Weekend with Sammy and Bianca, week days with Hunter and Austin

Last Thursday evening we added something special to our choir practice - a baby shower!  Our friends Peg and Bill will soon be traveling across the country in their RV to their daughter Shan and her husband who are expecting a baby in April.  We are all so excited for Shan and Carl.  And for Peg and Bill too!  So we threw a baby shower!  Of course all those gifts will be taking the cross country trip in the RV!   But we took care of the cupcakes!

On Friday Hunter had a cold and a fever and couldn't go to daycare, so he came to my house.   When he was at the piano he turned on one of the pre-programed songs.  When it was finished he pointed to our family picture above the piano and said he wants "THAT" song next.  I had no idea what song he meant!  So I pressed one of the buttons, but he emphatically said, "NO!  Not that song!"  So I tried another one.  Same answer.  I tried a third one, and that time he excitedly exclaimed, "YES!!  That's the right one!"  When it was finished he wanted it again and again and again.  It was a classical song played with the harpsichord voice.  He called it our family song!  I finally showed him the tiny letters above the button - "HARPS" so he could start the song himself.  I'm sure we listened to it 50 times that day!

We also had to watch the video of the Shark song that my friend Cheryl had on her blog.  Several times!  It really is cute!

On Friday evening Jenn and the kids arrived for the weekend.  They needed some cat therapy, haha!!

It didn't take long till Bianca needed a snack.  She said this is the snack house!

Sammy and I had some silly selfie time!

He became very interested in one of my coffee table books.  I have never looked inside the book!!  Until that evening.  We went through the whole book discussing the various great people of the 20th century!  He is the top reader in his first grade class, which does not surprise me at all.  And he has such an interest in history!  What a kid!

On Saturday morning I made bacon and eggs for breakfast.  Jenn went to a hair appointment at the mall, and when she came back we all went to Discovery Space for a couple of hours. 

When we left there we went shopping at Target for a few things, and by that time we were hungry since we had not had lunch.  Jenn wanted to treat us for taking care of the cats.  Bianca wanted SHRIMP, haha!!  We ended up at our very favorite place - Texas Roadhouse.  We had a great time, and when we left, we were GLAD we had gone early.  Oh my goodness!!  It was so crowded with people waiting to be seated we could hardly squeeze through to the door!

There was one thing on the children's mind when we got back home.  Bath time!

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV.  The kids had to sit quite a long time because there was a time for people to share about the various ministries of the church.  I gave each of the kids paper and pen, and they were quite creative. 

Our choir song was a spiritual - "Woke Up This Morning."  They told me afterward that Bianca was dancing up a storm during the song!  And I missed it because she was behind me.

I love when the kids pray with the pastor after his story.  They repeat each phrase after him.  Bianca didn't used to participate in that, but she has really loosened up since going to preschool this year.  I noticed she was repeating each phrase right along with the others this time.  So cute!

After church we had a few hours to play and eat a lunch of chili and all the fixin's. 

We played Chutes and Ladders, then Sammy wanted to play Trivia with me.  First he asked me 15 questions about himself, and I had to write the answers down.  I got most of them correct, but not all.  Then I asked him questions about myself.  That was a bit harder since I have known him since he was born, but he has known me for just seven years.  At some point it occurred to him that I had lived a long time before he knew me, haha!  What an old soul he is!  I just love being with him.

Meanwhile Bianca was doing a puzzle.  This is the best pose I could get out of her!

The kids had fun with the cats too.  They were threading some of the cards we had taken on our Florida trip last summer when Cocoa decided to get in on the action.

About mid afternoon we had to say our goodbyes till the next time.  

Of course it was St. Patrick's Day, so we had had a little fun with JibJab.  Here's a screen shot from one of the videos.  Grandpa and some of the kids!

This week is a different one.  Hunter was still coughing a lot on Sunday night, so we decided he would stay with me on Monday instead of going to daycare.  

On Tuesday he was able to go back to daycare.  

