Easter Sunday, last Bible study, 5th anniversary of TXBA

On Saturday after I finished writing my last blog post I got busy prepping food for our Easter dinner  - baked corn, green bean casserole, gourmet potatoes, ham with cloves, pineapples, and maraschino cherries. (Actually, Dick prepped the ham in the evening.)  My fridge was full of food ready to hit the oven and slow cookers in the morning.  Then I washed some windows and vacuumed and dusted everything really, really well (think cat shedding season!) and washed floors.  

Dick mowed for the first time, did some work in his shed, and washed the outside of some windows.  I do not understand why this house, which was just built in 2007, has windows of which only the bottom half tilts in.  Not the top half.  So very inconvenient for washing.  

When I finally went to bed Saturday night my feet were throbbing and I was so glad to lie down.  It WAS a gorgeous, sunny day.  The view of the sky through my (clean) kitchen windows was spectacular!!

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV.  The choir sang "Glorious Day."  We did not go to Calvary afterward as we usually do because of our Easter dinner.   Here we are -  all matchy-matchy for our traditional Easter morning selfie!

My table and food were ready and waiting.

First to arrive were Ray and Ashley and her son RJ.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the three of them together, but I didn't, so here's a collage.

Later Anthony, Lori, and the boys arrived.  I made them march right outside for a picture before I would forget!

After dinner we got busy with our favorite Easter activity, painting eggs.  I had regular egg dye, Lori brought metalic egg dye.  That was a hit!  Ray cracked me up.  He said he had not painted eggs since we lived at our Lititz house - probably before he joined the Navy in 2007, and that he has no artistic talent anymore.  But somehow he got lured into it and painted an impressively artistic egg.  We had so much fun.  Lori and Dick went to the kitchen table to stuff candy and money into a bunch of plastic eggs.

Then some of the adults went outside to hide the eggs while I made sure the boys did not look out any windows.  And the egg hunt commenced.  There were the usual issues like, "Awww, I wanted to find that egg.  That was one of mine!"  "He got all the ones with money!"  "Don't take the ones you can easily see - they're for Hunter."  But in the end everyone was pretty happy.

When they were sure they had found all of them we went inside to check out the loot.  And eat some eggs.  They were especially yummy for some reason.  Everyone ended up being too full to eat the cupcakes Lori had brought and Dick's favorite black cherry ice cream, which was supposed to be our birthday celebration for Dick.  But Dick still wanted some, and I had some too.  And we did sing "Happy Birthday, Grandpa." 

Then everyone left and we had a quiet evening at home.  I was exhausted enough to not mind that.

On Monday there was no school or daycare, so the boys came here for the afternoon.  After Hunter's nap we went down to the little playground behind our house, but the very buzzy bees kind of ruined our fun.  On our way back to the house we found two eggs they had missed the day before!

Hunter amazes us every day with his insatiable interest in letters and numbers.  A year ago he was barely putting two words together, a very late talker.  Now he is spelling and reading.  And he just turned three. 

Lori went on a work trip to Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, so I stayed over there Tuesday night.  I got these action shots of Austin.  

On Thursday morning I went to Calvary for our Bible study brunch.  Not only was it our last time together for this semester, it was the last time with our beloved teacher Sherilyn.  She and her husband will be moving to Arizona in the fall.  I love her so much.  Everyone does.  She teaches with so much knowledge from her own study, mixed with real life experiences that we can all relate to.  The first year we had moved up here Lori and I went to a Bible study that Sherilyn was teaching, and over these years I've found her to be someone who completely understood things I have struggled with.  I will really miss her.

On the way home it was cloudy and raining lightly, but I was delighted with the many evidences of Spring.

And when I got home I was delighted with the sight of these beauties in my side yard flowerbed. 

We did not have choir practice Thursday evening because we will be taking this Sunday off.  So we were free to join Anthony and Lori and the boys for a very special celebration.  It was five years that Anthony launched Texas Blue Alley, which was formerly called Stevie Snacks.  Since he works alone and there are no "office" parties, we made our own party.  First we went to Crazy Boil, a newer eating place in town.  What messy fun we had!

