Thursday, May 31, 2012

Yummy.....

I made something for dinner which the Grands are enjoying tonight. They usually have issues with my cooking. I guess that's normal for kids!

I often research the Internet and blogs for new recipes.

Tonight it was Pepperoni Pizza Pasta from   debbidoesdinnerhealthy.blogspot.com
I used Wolfgang Puck tomato basil pasta sauce which is really good. I only covered half the dish with pepperoni.....just like a half pepperoni pizza which is a normal order for this house =)

I've followed Debbi for almost all of the 2 years I've been blogging. She has lots of yummy recipes. Check her out!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Carpenter was Busy

The Carpenter, my Hubby, had a day off. It wasn't really a day off.

Hard at work!
He is fixing up this little shed connected to the barn.
The roof is first then
something will be done to spruce up the rest of it.

I noticed what he had on his feet....
Crocs!
I thought he should have, at the very least,
put the heel straps where they could have
prevented his feet from slipping out!
He said Crocs were easier on the shingles than his work boots.
OK, I guess.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Trying it again.....

I was ALMOST finished with a post....it had LOTS of pictures.....and it disappeared! Oh no!

So.....here we go again......

*****************************************************************************
Yesterday the kids came here to hang with Mom and Dad. Yup, I KNOW that's why they come! (I'm also quite sure that FOOD is a factor too..hehe)

Dale grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. I made a wonderful dish of baked beans. I got the recipe from  StoneGable blog. We also had a lettuce salad and veggies and dip, grapes, chips and a pie and cookies that happened to be 50% off at Weis.

It was too hot to eat lunch outdoors. Later in the day we did venture out.


Playing a game of Ladder Ball

Aidan is ready to throw and score a point.

Paityn gives it all she got!



Zoe is on a mission....

Wait, wait....

Climbing...

..to the Top of the World!

Corey takes on a job......

Building a fire so we can make S'mores!

Aidan takes a break to check it out.

I take a break from this to snap pictures!

We break for Funny Faces ......

Aidan!

Paityn!


Ok, enough of the silly, back to the rest of the evening!

PopPop and Brinley enjoy the swing.

Paityn and Aidan play soccer.

Kim and Andrew arrive after Kim finished working.
They enjoyed some warmed up lunch.
Gina relaxes with them.

We had ice cream then it was time for
S'mores!

Andrew and Corey roasting some marshmallows...
S'mores in the making!


We sat on the deck talking and laughing. One of our neighbor ladies said she was outside and heard all the fun so she decided to check it out! We chatted, I introduced her to our family....it's been a long time since she had seen most of them. As we were talking, the sky was getting very angry looking. The kids decided to carry in the food, our neighbor hurried home.....it really looked like we were in for a very bad storm. Not sure where it went but it only produced a bit of wind and a bit of rain!


There you have it.....it was a wonderful Family Sunday again! And, I will post this before the post has a chance to disappear....again.





Sunday, May 27, 2012

I Love Weddings!

Don't you just LOVE a wedding? I do. Yesterday we attended the wedding of Vanessa Hershey and Chad Swarr.




We go to church with Vanessa's parents. And Vanessa worked on my team in the Activity Department at the nursing home. She started out working part time evening, then full time days, then I worked the schedule to accommodate her school schedules till that no longer worked. She was that good and I wanted to keep her as long as possible! She was compassionate. She was creative. She had the knack of being able to help draw even the shy residents into the activity. She was my right hand gal. She helped me with the mountains of paper work!

Does it sound like I love this girl....you bet! What an honor to be invited to celebrate with her on this special day! Enjoy some pictures.

The guests wait to send off the new Mr. and Mrs.
with bubbles and cheers
after the wedding ceremony.

There they are, the happy couple!

Off they go to the little red car =)

The wedding party.
Vanessa has 2 sisters..
Krista is 3rd from the left
Sheila is 3rd from the right.

First Dance

Feeding each other the cake....

Yup, they did =)
They are so cute!

