HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Wow halloween came fast this year.
I went in to wake Ashley for school this morning and even before her eyes were open she was yelling YEAH IT'S HALLOWEEN!!!!
She is very excited. She is now back at school this afternoon in her devil costume and having a halloween party. Tonight we are going trick or treating and she has a beautiful red velvet and gold princess costume. She said she hopes to get alot of candy.
She is such a beautiful child. We can never express enough how happy we are to have her and how much we love her. She is our princess for real.

Tomorrow is halloween.......
Ashley is all excited and ready to go. The school gets dismissed at 11:30 tomorrow for the children to go home for lunch and get their costumes on. They are to be back at school at 1:00.
I have the batteries for the camera charging up so I can get lots of pictures.
Hope everyone is having a great night and DO NOT let the ghost and goblins get you.

The Gift of Life
I didn't give you the gift of life,
but in my heart I know,
The love I feel is deep and real,
as if it had been so.
For us to have each other is like a dream come true!
No, I didn't give you the gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of You!
Author Unknown

We went last night and got Ashley an early birthday gift. A tv/vcr combo so she can watch her vcr movies in her room if she wants.

Wow did Jack Frost really come last night. Must be he is in a hurry for winter. Got down in the 20's. Just walked Ashley to school and I am almost tempted to put my feet in the oven to warm them up.LOL! I bundled Ashley up like the we were in Alaska......she probably has sheeded most of the stuff off by now.

Well The rain stopped late yesterday afternoon.
Last night we got together with John's sister and her daughter and we headed to Waterford for the haunted cemetery tour. They led us through with a guide. They had people in the wooded area screaming like mad ghost, a woman in a wedding dress that looked like she was floating around and people jumping out at you. One guy jumped out of the tree and almost landed on Ashley. He must have really scared her as she screamed and then kicked him in his package. The poor guy! She said that she was sorry but she thought that he was going to take her. We did have a good time last night regardless.

Ashley had a great day at school. At the school store she bought a round pencil case, some lip gloss and this rubbery ball that when she was playing with it abit rough exploded and thats when we realized they are filed with a yelloish foamy stuff. Yup exploded all over her bed. John's sister Wendy came over to visit so Ashley spent a few hours with her new cousin Janiye. Janiye is a year older then her and they get along great. They love to do each others hair and boy can they come up with some goofy styles. Halloween in a few days...... hope it is not wet and chilly. Ashley had a spelling test today and again got a 100! She learns them so fast. Tomorrow we are going to rearrange her bedroom and hang some different curtains. We went on an ice cream run tonight....Ashley loves ice cream.

It is 8:12 in the morning and me and Ashley are sitting here looking out the window. It is very foggy this morning and jack frost made his first appearance last night. Right now it is 37 degress. Ashley is already for school and excited because the school store is opened today. SHe has her froggy change purse in her bag with her $5 in there waiting to be spent. She is a girl who loves to shop.LOL! Memory card reader still has not come....guess I should have spent more money and bought it at the store. A few more days until Halloween.......BOO! Ashley has her spelling test today and on Monday she has her social studies test. Have to give her lots of credit as she has been studing everyday. Johns uncle came from out of town and stayed for 2 days with us. He is moving into his apartment today. Ashley enjoyed the time he spent with us and asked why he can't move in. We explained to her that he liked having his own space as we all do. Mo (the cat ) has been meowing at the door wanting to go out and Ashley tells her that her feet will get cold if she goes out. I love hearing the things that she says sometimes. Well hope everyone is having a great day.

Yesterday was one of those days that if it could happen it did... I had a headache that was out of this world. I figured that while it was just me and Ashley and she was in her room doing crafts I would soak in the tub. I started the water and then ashley called me. I was talking to her and forgot about the tub. When I did remeber the tub overflowed and there was 2 inches or more water all over the floor. So I had a big mess to clean. Then I turned the oven on and put chicken in a pyrex dish to bake it and about 10 minutes later I heard something weird. I opened the oven door to discover the dish exploded in the oven and what a mess. Now I did not get my bath, supper was ruined and my head was going to explode. I shut the oven door, fixed a cup of coffee and just sat down. I just needed to take a break. After finishing my coffee me and ashley ran down to the store and bought pork chops as everything else was froze. John was back when we got here and he was a sweetie and cleaned the mess in the oven. Sitting here now thinking about it it is funny but it wasn't then. I hope I never have a day like that again.

