Taylor Mason and his puppet Paquito on Bananas Comedy

Nasty Bugs and Talking Pigs...

WOW! Sorry about not having posted in so long! I have been battling the nasty bug that has been going around! If you've had it, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't had it, you will! No, I'm not being mean, just realistic. EVERYONE I know has had it. I have even heard people I don't know talking about how sick they have been with it. It lasted about two weeks from start to finish, with the last few days being the worst. I won't give you all the gory details, believe me, you DON'T want them! The last I will say on the topic is this: If you have this bug presently, I pray you have a speedy recovery! Drinks lots of fluids, and get lots of sleep! If you haven't had it: I pray that you don't catch it, but just in case, go buy a couple gallons of Gatorade and LOTS of toilet paper. You'll be glad you did when you don't have to go out to buy it!





Yvette and I went to see one of our favorite comedians; Taylor Mason. He does family friendly comedy and puppets are a big part of his act. If you catch him on T.V., then stop EVERYTHING and watch him! He is hilarious! You can order his DVDs off the Internet as well, I think you can even see him on You Tube and God Tube (the Christian form of You Tube). Well, he has lots of puppets, my two favorites are the pigs, (I have a slight "thing" for pigs. Ahem, Penny, Ahem!) They're names are Paco and Pacito. After having seen him live, I have developed a burning desire to own my own Paco and Pacito. I have no talent for vantriloquism, nor any desire to try it, I just WANT THE PIGS! I can't explain it. I won't even try. I just know that I am scouring the Internet trying to find these puppets so I can buy my own. I've found Paco, but Pacito is eluding me. But, read my lips: I WILL FIND HIM! He Will be MINE! Ha. Ha. I'm OK now. Really. I'm fine. I do have to go, though. I have a pig to track!



Be good and God bless!

Famous frogs and the Slowskys...

So how many famous frogs can you name in 30 seconds? OK- GO!














I would bet that the first one you thought of was Kermit the Frog, that lovable little green dude Jim Henson created back in the day. I bring him up because I have a story. Surprising, I know. So Brian was reading about St. Rose of Lima in History today. The book told of her remarkable holiness, even as a young child. She would often go off alone as she delighted in praying, so she spent a lot of time by herself. The book compared her to a "hermit". Pausing, I asked Brian if he knew what a hermit was. As I explained that hermits spend a lot of time alone and avoided contact with other people, Brian chimes in, "OH! And they're like that little green frog, guy, right?! " HUH? ... It took me a second, because it came out like this: "OH! And theyrw wike that wittle gween fwog, wright?!" Then I had to realize that he meant KERMIT THE FROG! We had a good chuckle and got back to learning about St. Rose, who is one of my FAV Saints, BTW!

One last note- the "Willimas" family lives on a lake, inhabited by numerous fish, ducks, other birds, I think that we've established that there are snakes in the area, and turtles. In the afternoon the turtles will come up the banks to sun themselves. Today there were two that looked like they were talking to one another, it was pretty funny to see them interacting. One of the kids said, "Hey, look! It's the Slowskys!" They were very proud that they had made the connection. I on the other hand was reminded that perhaps we do watch a little too much T.V.! LOL!



OK. That's all for today!

God bless and be good!
P.S. Feel free to e-mail me the names of the other famous frogs you came up with, and I'll compare it to mine! Ha! Ha!

The Princesses are HERE! The Princesses are HERE!

The Princess on Ice were amazing! I had no idea that Princess Jasmine had mad skating skills! There were the Princesses, of course, and their Princes, one magic Genie, there were colorful fish, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy all stoped by, acrobatic sailors, three fairy God-Mothers, Tinker Bell, evil step-mothers, a talking crab, wicked step-sisters, a monkey, lively market people, a wishing well, sword fights, an epic battle between good and evil, King Triton, a fire breathing dragon, and bubbles GALORE! Whew! It was quite the show.

I wish I could say that I had a TON of pictures to show you, but alas- I was born blond. Meaning that I was smart enough to remember to put the camera battery on to charge, but failed to plug the charger in!!!! I can be so absent minded! So I was left with what little charge the battery had from when I had charged it a few weeks ago. That wasn't very much, by the way. I did manage a few pictures of the girls, and a few of the show. The girls had a great time and so did I.

