The Babbling Brooks

Happy Thanksgiving!

  

May your blessings be bountiful... 

Grandma Cindy Went Pajama Shopping...

Peek - Simply E-mail

Have you heard about Peek!? I hadn't either. Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is giving one away and that's how I discovered it. If you like to stay connected to your e-mail and like to win, click HERE and see what it's all about!

Brothers...and Bears

Legend adores his little brother. Today we went to The Bear Mill. He picked out a bear and made it for Lennox, naming it Sam. 

        

Legend has had his "Mr. Bear" since the day he was born and now Lennox has his "Sam" :)   

Dadadadadadadadadadadada...

    

BATMAN! Each Halloween Nana (Grandma Denise) makes a costume for Legend. I've posted Superman and Spiderman in previous years. This year we have Batman. Too cute!!

Blessings Abound Christmas Extravaganza Has Begun!

You can enter to win all kinds of prizes that would make wonderful Christmas gifts at Blessings Abound! Click on the button below to get there...be sure to read and follow the directions for each giveaway. Good Luck!

Look Who's Six!

Another birthday! Legend really looks forward to his day. He loves the presents and the cake, but I think he just likes being older. Each year on November 23rd I start a new scrapbook for him and use a birthday photo as the first page. We also took his Mr. Bear photo today which we do every six months now. We started by doing it every week when he was a newborn and have gradually decreased the frequency, eventually we'll just do it on his birthday. He loves to eat at Red Lobster and has always wanted to choose a lobster from the tank to eat (his usual order is snow crab from the kids menu). We'd promised him that if we were here on his birthday we would take him out for that lobster. So, we did that for lunch yesterday. We started today with a pizza lunch, opening presents, and birthday cake with everyone coming up to the Worldmark. We have a ground floor unit this time and were able to have the party outdoors. Papa, Mom, and I took him to Fiesta Fun Center after the party. You know I have tons of photos to share :) Look for those in the next few days! Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We Love You!

Pin!

We're here...in St. George! We made a point to get here last night (Friday) in time to watch Legend's last wrestling tournament of the season. It was fun watching those little guys :) Legend did great and got his first pin of the season in his first match of the tournament. Afterward, we all watched the instant replay courtesy of Papa John...

         

His next two matches were a little tougher. He scored a lot of points in the second one, but the other kid scored a couple more. On his third match he was pinned. He is a good sport and really enjoys just being around the other kids and being part of the competition. He came in third in the tournament so he got a medal and was beaming at the results. (He has two others he's won this season, a first place and a second place.)

                

We're all proud of his sportsmanship and willingness to try new things. He had his own cheering section at this one...Papa John, Papa Willie, Mom (Shayla), and me! 

See Ya!

We'll be headed for St. George in the morning! We're hoping that we'll get to see Legend wrestling! Yep, he practices twice a week and they have tournaments on Friday nights or Saturday morning...can't remember which :) His birthday is Sunday...6 years old! We'll have some sort of party this weekend and then a big family party for him when his other grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins come up from Phoenix for Thanksgiving. Talk to you in a day or two!

It's Very Sad...

but it explains a lot about how Senator Obama was elected. I wish Senator Obama only the best throughout his administration. Our country needs a great leader. But I think we are in for a rough ride. Our economy, our security, and our traditions are at stake. Click HERE to see what I'm talking about. It doesn't bode well for our future that so many of our citizens are so uninformed. I'm not saying that everyone that voted for Senator Obama was uninformed. I know there are those that believe in his value system and his economic policies. I truly hope that I am wrong and some of you will be telling me, "I told you so", in a few years.  

Detour!

