Once again I want to do this post before this weekend when I will have many more pictures. (More about that at the end of this post.)
Obviously, the biggest thing on our hearts right now is the devastation in Texas from Tropical Storm Harvey. There's nothing I can add here that you probably already haven't seen or heard. One interesting observation I heard this morning is that some people have been rescued as a result of pleas they have posted on Facebook - a means of communication that was unavailable during Katrina in 2005. I can't swim, and it's terrifying for me to imagine being stranded in a house with water rising. I can't even imagine getting up onto a roof and waiting there as it rains and the water rises.
I ended my last post with the end of our fun week with Sam and the kids. I had so much catching up to do all last week. But I kept finding reminders of the kids being here that made me miss them so much. In Bianca's bed I found Pizza Man.
And then when we organized the toy corner we found this sweet doll that she carried with her everywhere we went. Oh dear!! Sam said she apparently hasn't noticed that she's missing, so he wasn't going to say anything about it. They also forgot their bags of candy from the pinata at Bianca's birthday party. It's going to be like Christmas when we go to their place this weekend, haha!!
We cracked up when we were organizing the toy corner. Bianca spent so much time playing at the little kitchen while they were here. I discovered that she had stashed things into every possible opening in the fridge, sink, and stove. I even found the marbles that Sammy was missing from the marble roller!! It was such a mystery the day he was building and rebuilding that thing. Where did all the marbles go?? She never told!
The evening before Sam and the kids came I had made a double batch of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips in them. I remember thinking afterward that I'm not sure if I had remembered to double the amount of sugar. Apparently I did not. They turned out very floury and crumbly. Nobody likes to eat a cookie that feels like a dry mouthful of flour. So we ended up with a whole bunch of them left at the end of the week - something that has NEVER happened! Apparently Dick has slowly been eating them, because this morning the container was empty, LOL!!
Of course one of the big things to tackle after their week here, and the weekend of camping, was washing all the sheets and bath towels and beach towels.
When I was putting them away I decided it was time to reorganize my linen closet. I decided to get rid of some that I never, ever use anymore, including this 46-year-old beauty. It was a wedding gift, but never had a matching fitted sheet, so I seldom used it except as a sheet to sit on at the beach.
When I posted it on FB, I had all kinds of responses about possible uses for it, so I decided to keep it and maybe repurpose it in some way. I have some ideas.
I had to go to Target one day last week to get some things for Lori's airbnb apartment. I had a little extra time to look around and was under-impressed by some of the dresses!! What???? This looks like one of my mom's dresses from the 70's!!
Later that day I saw an ad for this dress, LOL!! Now this is one I would like to wear, except I would not look like that. I think it's adorable.
On Friday when I took dinner over to Anthony and Lori's, Austin was saying he wants to go to Burger King. So I decided it was time for an Austin sleepover. We met Dick after work at Burger King. "Look at the camera!" I told him.
That's better!
We went to Giant for some groceries afterward. He wanted to look for a Hot Wheels Lamborghini, which was fine with me. WELL. I had no idea that it would take half an hour to look through EVERY Hot Wheels car in the whole store!
When we finally left the store he wanted me to take pictures of him posing on this rock.
"Take a picture of me falling off!" he said!
When we got home he and Grandpa sat at the computer for a while looking up amazing fidget spinners and expensive Hot Wheels Bugatti's.
He asked me if I know what the longest word is, and of course I started singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." He said, "How do you know that??" He had never heard of Mary Poppins. So we looked it up on YouTube. The next morning we watched the movie. He lost interest after that song was over, haha!
On Saturday afternoon I got a lot of organizing done with my choir music and plans made for the fall season. I already have our Christmas musical. I stayed home all day and never even showered! Don't tell anyone!
Dick washed more of the house on Saturday afternoon and got the light-colored paint washed off the front shutter.
This is a picture from last year that shows the lighter shade that they were.
Now he has just one more side to do, four more shutters.
Two of our grandchildren started kindergarten this week- Sammy and Jada. They are almost a year apart in age, but it's the difference between having a September or an August birthday.
Here's Sammy waiting for the bus with Bianca hanging onto him. Jenn said that as soon as they started walking back to the house Bianca said, "I miss Sammy."