The girls had much to discuss on the ride home, deep thought provoking debates such as; Do you think that the Princes really kissed the Princesses, or did they just pretend? Then there was the question: How did Tinker Bell get so big? I thought she was a lot smaller than that for real! Both girls had their favorite Princess. Kate loves Jasmine, and Celine is torn between her love of Princess Ariel and the classic Cinderella. With options like those, who could choose?

We had amazing seats, right on the ice! And wonders of wonders, it was COLD! I would catch the girls shivering, but they NEVER once complained, and their excitement was obvious because they never asked to leave to get food or to go to the bathroom. That never happens! They did have a little problem with their seats, though. They kept closing up on them! It was funny, Celine said it was OK, she was warmer that way!








Be good and God bless!

The Princesses are coming! The Princesses are coming!

Donna was all set to take Celine to see the Disney presents Princesses on Ice, but she had to go out of town. SO guess who gets to go instead??? Moi! I am so excited that I get to see Celine see the Princesses! She is gonna love this! Heck! I'm gonna love this! I will have pictures and maybe a video or two to share- if I remember to charge my camera battery, that is!

Be good and God Bless!

Fashions by Celine

Celine has become quite the little artist! She has been doing very well in her dance lessons, and her recital is coming up very soon! She has just started her first piano lessons, and her teacher says that she is very smart and a quick learner. She has also shown a great interest in sewing. This I love, because this is something I love myself, so it is something we can do together.

Each week I drop little miss off at her dance lessons, and she gives me a full demonstration the next day of all the things she learned. She is very excited about her Cinderella costume and the other costume that is red with white polka dots on it. The first is her ballet costume, the other is for tumbling. She has begun counting down the days until the rehearsal and the recital. It's even marked on her school calendar. She also has been asking if I think I will be bringing her flowers. I've assured her I will. She's the prima ballerina in MY book!

Celine has been asking about piano lessons for a little while now. She loves to sit at the keys and play songs for everyone. Donna decided to get someone in to teach at the house, and I recommended my friend Carrie. Celine had her first lesson on Tuesday. Carrie came to the house and Celine was giddy waiting for her to get here. She loved the one on one attention, and seems to be catching on pretty well. Now it's all about reminding her to practice each day. I just hope she remembers me when she performs her first concert in Carnegie Hall.

In addition to piano playing and dance, Celine has also taken an interest in sewing. We all made quilts back during Christmas Break, and she loved doing that, so for Christmas Santa brought her a sewing machine. Not just any sewing machine, but a Hello Kitty sewing machine. We're not talking about a play sewing machine, but a real honest-to-goodness grown up sewing machine with Hello Kitty on it! It is so kewl! (That's how the kids are spelling that type of cool these days! LOL) So we have decided to do a few fun projects through out the summer. Our first project was to make her a little sun dress. OMGoodness! It turned out so cute! Here is a picture of her in her creation!

Isn't it cute? Isn't she cute? She did a great job, and she is doing so well! Next we will be making a soft book for her new baby cousin. I already know that it will be adorable!

Be good and God bless!

Boy Bands

NKOTB are BACK!!!

OK, sad but true, they were my childhood obsession and all I have to say is: New Kids- We love you!

Jordan, Jonathan, Donnie, Danny, and little Joey are all back together and announced last week that they have been working on a new album due out soon, and that they will be touring in select cities! OMGosh! I am, like, totally stoked! I'm waiting for some dude to stick his head around the corner and say, like, SIKE! Or something!

For all of you in cyberland who are clueless to my teen aged obsession with New Kids on the Block, well, let me just fill you in. OK? As a awkward, pimply teen (is there any other kind of teen?) I was quite literally obsessed with the New Kids, as they were affectionately referred to. I had the walls of my room papered with images of them ripped from the pages of any and every magazine they appeared in. Eventually my ceiling was covered by posters and pictures as well. Joey, the youngest was my fav, but I loved them all! Not only did I sleep in a New Kids Box, but I slept on New Kids sheets, which I think are still around somewhere. LOL! I also had a life sized cut out of the guys, and my dear mother fed the craziness by carting me and my friends all over the State to see them in concert. And now they're BACK! LOL! I apologize to my family for all the times I blared "Hangin' Tough", "Please Don't Go Girl", and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind?" from my cassette player. What can I say, I had it bad!

