Days with Destiny and Sammy

Here's a recap of my last few days.  On Saturday, after everyone else cleared out of here, Destiny and I relaxed for a while then did one of our favorite things - thrift shopping.  We found some cute things for her and a few cool things for the house. 

On Sunday we had the church services at Fillmore and Houserville, then came home for some more relaxing and a movie.  By evening we were ready for some fun.  I had promised her we'd make a pie out of our pumpkin.  She also wanted to roast the seeds and seasoned them with adobo and Sazon.  Were they ever delicious!  Wish I could say the same thing for the pie.  I didn't feel like looking through my recipes to find the one I like, so I just got one off the internet.  It used a good bit of ground cloves, which really overpowered the cinnamon flavor.  We were both disappointed.  We'll try again at Christmas. 

Just like my mom used to do, we made little cinnamon rolls out of the leftover dough.  We like them better than the pie!

 On Monday afternoon we made the trip to Reading to take her back home.  From there I went to Sam and Jenn's place.  Jenn is in DC for five days of training, so I wanted to be there a couple of days to help Sam out.  Monday evening Sammy slept a lot and I was beginning to wonder if he would ever stay awake to smile for me and talk to me.  

But I need not have worried.  I kept him Tuesday instead of Sam taking him to his normal daycare.  We had the best day together.  He is such a sweet, pleasant, easy-going baby. 

I took him for a little trip to my brother's shop where my sister Mary Ellen is the administrative assistant.  They got to meet each other for the first time. 

Tuesday evening was bath time, which Sammy LOVES.

Both nights I gave him his 5 AM bottle so Sam could get some extra sleep.  This morning I just soaked in the sweet sound of his quick baby breaths, his sweet baby fragrance, and the softness of his cheeks.  I knew I would soon be saying goodby for a few weeks.  

Around 8:00 Sam got him packed up to take to his daycare nearby.  

I'm so proud of Sam.  He doesn't want me to act like he's doing anything special, but Jenn and I know that he is.  Sammy just loves his daddy.  They have such a beautiful bond already.  It's so hard for Jenn to be away this week, but we did our best to keep her updated with pictures several times a day.  

I took this little video of Sam and Sammy interacting. 

This morning I drove back home, and now I'm head-over-heels in music prep and activities.  In addition to my regular worship leading responsibilities at Houserville, I also am subbing as pianist and choir director for Judy at Fillmore for a few weeks.  She will be having hip replacement surgery tomorrow.  The choir will be coming here for practice tomorrow night. 

Dick got back from deer hunting last evening.  No luck this year.  But he's hoping to do some local hunting on Saturday.  We do like venison and we'd love to have some.

Thanksgiving 2011

Well, I guess it's time to document Thanksgiving 2011.  Thanksgiving Day found Dick and I doing some deep cleaning and organizing around here.  Around 5 PM we went to Anthony and Lori's for an amazing feast of mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, roast beef, turkey, ox tail, corn, apple crisp, and ice cream.  And I didn't do any of the cooking!  

Dick had to work on Friday.  I prepared for feast number two.  Actually, it was made easy by having some of Lori's leftovers.  Her candied yams became part of my yam pudding.  Her corn became part of my baked corn.  Some of her turkey and her friend Tina's stuffing also were used.  

Dick got home from work around 6,  Ray and Thyda with Destiny, as well as their dog Leo, arrived around 6:30, and Anthony, Lori, and Austin came soon after that.   Thyda had brought all the ingredients for her famous mac and cheese, so we quickly threw that together and baked it.  By the time we finally sat down we were all so hungry, and the food seemed tastier than ever before. 

 

Austin meets Leo.

Destiny brought her violin along.  I didn't realize that Lori used to play violin!  I also didn't realize that Anthony actually knows how to play a song on it.  I have that video down at the end of this post. 

Random pictures from the evening.

We were so eager to play a real Scrabble game, since we've all been getting so much practice via Words with Friends on our phones.  But we discovered we're spoiled now.  It seemed like such a pain to try to see the board, to wait on each other to take turns, to calculate our own scores!  Sad indeed!

So after one game of Scrabble we ended up with our very favorite game of Dictionary - our homemade version of Balderdash.  As always, the game elicited some good belly laughs.

Saturday morning we lazed around, and I made pancakes and sausage for everyone. Destiny started the Growums herb garden I had bought from her school's fund raiser.

 

I love Thyda.  She's like a big sister to Destiny - always doing things that interest her.  

 

Eventually the house got quiet.  Dick packed up and left for the hunting cabin.  Lori and Austin went on to other things, and Ray and Thyda packed up to go back to her parents in Lancaster for one more night before returning to Virginia Beach.    Destiny stayed, and I'll write about our activities on the next post. 

Here are two of the videos I took over the weekend.  The first is the one of Anthony playing a song on the violin.  The second is just Ray being Ray.  Our family has a lot of comedians, but Ray tops them all.

