Catching up?

Where to begin??? I am so far behind, I don't think I'll even try to get totally caught up....

We moved into our "new" old house...finally. We are still finishing up moving the last boxes and things out of the old "old" house....sometimes it feels like we will never be done!! Hubby and I are totally wiped out!!!! We have had t o move a little bit here and there, due to babysitting Keara, taking Nicki to her job, and Ray's working. Ray went over there after work today to get a load in the van and bring it over. Tomorrow Ray and I will go over there again. Oh, fun. NOT.
The babies are growing so big, and so fast! Time just seems to fly...I don't want them to grow up too fast! I am enjoying the baby stage too much!

happy, giggling Naomi

beautiful smiling baby girl at 5 months old!

Keara's first 4th of July...staring at the pretty fireworks

beautiful baby girl, Keara at 3 months

We have been transplanting some of our hostas and perennials from the other house. The garden was just starting to really get so pretty...we couldn't bear to leave all of the plants there. I know, that sounds pathetic, right? Ya think we need to get a life? LOL We have been dividing the bigger perennials. Hubby and I have discovered that gardening can really be very nice...and therapeutic. We both have realized that it is something we really enjoy. I really like flowering plants, and Ray has a passion for his Hosta varieties and different grasses. Our son in law, James, loves to tease 'Pa' about his 'weed garden' and get him all riled up.

pretty Asiatic lilies - planted last year

some of Ray's grasses

Sweet William

Before we moved - Ray went to a bird fair and sold ALL the lovebirds!!! Wow! We were very happy about that!!! It is SO much quieter now!!! We still have the cockatiels, a parakeet, some canaries, and my green cheek conure. It is so much easier to keep up with these few. I don't regret selling the lovebirds one bit!!

Ray and I volunteered for the Cup O Joy booth at Lifest again this year. It was actually more like a break to go there and work the coffee booth/tent, and then be able to sit and listen to some of the artists that performed at Lifest. It was the first time we've been able to sit down, and do nothing, for a long time. It was nice to be living closer to Lifest too...we were able to stay later and got to listen to Third Day, Phillips, Craig and Dean, Mark Schultz, Tim Hawkins, Bone Hampton, Barlow Girl, Jeremy Camp, Thor Ramsey, Bob Smiley, and a lot of other great Christian artists. It was refreshing to sit and soak up all of that.

Let's hear it for sunshine!

It's a beautiful, sunshine-y day outside! It is supposed to get up into the 80's... I am absolutely loving the spring!!!

The flowers are blooming...my perennials are growing like...weeds!!!

Primrose

Bleeding Heart

I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but I love the checkerboard pattern!!!




Grandma's favorite 'flowers' - Keara,



and my other favorite 'flower' Naomi
(they are the most beautiful flowers in my 'garden')

The baby robins in the nest in our carport have feathers, and their eyes are open. It won't be too long before they are ready to fly away. It wasn't that long ago that they looked like this:

Pretty Blue Robin's Eggs

We still haven't moved yet...it is going way too slowly for us. It is very tiring having to take care of two places. We finally were able to finish painting the master bedroom and master bathroom at the 'new' house. We have a few spots that need to be touched up. Then only two more rooms to paint. It sure turned out to be a lot more work than I thought it would be.

We're trying to figure out where we want our perennials over there too. Yes, I plan on taking a lot of mine with us. If I have holes left in the "old" yard, I will fill them in with annuals, so it looks nice.

I plan on packing some today, but mostly I want to get out in that sunshine and soak some of it up.
Maybe it is a good day for me to get my fishing license?

Link to a great blog post...

I don't have anything original to say today...we have been busy working on the house, and I am so tired!
I belong to a group of bloggers called SITS - The Secret Is In The Sauce...they are a great bunch of bloggers and human beings.
They feature a blog of the day...and the idea is to visit the blog, and leave comments...positive ones. I think its a wonderful idea, just to know that someone out there in cyber space knows you are alive and a real person, you know?

