We Loved Our Pajamas!

This is the first time in years that my mom and dad got us matching Christmas pajamas! I know, I know, the whole pajama thing at Christmas belongs to kids, but since I work with kids, I've come to the conclusion, if you can't beat them, then I might as well join them and act like one too! I just couldn't resist making a face about it. I told my mom that I want to be buried in pajamas since they are my favorite article of clothing!

Merry Christmas!

For those of you who have children and think it's hard to take pictures of them and it is, try it with a pet. Ginger didn't do too bad as long as my mom was behind the camera squeaking one of her toys. Grandma put a gift under the tree for Ginger and she picked it out and knew it was hers. I do believe she can read. She opened it and it was a green plastic Christmas bone that squeaks. She will be a mess when it's time to open presents. She seems to think that all the gifts are for her. Mom and Gram made more cookies today. Now we have enough to last us for awhile. We will open our gifts on Christmas Eve since we are going to my aunt's house on Christmas Day. We have three days off from work this year for Christmas, we'll be enjoying it! I love my little kids, but it's nice to have a break. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and remembers the Reason for the Season!

Cookied Out!

The white stuff is coming down outside and it's cold! I was supposed to go to the dentist this afternoon, but I cancelled it due to the weather. Seeing as how delightful our roadways are around here, it was good that I did. Anyway, since I was home and we had yet to make any cookies for the season, I decided to do it. Two hundred twelve cookies later, I left the kitchen!!!!! Actually, I made them all, my mom put them away, and my sister did the dishes. We believe in sharing the jobs around here! ha ha I made ginger cookies, sugar cookies, M&M cookies, and peppermint M&M chocolate cookies - enough variety for everyone! My shopping has been done for awhile now and everything is wrapped and under the tree. Ginger decided that she needed to try to open them and was only successful with one so far, thank goodness! I did buy her something, but had to hide it on my closet shelf since she thought she needed it the other night. Oh, well.......this may be her last Christmas, she is not doing well and is starting to drag her back left leg. I guess that comes with old age! Anyway, back to the cookies, I'm sure they will be gone by Christmas or soon after!

My Mom's Favorite Ornaments

Twenty four years ago our lives were forever changed. My sister, then age eight, collapsed at school with a brain aneurysm. I was six at the time and will never forget how the chapel service at school was interrupted so that everyone could pray for her immediately. After a doctor at Lewisburg hospital told my mom that it was a drug overdose and that she would be fine and to take her home, my mom demanded that she be moved to Harrisburg Polyclinic Hospital where they found the problem. My parents were told that there was really no hope for her and that she would bleed to death. What they did not know was that by that time, many, if not hundreds of people were praying for her. By the next morning, the bleeding had stopped and she started to respond to her name. Numerous tests were done and it was determined that she would need surgery. She was taken to Philadelphia Children's Hospital. She ended up having two surgeries as they did not get everything removed the first time. Her head was shaved except for about an inch or so around her head. The doctor's could not give any assurances as to how she would be after the surgeries. She could lose her abilities to feed herself, walk, etc. During this time at the hospital, my parents met many people and of course, children. They listened to other parent's stories and also shared how God had spared my sister's life up to that point. After the surgeries, my sister could still see, talk, walk, etc. In fact, she got tired of the many doctors that would visit her to test her vision, coordination, speaking abilities, etc. Thank goodness that the hospital had many activities for children to do. With Christmas being just around the corner, they had them making all sorts of things. One such project was making ornaments for the Christmas tree. My sister made the simple ornaments pictured above. To anyone they seem so simple, but to my mom, they were symbols of life and hope. Mom has kept them through the years as a reminder to us of our greatest gift that year - the gift of life. She keeps them packed away with our Christmas stuff, but every year we look at them and remember what happened. After four weeks in the hospital, my sister did make it home for Christmas that year but was not allowed to walk around without help. She would crawl if she needed to go somewhere, which made my grandma cry. I guess gram wondered if she would ever be able to walk properly again. I spent all those weeks in various friends and relatives households, but I'll never forget the day she came home, dressed in her red and white Care Bear pajamas. She was ready to be home and wanted grandma's famous brown flour gravy for supper. Her hair eventually grew back, she wanted it to grow in red, her favorite color. To look at her today, you would never know that anything happened to her. The only lasting effect from it is that she has a short term memory problem. She made it through school, my mom tutoring her almost every night. Most of the time, she would forget what she studied before taking a test due to her memory problem, but the teachers graciously worked with her and found ways to make it work. Today, she is the head housekeeper in one of the buildings at Country Meadows and can drive (red car, of course!) and do mostly everything by herself. My mom will probably always keep the ornaments as they are lasting mementos of the past and a reminder of the future. By the way, my sister has an autographed picture of the Philadelphia Eagles from that year - they came to the hospital and passed out gifts and pictures. And don't touch her head, she still is protective of it! :)

