Samantha Pierce

I made costumes for the kids tonight. I'm not a big fan of Halloween. In fact I'll be glad when the Sci Fi channel gets back to science fiction after the glut of bad monster/zombie films that they have been playing lately. But the kids like dressing up. Since we watched Prince of Egypt a gazillion times this summer and since Ethan has been carrying around a stick demanding that various friends, family members and inanimate objects let his people go I decided to dress the kids up as characters from the Exodus story in the Bible. Ethan gets to be Moses since he's the one with the stick. Isaiah gets to be Aaron since he's a brother and all. Sophia had a choice of being either Miriam or Zipporah and she chose to be Zipporah. That leaves me as Miriam I guess. I suggested to hubby that he could be Jethro, Zipporah's father, but his only response was, "I have to teach tomorrow." I riffled through my stash of fabric and clothes to find something to make costumes ...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs . While state Republicans are wailing and flailing that Governor Spitzer's plan to give illegal aliens driver's licenses will let terrorists into the country New York state county clerks are poised to scuttle the plan by simply doing their jobs and following the law. Illegals applying for licenses risk being arrested: Erie, Niagara county clerks develop plan to counter Spitzer’s directive Illegal immigrants who try to apply for driver’s licenses in Erie and Niagara counties will be subject to arrest — and deportation — under a plan being developed by the two county clerks and law enforcement officials. The move is the latest — and potentially most serious — challenge to Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s new policy to permit illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses if they possess a valid foreign passport and other identification. “I’m being asked to look aside to something that’s illegal, and I’m not going to do that,” Niagara County Clerk...

Today I am thankful for/that: Hubby, who can spell any word I throw at him (and I do mean any word) and knows all about that whole Google cache thing. That saved my butt while tinkering with my blog template today. Christine of Welcome to My Brain who discovered what I've wanted to do to my blog ever since I updated to the new version of Blogger, have three columns instead of just two. There's a link at the bottom of the blog if you want to do the same with your Blogger blog. Still haven't had to turn the heat on yet, which means I still haven't vacuumed out the heating vents yet. Not really looking forward to that particular chore. Sweet sweet fall weather. Stunning fall colours. I don't think I've ever seen the fall foliage look this good. Even the Zelkovia trees in the neighbourhood that usually just go from green to brown to bare are putting on a colourful display. The sounds of children playing in leaf piles. If I didn't have to watch Isaiah to make ...

I think this excange took place on Monday evening: Sophia: It's mine! Ethan: It's mine! Sophia: It's mine! Ethan: It's mine! Sophia: It's mine! Ethan: It's mine! Me: What are you two doing ? Sophia: I don't know! I think we're pulling on this microphone! And they were indeed fighting over the microphone that came with Ethan's toy keyboard. This morning on a walk through the neighbourhood Sophia and I had this conversation: Sophia: Hey mommy look at this! ( she shows me a red berry she's just picked from a yew hedge ) Me: Umm. ( trying to think of the best way to get her to put the yew berry down without a big fuss ) Sophia: Look another red berry! ( she plucks a second yew berry and now has one in each hand ) Me: You know this is a yew bush. Sophia: Oh. ( looking down at the berries in her hands ) Me: Those are yew berries. They aren't safe for eating. Sophia: Oh. ( still looking at the berries in her hands ) Me: They can make...

Don't put off until tomorrow what you should do today. Any parent trying to get their teenager to clean their room. I still need to work at putting this particular saying into practice. Sometimes it's so nice to sit still and do nothing though.

Most fake bombs missed by screeners . Not because I'm afraid of being blown up. But because I don't see the point of wasting all of that time and money, being stripped of my water and lip balm, possibly being stranded in an airport or an a plane without food or water, or subjecting my children to all of that, in an effort to keep me safe while actual bomb components still make it onto a plane.

Today I am thankful for/that: Me: Are you reading about bugs? Sophia: Yeah! Stinky butt bugs! Pages 20 and 21 of the book did indeed cover stink bugs. Ethan: Mommy! Let my people go! Said with staff in hand at the park. Ethan has been going around throwing down sticks and demanding the freedom of his people, whoever he deems them to be. He's also taken to wearing a stripped towel as a robe. Isaiah: Mommy!! Said as I took four of the five DVDs that he wanted to take to school from him. During a post bedtime bathroom trip: Me: Are you all done? Isaiah: No. And he wasn't. Isaiah happily singing alphabet and number songs in his room at night. Ethan's room is still clean! What are you thankful for?

This bit of news woke me right up this morning. Al Gore gets to share the Noble Peace Prize ? For all of his Inaccurate Truth? Un-freaking-believable! I'm speechless.

