Friday, August 31, 2012

Making Applesauce

Greta loves applesauce and wanted to make some with me. I hadn't done that in years. Yesterday was our day! She purchased 2 baskets of Summer Rambow apples and we got to work.

The smell of cooking apples is sooooo good!
 
Greta hard at work cranking out the applesauce.
Bowls of cut apples wait for empty kettles.
From the kettle of cooked apples
to the Squeez-O strainer....
the skins in one bowl
and wonderful sauce in another!
 
 
 
Filling containers with golden yummy-ness!
We filled that big bowl three times!
 
Soooooo good!
 
 
 
My day started off not so good but ended with a good tired. I had car trouble in the morning and needed to get it towed =( Thankfully, my brother rescued me and had a loaner car available so I could go on with my day. Christy had my Squeez-O strainer which I needed to pick up. Zoe wanted to come home with me, of course I said yes! Aidan wanted to also. He really wanted to help make applesauce but he was sick with a fever.
 
My car was fixed and Zoe and I picked it up on our way to church where we had the monthly worship team practice. I was really tired but, oh well! Corey was there too and took Zoe home after the practice. Christy ended up taking Aidan to the ER, Dr's orders, because his fever went really high. Corey sent me a text around 11p - they only found asthma and were headed home.  Poor kid! I hope he is feeling better today. I'm to keep them this afternoon.
 
A busy week end is in store for us. We have a birthday party for a special Paityn tomorrow and a family cook out on Sunday. Monday will be a work day here....hoping to accomplish much!
 
Wishing you a blessed day!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What have I been up to?

While I took that blog break......
  • This handsome young man had a birthday -
Grandson Andrew Aleong
17!
  • We spent a fun day at Knoebel's Amusement park with Corey and Marcy's families.
Gina and Ellen are on this ride...
I am not that brave!!
 
Nope, not that brave!
 
Zoe gets a snack from Marcy and
Pop Pop has a conversation with Brinley.
 
Christy and Scott are looking forward to a roller coaster ride.
Ellen and Gina are in the line
way ahead of them.
They all loved this coaster!
(I don't do coasters either)
 
 Brinley is a Daddy's girl!
 
 
We took time to eat.
The food in this park is not priced
'out of the park' =)
 
Yeah, a train ride!
I do ride a train!
 
Looking good, Aidan and Paityn!
 
The train takes you through the woods....
I loved this!
 
Gina, Aidan and Paityn go for a spin.
 
Zoe says Hi!
Waiting in line to ride a car.
 
Hubs and Ellen take a ride up the mountain
and down again.
I said -
No, thank you!
 
Away they go!
 
So are you wondering what I did all day?
 
I had my Kindle, of course!
And I wasn't  bored in the least even though it
looks like I am!
(Scott photo)
 
 
Yes, we had fun.....
we always do!
 
It was a beautiful day.
The kids rode the Ferris Wheel as the last ride
after it got dark.
(I don't ride Ferris Wheels either!)
Unfortunately for Christy,
there was a spider on the ceiling of the car they rode
and she was freaked out about it for the entire ride!
 
 

  • I had a mammogram. When I went to the Dr. for blood work, she looked to see if I had gotten one. I proudly said I had it scheduled. When she told me it had been November 2009 since the last one, I was surprised it had been that long. She read to me what she had noted a year ago....I had said the very same words!          Oh, it came back normal =)
  • I changed what I eat. I'm not being rigid about it but I need to make changes. My blood sugar is still running above normal. It was better than the last time I had it checked but not where I am not considered in the pre-diabetic range. I do not like that. So, I'm making changes. If I lose some weight, awesome.
  • Aidan and Zoe came to keep me company. On Friday I mentioned that my shoes are dirty. Take a look at what happened!
Zoe took them right to the sink
and Aidan followed!

You gotta use soap if you want something to be clean.
 

Rinsing them.
They're all good now, Nana!

 
  • We shopped for sneakers for Ellen. Shoe shopping for her is a challenge. It takes 2 different sizes to make a pair. I always go to the Sketcher's outlet to get sneakers. Cost was a big issue too right now. I did a lot of praying. God is so good. An employee asked if we needed help to find a shoe....I was looking w-a-y up on the top shelf where I thought I saw a size 5 1/2 for her R foot (7 for the L). He climbed up and got it for me. I told him why I was looking for the 2 sizes. Ellen loved the sneakers, they fit. The same man happened to be at the cash register when we went to pay for them. He rang them up and I thought they would have been more. He gave me $10 off since I needed to buy two pairs! Wow! I thanked him over and over. It meant the world to me! He did that even though the second pair is always half off when you purchase two =) 
I did other things too. Mundane things. It all keeps the world going 'round!
 
Have a great day!
     
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Happy Birthday, Paityn!

Our granddaughter, Paityn Lily Smith is 5 years old today. She is sooooo excited to be 5! Her party will be held on Saturday and I can't wait.

Sweet Paityn!
How is it possible that you are 5!
 

Here she is with her beautiful family.
She loves her Mommy and Daddy
and
her baby sister Brinley.


Sunday was another special day in the Fahnestock bunch. Our oldest daughter Kim and her hubby Manny celebrated 13 years of marriage!

Have a great day. Be blessed!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Ellen is 18 today!

The celebrating started on Saturday with a trip to Hershey Chocolate World with Ellen's friend Ashely. Here they are....and what is that in the background?? Reese's PB cups, Ellen's favorite!

