Glenn told me this morning as I was flying out the door to work, that he heard a couple of hummingbirds yesterday!! ALL RIGHT!! It's time to get the feeder out and hung up so the little birds will come to OUR house this year, and not the neighbors!!
We had a few come around last year but not near as many as I would like - the trick is to put the feeder up at just the right time so the hummingbirds get used to coming to it and then they'll usually hang around the entire summer! But of course it's still freezing at night so hopefully the water won't freeze!
And by the way, today was the FIRST day that I have walked outside in the morning! Gosh, it felt SO GOOD to just walk for my exercise instead of the usual clogging, floor exercises, hula-hooping and jump roping!! Granted, I had to wear a heavy sweatshirt with a hood and gloves as it was only 28 degrees but that's OK - it's ONLY going to get warmer and warmer!!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Cross It Off!
Do you ever that item or two that carries over on your list from week to week to week??? Well, that was me - I had 2 items that have just been carried over TOO many weeks so I was bound and determined to cross them off today when we got home!
The first item was to clean my jewelry box - for 2 reasons! The first reason is because it just needed cleaning - whenever I would try to find a necklace to wear (which isn't often - I rarely wear jewelry), everything always seemed to be tangled up and I would get frustrated and not even wear anything! The second reason was because I knew I had a bunch of necklaces and chokers that I no longer wear - and my good friend Arlyne (who goes to the Ukraine every summer and teaches Bible School to young kids and does Bible Studies with the older women) said the women just love costume jewelry and I wanted to give her a baggie full of things I no longer wear! DONE!
The second item was to put tiny Christmas pictures in darling little Christmas frames! My creative memories consultant is so good to me whenever I place an order and this last winter she gave me 4 cute frames that will either stand up or hang from the tree (they already have ribbon on them for hanging) and I wanted pics of the 4 grandkids to put in them. Trust me, it was NOT easy to find a picture of each one of them that was the right size!! The little pics are only like 2 x 2 so they're very small! But I did find them and did get reprints so all I had to do was to cut them, put them in the frames, mark them and then stick in the Christmas box for next year! DONE!!
No more carrying those 2 items from week to week - what a GREAT feeling!!
The first item was to clean my jewelry box - for 2 reasons! The first reason is because it just needed cleaning - whenever I would try to find a necklace to wear (which isn't often - I rarely wear jewelry), everything always seemed to be tangled up and I would get frustrated and not even wear anything! The second reason was because I knew I had a bunch of necklaces and chokers that I no longer wear - and my good friend Arlyne (who goes to the Ukraine every summer and teaches Bible School to young kids and does Bible Studies with the older women) said the women just love costume jewelry and I wanted to give her a baggie full of things I no longer wear! DONE!
The second item was to put tiny Christmas pictures in darling little Christmas frames! My creative memories consultant is so good to me whenever I place an order and this last winter she gave me 4 cute frames that will either stand up or hang from the tree (they already have ribbon on them for hanging) and I wanted pics of the 4 grandkids to put in them. Trust me, it was NOT easy to find a picture of each one of them that was the right size!! The little pics are only like 2 x 2 so they're very small! But I did find them and did get reprints so all I had to do was to cut them, put them in the frames, mark them and then stick in the Christmas box for next year! DONE!!
No more carrying those 2 items from week to week - what a GREAT feeling!!
Denver Bound
What a great way to start the weekend! I advertized our travel trailer (the one we lived in for 4 months while the house was being finished!) late Tuesday night on Craigs List and by Friday afternoon, we had it sold! HOORAY!! It's being delivered tomorrow (as long as Glenn gets the truck fixed) and it's even close by, as it's the next town over!!
And then it was up to Denver! Glenn was needed as a handyman at both places up there so he did his thing and I watched kids! Crazy, loud, but always fun, you just never know what the kids will be up to!!
Jaime had to work the weekend so I had to enjoy her in the evenings! Jessi and I did a little shopping and found a great thrift store on our way to Target! She ended up with 3 tops and I even found one too! $3.99 - what a bargain
I had fun shooting pictures whenever I could - I love the one of Jaime, Evan and Kylan on the couch - it was one of the "quieter" moments - she put Nemo on and they both love that movie! And Jessi found the cute engineer hat at the thrift store for Evan!
