Jada's Blog

This Weekend, I....

2010-10-11T18:36:00.003-05:00

didn't do much!

I did make some hamburg vegetable soup on Saturday and it tastes so yummy! I did two loads of laundry and still have more to finish.

The Alvarez's invited me over for dinner on Saturday evening. Scott made steaks on the grill and we had potatoes, corn, and broccoli and rice. Plus, they gave me a steak to take home, which I had for dinner tonight.

On Sunday, I taught Sunday School, went to church, and then met my parents for lunch at the Lisburn Fire Hall for BBQ ribs and chicken. When I got there, a couple from my church, Leon and Effie Mae, was eating with them! Effie Mae runs the preschool VBS and I helped her the past two years and she and Leon sometimes go out to eat with us singles on Sunday. Mom started going to the Happy Homemakers group that Effie Mae participates in and she knows the Gingrichs from Grace Baptist! Small world.

I got my Sunday afternoon nap in and that's about it. I watched TV Sunday night - Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Undercover Boss.

Then it was back to work today. I don't have much planned for weeknights this week, which is nice. Our On Mission Celebration starts on Saturday with a dinner and rally at my church. I'm looking forward to seeing my youngest sister and her family on Sunday for their hometown parade!

Wow! It's been more than a year!

2010-08-15T12:34:00.004-05:00

I can't believe it's been more than a year since I posted something on my blog! I really want to try to do better at posting, but with being able to catch up and keep up on Facebook, I will have to make it a priority!

Here's a picture of my nephew, L, who was born 9 weeks early on 3/19/09. He's now almost 17 months old and is just adorable!

I need to get some recent pictures of all my nieces and nephews. They're growing up too fast.

Here's a picture of my nephew, B, who turned 8 on 7/23. The family celebration was on 7/25. My Dad is also in the picture. He's had some health issues (first stage of COPD), but is doing well, for which I'm thankful! B's cake was chocolate, as you can tell from his shirt! LOL

Babies!

2009-06-01T16:49:00.005-05:00

So, it's been over three months since I posted. Just haven't been in the mood. But I did want to share some baby news!

My younger sister gave birth to her second son, 9 weeks early, on March 19th. Baby L spent a month in the NICU. He was never seriously sick, but as a preemie, he just needed to be monitored. He was delivered by emergency C-section on Thursday, March 19th at 7:13 AM. He weighed 4 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 17 inches long. He's now 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

Here's L in the NICU

4 Generations - Maim (Dad's mom), Corie, Dad, and L

Then, my best friend's daughter gave birth to a baby girl, K, on May 23rd at 12:57 PM. She weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces and 20.25 inches. She was 10 days late. LOL

Look at all that hair! She's so cute!

Here's me holding K a few hours after she was born. I haven't had a baby girl in my life since K's mommy and she's 19. So I 'imagine' K will be a little spoiled.

Sleeping. She looks like her mommy. =)

Friday's Fave Five

2009-02-26T18:55:00.003-05:00

Time for another edition of Susanne's Friday's Fave 5. I'm writing this on Thursday evening because I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go scrapbooking all weekend!

Here are my favorites from this week:

1. Dinner at Friendly's with two friends on Monday evening. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing and it worked out well. We shared the Loaded Waffle Fries and a Munchie Mania. We drank 3 carafes of coffee! An enjoyable time for sure.

2. A productive week at work, even though I only worked 3 days. I took off today to get ready to go scrapbooking and also took off tomorrow for scrapbooking.

3. Shopping! I did some shopping for baby stuff for my sister and best friend's daughter. Both are expecting in May. A boy and a girl, respectively. I also did some shopping for supplies for our Sunday School ministry at church.

4. Lunch today with my best friend. It was leisurely and relaxing. After lunch, we went to Starbucks for one of these:

Well, two of these, because we each got one!

5. Spending the weekend scrapbooking and being with friends! I leave tomorrow morning (Friday) and return Sunday afternoon. We're staying at a hotel and will scrap the time away!

For more FFF participants, visit Susanne's blog!

Friday's Fave Five

2009-02-20T11:26:00.004-05:00

Time for another edition of Susanne's Friday's Fave Five! It's a great opportunity to reflect on your week.

Here are my favorite five:

1. Sunday dinner with the family. Mom made a turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, cranberry sauce, and I made baked corn. My two brothers-in-law and oldest niece weren't able to join us, so we missed have them with us.

2. Lunch and shopping! I typically work on President's Day, but when my preggo (pregnant) sister said she was going to be in town and wanted to go baby shopping, I took Monday off! She, my mom, two nieces, and I went to lunch first at Mikado's, a Japanese-style restaurant. I always order the sesame chicken. It is sooo good! From there, we headed to a consignment shop full of baby stuff. I spent $40 there! But I did get some good bargains on baby boy clothes (for my nephew, L, who is due to arrive on 5/18) and baby girl clothes (for my best friend's daughter's baby, K, who is due to arrive on 5/12.) Then we went to Kmart where I bought a pair of slippers and a comfy pair of shoes.

3. Lunch out at work on Tuesday to celebrate two co-worker's work anniversaries. I had a chicken cordon bleu pretzel sandwich. Yummy!

4. Unplanned dinner last night with my friend, Patti. We just went to the food court at a local grocery store. I had salisbury steak (not chicken!), mashed potatoes, and mac 'n cheese from their hot food bar. Then I went home and did some scrapbooking!

5. I'm loooking forward to scrapbooking with friends tonight! And I must get organized for next weekend's Sweet Retreat, a whole weekend (Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon) of scrapbooking at a hotel!

For more FFF participants, visit Susanne's website!

Friday's Favorite Five

2009-02-13T09:16:00.008-05:00

Time for another edition of Susanne's Friday's Favorite Five!

Here are mine for this week, in no particular order:

1. Having friends over for dinner on Tuesday, and taking this picture:

ETA: This isn't a picture of me! It's of my best friend's daughter.

2. Enjoying flavored coffee and homemade pecan pie with friends last night! My friend, Patti, makes delicious pecan pies. She even gave me a whole one last night as a belated birthday present. I need to have friends over to help me eat it so I don't eat the whole thing!

3. Finally putting away all my snowmen decorations from the kitchen, living room, dining room and powder room. My table went from this:

to this!

I also put away all my Winterberry dishes and accessories.

4. Taking a day off work today to just rest. I have been feeling tired and run down all week, so I am listening to my body and taking it easy today.

5. Playing Bunko with friends on Monday evening, even though I lost!

For more FFF participants, head over to Susanne's!

Friday's Favorite Five

2009-01-23T07:28:00.003-05:00

Time for another edition of Fridays Fave 5, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Here are my 5 favorite things from this week:

1. 3-D sonogram pictures of my best friend's (Vickie) daughter's (Ashley) baby, Kaylee. A-mazing! She's due 5/13 and I can't wait to meet her!

2. Dinner at Vickie's. We just had leftovers, but it's always nice to get together. We had coffee and dessert, too!

3. The launch of my organization's new website! Love it.

4. Lunch out twice this week with friends.

5. Getting together with friends to scrapbook. That will be tonight. It's always fun!

Head over to Susanne's to see the other participants!

Friday's Fave Five

2009-01-16T07:40:00.004-05:00

5 Favorite things from this week:

1. Dinner at Panera with CM team. We had a fun time and the food is always yummy there!

2. Being able to help Mom out with laundry while she recupes from knee surgery. And then having dinner with Mom, Dad, Maim, and Tommy when I deliver the laundry! Mom made chicken stir fry.

3. Getting all warm and cozy under the covers. It's been cold here this week. And even though it's tough to get out of the warmness in the morning, I'm grateful to have enough blankets to keep warm and to have a job to go to each day.

4. Spur-of-the-moment plans to go out to lunch with a colleague. We enjoyed delicious chicken salad wraps and good conversation.

5. Love sipping hot coffee in the morning! I'm doing that now, but I need a refill!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

For more Friday's Fave Five participants, visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-01-12T07:37:00.003-05:00

I've seen several blogging women participate in this over the weeks and thought I'd give it a try

today!

FOR TODAY - January 12, 2009

Outside my window...The sun is trying to peek through

I am thinking...I hope it doesn't cost a lot when I take my car in this afternoon for the ' service engine soon' light that came on this weekend.

I am thankful for...my job. I started there as a secretary at age 19 and almost 24 years later, I am now VP.

From the kitchen...just coffee and a bagel for breakfast; packing my lunch; and dinner out this evening.

I am wearing...my pajamas. Need to get showered and dressed soon!

I am creating...an organized home. It is a process!

I am going...to work, then taking my car to the shop, grabbing something for dinner, followed by a Stewardship Committee meeting.

I am reading...The Redemption of Sarah Cain

I am hoping...this week isn't too busy.

I am hearing...the radio

Around the house...the organizing process!

