A lesson learned

Years ago when I was in my mid 20's, I used to like to go grocery shopping late at night. After I had just spent half the night before up with a baby and then been to work all day long, the last thing I wanted to do was swim through the store isles with a cart full of grocery's with a hundred other shoppers and then stand in a check out line forever. So I usually left around 11:30pm. Well this one particular night I had gone to WalMart and for some reason I had Jens with me. He was really small. Like 2 years old. Maybe 3. I had parked on the far east end of the store. I was not one if those people who would drive circles trying to find the closest spot possible. My mom is one of those people. If I park right next to a handicap, it still is not close enough for her. I need to park her in the first and closest handicap stall there is available! Drives me CRAZY!!!!! So, I had parked in a stall completely by itself, off on a side where really no one was around. We went in, did our shopping and headed out of the store. Just as I was about to exit the building, I realized that I was walking out the wrong side of the store doors. I was walking out the far west doors and I was parked clear over on the east side, alone, and in the dark. I said to Jens, "Oh, we are going out the wrong doors...." and just as soon as I said it, I stopped and turned my body only around. I didn't even have time to turn my cart because there was a man standing so close behind me that I don't know how I didn't know he was there. He was seriously so close that I am surprised that I couldn't feel him breathing down my neck. He was taller than me and in a black jacket. He seemed to loom over me. He was a total creeper! I instantly got chills up and down my legs and arms and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. STUPIDLY, I just turned back to Jens and kept pushing him out the store doors. Stupid, stupid! Hindsight, I should have never done that! I should have just whirled around him, went to the front of the store, told them there was a man following me and had an employee walk me out. But I didn't. I didn't! I continued to walk Jens out as fast as my legs would walk without breaking into a dead run. I looked like one of those speed walkers, racing across the parking lot. He continued to follow, a small distance away but keeping in stride with me. I looked behind me at him constantly! He had to know that he was completely freaking me out. I wondered how long he had been following me. Had he followed me through the store? Had he scouted me out? Was I his prey and didn't know it? I then noticed an old car pull up slowly down one of the isles. It rolled down it's window part way. The man following me leaned in and said something quickly to the driver. He never stopped walking and the car never stopped rolling, they just said something quick to each other. Now I am really panicking! I am thinking, "Great! These two are in cahoots with each other. One will grab me and throw me in the car while the other punches the gas and little Jens will be left out here alone. Or worse yet, they might kidnap Jens!" I started to jog with my cart. I was half way to my car. I start to tell Jens, "Listen son, when mama gets to the car, we are not taking our groceries with us tonight. I want you to stand up out of the cart seat when we are almost to the car, I am going to grab you and we are going to jump in and you are going to drive with me on my lap for a minute." He asked me why and I just said that mama was in a real hurry. I just didn't want him to fight me about getting his prize that we had just bought from the cart or have him try to get in the back in his carseat. We were almost to my car and I decide that the man was far enough away for me to take my groceries after all. I throw Jens in the front seat and shut my door. I pop my trunk and I am literally throwing my groceries in the trunk. Eggs, bread, milk, didn't matter. I threw them in. I slammed my trunk down....................and then I saw him. He was standing in front of my car against the hood! All blood left my legs. I was so scared! I was so mad at myself for wasting those precious 30 seconds! I could have been out of here and I wasted them on a few sacks of groceries!!! I RAN around my car, he was coming toward me and I threw my drivers side door open blocking him from me. I looked him dead in the eye and said, "EXCUSE ME!" I jumped in, locked the door, stuck the keys in the ignition and just then the car that he had talked to drove slowly past me. And the man just walked slowly past my car door and kept on walking. I started my car up and peeled out of there! I drove a good ways away, pulled into a well lit and busy gas station and then got out and buckled Jens in his seat. I don't know where else the man could have gone. I was parked along side of the road, there were no stalls past me. He had to be coming for me! He had to! And if by some chance he wasn't, don't you think that he could tell that he was frightening me? Surely he could tell and if he wasn't after me then he should have backed off. I cried the whole way home and cried some more when I got home and told Jeff. It was one of the most frightening experiences! It took me several years to go shopping at night again. And I only go shopping if I HAVE to. And I always say to the bag boy, "I need some help out." Sometimes they look at me funny because I may only have one sack or just one gallon of milk. But I just say to them, "I really don't need your help, I just want you to walk me out. I am a woman and it is dark. They get it then and they always walk me out!