If anyone knows where we can find these then please let us know as Ashley saw these on the computer and fell in love with them. They are from her native country.

Another rainy chilly morning here today.
Dressed Ashley very warm today for school.
She studied again this morning for her social studies test. I think she will do good on it.
This week ashley learned all of the months, there abbr. and how many days in each month.
Seeing how they have a bare tree standing in the corner of our livingroom I might put lights on it this weekend.

Humphrey the Blue-Nosed Pumpkin
contributed by Alison!
(sung to the tune of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
Humphrey the blue-nosed pumpkin had a very spooky nose.And if you ever saw it, you might even say it shows.All of the other pumpkins, used to laugh and call him names.They never let poor Humphrey play in any pumpkin games.
Then one foggy Halloween Eve, the Great Pumpkin said,"Humphrey, with your nose so blue, you'll make all the ghosts say BOO!"
Then all the pumpkins loved him, and they shouted out with glee,Humphrey, the blue-nosed pumpkin, You'll go down in history!

We went and got the fireplace tonight. Then we went to a few dollar stores on a sock hunt. Ashley is loving the soft fuzzy toe socks. I could never figure out how you can more or less wear oversized mittens on your feet. But if that is what she wants then she can have them. We then went home and ordered pizza. After dinner we went to another dollar store and bought these socks that go up way pass your knees. Ashley got monkey ones and frog ones. We bought more candles and then we found some foaming hand soap that smells like bananas. Speaking of dinner...... Ashley ate 5 slices. DOn't know where she puts it.LOL!

It is a breezy morning.
Just got Ashley to school.
I will be spending the morning doing birthday invitations.
Need to get them out tomorrow.
She already has a couple of gifts in my closet that were mailed for her already.....
Lucky me she don't get in my closet!

WEDDED BLISS

On Saturday my niece Kara got married.

Best of luck to the happy couple.

Picture from a friend

Tomorrows purchase

Another beautiful day......you would think that it was spring.
Ashley had a great day in school and won a jacks set and a puzzle for her good behaviot with her teacher. She was so excited. We are so happy that she is doing good. Tomorrow night we are going to have a movie night.....we are gonna watch are we done yet? Friday morning I am going to go look at a coupel of car lots to see what they got. I just want an idea for when I buy one after christmas. We went to the store and bought 2 of those barbie doll heads where you do their hair all pretty. She has been wanting one everytime she sees them. She will be happy on Christmas morning with all the gifts that santa is bringing her.While at home depot over the weekend ashley and me saw this cute electric stove that looks like a wood stove. We both thought that it would look really nice in the livingroom. John is going back to buy it tomorrow night. Ashley loves to shop....LOL!

This is the birthday cake we are getting for ashley

A friend made these for ashley

What a beautiful fall day it is.
We have been outside raking the yard and Ashley is making an area all ready to plant in the spring. She is lining the area with large rocks and doing a great job.
We called about a pool and the people just called us back so we are going to go check it out in a little bit.
Tomorrow is back to school.......Ashley has to practice her recorder again tonight.
Hope the weather will stay like this for a few days.

Well Ashley gave us a new experience...........SILLY PUTTY.
Ashley was playing with it last evening and must not have put it away. She woke this morning with silly putty all dried in her hair. In some spots it looked like she had her hair streaked. Oh what a heck of a time did I have getting it out of her hair. Dad went in and changed all the bedding as it was all over. If only I took a picture....LOL!

Ashley is all tucked in for the night. We went to home depot tonight and we were looking at the trees they have on display. Ashley and me both saw a beautiful 7 foot artifical tree that looked like it had snow on it. We both agreed that maybe that will be the tree we buy next year. We loved checking out all the christmas stuff. While John was buying the "men's" stuff me and Ashley were buying jar candles that smell like sugar cookies. We then went to walmart where We bought her a medieval princess costume.....red velvet and gold. We also bought some pumpkin spice candles while we were there. I cooked a venison roast for dinner with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and dinner rolls. Ashley was very happy with this. Ashley calls mashed potatoes squishy potatoes. It is pouring out tonight and if it continues into tomorrow it could put a damper on the guys hunting tomorrow. We are going to do some crafts in the morning and then in the afternoon I am heading out to do some christmas shopping.

