Bev's Bits

Making Slouchy Hats

2012-01-16T08:51:00.004-05:00

Becca found a picture of a Slouchy hat on Pinterest and was determined that we were going to make them. So, we went to Walmart yesterday and bought some yarn. Between making one, and teaching Becca, it has been a long process! I'm almost done with the one I'm making.

Here's a picture of the gray one I'm making for Becca. She started one too, but used a smaller hook so hers is going to be smaller. I can't wait till it's done! My poor hands are very sore this morning! They kept cramping up!

I'll post a picture of Becca in it when it's done :)

Jill

2012-01-09T21:50:00.004-05:00

This is a picture Becca took of Jillian for her photography class last semester. The assignment was called Experimental Portraiture and this was selective coloring. I love how it turned out!

My baby's 18th birthday

2012-01-09T09:18:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe, but 18 years ago today, my Jillian was born. She has been such a blessing in my life. I am so proud to be her mother. She has grown into such an amazing young lady. Happy 18th birthday Jill!

Homemade bread bowl!

2012-01-08T22:10:00.003-05:00

Becca and I have gone to Panera Bread twice now to get their Bread Bowl and both times, they have run out right before we got there. Grrr!!! Sooo, I found a recipe for them on the Pillsbury website telling how to make your own bread bowls! Ta Da! That's what we did!

I used one of the Pillsbury French loaves. I popped it out of the can and cut it into 4 even pieces. I rolled each one out and then placed them on top of 4 greased custard cups that were placed on a cookie sheet. I baked them about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. I had made some homemade chicken noodle soup and scooped it into the bread bowls. Delicious! Definitely going to do this one again!

A rough couple of days....

2012-01-05T22:20:00.002-05:00

My heart is heavy after the loss of our dear sweet dog, Lexi. She passed away yesterday very unexpectedly. She was my constant companion for the past 12 years. It's definitely going to take some adjustment not having her with us. Rest in peace, Lexi girl... we'll see you again some day.

Time to get fit!

2012-01-03T21:38:00.005-05:00

I've let myself go over the last two years. I was doing really well maintaining my weight for the 4 years before that, but slowly the weight has gone up and up, till I've gained almost 20 pounds since then. Soooo, I've started a local Biggest Loser Challenge for my town. It's an online contest and I started it through Facebook. So far, 19 people have joined! Which is a lot more than I had thought would! I'm not sure how many will actually participate, but I'm very excited to have other women to help motivate me and to share ideas with.

My daughter Jillian is going to be my "Jillian Michaels" from The Biggest Loser show. She is determined to help me get in shape, so she has me on a nightly exercise routine. We start out with a yoga series to warm up. Then we do this Fitness Routine that is supposed to be repeated 3-5 times. Well, we started it last night and I made it twice. I made it twice again tonight, but I think I did much better tonight than I did last night. Tomorrow, she says I'm going for 3 times. ;) She is a tough trainer! We finish with the same yoga series to cool down.

I'm also doing a Leslie Sansone "Walk Away the Pounds" every morning before work. I did the Walk and Kick one today, which is a 30 minute work out. So, for today, I did 1 hour of working out!

Anyone local to Blairsville that would like to join me, just let me know! I'd love to have you!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T15:20:00.002-05:00

2011 has been a pretty good year at the Schweigert household. So from my family to yours, Happy New Year! I hope and pray 2012 is a wonderful year for you and yours!

A visit with Mom S.

2011-12-26T12:38:00.003-05:00

It's been a hard year on the Schweigert household for Frank's parents. His mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's a couple years ago and did well for quite some time. But, the Parkinson's really took a turn for the worse this year and we ended up making the difficult decision of putting her in a nursing home just a few weeks ago. So, we went to Corry the day before Christmas Eve and stopping to visit Mom in her new home, and took Becca's dog Lucy with us. She loves to have Lucy on her lap!

We were able to take Mom "home" on Christmas Eve day to celebrate with the whole family, which made it a very special day.

Cookie Dough Dip

2011-12-25T17:50:00.002-05:00

A friend told me I needed to try Cookie Dough Dip. I never heard of it before, but I knew that I love eating raw cookie dough... I mean, who doesn't? So I looked online for a recipe and found out that it's made without eggs, so it's totally safe to eat, and wow, is it delicious!

So, today I made up a batch after following the recipe below:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until it dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together for 60 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture, then the salt. Mix until combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Garnish with additional mini chocolate chips. Serve with animal crackers, nilla wafers or graham crackers.

I made 4 different varieties. Plain chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip and snicker doodle. It is very sweet tasting, so eating it with graham crackers or nilla wafers is a great way to eat it.

Time to start again

2011-12-22T09:47:00.004-05:00

Well, I've been gone for quite some time, but decided to get this old blog up and going again. Why not? Everyone else is doing it! lol! So, it's almost Christmas, 2011... so much has happened since I last wrote...

Let's see, Becca is now 21 and a Senior in college. One more semester till she graduates! She has to do an internship this summer, but after that, she is done! It's been a long 4 years, but she has done very well and maintains just above a 3.0 average. I'm very proud of the young lady she has become. She has started her own photography business and even has her own website. You can view some of the photo shoots she has done by going here: http://rebeccamariephoto.4ormat.com/
She's done quite a few Senior pictures this year, and even a couple of weddings and family group pictures. In fact, she's doing a family of 15 on Monday! She really hopes to be able to take her photography to a new level once she graduates. She is sooo good :) Just take a look and be the judge yourself.

Jillian is 17, almost 18, and is a Senior in High School. She is still doing fantastic in school and maintains Distinguished Honor Roll each semester. She made National Honor Society this year, and she also was named Senior of the month for October by our local Kiwanis Club. She still twirls like crazy and is on the Varsity Squad for the Competition Majorette Squad. She also competes in solo competitions and takes private lessons weekly. She was accepted at Duquesne University, Westminster College and St. Vincent Colleges and is in the process of deciding which one she wants to attend. She'd like to go for Bioinformatic, which is the study of Genetics.

Frank and I continue to keep busy with work and the usual running. Frank's job keeps him traveling quite a bit, but not as much as it used to. We're still very active in the church and sing in the choir and play in the bell choir.

I think that's it for now! I'm going to do my best to keep this active from now on... we'll so how I do on that ;)

Winners!

2009-04-04T16:56:00.002-05:00

We're so proud of our girls! The Junior High Competition Majorette squad won 2nd place in a county competition last weekend, and the Senior High squad won 3rd! Look at those trophies!

One more week till the next competition! Let's go for first, girls!

FHS!

2009-03-09T12:46:00.002-05:00

Here she is... Jillian, all grown up, getting ready to go to the Freshman - Sophomore Hop at the high school with her boyfriend Casey. Okay, maybe not all grown up! But she sure doesn't look like my baby any more...

Time flies....

2009-02-27T12:44:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy winter. Becca finished her first semester of college and started her second. She's doing very well in college and enjoys it a lot. She's excited because her best friend, who was commuting, is now living in the same dorm she is, so they get to hang out a lot more.

Jillian is busy as a Freshman in high school and is very busy with the competition majorette squad. She loves it and always has a baton in her hand. I'm so proud of how much she has improved in this past year! She can't wait till the weather gets better so she can practice outside.

We're trying to make plans for summer vacations.... first is a trip to NYC with some of my girlfriends the same time that the Chorus and Band are going... except we are going by ourselves! It's going to be sooo much fun!!! Then we have the annual Ohiopyle camping/rafting trip with friends and relatives... then we're planning a 4-5 day vacation with Frank's brother's family. I am really, really looking forward to that trip! We get along so well with them, and so do all the kids, so I know that's going to be fun!

I'm going to post some pictures this weekend of Jill at her dance in January. She had a lot of fun with her boyfriend and looked soooo grown up!

Car inspection

2008-11-03T12:49:00.004-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year again. In PA, we have to have our cars inspected once a year to make sure they are safe to drive on the road. Mine is due in November each year, which I actually don't mind because then I know it's in good shape for winter.

Frank knew that the brakes were going to need replaced but doesn't have time this weekend to do them, so he checked out a couple of Auto repair shops that we knew about and they all seem to be busy till late next week. He did get some estimates though and Car repair prices sure are high!

Frank usually does our repairs himself, but wasn't sure he'd have the time... and he wasn't sure what else needed replaced. So he found an online Auto repair encyclopedia that gives you helpful hints on what is wrong with your car. He clicked on the brake system and it definitely gave him some pointers on what to look for. I'm sure glad he understands all of that, because I sure don't! lol!

One of the neighbors stopped over when Frank had the car up on jacks and his Honda Accord needs repaired. They swapped stories for a while and Frank suggested that he check out the Auto repair encyclopedia!

busy, busy, busy

2008-09-24T07:16:00.002-05:00

Ahhhh, the story of my life! lol! Things have been very busy with football season in full swing! Between practices and performances, there's not much time for anything else. Jillian seems to be extremely active this year, and while she's doing well so far, I need to make sure she doesn't over do it...

Here's a list of all that she is doing right now...

Majorette in marching band - practices once a week and football games every Friday night
Baton lessons - she's taking weekly private lessons at ATJ for baton so that she keeps up with all the other girls that have been in majorettes longer than she has
Dance lessons - she's taking a weekly Jazz class with her friend Ginny at ATJ to help with her rhythm ;)
Show Choir - Special group of students who sing year round at special events. They practice Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 6:45 a.m.
Girl Scouts - two meetings a month. She loves this and has been in scouts since kindergarten.
Youth Group - with our church, two meetings a month.
Church choir - She sings in our church choir and often has solos and plays the flute for a couple of songs.

Plus, on top of all of that, she is determined to make Distinguished Honor Roll every semester. In the past, she's always made High Honor Roll, but just missed the higher level... She wants to make National Honor Society her Senior Year and she knows that she's going to have to maintain very good grades all through high school in order to make it because she has a lot of very smart kids in her class.

So, the juggling can be a bit hectic each week! But so far, she is doing great with it. I'm very proud of her and she has grown so much in the past year. She's definitely a young lady now instead of a little girl... and I'm an extremely proud mom.

R.I.P. Scooter...

2008-09-09T20:27:00.005-05:00

Our pet guinea pig, Scooter, passed away last night... I know it seems silly to get so attached to a guinea pig, but I really did.

Jillian got him 3 summers ago at our town's summer celebration. They had a petting zoo and they had baby guinea pigs. She begged and begged all weekend for one and we finally gave in and brought home Scooter on Sunday afternoon. We all fell in love with him immediately. He had such a personality! When he'd hear my voice in the hallway, he'd squeak like crazy so that I would go into the room and talk to him or feed him.

Jillian carried him all over the house and yard. She used to take him outside with her while she was reading a book and he'd sit beside her and take a nap. Or he'd sit on her chest while she was leaning back in a chair watching movies on our computer.

He started getting sick last week and didn't recover and passed last night. We had a sweet little service for him and then hubby buried him. There were a lot of tears in our house last evening...

We love you Scooter!

Picture that describes her...

2008-09-08T08:25:00.002-05:00

Jillian had to bring a picture to school today that "describes" her....

