Tangled, and an evening at the country club

Yesterday Destiny and I went to see the movie Tangled, an enhanced version of the Repunzel fairy tale. We loved it.

In the evening Dick and I went with other people from our church choir to the Nittany Country Club for an evening of dinner and dancing to the oldies. We don't know how to dance, because that was taboo when we were growing up, but I want to learn some ballroom dancing. It looked like so much fun.

We took Destiny along, and she ended up having a blast. I actually got out on the dance floor with her for a few songs.

Here's our choir director Judy and her husband Frank. They are members at the country club, and invited the rest of us to join them. I just love them so much. She is beyond sweet, and he is tons of fun. He was joking around with Destiny last evening, and she said, "You're weird!" He said, "I'M wierd??? Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Hahahahaha!! It was a great evening!

Now we are getting ready to go downtown for the First Night Celebration activities.

My "goalie" has A.D.D.!!

This morning I had an endoscopy in an effort to discover why I had been having the acid reflux attacks this fall. Actually, since the doctor told me to take two omeprazole (Prilosec) capsules per day, I have not had any attacks. No problem showed up today. The doctor, in discussing with me afterward what could have caused the attacks to suddenly flare up after several years, said, "Sometimes the goalie isn't paying attention." I thought that was funny. I guess my little goalie down there that's supposed to be keeping the acid from entering my esophagus, has A.D.D, hahaha!!

Destiny spent the day with Lori and Lori's coworker and daughter. Then they came here for supper. We had so much fun watching Austin play with Destiny. He just loves to chase her around the circle of our kitchen, dining room, and living room. He also loves sitting on our bench like a big boy, and was delighted to sit there beside Destiny eating an ice pop.

The entertainment center in Destiny's doll house plays little songs to go with "TV" shows. He sat for a long time listening and watching them with her.

But sweetest of all was when he laid his head on her lap and listened to the lullaby that the doll house cradle plays. He lay there so long and so still, we thought he surely had fallen asleep, but he hadn't. It was so sweet, I got all teary-eyed watching them!

Nightmares!!

I'm so thankful for a cozy house this morning. It sounds like a blizzard outside, but there's no snow - just wind. Here's a picture I took last night of Destiny's newest craft - latch hooking. She LOVES doing it. So did my kids when they were young, especially Anthony! It's such an easy way for kids to create something that looks amazing when they're finished. Destiny's will be a butterfly, and she wants to make it into a pillow to give her teacher.

I seldom have dreams I can make sense of or remember very well after I've woken up. But Saturday and Sunday nights I did, and they were NIGHTMARES!!

Saturday night I must have been feeling a bit of anxiety about playing piano for the first time at our new church. In my dream it seemed I was at a big church that we had traveled to. We were getting dressed in classrooms in the basement. I decided I needed to run up to the sanctuary to make sure my music was ready, and when I did, I discovered there were already people sitting in the sanctuary. And not only that - I looked down and I had no skirt or pants on!!! So I ran down to the basement in humiliation, only to look in a mirror and notice that I had not done my hair or makeup yet. And THEN I discovered that I had forgotten to bring my blue bag in which I always pack my hair and face stuff. I saw Dick in the hallway and told him I had nothing to do my hair and face with, that I needed to find someone I could borrow things from. My sister Mary Ellen was standing there, looking at me sternly. She said, "We are going to have to have a TALK!" I thought, "Oh, no, she's going to tell me I have to slow down and not have so much stress in my life." But then I was thinking, "But I already DID do that! Why do we have to talk about that now??" I did manage to borrow a comb from someone, and I just did a quick fix to my hair and decided I would just have to go up and play piano without make up. And then I woke up, SO RELIEVED that I had plenty of time and all my necessary stuff for getting myself ready for church. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

The next night I dreamed that Dick and I were walking through a humongous, old, falling apart house that we were buying. I can still picture room after room of wall paper falling off, peeling paint, beds, bunk beds, kids still sleeping in them, an apartment to be rented out. We talked with a lady downstairs and Dick was signing papers. I said, "And how much did we pay for this thing?" He said, "$157,000." I said, "You are kidding!" We walked outside to the ugly yard, I looked up at the roof and said, "Probably as soon as we move in, the roof will start leaking." I was thinking, "Why are we doing this? We finally had a beautiful, new house that was paid for. And now we're starting over with something like this that needs so much work. And we're heading into our sixties!" Again, I woke up and was SO RELIEVED that we had not just signed any papers for a big old, falling apart house!

Definitely dreams that I am not hoping to have come true!!

A Good Christmas Weekend, even without snow!

On Christmas Day we did our traditional fondue meal at Anthony and Lori's house with Lori's brother Gary  and his son William, Sam and Jennifer, and Destiny.  It was fun and crazy, as it always is.  However, we had to admit that without our two biggest eaters - Frank and Ray - it wasn't quite as entertaining.  They always enjoyed the competition of who could eat the most meat!

Austin got a new tent from his uncle Gary...