Thanksgiving

We headed to northern PA for Thanksgiving this year....Gold, PA to be exact. My aunt and family bought a general store there. We took a few "field trips" on the way, one of them being the PA Grand Canyon, my cousin, Misty and I pictured above. I've never been there in the snow......it was beautiful! We had a nice time with the family...actually ate in the store because there was more room to set up tables and we had 20 mouths to feed. Not enough leftovers for supper so we had pizza instead. And after shooting the breeze for awhile, we headed home.....it was a long day!

Reindeer and Lemonade

Wonderful, wonderful snow! Let's just say our good workers at Penndot were not prepared for what happened last night. Everything turned out to be mess, a real mess! And since there are only two ways in and out of Harrisburg on the north side (322 and 11/15), let's just say that nobody went anywhere for a looonnngg time. Thus, we had lots of frantic parents calling in and making other arrangements for their children to be picked up. We ended up bringing home two preschool girls (who are actually related to us), and one of the babies. We had breakfast for supper and after they ate three plates of scrambled eggs, bacon, ham, and hashbrowns, we played Candy Land (yes, we kept ours, has to be about 28 yrs old). Since I haven't played that game in awhile, I forgot how wonderful it is to get my candyman to the candy house!!! But I didn't win, my dear sweet Claudia did. Of course, Kaylee and I celebrated for her. Now Claudia is the type of child that you never know what will come out of her mouth and she's not afraid to say anything. When we were at the table and talking about the bear being here, she wanted the curtain closed in case he would try to look in, forgetting about the door right beside it that is a nine light glass. Kaylee piped up and said that he could just open the door and come in, and Claudia wasn't too pleased about that. She told us that when she says potty words at school, she goes home and her mom puts Tabasco sauce in her mouth. While we were playing the game, Claudia looked around at my dad's two mounted deer heads on the wall and said, "What did Mr. Randy do to those reindeer, cut off their heads?". I had a good laugh about that one! She also had to look at the bath tub and said, "We have one of those too!". I guess it's hard for them to comprehend that we don't live at the preschool 24/7. We had lots of fun together and we're always glad to help the parents when we can. Having those two girls here provided our Friday night entertainment.
On another note, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. I guess I'll be drinking lots of it in the near future. Let's just say that life and people have a way of doing things to you that you may have thought would never happen. One case in point - we had our staff Christmas party on Thursday night at a local restaurant. Thursday started out well but ended horribly, so when we got there and waited over two hours to get our food, I was ready to make lots of lemonade. When the food finally came, it was delicious, but who felt like eating it at 8:30 at night? Oh, well, such is life! At least we got the party done and out of the way before the busyness begins.

It's That Time of Year......

My early celebration of Christmas has begun. I started playing Christmas music at work during naptime. I just couldn't help myself. Of course, the kids looked at me as if I had lost my marbles and maybe I have after the last few weeks. It's been crazy and the kids have been off the walls and I've started to climb them, I do believe. So, today I decided to start playing Christmas music. They are probably dancing in their sleep right about now. I've wanted to decorate, but I guess I'll hold off until after Thanksgiving, although here at home, the tree is going up next week because we are going away for Thanksgiving, weather permitting. I'm just about done shopping, I decided to do it early this year. I can't help myself, I just love Christmas! Just a quick update - I don't think I mentioned this before, but my dad got two caribou on his hunting trip and has shot two doe since coming home, so our freezers are getting full. Yes, we have two freezers, one for meat, and the other for all the other stuff. Things have been busy around here, but I thought it was time for an update on here.