I have to share a post from today's featured blogger. It made me cry...in a good way. How many of us struggle with self-image, and self-worth? Do we matter? Do we 'look' okay?

If you do (and I know I struggle with this) - then this post is for you: "Baby Fat"
It is a really great reminder on perspective, and not only how we see ourselves, but how we should see ourselves. And how God sees each one of us.

The Silver Bear Cafe...

A sweet friend of mine posted this link on her Facebook page. I think it is delightful to watch the expressions of the people watching this 'happen'... as my friend also posted... "can't we all just dance together?"....wouldn't that would be sweet???... enjoy! (you will need to 'pause' the little pink I-POD like thingy to the right of the blog... and then press the play button on the video in this post)

Veggie - Trader

Our son Tim emailed me to tell me about a new site that he heard about from a friend. It sounds like a neat idea. It's called "Veggie-Trader". You go there, register for an account (free) and then you can search the ads in your area for people that have extra produce, seeds, plants, etc. that they want to trade for something. Sort of like a 'vegetarian' craigs list... LOL
I signed up - I like the idea of trading or bartering. I am looking forward to planting a big veggie garden as soon as we move. And I love my perennials. I plan on digging some of them up and taking some starts over to the new place with us when we move.
I am still fighting the cold I came down with on Sunday. Sore throat, congestion, not so fun. The worst part about being sick is that I can't see my grand babies! I don't want them to get sick too...and I miss them!!!!!
Have a good Tuesday! The sun is shining here today, for a nice change.

Our Two Beautiful little baby girls...

Make a Smilebox photobook

Keara LeAnne - our newest grandchild!!!

We have another beautiful grand daughter! Our youngest daughter, and her hubby, had their little baby girl the day before yesterday. She is a small baby... 6 pounds, and 19 inches long...but healthy and pretty! She is doing really well!Keara, Mommy and Daddy

And I got to be there when she was born!!! Which was almost not a good thing for one of the nurses who was trying to give DD an IV during a contraction...and was making her cry more from the pain of her trying to start the IV than the actual contraction....I wanted to deck that nurse.... (I didn't - but I have to say that I thought of it) (I know that the nurse had to do it, but I think she could have been gentler. DD has a huge bruise on her arm!)

Keara LeAnne is my newest grand-baby's name. She is a miracle baby, in my opinion. (but then again, aren't all babies God's miracles?)

Keara LeAnne

She was in the perfect head down position for weeks before DD went into labor, but decided to switch to a 'frank breech' position when it was time to arrive. In a "frank breech" position, the baby's bottom is down, with the legs bent up at the baby's hip, and baby is facing forward. Normally, if a baby is breech, they will be delivered by a C-section. DD's OB Dr. is an EXCELLENT Dr. - he actually was MY Dr. when she was born, and also for one of her brothers. And as soon as the Dr. said the baby was breech, I started praying! And God heard it... Dr. D. did a great job....and so did DD and her DH.

Keara and Grandma



Keara and Grandpa

Thank you, God!!!!

Now we have two gorgeous grand daughters!

And this Grandma is lovin' being a Grandma!

To-Do Lists or Not-To-Do-Lists...That IsThe Question...

Here's some 'food for thought'...from one of the blogs I enjoy, called "So Not Domestic"....

I found this fascinating quote today:

Weekly to-do list. On Sundays, I make a list of everything that I want to accomplish for the given week. Then, each day, I select about five items from that list. Of the five things that I choose, I select 2 that I'm really looking forward to, 2 that I can get done easily but they might not be my favorites, and 1 task that I'm really dreading. For me, the "dreaded thing" is usually a phone call I have to make. I have a phone phobia.Donella aka Lazy Housewife, So Not Domestic, Apr 2009

You should read the whole article.

