From Our Home to Yours ...

Christmas is here! Put all the busy-ness of the season behind you, the shopping, baking, wrapping gifts, cleaning, on and on ... just sit back, relax, and enjoy all that tomorrow brings!

Smile as you recall Christmas Days gone by. Remember with fondness those you love that are no longer with you, and embrace the touch of loneliness you might feel for it is a sign of how much that person meant to you.

Never forget that a Very Special Baby was born on a Silent Night long ago.

He is the Reason for the Season!

Wishing all of you ... family friends strangers ... a Christmas Season filled with Peace and Joy!

Christmas Goodies

Today my daughters and I spent about 2 hours (or less) and made some quick and easy, but delicious candy, snacks, and other misc. things.

Abbi got home from school and could hardly wait to rip open this box.

After the fiasco of 1997, which I recall being similar to what WWII must've been like, I refuse to ever try to make one by scratch again. I really don't remember much of the story, but I do know that I had at least 3 children under the age of 10 helping me, and after licking my fingers often, I mercifully fell into a self-induced sugar coma. Martha Stewart claims it is so easy, but I don't have a kitchen staff or fully loaded cupboards with all the latest and greatest gadgets. I only have willing hearts and busy hands ... and we love every minute of creating our "kit"!

We lovingly consider Abbi's tongue another appendage that is necessary for her to complete any task that takes concentration and hard work.

Hard-working Alli & Abbi are sipping a cup of Russian Tea that Alli made. In the last several months I had this silly craving for the tea that I remember enjoying as a child, so I looked up the recipe and bought the ingredients and had Alli stir together the powder mix. This is the first time that either one of them had this tea, and they both gave it a thumbs up! We will bag some of it for gifts.

2 cups instant tea

2 cups orange-flavored breakfast drink mix (Tang)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Add 2 T. to a mug of hot water.

Other items, starting in front: Macadamia clusters (w/white choc. drizzled on top) and cashew clusters, Caramel Almond Crackers, Dipped and decorated pretzel sticks, Peanut Butter Cheerio Snacks (my neice Lindsy's recipe), and way at the end - Peanut Clusters in the milk chocolate and the white chocolate is Haystacks, which is simply chow mein noodles stirred into melted white chocolate and dropped into small piles.

Here is the recipe for the Caramel Almond Crackers. I first had them last February at our Sunday School Retreat and recently asked my friend for the recipe and had a chance to make them. They aren't a usual Christmas goodie but I thought it would be fun to make something a little different, and as you can tell from the recipe it's loaded with calories so I think it'll pass the test on Christmas Day!

Lay one sleeve of Club Crackers on a well-greased pan and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Pre-heat oven to 350.

1 stick butter

1/3 cup white sugar

Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Add 1 tsp. vanilla.

Pour the hot mixture over the crackers and bake for 8 minutes.

Easy Easy but oh so good!

When we finished with all the Christmas baking, we all (all 6 of us) sat down to a hot supper of ham, boiled red potatoes, green beans, and Orange Fluff (that's what I call it, cuz I'm not sure what it's really called - cottage cheese, dry jello, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and cool whip). We were finally able to catch up on everyone's lives ... GPA comparisons, boyfriend/girlfriend talk, "Quit texting at the table, or I'll take your phone away!", Abbi's News Team homework, winter travel plans and dreams, "Dave you don't need to take that page, it's not an emergency and you're not setting a good example!", ... you get the idea. We just had a real nice family time!

After most of the family had carried their plates to the sink, we reminded/begged Kevin to get out his homework. When he complained, Dad said "either homework or sit down and we'll have the sex talk!" The older two enjoyed some teasing comments directed at Kevin, Dad just waited for Kevin's response, Kevin said he already got that information at school and said he'd do his homework, and Abbi hid under the dining room rug! What a fun family we have! :)

The Nose Bleed Section

Those of you from Indiana, should quickly recognize the name "Lucas Oil Stadium". That's the name of the new stadium that the Indianapolis Colts call home! Also it appears that it's the name of the OIL COMPANY that threw in several (many) millions of dollars to have their name splashed on the front of the stadium ... and perhaps in several, or less, years all the taxpayers of our great nation can bail them out, since they may have depleted their cash source on this fine building! But let me tell you folks, no building is too great for my man Peyton and the rest of his fine crew, and let's not forget their fearless leader Tony Dungy.
Now for my story .... after a r-e-a-l-l-y long week for this weary Mom/Wife, things kind of just exploded on Friday. I won't go into a lot of detail here, but most of you homemakers will surely know what I mean when I just say it was one of those weeks that I sure was hoping I'd get laid off, or perhaps be awarded a bonus 2-week vacation because of all the hard work I'd been doing without much appreciation or tremendous pay! (but you know they tell you the benefits are awesome) So skipping through much of the murky mess, which I'm ashamed to say even involved my beloved brother of which I will probably never live this one down, and on to the explosion on Friday which culminated in me ordering two Colts tickets on-line. I told my patient and loving husband that he could either go with me or sit with my brother in some uppity suite. If he would choose not to go with me, I didn't doubt for a minute that I could find a friend or an excited 21 year old daughter to join me. He asked me how much the tickets were, and I asked him (don't you just love answering a question with a question) "how much is too much?" He very wisely replied "I'm not answering that question". Where oh where did I find this guy?!? He also very wisely chose to go with me to the game ....
The very top section of seating in front of that huge window is known as the nose-bleed section. But never fear my dear friends, what you're looking at is the view of that section from our seats in ...



