Some things I learned over Memorial Day weekend...

An 80-something year old woman (approaching 90 really) can scale a fence and trudge through manure like there's nothing to it.

Not having a shower is not so bad when the weather is cool. (Gramma has a bath tub, but not a working shower.) Yes, I bathed. No, not every day. It's a small tub and to be honest, it's a bit of a nuisance. Those of you who have been there understand.

Baby Bear has a healthy respect for farm animals. She stayed her distance from the heifers and chicks, but was quite happy to tackle Kitty.

Jay Alan Sekulow's organization is not exempt from the "charities that prey on the sympathies of the elderly" syndrome. Hubby signed Gramma up for the do-not-call list in her state. Hope it helps.

Gramma can relax. As long as there's no meal to be planned. We even ate out a couple of times, which helped her relax even more.

It's not appropriate to garden on the Lord's Day. Unless it's to dig up plants for your grandaughter who is leaving the next day.

Window a/c units don't have 9 lives. Therefore, before installing for the summer, make sure the unit still works. Especially if you're paying to have someone else install it.

Buckets of rain water make excellent water for flowers and new plants.

Cows like to eat watermelon rinds, but not asparagus. (Especially 1-inch thick stalks.)

Baby Bear can sit pleasantly in a church service- as long as the music doesn't stop. Once the music stops, she says and signs "more, more" and starts to cry. It doesn't matter if the music is your simple old fashioned organ and piano and not contemporary, either. Music is music to her.

Visiting with old family friends after 8 years brought back memories from my childhood. Who would have thought that I would distantly be related by marriage to the man who baptizd my younger sister at our church in Michigan?

The simple life is both simple and complex. Farmers must rely on faith, trusting God to send the water their crops need. All the planning and preparation in the world is dependent on nature... God's provision. Of course, without their diligence, the fields and animals would not thrive either. What a balance!

There are always tasks to do, but when distant relatives from the city come visit and request a tour of the farm for their 1 1/2 year old, they are your honored guests.

A 100 year old farm house, if renovated and taken care of, can look really new.

A white fluffy dog that lives on a farm is seldom really white or fluffy.

If you want a kitten, find a farmer. Many farms have dozens of them around. Too bad we couldn't convince hubby to let us take one for baby bear.

Sleeping in til 7:30 is really sleeping in on the farm.

Watching Kitty climb the maple tree is sure to amuse my Baby Bear.

Toys are silly. Sticks and stones will do just fine.

Lambs whose mommy's milk doesn't come in are called orphans and must be bottle fed. An IBC root beer bottle with a nipple contraption thingy will do just fine. No Dr. Brown's, Avent, etc. necessary for the lambs!

Oscar can be a female lamb's name. It was an orphan and is now the matriarch of the farm where it lives. The farmer's daughter will not allow her dad to get rid of it because it was born when she was 2. She starts college in the fall.

Jelly jars make a great bridal shower gift- if the bride knows how to make jam. Fortunately, the recipient does indeed.

It is possible to gain 4 pounds in 5 days.

Baby Bear, like her older cousins, does not like spatzel (dumplings). She does like the beef that goes over the spatzel.

Although Gramma's frozen raspberries did nothing for her in October, Baby Bear has since decided they are one of her favorite types of fruit.

While I did miss reading my friends' blogs, I actually didn't really miss posting every day. This means that with a little self discipline, perhaps I will try to limit my time online and accomplish more around here. Maybe. Oh, wait, that would require self-control. And I'm an addict.... if you don't believe me, scroll down to see how many times I've posted since last night.

Farm Life 101

Kitty relaxes in Gramma's flowerbed

Sam fixes the roof after winds tore part of it off.

Gramma, Lori, Laura (exchange student from Germany), Baby Bear,
Hubby, Sarah & Buster

Hubby, Baby Bear & I pretend to drive the John Deere

This is the closest Baby-Bear would get to the chick

The chicks weren't very crazy about meeting strangers, either.

This calf was born just 4 days before our visit!

The lambs were a little shy.

Chatting with Great-Uncle John (Gramma's brother)

Gramma shows us that climbing over the fence is a piece of cake.. who needs a gate?

While the water trough fills for the cows, Gramma sits near the foundation of the old barn... accompanied by a friend.
No sense in tromping back through the pasture more than necessary!
I've posted more photos of our Memorial Weekend visit at Hannah Bear's Cave.

Tackle It Tuesday

I have so many photos from our quick trip North, not sure where to begin. So I guess I'll start with my Tackle It Tuesday photos.

#1: Last week's final tackle before packing- the FRIDGE

It was such a relief to come home an not have a stinky fridge to greet me!!!

#2: This morning- Plant verigated hostas and black-eyed susans that Gramma dug up for me. They get afternoon shade, so I am hoping it's not too much sun exposure for them. The hostas I planted earlier were struggling... I think I split them too much. Well, one was doing fine, the other wasn't. So Gramma gave me more. I hope we get rain soon, but until then, I'll water when I get the chance. I'm not sure if we have any restrictions yet. Ignorance is bliss.

mommy's helper

hosta- far left
black eyed susans- in front of shrubs, behind front row
(verbena, snapdragon, sedum, celosia, & spirea shrub, left-right)
The verbena and snapdragons are barely hanging on in this location. oh, well.

The "final" product. Hubby won't let me buy any more plants this year,
and I've crammed all I can into our small space.

For more TACKLE IT TUESDAY posts, visit 5 minutes for Mom!

home, sweet home

We had a wonderful visit with hubby's Gramma... driving 12 hours there on Thursday, and returning home today. More later... hubby needs the computer to catch up on bills. But I thought I'd say hi, and I missed everyone in the blogosphere!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

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I backed out...

the zoo will have to wait for me until we get back. We have to leave in plenty of time before rush hour Thursday morning to beat traffic through the city, and with hubby coming come tomorrow night, I want to have as much of Hannah's & my stuff taken care of before he gets here. Nice theory. That fridge is still beckoning my assistance. I gag whenever I open it, so I'd better go find a clothespin or something to protect my gag reflex. Other than that, I'm fairly pleased with what I got done today. It's so nice to have our bathroom spic-n-span, smelling like bleach and cleaners. The bath mats even smell fresh, after air-drying outside in the sun. And those sheets... well I must resist the temptation to crawl into them early, as there is still much to do.