So, she had me go outside and take some shots of her.... I really think this one turned out the best. It's totally her... she LOVES to read and ALWAYS has a book in her hands while listening to her music.

Game Play...

2008-09-05T13:24:00.008-05:00

Okay, I have girls... now don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound sexist but I've noticed that boys seem to get into video games a lot more than girls do. We did not even own a video gaming system until last Christmas when I bought our very first PlayStation2!!!

Anyway, the system was used a lot when we first got it. We got Dance Dance Revolution and Sing Star and had a blast with it! Then it kind of got left alone for a while. For Easter, I got the girls Crash Bandicoot and they started using it again! And this was one that Frank enjoyed! So he started playing it more as well.

They use it a lot more often, but it's time to get a few more games. I checked at ShopWiki and found a search by category feature available and found quite a few that I think the girls would like; maybe even a new Dance Dance game! Frank prefers the Racing games, and they have many to choose from there too.

Decisions, decisions! lol! I'll post after I've given it some more thought ;)

Are you ready for some football!!!

2008-09-04T08:39:00.002-05:00

Yep, it's football season! And as you can see, we're all decked out in our orange and black to cheer the Bobcats on! We won the first home game, and it was a good one! Jill got to perform in her first ever half time show as a majorette and we were very proud of her! She dropped a few times, but no more than the other girls ;) She'll get better with practice. They only performed two songs because Mrs. Moore didn't feel the third song was ready, but they've practiced this week and it's ready to go!

School is going well for both girls. Becca is adjusting to life on a college campus. However, I haven't had too much time to miss her as she's been either calling, texting or IM'ing me pretty often... and, she came home for the football game Friday night and had to come home yesterday for a Chiropractors appointment. So yeah, it hasn't been too bad so far! lol! I can't imagine though how it would be if she was further away, or if she didn't have good friends going to her college with her. She seems to be having a great time.

Jill's classes are going well and she's enjoying her teachers. She's taking Spanish this year, finally! She has wanted to take Spanish since she was a little girl! I'll be shocked if she doesn't end up taking 4 full years of it.

Tomorrow's football game is another home game, so we'll be all decked out again this week. Go Bobcats!

Almost here...

2008-08-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's almost here. Tomorrow is move in day for Becca at college. Wow... how the heck did I get old enough to have a daughter going to college???

You should see our living room... there is "stuff" from one end to the other. She has most everything packed pretty well. We're going to load it all in the van tonight, then we leave around 9:30 a.m. to head to campus! Her move in time is 10:30. We'll stick around for a few hours, probably eat lunch on campus, then we head to Pittsburgh to see Jillian perform in the Kennywood parade...

Thank goodness, Saturday is a free day.... we had thought Becca's move in day was Saturday, so we kept it open. After the week I've had, I need a Saturday that has absolutely nothing planned on it!

So, be thinking of me on Friday as I move my baby into college!

Giving them wings...

2008-08-09T09:02:00.001-05:00

You know, it's really hard letting go of your kids....

Becca is 18 and legally considered an adult now ... and I know that.... but it doesn't make it any easier to let her go.

She and 3 girlfriends are going on a "road trip" this weekend... her very first one. They are going to Gettysburg, so it's not like it's some big party place! lol! And, the girls she's going with are all good girls... not into partying or anything like that. But I can't help but be nervous about her going!

I have never had any reason not to trust Becca and hubby and I are fine with her going, but boy it's hard to watch them move on....

She leaves for college in two weeks.... that's not going to be easy either....

She called last night to say they arrived safely and were checking into the hotel, then going to get something to eat. I know that I'll hear from her often, because she loves to text me. She took her good camera and my digital camera and plans to take tons of pictures. I'll be anxious to see them when she gets back.

It's hard watching them grow up...

What a busy week...

2008-07-28T12:59:00.002-05:00

Wow, last week was just plain crazy! I'm glad it's over! lol! However, this week doesn't look like it's going to be much better...

Last week was majorette camp for Jillian. She left on Sunday and finished Wednesday night. She ended up hurting her ankle on Monday during one of the morning practices but didn't want to miss anything, so she continued to perform on it the rest of the time she was there. By the time we picked her up Wednesday night, she was hurting pretty bad. After a trip to the doctors for an xray, they finally determined (but not until late Friday!) that it was not broken, thank you God! It is severely sprained and she pulled and tore a couple ligaments. So she'll be on crutches for a few more days until the swelling finally goes down and it doesn't hurt to walk so much...

So, that meant she didn't get to go to church camp with Becca on Saturday! Her dorm is on the second floor and they do a LOT of walking at church camp. She decided that it just was going to be too much. So instead, she headed to Corry with me. Frank and Ray had gone to Clearfield to our camp to put a new roof on the camp and I was heading to Corry to preach Sunday morning. We had a nice visit with the inlaws and even got to see my nephew Denton perform in Fiddler on the Roof for the community theatre! He did a great job!

After church Sunday, we went to lunch with "the Grands" as Jilli calls them, then headed for Clearfield. We spent the afternoon with Ray and Frank... Jilli lounged with her ankle in the air while I actually helped the guys with the roof! I started a fire and we made pie iron pizzas, then Jilli and I headed home.

Becca will be home for a short while on Tuesday to work... she couldn't get anyone to cover for her. She'll head back to church camp Wednesday morning and be home on Sunday. Frank will be home Tuesday in time for me to wash his clothes and get the rest of the stuff packed up for us to head out Wednesday morning too. We'll be dropping Jilli off at The Grands for a couple days, while he and I head to Kelleys Island for our anniversary! We'll be staying till Friday morning, then will go to the inlaws to spend the weekend.

I'm looking forward to a few days away... I should have pictures when I get back!

Bath Note

2008-07-25T07:51:00.002-05:00

Dear Kids,

Don't be alarmed, the world isn't coming to an end. I am simply taking a bath. It will take about thirty minutes and will involve soap and water. Yes, I know how to swim. Even if I didn't, forcing myself to drown in a half-inch of lukewarm water is more work than I've got energy for. (Which reminds me, I'm all for science projects, but the next time you want to see if Play-Doh floats, use cold water.)

Don't panic if I'm not out right on time. I've heard that people
don't dissolve in water and I'd like to test the theory. While I'm in
the tub, I'd like you to remember a few things. The large slab of
wood between us is called a door. Do not bang to hear my voice. I
promise that even though you can't see me, I *am* on the other side.
I'm not digging an escape tunnel and running for the border,no matter
what I said a while ago. I didn't mean it. Honest. There will be
plenty of time later to tell me about your day.

"Later" means at a time when I am no longer naked, wet, and
contemplating bubble gum in the blow dryer. I know you have important
things to tell me. Please let one of them be that you have invented a
new way to blow bubbles, not a new way to add gum to your hair.

Believe it or not, shouting, "TELEPHONE!" through the closed bathroom
door will *not* make the phone stop ringing. Answer it and take a
message. Since Amazing Mind-Reading Mom has the day off, you'll need
to write that message down. Use paper and a pencil. Do not use your
brother and the laundry marker. We can't send him to school with
telephone number tattoos.

Water makes me wet, not deaf. I can still tell the difference between
the sound of "nothing" and the sound of a child playing the piano
with a basketball. I can also hear you tattling at the top of your
lungs. I'm *choosing* NOT to answer you.

Don't call your dad at work and tell him I am unconscious in the
bathroom. He didn't appreciate it last time. He won't appreciate it
more this time. Trust me.

No matter how much I would like it, water does not make me forgetful.
I remember who you are and why you are grounded. No, you can't go to
Shelby's house to play. No, you can't go to Shelby's house to use the
bathroom. If someone is in our other bathroom, you will just have to
think dry thoughts and wait. Unless you have four feet and a tail, do
not think of going outside to "water" the lawn. I know the dog does
it. The neighbors don't feel the need to call me when the dog does it.

Unless the house catches on fire, stay inside and keep the doors
locked. Do not go outside and throw rocks at the bathroom window to
get my attention. I know it works in the movies. This is reality, the
place where people don't like to sit in a tub while rocks and broken
glass rain in on them. Do not set the house on fire. Call me if there
is an emergency.

Emergencies ARE:
1. Dad has fallen off the roof.
2. Your brother and/or sister is bleeding.
3. There's a red fire truck in front of our house.
Emergencies are NOT:
1. Dad has fallen asleep.
2. Someone on TV is bleeding.
3. There's a red pickup truck in front of our house.

One other thing: Being forced to use the last roll of toilet paper
for a towel does not make me happy. In the future, when the tub
overflows, use a mop to clean up the water instead of every towel in
the house. For my sanity's sake, let's pretend it was the tub, Okay?
No, I don't want to hear the real story. Ever. Especially not while
I'm standing in the pool of water you missed.

By the way, all Play-Doh experiments are hereby canceled.

Be good. Entertain yourselves. Yes, you can do both at the same time.
Try coloring, playing a game, or paying that stack of bills on the
coffee table.

I'll be out soon. Maybe.

Love,
Your Mom

Getting ready for camp...

2008-07-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year again... The girls are getting ready to head to Church camp on Saturday. What does that mean? That means that my washing machine gets a workout, big time! I have washed every piece of laundry that the girls own, and everything Frank and I own too! I'm almost done, I only have one more load to do so that the girls can pack everything Friday. They leave Saturday afternoon and I don't want them waiting until Saturday morning to pack everything.

One of the biggest drawbacks with washing machines is that they only take half the time that a dryer does! Okay so the problem is more that the dryer can't dry as fast as the washing machines do, but I've sometimes thought that I'd love to have a second dryer so that I could always have one ready with a new load of laundry to dry! lol! It would be great to have them both done at the same time so that you can always put in a new load!

One of my good friends has two dryers, but she also has two boys who seem to dirty more than their share of clothes every day.... Once again, I thank God for giving me girls! lol!

Massage Therapist and Chiropractors...

2008-07-16T17:47:00.003-05:00

Well... Becca has been going to a massage therapist for some back pain for about a year now. Unfortunately, the therapist is very busy, so it's hard to get in to see her. It's been a while since Becca has been there, and she's been having a lot of pain lately, so I called to try to get her in... Two weeks at the earliest :(

So, we got a flier in the mail last week for a new place in town, and the guy and his wife who run it went to high school with me. I figured that a massage is a massage, so I might at well give them a call. I called yesterday and they got her in today.

It's actually a Chiropractors office, but they also offer massages. They were running a special for $27 for an hour massage. Pretty darn good price! So she's supposed to go in at 3:00 today. She comes to my office and we are swamped... my boss is out of the office, finishing up a funeral, the computer at work is on the blink so the computer guy is there working on it, and it's time for her appointment.... Becca is 18 now, so she doesn't really need me to go with her... so I call them and tell them she'll be there by herself and I'll come when I can. I had already given them a bit of Becca's history with the migraines and the cancer, so they suggested that she have an alignment too. That's fine with me.

When I get there, she's already had xrays and a scan and been adjusted and is in the back having her massage. This isn't the first time we've tried chiropractic for Becca's headaches and pains. She went consistently for quite some time at another place, but it didn't help so that's why we went with the massage, which has been helping her back pain, but not the headaches.