... ROW 11!!! For sure, I was living and breathing everything magical about a Colts game! The smell of sweat, the sound of helmets cracking against each other, watching Peyton brush his hand through his hair each time he came to the bench and took his helmet off, Vinatieri practicing place kicks, Marvin Harrison sitting alone in front of a fan (cooling off fan, not a psycho fan like me), Dungy and Peyton conspiring with the offensive coach, Addai limping off the field. OK enough, you get the picture. Oh yeah, about the nose bleed section ... Dave really did get a nose bleed right there in our row #11 seats, right before kick off and had to spend some time in the restroom to get it stopped.
Speaking of pictures, I need to make a disclaimer here. Silly me left home without my digital camera! So I had to buy one of those disposable 35mm cameras at the stadium. How lame is that!? Not only did they price-gouge me, but the quality leaves much to be desired, and for sure I was humiliated beyond belief every time I had to wind that antique thing that came in a decorative cardboard cover. In the picture below I hope you can get a sense for how very close row 11 is to the players bench. If I would've had my high-tech digital I would've zoomed in and you could've read the names on the backs of the jerseys.



And here is a wonderful picture of my side-kick. Did I mention what a patient, loving, and wise man he is? Don't know what I'd do without him!

As we were leaving the stadium I had to have a picture with Peyton pointing at me!

There are surely some of you who simply don't understand the Colts-mania that I have portrayed here, but please hear me out. Yes, I am a Colts fan, but I also know there are much more important things in life than some football team or players. The whole moral of this messy story is that regardless of the price I paid for the tickets, it proved to be a pretty inexpensive way to get some intensive marital therapy, all in one day! We had 3 1/2 hours of uninterrupted car time going south, and then another 3 1/2 hours heading back north. We tend to go through phases of life where we are just co-habiting and barely functioning as our vows long ago intended. Now I'm not implying that if you crave some alone time with your significant other that you go on-line and buy costly tickets to some sporting event, but life is too short to just "exist"! Have fun, say I love you often, just find time to be together alone (or with 30,000 other people if you must), and don't be afraid to sit in the nose-bleed section!

Chasing Cows on Amish Highway 35

I've been waiting a long time to have a post like this, a true picture of just how exciting life can be here on Amish Highway 35.


I woke up this morning at an amazing 9:00ish. Oh, how I love Saturday's ....


About 10:00 I finally managed to call my hubby, who had been at work since probably about 6:00am. (He does this most Saturdays) I called him to see if he wanted to go to the local downtown restaurant and have coffee with me, and just "catch up". Now that our kids are old enough to stay at home for a couple of hours alone without killing each other, this is is something that we really enjoy on Saturday mornings.


So as I was driving out the driveway to head to town, I noticed two cows in the field across the road from us. Oh oh, Lena's cows. Lena is a single older Amish lady, and recently had foot surgery. Now this is where you can picture that cartoon where there are two different consciences perched on my shoulders. "just pretend you didn't see the cows and go meet your husband for that nice hot cup of coffee" and "you really should be a good neighbor and help out". You'll all be glad to know that the GOOD guy won! I knew this would be a job bigger than myself, and I noticed Jr. (his real name) two houses down on his skid loader, so I hauled butt up there to get his help. When I got back to the field, neighbors Edna and Mary had also arrived on foot. So the four of us began "shooing" these heifers! The kind neighbors told me to stand along the fence, they didn't think I should be attempting to run through the plowed rows with my arm in a splint (this thing comes in handy). I told Jr. "yeah, and that big cow with the horns is probably gonna run right at me". He laughingly told me that if he runs my way I should just grab the handle bars and hang on! We worked this way for probably about 1/2 hour and couldn't get these stupid cows in their pen. They finally ran through an opening in the fence at the back of the field, and we stood and watched as they ran across the next field and across the next county road to another dairy farm. By this time, I knew this job was bigger than the four of us, so I went and looked for Orlan (no luck) and John. At the next farm Darvin and his son joined in the chase! I also went and picked up Sam, who we found out actually owns these fine animals. If you're counting, we now number 8, along with several other neighbor men who were at the far woods waving their arms wildly.


Now, I need to say that cow owner Sam is a wise man when it comes to cows. He informed us that by this time the cows were so riled up there'd be no way we'll get them to go where we want them! He told us to just leave them where they were (at least one mile from home) and he'd come back in the afternoon and lead them home with a bucket of feed. He also mentioned that if that doesn't work, he would just butcher them right where they were, one week earlier than planned. Lucky heifers! So here's the lesson I learned from Sam ... "push dairy cows from the rear, and lead beef cows". I won't soon forget that! Just so you know, I hadn't seen hide nor hair (no pun intended) of those cows before it got dark tonight, so perhaps the Miller's are having a nice roast for Sunday lunch tomorrow.

