It Looks Like a House ♥

On Sunday afternoon we went to see the progress of Scott and Marcy's house.

Remember what it looked like the last time we stopped by?

It was just a hole with basement walls....

Now it looks like a house!

 The kitchen and looking into 

Paityn and Brinley's playroom.

How nice for the girls to have a whole room to play in!

 Family room next to the kitchen

 Paityn sits on the stairs

The elevator will go here-

so excited for Marcy to have this wonderful piece of

equipment in her home!!

 Ellen loves the size of the master bedroom!

I DO TOO!

 Scott talks over some concerns he has with Dale.

They really wanted to have him look at the house as progress continues.

 Sweet Brinley with her Mommy.

We had to hang on to her for fear she would hurt herself..

Lots of open areas!

Paityn had a blast showing her cousins her new home!

The kids run over the bumpy terrain! 

Scott's brother lives next door.

Paityn is so excited to soon have

Josh, Jess and Nolan as her neighbors. 

So excited for Marcy and Scott. This home is such a blessing for them. It's to be completed just before Christmas day. Yeah!

We were talking last week about having Christmas at their house. Marcy said- Fine. Instead of receiving gifts, everyone can open a box and unpack it!! Sounds like a plan ;-) Not sure the kids will go for it, though!

Blessings to you on this beautiful and chilly fall day!

What, it's Saturday - AGAIN??

It can't be....another week flies by. Impossible. No way.

Yes. it's true. 

Just passing through

to let you know I'm still kicking!

It's cold around here. 

Flowers have succumbed to frost. 

Aidan thought it looked like winter this morning.

Ice on the car windows

and shiny frost on the lawn.

The Eden Pure heater is keeping the family room warm.

Anywhere else in the house,

a blanket to bundle up in 

is a must.

I do not like the cold.

Ellen and I attended a chocolate party

this afternoon.

Dove chocolate party.

YUM! 

That was fun!

Tonight Ellen wants to go to a Marching Band Competition.

She loves marching bands!

I do not like the cold!

Bundle up, I tell myself =/

Open Houses tomorrow

at Marcy and Scott's home

and

Corey and Christy's home.

KEEP PRAYING 

for the right people to come along who will love these homes

and want to purchase them!

It's really, really important.

Blessings to you on this blustery and cool/cold PA Saturday!

*Hubby took Ellen to the competition =)
I stayed home and made tomato soup....
and  tried to get something done.
Forget it,
my energy seems to be depleted.
Done. Nothing left.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day ♥

Sunday and Monday

Sunday -
I felt better, yeah! Went to church and was blessed. We came home to eat leftovers -  so many choices! Marcy and Scott had an open house from 1 - 3 and needed somewhere to go so they came here. They have all been fighting colds for the past week as well. We were a coughing, nose blowing bunch...all except Pop Pop. He seems to be cruising right along and not catching this bug. We watched the Eagles lose the game against the Cowboys. Andrew had to work but came later, sporting his Cowboys shirt. He was loving it! Christy found a good way to ease the disappointment her team brought....

Scraping up the glue!

Whew, that room looks rough...

Can't wait to see some paint in there.

Nowhere close to that yet!

Monday - 

It was cold out there this morning. Our local TV station said it was 39. I was sure it was colder than that here. I was correct - it was 32! Corey had ice on his windshield. Brrrrr

Zoe and I are pals today. I did some clean up and she watched PBS. Later I went upstairs to do some chores. She came upstairs, too.

 Who is in my bed??

Surprise!

 It's Zoe!!

*so much for the made up bed =)

I went to the study to write this post. Sweet Zoe came too.

Books are a great way to pass the time 

while Nana is busy.

Blessings to you today!

Chilly Saturday

The outdoors has a chill in the air. Feels like Fall.

I have a sore throat. I feel chilly, too. I had a cup of pumpkin spice coffee a while ago...maybe it's time for hot tea.

Corey, Gina, Aidan, and Zoe have all been feeling yucky this week. They are all better now, so I suppose I will feel better in a day or two also.

Hubby is scraping the floor in the bedroom we aim to redecorate. The old carpet was glued down...that means LOTS of work to make the old wood floor beautiful again. Oh my.