Lori left on a work trip Wednesday morning, and by that time Austin was coughing and had a fever.  So that day he stayed at my house.  Later in the afternoon we left to pick up Hunter from daycare and headed over to their place.  Dick came there too for dinner.  Later he went home for the night, but I stayed at Anthony and Lori's overnight so I would be here to help with the boys in the morning.  It was the first day of Spring, and we had a gorgeous sunset over Stauffer Acres.  When I saw the orange glow on the trees outside the sink window I knew I had to go outside for more views.

This morning Austin was still sick, so Anthony stayed in the house with him while I took Hunter to daycare and then went to my Bible study at Calvary.  This afternoon Austin went home with me while I got some things done at my house, then we all came here to Anthony and Lori's this evening.  It was a cold, rainy day, and I was glad to be indoors to stay when I got here.  

I'm almost falling asleep here at their computer, so just one more video.  Lori took this from the dining room window on Tuesday evening.  I have never seen deer play like this!!  

Have a good weekend!

A birthday, the Globetrotters, and a memorial service

We are going to get a real taste of Spring the next couple of days!  Going up into the 60's, they say.  Wow, are we ever going to get spoiled!

Last Thursday Hunter came here to stay with me.  It was Penn State's Spring Break, and his daycare was also closed.  He is such a JOY to have around.  I think as of last week he is officially finished with diapers and pull-ups!  

I got this short video of him singing with one of my books.  So CUTE!!!

Another cute thing he did was pretend the clothes tree from the doll house was a trumpet.  I remembered Bianca doing that one time, and when I looked for the picture of her I discovered that it was the week she turned 3 back in August 2017.  And this was the day before Hunter would turn 3!!  How funny is that?  I made this adorable collage of the two of them.  

When Lori picked him up that afternoon we were looking at pictures of the day he was born, and we were smitten all over again.  

So his third birthday was on Friday.  That evening we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Bryce Jordan Center on campus.  What a fun night!  So many hilarious antics.

 During a break Anthony and Austin went down to buy a basketball.  That's a special one!

Hunter talked and talked about this antic afterward!  When they told him to get down he said he was too scared (kidding of course!)  He actually went down through the hoop!  But Hunter was sure he really was scared, and he felt sorry for him!

Besides the ball, Austin also left with some of the confetti strings they had thrown at the end of the game.  He was a happy boy!

Afterward we went to Dairy Queen for a little birthday celebration.  

The first time Lori lit the candle he blew it out instantly.  So we explained to him that we're going to sing to him first and THEN he can blow it out.  She lit it again.  He was so excited, but he managed to wait till we were finished singing.

We had a nice relaxing time eating our ice cream, watching him open some gifts, and watching a video from the night he was born.  Friday birthdays are the best!  

On Saturday I was home the entire day!  I hemmed a pair of dress pants that I first of all needed to cut some off the bottom (short people problems!)  Then I decided I had hemmed them too short, so I redid the hem.  I still didn't like the way they hung afterward, but I did wear them on Sunday.  I also cleaned my house that day.

On Sunday after our service at GBRV we went to Lancaster County.  Dick's aunt Helen Keiper had passed away a few weeks ago.  She was Dad Stauffer's only sister.  Her private burial, which we were invited to, was the day of Bjorn's wedding.  We of course could not go.  But on Sunday they had a memorial service at Elizabethtown Mennonite Church. 

First of all we picked up Destiny and had a quick lunch with her at Joe's Steak and Grill in Columbia.   We had a great time together catching up with all that's new in her life - new job, new school.  

We took her home and then went to the memorial service.  It was so good to hear what an impact Aunt Helen had had on her family and her church.  Our paths didn't cross a lot, and we hadn't seen her children (Dick's cousins) often either.   Helen had five children, and when the oldest ones were teenagers, Helen's husband was killed in a farm accident.  I didn't know her at that time, so it was really touching to hear how she handled that, how important her children were to her then and have been all through her life.  She loved music and had planned her funeral service, complete with many of her favorite hymns, all the verses of every one!  I loved it!  And Dick got to sing bass to his heart's content!