By the time I got back into my warm house and thawed my toes and ears it was nearing noon. I called my not-so-worried husband to tell him the story and that I was just going to make a pot of coffee at home. As I was cleaning up my coffee cup and fried bacon, I looked out the big living room windows toward the barn ....

Now for the second part, with a little background information to set the scene. We have a large barn in which we have 36 freezers that the Amish people rent to keep all their yummy veggies and fruits that they processed in the summer, along with ahem ... butchered cows and pigs. There is always a lot of activity in and out of the barn, and we have a hitching post by the barn too so they can tie up the horse and buggy, or pony and cart (as was the case today), while they go inside and get some of that frozen food, along with a cold can of pop from the pop machine that is Abbi's side business.

Back to looking out the big windows ... I saw a pony with cart going crazy in front of the barn, like it was spooked or something. And our sweet neighbor girl Joan running along beside the pony trying to grab the reins. If my windows would've been open I would've yelled for her to just let it go, I was so afraid she would fall with the pony and cart running right over her! That crazy pony ran straight for my big windows and took a sharp right around the front of our house. I went sprinting to my front door thinking I could leap off my front porch, like super woman, and grab those reins. By the time I got on the porch, the pony had shot across the road between two cars, and ran through the same plowed field where less than two hours earlier I had chased two mad heifers! Joan had already loaded up all kinds of frozen food, so by the time the cart went flying over the furrows in the field the food went flying too. The whole wild contraption came flying back out of the field , losing the rest of the frozen food on the road, and sprinted down the road to home with Joan running after it, stopping right outside his very own barn. I could see all this from my front yard, as I'm standing in snow up to my ankles with house slippers on (remember my frozen toes?). I went back in the house to put my boots on and get some bags to pick up the food. When I got back out to the road and field, Edna (my cow chasing comrade) met me with a smile on her face. She helped search for and pick up all the frozen food. Her and I decided that we would both just go back to bed and wake up at 5:00.

I took the food to the neighbors and also wanted to check on Joan. She actually did fall, and I'm sure that happened as I was sprinting to my front door, and scraped the whole length of her leg. Other than her leg and a sore shoulder, she's just recovering from a good dose of anger and embarassment, and I can't say I blame her. I'm so thankful she's OK because with the road and cars involved it could've been so much worse.

Now we're just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet in our little neighborhood. I guess I'd better mention that anytime our neighbor Chris might call when his wife's labor pains get close enough that one of us will have to take her to the birthing center in the next little town east of here. He stopped by about 4:00 and said it seems like tonight might be the night! Ha! That's nothing ... Today was the Day!

For Mitch ...

I've been accused of not updating my blog. It seems this deeply troubles my son who lives 30 minutes away at college. He claims we never tell him anything, and the only way he finds out what's going on at home is by reading my blog.

So here's the latest!

1. It snowed here on Amish Highway 35! Didn't even have time to get rid of my pumpkins yet. I actually really like this picture and needed an excuse to use it on my blog. I also sent it to WNDU, so it might show up on the news ... who knows?

2. I had my cast taken off and the stitches removed! They were in too long and were wanting to permanently stay in my arm, believe me when I say "it hurt" when that sweet nurse snipped them out! I am now in a long-arm splint that I take off every two hours to do 5 different stretches. I check in with the therapist every week to see how I'm doing. Yesterday I had quite a bit a pain, and I blamed it on the cold snowy weather, because mostly it doesn't bother me.

3. I took Alli to OSMC for an MRI today to begin the process of figuring out what's going on with her ankle that has been hurting her since her sophomore year of high school (she's now a junior in college). We don't rush into things around here! Kevin hobbled around on a broken foot for about 5 weeks last spring before I took him for x-rays, and I nursed my elbow for 2 years before finally having surgery. I say "living with pain is good for a person!" :)

4. Mitch shot a nice 8-point buck Saturday! (Sorry mitch, you probably already knew that)

5. We received a nice casserole tonight from a member of our Sunday School class. Any task with my right hand is still nearly impossible! I love our class!!!

6. Kyle and I used a broom to chase an opposum out of our garage Sunday evening. Those things look like giant rats! EWWWW! If Mitch would've been home he could've shot the ugly thing! He had to hurry back to school to "study"???? Seriously ....

There you go Mitch ... back to the books!

Love, MOM

Fallin' In Love ...

Falling in love with Fall, that is! I know it's unlike me to post twice in less than a week, but this weather is absolutely amazing - Our God Is An Awesome God! I'm feeling much better but still posting with left hand only, so I will write few words and leave lots of pics. I see the Doctor next week to remove stitches and cast ... can't wait.









Go Colts!

It wouldn't be fall without football.

Is Right Really Right?