Rayna and Mackenzie have matching pj's and it was hard to choose which photo to post as they all came out good! Little Mackenize just loves the camera - bring it out and she starts smiling! She also discovered Glenn's beard this weekend!
Jaime, Jessi and I found time for some Caribou Coffee before Jaime headed off to work and that's always one of my highlights of the weekend - coffee with the girls! We headed home early as Glenn had some work to do on the trailer before he delivers it tomorrow so I had plenty of time to get ready for the work week!
It's COLD outside though - I think it just might be a hot tub night! (And yes, I DID get my hair cut!! The picture above really doesn't do it justice as it's quite cute and MUCH easier to take care of!! I just KNEW I could never get it long again - I run out of patience!!)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
I'm Just Appalled!!
Anybody that knows me knows that I am VERY organized!! And Thursday at work, one of our clients asked me if I was all stocked up with food for the storm - I said I was - in fact, we could probably survive for 2 or 3 months with all the food I have in the pantry and in the freezer!!
We were supposed to have friends over for dinner on Friday night - and another set of friends that were coming up from Co. Springs Sat. night to take us out for dinner, and then come back here to play some pool and catch up!! They were also going to spend the night so they didn't have to drive home after having a few drinks!!
Of course the Friday night dinner was cancelled on Wed., knowing that the approaching storm was going to be a bad one!! So I didn't go to the grocery store to get what I needed for that meal and of course knew that if Sat. night happened, we were going out to eat!
Our friends called about 1:30 today and said that yes, they were still planning on coming and would be up earlier than expected - no problem!! (Even though it is STILL snowing, we're all plowed out and the highway is basically just wet - STILL waiting for that sun though!!)
Then it dawned on me - if our friends were coming up early and our reservations for dinner weren't until 6:30, we would need to have an appetizer before we went AND probably a dessert for when we come back to the house later!
Panic - Panic - what's in the pantry - what's in the frig??? Nothing very exciting to make a nice appetizer (since I DIDN'T go to the store) and a few dull cake mixes in the pantry but that was it!! So I enlisted Glenn to run into Florissant to the gas station which has a convenience store attached to get me 2 boxes of cream cheese - I had everything else I needed to make what I wanted - but then decided he better get a dozen eggs too!
So when he came home with the items and I looked at the price tags, I just about fainted!! I am SO GOOD about buying only specials and really watching the food budget, buying things when they're on sale and planning menus around the ads!! Imagine my shock when I looked at the cream cheese and saw that EACH box was $3.99!! Oh my gosh, I have NEVER paid that much for cream cheese, even when it's NOT on sale at the grocery store!! And the eggs - they were $2.99 a dozen - just as bad!! So $11.00 was spent on 3 items - talk about blowing the food budget for the week - and all because I didn't plan!!
I actually needed a bag of chocolate chips, but decided I would just use the dark ones I had on hand - good thing as they would probably have been $7.00 for a bag of them!!
THAT'S why I never buy stuff at a convenience store - that's why I always plan in advance!
Lesson learned -and I will totally appreciate my "Ole" dip when we eat it in about an hour and savor every bite of the chocolate cake with cream cheese and dark chocolate chips swirled in it!
Round 2
It's 3:35 on Saturday - It's STILL snowing!! The sky is lighter and I keep thinking the sun is going to break through any minute now! It snowed all night - and I had to hurry to snap these pictures this morning before Glenn went out to shovel once again and plow once again!!
We're guessing about a foot and a half has fallen - of course a lot of it blew away - and a lot has just melted because it's actually above freezing! It doesn't really matter at this point though - it's wonderful moisture and watching the snow fall for the last 2 days has been wonderful!!
We're guessing about a foot and a half has fallen - of course a lot of it blew away - and a lot has just melted because it's actually above freezing! It doesn't really matter at this point though - it's wonderful moisture and watching the snow fall for the last 2 days has been wonderful!!