Our sprinkler is not rotating back and forth as it should. I think it's pretty much worthless, except perhaps as a toy for Baby Bear. It gets stuck in one position, which waters only one area very well. Thankfully we do have a hand-held spray nozel, and I used that to water my babies tonight. 3 soft-pink callas are in bloom, with at least 5 more on the way... I'm tempted to cut one for inside, but we are leaving in less than 2 days, so that would be silly. I'm just in shock that they came back thriving this year. I may have to split them for next year at their current growth rate. The Sweet William Dianthus that I received from Tech Mom has taken really well to its sunny home on the side, and I love its simple white flower. The dianthus and glads are the only things that seem to be thriving in that section. I may pull the shrubs out and just make the end section a bulb/flower bed next year. Iris (our state flower, I do believe) and lily of the valley might do nicely there. One section of hosta is stuggling, the other seems to have some new growth. I'm not sure seedum can really be killed, and it will be nice to have some color from them in the fall. Some of my snapdragons are doing well, but some are struggling. Same with the verbena. But all in all, in case you can't tell, I am pretty proud of my little flower bed. Borderline psychotic, I know. Oh, and I have convinced myself that the "new" lavender callas are taking their time coming up and probably won't bloom til next year, as is the case with many callas. (Their tallest sprout is no more than an inch out of the ground.) So I will have a "T" shape of calla lillies welcoming guests at the sidewalk.

Ok, folks... time to check some other blogs and then get back to work before I rest for the night. I suspect Bear will rise and shine early; she fell asleep around 6:30 on our walk and I was able to put her down in her crib without waking her.

Finding Focus/Tackle It Tuesday



If Baby Bear and I are going to make it to the zoo on Wednesday, I've got a LOT to do tonight and tomorrow. Please bear with me as my Tackle is Pretty much the same as last week's. Yes, I am THAT domestically challenged and/or lazy. (If I'm truly being honest, I'd say it's the latter.)

Fold & PUT AWAY Mt. St. Laundry-It's already washed, at least!
Sweep kitchen floor
Clean Master bathroom
Pick up living room/hannah's room/Hall spaces
Vacuum living room/hannah's room/hall spaces
clean out fridge... it's starting to stink, it's that bad.
Load/Unload/reload dishwasher as needed
Hand-Wash/Put away dishes
Water flowerbed and pots(like I really need to be reminded of that-if I spent half the time inside as I have outside lately, things would be looking a little better around here! )
Clean off countertop
change & wash sheets from our bedAnd somewhere in between....
Go for a walk with Baby Bear...
Read books with Baby Bear...
Cuddle with Baby Bear...
(Not that I need to be reminded of those things, either, but hey....)

My goal? To have the house in reasonable-enough condition so that when we return from our trip next week, I'll not be overwhelmed by complete chaos. I want a fresh start!

It feels good to have a start on this list before I go to sleep tonight.
Green= Done;
Yellow= In progress
Red= Top Priority, regardless of my motivation level

WHAT'S YOUR TACKLE?

Last edit, 10:12 p.m. Tuesday

I think I'm going to call my Tackle Complete, at least the picture-posting-portion. Baby Bear awoke from her LONG morning nap, and quite frankly, I hate cleaning. I'm going to have to learn to spread out my tackles... i.e. QUIT PROCRASTINATING ! We still might have to cancel our zoo plans with neighbors, as I don't see myself pushing hard enough to get everything ready for our trip tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Sigh.

Breaking news:

Story #1:
I'm not really an addict!!!!

I found this "internet addiction" test and scored 39... now I'd better prove this to myself and focus on what needs to be done at home, especially while Baby Bear sleeps. :-) 39 is dangerously close to 50...

Story #2:
My calla lily cluster (say that 10 times fast) now has 2 open blooms, with 2 more visibly on the way. The other cluster has at least 3 buds-in-progress. My babies are thriving! And my tomatoes already seem to have "perked" up since I added their homemade fertilizer of eggshells and coffee grounds, followed by a good dousing of water from my cheesy-but-useful green watering can.

natural fertilizers

Well, call me odd, but I'm jumping on the organic fertilizer bandwagon. Sort of. This summer, my Mom told me that coffee grounds can be used as fertilizer or in compost. Then, some friends at W@H swore that their roses bloomed better with coffee grounds used as fertilizer around them. So, as my cherry tomato plants are not growing as well as I would like and we do have a new Starbucks within walking distance (if I'm motivated enough-I went through the drivethru today), after I ordered my orange creme frappucino (a disappointment, but ok), I asked the barista for some grounds. Expecting a confused response, she actually was surprised that I only wanted a little bit. I told her I have a small garden and am just trying out the coffee-makes-good-fertilizer theory. She smiled and said"no problem", and proceeded to get me my Grande cup of coffee grounds as requested. I added most of the grounds to my tomato pot and a few to my green been pot, covering the egg shells which I have crushed and added in the last couple of days....

Yes, you read that right. Egg shells and coffee grounds are the newest phase of my gardening experiment. I also read somewhere that ants don't like the smell of coffee, so perhaps other insects will stay away and I won't have to use harmful repellents? Nice theory, anyway!

These may be old news to you real farm-hands and gardeners, and they do make sense to me as I've seen my parents use egg shells in compost for years. The good news is you don't have to go all gung-ho into composting if you don't have the time or space to get some of the benefits!

4 days 'til we go back in time

I mean, to Gramma's house. or Great-Gramma's, as Baby Bear and her cousins know her. Baby Bear has grown a lot since Christmas, and since we're not sure we'll be able to go up for hubby's cousin's wedding in July thanks to his job, we're going while we can. We have learned not to take our grandparents for granted. While she is still in reasonably good health for a woman her age, she is our last living grandparent on earth, and I hope Baby Bear and she will have time to build memories together.

"back in time" will mean we may not have internet access. we will have a bathtub, but no shower, unless we set up the contraption in the cellar.

We may bring our computer, so we can show Gramma some more pics of Baby Bear, and I may just have to "blog" in word or my (ghasp) journal with actual binding.

We're looking forward to seeing Gramma, perhaps some other relatives, and seeing Baby Bear's reaction to the cows and a large yard to run around in. Now I've just got to check the weather and figure out how to pack... summer/spring/winter? It's a different world in Wisconsin.

Oh, if you live near us and have a special cheese request or would like fresh cheese curd, check out Meister's website and e-mail me if you want us to pick some up from the factory for you.

Comin' 'round...

I was back to 100% by early this afternoon. I never got the fever or anything, which is a good thing. Very good thing. Ran up to the new superstore, returned the vacuum bags which were the wrong size, and picked up some goods for the week. Most importantly, carrots, celery and broth for our soup. If I actually cooked chickens with bones, I might have had some broth on hand in the freezer, but I didn't. I put in a little garlic, fresh-picked oregano, basil & thyme from the herb pot, and cheated on the carrots... I bought the pre-cut bagged "baby" carrots because I was not up to chopping and peeling carrots today.When I returned, I enlisted Baby Bear's help in dropping the Diet Mt. Dew cans into their drawer. She loves that chore. As I began to set my soup ingredients on the counter, Bear saw the carrots and grunted for some. Thinking she wanted some to eat, I sliced some lengthwise into chewable strips and put them into a snack cup for her. She immediately took the snack cup, lifted the lid to the 1 qt. saucepan she had on the floor, and dumped the carrots into her "pot." Maybe there is hope for me to teach my daughter a little domesticity. See her blog for the rest of the story.

