Good September days

 Finally - time to catch up here!  

Last Monday I had an unusually laid back day.  Elizer was still in Lancaster with Alex's family, and Lori and Anthony had plenty of food left from the patio party, so I didn't need to prep anything for them.  It occurred to me that I finally had a morning that I could relax in my jetted tub.  Truly a very rare occurrence these days!  Lots of bubbles!

I even thought about checking on my African violet for the first time in many weeks.  For the longest time it had looked like a dried prune with small foliage and no blooms.  A friend on FB showed a picture of her beautiful African violet, full of lovely blooms.  I asked her secret.  She said it needed late afternoon sun and it needs to get water from the bottom, not the top.  So I put the pot in a plastic container and I have been putting the water in it.  I used to have it on the windowsill in the guest room, but since Elizer sleeps in there atleast once a week, I decided to move it to a windowsill in our bedroom, which is next to Dick's side of the bed.  The blind is always pulled and the drape is always closed.  So I pretty much never think about checking on that poor African violet.  I was so surprised that day when I found this!  Healthier looking foliage and pretty little flowers.  Turns out it thrives on neglect, hahaha!!

I picked a few of our tomatoes.  And I ate one just like an apple - the way we did when I was a kid.  

After Dick got off work we drove to meet Alex and his dad to get Elizer back.  Again, he so easily made the transition.  Before we went all the way home we stopped to see Destiny at work.  WHY did I not think of taking a picture of them???  They are so cute when they see each other.  

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day, though a touch of Fall in the air.  We stopped at the park at the entrance to our community after I picked Elizer up from preschool.  He never, ever tires of swinging. 

 

Dick mowed the grass that evening and took Elizer for a ride around the neighborhood afterward.  You can see that one rose.  My roses have decided to take a rest from blooming.  I really hope they get another burst of energy before we get freezing temps.  

When they returned from their ride Dick raked up the grass.  I took this picture from my bathroom window. 

We ended the day with a pretty sunset. 

Wednesday was Anthony's birthday.  47 years old!  These kids are getting as old as we are, hahaha!  He was such a precious, laid-back baby.  Until he became a toddler.  I remember saying that there were at least 100 things he got into that had never occurred to Lisa.  

We and Destiny and Elizer went over to Anthony and Lori's for cake that evening.  The boys had gotten him a lot of cute, quirky gifts.  The cutest was a little guitar-shaped pan for making pancakes in.  

After school that day Elizer pulled his big Paw Patrol balloon down from the ceiling and discovered that his Paw Patrol shirt matched the balloon, haha!

On Thursday after school Elizer and I went to the arboretum.  It's so nice that he needs to be picked up by 3:30 because there's time to do things before dinner.  

We had our first choir practice of the season that evening.  It was fun to be together again, even though some were missing.  I had spent a good bit of time prepping choir songs the past two weeks.  There are favorite worship songs I would like to introduce to the congregation, and I decided it would be good to do them as choir songs first.  

Destiny hung out here on Friday evening.  She was in the mood for watching an old movie and started going through our stash.  We decided on Aladdin - on VHS!  

When we got to the song "A Whole New World" I had good memories of Jeremy and his friend Amber singing it at their 8th grade talent show at Manheim Central.  I accompanied them on the piano and they were dressed in costume.  They definitely stole the show! 

Elizer watched the movie - sort of, but mostly was his usual silly self. 

I told Destiny her hair matched the rose on her sweater!

Saturday was a cool, rainy day.  Destiny and I decided it would be a good day to take Elizer to Discovery Space.  Lori was in Atlanta for a family funeral, so we went over to their place to pick up Hunter first.   We had fun.  The weather screen is always a favorite!

Elizer loves the little kitchen.

This was a great display for Hunter.  Using mathematic equations to balance the scale!

The Lego table is always a favorite too.

The house Destiny built. 