One of my favorite things...hot coffee in the morning

A few plans for the rest of the week: working all week. Tuesday - dinner at Panera with Creative Memories team; Wednesday - small group; Thursday - nothing planned! Friday - scrapbooking with friends.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

My almost 95-year-old grandmother with my Dad (her son) on New Year's Day. She had a very mild stroke a couple months ago and has been living with my parents. My Mom takes very good care of her - Mom didn't want to put her in a nursing home. She can't live by herself anymore so this is an adjustment for everyone, but it's working out!

For more participants, visit Peggy's blog!

Christmas Tour

2008-12-15T07:34:00.006-05:00

It's BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes! Here's mine! I took a lot of close-up pictures rather than room-wide pictures.

Here's what you see when you come in the front door:

My banister. The santa is from Vickie and Scott. He's sitting on my aunt's childhood chair.

This is the back of the front door.

Snowmen on the secretary inside the front door.

This snow couple is sitting under the secretary. My Dad made these and I love them!

My Boyds Christmas tree.

Boyds NOEL from Linda and some snowmen.

The top of my entertainment center. And this is my Christmas tree for this year. It was easy to set up!

CD/DVD rack

End table

The other end table

Snowmen trio

Dining room table

Fabric Christmas wreath on powder room door. Jo's daughter, Carole, made it. I hang it up every year in Carol's memory.

Snowmen in the powder room.

Powder room

On the back of the door to the deck.

On the pantry door

Snowmen in the kitchen

I love my Pfaltzgraff Winterberry pattern! This is on top of the microwave.

The stove

The kitchen sink

Winterberry dishes, mugs, and butter dish on the kitchen counter

Thanks for taking the tour!

M is 4!

2008-11-25T06:47:00.003-05:00

My youngest nephew turned 4 on November 15th! The family celebration was held on Saturday.

The Transformer birthday cake

Making a wish!

Opening presents! He received a lot of Hot Wheels stuff!

And when he opened the Scooby-Doo DVD, he said, "It's what I always wanted!" Too cute!

Brotherly love!

Even though it was his birthday, he w.o.u.l.d. NOT smile much! But he was very cute when he thanked everyone for their gift and gave lots of hugs and kisses!

Happy Birthday, M! I love you!

Friday's Fave Five - My 2nd One

2008-11-14T09:49:00.006-05:00

This is my second time participating in Susanne's Friday's Fave Five.

1. Participating in a Boyds Bingo fundraiser for a 7-year-old girl with a rare form of cancer...and winning two games! The first game and the last game!

2. Enjoying fresh Fall flowers. They're from our Annual Luncheon.

3. Being organized enough this week to set up the coffee pot the night before so there's hot, fresh coffee when I wake up! I love the smell of coffee, and waking up to it is just wonderful.

4. Comfort food! I made a big casserole dish of The Lady's Cheesy Mac ("The Lady" being Paula Deen!) on Tuesday and had my best friend and her two boys over for dinner. I'm still enjoying the leftovers.

5. Two evenings this week without anything planned. No meetings to attend, no "chores" to be done, etc. I did get some of my scrapbooking stuff organized. Still working on that!

It was a great week! I hope yours was, too.

Thanks 'N' Giving Swap

2008-11-06T20:48:00.004-05:00

I participated in Susan's Thanks 'N' Giving Swap. She was my partner! Here are the things she sent me:

A crocheted hot pad, an apron she made, an oven mitt and two pot holders, Pumpkin Spice body wash, 6 tea bags, a wooden pumpkin that says "Give Thanks," a Mary Englebreit book, a cloth grocery bag that she also made, and a Fall table runner. I love everything! I've already used the body wash, I have the wooden pumpkin with my Fall decortions, along with the Mary Englrebreit book, and I plan to use all the other stuff real soon!

Oh, here's the table runner on my kitchen island. It's really long, so I have it folded in half. I'll use it on my dining table at some point - right now I have a Fall tablecloth on it. At least I finished going through all my magazines - you couldn't even seen the tablecloth from all the magazines and articles I was saving to file!

If I had to pick a favorite thing, it would be the apron! I didn't have a Fall/Autumn-themed apron, so I love this one! Plus, she made it! Now I should host Thanksgiving Dinner so I get to wear it soon!

Thanks, Susan! I enjoyed being your partner.

She posted the things I sent her in this post.

General Election Day 2008

2008-11-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

Fall 2008

2008-11-03T07:06:00.004-05:00

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love all the vibrant colors and the warm days and cooler evenings. Here are some pictures I took:

I took these first four from the 8th floor of the parking garage at work. I was hoping to get the colors of the trees in the mountains, but they're too far away. But the view is cool!

This is the front of my house. Nothing spectacular. I just wanted a picture with my McCain/Palin yard sign!

Here's the tree I see every morning out my front door.

And here's the same tree four days later!

Another tree, to the left of my front door.

I took these last two pictures on my way home from visiting my sister and her family. I was driving, down a mountain, put the window down, with my camera out the window, and just snapped. LOL It was cloudy and drizzling. On the way to visit them, it was beautiful - warm and sunny - but I didn't stop to take any pictures. ::sigh::

Friday's Fave Five

2008-10-31T09:24:00.003-05:00

This is my first time participating in Susanne's Friday's Fave 5, though I've thought about it plenty of times - just didn't take the time to participate!

1. Enjoying Pumpkin Spice coffee at the office every morning and coffee with pumpkin spice creamer at home. YUM!

2. Spending several days with my two nieces and my oldest nephew while their parents were away. Here they are doing homework.

3. Enjoying the colors of Fall.

4. Seeing the trick-or-treaters last night. I do have pictures of my best friend's kids, but they're still on my camera.

5. A great small-group discussion on Wednesday. We're reading the book, "How to Listen to God," by Charles Stanley.

Recipes Organized!

2008-10-22T05:58:00.004-05:00

While I was camping earlier this month, I finally finished organizing my recipe collection! I had a bunch of recipes on 8.5 x 11 paper, hand-written on pieces of paper, and recipe-themed magainzes piled high. I ordered a recipe book, with matching recipe cards, and plastic pages.

Then I started sorting through the recipes and magazines. Once I had the recipes I wanted to keep, I wrote them on recipe cards. If there was a picture associated with the recipe, I included that on the recipe card. I need a visual!

Here's what I started with when I remembered to take a picture. I had already sorted through a stack of recipes.

And here are the recipes all organized and neat!

I also stole this idea from Barb at A New Chelsea Morning. She created a Good Things notebook with sheet protectors. It includes all kinds of useful and fun information. Now, when I'm reading a magazine, I tear out any articles I want to keep and they go in the notebook.

Here's mine:

I love having things organized, but sometimes it gets overwhelming. I just made up my mind to get these two things organized, and I did it! It took some time, but it's d-o-n-e! And I'm h-a-p-p-y!

2008 Camping Vacation

2008-10-10T06:04:00.005-05:00

Mom, Dad, Tommy, and I spent almost a week 'camping' in a modern cabin last week. We spent a lot of time inside because it rained and was chilly. We did have some nice afternoons. I read a book, started another one, finished organizing my recipes (I'll do a separate post on that sometime soon!), played games (Parcheesi, Rack-O, Shanghai) with Mom, and relaxed!

Here's our cabin:

Ben, Wendie, and the boys came to visit. Mom had some crafts for the boys. Here they are making foam crowns.

There were a lot of black walnuts, so I told the boys I'd give them a nickel for every walnut they collected. They ended up with 24. Since I didn't have 48 nickels, they each got 24 dimes! (I keep a bunch of loose change in my car.)

Here are some pictures of the lake. So calm, beautiful, serene, peaceful....

I made Eggs Benedict. Well, Mom poached the eggs because I didn't know how to do that, but now I do! These were yummy!

We made pizza mountain pies over the campfire. These were yummy, too! Mom mixed turkey burger, onions, pepperoni, green peppers, and red peppers, and we added pizza sauce and mozzerella cheese!

Here's Mom making breakfast and Tommy ready for dinner of spare ribs, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes. Yeah, we roughed it. LOL Mom loves to cook, so we are spoiled!

Here's Dad at dinner.

Pepperoni Pizza Bake Recipe

2008-09-10T08:46:00.003-05:00

Look! I'm posting a recipe! It's for the Pepperoni Pizza Bake I made on Sunday:

When I made it, I doubled the recipe and used a 13x9 baking dish.

1 can (16.3 ozs.) Pillsbury Grands Homestyle Refrigerated Original Biscuits (I couldn't find these so I used the Buttermilk)
1 can (8 ozs.) pizza sauce
2 C finely shredded mozzarella
16 slices of pepperoni (I didn't count. LOL I just layered the whole top with pepperoni!)

Cut each biscuit into 8 pieces; toss with pizza sauce and 1 C of the cheese.

Spread in 8-inch square glass baking dish.

Top with pepperoni and remaining 1 C cheese.

