Our Baby Boy

Our baby boy insists on growing up. It's a good thing and such a pleasure to watch him do more new things.....but why does time have to go so crazy fast?? This baby will soon be a year old and Nana is hanging on to Baby as long as she can!!

For a long time he has been rolling to get where he wanted to go, then did the 'army crawl' (on stomach, pulling forward with his arms), now he's crawling on all fours :)

What you lookin' at??

He's such a delightful baby....totally has his Grandparents wrapped around his little finger!

Playing in the dirt is a favorite activity. He loves being outdoors!

He climbs!

Gotta see what's happening out there!

"Toys are fine, but seeing what I can discover while traveling is way more fun! See, I found a treasure...a stone :)"

Eyes constantly on him!!

Totally in love with this child. What a pleasure to live in the same house as he does. What a treasure to watch this boy grow up! I'm blessed beyond measure. 

Hot Dogs and S'mores

Maybe we could sing "Roasting hot dogs on an open fire...."

...."melting marshmallows for s'mores"...

It was wonderful!

I have some Gluten Free graham-like crackers so I had one too. Oh my, I throughly enjoyed my s'more!

God Bless your Monday!

Last week - This week

Last Saturday -

This Saturday -

Hot dogs made on the fire for dinner! 

S'mores, too :)

I'm liking this weather today!!

April 15

April 15 is tax day. That part is for sure but, as I'm sure you already know, we have until Monday this year to file. Christy has worked so hard to get all our taxes finished for us......we are so grateful!

April 15 is also my brother, Dick, and my sister, Barb, birthdays! I'm borrowing a picture my sister, Jean, posted on FB this morning....

Dick is 70 today and Barb is 61. 

Between them are sisters, Mary Ellen and Jean, and me. 

Barb lives in Idaho. She and her husband were in our area all week helping his parents move to a retirement community and getting their house ready to be sold. It was a busy week for them. Late this morning Mary Ellen and I met them at Dairy Queen for some ice cream and as much conversation as we could fit in 30 minutes or so!! Never fear, we got a lot said =)

We all got strawberry sundaes. Mm, good!

Barb and John will head back home in a Budget truck containing precious memories and mementoes from John's parents. God Bless them with safe travels! Idaho is far away; riding in a rental truck could make it feel even more distant! 

This afternoon it still felt a bit chilly on the screened porch even though it's a nice day. So I decided to fill my green bucket with warm water and soap and wash the table and chairs on the deck....the sun felt good! The little bugs, oh my. They are alive and well and just seemed to appreciate my presence way too much, haha!

The job got done and I'm now enjoying the sun and swatting bugs! 

I'm hoping, hoping for lilacs!!

I took this picture of Noah and me sometime this week. 

He would not smile! 

But he smiled for this one :)

And with his sister,

Here's crazy big brother having fun with some twisty things from a kids meal...

He said he could be ModernEYES mascot!!

Too funny!

ModernEYES is the optical business that his mom works for and his uncle is part owner.....he may have a good thought there, don't you think??!

Our weather is to be perfect this weekend. I aim to enjoy! 

Beautiful Morning

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

My toes are HAPPY!!

It's finally warm enough to ditch the shoes and socks....yay =)

Have a great day!

Our Dining Room Table

We have a big dining room.....very nice for our BIG family! And the table is big. 

We only eat in that room on occasion. Here's why :)

It's coloring, drawing, cutting, crafting central!!

Zoe has her coloring kit (we gave it to her for Christmas) open and ready, always. The coloring books, markers and colored pencils that I gave to Christy, Christy gave to me and Christy's sister gave to her are all there too. We sit and color as our day allows and it's FUN!! 

I'm working on this one. I struggle with neatness. 

Aidan is working on this. He's doing such a nice job! 

These are Christy's beautiful pages...

Even our daughter Greta worked on a page!

She is way more neat than me!

Zoe works mostly in her coloring books 

As you can see, we enjoy this stuff :) 

On Saturday afternoon Zoe and I were at the table coloring and Zoe was telling me about perseverance. Now that's a big word for a little girl! She told me it takes perseverance to do your best in coloring. I asked her where she learned that word. She told me they talk about it in school. Very cool, sweet girl. 

So for now, unless we must eat at that table, we are just going to keep coloring, drawing, cutting, crafting! 

This is April....Really??

I woke up to this....

It was snowing like crazy. We don't often have snow in April and when we do, I'm not thrilled! At all. Unlike our grandson who came down the stairs cheering this morning  :)

No coffee on the deck......

This will do!!

Hang in there, sweet tulips, it has to change to sunny and warm sometime soon!

Happy weekend to you!

It's one of Those days....

This certainly is one of those days. One that doesn't seem to belong in this month. 

I took Gina to work this morning and as soon as we left it started to snow. It was snowing like crazy and the temperature was dropping like crazy! 