So the moral of the story is: Be aware of your surroundings! Know who is close to you, who is watching you and know if someone is following you. I now constantly check behind me while I shop, just to see if I can see anyone following me. I am very aware in the parking lot and I park close now. Keep yourself safe!

Ringin' in the New Year with a BANG!

Today my niece's and nephew came to play with my kids. They played for the day and into the evening. Molly kept wanting banana bread so this evening I decided to make some. I made it, put it in the oven and stepped into the shower. I usually only just shut my bathroom door and I don't lock it. I have this little nagging thought in the back of my mind that says, "What if??? What if something happened?? What if something happened and my little kids needed to get to me and couldn't because the door was locked?" So anyway, there I am just barely getting wet when out of nowhere my 3 year old Molly and my niece Gracie come in and open up my SHOWER door -- aaaggh!--

"Mom!" Molly says, "Dad and Jens and Jaxon are going outside to let off fireworks!" --------- "Ugh? Okay! Now get out!" I say.

Not one minute later they came back in! This time they were saying that the banana bread was done. ----- Done? I think. Surely not already. But they tell me that my timer was beeping. So I tell them to go and get dad. I then wash my hair, condition it, and then wash my body. And next thing I know, they are back AGAIN! Only this time is was only my niece.

"Come quick!" she says. "Molly is trying to get the bread out!"

I thought they had got Jeff to get it out. At least 5 minutes had passed since they first said that the oven was beeping. Surely it is burning and now my little 3 year old is trying to get bread out of a hot oven??? So I jump out of the shower, wrap the towel around me, (well as much as it will wrap around my chubby body) and quickly head out into the kitchen. And sure enough, there is my little 3 year old with hot pads in hand and she is just starting to open the oven door. I grab the hot pads from her and bend over (the towel bends up) and I start taking loaf after loaf out. When much to my dismay I hear a 12 year old boys voice behind me say, "Oh Boy!" I whirl around to see my son Jens, pale white in the face, and my 12 year old nephew who are just coming in.

"Stay out! Get out!" I yell.

I couldn't get out of that kitchen fast enough! So today is only the first day of January and I have already seemed to manage to scare not 1, not 2, but multiple young children. I am sure I was a sight. Half wrapped in a towel, bent over, crazy wet hair......... Oh Lord, help us all!

Merry Christmas 2010!

We had a great Christmas this year. My nephew's birthday is on Christmas Eve and this year he tuned 18. So we went over there to have dinner and celebrate with him. (kind of a day that you're not going to be spending with your friends....) After that as usual my mom came and spent the night with us. Each year on Christmas Eve evening we go to the cemetery and put candles out on our grandparents graves. Our city and our neighboring city have had that as a tradition for many years now. It is really pretty to drive through the cemetery at about 9:00pm and see hundreds of glowing candles. After we came home and put the kids to bed and went to bed ourselves. Then the Old Fat Man showed up! Miss Molly got the cutest little Pinkalicious bike.

Jens got the new mitt he wanted.

And Sidney got the minke blanket that she so desperately wanted. I don't have a clue how to sew but thankfully I have friends and family who do. They did a great job!

Two words: PILLOW PETS

Who ever came up with this idea has had to make millions! Every kid I know loves them. Why? To me they are just one big obnoxious stuffed animal and I will never find closet space for it. My kids have wanted one forever and Santa didn't let them down. Cade got the dog he wanted.

I don't know if you can tell but Molly was so excited when she realized what she was opening up. Yes. A Pillow Pet!

Cade got this really cool Land Shark knee board. Or at least it seemed really "cool" at the time. It says to always wear protective gear while riding it. Helmet - knee pads - elbow pads. I half serious, half jokingly said to my mom that he should probably wear a mouth guard too. Well later in the day on Christmas while none of us adults were really paying attention, Cade took his Land Shark outside to ride it. He was still in his pajamas. He certainly did not have a helmet on. Heck, he didn't even have on shoes! My driveway is on a slant, so he started at the top of the drive and went zipping down the drive, hit the crack where the gutter meets the road and face planted. The knee board totally stopped where the two meet and he kept on sliding. Only on his face instead of the board.

His poor little face is all road rashed. He even has road rash on the inside of his lower lip. He had dirt all over in his teeth. I felt so bad for him!