Bake @ 375 degrees for 22-28 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. (I baked it longer since I doubled the recipe.)

It really is good!

Cooking and Baking

2008-09-09T06:25:00.004-05:00

I did some baking and cooking this weekend! I know!

I used zucchini from my brother's garden to make these zucchini breads. They turned out so moist and yummy!

Ready to go in the oven...

Just out of the oven and cooling.

I had friends over for dinner on Sunday and made these peanut butter and chocolate cookie cups. They also turned out yummy!

For dinner, I made baked mac 'n cheese (Paula Deen's recipe)

And pepperoni pizza bake. This is the first time I made this. I doubled the recipe, and it turned out great. And so simple. My kind of recipe!

Back to School!

2008-08-30T08:49:00.003-05:00

4 out of 5 of my nieces and nephews are in school! M, the youngest - he'll be 4 in November - will head off to preschool next week!

The older kids were the first to head back to school on Wednesday.

Here's C (5th grade), H (3rd grade), and J (8th grade) ready for their first day back to school!

And here they are getting on the bus!

B headed off to his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday!

Here he is having some breakfast.

His little brother M having some breakfast, too.

And here's B with his smile, backpack, and lunch!

Have a great year, kids!

Happenings

2008-08-28T19:01:00.005-05:00

The first "happening" was my sister Corie's marriage to Scott on August 1st. She lost her first husband, Doug, in 2001 to a virus of the heart. Doug was 31, she was 32, and C was almost 4. Corie met Scott, a widowed pastor with two girls - J (14) and H (9) in January on Ya*hoo personals. They were engaged on April 14th and married on August 1st!

It was a beautiful ceremony. In place of a unity candle, they had a family candle and a Family Medallion Service. Corie and Scott promised to love them unconditionally and to raise them as a family; then they gave each of the kids a family mediallion necklace. I was glad I had tissues tucked in my flowers!

Here are some candid pictures from the wedding:

C, the best man, and Scott walking into the church! The groomsmen walked up the aisle to the theme from Star Wars! C's idea. Very cool!

Corie is escorted by Doug's Dad, Jim, and our Dad, Tom

The Family Medallion Service

J and H after the wedding. (I think J looks like Corie!)

Dad and Mom

The newly married couple!

We went to Scott's church on Saturday morning for a reception in their Fellowship Hall. His church folks had it decorated so lovely.

Kissing

One of the cakes at the Saturday reception. Beautiful!

Oh yeah. I had my first-ever pedicure for the wedding since I was wearing open-toed heels! I got a French pedicure....

And a French manicure. I was able to get my own fingernails French manicured since they were long enough!

I traveled for work the first week in August. I took some scenic pictures:

The last happening I'll share in this post is C's 11th birthday party!

Hard to believe he's 11! Corie, Scott, and the family now live 2 hours away. They were back in our neck of the woods for a wedding this past weekend, so we were able to celebrate C's birthday, which was fun! He had a party at the bowling alley!

My next post in a day or two will be pictures of the kids as they head back to school!

Catching Up

2008-07-30T06:31:00.004-05:00

Let's see...last week was Vacation Bible School at church. I helped with the preschoolers. I was crew leader for the 4-year-olds. Most evenings, we (I had two helpers) had 11 kiddos. We used the Power Lab curriculum. The kids enjoyed it as much as the adults! It was a fun week, considering some of the kids WOULD NOT obey! Seems like I did a lot scolding.

I went to see the movie Mamma Mia! with my friends Linda and Patti. We all loved it! It's a chick flick. Meryl Streep can sing! And so can Pierce Brosnan. I was the one who cheered in the theater when he took off his shirt! Before the movie, we went to dinner. It was a fun evening! I even spent $3.50 on Dippin' Dots! Cookies and Cream. YUMMY!

I finally cleaned out my car. Exciting news, huh?! It was disgustingly dirty. I had spilled chicken corn soup (the jar lid wasn't on tight), iced tea, and coffee months ago. Originally, I wanted to take my car to have it dry cleaned at the car wash place. It's $29.95, but it takes 4 hours. So trying to coordinate someone to pick me up there, drop me off at home, etc. wasn't working out. Another car wash place wanted $99 for a shampooing! I ended up getting a can of Tu*rtle Wax car upholstery cleaner and cleaned it myself! I was very pleased with the results. The stains on the passenger seat are gone! And the carpet cleaned up nicely, too. I added new car mats, wiped down the dashboard, console, doors, etc. So now it looks like a new car instead of an old one!

My sister Corie is getting married Friday, so we're getting ready for all the festivities. The rehearsal is 9 AM Friday morning, followed by a brunch, hair/makeup appointments, pictures, and the wedding at 5 PM. The reception is at 6 PM. Then Saturday morning we (the bridal party and parents and inlaws) meet back at the church for a light breakfast before we drive 2 hours for a reception at the groom's church. I'm getting a manicure and my first pedicure tomorrow! I took the day off work. Well, first Mom and I are meeting for lunch, then going shopping for the goodies for the Saturday morning breakfast. It'll be a busy weekend, but Corie and Scott will be happy to be married! I'll post pictures as soon as I can!

A through Z

2008-07-17T21:10:00.003-05:00

I found this on Marybeth's blog and decided to post it, too, since I have nothing else interesting to share!

A is for age.
42
B is for burger of choice.
One with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and grilled onions.
C is for what car you drive.
A 2005 Saturn Ion.
D is for Dog's name.
I don't have a dog.
E is for essential item you use every day.
Deodorant
F is for favorite tv show at the moment.
Law and Order SVU. Christopher Meloni is such a hunk!
G is for Favorite game.
Phase Ten
H is for Hometown.
Lewisberry
I is for instruments you play.
None, but I did take piano and clarinet lessons in my younger years.
J is for favorite juice.
Orange
K is for who you'd like to kiss.
My future husband. If you see him, let me know. LOL
L is for last restaurant you ate at.
Roxy's for lunch
M is for your favorite Muppet.
I didn't really watch the Muppets, but Kermit the Frog is cute.
N is for number of piercings.
Two - one in each ear.
O is for overnight hospital stays.
None
P is for people you were with today.
One co-worker at the office, Patti at lunch, and Linda to catch up
Q is for what you do with your quiet time.
Read, pray.
R is for biggest regret.
Gaining back the weight I lost.
S is for status.
Single as single gets.
T is for time you woke up today.
6:00
U is for what you consider unique.
Every person.
V is for vegetable you love.
Carrots.
W is for worst habit.
Procrastination.
X is for number of x-rays you've had.
I think just one - when I broke my leg when I was 3.
Y is for yummy food you ate today.
Cousin Rachel sandwich - like a Reuben, but with turkey and coleslaw.
Z is for zodiac sign.
Sagittarius-- though I don't believe in the zodiac. At. All.

If you post this, send me a link so I can come read your answers!

I'm in Heaven!

2008-07-15T09:14:00.002-05:00

I'll be stopping by Sta*ples soon to visit their new Post-it (R) Shop!

Heaven, I'm in Heaven!

Weekend Fun!

2008-07-14T06:07:00.006-05:00

Since my oldest nephew, C, will be moving away when his mom marries Scott (email me for wedding details!), I had a sleepover with C and his two buddies, A & A (my best friend's boys). I picked them up after work on Thursday, came home and made English muffins pizzas, and then we went to Wal*Mart. I broke my sunglasses so I needed a new pair. I let the boys each pick out something for under $10. They each got a toy (shocking!). Then we went to Mc*Donald's for ice cream, came home, got ready for bed, and I went up to bed while they wrestled in the living room and watched TV. I woke up around 2:15 and all was quiet. In the morning, they said they stayed up til 1:30!

I made pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I packed us a picnic lunch and we headed off to the park with a fun fort. I originally planned to take them to see Wall-e, but when I gave them a choice of doing that or going to The Coliseum, they picked The Coliseum - a big arcade. We spent the afternoon there. The boys won some tickets playing games and such and when they combined them, they had 1,470. They divided them evenly among themselves and had fun picking out prizes. We had a snack and sodas at the restaurant there, followed by ice cream at Maggie Moo's. Then it was time to take them home.

The boys at the park

The boys at lunch

Here are some pictures of the boys at The Coliseum:

On Saturday, the ladies at Corie's church hosted a bridal tea for her. It was such a lovely event and Corie received many thoughtful gifts.

The bride-to-be

Corie's friend, Juli, and our Mom

The ladies also got Scott's girls little gifts. So thoughtful. Here's J opening her gifts...

and here's H opening hers. They also got C a gift, too.

The 'head' table - each of the ladies and girls had a real tea cup and saucer and the ladies served us tea and had yummy food and desserts. It was a fun, memorable event.

On Sunday, I went to church, stopped by Ar*by's for a quick lunch, went to visit my grandmother, came home and rested (and dozed off), then I finished up laundry and did some light cleaning.

