of memories for me. I grew up playing there at the church all the time riding my bike there round and round the church. My sister and I learned how to drive stick shift there on the little hill. And my grandparents are buried at the cemetary there so we often walk there to take a look at there head stones. Lots of good memories. As my friend Cynthia said one time to me. You never regret going to funerals. She's right I was very glad to be at the service and support my family during there time of sorrow.
Marian Elizabeth Lapp - October 23, 1939 - December 3, 2006

tidbits..........

First off I want to give a shout out to two incognito blog viewer friends. Kim and Danielle. Hey girls I know you're out there.
Next the school where my children go are having an assembly on Friday. Quay Hannah who he and his lovely wife just became members of Crossway Church will be speaking. He will be speaking on Racism. It's so great to know that he will be there and address such an important issue.
And did you see another Crossway member in last night's paper? Our very own Andy Long. Let's here it for the LancasterARTS!
Okay here's an update on the mascara issue. Covergirl just came out with another Exact Lash. Now they have Volume Exact Mascara. This time it's in a burgundy colored tube and wand. I'll let ya know how it is.

makeup review

There are two recent products I bought that are worth mentioning for those who like to indulge in a little inhancement. No. 1 mascara. Gotta use mascara it brightens any face instantly. I'm using Lash Exact by Covergirl. It really does what it says which is to give you nice lashes without clumping. Thumbs up. The other thing is coverup. I'm always on the search for good undereye cover. What I'm using now is Instant Age Rewind by Maybelline. It's definately good coverup. Has it ended my search.......... no. But till I find something better this is pretty good stuff. I'm currently looking for a better foundation to where. I use Bare Minerals. And it is a decent foundation. But I'm finding that it's a bit to shinny for me and I need to find something that has a more matte finish. But I'm being a good girl so far and finishing up what I got before buying something else. Something I would recommend to anyone who is interested is a product line called "Paula's Choice". This lady Paula Begoun has written many evaluations of skin care and makeup. Books like "Don't go to the cosmetic counter without me" Anyway she came up with her own line of beauty and skin care. Everything I've tried has been very good and cost effective. You can check her stuff out at http://www.cosmeticscop.com/. I use some of her skin care and I use her Constant Color Lip Paint. http://www.cosmeticscop.com/shop/product.asp?CODE=CCLP&PAGETYPE=M It's good stuff and really has staying power. I definately recommend her line. That's all for now ya all.

Dipping Bird

Remember these birds? I am a nostalgic person. Things that remind me of my childhood I just love. I have been trying to find these birds but hadn't had any luck. So I turned to the web and I found them. These dipping birds are the coolest.
Sunday I went out with my mom and sisters. Went to a place called Waterloo. It was a gift shop/garden shop. I found a bubble light that was a night light that had Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer on it. Every Christmas time for as long as I can remember they have Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on t.v. It's such a cheesy movie but it brings warm memories with it. Anyway mom bought me the night light. It's now illuminating the bathroom quite nicely. Thanks mom!
Other things I like are the old lunch boxes we used to use with the thermoses in them as well as the old book bags that hung on your one shoulder. I love the Dick and Jane books too.
For my first three years of school. I went to a one room school house in Gordonville. We used to have to use out houses for bathrooms. I don't love or miss those.

more ham

I decided to look up this ham bone song on the web. I have no idea how I came to sing that song every time the word ham is mentioned. But it always pops in my head. Anyway found some stuff about it and turns out that it's not ham bone but instead it's hambone all one word and it's a dance. It's a style of dance that involves stomping as well as slapping and patting the arms, legs, chest, and cheeks. It is related to Clogging and the Jig. Apparently you say these lyrics to this hambone beat. Here's some of the words.

Hambone, Hambone
where you been?
"Round the corner
And back agin"
Hambone Hambone,
where's your wife?
"In the kitchen cookin rice!"

So there ya have it. Now have you ever heard? "Moons over my hammy" That's a breakfast you can order at Denny's. =) Okay no more about ham.

Ham

Thanks for the updates Lisa, Karla, and Gina on your shopping experiences it was fun to here about them. I did not venture out today cause I pretty much figured it would be more of the same thing I experienced this morning. Uhh no thanks.

So instead of more shopping experiences to talk about here's some pictures of our gathering with Edwin's family Thursday. That's Edwin's brother there with the ham. I love this pic. He made the ham and is hamming it up with it. That reminds me of a song I love to sing.........ham bone ham bone where ya been.........The next pic is some of the family playing a game called LCR.

Ever heard of it? Now we are watching our grandkids overnight it will be the first time for Jazelyn. I hope she sleeps for us.