I did not post last night as I have caught Ashley's cold and was not feeling very well. While drinking hot tea we did carve some pumpkins last night. Ashley had fun and we ended up with pumpkin guts all over the kitchen.LOL! She and dad cleaned up the mess and I took lots of silly pictures of her and dad with pumpkin pieces on their heads like tiaras. Hopefully card reader will be here in a couple of days so I can start downloading. It looks like it is going to rain today. I guess that it's better then snow; right?

LOOK WHAT THEY DID.........LOL!

We all know that Halloween is fast approaching, then Thanksgiving, then in 2 months is Christmas. Well guess what Ashley and dad did tonight........... look at the picture below!
Yup they put the tree up. I told them that that thing is not getting decorated now until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Can you imagine what everyone is gonna think!

CHRISTMAS TREE

A CHRISTMAS HAHA

halloween song

GREAT PUMPKIN IS COMING TO TOWN(Tune: Santa Claus is Coming to Town)Oh, you better not shriek,You better not groan,You better not howl,You better not moan,Great Pumpkin is coming to town!He's going to find outFrom folks that he meetsWho deserves tricksAnd who deserves treats;Great Pumpkin is coming to town.He'll search in every pumpkin patch,Haunted houses far and near,To see if you've been spreading gloom,Or bringing lots of cheer.So, you better not shriek,You better not groan,You better not howl,You better not moan,Great Pumpkin is coming to town!

ASHLEY'S IDEA

Ashley came across a bunch of stuff about halloween that she is going to help post everyday. We went out and picked some apples from the tree earlier. Ashley was eating them faster then she could pick them. She had fun picking them. Ashley brought home a paer on clocks where she had to add the time and got a 95 on it. This is great as she was having alot of trouble understanding them at first. We are going to collect pine cones tomorrow and sprinkle them with cinnamon so they smell pretty. We have already been looking for craft ideas for Christmas.... she is hurring it! LOL! Well off to bed soon so have a great night and keep warm.

HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual?
The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.
One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.
Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.
Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.
Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.
The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.
The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.
The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.
The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.
The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.
According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.
The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.
So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

Ashley is coughing and has a slight fever so they would not let her be at school today. She spent the day dozing on and off. I pushed lots of drinks into her today and she seems to like the lemon flavored hot tea I got. She was feeling better this evening and the fever is totally gone. She will be allowed to go to classes tomorrow. One kitten left and John's sister Angela will be taking it home this week. Mo will be going to the vet soon to get fixed now. Yesterday morning I woke up to find that the puppy ate my cell phone charger and the cords to our cordless phone. I figured that I would put the laptop in our bedroom last night to keep the cords safe. Well boy was I wrong as the kittens chewed on the charger cord. I used electrical tape for now and have to go get a new one. If it isn't one it is the other with these pets. Hopefully my memory card reader will be in this week so I can download some pictures. I have some funny pictures of Ashley helping to cut up some deer meat last night. She got the biggest kick out of it. She was telling everyone how she has it's tail in her room. YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We bought a mounting kit today and John mounted its antlers. Ashley made more halloween decorations to hang on her walls today. I am hoping to get a couple of hours this week to write christmas letters for all the little nieces and nephews. We put these in their stockings. Well it is bedtime so we hope you are all having sweet dreams. Good night.

LEARNING RUSSIAN

I love you......... Я люблю Вас

ASHLEY IS ABIT SAD

Ashley is abit sad today as two of the kittens (drifter and striper) went to their new homes today. Her aunt angela is taking the one we call JR. home on thursday. We have two more kittens left to find homes for. She wanted to keep them all......can you imagine. She will be okay thought as we explained to her that they will have a better life where they can be the only cat in a home.

We have spent the day finishing the halloween decorations. The deer is being cut up and getting ready for the freezer.........venison for dinner! Crisp fall day and we spent time outside as soon we won't be out as much.

PAJAMA DAY

Today we had a pajama day. Ashley spent the day in her blue pajams bottoms with smiley faces all over them and a tshirt and I spent the day in a tshirt and eyeore pajama bottoms. We hung out and watched matilda and stuart little 2. We did venture out this afternoon to the dollar store down the road. We bought invitations for her birthday, some more halloween stuff and a couple of wrough iron bells. Yes we wore our pajamas to the store also. Ashley got the biggest kick out of this.