They gave us a table in the back and there was a big TV screen right behind our table.  Lori found the movie Shrek on one channel.  We realized the Austin had never seen that movie before, so watching/listening to that added some laughs to our meal.

After we got finished and had cleaned up our hands and faces, we went to nearby Sweet Frog for dessert.   It was a really fun evening.

I know that most of my faithful readers already know what Anthony does and the story behind it, but if any reader is not and is interested in his pretty incredible story, here is the video he made last night to mark this milestone.

And here is my cat collage for this week!

We'll be going down home this weekend.  The annual benefit auction is being held at Manheim Christian Day School where I taught before we moved to State College.  We're hoping spend time with lots of family this weekend. 

Have a good weekend!

Youth Art Day, PRC banquet, Dick's birthday, Spring beauty

Saturday morning already!  The weather news seems to be filled with storms and tornadoes here in the East.  Even we had a tornado watch one night.  Not a good feeling at all in a little house like ours.  I'm thinking that a trap door in our master bath wouldn't be a bad idea!  We do have a little half basement under the back of our house that can be accessed only from the outside.  Otherwise, our walk-in closet is the only place in the house with no windows, so I would definitely go in there, however safe that would be.  Have any of you readers experienced a tornado?

Here are two different "sunrise" views from my dining room window this week.  

Now I need to go back to last Saturday.  I went to West Perry High School where Perry County Council of the Arts was holding their Youth Art Day.  Sammy's poem had won first place in poetry from 1st graders, and he was invited to read his poem!  What a great event it was!  The cafeteria will filled with displays of art and also art activities for kids to do.  Jenn and her mom were there with the kids.  Sammy had also entered a couple of pieces of art which were on display.  So first of all we walked around looking at the displays.

Sammy and Bianca are standing in front of one of his art entries.

Then we went to the library for the readings.  Sammy was the first one up!  It took a lot of courage to be the first one, but he did a great job.  We were so proud of him!

Jenn and her mom left after the readings (they'd been there a long time already), but I stayed with the kids a while longer since there were more things I wanted to see.   

Then we went for a country drive (Bianca napped!) and ended up at a park.  The kids were a bit dressed up for park play, but they didn't care!  It was a beautiful day.  Sam met us there after he got off work at 3 and we went to Sorrento's for a late lunch/early dinner.  

Then the kids came home with me for the night.  I had bought the movie Mary Poppins Returns, which we had enjoyed so much a few months ago in the theater, so we watched that.  Sammy was busy editing pictures on his tablet while we watched.  Of course there was bubble bath time later.  After Bianca went to bed, Sammy and Grandpa had a lot of fun with an old Pennsylvania atlas.  Sammy LOVES maps, and I'm thrilled.  

On Sunday morning everyone was awake by 7:00!  I showed Sammy our tri-ominoes game, and he created a perfect triangle before we went to church.  We went to our service at GBRV.  It was Palm Sunday, and Bianca already knew all about it because of activities they had done at her preschool.  During the opening worship they always sit on the front bench right behind my piano.  After one of our songs "Hosanna!" she came up behind me and whispered, "I was dancing!"  Wish I could have seen that!

Then we went to the service at Calvary.  They just love the children's classes there and the amazing play area.  Sometime I need to get a picture of it.  I did get this group selfie in the lobby.  

We were really hungry when we got home from that service.  Sammy helped me to make bbq'd hot dogs and a quick homemade version of mac and cheese.  After lunch I pulled out some Easter crafts for them to do.  

Dick took a nap, then left around 3:30 to take them home.  I worked on choosing the music for all the upcoming Easter week services, then went over to Anthony and Lori's where we would be babysitting for the evening.  They were having a party in the barn with some friends.   I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures that evening.  I have NO pictures of Austin or Hunter this week.  

On Tuesday evening I went to our Pregnancy Resource Clinic's annual banquet.  I was actually taking Lori's place and sat with Anthony.  We were at the head table with our friend Jenny Summers (the director) and her husband.  There were almost a THOUSAND people there, and it was held in the Bryce Jordan Center.  What a wonderful evening.  First of all there was a video of a couple telling their story of the help PRC was to them fifteen years ago when they were seniors at Penn State and discovered she was pregnant.  After the video was finished a young teenage boy came onto the stage and played the piano, and we realized it was the boy who was that unplanned pregnancy!  Then the whole family came onto the stage.  It was so very moving.  