3:00 a.m.

Okay it's 3 a.m. and I'm blogging what's up with that? Well I'll tell you what's up with that. I decided to meet my oldest sister and her daughters and daughter-in law for the big midnight sale at Rockvale. I'm thinking ah there probably won't be a crazy amount of people there it'll be fun to check out the shopping situation I might get some good bargains. So I'm down at the light on 30 just past Walmart and the traffic isn't moving to good and I'm thinking hmm is there an accident or what? Nope, no accident it's just crazy traffic from all the people who think ah there won't be a lot of people out tonight. They were all waiting in line to go to Tanger and Rockvale. It was only like 12:15 when I pull in to Rockvale and there is like hardly no where to park. I'm thinking what is going on here. Found a place to park met my family and did some shopping. Didn't buy a thing. I could feel the moment I walked into the first store that I wasn't going to find anything I wanted to buy that night. The lines were like I've never seen. I did have a mini Crossway reunion. I ran into 4 groups of people right from the git go from church. You all crazy. Anyway I called it a morning and headed home around 2:45a.m.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're watching the Macy's Day Parade and I'm making rice and beans preparing for Edwin's family to come for a Thanksgiving meal. It's my first time of hosting Thanksgiving and I'm having fun. I hope you all are having or had a wonderful family and friends filled Thanksgiving.
God bless you.

agents rammed........

My husband came across this story in the "Past Era" section of the paper the other day. This story happened about 75 years ago not far from us. Things haven't changed to much. Life on the "Pike" is always interesting. Why just last night we had people arrested in front of our house.

And just last week I heard another big bang another car accident. Folks be careful as you drive our way it can be dangerous out there.

Thanksgiving early

Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family. There was 40 some relatives that came. That's all of us but 2. It was so fun to have so many family come. We had a great day.
My oldest sister Jane and her husband Paul hosted the event. They have the perfect room for it a very long sun room. But I told my sister she better add on cause we just fit in that room this time. Janie always does a wonderful job of making us all feel at home and providing us with a great meal. It's always a party at Janie's house. We started the day off with having to only watch the Steelers since the Eagles weren't on t.v. Turned out though that the Steelers game was the only game worth watching anyway. But that's the other story I posted earlier. I didn't do very good with taking pictures I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures early on. But here the kids are having a rousing game of Monopoly. Oh these kids love to make money. Going to have to keep my eye on that. =) A fun time was had by all. I love being with my family every one of them.

Eagles & Manheim Township

McNabb is out the rest of the year with a torn ACL knee injury. As a fan it can take the life right out of ya. But alas there is more to life then the Eagles. So life goes on. It will be interesting to see who Reid goes with to quarterback. Will it be Garcia or Feeley? I'm thinking I'd like to see Feeley come in and play and see if he can bring back some of the magic that he gave us last time McNabb was out. Garcia hasn't shown us much the few times he has played. So I say give Feeley the ball.

Now on to other sports. Manheim Township lost the State Championship game. It wasn't a real fun game to watch usually Township plays with real finesse. They have great footwork and pass the ball around well. But this night M.T. just didn't play there game. The other team had good speed but played rather dirty at times. Early on one of there star players got a red card and got thrown out of the game for roughing up an M.T. player. So anyway not sure what was going on with MT but there was some moments of good play but they just didn't last. As always though Max Kinderwater played a nice game. He handles the ball so well. But being the second best in the state is not to shabby. So congratulations to Manheim Township for a great year!

She's a beauty!

I've gone to long without showing you how cute our grandaughter is. The first picture was soon after she was born and the second pic is how she looks now. She is about 3 and a half months old. She's really starting to smile at us a lot. In the second picture I'm offering up to her all my wisdom. Yeah that didn't take long. Ha! =)

Would you pray?

Some time back my husband who is a carpet installer was developing fluid on his knee. It was recuring quite often and got to the point where he needed to have surgery. That was Aug. 25th. He has not been back to work full-time since then. Edwin was at the doctor yesterday and he said another month off of work. That will be 3 months! Edwin's knee is still sore and slightly swollen. He's been going to physical therapy 2 x's a week. His job has been generous to him in allowing him to come to work part-time and do jobs that don't require him to use his knee plus he does get workman's compensation. God is providing for us and we are grateful. But it sure would be nice for Edwin to get back to normal. So if you would could you pray for him for the healing of his knee. We would appreciate it so much. Thank you. =)

Township heading for State finals!