We enjoyed a wonderful meal, great conversation with the couples at our table and wonderful music the DJ was providing. We had to leave before the dancing started. Not that I would have danced but surely is fun to watch!

Congratulations Chad and Vanessa!


(2 weeks till our daughter Greta marries her love, Lynn Good!)



Friday, May 25, 2012

More Blessings.....

  • This little girl named Zoe
Nana, I'm climbing because....

....Pop Pop is back!!

She always says that when Pop Pop comes home from work.
Yesterday her Mommy said that Zoe woke up from her nap
 (after only 30 min!)
insisting that Pop Pop was at their house.
 She heard someone sawing outside
and was sure it was Pop Pop =)


  •        Strawberries!

Christy and Aidan and Zoe picked strawberries yesterday
and brought us 2 boxes.
YUM!!
I added some to my smoothie this morning.
We've been picking at them
ever since they came last evening =)


  •  Roses!
These beauties came from the garden of
 Louann and Erma Martin,
my cousins.
Lou is doing the alterations to our dresses for Greta's wedding.
We had a fitting last evening.
I stopped to sniff the roses at their front door.
They insisted that I take some home with me!
I LOVE ROSES!

  • Challenger Baseball and, of course, our Ellen!
Ellen gets a hit.

She poses so Mom can take her picture!

  • Holiday Week end!
We have a wedding to attend tomorrow afternoon. Sunday will be church and family. Monday will be a work day here at home. It will be jammed packed with activity/!

 I should visit the green house today before the Little's arrive. We have yet to plant any flowers. In fact when Aidan saw a bee, he said he told that bee to go. "There aren't any flowers here, they are all dead"!! (our spring flowers are dying stems!)

Happy Memorial Day! So thankful for all who have served our country. God Bless them and their families!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Working in the attic....

That's a job that will take a while to complete! Look at one of my finds today....

This was taken in 1995 at my nephew's wedding.
We thought we were a bunch back then.....
really, that was only the beginning!
Kim was expecting Andrew
our first born to us grandchild.
Kim is step Mom to Manny's daughter Laurencia
 whom we always called our Gand too.

So many GOOD MEMORIES!!


We are to get some temps in the 90's this week-end. I don't know if I'll be working in the attic on those days! It's bad enough today...high 70's and a slight breeze.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Blessings

Blessings....they come in all shapes and sizes.

This morning they came in lots of hugs and some kisses! You probably are thinking they came from the Grandchildren, and you could be right...but, so far today that's not it!

I sang at the worship service at Pleasant View Retirement Community where I was employed for 15 years. It's always wonderful to go back to see my elder friends and some staff that are still there. Right away, I got two BIG hugs from staff members who were part of my team. Then there was Larry who always calls me 'Doris from the forrest'.....he gave me a wonderful welcome. I told him I was going to sing for him and he said he already knew! He saw it listed in the bulletin. We chatted  more after the service too. I also got some hugs from Personal Care residents I knew from my days spent at PV and chatted with Independent Living residents too. Ahhh, wonderful!

 After the service, I hightailed to the center aisle to say hello - and to get more hugs and kisses- from a lady that had asked me to sing at her husbands funeral last fall. We chatted and hugged then it was to another dear lady that I knew even before my days at PV. We chatted and hugged.  I had to say hello to more people I knew before taking that special lady back to her room. There we chatted a good long time, got more hugs and more kisses!

Saw some more staff, went to the dementia unit to see more staff  members and to see the renovations that were recently done. Beautiful!

My heart is full! I love those residents sooooo much! I really do need to get on their volunteer list and make my visits happen more often than just when I go sing for them.

May your day be full of Blessings - they come in all shapes and sizes!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Nice Day = Playground!!

Friday was too nice of a day to waste it being indoors all day. I've done that for too many years in the working/office in the basement world!

Aidan, Zoe, Gina and I went to the playground for some fun.....

Zoe calls me over the intercom.
We chatted =)

This is so much fun!