Keep in mind, except for the table and chairs picture, all of this is NEW snow that fell overnight!!
Round 1 of the Snowstorm
For ONCE the weatherman was right - we DID get a snowstorm - we are STILL getting a snowstorm!! It started snowing Thursday about 5:00 and didn't accumulate a lot during the night due to the high wind - but the roads Friday morning were snowy and icy and school was closed so our office declared a snow day - HOORAY!!
It snowed hard at times on Friday - and then would clear up and you would actually see blue sky for a little while - but then it would move right back in with the huge, beautiful flakes!!
It's Saturday today and I was lazy yesterday and didn't post the first set of pictures: So here is Round 1 of the snowstorm - and if Glenn doesn't get TOO ambitious and scoop everything in sight, I'll have some more by tonight!! (Notice the blue sky in the one picture - in the midst of the storm!)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Check It Out!!!
This is what I saw when I came home today!!!!
WOW - I was SO IMPRESSED!! Hubby worked his little tail off today! No, the boards aren't screwed down yet and of course there is a railing to do around it but gosh, I was tickled pink to see all the progress on this deck!!And to top that - Glenn got a granite job!! HOORAY!
(And yes, that's slush you see in the pictures - we're expecting 1 to 2 feet in the next day and a 1/2 - I'm hoping for a snow day!!)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Bad and The Good!
The bad news: Glenn's work has REALLY slowed down - almost to the tune of nothing for this week and nothing for next week - sigh - it will pick up though - I have confidence!!
The good news: Because he doesn't have any work right now, he has plunged right into his new list for the summer!! And get this, HE made the list, I didn't!! (Secretly I probably had this list in my head for quite a while but had just not written it down yet!!)
Right now he has 3 projects going! The first project is to sell the travel trailer we lived in while he was finishing up the house - it's been parked at the bottom of the driveway for well over a year now so he has brought it up to the top and taken the awning down. The awning is ripped - due to one of those wonderful windstorms we had when we were living in it!! He wants to try and sew the rip but at this point, can't find a heavy duty sewing machine to do it - next try is to check out the pawn shops around and see if he can find one! And I of course I need to clean the trailer before we list it!
The second project he has going is to sell the 1996 Honda that has been sitting around for the last I don't know HOW many years!! We kept it around as it gets fantastic mileage so Glenn would drive it once in a while - but of course it's useless to us in the winter as we need 4WD! Now he has decided it is time to sell it - hooray - one less vehicle around!! Before we can sell it though, it needs a paint job - and before the paint job can be done, there are lots of spots that have rusted and the paint has literally fallen off so there's a lot of patching and sanding to be done before the final coat of paint! Luckily, Glenn knows how to do all of this!
And the third (and my favorite) project is the building of the deck from our covered porch to the hot tub!! Right now, we walk the length of the covered porch and then go to the hot tub! The new deck will connect right with our porch deck and we'll be able to just step out the door and go right to the hot tub!! He's building the deck at level with the covered porch so the hot tub will literally look like it's sunken 1/2 way into the deck! He'll build a special door to be able to get to the motor in case there's a problem!
Here are some pictures of the deck in progress!
I'll keep you posted on the projects!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter 2009
Instead of my usual monologue about our great weekend, I decided to do a Top 10 BEST Things About Easter 2009 Weekend!!
1) Going to church on Easter and shouting out - He Is Risen - He Is Risen Indeed!!
2) Coloring eggs with grandkids Rayna, Kylan and Evan
3) Spending the weekend with FAMILY - my number one priority!
4) Seeing Jill's newly set-up and painted nursery and also their new "granite" kitchen!
5) Eating - and Eating - and Eating.........
6) Laughing with the girls as we sorted through Jill's "Goodwill" boxes, just in case there was something we wanted! Of course, there was!
7) Taking all 4 grandchildren to the church's Easter Egg Hunt
8) Enjoying Mackenize on her 1st Easter, knowing she was the cutest 4 month old in church on Sunday!
9) Attending Good Friday services with Jill on Friday evening.
10) Glenn and I taking all 4 grandkids on a walk around the block!
