Snow, Snow, Snow....

We are getting our first official taste of winter. We've had some snow flurries over the past couple of weeks, but nothing major. Today we woke up to snow covering the ground and falling fast! Olivia was thrilled to pieces, as were the other kids. They could barely wait until they could get outside and play in it. They're calling for 2-4" throughout the night. Pete took the kids outside to play and build snowmen. Noah threw several snowballs at the patio door - right in my direction. First he did it to scare the cat, then he did it to scare me. :-) They were outside for almost an hour, just having the best time. A couple kids from the neighborhood even came over and joined them for a while, before heading off to go sledding. While they did that, I put away all our fall decorations and started getting out the Christmas stuff. I need to get more things, since we have more space to put things on - like the bookcases and stuff. But, it's coming together. Before Pete came inside he rolled up two giant snowballs, like you would make for the base of a snowman and covered the skunk holes with them. Then patted snow all around them, hoping to keep that blasted skunk from digging again. We'll see if he was successful in the next couple of days. After that, he brought the kids in and boy were they soaked!! Thankfully all that wetness stayed on the outside and their clothes were dry. I made each of them a steaming cup of hot chocolate and gave them each a handful of marshmallows. Only Madie actually drank the cocoa. Livie only ate the marshmallows and Noah just wanted a cold cup of milk. Oh well. At least one of them liked it. :-) Then Pete took me and the kids out to eat for my birthday tonight. We went to Hanks which is so yummy and I haven't been there in a while, so it was a special treat. I had chicken parmisan and Pete had the prime rib. We are both so stuffed that we're laying around groaning!!! The kids are fine, but Pete and I are just sick! We were going to come home and put up the Christmas tree, but it's bedtime, so we're saving that for Tuesday (Madie has dance tomorrow night, so we can't do it then). I think Livie and I will be putting the lights up outside tomorrow if the weather agrees. Heck, who knows, maybe we'll get enough snow to have a bit of a delay, so we can all sleep in and put the lights up together! I'll cross my fingers. :-)

Dudley and Beverly Anderson

Today we went down to Dudley and Beverly Anderson's 50th wedding anniversary party. By we, I mean my brood as well as Em and Jeff. Again, mom wasn't feeling good - all pukey - so, dad stayed home with her. Let me just tell you a little bit about this family. These are friends of ours from our Royal Center days. Honestly, they are more than friends. They are like family to us. I could seriously start a blog all about my memories of our time with these incredible people. There isn't enough room to list everything they've done for us and with us. But, just to give you an idea of what they were like.....We would spend every Easter with them. Beverly would make ham. We'd eat in the basement (their awesome, fantastic basement!) and play board games all afternoon. We'd laugh and laugh until our sides hurt! Every December, we would exchange gifts. I can almost relay to you every gift they gave us over the years. For us kids, it was about as exciting as Christmas itself! It was always something completely fantastic and we would sit their eagerly waiting to see what treasure they had for us! They had a pool that we would visit as often as mom would let us. All she had to do was call and see if we could come and I doubt they ever turned us down. We spent so much time with them both, as well as their kids, that our whole childhood is filled with memories of them. They are also the ones that came with us when my Grandma Roper died. My grandma lived in PA. Yet, they came to love her as we did and when she passed, they drove out the 10 hrs. and helped us kids deal with that loss. The first ones we had ever experienced. I remember Beverly sitting with me outside the room where my grandma laid and comforted me as I cried. She had cancer and I was so afraid to see what the cancer had done to her. I was worried she'd look scary and I didn't want to go in. She sat with me and told me how good Grandma looked and she and mom helped me go inside and see her. That's the type of people they are. It wasn't always about the presents or the pool, it was about their kindness and love for us kids. Just amazing people. People you can't duplicate. People you only come across once in a lifetime.



