Visiting Jaena

Today I took a gift from Keri to Jaena - - -


Which she promptly modeled!!!


Elisha wasn't so SURE about Kamma Keetha at first.


Madelyn slept through the whole visit. Notice, she was AMPLY surrounded by friends!!!


Kamma Keetha got to hold little Josiah. She LOVES Josiah,


But he's not so sure about her!!!

For Aunt Char - - -

All fed - - -


And de-watered courtesy of your nephew!!!!

Dids and Did Nots

Things I DID on My First Day of Summer Vacation:

1) Stayed in bed until after 8.

2) Had my nails done.

3) Sped in a school zone and got pulled over and warned for it. Oooooops!

4) Blogged

5) Read my book


6) Bought some Dove's. If you CAN'T get DeBrands, just a little Dove'll do ya!!!

7) Had a pedicure. Girls - - - check out the pedicures at your local beauty schools. Only $10 and OH SO WONDERFUL!!!

8) Blogged some more

9) Took a little cat nap

10) Watched some ESPN

11) Ate a Greek salad for supper at my favorite little Greek restaurant


Things I Definitely DID NOT DO on My First Day of Summer Vacation:

1) Go anywhere near the school

2) Grade papers

3) Clean house

4) Do laundry

5) Cook

6) Exercise

7) Mow

8) Volunteer for ANY summer responsibilities

Camera Anxiety

Today I am suffering with camera anxiety. I mean, how does one know they have purchased the RIGHT camera? Hmmm?

My friend Vickie walked into a store, bought a new camera, and is perfectly content and happy with it. As far as I know she hasn't suffered one moment of camera anxiety over it.

Why can't I be like that? Well - - - maybe it's Vickie's fault!!!! I mean, she told me all about her camera and its features, and now I just can't be satisfied with mine!!! Let's blame it on her!!! ;-)


Here's the main thing that is BUGGING me about my new camera. Vickie's can recharge using the same little cord that attaches it to the computer to transfer pictures over from the camera to the computer. Oh no - - -mine CANNOT do that, instead I have to use this bulky contraption. True, my OLD camera couldn't even recharge the batteries AT ALL and I was buying little AA's all the time - - - so WHY can't I be satisfied with a rechargeable battery and this bulky gismo?


I did pick up this nice little camera case for my new camera - - - and I AM quite happy and content with it!!! So, why am I having all this angst over the camera itself?



I don't suppose it helped that I got THIS while out and about this morning. Why are THEY still in school??? How was I supposed to be thinking about THEM being in school when we are out? Of COURSE I was going faster than 20 mph. Thank goodness that policeman was so NICE he only gave me a warning.


So now I'm trying to decide if I should let these little feet (size 6 in case you're wondering) take me back out and about to see about exchanging for a DIFFERENT camera. Or maybe I'll wait a couple of days and keep working with this one to see if I do or don't like some other features. But - - - WHAT TO DO!?!

Yes, these pictures were all taken with the new camera. I know the ticket is kinda blurry - - - I must have used a wrong setting or something. New camera has A LOT of those.

Hodge Podge - - -

1) SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!! I believe that is all I need to say about that.

2) Some lawn chemical salesman had the GUTS to ring our doorbell today to see if we wanted an estimate for having our lawn fertilized by them. Was he blind??? Could he not see that our grass is greener and lusher and better than ANY his company could possibly produce? Did he think I'd say, "Sure, give us an estimate because we are ALWAYS interested in losing quality in our yard." He had guts to ring OUR bell - - - I'll give him that.

This is just a reminder of how plush hubby's grass is, in case you forgot.

3) I came home from school about 1:30 this afternoon and promptly napped until 6!!! I feel like a NEW person. Did I mention, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!!!!

4) I went SHOPPING!!!!! Whoooo Hoooo - - - here's the report of what I got, complete (for you, BooMama) with the "unboxing."


First, my little cordless laser rodent needed a new battery. I got a "few" just in case. If you have ever wondered if you'd like this kind of a mouse - - - wonder no more. THEY ARE FAB!!!


Next, I got a REAL keyboard for my lappy. Why did I wait this long? It was ONLY $14 and I'm already soooooooo glad to have it. I probably won't haul it along when I travel, but for here at home it is the BOMB.


