Random Bullet Points Post!

Time for another of these popular posts! ;)

• I'm soooooo excited about the ball on Saturday! Especially because I have a brand new handmade-just-for-me Civil War dress to wear!!! =)

• As Mom only has 56 days left til her due date, and is at a doctor's appointment today, I've been thinking about what it will be like to have a baby in the house again. Diapers?? Naps?? Hearing an infant cry as a regular occurrence?? Highchairs, Pack-'n-Plays , and Sippy Cups?? =D FUN!!
  
• Almost exactly a year ago, Rachel and I had the privilege of meeting our first and only (so far) Bloggy friend, Miss Jo March! :)
• Bumble-bees have "abumdumums" according to our cousin, Michael. (I think he meant "abdomens" :D
• *sigh* The Horn Worms Return.... :(
• I got my first foreign mail or package today!! *squeal* And I love it! Thank you, Anne!
• I want to make bucket list sometime soon. (they sound fun!)
• Why can't either our computer or Blogger let me post some pictures on here???!!! :(
• I can't wait til this weekend for another reason: a visit from Abigail, Sam, BJ, and Anna!!
• Does anyone else think that *everything*'s being scheduled this Saturday?? I've been invited to 3 things!
  
• I want to do several posts that require pictures from this computer....but....they won't upload!
  
• Can anyone not love Broadway songs??!!!!!! *sigh*

• The Andrews Sisters' songs have planted themselves in our brains.....You stay in our house long enough, and you'll most likely hear one of these lines:
  

"Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, please let me explain...."

or this one:

"Choo-choo to Broadway, foo Cincinnati, don't get icky with the one, two, three..

I like oysters, lobsters too,

I like my tasty butter fish, fooo
When I come home late at night
I get my favorite dish, fish."

• Much to Rachel's delight, squash are coming in by the laundry basket, which means plenty for our customers and extra! What we do? Make this great casserole!!!
• I can't wait until Rachel's Amazon.com order is delivered....namely the 1995 version of P&P!! :)
• The weather today!!!Can anyone say gorgeous? Seventy-three degrees feels like bliss after all those 98-100 days! +D

Alright! Hope that was worth your while! :)
-Sarah

Happy Mother's Day and....zzzzzzz

Happy Mother's Day Mama! We love you! :) Thanks for being the best Mama of 8 children that there ever was and ever will be! :) I can't wait for our little tea-time this afternoon!

Even though I am sure that everyone of you are tired of hearing about the ball, be at ease, because now it is over! ;) We had a really great time, and, because we got home at 12:49 a.m., I am now dozing over the keys. (not really) It was so much fun dancing with a neatly organized group! It was one of the best dances I've been to, and my first real ball! :) Thank you God for the gorgeous weather! The Boyer family did a great job of calling the dances and providing music. Thank you Foster family for hosting! We had a great time! It was also really cool seeing all you bloggy people! (This is Rachel) Abigail and I had a nice tete-tete in the starlight after the dance. And, according to her strange traditions, we did fall into a ditch! :) Well, I won't keep you all reading a post written by a sleepy-headed person! ;) Thanks to everyone who contributed to making it a lovely evening, including everyone we danced with who cooperated with our hoops! :) -Rachel

About You Know What. Told Ya' I'm Excited! :)

I am too excited about the ball to write a coherent post, so this won't be long. Go ahead and laugh all you gents who don't understand a maiden's thrill over preparing for her first ball! :) I don't think that any viscountess on preparing for her coming out could be more excited than I. When it comes to this sort of a thing, I am quite a little girl still, and can't help becoming distracted and happy. :) Daniel will be in full Al Capone or "Vinnie" attire. He decided to dress sort of 50's instead of Civil War, since it was already put together! He looks rather the gangster, but very dashing! :) We girls have made our dance cards. Don't worry Oliver. If you dance with me, don't sign it if it will inconvinience you! ;) I just like being able to remember who I danced with, and which dance I did with them. I am treading out the few more hours till it is time to leave! :) :) :) I just made almond toffee bars. Mmmm! :) Well, I told you this wouldn't be long, and so it isn't! Hope you guys have a great day! Think of us tonight and imagine us enjoying the delights of a Harper's Ferry or Gay Gorden! :) -Rachel

Squeaky Clean On The Wrong Day

So...We are doing Saturday chores today, (Friday) so that tomorrow we can leave on time for the ball!!!!! We are super excited! Poor Abby wasn't feeling well yesterday or this morning. You could also pray for our van- there is some noise that could be something trivial, or something really bad, and so Dad is taking it in today. If it is the bad thing, then we can't fit all the people we were going to bring, (from several other families) and that would complicate matters alot. Anyway....so just to give you all an idea of what preparing for church in this household of 21 is like, here is what we do:

Dust all furniture, bookcases, bar, etc.
Organize all bookshelves
Clean all bathrooms
Clean out fridge
Sweep and organize pantry
Sweep, organize, and mop laundry room
Mop kitchen and hardwood floor (where needed on the latter)
Wipe all walls and baseboards for dirt
Clean all glass doors and where needed on front windows
Wash kitchen garbage cans
Set up lost and found
Bring down hymnals
Set up serving utensils
Wipe all counters super well
Declutter all downstairs
Clean and vacuum all bedrooms
Vacuum all carpeted areas downstairs
Set up plates, cups, and utensils
Make multiple gallons of iced tea
And anything else that needs doing! :)

The power went out mysteriously while I was writing this, but thank goodness that most of this was already saved! I have begun a new story. Shh...*ducks while Sarah throws something at my head* I promise I'll finish Riverly Manor, and then I shall publicly swear that I shall never write another mystery!!!!!!! :[ But even Sir Walter Scott worked on two books at a time! He set them up on stands, and paced around. Then, when he had an idea for one, he'd race over, pen it down, and set to pacing again. I'm not that bad! But I will not let you, (Sarah) read this till it is finished. Then I will deliver it to your lap in all the golden glory of a peace offering, and let you read it. Hmph! :) I can't help myself in a writing fit! All right. I had better get going! I can't wait to see all of you guys at the ball! (Meredith, Elliott, Oliver, Abigail, Shaina, Hannah, Leanna, Melissa, Micah, Beth-Nell...."allva" you guys! :) -Rachel

Ball Preparations :)

"Bed, bed, I couldn't go to bed,

My head's to light to try to set it down,

Sleep, sleep, I couldn't sleep tonight,

Not for all the jewels in the crown!

I could have danced all night,

I could have danced all night,

And still have begged for more.

I could have spread me wings,

And done a thousand things,

I've never done before....."

Around here, we love dancing. And we have a pet peeve: DANCING WITHOUT MUSIC!!!!!!! You really will end up gallumphing if you don't have some sort of something to help you go along gracefully! :) But since most of the time we don't like having to drag a c.d. player into the front yard, we just sing the music. True, we sound choppy since it is hard to keep a steady voice, sing "The Port Royal Gallop" and do a polka all at the same time, or to dance the "Ship's Cook" and sing "The Maid That Sold Her Barley", but we do it all the same! Waltzes are easier- Sarah and I simply start into "Ten Minutes Ago I Met You" from Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella".

"Ten minutes ago I met you,

I looked up as you came through the door-

My head started wheeling

You gave me the feeling,

The room had no ceiling or floor.

Ten minutes ago I saw you,

And you murmured a `how do you do?'

I wanted to ring out the bells

And to....(I forget the words)"

It's alot of fun really! :) So, another thing we have been doing, (and this for brushing up before the ball) is asking eachother for a dance, and practicing accepting and refusing partners graciously. Sarah finds excessive amusement in dumbfounding me. Last night, she came up and said, "Do you have a partner?", with an air of expectant gallantry. I modestly said, "No." and then, instead of asking me, she walked away!!!!! I didn't know what to say, and pretty soon she fell on the ground laughing at me. We are constantly quoting the scene from "The Sound of Music"

"Leisl, who are you dancing with?"

"Nobody..."

"Oh yes you are!"

"May I have this dance?"

"I would be delighted young man!"

The reason we are practicing refusals, is because we have decided that we don't want to do the Waltz (the Spanish waltz is fine) or the Polka with any young men except for Daniel or Matthew. They are rather close-ish dances to do without some embarassment and uncomfortableness on the girl's part at least. Yes, Sarah is quite a clown about it all- she has set up every swingin' scenario you could imagine- she went down on her knees and asked me, she grabbed my shoulder and asked me, she tapped me on the shoulder, she bowed, she chased me around on her knees like some very short and scary man....she really is very inventive. You know me! I make an elaborate bow to Sarah and ask her for a dance in the most correct and pretty language. But when she asks me, she pretends she is chewing on a straw and says, "Ya' wanna dance?" What would we do without personalities?

All around our house we are buzzing about the ball. Last night I set to putting a French tuck (by hand- reenactor fashion you know ;) into my skirt with as much goodwill as any young woman ever has when preparing her finery for her first ball. I only hope that I get asked to dance, because I would rather dance with a blind mule than sit and watch people doing it when I can't! The King's Daughter and I have already pledged each other that if we both are left to dry-rot along the side, we'll dance with each other! :) Well, I had better go! -Rachel

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