My sewing projects, our Thanksgiving plans

As I said in my last post, I've been having fun sewing this week.  Well, most of the time it was fun.  At one point my sewing machine seemed to have become possessed by the devil.  I don't know if I accidentally bumped a setting, or what, but it took me a couple of hours, a careful reading of the manual, trying several different threads, different tension settings for both the bobbin and the top spool, and LOTS of frustration, a few, "GOD!!  I need help"s, and, I admit, two good punches with my fist on the machine itself, till I got it back into good working order.  Ahhhhh.  There is nothing like a sewing machine that runs smoothly and makes nice, even stitches above and below. 

When I got the panels for my sliding glass door, I bought two extra ones.  Out of those I made a swag valance for my dining room window and runners for my furniture.  I almost hesitate to show pictures, because I know most people are much more into interior decorating than I am.  My style is whatever I can find at Goodwill, on Craigstlist, yard sales, etc.  I stopped looking at magazines long ago, because they made me feel discontent, and I never watch the TV shows about decorating.  So I am NOT up on this stuff - just sayin'. 

 Here's the little cover I made for my end tables.

The runner on top of my entertainment center.  I gave it a soft focus, because I noticed that the mirror (which I found at Pete's Used Furniture the other week) has Austin's finger prints all over it, haha!!  No, Austin was not up there.  The mirror sat on the floor a week or so before Dick hung it. 

The runner on top of my cedar chest, which sits behind the sofa.

The runner on top of the chest of drawers, which now sits in my dining room.

I was hoping to make place mats, but there was only enough fabric left to make three.  So I just quickly used a long, narrow piece to make a little runner for the table   Lori thinks I have enough stripes now and should get solid place mats.  So I'll see.  I like things to be all matchy-matchy.   Oh, yes, this picture shows the swag valance I made for the window.

Now I need new dishes.  Mine are blue.  Boy, one change just leads to another. 

So this is Thanksgiving Day.  I really do have LOTS to be thankful for.  It occurred to me that the past two Novembers I made a Thanksgiving list that I added to daily.  I forgot to start it this year.  Maybe this evening I'll take time to write down all thirty things at once.   It will not be hard.  

I was feeling sad yesterday that things did not work out for us to have a bunch of our kids here all at once like we did last year, but then I found out that Ray and Thyda will be coming tomorrow and will bring Destiny along up, and that cheered me up.  Ray called last evening asking if I'm going to have turkey on Friday evening.  They had just arrived at Thyda's home and he found out there would be no turkey there (I'm sure they will be having many wonderful Cambodian dishes.)  So I got my orders, haha!!

Later today we'll go to Anthony and Lori's.  She's having some of her single mom friends over, and they'll do the cooking.  Sounds like we may be in for some good southern food.  

Thomas the train, sewing

My sister Mary Ellen called me this evening, reminding me I haven't posted in a while!  Sorry!!  Everything's fine up here.  

Sunday was a good day of church(es) in the morning, nap and a movie in the afternoon, and our monthly praise service at Fillmore in the evening.  

Last evening we were at Anthony and Lori's.  Pictures below.

And today I was sewing.  I made a valance for my dining room window.  This afternoon I had the piano lessons I usually teach on Thursdays.  I might sew some more yet tonight.  I want to make runners to put on top of my tables and entertainment center.  

Austin is a little pro at some of the games on Anthony's phone.  So cute!

Then it was surprise time.  Austin just loves Thomas the Train.  In fact, it was Thomas who helped to potty "train" him (how's that for a play on words??), because his underwear had Thomas on them, and he didn't want to pee on Thomas, hahahahaha!!  Anyway, back to the surprise.  Lori learned that a co-worker was selling an entire Thomas the train set, complete with table, for an unbelievable price.  Lori and Dick set up the table in the family room downstairs, then Anthony took Austin down.  I just wish I had captured the look on his face when we saw the trains and bridges, etc.  This pic was taken after more things were set up.  Below is a video I took a bit earlier on.  

 

Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert

Yesterday afternoon there was a knock at my door.  It was a good friend from the Fillmore church asking if we would like to go to the Trans-Siberian concert at the Bryce Jordan Center.  He and his wife had tickets, but a family need had come up and they were unable to go.  Wow!!  Dick and I had been wistfully watching the ads for that concert the past few weeks, but knew that there was no money in our budget for something like that.  I couldn't believe we were going!!

And the seats were really good too!  There were only two down-sides to the evening.  First of all, the person in front of me was overbearing and chatty and overly dramatic.  And secondly, I already had a slight headache when we got there.  It did not get better!  The concert was INCREDIBLE!!!!   But it was loud, which I really was okay with.  It was the flashing lights and lasers that eventually got to me after two-and-a-half hours.  But really, it was just amazing.  They are outrageously talented, and sometimes the extra effects were absolutely stunning.  Here are some pictures and then two short videos we took. 

