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!