Sarah Palin and the Bear

Yes, folks it's true, Sarah Palin was in a small community on Halloween night. That community happened to be about two miles from us. Too bad that we didn't know it until the next morning. There was an article in our newspaper today that confirmed that she was here. Some of our parents from the preschool said that they know people who talked to her and have video footage of her. The biggest event in Dauphin history for sure! Now the thing is, she needed to be here tonight to shoot the bear (like she got her moose) that was in our back yard and on our back porch. Our community has had a terrible time with this bear and the wonderful game commission seems to think that it's all our fault and that residents must be feeding it because it keeps coming back. The game com. will not do anything about the bear. Instead they are telling us to put bird feeders away and don't let anything out that would attract the bear. There have been over 40 phone calls made about this bear and the good people at the game com. have already hung up on some that made the phone calls, yet they will fine you if you shoot it. I guess it's their way of making money. When we got home tonight, we heard something in the back yard and then I ran inside and grabbed the spotlight to see what I could see-a nice sized black bear leaving our yard/woods and heading up the hill to the neighbors. He so nicely destroyed our garbage and knocked over the wheelbarrow. That view of him wasn't good enough for me. My mom and I jumped in the car and drove around to find him. Didn't see him but saw the evidence of him rooting in the garbage cans along the way since tomorrow is garbage pick-up. I guess it's time to set up my dad's motion camera. Last time it was a racoon, this time a bear, what's next, Sarah Palin's lost moose?

My Political Soapbox

Lately I've been spending time on my soapbox....politically that is. I read a statement recently that seems to sum it up....."All that is required for evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke. I've met many people that just want to sit back and do nothing concerning this election. I really don't understand that way of thinking. This year, after much hounding by me, a co-worker will vote for the first time. I've worked on her for four years to get her to register and she's concerned enough about this election and what it could mean for our country that she registered to vote. Almost everyone in my workplace is Republican but not all will vote this year. I have a hard time grasping that fact. We happened to have that conversation today as we were supposed to be discussing the Christmas program but got derailed on politics. I personally feel that it is your duty to vote. One of the women said that she didn't care for either candidate and wasn't going to vote and really couldn't answer the question as to why she wouldn't vote. I told her that even though we don't agree with everything that the Rep. candidate stands for, we certainly do not want the other one in there. Not voting is like practically giving the office to the wrong person. I was explaining to her all of the things about him that's just downright scary and the connections that he has. I nicely told her that if everyone were to take that stand of not voting, that's how and why we get into trouble in the firstplace. I told them of a story that I heard on the radio yesterday as I was driving home from the dentist. It was on a talk show and they were discussing voting. The man that was telling the story had been in Iraq and he said, "When the people of Iraq were allowed to vote for the first time, some of them walked over 13 miles in the rain to vote. We have Americans that won't even walk 13 feet to vote!" How true that is! What American do you know that would walk even 2 miles to vote? I feel that the people who don't vote, take their freedom for granted. Yes, I do understand that people in the political realm lie to get what they want. We all know that, it's not something that we can change, but we can find some things out by just doing some research. Part, if not all, of the problem in this election is that we have been bombarded by the liberal media about how wonderful a certain candidate is and how he has such great speaking ability, poise, etc. The reporters are supposed to be intelligent people, yet when and where have we seen or heard the truth reported about him? It's funny how they want to tell you "the truth" about certain candidates, but when it comes to him, it's suddenly different. It's funny how he mentioned his "Muslim faith" and was quickly corrected with "You mean your Christian faith". It's funny how he doesn't even seem to know that the United States has 50 states, not 57. He's supposed to have a high IQ. Don't you think that after sitting in a certain church for many years, your intelligence would have kicked in somewhere along the line to let you understand what the man up front was saying and how he was degrading America and did he think that we wouldn't find out where he started his campaign? All you have to do, which any American can do, is Google him and you'll find out a lot and maybe more than you wanted to know and start putting the pieces together and if we can do that, then why can't the media? I do get tired of hearing some of the news that's being broadcasted, but that doesn't change the fact of how important this election is to me or my country. I just have to shake my head in wonder when people say they aren't voting this year because they "don't get into politics". How can you not get into politics when literally everything is at stake in this election? They are some of the same people that complain about how things are in our country yet do nothing to let their voice be heard. The real truth of the matter is that as long as good people do nothing, evil will triumph!