I really like this idea...I AM already a list-maker, and a 'wanna-be list follower'... I really do have good intentions, but when I make out a list of things I don't want to forget, or need to do, there is always something on my list that I DON'T WANT to do ....so I procrastinate... I lose my list...I do one or two things that are not too bad on my list, and then I either conveniently (or cleverly) lose, maim, or destroy my list. I am SO going to try this idea from "The Lazy Housewife". Maybe I can do it... I can pretend I am the little engine that could....maybe...

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.... maybe if I reward myself each day with something I actually LIKE to do penciled in on my daily lists.

So...now I'm challenging myself. (thanks, Donella. You're an inspiration...not to mention hysterically funny...)
Does anyone else have any tried and true systems that you use to keep yourself motivated? Please, please share...

Oh, and I have a phone phobia too....LOLOL

too much to do & not enough time or energy...

 I'm still out at Mom's...keeping pretty busy, doing paperwork, catching her up on her Dr.appointments,etc.

   

I did manage to finish a knit baby sweater

for one of the grandbabies, and a crocheted

bandanna for the baby of one of my daughter's

 friends.  I hope that the bandanna fits. 

 I think it looks cute on one of Mom's dolls.

  :o)))))

My brother Terry and his girlfriend, Deb, came up for the weekend this last weekend.  The job for the weekend was to trim the big, old Elm tree in

 the backyard. 

 I am not sure exactly how old that tree is, but it

 is huge, and many of the limbs were heavy, and hanging over the house. 

Terry was a 'tree surgeon' for many years, so he knows what he is doing. 

I have never seen him in action before though.    It was pretty impressive to watch.

I helped a little, but not nearly as much 

as I feel I should have.  I had to leave halfway through to go pick up Frank from the hospital.

And for the last bit of this 'chatty' post... I made my first real Lemon Meringue Pie...from scratch...not instant pudding...lol...

I picked the lemons from Mom's Meyer Lemon tree, and squeezed the juice even...

It looked like a picture...in fact, Mom 

made me take  a picture...

and even more surprising, it actually tasted pretty good...but it was a lot of work.... LOL.  So I am not sure how often I will make it...

Have an awesome week!

lost in space....

We've been busy, so I haven't posted for a few weeks... we have been working on helping Kim and James finish painting their nursery and bedroom, and stenciling the nursery.  

And of course - had to get in my time with our new grandbaby.  And trying to get our lovebirds listed so we can try and find them new homes.

It's impossible for me to be able to keep up with them lately...just too much going on all of the time it seems.

I am in sunny California again, checking up on my Mom, and 'stuff'.  She is going to have a procedure done tomorrow that will hopefully help ease some of the pain she has been having in her back, and legs.  She is definitely having a difficult time getting around, and her body is not cooperating with her at all. Her mind is still sharp as a tack, tho!

The flight out was interesting.  The little plane that I took for the first 'leg' of the flight had propellers.  I think they had to go out and give them a spin to get them going.  :o)  The engine was so loud, that I was wishing I had brought earplugs along for the trip!!!  (I did see some very fashionable looking ones on fellow passengers in purple, green and pink!  They obviously are seasoned travelers)

As the plane lifted off, it was vibrating so much, that my teeth were rattling.  I have never, ever been airsick before.... but this plane had me looking in the seat pocket to see if they had a 'Motion Discomfort' bag.  (commonly known as a 'barf bag'!)  I was  sort of  disappointed to see that they did, and it was a generic navy blue... very boring.... if I was gonna have to be sick, I would want my bag to have pretty flowers on it, or something interesting... just to improve the experience a bit.  (believe it or not - there are actually people that collect barf bags???)

As it turned out, I didn't need it after all.  But I did need to take some Excedrin for the headache from the engine noise and plane vibration.