This is a picture of Aunt Helen the last time we saw her at a Stauffer reunion in August 2017.  She had already been fighting cancer at that time, and was doing much better than she had.  We were so happy for her.  She always had a feisty sense of humor, a lot like her brother Howard, Dick's dad!

These are Helen's five children, across the top:  Lois, Don, Phyllis, and across the bottom:  Dave and Dale.  

Helen and Howard also had a brother Clarence who passed away in 2015.  Two of his children, Dave and Nancy and her husband Ivan, were there too.  Of course, Dick's parents and some of his brothers were there too.  Unfortunately I didn't think of taking any pictures until after some of them had left.  I was so disappointed!!  It would have been a great opportunity to get some cousin group pictures.  

At least I got this one.  Dick and his cousin Dave Stauffer.  They were born only 11 days apart and grew up at the same church.  Sometimes people thought they were twins.  Because their names were so similar people sometimes got them confused.  It was fun to see him again.  

And here is someone I did not expect to see!  I forgot that Aunt Helen had nieces and nephews on her husband's side, and this guy was one of those.  Jerry Keener (here with his wife Donna) was a classmate of mine at Lancaster Mennonite High.  He remembered helping me with chemistry.  I think I blocked that memory because chemistry was so overwhelming to me.  We also were in several choirs together - the school's select chorus, Campus Chorale, which did some traveling, and then Choraleers, which did a lot of traveling.  We were on two teams together, one that went to Jamaica and the other to Tampa.   We had so much fun reminiscing!  A lot of good laughs.  Jerry and Donna spent a number of years in New York City and then in Vietnam.  Now they and their two daughters live in Lancaster County and he is the newly elected president of Eastern Mennonite Missions.  

There was a meal provided after the service, which gave lots of time to talk with people.  We could have stayed longer.  There were so many people we knew and hadn't seen for years.  But again, we had a long drive home.  

When we stopped for gas we also went to the McDonald's drive-thru.  I got my very first shamrock shake.  It was good, but I was glad I got just a small one.  It was a lot of mint!

This week in addition to my regular cooking and music jobs, I also have been working on getting our income tax information ready.  Fun times!

The cats provide never ending entertainment and occasional aggravation!  So I'll end this with a cat collage.  The bottom right photo shows Cookie camped out at the stove as I was making sweet and sour chicken today.  The aroma was almost more than he could stand.  I was afraid he would jump up right into the hot frying pan!  

Have a good rest of the week!

More snow, Zimwit reunion, Aunt Arlene's viewing

We've had snow so many times in the past week I can hardly remember the days apart!  And these past few days have been absolutely frigid!!   Like in the teens and single digits.  And windy too.  I did hear one comforting thing yesterday.  The weatherman said that it was the coldest day we would have until next winter.  Woohoo!!  It gets better from here on.  AND we get daylight evenings after this weekend.  That makes me SO happy!

So some snow pictures first.

Yesterday it was snowing and the sun was also trying to shine.  I thought maybe there should be a "snowbow" up in the sky!

Last Friday Austin came here overnight.  He was so eager to play with the cats.  He enjoyed using the little laser light.  They jump and go in circles trying to catch the red light.

He also brought up some bird videos on his iPad.  How cute is this?

On Friday evening and Saturday morning I made Middle Eastern sweet potato and chickpea stew, peanut butter rice krispie treats, and potato cheese soup.   We loaded the food up in the van around noon on Saturday and drove to Lebanon County for the Zimwit reunion.  For any new readers, let me explain!  My dad's children are the Witmers and my stepmother's children are the Zimmermans.  Together we are the Zimwits! 