Men in Red

Last Thursday night we went to the PA National Horse Show to see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride. It was a great show! My cousin went along with us and I got some pretty good pictures. This particular shot is of "The Dome". There are some female riders in the group. We got a chance to talk to one while we were visiting the horses in the expo hall before the show. After we left and went to the arena and sat down, my cousin and I looked at each other and agreed that we had a "blonde moment". There we had been standing and talking to the real deal and we never got our picture taken with her. How dumb was that?!!!! How many chances in your lifetime do you have to stand by a Mountie that's in the popular Musical Ride?!!! Oh, well, we learn by our mistakes. Despite that dumb moment, we had a great time together!

The Beauty of Fall.....

Gettysburg

A great day for pictures! I am on the left, my cousin Misty in the middle, and my sister on the right. If you've never been to Gettysburg, it is one, if not the most, "decorated" battlefields of the Civil War. I happen like this one the best, could be because I'm prejudiced since it is the Pennsylvania Memorial.

30 on 30!

I have arrived! Officially old now! I spent the last few hours of my twenties doing what I love to do - taking care of my two little ladies (see previous post) while their parents went out on a date. I did things in threes this year. Gifts came at three different times and we went out to eat three times. Once with the girls from work, once with my family, and once with my mom which was tonight. We went to Cracker Barrel, one of my favorite places to eat. I had Sirloin steak, hashbrown casserole, deep fried okra, and fried apples. We got dessert free for our birthdays. I chose the chocolate Coca-Cola cake and brought it home. I can't believe that I'm thirty! Time flies when yer havin' fun!!! I got lots of books, two Boyd's Bears, a gift card, money, and a teacher's mug.
A lot has happened in 30 years. If my eyes could talk about the places I've walked, I do believe I could write a small book about my travels. I've seen so many beautiful places in the past thirty years, so much scenery that it's hard to find words to describe it. I've been in 48 states, 8 Canadian provinces, Mexico City, and so many national parks - I think the one we visited most is Yellowstone, that being four times. I've met so many people, a lot of them being little people. One of those little people wished me a happy birthday today and I asked her how old she thought I was to which she replied, "42"! Oh, help! One of the other little girls guessed 3. I want to be neither of those ages so I have to be content with 30. I don't know if this age makes me an old maid or not. Oh, well if it does! All in all, it was a good day!

Leaving "The Roaring Twenties"

In a few short days I will be leaving the twenties and head into a new decade of my life. I've had to wait 30 years to be the same as my birthdate - 30 on 30! I told my sister that I'm leaving the Roaring Twenties and wondered what the Thirties were called. She calmly replied, "The Depression". That made me feel so much better! NOT! My birthdays have always been interesting since I share the day with my mom. What a gift she got on that day! ha ha Anyway, for years we did something special around the time our birthdays. Whether it was hiking the Grand Canyon of PA, visiting Rickett's Glen, walking across Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, enjoying the scenery of Hyner View, PA (yes, it is called that!), or any other place we went, it was always fun! Most if not all of those trips were with other family members - My Uncle Allen, Aunt Michele, and my cousin Misty, and sometimes a few others. What great memories we have of those days - some of those days were extremely cold, like the day we were at the PA Grand Canyon. We lived in coats and sweatshirts, wrapped up in blankets, and drank lots of hot tea, chocolate, and coffee to stay warm. When we visited Rickett's Glen, it rained most of the day. We didn't mind, we just bundled up and away we went, and went, and went, until we realized that we were probably lost. We took a wild guess on which trail to follow and thankfully it was the right one and we were able to find my parents and finally get in the warm car. Time went on and as I got into the age bracket of early twenties, the trips didn't happen as frequently. Not everything was going smoothly in family relationships, so we didn't go anywhere together for a long time, about nine/ten years. Other's had interest elsewhere and we sporadically went places, not every year as we did before. We broke that mold this year - thank goodness! I had this brainy idea to go somewhere this year, after all, it is my last twenty number that I can claim and I had to celebrate! Our original plan failed. We were going to go to Washington D.C. on a bus trip, but that went down the tubes. Instead we went to Gettysburg. I find it ironic that we went there, seeing as that was the last place we all went together nine years ago. Our day started out at Boyd's Bears. I had been there several times before but my cousin hadn't. It's a beary nice place! After that we went to the Outlets, my mom was looking for a new mixer for her birthday and yes, she found one, thank God! I'm done trying to mix with one beater! She got the real deal this year - a Kitchen Aid with everything she could ever want! We then visited the new visitor's center and what a place that is. It opened this past April and if you ever get a chance to go, you'll enjoy it! You could spend hours going through the new museum. The newly restored Cyclorama will have it's Grand Opening this Saturday. They also have a huge gift/book store and two theaters. The place is incredible! We didn't get to spend much time there, but we are thinking of going back in October and driving the battlefield again. After that, we visited the PA memorial which I think is one of the best that is on the battlefield. Then we went shopping, had a picnic supper, and took an evening train ride. We had a great time! Returned home very tired but that was okay, I wouldn't have wanted it to be any different. Took lots of pictures, but as I said before, dial-up is a mess to try to post something. Such is life! I'm glad summer is officially over! Although I do have to say that one good thing happened this summer - I got my Hawaii scrapbooks finished. Now I have to work on my sister's books. The good thing about that is, I already have a pattern to follow. That's all for now!