The rest of the flight out was uneventful.  (I'm always grateful for that.)  The two people in the next seats were pleasant.  There was an adorable little girl in the seat in front of me, traveling with her Mommy and Grandma.  This little girl was just under 2 yrs old, and so cute! Curly brown hair and big blue eyes.  She was really very good through most of the flight...but 5 hours is a long time for a toddler to sit and not get frustrated with it.  Toward the end of the flight, this little girl had had enough!  I had to shake my head at a lady sitting across from them, who said "I have an idea!  Honey (speaking to the less than 2 yr old) - you should practice your manners.  It's not nice to scream and throw fits on a plane."  I almost laughed out loud at her!  Obviously, she has never had kids!  If I had been that little girls Mommy, I would have been very offended.

I dug through my backpack, which had almost anything you could need...or Not...and found a little flashlight in there.  So I turned it on and showed it to Charlotte (the little girl) and told her it was 'magic'.  She entertained herself, and her Mommy and Grandma with that for almost a half hour.  Too cute!

Well, I am going to pretend that I have a little bit of sense left... and get my butt to bed.

Happy Thursday!! The weekend's almost here...

Surprise 25th Anniversary Celebration!

Our five kids did the sweetest thing for us today. Wednesday the 25th was our 25th wedding anniversary. We celebrated quietly.
All week our kids were bugging us for pictures, and other wierd things. We knew they were up to something, but we didn't know what.
A couple of days ago, Matt & Katie wanted to know if they could give us some 'alone time' and have Nicki stay with them for a few days. But wanted us to pick her up on Saturday (today) at 1 o'clock. No later.
So we showed up at 1 o'clock, and all of our kids were there...
our oldest son had cooked a meal of Chicken Alfredo (which was delicious) and broccoli, and toasted french bread. Our DIL Katie, had baked and decorated two cakes. Our sons, Matt & Joey, and their wives, and our daughters Kim and her husband, James, and our other daughter Nicki, had put together a video with all the pictures set to music, that was beautiful. Hubby and I were both in tears. (good thing) And they invited our best friends, Nancy and Charlie too.
We had a wonderful meal, and then watched the video they had made. They all thanked us for being good parents. (I know, I know, I was shocked too!) Then we had cake...they wanted us to cut it, and to know if we were going to 'behave' when we did...well, of course...after that question...we couldn't - so hubby and I each ended up wearing some yummy chocolate cake.
What fun!
We were very touched that they planned this out...geez, maybe the kids didn't turn out too bad after all...actually, I think they are pretty great.

This is what happens...

Here's a news flash for the day...I did something dumb...lol

We were getting ready to leave this morning, and hubby came in and said that I left a can of the soda in the car yesterday, and he was going out to clean it up. I told him no way, I drank all of it and the can was empty. He said, no...you didn't... I didn't understand he was trying to tell me that the can he was referring to was a full, unopened can. Apparently, I forgot that one in the car, and the temperature dropped below freezing last night.

So...here's why you should never leave an unopened can of soda where it will freeze......note the frozen soda all over the dash...it was also on the roof, the inside of the windshield...etc. And I did not cut the can open...that was from exploding. Luckily, because it was frozen - it wasn't too hard to clean up. Lesson learned...
DUH

unofficial tourism committee

I think I will pretend I am the "unofficial local tourism committee" this morning....

so, do you like snow? Lots of it, you say? Have we got the place for you!!!! So come on up nort' - have we got da snow fer yous!

Just look at all the pretty, pristine, white snow...

makes ya wanna move right in now, doesn't it? Don't forget ta bring lozza dem der snow shuvels....cuz ur gonna need em!!!!





Plenty of parking spaces... you just have to dig them out!!!!




Have a nice picnic with your friends...maybe even a cook out!



Don't forget - it's time to plant those cold weather garden plants... (or so my gardening magazine tells me.) You just have to try and remember where the garden IS.

My calendar tells me it is only 22 more days until spring...I sure hope it can be trusted!

I love snow??????

We are having one heck of a snowstorm tonight! Can I say 'oh joy.'
I am so sick of snow. and ice. and cold weather. Blech.

