Thursday, July 30, 2009

I Am A Garbage Picker!

About five or six years ago, we bought our house. I wasn't
so crazy about it at first. The walls were all done in
wood paneling, and I must admit, I felt like I had entered
some sort of a lodge.
We looked at the house a few times before we made
an offer on it. Each time I tried to see the possibilities.
I tried to appreciate the large rooms,
high ceilings, and clever use of space
that the Arts and Crafts era bungalow offered.
Eventually we bought the house, but the
one room I continued to hate was
the kitchen.
Notice the red and white checked floor.
The walls were covered in a cream and brown tile,
and of course paneling.
The weekend I went to Maine,
Jon painted the cupboards a bright red to
match the floors and the Coca Cola
stuff that I had.
It made the room look so much better.
Then he painted the rest of the
kitchen. He covered the tile with a bright
white paint.
He covered the paneling with a robin's egg blue paint.
The room was transformed.
We ordered a bright red sink and some
boomerang patterned Formica.
Our kitchen has become fun.
I've always wanted the kitchen to be warm,
inviting, and groovy. I think we're on our way.
Tonight, while we were eating dinner,
I noticed one of our neighbor's carrying the
above step chair
outside to the curb to throw away.
The blue caught my eye.
I dashed from the dinner table and ran across the street.
It's official, I'm a garbage picker. He let me take the chair.
I cleaned it up, tightened the screws, and voila! Almost
like new.
Now I'm on the hunt for a Formica topped
table from the '50's.
Who knows, maybe someone will throw one out, and
I can make a career of garbage picking!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

A Weekend Trip to Maine

My Mom and I have always been close. She worked
extra hard when I was growing up to keep our
communications open. She was ALWAYS available
when I needed her. She would
talk with me for hours when I was a
teenager and EVERYTHING was a crisis.
We used to take, what we would call, "Fun Girl" trips
throughout high school and college. We went
to see football games together, so that I could
watch a boy I had a crush on play.
We went to visit colleges together.
We went to Niagara Falls, Maine, Pennsylvania.
Wherever we went, we always had fun.
Then, she and my dad moved away. I got married. We had
our kids. We were still "Fun Girls", but we didn't take any
more trips together.
Foolishly, I thought we'd have time once the kids
were older, once things settled down, became less hectic.
Last October, my view on life and time together
changed forever. No longer was my life unlimited
time. No longer could I say, "We can do
that next year, next month, next week."
I believe without a doubt that I am the person
that I am because of my mother. She put all of her love,
time and energy into me. She loved without
selfishness. She gave to me with no thought of
her own needs. She encouraged me to be
whatever I wanted. Her life was a reflection of
love and faith. The type of love and faith that I hope to impart
to my own children. Last spring, she read
an article about a clam festival in Maine. She cut it
out thinking it might be fun. She thought I might enjoy it.
I thought, we should enjoy it, together.
Last weekend we took a "Fun Girl" trip
to Maine. We staid right on
the ocean.
We ate at lots of fun restaurants that she had read
about. We took a trip to Yarmouth, to
the clam festival.
We had fun. We made memories.
We talked about life. We talked about death.
We talked about all of the fun
that we've been blessed enough to have.
We took time to watch the ocean.
Hear the birds. Eat lots of seafood.
We took time to just enjoy each other. We enjoyed
the time that God has given us together.
Although I don't understand this illness, I
trust that my Heavenly Father does.
I'm tempted to say, "This isn't fair. Why does
my mom have to have cancer."
But then I think of the number of people that don't have
a mother that they love so much. The people that
don't have all of the happy memories that
I do. I think of the time that God is giving us.
The time that He is allowing for me
to hold my mom. The time He's given me to tell her
that she matters. That her life changed mine. That
she inspires me. I have the privilege of
making memories with my mom.
I hope that as my children grow, they will
see me as I see my mom. They will share the happy
memories with me that I share with my own mom.
I hope that God will give me lots
of time with my mom. I do know that if her
time on earth is shorter than I would like,
I will meet her again, in Heaven.
For that, I am grateful.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Yummy Cupcakes

I think that I've mentioned before that I love to bake.
I especially love trying new recipes, or creating my own recipes.
I tried my hand at lemonade cupcakes.
I loved the way that these turned out.
The cake part tastes a lot like a pound cake, but not quite.
I made a whipped cream frosting. I decorated them
with gummy fruit wedges that I found at a farmers market.
I also sprinkled them with yellow sparkle sugar.
They really did taste and look great.
Little bites of summer.

Cute Pictures of Some Cute Kids

I took this picture one morning
while we were out walking. I loved seeing
them walking together holding hands.
K. loves sugar as much as his mother.
Here he is enjoying a lolly pop or lady pop as
he calls them.
Making a pizza at a local pizzeria.
The kids menu had a make
your own pizza. K. and Doodles loved this!
When their pizzas came out,
the waitress offered them a job.
They were so proud of their work.
I think the pizza tasted better, because they made it.