This week promises to be pretty calm with not a lot of plans, which is good ahead of VBS the following week!

Blessings to all!

Weekend in Review

2008-07-07T06:35:00.005-05:00

Our 4th of July picnic was at Mom and Dad's - just 4 of us - Mom, Dad, Tommy, and me. Corie and C were at Scout Camp and Wendie and her family were camping.
Dad did the grilling - pork chops and zucchini

Not a good picture of Tommy. Sorry, Tommy!

A great picture of Mom!

Dad, with his glasses off.

Mom made each of us a salad. They were delicious!

Pork chops and zucchini. We had corn on the cob and pickled eggs as well. All yummy! Even if it did rain. Thankfully, Mom and Dad's patio is screened in.

I made chocolate chip cookies with Sple*nda. They were dry, but edible. I got ice cream to go with them since they were so dry.

One of my Sunday School preschoolers turned 4 yesterday! C kept saying, "I want to go home now and open my other presents."

After lunch with Jeff on Sunday, I stopped at a Hall*mark store for some cards and also bought this table runner. The first purple one I picked up had a price tag of $44.00. LOL The next one said $9.50. That's more reasonable, so it's on my dining table.

Here's a close up.

I talked to B (soon to be 6) and asked him how camping was. He said it was fun. I asked if he went swimming and he said, "Yes, we even went swimming at night time!" I said, "No way!" And he said "Yes way!" Cracked me up!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Baby Bunny

2008-07-02T06:43:00.003-05:00

There's a baby bunny in my front yard - all by itself. It is so cute! I had the A's over for dinner last night and the boys enjoyed watching the bunny moving around.

Over the last few years, I've had bunnies nests in my creeping phlox, but I pulled that out to add stones because I was tired of pulling weeds. So I was surprised when my neighbor told me about the baby bunny. It was nestled in the corner of my stones and the steps. When it started moving around, I took some pictures.

I hope the bunny is safe - I'll check this morning when I leave for work.

Just Chatting

2008-06-26T06:09:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's Thursday already! This week is flying by. Actually, this whole year is flying by - it's almost half over!

Do you think I was thirsty last Friday?! I took this picture after I saw all the beverages on my desk! There's a bottle of water, two cups of water, white tea, and coffee. The bottle of water is unopened, but I was drinking from the 4 others throughout the day.

On Saturday, Cindy and I had a picnic at church for our Sunday School class of preschool 3. It was a gorgeous day, and the kids had fun on the playground. We had hotdogs, goldfish crackers, watermelon, and chocolate Rice Krispie treats.

On Saturday evening, I went to dinner at Apple*bee's and to see Mamma Mia with my friend, Linda. What an awesome musical! I loved it. And I found out that the movie version is coming out July 18th. I'll be going to see that, too!

<--the Broadway musical <--the movie version

In Sunday School, some of the kids were clowning around and being cute!

Aren't they adorable?!

On Sunday afternoon, I went to lunch with some of our Board members; then one of them received a Humanitarian Award from the Chapel of Four Chaplains. It was a nice ceremony and a well-deserved award.

This week has been kind of quiet in the evenings on the home front. I went with my sister Corie to pick out and order her wedding flowers on Monday; and haven't done much the rest of the week. Tonight, I have to get ready for my all-day scrapbooking event on Saturday. Our Board meetings are this Friday during the day; then I get a perm; then heading to set up for Saturday. On Sunday, some friends and I are going to Outback for lunch after church. I haven't been there in ages. Can't wait to taste the Bloomin' Onion!

That's all for now! Enjoy your day!

Wednesday Whatnot

2008-06-18T06:02:00.006-05:00

Here's a mish-mash of a post, with a lot of pictures!

On Saturday, Wendie, Mom, and I hosted Corie's bridal shower. She received nice, thoughtful gifts. It was a fun event!

The food. We also had a chocolate fountain. YUMMY!

The happy bride-to-be

The cake was almost too pretty to cut and eat, but we did!

Three sisters - Wendie, Corie, and me

Mom's cool 'dancing dolphins' plant. The flowers look like dolphins! Can you see them?

Here are some pictures from our Father's Day picnic.

I was in charge of grilling. Dad wanted hotdogs, bratwurst, and cheeseburgers. So that's what we grilled!

The picnic table with food

Dad

I took some pictures from the 10th floor of the parking garage at work.

I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Show and Tell

2008-06-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

For this week's Show and Tell Friday, I'm sharing pictures of a teapot with four mugs that my future brother-in-law let me have when my sisters and I helped him clean out his basement to get ready for my sister and nephew to move in once they're married. His wife passed away a little over two years ago and my sister's husband passed away seven years ago this July. So for them to find love again is just awesome! We're all so happy for them, though Corie and C will be moving two hours away. =( At least we have email and telephone to communicate!

Be sure to head over to Kelli's to see all the Show and Tell participants!

P.S. I tried to share this as last week's Show and Tell, but Blogger wouldn't let me upload any pictures last Friday morning when I had time to be on the computer!

What a giveaway!

2008-06-05T06:04:00.002-05:00

I want a chance to win this giveaway, so here's a link to WOW: www.wowonline.com

No kidding! WOW! That's a lot of CDs:

1. Barlow Girl - How Can We Be Silent
2. Aaron Shust - Whispered and Shouted
3. Cadia - Cadia
4. Point of Grace - How You Live
5. Skillet - Comatose
6. Brandon Heath - Don’t Get Comfortable
7. Michael W. Smith - Stand
8. Third Day - Wherever You Are
9. Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago
10. Casting Crowns - The Altar and the Door
11. Steven Curtis Chapman - This Moment
12. Chris Tomlin - See the Morning
13. Matthew West - Something To Say
14. David Crowder Band - Remedy
15. Jeremy Camp - Beyond Measure
16. Newsboys - Go
17. Toby Mac - Portable Sounds

Here's hoping I win one of the 20 sets!! =)

Catchin' Up

2008-06-03T07:29:00.009-05:00

Since it's been a month since I posted, there are a lot of pictures in this post!

On May 3rd, I had a Kids Only Workshop for kids to come scrapbook! Four boys and two girls attended. They all seemed to have a great time, even though someone spilled soda on C's pages. Fortunately, his pictures didn't get ruined, but the pages did. I was able to re-create his pages for him to re-do the journaling and drawings.

Cousins A & N

The girls - nieces H & J

Da boys are scrappin'

Tuesday, May 6th: Laughing with the Ladies - a friend invited me to attend this event with Kerri Pomarolli. My friend hosted a table, which she decorated, and provided yummy desserts.

The pretty table

A blurry pic of Kerri

Mom, Corie, Wendie, H, and I went shopping for a wedding dress for Corie and dresses for Wendie and I as honor attendants. Corie bought a wedding dress - I can't post a picture because we don't want Scott to see it! After shopping, we went to Ol*ive Gar*den for lunch. I had the Garlic Tuscany Chicken. One word: DELICIOUS! I took a picture of it! LOL

For Mother's Day, we were going to take Mom to Red Lob*ster, but at 4:00, the wait was 2.5 hours! Instead, we went to a Japanese restaurant. What a fun time! Our food was prepared right at our table.

Our chef. He was a fun guy!

He made an onion volcano! The people in the picture we part of our table - we didn't know them.

Me, Dad, Mom, Corie, and C

We celebrated Maim's 94th birthday on May 18th with a picnic at Mom and Dad's. Her birthday is May 19th.

M and Maim - he likes to 'help' blow out candles!

Maim opening presents

Maim and Dad

Finally, playing the Wii

H bowling

Wendie bowling

C playing baseball

J bowling

A fun month! I'll try to be more regular about posting!

23 Years

2008-05-02T21:03:00.002-05:00

Today, I celebrated 23 years at my job! I was 19 when I started there as a secretary, then promoted to Director of Administration, and then Vice President a few years ago.

We went to Red Lob*ster for lunch and my co-workers gave me these cards and some cold, hard cash!

This card plays "The Best" by Tina Turner. Very cool!

My sister made this card for my Mom to give to me. Mom came in to volunteer 21 years ago and we hired her as our Director of Membership Services. She retired in June, came back to help us out when the girl I hired to take Mom's place quit in November, and just retired again yesterday!

It was a fun celebration! No one thought to bring a camera. =( But I'll have the memories with me.

Show and Tell Friday

2008-05-02T06:30:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I participated in Kelli's Show and Tell Friday.

I've been cleaning out and organzing and came across these books from my childhood that Mom saved for me!

The first is a Noah's Ark book.

It was given to me by my second cousins, Steve and Dennis, for Christmas 1966. I was a year and 5 days old! Steve and Dennis have three other siblings - Renee', Leslee, and Eric - all older than me. I wonder if they got me something else for Christmas that year?! LOL The book is in good shape!

These 3 books are still in good shape, too. I'm so glad to have all of them. I need to figure out a way to display them and any additional books I may 'find' as I'm cleaning out and organizing!

