God's blessing, our babies arrive

After 24 years of marriage and 22 years trying to conceive, we became parents. We were no longer a "couple". We became what Jim to this day calls the "fab four". Teeny, tiny, little Grace and Matthew Rodgers arrived, weighing in at 4 lbs. 11 oz. and 4 lbs. 10 oz. respectively. Gracie came first and Matthew arrived 16 minutes later. He was a "surprise" baby. Hidden completely behind Gracie. Just a little peanut. He slept like a soldier for the first few years of his life. Poor thing never knew he could actually move!

It seemed as soon as the "twin mania" finally ebbed, we settled into our own little routine. And, that is when our house filled up again. Only this time it wasn't anyone coming over for a visit. These visitors came from within the walls of our house. Sounds crazy, believe me I know. I lived it. As did Jim, and Gracie and Matthew. But, after all the outside hoopla came to an end, the inside hoopla started. I couldn't walk from the living room to the children's nursery and not have to walk "around" shadow type people who were clinging to the perimiter of interior walls. At first it was sporatic,. A glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. But, soon it became more. It came to the point where I would say "excuse me" when taking the babies to their nursery because I literally had to walk around them. Never did I feel that we were in danger. It was like a super natural party going on in celebration of Gracie's and Matthew's arrival.

Grandma Grace has arrived. It was early afternoon, the babies were asleep in their nursery. Did I mention that their nursery was the first floor front bedroom of the house? Yep, that one. Anyway, I was going in to check on the twins, and when I reached the nursery door, but was stopped in my tracks, when a huge ball of light with a fiery tail flew from the back corner of the room to the front corner of the room and then dissappeared. Now, that one blew me away, but I still wasn't "fearful".

Two days later, I became afraid.

a little back story

I think I would be remiss if I didn't explain the history of our home. As I mentioned previously, our home had three owners. Samuel Hooper and his wife Helen built this house in 1941. They had an adopted daughter named Samuela J. Hooper. That is all I had known about the previous owners when we had bought the house. The only other information I had was that Helen had been in a freak accident at some point in time in the 60's. We used to have a hardware store in the shopping plaza at the end our street. Helen was walking on the sidewalk in front of the hardware store, when a person in a vehicle accidentally put their car in reverse instead of drive and plowed her through the plate glass window of the hardware store. She died a couple of years later. I was always under the impression that she had died at home.

Jim's mother bought the house from theHooper estate when Jim was in high school. Grace had owned a maternity store named, Mary Grace Maternity Togs. She worked long and hard, and in it's day it was the place to buy maternity clothes. We were married almost two years when Grace got ill passing away several months later. She died of a heart attack at home in her bed. This is the same room that Jim and I moved into when we bought the house. The bedroom is on the first floor at the front of the house, with two windows that bring in tons of sunshine. Jim and I took this room for our bedroom when we moved in because it was the most practical room to take. The second bedroom on the first floor was being used as a den. The second floor had a dressing room, full bathroom, and a master bedroom. This was Jim's space when he lived at home with his mom, mostly because his mom's bedroom suite wouldn't fit up the stairs. We chose not to use the upstairs when we moved in because it was dark. The house is a cape cod, and typically the second floor rooms have "sloped" ceilings. We have since remedied the problem of light by putting in sky lights, and have since made it our master bedroom. And, yes, the first floor front bedroom is now Gracie's. :) Trust me, she wouldn't have it any other way.

So, for many years we lived mainly on the first floor, which is where so many strange things would occur. The volumn on our stereo would soar to an ear piercing volumn. The lights in the house would blink. The knocking on the doors just about drove me crazy. I had also noticed sudden temperature drops in the living room when I would watch tv or read. I am talking theeth chattering cold. And, yes, I would keep getting mail from Met Life addressed to Samuela J. Hooper twice a year.

As we went on with our lives the spooky stuff didn't get any worse, at least for Jim and myself. One of my brothers had moved in with us to get back on his feet and took the upstairs bedroom. It was a matter of days before he moved his bed into the dressing room next to the stairs. He said he kept hearing balls rolling across the floor at night. Scared the life out of him. Didn't take him long to get back on his feet and find a new place to live. :) All in all we all fell into a comfortable routine. Oh, I must add, that "we" all lived happily, unless I critized how the Hoopers built the house. I mean, come on, who builds a house and then decides to put a basement in? Ok, I better quit while I am ahead. :) After some 22 years of just Jim and I, the twins arrived. And, that is when all hell broke loose.

knock, knock, who is in the basement?

When we moved into this house, we moved in with Hershie, our german Shepard, and Kisses, our cat. Neither of the animals seemed upset or disturbed by the happenings in the house. I busied myself with turning our new house into our home. Jim was working at Copperweld Specialty Steel and I worked at the Brown Derby restaurant as a hostess. Neither of us were home much due to our busy schedules. But, my employment came to an end when Kenley Players theater went out of business. The shows were the bread and butter to the restaurant and without the theater the business didn't survive. So, I became a full time homemaker. Which I always loved. Cooking has always been a passion of mine.

