Fun with the boys, regular work week, Florida birthdays

This week I have been reminiscing about my once-in-a-lifetime experience a year ago of ending up in San Diego, California unexpectedly all by myself!  If you do not know what I'm talking about, just go to my side bar and click on January 2017 and you can read all about it!  So since I didn't take any good outdoor pictures this week, I'll share one of my favorites of my first visit to the Pacific Ocean at Point Loma.  I just looked again at all of those pictures and can hardly decide which one is best.  It was the most glorious experience.

No such excitement around here this year!  Actually, Lori was scheduled to be away for the same work conference last weekend, and it had to be postponed due to the government shut-down.

Last Saturday evening Dick and I had an evening at home and decided to watch an old, ridiculously hilarious movie - The North Avenue Irregulars.  We used to see it at the Sight and Sound Theater when our kids were little and they would show family movies on Saturday evenings.  I laughed the whole way through it again.

While we watched it I got something accomplished that has been on my to-do list for a while.  I went through my recipes, got them organized again into notebooks in alphabetical order and got rid of duplicates and ones I know I'll never use.  This was the pile on the floor when I was finished!

 On Sunday morning I took my camera along to church.  This is Greater Buffalo Run Valley UMC, taken from the side parking lot.

And inside.  I would love to take a picture of everyone standing and singing, but I can't because I'm always at the piano!

Later at Calvary we again had fun hanging out after the service with Anthony and Lori and some of their friends.  Hunter just loves walking around their big lobby.  He turns it into his own track and goes around and around.  Anthony keeps right behind him.

Austin happily played Scrabble on my phone until the adults were finished talking.

We brought the boys home with us after church.  Hunter again fell asleep just before we got home and continued napping on our love seat for about two hours.  Austin and I played real Scrabble.  He's going to be giving me some real competition before long, I'm afraid.

When Hunter woke up he charmed us to pieces, as always.

This was a fairly normal week of work.  Cooking for Anthony and Lori and picking Austin up from school on Monday, followed by piano lessons at my students' home, followed by grocery shopping, followed by prepping the Houserville praise team music for this week.

On Tuesday I worked on updating the choir notebooks, making a choir arrangement of a song on my computer composer program, exercise class, and prepping the Sunday morning music for our praise band at GBRV.

On Wednesday it was doing our laundry, cooking for Anthony and Lori, picking up Austin, getting groceries, and worship at Houserville House of Hope in the evening.

Thursday was just yesterday, but I can't remember what I did besides practice piano, cook our dinner, pick up Austin, meet Lori at Trader Joes later, then choir practice in the evening.  Anthony left for his annual trip to the NAMM Convention in Ahaheim, CA.

It was birthday week in Florida.  Wednesday was Sophie's 13th!  Here's the adorable collage Lisa posted on Instagram.

I posted this precious one.  This girl!!  She has been so cute and sweet from day one!

Their school had off for a teachers' conference that day, so Lisa was able to pull off a really fun 13th birthday party for her.

And how about this one that Lisa posted that night?  I think Sophie chooses to do this every year instead of gifts for herself.  Oh my heart!!!

And then Thursday was Lisa's birthday!  I was feeling sentimental on Wednesday evening and decided to sit down and write the story of waiting for Lisa.

In January 1974 Dick and I were expecting our first baby. My due date was January 11. My aunt Dorothy Witmer was expecting a baby a few weeks ahead of me, but alas, her baby was born a month early! I remember panicking to think that the same thing could happen to us, and we didn't have anything ready yet! 

So that put us into action. We started getting baby things just in case. I was a part-time music teacher at Manheim Christian and was in charge of a good bit of the Christmas program. I was really relieved when I got through that without going into labor. 

Then there was my sister Doris's wedding a day or so after Christmas. I really didn't want to miss any of that! At the end of that day I remember saying, "Okay, now I'm ready to have this baby. Everything important is over now."

I was constantly having false contractions that didn't amount to anything. On January 11 (due date) I had my weekly doctor visit. He said, "Are you sure you're not having contractions? Everything is so ready. I think we're having a baby tonight!" 

Wow!! I was so excited. I went to Dick's shop and had him come out to my car. I said, "Now don't tell the guys! But the doctor said we're having this baby TONIGHT!!"

