Merry Christmas!!

Kids love snow...

Ice storm in Central Massachusetts

It was midnight of Dec. 12 when we heard the loud noise from branches and trees breaking and falling. Power was off. About once a minute there'd be a loud BANG followed by a rustling sound and finally a crash as a branch or tree broke, fell through other branches and landed on the ground. It was eerily quiet between the BANGs. It was continous loud sound that made us awake the whole night. DH go out to investigate, and start a fire in the wood stove, knowing from experience that the power would not come back quickly. He investigate headlights stopped in the road.
People were stopped because of a large birch blocking the road, all was OK, sort of. They had a friend with a chainsaw coming.

In the morning, ice covered everything. No power, of course. The birch in the road was cleared, but another tree mostly blocked the road, but people could drive around it on the shoulder. DH decide to cut it enough to clear the road and get the chainsaw. The saw brought out two neighbors and they all worked to remove the tree.
Lots of large branches down in the yard.

I kept on visiting my littlegirl's bedroom because of the sound and the branches that fell off the ground made me worry so much. Our house was surrounded with trees, luckily no trees near our house fell down except the big branches close to the garage and the barn. The storm left us 8 days without electricity. Damage was severe in the city and some parts of Fitchburg still dont have power. We are lucky enough to have the firewood stocked up last summer. I am glad DH went crazy this summer cutting firewood, although the reason he did so was that he expected heating oil to cost $4-5/gallon this winter.

Bouncing Bananas!

Did you know the banana plant is not a tree? It's actually the world's largest herb! There are two types of bananas: the fruit or sweet banana and the plantain. The fruit banana is the one we are most familiar with. We eat it when it turns yellow and develops a sweet taste with the soft texture. The plantain is a cooking banana that contains less water and thus tends to have a dryer texture.
Banana seem to change from green to yellow to black almost overnight. This change in color represents the ripening process of bananas. Unfortunately, many kids don't care for bananas once they get those dark spots. Once the banana has turned yellow, you can slow down the ripening process by placing them in the refrigerator. The skin will turn black, but inside the banana is still fine for up to about two weeks. Another option to save those browning bananas is to peel them, cut them into chunks, and then wrap them in plastic. Tuck them into the freezer and use as needed for smoothies, or defrost and masah for baking. I usually wait until banana is overripe so I can make a delicious banana bread which is my DD's favorite. When baking, you can substitute an equal amount of pureed banana for the same amount of oil in the recipe. For example, if brownie recipes call for 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, try a 1/2 cup of pureed banana instead. You'll save 120 grams of fat or 1,080 calories in the recipe.

Computer Problem...

For the past few days I can't do anything with my computer, it makes me nervous 'coz I have new files and pictures that are not save yet. I didn't do anything with my PC until my DH got home last night to fix the problem and had him back-up all the files. He did it but now it takes forever to load and dropping EC takes time. Anyways, to my co-bloggers who visit my site I will reciprocate as much as I can.

Happy Thanksgiving To One & All!

A Big Thank You To Carlota!

My new Christmas layout is courtesy of Carlota for winning a guessing game she had on her website. Thank you so very much. She is such a very helpful person and easy to talk to.

I miss working...

I've been in a jewelry business for quite sometime now and had the opportunity not to work in summertime to be with my daughter. But this time, I completely stopped working. I really miss my job maybe because I loved what I was doing. I even took up a diamond course from GIA (Gemological Institute of America)to be more qualified on selling those expensive stone. I miss working specially this time of the year where we get big bucks because of our commission. But I think it would be hard for jewelry business to make a cut in today's economy. One thing I love about being in a jewelry business, customers buy diamonds for LOVE, not as a commodity. It is also an emotional purchase. I witnessed women teary eyed after receiving their dream diamond, and a smile glued on their face once they got the piece that they love. It was a beautiful sight to witness and as a jewelry professional we really are elated witnessing one of the best times of their lives.

The poem that gives me goosebumps...

A drunken man in an Oldsmobile they said had run the light.
That caused the six-car pileup on 109 that night.
When broken bodies lay about and blood was everywhere,
The sirens screamed out eulogies, for death was in the air.

A mother, trapped inside her car, was heard above the noise,
Her plaintive plea near split the air, "Oh, God, please spare my boys!"
She fought to loose her pinned hands,she struggled to get free,
But mangled metal held her fast in grim captivity.

Her frightened eyes then focused on where the back seat once had been,
But all she saw was broken glass and two children's seats crushed in.
Her twins were nowhere to be seen, she did not hear them cry,
And then she prayed they'd been thrown free, "Oh, God, don't let them die!