This isn't some political posting, to inspire people to get off your tush and vote. It's a post to inspire all of us "right-handed" people to have more compassion for our friends who use the wrong hand to function in today's world. (But if you want to vote on Tuesday, that's OK too.)

On Thursday, Oct. 30 I had tendon repair surgery on my right elbow, and in a short 2 hours I became a Lefty. Now please understand that I have it better than most switching people. I have now become ONE OF MY OWN! In other words I finally belong! Dave, Abbi, and Kevin are all Lefties, and with my 2 older Righties away at college, I had become the only right-minded-person around this place. So now we are all reveling in the notion that we can all do things the same because of our likeness. Little do the others realize what a true handicap I'm living with. About the only benefit I can think of at the moment is that it doesn't matter where we sit around a table. No more do I have to fight for a seat on an end, so that I don't have to do elbow battles while eating dinner.

Here's some thought-provoking questions for all you one-handed single-minded people.

~ How do you open sweetner packets with one hand?

~ How do you brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand?

~ How do you roll over in bed (or out of bed) with only one arm?

~ How long would it take you to do a post with one hand?

My surgery re-cap is this ... the tendon repair was sucessful with a titanium screw holding it all in place on my elbow bone, the cyst removal from my wrist was a sucess, and I'm alive in spite of my breathing stopping two different times during surgery. According to the anesthesiologist, he had a difficult time getting me to sleep. He had tried three different tubes, and my vocal cords clamped down on each one refusing them. I'm assuming those are the times when I stopped breathing. I'm also quite sure this is why I have a monstrous sore throat and neck/back pain. I hate to even think of what happens to a person when these types of situations arise.

My right arm is in a 1/2 cast for 10 days until I see the Doctor and he takes the stitches out. He said at that point he would decide how soon I start therapy. The 1/2 cast really limits my movement, but I truly am glad for that. I literally can't touch anything with my right fingers without pain shooting into my elbow. No kleenex (wiping noses and other body parts), no using pens or pencils, no speedy typing on my laptop (this entire post was done with my left index finger hitting letters and my left thumb hitting the space bar), no opening pill bottles (they're all sitting open on the counter), and I confess I've even had to use my left hand to wipe away some tears. Yesterday was that day. It was a pretty rough day!

But today is a new day, and things are feeling much better, both physically and emotionally. I am excited for my hubby to bring mashed potatoes home from a Thanksgiving Dinner at church. I am happy for Alli who gets to go to the Colts game with her boyfriend for her birthday. Soon I hope I will get to see my smiling Mitch for a few minutes (don't get to see near enough of him). And I also hope Dave will take me for a drive up to the lake today - just to get out of the house and a quick Diet Coke stop!

I have many things to be thankful for ...

A Sunday School Class who will be feeding us for several weeks.

A wonderful younger friend who will come each morning to help get the kids to school, then stay to do laundry or whatever, for as long as I need her.

My wonderful sister "nurse Julie",who stops in often to check on me, puts ice packs on my neck, props up my arm, calls the pharmacist to see what drugs I can take, ect...

My amazing husband who just loves me regardless! He's learning how I like to have the kitchen tidied up in just the right way. (Are any of you other women that picky about your kitchen counter?)

More of my loving family (Mom and others) who will be home from Australia & New Zealand on Tuesday, finally! I'm praying for safe travels for all of you! Can't wait to see you!

All of my Blogging friends who have asked and who care ... keep praying for a speedy healing!

So here's my place on the sofa, watching the world go by ... at least my windows are clean!

ARE YOU SURE RIGHT IS RIGHT?

I'm leaving you with more random pics of recent happenings ....

I had the privelege of being Jadyn's Grandma for Grandparents Day at her school. What fun, and I'm pretty sure I love her almost like a Grandma!
The next two pictures are of my wonderful neice and her awesome little family! Thanks for trick or treating at our place. I hope you let Cooper have some of that candy I put in his bucket.


My friend's son borrowed Uno and the Hot Dog costume, and the Burger hat to go trick or treating! It didn't last long ... Uno was not impressed!
October 31, Alli's 21st birthday! Here's the adult enjoying her birthday dinner with her boyfriend, Kyle. We went to my Amish friends' home, and she cooked Mitch's 4-H chickens, mashed potatoes, noodles, corn, on and on .... There were a total of 20 college kids, and Dave & I and Abbi. It was wonderful. because I didn't have to do a thing, and Alli loved it!

Alli opening her presents from Abbi. A necklace from TTV and a vb jacket.

I Spy!

For those of you who know me well, you will enjoy this little game of mine. For the rest of you who just peek into my life occasionally, this may give you a little picture of the kind of humor I enjoy along with how disgustingly sentimental I am. So here goes ...

Several months ago I found a treasure in Shipshewana. Well, a treasure to me, but trash for others. I understood the "trash" part when I was laughed at loudly at the Essenhaus when I pulled this treasure out of my large purse to show it off!