The plan was that today we'd be somewhere in northern California. We left our friends in Kent (Washington) yesterday morning. We were to stop at Brad's in Orting to pick up Legend's birthday gifts, stop at Corki's to leave her bottle of huckleberry wine and Susan's "montana jam", then go to Portland (Oregon) where we'd have lunch with Johns siblings. After visiting there, we'd drive to southern Oregon and spend the night. We'd have 5 days before we were expected in St. George and we figured we'd just take our time, maybe visit Chris in Sacramento and the Sumners in Nevada City. The plan lasted all of 20 minutes into the day. As we pulled out of Brad's driveway John said he was feeling a tug to go home to Montana for a few days instead of heading south. It took me about 2 seconds to agree and we turned east instead of south :) Chinook Pass was still open so we headed that way and were treated to a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier!

    

So here we are at home! John is in town getting the mail and a few groceries and then is going flying. I'll be wrapping the birthday gifts and catching up on a few other things. We'll be leaving Thursday morning for St. George! 

Help Someone in Need...

Do you know a family that could use some help this Christmas? 

You can nominate them to receive giftsfrom Five Minutes for Mom. The same site that is sponsoring all the Christmas Giveways (see below) are sponsoring Under The Tree giveaways. The companies providing the prizes for the Christmas Giveaways are also donating prizes that will be given to specific families that have been chosen from among those nominated. If you know someone you'd like to nominate, click the link below and enter. Be sure to read the instructions before leaving your nomination. You will be posting in a place that is accessed by the public, so they ask that you not leave names, etc...Thanks!

 

Christmas Giveaways Galore!

Ready to win some amazing gifts for Christmas??? Five Minutes for Mom has a slew of prizes they're giving away. To enter any or all of the drawings click below, follow the directions, and watch your e-mail that says you're a winner. Good luck!

Happy Birthday, Lynn!

  

We shared dinner at Salty's on Redondo Beach yesterday with Lynn and Arthur to celebrate Lynn's birthday. It was a great meal and great company...Happy Birthday, Lynn!

 

Now...Go Do The Right Thing!

I had a good time today. John took me to lunch at my favorite place, The Cheesecake Factory in Bellevue (WA). I don't even like cheesecake, but they have a great menu. Most of the time I order my favorite dish. Today I looked at the menu and was going to choose something else, but when our server came to take our order...I caved! Fish tacos,again! Fresh grilled fish with spicy cabbage, fresh salsa, and spicy avocado cream in warm corn tortillas. Yum!! After we finished I went to the ladies room and waited in line (of course, it's a ladies room...there's always a line). And who should come out of the stall announcing, "This one isn't flushing!" It's.....Dr. Laura! I was 99% percent sure it was her, but she was even tinier than I thought. She went over to the sinks and when I saw her backside, I knew for sure. There it was...Harley Davidson in rhinestones and sequins on the back of the jacket and the seat of her pants. I didn't want to create a fuss, so I just gave her a knowing smile as she passed by on the way to the door. We made a stop at The Container Store for a few items, then headed to the Will Call window at the Meydenbauer Center to pick up our tickets for the one-woman show, "In My Never To Be Humble Opinion" starring...Dr. Laura!

   

 We both enjoyed the show very much. She introduced the infamous Benjamin Pratt who does the music on her radio show and he was just as good with her stage show as he is on the radio. She read and talked about some of the e-mails and stories people send her. She shared stories about herself and she answered questions from the audience. No, you didn't have to stand up or raise your hand or ask in front of a crowd. They collected the questions on cards before the show began so that it was completely anonymous...unless maybe you happened to recognize that the person you were with probably wrote that question! This is the last stop for this show. I'm not sure how long she's been doing it, but she is retiring this one and preparing for a new one.

 

 

See ya!

I'll catch this up when I can, hopefully in the next few days. We are leaving in the morning to see Dr. Laura in Bellevue, WA on Saturday and visit family and friends for a week. After that we'll be heading to St. George for Legend's birthday and Thanksgiving. I'm really looking forward to those Grandma hugs and kisses! I'm off to bed...6:00 is almost here!