Granted I'm much older and more mature these days, (although, I think I've grown more in age than maturity! :) ) you never forget your first love. For me that was the New Kids! Along with a few friends who also swooned over the boys, Ihave vowed to travel, regardless of the distance, to see the boys in concert. Wanna join us? He he! Just to put this into perspective, though, I'd take me some Buble over any New Kid, any day. He's the New Kid on my Block! Ha Ha!

Until next time: KEEP KEEPIN' ON!

Be good and God bless!

This Summer's Hottest Thriller!!!:

SNAKES IN A CLOSET! (Dun-Dun-Dun!!!)

Coming soon to a theater near you!

In this summer's hottest thriller, "Snakes in a Closet", the prequel to "Snakes on a Plane" is unleashed on sleepy, unsuspecting suburbia! Staring Colette Williams as herself; the movie opens with our heroine stumbling upon a deadly reptile poised to strike her down as she reaches into a linen closet for a beach towel. Dr. Chris, and the Williams' brothers rush to her rescue after receiving her frantic call for help!

OK- so here is the story. Friday, Colette and a friend decided to head to the beach, so she went to the linen closet in the downstairs bathroom, when I hear her yelling, "OH my GOODNESS! Oh My!" I asked what her problem was, and she's barely able to squeak out that "there's a S, S, SN, SNAKE in the closet!" I didn't even believe her at first. Then I saw her face and had to believe her! After we secured the premises, (see above picture) I did question her in depth about what it looked like, and made SURE it wasn't a lizard, or a fake snake. She assured me it moved, and I got what I believed to be an accurate description of the intruder: big and brown with a little yellowish on it. OK, so the description was a little shaky, but I was pretty sure it WAS A snake so I called MY dad to see what he thought it might be. First he was a smart alec and said he definitely thought it was a snake. Well, DUH! Then he wanted to know if I had seen it. HECK NO! You really think that I would willingly go into a small confined space with a reptile of unknown deadliness??? He didn't think it was poisonous, so I relaxed a little, but not Colette. She was perched on top of the piano bench clinging to her friend, Emily, both of them quivering in fear. She was screaming, "Get it out! Get the snake out -of- the- house!" For some strange reason she thought I was going in there and removing the snake, MYSELF. She must have been delirious from the shock, but there was no way I was going anywhere near that thing!

So I told her to call her dad. She was hysterical! Screaming into the phone that he had to come home RIGHT NOW! That there was a HUGE SNAKE IN THE BATHROOM! I tried to get her to calm down so that he could understand her, but I wound up having to wrestle the phone from her and tell him the story. That's when he asks me, "Have you seen the snake?" What is with all these crazy people wanting me to close myself up in a bathroom with a snake?! What makes them think that is something that I would do? Anyway, Chris was on his way back to the house, and he would take care of "it".

When he got there the kids rushed in before him announcing, "Never here the Snake Hunters are here!"

The first thing they did was press their ears to the door. I asked what they were doing. "Can you hear anything?", one hunter asked the others. "Nope, how about you?", was one's reply. So- they decided to knock, but surprisingly... the the snake did not answer them. "I think he's ignoring us.", the third one stated. So they headed off, I think to find more exciting things to occupy their attention. Meanwhile, Colette and her friend are still on top of the piano bench, and Chris starts bringing in shovels, yes, that's plural, as in more than one. I never have figured out why he needed more than one shovel, but hey, he was the one dealing with the deadly rattler. That's what this snake had grown into; a big, fat rattle snake, coiled and ready to strike at the next person to come in that bathroom. Remember, Colette is still the only one to have seen this snake, so we really had no idea what was in there, so it COULD have very well been a deadly creature of mass destruction. By now both Monica AND I had realized that we had gone into the same closet just minutes before Colette, and not seen this monster. Strange to think that we missed it!