Manheim Township won there game on Tuesday night 2-1. Max Kinderwater had a nice goal.
Finally got to see him score although it was on T.V. on the news. Now they will play Sat. night at Hershey Stadium. Please pray for Max. He hurt his ankle during the last minute of the game.
I'm waiting to here back from Joanne to see how he is doing. I know Eric said he couldn't put his weight on it last night. I'm hoping and praying he can play for the State Championship.

Do Nothing Club

That's right "Do Nothing Club". My parents belong to this club. My dad has been going to it since around 1957 and my mom joined in sometime later. So what is this club? Local folks from the area gather together most mornings except Sundays around 9:00a.m. for coffee at a local resturant and shoot the breeze. The conversation can range from local goings on, politics, sports you name it they talk about it. There's lots of laughter and some seriousness. This morning I went to the "Do nothing club" cause it was time to celebrate my Dad's birthday which is today and Mom's birthday which was the 8th of this month and throw in there too there anniversary which was the 12th. When this time rolls around my parents pay for everyone of there friends that come to "The Club" that morning there breakfast. It used to be whenever a new person would come into the resturant when it was a club members birthday everyone would have to sing Happy Birthday. Now they kind of toned that down a little bit. But Happy Birthday was sung to my parents at least 3 times when I was there.

Isn't that nice. It's always fun. There was at least 30 people there when I left. Also when I was leaving the waitresses were bringing out a huge cake. Sorry I had to miss that. But duty called and I had to get to work. My parents are kind and generous people. I love them.

A movie

Okay so tonight we were invited to Dale and Carol Landis's to watch a movie along with Sarah R.

It was called "Nacho Libre". To me this movie was sooo funny. Along the same lines of funny as "Napoleon Dynamite". Now this humor isn't for all. Some would think it's stupid. But I'm not one of those people. I will buy this movie. Thanks Landis's. A good time was had by all.

raking leaves

Today Edwin was watching Elijah for a bit. Edwin is so good with him. They are becoming great buddies. Elijah was helping Edwin with a lot of projects around the house and one of them was raking leaves. So here is some really cute pictures of the event. Elijah worked hard. He was running back and forth with arm load after arm load and loving every minute of it. This boy is such a joy.

Question for you?

Do you know where the longest covered bridge in the world is? Well it's in New Brunswick, Canada of course, in a town called Hartland. It's 1282 ft. long. My daughter Bri had to do a project for school and she made a replica of this bridge with her dad's help. It turned out very nice and off she went with it to school this morning. I'm disappointed cause I forgot to take a picture of it before she left.
Rico is going to work today at Water Street Rescue Mission. At his school his class gets to go different places for work experience. I think it's pretty cool. Rico also helps out sometimes in the school cafeteria. He helps move tables and chairs so the custodians can clean.
One last thing I don't think I ever said who won the last game MT played. Township won 1-0.
Not sure when they play next. But they are undefeated this whole year. That's something.

Edwin's Birthday

Today the kids had off from school. It was nice we could all be together to do some running around for Edwin. We got a few gifts and I made my man some steak. I don't usually buy steak because honestly it's expensive and I never feel like I can do it justice. It's not usually nice and juicy like in a resturant and guess what today was no exception. It was alright though it wasn't to bad. If anyone has any tips for making steak let me know. Everyone seemed to appreciate the steak though. So here's a picture of Edwin with Bri breaking in one of his gifts. A back massager. He does look like he's enjoying doesn't he? I think we'll all be wanting many turns with it.

Districts

Saturday night we traveled up to Hershey to watch Max and the rest of the Township soccer team compete for the District Title. We bundled up nice and warm each of us armed with our own blanket. It was a fun and exciting game with Township taking the prize 4-1. Now it's on to States. MT will play Tuesday night at Hershey again at 7:30p.m.

recipe

Here's a recipe I got from a co-worker. This Trifle is sooooo good and so easy to make but yet looks really great. It would be a good dessert for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Cream Trifle
Prep: 30 min. Bake:45 min.

1 pk 181/2 ounces spice cake mix
1 pk 3.4 ounces instant vanilla pudding mix
1 C canned pumpkin
1/2 C water
1/2 C vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 C cold milk
2 pks 3.4 ounces each instant cheesecake pudding mix
2 C whipped topping
1 C chopped pecans, toasted
3/4 C English toffee bits or almond brickle chips

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Transfer to a greased 13 by 9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 min. or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
In a large bowl, whisk the milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in the whipped topping.
Cut cake into 1 in. cubes. In a 3 qt. glass serving bowl or trifle bowl, layer a third of the cake cubes, pudding mixture, pecans and toffee bits. Repeat layers twice. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 15-20 servings.

