Fun at the Hog Day's Parade

For the few who haven't totally given up on me ever posting again...
August has been a VERY hard month. I have had to say goodbye to a couple of women who have meant a great deal in my life. Cancer takes so much from us.

On to happier news. We had a time fun time in Kewanee Saturday at Hog Days. Yes there really is an event called Hog Days. When you grow up in the "Hog Capital of the World" it is quite normal. Olivia joined us last year, but she was only one month old, so she probably doesn't remember much....

She certainly took part of the whole experience this year. My family has an odd (but explainable) tradition of a picnic in a funeral home parking lot near our parade seats. We enjoy awesome pork chops (cooked on huge grills in the center of town of course), chips, soda and oatmeal pies (same menu every year since I can remember)! Olivia just sat down on the ground and started eating with the gang--she didn't miss a beat.

She liked the parade. And for your random information file, Olivia's mama decided to keep count this year of tractors vs. queens (princesses, runner's up etc). The surprising tally had the royalty edging out the tractors. The stunning totals...51 queens --- 42 tractors. Every pagent winner from every county in the area sends their winners to the parade, so we knew there were alot, but the total was somewhat shocking. I guess we have to have enough pagents so that every girl can be crowned queen of something. And we wonder why our girls have trouble seeing value in themselves outside their looks....But I digress...........

Olivia got to be part of the whole parade experience--she smiled through a sucker, two freezy pops and a tootsie roll. What is a parade without saying MMMMMMM to some of the junk they throw at you!!!

(A note for Aunt Melissa's enjoyment): I provided entertainment for the parade crowd by falling flat on my face (didn't see a random step in the middle of the sidewalk by the little green house). I hit the ground hard....50 year old women don't bounce!!! I am sore everywhere today, including my pride!

Birthday Girl!

Not much time to post. I spent the day with my at the hospital with my mom who had shoulder surgery and I'll be going back in the morning, but I KNOW Aunt Melissa is patiently waiting for pictures. The party was fun. Olivia and the rest of us had a great time. As you can tell she LOVED the cake and the wagon was a hit!
More later...

Here We Go Again!

No new pictures, it is too dark, but the fence vs. flower saga continues. The property behind our house belongs to Walmart and they are to be fixing our fence from the storm damage over a week ago. We have been in contact with the City several times to get them to push to get someone out to fix the fence. It took 4 days to get someone to even come look, then when they came, they just propped up the broken panels and slid the broken posts into the existing holes and have not been back for 5 days. We have complained again to the City about this hopefully temporary "fix" explaining that it was another problem waiting to happen. Well..... tonight when I got home from a 12 hour day at work the fence was back on the ground. Actually not on the ground, but on what we had salvaged of my flowers and shrubs. We were very patient the first time and were not asking Walmart to pay for the damage to the yard since the storm wasn't their fault, but this time the damage is directly related to their irresponsibility and we will be asking them to replace some of the damaged items. Once again, not anything to worry about in the big picture, but I needed to VENT!

Guess Who Is One Year Old Today???

Olivia turns one year old today (and I guess Grammy does too!) It hardly seems possible that it has been a whole year; it has flown by and been one of the most fun ones I can remember.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING GIRL!!!

Starting With a Bang--Day 2

This morning started out to be nearly as eventful as yesterday. Much quieter, but eventful none the less. Last night as we were trying to see what we could salvage from the storm damage, my sweet hubby had a little accident. To make a long story short, a piece of steel fencing (kind of like chicken wire, but little squares) fell from its hanging place in the garage and punctured his left hand in 8 or 9 places. The metal that did the puncturing is not small and pointy like a needle, but fairly big around with blunt tips. While he could not be convinced to go to an ER last night, the pain and swelling through the night and this morning convinced him that we needed to make a trip to a Prompt Care facility. His hand is very swollen and it hurts alot to bend his fingers. He of course, got a tetanus shot and was sent on his not-so-merry way. He could not hold the pen to write which should be interesting as he is out of town the rest of the day on appointments that may involve alot of writing. On Tuesdays I am at the church from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., so I could not go along to be his "secretary" for the day.

