Wow, I have way too much catching up to do again!
As I said at the end of last Friday's post, on Saturday Lori had a 40th birthday party for Anthony at their place. He was wearing the shirt she had gotten for him - Awesome since 1976!
They also had just gotten a tree swing, which Austin tried out before other people arrived.
Getting the lower porch screened in this summer was such a nice improvement.
No worries about flies and bees sitting on picnic food anymore. So much yummy food from Hogfather's BBQ!
We had a great time. I feel so at home with their friends.
Anthony got his projector and screen set up at the barn and we watched the movie Madagascar.
I lightened up this pic so you could see the children watching. We actually had to wrap up in blankets as the temp slid into the low 60's.
On Sunday morning we went to Fillmore's 8:15 service as usual. The choir sang Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone.) What a song! I had goose bumps every time we got to the "My chains are gone, I've been set free!" part. Our tenor section is so good.
From there we went to the service at Calvary where Anthony and Lori attend. We are able to go there after the Fillmore service since Houserville now has worship on Wednesday evenings instead of Sunday mornings. Pastor Renee was given more churches to lead and we've decided to do this so she doesn't have to go to three churches on Sunday mornings. I enjoy the opportunity to attend a larger church (Calvary) where I don't have to lead the music, although I do thoroughly enjoy leading at both Fillmore and Houserville.
After the service at Calvary we went to Anthony and Lori's to eat some leftover BBQ and to have some of the ice cream cake that never even made it out of the freezer Saturday evening! We had a wonderfully lazy afternoon.
I got to cuddle with Hunter in the hammock.
So did Lori. He looks like he's saying, "Hey, my mom fell asleep in here! Can someone get me out?"
Our discussion was about politics. Imagine that!
Who needs a bowling alley?
The ice cream cake was delicious.
Shooting hoops. Austin doesn't miss many!
The weather has definitely turned cooler this week. When Lori got home from work on Monday she was planning to go to a park with the boys. When she put this hat on Hunter we couldn't get over how cute he looked!!!
On Wednesday Austin's "pet snake" (stuffed of course) was lying in such a predatory position it gave me the creeps every time I looked at Hunter sleeping on the sofa. It looked like it was ready to pounce on him!
The last few days have been soooo dreary, rainy, and cool. I know we need the rain, but I will be so ready for sunshine!! I wish the weather did not affect my mood the way it does.
This evening my hubby is happy. The Manheim Central / Cocalico football game is on TV. That rarely happens up here in State College.
We had another birthday in the family this past Monday! Sammy turned FIVE!!! What a handsome, charming guy he is! We're looking forward to spending some time with them this weekend.
After Dick gets off work at noon tomorrow we're planning to drive to Lancaster County for the weekend. Dick's brother Bob and wife Doris (from Minnesota) are in the area and we'll be visiting with them tomorrow evening at Dad Stauffers.
And Sunday is our 45th wedding anniversary!! Like I saw on FB last week - "I thought getting old would take longer." Hahaha!!
This was a really quiet day for me. I had an upper endoscopy early in the afternoon and was told to do no driving the rest of the day. Dick brought me home around 2:00, I took a nap, and got some phone calls made - something I really struggle to find the time to do. And now I'll catch up here.
First of all I'll share some nature pics. Monday evening I came out of Weis Markets and saw this sunset. I quickly got my camera from the car before it would change too much.
This morning when I walked into the kitchen I almost needed my sunglasses when I looked out the kitchen sink window!
On Sunday after church we drove to Reading to celebrate Destiny's 16th birthday a few days late. First we went to the mall so she could buy some things with birthday money from her mom, then we went to our very favorite place to eat, Jumbo China Buffet. I think that's becoming our birthday tradition with her.
Even the smell of that place makes us feel happy! There are SO many delicious choices!!
Grandpa loves it too!
When we were finished there, Destiny had a "girl date" with her mom and aunt to get pedicures at a nearby nail salon, so we said our goodbyes there, then Dick and I checked out the bargains at the Boscov's tent sale down the street. They had a good deal on mums, so we picked out five of them. When we got to the cash register we found out that two was the limit! But there had been no sign, and we had spent a good bit of time picking out just the right ones! The girl told us we could pay for them separately. So Dick bought two, I bought two, and then Dick bought one more. Good grief!!
From there we went across town to Frank and Lauren's. We hadn't seen them for a whole month, and did Alaya GROW!! In size and in personality.
A kiss from big sister Jada.
Little charmer!
She even loves to watch football on TV already, hahaha!! She was watching so intently I just cracked up watching her face!
On Monday I spent the day babysitting Hunter. He's growing up way too fast. We're starting to feel sad already! I was helping him to work on his balance for sitting up. At first he would easily lean back or to the side, but after a while he learned to catch himself. He was quite pleased with himself!
Tuesday was Anthony's 40th birthday. I told him on FB that no wonder his birth went so fast - he had things to do and places to go! In fact, he probably had already decided in that mathematical brain of his that he should be born at 9:20 am on 9/20!! A little fact we did not even think of until years later when he mentioned it.
We babysat the boys Tuesday evening so they could go out for dinner. The weather was PERFECT. We walked down to the pond with Austin so we could get a chance to sit on the park bench at the far end of the pond. Unfortunately the frog catching wasn't good, and he lost interest long before we were ready to walk back up that hill to the house!