For the explanation: I grew up visiting my Grandma Yoder every Christmas in Pine Craft, FL - more about this in my previous post "Wet Ones". Way back in the 70's Pine Craft was this little burg outside of Sarasota, FL. Yes folks, I said outside. I remember arriving in Sarasota on 41 (no 75 back then) then turning onto Bahia Vista and traveling a little gravel road several miles out of Sarasota to Pine Craft, where we would stay with my Grandma in her little trailer. This little burg is now swallowed by Sarasota, and the city now extends miles beyond Pine Craft. I am sure there are many people in Sarasota alone, that aren't aware that Pine Craft is still there. There are street names that ring a familiar chord to many of us ... Graber, Miller, Yoder, you get the picture.

So back to my game ... My Grandma used to take us to this little "gift shop" type porch at someone's house in Pine Craft, where this lady made many of these lovely painted seashell artsy pieces. Items like shell covered salt & pepper shakers, turtles & pelicans made out of shells, and of course the occasional beautiful collage of flowers. Please notice the words "Pine Craft, FL 1960" created out of alphabet macaroni on that floral piece! What a skill and talent! :) Dave & I snuck away to Sarasota for several wonderful days of R & R and I drug my treasure all the way south, so I could display it proudly in our hideaway! Can you find it in one of the following pictures? The first to respond with the correct location has a cute little piece of seashell art coming to them.

One last picture ... this is what I was looking at yesterday while sprawled on the beach with my face to the sunshine!

Wet-Ones

I read somewhere that smell is the most powerful of all senses, when it comes to memories. I often smell different things and it reminds me of days gone by ... the smell of my Grandma Yoder's house, the smell of my boyfriends' silver Chevy Monza (Dave's of course), an ER visit, ... some good memories, some not so good. Today as I pulled a Wet-One out of the travel pack that I keep in my glove compartment I experienced a very real memory that I could really put words to. So as I traveled home from Mishawaka on the toll road I smiled and cried as I visited Memory Lane.

There are no other wipes that smell exactly like a Wet-One. On every one of our road trips, my wise Mother kept the round yellow cylinder of handy wipers underneath the seat of our wonderful maroon Buick something-or-other (all I remember is the Buick symbol on the hood). It seems that we took a lot of road trips, but I think they were mostly south to Pine Craft, Florida at Christmas time to visit Grandma. I do remember one biggie trip out West with my older two brothers, but I'll save that for another post. So back to the Buick ... my Dad would cut a piece of plywood to wedge between the back of the front seats and the back seatbacks. Then he had the sewing dept. make a custom-made cushion that fit exactly. I remember Wendall and I thinking we were really special if Dad asked his company to do something like that for us. My Dad was always pretty careful to not take things or not to take advantage. So pre-trip Wendall and I would "move in" with all our goodies, blankets, pillows, dolls for me, trucks or planes for Wendall. Sometimes, well often, Mom would have to put a piece of yarn down the middle because we just couldn't seem to get along like perfect little angels. Then Wendall would stick his finger over the yarn and look at me, as if to say "whatcha gonna do now?". We had it made! We could romp around on our pretty big bed (I remember it as a queen size, but probably more like a twin). Or we could choose to lay up on the back window, it was the kind with a good 12" dash-type window sill thingy. Or sometimes we ended up in the front seat between our parents watching the world go by at a good 55 mph clip. Oh OK, my Dad was a leadfoot, so more like 60 mph. It's really a wonder we all survived without seatbelts, car seats, airbags, radar detectors, ect...

Now for the Wet-Ones. We often would pull into a grocery store for some bread, mayo, meat, and cheese, and Mom would whip up the most delicious cold-meat sandwiches ever! Fast food restaraunts were few and far between. Then she would peel and slice apples for us, and on the way home from Florida peel fresh oranges! YUM! Then out would come the yellow container of wipes! Ah, the smell ...

The favorite memory that this smell brought to me today? My Dad listening to a Southern Gospel 8-track tape, and thumping his hand on the steering wheel in rythm. Actually banging on that steering wheel so hard that sometimes Mom would say "Dad, you're going to break it!" And his absolute favorite song ... I'll Fly Away!

I am so grateful to God for my sense of smell, so that I can still smell Wet-Ones, and remember the really good times that I had traveling the highways with some very important people in my life! I miss them so much, that 24 1/2 years later the pain of loss still feels so fresh! Almost as fresh as a yellow cylinder of wipes under a car seat!

The Nesting Instinct

In 3 short weeks I will be having surgery on my right elbow and right wrist. Dave has referred to my frenzied activities as "The Nesting Instinct". I just refer to it as a very important To Do List!

I have a major tear on a tendon, that the Dr. said he will just pull it all together and screw it to my bone. Sounds easy enough! And I have a cyst on my wrist that they'll remove. Do you really think I will be pain free after all that??? I certainly hope so, because I have had pain and limited use in my right arm since I had surgery on my left shoulder in January of 2007! They tell me it was overuse of my right arm while I was recuperating from that shoulder surgery. So to avoid overuse of my left arm, while I'm recovering from my impending surgery (6-8 weeks of immobilization) I have a gigantic "to do list" that I intend to finish before surgery. Then I can just sit around and be waited on hand and foot, right?