I truly do believe that chiropractors can help you. Don't get me wrong. But I hate it when they go on and on about "knowing that they can cure all your problems!" They start telling me that they've had many, many clients who have been helped with adjustments for their migraines. I know that! That's why we went in the first place! And I tried to explain to them that it's not as simple as that. Becca has had a headache every single day for the past 3 1/2 years! YEARS!!! We've tried everything!!! We've been to every doctor imaginable, including the top neurologist in Pittsburgh who runs a headache clinic!

If she can be helped, wonderful... but I'm not holding my breath. Becca has learned to live with the pain and still carries on like a normal teenager. But, she said the massage was wonderful and she definitely wants to go back to him. Her back feels much better.

So she'll go back... and for $27, I think I'll schedule a massage for me as well ;)

More trip ideas...

2008-07-15T14:05:00.003-05:00

Well, we finally decided where we going for our trip in a couple weeks. Looks like we're going to end up going to Kelleys Island which is an island in Lake Erie that is just north of Sandusky Ohio... where Cedar Point is!

We're really getting excited about it... It's not too far away from home, yet it will be a nice drive for us to take. We have to take a ferry to the island, which should be fun! I'm anxious to do some more looking to see what activities there are for us to do while we're there...

It's funny, but when I was talking with Becca about where we should go, she suggested that we go to New York City! While that would be a lot of fun, neither of us have ever been there... and I'd be scared to death to actually drive into the city! lol!

I actually did little searching and found a hotel called the Hotel 373 Fifth Avenue that is just steps from the Empire State Building! Wow, I can't even imagine that! I'd love to take in a show on Broadway... maybe someday!

Frank is talking about going to a conference for work in Chicago in the fall and he'd like me to go with him. I could do quite a bit of sightseeing while he's in meetings! But I'd rather not go once it starts getting cold though... I want to go when it's still nice out!

Oh well, for now, we'll settle for a little island off of Ohio.

Went to the Ag Fair last night!

2008-07-12T10:45:00.002-05:00

I love fairs! I really do. There's just something about it that draws me in. So when a friend asked if I wanted to go to the little Ag Fair in a neighboring town, I was in!

I watched a tractor pull, which I had never seen before, and got to see one of the boys from Jillian's class compete. He did pretty well! All the other participants were much older so it was nice to see a 14-15 year old boy do as well as some men!

I had a pulled pork sandwich and then an apple dumpling with ice cream and caramel... oh yummm, was it good! We walked all around the booths and then saw all the animals. They had adorable rabbits, pigs, horses, cows, goats, and all your typical farm animals.

We had a very nice time. It's nice to just get out with friends once in a while.

Tonight is my Girls Night Out bonfire at my house! I have about 8 friends coming over to spend the evening and sit around and gab. I'm looking forward to it!

More pictures...

2008-07-10T22:01:00.003-05:00

Okay, this scrapbook site is getting very addicting! And it's so easy!

Here's a card I made for my mom with all the grandchildren. She is going to love it!

Then I made a Thank You card for my cousin Deb who helped us out so much in Ft. Lauderdale when we were on our cruise. I sent this card and a box of cookies through Send Out Cards. I can't wait to hear that she got them!

Anniversary Trip!

2008-07-10T12:14:00.004-05:00

Our 22nd Anniversary is coming up August 2nd. Frank and I have been trying to get away for a couple of days every year on our Anniversary and luckily, it always seems to fall the week that the girls are at church camp! Yeah!

So, we've been trying to come up with ideas on where to go. Because of the high price of gas, we weren't sure we wanted to go very far this year. Two years ago, for our 20th, we went to Gatlinburg, TN. We rented a cabin for the whole week and did a lot of sightseeing in the area. We loved it! It was a great trip. Last year, we just went up to our camp in Titusville for a few extra days. But this year, I'd like to go someplace special...

I found a great site called hotelscombined.com that allows you to type in the dates of your trip and where you'd like to go and they will come up with a huge list of hotels with pictures and prices! I typed in Orlando, just to see what would come up, and they had 42 pages of hotels!

Since we want to be closer to home, I thought I'd check out Pittsburgh. I was able to refine my search to our price range and it still came up with 4 pages of choices!

We're also thinking of staying in a Bed and Breakfast instead of a hotel. I found a great site, called BedandBreakfast.com that offers the exact same service! This sure makes things a lot easier! They offered about 20 options for Bed and Breakfasts in Pittsburgh.

I also went to 10best.com to look up the best sightseeing spots in Pittsburgh. They suggested the Carnegie Science Center, Mt. Washington, Pittsburgh Zoo and the Aviary as well as others. We travel into Pittsburgh frequently for Becca's doctor appointments, and Frank goes in for work, but we very rarely actually just spend time sightseeing! This is a definite possibility.

I still have more searching to do. I'll post when I'm sure where we're going!

Happy Birthday Ang!

2008-07-10T07:14:00.001-05:00

It's my friend Angela's birthday today!!! A bunch of us met at the coffee shop this morning and when she walked in the door, we sang Happy Birthday to her! I hate that I have to be at work at 8... they all get to stay and gossip, while I have to head off to work :(

So, another friend turns 45... wow! How the heck did we get to be THAT old? lol! I don't really feel that old. I still can't believe I have an 18 year old daughter who is going off to college in 6 short weeks. It seems like just yesterday she was getting ready for Kindergarten, and now she's a beautiful young lady, ready to head off on her own. I keep teasing her that I'm turning her bedroom into a sewing room as soon as she leaves! Little does she know, but I'm serious! lol! Well, at least a small corner of it anyway. She can spare that much! I'm tired of moving my sewing machine to the dining room table every time I want to work on something! If I had it set up all the time, I know I'd do more.

This weekend should be nice. Looks like the weather is going to cooperate and give us a good one. I'm having a Girls Night Out at my house Saturday night... We're going to have a bonfire and eat! What more could you ask for? lol! I don't have anything planned for the day on Saturday, so hopefully I can get some work done around the house and maybe even get in a little sewing. I'm still working on Jillian's quilt... I'll have to post pictures later. And Becca wants me to make her one before she leaves for college! *gulp* Don't think I'll get it done in time! lol!

Busy day at work today. Gotta run!

Ohiopyle Camping Trip!

2008-07-08T21:27:00.006-05:00

Ray, Lisa and Hunter

The Gavitts

The Manchesters

Summer...

2008-06-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it officially feels like summer now... it's the first full week that the girls have been home by themselves since school got out. Hubby was on vacation last week and they all were busy getting ready for Becca's graduation party while I was at work, so this is the first week of "doing nothing!" lol!

Jilli started private baton lessons with Sandy, the majorette assistant director, today. She really enjoyed it. She's been taking lessons for about 4 months with the dance studio in town, but the studio and the actual majorettes do things a little bit differently! lol! Since she made majorettes, I told her that she needs to listen to Sandy more than the studio because she'll be performing every single weekend once parades and football season starts! I still can't believe that my daughter is a majorette in the high school marching band! I'm so proud of her!

Her baton recital is on Saturday night. The dance studio has a lot of different classes going on so it should be a nice night. I'm anxious to see her routine!

Becca and I had lunch today after she got her hair cut. It was so nice just to sit down with her and have some girl time. Things have been so crazy with her graduation and her party that we haven't had that a lot lately... so that was nice. I'm still having a hard time believing she's 18 and will be going off to college in 2 short months.... wow. How did that happen???

Welcome to Holland. . .

2008-06-08T12:16:00.000-05:00

I want to warn you right now that this is a tear jerker story. If you have, or know, a disabled child, this will most definitely make you cry.

Our preacher shared this story with us this morning. His youngest son, the 4th child, is 7 and is Down's Syndrome. A friend gave him this the day after he was born.

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I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

My girls!!!!

2008-06-02T19:53:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks have been hectic and they aren't going to get any better any time soon....

Friday night was majorette tryouts for Jillian, and she made it!!! She is sooo excited!

Friday and Saturday was Relay for Life.... everything went great until at 4:30 a.m. they came around to tell us that we were under a tornado watch! Shocked We moved into the ice skating rink to walk inside. It stormed a while, but all blew over by 11:00 a.m.

Saturday night was a graduation party for Becca's best friend. Sunday was church, then last night was Baccalaureate at the church. It was beautiful...

Today was 8th grade promotion for Jillian. She was awarded the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence which means she has maintained a 3.5 grade average or higher all three years in middle school.

Tonight was the Girl Scout awards ceremony where the girls are awarded all the badges they've earned through the year. Jillian has been in scouts since kindergarten and loves it! She earned quite a few badges this year.

Tomorrow is actually a free day..... then Wednesday is Graduation for Becca.... Oh my gosh, I still can't believe she's graduating!!! I hope I don't cry too much and embarrass her!

Anyway, here's a picture of my girls from today! Jilli just got her braces a couple weeks ago. I'm shocked she even smiled!

Our cruise!!!

2008-05-26T12:10:00.001-05:00

Hi all!

Well, we made it back, safe and sound! We had a fabulous time! This wasn't just a regular cruise... it was a Music Boat cruise with the top Christian artists and bands! Both my favorites and the girls' favorites were on board!

Here is a link to a slideshow that I put together with just a few of the highlights of the trip. Music Boat Cruise 2008.

We arrived in Miami Sunday evening and stayed at a hotel that night so that we'd be ready to head to the ship bright and early Monday morning. We were a bit awestruck by the size of the ship! It was so easy to get lost on board! lol! We set sail around 5:00 p.m. and enjoyed a relaxing concert with Dallas Holm and Todd Agnew before dinner. After our delicious meal, I headed out on the Lido Deck to see the Katinas under the stars while the girls headed to see their favorite band, Hawk Nelson. Becca had her new camera with her and was right up front so she got tons of great pictures of the guys! They posed for her while they were singing and she got some great shots.

We had to be up bright and early Tuesday morning to head out to Key West . It was extremely hot, but we walked about a mile down Duval Street to the Butterfly Conservatory. The Butterflies were beautiful! They flew all around us and landed right in front of you. Got some great pictures there, and other great shots of the town. We walked back, stopping and shopping at various stores. We even saw Hemingway's House! We didn't tour it, but took some pictures outside.

Back on the ship that afternoon, I headed off to see Leeland, and my absolute favorite group, Casting Crowns! They put on a fabulous show! Becca and Jillian went to see the Indie Jam ShowCase where unknown bands got to perform and try out to win as the top new band of the cruise. They also saw The Afters. Our formal dinner was that evening, so we headed back to the cabin to shower and change into our fancy clothes. We watched Joy Williams after dinner, then headed off to bed as we were exhausted by then! lol!

Wednesday we slept in a bit. We didn't arrive in Calica/Playa del Carmen, Mexico until 1:00 p.m., so we just took it easy in the morning. Mexico was fabulous! Our personal tour guide, Eddie with Edventures, met us at the dock. He took us to the Tulum Mayan Ruins first, which were beautiful, but it was very, very hot! We only lasted there about an hour, then headed off to snorkel in the Dos Ojos Cenotes in the Riviera Maya. Those are underwater caves and caverns where we got to snorkel all around. The water was so cool and felt great after being so hot in the ruins! We left there and got on a boat with another family from our ship and headed out to the ocean. The water was very, very rough and the guides decided that it was too rough to explore the coral reef, so they took us to a calmer area and we jumped out of the boat to swim and snorkel with the huge turtles! We slowly made our way back to shore, then got back in the van and headed to their private lagoon to do some snorkeling there with the many colorful fish. What a peaceful and beautiful place! By then, we were all pretty much exhausted, so we headed over to a small little Mexican restaurant on the beach and ate our dinner, watching the waves and the sun set...