Aidan shows us his skill
in moving from one platform to another.



Zoe decides to greet him!

A smile of satisfaction!

Next we took a walk along the creek
 to the covered bridge.
We saw a Mama and Daddy and 1 baby duck
swimming in the creek.



 They can melt a heart, can't they?



On the way back to the car
we stopped to have some fun in a pavilion.


Melt my heart....again!!
 It was hot and we were happy for the air conditioned car. Zoe was ready for her nap and was almost asleep before we got out of the parking lot. I guess we must have worn her out.....she stayed asleep when I carried her into the house and slept for 3 hours!

I have the best job in the whole world =)

Friday, May 18, 2012

And it's Friday!

Where the heck did this week get to? It was just Monday and now....

There is some catching up to do. While Aidan and Zoe watch Ice Age (such a funny movie), I will highlight some of my week.

Let me start with some pictures from last Friday evening. (I picked up my camera yesterday) My sister Mary Ellen had a milestone birthday last week. She invited family that lives in this area to celebrate with her at her home. It was delightful!

Happy Birthday, Mary Ellen!


Aidan and Zoe pose for a picture...
they are always so cute together!

Let me in, please!
I have something I need to do!

Are you ready for this?

This is just what I had in mind....
music to my ears.


Aidan sings "Happy Birthday to You"
to his Aunt Mary Ellen
and.....

...gets a hug in return!

Grandma Mary, Mary Ellen and
 Nancy (my brother's wife)
share a laugh about something!

Lynn (our soon to be son-in-law),
my brother Dick,
Jennifer (my nephew Richard's wife),
and our daughter Kim
enjoy some conversation.

Daughter Gina (at the end of the table)
and Andrew, Kim's son,
join Kim at the table.
The empty plates show how
YUMMY
the cake was
and the other cakes too,
and the ice cream
and all the other goodies we ate that evening =)

Love the roses!
They were a gift to my sister from Grandma Mary.


This week I've worked up in the attic. I ask myself....WHY did I ever save this stuff?? I will recycle the plastic containers and jars with nicks and old magazines (crazy for not doing this years ago!). I'll give away some fabricand Christmas decorations I no longer want. I'll let the kids go through some of their stuff (I do not promise to keep it all for them to look through, just saying), and I intend to throw away the declared JUNK! I doubt there will be much left to move. There can't be!

Yesterday I went to Pleasant View, the retirement community where I was employed for 15 years, to practice the song I will sing at their worship service on Sunday morning. It was soooo good to catch up with the receptionist. She has gone through some health stuff this year. Was happy to see her back to work.

After that, Gina and I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I needed to purchase a wedding gift for a former employee who is getting married next Saturday. Vanessa was one of my best staff members. We found what I wanted to give her and had it sent to her...I didn't realize it was an order gift only. Oh well, they will even wrap it for free and I don't have to remember to take the gift to the wedding!

From there we shopped at Kohl's. I had a $10 card to use. I tried on the cutest pair of coral sandals. I really wanted them but I left them in the store. I thought if I could find something to wear to the wedding next week that would look good with the sandals, I [maybe] will decide to purchase them....we will see!

Then to Maxwell's. I tried on 2 dresses and neither was made for me. BUT I saw a yellow purse that I really loved. It was just what I would like. It was $40, was worth $99 so the tag said. I thought about it, carried it around with me while I looked at more purses....and left it in the store. I may regret it but I could not justify spending $40.


On the way home, I called Mary Ellen to let her know I would be coming by her home, could I pick up my camera? As I was talking to her on the phone, I kept driving and only after I hung up I realized I completely drove several blocks past the road where I needed to turn. I cannot do 2 things at once!!

My day was not over yet. I had dinner at Olive Garden with some friends. Oh, it was so fun! Sometimes a girl just needs to do that!

Movie is over and now it's time to take advantage of this beautiful day and head to the playground. More fun in store for this day!

I really hope you are enjoying your Friday!