KITTENS ARE READY TO GO

FIRST DAY

Today was the first day of bow season. John was out maybe 3 hours and got a five point buck. So he is back home where it is warm and the deer is hanging in the tree. I took pictures and will post them as soon as I can.

COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bot is it cold out tonight. It stopped raing a couple of hours before Ashley got out of school. She got a 90 on her spelling test today. Not much homework but what she did have did not take long and was alot easier then last night. Her and dad went to Amsterdam tonight and what a surprise they got me. If I knew that they were gonna get that for me I would have said NO WAY! They brought me home this 20 pound 9 week old puppy. What a big pup for that young. It is a mutt and it is really cute but not what I was looking to get. So I can say that now I am an owner to a puppy. SO now the fun begins with potty traing and the chewing and all the other stuff. I named her Fauna as she is the same color as a baby fawn deer. Well I guess I am a new mom LOL! She did do good so far tonight. Ashley was all excited and said that now I can clean poop. No way as I am putting the pup out in the kennel with hay for a couple of hours tomorrow. We are gonna have a girls pajama day tomorrow as it is just us girls. We are gonna stay in pajamas, watch movies and for dinner order out. In other words a lazy day.

FIRST DAY OF BOW

Tomorrow is the first day of bow hunting here. John is all ready to do. He was out in the yard last night practicing. He has his everything out and ready to go. Our older nephew Joshua is going for the first time with uncle John. They will be leaving at 5 am and not coming home until dark; unless John gets lucky and gets one. I just have something to say for the deer. RUN!

OH IS IT POURING

Ashley is eating her breakfast as we are sitting here looking outside. Boy it is pouring cats and dogs out there. We are going to be a couple of drenched ones when we walk to the schoool. I am going to send her an extra set of clothing so she can change as it is coming down hard enough that we can't see across the street.

Current Conditions
Reported from Albany 10/12/2007 7:13 AM EDT

Temperature:
54°F 12°C
Conditions:
Rain
Winds:
NW 6 MPH NW 10 KPH
Relative Humidity:
94%
Barometer:
29.50 Steady
Visibility:
2.50 Miles 4.02 Kilometers
Feels Like:
54°F

DAUGHTER POEM

AN ANGEL LEFT HER WINGS
© Tina M. Marascia
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I have this little angel. For me she left her wings. She has no idea how much happiness she truly brings. She brightens up my days with her smiles and her laughs. She helps me to remember all the blessings that I have. Her face, it is so perfect, she's sweet and soft and pure. Sometimes she can be willful and sometimes she is demure. She tries her very hardest to please and do what's right. She gives the greatest hugs from morning until night. Every person that has known her sees this light within her soul I know that in this whole great world, she has a special role. She's helpful and considerate to everyone she knows This light in her shines brighter as my angel grows. When she sees someone is sad, it opens up her heart. She wants to do all that she can; she wants to do her part. She'll squeeze away the sorrow and make me forget about my pain. She shows me where the sun is when we're hiding from the rain. I know that God must love me, He showed me with His Grace I knew just how completely when I saw my angel's face. And in that very moment when she came into my world, I knew that she was so much more than just my baby girl. She would be my sunshine, with a sweetness that won't end. And when she grows up one day she would be my closest friend. She would be the reason I would always try my best. For my little angel baby girl would be my greatest test. When God entrusts to you an angel, who has left her wings for you. Encircle her with love with everything you do. Let her know God made her, and that He trusts you with her care. Be sure to make time for special moments with her to share. And when at night she finally says her prayers and goes to sleep I Thank Him for my angel, and ask for him to always keep A watchful eye and hand to protect her from this world. Protect my little angel; protect my baby girl.

WET NIGHT

Wow is it raining outside. It is suppose to rain tomorrow also. Ashley had a tough time understanding her social studies homework tonight but between me and her and her aunt Angela (John's sister) explaining it all to her she got it done. I can't believe they give fourth graders that hard stuff. Spelling test tomorrow and she only got the spelling words yesterday as there was no school on Monday and then the teacher was out for a couple of days. She was studing them like crazy tonight. We had chicken, potato rounds and green beans for dinner and Ashley decided that she wanted to try cheese whiz with her chicken to dunk it. If you could have seen her face. It was too funny, bet she won't try that again. I don't know what her and dad are up to but they are going to Amsterdam tomorrow after work and say it is a surprise for me. Should I be worried about what they are getting? LOL! Next weekend the kittens can start going to new homes and I know Ashley is going to miss them. I explained to her that they need to go to really good homes where they will get alot of love and that Mo wouldn't be happy sharing her home forever with them. Ashley is learning to play christmas songs on the recorder in school. I will have to get pictures of this. Well we hope everyone is staying dry tonight.

