Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Hey there Stranger.....

My goodness....how time flies by. School, girl scouts, work and life just keeps on truckin... Let's see it has been since Feb since my last post, what has happened since then.

  • Valentine's day...
Flowers for Izabella from Me and Steve

These are all the cards from all of us to each other.


These are miniature orange roses, they lasted for about 3 weeks, they were so pretty.We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day and were able to spend time with the ones that they love.
  • Girl Scout cookies are in and we are IN business....







  • Daddy's birthday...
Izabella likes to help me make Grandma's homemade icing for Daddy's birthday cake. This year, she wanted to decorate it, so we made some of it blue and voila!
He's been trying to diet so we had to make this on one of his "cheating days"...but yummy as always!
  • Getting the yard ready for this year....I think this is the BEST it's ever looked! Steve did a GREAT job!



  • Sleep in the Deep - Girl Scout overnight at the TN Aquarium...





  • Mother's Day

Friday, February 11, 2011

Jump Rope for Heart!

Thank you to everyone that helped with donations to Izabella's Jump Rope for Heart campaign. She earned $660 this year for this wonderful cause!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Busy..Busy..Busy...

Wow, I can hardly believe January is over and now we're almost 1/2 way into February. So much going on. Izabella's Brownie troop is selling girl scout cookies and she ended up selling 127 boxes. YAY! The troop is going to sell at several booths over the next few weeks and well see how many more we can sell. It's been fun.

Now, the Jump Rope for Heart is going on and she's trying to get more donations for that and she can't wait, because last year, she earned the most money at her school and then she came down with Strep throat and couldn't jump rope on the day of the event. She was so upset. So, we're doing it again this year.

Her Brownie troop is always working on another patch and this one is for Community Service and they've chosen the local animal shelter to work on. They are in the process of gathering donations of shredded paper, blankets, towels, wet cat/dog food, pillow cases and then they will take a tour of the facilities and then they will work with the cats. They will get to play with them, groom them, read to them and they will get to see what it's like at the shelter.

Izabella also got her 2nd report card a few weeks ago and it was straight A's again. She's really excited that she will be able to sign up for the Spelling Bee next year. They can't do that until they are in the 4th grade but she's already working on it. :)

We'll see what the rest of the month brings us....

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Time for some catch up....

Both of our computers have been on the blink since end of December so I haven't been able to update in a while so I'm going to go in reverse to get caught up. First up....Christmas!




Then...you might have heard that we got a little snow that shut the whole city down for an entire week....but it was beautiful and fun anyway! Mr. Tim took Izabella and Christina sledding at the school. Reminded me of when I used to find a underpass near loop 289 and I'd climb up the side and slide down. good times! who doesn't love snow?

Then...when the sun finally came out....it was time to get outside and have some fun with the pups!

and NOW you are up to date! We love and miss you all and can't wait to see you soon!

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Tale of Two Geese

A Christmas Story
by: Izabella Mingolla and Ted Archer

While exploring the North Pole, Jackie, Bella and Ted hear about 2 geese, 2 beautiful White Geese. They asked Mr. & Mrs. Santa about the geese and were told the story of the 2 geese. This is their story.

It seems the 2 geese were heading home in the winter and took a wrong turn in New York. (I hear it is easy to get lost in New York.) They flew for days and saw the lights for a huge workshop and decided to stop. Little did they know they had reached the North Pole and were about to call Santa's home their own.

They were tired from the long trip. (Long trips always make me tired.) They decided to make a home from the new and cold. (Rumor is that it is cold and snows always in the North Pole area, and we can confirm that rumor)

The geese made a shelter from snow and sticks and began to rest from their travels. It was at that point Santa noticed the latest residents of the North Pole and called Mrs. Claus to take a look. Neither of them had met their new guests yet. but were excited to see they had company. Mr. & Mrs. Claus loved the elves and reindeer, but were always excited to hear new stories, especially from geese since they fly nearly as much as Santa does and certainly have some stories to tell.

Mr. & Mrs. Claus stepped into the cold, although it didn't seem so cold to them as they LOVE cold weather. Santa introduced his wife and himself to the geese, who were pleased to make new friends. The geese explained they they must have missed a turn and thought this looked like a good place to rest, even if it was much colder than their old home. The geese described Florida to Santa & Mrs. Claus, that is where the geese lived last you know. They told Santa they should take a vacation there; they believe Mrs. Claus would love the beach as much as the snow.

After a couple of minutes, the geese noticed lots of eyes looking at them from the workshop door. It looked like most of the elves and reindeer were watching to see who was outside. They were as excited as Santa & Mrs. Claus to have company.

Santa & Mrs. Claus smile and invite the geese into the workshop. Of course, the geese accept the wonderful offer. Once they step inside the workshop, they were amazed. They have never met elves and reindeer before. They try to remember all the names as best they can. The geese are taken on the grand tour of the workshop. There is so much activity going on in the workshop that they again amazed. Then the chief elf in charge of production takes them to an observation deck, which shows off the production floor of the workshop in full force. There are more toys being made than the geese had ever seen. The toys could fill thousands of toy stores.

But, the geese didn't understand WHY all of these toys were being made. They kept looking at all this hard work and all these toys and just couldn't explain it. So, they walked over to Santa, and politely asked if he could explain why he was doing all of this work.

Santa, of course, was happy to explain Christmas and how he travels the world over one night each year to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls. He also explained that the elves do all of the toy creation here year round so he can deliver them on the most special of nights, Christmas night.

As the geese listened to Santa, they had an idea. Perhaps, they could get home when Santa delivered presents. Surely Santa would not notice 2 extra packages if he has to take presents to all the good little boys and girls.

The geese headed to the production floor of the workshop. They watched the packages get filled with toys and realized that was their chance. They would sneak into packages marked for Florida and they would seen be home. They went over and located two large boxes to be delivered to Sam and Jill (a brother and sister near where they had lived.) They snuck into the packaging area, jumped into the boxes and covered themselves with wrapping paper so the elves would not notice them when the boxes were closed. The packages were sealed and were loaded on the sleigh.

Santa begun to prepare for his trip that night, as he does each year. He checked his list twice, made sure no packages were empty and each package contain the right gifts for just the right boy and girl. When Santa reached Sam and Jill's presents, he knew something wasn't as he expected. Santa opened the 2 large boxes and found the 2 lost geese.

Santa asked why they were in the boxes and they explained that they were cold and lost, and while everyone at the North Pole had been so friendly, they just wanted to go home. Santa smiled, put the geese on his lap, and said, "all you had to do was ask, and I would grant your Christmas wish."

The geese cried with excitement. Santa made a spot for them in the sleigh right beside him. Never had they flown so far, so fast, and never flapped their own wings. When Santa reached Florida, he gently picked up the geese, laid them down next to a small pond, smiled with a twinkle in his eye, and continued on his task. The geese were home, warm, and happy. And, Sam and Jill got the presents they were to receive from Santa .

The End.

Ted and Jackie: Thank you so much for teaching Izabella how to make homemake cookies and sifting the flour. She absolutely had a great time and I think we should contact a publisher about this story! We love you - The Mingolla's

Friday, November 26, 2010

I love my family.....

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for Steve, Izabella, Taylor, Soxy, Joey and Emily
and
mom, tom,
dad, laura,
david, melissa, josh, marin, lily,
bonnie, joe,
char, david, austin, cheradyn, camryn, apollo
joe
deanna, britt, kady, jilly
auntie ann
uncle rob
carrie, jason, jackson and ella.
and
health, happiness, love, good friends
and
CRAZY sales Thanksgiving night............... ;)