A Little Getaway

We have been visiting Dave's brother and his wife in Lancaster County, PA since Thursday night. Yesterday we went to a place called "Kitchen Kettle Village". There are a bunch of fun little shops to explore here. I have been here with my sister in law before, but never with my honey. I made him come this time since my brother in law had to work a half day, and there was a picture at a store here that I wanted to get for our family room. We saw a few Amish wagons out and about.

We did buy a beautiful picture, but I'll post that later. We're wondering how we will get it home since it's pretty big.

We had live entertainment. These guys were playing music, and this woman was dancing.

This is Dave. He knew I was taking a picture of him walking into the pottery shop.

We saw some nice pottery while looking around.

These are called "peanut pumpkins". Aren't they ugly?

Dave and I pause for a picture just before heading back to my in laws house. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.

The Stone Fireplace

My honey continues his awesome work on our stone fireplace.

Ouch!

I get 3 allergy shots every week, but today I got 4 shots since they were offering the flu shot. It really hurt when she gave it to me, and now it feels like someone slugged me really hard in my right arm.

Koty's meeting with Lilly

It rained again today, but we decided to get Koty and Lilly together anyhow. Lilly came this evening at around 5:15pm, and even though it rained while they played, they had a great time. It was extremely difficult to get a good picture of them because they were constantly moving. The neat thing is that they are related. Koty's grandpa is Lilly's father. Pretty neat we only live 5 minutes away!

Fireproof

I wish I posted this sooner, but I wanted to mention that Dave and I saw the movie, "Fireproof" last Friday night. It was very good, and the theater was jam packed! If you see it bring some tissues. I didn't and I cried.

Interesting!

Last week one of my patients looked at Koty's picture on my wall and asked me what kind of dog he was. I told her and she got so excited because they also have a comfort retriever and guess where they got theirs... Dakota Winds in South Dakota! They are the 1st people we've met that have one and we are the first ones they have met that have one. Since we only live 5 minutes away from each other we decided to get the dogs together. They will meet tomorrow at a park.

Oh, and our dogs are related. I will post pictures of their meeting tomorrow.

Reminiscing

The kids have been asking and asking to go visit our old neighborhood (about a 30 minute drive) and to go to Long Acre Farms nearby and get ice cream, so tonight we did just that...except my honey forgot his wallet so we didn't get the ice cream. I was short 15 cents so we couldn't get any. The above picture is our old house. We lived here for 10 years and have many good memories here. I couldn't get a good picture because the woman who lives there now was sitting on the front step. As it was, she saw me take this one. I tried to be quick while Dave was saying, "No, don't get it!" We visited our old neighbor a little later when it was dark and he said that the woman said that someone drove by and took a picture...oops! I guess we should've stopped and said hi and told her that we lived there for 10 years, and did she mind if we took a picture.

At Long Acre Farms they have a huge corn maze and lots of other neat things to do. Dave and the boys were really having fun trying to figure out the yard mazes. There are rules that you can only do certain things and it really takes a lot of thought to get through it.
Finally the boys and I stopped at the tires for a photo as the sun was setting. The boys played on these when they were just little people. They said they were surprised to see how small everything looked, especially the pirate ship.
It's fun to go back and reminisce. Both boys were born while we lived in that neighborhood, so that's where we watched them learn to walk, talk, where they learned to ride a bike, where we took numerous walks together, where they got on the school bus for the first time, etc... It was nice to come home after though, this is home now.
Funny, after I hit the publish button and viewed my post, I saw my header photo. It was taken at the same place we visited tonight, except we lived out there then.

Cut outs

With the change in weather, the kids get antsy for our tradition of making cut out cookies. We were supposed to be making pumpkins and leaves, but this is what one of the trays looked like. (Michael's creation)

Hey, who is that stealing my dough?!...Michael. A lot of this goes on.

This tray looked a little better than the previous. The blob cookie was the last of the dough, and it's mine! I enjoyed every bite! Tonight we will frost them, and put some faces on those pumpkins.

A Little More Progress

Koty after his haircut

Koty was not very cooperative for the camera today. This is him post haircut, but those of you who didn't see him before may not notice a difference. You may think he looks shaggy now, but he was very shaggy before. I think he looks adorable!

I had to post this one because Dave looks so cute!

Koty's 1st Haircut

Koty was getting a little too shaggy looking so Dave decided to groom him with the flowbee. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but he got used to it. He didn't go to sleep while it was being done though, his eyes were wide open. See him sleeping as he gets his nails clipped, below.