After dinner, we went outside. Bear and I watched hubby mow the yard. (Note: I would have done it if I were allowed to, but that cliff is too steep.) He took periodic breaks and I made sure he had plenty of water. Bear and I also visited Sundae, the Jack Russell Terrier, and his owner, who was planting "flou-fuh" (flowers:petunias) in her flowerbeds. After the mowing and trimming were done, we finally spread the last bag of mulch over the flower bed, giving it a polished look until it fades back to the natural tone from its current medium brown.


Oh, I'm going to brag a little. Three more calla lily buds have appeared since last week, and the tallest of my 5 asiatics looks like it's budding on the tip. The Sweet William which Tech Mom brought from Gramma's farm is blooming, and the hostas and seedum are still alive. Perhaps I'll take some pics of my babies this week. I told hubby that since I can't have any more babies right now (at least, we aren't planning to try for bit longer), I'll just have to take care of ALL my babies. I'm sure he wishes I'd give the inside as much TLC as I give my flower bed. We'll get there...

Baby Bear has decided she HATES evening baths. I guess I'll have to try giving her morning baths. I bathed her while she was standing up and trying to climb out of the crib all by myself- hubby was watching the sprinkler water the flower bed for me. I do believe the terrible twos are beginning at almost 19 months. She was in bed by 7:20, which is becoming the norm now that she rarely takes an afternoon nap.

thank God it's Saturday

and we don't have to feel TOO bad about taking things easy. Hubby and I came down with some kind of stomach bug last night, and were alternating trips to the bathroom. I've managed to keep down some applesauce and think I'm coming around. Hubby has chills and tummy aches really bad.

His doc appt. went ok, except that his pulse ran low during one of the tests, so he'll go back for more testing in a couple of weeks. Doc has a theory, but I'll spare the details on here.

Baby Bear is playing wth her alphabet bus, a little sad that we are not up to interacting a whole lot, but doing well over all.

I think all of us will remain in our pj's all day.

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend.
You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

I found this blogthing/questionairre over at This Garden Is Illegal, a blog I stumbled upon this afternoon.

I HEART Baby Einstein!

After FINALLY washing the kitchen floor after lunch today, Baby Bear and I went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. We played with her new ball, raked mulch, picked flowers (whether they needed picking or not, and not necessarily in one piece.) Then I decided to move a couple of my flowers to more strategic locactions. They were getting smothered out by other plants, and I thought a move might increase their odds of survival. As I dug, I discovered slugs. I may have to try the old slug and beer trick. It worked for Inkling, and I've put far too much effort into one little flower bed to let the slugs roam free. Of course, after you move plants, they need water. If you missed the pics on Baby Bear's blog, she LOVES playing in the water. Today she called the water coming from the sprayer "rain". After retrieving the ball which nearly rolled completely down the hill, we went inside to change Bear and dry her off. Now her hair is super curly and cute from being wet and not rolling around on it in bed. I hope the curls are here to stay, they are precious.

Anyway, now we're watching Baby Newton. It amazes me how well these simple videos keep my child's attention. Perhaps it's because we don't have cable, so she is not used to all the other shows, but she really seems to enjoy the Baby Einstein series. I am exhausted from repeatedly keeping her from stepping on the flowers just in the knick of time.

Hubby is at the Doc making sure what happened last week was a one time thing and not caused by something scary.

Boo-boos, anyone?

Our favorite contest coordinators have done it again. They are partnering with NexCare, and a lucky winner will receive 45 boxes of band-aids!!!!

I can only imagine what my nieces would find to do with 45 boxes of band-aids?

If you want to enter, go to the contest at 5 minutes for mom.

music to my ears...

as the garage door opened when hubby pulled in the driveway, Baby Bear immediately exclaimed, "Dada... dada how!" That's her version of "Daddy's home!"

Things that make me go "hmmm...."

for the past couple of weeks, I was wondering why the lavender callas I had planted were not sprouting yet. Well, last week, some green leaves poked through the ground, but they looked more like the sprouts from my day lillies than the spikes from my other calla lillies. I didn't want day lillies in that part of my flower bed, so I pulled up some of the sprouts. (In spite of my Dad's advice to let them grow and see what they become.)

The thought occured to me that I might have planted my new callas there, instead of where I had thought I'd planted them. I don't remember. I remember thinking about planting them where the sprouts have come up.

Anyway, different varieties of callas have different leaves, so we shall see. (Someone in the neighborhood has these really exotic yellow ones with red tips and dark green leaves, totally different shaped leaves than my soft pinks.)

My transplanted cherry tomatoes seem a little wilted and sad. I gave them some plant food and water, so we'll see.

Baby Bear is announcing her naptime is over, gotta go!

Wordless Wednesday

about my new header

I liked a header that someone else used, and decided to check out the website. I did have to mess with the code in blogger a little to make it work with my template, and thankfully I did not royally mess my blog up. I am NOT a techie.

Anyway, this one jumped out at me, because apparently it was taken in the Adirondack mountains. One summer as a teenager, I spent a week at Word of Life Island, in Schroon Lake, NY. You guessed it, in the Adironcacks.

During the preceding school year, my family had gone through some tough challenges. Of course, there was getting the older brother graduated and off to college. He did that pretty well on his own, but still. Then there was my Dad's mystery illness. Extreme joint pain, heart palipitations, fatigue. Our family's PCP had sent him for all sorts of tests, the only one that came back even borderline positive was the test for Lyme disease. Yet, our PCP didn't think that was the correct diagnosis to make because of the absence of the "classic" bulls-eye rash. Dad found an internist whose opinion differed from our PCP, and drove the 45 minutes each way for additional testing and treatments. At one point, he was on IV medications and home from work (though he managed to build a hutch top for mom's bachelor chest while he was "bedridden".)
Anyway, I had the opportunity to go to this week of summer camp, and while Dad's condition had improved a lot under his treatment, there was still a lot of fear and undertainty surrounding his illness and treatments. It was obvious that just one round of antibiotics would not be enough.

I remember sitting on top of the hill on that island, staring at the sunset and the water after an evening chapel service. I knew that if the Creator of those beautiful surroundings made every little detail, He certainly would take care of my Dad.