And here's Jada this morning! Lauren felt upset with the disorganization when she dropped her off. It's so scary these days to let go of your little girl. I pray it gets better after the first day.
This was a HUGE week for Ray and Thyda. She has officially left the Navy and they have moved to Lebanon, not too far from Sam and Jenn. Moving is really, really, really hard work, especially when distance is involved. They did not get much sleep in the process.
This Saturday they are having a ceremony to renew their wedding vows and then her parents are providing a reception. They got married ten years ago at a courthouse just months after they entered the Navy.
So, as I said, we have a BIG weekend ahead! I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures to share next week. See you then.
Well, last time I told you that if you don't hear from me for two weeks it would be because I was having fun. And I WAS having fun for one week and then playing catch-up the second week. So finally today I have some time here to tell all about it. Because I want to cover that entire week in one post and I have so many pictures, I decided to put most of them into collages. Not quite the same, I know, but otherwise this post would be miles long. I'm sure the pictures will get bigger by clicking on them if you want to see something better. (By the way, if you read this blog on a blog reader and you don't get to see my header picture, it's worth the little bit of time to go to my blog and see it.)
Saturday, August 12
Two weeks ago, on Saturday August 12, Dick and I left here around 1:30 to go Bianca's birthday party at Jenn's parents' house above Harrisburg. It was not long at all until we hit really stormy weather. How many times in one summer do I have to tell this same tale?? It was absolutely horrible, and I was so thankful Dick was driving.
It seemed like once again the storm would travel with us the entire trip, but eventually we got ahead of it. We got to Jenn's parents right around 3:00 when the party was to start. They had such a nice set-up on the porch for the party, but alas, the storm was threatening to arrive soon, even a tornado warning, so we decided it would be better to be indoors.
As it turned out the storm never really did get very bad and we were able to go outside later for the pinata. Bianca was SO sweet while opening all her many gifts. And Sammy was right by her side helping her however he could. It was so sad that Jenn couldn't be there (she's been away all month for training), but we face-timed and also her aunt kept sending her short videos of each gift Bianca opened. It was a really fun afternoon. Jenn's family are experts at doing fun parties!
Then Sam and the kids packed themselves and their stuff into our van and we went to our place. Sammy was so excited to see our "RV", so the first order of business was for Dick and Sam to put it up. The kids had so much fun playing in it.
We had sloppy joes for dinner. Later on Bjorn and Jess arrived! A few weeks prior they had asked if we had any weekend in August that they could come. I told them that we had just one weekend with no plans (this one). Or if they wanted to see Sam's kids they could come up Saturday evening the 12th and stay till Sunday. That is the one they chose. They love the kids and the kids love them. We had such a funny time talking about the fact that Bjorn is actually their cousin, not their uncle. We ended up calling him their uncle cousin, LOL!
Sunday, August 13
I just hate missing any fun when we have a houseful of people, so my night was very short, especially since the next day was Sunday and we get up for an 8:15 service. After the service at Fillmore we came home to get Bjorn, Jess, and Sammy and we went to Calvary's 10:30 service.
Back home again we had Mexican Pile-up for lunch. I had made so much chili for Stauffer camping in June and had a lot leftover due to our smaller number of people this year, so I immediately had put some in the freezer and pulled that out for this particular meal. We had brought Hunter home with us after church so Lori and Anthony could get ready for the cookout at their place later. Austin was away for the day with Lori's brother and his son. They were at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio!
We caught short naps in the afternoon and then went over to Anthony and Lori's for the cookout. It's so nice now with the big, flat crushed stone area. Hunter was just crazy over one of Bianca's birthday gifts - a lawn mower that blew bubbles. I think I followed him around with that thing for at least an hour! The picture above is when he first discovered it at our house (without the bubbles, of course!) It was so much more fun outside and with bubbles.
Bjorn and Jess left for Manheim from Anthony and Lori's. We and Sam and the kids helped clean up and then went back to our place. The sweet picture above is of Bianca calling Mommy on our play phone. The sweetest thing!!