We made it back on the ship shortly before 10:00 p.m. and the girls headed off to see Hawk Nelson again, but this time on the Lido Deck under the stars! More great photos for Becca! By this time, the guys in the band were used to her snapping picture after picture! lol!

Thursday was our day at sea... we all slept in! We spent the late morning and early afternoon sunbathing on deck while listening to The Afters, Rush of Fools and Echoing Angels perform. Jillian enjoyed Dance Praise in one of the lounges… it’s like Dance Dance Revolution only with Christian music. Becca and I went to listen to a few comedy headliners and laughed quite a bit. Our last dinner that evening was again delicious, and the wait staff sang a farewell song to us! We headed back up to the Lido Deck to again hear Leeland under the stars. There is nothing like watching a ship full of people with their arms raised in praise to God!!!

We had to have our suitcases packed and ready to go before going to bed as the ship was scheduled to dock at 7:00 a.m. We got up Friday morning, dressed, ate some breakfast and were off the ship by 8:00 a.m. Our cousins from Ft. Lauderdale , Deb and Al, picked us up and took us to their house to change into our swimsuits and head to Danai Beach for a bit of swimming. After changing clothes, we stopped at his biker club to check it out. They took us to dinner at a BBQ restaurant then took us to our hotel. Our flight left bright and early Saturday morning and we arrived back in Pittsburgh later afternoon.

It was a wonderful trip that we will never forget! Becca and I took hundreds of pictures! We won’t bore you with them all, but take a moment to watch the slideshow to see some of the highlights of the trip.

Music Boat Cruise 2008

Countdown Time!

2008-05-16T07:50:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it... we leave for our cruise on Sunday!!!!

Tonight is the Prom....I'll post pictures either later tonight or tomorrow!!!! Tomorrow is packing day and making sure we didn't forget anything on our list.

Sunday a.m., we plan to leave the house around 8 a.m., stop and get some breakfast and be at the airport by 11:00. It usually takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport. Our flight doesn't leave till almost 1:30, but I do NOT want to take any chances! lol!

I'm so excited that I can hardly think straight!!!!

We need a bigger mailbox!

2008-05-08T10:19:00.005-05:00

I love to order things online and have them delivered to my house. The problem is, my Mail box isn't big enough! lol!

Saturday morning was the only day I had to sleep in... so I did :) That means that I didn't get my shower until later in the morning. As I'm stepping out of the shower, I hear the doorbell ring! What the heck? Who could that be? I throw on a robe and run to the door, and it's the mail lady... I have three packages, and they won't fit in my Mailbox!

With all the choices of Mailboxes we had when we moved in here, Frank chose one that was not very big... I would love to have one like this one! Gorgeous, isn't it?

I know that the next time I decide to look into purchasing a mail box, I'll definitely check out Mailboxixchange.com! They've got a large selection of Mail boxes to choose from. AND, they even have an affiliate program!

No more running to the door in a robe for me! lol!

Grease!!!

2008-05-01T08:41:00.002-05:00

Well, tonight is the night! The first performance of the High School's production of Grease!

I can't wait to see it! The girls are both in it and have been working like crazy! Practice night after night after night.... but it will be worth it in the end. I honestly thought Becca might quit and not be in it because she had to miss so many practices because of work. But I'm glad she stuck with it. It's her senior year and all her friends are in it, so I know she's glad she stayed.

Frank and I are going to see the show tonight, then Friday night I'm turning pages for the pianist in the pit band. I went to their practice on Tuesday night and boy does that music zip! Wow! It is non stop! I couldn't watch any of the show because I had to keep my eyes on the music the whole time! lol!

Then Frank and my nephew Kenny are going to camp for the weekend and Mom and I will go to the show on Saturday night. I can't just go one night ;) I have to watch it several times! lol!

I'll try to take a few pictures and post them!

My new Piggy Bank...

2008-04-22T08:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of my new Piggy Bank after buying gas last night:

The weekend...

2008-04-21T09:43:00.002-05:00

Well, we all had a pretty good weekend for the most part.

Let's see, Friday night was relaxing. Didn't have a lot planned, so we ordered pizza and I picked it up on my way home from work. Unfortunately, I totally forgot that I had planned to take Jilli to a Pancake Dinner at our sister church that night! Becca had to work, so when she got home at 8:00, she asked me how the dinner went! Uh oh! lol! Oh well, I'll still give them a donation since I did order the tickets...

Saturday morning I was up at 5 a.m. to get showered and ready to be at the school at 6:00 to help make subs for the band. We sold 20, so that will give Jilli a nice little profit for her band account for next year. She wants to be a majorette next year instead of just the marching band, so she's going to need even more money than normal... I left there at 7:30 with my subs, dropped them off for Frank and Jillian to deliver, and headed to Penn Run for an all day quilt retreat! I had my sewing machine, material, and everything else I needed already packed in the van. I spent the day sewing and got Jillian's quilt about 3/4 of the way done... I have to take some pictures of it to post on my craft website. I also purchased a couple of pillowcase kits that were adorable! Becca's is black with white polka dots and some cartoon type students all over it... hard to explain, but really cute for her to take to college. Jillian's has penguins with turquoise, orange and black accents. Perfect match for the quilt I'm making her!!! I sewed those up so they'd have them when I got home... I'll post pictures of those later too.

Sunday, I preached at the UMC in town for both services. Their second service has a lot more attendance than our church, close to 100 people, but I knew quite a few of the people. It went well. I used the same sermon that I used last week for our three churches.

We went up to Goodwill in Indiana in the afternoon to try to find Becca a prom gown for the Grease musical. Jillian has hers, but Becca hasn't been able to find one yet... No luck. We went over to the mall and she found her shoes for the real Prom... no heels because her date is short! lol! We went to CiCi's for dinner. Yummm!

Unfortunately, the evening did not end well... we got a call that Frank's mom is in the hospital. She was having pain in her chest. They've admitted her and will run some tests this morning, but she is stable. After hearing from Beth this morning, it sounds like it actually may just be a strained muscle because she tried to overdo it on Friday. The doctor had encouraged her to get more exercise, so she walked to Beth's twice on Friday, AND cleaned out the van! So if she was stretching a lot to reach for things in the van, she could have pulled something. We are hoping and praying that is what it is.

So now it's Monday morning and I'm back to work. It will be a busy week with the kids having musical practice pretty much each night and I have some running around to do to get ready for a picnic I'm having on Saturday. Pray for nice weather!

Is your life as you expected it to be?

2008-04-17T09:06:00.002-05:00

Someone asked this question over at the wahm.com boards and it really got me to thinking about it...

Her question was, "Is there something that you always thought that you would've done at this stage in your life but never got a chance to? And how is your life now different than you expected?"

Here was my response:

Wow! Good question... I'm 45... if you had asked me this question just 5 years ago when I turned 40, I would have told you that I was not where I wanted to be and that financially, things sucked big time! I had just gone back to work after being home with my girls and that hurt a lot. I didn't want to go back to work outside the home, so I felt like a failure... We were in major debt, my health wasn't the best, and I wasn't very happy.

Fast forward to now.... it's amazing the difference 5 years makes LOL. I love my job. Yes, I'd still rather be home but having this job has made it possible for us to get out from under our debt. My boss is extremely flexible, so I'm still able to take time off as needed, so I'm still there for my girls. Health wise of course, it has sucked for my dd Becca, but we've made it through all of the cancer and migraines and she's now on track to graduate in June with Honors and will be going to college in the fall.

We've done a lot of traveling in the last three years, more than we have ever done before, and we have plans for even more!

Is there something I want to do yet? Hmmm, nothing major comes to mind. If we decide we want to do something, we figure out a way to do it!

Is my life different than I expected? Another hmmmm, I'd have to say it's pretty much the way I had hoped it would be. Five years ago, I would have said NO! It was not what I expected or wanted! But now, it's going pretty darn good.

He is Risen!

2008-03-23T20:16:00.002-05:00

May be moving!

2008-03-22T21:03:00.002-05:00

Don't get scared, it's not us! lol! A good friend of mine called me yesterday to tell me that her husband's company may be relocating. They haven't made an official announcement yet, but the rumors are going around like crazy. She is scared to death. She does not want to move, but if they don't, then he'll have to find a new job. I feel so bad for them.

When Frank and I got married 21 years ago, I didn't have a problem at all with moving to Warren, and I lived very happily there for 8 years! But once the kids arrived, it was harder and harder finding the time to come home to Blairsville.... so when Frank had the chance to work in Greensburg, we jumped at the chance to move 'back home'.

If we were to ever have to move again, and if we had to move into an area that I was not familiar with, I think I would look into homes for rent, just like we did when we moved back to Blairsville. It's nice to rent for a little bit before you buy in an area you aren't familiar with, so that you don't find out later that you're in a not-so-good neighborhood!

Another thing I would definitely do is to get movers to help us move instead of doing it all ourselves! What a lot of work! We've moved three times in our marriage and always had family and friends to help us... but I have to admit, we're all getting older! lol! It wouldn't be as easy to find friends to help, so hiring movers would be a good idea ;)

Something else to think about would to possibly look into REO Foreclosures when looking to buy a new home. These are real estate owned listings of foreclosed homes. Big money can be saved when you're looking at a foreclosed home.

But, we don't plan on going anywhere. We plan to stay exactly where we are. I'll pass this information on to our friend, just in case they do decide to move...

Nice weekend....

2008-03-16T20:47:00.005-05:00

Boy, did I have a nice weekend! We didn't do much of anything, and that's what made it so good! Friday, Jilli went to a school dance, and Becca had some friends over to watch a movie in her, so hubby and I just watched tv. Saturday morning, Becca had to work, I had Angel Food sign ups at the church, but the afternoon was spent doing laundry and working on a quilt for Jilli. Hubby made spaghetti for dinner while I was busy sewing! Becca went out with her friends and Jilli's friend came over the spend the night.

Sunday after church, Becca begged me to finally make curtains for her bedroom, so I took a break from Jilli's quilt to work on that instead. Hubby made homemade pizza for lunch (yummm!), THEN, he also made dinner! Yes, that is 3 meals in a row!!! It is most definitely a record in our house!!! lol!

Kids have school Monday through Thursday, but they're off Friday and Monday... so is Frank... but I have to work :( Frank and Jilli are going to head up to my inlaws Friday morning and stay till Saturday afternoon just to visit for a while since we missed going last week because of the snow.

It's Holy week, so we'll be going to church Thursday night and Friday night. I think I might even get up for Sunrise Service on Easter morning! I haven't done that in years! We're playing the chimes in the choir on both Maundy Thursday and Easter morning.

Have a great week!

Show of Hands...

2008-03-10T13:03:00.001-05:00

More snow...