Hummingbirds at last!

We've finally had some visitors! The flying kind, that is. I got my mom this hummingbird feeder for Mother's Day and put it out in June in the flowerbed near the petunias. It took a while for them to discover it, and now it is busy with activity. I've been trying to get a good picture of them while they feed, but they don't stay around for very long at one time, so it's been a challenge. The standing joke around here is that every time I run for my camera, the birds fly away 99% of the time. If I don't get the camera, they stay around for awhile. After much waiting, I managed to get a few pictures and this one turned out very well. Hope you enjoy it!

The Fifth Season of the Year

It's that time of year - canning season. The past few weeks have been busy. We did 21 doz. of corn, 1 bushel of green beans, banana pickles, and a bushel of red beets. I had the distinct job of peeling the cooked beets - what fun! Let's just say that I'm glad that that job is done for the year. We're not quite done with it all yet, but there's light at the end of the tunnel!

Garden of the Gods

What can I say besides I think this picture turned out great! The only other thing that would've made it better - if Pike's Peak wouldn't have been cloud covered in the background. I suppose you could go there and never see the Peak because of the clouds. Had I to do over, I would've been there a few mornings before and taken these pictures when it wasn't cloud covered. Oh, well, I guess I can't have everything picture perfect! I am glad that I walked around the corner of the building and found this flag at the perfect place.

Ladies Night

Meet Brooke (left) and Bekka. They came to visit me last week while their parents went to the hospital to visit someone. Actually, Brooke is in my classroom and their mom teaches in the upper preschool room. If you can't tell by the picture, Brooke is a fireball, but that's what I love about her. You should've heard her yell when she saw the ice cream making its way out of the freezer. We had lots of fun together. Bekka loved the swing and wanted to go higher and faster all the time. We played with beach balls but Bekka discovered a spider and was not too keen on staying in the grass. Brooke, on the other hand, had to get as close to it as she could. I do believe she would have picked it up, but I protested on that part of it. Anyway, it was a joy to have the ladies visit. Bekka wanted to be sure that Ginger was not around while she was here. Poor dog had to take her nap in the bedroom. sniff sniff Anyway, it was a great evening together although poor Brooke was confused at first because she's used to seeing me at school and not at home, but she was fine after a few minutes of crocodile tears.

A Case of Blue Tongue

This is my cousin, Jenny. She is three years old and was a surprise baby. She is now the youngest cousin on the Hess side of the family. Having that spot means she gets spoiled by everyone but someone has to have it so she's the one. Recently we attended a graduation party for her sister and brother. One graduated from high school, the other from college. She got a mouthful of the blue icing that was on the cake. Couldn't resist taking this picture.