Monday, August 14
When I think of all we did on Monday I'm not sure how we did it all in one day. Here at home in the morning I got some food prepared for Anthony and Lori as well as for us. Sammy got started with the Legos, building a truck which he kept improving off and on all day. It started out as a Christmas tree truck and ended up a rugged muscle truck! His creativity and ability to stick with things is really impressive. He also wanted to play games, so we pulled out the Connect Four and Chutes and Ladders. He roped me and Sam into playing those games with him every chance we had. Bianca contented herself playing in the toy corner with the play sink and the doll house, etc. She cracked us up one time when she walked into the kitchen pretending to be playing a trumpet. Her "trumpet" was the clothes tree from the doll house, hahaha!!
After lunch we went to Spring Creek Park thinking it would be fun for the kids to wade in the water. But we were surprised how cool the weather was, and Bianca wasn't at all interested in getting wet. We still had a really fun time there.
Then we went to Anthony and Lori's with their food, and from there Sam took me to my piano students' home. While I gave lessons for an hour he took the kids to Circle Park nearby.
We had the dinner that was in the crock pot after we got back home. More games, more Legos, and Bianca got out another birthday gift - a huge coloring book and crayons.
Tuesday, August 15
I don't think I took any pictures on Tuesday!! I'm sure we played games and played the piano. Lori and Anthony had guests arriving at their airbnb apartment, so I needed to get the room cleaned and prepped. Sam took me to their place and dropped me off. While I was there they went somewhere for lunch and then came back here to play and nap, then later came to pick me up. That evening America's Got Talent was on TV and Sammy had never watched it before. He was SO INTO IT!!!
Wednesday, August 16
Wednesday was a really full day. In the morning I prepped food for Anthony and Lori and for us. Then we took some of it to their place and went to Penn State's Ag Progress Days just a few miles from Anthony and Lori's place. It's a HUGE event up here that Dick has often gone to, but I never had. Dick was working there that day. The company he works for was selling tires, and he was delivering the tires to people's vehicles with a golf cart. It was a HOT day, and for the longest time we did not know where to pick up a map of the place. We had no idea where among all those vendors we would find Grandpa. And cell service was nil. I felt like an old woman! Just no energy at all to do all that walking in the heat. But we did it. We got some hot dogs and drinks and found a picnic table under a tarp. Whew! The kids enjoyed sitting on big equipment. Sammy went to an interactive display about insects and insect spray. He kept telling us the rest of the week about the stuff he remembered from that! When I put insect repellant on him two days later at camp he said, "Remember what they said, that some spray is for skin and some is for clothing. Is this spray ok for skin?" I assured him that it was! At last we found a map and discovered that we had actually been right in front of Dick's tent when we first arrived, but we hadn't noticed! We were so glad to finally find him! Later in the evening when he got home he asked the kids what was their favorite thing at Ag Progress Days. Sam and I both agreed that finding Grandpa was it!
That evening I went to our Wednesday evening Houserville/Mt. Nittany combined service and led the praise team. I got back home about the same time Dick got home from Ag Progress Days around 8:30 pm. Sam and Sammy had started working on putting together our marble roller before I left for church. Sammy was still playing with it when I got home several hours later. He kept revising it over and over again for several more hours!! He just could not stop.
Meanwhile I got out the ukelele we had given Bianca for her birthday. All week we had been listening in the car to the CD from the Disney movie Trolls that she loves so much. You should hear her adorably sweet voice singing True Colors in perfect tune. You know that that totally melts this grandma's heart!!! Another song on the CD is Simon and Garfunkle's The Sound of Silence. Sam discovered a YouTube video of someone teaching how to play that song on a ukulele. So I figured out how to play the chords, changing very slowly at first, even bought the written music for the song on musicnotes.com, and I learned how to play it!!
Another fun thing that morning was watching Sammy and Bianca looking through my pictures on the computer. His attention span for that was endless, hers not so much. But he kept trying. He's the kind of person who enjoys things so much more when he has someone to enjoy them with. I can totally relate!
Thursday, August 17
Thursday was another full, fun day. The weather wasn't quite so hot, and going to the arboretum was on our agenda, so we decided we'd better go before lunch to beat the heat. Just like last year, the children's area was a great hit and so was the fountain. We had the greatest time for about an hour. We actually could find nowhere to park! Penn State faculty was back to work and the parking guard told us that if we could find any empty spot in the faculty parking lot nearby we could take it if we didn't stay more than an hour. That worked for us and we did find a spot.