15 years later, He has. Oh, Dad still has symptoms related to his chronic condition. But God has kept him with us, and he is now retired and living life enjoying God's creation. My daughter and niece get to know their Grandaddy. As a teenager watching IV meds drip into my father's arm, I couldn't help but wonder... and worry...

So, you see, this photo is more than just another sunset. It reminds me of musings past, and the peace that God restores.

Not-so-wordless/works-for-me Wednesday

earth-pots

herb pot: basil, oregano, & thyme

bean pot

cherry tomato pot

I inherited the above pots from Tech Mom and Dad, and have used them as my garden. Why? Well, the short story is that I don't trust the dirt in our back yard. Construction crews dump all kinds of trash, and who knows how long that junk stays in the ground. I don't want it going into my veggies. Plus, I got the pots full of soil from Wisconsin- nice, black dirt. Well, this Spring, I emptied one of the pots, using the soil for planting my annuals and bulbs in my flower bed... We bought some more potting soil and manure last weekend, and I moved the tomato seedlings into their new home today. Works for me!

soon-to-bloom pink calla lily
(framed by yellow celosia, purple and white verbena, and white snapdragon)

It may not be Wednesday yet, but I want to focus on other things tomorrow.
However, I wanted to share these photos.
(I'm ecstatic that the callas made it through the winter and
didn't come spike before the pre-Easter freeze.)
And since the tomato pot was part of Tuesday's Tackle, why not post it today?

For more WW participants, go to 5 minutes for Mom or the Wordless Wednesday HQ.
Fore more WFMW, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Before photos:






Tackle It.... This Week

ARgh.. Yesterday afternoon, I typed out my list of things to tackle, lost my internet connection, and Baby Bear awoke from her nap at the same time. So here I am, in my nightgown, listening to Baby Bear bang wooden puzzle pieces together like cymbals, and trying to re-focus.

My house needs a makeover. Not in the Extreme Makeover sense, where they come in and tear it down and start all over. No, it's only 4 years old. It neets an Organization Makeover. In my usual form, I sit here overwhelmed by the multitude of areas which need tackling and freeze. Once upon a time, I thought a project called the Finding Focus Project sounded like a good idea. It still sounds good. And then there was the Large-Family-Logistics inspired weekly "routine", with a focus area for each day. Again, it still sounds good. There's a big difference between liking the sound of something and taking action.

Anyway, here's a list of things I need to tackle. I am ashamed to post pictures of every area that needs tackling, so the ones above are just a few. It will take more than today to turn every area around... and keep it organized. But it's a start...

• load dishwasher/wash dishes/put away dishes (never-ending chore)
  
• sweep & wash kitchen floor
• wash bathroom floors
• wash & fold laundry & put away
  
• sort baby clothes: organize nursery dresser
• read and play with baby bear
• pick up living room- Baby Bear dumped her blocks out again before I had the chance to take an AFTER pic. At least I KNOW the carpet is clean under the new mess.
  
• pick up bonus room
• vacuum living room/hall/nursery
• vacuum bonus room
• change sheets
• vaccum stairs
• put soil into empty pot & transplant tomato plants into it
  

This is just the tip of the iceberg... here I go!

Green= done (though some may be done at several points, such as reading with baby bear)
Yellow= in progress

For more tackles which humble, motivate,
make you feel good or guilty, visit
5minutesformom

last edit 3:43 p.m. Friday

I stalled a little bit, actually I got distracted playing a few good rounds of "boo" (hide and seek/peek-a-boo combo) with Baby-Bear. And I actually cooked dinner and had it ready when hubby got home from work and finished his toned-down workout upstairs. (well, the crock pot and the stove cooked, I kept an eye on things.) we went for a walk after I transplanted my tomato seedlings, and I had to watch American Idol. After photos? Later this week...

To work or not to work?

Outside the home, that is. A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from the Foreign Language Department Chair at a local Christian school. They have an opening for a part/time teacher in my subject area. I was interested at first, but the more I thought about leaving my little girl in others' hands, no matter how capable they might be, the more I reconsidered. "Part-Time" is still every day, just not for the full day with this school's schedule. When traffic is GOOD the drive is 20 minutes... longer during peak hours.

Today, two more people approached me and mentioned that they passed my name on to this school. Is God trying to tell me something? Hubby and I had pretty much decided not to pursue the opportunity any further. I've always wanted to stay home during my child's earliest years, and as she blossoms into a little girl I want that even more. Working 4-5 hours per day plus commute is still a little closer to fill time than I want for us right now. There are factors involved that cause me to pause and consider, and I am honored that a couple of someones thought of me when they heard of the need. But does that mean I am ready to make such a big change? (I'm not asking you guys, I'm just thinking aloud.)

It's been a good day.

Baby Bear woke us up at 6:15. That wasn't so good, but she was in a good mood, so things could have been worse. I was greeted at her door by a Mother's Day card containing a nail spa gift certificate for a a bit of pampering. I have had one professional pedicure in my life, and maybe one or two manicures. The certificate may even be enough for 2 visits. And of course, it includes free babysitting by hubby while I go by myself. Going to the nail spa with an 18 month old would hardly be relaxing. Hubby's card was very fitting, with a sweet note.

Hubby and I attempted to get some Mother's Day pictures of me and Bear in front of our flowers. I'll post the results on her blog sometime soon. The yellow day lilies are in full bloom, and the first pink calla lily bloom should open in the next couple of days.
Nursery was sparse his morning... we had just 2 in our room. We could have combined with the room next door, but didn't, and the calm was a nice change. We helped the kiddos make mother's day signs (we traced their hands, they scribbled). When Big Boy's Dad picked up his son, he exclaimed that his wife would be thrilled, because they have tons of crafts from their oldest, but not many from the younger boy.

We ate Chinese at the only Chinese place hubby really likes, Bear fell asleep in the car on the wy home, and all of us napped until 3 or so.

We took an afternoon stroll, which was mostly successful, although Bear fell and scraped her knee. She has been sitting on Daddy's lap for at least 30 minutes, snacking on life cereal and cheerios, and mimicking Daddy's version of NKOTB "oh, oh, oh, oh, oh... the right stuff."

Frozen pizza's on the dinner menu, and we're relaxing. Oh, and the a/c has been working all day. A nice, comfy 70 degrees. Yahoo!

The woman was made out of the rib of the side of Adam-
not made out of his head to rule over him,
nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him,
but out of his side to be equal with him,
under his arm to be protected by him and near his heart to be loved by him.
-Matthew Henry's commentary on Genesis 2:18

I came across this quote this week in a book, and our Sunday School teacher used it in our lesson this morning.