From there I went to the grocery store, hoping my water wouldn't break. I kept thinking how funny it was that people had no idea I was so close to giving birth. They would probably read the birth announcement in the paper and remember that they had just seen me in the grocery store right before the baby was born! I felt so smug!

WELL. No baby was born that night. Or the next, or the next. Not even that week or the next!!!! Every morning I would wake up and wonder how in the world people actually go into labor. I was getting bored for the first and last time in my life!! I was running out of things to do. 

On January 24th we played Scrabble in the evening, a very normal activity for us. We made phone calls about apartments, because we would be needing to move in a few months. Then we finally got ready for bed. Just as I turned off our bedroom light my water broke with a huge splash. And about five-and-a-half hours later a baby girl, Lisa Joy Stauffer, came into this world. We were beyond ecstatic!!! 

We had told no one that we were going to the hospital, so right after she was born they brought us a telephone and we called our parents. Dick told his parents and I told mine. 

After a while they took me to my room and Dick left for work. I'll never forget lying there alone in my room (babies stayed in the nursery back in those days) and feeling absolutely ecstatic. I had really and truly had a baby!!!

When they brought her to me after a while, I introduced myself to her as she looked at me with those black eyes in that beautiful little face. I was so totally in love!!

Precious, precious memories!  Forty-four years ago.  I just can't believe it.  I posted this collage on Thursday when I wished her a happy birthday, and when I looked at that adorable baby that was her, I wished I could start all over again.  

And one last cute picture that Lori texted to us and Anthony this evening.  She said they were having so much fun. 

That's all, folks!  Have a good weekend!

Stauffer Brothers reunion, Austin's birthday

Good Saturday morning!  I'll start off with a picture of the sunrise taken from my kitchen window this morning. We might hit 50 degrees today, WOOHOO!!

Saturday, January 13
For some reason last Saturday seems like a long time ago as I look back through my pictures.  I had Austin here Friday night for a sleepover.  When he wakes up it's like he's already had ten cups of coffee, so when I finally woke up an hour after he did, he was all ready to play Mancala.  What a way to stretch my brain first thing in the morning.  Of course I had my coffee too.

But first we took a look outside, and this is what we saw.

He settled for 100-piece puzzles that day and finished two of them.

Well, almost.  This one was missing two pieces.  Destiny and I had gotten this box of puzzles at Goodwill a few months ago, so I guess missing pieces are a possibility when you get them second hand.

He also spent time tracing pictures at the window again, and for a while was singing this little ditty over and over again.  I took this video to send to Lori when she texted me that it was so quiet over at their house, haha!

In the afternoon Dick took him home when he went over there for his last chance to archery hunt.  I stayed home and packed up everything Christmas.  I was glad to get my toy corner back again.  When we put the Christmas tree in the corner all the toys have to be put in my little den and they're always in my way when I need to get things off my bookshelves, which is often.  That's where I have all my music notebooks.  By evening we were back to our regular default Fall decor, lol!

Sunday, January 14

On Sunday morning the funniest thing happened.  After I was all dressed for church I opened my phone to check Facebook and the first thing I saw was a picture of myself wearing exactly the same thing I had on!  For a second i thought I must have had the reverse camera feature open.  Then I realized it was an "On This Day" memory on FB from two years ago, hahahaha!!  I was wearing the same exact clothes two years later.  Thankfully it wasn't a picture from seven or eight years ago!

At church the choir sang an easy, energetic song I loved years ago on Michael W. Smith's worship album, You Are Holy.  For the offertory Brenna (my flute player) and I did a really great arrangement of His Eye Is on the Sparrow.  That girl can make anything sound good.  She is the best flute player I've ever worked with, and I'm so thankful for her. 

After church we packed ourselves some things to eat and hit the road.  Our first stop a few hours later was at Sam and Jenn's.  We had so much fun with the kids.  Bianca was in the mood for being a Grandpa's girl. 

Look at this amazing doll house Sam and Jenn gave her for Christmas!  It's in her huge walk-in bedroom closet/playroom.  Is this not every little girl's dream??

Selfie time with Mahna.

Our little girlie is growing up so fast.  She melts me.