As usual, the reunion was held at the OnFire Youth Ministries building, hosted by my stepbrother Carl and his wife Mae.  It's such a wonderful place for a big group.  So much for everyone to do.   The gym is huge.  Austin had fun shooting hoops.  Some kids had riding toys along too.  And there was a good game of volley ball. 

Most people were there in plenty of time to sit and chat before the meal.  Of course, the one person who ties us all together is our beloved Grandma Mary.

There was so much good food!  Four kinds of soups, many choices for sandwich making, several salads, amazing desserts!  I think there were around 70 of us there.  I love being part of this big combined family.

Such a fun night.  We were probably the first to leave, but we had the farthest to travel home.  We took Austin home first, arriving at their place around 9:45. So it was a late night till we got home and got everything unloaded. We were thankful for no snow that day.

On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV first, then to Calvary's service.  It was starting to snow by the time that service was over, so the boys did not come home with us afterward as they usually do.  We had a very lazy rest of the day.  I slept for about an hour-and-a-half.  

In the evening I got the music picked for both our Ash Wednesday service as well as next Sunday's service.  With the help of the grandcats, hahaha!!  They're going to be Christian cats before long!!

Last week another one of my aunts passed away, my dad's sister Arlene Hertzler.  She is the third aunt on my dad's side of the family to pass away since August!  I have such special memories of time spent with Aunt Arlene and her husband Lester.  Before they had any children they lived in a second floor apartment in Mechanicsburg, and they had me (a preschooler) stay with them for a whole week one summer.  I felt SO special being like an only child.  And it felt so "worldly" living in town, even walking to the store!  Hahahaha!!   Later, after they had moved out to a place out in the countryside and had two little boys, I stayed with them for a week again.  I just loved being with them.  

Arlene and Lester went on to have a big family of eight children, two of them adopted.  As happens in large families, we have not been able to stay in touch very often.  In 2010 Uncle Lester died and some of us made the trip to Western PA to his viewing.  We had such a wonderful time reconnecting with cousins that day.  

Then in 2013 we had a big Witmer reunion, and that is the last time I saw Aunt Arlene.  Here she is pictured with the five out of ten siblings that were still living at that time.  She is on the far left.  Next to her is Luke, whose wife Dorothy passed away in January.  Next is John, Lois, and Grace.  They and their spouses are all still living.  

So on Tuesday I met my brother Dick and his wife Nancy at the Bellefonte Weis Markets, which is near to a Route 80 exit, and they took me along to Aunt Arlene's viewing in New Bethlehem, PA, which is about two hours west of here.  It was a beautiful, sunny day for travel on the way there.  

The viewing was held at a bigger church than their Mennonite church, which was really nice for their family.  Arlene and Lester's children have spread out far and wide.  Only two of them live in Pennsylvania.  The others, along with their children and grandchildren, were there from Mexico, Virginia, Utah, Kentucky, California, and Minnesota!  There were viewing hours in the afternoon and the evening, so it was really nice for them to be at this nice big church with all its rooms and a place to eat together.  

We got there near the beginning of the afternoon viewing, so we probably missed seeing lots of relatives who would have come later or to the funeral the next day.  But we did get to catch up with each of Lester and Arlene's children and some grandchildren and also two of our other cousins.  I would have been glad to just hang out there all day catching up with people, hahaha!  And I really would have loved to attend her funeral the next day.  But being in the middle of the week instead of a weekend made that too impractical.  

On the drive home there were snow flurries and more wind and lots of big trucks, but my dear brother didn't seem to be bothered by any of it.  It was fun to be with him and Nancy, and we also were keeping in touch from time to time with our other siblings via our private FB group.  

I was cracking up the next day.  I had posted quite a few pictures in my sibling FB group of our cousins so they could catch up with Arlene's family even if they couldn't be there.   Of course, they all are conservatively dressed Mennonites.  The next day I had an ad for this dress on FB.  Is that too funny or what??

Well, gotta run.  Today Hunter is coming to Grandma's house!  This is Penn State's Spring Break, so his daycare is closed.