I am thankful that my Heavenly Father gave me a husband who protects me and our daughter with his arm and loves me with his heart.

Happy Mother's Day!

Season's first burger grill (this post was inspired by Zann's pondering)

As you all know, our a/c is not working up to its fullest potential. It is doing better tonight, after having thawed thoroughly, it has not re-frozen. yet. It's keeping the downstairs a comfy 74 degrees. (comfy compared to the 82 that it has reached this week). a/c dude is supposed to recharge the freon on Monday afternoon.

Anyway, hubby is feeling back to normal today, and we ran some errands this afternoon. One of them was getting the propane tank for our grill refilled. While we sat in the parking lot waiting for hubby to return with the full tank of propane, Bear spotted a plane WAY up in the sky when it still looked the size of a toy plane. "Plane!" she exclaimed. Thank the Lord she can see alright so far!

After heading to Ace Hardware, where we had $10 off with coupons, and Wal-Mart, which is trying to put Ace Hardware out of business as the new supercenter just opened up across the street, we went home. Baby Bear was full of energy all afternoon. She refused to nap. Thankfully, she was in a good mood, except when she threw the ball that I got her for $1 at Ace out of her crib and decided "naptime" was the best time to need a diaper change.

Anyway, as we are trying not to heat our house up too much (and as you all know I am not very domestic), we had decided to grill burgers. I made the patties, hubby scraped the freshly lit grill with his groovy tool that has scraping blades on one side and metal brillo-pad-ish material on the other. We found the grill spatula (teflon and grills are probably not a good combo, so we do have metal for grilling), I did decide to bake sweet potatoes, but the heat output was still less than if we'd used the stovetop. Hubby even sauteed my spinach on the burner thingy on the grill, and baby bear helped me pick basil, oregano and thyme from the herb pot to add to the spinach. (Hubby doesn't eat most beans, so the most obvious veggie choice of baked beans was out of the question.) All this happened after hubby asked if we had any AA batteries to replace the dead starter battery. Thankfully, we returned from Tech Mom's with a Costco pack of AA's.. catastrophe averted.

Baby Bear enjoyed her bits of my burgers,her share of spinach and sweet potatoes with butter, and it was so nice to eat at home together. We've eaten out a bunch lately, too much.

That, my friends, is the not-so-exciting story of our season's first grill-venture. If you don't own a grill, I highly encourage you to find one that suits your needs... camping size, charcoal standard dome-lidded, or fancy-schmancy double decker gas with an extra burner for side dishes.

Now I must go trim hubby's hair so I don't have to do it on Mother's Day.

wanna see a beautiful baby girl?

steph has posted some pics of her 1-week old on her blog.

shortest ER trip on record

around 3:30, hubby called. i expected him to say he was on his way home from the gym. instead, he told me he had fainted at the gym and was in the ER. the doctors were running tests, he didn't know anything yet, just that he had become really lightheaded and the trainers had a hard time getting him to come around. this was his first workout at a new gym, so it wasn't like there were any familiar faces around.

we already had plans to meet my family for dinner not far from the hospital, so i called my parents, let them know what was up, put together a bag of stuff for baby bear just in case she had to stay with her grandma and grandpa, and called family and a couple of friends on the way to ask them to pray.

all the tests they took came back normal, but the ER doc wrote a referral for him to a cardiologist just in case, and he was good to go by 5:45.

God gave me a peace through the afternoon. I knew that I had to be strong for Baby Bear, and while she looked at her father in his "crib" rather quizically and with concern. GranWendy and GranDaddy arrived shortly after we did, and they kept one another occupied while we waited for additional tests and finally, the doctor's clearance. we were able to have dinner with my parents, bec, brett & juliana after all. (both girls devoured their mexican rice and made big messes.)

Please pray that it was nothing serious that caused this, and that hubby will get some rest this weekend.

i will resist one urge, but not another...

i will resist the urge to complain about the temp in our house.

i will NOT resist the temptation to register for more mother's day giveaways at 5minutesformom. some of their friends are giving away some pretty cool things. such as:

• fabulous jewelry from designing diva
• more fabulous jewelry from alli's originals
• mommy cards from fruition designs
• organizational tip book by Amy Knapp
  

you can't win if you never enter, right?

a/c unit is frozen. we could have paid an extra $100 to have the guy thaw it out for us, or we can wait for it to thaw and he can come back to put in more freon. we'll take plan B. wish we would have thought to just turn the darn thing off this morning. a/c dude said he will try to stop by to see if it's thawed later, and if he can't make it today, he put us down for a slot on Monday. Our oscillating fan has proven to be one of the best wedding presents that we received. we're hanging out in the living room, with the fan circulating the air on us. at least the problem seems to have a simple solution.

bear is mad. shots are no fun. for anybody. the only word she wanted to say at the doctor's office was "bye".

81 degrees. inside. with a/c doing something, but not cooling well.

let's all start singing old the patch-the-pirate songs... "i can't wait til tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow..." that is assuming the a/c dude can fix our problems in one trip.

9:49 p.m.- until a few minutes ago, we were hanging out on the front porch, enjoying the breeze and fresh air. it's now down to 79 inside after opening the windows and turning off the a/c to give it a break for a couple of hours. baby bear is asleep, half-naked, in her crib. don't worry, i'm sure she's wrapped a blanket around herself and is plenty warm. oh, and she had such a bad diaper that she tapped on the front door, said poo-poo, and let us change her without too much of a fight. it was 8:45, past her normal bedtime, but she was having a lot of fun sitting and figuring out how to stand on her trike on the grass outside. no need to ride it, there are plenty of other uses! i have the feeling she'll be catching up to her cousins' crazy antics sooner than i'm ready. this after begging to wear her training pants earlier today (they are pink and pretty), then begging to have them taken off, then going into the bathroom, standing next to the potty but not sitting in it, closing the door in my face, and peeing all over the floor and herself. and then falling flat on her butt and back when she couldn't walk on the slippery floor. i washed the floor while she took a bath. at least she peed on the bathroom floor.

we let her go to bed with a sippy cup of water so she doesn't dehydrate from sweating so much. no rain yet. darn. i thought for sure that if i watered my flowers, it would rain, anyway. good thing i opted to water them!

it's all relative...

baby bear and i went to the park for a couple of hours. boy, was it HOT. now the house seems cool, at 77 degrees. the chocolate mint cookie shake i picked up from chick-fil-a is probably helping with my comfort level. maybe i'll take a quick nap while bear rests, then do a 10-minute-tidy just in time for hubby's arrival this afternoon. the house is a wreck.

hubby said it's raining on the interstate; perhaps he'll bring the cooler air with him!

current indoor temp: 78 F

that's WITH the a/c "on", the ceiling fans and all other fans running, all lights off, blinds closed, etc... i'm thinking of using this as an excuse not to cook and to head somewhere that has working a/c. hubby's not here, anyway. the a/c guy is coming on friday, if there is a cancellation tomorrow, i am tempted to skip play group if necessary.

i tried spraying down the outdoor a/c unit to get the dust off it... that didn't make a difference. i've tried turning it off and back on, resetting the breaker, etc.

so it looks like hubby will be coming home to a warm house, tech mom will no longer have to freeze in her own home, and baby bear will continue running around in nothing except her diaper for the time being.

it's not even summer yet. at least it's not 100 outside.

