parenting – Page 2 – Allyson Daniel

December 13, 2014

Putting up the tree this weekend

The kids have been bugging me like crazy wanting to put our Christmas tree up. I just haven’t had any time with all the overtime I have been working to be able to buy the kids Christmas presents this year. I am so thankful that I still have my job because I know so many people that have lost their jobs lately it’s scary.

Anyway, I had this weekend off (an act of God made that happen) and we’re finally putting up our tree. My mother got us a really nice artificial tree one year after Christmas so I wouldn’t have to spend money on a live on every year. Besides, it just doesn’t feel right to me to kill a tree to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Do you know what I’m saying?

Now once we get the tree up, the kids are going to be asking where the presents are. I got to start working on that too. What to get for who for under the tree. There’s always clothes and underwear. They hate to get that!!!!

December 7, 2014

You are not going to believe this

I got a great deal on a Wii for my children for Christmas. I was on Craigslist and someone had a new one they had bought for their teen-aged son and he just really messed up so they sold it to me for $25.00. I was totally shocked since these things cost at the cheapest I’ve seen $235.00.

I didn’t want to ask them what he did but it must have been pretty bad. I really dread when my kids hit those teen-aged years. My oldest is a teenager but my mother is raising him so she has most of the headaches with that. I remember my teenage years, especially since I had my first at barely 16 years old.

Anyway back to my excitement. Now I can ask other people to get them some of the really cool games they have for them. It came with a couple of games too. So the whole thing was just nothing short of a blessing for my children and me. I just hate that it took a teenager messing up for my kids to benefit. I honestly hope and pray that what ever it was he did, that he learned a good lesson from it and will be a good boy from now on.

December 1, 2014

I’m still stuffed

Well this had to be one of the best Thanksgivings I can remember. The children were all here with me, we have a new family friend that joined us too, and the rest of the family all gathered at Ma-maw’s house through out the day. Some came for dinner and some just for desert. It was wonderful.

The kids stayed with Ma maw so I could hit the sales Friday. I really saved some money and got most of my shopping done too. I got one of my sons a remote controlled dragon fly. He’s going to love it. I got my oldest son a ‘boom box’ I guess they still call them but this one is remote controlled and he can plug his MP3 player into it and play it through it. Pretty cool I thought.

My daughter is in love with the movie Frozen so I got her several things related to that. I know she’ll be thrilled with them. I’m not finished shopping yet but I’m getting close.

November 26, 2014

Let the cooking begin!!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We’re all getting together at my mother’s house for dinner. Well we’re supposed to meet around 2:00 but I’m sure some won’t be there until around 3:30. My family has a habit of being late. It’s almost a family tradition!!

Yes we are even inviting my childrens new ‘adoptive grandfather’ Charlie too. He’s bringing the turkey. I’m making a carrot cake and everyone else has a dish they are too bring. I love carrot cake and have a recipe my great-grandmother gave me a long time ago. It’s the best carrot cake ever. In fact, here’s the recipe:

Carrot Cake

2 cups grated carrots
1 small can of crushed pineapple not drained
1 1/2 cups Wesson oil (doesn’t have to be Wesson oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (may use 2 if desired but I use 1)
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Cream oil and sugar together. Add Carrots, pineapple and nuts. Add eggs one
at a time and beat well. Add dry ingredients sifted together.

Bake in 3 layers at 350 degrees approximately 45 minutes or until done by
sticking a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.

Frosting for Carrot Cake

1 8 ounce package of creamed cheese
1 stick of margarine
1 box of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of chopped pecans

Have cheese and margarine soft. Set out of refrigerator a few hours.
Use electric mixer to mix in powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts.

Put in refrigerator after you frost it to make it set better after frosting.

Enjoy!!!!

November 11, 2014

Veterans Day

I’m not that close to my family and am not sure how many people within my family have served in the military but today is the day to honor those that are veterans. There’s a local steak house that gives a free meal to all veterans that come in. It’s amazing to see the range of ages of these that served.

In this time of two wars, it’s easy to thank a veteran but there aren’t many left from WWII. I hope they know how much our country appreciated them. They fought one of the worst wars our country was ever in. They fought for people around the world that couldn’t fight for themselves, the Jews.