Jenny, the director, gave a touching, heartfelt speech after that.  We love her SO much!  And then the speaker for the evening was David Nasser who escaped Iran with his family when he was nine years old.  His testimony of growing up here in the States and the way a church's KINDNESS played a major role in bringing his whole family to Christ was tremendously stirring.  

$254,000 was raised that evening for PRC!  They are on the verge of opening a new clinic in Lock Haven.  Another outreach they want to start is a dad's group.  They talked about the need for young dads, who find themselves in an unplanned situation, to have experienced dads in their lives to help with things like installing a car seat properly, etc, and just to have other guys who will listen and understand.  I have no doubt that those funds will be well spent. 

We had some lovely Spring days this week.  The tulips really bloomed.  I am so glad, because my daffodils did not do well at all compared to other years.  I have a few hyacinths blooming also.   Here's a collage of pictures I took this week.  Except for the one of the colorful tulips.  Those are Jeremy's in Portland.  I was thinking that we should plant more bulbs this fall of various colors instead of just red like we have now.  

On Thursday evening we had Maundy Thursday service at GBRV followed by a short choir practice. 

And Friday was Dick's 69th birthday!  We left the house by 7 AM to eat breakfast at IHOP.  I took these glorious Spring morning pictures on our way there.  

Dick got a big omelet.  I got the senior sampler, but wished afterward I had gotten a waffle with strawberries.  The senior sampler, which included a piece of ham, a sausage, and a piece of bacon, home fries, and an egg, felt like a lot of grease afterward.  But we had a nice, relaxing time feeling grateful once again that his 46th birthday (when we found out he would need a biopsy for possible cancer) was not his last birthday as we had feared at that time.  He's 69, still working five-and-a-half days a week as an auto mechanic, still playing basketball two mornings a week before work, still tramping through the woods at Anthony and Lori's whenever he can.  So much to be thankful for!!

Last evening we had our Good Friday service at GBRV.  It was finished earlier than we expected, so we decided to go get some birthday dessert.  I texted Anthony and Lori to see if they would want to join us, even though it was raining and miserable.  They said they had just eaten ice cream!  So we went to Cracker Barrel, and while we were eating Lori Face-timed us.  WHY did I not take a picture of her and the boys singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa??  Hunter was just giggling so much.  It was the sweetest thing, and probably the best part of Dick's birthday!  

Our dessert was their baked apple dumplin with ice cream on top, drizzled with caramel.  The server told us it was enough for two, so we shared it.  THANKGOODNESS we did!!  My brother informed me afterward when I posted the picture on FB that it was 1850 calories!!  WHAT????  At least we shared those calories, haha!!  It WAS really delicious.

Now I need to get busy cleaning and cooking.  We'll be having an Easter dinner here tomorrow with some of the family.  And egg painting too, of course!

Beautiful weather and sunrises and sunsets and people!

I started last week's post with a couple of sunrise pictures, and I'm going to start this one out the same.  This sunrise was the best one yet!

Like Terri said, this is an Easter sunrise, a He Is Risen kind of sunrise!  We are getting so spoiled having such a great view, and it's going to be hard to give it up when a new house goes in next door.  

Last Saturday I had such a fun day with Sammy and Bianca.  We went to Old Sledworks in Duncannon.  You may remember that Dick and I were there with Austin back in November.  It's like a giant flea market all under one roof.  

So many interesting things that bring back good memories.  And a few newer fun things too!  How about that colorful bear?

Is that doll adorable or what?  I should have looked at the price. I feel like one of those old ladies that could enjoy sitting and holding a doll, hahahaha!!

There's also a second floor!  Sammy was like our tour guide.  Bianca was thrilled with the bagful of fairies I got for her.  Sammy got two angels.  

When we left there we went to Red Rabbit for a late lunch.  It's a place where the servers come out to your car to take the order.  When they brought our food out, they propped the tray on my open window.  So much fun!  I guess I was too busy eating to take any pictures of that.