This is their family. They had 4 kids: Amy, Mark, Janet, and Sue. Janet and Sue were teenagers when we moved to Royal Center, so we got to know them the most. They were the coolest people ever! I idolized them! Sue had braces, so I asked mom if I could have braces when I was in 2nd grade. Didn't get them until 7th. ;-) When Janet would sell stuff in a garage sale, I would save up my quarters and buy it. Didn't matter that I was 7 and she was 17. I wore it with pride! I still remember buying a pair of clogs, that probably wouldn't even fit me today, and I wore them when I was in like 1st grade. I wore them to my friend's house and would clop all the way down the sidewalk to see her in these shoes that were too big and knew I looked cool the whole time! As you can see in the picture, their family has grown from 4 kids to include 3 son-in-laws and 5 beautiful grandkids.

When we got to the party, we arrived just in time to see them renew their vows. Beverly didn't know a thing about it and was so surprised. It was so sweet! Still as much in love as they were all those years ago. :-)

I took some pictures of the books and snapshots they had on display. Really fun looking back and seeing how their family has grown.

This is their oldest daughter Amy and her husband. I haven't seen Amy in ages and it was so fun getting a chance to say hi.

When we were there, we also ran into a few other Royal Center friends. Friends we hadn't seen since we left 15 yrs ago! It was so fun!!!! This is my old youth leaders - Monty and Cathy Moss. I swear, they haven't changed a bit in the 15 yrs since we saw them last. Em and I had such fun chatting with them and seeing how they were doing.

These are more RC friends. You'll see Cathy Moss again on the left, and then next to her is Brenda Goodrich, Rae Bonnell, and Karen Link. Again, all people we haven't seen since we left. Rae came up to us first and said, "I don't know if you'll remember who I am.". I told her she looked familiar, but as soon as she told me who she was, I knew instantly! Her youngest boy was the same age as Micah. They had a really cool fort thing on the top of this really high platform then had a cable that went from the fort down to the ground that you could slide on. Micah loved it, but I was too afraid of heights to try it out. But, she and her family were always terrific friends! Brenda I knew right away. I used to babysit her kids when I was a teen. Her family moved when I was going into jr. high, I believe, and I was so sad! I loved her kids to pieces. They were awesome! Heck, so was Brenda and her husband Barry! More really great friends of ours. Karen started coming to our church towards the end of our time there. She used to help in AWANA and was super nice!

This is Rae again with her husband Jeff. Man, it was good to see them! Jeff's dad owned the golf course that my dad went to all the time. Every Christmas they'd get dad a membership to the club there and let me tell you, he used that membership every chance he got! He loved it out there. Actually, he just took Jeff (my brother-in-law) this past summer to golf there, I believe. Fun stuff!

This is Sue and Janet, the youngest two girls. The ones I mentioned above that I idolized. They are just as fabulous today as they were 25 yrs ago! I could sit and chat with them all day. Janet is a riot. This was the first time I had seen Sue probably since Em's high school graduation. It had been quite a while, so it was way too much fun getting to sit and chat with her. We've already made plans to get together at Janet's next time Sue is in town. Can't wait!

Lastly, this is a picture Em took of us before we left to go to Winamac for the party. Thought since we were all dressed up and actually had another person there to take the picture, we might as well take advantage. :-)

And, this is Em and I. Jeff took our picture together. Guess we were both standing there and looked all Christmasy in our coats, so he wanted to take a quick pic. :-)

So, that's our fun time. A celebration of two incredible people, that came together 50 yrs ago, had 4 wonderful kids and became life-long, true friends of ours. What a day!