And is there a list for the 10 Worst Moments During Easter 2009?? Not at all - there is ALWAYS more good than bad but of course there were those few times..........
1) A cloudy, rainy Easter day!
2) Two 2 year olds having meltdowns during a TOO long children's production before the egg hunt at the church.
3) Deviled eggs that for some reason didn't taste great this year (same recipe - wonder if the eggs were different???)
4) One 2 year old that kept the rest of us awake on Sat. night
5) Driving home on Sunday in rain and slush and snow!!
One of my favorite moments of the weekend: we were walking into church as fast as we could as it was COLD and of course we had our skimpy cute little outfits on - we also had to park a LONG ways away! Anyway, Jessi and I were holding onto Evan's hand and kept trying to make him say Happy Easter - he wouldn't - we tried and tried - then we walk up to the first greeter outside the church and Evan promptly says, HAPPY EASTER!! Clear as a bell - our hearts melted!
A Year Ago Today............
It's April 13th ( and yes, I AM going to post about Easter but that will be a LONGER blog and I'm out of time today) and one year ago today I broke my leg!
I called Jessi on my way to work today to remind her this was the TRAGIC day this event happened at her house! She wasn't particularly thrilled that I reminded her - I think she STILL feels responsible for my break, even though she wasn't even at her house that day!! I was the clumsy one, not her!
Anyway, it's hard to believe that an entire year has already past - my leg is good as new, although I can't turn my foot as far as my other foot but who cares - it works and that's all that matters! I do find myself being extra careful when I walk on uneven surfaces and that's probably a good thing! Because I don't plan on breaking another leg anytime soon!
I called Jessi on my way to work today to remind her this was the TRAGIC day this event happened at her house! She wasn't particularly thrilled that I reminded her - I think she STILL feels responsible for my break, even though she wasn't even at her house that day!! I was the clumsy one, not her!
Anyway, it's hard to believe that an entire year has already past - my leg is good as new, although I can't turn my foot as far as my other foot but who cares - it works and that's all that matters! I do find myself being extra careful when I walk on uneven surfaces and that's probably a good thing! Because I don't plan on breaking another leg anytime soon!
Easter Past
Easter has come and gone and I'm taking a minute to reflect on previous Easters that have meant a lot to me.
Childhood - I remember (and probably mostly from the pictures) that we ALWAYS had a new Easter outfit to wear to church, along with a new hat. There's nothing cuter than Easter bonnets and I'm sad that not many babies and children wear them today! Mom and Dad always had an Easter Egg Hunt for us and we have the cutest pictures of my sisters and me with a basket full of eggs. And of course since I colored Easter eggs as a child, that tradition has carried on!
Teenage Years - The Youth Group would always do the sunrise service and then serve Easter Breakfast - I don't remember a lot about the breakfast but I sure remember doing the services as I was in charge of them and we always did a guitar service! I played the guitar during this early service and I fondly remember that one of the liturgies was to the tune of Michael, Row The Boat Ashore! And we had some awesome Easter songs during this time too! Wonderful Memories!!
Early Marriage Years - My good friend Helen and I would do one of the Easter Services at our church in Missouri Valley, Iowa. It was so much fun to practice together and learn our "special" music together! As the little ones were born, they each received a new Easter dress AND bonnet to wear and we continued the Easter Egg Coloring Tradition!
Girls' School Years - Once the girls started high school and youth group, it was back to doing the Easter Breakfast again! A friend of mine, Jan, and I were the youth group leaders so were in charge of the breakfast for many years!! We cooked a lot of sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes during those years - along with a lot of time setting up, decorating and cleaning up! All part of the job I guess! Also during that time, we started celebrating Easter with our good friends, Cindy and Rene and their kids! Since we always had to do the Easter breakfast, they would come to our house for Easter and we headed to their home on Thanksgiving! Cindy and I would always plan a great Easter meal, have some cute gifts for the Easter baskets and do the famous Easter Egg Hunt each year, even when the girls got older - they just didn't want to give it up!!
Today - Now we're attending Easter Services at our kids' church and watching our grandkids color the eggs and do the egg hunt - years pass - times change - but some traditions and events are timeless!