Vacation Part 2

On Sunday, we went to Baccalaureate at the Air Force Academy Chapel. It was very nice. After that everyone came to our cabin to eat lunch. Lots of good food and no one went away hungry! Sunday night we went to church and then to the pastor's house afterwards for a snack. At church we got to see Miss Folsum, former teacher at Penn View, and after church, I got to see my friend from my college days, Tonya Sickler. We had fun catching up on the past few years. On Monday, we went to Cripple Creek to visit the Mollie Kathleen gold mine. We went 1,000 ft. down into the gold mine and took the walking tour. After that we went downtown for lunch, which was fabulous, and then did some shopping before heading back to the cabin. When we got back, we went a few blocks from the cabin and got our picture taken at the Old Time Photography shop. First time we've had something like that done together. The pictures turned out great! Tuesday morning dawned with overcast skies and it was chilly. We went to the Parade of Graduates which was outside....basically all the cadets from the Academy parade onto the field and then the graduates step apart to signify that they are leaving the Academy. That night we were able to go to Andrew's commissioning.......very nice ceremony. Wednesday morning greeted us with fog, mist, and cold, cold, cold.....in the 30's. We left the cabin early so that we would be sure to get into the graduation. The doors close at 10 AM and if you're not in by then, you won't get in at all. We sat in the stadium in that weather for over five hours. Good thing we took blankets along as we used every one we had. It was just nasty. Thank goodness I had a weather proof coat! It was great to hear President Bush speak and he shook every graduates' hand.....all 1,012......that took well over an hour. The Thunderbirds only flew over once while the graduates were throwing their hats. They were supposed to do an airshow, but because of the bad weather it was canceled. After that, we went to the graduation party and enjoyed ourselves since the sun decided to come out. We started home on Thursday......traveled from Colorado Springs to Evansville, Indiana to my aunt's house.......very long day! Spent the next day with my aunt and family and then headed for home on Sat. We had a nice trip but it was good to get home! I think a certain brown furry creature was glad to see us too!

Vacation Completed! Part 1

What a trip we had! Except for tornados, cold nights, windy days, fog, rain, and whatever else I'm forgetting, we had a memorable time to say the least! We mostly lived in our coats except for late afternoons. We had good weather on the way going to Colorado until we hit the western part of Kansas. Then I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Let's just say we hope to never be caught in tornado alley again, at least for a long time. I happened to be driving while it all took place. I had to fight to keep the Highlander on the road. Between the rain, roaring wind, and nice sized hail, I'd say we were pretty much involved in some kind of tornadic activity. Felt like being in a washing machine while it was agitating. We knew that there was a tornado about 20 min. behind us and that we would be getting into severe storms ahead of us. The guy on the radio was very helpful and my mom kept checking the map, but I had to laugh at him from time to time. He said to take cover. I was ready to ask him if he'd been to Kansas lately! Where in the world do you take cover in a place like that? Anyway, we made it through all that, only to be in a wind/dust storm for about two hours after that. I should've stopped and had a burial for all the tumbleweeds that decided to cross the road and jump on my wheels. They should put up a sign that says, "Watch out for crossing tumbleweeds!". Needless to say, my mom was ready to cry because she's only had this vehicle for two months and the hail so nicely decided to take some paint along with it. Once we got to Colorado and found our cabin, the real fun began. The next day we went up Pike's Peak....it was 17 degrees and snowy on top and I was ready to yell (if I could've gotten enough air to do so), turn up the heat and give me some air! That night we went to the Flying W cowboy chuckwagon supper. It was too cold to have it outside but that was okay and the food was soooo good! We spent the next day at Royal Gorge....took a train ride through the bottom of the gorge first, then drove to the top. Now if you don't know, a bridge spans this gorge.....so, my dad got the bright idea to walk across the bridge. (You can walk, take the trolley, cable car, or your own car across it.) This is a suspension bridge and once you get to the middle, there's a nice sized space between you and the bottom of the gorge......over 1,000 feet. Not liking heights, my mom and I linked arms and tried to walk in the middle the whole way across.....nothing like the wind blowing the bridge to make it even more interesting and the bridge has wooden planks for the "floor" and yes, there are some cracks. My mom, sister, and I took the trolley back. Dad took the cable car. He tried to say that it was the best way to see it all. Yeah, okay I'll believe it just as long as I didn't have to get in it!

Our Bags are Packed (Well, two of us are!)

Just thought I'd share this picture with everyone before we leave. Two days until we pack up and head for the Rockies. I've been telling people that I just might not come back this time. My bags are mostly packed and the dog will be headed to the puppy motel which she hates! She comes home hoarse and can hardly bark. Oh well, such is life with a pet. My mom has been very sick for the past few days. Hopefully it gets out of her system before we go. I told her that she'll have to sit in the car seat and hold some plastic bags in case she needs to make a deposit. We are hoping that no one else gets it. That would make for a miserable trip! I have my camera ready to go as I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pictures. We are praying for good weather for the day of the graduation. If it rains, it is held indoors and we will not get to attend because of a lack of space for everyone. We're keeping our fingers crossed. We hope to have a great trip!
By the way, if you notice something different in the picture about my dad, it's no glasses. Last year at this time, he had lens replacement surgery. He only has to wear reading glasses now. Not bad, considering that he was a -13.00. He is thrilled and so are we although we've had to harass him at times since then because there has been a few times when he claimed he couldn't see something and it was right in front of him. I guess that's just old age! The doctor that did the surgery told him that he is one of their greatest success stories and that he had never done anyone with such bad eyesight before. He's not 100% clear all the time because of his diabetes, but it sure beats what he was. Right after the surgery, he would wake up in the morning and reach for his glasses....old habits die hard, that's for sure!

