miscellany...

last weekend, we were with hubby's brother, sister, and families in indy. the girls (em, mad & hannah) were full speed ahead, as would be expected from a 5year old and almost 3 and 1 year olds.

this week, we slowed down a little. we had a leisurely lunch with my brother and his wife on the river overlooking louisville on our way home. we must take a weekend to visit them some time.

we returned home, and my allergies turned into a cold... which hannah caught. i thought we were better yesterday, so we took anna's frozen stuffed peppers down to the intended recipients... as soon as i arrived, i knew i'd made a mistake. not because of who i was visiting, but because the drive had exhausted me. on the way down (it's 50 plus miles from our house o dear friends'), I noticed that the fall colors are creeping into middle tn. a hint of yellow is peeking through the green. but by the time we got there, i was exhausted from the drive. i love scenic drives. i was reminded of childhood trips to Porter's Orchard in Michigan when I passed the Morning Glory Orchard just south of Nolensville. (Although Porter's is much larger business. I remember they used to have homemade doughnuts. Better than Krispy Kreme... real cake donuts that taste awesome dipped in fresh cider, hot or cold..) Perhaps last weekend's crisp air in Indy helped bring back those memories.

we enjoyed our short visit, isabella is 11 days older than hannah and walking quite well. (hannah is content to cruise or crawl for the time being.) i hope we didn't share too many germs...

i just talked to my parents...
God opened up doors for him to display his paintings and some of his photography at a luxury development in NC today. the response seemed positive, and the owner of the gallery that he "accidentally" pulled into to let a cop pass him a few weeks ago is going to designate a wall to his artwork. Dad's paintings and photography reflect something he's been passionate about as long as I can remember... God's creation. He's dabbled in various art forms for as long as I can remember... photography, ceramics, woodwork, folk art (Painting on wood). Most recently, his paintings have been inspired by the beauty of the Smokies and other parks, especially waterfalls. He uses acrylics, but his paintings don't look like the "craft acrylic"... they are detailed and you can see that he puts his heart into each one. They sold one and generated interest. It's an open door to a whole different world for him. It il be interesting to see how this story unfolds.

While my parents had an exciting day, we relaxed.
I'm still in my PJ's from last night (I might as well not bother changing them). First, we attempted to sleep in, but Hannah had slept 12 hours and was ready to party. We did Later,we did a little house work, played with Hannah a lot. Except for the return of Hannah's runny nose and the return of my fatigue and stuffy head, it was a perfect Saturday.