And my NEXT purchase was this. I'm thinking it is giving you a BIG clue as to my LAST purchase - - -


Yep. You guessed it. A new digi cam. My old one took ten years to focus for each picture. No really - - - it took TEN YEARS.


And the infamous unboxing - - - -


Here it is. Now I have 14 days to decide if it is the "RIGHT" camera for me. It's got to take good zoom pictures AND focus faster than a 2 and a half year old to qualify!!! :-)

Being quite technically illiterate myself, I have managed to unbox, have the battery charging, have the instruction manual out and am ACTING like I understand it, and am WAITING for hubby to come home from work, and show me how to use my new toy!!!! Hehehehehehehehe

5) I think I forgot to mention, SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!!!!

Disclaimer- all photos in this post taken with the OLD camera since I don't even know how to USE the new one yet!

Macky's First Fishin' Trip

Soakin' the old worm in the pond - - -


Papoo's showin' Mackinley how it's done.


Mackinley takes it all in.


OK, enough of this Papoo!!! Now what do we do?

Macky Mania

This is how we "played" with the train tonight!!!!


Watching "Blue's Clues" We LOVE Blue.


Cuddling in on the couch to watch Blue.



Who likes Blue more, Macky or Papoo?

Today I Remember - - -

My childhood friend, Lee Peters, whose name is on "The Wall of Memory" in Washington DC because he gave his life to protect MY freedom.

Never forget - - - freedom is not free.

I Plotted My Course - - -

And I coursed my plot!!!

I got to and grazed through 10 (T-E-N) graduation open houses today!!!!

Whew - - - I'm tired!!!

Best Pastries Award - - - goes to David. These tiny little pastries were not only beautiful, they were the tastiest I've EVER had. They included strawberries wearing little tuxes with mortar boards on their "heads" and tiny little lemon meringue tarts.

Best Punch Award - - - goes to Jordan. This was a decadent mocha frappe punch. Yum.

Most Atmosphere Award - - - goes to Todd. Their ENTIRE back yard was landscaped, set up with tables, a campfire pit, and more. Pure awesomeness.

The "IN" graduation party food this year - - - pulled pork with BBQ sauce.

Most Likely to Prank the Teacher Award - - - goes to John A, who pulled a good one on me nearly as soon as I walked in the door!!!!

Best Cake Award - - - goes to Christi, she searched online till she found a graduation cake like the ones they make on those cake contests on the Food Network. It was magnificent!!!

The Most Unique Drink Server - - - goes to Megan who had a tiny "kiddie" pool with a plastic palm tree coming up out of the center. The pool part around the tree trunk was filled with ice and canned drinks were buried in the ice. It was cuuuuute!!!

Graduation Shoes

Every year I DREAD the graduation ceremony because I don't have the RIGHT black shoes to wear with my cap and gown. Hopefully NO ONE is really looking at my feet - - - but STILL.

Finally it dawned on me - - - - GET A NEW PAIR OF SHOES.

So I did.

I passed by a pair half the price and zeroed right in on these.


Even gave the toe nails their summer coat of paint.

All I Could Do - - -

When our four children were young, we lived in a small three bedroom ranch style house. When I felt overwhelmed by the enormous task that was mine as a wife and mother, I would "escape" to the privacy of my bedroom, kneel at my bedside and pour out my heart to our Father.

Moments after withdrawing to the quiet of my room, I would hear little voices in the other parts of the house saying, "Where's mom?!?" Next would come the patter of small feet in the hallway, the creaking of my bedroom door being opened then quickly reclosed, and one small voice announcing to the others, "She's in there crying and praying again."

It was all I could do.

Last night as I sat in a row with all the other teachers at our high school Baccalaureate service, my heart was very moved and tears began streaming down my face while my heart cried out to the Father. I was crying and praying.

It was all I could do.

Then I realized, it is not simply all I can do - - - it is in fact, the MOST I can do.

Tell Him I Sent Ya - - -

My friend, Mark, who is a pastor in the northwoods of Wisconsin posted a baptism video on his blog today. I've been privileged to see these videos when we worship there during our July vacation - - - but they never cease to move me to tears.

Go to my sidebar link list and click on "Little Pastor in the Woods." I think you'll be glad you did - - - and oh, grab a hankie or two before you go.

'Tis the Season - - -

Of graduation open houses.

I just went to my first one.