Butterfly WishesYesterday a butterflyCame floating gently through the sky.He soared up through the atmosphereThen drifted close enough to hear.I said, "I'd love to fly with youAnd sail around the way you do.It looks like it would be such funTo fly up toward the summer sun.But I have not your graceful charm.I haven't wings, just these two arms.I've been designed to walk around.My human feet must touch the ground.Then magically he spoke to meand told me what his wish would be.He said, "What I'd love most to doIs walk upon God's Earth with you,To squish it's mud between my toesOr touch my finger to my nose.I'd love just once to walk aroundWith human feet to touch the ground,But I have not two legs that swing,I haven't arms, just these two wings."And so we went our separate waysIn wonder and surprise.For we'd both seen God's precious giftsThrough someone else's eyes.Author Unknown

Ashley was in a hurry to get to school today to play on the playground with her friend Sierra. She has made lots of friends and likes her teachers. She had alot of homework tonight. After John got home we went to an antique store in Waterford to look around. I thought that Ashley would be wanting to touch everything as that is the normal thing with kids but she was more interested in the cat and the bird the owner has there. They have some really beautiful things there. I was looking for an old vanity set for her bedroom but they did not have any. Ashley is on a butterfly kick and we are making them for her room. I figured we would also incorporate them on her blog. She hung out and watched a hunting video with dad tonight while I was crocheting her a pair of elf booties. She loves wearing them. She even wants me to get her a pair of elf ears to wear when she wears then. LOL! She is a little comedian at times. She must have been tired as she fell asleep while reading and it wasn't even bedtime yet. We are suppose to get rain tomorrow so we have the umbrellas ready for morning......hope it holds off.

CHILLY FALL MORNING

Ashley was all excited to be going back to school this morning to see her friends. We are so happy that she likes her new school. She kicks the leaves around all the way there. She is such a silly girl. After school me and Ashley are going to start coloring butterflies to hang from her ceiling. I think this will be a cute craft. I checked Ashleys folder that she keeps in my desk and came across her christmas list. WOW I hope Santa is ready for this one. I posted it below so everyone can get a general idea for birthday and Christmas. She is all girl alright.LOL! She is asking for a cat tail and cat ears for halloween. I can't wait to see what she is planning on as she already has the lilac gown witht the matching jacket and purse. I will be sure to get pictures of this. Hope everyone is keeping warm today. Have a good day.

WHAT HER LIST HAS SO FAR.

singing hannah montana doll
lite brite cube
bratz limo
knot a quilt craft set
magic picture maker
fuzzy art posters
bead kits
block party bracelet kit
pink razor scooter
roller skates size 4
high school musical gabriella doll
cd walkman
be bratz doll
polly pocket pet shop
digital camera
computer
barbie sing with me cd karaoke machine
bratz twin dolls
guitar
funky fashion tracing desk
bratz remote control motor bike with doll
bratz craft set
cheetah girls on tour
princess 13 inch tv
princess dvd palyer
butterfly toybox
btatz movies
bratz party bus
play staion 2 and games
baby annabell doll
little mommy princess doll
polly pocket dance party
disney deluxe baby doll care set
fisher price 9 in 1 doll play set

MORNING TRIP

We took Ashley and the boys to a deer farm this morning. One deer came to us and Ashley loved it. The deer ran beside her up the road and loved getting pet and gave Ashley and me a kiss. We saw chickens, pheasants and a peacock. There was 2 boars there that she was not sure she wanted to get near. I touched them and one tried to eat my sleeve. We saw 2 donkeys there that the kids said felt soft and then we saw the 2 horses. We were feeding them crab apples. The bigger one took the apple right out of my mouth. Ashley laughed so hard over this. Joshua and Austin have never seen anything like this and they all had fun. We had to go get the pictures developed so we can share them.

SUNDAY MORNING TRIP