SAMUELS TRIVIA

Soon and very soon, you should be getting your Christmas Card in the mail from us. This year, we did things a little different. Instead of the usual chain letter, we decided to make things a little light hearted and not bore you with all the details of 2007. We decided to do a little trivia about our family to see how well you know us. If you haven't got the letter yet, don't cheat....wait to look at the answers after you challenged yourself. If you have it in front of you, well, here's the results.

Starting from the top, the first answer is B
Next answer is Whitley
C, they all broke their left wrist
B, I've played them all but the guitar I received when I was 5
D, please bring ear plugs when visiting
B, We were married April 15, 1995
D, they are lime green
B, He is assembling a German officer's wardrobe presently
A, Did you peek at the front of your card?
B, They are CO,UT,NE, AZ, NV,IA,IL,IN,OH,PA,MO
B, It's a lot of work, so we like to enjoy the fruit of our labors for awhile!
T, no cords to chop here!
T, so you can see how big our girl is getting!
C,like mother like daughter!

SO HOW DID YOU DO?????

14-10 answers right: You are one smart sugar cookie!
9-5 answers right: Not bad, but you better put us on speed-dial and stay in touch more often!
4-0 answers right: We must both be overdue for a visit; hope to see from you in 2008!!!!

Habakkuk 3:2&3

vs. 2~ "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy......,

vs.3~ His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise." (NIV)

Talent Show

This past Monday we enjoyed an evening full of talent by the kids at Whitley's school. The MC's were two boys from school who were very entertaining. There were vocalists, dancers, stand up comics, a three man band, karate demonstrations, and instrumental duets and solos. Our very own Whitley did a harp solo. You could have heard a pin drop in the room as every ear listend to her solo; she really made us proud! John & I nearly were sick being nervous for her, so we were relieved that it went so well. The other two girls in her class each did a vocal solo and they too, were great! It is so wonderful to see all the gifts and talents that God has blessed people with! And how thankful we were to have eyes and ears to behold it all!

PHOTOS: VERY TOP-Keauna, Whitley & Madison (three peas in a pod). These are the only three girls in the 5th grade. MIDDLE PICTURE:Whitley & Madison back stage warming up and tuning. BOTTOM PICTURE: Whit and her harp!

Home Improvements

Sometimes things at 79 Pine seem all to similar to Tim Allen's sitcom. Home improvement projects seem to be going on in almost every room of the house. It all started with the microwave dying and now, we have the kitchen under construction and the laundry room now moving upstairs. What I'm not sure of is, what all is in that new heart medication John is taking. He no longer likes the taste of beer and has been very ambitious when it comes to house projects. I know ladies, you're asking, "Where I can I buy this stuff?", but trust me, you do not want your hubby's blood pressure to go there. And so it is, we have just finished phase one of the kitchen, which was replacing all the appliances in stainless steel. Phase two, is to move the washer & dryer out of the kitchen pantry area and move it upstairs to a storage room just off the loft. The thought is that the laundry room will now be by the master bedroom. I was never much of a pack rach so the storage room offers plenty of space to become a laundry room. I have been watching Craiglist for some old kitchen cabinets to come available and then we will throw a laminate counter top over that. John will build some shelves to make what storage containers I do have, easier to pull in and out. When the laundry room is done, then we will move the home office out of the basement and put it in the loft. The loft offers beautiful natural light throughout the day. This will then free up the basement to be a rec room/guest room for all our visitors.

The next phase will be to come back to the kitchen, remove the fridge from the wall that it is on and make that area desk/laptop work area. The fridge will be built in seamlessly to the wall where the laundry room once was, and the other half of the laundry room will be a pantry with floor to ceiling shelves. We have a knob over the peninsula that will be ripped out and two pendant lights will go there. We also plan to tile behind the stove as we had a lot of drywall damage from last years icedam. Also, because all the walls have a faux finish and one wall will get ripped out, I wouldn't be able to replicate the retrofitted wall to match the others, hence the tile!

After that is all done, we will go back and gut our bathroom that has tons of damage from last years storm. We thought while we were at it, we would also redo our master closet so we gain an extra 10 ft. wall in our bedroom...hopefully for a king sized bed some day! We will achieve this by making the closet a walk-in closet and taking about a foot out of the bedroom. We will also gain room in the bathroom to have a double vanity, which will be nice. I guess there are silver linings to when things break or go wrong. I'm thankful for a very talented husband who can makes all the projects very obtainable and affordable.

Anyway, that's the plan.....somewhere between school and everything else. It will be nice when it is done. I already love the changes in the kitchen; it feels warm and cozy like a den! I LOVE having an icemaker that works, black stove burners (my last were white and were a pain to clean), a timer/beeper on the stove that I can actually hear (my hearing is really bad), and a sink that no longer turns black or orange with my cast iron skillet and spaghetti sauce. It is also big enough for a drip/dry rack. I'm excited for a desk area for my laptopn and storage for the big phone book, etc. I also have been very limited on storage and so I know I'm going to love having a pantry!!!!

Anyway, here's a photo of phase one complete in the kitchen!

20/20 VISION???