Then we went to a ball field that is no longer in use.  We walked around it, then I discovered an area that used to be a big sand box.  The kids had the greatest time just digging with sticks and making a "castle."

The view was beautiful even if a bit hazy.

Sam met us there after he got off work and they were going to a cookout.  I drove from there to Anthony and Lori's place where we also were having a cookout.  Our nephew Eric Stauffer (Fred and Deb's son) and his wife suzi and daughter had been staying there for a few days.  They live in Virginia.  So it was a fun evening catching up with them.   A bit chilly, but that made the fire feel even better.  

Lori and Austin played a pretty competitive checkers game on that giant set! Hunter and Eric's little Brooklyn are about the same age.  It's so nice to have the basement playroom right next to the patio.

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV and then Calvary's service, but had no grandchildren or plans for the rest of the day.  Dick spent some time in the woods over at Anthony and Lori's.  

I napped for a while, but then got in the mood for rearranging our bedroom furniture.  It's not that big of a room, so it has always felt like we have everything exactly where it needs to be.  But I had some ideas.  And we only needed to move our bed and my dresser.  I thought we could probably do it in about an hour.  Ha!  You know how that goes.  You find things you didn't even remember you had in your night stands and under the bed.  The vacuum cleaner started flashing warnings about the bag being full and filters needing to be replaced.  It would just turn itself right off.  So we found the owners manual and the box of bags and filters.  And my dear mechanic husband got that thing fixed up as good as new!  There was even a folded-up piece of paper stuck in it, and we realized afterward that it apparently was the cause of the high-pitched whistle the vacuum cleaner has had for the past months!  

This is about the point when we realized that it wasn't going to be a one-hour job!

So this is the new look.  Probably just for summer, because the baseboard heat is along the wall where the head of the bed now is.  We don't use the heat much in our bedroom, because we sleep best in a cool room, but there are times that we do.  

The head of our bed used to be at the wall where my dresser now is.  One morning this week Dick got up early to go to the Y to play basketball.  He got out of bed quietly trying to not waken me.  He went across the foot end of the bed in the dark and turned left to go toward the door.  Except he got back in the corner and there was no door!!  Then he remembered we had changed the furniture.  Oh how I laughed when he told me that later!

Here are some pictures I took while walking on Monday morning.  It had not occurred to me that not only do we now have a better view of the sunrise since that big tree was cut down, but our house is now much more visible to everyone.  I had never seen these views of our house before.

We are wondering if maybe we should dig up our daffodil bulbs and plant new ones this fall.  They used to bloom profusely, but the past two years or so they have not.  So far there are only four blooms.  

There was a glorious sunset Monday evening.  I was driving home and pulled into a parking lot to take pictures. 

Tuesday morning I had my annual physical.  I've been so unhappy with myself for gaining weight this winter.  But remember, last week I was hit with a stomach bug?  Well, it was good timing!  When the doctor told me my weight is remaining stable I was thinking, "Thank you, stomach bug!"

Here are pictures I took another day when walking.  We have had some very beautiful days, and a wonderful break from rain.  Still not that warm most days, but certainly not cold enough for snow, thankfully!  I'm surprised how many days my FB memories from the past ten years have snow in them. 

Here's my cat collage for this week.  They have lots of cat fights.  Occasionally they seem to actually like each other.   They just love open windows.  

Here's a picture Anthony posted one morning this week.  He joked, "Is it too early for us to start looking for those modeling $$$?"  I cracked up when I saw how Hunter's underwear matched the picture on the wall.  I can just hear him laughing when I look at this picture.

We are so happy for Lisa and her track team.  Their school does not even have a track.  Lisa helped to get their track team started just a few years ago and has been head track coach the past three years.  Yesterday they went to districts and look what happened!

I am SO proud of her and of course of Sophie!!  What an athlete!!  Just in eighth grade and competing and winning against high school girls.  I SO look forward to going down for Mother's Day weekend. 

And one more - Bianca's preschool picture!  That smile and those eyes!!!

Tomorrow I will be going to a Youth Art Day where Sammy will be reading a poem he wrote and won first place for!  Here's his poem.  

How awesome is that "cotton candy tornado of dancing leaves"??  

Have a great weekend!