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

Rumplestiltskin

Wow! I woke up this morning and I'm pretty sure that I've slept through spring, summer, and fall ... a whole 8 months at least! I will say that I sure feel rested today, and it's high time for a haircut (really), but here are some of the things that I missed during my long slumber ...

... I slept right through Mitch's graduation and open house! I sure hope everyone enjoyed the colorful plates, cups, and napkins that I bought in March.

... I was completely out of it for the entire 3 months that Alli was in Nicaragua. A complete blessing, since I didn't have to cry any tears of loneliness.

... Thank goodness I slumbered during the entire 4-H fair. But I've awoken to spot some blue ribbons on the kitchen counter. Hooray for my kids and their animals!

... Wilbur's family grew by 3 wonderful new little blessings while I slept!

... Wow, I slept during the entire fall soccer and volleyball seasons. A mixed blessing for sure. Those of you who have kids in sports will understand.

Strange huh??? Well, I took pictures this morning to post and show you why I'm convinced that spring, summer, and fall have completely passed me by. But I'm sad to say that they're too "snowy" and I can't get them downloaded.

Enough for this post, I must go downstairs and start carrying my Christmas decorations up. Christmas is right around the corner!

Snow Day ... Again!

What to do on a snow day!?! Anything just to keep my sanity ... Actually my kids are getting old enough that it's not too overwhelming to have them home all day, especially if I don't have any important meetings (breakfasts) or anything. :)

So I laid in bed until 10:00 watching the news and Regis and Kelly - hardly ever get to see them! Then Abbi and I decided to go to Bob Evans for a really late breakfast! I had awesome cinnamon creme pancakes, my mouth is watering just thinking about them again. Then we headed to Kohl's to do a return, and of course shopping since we had a "credit" for our returns. Then I had to make a quick stop at Target for another return and more necessities, like CLR for the shower upstairs, new bedding for Abbi's room that is a continual work in process (pics when it's complete in the summer), laundry detergent for my front load washer - can't find HE detergent just anywhere, and of course some entertaining games for Abbi. Then I decided to treat both her and myself, and I took her to LA Nails. What a fun Mother/Daughter thing to do. Her eyes just lit up when I suggested it. I got a very plain jane mauvish/brown, but Abbi picked a wonderful Little Girl Pink, and then I asked about some fancy design on each nail, and the lady was so excited to be given the permission! She got cool white swirls and dots, and a swipe of sparkle on each nail, all for only a measly $3.00 more! So for a cool $24.00, her & I left LA Nails a lot happier!

My last stop before heading home, was at Jiffy Lube. I'm driving Alli's car this week, since she and 7 other college women took my vehicle to Florida for Spring Break. Don't worry they didn't all go in my car, there was another vehicle making the trip. I talked to her this morning, well about 10:30 before my late breakfast, and she said it was very hot and they were on the beach. TOO BAD! Anyway, back to Jiffy Lube ... I noticed the "change oil" sticker on her window, put her about 9,000 miles since her last oil change. HMMMM ... do you think maybe this should've been done a long time ago? She said something lame, like she's been too busy getting good grades in college. So proud of her! So, with the oil change complete, we headed home.

Now we're just hanging out enjoying the quiet. Kevin is outside riding snowmobile with a friend, and Mitch headed to a friends house after he plowed the driveway.

Here's a picture of Abbi's nails. And also the website she showed me - A Nickelodean Cruise. Boy am I tempted!!!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Oh what fun it is to sled ... yesterday after school, I loaded up my two youngest, my oldest, and three college guys and headed to Wilbur & Sarah's for an evening of sledding. We started on a punky little hill that didn't give us much pizazz, then moved on to a OMG hill that sent up careening down a narrow and steep trail in the middle of a woods. Smart, huh? I spent most of the time standing in front of a large tree close to the bottom, to protect all my "kids".

Here's Kevin giving it a try, and letting his long golden locks of hair blow in the wind.

Kevin's giving it his all, and jumping right over Lucho. Lucho is a college student who has found his way into our family's hearts. He stayed with the boys while we were in Cancun, and they all survived, so I guess he's a "keeper".

Lucho is from Paraguay, so this snow activity is a ton of fun for him!

The Triple Threat stacked on top of each other and gave it a try.
Hmmm .... not too successful!

Here's my comatose Abbi taking a break!

We buried her in saucers!

Guess Who???

It's the dazzling duo of Kyle & Alli!

And most importantly, at the end of the day, we're all still smiling

and no one is hurt! Hooray!

In front is Abbi. Back row is Alli, Kyle, Kevin, Lucho, and Darin (a high school friend of Alli & Kyle)

So there you have it ... my first post with pictures! Congratulations to me!!! If someone could tell me why I can't change to font of a few of the captions, that'd be great! I've been trying for the last 1/2 hour, but I give up and so now you have a post with pics AND a variety of fonts ... how lucky can we all be???

See you all from Down Under, on Friday we'll leave this Winter and be on our way to summer ... g'day mate!