10:45 pm update... still stuck at 78. the temp climbed up to 80 when i decided to open the windows during our evening walk. so i closed them again and have learned that some of the a/c is in fact working. the tall oscillating fan will be moved into my bedroom shortly. bear has a small fan on her dresser, providing added circulation. not that the air actually gets to her, because she insists on sleeping with her blankie and pulling it up over her head. the sweat makes really tight, cute curls, though! i don't expect the a/c to work any better tonight than it did last night, but it does seem to be pulling humidity out of the air, which is a good thing.

hubby may be reconsidering coming home with our house's current state of temperature. tech mom, send some of your freon with him, OK?

Wordless Wednesday

29 candles

For more Wordless Wednesday participants, visit the WW HQ or 5minutesformom.
I've also posted more photos at Hannah-Bear's Cave.

the a/c is on the brink.

after dinner last night, it was up to 78 degrees. this morning, i had it set at 68 to see if it would go that low.. it made it to 71, which tells me the sound of the fan that i hear running is doing absolutely nothing. that is totally unacceptable for eskimo man, i mean, hubby. i am NOT cancelling our playdate plans tomorrow, so that means while i take bear to her 18 month checkup on Friday, hubby can stay home and wait for the a/c technician to give us an estimate. we'll just have to recruit all the extra hands at the doctors office to hold her still while she gets her shots. that'll be fun.

at least i slept well last night, because if the a/c is not fixed by this weekend, hubby will be very cranky.

Place your bets!

Baby Bear fell asleep in her stroller during our evening walk, and stayed asleep when I moved her to her crib at 6:30. Will she make it until at least 6:30 a.m. without waking? Your guess is as good as mine!

Another addiction?

This morning I decided I didn't like where I had planted some of my lillies. So I moved them, closer to eachother instead of all spread out. I decided to go for a big burst of their color in one region of the flowerbed instead of little sprays across the whole thing, if that makes sense. I hope they make it, I think they'll be fine. I gave them some extra soil and food. Still no sign of the new callas, and I can't remember exactly where I planted them. So either something ate them while we were away, they rotted, or they are slow-growing. Hoping for the latter, but if they are the only main casualty, my garden will be ok.

Bear is napping. I think she's teething. I should be cleaning. It is "Tackle It Tuesday", after all...

My Dad is coming over to use the plants I split for him as an excuse to see his granddaughter. :-)

Beginner's Gardening Site

I found this through a search on dogpile.com (my favorite search engine).
Check it out!

menu plan monday...

umm, that would be see what i can scrape up for me and bear while hubby heads back west for a couple of days. there, tha was easy.

other wanderings of my mind...

we met our newest neighbor tonight. he is absolutely adorable. he weighed 8 lbs, 9 1/2 oz and was 20 inches long. it's no wonder his mommy was so ready for him to come out. she is normally very petite. his mommy and daddy are so proud, and we are very excited for them. baby bear wanted to give him lots of kisses. she loves babies. she also wanted to keep the bag that we brought a gift in. indian giver. (the baseball playsuit is a little small for her, though.) he will be one week old tomorrow, and everyone seems to be doing terrific. the cat might feel a little left out, but he will be ok.

baby bear and i ran some errands today. we played outside in the yard. i did some laundry. there's are still so many things left to do. part of me wants to ignore the chores, but really, i can't. i read proverbs 31 today. maybe it's time to revisit my finding focus project before the year is half gone. oh, and maybe i can teach her that while picking flowers is fun, picking all of them defeats the purpose of all of mommy's hard work in the garden. what? 1 1/2 year olds don't reason? you don't say...

I wonder how long it takes for calla lily bulbs to spike after their initial planting?

I planted already grown plants last year, so this is a new thing for me. All my other bulbs have come through. I hope I didn't put them in the ground upside down! That would be just my luck. But hey, my pink lillies from last year have definitely multiplied, the glads are coming up nicely, and the asiatic lillies have popped through the mulch. Oh, and the snapdragons that I thought were frozen have come back nicely, which is a very good surprise! So I supposed if my lavender calla lillies don't come up it's no big deal. Or maybe they just take a little longer, and they wll extend the color of my garden a little later. That would be nice.

Digging in the dirt isn't always fun, especially with a toddler tugging at your leg, but the anticipation of the end result is like waiting for Christmas morning as a kid.

Perhaps I'll post "in progress" pics tomorrow... to show how much they have grown since I planted them!

Another installation of the Mother's Day Giveaway for from 5 minutes for Mom!

They are giving away a copy of Hannah Keeley's Total Mom Makeover.

The author has a fabulous first name, and it sounds like I could use some of her tips.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! (Happy May 5th)

I'm not quite the history buff, but I have personally been to the fort in Puebla, MX. This is the location of the Battle of Puebla, which is commemorated by Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is not to be confused as the Mexican 4th of July, as many of us gringos might assume. I believe that it commemorates the Mexican defeat of the French, who were attempting to take over the country. Good thing they lost, otherwise we'd have southerners trying to learn French, and God help anyone with a southern accent who is trying to do that. (Me, included.)

We made it home safely... mostly sunny skies, no overturned tractor trailers or other wrecks on the interstate, and Baby Bear only protesting mildly every so often. She even napped for about 1/3 of the drive!!!

While Hubby unloaded the car, Baby Bear went straight to her trike in the garage and asked to ride it. We walked down to the end of the street and back, and by the time we got home, Hubby was exhausted. So I took Baby Bear out front to help me plant the flowers which Tech Mom brought down from Great Gramma's farm in WI. They've been in limbo for 2 weeks, I was compelled to give them homes in our gardem ASAP. Well, Baby Bear insisted on digging in the dirt and bagged cow manure/soil stuff. Yes, I know that is gross. I don't care. She had her plastic scoop and rake, and knows that raking grass is not as much fun as digging in the real dirt. Needless to say, she got filthy. And when she became tired, she got clingy. So I interrupted Hubby's phon conversation with his brother, he stripped her down to her diaper on the front porch, and took her in for a bath. That did the trick.