Thanks for looking at my Show and Tell! Be sure to head over to Kelli's to see all the other participants' Show and Tell goodies!

Bloom Swap

2008-04-25T07:01:00.005-05:00

I particpated in the Sister's Shoebox Swap for the first time this Spring! My partner was Joyce and it was a lot fun shopping for the goodies for her box. I'm not creative so I bought all her gifts.

And, I totally forgot to take a picture of what I sent her!

Here are the wondeful goodies she sent me:

Note cards, picture frame, and a cute little bunny

Two colorful tea towels

More picture frames, journal book, and a book mark.

Thanks, Joyce!

And thanks Carrie and Monica for hosting and organizing this fun event!

Signs of Spring!

2008-04-24T05:51:00.004-05:00

Spring has finally arrived! Warm days and cooler evenings. Ahhh!

This is the rhododendron bush in my front 'yard.'

Mom's pretty flowers

And an engagement! My sister Corie is engaged to Scott. They both lost their spouses at young ages, so this is such a blessing. And Scott has two sweet daughters so we will now have granddaughters/nieces in our family! Yea!

Here's the happy couple

Their kids - C, J, and H

The soon-to-be H family!

The wedding is August 1st and we're all excited!

Congratulations, Corie and Scott!

Vacation Memories

2008-04-12T19:26:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday, I left for a week-long vacation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania with a "more mature" lady from church and her sister. We had a nice, relaxing time. I finished four books and started a fifth, did some scrapbooking, and napping! We also did some tourist-y things.

We stayed in a villa for the week. I had the upstairs bedroom and bathroom with a huge walk-in closet. Too bad I didn't bring a lot of clothes. LOL

Here are some pictures.

Our dinner Saturday evening. I made turkey burger meatloaf. YUMMY!

We stopped at a Welcome Center.

Betty and Sue at breakfast at the Shawnee Inn.

On Wednesday, we took a tour of Delaware Water Gap on a trolly.

The Trolly

Two ranges of mountains, covering two states - NJ & PA. The ones on the right are the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania.

I took this picture out the window of the trolly. I just like the house.

On Thursday, we went to Bushkill Waterfalls. Amazing! Sue and I did some 'hiking' on the trails. And my thighs can tell!

Spring hasn't really sprung yet, but I can imagine it will be pretty. And I bet the Fall colors are amazing.

Afterwards, we stopped at this local general store. It had wooden floors, but nothing else really fascinating. We expected it to be more of a "back in time" kind of store. It was more like a convenience store.

Buttermilk Waterfall

It was great to get away, but it's nice to be home.

Easter Egg Hunt and Birthday Celebration

2008-04-05T07:59:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday, March 30th, I had an Easter egg hunt at mom and dad's for my three nephews! We all weren't together on Easter Sunday and we were getting together on the 30th to celebrate Ben's and Wendie's birthdays, so we had our egg hunt before the birthday celebrating!

B hunting for eggs.

Mommy helps B get the egg on the bird house!

M found an egg!

C spots an egg!

B, C, and M

After they found all the eggs, we went inside for them to open the eggs. They each had 10 eggs and 7 of the eggs had 'tickets' inside for the boys to claim a prize! They said it was like Christmas!

One of C's prizes!

M opens a prize

B got a coloring tablet

Time to celebrate birthdays! Ben turned 39 on March 21st and Wendie turned 38 on the 25th.

Mom made an ice cream cake! There was a layer of vanilla ice cream between the two-layer cake! It was yummy!

Making wishes!

B liked his Daddy's card from Corie and C

For dinner, we had chicken and Polish noodles! All delicious!

Easter 2008 Memories

2008-03-27T05:50:00.007-05:00

My church had a first-ever Easter egg hunt on Saturday, 3/15 and I took my three nephews! My best friend and her hubby brought their two boys, too! I didn't get any pictures of the big kids hunting for eggs because the kids were divided by age and I stayed with the little ones.

My three adorable, cute nephews - M, C, and B!

That's Dingaling, the clown.

M hunting for eggs.

B hunting for eggs.

After the egg hunt, the kids played on the playground.

Easter Sunday

My preschool II & III Sunday School kids!

We had our Easter dinner at 5:00 at Mom and Dad's - Ben, Wendie, and their boys were at Ben's parents this year. We'll all be getting together this Sunday for our egg hunt and to celebrate Ben's and Wendie's birthdays!

Mom and C

Mashed potatoes, asparagus, and ham

C getting some yummy ham

Tom and Corie

Dad

I made Sweet Potato Casserole

C displays the double-layer brownie, with peanut butter between the layers, that his mom made for one of our desserts.

My brother, Tom, makes ice cream!

Mom made this strawberry cake.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter! He is risen!

Typing Test

2008-03-19T09:11:00.003-05:00

I hadn't taken a typing test in years! I interviewed at my current job in 1985!! We still have the Xe*rox typewriter I took my typing test on, and it still works! We do use it occasionally.

Here are my results:

81 words

Speedtest

How fast can you type?

Spring Decorations

2008-03-13T18:42:00.004-05:00

Kelli is hosting a Spring Decorating event where we show our Spring decorations. I only decorate my living room/dining room area for Spring.

Some cute little lambs.

My dining room table. That blue ceramic egg has my name on it and is dated 1972. My cat knocked it off the table the other day. She's lucky it didn't break! My great-grandmother made the big doilie.

This is the new wreath I'll be hanging on my front door. Right now, I have a "Happy St. Patrick's Day" sign there.

The top of my entertainment shelf.

Some bunnies.

More bunnies.

Oh, look. More bunnies!

Garland on my banister.

More bunnies

The first ever crafty thing I did - these two mop bunnies!

Some bunny shelf-sitters.

The inside of my house is decorated for Spring! The outside, however, is for St. Patrick's Day. I'll hang up the Spring wreath and my Spring flags on 3/18!

Thanks for looking at my Spring decorations!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T06:25:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!

And to share my Valentine's Day decorations.

We've had some wind and all the neighborhood leaves found their way to my front yard! Of course, now the leaves are covered in snow and ice from the storms we've had this week.

Dining room table centerpiece. Those are peanut butter cups and peanut butter kisses! Help yourself!

Some silk flower arrangements in my living room.

Leah, one my preschoolers in Sunday School, got me some chocolates and mini roses for Valentine's Day! So thoughtful.

Enjoy this day!

P.S. The Valentine's Day graphics are from here:. Jennifer has the cutest country graphic and web sets. Check it out!

Favorite Things

2008-02-12T16:18:00.000-05:00

These are a few of my favorite things....

My Cuisinart coffee maker. It gets used every day!

My Cuisinart ice cream maker. Just got this and used it once. FAB-U-LOUS vanilla ice cream! I bought this on the recommendation of Susanne and I wasn't disappointed!

My Creative Memories albums. A lot of time, money, and materials went into these! I need to move them up to the living room near the door so if there's ever a fire, I can grab them! Right now, they're on a book shelf in my rec room.

My Dymo label maker.

And, finally, my Boyds Bears collection...and this isn't all of them. I have some packed away because I still have my snowmen collection displayed in the living room. And I didn't take a picture of the stuffed Boyds Bears going up both sides of my stairs.

Boyds clock and Boyds Christmas tree

These two shelf pictures are the same shelf. I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.

Thanks for looking at some of my favorite things!

Good Things

2008-02-02T17:58:00.000-05:00

Recapping this week....

1. Finding Mom's scarf she thought she lost on her way into work. It was made for her by Toni, Wendie's mother-in-law, for her retirement party. I found it in the parking garage when I took the mail out on Wed. afternoon. She asked me to go look for it and the nice person who found it had hung it over the wall across from the elevator!

2. A hot cup of coffee every morning.

3. My nephew, C, winning Best of Show at his Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby last Saturday! (Technically, this is from last week, but I didn't post about it then.)

4. Making a $100 error in my checkbook balance, in my favor! WOOHOO!

5. Lunch out with friends twice this week.

6. Small group. We started a new study on Wednesday and we're having a Super Bowl party tomorrow.

7. A relaxing dinner by myself at a new coffee shop .

8. A nap, under the covers, on an icy/rainy, cold day off from work.

9. Scrap booking with friends.

Show and Tell Friday

2008-02-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hi! Happy Friday! Can you believe it's February 1st already? I can't!

We are having a cold, rainy day today. It was icy out this morning so I didn't go into work today. Neither did anyone else from the office!

Today, I am showing and telling about the shelf above my kitchen sink. My kitchen is decoated in green and sunflowers. And I love litle, dainty stuff so this shelf is perfect!

Here's the full view of it.

And a close-up of the right side.

And the left side.

And a blurry view of the little sunflower girl. I just love her! She was a bit pricey, at $9.95 a few years ago, but I couldn't pass her up!

Head over to Kelli's to see all the other Show and Tells!