After we left Discovery Space we went to Burger King for some take-out and to Walmart for a few things.  By that time we had to divide and conquer.  Elizer was being a little pain in the neck, so at Walmart Destiny took him to get her stuff and I took Hunter to get my stuff.  After we went to the car we had Hunter sit in the back seat so Elizer couldn't pest him all the way home.  We took Hunter home, then came here for the evening. Dick was watching the Penn State football game.  Elizer watched too - for maybe two minutes, haha! Enough to get this adorable picture.

Destiny works on Sundays, so Elizer stayed here overnight and went to church with us Sunday morning. Look at this adorable depiction of Moses in the bullrushes they made in his class during children's church!! My friend Vicky used to be an art teacher, so she's a pro at planning children's lessons like this.  

After church we hit the road for Duncannon.  Sammy's birthday was coming up soon, and we needed to do our traditional trip to antique stores with him.  He actually didn't find anything he wanted to spend my birthday money on.  He was thinking of artwork, but nothing quite struck his fancy like the paintings he found here at our Goodwill in June.  I told him we'll check our Goodwill next time he comes to our place.  

Bianca had been shopping with Steph for a gift for Sammy.  When we got back to Sam and Steph's place we stayed for meatball sandwiches and some time for catching up.  After we were in the car to leave I suddenly realized I had not taken one picture!  So I ran back in and told them I needed a picture so I could remember we were here!  They obliged and made a quick and crazy attempt at posing.  How great is this????  I'm so glad I went back inside!

Then we made the trip home - about an hour-and-a-half.  Destiny worked till 7:30 and got to our place for Elizer about 15 minutes after we arrived home.  

I was very ready for bed that night!  Except I had had some coffee on our trip home, which was a good idea at the time, but not conducive to falling asleep at 10 pm!  

And that's where I'll stop.  Have a great rest of your week!

A beautiful week - until today!

 I've had an unusually quiet Sunday here at home.  Of course we were at church this morning.  The choir sang for the first time in a couple of months.  By the time our worship service was over it was raining and seemed even cooler than it had been earlier.  It was nice to be able to go home and stay home.  

We had BLT's for lunch, probably for the third Sunday in a row.  Our tomato plant is producing the BEST tomatoes!  I'm sure we will have gotten 25-30 tomatoes from just one plant till the season is over!  

I enjoy checking on this little corner every few days.

This petunia was from Lori and Anthony for Mother's Day.  I had it hanging on the porch, but it almost died.  Dick decided to set it on the driveway, and after a few weeks it is doing great again!

On Thursday I had to do a shopping errand in downtown State College and saw this beautiful display along the way. 

My roses have slowed down a bit lately, but here are a few from this past week.

Here are some pics from last Sunday.  Pastor Jim had a fun children's  "sermon" that included fire in a bottle on top of which he set a hardboiled (??) egg.  The heat sucked the egg right into the bottle. I had never seen that done before. 

After the church service the sanctuary committee went to the building site to envision and plan the placement of the stage, piano, organ, ramp, etc. Elizer had so much fun with the puddles that were there from the rain the previous day.

Monday was back-to-school for Elizer.  After school I had him try on some size 3 long pants that I might need to altar at the waist (since he's so slender).  We also tried on the outfit he would wear for picture day on Tuesday.  What a ham!

After I picked him up from school on Tuesday we went to "airport park" with his bike.  But I forgot his helmet.  He was having fun with other kids that were on bikes and scooters.  At one point he made a wrong turn and started down a hill.  I called to him that he was going the  wrong way.  Instead of putting on his brakes he put his feet on the ground and was about to tip front over.  Then I felt afraid to let him ride his bike after that without his helmet.  

That evening I had a meeting at church with the sanctuary committee to make some final decisions.