I found places for the green and white hostas and seedum, and then I extended the bed at the end of the deck for the mystery flower. It's going to have a white bloom, and may be called Sweet William, or a type of dianthis, or something.. Tech Mom couldn't remember. My glads and calla lillies are at least a foot tall, and the asiatic lillies are starting to peek through. My green beans have grown a LOT in their back pot, and the tomatoes that I thought had died in the Easter freeze on that same pot are alive and growing. The newest calla lillies haven't come up yet, but that's ok. I'm hoping they will rise to the occasion and provide just the right splash of color after the others have slowed down. They will be transplanted to another pot after I buy more dirt. After touching up the mulch, I think we'll be done, other than watering and weeding, at least til fall. Oh, and except for trying to keep my veggies alive out back.

Hubby needs the laptop to catch up on bills. Good night, y'all!

It's been a good two weeks.

Baby Bear has loved chasing the kitty, feeding the goldfish in the pond, going for strolls, picking flowers, scrambling up and down the stairs and spending time with Tech Mom & Dad. She has also been a trooper at staying up an hour past her regular bedtime on several occasions when we've gotten together with friends. You know your toddler is ready for bed when you set her in her pack and play, she rolls over, wrapping her blankie around her, and exclaims "bye!" She's done that quite a bit, and we've cracked up as we left her to fall asleep on her own.

I'm sleepy. I've taken tons of photos, which I'm going to have to compile into collages or something. I have yet to teach Tech Mom how do upload pics to her blog. I think it will just be easier for me to get her password and hijack the thing. Or else I'll just post them on my blog. We're both too tired to mess with a lesson at the end of a day.

We head home tomorrow. Home, sweet home. This is a close 2nd, but I am ready to go home.

Have you ever wished there were more verses to the song, "My God is so big!" I have! Well, crt's friend Camille and some of her friends wrote some.... click HERE to read the lyrics!

Meme Tag : Seven

Haley has tagged me to complete this meme.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things,
as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them
that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

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

1. I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrist because of my blogging addiction.
2. I am older than my hubby. Not by much, but this is funny because everyone tells me I look younger. Every now and then (maybe a couple of times a year), when I order a margarita or daquiri, I get carded. Unless I'm at the Mexican restaurants which we frequent. They know I'm older than I look.
   
3. While I am very disorganized in many areas, I have certain obsessive tendencies which contradict that inherent messiness. The most noticable at home is my silverware drawer. I can't think of the others, but my family might reveal them. (Blogging is the most obvious.)
   
4. I'm cultivating a love for gardening. It's in my genes, as my parents have gardened as long as I can remember. My Dad's parents had a wonderful garden in Yonkers, NY. My yard is not very big, so this poses a spacial problem. I may have overdone it planting bulbs this year. But pretty flowers are better than no flowers! Gardening reminds me of our Creator and I am awed by the unique qualities of the various plants.
   
5. I have a harmonica collection. I received my 1st Harmonica as a birthday present, I think when I was in the 5th grade, but it might have been middle school. My grandpa let me play his harmonica when we visited him, so my parents bought me one. My neighbor's uncle saw me playing on our front stoop, and a year or so later, he mailed his harmonicas to me shortly before he died of cancer. I would love to learn the best way to clean harmonicas. I'm scared to play them because I don't want to get them too dirty.
   
6. I majored in Secondary Ed-Spanish, but I've forgotten a LOT since I graduated. I taught High School for just 2 years before venturing into other areas. Now I stay home with my little girl.
   
7. I'm a novice scrapbooker, and my husband is trembling with fear at the potential cost of the hobby. I may have recruited my new friend Carmen to the scrapping community last night. I've accumulated a decent collection of tools: corner rounder, circle cutter, 12 inch cutterpede paper trimmer and deckled blade, set of 20 edged scissors, tiny brads, girly papers, baby themed stamps, adhesives, and pens. It's time to get to work! I tend to get overwhelmed at the idea of the big picture and struggle with just taking things step by step.

**********************
I'm tagging the following people:
Caslon
Inkling
Becca
Zann
Michelle
Stephanie
Emily

I like winning just about anything, but these drawing giveaways from 5minutesformom (who else?) are especially great Mother's Day ideas...

http://www.5minutesformom.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/review-mei-tai.jpg
Mei Tai baby carrier
It works up to 35 pounds, so I could still use it for Baby Bear and
future kiddos! Or it would make a GREAT Baby Gift.

ipod nano and chocolate gift set
i don't have an ipod. i love chocolate. need i say more?

Visit 5 minutes for Mom to sign up and read the details if you'd like to win!

Thankful Thursday...

Today I celebrate my husband. He was born 29 years ago. He is a wonderful partner, friend and father. He made me laugh when I first met him, and while life often seems more serious these days, he still makes me laugh. God has given him a desire to protect and care for his family that many people never get. He works hard to provide for us, and the gift of his faithful companionship is something I cherish. Happy Birthday, Hubby! Te amo mas y mas!

Scrapwanderings

As I mentioned yesterday, I got a new blade for my Cutterpede paper trimmer. I must say, I think I'm going to love the deckle edged effect. I trimmed the edge of my ultrasound collage, and the effect is pretty cool. I have such a hard time cutting straight with the fancy-bladed scissors, so I suspect I will be using them for smaller accents and increasing my interchangable blade supply.

I am now prohibited from buying any more scrapping papers until I actually complete more pages with some of the photos and paper I already have. Too bad I left my adhesives at home. Nap time would make a great scrap time! I may go ahead and pre-plan some of the layouts for the next few pages, since I had hubby go through the trouble of bringing the pics that arrived in the mail while we were away last week.

So, Farm Wife, Bec, crt & steph- how are your scrapping projects coming along? (And anyone else.)

Here's a couple of novice questions for you experienced scrappers (those I know and those who may be lurking)...

1. Do you crop your pictures with fancy edges, or just use the cool edges on paper?
2. What are your favorite websites for layout ideas? Magazines? Blogs?
3. Do you journal by hand or type out your journaling? The class instruction told us that even if you have messy writing, journaling is so personal that the handwriting is part of the art. I know Bec wants her pages to be legible so she types many of her journal entries.

Wordless Wednesday...