From there we went to Sowers Harvest Cafe for lunch. I enjoy taking all my visitors there, but this time it was a bad idea. For one thing, it is downtown and students were starting to move in, so traffic was crazy. And I realized that the menu is not extremely kid friendly.
After that we went to Discovery Space Science Museum. I dropped Sam and the kids there while I went for some groceries. When I picked them up we went to Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods so Sam could look for a swim suit for the weekend. The kids had the greatest time exercising on the equipment while Sam shopped! I think they're stronger than I am!
In the evening we started getting stuff together for our camping weekend. Sam and Dick put the camper down (the kids had played in it several times throughout the week) and Sam gave the kids a fun bath in my big jacuzzi tub.
Friday, August 18
That picture of me above was actually a selfie I took on Friday. That was a very rainy morning, in fact a very rainy afternoon as well. I prepped and took food over to Anthony and Lori's (dropped Sam and the kids off at Goodwill while I did that.) When I was ready to leave their place it started POURING! Rain does terrible things to my hair, so I just put that handy dandy casserole carrier over my head and ran to the car! (Grandma Mary lovingly made one of those for each of us many years ago, and I use it many times as I carry food to Anthony and Lori's place.)
The rest of the afternoon was spent getting everything packed and ready to go. While the rain left (of which we were very thankful) the humidity decided to stay with a vengeance! Packing up after Dick got home from work was a test of endurance. In addition to the humidity, there was some sad drama happening in our neighborhood as well. We actually left for the campground with a mix of excitement and a touch of sadness.
When we got to the KOA campground (about 25 minutes away) Sam helped Dick to set up the camper, then he took the kids to the pool while I got the beds ready and Dick started the fire for our hot dogs. Dick added a really nice touch to our campsite (which was really nice and spacious) by hanging a string of lights he had salvaged from Jeremy's DC patio! We had our hot dogs and some s'mores, and eventually some tired little people went to sleep in the camper. I finally had a chance to go to the bathhouse and could not believe it!! The bathhouse consisted of seven big private bathrooms, complete with heat and AC!!!!
Saturday, August 19
Unfortunately Dick was not able to have off work Saturday morning, so he quietly sneaked away while the rest of us slept. After we woke up I put my apron over my pj's and made bacon, eggs, and home fries on our camper stove. I felt so ugly, but sweet Bianca looked at my "strubbly" hair and said, "Mahna, your hair looks beautiful!" Oh my goodness. For a spitfire of a girl, she also can be the sweetest thing ever!! And her love for her daddy is also the most precious thing I've ever seen. Sam had a great one-liner that morning. When I realized that I had forgotten to bring hot sauce for him, I asked him what he was going to do without hot sauce all weekend. He adds it to EVERYTHING! He said, "If I were a woman I would keep hot sauce in my purse!"
After I had everything cleaned up and Sam had taken the kids off to play I finally had my chance to go to one of those bathrooms for my private shower in the air conditioning! Total luxury at a campground!
In fact, I took so long that Sammy was concerned. He kept telling Sam that they should check on me. Sam assured him that women take longer than men!
For lunch I put out the fixins for sandwiches. Dick arrived from work and Anthony, Lori, and the kids arrived too. They would not be sleeping there this time, but spending the days with us.
What a FUN afternoon we had!! There was a huge bubble machine that produced a lake of bubbles! The man running it said they use a gallon of Palmolive dish detergent! Sammy had an absolute blast!! Austin wasn't interested - he was too engrossed in panning for gems. (I'll show that later.)
Then we all had fun at the pool for a while. It felt so good on that humid afternoon. For dinner Dick made burgers over the campfire. Were they ever delicious!!
As we finished eating we started paying attention to the sky and the weather apps on our phones. It looked like we were going to get quite a storm. So we cleaned up, putting everything that should not get wet into the camper, the truck, and the van. Then we headed to the camp's pavilion. A tractor and wagon ride was scheduled for 6:30, but that's about the time the storm hit. So we just hung out in the pavilion and made our own fun. Lori had brought a ladder golf game for the boys, Hunter just enjoyed walking around and pushing things like chairs around. Bianca watched a video on their tablet. Sammy and Bianca danced a bit.
Later on there was an ice cream social right there in the pavilion. By that time the temperature had really dropped and we were COLD!! We cracked up at Hunter walking around in one of Lori's shirts.