Childhood - I remember (and probably mostly from the pictures) that we ALWAYS had a new Easter outfit to wear to church, along with a new hat. There's nothing cuter than Easter bonnets and I'm sad that not many babies and children wear them today! Mom and Dad always had an Easter Egg Hunt for us and we have the cutest pictures of my sisters and me with a basket full of eggs. And of course since I colored Easter eggs as a child, that tradition has carried on!
Teenage Years - The Youth Group would always do the sunrise service and then serve Easter Breakfast - I don't remember a lot about the breakfast but I sure remember doing the services as I was in charge of them and we always did a guitar service! I played the guitar during this early service and I fondly remember that one of the liturgies was to the tune of Michael, Row The Boat Ashore! And we had some awesome Easter songs during this time too! Wonderful Memories!!
Early Marriage Years - My good friend Helen and I would do one of the Easter Services at our church in Missouri Valley, Iowa. It was so much fun to practice together and learn our "special" music together! As the little ones were born, they each received a new Easter dress AND bonnet to wear and we continued the Easter Egg Coloring Tradition!
Girls' School Years - Once the girls started high school and youth group, it was back to doing the Easter Breakfast again! A friend of mine, Jan, and I were the youth group leaders so were in charge of the breakfast for many years!! We cooked a lot of sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes during those years - along with a lot of time setting up, decorating and cleaning up! All part of the job I guess! Also during that time, we started celebrating Easter with our good friends, Cindy and Rene and their kids! Since we always had to do the Easter breakfast, they would come to our house for Easter and we headed to their home on Thanksgiving! Cindy and I would always plan a great Easter meal, have some cute gifts for the Easter baskets and do the famous Easter Egg Hunt each year, even when the girls got older - they just didn't want to give it up!!
Today - Now we're attending Easter Services at our kids' church and watching our grandkids color the eggs and do the egg hunt - years pass - times change - but some traditions and events are timeless!
Monday, April 6, 2009
$10 - Now Give me $20
I love listening to an auctioneer - it just amazes me how FAST they talk and how they can get their words to sound like they do!
Sunday afternoon was our annual 4-H auction - because I used to be a club leader when our girls were in 4-H and since I am now on the 4-H Foundation Board, I always support the auction - if fact, I helped out at it for many years! Now it's a real joy to just ATTEND the auction and not have to worry about setting up, manning the tables, and clean-up!
They have now included a chile cook-off at the beginning of the auction so Glenn and I both enjoyed a bowl of hot chile before the auction started!
The live auction was first but since there wasn't anything we were interested in, we took that time to walk among the 10 silent auction tables and place our bids - lots of bids!! I want the 4-Her's to earn as much money as possible (all the items are donated of course) so I'm notorious for writing our auction number down again and again, bidding on items that I'm sure I won't get, but raising up the bid each and every time!
But this year they didn't post each items' winners like they have done in previous years so unless you were standing right by an item you were bidding on when they closed the table, you really didn't know if you got it or not until you checked out! Note to self - next year keep TRACK of the items you are bidding on and MIGHT get so you're not totally surprised when you go to the check out!!
Did we end up getting a few items?? Oh my, I had NO IDEA we had bid on so much and were the last bid on so many items! Wow - we made a haul! But again, it was all for a good cause and all the items we ended up getting were things we would use!
The items: a case of oil, a gift certificate for a pickup load of trash to the transfer station, 3 $20 gift certificates to local restaurants, a $25 gift certificate to the place I get my Friday coffee, a $25 Creative Memories (scrapbooking supplies) certificate from my consultant, a $25 gift certificate to our local hardware store, the game Cranium ( in the box, never opened, for $5.00 - what a steal), 2 square woven baskets with liners, 2 huge Easter baskets full of toys and candy - 1 boy and 1 girl, 10# of wonderful lean ground beef from friends of ours that raise cattle, a family 4-pack of tickets to the North Pole (Santa Claus Land) ( a super bargain as we will not only be taking Rayna this summer, but also the 2 little boys!) and the best bargain of the day for $6.00 - a booklight that not only plugs into a battery pack but ALSO into an electric outlet and 28 hardback Danielle Steele books!! I'm a great fan of hers and yes, I've read about 1/2 the books in the box but one can NEVER have too many books to read!!