A Trusting Little Pup

This is Koty having his nails clipped this morning. He was so relaxed that he was falling asleep. Quite trusting, don'tcha think?

A Golf Outing

Today Dave came home from work a little early and wondered if I might want to go golfing with him. It was a beautiful, sunny day... a perfect day for golf, I thought. Well, needless to say, I did not do so well. It was a very frustrating golf outing for me. It was HOT, and there I was on the middle of a golf course in the bright sun, whiffing the ball. Does anyone but me have a hard time keeping their arm straight, keeping their eyes on the ball, opening the face of their club, pretending your club is a "noodle", and making sure you follow through on your swing? My poor honey, I wasn't a very good partner today.
Martha, you and I were just discussing this type of thing today. I got so angry at one point when I whiffed the same ball about 5 times, that I said I just wanted to throw the dan thing. I didn't swear I said, "dan". Dave said that it counts as a swear word...but I didn't swear! Do you think God took away some points for that one? ;)

A Little Progress

This is what the fireplace looks like now. I know, not much progress, but it's VERY time consuming picking just the right ones to fit together. I am very excited that the project is moving forward, and I think it looks great so far!

Slow Fade

I heard this song for the 1st time this morning on my way to work, and it really ministered to me. It's a great reminder of how sly Satan is. He works slowly to pull us away from God, and pretty soon we are where we never imagined we would be. I do not want to make any compromises in my life (and I know I do at times)...especially after being reminded of this.

Stones Galore

This is what our living room looks like right now. We have our stone all laid out according to color.

Dave now has the daunting task of placing the stones randomly, making sure to scatter the different colors and sizes. Koty, as usual, is extremely curious about what Dave is doing.
Great job, Honey!! (I'm sorry you can't see what I can see right now, but I will post another picture tomorrow.)

More Labor Day Pictures

Okay Martha, here they are.

German Potato Salad

Today we had a Labor Day picnic at Martha and James' house. This is what I often make for our picnics because it is very well liked by people. This is a recipe that my mother in law gave to me. It is very yummy!

German Potato Salad

1 bag potatoes
1 C vinegar
1 C water
1/2 C sugar
5 hard boiled eggs
2 rounded TBS of flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1 package bacon, cut up (save drippings)
sliced vidalia onion (I put less than 1/4 cup)

Cook potatoes in salt water, drain. Cut up bacon and cook. Combine bacon drippings, vinegar, and water in a saucepan. Mix sugar, flour, and pepper and whisk into liquids in saucepan. Heat over med heat until it thickens. Layer potatoes, sauce, bacon, eggs (save 2 eggs to slice for top), onion. Gently toss.

My Honey

It's a good thing he's cute!

School Supplies

Tonight I broke down and decided to get some of Michael's school supplies. I am pretty confident that I didn't buy anything that he doesn't really need, but he did insist he needed a sharpie and when I asked what for he said, "To sign yearbooks". This made me laugh, although I don't think he intended it to. I didn't buy one. The lead in the picture is not for the nonrefillable lead pencils shown, but for their good ones here at home. Michael won't take his good one to school because he always manages to lose it. Somehow he doesn't lose the cheap ones. ??

Steven was making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies when we got home, yum!

A Birthday

Happy 74th birthday to my mom! I am very thankful for another year with her.

High School?

Tonight I had to go to parent orientation at the High School Steven will be attending. I'm finding it very hard to believe that I have a child in High School....gulp! The above picture was taken just a few very short years ago when my mind was far from him being a highschooler. He does act like a highschooler in a lot of ways I guess...he isn't nearly as snuggly as he used to be, wahhhh!

Cameras and Water

For the last 2 days I have not been able to find my camera. I have looked high and low. Last night we had another major downpour, starting at around 10:45pm. It rained well into the middle of the night, and this morning it is a cool 60 degrees and cloudy. Usually I bring the cushions to my outside chairs in so they don't get wet and moldy, but last night I didn't know it was going to rain, and when it did I just didn't think about it. This morning I went out to tip the cushions up so that some the water runs off, and to my surprise there was my camera. I wished that I was seeing things because I know that digital cameras and water don't mix well, but indeed I was not seeing things. I picked it up and turned it on, and it seems to work! I haven't tried to take any pictures, and I won't until it is completely dried out, so we'll see. The camera card was not in it because I had forgotten to take it out of the laptop when I posted the 2 cousin camp pictures, and I don't want to stick it in a wet camera. If it turns out that it doesn't take good pictures, it didn't work that great for outside pictures anyhow...we have actually been looking into getting a new one, but this one was going to be Michael's so that I wouldn't have endless lego and car video pictures on my camera all the time. Hopefully he can still use this camera.