The rain had stopped by then and we made our muddy way back to our campsite. Anthony and Lori and their kids went home for the night. Dick built a fire and we pulled our dry chairs out from the truck. Ah yes, nothing like dry chairs and a good fire on a night like that. Even some hot chocolate. Sam and the kids were FaceTiming with Jenn. Sammy was being a comedian for her as usual. That night the extra blankets I had brought along felt really good and we slept GREAT!
Sunday, August 20
Sunday morning was downright chilly! I was glad for my sweater. For breakfast we went to the pavilion for the pancakes and sausage breakfast they were serving. We sat in the sunny end!
Right after breakfast Sammy could hardly wait to go to the jumping pillow below the pavilion. At first it was just he and two other kids, but soon more came. Sam brought Bianca, and Sammy helped her to get on it. He even told the other kids to be careful because his little sister was there! I'm telling you, I have NEVER seen a more loving brother. He just adores her! He calls her "honey." It's beyond precious. Eventually Sam joined them on the jumping pillow too. They had an absolute blast!! On the collage below I included a picture of the bath house and one of the adorable cabins.
When Anthony and Lori arrived, the first order of business for Austin was to hit the gem panning!! He and Sammy had had some disagreements the day before over whose gems were whose, so we decided to get them started off right this time. The bags of sand with gems and stones and shark teeth, etc in them are bought at the camp store, so we made sure each boy knew exactly which belonged to whom and made sure they kept things separate as they panned. It kept them happily occupied for a long time, especially Austin. He would far rather do something like this than eat. What a great thing for kids to do! And educational too.
For lunch we used up whatever we had left - hot dogs, bacon, sandwiches, grapes, rice krispie treats. I also made several pizza mountain pies, which were a great hit. And then it was time to clean everything up and pack up. Bianca needed a nap, but the camper would be coming down, so Sam made her a bed on the ground and there she slept!
As we pulled away around 2:30 in the afternoon we knew we'd be back. We just loved it there.
Back at home we unloaded our stuff, Sam packed up all their stuff, and we hit the road for Lebanon. I couldn't believe that this week we had looked forward to for weeks was already over. One thing we had talked about that day was that it was the anniversary of Sam joining our family on August 20, 1997. Picking up that 16-year-old city boy from the Reading Children's Home on a Saturday morning is a vivid memory in my mind. I cannot imagine our family without him and his precious family.
As we were nearing their place the kids were FaceTiming with Jenn and being so silly, especially Sammy. When we got into the house my heart almost broke as Bianca ran through the house calling, "Mommy! Mommy!" She thought Jenn would be there. Awww. I told her, "Honey, Mommy's not here yet. She'll come home next weekend!" She got mad at me then. I don't blame her!
I thought I would stay at their place overnight, but after we got there I started thinking of all the things I needed to do at home and decided I would rather drive back home that evening. I got another coffee at Sheetz and did just fine.
I've been catching up in all areas of my life this week, and now finally on this blog!! Not too much to post about from this past week, but maybe I'll do a short one tomorrow.
Have a happy Sunday!
I decided I'd better squeeze in some time to do a post this morning before the big week that's coming up. This afternoon we'll be going to Jenn's parents above Harrisburg for Bianca's birthday party. After the party Sam and the kids are coming home with us for a whole week!! (In case you missed it in my last post, Jenn is away this whole month for training.) Next weekend we're going camping for the first time with our pop up camper at a KOA campground about 20 minutes from here. Sammy is so excited. Jenn said that every time he got sad about her leaving he would cheer up when she reminded him that they're coming up here. He said, "Can you believe it, I never slept in a RV before!" An RV, hahahaha!!
Bjorn and Jess will also be coming up here for tonight and tomorrow! We get so little time to be with them, so I was delighted when they said they could come up even if just for a little bit. They're so fun with the kids, so it couldn't have worked out better!
So of course I've been cleaning my house the last two days and doing some extra food prep. Yesterday Hunter was here for a few hours and took a nap on the love seat. (His daycare was closed this week.) I mixed up a batch of cookies as quietly as I could - no mixer, no metal bowls or spoons! Then I had to go for groceries after he woke up - LOTS of groceries! Lori met me at the grocery store to get him. I baked the cookies after I came home last evening.