Enjoy your weekend!

Wednesday What Not

2008-01-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Let's catch up!

On Saturday morning, I went to a children's ministry meeting at church from 9 -12. Our children's pastor gave us some useful information and has some very cool outreach events planned over the next several months!

Then in the evening, my sisters and I went out for a Sister's Dinner! My brother-in-law, Ben, watched his two boys and Corie's son. The three of us went to a Chinese/Japanese restaurant. We spent two hours there!

Corie and Wendie both ordered fish, including sushi. Gag me! I ordered a vegetable roll for an appetizer, thinking it was like the vegetable rolls I get with Chinese food, like an egg roll. Wrong! Here's what a vegetable roll is:
I ate one of them and didn't like it so Corie and Wendie ate the other five!

Here are pictures of our meals:
I ordered sesame chicken. The cut-out carrots are cute!
This is Corie's meal.
And here's Wendie's meal.

We also exchanged gifts. It's a tradition when the three of us do something special together. I took these pictures when I got home.
Corie got me this and Wendie got me a clothespin holder:

I got Corie two silk butterfly bushes. She loves butterflies. And I got Wendie a ceramic picture frame for her to put a picture of her boys - it says "I love my Mom!"

After dinner, we went back to Wendie and Ben's for coffee and chit chat for another two hours. I took some pictures!

My three nephews.

M playing peek-a-boo!

M trying to put a necklace on me. He's so cute!

I thought this was cool so I took a couple pictures. It's Ben's grandmother's coffee grinder, probably from the late 1800's. Wonder if Laura Ingalls Wilder used one of these?!

That's all for now! I'm heading upstairs to read! I hope everyone is having a great week!

Show and Tell Friday

2008-01-18T07:17:00.000-05:00

It's time once again for Show and Tell Friday hosted by Kelli!

I love calendars and I love displaying them and writing in them. And I also love using them in my Creative Memories albums. I sell Creative Memories and they came out with a product I love. It's an Everyday Display. I like it because you can change it out! It comes with six magnets and six little clothes pins. It comes in black or white. If you'd like to order one, contact me!

I like the black one since, for now, all my walls are white! This year I decided to display a calendar for each month! Creative Memories had calendar pages, which I've used for the January calendar, but they also have calendar grids, which I'll use when I order some! I thought I had a pack of those when I came up with the idea! I had to cut the calendar page for my project.

Here's the January calendar I made to display:

I punched out circles and used stickers to spell WINTER and used the little clothespins.

When January is over, I'll just take down the calendar (it's held up with magnets) and then use it in my album! It'll be ready to just adhere to a page! Like Candice Olsen from Divine Design says, "How divine!"

I made this Everyday Display for my Mom when she retired:

Head over to Kelli's to view more Show and Tell Friday posts!

What's in a name?

2008-01-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

I saw this first at Barb's and then at Shalee's, so I thought I'd see what my name means. It's a biblical name, believe it or not - I Chronicles 2:28 - but it's a male name there! I have a bookmark with my name on that I special ordered and it says Jada means wise. HA!

Anyway, here's the hidden meaning of Jada:

What Jada Means

You are fair, honest, and logical. You are a natural leader, and people respect you.You never give up, and you will succeed... even if it takes you a hundred tries.You are rational enough to see every part of a problem. You are great at giving other people advice.
You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality.
You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Most of it is accurate! I'm not sure how authoritative and aggressive I am or how powerful! I can be stubborn and headstrong!

Works for Me: Plastic Zippered Bags

2008-01-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone, but I thought I'd share it anyway! I was going to share it last week for WFMW, but I forgot it was backwards WFMW!

Anyway, one of my goals for 2008 is to declutter and organize every room in my house. I started with the spare room, which had become a storage room. I want to turn it into a library/reading room.

I started by organizing all my wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper, bows, etc. During that process, I realized I needed a three-drawer cart. I had one in the upstairs hallway with all my party (baby shower, birthday, and bridal shower) decorations and related items that I've used and reused (if they were reusable, like decorations) over the years. I haven't had to use the items out of the cart so I decided to reorganize that.

Here's the before picture of the cart. Penni isn't actually 'stored' in the cart! She was just being 'helpful.' ::cough::

That's where I came up with this brilliant (in my opinion! LOL) idea to use all those plastic zippered bags from linens that I'd been saving over the years!

I used larger ones to store each of the party items.

The birthday party items in a zippered bag.

The bridal shower items in a zippered bag.

The baby shower items in a zippered bag.

Then I stored all three zippered bag in a storage tub that I had emptied earlier. It was in the basement with clothing that was too small and has now been bagged up to be delivered to a charity!

I used my Dymo label maker, which I love, to identify what's in the storage tub! Now all party items are stored and easily accessible again! Works for me!

Head over to Shannon's for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

Show and Tell Friday

2008-01-11T07:14:00.000-05:00

Every Friday, Kelli hosts Show and Tell Friday. Head over to her blog to check out all the Show and Tell Friday participants!

Today I'm sharing two things that my Mom gave me on Monday. Both items belonged to her mother, my grandmother, Mammaw. She passed away in October 1987 from a heart attack at age 62. Just dropped over at church - it was a Wednesday evening - and she was carrying a baby, whom she held close to her. I guess she knew something was happening. The doctor said she was gone before she hit the floor.

Anyway, on to the items. The first is a pillow. My Mom isn't sure if Mammaw made this herself or perhaps her mother, my great-grandmother, Eva, did. I think it's cute! There are some stitches missing off the clock in the top left corner, but I'm still glad to have it. I have it sitting in the living room on a little chair that belonged to my Aunt Shirlie, who I called Aunt Lee since I couldn't say Shirlie when I was little. She also passed away - in 1994 - from ovarian cancer. She had cerebral palsy, but she never, ever complained. I miss both of them.

The second item is a big egg! Mom said "it's old" and it looks old. I took the plastic covering off after I took the pictures and have it stored in my china cupboard.

There is an Easter scene inside, but I couldn't get a good picture of it.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Chit Chat

2008-01-08T07:08:00.000-05:00

One of my goals for 2008 is to clean out, declutter, and reorganize/organize every room in my house. I don't have a huge house, but it's big enough - a 3-story townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Every closet, every drawer, every nook and cranny is filled! And I live alone! I am just tired of the stuff and the clutter. I remember thinking, when I moved in 12 years ago, "This is a big house! I'll never fill it." HA! It didn't take me long at all to acquire a lot of stuff!!

This past Saturday, I cleaned out 3 plastic storage tubs of clothing and bagged it up for Volunteers of America. The clothing is all too small (whatever!) and I figure when I lose weight, I'll want to buy new clothes; plus, the clothing is from the late 80's early 90's. Not in style so much in 2008!

Then I started on the spare room. It used to be an extra bedroom, complete with a bedroom set. Then I got rid of that and turned it into an office. Then when I became a Creative Memories consultant in March 2006, I moved the office to the rec room, which became the Creative Memories room. I wanted my computer there since I'd be spending a lot of time in the CM room. I love to scrapbook! Anyway, the spare room then became the junk room.

I started there by organizing my wrapping paper into the tall storage containers. Then I decided I wanted to store all wrapping-related items in the spare room closet. I still needed another storage idea for the flat wrapping paper, bows, bags, tissue paper, etc. I had a 3-drawer cart in the hallway with party supplies (baby shower, birthday, and bridal shower stuff). I didn't use that cart much, so I organized all that stuff into one of the plastic storage tubs that used to have clothing in it. Now the 3-drawer cart has wrapping paper and accessories in it. I have 3 of the Rubbermaid Gift Wrap storage containers that fit under the bed. I cleaned those out and my sister wants two of those, so those will be out of my house soon! I had kept the small pieces of wrapping paper leftover from cutting. They had been in those containers for YEARS! Now they're gone.

I still haven't quite finished all the wrapping organizing. But it's a big start. I'll post before and after pictures when I finish. I had some "help" from Penni while I was cleaning out and organizing.

I want to turn the spare room into a reading room/library. I did move a bookshelf in there. I need to get rid of the TV; my friend's mom is taking the TV stand. Then I want to paint, get the closet doors fixed (they came off the track), and get a chaise chair and lamp. I have a vision and I want to follow through!

Something like this. I haven't really shopped around yet.

Moving on to a different subject - shopping! LOL I went to Tar*get before Christmas and they had a purple purse on clearance for $24.88. It's an Isa*ac Mizr*ahi, not that I care. I just liked the PURPLE! I didn't buy it because I was shopping for others, not myself. That's what I told myself! Anyway, I went back to Tar*get a week later and they still had the purse, so I bought it!

I went to Tar*get on Sunday, and don't you know they had it marked down to $17.88! Oh well.

I used to play Bunco on a regular basis (once a month) with some ladies from church, but I just had too much going on so now I just substitute. I was surprised when Karen gave me a present/prize at church on 12/23 for the Most Minis over the year! It was for the Most Minis in one game. I had 15!