So my list really isn't that long, just some important things that tend to hang around like a "pop-up" on the computer! Unless I deal with the item it just sticks in my head!

1. Clean flower beds and garden COMPLETE

2. DeClutter and organize a canning/storage room in the basement COMPLETE

3. Sort my clothes, store summer stuff and get rid of anything I haven't worn for 1 year COMPLETE as of last night at 10:30
disclaimer - I kept some of my summer stuff out, because Dave & I are heading south for 6 days in a couple of weeks :)

4. Trim shrubs

5. Hang Christmas lights on outside trees - I always do this early while it's still warmish and I don't have to freeze my fingers off, then all I do after Thanksgiving is plug them in.

6. Tear apart and reorganize my own personal scrapbooking/collecting/ misc. room that's way in the back corner of the house. Oh so easy to ignore ... until I'm staring surgery in the face!

7. Make an Australia Vacation Photo Album - we've only been home 10 months, what's the hurry?

8. Finish up the volleyball season - last game is October 16th.

9. Finish Christmas Shopping - I've got 1/2 of my shopping done.

I can't come up with a 10th, but if you think of anything I should be adding please let me know!

Where have you been?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Yup, in case you're wondering where I've been ... I celebrated my Lucky Year Birthday - 44! (someone told me that when you are a double like 22,33,ect... it's lucky)

Because of my birthday and all the amazing electronic gadgets I recieved, I've been busy playing and learning. Let me tell you folks, back when I was a kid I used to pick up the phone that was attached to the wall and listen in on the neighbors' conversations. It was called a PARTY LINE. Today's party line is a dance called the Tush Push! In high school I learned how to type on a TYPEWRITER, with CARBON PAPER. Heaven forbid if you made any mistakes! The music I listened to came from ALBUMS when I was babysitting for Kim and Jason, 8-TRACKS when I was riding along in my siblings cars, and CASSETTES when I eventually had my own car!

Here's a glimpse of my last two weeks of amazing discovery:

I've been enjoying getting acquainted with my own laptop. No more opening up the main computer to find the screen inundated with shortcuts, that I have no idea where or what they are! I've got 4 simple little shortcuts that won't move. My new laptop also has a "fingerprint" reader for security, but it will take me the next 5 years just to figure it out. So for now I will just stick to using my password, that everyone in my family knows. :)

I received an iPod from Mitch. OK, to be honest, he got it for free when he purchased his new college laptop, but since he already had the much bigger and better version, he offered this simple little "music box" to his Mother. Ahhhhhh .... So my generous Alli bought me a cool pink iPod case and a $15 iTunes gift card. For several evenings Mitch and even 10 year old Abbi have been tutoring me on the amazing world of iTunes! Can you believe that you can go there (the website I mean) and preview any song and decide whether to download it onto your iPod for 99 cents?? Gone are the days when I spend $15 or $20 on a CD that I really only like 4 songs on. Unbelievable! When I say "any" song, I do mean any ... here's a sampling of what I'm contemplating downloading (you know I don't want to make any hasty decisions, because I've only got $15 to spend, and only room for about 10,000 songs on my cool new machine). So back to my "contemplating" list: 38 Special, Jewel, Simon & Garfunkel, CCR, Steven Curtis Chapman, REO Speedwagon. I figure some of those oldies will make me feel youngie! Abbi also helped me find ringtones to download if I wish. We giggled clear through the list, as we figured out what ring would be appropriate for which person. Can you imagine a farting ringtone. Who would want that going off in a store or a restaurant?!? I won't say who we gave that ringtone to, but the people in my family only get one guess!

Last week I took my draggy slow cell phone into my friend at Verizon (they know me well) and told her I think I need a new phone, because mine is so slow. She took my phone and looked at it, and said "maybe if I delete the 522 incoming text messages and 374 outgoing text messages, and then dial *38 (or something like that) for all the updates that you've never gotten, the phone might speed up". And guess what? She was right! My phone was transformed! I sheepishly said "thanks for babysitting me" and left a happier customer!

And did you notice I figured out how to upload a new background/layout onto my Blog? I spent one long evening attempting the daunting task that lay ahead and finally gave up. I called my blog-expert niece and left a nice pleading, woe is me, message telling her that I can't figure it out, and if she would just call me I would soooo appreciate it. She never called! So today i decided "I can do this myself"! And I'm proud to say I did! So Kim, "I don't need ya'!"

I want to end by announcing to the world, that I am 44 and am loving each additional year that adds life and love to my ever changing and evolving world! I value the old friends that I have, and have also discovered some amazing new friends! My kids treat me well, and I have a husband who will love me to the ends of the earth, even when I don't really deserve it!