While we were here in the evening we had a most unusual experience. Suddenly our front door opened and a woman said, "I need help!" There was also a dog trying to get in the door. We immediately recognized that it was our neighbor, 95 years old and suffering with Alzheimers. She lives with her daughter and husband next door to us. Whenever her daughter goes away for any reason she always has other family members come to stay with their mother. Last evening the daughter that was staying with her brought her dog along because the mother likes the dog. (We actually aren't allowed to have dogs here in our community, but of course visitors often bring them.) Last evening the mother was becoming combative with the daughter that was there. The daughter decided to try going on a walk with her mother and dog. But it turned into a very scary experience. The mother was pushing the daughter away, the dog got lose from her leash. I have no idea how the mother managed to get up our front steps with her walker, but she did. She was saying, "I don't know who that woman is, but I don't trust her." She kept calling, yelling for her other daughter with whom she lives. The daughter staying with her was so terrified and embarrassed. We sat with the mother here on our porch for a while so the daughter could make some phone calls. Eventually we managed to convince her to come with us over to her porch. We stayed there with them till more family members arrived. My heart absolutely ACHED for all of them. It was very sad and stressful for all of them to see her like that.
And now for a few pictures. Anthony and Lori went to Pittsburgh with the kids a couple of days this week. Here's a picture of Hunter that Lori sent me. Not sure where they were, some kind of children's museum I think.
They also apparently went to a guitar store (of course) and Austin thought this was the coolest guitar ever, LOL!
Here's a cute picture Lisa posted this week. Look at that Sophie almost as tall as her mom. What?? That must mean she IS as tall as me now. I'll find out in October. Just booked our tickets!!
Frank and Lauren packed up all five kids yesterday for a trip to the beach. Here's a pic Lauren posted of them eating in their hotel room last evening. Steak and crab legs. I know Destiny was in heaven with that meal! She loves crab legs.
Well, that's all folks. Gotta get myself ready to go to the birthday party now. If I don't post for two weeks, just know I'm busy having fun!
Wow, these weeks just fly by! I'll start this post with a picture I took yesterday as I had my first cup of coffee on our side porch. I found myself singing a beloved song from the 90's, "I lift my eyes up to the mountains where does my help come from. My help comes from You, maker of heaven, creator of the earth."
I decided to look it up on YouTube and was delighted to find it!
Last week I was eager to get beyond my "regular" work on Wednesday (cooking for Anthony and Lori and the Houserville/Mt. Nittany Wednesday evening service) so I could do some "fun" work on Thursday. I think it was four years ago that I first put stain on our side porch floor, and by now it was really needing a touch-up.
I went to Dick's shed to find my brushes and the paint that had been left over. Wow, it was really lumpy and thick. I googled what to do about lumpy paint and found out you can strain it! Of course it is latex and washes easily, so I pulled out my strainer and poured that paint through it! And it worked! I added some water and was good to go! When I posted this picture on FB, someone thought it was chocolate pudding and another person thought it was spaghetti sauce, LOL! (The yellow blotches are just the sun shining on it.)
It turned out to be quite hot and sunny, and as I got to the edge of the porch and the steps I could feel my cowlick getting sunburned, haha!! So I went inside in search of a hat. Aha!! I had forgotten that I have this cool hat from our visit to Cozumel two years ago.
I was pleased with my work, if I do say so myself!
I still had some paint left, so I decided to paint the never-before-painted door to our "basement."
Now it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb, but it's better than before, trust me. I want to paint the cement block foundation. I'm thinking about matching the now-tan shutters maybe. Any ideas? Or should I go with the rust/red? As I walked around our neighborhood the other week and down the street behind us I was horrified at what the people living below us had to look at when looking at the back of our house. Since I never have to look at it, it didn't bother me!
On Thursday evening I had a practice with my Fillmore flute and clarinet players for a special we would be doing Sunday morning. On Friday I cooked for Anthony and Lori and packed for overnight.
I met Dick at his shop at 5 and we headed toward Lebanon. We were going to Sam and Jenn's overnight, but we had an important stop to make on the way there. Jenn is away for the entire month at a training for her military job, and the kids had been at her mom's for two days. We picked them up on our way. As we drove I told them to say hi to mama so I could send her a picture.