Currently in my Ladies' Bible study we are doing the Beth Moore series, "Wising Up" which is a wonderful study in the book of Proverbs. Todays lesson is on the Proverbs 31 woman, specifically about having wisdom as a wife. It is a POWERFUL lesson and I have felt a huge burden to get as many women as possible to attend and hear this message. I sent out cards to the class and some others who are not attending this summer telling them that I thought the message was so very powerful that Satan would do anything he could to distract them from attending . . . My sweet hubby pointed that fact out to me this morning as we were rushing to get to the Prompt Care and get me to the church on time to start the study. I wasn't couting on me being the one with the distractions.

I am looking forward to tomorrow morning with some fear and trembling! Here's to a quiet, uneventful morning.

Today Started With a Bang!

This picture is not posted sideways--it is what I saw first thing this morning. I woke up abruptly to wind whipping somewhere around 60-70mph. Stuff was hitting the side of the house and then I heard a loud crack and crash... Four sections of the back fence came down and when we lifted them later this is what we found...

We had just talked a couple of days ago about getting a picture of the dark red lilies, because they were more beautiful and bountiful than they have ever been. I think there is a lesson in there about not procrastinating! We also lost a lilac bush that I have been babying for the last 10 years. It makes me sad to look out there...

Created for our Enjoyment!

We planted a new rose in our bed this spring and I love it--here is a close up one of the blooms in all of its splendor.

A Couple More Garden Shots

Not much time again, but wanted to put up a few more garden shots, especially for Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jason.

Quick Post to Prove I'm Still Here!

There has been no time for blogging the last couple of weeks--every day has been full to overflowing; good, but busy. I thought I would take a few minutes when I should be in bed and say hi and of course add a couple pictures of our cutie girl playing in the garden last weekend. Olivia visited today for about an hour while mommy went to the dentist. Nice surprise. Papa called me at work to tell me she was coming so I took my lunch break and came home. Good thing--she was great, but had a messy diaper blowout that Papa would have found next to impossible to deal with. Good thing Grammy was here to save the day!!!

Guess Who Came to Visit!!!

Jennifer had a meeting at school today, so WE GOT TO HAVE OLIVIA for most of the day! We have been missing her soooooo much. She got to be my little helper for morning Bible study. The ladies LOVED it and she was good as gold. Papa and I agreed that we had the most fun today we have had all summer!

Some More B&B Pics

I thought I would take a minute to post a few more pictures from the B&B we stayed at in Wisconsin. We have never stayed at a Bed and Breakfast before, but I am sure we will again. My sweet hubby found the place on the internet as a surprise for me. When we pulled up, we were both a tad leery as the buildings had somewhat faded silk flowers in the window boxes, but that was the only thing about the whole stay that wasn't first rate. The suites each had a theme--ours was a loft that looked like a log cabin on the inside. Each step leading up to the loft was stenciled with the words "Grow Old With Me The Best Is Yet To Be" a favorite quote of ours. The grounds were absolutely lovely with little seating areas scattered about. There were large lawn games like chess and checkers and several gazebos overlooking the beautiful garden areas. There were also several double hammocks scattered about the grounds, perfect for relaxing. After delicious cheesecake and coffee were delivered to our suite, we found one of the hammocks to be the perfect place to watch the stars and enjoy the perfect summer evening. It was such a peaceful getaway and neither one of us was ready to leave.

Refreshing Retreat

I don't have much time for a post, but it has been way to long...
We went to Wisconsin a couple of weekends ago for a wedding and my sweet hubby booked a bed and breakfast for us on the way home as a surprise. It was lovely and peaceful and restful and a much needed retreat. It was really a blessing for us both. I got some great pictures, but only have time to get one up--maybe more later.