Peace.
On Wednesday I babysat Hunter as usual. I rolled an inflatable ball to him and a few times he picked it up.
But mostly he just wanted things to chew on. We can't feel any teeth getting close to the surface, but he constantly has to be chewing on whatever is available.
I thought he looked so cute hugging his "burp cloth" while he was napping on the sofa.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered him not only awake, but rolled over near the edge, and stretching like a champ!! Thank goodness for the big ottoman!
Tomorrow evening we're looking forward to a 40th birthday party for Anthony at their place. He's gotten a projector and an 18 foot screen on the barn for watching movies, football, etc. We'll probably be watching a movie after some good food from Hogfather's BBQ.
Alright! I am a blogging machine today! And I'm going to get all caught up now!
On Sunday morning we got ourselves out the door by 8:30 so we could have just a bit of time with Lisa, George, and Sophie before they would need to head to the Baltimore airport. Sam and Jenn and the kids were already there, and when we walked in the door Sophie, Sammy, Bianca, and Austin were all gathered around Hunter's jumping chair. It was SO cute, but I didn't have a camera ready. I took this of just Hunter shortly afterward. He was loving all that cousin love!
Bianca was in an unusually huggy mood that morning!
Lisa was happy that she scored a hug from her before she left!
All too soon they had to leave and we all hugged, and Sophie was in tears as she always is. Just breaks my heart every time. Our times together are always so sweet and too short.
Jeremy and Mike were having breakfast with a bunch of their friends at a nearby restaurant, so they left too at that point. I started on breakfast for the rest of us. Obviously, this was going to be a Sunday without going to church. Judy, the former Fillmore pianist was subbing for me there. And at Houserville we are beginning to have Wednesday evening church instead of Sunday morning due to an increase in the amount of churches the pastor is now serving.
Sam and the kids had some of my breakfast while Jenn went back to the hotel to pack up.
Miki, Destiny, and Martha had some too.
After everyone was fed, I left to take Destiny to the restaurant where Jeremy and friends were, because Daryl was going to be giving her a ride home. Wow, there were so many people there to talk to and say goodbye to! I finally got away and went back to Anthony and Lori's, but discovered that Destiny's school laptop was still in my van! Oh no!! I called her right away and found out they were at a nearby Sheetz getting gas, so I hurried there to give it to her. Whew!!
We all worked together to take the tents down. That is so much easier than putting them up. And the weather!! Overnight, even though we had no storm to bring it about, we got MUCH cooler air. We actually were shivering on Sunday morning! All the tables and chairs were loaded into Dick's pickup, and Ray went with Dick to take them back.
Later on I had a chance to sit on the porch and relax for a while. Austin was pleased that the dogs decided to sit with him for a nice, long time.
They do love snuggling together in their blanket. And the weather on Sunday was perfect for that.
Eventually, everyone left. Miki had gone back to my house earlier. Sam and Jenn left for home, Ray and Thyda left for home, Jeremy, Mike, Amber, and Martha went out to dinner with Linda and her family. I said my goodbyes to Martha, because she would be flying back to California with Linda and family the next morning. Somewhere in there Dick took Megan to the State College airport. Anthony, Lori, and the boys went to a housewarming for some friends. And I suddenly was there all by myself!! It felt terrible!! Dick came back and we loaded up some things we needed to take home.
When we got home our house was empty!! I had no idea where Miki and her friends were. I started working on music plans for the upcoming church services. After a while they came back and suggested we go to the famous Berkey Creamery on campus. What a great idea!! We never go there except when we have visitors. They really do have the BEST ice cream!
We had a wonderful time together. I love them SO much!! They were so easy to have as house guests and so very much fun.
On Monday morning I went for some groceries and then to Anthony and Lori's for my regular day of babysitting. Jeremy, Mike, and Amber came to do the last packing of their cars. Believe me, they were PACKED!!
Later, Miki, Maria, and Christel stopped by to say goodbye, and they headed back to Lancaster County for a couple more days. On Thursday they drove to Dulles Airport in DC and flew back home to Sweden. I know they'll be back. And now I'm FB friends with both Maria and Christel, so I can keep in touch with Miki better, haha! She's not much of a Facebooker! (By the way, in my next post I will introduce Miki's second children's book.)
My day with Hunter on Monday felt really quiet. Too quiet. We were feeling like, "Where did all the fun people go?" But really, I had so much catching up to do in so many things, it has taken me all week, in addition to a regular full workweek, to finally feel like I can breathe.
Here are some cute pics I took of Hunter this week. He is getting so chubby and moving around more and more.
Starting to stand on his feet when in his jumper.
Just too bad we don't feed this boy, right? He has only recently been trying some things like rice cereal, bananas, etc. For the most part he has had nothing but breastmilk!! Go, Lori!
He WAS on the mat, but he's starting to move backward and sideways.
Not sure how much longer he'll be safe taking his naps on the sofa!
On Wednesday I had to start getting myself ready for church before Lori got home. I was in the powder room off the kitchen, and put him up on the laundry sink. He loves looking out the window, but he likes to be able to see me too. So this worked!
Wednesday was Destiny's 16th birthday! I have loved her since the moment she was born. I was her mom's birth coach! We'll be heading to Reading tomorrow after church to spend some time with her.
And now, I'm all caught up here - for at least a day!
