Simple Woman

Hosted by Peggy@http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com*****************************

Outside my window~It's sunny, but with a chill in the air. The bay is calm and smooth.

I am thinking~About all I want to accomplish in this coming week. How hard it's going to be to give up soda.

I am thankful for~Wonderful friends.

From the learning room~It's quiet right now. Monday will get back on task from the Thanksgiving break.

I am wearing~ Capri sweat pants, and a yellow tank.

I am creating~ A new blog page and post.

I am going~ I am going to kick back today and watch a movie, maybe some football.

I am reading~A Midwife's Story- the friend that gave it to me was a midwife to the Amish.

I am hoping~For this month to pass by quickly. Well, until the 23rd when the kids arrive. Then I hope time stops.

I am hearing~Multiple sounds. Music from my son's room. The Sykping ring from my daughter's room and football in the living room.

Around the house~ We pulled out all the Christmas decorations. We will start decorating slowly. We decided on a fake tree. It's just not the same.

One my favorite things~Holiday dinner's when friends and family crowd my house. The sound of children's laughter.

Plans for the week~ School, decorate the house, write goals for the coming weeks.

. Faithy and Dominic from Christmas 2008. I am so looking forward to this coming Christmas!!

Faithy's 11th Birthday

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Faith's birthday

We had a really good time on Faith's birthday. It was her golden birthday, she turned 11 on the 11th, so I set the party for 11:00. We started her day at Let Them Eat Cake. The girls started off getting their aprons and munching on veggie's. Which was good considering all the sugar that was available later in the party. Then they all got to make their own pizza's. They rolled out the dough and put whatever toppings they wanted on. Most the girls chose pepperoni. While the pizza was cooking they set out to decorate their own cakes.

While Chef Jason was laying out the candy and frosting he was singing the song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...who could make a rainbow. After sampling candy they set out decorating their cakes, many of the girls got very creative. Some were simplistic, while others went for how much candy can they fit on the cake. After they were done they boxed them up and got ready for lunch. It smelled so delicious. He also sent out a large salad and chicken fingers. They finished up the party by singing Happy Birthday to Faith and eating cake.

Once we got home she opened all the presents. She received many gift cards, so shopping was next on the agenda. We ended up valet parking because the weather looked nasty and there were no close parking spots. The International Mall is amazing. She was on a mission so we hit Sephora first. This make-up store had everything, she had a blast shopping. Then it was on to Aeropostle, Abercrombie and Justice. She knew what she wanted and the cards were spent quickly. I kicked $10 to $20 extra at each store. We stopped at Starbucks on the way out.

That evening she chose Crabby Bills in Clearwater. She chowed down on king crab and clam chowder. The restaurant brought her out a piece of cheesecake for dessert. It was a fun day with friends and part of the family.

Summer at OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Back to School

Living in Florida is wonderful, but I do miss the changes in the trees that I would be seeing soon in Oregon. Waking up to the crisp mornings and sitting by the fireplace with a cup of something warm to start your day.

We are back in the swing of school. Faith is starting the fifth grade. You can check out her blog to see the curriculum we chose this year at weeziesblogspot.blogspot.com
She is going to try to keep her blog updated with how her school year is going, and what is new with gymnastics.

Elliott is a senior this year. He will be completing his senior year online. The public schools were not willing to give us the time of day, and wanted to have him repeat his Junior year because they would not accept his Oregon credits. We felt this was ludicrous! He can work as fast or slow as he wants to complete. He would like to be done by January. He is working on getting his license and just landed a job as lifeguard at the base. He also just finished working on a music video in Orlando, it was a great experience for him.

Gregg has been home awhile now which has been nice. With his career you never know when he will be gone again. We have about three more years in the military before he can retire.

Life in Florida at OneTrueMedia.com

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's Been Awhile

Things have been crazy at the Ramsdell house. So much has changed since I last wrote. Gregg was gone for almost six months overseas. Again, it is tough every time he leaves since he isn't the run of the mill solider. Not that any man or woman that serves isn't a blessing to our country. I made it through with the help of friends and my strong willed spirit. Those days I felt weak, I dug deep because I knew I had a job to keep the households running and Faith on schedule with school.

We had a chance to visit some good friends in Oklahoma, so we got our snow fix we miss being home in Oregon. Misty and Shannon are great people and it's always hard to say goodbye.

As of May 1st, Elliott has come to join us in Florida. It has been so much fun! We have an amazing relationship and have a great time hanging together. He said the sweetest thing to me today. A few friends asked him if he was making any friends,(which he has) but he told them I don't need friends... I have my mom. I wanted to record that moment, that's rare to hear from a seventeen year old's mouth. He will be a senior next year and will complete it online. We tried hard to get him in a public school, but the public school system here was very unaccommodating. Gee, what a shock! The virtual school will still have teachers that instruct him via the web.

Life in Florida has been wonderful. We have met and made friends with many people from all over the world. People from France, Greece, Albania, Switzerland, Holland, Italy. It is good for the kids to grow up being exposed to so many cultures. It is also nice to hop on a plane and be in New York or D.C. in a couple hours.

I am sorry it has taken me so long to update this blog. It just seems that everyday life keeps you so busy and time flys by.