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner. Jim was still at work at the mill. Hershie, as usual was at my side. :) I was stirring something on the stove, when we heard someone or something knocking loudly on the basement door. Hershie immediately ran to the basement door barking wildly. I personally was freaking out. My hands were trembling as I reached out to grasp the door nob to the basement door. My heart was pounding fiercely. I remember holding my breath as I slowly turned the knob and opened the door. And, of course.......there was nobody there. This became almost a ritual. If it wasn't the basement door, it was the utility room door leading to the garage, or even the utility room door from the kitchen.



I still wasn't sold on the idea of anything "super natural" living among us. Even when I came down the stairs from the second floor and suddenly felt 6 ft tall. Seriously, that was weird. You see, my mother-in-law was 6 ft. tall. And, I felt like she had taken over my body, cause I was tall and I was skinny and I held my head just like she did. Yet, oddly enough that seemed ok to me at the time. To me it was like the lessor of all evils. After all, I knew my mother-in-law. Granted, she didn't like me in the beginning, but I grew on her. And, no, not like a fungus. :) She made my wedding vale. She pricked herself with the needle and a drop of blood dropped onto the edge of my vale, and we left it there. We really grew to love each other. :) I really miss her. :( Ok, I have to tell you this really quick story about Jim's mom. This was the Thanksgiving before she died. Jim and I had a really cute apartment not far from here. I was making Thanksgiving dinner for us and his mom. For the life of me, I couldn't find the giblets in the turkey when I was preparing it for the oven. I called my mother, I called his mother. They told me where to look, and I looked, and they were not in the darn bird! So, we sit down to dinner. Jim had watched a cable show on how to carve a turkey. He proceeds to carve the bird, and when he slices the breast meat off the bird, low and behold!!! There are my damn giblets!!! Sorry, I had to tell ya my first cooking boo boo. :)

The happenings in house were sporadic after a while. Did they stop? No, not at all. I think I just started getting used to them. Until I started hearing voices. Then I really started to pay attention. The voices were more mumblings, like a gathering of sorts. I could never make out what they were saying. And, why there seemed to be so many of them. That mystery wasn't solved until a few years ago. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

our house, is a very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard.....

In the beginning, some thirty three years ago.....

Wednesday morning started out as any other morning of the week. The heirloom tea pot was steeping an aromatic blend of chamomile and mint on the kitchen counter. Cold blustery winds were blowing in what promised to be the grand daddy of all snowstorms. I was pulling my favorite tea cup and saucer from the horribly worn steel kitchen cabinet, when I heard the clank of the mailbox lid, letting me know that the mail had arrived on time. As it did six days a week, for the past month since Jim and I had moved in. I set my cup and saucer next to the tea pot and padded of in slippered feet to retrieve the mail. Even though Jim and I had just moved into this new home, it was a very familiar home. Jim had lived in this house for several years before our marriage, with his mom, Grace. Grace had died several months earlier. We hadn't intended on moving in, let alone purchasing the home from the estate, but being newlyweds of two years, it seemed the most practical thing to do, and we hate moving.

The winds nearly whipped the screen door from my hands as I lifted the lid to the mailbox and reached in pulling out a single envelope. The name on the envelope was not familiar to me. Samuela Hooper, hmmmm, with the our address below her name. I tossed the envelope in the buffet and went back to the kitchen to remove the tea bags from my pot of tea. A cold draft blew across my neck and shoulders as I walked into the kitchen, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. A shiver went through my body as I reached for the tea pot. Just before my hand grasped the handle, the tea pot began to slide down the counter. I snatched my hand back and watched as it turned in a complete circle before coming to rest inches from the kitchen sink. It was then that I realized that I must have spilled water on the counter while filling the pot. Pulling a towel from drawer, I picked up the pot to wipe the counter, only to find they the counter was completely dry.

When I told Jim about the tea pot incident, he filled me in on the "other" fun things that happened when he and his mom bought this house. We are the third owners of this home. I hope to die in this house, as all the previous owners did. :)

people in a panic

Went to the grocery store just as it started snowing. The parking lot was packed. Once inside the shopping carts were almost gone. It took me four lights before I was able to get out of the parking lot after shopping. Unheard of! I was in the grocery store maybe 35 minutes and in that time the roads were already snow covered and slippery. :( But, now we have 3 gallons of milk in the fridge and two loaves of bread in the drawer, plus many other staples like pasta, meat, and fresh veggies. ok, now it can snow all it wants. Wait a minute, I have to pick up Matthew from shool at 2:30, then Jim has to pick up Gracie from drama club after he gets off work. Ok, then it can snow all it wants! :)

baby it's cold outside!