2008-03-08T19:08:00.003-05:00

We were supposed to go to my inlaws this weekend for a visit. They live 3 hours north of us, almost to the New York border. I always enjoy my visits with them not only because we get to see my mother and father in law, but we always get to see hubby's brother's family and his sister and her kids.

But, once again, the weather would not cooperate with us!!! Monday it was in the mid 60's here, but by mid week, it was back down in the 30's. Friday, another front came through from the west which affected my inlaws first, and then us today. They were hit with quite a bit of snow and ice last night, and we got it this afternoon.

After being in Florida just a little over a month ago, I am so ready for warmer weather!!! It really makes you want to relocate to someplace warmer! During the drive down in the bus, we could watch the difference in the weather. We left in about 20 degree weather with lots of snow and ice in the evening. By morning, we were already in warmer weather! We stopped to eat breakfast and didn't even need coats!

I'll probably never leave good old PA, but it is fun to dream once in a while, especially when you're cold! lol!

We got a new car!!!

2008-02-28T06:44:00.002-05:00

We did it! Hubby and I signed the papers tonight for our new car! We got a Hyundai Accent. It has 34 miles on it LOL. We needed a car with great gas mileage for all of hubby's travel and this one has it!

Becca is on cloud 9! She gets his Neon now! She's so excited about being able to drive to school now. This is going to be a huge help to me as far as her getting to and from work after school and the girls going to the school for musical practice. No more taxi service mom!!!! lol!

Isn't it cute! Ours is charcoal gray. I love it!!!

Back from Disney!

2008-02-22T08:59:00.003-05:00

What a great trip!!! The marching band for our school went to Disney last week to march in the Magic Kingdom parade and to have a little fun. We definitely had fun!

Here we are on the Safari at Animal Kingdom! Doesn't Jillian look cute with her mouse ears?

I chaperoned 8 girls, including Jillian. All the kids were very well behaved and we didn't have any problems at all. I can't wait to go back again!

Busy week!

2008-01-23T10:29:00.001-05:00

Over the hump day! Yeah! We had a nice relaxing weekend, but things have been going full swing so far this week...

We're counting down the days to our Marching Band trip to Disney! Only 19 more days till we leave!!! The kids had band practice and a meeting about the trip on Monday night and they all tried on their uniforms to make sure they fit. I can't believe how many hems we have to let down in the pants! So many kids have gotten quite a bit taller just since the last football game at the end of October!

Between my brother, sister and I, we have worked out a plan to send my mom down to Tallahassee while we are in Orlando! She will fly down the same day we leave and go to my aunt's house (my dad's sister). My cousin and his wife will drive down on Wednesday to spend a few days with us in Orlando, and then my aunt and a couple other cousins and my mom will drive down Friday and stay till Sunday. So mom will get to visit with Aunt Janet for a week, and get to go to Disney with the band!

She cried when I told her last night that she was going! She hasn't been down there for 12 years... so she's very excited to spend some time at Aunt Janet's house and to see the kids in Disney.

This Sunday is my nephew Hunter's baptism at our church! We're going to have a little luncheon afterward for anyone who'd like to come. He's so precious! We stopped in to visit him last Sunday and spent a couple hours just enjoying him! He was awake the whole time! It's so neat to see him so alert! He smiles really big every time he hears my brother say, "Hey buddy!" to him! He sure knows his daddy!!!

Have a great week!

Monday, already...

2008-01-14T11:54:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's Monday already. The weekend went way too fast! It was a nice one though. Dinner with our friends, the McQueen's, was very nice. We went to our local Italian restaurant and had a delicious meal. I made an apple pie, so we headed over to their house afterward to relax and talk, and eat our dessert. Their daughter Andrea and a few of Becca's other friends came over to our house to watch a movie while we were gone.

Saturday was the Lion King trip. It was fabulous!!! The show was amazing! The animals and singing, and just everything was superb! I would love to see it again! They're planning a trip in April to see Hair Spray, but I don't think we'll go because it's Easter weekend and we always have too much going on during Easter...

Sunday after church was relaxing, which we needed! lol! I did a little sewing and want to do more this evening after Becca gets a perm. She wants some big waves so that she can scrunch her hair and go... she usually straightens it now, but says she's ready for a change... I hope she likes it! lol!

Here's to a great week!

Lion King!

2008-01-11T13:18:00.001-05:00

I am sooo excited! We are going to see The Lion King in Pittsburgh tomorrow! The show is coming to Pittsburgh for a about a month. It's the same show that Jillian saw when she went to New York City two years ago with the Chorus in school. She keeps telling us how amazing it is, and I keep seeing the previews on the tv. I can't wait!!!

This evening, the girls are both going out with friends, so Frank and I are on our own! Woo Hoo! We're going to go out to dinner with some good friends of ours, and I'm very much looking forward to it. We're invited back to their house after dinner, so I made an apple pie last night to take with us. It smelled so good after it was done baking! It was very hard to control ourselves and NOT eat it last night! lol!

There's nothing going on Sunday except for church, so hopefully I can get some sewing in during the afternoon. I need to finish up a quilt for Hunter, and I also want to get started on a making a few wallets. I purchased the pattern and it came in last week. The girls each want one. I'll post pictures when I get them done!

Have a Great weekend!

Dawn Direct Foam

2008-01-10T10:49:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else tried this?

We got a free sample in the mail a couple weeks ago. I have no idea how I got it because I don't remember requesting it, but it is a full sized bottle of Dawn Direct Foam and it included a big sponge. The idea behind this product is that you don't need to fill your sink full of water to wash dishes. They tell you to wet the sponge, put one squirt of the dish soap on the sponge and wash your dishes under running water.

Now, I've been doing this for years when I only have a few dishes, and my husband hates it when I do that! He says that I don't get the dishes clean enough without filling the whole sink. I totally disagree. I think it's worse to fill a whole sink full of water and let all the food particles land on the other dishes! When I wash them individually, with soap and a sponge under running water, my dishes feel and look cleaner.

So, when we got this sample and he read the directions, HE started using it that way too! Of course, how often does he do dishes lol! But at least now he doesn't roll his eyes when he sees me doing it!

The sponge they sent with it is way too big... it won't even fit in my glasses, so I just use a smaller sponge. You pump one squirt onto the sponge and it washes a lot of dishes! When there's not soap left on the sponge, you give it another squirt.

I will definitely buy some whenever this bottle runs out. We've been trying to cut back on electricity so we aren't running our dishwasher unless we have a big dinner and have lots of dishes.

Anyone else tried it yet?

New Year's Resolution...

2008-01-04T09:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I made a few New Year's Resolutions and goals for 2008 and so far I'm doing okay. Alright, I know it's only the 4th of January, but at least I'm off to a good start! lol!

Here's a list of my goals for 2008:

~ Weight loss/getting in better shape is at the top of my list. I'm going to Florida in February with Jillian and the marching band, and then on our cruise in May, so I need to get serious! (See my countdown tickers to the right!!!) I've already started with a new exercise routine on Tuesday and I'm on day 4! So far, so good! lol!

~ Spend more time with God. I've slacked off here as well... get back into reading my Bible every day and do a morning devotional. When I'm done exercising in the morning, I still have time before I need to get ready for work... plenty of time to do a devotional instead of jumping on the computer doing busy work...

~ Organizing the house a bit better... already started this. Hubby cleaned out the basement since he's was home last week opening up a LOT of space down there! We're now using it as our exercise room and I'm going to take all my sewing stuff down there so that I'm not sewing on the dining room table any more! So it will be a craft/exercise area. It will free up a lot of space upstairs when I get the sewing stuff moved! When I was a scrapbook consultant, I used to hold my crops down there, it is a very large area! But over the past 6 years, we've kind of used it as a catch-all junk area!

~ Business.... get more serious about my blogs in order to make extra money for the cruise! Need to do some more reading to figure out how to increase revenue on them besides doing the paid to post type stuff. Have lots to learn there!!!!

~ Pay off debt! We've been paying extra toward our credit cards and hope to have them totally paid off this year. Also, we want to pay off dh's car by the beginning of summer so that he can buy a new one and Becca can have his old one for going to college. We also have a personal loan that will be paid off in March Yeah!!! We can put that payment towards the car loan. I've been watching our credit rating each month and hope that it continues to go up!

~ Put more money into savings each month! College for Becca is going to be expensive, so we need to put more money towards it each month.

2008-01-01T13:24:00.001-05:00

Apples and Wine

2008-01-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist sharing this one!

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take the apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.

The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who is brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now Men. Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Share this with all the good apples you know.

More travel...

2007-12-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my previous post that we visited with my Mother In Law's sisters family. Each Christmas they come to Corry, PA to visit with their Mom, Naomi (my MIL's sister) and always seem to stop by while we are up for our Christmas with Frank's family, which we love!

Chip and Cheryl live in Connecticut with their son Roddy. Their two daughters are grown and living in New York City (Cassie) and Los Angeles (Tammy). Both girls are well traveled and shared many stories with us about all the places they've been in the past year! Both girls have been in Europe for extended stays this summer, one visiting her boyfriend's family in England for almost a month and the other went on a two week trip with her boyfriend to Spain and France!

Cassie, who went to England, enjoyed her visit and did a lot of traveling throughout the UK. She didn't have to stay in any hotels in London since his family lives there, but she traveled to Birmingham and recommended a couple of hotels in Birmingham if we ever plan to go there. She also told us all about visiting The Lowry and the Manchester Art Gallery in Manchester. She loved it there, so of course she gave recommended hotels in Manchester as well!

Tammie kept us laughing with stories of how her boyfriend had to do a lot of translating for her while they were in Paris because she only took one year of French, but he spoke fluent French. Both trips sounded like they were a lot of fun....

Someday we'll travel to Europe!

Our 3rd Christmas!

2007-12-31T18:40:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend at my inlaws celebrating our 3rd Christmas for the year! We had a great weekend. We headed out on Friday afternoon and after stopping to eat a little dinner, we arrived by 8:00 p.m. We were up bright and early Saturday morning helping Mom S. wrap the final presents, then spent some time visiting with her sister's family who were all visiting for the weekend as well. I'll post more on that later...

We headed over to Frank's brother's house in the afternoon and enjoyed a day of visiting and eating, then eating some more! We Schweigert's do a really good job of eating! lol! We exchanged our gifts and did some more visiting.

I love spending time with Frank's family! His sister and his brother's wife are good friends, besides being my sisters! The kids had a good time too, and Jillian even put on a little performance for us, re-enacting one of her MS Arts monologue's that she had to do. She truly is a great little actress!

Sunday morning was spent at early church, then out to brunch (to eat again!) with the folks. We all had breakfast and it was delicious! We headed home in the afternoon after Frank helped Dad figure out how to add pictures to the Digital Photo Frame we got mom. I think he has it figured out ;)

We'll head back up next month for another visit! As always, I'm looking forward to it....

The Schweigert's

2007-12-26T09:54:00.000-05:00

Here we are! We got our family portraits done on Sunday. This is the four of us... Bev, Becca, Jillian and Frank.

And here's the whole Kunkle gang! Becca was so excited because she got to hold Hunter!

Kunkle Christmas...

2007-12-24T11:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my family's Christmas at my house. What a great time we had! The highlight of the day of course, was when Hunter finally got there! lol! The girls didn't think he'd ever come! They just love their little cousin!