On Wednesday I made chili and rice and all the fixin's for Mexican Pile-up.  I also made a slow cooker of beef and cabbage stew.  After I picked Elizer up from preschool at 3:30 we took the chili over to Anthony and Lori's place.  Then we went for a few groceries.  We were so delighted that this very cool shopping cart was available!  Every grocery store should have these!  The BEST for shopping with young kiddos!

And again we went to "airport park."  This time I had his helmet.  He had the best time riding.  He's getting really good at steering and braking.  

Again he had a lot of fun with other kids.  

There were a number of dogs there that he could pet.  This golden retriever was especially sweet. 

Thursday was Destiny's 23rd birthday!  It was fun to reminisce throughout the day.  I was at her birth as her mom's birth coach.  Frank worked night shift and I remember calling him and telling him that if he wants to see his baby being born he'd better leave work and get to the hospital!  And he did! It was a very exciting night for us. 

On Thursday evening we ate at Gigi's Southern Table in State College.  What a lovely place!  Dick and I had never been there before.  We arrived with Elizer before Destiny and her friends did, but no problem.  Our table was in a snug corner with a corner bench and pillows where Elizer could lounge and watch YouTube Kids. 

Three of her friends joined us, Jina, Lena, and Lei. Elizer LOVED all the attention from his mommy's friends, haha!

I had brought a little cake and candles.  Elizer was so cute, as always, when we sang Happy Birthday. 

As we were eating our cake we heard someone else singing "Happy Birthday" and there was Lori!!  I had told her we were going to eat at Gigi's, and she was coming past after visiting her dad at the hospital and stopped in to bring Destiny a card and gift.  What a fun surprise!

I had a fun thought as we drove home.  There Dick and I were, older white people of Mennonite heritage, eating dinner with our Puerto Rican granddaughter and great grandson, along with her Middle Eastern friends, and our Jamaican daughter-in-law stopped by to join us.  

On Friday morning, as I was working on making meatballs and spaghetti, I was video chatting with Miki in Sweden for about an hour-and-a-half.  I thought she looked cute so I took a screen shot, but alas, I did not look so cute up there in the corner, so I scribbled over my face, haha!

We laughed together and shared concerns.  It's good to know exact things to pray for.  

Destiny and I met after I picked up Elizer from preschool.  She was taking him to spend the weekend with Alex and his family.  I took the food I'd made for Lori to Dick at the shop.  He was going over to their place to mow.  I went home to get stuff done because I had a big day ahead. 

On Saturday I left home around 7:30.  I was heading to Sammy's 9:00 soccer game in Duncannon. Dick had more mowing to finish up over at Anthony's, so he didn't go to the game.  

I had fun sitting with Jenn and Steph.  Sam was at work, so I didn't get to see him.  And Bianca was at her other grandma's house.  

Sammy was the tallest one on his team!  It was a great game. Unfortunately they ended up losing by one point.  

After the game I took Sammy to the nearby campground where there was an antique car show.  I had some fun stories to tell him about my dad's 57 Chevy and also the time nine of us girls piled into my friend's VW bug all the way from Baltimore to Lancaster. 

Then I took him home to Jenn's house where Bianca had just arrived from her other grandma's house.  I hung out for a little while.  I took these pics of the kids snuggling with one of their precious cats. 

In the evening we went over to Anthony and Lori's place.  They had invited some long-time friends for some BBQ from a favorite place in State College.  

First of all I had to get some pics of Lori's lovely container garden on the deck.  

We had a lot of fun with these friends we hadn't seen, except in passing, for a long time - friends from Unity Church of Jesus Christ.  They all came with teens the age of Austin and older.  They used to all be kids in the nursery and Sunday School class together.  

Others came after I had taken the above picture.  But I never did take any other pictures, because it got dark and so chilly!!  

This fire felt good.  I wrapped in a blanket and stayed close to the fire.

One picture I forgot to post was Brennan's first day of school pic.  He did not go back to school until after Labor Day.  Here's his official picture!

And now this blog post is finished and my Sunday is over, and I'm going to bed.  Goodnight!