Time to say, "Goodbye"

Steven doesn't really have to go to the bathroom in this picture, he is trying to hold onto all of the candy he got from the candy toss. The other kids look skyward as more candy rains down.

Well, cousin camp has ended and the kids wrote out their goodbyes on the driveway just before they left. I think they had a good time playing and talking into the wee morning hours. Michael is feeling disappointed that all have left, and he doesn't know quite what to do with himself. I guess he'll just have to find something that he and Steven like to do, and hang with his brother. This can be difficult since they are very different!

Puppy Love

Do you think these boys love their puppy?

Koty is never lacking in snuggles.

Keeping it Real

I have never done one of these "keeping it real" posts, but will try since seeing it on Christine's blog.
1. I have to admit that I have not been the best trainer of my children when it comes to teaching them to pick up after themselves. I have often found that it is much easier to just do it myself. I am inconsistent in sticking to a plan. An example is that I at one time got so sick of picking up my children's clothes from behind their bathroom door, that I told them whatever wasn't in their hampers on laundry day wouldn't get washed. I kept to that plan for quite a while, but find myself occasionally giving in just to "get it all done". I know...not good. Their wives will probably hate me for this.
2. I am somewhat obsessive compulsive about things. An example of this is having to turn around occasionally and return home (if I haven't gone very far) to make sure I closed the garage door. I AM NOT obsessive compulsive about keeping my refrigerator neat and organized. (my husband told me to put that)
3. I love for my house to be organized. There are things that I said that I would never do (that my mom did do) when I lived with my parents, but I find myself exactly the same way. Example: My pan cupboard is always getting messed up, and my dryer has a pile on it all too often.
4. I cannot multi task very well, I am way too easily distracted.
5. I make my kids breakfast almost every morning, and I enjoy doing it. But if they ask me to get their drink too, the answer is no, and I am shocked at their laziness. I also feel like I need to see what they put in their lunches to make sure they have everything they should. They are teenagers so I know that I really don't need to do this anymore, but it gives me some peace of mind knowing that they have all that they need.
6. I always sing or hum when I blow dry my hair. Most of the time the songs are made up as I go.

Lightening

My last post was about a major thunderstorm we had. We ended up losing many electronics due to a lightening strike. It's a pain, but we have many blessings to count.

Storm

It is storming here this morning...very loud, booming thunder that keeps making me jump out of my skin. It's pouring so hard that these are the best pictures I could get.

Koty has to go poopy, but no one wants to take him...

Mmmm!

Guess what we had tonight?

Watkins Glen

These are pictures from our camping trip to Watkins Glen this weekend. The millipedes were all over the edges of the gorge in some areas...very strange, so I had to get a picture. The gorge is absolutely beautiful! We also took the kids to the campground pool (which was closed on Friday because someone threw up in it...yuck!) Going out for ice cream is a must when we go camping in the Glen, Mmmmm! The only bad thing about camping at Watkins Glen is that it is daddy long legs central! They are everywhere! I had one crawl across my closed eyes as I was trying to fall asleep last night. I swatted it away and then turned on the flashlight to see one of it's legs detached and twitching on Dave's pillow.
It was lots of fun hanging with our friends! Funny thing is, is that Priscilla was there on Friday too and we had no idea each other was there.

Burning Food

This morning I put some ground beef on the stove to brown for sloppy joes. I wanted to bring the sloppy joe stuff all put together already, camping with us this weekend. As soon as I put the ground beef on the stove to brown, I ran upstairs to pack some stuff, intending to come back down in just a few minutes. Well, I got sidetracked. While I was upstairs packing for camping I heard a sound like someone was running the water in the kitchen sink. I called down from my bedroom after a while, "Hey who's running all that water?" No answer. I walked over to the stairs where it sounded more like a sizzling sound. "Oh no!" I ran downstairs to the smell of burning meat, where the boys were playing as if nothing was wrong. "Guys," I said. "You could've called me or stirred the meat." Niether of them seemed to have a clue what was happening. The meat was burned into one big clump. So much for multitasking. I did go get more meat and made some yummy sloppy joe stuff for tonight, but we're getting a little later start for our camping trip.