I wrote this post and then forgot to put it up on the blog. I just found it (on 10/23/07) and I'm posting it anyway. Today I am thankful for/that: Not only did Ethan clean is entire room yesterday unprompted, when he was done he went and cleaned his brother's room. If it hadn't been so much past his bedtime I would have given him the broom and turned him loose on the living room. A full 24 hours later his room is still pretty much spotless. Isaiah walked calmly and quietly through the Sam's Club store today. Then he remembered that dad was there and got cranky and wanted to be carried. In general Isaiah's becoming more comfortable with walking around in stores while holding my hand. So long as the shopping trip is short, we don't stand still for too long, and hubby doesn't get too close to him (Isaiah is such a daddy's boy). I am free to be as insulting to the American government and American-ness as I want. I'm not recommending being insulting just ...

(Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs .) Sis2 just called to tell me that CNN is reporting that Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the US over this: House Bill on Armenian Genocide Angers Turks A House committee has voted to condemn the killing of more than 1 million Armenians in Turkey in World War I, explicitly calling the event "genocide." The Turkish government opposes the resolution — as does the Bush administration, which warns that relations with a key ally could be damaged. The House Foreign Relations Committee's vote on the 1915 massacre infuriated Turkish officials. It also prompted protests in Ankara, where crowds of people marched on the American embassy. Sis2 works in an office full of Turks and they are all worried. Turkish opposition to any mention of the words "Armenian" and "Genocide" anywhere near each other in any context is just about legendary. There are laws in Turkey to prosecute people for insulting Turkishness by talk...

"I'm a secret agent!" So says Ethan as he cleans his room. All I really wanted was for him to make his bed but I wasn't sure how I was going to get him to do it. I started by asking him to pick up items one at a time and put them back on his bed while I tried to think of the best way to explain putting a flat sheet and blanket on a bed to a six year old. I got as far as getting him to put his pillow back on his bed when he grabbed his sheet and threw himself on his bed saying, "I'm making a person's bed!" His first attempt ended up with him under the sheet. But he kept trying all the while saying, "I'm making a person's bed!" While he was doing this I had to go check on Ethan's brother and sister. When I got back to Ethan's room I found that he had made his bed (putting his flat sheet and blanket on sideways), put his books back on his bookshelf, and put away several of the toys that had been lurking about in his room. As he...

Fun in the Kitchen Edition: Home made tomato soup. I made up a batch of tomato soup for dinner tonight and it turned pretty well. I don't think I'll ever go back to condensed tomato soup again. To make a quick and easy tomato soup you will need: 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 garlic cloves, crushed 2 cans tomato sauce 1 can diced tomatoes 4 or 5 cups water 3 tablespoons honey 2 sprigs rosemary salt and pepper to taste Toss the crushed garlic and olive oil into you favourite soup pot. Set the stove to medium heat. Stir occasionally until the garlic is soft. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, and honey to the pot and crank the heat up a bit to about medium high. If you don't mind picking rosemary stems out of your teeth strip the leaves from the stems and put stems and leaves into the pot. Otherwise tie the stems of rosemary together before adding them to the pot so you can fish them out later. Give everything a good stir then cover the pot and bring it to boil. Remove ...

Today I am thankful for/that: No cavities! The boys had their first dental check ups this week and all went well. Ethan did everything he was asked to do, even if he was a bit squirmy in the dentist's chair. Isaiah protested quite loudly and they didn't even try to get x-rays of his teeth. But they were able to get a good enough look in his mouth (during a particularly loud wail) to determine that he was cavity free. What a relief! Sophia goes next week. She made out like a bandit collecting goodies from the staff after each of her brothers' appointments. I haven't got any cavities either. Haven't had to turn the heat on yet. I shudder to think what might be lurking in the heating vents. I've got to get the in-laws to have them professionally cleaned or we may be sick and/or cold all winter. The gorgeous fall colour is still on in full force. Usually by this time of year it's very nearly over in these parts but thanks to the unusually warm weather the fall d...

It is never a good idea to stash you crochet or knitting gear in your back pocket. Especially the small sharp pointy metal implements of the craft. And don't leave them sitting around on chairs, benches, couches, etc. either.

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader Blogs . So much for the rule of law. This has been making the local news the last few days: Spitzer stands by immigrant driver's license plan ALBANY - Defending his plan to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, Gov. Eliot Spitzer accused Republican critics yesterday of using "extremist rhetoric" to capitalize on still raw emotions surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Spitzer, a Democrat, vowed to push forward with allowing license applicants to substitute a valid foreign passport and other records for the required Social Security card. Such documents are difficult to forge and will be scrutinized in a process taking up to six weeks, he said. Doesn't "undocumented" imply that these people wouldn't have any valid documents to present in order to get a driver's license? And if perchance these "undocumented immigrants" happen to have documents that indicate that they entered th...