...and a clock from me.  Lately, in addition to being obsessed with colors and shapes, he's also been crazy about clocks.  This wonderful toy from Michaels (my new favorite store, by the way), combines all of his obsessions into one.  Plus, it will be the start of learning numbers.

Lori gave Destiny an adorable coat, hat, scarf, gloves ensemble.

Of course, being Destiny, there had to be that diva shot!

I gave her several crafts to work on this week - from Michaels, of course!

It was a good Christmas day, with contact in one form or another with each of our seven children.  I dream of the day that we all will be together at one time in one place.

This morning the pianist/choir director at Fillmore UM was out of town, so I substituted for her for the first time.  Dick had to work today, but was able to be there for the first half hour, so I had him play his twelve string guitar along with my prelude number, What Child Is This?  as well as the special number O Holy Night.  Melanie Fisher sang it with me as a duet.  Melanie does not go there to church, but does special numbers there from time to time, and she also helped with the cantata.  We've enjoyed getting to know one another, so this week I asked if she'd consider coming to Fillmore bright and early the day after Christmas to harmonize with me on that song.  If I do say do myself, we sounded pretty awesome together!

Anthony, Lori, and Austin came here for lunch, helping us to use up some of the leftovers from the fondue.  Austin is just crazy over Destiny.  Here she's holding the little guitar Anthony and Lori gave Austin (from Michaels, by the way!)  

Then Destiny got out her guitar that I had given her for her birthday several years ago.  Anthony tuned it for her.  It takes a real man to play a purple Hannah Montana guitar!

After they left, Destiny and I worked on some of her new crafts, she watched a show or two while I napped, then Dick came home and needed the TV for football, so she played in the jacuzzi and I finally got a chance to do this. 

A good Christmas weekend.  Oh! And to you southerners and Lancaster Countians and Eastern and Northeastern coastal people - I guess we are too far north and too far inland to share in the joys of your snow storm.  We got a dusting over night, and that's it for us!  So strange! 

The COOLEST Christmas light/music display

Our Christmas Eve day was about as laid back as we've ever had. Dick had off work, we did some errands, I practiced O Holy Night with the gal that I'll be doing a duet with Sunday morning, we cleaned a little bit, shopped for our fondue groceries, and went to Anthony and Lori's to babysit Austin so they could go out to eat. He was having so much fun "decorating" their Christmas tree with his blue, yellow, and orange plastic balls. He would throw them at the tree, and every once in a while one would lodge in the branches. He would stand back and clap in self-satisfaction!

We took him to see a cool synchronized Christmas light display, but he was not in the mood for it. So after we left their house we went back to watch it again and I got the following videos  It's the coolest thing. You sit outside the house with your car radio tuned to 100.3. And then you sit and enjoy three or four Christmas carols as the Christmas lights on their house dance to the music!

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Let It Snow

Carol of the Bells

Have a Blessed Christmas day! We will be having our fondue today at Anthony and Lori's house with Sam and Jennifer, Destiny, Lori's brother and family, and one of Lori's co-workers.

Coffee Mug cupcake

I've had a number of requests in the comment section, as well as by email, for the recipe for the coffee mug cupcake! I guess we're all in the mood for a quick chocolate fix!!


Microwave Cake In A Coffee Mug

Ingredients

1 large coffee mug
4 tablespoons plain flour (do not use self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla
Chocolate syrup (optional)
Whipped topping (optional)
Cherries (optional)

Directions

Add dry ingredients to mug, & mix well .
Add egg & mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add chocolate chips (if using), vanilla, mix again.
Set mug in the microwave & cook for 2½ to 3 min at 1,000 watts.
Cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Some report that 2½ minutes works best. It depends upon your microwave. So, watch carefully to not over do it!
Remove from microwave.
Allow cake to cool a little, then tip out onto a plate, if desired.
Drizzle with chocolate syrup and top with whipped topping and cherries, if desired!
This can serve 2 if you care to share!

Some of my favorite guys

Dick has been taking some vacation days here and there, which means more play time with Austin. It is just too cute to see how crazy Austin is about Pawpaw. Isn't this the sweetest picture?

This evening Austin was acting so disappointed when Dick was leaving their house. Anthony said to him, "But I'm still here. I'm your daddy. Shouldn't that count for something?" I cracked up! Look at this precious father/son picture!

I had a chocolate attack this evening and decided to try an old trick - making a 3-minute cupcake in a coffee mug in the microwave. Boy, I needed a bigger mug. In no time at all it was rising high above the mug, and before long the top part fell off and finished baking right there on the microwave tray, haha! But it did take care of my chocolate attack!

Happy Birthday, Miki!

On this day in 1966 a little girl was born who would later become our daughter. I wish we had known her when she was this adorable, little doll baby.

But years passed, years of many hard knocks and unmerciful abuse to that little girl. On her 14th birthday, at a church where she attended because of its bus ministry, she gave her heart to the Lord in a deal with Him - that He would give her a new family and a new start.

A few weeks later she joined our family and became the big sister to seven-year-old Lisa, four-year-old Anthony, and one-year-old Jeremy.