I'm cheating today and linking you to my other blog. I recently posted a gaggle of photos of my daughter. They speak for themselves.

have i mentioned that i hate insomnia?

been up since 3:30 a.m. that's 2:30 for those of you in the Eastern time zone.

at least i didn't wake baby bear when i knocked over the fan in the hallway on the way to the bathroom.

pray for holly, one of my WAH buddies. she's delivering her littlest man today (via c-section).

mary, my neighbor, was induced to deliver her little man yesterday. he should be here by now, i hope... she's had a tough pregnancy between being like farmwife in stature (tiny)and adjusting to carrying the extra weight, the usual symptoms (usual for those of us who don't describe the physical symptoms of pregnancy as "blissful") and i believe gestational diabetes. pray for mama, baby and daddy as the adventures in parenthood begin! pray for spike the black cat to adjust well to his new sibling, too. he is very used to being an only child.

while you're at it, pray for steph, who is scheduled to deliver baby girl #3 via c-section on cinco de mayo! she's already measuring at 44 weeks, so to say she's uncomfortable is probably an uderstatement.

for those of you who have to be up this early... i'm sorry. i think i'll see if my body will go to sleep for the hour before baby bear wakes up. (she smells grandma's coffee and gets an olfactory caffeine rush bright and early. argh.)

Since I'm not home, it's awfully tempting not tackle a single thing today. Alas, I am running out of clean clothes. Princess' cat fur sticks to everything, which makes it so much more difficult to get more than a single wear out of even a pair of jeans. (But when she crawled in my lap while we watched TV last night, it was all worth it. Even the allergies. Her purr seemed to say,"Thank you for trying to get that Bear to leave me alone!")

Anyway, here's today's tackle list:

1) water flower beds. the sprinklers will do the work. I may just have to adjust them.
2) laundry (that's my typical Tuesday tackle, anyway)
3) take Bear for a stroll-DONE! (she fell asleep and is now napping upstairs)
4) dust & pick up toys in the living room. Tech Mom's vaccuum works great,even if it is a little awkward (It's a Hoover Z thing that they got for $99 brand new from the Hoover store. It's Hoover's preliminary answer to the Dyson, but does have some comfort issues with operation, hence the price cut. I'm assuming the newer model is better. Still, a $400 vacuum for $99 is a great deal.) Now to get the furniture to match the freshly pampered carpet. I dusted all but one side table, and I've picked up blocks and crayons more times than I can count.
5) have dinner with A & M, friends from college. be sure to ask them to pray for mutual friend's father in law, who is having 20 inches removed from his intestines today.
6) take a shower. only a Mom understands why that must get put on a checklist.
7) show Tech Mom how to post pictures of the landscaping tackle from Saturday on her blog.
8) empty and refill the dishwasher

I hope to change the text to YELLOW (in process) and GREEN as the individual tasks are completed.



I took Baby Bear to Tech Mom's work today. She played shy at first, but eventually charmed everyone with her cute words in addition to adorable curls. She even scribbled the lab ladies a picture with their "colors" (markers). On the way home, we stopped by Hobby Lobby. Earlier this week I found a gift card that I had left over from Christmas that I had somehow not spent yet. Plus, Tech Mom wanted me to get Bear some WASHABLE crayons since the ones I picked up earlier this week were not washable. I found her a Blue's Clues coloring book to go with her crayons. Anyway, while at Hobby Lobby, I found their scrapbook papers and stickers were on sale for 50% off. WOO HOO!!!!!! And I bought a cool blade for my paper-cutter... it cuts jagged edges, that sort of look ripped... I think it's called deckled???

When I got back to Tech Mom's, I realized that I had failed to put my adhesives and scrapping pens in the box with my scrapbook and papers. So bringing my scrapping box was apparently pointless. Argh...

Baby Bear fell asleep in her carseat with a waffle fry hanging out of her mouth. I took the fry out and got her up to her pack and play for a nap. Now I must resume tackling the Tuesday mini- projects while she sleeps.

9:55 p.m.- Baby Bear practically kicked us and our friends out the door for our double "date". She repeated, "Bye!" numerous times. She and Tech Mom hung out while we splurged on a meal at Bahama Breeze. I ate delectable almond-crusted salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, and squash. Yuuuuummmmmm-o. Hubby gets a certain amount of "expense $$$" according to the project location. He never spends all of it, and tonight we even got an appetizer. I think I can handle this... having a built in babysitter who I trust comletely, comfy bed, a cat that I don't have to take to the vet, and cable TV with DVR. But I do miss my house and my neighbors.

It was so nice to catch up with friends I've known for almost 13 years... I can't believe it has been that long already! Wow...

Reflections before I tackle...

It occured to me that yesterday was the 2nd anniversary of my grandfather's death. 2 years ago, my family ventured up to NY, and all 13 of the grandchildren made it into town by Cinco de Mayo for Grandpa RJ's funeral.

In our transient society, it is easy to lose our connections to our relatives. Strangers often become closer than family, and family becomes strangers. Somehow, in spite of being spread out across the country, my Mom and Dad have kept in touch with their relatives. So while I might pass some cousins on the street and not recognize them, there are many that I would know. The Internet has helped. Of course, you regulars know that I keep in touch with my sis and mom-in-law and sisters-in-law on here. When one of my older cousins and her hubby recently ventured to China to adopt their daughter, we followed along on their blog. Another sends links to her shutterfly pics so we can see her two children grow, with the occasional photos of visits with other "California cousins". Of course, I've got this blogging addiction that has also turned into a virtual scrapbook for my daughter, and I love seeing her cousins grow online since we don't see them often enough.

Anyway, I find myself missing all of my Grandparents today. I see Baby Bear's curly locks and think of Hubby's Grandma Grace. I remember my Grandfathers, and how different they were. One lived life with 100% energy into his 90's. The other spent the last several years in physical decline, but I will never forget the spiritual thirst he possessed throughout his life.

I hope Baby Bear has the chance to get to know her grandparents even more closely than I knew mine. (We're off to a good start.)

Pray for Chatterbox's Dad, Mr. A.... (warning, not a pretty mental picture)

He's having 20 inches removed from his intestines today. Anyway, it sounds like an extreme case of diverticulitis... he has lots of polyps in his intestines/colon, and many became infected, causing bleeding when he thought he needed to use the bathroom. He's in his mid-late 50's, I think. I've known his daughter since high school, and his son-in-law since college.

This will be short...

Baby Bear is begging to go for a stroll. I think we'd better do it while the morning still has crispness in the air.

I received my pics from Shutterfly, and I am very pleased sith the 8X10 collage (click to see the rough draft)that I had printed out. The other pics are good, too. 15 of the prints were free, so the deal was really good. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the ClubMom photo book offer. I uploaded 10 photos into their online scrapbook, and have received my code from shutterfly for the free 10-page 8 X8 album. I have an idea for a theme... actually a couple of them. (Obviously Baby Bear will be the main theme.)

Ok, I really should consider pay-per-post or adsense if my blog is going to be an infommercial. Time to get off my rear and go enjoy the pretty weather with my beautiful little girl!