Election Day 2008

 So how was your day? Did you vote? John and I arrived at the polls before 6:00 this morning to get things set up for voting. We attended Election Judge training at the county courthouse about 3 weeks ago and were scheduled to work till 2:00 this afternoon. It was a great experience and it was good to see that citizens here in northwest Montana take their vote seriously. We had some voters that belong in other precincts show up where we were working and we had to send them elsewhere, most of them had to go to outlying towns. There was a handful of voters who thought they could come in today, fill out a new voter registration and vote in this election...not in Lincoln County...unless you go to the courthouse in Libby where they could then vote a provisional ballot. They were disappointed, but it was encouraging to see that about half of them said they'd go to Libby to vote today. That's a 140 mile round trip and...it was snowing today. I spent most of the day recording voter names in the ballot book, assigning a ballot number, and making sure that ballot got to the correct voter. That was a great place for me. In a place like the Tobacco Valley you see people over and over again...at the grocery store, at the post office, at their employment place and this gave me a chance to put some names with some faces. I even met a few neighbors (from Gateway) that I hadn't met before!

     

It snowed off and on all day. Looks like winter is starting to arrive. This is the first snow of the season in the valley, even though we've been watching it snow on the mountain tops for a few weeks. Here's what our new grass looked like when we got home...

  

Tonight....I'm tired! Looks like it's early to bed!

 

Glass Wind Chimes

My grandma had a pretty little glass wind chime when I was little. I thought it had a magical sound and loved it! So I got my own, but that was several years ago and the fishline strings finally got too weak and a couple of the glass pieces fell and broke. I need a new one! Well, here's a chance to win one at The Post-It Place. If you'd like to win, click HERE and leave a comment. Yep, some of those bloggy giveaways are still going on and this is one of them, sign up by Friday for this one. I had no idea there were so many things being given away on blogs. I have a whole new list of places to check now! 

Memo to Barack Obama #5

Have you put this information out to the citizens of Virgina, Pennsylvania, Ohio...you know, those places where they mine coal? The coal that keeps thousands of people employed, the coal with which millions of people heat their homes, the coal from which much of the nations energy is currently produced...Just in case they haven't heard here it is....in your own words...

 

Oh, sorry Senator Obama, this particular clip doesn't include the last part of your statement...you know, that part about how our electric rates are going to skyrocket as a result of your energy policies. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it in your own voice.

This is unbelievable!

I guess I missed this rally! He's promising what???????

 

Do people really believe this stuff?

Memo to Barack Obama #4

According to your campaign messages I am getting closer to being "rich" every day!

You said that everyone making less than $250,000 per year would be getting a tax cut, you were only going to raise the taxes of "rich" Americans. Then you said that everyone making less than $200,000 per year would be getting a tax cut, you were only going to raise the the taxes of "rich" Americans. Then your running mate, Senator Biden, said everyone making less than $150,000 per year would be getting a tax cut, you were only going to raise the taxes of "rich" Americans. Then Governor Bill Richardson who is on the campaign trail for you said that everyone making less than $120,000 per year would be getting a tax cut, you were only going to raise the taxes of "rich" Americans.

So my question to you, Senator Obama, is what will be your definition of "rich" tomorrow? I'm really wanting to know just whose wealth it is that you want to "spread around".

I'll be listening to see if I've made it into the "rich" category!

Memo to Barack Obama #3

I'll bet you didn't watch the Mike Huckabee special on Fox News today. As a matter of fact I'm sure you missed it, so I'd like to bring your attention to what he heard when talking with a high school student. She likened your "spread the wealth around" idea to her experience as a student. Let's say she's a hard worker. She studies hard and makes good grades. She and some other hard working students got an "A" grade on their last test. There's some students in her class who didn't work very hard, probably didn't study at all. They received a "D" grade. But hey! The teacher thought that wasn't really fair. So she took part of the "A" grades from the hard working students and gave it to the students who received the "D" grades. Voila! Everyone gets a "C". Oh yeah......that's fair!