I'm telling ya, in Indiana, these are BIG DEALS!!!!

Did You Notice?

I changed my avatar and alphabetized my linkydoos.

Other people totally redecorate their blogs with colorful templates, whole new layouts, THE WORKS.

Not me folks. This is what I call BIG change. New avatar and alphabetized links. I was HOPING there was a way I could make the computer alphabetize that list for me - - - but I couldn't figure it out, so I just buckled down, used my college degree and alphabetized it all by myself.

:-)

What a Boy!!!!

WHO WOULDN'T BE PROUD OF SUCH A GRANDSON AS THIS!?!?

Eating lemons at Red Lobster.


Just look at that PUCKER!!!

I stole these pictures from his mommy's blog - - - - I just couldn't resist.

You Decide - - -

Grass or Green Velvet?

Lawn Brawn is at it again - - - second time this week!!!

He-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-re's Josiah!!!

Got to spend last evening with Jaena and her new little son, Josiah.

This is the only picture I took because I was getting sick with a cold and didn't want to contaminate the poor little guy. But isn't he a cutie????

Jaena and I had a lovely visit, and I just HAVE to tell you one random trivia fact about her. Did you know Jaena simply CANNOT delete e-mails? She is a gourmet connoisseur collector of them and has over 9,000!!!!! (Editor stands corrected - it's only 4,703 - - - 900 some in her inbox, that must be where I got the 9.)

I must confess I gave her a really hard time about this - - - especially when I noticed she even keeps the spams.

Zoo-ology

Yesterday I took my 7th Grade Life Science Class on a field trip to the Indy Zoo.


I think it was a "hit"


My friend and co-teacher, Vickie, captures some of the flora on her digi cam.


Moms in waiting


Three lions with their tamer.


The gathering place


Girls just gotta have fun!


Truancy officer


Two monkeys hiding from the zookeeper.


New bessssssst friend.

Look What the Mother's Day Fairy Left - - -

On my front porch today!!!!

Oh, you have NO IDEA of the JOY!!! Perhaps you think you've had the best chocolate in the world - - - but I'm here to tell ya,


That unless you've had De Brand, you haven't even begun to scratch the SURFACE of gourmet chocolate. I KID YOU NOT!!!


Just look at these. Let me tell you about them - - -

Top row:
Cassia - milk chocolate fresh creme with honey and a hint of cassia cinnamon.
Chai - dark chocolate fresh creme with chai tea of India
Valencia - orange marzipan with glace orange peel and apricots, dipped in white chocolate and topped with a ginger slice

Second row:
Brazil - sweetened Brazil nuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, and orange peel
Aztec - pecan brittle covered with pecan gianduja dipped in milk chocolate and garnished with finely ground ancho chili peppers
Dulce Caliente - pure raspberry jelly covered in dark chocolate which ends with a jalepeno heat wave

Third Row:
Boysenberry - a fresh creme made with Madagascar vanilla beans surrounds an intense splash of boysenberry juice dipped in white chocolate
Espresso - an intense dark chocolate espresso ganache is topped with milk chocolate fresh creme then dipped in dark chocolate
Passion - white chocolate-passion fruit ganache dipped in milk chocolate

I can't WAIT to eat them, what am I doing sitting here TYPING about them???

Thanks Keri!!!!

Let's Go Surfin' Now - - -

Here is my surfer hubby back in his 18 year old BK days (before Keetha). Can you tell which is the Florida surfer and which the Indiana farm boy cousin?

Go ahead - - - vote in my comments. No fair giving it away, grammy!!!

Something Sneaky This Way Comes - - -

Several of the bird feeders hanging from the Lawn Brawn's Masterpiece have been falling off.

Hubby was quite puzzled as to what could be the cause of these disasters. I mean, the Masterpiece is quite stable - - - so why are London Bridges Falling Down?

To make matters worse, when the feeders fall, COPIOUS amounts of expensive bird food - - - especially large chunks of seed and nut encrusted suet - - - walk away. Now these suet cakes are tightly enclosed in a wire basket, so how can they just walk away?

We had a toad strangler weekend so the yard is quite muddy today even though the sun is back.

Tonight as I ate my supper, I looked out at the Leaning Tower of Pisa an what did I see?

Mystery solved. (See that suet holder on the ground?)

Methinks the culprit is a sneaky old raccoon!!!