Em and Jeff

On Friday evening we went up to mom and dad's. Mom has a bladder infection and has been feeling really lousy the past few days, so dad asked if we could spend the night somewhere else. We considered just staying at the Trolingers another night, but Em and Jeff really wanted to see the kids and offered to let us stay there. They are renting a house in Syracuse that is in the country and is just a great, great place! They had two twin beds and an air mattress, so we knew we were set, so we accepted! We took a Pizza King pizza up and had supper at mom and dad's and hung around for a couple of hours with them before heading off. Mom was feeling a bit better by then, but considering we typically stay up lauging and carrying on until 1 or 2 am every time we're there, dad thought it would make it a little hard for her, even though she WAS feeling better, so we headed over to Em and Jeff's house. Pete and the kids had never been there, so it was a treat for them to see it. PLUS, they just got a new dog named Wrigley and still have their rat Whitey, so they just had a ball! When we finally got everything situated, we got the kids in their pjs and brushed their teeth and got them settled in for bed. I had gotten them new Leapster games at the Black Friday sales and gave them to them, so they were able to play in bed for a little while, so they could calm down a bit after all the excitement. It took a while, but at least they were quiet. That gave us time to get out MarioKart and race for several hours. :-) I had gotten up at 5am that morning though and didn't even make it until midnight. I believe I conked out at 11:30. I know, I'm a wuss! But, at my age, I need my sleep! So, I left the three of them to play the rest of the night. We all slept great and when we woke up, I was able to get a view of their property. The only other time I had been at their house was 1:30 in the morning, after their wedding, when we dropped off all their gifts at their house. So, it was great seeing their land. And, they have a lot of it! Can't wait to all go out there in the summer and let the kids run around. Down the lane are a bunch of horses too that they can see and say hi too. It's like a kids dream! Dogs, rats, horses, deer! Is there anything better? ;-) I thought some of my aunts might be interested in seeing their place.

Judi, you can't make it out in this picture, but right behind Madie is Gramps' loveseat. It's in their family room and oh, does it bring back memories! Just love it. Send our thanks to Becky for sharing that with them. :-) Anyway, this picture is obviously looking into their kitchen, towards their family room, which is by the side door where we enter. It's really spacious and nice. It's not really furnished yet, but heck, they've only been married 6 weeks. Soon enough they'll have it packed!

This is their living room where we spent most of our time, since that's where the Wii is. :-) Wrigley laid down by me nearly the whole time. We bonded.

This is their dining room, which is right by the kitchen. This leads into the living room I just showed you.

This is Jeff watching as Noah and Livie jump on his brand-new, out-of-the-package air mattress. He wasn't mad though. I just caught him off guard with my picture taking. :-) Bless his heart for being so good with my kids! They were soon yelled at by their mother (me!) about jumping on furniture and sent to brush their teeth.

My good little girl Madie was doing just what she was supposed to do. She's old enough to know better than to jump on beds by now. Well, at least she was THAT night!

This is their rat, Whitey. Livie loves, and I mean LOVES him! She calls him "Womprat". If anyone knows Star Wars, they'll understand that term. Livie's weird about things. She likes the typical girly stuff, but she also loves dinosaurs and lizards and rats. She has a rubber rat that we take to church each week that she just thinks is the best thing ever.

This is Wrigley, their new dog. She's about the funniest thing I've ever seen! She has some issue with her tongue, the vet suspects some trauma when she was little, so her tongue always hangs out of the side of her mouth. And, when she goes to lick you, it's hilarious! Livie was acting like the dog for 2 days, and always had her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. I should've taken a picture, because it was the funniest thing ever. She's not quite used to the kids yet, so she was nervous, but she let them pet her a few times and I'm sure she'll get used to them pretty quickly. She's a sweet little thing. It's so funny to see a young dog again. Our sweet dog Hobbes is going to be 17 yrs old in December. He's got tumors all over his body, he's blind, deaf, and dumb as a doorknob, but we love him to pieces. He's so old that all he really does is lay around and sleep and is pretty slow these days. Then you have Wrigley who reminds me so much of what Hobbes was like in his younger days. She's runs around and plays fetch and barks at the slightest noise. Hobbes doesn't hear anything anymore or see anything worth barking at, so it's so different to see and hear that kind of thing out of a dog again. We had a really, really fun time at their house and told them not to even bother changing the sheets on the beds we slept in, because I have a feeling the kids will be clamoring to spend the night there again when we're back at Christmas!

This last picture I took before we left mom and dad's this morning. Being married agrees with them, don't you think? :-)

Thanksgiving :-)

We just got back from our trip to Indiana. It was a lot of fun for us! We went to the Trolingers first and spent a few days there. Pete's Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ronnie were in town, so this is our yearly visit with them. They are super nice people and it's always fun to catch with them. Thanksgiving was, as always, super yummy! Sue (Pete's Mom) is SUCH a good cook! I have tried for the past 10 yrs to make gravy as delicious as hers and have not been successful. Pete's favorite thing about Thanksgiving is his mom's gravy and he always covers his entire plate with it! Here are some pictures from our time that day.