Then firemen came and cut her loose, but when they searched the back,
They found therein no little boys, but the seat belts were intact.
They thought the woman had gone mad and was traveling alone,
But when they turned to question her,they discovered she was gone.

Policemen saw her running wild and screaming above the noise
In beseeching supplication, "Please help me find my boys!"
"They're four years old and wear blue shirts,their jeans are blue to match."
One cop spoke up, "They're in my car, and they don't have a scratch."

"They said their daddy put them there, and gave them each a cone,
"Then told them both to wait for Mom to come and take them home."
"I've searched the area high and low, but I can't find their dad."
"He must have fled the scene, I guess, and that is very bad."

The mother hugged the twins and said, while wiping at a tear,
"He could not flee the scene, you see, for he's been dead a year."
The cop just looked confused and asked, "Now, how can that be true?
"The boys said, "Mommy, Daddy came and left a kiss for you."

"He told us not to worry and that you would be all right,
"And then he put us in this car with the pretty, flashing light.
"We wanted him to stay with us, because we miss him so,
"But Mommy, he just hugged us tight and said he had to go."

"He said someday we'd understand and told us not to fuss,
"And he said to tell you, Mommy, "He's watching over us."
The mother knew without a doubt that what they spoke was true,
For she recalled their dad's last words, " I will watch over you."

The firemen's notes could not explain the twisted, mangled car,
And how the three of them escaped without a single scar.
But on the cop's report was scribed, in print so very fine,
"An angel walked the beat tonight on Highway 109

Make cleaning a family affair

Do you feel as if your home is in a constant state of chaos? I am so amazed by how quickly catalogs, newspapers, toys and clothes seem to multiply. Clearing clutter not only makes our homes look good, it can also make us feel better. Feng Shui believes that getting rid of clutter rids your home of negative stuck energy and allows space for positive energy to surge into all aspects of your life. Clearing clutter is very challenging specially if you have small kids who loves to play and a husband who is a pack rat. In our household each one has chores to do I call it "division of labor." DD is assigned to put back all the toys she played for the day, papers and books has to be put in the assigned boxes and she also has to give Lara (our cat) food and water. DH also has a box for all the junk mails and papers so it's easier for me to sort it out.

Clutter-busting strategies for families:

* Take gently used items to a resale shop.

* Use new, large pizza boxes to store children's art projects from school.

*Adopt an anti-clutter mentality- If you haven't used something in a year, chances are you won't use it again.

Simply Delicious Sweet Potatoes

The sweet potato is sweet because of the natural enzyme that converts the starch to sugar when the potato matures and when it is cooked. Some people like it even sweeter with a little added cinnamon and brown sugar. The sweet potato is also one of the healthiest foods in the vegetable kingdom. It is low in calories, high in fiber, has lots of vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium and iron. In addition to this awesome nutrient profile, the sweet potato has an amazing amount of beta carotine, wwhich also converts to vitamin A in the body when needed. Beta carotene is what gives the sweet potato its deep orange color. eating just one sweet potato supplies your body with entire amount of beta- carotene you need for the entire day. That's great news because beta- carotene plays a critical role in keeping your immune system strong and your eyes healthy.

Choosing a blog title

I have been reading blogs for a while now but few months ago I decided to have my own. It's interesting how bloggers choose the name for their blogs. It's the title of the blog that makes me decides which one to browse first. There are some that are so intriguing and can't help myself but pay them a visit. It took me a while to decide If I'm ready to have a blog of my own and what would be the title if I decide to. While on the process of choosing a great title, I was thinking of a diamond and at the same time my little girl to be the main focus of my blog and come up with the name Simply Irresistible. How about you? Is there a story behind the name of your blog or you just choose it randomly?

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 03 November 2008
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact dhoymoroney@gmail.com.
This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.
The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.
The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Vote and be heard!

When someone votes, they are being a part of the democracy in America by making their voice and ideas heard. Voting is a choice of who a person thinks will better represent them and the rest of America. Actions can describe your ideals. Voting is not only a privilege, it is a responsibility. Please vote, and encourage others around you to vote also.

Skyride Adventure...

Breathtaking view of the foliage from our sky ride experience.

Keene Pumpkin Festival

A World Record Event...

DD's "Confused Pumpkin" she registered at the event. Why confused? She said, we can't decide if we are going or not because of the weather. We ended up going, we really don't want to miss our annual family traditon.