Corey and Christy had a house showing again this week. So did Marcy and Scott. We pray for these two houses to sell. (I'd like to place about 100 !'s behind that statement)

My house full of people is working out just fine...in case you were wondering. We like living with Corey, Christy, Aidan, and Zoe. There are times when I have gone away with dirty dishes in the sink and they were all washed when I returned =) Now please understand, that's not the only or the most important reason we are enjoying having them here!!

Blessings to you...enjoy today, enjoy the season, enjoy all the blessings which surround you!

UDS

United Disability Services = Challenger Football and Cheering (and a whole lot more!). 

Ellen is blessed to be given the opportunity to cheer. It's something she has always wanted to do. 

Last evening we attended the end of the season banquet. 

These kids are just the best!

Forgot my camera, again. Pictures are not very good with my phone =((

 Cylo was there!!

Our Cheerleader girls........

 The girls received a gift from the volunteer cheerleaders who help them.

Ellen is all smiles!

This is Deb....

she's the cheer leading coach for Donegal HS.

This lady is super special.

She, along with several of her cheerleaders, help our girls learn cheers.

If she couldn't be there, she arranged for the Middle School coach to bring some of her girls to help. 

OUTSTANDING!

We love her!!!

**************************************************************

It looks like Fall around here!

 Last spring Aidan brought home from pre-school,

 a cup with a few Marigolds.

Look how those few little flowers produced =)

 Our pumpkins grew from seeds that happened to take root

from discarded pumpkins last fall!

And a touch of Summer lingers ♥

Love them!

Blessings to you today!

No School ♥

No school today! In fact, school has not been in session since last Wednesday. Nice....except Thursday and Friday were very rainy days. After a busy week end and two rainy days, it seemed fitting that we do something fun today.

We went to the Mall! I had to take Gina to work any way and the kids wanted to surprise their Mommy at work.

First, we stopped at the rides. I had 2 quarters but couldn't come up with the third. Yeah, Ellen had a quarter....let the fun begin!

Aidan drives...

 Zoe pretends to serve up the goodies =)

What ya got back there, Zoe?

After the ride we went to see their Mommy. She was busy with a customer so we walked to the Build a Bear store. What fun we had looking at all the bears. And the clothes for the bears! Oh my, all the choices! Someday, kids, Nana will treat you to a bear. Ellen wants one too!

We walked back to ModernEyes. Their Mommy was finished with the customer. She said there was a treat in store for her little surprise makers.

 Mm Mm, good!

Pretzels and Smoothies.

Ellen's treat was a pretzel and fresh squeezed lemonade!

Mommy needed to get back to work. We decided to go see Gina. We took our good old time. One must when one is walking with Zoe. Because she likes to dance, twirl, look, sing.....all while walking to where ever she is going. She causes lots of people to smile...that's a good thing =)

 We were in Boscov's,

Zoe saw the hats and had to try some!

Gina was busy with customers, so we looked at the Christmas stuff she has been busy putting out.

Aidan loves the white tree!

 Zoe says,

Aww,  baby Jesus!

Zoe loves the big snowman!

Gina showed us the Fall mini flags, something I'm in need of. I picked out one which she will purchase and bring home. We looked at a few more things then it was time to head home again. 

We all thought spending time at the mall and visiting 2 special people was a great way to spend part of a no school day. Sorry Greta and Kim.....we would have visited you, too, had you been at work ;-)

(pardon the poor quality of these photos. camera on phone, not the best but that's what was with me today)

Rain, Rain, Rain

The rain continues. It rained all night and so far, most of today. The creeks are out of their banks. Some area roads are closed due to flooding. We do not have a rain gauge, but I'm hearing others say we are at 6-7 inches. Maybe more.

Sadly, the Manheim Farm Show is over for this year. Everything is shut down. I was really hoping we would be able to eat there tonight. I didn't get to see the displays...was planning to see them last night. I feel so sorry for all the food stands which surely lost funds because of the rain. Each food stand at this show is a 'not for profit'....mostly churches and civic groups.

Praying for safety for all those who live in flood prone areas. Our town has seen too many floods/near misses the last several years.

Now, what to make for dinner???

Breaking Tradition

We have been enjoying the Manheim Farm Show so far this week. It stopped raining on Monday early enough to enjoy eating dinner there. I even enjoyed a vanilla milkshake because it wasn't very cold that night and the line wasn't long. Attendance on Monday was way down.