Mother's Day

This is my twin.....or I'm her twin......whatever way it is, it's what we are! We think alike, act alike, sound alike, even work together. Now that's a miracle......I guess it works out because I'm her boss. Ha ha When people call our house, they have a hard time telling us apart, even my dad. There's been many times that he's called home and he's not sure who he's talking to. I have great fun with that as you can imagine!

My Little Man

Today was the wedding.....not mine! I was a fair maiden for my friend from college. I managed to make it up the runway without falling or dropping my flowers. What an accomplishment! Derek and Alanna McIntire did the music, but since I was in the wedding, I didn't get to hold my little man as much as I wanted to......only for a few moments before the clean up began. The wedding turned out great and we also got pictures taken by a pond that was near the church.

Full Steam Ahead

I know, I know, I haven't been faithful at this for awhile. This month is absolutely crazy and along with that, we are leaving in about a week and a half for Colorado. We were personally invited to the Air Force Academy Graduation near the end of May. We made plans over a year ago to attend. We are going out early so that we can do other things before the graduation. We are going to take the cog railway up Pike's Peak, go to Royal Gorge, and maybe go to Cripple Creek and a few other places. Thankfully when I planned the trip, I figured in a high price for gas which is what has happened. We will be very close to spending what I had figured in the first place. And, yes it is still cheaper to drive than to fly for the four of us. In the meantime, we've had to renew our CPR and First Aid for work, finish shopping for the trip, start packing, and many other things that are on the calender including a wedding I'm in this weekend. I already packed the food box that sits between my sister and me...knowing her, she'll be in it before we go 100 miles.

Some of you have mentioned to me about posting more pictures of Hawaii. Believe me, if I could post a picture I would. I've had the most terrible time trying to post pictures. My picture file sizes are not too big....the only thing I can come up with is that we are still on dial up for our internet connection and it takes forever. Now you would think that living so close to the capital city of PA that we would have any kind of connection at our finger tips. NOT SO! Our only option right now would be cable connection which we have considered, but they want way too much money for that.......so, I'm not sure what we are going to do. I was so frustrated the other day that I was talking to the computer screen in a very loud voice......I guess I thought that if it heard something that it would do something. Of course, everyone else thought it was funny except me! Oh, well, maybe one of these times it will all work out and you will actually get to see more pictures.

Easter 2008

This is my sister and I on Easter.....I know, I know, Easter was over a long time ago but time flies. My Grandma was here for Easter, but she was very sick at the time and the picture I got of her....well, let's just say I'm trying to behave myself and not post it. I will post a picture of my mom and dad later but be warned......if you haven't seen them in five years or more......they are gray and bald. ha ha Anyway, this week was not a good week at all. My children did everything they could not to obey the rules. I was ready to pull my hair out. The last two days were better though. Let's just say I have a very interesting group of parents this time around. Plus, we've been struggling with allergies which I haven't had a problem with until the last two years. What fun! I'm ready for another vacation......yes, we have another one coming up in about three weeks. This seems to be the year for big trips. After this trip, I'm sure we will be staying home for awhile especially with the price of gas. When I planned this trip I figured on four dollars a gallon and by the looks of it, that's what it will be by the time we go. It's time to get the suitcases out again and get packing......oh, how wonderful!

If I Could Rob the Cradle......ha ha

Today my mom and I went visiting. She went to Gram's house and I went to visit my little boyfriend Dalyn and his parents, Derek and Alanna McIntire. If only I could rob the cradle.....he is so much fun! Anyway, we had a great time together. Alanna and I made lunch - grilled ham, homemade mac and cheese, and steamed asparagus which Alanna and I love to eat. It had been awhile since I had been in the kitchen with Alanna, and I got my laughs for the day. Then we went for ice cream in Mifflinburg. In the meantime, my mom was helping Gram get her flower beds cleaned out. We had a good day! We do miss living in that area.....being close to the city is very different.