A little white where it should be all green!!

Yes, dear tulips, I long to see you! Let's order some sun and warmth...starting today, ok??

I just invited my FB friends to join me on my deck :)

No one wants to come...

......Even though the skies became blue right after the white stuff stopped falling. 

Could this be the problem?? Seems to be =}

Yes, it's one of those days. The sky gets dark, then blue with white fluffy clouds, then gray and angry looking. It's a doozy! 

Bless you this Friday!

April Showers!

Our weather has been a bit crazy in the last week. We went from the 70's daytime last Friday to the 20's at night this week. We've had extreme wind Saturday night into Sunday. It's been cold even during the day....barely making it to 50 yesterday. Today the temperature isn't too bad but it's raining buckets out there!

April Showers bring May Flowers.

I'll be ready for a warm sunny day....and all those flowers this 'shower' will bring!

The cold nights did a number on the hydrangea. 

How I hope it recovers! I was looking forward to blooms this year.

The lilac has a few beginning blooms at the top of the tree. (They aren't visible in this picture)

Hoping to see my favorite, lavender lilac blooms, this Spring! Really, really hoping. 

The tulips are trying to open but the cold has slowed that process. The trees have beginning buds, but again the cold has certainly delayed progress. 

An early Spring is wonderful; set backs are certain in the Northeast. 

Last week I found time for a pedicure...love love love them! But my pretty toes have been covered with shoes, and sometimes socks, all week!! 

Covered in purple Crocs....now that's not all bad :)

Stay warm, stay dry, stay safe! 

Whew, a weekend filled with family, friends and food!

It was a whirlwind! 

Saturday...

I skipped a meeting at church in the morning because I just couldn't fit one more thing into an already packed day. I also had to say no to a Mom's pampering day at a local Catholic Church. Several of the mothers of Ellen's friends go and love it but, so far, it has never suited me....maybe next year! The big event for us was a gathering of my family and the family of my step Mother, Mary. We are the Witmer's and the Zimmerman's...otherwise known as the Zimwits! Our many children and grandchildren are the Zimwitties.....clever, eh? =)

It's been two years since we have all been together. Food was involved in this gathering, of course! I made a wonderful macaroni salad with gluten free macaroni. The recipe was given to me from a friend. It was so good and I will be making it again! I also made a gluten free pretzel strawberry dessert. Both dishes came home almost empty....guess they both were enjoyed by the bunch! 

I didn't take any pictures. There were about 50-60 people in attendance. Here are two pictures borrowed from my SIL 

The facility is a youth center in Myerstown. 

It's large...a big gym too, which provided lots of fun for the kids and active adults :)

We certainly enjoyed the food! 

Ellen had to work so she missed this event. Greta and Lynn offered to pick her up from work so we could stay longer...they had attended the meeting at church that I skipped and it was enough of a day for them. 

As a thank you, I brought 4 of Grandma Mary's famous and oh-so-delicious sugar cookies home....one for Greta, Lynn, Carson and Ellen. These cookies are the best ever! (although I can no longer eat them, I certainly do remember!) 

There was much rejoicing :)

Carson tastes his first ever Grandma Mary cookie.....and is loving it!

Sunday-

The first Sunday of the month is always the day for a Fellowship meal following the worship service. I got up early to put the ingredients into the crockpot for ham and bean chili. I haven't made that one in a while and it was SO good! I used leftover ham from last Sunday, sautéed onions and green peppers, opened lots of cans - three kinds of beans and some tomatoes, dump it all into the crockpot and let it do its thing. That recipe also came from an old Taste of Home magazine. It's really good...only about a pint of it was leftover! 

From there, Ellen and I went to Conestoga Valley HS to see the musical, Cinderella, with her friends and their moms. Totally enjoyed the show and the company! No pictures. 

Then it was to Elizabeth's house for her birthday party! Yeah...more fun with friends, more food!!

The Birthday Girl!

The girls -

Emily also had her friend, Faith, with her. 

We ate tacos and chips and dip. Yummy! 

After eating, Elizabeth opened her gifts. That's always a fun time!

I missed taking a picture of Bri with Elizabeth :( 

I just love this girl...and her Mom!

Our girls enjoy giving and receiving. It's a joy, always, to see them accept and open each gift. Pure joy!!

Then it was time for Icecream Cake! 

Oh how they LOVED it! 

Elizabeth graciously thanked each of the girls for coming and our fun time together came to an end. 

A marathon of Family, Friends, Food! 

Two more pictures that showed up on Facebook before I went to sleep last night...

Two of my daughters! 

This is beautiful Gina holding Noah. 

What a wonderful picture!

This is beautiful Kim, our firstborn!

It's a cloudy and cool day in PA today....the sunny and warm days have taken a vacation. It's not going to be a nice week for us....hoping the weekly forecast is a big mistake! 

God Bless your day!