Puppy love

I have been having so much fun with our new addition! then it dawned on me that the year is almost over! We are just a few days away.....my that was a fast year!
I often sit and ponder on what the next year will bring, what joys and sorrows, as life goes on with both.....you can't have one with out the other but hopefully we all draw closer to God and allow Him to bring us comfort and hope as we trudge through those sorrows. Words easily spoken but hard to live through, I know! But I do have hope in my God and always keep in mind that he loves me and wants the best for me.
I will post more on my new year hopes and dreams at a later date, I need to get some rest as I am working tonight and need a lil bit of beauty sleep! ; )

Stopping for a breather

Hubby gave me my Christmas gift early! We drove to the country and picked up this lil darling.
Maggie is an English Mastiff and she is 12 weeks old and about 40 lbs. I don't have to tell you all she is going to be one large dog!
She is such a sweetheart already, she loves to be cuddled and carried but I don't think we will be able to carry her for much longer!
Aside from my early Christmas excitement I have been busy creating and baking goodies....can't really say what I am working on as eyes are everywhere! It is a busy time but I am enjoying it all.

It's a very busy time!

Just wanted to jot down a few quick notes. I have been very busy trying to get all the decorations up and the baking started as well as the homemade gifts made....whew!
I am loving it tho: )
Hope everyone else is doing well, keeping busy and enjoying family and friends but most importantly taking some time out to reflect on the love that God has for us and the gift He gave us!
More to come soon!

Fall

Trying to do some catch up on my blog here, enjoy the pics!








The weather has been so great lately! We have taken advantage of this by getting out for a few road trips and daily trips out to the dogs favorite stomping grounds. Best we do this before the winter weather settles in and limits our outings!












When we drove into Chester we found Popeye!

We found Brutus but couldn't find Olive Oyl anywhere! I am sure she must be around there somewhere.


It was a nice lil get away for hubby and myself. We enjoyed some quiet roads and peaceful scenery and discovered some new ground.

Now we are getting things ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas....we opted for a homemade Christmas this year so it will be a busy time for all of us. I will try to keep this blog updated, I know I haven't been very regular but I will try ; )

Sad Day

The weather seemed to fit in with the mood today. We got word today that a precious sister in Christ passed away.
She had suffered with the cancer battle for quite a while now and on one hand it is good to know that she is not suffering and in so much pain but on the other hand she will be missed terribly by her loved ones.
If you read this please lift the family up in your prayers, I am sure Debbie would be so grateful.

Apple Picking Fun

The entire family had planned on going apple picking but......Son #2 had to work and Hubby was sent out of town with work as well. Son #2 works at a bank so he was needed and hubby works for a mental health facility....every now and then they need to escort a forensic pt. to another facility due to aggressive behavior. Well it was hubby's turn to go and sadly he missed out on one of his favorite places to visit in the Fall.
So into the bronco jumped in Son #1, Dear Daughter-in-love, Dear Daughter and of course me!
Off we went to pick some yummy delicious apples!

We had the lovebirds....can you see how many apples they picked? Too much time spent hugging and taking pics! Aren't they cuties?
Good apples are way down yonder!
Three of my precious kids. Grandbaby #1 is snug and warm in Daughter-in-loves belly! We are sooooo excited!

Farm Tour

This was our first year going on the farm tour that is held locally. As you can see many people take the tour! It made for a lot of walking from one cluster of farms to the next. It was a bit on the cold side but hot apple cider made it feel just fine out there.
Tons of antiques were out to be bought! I was good.......enjoyed looking but didn't buy anything.
I love birds and birdhouses!
One of the many farms we visited. Each farm had a few vendors who were selling goods. I can't say what I bought as they are gifts!

End of summer

We spent the day at one of our local parks with Sophie. She is our 2 yr old chihuahua that is one of many in our home.
The day was a beautiful one and it was perfect for spending some time outdoors. Once we got home out came the scarecrows and some pumpkins! I will have to get some pics of them soon.
It's time to transform our house into the season of fall! My favorite time of year!

Ups and Downs

It has been a busy week, we are trying to fit as much as we can into the end of summer! But I must say I am ready for the beginning of Fall to come upon us.

Hubby and I have had few days of riding the bike around......Thursday we actually spent the day traveling thru' southern Wis. The day was warm and sunny. We had a wonderful lunch at Popeyes in Lake Geneva and had to take some time to walk off a bit of our lunch! We met a couple there that were celebrating their 24 wedding anniversary, they were very happy and just enjoying each others company and looking forward to the next 24 yrs.

We did have some sadness come our way, our daughter lost a friend this week. He was attending a barbeque and was found in the bottom of the pool. The young boys pulled him up and proceeded to do CPR until the paramedics came along but sadly he didn't make it. The Dr. tried to reassure the kids and told them that he more than likely had a seizure and that was the cause of his death.
The one comfort we do have is that he is a wonderful child of God, he loved to worship and truly loved God. So knowing that one day we will be reunited with him is a consolation to us and to the kids, I say kids when I really mean young adults! This is a college age group.

So yes, this week has brought us many things, sometimes life can be overwhelming.....on top of all this I had a co-worker who had a nervous breakdown...it was job related.....another who is battling cancer and was in the hospital again due to an infection.....so much pain out there. A reminder of the importance of knowing and having a Saviour......how would I even come close to surviving this thing we call life if I wasn't one of His children? I don't know how I would be able to.

Well I must take some time out to get a lil crafting done, I am starting on my Christmas projects. I wish you all a wonderful week......remember to take time out in your busy day to stop and worship God and cherish the moments with your family and friends!

Looking forward to sharing in this special event! I invite you all to stop......grab a cup of tea and sit in your lil garden and just say ahhhhhh!