Well, November will probably seem like a "blur" when it all said and done with. Whitley is officially 11 years old and her Mom is officially old enough to stop celebrating. These days my eyes seem to tire. Maybe it's from hours of studying and maybe it's because I'm now pushing 40. If I remember correctly, that seems to be about the time that John started wearing "cheaters".

The days go so fast and never a dull moment to spare. I am learning so much in school. We have went from Chemistry to Organic Chemistry to BioChemistry and now to Bioenergetics, which in lay terms relates to Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis. But it is much more than knowing that bodies need sugar,carbs,lipids and protein or that plant's have cholorphyll and photosynthesize. I'm learning about the things I can;t see with my naked eyes. In cellular respiration, I've learned that a 6 carbon sugar goes through 10 enzymes to split in to two, three carbon sugars called pyruvates. If there is oxygen present, they enter the mitochondria and undergo reactions with 8 more enzymes in the Kreb's cycle which produces NADH & FADH2 which carry proteins to the ETS (Electron Transport System). There the NAD loses the H+ and they diffuse across a concentration gradient. They eventually fall through the ATP synthase system because of Oxygen's electronegativity and then become H20 and ATP! ATP is ENERGY,and that is what we need to live!! Learning about plants was a little easier. They use our by-products CO2 & H2o to give us C6H12O6 and 6O2. In the choloroplasts, they have a thykaloid and in its membranes are quantasomes P680 and P700 to create light reactions. They are like little solar panels. The go throught the Calvin Cycle which is alot like the Electron transport system to produce NAPHP which produces glucose in the dark reactions. The two are opposites, but there is a link between then two. We can't live without plants, but they can love without us! That is pretty humbling to me!

Well, that's all I have to share for this week. We are winding down the semester so things are getting really busy: big projects are due in all classes. The last of regular lecture and lab exams are within the next week and then I start prepare for finals! I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel. I may need to readjust how much to take on next semester so I'm not so negative and Disney doesn't offer me a lead part for "GRUMPY! In case they didn't know, I 'm auditioning for the guy named "DOC"...the one with GLASSES!!!!

Doot-doo-doo-deeEEHHH!!! (trumpet blast)

Here ye, here ye! Behold thy new crowned Queen! Queen Whitley!!! The queen shall hereby reign from this day, Wednesday the 7th, in the month of November, for the year of thy almighty God,2007. She shall reign with fairness and justice for both men and women. She shall bestow kidness and mercy to the poor, so long as she is queen...., which is atleast for today, as she was crowned Queen of her School for "Renaissance Days!" It was a happy day for all. They had stew, kaiser rolls, sausages as their meal. There was also jousting, story telling and much more! What a great week for Whitley!

What's balck and white and read all over?

Depends on who you ask. Some say it's zebra that tripped over a bucket of red paint! Others say it's a newspaper. And of you asked Whitley, the answer would be...A BOOK!!!!

She has always loved to read and this year she was awarded for being the top reader in her class. She received a medal and certificate. School has been tough on both she and her parents so it was nice to celebrate something positive for a change. We are so thankful for a child that has her eyesight to appreciate this particular way of learning.

Whit's 11!!!!

The only request was for an ice cream cake, and still, she made out like a bandit! Awake at 6 am, she waited for her exhausted mother to crawl out of bed a little after 9. John took the day off of work to get in on the festivities as well. We decided not to torture her any longer by making her wait until after breakfast to open her gifts. The way her hands quickly worked in circles tearing open the gift wrap reminded me of Roadrunner's rotating cartoon feet. Even though we started with some items that she "needed", her enthusiasm did not wane...Beep-Beep! She opened 2 new pair of uniform pants for school, and three uniform shirts, all wrapped individually, in 65.9 seconds. Then we graduated up to the fun stuff: these cute corn-on-the-cob holders that are a little "weiner dog" in halves. The head is on one side and the tail on the other. One of Whitley's favorite foods is sweet corn on the cob, and she had asked me to make it for her b-day dinner tonight, so I couldn;t resist the little holders when I saw them! Anyway, back to the gifts....she got a new pair of skis/boots/bindings and new ski goggles!!! This is because all 5th graders ski free and get a season pass this year, so we decided to invest in the gear! Next, she got an animal book that has awesome pictures and facts about all the species known to man! She had her head in the book a great deal today; I still think she might be a zoologist.... many birthdays from now. Last, she had wanted this fleece embroidered jacket from the Outdoor Lab she attended in September. She thought she was not getting it, but I placed the order on line and the teacher hid it for me so I could use it as a birthday gift. Hence, she was totally surprised when she opened it today.

After gifts, John made a big breakfast: eggs,toast, turkey bacon, juice and pomegranate. It was very tasty. I did dishes while everyone got around. Then we headed to a place called "FAT CITY" to go play some indoor putt-putt golf. This was Whitley's chosen activity. They were going to go skiing, but her ski pass never came by mail.

We came home and John started on dinner and I went to pick up her friend Katelynn, for a sleepover. We all ate dinner and then had Whitley's request: a chocolate ice cream cake! YUM!!

The girls are downstairs playing as I download the pictures from today and post this blog. And so it is, another birthday has past and another year has begun. Number 11 has been celebrated in grand style. Hard to believe we will have a teenager in the house in 2 more years. Where does the time go?