At age sixteen she was befriended by a group of young people who were passionately in love with the Lord. They had a profound influence on her, and although she floundered a bit after high school, she came back to Him and to us.

After getting her associate degree in architectural drafting and working in that field for a while, she left for a year of missions in Sweden with Youth Evangelism Service (YES). A year later she came back home, followed by a Swedish young man named Krister who had been the interpreter for the YES team. They got married and moved back to Sweden where he began med school.

They will celebrate twenty years of marriage next summer. Krister is head cardiologist at the Umea hospital, they have two awesome teenagers, Katrina (17) and Bjorn (14), and Miki is now in her third or fourth career (architectural drafter, art teacher, airbrush business owner, and now auto mechanic!)

This is a very abbreviated version of the much longer, very interesting life story of Stacy Lynn Rosenfeld (birth name), who became Mickey Rosenfeld (self name-change), who became Mikelle Annette Stauffer (adopted name), who became Miki Lindmark (married name).

Happy Birthday, dear daughter. We love you and are so very proud of you. And we miss all of you. I think a 20th anniversary trip to the States would be a great idea, don't you?

Praise the Lord and pass the tissues

Here is a news story about Lisa's apartment makeover.  Please take the time to watch the short video, but be sure to have the tissues close by!

Christmas cards, caroling, makeover, and humor

Today I put a whole bunch of Christmas cards in the mail.  Last year I didn't send any at all.  But for many, many, many, many years before that I never did my Christmas cards until the week between Christmas and New Year.  Being a music teacher, my Christmas program at school, in addition to whatever I was doing for church, always took number one priority.  So to have my cards in the mail five days before Christmas feels like quite a feat.

This evening we went Christmas caroling with some others from our church here.  The most fun of all was when we sang in the Alzheimer's unit at a retirement home.  Many of the people sitting there sang along with us.  We did some fun songs too, like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Jingle Bells.  They loved it.  Afterward we went to someone's lovely home for refreshments.  It was a really good time, lots of stories and laughs.

Today Lisa posted pictures of the apartment she redecorated with the help and contributions of many, many friends.  She showed before and after pics, but I'm just posting the after ones.  Every room is so typical of Lisa's artistic flair.  In fact, I think I recognize some of the stuff, hahahaha!!

Here's Lisa with Cyndi, the hard-working, very deserving recipient (along with her daughter and two grandchildren) of all this generosity.  I hope I get to meet her someday. 

If you want to see the before pictures to fully appreciate all that was done, click here.

And now I just have to finish this post with something that absolutely cracked me up when I saw it on Anthony's FB update last evening.  This picture caption was "Bottomless yogurt."

Anthony said he was probably drinking the rest of his yogurt before brushing his teeth.  Is that not the cutest, funniest thing you've ever seen????   And that caption!!  Just tooooo funny!

Born a King

We had our Christmas cantata this afternoon at Fillmore UM. After we were on the stage and the bell prelude was already playing, it suddenly dawned on me that I had not given my camera to Dick. I saw the director's husband taking pictures, so I hoped I could get some pictures from him. Then the second thing dawned on me. I had forgotten to get my reading glasses out of my purse, which was in the church basement. Thankfully, my eyes cooperated and my contacts did not get dry, and I was able to see my music pretty well.

It went very well, and Dick did get this picture with his cell phone.

The narrations in the cantata were very familiar scripture passages about the birth of Christ. But in that setting today, and with the powerful and emotional voice of Mary Anna, our narrator, I often felt close to tears. At one point, I was completely in tears and could not sing at all. She read the scripture about all the baby boys two years and under being ordered to be killed, then we women proceeded into a song about Rachel crying for her children and not being able to be comforted. I imagined that there was probably a mother whose precious baby boy was 23 months old, just as Austin is now - almost two years old, but not quite. And I just felt like sobbing. What a sad, horrible time in history.

Since we're home I've been waiting for news from Florida about the big "reveal" at 4:00 today which Lisa facilitated.  We did get to see a small blurb about it on Tampa's Fox 13 live news at 6:00.  Of course, as the news so often does, they condensed their information so much that they almost missed the point.  They made it sound like this was a church project.  I'm sure there were people from their church who contributed, but the majority of the people who did were total strangers to the woman they were helping, which has made the outpouring of support so incredible.  I'm so eager to see pictures. 

Quick trip, packed with goodness

On Friday evening we left for a quick trip to Lancaster County to spend a little bit of time with Destiny,

to stay overnight at Grandma Mary's house and receive some of her warm love and delicious food,

also for my hair appointment, where I took these pictures of some of their beautiful Christmas decor.

This afternoon we went to my nephew's house for a very small family gathering - just we Pennsylvania siblings (my brother and his wife, my sister Mary Ellen, my sister Doris and her husband, Dick and I) plus my stepmother, my nephew's family, and Destiny.  We spent a lot of time singing Christmas carols.  My nephew's son Josh used to be one of my middle school guitar players, so he got out his guitar and played along.  It sounded really good.

Dick and I drove back home this evening.  Tomorrow is a big day - regular church service in the morning and cantata in the afternoon.