Good bye July, Hello August

Wow the month just flew by! It has been a different type of summer for us this year. We haven't taken any trips out of town, but it hasn't been a humdrum summer either for us.
Hubby and I have had many road trips on the motorcycle, enjoying the views and ice cream treats ; )
We have worked in the garden together this year.....usually it's just me.... it has been nice having hubby working and enjoying the pleasure of seeing our produce grow from our lil bit of land. We are determined to make our home as much of a homestead as possible considering we live in a suburb!

So now comes August and the rush of buying supplies for school for our daughter, also the joy of buying clothes : )
Summer is coming to a close and I need to get our routine back in order! We have been taking it easy since the summer came upon us but now it's back to organizing and planning for the holidays and winter....and planning for our new grandbaby that will be here in the spring! : )

Stopping by

Wow summer seems to be flying by fast! We have had some rather warm days but nothing too hot and quite a few wet cool days....not usual summer weather.
Posting a few pics of our summer so far....more to come! Enjoy.

Can you call me Grandma?

Yesterday we found out that our oldest son and daughter-in-love are expecting their first baby in the spring! We are very happy and excited for them and anxious to share in this journey into parenthood.
So out comes the yarn and crochet hooks, the other grandma is a very talented knitter! I will leave the knitting needles to her ; ) I am also going to break out the sewing machine and have a very busy but fun time as I dream of holding this wee lil one in my arms.
So this means that my mom will be a great grandma and my nana will be a great great grandma! Wow!

Coughing and coughing not much else going on

Well my reaction to the lil white floaties out there have turned into a respiratory infection! So not happy with that since I am way too tired and weak to get any thing done!

The fields are alive!

Well it is that most lovely and beautiful of seasons when everything is in bloom.
The season where I fight the daily headaches and other allergy "aches" that I live with!
But I do adore this time of year, I love the sights and smells of everything turning green after a long cold winter! The flowers coming into their best display.....who could not love it!

So of course it does slow me down a bit, does not stop me......I still love to work in the garden and be as active as ever only it does slow down a lil bit for me. Gives me more time to reflect on the things I want to do : )

Saturday again!

I got off work this morning and thought I would join hubby in the yard, or garden as my lovely daughter-in-love calls the yard. while hubby was cutting the grass I set my goal on the lil flower garden I have in front. My goal one day is to see it in it's full glory as a full English garden!
Our neighbors were working on their yard as well, it was a lovely morning. They informed us that their two trees are coming down due to the fact that a family of squirrels have taken residence in their attic! I am sad to hear the trees are coming down as I love to watch them sprout every spring.

Hubby and I spent some time together just enjoying the weather and each others company before I took a nap. when I woke up the kids meaning Dan and Tracy were in high gear getting ready for their road trip. The kids are going to Az to visit my parents and sister and brother and their families! I sure hope they have fun out there! Of course being a mom I asked them to make sure to keep me posted while they were on the road.

For dinner tonight I am making some ribs on the grill and pasta salad. I hope to enjoy the rest of the day stitching and relaxing : )

Busy Days

Today we started to get our budget in order. I read a book by the Economides and I really liked what they wrote about, so much so that I shared it with hubby and he also liked it so now we are following suit and making our own budget book. We hope to see an improvement in our savings in a few months!
I did my daily chores and also put our menu in order, what made that easier was asking each of the kids what they would have liked seeing on the menu for the week! So we are having
today- baked fish and chipolte rice with veggies
Wed- ribs and tator salad
Thurs- pepper steak and rice
Fri- shepherds pie
Sat- grilled chicken and pasta salad
Sun- roasted chicken and veggies
Tomorrow is another day when I check the sales ads and get my shopping list in order. I don't really shop the "normal" way, I bulk buy sales items and stock my pantry that way. I have run low on a few things so I need to recheck my pantry and update my list.

I have found out that getting organized takes a lot of time! I updated my "brain" which is my big binder, changed some of the things in there and added a few others that are needed. Today I also clipped a few weeks worth of coupons and put them in my coupon folder.

Finally now I can relax and maybe stitch a bit!

Wedding Anniversary Getaway!

For our getaway we picked Tennessee! Pigeon Forge to be exact, we wanted to see the mountains! Even tho' it was still early in the year the views were amazing!
We ate at Lineberger's restaurant, great seafood! Hubby had oysters which to be honest I am not a fan of but boy did he enjoy it.
I opted for bacon wrapped scallops with a lil bit of pineapple salsa on top. It was sooooooo gooooood!
Best sweet tea can be found in your local McAllisters! We ended up taking 5 gallons home with us since we are not fortunate to have one of these great places in our area.
Taken at one of the lookouts in Gatlinburg.
We took a lil back roads tour and they treated us to sites like this! We had a fun tour and saw things that most folks don't get a chance too. We even came home with moonshine jelly and each of us got a buckeye.

On one of our walks we found this! a Paw Paw tree! I thought this was neat, my kids call my Dad Paw Paw!
Hubby and I at one of the lil waterfalls.
Hubby treated me to this wonderful, wonderful place!
This is the front of the house, I love this place!
because it is a bird sanctuary! My favorite creatures are parrots! isn't he glorious?
I love the lil parrots too! I called the yellow ones sunshine with wings.
After playing with all the birds, there must have been at least a hundred of them! We walked the garden trail and found the prayer garden! We sat and prayed for a few minutes before we left. This parrot place has scripture plaques everywhere along the garden walk. Loved it!
So many flowers growing everywhere!
The Smith Family dinner show was great! A lot of talent here! Dinner was fabulous as well.
Hubby was picked to take part in the hoola hoop contest! he was a great sport bout it! I kind of worried about his back, but he did great! Of course the women won! But the men were great to laugh at!
Yup! We had a wonderful time in the mountains!