Spring

I love spring! I love to keep track of what flowers are blooming around our house. These daffys are beside our garage on the side of a small hill. Getting pictures of them is so fun, not! But I willingly put up with the way you have to stand/sit/kneel to get these pictures. Last year, I got some great pictures of the flowers around here, and I hope to do so again this year. One of these days I will post more pictures from Hawaii, but I'm having a hard time trying to upload them. Technology is only wonderful when it works - that's my motto when I get frustrated with things like that. Anyway, back to spring. It happens to be one of my favorite seasons. I also enjoy fall and winter. Notice I left out summer and that would be because of the heat, which I can't stand! There's just something new about every day in spring. Reminds me of life - something new every day if we look hard enough.

The Things Kids Say....

We took a walk today with our children since it turned out to be a nice day. Usually after we walk, we allow them to run around on the covered porch area of the church that's connected to our preschool. It's a great time for them to get their energy out because soon after our walk we take a nap. We've been working with the older group to try to help them realize their own needs and how to take care of them (especially blowing their noses instead of digging for gold - gross, I know but it's what happens!). Anyway, while running around, one little girl sneezed and then proceeded to say, "My tissue came out!". I'm sure she meant to say that something came out of her nose and needed a tissue to take care of it, but couldn't put it together fast enough in the short amount of time that she knew she needed a tissue. We had a good laugh over that one! She's a real cracker jack, but is very sweet and helpful. Over the winter months, when it seemed like we were going through a box of tissues a day, she would help the other kids wipe their noses if they didn't realize that they needed a tissue. We call her our "Mother Goose".

This is one of the three beautiful sunsets that we got to see while standing on Waikiki Beach. This by far was the best one! Almost every night there were sailboats passing by. I had to wonder if they did it on purpose because they knew that people were taking pictures. Even if they did, it made for some great pictures. Truly remarkable colors in every sunset. This was also one of the best places to see a sunset. When we were on Kauai the sun set behind us and on the Big Island (Hawaii) we were there for two nights, but only got to see it happen once because of the weather. The other place for great sunsets was while we were on Maui. The last night we were there, the clouds were perfect and I took lots of pictures of that one too.

Children

My children at my job never cease to amaze me (neither do some of the parents at times)! The funny things they say just make me want to roll with laughter. Sometimes the smallest thing they say or do makes my day. Today was a beautiful day and we were taking a walk around the the lower parking lot. Now you have to understand - walking with this age group can sometimes be very challenging. We were listening to the birds sing and looking at the trees and enjoying the weather. For the past few days that we have been walking, I would find a small stone and kick it in front of me while walking and waiting for one of the kids to do the same. Several in my group had tried to imitate it, but they had failed to get the foot in the proper timing while walking. Today one of my little girls finally succeeded and what joy that brought - we giggled over the accomplishment even for something so small in my eyes but so big in theirs. Makes you realize that they watch every little thing you do and will imitate it. What a responsibility! Nothing warms my heart more than to see their smiling faces and listen to their laughter as we play together.

USS Arizona

We visited the USS Arizona the first morning we were in Hawaii. We had to wait for an hour and a half until we could watch the film and then take the boat ride to the memorial. It was a very moving experience. Oil still leaks from at least two places. You only get to spend approx. 10-20 min. on the memorial. It was a very quiet place. We came away with a deeper appreciation for our country and those who have defended and continue to defend our freedom.

Since we were here in the "winter season", we got to see the higher waves. On this day they were approx. 3-8 feet high which is on the low side. Surfing competitions are held here every year with waves over 15 feet and beyond. We did get to see some people surfing and got some great pictures!

A few weeks ago my sister and I took a 13 day trip to Hawaii. Talk about scenic! And yes, it is very expensive, but I basically considered it a once in a lifetime trip. Well worth the money I spent, that's for sure! Oh, by the way, I saved my money for almost four years to be able to go - a lot of things I did not do or could not do in order to save the money, but the trip was the greatest reward in the end. I even went snorkeling! It was great! Will try to post pictures of the trip later.

I finally did it and only three months late! It was my New Year's resolution to set up a blog. I guess time just slipped away from me but here I am! I expect this to be a great adventure!