June and July in Review/How Could the Summer Be Going so Fast!

June is always a busy month for us.
On the 16th, we celebrate our anniversary, and on the
20th, it's Jon's birthday.
Since we've had kids, Jon always tries to think of
something fun for all of
us on his birthday. He's such a great dad,
because he enjoys thinking of things that the kids might like to do.
Last year we visited Fort Rickey for the
first time with them. This year,
we took them to Howe's Caverns.
They loved the cave under ground. They were the perfect
age to enjoy the trip and the history of
the place. After our fun day at the Cavern,
we came home for a birthday party.
Happy Birthday Jon!
In June it's my birthday too.
I always tell the kids that the best birthday
gift I ever got was them. Three years ago, on my
birthday, they came to live with us. On their "anniversary"
we enjoy cupcakes for breakfast, with candles, and a
"Happy Anniversary" song.
Last year, my mom made my birthday cake. Foolishly, I thought
it was just one of many more that she would
make. I appreciated the time and effort that she took making it, but
I don't think that I appreciated the fact
that it could have been the last.
In the fall, when she was diagnosed with
cancer, I remember sitting in the hospital wondering
would my mom even be around in the summer
to celebrate my birthday.
I'm so thankful that she was. This is a cake that she made
for me. I really took time to appreciate it this year.
As I blew out my candles, I wished harder than I've ever wished before
that my mom would be here for many more birthdays.
After birthdays and anniversaries, it's the Fourth of
July. My brother came up for a visit
on the Fourth. We all enjoyed fireworks together.
Last year, I thought we would have unlimited time to watch
fireworks, this year I slowed down and enjoyed each and every moment
that we had before, during, and after the firework show.
We bought the kids cotton candy and glow in the
dark necklaces. Something that we don't usually
do. We let them fool around with
Papa. We made sure to take
time to make memories that we can draw on
forever.
This year, we hosted a Fourth of July brunch. Jon
will be quick to point out that we ate it
on the 5th, so how could it be a fourth brunch.
So, I call it the Fourth of July weekend brunch.
We had a sweet potato fratata, home made bagels, stuffed
french toast, bacon, and waffles with strawberries and
blueberries.
The kids made patriotic decorations that
we hung in our yard.
We ate outside on the picnic table that we
bought for our anniversary.
Yet another reason that I love my husband. Each year, for our
anniversary, we buy something for our house.
We've purchased a barbecue grill, a pool, and some other things.
This year, I really wanted a picnic table, so that we could eat
outside. Jon really didn't want one. He sited
many things: Bugs, heat, inconvenience, and mowing.
He knew how much it meant to me that
we have a table, and he bought one. I love him.
After Fourth of July weekend, my brother staid for a bit
longer. We enjoyed some outings with him.
We went to Fort Rickey one day.
Here Doodles is feeding the deer. She
reminds me of her grandmother, taking her time
to feed each and every animal. She doesn't want any of them
to go without food.
All K. wanted to do was ride the paddle boat.
His sweet Tio rode with him around and around the pond.
It seemed like they paddled everywhere about 100 times.
Tio never complained, just enjoyed the time
with K.
The next day, we took a trip to the zoo.
Both K. and Tio love animals. What fun
it was for the kids to have the time with
their uncle!
My kids favorite thing is to listen to
Tio and I share stories of our
childhood. They love to think of us as kids
like they are.
We had to take time to feed the ducks.
Looking through the binoculars.
What a view!
The kids wouldn't pose in the tiger. Apparently they've
become too cool to do this. So I posed!
"Look, a baby box turtle!"
Aren't they cute!
We've enjoyed lots of fun activities at our
local library this summer.
Here Doodles is painting a bird house.
What an artist.
Big K. enjoying the
painting. Her method, slow and methodical. His method,
paint everywhere!
This summer the kids participated in the
Fun Run for the first time. They ran a
half mile. Doodles was so nervous. K. loved
every minute of it.
The best part of any race, the goodies at the end.
After the run, we went to a local county
fair. We went to see a dog show.
It was the cutest fair I've ever been to. It was
so tiny. They had a performing clown who made
balloons to order. K. ordered a sword, of course, and Doodles
wanted a flower.
The next morning, we went
to watch Jon run the Boilermaker.
Here we are, waiting for Daddy!
What a fun summer we're having. I can't believe how fast the
time is going. When summer starts, it feels like we'll have
forever. I realized that it's going to be August in just a
few days. Before I know it, we'll be ordering our curriculum
and starting soccer again. Time just goes way too fast.
Hope you're summer has been as fun as ours!