We ate a great dinner (if I do say so myself! lol!), then opened gifts. The kids were excited to get quite a few gift cards and can't wait to go shopping and spend it! lol! Hunter had more gifts than anyone! Can you see the "tools" that we got him! I couldn't resist the little plush tool box that had his name on it! I have a feeling that little guy is going to be a bit spoiled! lol!

Today is Christmas Eve. Becca and I are both working, but we'll go to church tonight for Christmas Even services, then home to get ready for bed! I'm very anxious for the girls to see what we got them this year... and I have a special surprise for Frank too! It's going to be a great day tomorrow!

Have a very, Merry Christmas everyone! And remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!

A very close call...

2007-12-19T12:36:00.000-05:00

Read Caption on 1st photo then look at second photo

Look at the picture above and you can see where this guy broke through the guardrail, right side where the people are standing on the road (pointing). The pick-up was traveling from right to left when it crashed through the guardrail. It flipped end-over-end, across the culvert outlet, and landed right side up on the left side of the culvert, facing the opposite direction from which he was traveling.

Now look at the 2nd picture below....

If this guy didn't believe in God before, do you suppose he believes now?

Party Mice

2007-12-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

These would make fantastic party favors! Aren’t they adorable?

I was looking up recipe ideas for peanut butter balls made out of melted chocolate and found these mice. Super easy to make.

Here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Almond Bark Chocolate Flavored Coating
1 Jar pitted Maraschino Cherries with Stems(1 cherry per mouse)
Chocolate Kisses (1 per mouse)
Sliced Almonds (2 per mouse)
1 tube Cake decorating gel (for eyes)

Melt Almond Bark according to package directions. Holding cherry by stem, dip into melted chocolate (stem becomes mouse’s tail), lay sideways on waxed paper so that bottom of cherry is not touching paper. Immediately place flat side of Chocolate kiss to bottom of cherry. Place 2 almond slices as “ears” between chocolate kiss and cherry, hold until set. When dry, use decorating gel to “dot” eyes on top of chocolate kiss. Enjoy!

Doing a little dreaming...

2007-12-15T15:05:00.000-05:00

If you could go anywhere in the world that you wanted to, where would you go? An online friend of mine just returned from a trip to Europe that she won courtesy of her home based direct sales business. What a great opportunity!

I honestly am not sure where I could go if money was no option... Jillian was in a phase for a while where she wanted to go to Spain and marry a bull fighter! Okay, seeing a bullfight is not exactly on my list of activities I'd do while in Spain! lol! Check out these hotels in Spain if you're ever planning to go there. If that doesn't interest you, maybe instead you could check out the hotels in Barcelona and take a Cable Car that would run from Barceloneta Beach over to Montjuic. I think that's something we'd all enjoy, however I've been told that if you are afraid of heights, this might not be for you!

When Becca went to Quebec with her French class last summer, they visited several very large cathedrals, so she may be more interested visiting Palma de Mallorca where they have an amazing Gothic Cathedral from the XIII century and lovely gardens. She could take some gorgeous pictures of all the flowers by going there! Or, perhaps she'd rather stay in one of the hotels in Malaga and visit the Picasso Museum where there is a collection of thousands of his works!

Whatever we would visit, I'm sure it would be a vacation of a lifetime.... guess I can always keep dreaming!

Get out of the car!!!

2007-12-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

This just cracked me up and I had to share it!!!! lol!

Choosing the right lamp....

2007-12-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

We finally got new carpet in the living room!!! I am soooo excited! I was dreading putting up the Christmas decorations because the carpet looked so bad. The new carpet is blue with a little bit of gray and white. We're hoping that will help hide the white dog hairs! lol! Unfortunately, the new carpet makes the rest of the furniture look even worse than before! lol!

So, now I'm on the search for just the right lamp for beside my chair. I found a site called Farrey's.com that has a huge selection of lamps that include floor lamps as well as table lamps, reading lamps and even piano lamps! I'm pretty impressed with their large selection and pricing.

The floor lamp that I like best is brushed nickel and has two lights. That way, I can use the lamp when I'm reading, and the other can be turned toward Frank's chair. If I wanted to go a bit fancier, they have a big selection of Tiffany lamps as well.

I also have been looking at their desk lamps. I have my computer in the Dining Room and the ceiling light sometimes is just not bright enough. I need one that will clip onto the top of my desk and they have several to choose from. I have a birthday coming up in March.... this might be a good birthday present idea! lol!

Now, how about those drapes..... that's another post at a later date! lol!

Dinner Theatre!

2007-12-09T20:20:00.000-05:00

Once again, the kids have put on a fantastic show!!! The annual Dinner Theatre production was held both Friday and Saturday evenings by the middle and high school students.

The theme was Disney and they sang a variety of Disney classics and danced through the whole thing! They went from one song to the next, and just kept singing and dancing! What a show!!!!

And, my heart was bursting with pride when Jillian sang one of the preshow solos :) She sang "Once Upon a December" from the movie Anastasia. She did a fantastic job!!!!

Here she is singing! I'm so proud of her!!!!

Neologisms!

2007-12-06T07:04:00.000-05:00

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to it's yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

The winners are:

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3 . Abdicate (v..), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies
up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Secret Sister Swap!

2007-12-05T22:44:00.000-05:00

I'm participating in my very first ever online Secret Sister swap! I was a little leery about doing a secret sister with someone I don't know, but since it was with someone from wahm.com, my favorite website, I figured I couldn't go too wrong!

So, my package came yesterday! Woo Hoo! Was I excited! I opened it up and it was filled with stuff! I got a snowman dishtowel and pot holder, some honey almond shower gel and body cream, It's a Mom Thing book, angel notecards, grocery list with magnet on the back, a little bowl with magnets and Christmas decorations, Sudoku book, some warm fuzzy socks, and a bunch more!!! Can you believe it!!!

I had my box almost ready to go, but now I feel like I need to add some more to it... I'm going to stop at Walmart tomorrow after work and see what I can find.... I hope she likes it!

It's here!

2007-12-04T08:50:00.000-05:00

Yep, winter has arrived.... I know, we shouldn't complain, it is December after all! But I'm just not ready for it yet.

Yesterday morning when we got up, it was pouring down rain. So much so that Jillian had to take an umbrella to the bus stop! By the time I left for work 45 minutes later, there was snow on the ground. Not a lot, but a covering. All day yesterday it snowed off and on.

Becca wanted to go shopping last night in Greensburg for a dress for the JSP (Junior Senior Party, as we used to call it when I was in school!) which is in less than two weeks. The next two weeks are going to be crazy, so last night was our only chance to go. So off we head to the mall!

The roads were slick, but not too bad as long as we went slowly. We took Becca's friend Andrea with us. The girls found quite a few dresses to try on. Becca found hers, but Andrea didn't have any luck. Becca's is a silver halter top dress. She looks gorgeous in it! She wants either black or silver shoes. I'm trying to talk her into black because the silver ones won't be worn very much. After we were done shopping, we stopped at Denny's for some desert.... yummmm.

This morning when we woke up, we had a couple inches of snow on the ground, and it was a bit slick under the snow. The kids were disappointed that there wasn't a school delay... lol! I guess winter is officially here!

TGIF!!!

2007-11-30T21:22:00.001-05:00

Thank goodness it's Friday! It's been a long week! I think it just seems long because I only had to work 3 days last week since it was Thanksgiving and had to work a full 5 days this week.

Anyway, it's Friday. Jillian had Dinner Theatre practice till 5:00, and Becca got to babysit my new nephew Hunter tonight! Lisa and Ray took my mom out for her birthday (which is next Tuesday) and they asked Becca to come up to babysit while they were gone. Becca was so excited! He slept most of the time she was there, but she just enjoyed watching him and holding him! He's gained about 2 pounds since he was born and he's now 5 weeks old! Wow, it's going fast!

Frank and I ran to Indiana to pick up some wood for some projects he's working on for Christmas gifts. When he gets them finished, I'll post some pictures on my easycrafts4fun site. I dropped him off at home, then headed to Blairsville to see the Fabulous Firs at the community center. Area businesses and groups decorate trees then raffle them off to the highest bidder. They also have a bunch of chinese auction items such as gift baskets and gift certificate that you buy chances for. I hope I win something! The trees were gorgeous! They all did a wonderful job.

Tomorrow Jillian is going to the Aviary in Pittsburgh with her Girl Scout troop then shopping at Pittsburgh Mills. I'm helping out with Angel Food orders, and Becca has to work from 9-1 at the pharmacy. Then I plan to get out all the Christmas decorations and get started decorating!

It should be a fun weekend! Hope you enjoy yours!

Christmas Shopping...

2007-11-29T06:56:00.001-05:00

I am actually doing very, very well with my Christmas shopping this year! I'm usually one of those people that waits till the week before Christmas to even start shopping! But this year, I decided to do quite a bit of online ordering and have even purchased a few items at the local store too.

Let's see, I have all the nieces and nephews done except for one.... I have quite a few gifts for the girls purchased and only have one or two more things to get for Becca. I even have a big gift for Frank already! Hee hee!

I think this honestly has to be a record! The hardest part is keeping it quiet as to what I got everyone! Anyone else have that problem?

Thanksgiving joy!

2007-11-27T08:53:00.001-05:00

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year! As usual, we traveled to my inlaws in Corry on Thursday, but we didn't have our big meal until Saturday, since several family members had to work. So, on Thursday, we just relaxed and spent time visiting with my inlaws.

Friday, we got up and did a little Black Friday shopping. We didn't get a whole lot because we were still waiting on Christmas lists from the niece and nephews. Friday evening, I traveled to Warren to visit with my friends from my K-68 Koinonia weekend. We had a great time! It was wonderful to see the girls again! DeColores!

Saturday the gang all came over the our big Thanksgiving dinner! Boy did we eat!!! Beth outdid herself, as usual, and had tons of food! Everything was delicious! Then we headed to the local bowling alley for Denton's birthday. Beth, Frank and I took the kids. We had a great time and even we bowled a few rounds... now I remember why I don't bowl on a league any more! lol!

Then it was back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for some cake and birthday presents. The whole day was very enjoyable. I hate that we live so far away from everyone, but it really is nice to get together with everyone each time we go to visit.

Please keep the whole family in your prayers as several family members are going through some rough health times... Luv ya guys!!!

Saying Hi!

2007-11-14T17:46:00.001-05:00

God's way of saying "Have a Nice Day!" with a smile!

The Two Wolves

2007-10-30T07:52:00.000-05:00

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all..

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.'

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'

The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'

Hunter is here!

2007-10-25T08:07:00.000-05:00

My new baby nephew is here!!! He's a little early, but both mommy and baby are doing well....
Hunter Timothy Lee Kunkle was born October 24, 2007 a little after 5 a.m.. He weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and is 18 inches long.

My sister in law Lisa has been in the hospital for over two weeks with pre-eclampsia and is still having some problems with her blood pressure but they hope to move her back to her own room later today. She was on some pretty heavy duty meds yesterday...

We all got to hold him last night and the girls were ecstatic! They can't wait till he's home and they get to visit whenever they want! lol!