Tuesday evening was a bit colder but was a beautiful, perfect evening. You guessed it, it was packed at the food stands! We ate, chatted with some folks and left.

Last night was the parade. We got there early, placed our chairs at an empty spot near the old middle school, then off to the food stands we go. Again, oh the crowds of people! The parade was as usual...lots of trucks, tractors, some floats, and a few bands. We had a good time.

So now we are at Thursday. It's raining. It's pouring. I do not want to go to the Farm Show. WHAT???? I know, I cannot believe I'm writing such a thing. For years and years we have eaten dinner there every night. For at least 15 years.

I Am Breaking Tradition.

Dinner is in the oven. Yes,  I'm breaking tradition.

There was a time when I would have gone in the rain and brought dinner home for the fam. Not in me to do it this year. I am breaking tradition!

Happy rainy night to you! I'm staying in  =)

It's Raining, It's Pouring!

Zoe and I needed to take Gina to work today. Started out ok but on the way home it started to pour. Got home, sat in the car....

and watched it rain. We soon decided to make a run for the house. Got wet! Oh well. We do need  the rain.

In other news -

This is how I started my day Saturday morning....

Breakfast with my sisters!

Jeanie was in the area for the day

so Mary Ellen called for an early breakfast which we all thought was a great idea.

What fun!!

Dale has been working to remove the old carpet in the one bedroom we have never renovated in the 30 years we lived in this house. On Saturday Corey and his little helpers began the fun job of removing the old wallpaper.

 Corey wets the paper for easier removal.

Corey was a baby when this room was papered!

Aidan is a great helper!

 Zoe is so proud of the big piece of wallpaper she removed!

Lovely blue carpet...

maybe it was lovely back in the day, but not any more!!
We plan to refinish the old wide boards which are original to the house.

This room was to be complete before Corey and Christy moved in with us. Plans are always changing, in this adventure anyway! We still do not have a clear picture of where we are going from here. Things changed again last week after we thought we would be able to move forward. Patience. It's been taking a lot of that and looks like we are being asked for more!

Dale and I attended my 40th High School Reunion on Saturday evening. That was fun! We had a lovely meal. We sang - can we ever sing!!!  When I attended Lancaster Mennonite, no musical instruments were allowed to be used in the chapel, so we sang as was in the Mennonite tradition - 4 part harmony, sung acapella.  We still got it, yes we do!

 Steve Landis directs while we sing #606...

no hymnals needed. We all know that one!!

We also sang Great is Thy Faithfulness and 

God Be With You till we Meet Again.

One of our classmates knows his days are numbered due to pancreatic cancer.

His testimony was precious and moving. 

God is with us through tough times...

we heard that over and over as classmates shared.

My good friend, Joan Yoder Mills

Love her!!

Sunday afternoon we walked through two houses which were hosting Open Houses. Neither home will be ours. Location of the first one was wonderful but the house did not have great flow. The second one was too small. 

On the way to watch the Eagles game at Marcy and Scott's house, Marcy sent me a text asking if we wanted to stop at their new home construction site. YES WE DID! 

 Paityn and Aidan peer over the wall.
This will be the 2 car garage.

This may only be the beginning,

but what joy I feel for them.

This house is such a blessing!!

This week is our Manheim Farm Show....good food, fun times ahead!! 

This evening I will attend a visitation and funeral for the husband of a good friend and former co-worker. Her husband passed suddenly Friday morning. Prayers for Janette and their children and grandchildren would be so appreciated! My heart aches for her.

Blessings to you today!

Saying Hi!

A quick Hi! ....then off I go, again!!

Crazy week going here and there.

Tonight I take Ellen to her first Aaron's Acres activity. She will have fun at Cherry Crest farm while I 'shop' at the Lancaster Outlets.

Last evening I took her to a Bible Club, a new activity for her.

The evening before that, I had Women's group at church. Whew, I'm sleeping just fine at night because of all this activity....a good thing!!

It feels like summer around here. Our air conditioners are humming away again. So humid!!

Gotta go. I'll post more when I can......

Oh, tomorrow night Dale and I will attend my 40th class Reunion!!  Kinda makes me feel old!!