 
We went on the ride twice.
 Ellen wanted to go outside to see the new roller coaster ride in the park.

Aren't they cute?

A closer look at the ride.
We didn't get to go to Hershey Park this year....
maybe next year!
 
From there we headed to Wendy's for something to eat.
Then to the Hershey Outlets
for some shopping/looking.
Mostly looking =)
 
One is NEVER too old =)
 

Our celebrating continued on Sunday with lunch at Ruby Tuesday's with Scott, Marcy and the kids and Greta and Lynn and Gina. We had so much fun!

Greta and Lynn had a gift for Ellen.

 

A new Backpack,
Yellow composition book,
Pink pencil box and pencils,
and
Peanut Butter Cups!!!
 
Marcy and Scott also had something for her.
 
Money!
 
Ellen always wants an Ice Cream cake and that is what she got.
She wanted to have it when most of her sibs could enjoy it with her.
 
Happy Birthday, dear Ellen!
 
Today is the first day of school...what a bummer for her to have it fall on her birthday! Oh well, I used her gift as a motivator to keep her moving this morning =)
She ate her breakfast with it in front of her.
 
 
A Jeff Gordon insulated bag...
 
a Timex watch....
a bag of Gummy Bears and a word search book.
 
She was ready for the bus by 7 a.m.
 
Oh Mom, really?
Mom said, You betcha!
 
And, I'm not finished with the camera yet....
 
That's an awesome backpack you have there =)
 
 
Tonight Greta and Lynn are taking her to Pizza Hut. We will be going to see 2 houses with Corey and Christy and our Real Estate Agent, Kim.
 
I do believe that Ellen will remember her 18th with warm fuzzy feelings. Happy Birthday, Ellen!
 
And a Blessed day to you too! I'll be posting soon about what I've been up to during my break.

 
 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Blog Break

I've been blogging for 2 years. Love it! But lately it's been a struggle to keep up with it all.

I've decided to give it a rest for awhile. Maybe 2 weeks, maybe four. Because.....

  •  I have a house that needs my attention. I want to move so badly but our house isn't ready to list yet. I'm struggling with a lack of energy. No reason why except that it's all dragging out so long and feels overwhelming at times. My focus must be on this house.
  • Ellen will soon be returning to school. She needs shoes and a new backpack. And a few new clothes.......can you hear the s-t-r-e-t-c-h of the dollar?? ;-)
  • Gina got a new job and has transportation needs.
  • Aidan and Zoe need their Nana too.
  • Life is busy, even at my age!!

Take care my friends.  I'll return in a few weeks.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

What, no coffee in the coffee pot??

That was my first thought as I stumbled into the kitchen this morning. How could he drink all of it???

Then it struck me....I couldn't have any this morning. Nor could I have a smoothie. It was blood work morning. Bummer.

I made it. After my appointment was finished, I high-tailed out of there to go home....my Keurig was waiting to make me a strong cup of Donut Shop Extra Bold. YUM!! And my blender whipped up my smoothie to calm my rumbling stomach.

My brain is less foggy and my stomach is no longer rumbling. Time to tackle some tasks that are waiting for me. Now, if I could just cough up some enthusiasm for the mundane.......


It will be a good day!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Cheering, Baseball, Family

What a busy week end! Aaron's Acres camp ended on Friday for Ellen and Challenger Cheering started on Saturday morning.

The girls do some cheers during half time.



I didn't snap any pictures of the game, but the players were having a great time too! So neat to see the kids and catch up with the parents.

A minor league baseball game was on our bucket list for the summer......we attended  a Lancaster Barnstormers game Saturday night.

We arrived early and enjoyed some hot dogs and fries
before the game.

This fella provides a lot of fun....
Ellen just giggles and laughs at his antics!

We enjoyed the game...
and our team won!

Look who also came to the game =)
Marcy and Scott
and
Paityn and Brinley
and
Scott's parents came too!
This was Paityn's first time at a Barnstormer's game!

They ended the game with a fireworks show....
nice!
It was a struggle to get Ellen to this game because of the fireworks.
She doesn't like the noise.
I got her earplugs.
She found they really did eliminate the loudness of the booms.
But the challenges of keeping her calm before she found
out how much they helped....
oh my.

Parents with special needs kids know the depth of that
Oh My!


Sunday was church and our monthly Fellowship meal. Our pastor and family were away so we had a pastor from Ethiopia speak and a youth worship team from Petra (our parent church) lead worship. Even though our congregation is still reeling from an unexpected death of a young man last week, it was a great service.  

We brought Paityn home with us and the rest of her family came later. Kim and Andrew and Greta and Lynn came too. We watched the Olympics....stayed indoors because it was soooo hot and humid outdoors! We had a storm too but it didn't do much to lower the temps!


I'll add a few photos from the Aaron's Acres family BBQ on Thursday evening. 

Thankful for the shade as we wait to eat
those yummy burgers and hot dogs!

Ellen gets a hug from Debra, one of her camp buddies.


Ellen shows off her
'Perfect Pool Partner'
award =)

Ellen with Ellie, a Camp Buddy.
It was a good two weeks for Ellen!



I love looking at the sky.....here are a few shots I recently took.

Serious storm clouds!!
We had several storms recently that produced huge rolling clouds.
Pretty but a bit scary too!

At the Ballpark

Love a pretty sky!


Now it's Monday. Aidan and Zoe are on vacation so my concentration will be on this house. Each room needs a good clean and organization. Let the fun begin......


It will be a good week! Wishing you the same!