Cardboard Testimony

This is worth watching!

A Big Weekend

We had a wonderful, but busy weekend. We started with a Chiefs game Friday night. It was a perfect night for sitting outside and enjoying a good baseball game.

Saturday morning my mom and dad joined us for a trip to Chicago for my cousin Deb's wedding. It was a good trip and so good to share such a special day with Deb and her new husband Ken.

After church this morning, Tom, Jen and Olivia went to Galva with us so Olivia could meet her Great, Great Grandma. There were five generations together--that doesn't happen too often. Great, Great Grandma was a little confused by the invasion, but she loved Olivia. She told us not to forget that she was "an extra great". I didn't get a great 5 generation shot--hopefully one of the others did!

On the car trip home, Olivia was very tired, but Papa entertained very well. Here is a little video of their fun and games.

WOW Giveaway

I have been trying for an hour to get the picture link to post for the awesome WOW giveaway at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2008/06/thats-a-lot-of.html. I am new enough to blogging and apparently not computer savy enough to figure it out. At any rate, I am resorting to a post hopefully with a working link. Visit Rocks in my Dryer for details or http://www.wowonline.com/ to get a look at an awesome new CD. I'll keep working on the picture link--maybe I'll get it someday, but don't hold your breath.

Olivia and Annie--Guess Who's Growling

Olivia and Annie had the best time playing the other day. They played for a good half hour with a piece of paper. Olivia loves Annie, but Annie is usually sort of indifferent towards Olivia. She is interested, but very cautious. They played and played and played on Tuesday and it is not Annie growling in the video--it is Olivia. She growled the whole time they played. She absolutely cracked us up.

New Favorites

I LOVE this picture!
These pictures are some new favorites with some of my favorite people in the world.

We had a wonderful weekend with Melissa and Jason visiting. They weren't actually here much, they spent most of their time in the car driving here and there, but it was so good to have them home. Mother's Day was awsome with the whole gang here. That hardly ever happens and I loved every minute!

A Visit from Great Grandma

Great Grandma May came for a visit today. Olivia made up to her very quickly. She kept crawling over to her legs and wanting to be picked up. We had a fun day. It is finally beautiful outside and we enjoyed it. Olivia LOVED the swing we hung in a tree. She kicked and squealed and giggled. She is a crazy girl--she loved it when I grabbed her legs and stopped her quick and then let go with a big push. Nothing delicate and timid about our little sweetie. Just the way we like it!

Waitin' for Papa

Looking for Papa

Just what they both were waiting for...

Our sweet Olivia was here again today, unfortunately, Grandpa had to be out alot. Olivia is his biggest fan. I am not exaggerating when I say that she lights up when she sees him. He left this morning while she was napping and was still gone when she got up. She and I had lunch and played, but she was looking for him. Eventually she crawled over to the back door and stood there--not sure she knew what she was looking for, but when she saw him step on to the back porch, she was sure excited. He had to leave again after a quick lunch. Olivia kept crawling over to him to be picked up. . . she didn't want him to leave again and he wasn't too crazy about leaving her either!

CLOSER TO HOME!

We are so very excited that Melissa and Jason are going to be moving back to the midwest. They have both been accepted into the Master's program at Indiana University. Melissa's daddy is excited that they will be back in the area, but is not too excited about having IU students in the family. I think he will be OK with it until they become IU basketball or football fans. The Purdue fan in him cannot quite handle that idea. His often used expression about his Illini loving son is "I thought I raised you better than that..." apparently not!

It is a real blessing to have them be within a 4 hour drive instead of 14. They have secured a townhouse they like, rented from a Lincoln Christian College alum who knows Jason's Uncle Tim and Melissa's Aunt Margie. This was the first place they looked at--it was definately a God timed connection.

We had been praying and praying for God to reveal clearly which school He wanted them to attend and He did exactly that. We are thrilled for the kids and can't wait until summer when they get to come CLOSER TO HOME!