So long story short: If any of your kids received this fabulous little toy, make sure they ALWAYS wear protective gear with it!

As for us, we decided that we aren't going to keep it! Tomorrow it goes back to the North Pole!

My FAVORITE Breakfast Casserole

I love this recipe because I prepare most all of it the night before. Then when we wake up in the morning, I add the soup on top and pop it in the oven. It bakes the perfect amount of time while we open presents. When we are done opening presents, it is done! So easy and yummy!

6 or so slices of bread

1 lb Link sausage, bacon, OR ham. BROWNED AND CUT UP!

1 c. grated cheddar cheese

1 dozen eggs - beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

3/4 tsp. mustard

1/2 green bell pepper - chopped

3 green onions - chopped

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 to 2 ounces mushrooms

1/4 c. milk

300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours

*Butter a cake pan and line your bread in the bottom.

*After browning your meat (I like to put both sausage and bacon but you can use just one or all 3!) Sprinkle it over top of bread. Then sprinkle your cheese over that.

*In a separate bowl, beat your eggs and add the milk, mustard, pepper & onion. Pour over top of your bread/meat.

*Cover and put in your fridge overnight! The bread will soak up all the egg mixture. Just before baking add: 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup mixed with the 1/4 c. milk and the mushrooms. ( I usually just use a small can of canned mushrooms). Drizzle the soup over top of the casserole. Bake uncovered on 300 degrees for 1 and 1/2 hours.

You'll love it!

Oh Snow!

I woke up last night at 4am to a beeping sound. I couldn't figure out what it was. I realized that the power had gone out and it was my fridge beeping because the temp was too low. We reset our alarms and went back to sleep. Then Jens came in my bedroom at 7:09am panicking because his alarm had not gone off and the school bus was supposed to be here in just a few minutes. We realized that the power had gone out again! We opened the blinds and saw this!

So I went and checked the school district web site and it said that all schools in our district had cancelled the bus services. Just a few minutes after that the news said that all the schools in our district had cancelled school too. WOW! A first for me. I have lived my whole life in this state and I don't remember the school ever closing for snow......... Everyone here has 4 wheel drive cars, or at the least they have front wheel drive. We know how to drive in snow! But I will tell you what, it took us FOREVER to dig out! FOREVER! Several of my neighbors got stuck. My neighbor's truck was covered!

The kids were all so ECSTATIC! No school! Yeah! Today was supposed to be their last day of school before Christmas break. But instead it starts now!

This picture shows how much snow is out there. Molly was sitting down by my mailbox and she was having a hard time getting up. She kind of reminded me of the movie "A Christmas Story". Remember when Ralphie's brother falls down in the snow and he can't get back up because of all the snow clothes he was wearing......

Look at the snow on top of my mailbox. We got about 20 inches of new snow.

All the neighborhood kids were out playing all morning. They played for a couple of hours and by 10:00am, they were all cold and ready to come in for the day. 10:00 AM! I wanted to turn them around and tell them not to come back in until 5:00pm! They are excited but as for me? I think it is not only going to be a long day but a long break from school.

Christmas Season fun!

I had two gingerbread making kits so we decided that the boys would do one and the girls would do the other. They both turned out cute....... well I have to admit that the girl one was better,(he he) but the important part was that the kids had fun. I did too!

The boys did the multi colored one and the girls did the red, white and green one.

Jensen Family Christmas party

We had my family Christmas party last night and it was so much fun. It is the first time that I have been with my entire family all at the same time since last years Christmas party. It always seems like one or two......or three people are missing each time we get together.

My mom kept attacking my nephew Alec. Every time he would relax and turn his back to her she would get him.

We played a bunch of games after we ate.

Then we had a banana eating contest. The trick was to eat the banana THROUGH a nylon that was on your head. It was hysterical! Glen tried forever to get the nylon over his big head. It was even a plus size nylon too! Once he got it on, we all laughed SO hard because his face was really smashed!

Jeff, Brent, Brian, Glen and Darren all ready and eating. Once they all finally got the nylons on we all were laughing so hard that it took forever to actually EAT the banana.

I love this picture because you can see how smashed Brent and Brian's noses are! SO darn funny!

Brent looked like a sumo wrestler!

Jared - Kaitlyn & Brittany

Me and Jens