Happenings

My two youngest girls Bella and Bri ages 10 & 11 tried out for basketball tonight. They both came home very excited that they made there respective teams. Nice of the coaches to let them know right away what teams they made. We're looking forward to watching them play.
Today Rico went to Harrisburg to the Capital. He went with his classmates from school. They all went with a petition to help a 19 year old mentally handicapped girl from school who also as C.P. to get financial help for assisted living. We watched the news and we saw a peak of Rico.
Here is the picture I took of Rico on the t.v. on the right bottom corner.
Another news maker is Max Kinderwater, son of some of our closest friends. He plays on his schools soccer team and they are doing very well and are in the semi-finals for Districts. Myself and Noah went to see him play on Thursday night. Lot of fun. The thing about Max is the dude has been pictured in the paper probably at least 4 times this month alone. And once again he was in todays paper. Great picture!
Congratulations to the Manheim Township soccer team. They play again at the Hershey Stadium this Saturday night at 8:00p.m.

Lori

Yes Lori this blog entry is about you. Surprise! Since you were the first person to post a comment on my blog I thought you should receive the blog light. It was very fun to come home and read a first comment on "The Miranda Experience". And how appropriate it was you. You are after all a part of the "The Experience" right. My friend Lori lived with us for about a year and a half. It was a good and learning experience for us all. I had always wanted a younger gal to take an interest in my kids. And you Lori fit the bill. I do appreciate you very much and your continued interest in us Miranda's is a blessing. I mean after all you lived with us you know us and yet you still want to be in our lives. How nice is that...=) Love you Lori.

Rico

Our 15 year old son has Down Syndrome. He's in highschool now and things are going pretty well. He goes on work programs through school and is really able to follow instructions we are proud of him. One of my big desires for Rico is for him to learn how to really communicate. Rico for the most part is unable speak clearly. There are times when you can understand what he's trying to say. Rico understands so much but he is unable to communicate back his thoughts, emotions and feelings. I want very much to know my sons thoughts. Since I work in his school cafeteria I'm able to keep my eye on him at lunch. I usually look to see where he is sitting. I see him sitting with different people everyday. I feel sad because he doesn't really have any friends that he would per say chill with or look for every lunch to sit with. People for the most part are kind to him but he looks alone to me. Rico is a gift to us I know that. I just want everyone else to know that too. Picture above is taken on Rico's birthday. We got him all Philadelphia Eagles stuff. When he was younger my husband would dress him in Steeler stuff cause he's a big Steeler fan. But one day Rico decided on his own that he was leaving the dark side and going with me his mom to make the Eagles his team. He hasn't looked back since. Haha! Yes! That's my boy. E-A-G-L-E-S.........EAGLES!

Eagles

Pounding my head on the table..why..why..why!!!! My beloved Eagles had there 3rd straight loss yesterday. What is going on in Philly!? The Eagles could not get off the ground at all. They've got so much talent and it's just being wasted. The Giants all of sudden have come into there own. They are playing like champions watch out for them. And to make matters worse the Cowboys had a come from behind victory yesterday as well. It is not looking good for the Eagles for sure. But now they have a bye so hopefully my Eagles will come to there senses and play some real football when they come back. One can only hope.

Singing

I homeschooled my oldest daughter through to graduation. I homeschooled my oldest son, Noah till 5th grade then entered him in public school. (Tall guy right end of pic) When he was picking classes I really encouraged him well actually I guess I told him I wanted him to take chorus. He wasn't much into it at all. But I remember how much I enjoyed being in chorus and I thought he would eventually like it too. And I was right. After his first year with chorus he signed up again again and again and now he is a senior not only is he in chorus but he's also part of HEX which is a men's singing group, and he is in Madrigals as well. Last year was the first time he tried out for County and District chorus and made them both. Once again this year he tried out for County and District chorus and made them both again. It has been a great joy to me to see his love for singing develop. Another joy is he's also part of the youth worship team at our church. I love that he is following in my footsteps. There is nothing better and God honoring then being a worshiper of God. It's what we were created for.

Birthday

Our grandson turned 2 recently. He is the cutest little thing. He has the sweetest smile and personality. That's Elmo on his cake he likes Elmo. He likes to watch Barney along side of Rico. Something they have in common. Actually they get along really well. Elijah calls Noah and Rico Tio which in spanish means uncle. He sounds so cute when he says that. It's so fun listening to a 2 year old learning how to say different words.

First post.

Welcome to my first post. I think I might have fun doing this blog if I can ever figure out how to use it to it's fullest potential. Alright then let's begin................
I Carol will be the publisher of this blog. I am the wife of Edwin who I love very much. God has blessed us with 5 beautiful children and 2 very sweet grandchildren.
Okay wasn't that exciting. I'm done for now.