All in all, it was a great auction and a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Sunday afternoon was our annual 4-H auction - because I used to be a club leader when our girls were in 4-H and since I am now on the 4-H Foundation Board, I always support the auction - if fact, I helped out at it for many years! Now it's a real joy to just ATTEND the auction and not have to worry about setting up, manning the tables, and clean-up!
They have now included a chile cook-off at the beginning of the auction so Glenn and I both enjoyed a bowl of hot chile before the auction started!
The live auction was first but since there wasn't anything we were interested in, we took that time to walk among the 10 silent auction tables and place our bids - lots of bids!! I want the 4-Her's to earn as much money as possible (all the items are donated of course) so I'm notorious for writing our auction number down again and again, bidding on items that I'm sure I won't get, but raising up the bid each and every time!
But this year they didn't post each items' winners like they have done in previous years so unless you were standing right by an item you were bidding on when they closed the table, you really didn't know if you got it or not until you checked out! Note to self - next year keep TRACK of the items you are bidding on and MIGHT get so you're not totally surprised when you go to the check out!!
Did we end up getting a few items?? Oh my, I had NO IDEA we had bid on so much and were the last bid on so many items! Wow - we made a haul! But again, it was all for a good cause and all the items we ended up getting were things we would use!
The items: a case of oil, a gift certificate for a pickup load of trash to the transfer station, 3 $20 gift certificates to local restaurants, a $25 gift certificate to the place I get my Friday coffee, a $25 Creative Memories (scrapbooking supplies) certificate from my consultant, a $25 gift certificate to our local hardware store, the game Cranium ( in the box, never opened, for $5.00 - what a steal), 2 square woven baskets with liners, 2 huge Easter baskets full of toys and candy - 1 boy and 1 girl, 10# of wonderful lean ground beef from friends of ours that raise cattle, a family 4-pack of tickets to the North Pole (Santa Claus Land) ( a super bargain as we will not only be taking Rayna this summer, but also the 2 little boys!) and the best bargain of the day for $6.00 - a booklight that not only plugs into a battery pack but ALSO into an electric outlet and 28 hardback Danielle Steele books!! I'm a great fan of hers and yes, I've read about 1/2 the books in the box but one can NEVER have too many books to read!!
All in all, it was a great auction and a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Mother Nature WASN'T Nice on April Fool's Day!
Hear me loud and clear Mother Nature - it's APRIL - the snow and blizzard conditions are supposed to come in MARCH not APRIL!! You're mixed up - look at the calendar! Turn the page - Easter is almost here - it's time for flowers and pastel colors and green stuff on the ground, not white stuff!
To be honest, I can handle the snow (although I really despise the wind!) because when the sun comes out the next day, most of it melts! So as you've guessed, yes, we had a lot more snow yesterday along with some horrible wind!
But that's really not what I'm complaining about - just guess what the temperature was when I got up this morning - not 30, not 20, not 10, yes it's the next set down - zero!!! ZERO degrees out on April 2nd!! It got up to 2 when I left for work - and now the sun is out so I think we're up to 15! Another few days of sweaters, heavy coats, gloves and snowboots! It's hard to imagine that a week from Sunday I might be wearing a sleeveless dress to church on Easter - yea, right, it'll look cute with my winter coat!!
To be honest, I can handle the snow (although I really despise the wind!) because when the sun comes out the next day, most of it melts! So as you've guessed, yes, we had a lot more snow yesterday along with some horrible wind!
But that's really not what I'm complaining about - just guess what the temperature was when I got up this morning - not 30, not 20, not 10, yes it's the next set down - zero!!! ZERO degrees out on April 2nd!! It got up to 2 when I left for work - and now the sun is out so I think we're up to 15! Another few days of sweaters, heavy coats, gloves and snowboots! It's hard to imagine that a week from Sunday I might be wearing a sleeveless dress to church on Easter - yea, right, it'll look cute with my winter coat!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)