Let’s all make sure to thank a veteran today. If you don’t know one personally, it doesn’t matter, find one. Just look on their cars and you’ll see a Marine Corps sticker or maybe a ‘Retired Army’ sticker. Go up and tell them ‘Thank you for what you did for me and my family’ and shake their hand. They deserve to stand tall today and every day.

My children wanted me to put this picture on to honor the soldiers so this is from my children.

October 23, 2014

Meeting Charlie for pizza

Charlie had invited the kids and I to Pizza Hut for dinner tonight. At first I wasn’t sure but since I did check him out pretty good, I thought we might enjoy a night out so I accepted his invitation. I have talked to him a couple times over the past couple of weeks and so far, he seems harmless. I just hope it stays that way.

He says he has a surprise for the kids. I have no idea what to expect but I’m not going to accept much from him until I’m sure he’s just what he seems to be and that’s a nice older man looking to share a moment or two with kids to help make his life fuller since he’s all alone. I feel sorry for anyone that is alone because I know how that feels.

October 11, 2014

Well I checked him out

I found a web site that tells you if there is a child molester in what ever radius you choose. There was no Charlie Benson listed which was a relief to me. I even looked up the number he gave me and it is registered to a Charles Benson so I think he’s okay so far.

Then I found a web site that lets you check criminal records. Again, no Charlie Benson. This seems so far to be just a nice older man who is lonely and wants a family to love. I’m going to take it slow and easy and see if I can learn more so I can really make sure my kids are safe with him. You just can’t be too careful these days with yourself and especially your children.

October 5, 2014

Time to find a pumpkin

Today the kids and I went to a local pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin to make a Jack-o- lantern from. We found it and the darn thing cost $25 dollars. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford it. As we were walking away with one screaming and crying “I want THAT pumpkin” and the other two with long faces, a kind older man heard what was going on.

As I was getting everyone in the car, someone tapped me on my shoulder. It was the gentleman that had been near enough us to hear the children cry and me say “I just can’t afford $25 for a pumpkin.” There he stood with that pumpkin in his hands saying “Here, this pumpkin really needed to go home with your kids. It was crying when you left it so I had to get it for the kids so they all could be happy.” My children started hooting and hollering and each one gave the kind man a big hug and said thank you.

There I stood with tears in my eyes. This kind soul was my guardian angel at that moment and I could plainly see it in his eyes. I gave him a hug and told him that he had no idea how much I appreciated his selfless kindness. He told me his name was Charlie Benson, gave me his phone number and told me that if I needed anything to help with the children for Christmas, to please let him know. He didn’t have any family to spoil and would love to adopt my children as his grandchildren if that was okay. He then asked if he could call from time to time to just speak with them and hear how their day or week had been.

I’m a bit nervous about giving him my number and I hate to say it but I will check him out before I allow him to be much of a part of my children’s lives. You can’t be too careful in this day in time but my heart tells me he is what he appears to be, just a kind old man with no one who wants to help. I sure hope so because my children would love to have a ‘Grandpa’ to spoil them all.

July 25, 2014

Do you get Sirius Radio?

I grew up listening to the music of the 70’s since that’s when my mother grew up. She loved that music so that’s what we all had to listen to in the car. No I don’t have Sirius Radio in my car but I do have it on my satellite TV.

I found the Totally 70’s station and I don’t watch TV anymore, I listen to it. I especially love it when they play a selection from the ‘Juke Box from Hell’ and then play something like ‘Dead skunk in the middle of the road’. I find myself dancing around the house like I used to see my mother do when I was little. If I have to sit at the computer and accommodate the family’s request for silence so they can hear their own music, or watch a TV show, I’ll put on a pair of headphones that I bought a few weeks ago from the musiciansfriend.com website and listen to it without bothering them. One way or the other, I am going to listen to MY MUSIC! I LOVE IT!

May 4, 2014

Visiting my grandparents

I used to love to visit my grandparents house when I was a child. They had the most beautiful old grandfather clock I had ever seen. I loved to hear it chime. In fact, as a child, I would run into the sitting room where the grandfather clock was when it would start chiming just so I could hear it better. I loved that clock. My parents now have it and it will be mine to keep in my home when they are gone which I hope will be many years from now.