The snowstorm is named 'Snowstorm Julia'. Around here people must get so bored that they name snowstorms ...whatever. Personally, I think they need to get a life... Snow is snow...and we are supposed to get about 10" of the lovely white stuff tonight. I am. so thrilled. I will try to contain my enthusiasm.
(it's really quite easy to)

Oh, and this snowstorm woke me up from a nice nap. (stooooopid storm) A big boom of thunder, and then lightning (in a snowstorm...only in Wisconsin) woke me right up!!!!

DH had to work in Menasha today, which is about a little over an hour south of us. They sent him home early in the afternoon, because the snow had started and it was coming down heavy. DH said he could barely see the road in front, or tell where the lanes were on the highway. He saw numerous cars in the ditch. It took him almost 2 hours to make the drive home.

It is nasty out there. I am glad I don't have anywhere to go.

So...we are going to stay in and stay warm and safe.

so...what's everyone else doing?

"Lissa Needs..."

Ok, I am playing along with my friend Char, at PawsN2Stamp
This is how this little game works. Go to Google, type (your first name) needs" keep the quotation marks like it shows. Then, list the first ten things that come up.

So here are mine:

1. Lissa needs an injection of SOMETHING... (you mean there's an injection to cure insanity???)

2. 'Princess' Lissa needs our help... (that's got a lot of truth to it, really!!)

3. Lissa - explains it all... (I think one of my kids told me I knew it 'all' just the other day, in fact...)

4. Lissa needs ...a student representative... (but if I do that, then I won't 'know it all'...)

5. Lissa needs...you.... ( gosh, I sound like Uncle Sam!!!!)

6. Lissa needs... to be set up as a Federal Advisory Committee... (wow...let's do that. I'll tell you who to send some Stimulus funding to...)

7. Lissa needs some buddies... (so I can have someone to 'explain it all' to! :0)

8. Lissa needs... a shoulder to cry on. (sometimes I do. But I usually have a hard time finding a shoulder that's available.)

9. Lissa is a cyperpath (what in the world is a cyperpath? I am not admitting to it, until I know what it is. I'll have to look that up. Whoops! I guess I don't know it all..)

10. Lissa...needs to stop drinking... (Ha. Ha. and Ha. I AM NOT giving up my coffee. No Way Jose - and No One Can Make Me...LOL)

Ok, now, it's YOUR turn!!!! If you decide to play, link back to this post so I can see what you need ;-)

Lissa

Pictures of our beautiful grand baby!

We had to take some pictures of something pretty after that last post about that room... so here's more baby pictures of that sweet little granddaughter...

This pic is of Ray and I and our son, Tim (Joey) with his new little girl

This is Ray and I with Naomi

Naomi and her proud Momma...

Naomi and her Momma and Papa..

Naomi with her Aunt Nicki....


trying really hard to pay attention to Grampa...and still sleep....

Ugly Room Pictorial Update...

I thought I would post pictures of the room that we have been tearing apart for the past couple of weeks...


In this photo, you can see the old ceiling tiles...which I think were made of some kind of a fiberglass material. Not sure about that...

This is the closet we decided to tear down...




This is the plaster-over-wood lathing that was behind the panels on three walls... yuck

This is just another view of the painted panels that were on the walls, and the gaps between them...


This is the same corner of the room as the picture posted above, but after we tore off the panels, the plaster, and most of the lathing...




This is the wall on the door side, the closet used to be to the right of the door. This is before the plaster was taken off this wall...

This is looking up at the lathing on the ceiling, after we took down the ceiling tiles, and chipped away all the plaster...

and this is the other front corner of the room, with Dear Hubby working on updating the electrical wiring in the room...


and finally, this is the wall behind the door, after the panels, plaster and lathing have been removed. Right behind the door is the old chimney. That had 1" thick CEMENT on it...boy was that ever fun to chisel off.... (yeah, right... I would compare it to a root canal - minus the anesthetic....)
Now the good part will be coming...I can't wait...for the drywall!!!
When that is up, I'll post "after" shots...