Here's my prize. Isn't it the cutest?! She found it on eBay and then had the lady make more for the other prizes.

Well, I've finished my cup of coffee (not in the Bunco Brew mug - in a mug I received for my birthday from a friend!), and I better get ready for work!

I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you do!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T17:37:00.000-05:00

On New Year's Day, I made pork and sauerkraut, dumplings, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. Mom, Dad, Corie, C, and Tommy came for dinner. Dad didn't feel too well after dinner so everyone left around 6:30 or so. Dad and Mom ended up getting the colds Tommy and I had.

Here's Dad and C enjoying dinner.

Tommy and Mom

And Corie. Not a good picture of her! Sorry!

Here's the pork and sauerkraut before I put it in the oven.

And here it is all cooked and smelling wonderful with the dumplings.

I used my Winterberry, which I love!

Here's the set table.

And my messy kitchen! I hate a messy kitchen!

Mom made an Orange Dreamsicle cake. It tastes just like the popsicle!

New Year's Eve

2008-01-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

I hosted a New Year's Eve party with friends from church. There were 7 of us and we had a fun time welcoming in 2008. We ate, played a game, chatted, reminisced, and turned on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve at 10:00. But we switched back and forth between that and the CSI marathon because we didn't know or like any of the music from the New Year's Eve show!

We had some snow and ice overnight. Here are two pictures. Notice the lighted snowflakes in my windows? Got 'em on clearance the day after Christmas for $1.98 each!

Here we are eating and chatting.

Steve and Penni are buddies.

Happy 2008!

Christmas Memories

2008-01-02T07:04:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful and memorable Christmas holiday. Thought I'd share a 'few' pictures.

My siblings and I gave Mame (my Dad's 93-year-old Mom) a digital photo frame. Corie uploaded about 80 pictures. It's really cool!

We played bingo at Mame's on Christmas Eve.

Bingo players

After Mame's, Mom, Dad, Tommy, and I went to Corie's church for their Christmas Eve service. Corie and C lit the last advent candle and Corie sang a duet.

Corie and C

After the Christmas Eve service, we headed to Mom and Dad's for some snacks.

Mom had a chocolate fountain and a juice fountain! Very cool. I made a Taste*fully Simple cheeseball, which their dog gulped down by helping herself to it off the table while we were downstairs getting plates and cups!

I took a picture of the stockings hung on the piano with care!

On Christmas morning, at 7:00, Mom, Dad, Tommy, and I went over to Corie's to watch C open his Christmas presents and to have breakfast.

Corie made a sausage and egg casserole and Yummy Breakfast Rolls (from a Gooseberry Patch recipe that I had given her. I had it a B & B and asked for the recipe!) It is very yummy!

We spent the rest of Christmas Day at Mom and Dad's. We opened presents, Santa visited, and had delicious food. Mom's ham gravy was out of this world!

Santa rang the doorbell and had jingle bells. Here he is coming up the stairs.

Santa had lots of presents for C, B, and M.

Santa gives a gift to B, who said, "That's not Santa. That's Uncle Tommy!"

And a gift for M.

And one for C.

Santa waves goodbye.

Mom and Dad and M watching Santa leave.

And here's M waving goodbye to Santa. Too cute!

Time to open other presents!

Wendie and Ben open a present.

Dad got Mom a coo-coo clock!

Tom opens a present.

C opens his last present. It was a video chair! He was sooo happy!

Dinner time!

The table with food!

Corie made the greenbean casserole. Mom made the ham.

Mom made the sweet potato casserole and I made the baked corn.

Lots of fun and great memories!

Birthday Celebrations and 200th Post

2007-12-20T07:07:00.000-05:00

It's my 200th post! On my birthday!

We celebrated our 4 December birthdays. Mom's 63rd was December 5th. I was on vacation so we waited to celebrate on December 9th.

Dad's 70th was December 16th, Tommy's (my brother) 36th was December 18th, and my 42nd is today! We celebrated all three this past Sunday at Fire Mountain. The whole family was there plus 3 of Tommy's friends. The electric went out so most of our celebrating happened in the dark!

Mom's birthday celebration:

Mom is tickled about her gift! Wendie made her cake!

Dad's, Tommy's, and my birthday celebrations:

Tommy and Dad make a wish.

Tommy opens cards.

Dad got a new bathrobe from Mom.

My birthday cake.

I make a wish, with some help from M! LOL

The boys - C is playing his DS Lite and B and M are fascinated.

BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes!

2007-12-17T07:41:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's time for BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes! Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the Fourth of July!

I love decorating for Christmas/winter, especially with all my snowmen! Warning: this is a picture-filled post! And, I will have to update this post this evening with a picture or two of the outside of my house. I forgot to take outside pictures earlier and when I remembered yesterday, everything was icy, including my flag, which was flipped over and frozen.

Anyway, welcome to my home!

These are my most favorite! My Dad made these! He made the snowman in 2003 and the snowlady in 2005. The snowlady is definitely a redneck - she's smoking a pipe! LOL

I took this picture last year. It's one of my favorite things to display at Christmas. You're looking at the back of it, since it faces out the window. The little Christmas tree even has lights on it!

A snowman light I bought at Woolrich several years ago.

My Mitford snowman light. Love it!

A grouping in my living room, next to the entertainment center.

My dining room table.

Part of my snowman collection. This grouping is in the dining room, as you enter the kitchen.

The banister.

A snowman hanging on the living room wall.

Another grouping in the dining room. I should have wrapped the birdhouse picture!

My Boyds Christmas tree! This display is in the living room.

The top of my entertainment center.

I love my Winterberry dishes and accessories. My friends and family have added to my collection over the years for birthday and Christmas presents. Would you like a cup of hot tea?

More Winterberry, in my kitchen, of course.

Oh my. More Winterberry!

The powder room.

A new display in the kitchen as you're heading down to the rec room.

This snowman sings and dances!

On my pantry door.

On my back door.

On top of my baking cupboard in the kitchen.

I just noticed the black soot on the candle! It's a Yankee candle, Christmas Eve scent. Makes my house smell like Christmas! The peppermint sticks in the jar were a gift this year from our office Christmas party. I love the jar.

Thanks for coming along on the tour! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

P.S. You'll notice there's not a picture of my Christmas tree. That's because I didn't put one up this year! I just didn't have the energy to do it all myself and I wasn't hosting any Christmas parties this year. I may look at getting a small artificial tree for next year...at the after-Christmas sales! And my Thomas Kinkade nativity is not displayed because I broke two of the pieces last year. I almost cried. I just thought about looking on eBay to see if there are single pieces available.

Ice, Ice Baby

2007-12-16T20:53:00.000-05:00

We were expecting snow, 1-4 inches, on Saturday. Instead, we got ice. Not like in other parts of the country, but just enough to make it icky.

If you click on the pictures, you can actually see the ice.

My front yard area

A view outside my front door.

Another view out my front door.

Out the back door.

My deck.

Today is my Dad's 70th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! We celebrated his birthday, my brother's birthday (Dec. 18th) and my birthday (Dec. 20th) today at a restaurant. I'll post some pictures soon!

Show and Tell Friday

2007-12-14T06:29:00.001-05:00

Show and Tell is hosted by Kelli each Friday. Head over to her blog to check out all the participants!

Today, I'm sharing pictures of the doilies I purchased while I was in the Ukraine on a mission trip in 2002. I took these pictures the Friday after Thanksgiving to participate in Show and Tell Friday, but I didn't realize it was on hiatus because of the holiday! Then I got busy and didn't get a chance to post the following two Fridays. Anyway, here are the pictures. By the way, purple is my favorite color and I was so excited to find these!

This is on a shelf in my bedroom.

The back of the toilet in my bathroom.

My nightstand.

A close-up. I can't figure out how to take clear pictures close up - like Kelli does!

I just remembered I have another of the doilies on a stand in my bathroom but I didn't take a picture of that!

Vacation Memories

2007-12-10T21:11:00.000-05:00

I spent a week in Williamsburg, Virginia - Dec. 1-7 - with two ladies from church. They're both widows, both married 50+ years, so they're both in their 70's! We had a fun, relaxing, safe trip.

I enjoyed walking through Colonial Williamsburg and taking pictures of the Christmas decorations:

Some other Colonial Williamsburg pictures:

Betty and Sue speak with a Colonial Williamsburg lady. We needed to ask for directions!

We went to hear General George Washington speak. And even though it was cold, we saw pansies!

Elf Yourself!

2007-11-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

This is too funny! Me and my co-workers. I'm the third one.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9630388867

Thanksgiving Memories

2007-11-23T16:31:00.000-05:00

Our family celebrated Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's. Corie and C were visiting Doug's family in another state, so they weren't able to be with us. Mame, Dad's mom, who's 93, celebrated with us!