Lots going on...

2007-10-17T21:32:00.001-05:00

Busy, busy, busy.... Jillian's coat drive is this weekend and she's already collected quite a few bags of coats from family and friends!

Both girls have been busy with Dinner Theatre practice 3 days a week... the show is the first weekend in December and we can't wait to see it.

Jillian was picked to be in County Chorus! Woo Hoo! We're so proud of her! Our little songbird just loves to perform! That show will be mid November in Saltsburg. At least we don't have to travel far. A couple of her friends are in it too, so that makes it even more special and fun.

Becca and I went to visit Edinboro College last Friday. She is even more excited about going there for college next year. She turned in her application and has to have her high school transcripts and recommendations sent in, then we should know if she is accepted in 3-4 weeks. She's very anxious to hear if she makes it! She goes for her SAT's the first weekend in November for the second time, hoping to improve her scores....

So we've been busy, busy, busy!!! How about you?

Coat Drive!

2007-09-28T07:21:00.000-05:00

I am so proud of Jillian, my 13 yo daughter. She is in a new Girl Scout troop this year and the leader is a woman I went to high school with. Karen is a wonderful leader and really knows how to motivate the girls. Jillian is a Cadette this year, so that means they are working towards earning their Silver Award. She has the next two years to complete all the requirements to earn it.

Since her first meeting two weeks ago, she has been going through her scouting books non-stop! She has used post it pads to mark her spot on the projects she wants to complete and is using a notebook to organize all of the badges she wants to earn.

Anyway, on to the Coat Drive.... She has to do quite a few Service Projects taking the leadership position in completing these projects. Her first project is to organize a coat drive in our community. So, she made up a flyer and is planning to hand it out to all the other Girl Scout troops in the area! She contacted the local grocery store manager and asked him if she could collect the coats at his store on Oct. 20th, that way everyone can bring their gathered coats right to a central location and we'll take them to the local shelter for them to distribute all winter!

I am so proud of her!!! She honestly has done all of the work on this project. I haven't done a thing! I'm very anxious to see what kind of response she gets from the other girl scout troops and the community. I'm going to take a picture of her and a couple of her GS friends at their meeting on Monday night, holding some coats, and send it to the local newspaper. We're hoping that will really get the community to donate their coats too.

Wish us luck!

Happy Autumn

2007-09-26T06:09:00.000-05:00

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. Now, it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. Happy Fall!

All clear!

2007-09-13T06:01:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! We went for Becca's Bladder scan and everything was pink and beautiful!!! We were so excited to get that report! Even though she hasn't had any problems, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about this appointment.

He said he'd see her again in 6 months, then if it's all clear that time, he'll go to once a year. Becca was thrilled to hear that! lol!

So, at least we know that her bladder is good. We head back to Pittsburgh on Monday for her Endocrinologist appointment for her PCOS. She's kind of anxious to see this guy cause she's lost quite a bit of weight and wants to see what he says!

What a week....

2007-09-09T18:09:00.000-05:00

Once again another crazy week in our household... yes, it was nice to have a long weekend over Labor Day, but it made things at work even more crazy than usual....

Becca has had a pretty crappy time of it lately healthwise.... She complained last week of having pain in her lower back, and we were afraid that it was her kidneys because she's on a pretty high does of motrin for her abdominal pain. Luckily, it wasn't that.... but it was a lower lumbar strain. Our pediatrician referred her to a massage therapist and she felt that that might help. So, we made an appointment with a woman that a friend recommended. She went on Wednesday. She spent over an hour working on her back and her head.

We gave her Becca's whole medical history (boy did that take some time!) from her daily Headaches which are going on almost 3 years now, to her abdominal pain since last October, to them finding her bladder cancer in November, to being diagnosed with PCOS in January, to the continued abdominal pain.... anyway, she tried several types of deep massage that she hopes may help her. She worked on her back, abdomen (because there are back muscles that actually can cause pain in the abdomen) and her neck and head.

She warned us that she'd feel like she got hit by a Mack truck 24-48 hours after she worked on her, and she was right.... Becca came to my office after work Thursday in tears. Her head pain was about 8 and she couldn't even think straight. She was supposed to go to work, but she called in sick and went home... she couldn't make it to school the next day either because the head pain was so bad. She also could barely move her neck. Luckily by Friday afternoon, things started to ease up and she started feeling better.

This morning, she said her head is pretty much back to normal (normal meaning pain but tolerable) but that her abdominal pain was actually a bit better and the back pain was gone! So I guess it was worth it, besides the two days of hell she went through.....

Unfortunately, her therapist had emergency gall bladder surgery Saturday morning! Can you believe it??? Not sure what we are going to do now.... We were supposed to call her Monday and let her know how things were going.

Please keep Becca in your prayers on Tuesday as we head to the Urological Oncologist for Becca's second bladder scope since her surgery. We needs lots of prayers that there is no sign of the cancer returning!!!!

Hope you all have a great week!

Angel Tomato

2007-09-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

This was at the stand of Brenneman's Produce. Vicky Brenneman had sliced open a Tomato and this is what she found. She put it on display for all to see. I thought this was awesome, to see something simply to uplift our lives and make us smile. Photo by Dennis Ober.

Friday night football!

2007-09-03T19:23:00.001-05:00

High school football on Friday nights is pretty big in our neck of the woods... Of course, I'm always excited for half time when our fabulous band performs!

Here's Jillian playing her flute. She's the flute player right in the middle.

Here's the whole band. We're 95 members strong this year!

Go Bobcat Marching Band!

Becca Won!

2007-09-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

Becca enter two photos in the Fair photography competition and she got a 4th place on one!!! Woo Hoo! We are very proud of her! Here is her picture:

There were about 30 entries there and some of them were really, really good. I'm so excited that she won a ribbon! She's going to put this in her portfolio for college. She wants to go for photography and graphic design!

Here's what the actual picture is that she entered. There's a lot of glare in the photo above, so it looks better here:

This is just one of the 150+ pictures she took of flowers when we went to Florida. It was so hard to decide which ones to enter but she could only enter one 3 x 5 and one 5 x 7. She made this one the 5 x 7. Isn't it gorgeous!

Band Night at the Fair!

2007-08-30T08:17:00.001-05:00

Wow, they were awesome!!! Who, you may ask? The Blairsville Bobcat Marching Band, of course!

Our band participated in the annual Band Night at the Indiana County Fair on Tuesday night and they sounded and looked amazing! They are 95 members strong this year with my Jillian being one of about 7 flute players. And, my nephew Kenny is the Drum Major this year! I am so proud of him! He did a wonderful job!

Here he is directing...

I took tons of pictures, but by the time we played it was getting dark and they didn't turn out very well... I'll get a better one of Jilli next time...

Each band gets to perform their half time routine, one by one, and there were 12 bands in all. Then at the very end, they do two combined numbers and get all those kids onto the track and play.... They did an arrangement of Amazing Grace that gave me goosebumps! It was beautiful! Then they did American's We, a march.

I'm so proud of our band!

Creeks

2007-08-28T10:06:00.000-05:00

These three guys where hiking in the woods when they came to a large creek.

The first guy prays "Lord give me the strangth to make it across this creek"

POOOOF!!!! God gives him huge arms and he swims across the creek.

The second guy prays "Lord give me the strangth and the tools to make it across this creek."

POOOOF!!! God gives him huge arms and a row boat. The guy rows across the creek in 30 minutes.

The third guy prays "Lord give me the strangth and the tools, and the wisdom to make it across this creek."

POOOOF!!! God turns him into a woman who reads the map, hikes 5 minutes down stream and walks across the bridge.

Baby Blues

2007-08-23T12:47:00.001-05:00

MIA

2007-08-21T08:04:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I've been MIA... Missing In Action. I don't know where the time has gone! I was so faithful for about 4 months in posting here, even when we went to Florida! Then the girls and I went to the beach for a few days with my SIL Beth and her daughter, and I let everything slide....

I think it's that end of the summer thing... you know, too many things to do before school starts and not enough time in the day to get it all done. But I'm back and planning to blog up a storm! So watch out!

Let's see... we had a wonderful time at the beach! As I wrote above, Frank's sister Beth and her daughter Breanna went with us to a beach in New Jersey about a week and a half ago. Jillian took two of her friends so she'd have someone to hang around with. We had beautiful weather the entire time and got lots of beach time in, as well as toured the Barnegat Lighthouse. We all climbed the stairs to the very top! Whew, were we tired! lol! But what a beautiful view! I'll post some pictures later tonight when I get home.

After we got back in town, it was rush, rush, rush... Band camp started for Jillian and we have many events coming up. We already had a parade on Friday night for our annual Diamond Days celebration here in Blairsville, then Friday we head to Kennywood Park for a parade there. The next Tuesday is the Indiana County Fair Band Night where the kids will perform, and then the next Friday is our first football game! And mixed in there is the first day of school on Monday, the 27th.

So as you can see, we have a very busy schedule lined up over the next few weeks. I think August was much busier than any other month this summer... hope we make it! lol!

Addictions

2007-08-07T07:08:00.001-05:00

They're Home!

2007-08-06T14:46:00.000-05:00

The girls are home from Church camp! We went to pick them up yesterday afternoon. They slept the whole way home! lol! They keep them very, very busy while they are there. They both really love going there and can't wait till next year already!

Hubby and I had a really nice weekend at our camper in Titusville with Ray and Lisa (my brother and his wife). It is weird to be camping without the girls! We had a very relaxing weekend and didn't do a whole lot except eat! But that's pretty typical when you go camping :)

The girls and I leave on Friday for a Girls Weekend at the Beach and we can't wait!!! Frank's sister is going with us and my niece Breanna, and two of Jillian's friends, so there will be 7 of us all together. We're looking forward to days spent on the beach and relaxing evenings... I can't wait!!!!

We're going to a small campground outside of Tom's River, NJ. We want to visit the Barnegat Lighthouse while we are there, but other than that, our plans are pretty flexible!

Sooooo quiet....

2007-07-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

It is so quiet in my house!!! The girls left for a week long church camp yesterday and I just can't believe how much I miss them already. I know, they're 13 and 17 years old and I should be enjoying my quiet time, and I do.... don't get me wrong. But I miss my girls...

I do have to say one thing, I very much enjoyed coming home from work today and the house was still clean! lol! My girls know how to clean up after themselves, but that doesn't mean they always do it! I have a whole week of only having to pick up after myself (or yeah, and maybe Frank ;) )

Wonder what they're doing right now???

Uh oh!

2007-07-25T13:26:00.001-05:00

Link Love...

2007-07-25T09:06:00.000-05:00

What a great morning! I've started exercising again and can't believe how much better I feel! I get so mad at myself when I let my exercising go, because if affects my whole life when I do that. When I follow a daily exercise program, and make it a habit, my whole life is better organized. I work harder and get more done at work, I keep things more organized at home, and I generally feel better. I even keep up with my blogs better!

My friend Anne over at The Tall Poppy has sent me some link love and tagged me to share some with others. Thank you Anne!