As you all know, Pete's brother Andy was serving his second tour in Iraq. I say "WAS", because he just got home to the states today! Hooray! He'll still spend about a week at Camp ... something or other, can't remember the name - Atterbury, maybe .... putting his supplies away and all that, but at least he's out of the war zone and will be home with his family soon. :-) Anyway, one of the things that he had sent home were his arm guards. Noah is really in love with anything related to the army, so he wore them as a vest for a while. He just thought it was so cool getting to wear REAL army gear! Both nana and I were asked to take pictures of him - BY HIM. ;-) Guess he wanted a memento of that, since they were being taken back to the armory to put away.

This is my sweet little niece. She just turned one in October and even though we saw her just last month, she's grown so much! She's walking now and saying a lot of new words. She's a dolly! She's Andy's little girl and just a cute little thing! It was fun getting to spend time with her while we were there. Her mom too! :-)

This is us eating our delicious Thanksgiving meal. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, GRAVY (as I've already mentioned), rolls, stuffing, mac and ch, baked beans, green beans, deviled eggs, the list goes on and on. I ate one plate and was so full I literally thought I was going to puke. Not fair! I thought I shouldn't feel like puking after just one plate! I should at least be able to put away 3 plates, but alas, that was not to be. But, I did get to have leftovers the next day and leftovers are almost as good as the real thing. Yum! Livie ate 3 helping of mashed potatoes. She ate her first helping before I even sat down and when she saw that Pete and I had mp on our plates, she demanded that we hand it over. I wouldn't have deprived Pete of his, so I selfishly gave her mine. Well, probably wasn't too selfish. I just went out and got more, but it's more fun to say it this way, because then I look like a true hero. ;-) A Thanksgiving Hero. Hmm... That has a nice ring to it.

The kids sat at the kiddie table. Don't you just love the kiddie table? I spent all my life wanting to sit at the big table, but now the kiddie table seems like such fun. :-) They had fun being goofy and telling turkey jokes. Who knew that there were so many ways to make fun of turkeys? Wonder if they can do that with Christmas Ham? Can "Hams" cross the road?

Afterwards, we all sat around, groaning about our full stomachs. I actually went back to the bedroom and laid down and took a nap. Like I said, I was at puking level and decided that wouldn't be something nice to do in front of other who had also pushed themselves to puking level. That wouldn't have ended well, I'm sure.

Then the boys ended the night with their yearly game of Poker. As you can see, Pete wasn't doing too well at this point. Granted, they aren't high-stakes players and I think that Pete only lost a couple bucks, but knowing I was shopping the next day, I was hoping that he'd win me a few extra shopping dollars. If, for nothing else, just a nice iced mocha coffee for that caffiene boost I needed on Black Friday. So, that's our Thanksgiving Day fun! We stayed there until Fri about suppertime. I went up to Goshen and shopped with Em and Jeff. I fought off more of the pukiness most of the morning, which sucked, because I always want to be on my "A" game on B.Friday, but I bounced back about 6 hours in, so that was good. Got some good deals too. Pete even went out that day. He left the kids with their papa and he went out and got us a new computer monitor and external hard drive. Exciting stuff, I know. ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, today is our last day at home for a few days. We're headed to Indiana tomorrow after the kids get out of school. We're going to the Trolingers first. They always have a big family Thanksgiving meal, which is always yummy and lots of fun. Andy was supposed to make it back from Iraq in time to join us, but he's been delayed, so even if he makes it back to the states this week, he won't be able to get home to Warsaw until the first part of Dec. So, we'll miss him, but we'll get to see Pete's Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Nancy. They come up every Thanksgiving from KY and it's always nice to see them. Plus, of course, all the rest of the family as well. I'm even making a couple pies to take - FROM SCRATCH! I made a cherry cheesecake today. That was Pete's one request. Looks ok, so I'm hoping it tastes good too. Tomorrow I'm making an apple pie. Never made one in my life, let alone one from scratch - and by scratch I mean, I'm cutting up apples and all that. Not making the pie crust, when Pillsbury makes such a good one! I'll let you all know if they end up being successful or if I end up hitting the local Kroger when we get to town to swap my pies for ones from the bakery. ;-)