Chris disappeared outside through one of the many doors that had been propped open. I was told by the Snake Hunters that these were to give the giant killer escape routes, should he get out from his confinement. When I turned back to the door I found this:

The boys had returned with Air Soft guns, locked, loaded, and trained on the door. Just waiting for some sign of movement. "Did you see something move?" "Nope, did you?" "Nope, keep watching, though." After a few seconds of a lot of NOTHING happening they decided to be brave and go in after it.
JP: "Open the door, Grant."
Grant: "I'm not opening that door! You open it!"
JP: "Just open the door, don't be a wuss!"
Grant: " NO! You open the door."
JP: "Fine. Brian. Open the door."
Brian: " Uh-uh. NO WAY! You open the door if you want it opened so badly!"
JP: "Jeez! You guys are wimps! Shannon, open the door on three!"
ME: "You are nuts! And none of you are opening that door. So just chill, and back away from the door!"



So they took off to find something else to use as target practice, or so I assumed. About this time Chris tells that he has a "professional" on the way, and that he should be here soon. Celine decides to be the lookout, and announces "He's here! He's here!" about every 30 seconds or so. When the guy does show, he looked to be as old as Moses, and came armed with an empty box that once held kitty litter, and a couple of long poles with grabby claws on the end. Without missing a beat, the "Snake Charmer" guy, who was obviously over 80 years old, tries to open the bathroom door, but- it was locked. Colette had locked the door as she fled the bathroom! Why? I have no clue. It's not like the thing had opposable thumbs, jeez! After we got the door unlocked the gentleman quickly caught the monster, which turned out to be not so monstrous. In fact, it was a Gardner snake. a SMALL, THIN, GREEN snake with YELLOW STRIPES along its sides. Oh, and it was about a foot and half long. Some monster, huh? The "Snake Charmer" put the little guy in his bucket and carted him off to be released in the woods.

This has led to untold numbers of snake references, jokes, and pranks. I brought a bag of fake snakes and hid them on or in each of their desks. They found them one by one, and none of them were really frightened by them, they just thought that they were funny. Brian had fun pretending that his was real, and stalking him while he worked.









OK, so that is the snake story. Sorry that there wasn't more of a dramatic end, or even pictures of the little fellow. It all happened so quickly that I couldn't get one. It is interesting though, that latter that evening we were sitting by the pool when a large black snake slithered onto the deck. THIS one I did see, and he was pretty big. No exaggeration! I have no idea what type he was, but the kids did get a few shots with the Air Soft guns in. Grant hit him twice, but don't fear all you animal lovers out there, he was unhurt, just spooked. It obviously didn't scare him too badly, though, because he came back about five minutes later. UH! (**Shivers!**)


Be good and God bless!

Happy Second Birthday, CORA!

Boy, do they grow up FAST! It seems like yesterday we were all waiting for the little lady to join us, and today she's turning two! And she proudly proclaims to one and all: "I two!" So sweet, so funny! That little girl makes my heart smile! I love all my nieces and nephews, each has a special place in my heart, and that child is no exception. Imagine what the life of a two year old must be like. She's no longer and infant, but completely able to get around and explore the great big world around her. And does she ever! That kid is fearless! At last she can speak to you and you understand exactly what it is she's been saying, now she's wondering what took us so long to learn to understand what all that gibberish she's been spouting meant! She's learned the power of the word "MINE!", and now she's mastering the whole "potty" thing, and doing quite well at it!

Her latest thing is the "mike" she got for her birthday. No it has nothing to do with Hanna Montana, that's more Alexis' style. The "mike" that she refuses to let out of her sight is really a bike, that she mispronounces as "mike". She rides it everywhere, refusing to walk anymore. It's a hot little number; a Barbie Hot Wheels, and although she can't quite reach the peddles, she can still get exactly where she wants to go!

It's quite obvious that Miss Cora is changing and growing every day. It's amazing how much they change in just a year! Before we know it I'll be bloging about her getting her driver's permit! I am going to love watching this little daughter of God grow and develop into the creature He created her to be. She is a joy and a blessing, and we are all blessed to have her smiles and hugs to brighten our lives.

Happy 2 to You, CORA! We love you very much!

Big HUGS and SMOOCHES from your Aunt Sissy!