Anyway, this is how it works:

1. Write a short paragraph at the beginning of your post and link back to the blog (preferably the post url like I did at the top with Anne's blog, there is a link below to her blog so the one above should be to the post to avoid redundancy) that put you on the list in the paragraph. This isn’t a suggestion. You need to break up the duplicate content. Someone took the time to add you so the least you can do is give them an extra link back.

2. Copy the list of originals below COMPLETELY and add it to your blog. If you would like a different keyword for your blog then change it when you do your post and it should pass to most blogs with that keyword.

3. Take the adds from the blog that added you and place them in the “Originals” list.

4. Add at least 1 new blog that you KNOW is using the DO FOLLOW plugin to the list in the “My Adds” section. (Add no more than 5!) Let the people you’ve added know, so that they can keep the list going!

I would like to add:

Originals:A Great Pleasure Little world of thoughts Renisphere mott’s island Kev’s Walkabout iBubbs woof Down Memory Lanes Woof & Arf Lovely Mummy Bubba Stuff Mommibee Moments in My Life Rambling Moo All about Zara & Zaria Hip n cool momma Random Thoughts of a Blur Mommy Mylittleanelqianyi Bits & Pieces De’moments chinneeq Giddy Tiger Huei Rabbit Rinnah Simple America Niceheart Ethel Sanna The Queer Chef Shoshana Leah gina> Haze Ghee Neng aka Sirena Angelo Ju aka The Border aka Juana of Femjo Tina Keep the Faith jsonvlog Suncoast Scribe Blogging Kenneth My 2 Centavos Worth Manila Mom 3 Dogs, 3 Pigs and A Family Cafe Romanza Earn Global Credit Ability Macuha Flee the Cube MomReviews.net Fellow Eskimo Pajama Mommy Amanita.net WebStyle Meredith’s Weight Loss Blog Pink Blog Tricia’s Musings Ugh!!’s Greymatter Honeypot Midlife Musings Utterly Geek Whatever I Feel Like My Dandelion Patch Surviving NJ GeekySpeaky Simple Kind Of Life 3DayMom BuyMeBlog The Hockey Dad Mariuca This is a Miracle Revellian d bImBo Secret of Mind Rightly Epitomised Random Magus Disjointed Intelligence WalksFarWoman FeedGet The Process of a Miracle The Tall Poppy Man About the House One Man's Travel Blog Wits End A Modern Goddess Online Bev's Bits A Nice Place in the Sun Twisted Sister

To All Pet Owners

2007-07-23T08:42:00.000-05:00

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - nose height.

Dear Dogs and Cats:

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not s take a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, and try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine or feline attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don' t want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "fur"nature.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn’t speak clearly.

Remember: In many ways, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3. Are easier to train
4. Normally come when called
5. Never ask to drive the car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions
9. Don' t want to wear your clothes
10. Don't need a "gazillion" dollars for college.

And finally,

11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Harry Potter....

2007-07-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

Have you read the new book yet? We did not pre-order the book for Jillian, because we knew we would be out of town camping... but first thing Saturday morning, Frank got up and took her to Walmart and she got her copy! She was just a little bit excited! lol!

Jillian was never much of a reader when she was little... she hated reading in school and never read for pleasure. When the first Harry Potter movie came out in 2001, she was only about 7 years old. She loved it! Then the second movie came out and she was finally old enough to try reading the book. By that time, she had the first movie pretty much memorized! lol!

From then on, Jillian became my bookworm... just like me :) I've always been a big book reader. Now, Jillian can always be found with a book in her hand, or in her backpack. She spends a lot of time at the library getting new books, or having me order her new ones from Amazon.com. I love buying the books used there for a few dollars....

So, have you read the latest Harry Potter book yet?

Overpopulation of Nerds

2007-07-19T19:51:00.000-05:00

Okay, I just got a brand new lap top, so this one really strikes me as funny! lol!

This truck driver hauling a tractor-trailer load of computers stops for a beer. As he approaches the bar he sees a big sign on the door saying "Nerds Not Allowed - Enter At Your Own Risk!" He goes in and sits down. The bartender comes over to him, sniffs, says, "You smell kind of nerdy. What do you do for a living?" The truck driver says, "I drive a truck, and the smell is just from the computers I am hauling." The bartender says, "Okay, truck drivers are not nerds." and serves him a beer.

As he is sipping his beer, a skinny guy walks in with tape around his glasses, a pocket protector with twelve kinds of pens and pencils, and a belt at least a foot too long. The bartender, without saying a word, pulls out a shotgun and blows the guy away.

The truck driver said, totally shocked, "Why did you do that?" The bartender said, "Not to worry, the nerds are overpopulating Silicon Valley and are in season now. You don't even need a license."

The truck driver finishes his beer, gets back in his truck, and heads back onto the freeway. Suddenly he veers to avoid an accident, and the load shifts. The back door breaks open and computers spill out all over the freeway. He jumps out and sees a crowd already forming, grabbing up the computers. They are all engineers, accountants and programmers wearing the nerdiest clothes he has ever seen. He can't let them steal his whole load. So, remembering what happened in the bar, he pulls out his gun and starts blasting away, felling several of them instantly.

A highway patrol officer comes zooming up and jumps out of the car screaming at him to stop. The truck driver said, "What's wrong? I thought nerds were in season." "Well, sure," said the patrolman. "But you can't bait 'em."

Charms on cell phones!

2007-07-17T13:26:00.000-05:00

Becca got an antenna ring from Trinkies.com for her cell phone and she just loves it! Isn't it adorable? Her cell phone has one of those covers on it that is black with silver stars on it, so she picked out the star antenna ring and it matches perfectly!

She gets many comments from her friends about it. It's so sparkly and cute!

Tiffany Schwartz-Weidman is the owner of Trinkies and has been in business for over 2 years now. I was amazed at the large selection of Antenna Rings, Cell Phone Charms and even Key Finders and Toe Rings that are available at Trinkies.com! If you're looking for a unique gift idea, stop in and take a look at what Tiffany has to offer!

My First Quilting Class!

2007-07-14T19:23:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited! I'm going to be taking my very first quilting class on Tuesday! Yes, I've made several quilts before, but I've been totally self-taught and often wonder if I'm doing it "right". Well, a new little Quilt Shop opened up about 5 miles from my house and I've been meaning to stop in.... so today I did!

She has an adorable little shop with tons of fabric and lots and lots of quilts all over the place as examples. So, I picked out 3 different bolts of cloth and she's going to teach me everything, from cutting to sewing, starting Tuesday! Woo Hoo!

I really am looking forward to this. I learned totally on the internet, just going from site to site and reading everything I could find... so I'm anxious to see what I'm doing right... or wrong! lol!

Stop over at my craft site, EasyCrafts4fun to see my latest project... a baby quilt for our preacher's daughter.

Girl Scout Day Camp

2007-07-13T08:46:00.001-05:00

This week was Girl Scout Day Camp in our area. Both of the girls went all week.

Becca has been in charge of the "Pixies" for the past couple of years. Those are the leaders' little kids (under 5) who come with their moms. She loves working with the little ones! But this year, the little ones were all very, very clingy and wouldn't leave their moms! So, they stayed with their moms and Becca got to help out with the crafts. She had a great week and enjoyed working with our friend Karen, who was in charge of the crafts.

Jillian was in the Cadette troup with quite a few of her friends. They have an overnight on Wednesday night and of course, that is the only day all week that it rained... but the girls all stayed pretty dry. They went "brook snooping" most of the day on Wednesday to learn about different plants and animals.

They learned a couple of new songs, and as usual, Jillian's voice could be heard above most of the other girls! That girl sure loves to sing! lol!

Today is the last day... so next week will return to normal. Of course, we've been running so much already this summer that luckily they haven't had a lot of time for me to hear those dreaded words, "I'm bored!"... let's hope it stays that way ;)

Spence Diamonds are gorgeous!

2007-07-12T09:13:00.000-05:00

I'm still on the lookout for the perfect Engagement ring since I lost the diamond in mine a few years ago. I was heartbroken when I lost it as it was Frank's grandmother's diamond that was set in a ring that we picked out.

I ran across Spence Diamonds online and saw that they have a beautiful selection of engagement rings as well as bracelets, earrings and pendant necklaces. Their online selection is very large with a wide variety of choices but you can visit one of their showroom locations to view their full selection of over 4000 diamond ring designs. The pictures on their site are very clear and can be enlarged to see a lot of detail.

The Diamond Education link explains the 4 C's in diamonds... carat, clarity, color and cut. That's a big help to someone like me who is most definitely NOT an expert! lol!

I just love this beautiful Diamond Cross Necklace!

Stop by and check them out. I'm sure you'll find something you like!

Adorable Puppy!

2007-07-11T10:34:00.000-05:00

Just look at this adorable puppy! A long-coated male chihuahua named "Heart-kun" with a heart-shaped pattern on his coat sleeps at Pucchin Dog's shop in Odate in northern Japan July 10, 2007. The one-and-a-half-month-old chihuahua was born on May 18, 2007 as one of a litter. The shop owner Emiko Sakurada said that this is the first time a puppy with these marks has been born out of a 1,000 that she has bred. She also said that she has no plans to sell the puppy.

I've Been Tagged!

2007-07-10T08:42:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Fiona over at Dragonfly Crafts to list 8 facts or habits about myself.... Time to get my thinking cap on!

Here are the rules:

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here are mine:

1. I HATE doing laundry. I love clean clothes, don't get me wrong, but I just HATE doing it! I procrastinate until I have way too much to do, then have loads and loads to do all at one time. I tell myself that if I just did one or two loads a day, I'd always be caught up... but somehow that just doesn't seem to happen! lol!

2. I LOVE making crafts of all kinds, especially sewing. However I have quite a few WIP (works in progress) and need to finish a few before I start anything else new.

3. I'm a middle child. I have an older sister and a younger brother. My hubby is a middle child as well, with an older brother and a younger sister.

4. We live in the country with a horse farm right behind our house. I love it here and can't imagine ever living in a city. We lived in a small city when we first got married, but soon moved out of town. Hubby is also a country boy, so it hasn't been hard deciding where to live.

5. I love to bake things... bread, cakes, muffins, pies, any kind of desserts. I like to cook nice meals too, but hate how rushed I am after work and don't enjoy it as much. I'd rather bake in the evenings after things have slowed down a little.

6. I love to sing. I sing in our church choir, and I always sing in the car (just ask my kids! lol!). I've even been known to sing along with the songs playing in stores and restaurants ;)

7. I work full time in a funeral home designing monuments for about 30 other funeral homes. I love my boss and his family and they have been wonderful about the time I've needed off since Becca's illnesses, but I would much prefer to be home... if I could find a way to work from home, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

8. And last, but not least, I am extremely close to my family and hubby's family. My brother and his wife live about 15 minutes away, my sister and her family about 8 minutes away and my mom about 2 minutes away. We do a lot of family type activities together and I love it. Hubby's family is about 3 hours north of us and we don't get to visit nearly as often as we'd like because the kids are involved in so much. But when we do visit, we all get together and always have a good time.

So, let's see... who should I tag? I'm heading over to Mommy's Helper to find a few fellow bloggers to tag ;) How about Val, Angela, Marti, Stefani, Amber, Lara, Angie, and Michelle. Whew! It's hard to come up with 8! lol! Good luck ladies!