Sit, Abbi, Sit

Just a parenting question for all you experts ... do you think it's harmful if a 14 year old brother whistles at his sister all day long while shopping, as though he's a dog-trainer. Kevin whistled for Abbi to "come" as we climbed into the car to begin our last-minute school shopping errands. It continued at MC Sports (where Heather's buff guy helped us spend a non-working $10 gift card - duh!), on to Kohl's, Target, and Panera. In the midst of the dog-whistle type of "come", he also often inserted his "sit" and "stay" commands. I was just waiting for him to tell her to "roll over", then I would've decked him! At about our Panera stop, Abbi then amazingly perfected her
one-pitch/high-pitch whistle that she's been working on all summer. She discovered that went a loooong way in annoying her dog-training brother. Did I mention that I went to bed last night with a headache and woke up with the same one? You're right, the whistling duo did nothing for my about-to-explode head!

I guess this sibling love goes back to a comment Kevin made last week - "Abbi, it's a good thing we're not married, cuz it would never work!" Wow, Einstein!!!! I could've told you that when the two of you were, oh about 1 and 4!

This post was going to be a sweet sonnet, la la la, about the end of summer and what a wonderful time we had last weekend. And that, perhaps, I will be sad to see the kids return to school tomorrow morning. Well folks, I guess that one will have to wait until my headache is gone, because right now I'm making myself crazy just thinking of all the fun things I can do tomorrow ALL BY MYSELF!

The week that was ... thank goodness!

Last week is behind me, and life is soon to become like a well-orchestrated Olympic Closing Ceremony. Or something close to that anyway!

I began the week with a sense of anticipation, truly excited about everything that would be happening. It's just too bad that exhaustion soon took over my body, and by Thursday I went through the motions in a stupor.

Exactly one week ago, volleyball overtook our home with a vengeance! We welcomed two college volleyball players into our home for one week. Local GC players hosted players who traveled from a distance. They enjoyed day-long practices and conditioning all week. Wednesday night I provided a cook-out at the lake for the team. All 12 players spent the night at the cabin and then met me at the Essenhaus for breakfast buffet. Had to introduce some of them to good ol' amish cooking! :) In the meantime, I began middle school volleyball practice on Monday. So each day I attempt to capture the attention of 10 middle school, high energy girls, and teach them the finer points of the awesome sport of volleyball!

Friday evening Alli invited about 20 kids to our house for a cookout. She did a great job of taking care of almost everything for the evening. I only had to help her put out a wonderful little grease fire on the grill! A few singed arm hairs later, and the burgers were well-done! All evening I waged an inner-battle ... do those two bushel of apples sitting in my garage, or find some quiet day next week to complete the task? To do or not to do, that was the question! Finally at 8:00pm, I carried those apples inside and started to make applesauce. By 12:30am I was putting the last clean dish away, and was looking through my tired eyes at 36 qt. of the best applesauce I think I've ever made! Last year my Aunt Lydia Ann told me I should try Ginger Gold. What a great piece of advice! It is so thick and a pretty color (much prettier than the pic shows)!


Of course my good friend that moved to Iowa called and was coming into town for a wedding, and said she could squeeze me in for a 7:00am breakfast on Saturday! I couldn't pass up this chance to catch up with her, so after a long 5 hours of sleep I drug my rear out of bed and headed to town! Thank goodness she's a good friend and doesn't really care what I look like or how many cups of coffee I drink! After a short morning nap, I headed outside to give some attention to my poor neglected flower beds and garden, mowed the lawn, and then "crabbed" at my hubby when he got home later in the afternoon. You know ... "where have you been all day????" He is such a loving a patient man! He scampered away with the two youngest and several of their friends to spend the evening at the lake tubing and having fun! Awwww, some nice quiet moments for this woman!

And on to Sunday, the day of rest, thus saith the Lord! Another cookout/swimming party for the college volleyball team, at our house. Followed in the evening with an impromptu popcorn party for 10 of Alli's friends. During all of this chaos, we were attempting to help Mitch pack his big red truck, Clifford, for his long-distance move to college. No need to hurry on this one, classes don't start 'til Monday morning. And sometime he'll need to pay a visit to the bookstore for his books. I say textbooks are overrated, just listen to lectures! Also on this blessed Lord's day, Alli wanted her college comforter washed and hung on the line in preparation for moving the next day. Do you think our Amish neighborhood will ever be the same again?

Did I mention that for the last two weeks I have been staying up into the weeee hours of the morning watching the Olympics? Why do they always save the best events and finals for after 11:00pm? Last night I celebrated the closing ceremonies! I twirled and cartwheeled my old and tired body, because I figured that I would finally be able to go to bed at 11:00! But you'll never believe what I found after the 11 o'clock news ... a Special Edition Olympic highlight show. Here's the punch line ... it was sponsored by Ambien! Huh??? (for those of you who don't know, Ambien is a drug for people who can't sleep) I say forget the Ambien, just quit showing anything to do with Olympics already!!! And I'll sleep just fine!

Today I'm busy helping the last of our college students move back to school. Our two volleyball guests left this morning, and Alli & I are loading our vehicles as I post. I will drop her stuff off on the way to my first volleyball game.