We'll go up to my parents maybe Fri night and head home on Sat. Em and I plan on doing some shopping early on Fri morning to catch all those good sales and we're going down to Royal Center to celebrate our dear friends Beverly and Dudley's 50th wedding anniversary on Sat. I'm really looking forward to seeing them again, since our visit was so short during Em and Jeff's wedding. It'll be a quick trip to IN, but a super, jam-packed weekend. I'll tell you all about it once we get back. So, if I don't chat with you all before Sunday, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving, whether you're home by yourselves or surrounded by family. Or, if you Suzy, are still stuck in the hospital keeping those sweet babies in place. Hopefully the cafeteria will serve up something yummy! :-) I hope it's a great day for everyone. Safe travels and God Bless!

Deja Vu

What you are seeing is not a rehash of last month's drama. You did not log on to find the October entries up on your screen. No, this is a new picture - taken this afternoon. Yes, folks, we have another #$@@# skunk! Pete called me from the other room with an accusatory tone saying, "Um, did you not see this hole out here?!". I came out and questioned what the heck he was talking about. He just got back from Toronto last night after being gone all week and couldn't believe that I hadn't looked outside to see that not one but TWO new holes have been dug in the exact same place as last time. I have looked outside, but never noticed it I guess, so I'm not sure when the skunk arrived. Especially considering the thing dug AROUND the pavers that were already there! Crafty! Now, to say that Pete is angry is probably the understatement of the year. We just spent $200 getting rid of a skunk last month and now, here we are, with the same problem. He's not mad at me, mind you. He's mad at the fact that the skunks seem to enjoy making their home under our patio. And, this one is worse than the last one. Not only has he dug under our patio and made yet another mess of our garden, he has been digging in our yard, pulling grass out to make his bed under there! Pete took a box of mothballs, threw them down there, put the dirt back in and covered up the holes with 5-6 paver stones on each side. I said, "Well, that should keep him out and solve the problem". He looked at me and said, "You think this is going to stop them from coming?! They're not going to give up their cavernous RESORT down there!". hahaha I kept my smile hidden for fear of upsetting him more, but once he went around the house, I had to laugh. I feel so bad for him getting hit with this on top of some of the other things we've been dealing with this weekend. It's not been a good time since he's been home, but Pete doesn't ever get mad, so when he does, I just have to smile. He makes such funny comments. :-) If anyone has any suggestions on how to keep the skunks from coming into our yard and digging, let me know. If this keeps going on, I can totally see Pete putting on his camo gear, sitting outside in the 20 degree weather all night with a rifle in his hand - waiting for anything that even LOOKS like a skunk, so he can get his frustrations out and blow them away. Could be an innocent black and white cat. Maybe even a squirrel who looks a little too frisky. I don't think he'd care at this point. He wants all of nature's finest to steer clear of our property or he will make them suffer!! ;-) I'd take another poll of what you think we have living under there, but I don't think we can even pretend we don't know. It's a skunk. Plain and simple. And, it's come to exact revenge on us killing two of its friends and I'm guessing the more we kill them, the more will come. Isn't that a line from "Field of Dreams"? If you kill them, they will come... Maybe we need to build a ball field in our yard, so the curse will be lifted.

It Has Begun..