This morning I went to Anthony and Lori's to pick up Austin.  The road that we drive on between their place and ours is named Rock Road, and at one point it goes underneath very high overpasses, which Austin just LOVES.  He calls them the Rock Road bridges.  As we drove toward my place this morning, he was singing a song about going to Grandma's house on the Rock Road Bridges.  It was so CUTE.  I so wished I could have recorded it. 

This afternoon we had a practice for our monthly praise service at Fillmore, which will be held tomorrow evening.  It's going to be a good time both musically and spiritually. 

Sammy is cracking up at his dad!

This is about the cutest thing I have ever seen from a 7-week-old baby. Sam took these this morning. I am so proud of him. Each morning Jenn has to leave early for work, and Sam has to take care of Sammy and take him to daycare before he goes to work. He said he dances for Sammy, and this morning it cracked him up!! 

Are these pictures toooooo cute, or what???? It's easy to imagine him laughing out loud. I just can't stop laughing when I look at him! Needless to say, Jenn is so jealous that she has never yet gotten to see him smile like this in person. Bless her heart. It's so hard on a mommy to be away from her baby.

Two more fun days in the memory bank

I was back at my computer and piano today.    All of a sudden it seems like the Christmas season is just around the corner, and there is lots of music to prepare.  I'm so happy to have another chance to use some favorites from my years at school.  

On Sunday after church I drove to Reading to spend some time with Destiny.  Dick didn't go this time, since I was planning to stay over for Monday.    Destiny and I had a great time together.  First of all we went to top of the Reading Mountain to see the Pagoda.  The Pagoda can be seen for many  miles around, but we never before took the time to drive up to it and climb to the top.  Here was our first view of it.

A couple of views from the bottom.

Inside we climbed about six flights of stairs to the observation deck on the top floor.  They had several of the binocular things up there that really magnified everything, and we were able to pick out her house as well as the one she used to live in.   Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day, so the view was not spectacular.  Here are a few pics I took.

 From there we went to the iMax theater to see the newly released Puss in Boots.  We took this picture of ourselves in the restroom bofore it started.

We weren't really hungry after the movie was over, because we had snacked on popcorn the entire time, but Destiny was in the mood for ice cream.  So we went looking for a place to get some ice cream.  What better place to find than Carvel?  She ended up taking most of hers along home to her brother - much to his delight!

 After I took her home I drove to my stepmother's house to sleep.  On Monday morning I took her to Lancaster City for her eye appointment.  She had cataract surgery in September and is still having some issues with recovery.   On the way back to her house she wanted to treat me to lunch, so we stopped at a little country restaurant for some soup and wraps.  It was delightful, as always, to spend time with her.  I was having such a good time I forgot to take any pictures. 

After I took her home I went to visit Manheim Christian, where I used to teach.  I had a great time seeing most of my former co-workers and many of the students.  My main purpose for stopping in was to borrow some Christmas music for my choirs up here.  Oh my.  Looking through all that music really stirred me up!  This afternoon I was singing a number of them and remembering.  Good times, good memories.  I also forgot to get my camera out while I was there, even though a former student who reads this blog had specifically asked me to.  (Sorry, Gwenda!  I was just having too much fun!  But I did say "Hi" to Mrs.Groff for you.)

When I left the school I went to Sam and Jenn's place for Sammy duty.  He was sound asleep in his boppy, looking a whole lot chubbier than two weeks ago!  Why does that double chin look so cute on him, but not on me??

Jenn and I had a good time talking till Sam got home from work.  When he did get home, he said, "Look, Sammy and I match!"  So of course, I had to get a picture of the matching father and son.

I'm so mad at myself that I didn't take any picture of Jenn this time.  She was looking especially beautiful.  It would have been a perfect time for a family picture, but......  

They went out to a nearby restaurant for dinner while I babysat Sammy for the first time.  He was very sleepy again, so I just enjoyed cuddling him most of the time. 

But sometimes I became a pesty grandma and changed his diaper on purpose to wake him up.  The second time he finally stayed awake for a while.  

I took a little video of him just lying on his changing blanket, looking around, making little sounds, gagging on his own saliva, kicking.  Of course, I was hoping to catch a smile, because I heard that he was smiling for his other grandma on Sunday.  But I guess I just wasn't funny enough!  When I showed this video to Sam and Jenn after they came home, Sam finally asked, "So does he actually do something, like spit up or something, or is this it?"  I said, "No, I was just delighted to finally see him awake!"  He said, "Ok, I was just waiting for the big ending."  Hahahahahah!!  No, there's no big ending.  No drama.  Just a baby doing his thing, delighting his grandma!

I stayed at Grandma Mary's again last night, had a wonderful breakfast of baked oatmeal and heart-to heart conversation with her, then hit the road for home, my heart full of happy memories once again.