Here are some pictures. We have so much for which to be thankful: Salvation, family, food, health, shelter, warmth, jobs, clothing, cozy homes, friends, and the list goes on.

The table is set, the big, stuffed bird, and ready to eat.

Dad, Mom, Mame, Mame again, and me

Ben and Tom and B and M having fun drinking out of their cups with straws.

M has to wear a patch on his good eye for 3 months.

I had a turkey hunt game for B & M. They had to find 6 paper turkeys and there were prizes!

Here's a video of M and B horsing around with Uncle Tommy!

Happy Retirement, Mom!

2007-11-13T08:05:00.000-05:00

Mom officially retired in June after 20+ years. We, my siblings and I, had a retirement open house for her on Saturday, October 27th.

I made an Everyday Display Board (from Creative Memories) and we had folks sign a guest book/sentiments book, which I have yet to put together!

B tells Mammy "Happy Graduation!" Too cute! M gives Mammy a hug.

Enjoying some refreshments

The cake

Mom opened many nice, thoughtful gifts. This is a hand-knitted scarf from Ben's mom.

M and B both wrote/drew in Mom's guest/sentiments book.

The whole family!
Back row: Tom and me (peeking through)
Middle row: Dad, Mom, Wendie, Ben, M, and Corie
Front row: B and C

October 20th and 21st Memories

2007-10-31T08:20:00.000-05:00

Blogger has not been cooperating the last few times I've tried to add pictures to a post. I got frustrated and just didn't even publish the post. But today, Blogger decided to upload my pictures! So, finally, here's an update with pictures from the weekend of October 20th.

I babysat B and M on Saturday, October 20th while Ben and Wendie went to their small group harvest party. Before they left, I gave M his baby album (Nov. 2004 - July 2005) and they looked through it together. M lasted about 5 minutes and B went back and forth between looking at the album and playing.

The boys did some coloring, we had pizza for dinner, then we went outside to blow bubbles.

At least it's not a real drill!

On Sunday, October 21st, B & W hosted a get together for family and friends prior to the parade in their hometown. It was a beautiful, warm, fall day, so we were able to be outside. I took A & A with me and they had a good time.

A, B, and A looking at B's fish.

All the kids had fun playing in the sandbox, swinging, and running around in the yard. They took time out to eat hotdogs, mac 'n cheese, chili, and other yummy food.

M loves his cousin M

At the parade, where candy was thrown from various sources! The kids scrambled to get their share!

If Blogger cooperates, I'll soon have another post!

Be Still

2007-10-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be
exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm
46:10

Most Sundays after Sunday School and before our 10:30 worship service, I am rushed to get to the sanctuary before the service starts. I teach preschool 3 at 9:00 and many times, the teacher for 10:30 doesn't show up until 10:25 or later.

When I enter the sanctuary, I am not in the right frame of mind. I feel rushed and in a hurry. Sometimes, if it's 10:40 or later, I don't even stay for the worship service. I know I won't be able to concentrate.

This past Sunday, I arrived in the sanctuary about 3 minutes before the service started. Our music/worship pastor had a mini-message about being still before God. He had us actually be quiet and still for about 3 minutes. It was great! I was able to quiet down, focus on God, and I enjoyed the rest of the service.

Thanks, Pastor Phil!

This past Sunday was also a reminder for me that I need to be still and quiet before the Lord more often. I let life get in the way sometimes. You would think as a single person I'd have lots of free time. But I'm a doer so my days are often filled with not only work, but also other activities after work. I need to take a look at what's taking up my time and make some adjustments.

"Be still before the LORD and
wait patiently for Him..." -Psalm 37:7

Camping Trip

2007-10-14T18:08:00.000-05:00

Mom and I went camping last week for several days. Family came to visit during the day since we camped fairly close to home. I went home every day to shower. LOL

We didn't rough it too badly. We had electricity and it was fairly warm for October. Tuesday and Wednesday nights were chilly and it rained on Tuesday night and Thursday morning.

It's back to work tomorrow for me. My next vacation is in December when I go to Williamsburg, VA.

Enjoy the pictures!

What I've Been Up To

2007-10-06T19:02:00.000-05:00

It's a picture-filled post!

First, I started attending a new small group on 9/26 - Wednesday nights from 7-8:30. We meet in a home, which is nice. I prefer that over meeting at the church. More cozy. And, small groups at church meet from 6-7:30, which is kinda early for me since I sometimes don't get off work until 5:30 or later. We're reading and discussing Lee Strobel's book, "The Case For A Creator."

I watched the season premiere of CSI on the 27th. It was intense! I heard Jorja Fox is leaving the show in November. Guess I will have to audition to be Grissom's new love interest! LOL

Our Board meetings were on Friday, the 28th. I'm usually done in afterwards, so I just chilled out on Friday night. I got a haircut that Friday afternoon, but didn't take a picture until Monday. I like my hair short! It's so much eaiser to manage!

On Saturday morning, I attended a Creative Memories Area Wide Consultant meeting from 9-3. We made some pages and borders. Gave us some new ideas for our customers, so that was fun.

Played bingo out of town on Sunday. My younger sister, oldest nephew, my brother, and I went. It was a fundraiser for the Joubert Syndrome Foundation. My cousin's two boys have this syndrome and they want to attend a conference so the proceeds helped them and the foundation. None of us won anything. Not even a door prize! But we had fun and we helped out with the fundraiser.

C playing bingo.

My sister

My brother and aunt

Cousins

I cleaned mom and dad's living room on Monday evening after work. Then mom made dinner - turkey burgers and corn on the cob. YUMMY! When I got home, look what was delivered! A package from christianbook.com!

On Tuesday, I went out for pizza with Vickie and the kids, then to a Creative Memories Unit meeting.

I came home from work on Wednesday, intending to go to small group, but I lost track of time. I started doing stuff around the house because I knew it was a busy week.

Thursday was scrapbooking night. I host Stop, Shop, & Crop every Thursday from 6:30-10:30. It's fun! I have about 4 regulars each week.
Scrappers

I was supposed to babysit for a family from church on Friday. Her husband is in Africa for 6 months with the Navy and they have 3 little girls. Her parents decided to extend their visit, so we postponed until another time. I am still catching up on CSI, so I watched disc 3 from Season 6. That's 4 episodes. I fell asleep during the 4th episode, so I watched that this morning!

Today, I decorated for Fall, did laundry, went to a Boyds Bear event, got some mums, went to the grocery store, and came home and took a nap!

My entertainment stand - 2 pictures. I'm not happy with the arrangement. I may do something different tomorrow! It needs something with some height.

Edited: I switched things around, but didn't take a picture of the entertainment stand. It has the big pumpkin that was on the dining room table.

Here are before and after pictures of my front yard! I didn't do the new stuff - I don't like to sweat! LOL I hired a landscaper. He pulled everything out, laid down some mat thing to prevent weeds (!), planted the new plants (I added some mums today), and added the stones. I love it! And it's so much nicer to look at without weeds!

Tomorrow after church I leave to go camping with my mom! We stay until Friday afternoon. We're camping fairly locally (LOL), so I'll be stopping at home to shower and check emails and feed my cats! It'll be nice just to get away, even if it is supposed to be hot! I can't believe it! It's October and temps have been in the high 80's and the humidity came back today! I was looking forward to cooler weather and campfires! I'm sure I'll have pictures to share so check back next week!

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

Fall Into Reading 2007

2007-09-23T19:08:00.000-05:00

Let the reading begin! I said I was going to participate in the Spring Reading Thing 2007, but I failed miserably and didn't even read one book.

But I will be reading this Fall! We're going camping for several days in October, so I plan to get some reading done then; and I'm also spending a week in Williamsburg, VA, in early December, so I'm hoping for some reading time when we aren't sightseeing or eating!

For this challenge, I plan to read 8 books, 4 of which I've already read but I'm re-reading again. It's a series of 8 books by Thomas Kinkade. The 8th book will be released in October. I have the first 4 books and have ordered books 5-8 in the series from ChristianBook.com:

If I should happen to finish these 8, I have some more books to read and I'll add those later.

Happy Reading!

It's Fall!

2007-09-22T07:38:00.000-05:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the warm days and cool evenings and all the vibrant colors - leaves, mums, etc. I love burning cinnamon and pumpkin scented candles, drinking a cup of tea in the evening while reading a good book.

Speaking of reading, I'm participating in Katrina's Fall Into Reading 2007. I'll post my list of books tomorrow when Katrina adds her Mr. Linky for all of us who are participating.

I've been reading Kelli's blog for a while now and I just love her style, especially all the pictures she posts. She and her husband, Phillip, also just started a new quarterly newsletter, Seasonal Delights, and the Autumn 2007 edition is just wonderful. It's full of recipes, Fall ideas, and other good stuff. During the month of September, you can subscribe for a free one-year subscription! Head over there now and subscribe!