Sammy and I made peanut butter rice krispie treats together that evening. We also spent a lot of time looking through the children's cookbooks they have. Next week Sam and the kids will be here and I told him we'll make some things from his cookbooks.
As I mentioned before, Ray is temporarily staying at Sam and Jenn's since he got his new job in PA. Thyda will be finished with the Navy and moving up at the end of this month. They have an apartment in Lebanon that they'll be moving into. Quite a downsize from the town home they have in Norfolk, but leaving the Navy is a huge transition. We're praying that her job search will result in a good fit for them.
Anyway, she arrived later Friday evening with Leo, having driven six hours from Norfolk without stopping once!!! You can probably guess which room she went to immediately upon entering the house, hahaha!!
Here's a picture I took of them the next morning before she left for a hair appointment.
And then because Ray is Ray, he grabbed a picture lying on the buffet and said, "Here, take a picture of this!" It was a picture of Sam when he was a kid, hahahahaha! He could almost pass for their child, right? LOL!!
Dick and I made pancakes and bacon for everyone Saturday morning. Sammy prefers his pancakes as finger food. Actually, I do too. Wrap them around a piece of bacon or sausage. No syrup needed, especially if there are chocolate chips in them. Yum!
Bianca was hunting for one of her stuffed animals, so we went to her bedroom to look. She has a huge walk-in closet that they have turned into a playroom. When she opened the door she discovered her care bears. She forgot all about the one we were looking for.
Sammy has another new hobby - sanding. He loves his sanding block, and was proud of how smooth the end of his stick was.
The kids were really in the mood for books this time. We spent a good bit of time both Friday evening and Saturday morning with books. They love the kind of books in which you need to search for things.
When we left around 11:00, Ray was on the couch with Sammy and a book. Sam was on the chaise with Bianca and a book. Loved it!
Dick and I had a Stauffer reunion to go to. The big one that's held just once every five years. Dick's dad's siblings and cousins and their offspring. On our way we stopped at Divine Swine near Lebanon to buy some pulled pork and cole slaw to take along. Then I thought we needed to bring our own place settings and serving spoons, so we stopped at a Weis Markets to buy a bunch of stuff I already have at home, but had not brought along. Only to discover when we got to the reunion that we didn't need to bring our own stuff after all. Ugh.
Before we ate, Dick's dad's cousin Glenn gathered everyone together for some history and story telling. It was actually really interesting to hear the historical details that we had not heard before.
Cousin Dave Stauffer's wife told us about this family tree she has made that shows how she and her husband are 3rd cousins - a fact they did not know until they were engaged!
Glenn told us about this crossword puzzle family tree quilt. He has made one for each of his nine grandchildren!
Dick's dad (92) is here with his sister Helen (on the right) who is just a few years younger than he, and his older brother Clarence's wife Grace (95!) Clarence just passed away two years ago. Dick definitely has longevity in his family tree! In fact, Emma, the mother of Dad and his siblings lived to be 101!!
These were the members present from the Henry and Emma Stauffer family (Dick's grandparents.)
Sister-in-law Deb Stauffer was chatting with Dad's cousin Elam. Elam's dad was killed in an accident when Elam was just 9 years old. As was common in those days, when widows could not care and provide for all their children, they were taken in by family. In Elam's case, he was taken in by Dick's young parents (about the time Dick, their first child, was born.) He lived with them until he went away to college. Elam and his late wife Doris spent their lives as missionaries in Central and South America. They have two fantastic adult children whom they adopted from Equador. He came all the way from Columbus, Ohio for this reunion.
These three guys are the sons of another Elam Stauffer - Grandpa Henry's brother Elam. However, they are our age. Their father Elam and his first wife were some of the very first missionaries that our Mennonite church sent to Africa in the 1930's. His wife died in Africa and he later married again and had three sons, Philip (actually born on the same day as Dick!), Ken, and Bruce. I knew them when I went to Lancaster Mennonite to high school. One of them came from New Jersey for this reunion!