Sammy loves to show me things in his bedroom.  This time we spent a really long time finding places on his globe.  I LOVE globes!  Wish I had one.  They are so much more realistic than a map.  By the time Sam came back to Sammy's room to check what we were doing, Sammy could point out United States of America, Russia, China, the North Pole, and Antarctica.  

He's growing up so fast too.  He had a practice booklet from kindergarten that he showed me.  One page had just letters of the alphabet on it, both upper and lower case in random order, and the kids are to practice reading through them at increasingly faster speeds.  He read through them all for me without hesitation.  I know that is normal for kindergarten, but I was remembering just this past August when they were here for a week, and he made it clear to me that he didn't know letters and he couldn't read and he wasn't interested, hahaha!  His word recognition is now amazing!  Yea, kindergarten teachers!

Sammy now has his tent set up in his "downtown lounge" in the basement.  His own little man cave!  I got into it for a while, but then we had to say our goodbyes.  (Blurry cell phone pic.)

The purpose for our trip that day was for a Stauffer brother gathering.  Dick's brother Bob and his wife Doris were visiting from Minnesota.  We only get to see them about once or twice a year.   So the brothers and wives and Dad and Grandma Arlene got together at 4:30 at Fred and Deb's place.  Unfortunately, Steve's wife Faye had been sick all week and was not able to come.  We were really, really sad about that, and I'm sure she was even sadder. 

The guys warmed up their conversation in the living room before we even gathered at the table.

Deb had her lovely, long table all ready for us.

We had sloppy joes, salad, chips, cookies, and STORIES and loud laughter and several conversations simultaneously and fantastic connection for several hours.  I love belonging to this family.  The Stauffer men are quirky, funny, good men.  And we women have kept right up with them!

Steve, Dick, Carolyn, and Jim.

Deb, Fred, Dad, Arlene, Doris, Bob.

The crew - minus Faye and me.

The guys:  Dick (67), Jim (61), Dad (92), Bob (66), Steve (64), Fred (59).   Fred will be joining the 60's in just a couple of weeks.  Dad was cracking up about something.  I love it. 

The Stauffer Wives Club (minus Faye).  Jean, Carolyn, Arlene, Doris, Deb.  Our ages are irrelevant, haha!

Dick and I reluctantly pulled ourselves away a little before 8 PM for the long drive home.  

Tuesday, January 16

On Tuesday we had more snow.  I gladly postponed my dentist appointment!  I took this picture from my side porch.

Wednesday, January 17

Wednesday was Austin's 9th birthday.  I was telling him the other day about Dick losing his job in 2008 and then finally finding a job in State College and how I gave up my job at Manheim Christian to become his nanny and how I had passed around a picture of me holding him when I informed the staff that I would be leaving and they all looked at that picture and were so happy for me.  He said, "I didn't know I was special.  I thought I was just a regular kid."  I helped him memorize Psalm 139:13, one that Destiny still knows by memory, "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb."  Another day we'll memorize verse 14: "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know full well."  

To celebrate his birthday we did our annual thing (his choice) - bowling.  I forgot my camera, so I had to settle for cell phone pics this time. 

Austin's got skills even though he only bowls once a year.  Last year he beat us all, this year Grandpa got a bit ahead of him.  

Hunter's turn!  He loved pushing that pink ball.  And even more when it came bouncing back into the return.  He cracked up every time.

Even Grandma has some skills, lol!  I managed a strike or two.

Bowling, pizza, and wings.  And cute little boys.  Such a great combination. 

Playing peek-a-boo. 

Fun in the arcade!

Austin was given the choice of Dairy Queen or Sweet Frog, each of them near to the bowling ally.  He chose Sweet Frog.

Friday, January 19

Our temperatures finally got above freezing on Thursday and Friday.  So I dared to go over to Anthony and Lori's place for the first time in a whole week.  I am so afraid of their hill!!  His snow plow truck would not start on Tuesday, and they live on the north side of the mountain where the sun does not hit the hill till later in the day.  By yesterday afternoon when I took Austin home from school I had no problem. 

Look what game Austin discovered on my phone yesterday!   My goal - to turn everyone in my family into a Scrabble lover!   It all started many years ago when Dick and I were newlyweds with no TV, so we played games in the evenings and became Scrabble fanatics!

That's all, folks!  Have a good weekend!