DD's pumpkin was counted in The 2008 Pumpkin Festival.
Keene missed the Guinness world record again this year. The official tally of 22,568 pumpkins fell 7,560 gourds short of the world record, but we really enjoyed the celebration. We've been attending this festival for 4 years now and still enjoying it.

The funny pumpkin

"When all the cows were sleeping
And the sun had gone to bed,
Up jumped the pumpkin,
And this is what he said:

I'm a dingle dangle pumpkin
With a flippy floppy hat.
I can shake my stem like this,
And shake my vine like that."

from: M.Garofalo's compilations of poems

Just being frugal...

As part of my effort to minimize the unnecessary spending I finally convinced my DH to change the ISP of our computer at home. Just for changing the ISP we are going to save $384.00 for the first six months and $34.00 a month thereafter. Isn't it great? I didn't even notice the changes in speed. I hope DH will be happy with the changes.
This was the cause of not dropping EC for 3 days, I thank all my fellow bloggers who kept dropping on my site. I really appreciate it.

With the Flaming Shades of Fall

"Colors burst in wild explosions
Fiery, flaming shades of fall
All in accord with my pounding heart
Behold the autumn-weaver
In bronze and yellow dying
Colors unfold into dreams
In hordes of a thousand and one
The bleeding
Unwearing their masks to the last notes of summer
Their flutes and horns in nightly swarming
Colors burst within Spare me those unending fires
Bestowed upon the flaming shades of fall."
- Dark Tranquility

Friendship Tag

I got this tag from Mira of A Moment to Exhale. She is good friend in and out of bloggerworld. Thanks Mira.


We need Friends for many reasons, all throughout the season.We need Friends to comfort us when we are sad, and to have fun with us when we are glad.
We need Friends to give us good advice,We need someone we can count on,and treat us nice.
We need Friends to remember usone we have passed sharing memoriesthat will always last.
Spread the Poem of Friendship. 1. Everyday Life 2. Words of Love 3. Sheng's Simple Thoughts . . . 4. good thoughts, good trades 5. Ours and Our Kids 6. Jengspeaks 7. Jacque 8. Snippets of My Mind 9.Melisse's Domain 10.Seize The Day 11. Living A' La Mode 12. Simple Delights 13. Motherhood in a Nutshell 14. RainCindy's Blogging Time 15. General Santos City 16. About Love and Relationship 17. KUMAGCOW - The Goodlooking Guy on His Journey : ) 18. Beyond My Quiet Zone19. Mira's Web Journal 20. Random Thoughts 21. Scrappy Mommy 22. My Barefoot Journey 23. My Kitchen Table 24. A Moment to Exhale 25. Simply Irresistible 26.You're next!

I want to share this wonderful friendship tag to the my blogger buddies : 1) Eunice 2) Cecile

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Have you heard the saying "an Apple a day will keep the doctor away?" Well, an apple alone may not be enough to keep the doctor away, but it certainly can help. Apples are a delicious, low calorie, high fiber addition to any diet. When most people think about eating an apple they imagine a large, vibrant red delicious apple, the Classic American snacking apple. However, there are more than 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the US and 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world. Some of the most delicious apples are the ones eaten immediately after being picked from an apple tree. Once washed, it's a good idea to eat an apple with it's skin intact. Just beneath the skin is the greatest concentration of Vitamin C and the skin increases the amount of fiber offerred by the apple. You can't get bored eating apples because there are so many varieties that range sweet to tart, and from soft to smooth to crisp and crunchy. No matter what your taste buds you are sure to find one that pleases your taste buds. So go explore in your local store or near-by market and enjoy an apple today!

The Velveteen Rabbit

We started reading books to our DD since she was months old. She was always excited everytime she saw me with a book on hand. Now that she's 5 years old she can choose what story she wants us to read. At a very young age, she showed me the emotional side of her. Several times, I saw her eyes watered while I read stories. One afternoon she asked me to read the story of "The Velveteen Rabbit" she said, "Please Momma, can you read this book to me. This story is about Love." While reading the middle part of the story I saw her eyes watered and was trying to hide her face from me. I asked her if I said something that hurt her feeling. A bit embarrassed she said, don't worry mom this is just tears of joy. I know that she was touched with the story. When we're done she went to the living room sat on the couch holding Lara (our cat) and cried more. I let her eased up a little bit then talked to her the lesson of the story, how great it is to have loved ones, to have friends. No matter what, you know they always want the best for you. There were times that I don't want to read touching stories coz I really don't want to see her cry while listening, but those are the ones that has a great lessons. Did you guys experience it with your children or my DD is just a bit emotional.

Happy 6 month birthday Lara!