Those of you with the busy life of small people ... Hang On Tight!!! It only gets more exciting! But you know what? I wouldn't trade my life for anything! Everyone is healthy and happy, most of the time. Oh yeah, the healthy part ... on Friday I found out I will have elbow surgery later this fall. Maybe that's how I'll finally capture my rest!

I want my teef!

(To really "feel" this post I recommend that you place 4 cotton balls in the back corners of your cheeks and bite down on your molars)


Yesterday was the day that Mitch became less wise. He had all four wisdom teeth removed, none of which had erupted, so they were surgically removed. Poor guy!


The funny part was when I greeted him in recovery. The nurse came to get me in the waiting room and on the way down the hall explained to me that she came and got me sooner than they usually get parents because Mitch was acting so goofy. They were afraid he would get up and try to walk out! She wasn't kidding about the goofy part!


When I entered the room Mitch and I had a lengthy and heated discussion about getting his teeth! (this is where the cotton balls come in, Mitch had several hundred cotton squares tucked into his cheeks like a chipmunk)

Mitch: "Go get my teef!"

Mom: "Mitch, you don't want your teeth."

Mitch: "They cut out my teef and I want them!"

Mom: "They're probably in pieces."

Mitch: "If you don't go get my teef, I'm gonna get my butt up and go find them!"

Mom: "Are you going to put them under your pillow?"

Mitch: "Yup, I'm thrapped for cath." (strapped for cash)

Mom: "I'll ask for them before we leave."


That quieted him for a while. Trust me, I was fighting hard not to die laughing while having this sane conversation with my loony son.


When the nurse came back in, she asked how everything was going, and I said, "he wants his teeth." As she snickered along with me, she explained to Mitch that they get rid of the teeth even before he is out of anesthesia. That took care of that argument ... now on to eating. She explained how he should eat soft, lukewarm food, and he loudly exclaimed that he's going to have a Double Whopper! We calmed him down on the whopper idea, and soon we were ready to leave for home. Phew!


He spent the remainder of the day sleeping on the couch. By 5:30 I had prepared a very yummy and appropriate meal for My Man Mitch! Mashed potatoes, Perry gravy (hamburger gravy), and applesauce. I insisted that he get up and sit at the kitchen counter to eat. I thought it would be good for him to move around a little bit.




Soon, I heard stumbling and found him sprawled out on the carpet in the office. He was looking green, and was cold and clammy. I sponged him down with a cold washcloth and ordered him back to the couch! What a silly Mom I am to think that moving around would be good for him!



Later in the evening he seemed to perk up a bit, and actually began speaking short sentences. Up until this point, he had been texting on his phone and showing it to me to communicate. Of course, a few visitors in and out did wonders for his spirits!

Now he's on to tackling his poor torn-apart truck! His part came in last night, so I'm sure he'll soon be back to getting greasy in his shop. The new part cost a pretty penny, but I'm sure if we could've retrieved his teeth the tooth fairy would've come up with some pretty good cash to cover it! :)

Welcome Home Alli!

After 3 long months of crossing off the days, our sweet Alli is finally home from Nicaragua!

The poor bus driver couldn't get the door open fast enough for Alli. When he finally came to a complete stop, she was already pounding on the door to get out! I asked her how she had managed to get a front row seat and she said she didn't, she just ran to the front of the bus when she saw us waiting in the parking lot for her.

This is the best hug I've ever had!!!

Her skin felt so soft, her hair so silky, and her hug sooooo tight!

Everyone else had to wait their turn until I got my fill!

All the smiles were HUGE!

This next weird picture needs some explaining, but it is just too funny not to put on my blog. Her best friend Jocelyn, spent the same 3 months in Peru, but got home early afternoon on the same day. Since she lives in another state, Alli thought that she would've already left for home by the time Alli's bus arrived. SURPRISE! Joc's wonderful patient parents agreed to stick around and wait for Alli. When Alli spotted Joc in the crowd she sprinted to her and literally leapt into her arms. So here she is completely wrapped around her best friend, arms and legs! I'm standing back thinking "gosh, I'm glad Alli didn't do that to me, I'd have landed on my butt!" I am so glad that Alli has many wonderful friends that care about her at college!

(if you can't quite make out the picture, that's the two of them right in the middle of the shot)

Here's more of her wonderful friends ... it's an Alli-sandwich!

What did you bring me??? Fake Havianas, t-shirt, earrings, bracelet, coin purse for Abbi. Soccer jerseys and a wallet for Kevin. Wallets for Mitch and Dad. Pottery for Mom. And other interesting "food items", such as Cafe' con leche (not sure if I got that right) and Guayaba jelly. Also in her suitcase was a wrapped up machete that she hauled home for Kyle (it didn't fit in his suitcase), and an exploded shampoo bottle!

After the exciting gift-giving, she sat down with her laptop and IM'd her Nicaraguan sister to let her know she made it home OK. It was pretty cool to watch her type away in Spanish! We also get to hear phrases in Spanish occasionally that slip in with her English.

Here's Abbi and Alli holding the huge Welcome Home sign that we had placed in the yard.

We Love You Alli Jae!