Winter has arrived, much to my dismay. Usually I'm very excited about winter and snow and all that. But, this year I just haven't quite gotten into the mood. Maybe it's because we enjoyed such a beautiful Halloween, that I didn't want it to end. Nothing like being coat-free on an October evening. Cool days that were still nice enough to still keep the windows open. Perfect!! But the cold that has come this week has not been greeted with enthusiasm - at least not from me. As you can see from the pictures though, I have no choice but to accept it. The first snow of the year is falling. I don't expect it to actually create any accumulation, but if it's snowing, that means it's cold, and that more snow will be on its way eventually. The kids ran to the windows to watch it. They're thrilled to pieces!! The only problem is I have yet to buy them snow boots. So, we need to get out to the store soon and get them outfitted with their winter gear. Livie actually already has her boots. I got her some a couple weeks ago, but haven't had the chance to take Madie and Noah out shopping yet. Guess we'll do that this weekend, so we're prepared for the day that we actually get some inches on the ground. But this means, unless something changes by next week, I'll be shopping on Black Friday, freezing my butt off, waiting for the stores to open, so I can save those precious few dollars on a hamper I didn't need in the first place, but must buy it because it's 50% off!! Ahhh....the joys of winter. :-)

Thankfulness

At dinner tonight, we talked about what we were thankful for. These were the replies....


Madie: I'm thankful for the veterans and the soliders in the war, because they protect us. I'm also thankful for all the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, because I like to get together with all our family.

Noah: I'm thankful for food. Sometimes we're thankful for things we NEED, not what we want. We need food or we'll die. Oh! And, I'm thankful for crescent rolls.

Then......Livie said: blue dinosaur poop

'Nuf said.

Pergo Poling

We have lived in our house for 6 1/2 yrs now and it was brand new when we bought it. We loved it and still do. We've practically outgrown since we've added 3 new members of the family (that is, if you include our cat) since we moved in, but it's still our home and it fits us well. The major problem at this point - and honestly, it's been a problem for most of our 6+ yrs here - is the linoleum flooring. It's peeling up in places and is hard to keep clean, because it's white. PLUS, it's such a big area to try and mop. Who has time for that anyway? Well, a couple days ago, before Pete left again for Toronto, I heard a big thud and Pete go, "oh!". He had tripped over a bit of the peeling lino and pulled it up even more and broke off a piece. Great. So, now we have a grungy, peeling, TORN-UP floor now. Well, we've wanted wood flooring for a while and Pete said it's about time we finally broke down and got some. So, we'll be doing some shopping hopefully before the new year comes around. Question is... and I pose this to you all ... what color should we look for? I've posted 4 options that we took samples of a while back. Ranging from very light bamboo to a darker walnut color. I'd actually like an even darker color than that, I think. I'm more of a dark wood person, but looking at the rest of my house, I'm not sure what will work best. I have med/dark cabinetry in the kitchen like you see in the picture above, but the trim throughout the house, namely the foyer, is light. Then I have the dark ebony wood in the living room. This flooring will connect all of those rooms, since it's an open floor plan. So, I'm going to add a poll here to this blog, so I can see where the votes lie. Don't want to spend over $1000 on a floor that ends up sucking. So, trusty friends, place your votes and let me know what you think is the best option for my house. :-) The choices are as follows...

Choice A

Choice B

Choice C

Choice D

Boo-Boo Bunny

Poor Livie hit her head on her toy box tonight and was pretty upset. Thank goodness for boo-boo bunny! Can you see what it is? It's a refreezable ice cube that sits inside a bunny to keep their fingers from getting cold. We didn't have cool things like that when I was a kid. My mom just gave us a ziploc bag of ice cubes that we'd hold on our bumps. Not nearly as cute or handy as good 'ole bbb. Plus, it would leak when the ice melted. This is much better! It's been a healer of my kids for 7 years now. All I have to do is grab it and give it to whoever is crying and all seems to be well in the world again. Noah went and grabbed it for Livie when she started crying. Such a good big brother! And, once she was feeling better they all gave her a group hug to make her laugh. Of course, when I took the picture of her holding the bbb, she wasn't really in too much pain anymore, because she wasn't even holding it ON her boo-boo. She was putting it on the other side of her head. :-) But, at least she felt better.

**During the short course of writing this blog, we had yet another "incident". Madie slammed Livie's fingers in a drawer. She's just getting beat up today! It wasn't really hard, but hard enough to make Livie cry yet again and need more love from her good and trusty bunny friend. More hugs were applied and she is now safely in bed and will (hopefully) remain boo-boo free through the night.