I think I may actually be looking forward to a couple of snowed in days. Taking the kids to school in the mornings has been a negative experience due to all the ice and snow still on the city streets. Once I hit the county roads it is a breeze. Why can't the city plow the roads when they have a day and midnight shift working at all times? just askin'

winter weather

It is a good time to have a cold, cause baby it is nasty outside! I loved being snowed in. The kids and I went to the grocery store after school yesterday, and stocked up on food. Poor Jim is out clearing the drive and walks. He does ours and our neighbors so he is going to out in it for awhile. I fed him a nice brunch before sending him out in the elements. We were actually quite lucky compared to other areas of the state.

my friend choices

What does it mean when friends don't answer your calls and won't return your calls? Then when you speak to them it's as if everything is just fine. Am I being overly sensitive? I gotta tell I choose the oddest friends. :)

Note to all you friends who "drop off the face of the earth for extended periods of time". These actions leave people wondering if it is them. Or we actually worry that something is terrible has happened. Just sayin'.

what's for dinner

Matthew is down with a cold and a nasty cough. Jim is getting over a tummy problem. Gracie aka "typhoid mary" for bringing in the germs, is better from her cold, but still has a cough.

With all these issues, I have decided to declare today as soup day. I have a fat chicken in the pot and will be making butternut squash soup with broiler toasted slices of french bread. Wow, all this talk of food is making me hungry!

playing catch up

I have been playing catch up with the website, production, labeling, photo shoots, etc. I am also launching a new product line. Sara gave me a kick in the behind last year. We had talked about a couples line. I was also considering getting into cp soap. Yep, Sara gave me my jump start. Thank you, darlin'! She is busy working on the same things I am working on. Really kinda fun! Hey, I chose my favorite flavor on her poll, have you? I have a private label for massage oils. Since I am making them anyway, I am also including them into my line of products. Both straight forward oils and oils of the flavored variety that would serve a dual purpose. I am also making personal lubricants. I am calling them "Wet Your Appitite". I am still in the design process of the labels.

Now, I am off to catch up on making some cp soap.

what was I thinking

Last Sunday was a great day.........until my computer shut down while I was working in labels. I had a full week of cp that needed to be made. I quickly got onto Gracie's asus eee and ordered a new power cord, and as of today it has yet to arrive. :(((((( That is the saddest face I know how to make. My recipes are stuck in a black whole. Yep, believe it or not I do indeed make backups, and did just that the day before. I will now backup every time I modify a recipe. I am also going to write my favorite recipes on index cards and tuck them away for safe keeping.

The weather this week is on a downward trend. Lots of wind and whiteout snow conditions. We are quickly heading into single digits with wind chills below zero. Makes me wonder how Renee is fairing in the Poconos. Sorry Sara, but I have to giggle when you tell of freezing in your garage during inventory. Might want to invest in a heater for the garage. :) I think Bab's is on the east coast? And, of course Monkey is in Georgia. My prayers are with you daily that you fell better very soon.. I carry you in my heart always.

I spent the morning cleaning and doing laundry for a friend who blew out both his knees. He still manages to hobble along except he can't navigate the basement stairs to use the washer and dryer. Now, I gotta hit it and get cleaned up so I can pick the kids from at school.

Sending positive energy your way! and, prayers to Sara's grandpa and the rest of her family. We really ought to think about a prayer chain for our nearest and dearest. hmmmm

colds and a dry winter house

Gracie started coming down with a cold last night and I didn't have cough meds in the house. The dryness in the house was making her cough, which in turn started making her chest hurt. The kid's bedrooms are separated by a bathroom, so I closed the drain in the tub and ran hot water through the shower head, filling the room with steam. Then I put about a teaspoon of eucalyptus essential oil into the tub. When the tub was full I shut the water off and went to bed. Gracie stopped coughing and slept soundly through the night. She asked me to do the same thing tonight. Sure enough, she is sleeping peacefully. I love old time cure alls!

to seed or not to seed

I've been pondering the idea of making scrubs with seeds. Those itty bitty blueberry seeds caught my eye on more than one occasion. Wouldn't they just look fabulous in a white sugar scrub? Or, how about a nice foaming bath whip with just those beautiful little red blueberry gems?

Today was the day. I could barely contain my excitement as I set about making a scrub soooooo gorgeous that you would want to take a spoon to it. The first batch was a bath whip sugar scrub. Turned out nice, but note breathtaking. Need to work on the sugar amounts. Too much sugar and you feel like you have been hit with a sand blaster. Too little and you don't feel exfoliated enough. The seeds looked great.

Next up was a bath whip with just the blueberry seeds. By the time I finished the test recipe I decide to give it a try. So, when I took my bath, I scrubbed my face with the seeded whip. Very disappointing. No scrubby feel to speak of. And, when I rinsed my face and looked at the water, all I saw were these little reddish seeds floating around, and of course sticking to my skin. hmmmmmm. Those adorable little seeds don't look so captivating anymore. :(

back to the drawing board.