Be Good and God bless!

More funny things that kids say...

I could have a blog JUST about all the crazy things that the kids say from day to day, but in an attempt to keep all the funniness in one place, here are a few that I've been saving up for you:

Celine ask each and EVERY day "Is it cold or hot outside?" before she gets dressed, and we tell her which it is. But lately, with the weather changing so frequently and being cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon, I've just started telling her what type of clothes to put on, ie. shorts or pants. Well, the other day on a cool morning, she had her usual inquiry, and John Paul responded to her, "It's cold, so be sure to wear long sleeved pants!" After explaining to him that pants don't have sleeves and that by calling them pants they are already "long" and that "shorts" are well, short; he replied, "Yeah, whatever. She knew what I meant." Well, so much for trying...

Grant and Meg were working on a paragraph for a Creative Writing assignment he had to do, and he was trying to think of a topic to write about. After Grant had been sitting there, unable to come up with any ideas, Meg asks him what the problem was, "I don't know, I'm just not feeling creational today." As a collective "Huh?" resounded through the room, Meg, without missing a beat corrects him, "It's creative. Creational is not a word." Grant's brilliant response: "Whatever. You knew what I meant." Are you noticing a pattern?

Katie has been trying to potty train my soon-to-be two year old niece, Cora again. And she's playing the nay-nay (candy) card again. This time to help her distinguish between her love of all things candy, and the use of it as a reward she has started calling the M&M's and Skittles she's using as a reward "Potty-Money". Well, I don't think it worked, because now, instead of asking for nay-nay, which is pretty cute, she calls ALL candy "potty money". She's a very determined little girl, and will forcefully and loudly declare, "Momma, I want potty-money!", no matter where she is. I think it's safe to say that Katie is probably getting some strange looks in public.

Celine is beginning to understand the concept of keeping track of the time of day it is. That's big for a six year old! She has a little digital clock on her desk, and it was put there to eliminate a few of the dozens of times she requests for me to tell her what time it is. So now, instead of my having to dictate the time to her, she that it is her duty to now periodically inform me of the time. The other day she says, "Shanny, it's ten-oh-oh, o'clock." It took a moment for me to focus and figure out what she had said, then we had a little lesson in reading time. She's now asking me how to read the time on her clock, so I guess I haven't really solved my problem of updating her on the time of day. At least she'll be the smartest six year old she knows! Being able to tell time and all!

Be Good and God Bless!

P.S. It's about 11:43 AM. Just in case you were wondering.

FIVE WEEKS!!!

Meghan just mentioned in passing that we only have five weeks left in this school year!! OMGosh! I cannot believe how this year is FLYING by! This is already the fourth month of the year, and it seems like just last month I was worried about how much I still had to do to be ready for CHRISTMAS! The kids are so ready to be finished with school. They keep asking if we could double up on work and be done sooner. That would be fine and good, but then they would be begging Meg and I to come up with things for them to do! Now why would I rush to finish school, only to have to occupy them, still? At least with school they can't complain that I chose boring activities, or try to talk me into doing something else. Believe me, Summer will come -soon enough.

We've already started with the numerous requests to go swimming! Jeez! It's just finally been warm for more than 3 days in a row, just long enough for the water to warm up a little above FREEZING! It's cute to watch them tentatively take those first few steps into the water after it's been so long since they last swam! Little Celine didn't think that she would remember how to swim. But she is a great swimmer, and relearning how to execute the perfect dive. She has an amazing dive. It just comes naturally to her. Brian on the other hand, while being a good swimmer, doesn't quite grasp the mechanics of the dive. We tell the kids "Hands. Head. Body. Legs. Feet." Just to help them visualize the order that they should enter the water, and thus have the basics of a decent dive. No matter how much we remind him or show him or whatever, he always ends up going into the water in the wrong order: "Hands. Body. Head. Legs&Feet." So it ends up more like a belly smack than a dive. The point is he TRIES! One day he will have a beautiful dive, one that he can PROUDLY say that he worked hard for, and then show the permanent red mark on his belly from all the attempts to perfect his 10.0 Dive!

Be good, God bless, and remember to always swim with a buddy!