      
Lara has been with us for 4 months now and already had visited the vet 3 times. She has another appointment coming up so she can be spayed. She is really a playful cat. She often climbs on the screen door and the curtains. But she is really sweet when she is on DD's bedroom, she does not disturb her nor making any noise, she just stays there giving our DD company. She loves playing with a "crinkle ball" cat toy, which is made of aluminum mylar. It is amazing to watch. I am surprised it hasn't been lost yet. I've retrieved it from under furniture a few times already. I am thinking of buying some more toys for her since it is her birthday. Happy Birthday Lara!

To All EC Droppers :

Thank you for all the EC droppers who continuously visit my blog. My first month as an EC member was so exciting and I will surely reciprocate all of you as much as I can on a daily basis. These are the top card droppers for September:

Designing Hilary
Random Thoughts
I Thought So
My life and Family Journey
Mumsy
Laane on the World
Happy Moments.. Happy Thoughts!
A Moment To Exhale
Mira's Web Journal
The Single Parent Talks

Is Your Boss Spying On You?

It's legal, it's happening and it can get you fired.

Now a days a lot of employees lost their jobs for using their time blogging, downloading music, surfing the net during office hours. Companies are now using two types of spying software: network- based programs that monitor all traffic passing through a system and programs that sit directly on an employees desktop. Vericept protect is one of them. So if you want to enjoy blogging, surfing the net and at the same time keeping your job, here are some tips for what to do-and not to do- when using your work computer:

7 Rules to live by:

* Know your company's computer-use policy and comply with it.

* Assume you're being monitored, and behave accordingly.

* Never bad-mouth your company on line.

* Don't use personal e-mail accounts or post to a blog.

* Avoid transmitting any message thar could embarrass you or other if made public.

* Don't think instant messaging is less permanent than e-mail.

* When surfing the web, never click on something flagged NSFW (Not safe For Work).

A Woman of Courage, A Mother warrior....

I was watching Oprah (recorded from yesterday) this morning after I brought my DD to school and they were talking about a courageous mom, Monica Jorge. She had both her arms and legs amputated after she contracted a deadly flesh eating bacteria during a routine C- section. She had 37 operations and expecting more. She had to go thru' months of grueling rehab, and being a MOM was her ultimate motivation. The "why me" moment never came for her. All she knew was, she was going home to her loving husband and her two girls. I really can't believe how brave she is. Everyday is a struggle but she keeps on moving forward. Thank God she has a loving husband that stand by her thru thick and thin. Watching the show gave me goosebumps and teary eyed. What an amazing story, truly an inspiration...

My craving for cassava cake...

Last Tuesday I went to our local grocery store and found fresh yuca (cassava). I bought few pounds and when I got home, I grated it and cooked it right away. In just an hour my craving was over.

Big & Small....

Svetlana Pankratova's 52-inch legs are the longest in the world and He Pingping is the smallest man at just over 29 inches according to the Guinness World of Book Records.

Where is she?

My camera wasn't quick enough to capture my little girl sliding...

What I learned for Being A Mother....

When it comes to parenting I consider myself a newbie and still learning. Here's what I've learned so far:

I've learned... that the first time I look in my child's eyes I understand what the words "unconditional love" truly mean. The love I felt when I held my daughter is something I could never explain.

I’ve learned… that when my newly born child hold my little finger in her little fist, that I am hooked for life.

I’ve learned… that having my child fall asleep in my arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I’ve learned… that there is nothing sweeter than sleeping with my child, feeling her on my cheeks.

I’ve learned… that Motherhood is a self sacrifice.

I’ve learned… that when you choose a path of Motherhood. It is for life… no one really tells you this, when you are thinking of becoming a MOM.

What about you, what have you learn for being a MOTHER?

The protective parents...

Follow - up on a Robin's story:
While Momma is gathering worms, Daddy is right there, and vice versa. Here both of them are trying to distract those horrible giant with the camera. I never thought that there was a Daddy involved until later when the babies were getting bigger. Momma built the nest, laid eggs, then incubated. It was a surprised for me seeing those protective parents both watching their babies. The female is slightly paler in color and a little bit smaller than male. (Pls. click the photo to see the slight difference)

A glorious morning in New England

Hanna went by without any damage done in our area. It was a glorious morning when I woke up and it seems it will be beautiful for the rest of the week. My prayers to those affected with the hurricane. DH received an e-mail from my BIL telling him that the storm was the worst Baton Rouge, LA ever experienced. He mentioned that all trees on their yard were gone. His neighbor's house was severely damaged by a treefall. The good news was, they were safe except that they might have no power for a week. I hope the power comes back sooner than they expected.