I was sorry I could not stay to talk with more people. But I had another appointment to go to. My nephew's wife Christy works at an optical place in Lancaster called Modern Eyes, owned by her brother and two of his classmates, all graduates of Manheim Central. I have heard so much good stuff about them and often wished I could go there for an eye appointment and new glasses. Last week I saw on FB that they had added six appointments to their Saturday schedule due to back-to-school demand. So I immediately called and got a 2:30 appointment. I have been told that I have cataracts and that whenever I have surgery my eye prescription will likely change. So I have not gotten new glasses for 13 years!! The only time I wear glasses is when I take my contacts out at night, so it's not that big a deal. Unless, heaven forbid, something would go wrong with my eyes and I would not be able to wear my contacts and would have to wear my 13-year-old glasses in public!! But they were EXPENSIVE even thirteen years ago and I have not wanted to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of glasses only to have my prescription change soon thereafter. So I wanted to have my eyes evaluated by someone I was sure I could trust.
When I walked into their place of business I was greeted by one of the guys with, "So you're Howard's daughter-in-law?" I had forgotten to remove my name tag from the reunion!! That was the joke of the day the whole time I was there! Even when I left they told me to say hi to Howard from them! I was happy to find out that my cataracts are still very small and I most likely would not need surgery on them for maybe five years. So I will definitely go back to pick out new frames at some point. They were closing when I was finished with my exam on Saturday, so I didn't have time to do that then.
I went to Dad Stauffer's then, which is where Dick was. He had taken a nap after the reunion. Cousin Elam was also there, so we visited for a while, then we went back to Sam's. Ray and Thyda were there and we decided to get Chinese takeout. Yummy!!! Mine was fried rice and sweet and sour chicken. Then we hit the road for home.
On Sunday afternoon we babysat Hunter. He took a nap for over two hours and so did I!! One of those naps that I had a hard time recovering from the entire rest of the day!
Here are some adorable pics I took. They can't be anything but adorable, can they?
After I woke up I made a recipe Peg had sent me to use up more of her zucchinis that I had in the fridge. Zucchini Blueberry Muffins. They were really good - very moist and not overly sweet. They called for unsweetened applesauce, which we always have on hand.
In the evening we had our first fire on Anthony and Lori's new crushed stone patio. No more mud or sloping toward the hill! The weather was perfect for a fire.
Hunter was mowing the yard!
He kept trying and trying to seat himself on this stool. It was both scary and hilarious to watch, because he would climb on top of it first and then try to twist himself around into a seated position, which was hard to to without falling off. But I think he got it down after enough attempts at it!
Lori got him this chair at Sam's Club on Saturday for $20!! She thought it would make a perfect birthday gift for Bianca. But when Dick went there on Monday they had none left. Online they cost anywhere from 45-65 bucks! Apparently they had a special sale on Saturday and Lori just happened to be there at the right place at the right time.
Sorry, no picture of Austin that evening. They have made a new playroom in the basement right next to the patio, and he and his cousin Will were in there a lot of the evening playing a car race game.
There was a beautiful sunset before we left. We took Will home, then hit the grocery store on our way home.
On Monday I cooked for Anthony and Lori and also cleaned and prepped their airbnb apartment for the next people who would arrive later in the day. My piano students were on vacation this week, so I didn't have those lessons as I usually do on Monday evenings.
At home that evening I made yet another zucchini recipe - a quiche. It was delicious.
Yesterday (Tuesday) I worked on music prep for both churches all day long. In the evening Dick washed this side of our house, and once again the light-colored paint on the shutters washed right off. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Now you can really see the difference when you look at the shutter at the front window still waiting to be "unveiled." I'm so thankful we discovered this before I went to the work of painting those shutters! This is way easier and less expensive!
Out in Portland Martha is in a skilled nursing facility once again. Often the pain medication causes her to be asleep, but she does have wakeful times too. I had sent her a card and some pictures last week and she texted me after she received them. Jeremy also got big pictures made to hang in her room to look at from her bed. How very sweet of him. The lower group picture is from our 2015 Thanksgiving at Anthony and Lori's when Martha was with us. That's a good memory for sure. This is a very hard time for all of them and my heart is aching.
And one last picture - look who is turning three today! Miss Bianca Marie! We'll celebrate her birthday on Saturday at Jenn's parents' house. (And Jenn will not be able to be there. )-: I still gotta figure out what to get for her, since that chair idea isn't going to happen.
Whew, this took way too much time, but it's one of my weekly jobs, haha! Somebody has to write down everything for posterity, right??