By the way, yesterday I planned to have a barbecue for dinner but since the bad weather was to start late afternoon, we decided to have it for our lunch. Got the barbecue recipe from Kusinera sa America. It is a very good recipe for a pork barbecue.

Nature's Bounty...

Last year, we had a lot of vegetables from our garden. I even gave some to my friends and made tomato sauce since we had a lot to consume just for ourselves.


This year, I had to compete with a gate-crasher just to have tomatoes for our salad. This little creature was the frequent visitor in our garden. Did I get mad? Not really! I enjoy watching these lively animals, sometimes make an eye to eye contact with them. The enjoyment outweighs any nuisance they cause in our garden. Since they depend primarily on plants for food, I let them share some of the produce in our garden. The only thing I don't like them to do is when they burrow in our flower garden and our retaining walls.

Robin's Chronicle... (The growing baby birds)

Mommy Robin's growing babies.

Those cuties are now 4-5 days old...

Feed me pls. momma...

another day had passed, babies are now 1 day older.

Their feathers are becoming visible now.

On Parenting...

Your children are not your children,
They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are not with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwells in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit,not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might,
that His arrows might go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness,
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Kahlil Gibran
(Chicken Soup for the Soul)

Robin's chronicle...Eggs hatched

A continuation of Robin's chronicle.

After seven days one egg hatched, then one hatched each day for the next two days.

Off to school, she goes...

I can't believe it! We already have a kindergartener. It is pretty quiet here right now, DH & I sent our DD to school. She was so excited that when she woke up this morning she was singing, "I'm going to kindergarten, I'm going to kindergarten!" I'm a little worried though, it seems that she is still too young to a full day school. She thought that she can do everything now since she goes to a big school. She was so happy when she saw some of her preschool classmates are in her class too. Anyways, I hope her first day would be as exciting as she hopes it would be.
Good luck littleone! Enjoy everything school has to offer.

The long weekend is over...

It was a very productive long weekend for us, we didn't go anywhere though. The whole family stayed home and did some chores that needs to be done while the weather is beautiful. DH split firewood and I helped stacking it. We usually use firewood in the winter during the weekend and at night when DH is around. It saves us a lot of heating oil and warm the whole house well. With the high cost of heating oil I think this is a good alternative for us to save a little. I also finished put an edging in our deck while our DD played in her sand box. I was so happy that DH was in the mood of painting the eaves of our house coz that really needs a makeover. Overall the weekend went well for us. What about you guys, maybe some of you are still on vacation.

The Robin's chronicle...(part1)

It was very common in our yard to hear the Robin sings and see them hunting for food to eat.(their diet consists of worms, bugs, fruits & berries) But making a nest just outside our window, that is very unusual. Early summer a robin had started building a nest on top of a stepladder leaning against the house under an overhang. Odd, in that I thought they typically built nests in dense trees/bushes not in the open, and not so close to people. DH just used the ladder a day before they started building a nest. I wasn't sure whether to knock it down or leave it be. How aggressive are mother robins? If I left it be, DH can't use the ladder until she's done,but it is a chance to show my DD an empty nest, then nest with eggs, then growing baby birds. It was also 15 feet away from her swingset. We decided not to move the ladder and after few days we found three eggs in it already.

Our Purr fect companion...

After our 17 yo cat Schmedley passed away a year ago. DH kept on bugging me to have a new one. I was hesitant to have another cat again since I saw how emotional he was when he lost our cat, also cat's smell bothers me a lot. Then one morning I heard DH talking to my DD that there was a cat who wanted a new home. DD asked me nonstop if she can have her. Guess what, after a lot of convincing DH and DD were ecstatic when they heard me say yes. Now we have a new addition in our family. This cute and gregarious little fella makes my DD and DH happy.

Friday moms lunch date...

I have a Friday moms' group that I go to just to eat and chat while kids are playing. Since our kids are now in a 5- 6 yo range we now have time to seat and relax a little. We mothers really need that little time. Once kids know the rules playdate goes smoothly. We do check them from time to time just to make sure that they are safe and the set rules are followed.

Patriotic Bristol...

Bristol, RI isn't satisfied with those boring yellow lines for the road centerline. They show their patriotism by using red-white-blue. They've been doing this for many years, and there is even an exception to the nationwide Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices specification for road markings that specifically allow them to do this. The oldest 4th of July parade in the US is in Bristol and follows the route of the road with the red-white-blue centerline (Rt 114 or Hope St, Bristol). It's about 2 1/2 miles in length.