My First School Project

I was assigned a project of making a paper doll of Madeline for school - I thought you might wish to critique my work :-) I think it will give her a chuckle at least... it is a surprise, so don't mention it to her.

Rebecca's Baby Shower

Yesterday we had Rebecca and Mark's Family Day/Baby Cook-out at the Cabin. It was a really great day - all of us were really pleased with how it turned out. It is wonderful when we are bringing a new little one into our family (I say "we" loosely - Rebecca and Mark are doing the bringing, we're just doing the loving - anyway I digress) to get together with our whole family. It is a great reminder of how lucky that little one will be to have all of our family loving her! We are truly blessed with a kind and loving family who would give you anything in the world they had to give. A great time was had by all! I'll have more thoughts on Rebecca's pregnancy later, but I have to say here that I love my little sister so much! I am sad that she is far away while this is going on, but so happy to see her looking forward to bringing two babies into our family. She and I talked today about how pregnancy is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't gone through it. Motherhood is the same. Wonderful blessings and terrible heartaches follow for her!

Global Mass Marketing

As have millions of other victims of global mass marketing, I received my guaranteed delivery Harry Potter book yesterday from Amazon.com - so far I am about 150 pages into the book, and it's really good! Mass Marketing or not, I have enjoyed all of the Harry books, and this one is no exception, I'd say it is one of the better ones in the series..... try reading with a five year old though, there is not a lot of time to get it done. So, don't tell me how the book ends! It may take me two weeks to read it.

Other than enjoying Harry, the week-end has been spent in the pool. The whole family has done quite a bit of swimming this week-end. Madeline has become quite the pro at swimming under water, and Steven, Dad and myself have all enjoyed a dip in the pool as well. I doubt he'll do it for anyone else, but Steven can do quite the under water hand stand! I have no photos of this, as there is a general agreement that adults who enter the pool are not subject to blogging!

My HUGE Garden

I was happy today to find that I have some tomatoes getting ripe :-) I blogged pictures of my little tiny garden when I planted the plants, so I thought you might like to see the plants as they are now... actually I'm just pleased with myself! I don't even like tomatoes, but I ate some little grape tomatoes tonight and they were good! Steven and I are dreaming about a big garden someday..... of course that wouldn't be at our present house, so who knows when we might get to do it! The pink flowers in the middle are my crepe myrtle bush which got frozen down to the stem earlier in the year. I cut it down to about 4 inches over the ground, it has grown back very well....



We had a storm tonight, too - this is what the sky looked like right before it got here. (I've been rather fascinated with trying to get good photos of the sky lately.)

Special Baptism Gift

Rebecca and Mark sent beautiful gifts for Madeline for her Baptism, which to Rebecca's consternation we received today, rather than Saturday. No worries, as Madeline would say! She loved the gifts, and declared the crucifix the most beautiful one she has ever seen. I'd have to agree on that one, it will be hung in her room shortly, and I am sure that she will have it hanging in her room for the rest of her days. What a wonderful thing! We have looked at the books already too, the five minute devotions are all about animals, and how they display God like traits - Madeline loves animals, so I know we'll get a lot of use out of that :-)

Here's a Madeline classic for you - during the ceremony, the Priest told her that the Chrism (a strong smelling oil used for anointing) would wash off when she took a shower. She looked at him in complete seriousness and said "I don't take showers! (she takes baths)" Another one - last night she was taking the aforementioned bath, and she declared to me that the Holy Spirit was in her bathwater. Can't really argue with that one now, can you?

Madeline's Baptism

Today we had Madeline's Baptism, and I truly believe that it was beautiful in every way. We were blessed to have Father Jim Graf perform the sacrement. He did a great job of explaning each step so that Madeline and the people in attendance could understand the ceremony. I was very proud of my girlie! We had a very nice reception afterward here at our house with our family present, except for Rebecca, Madeline's newly minted God Mother, who was truly missed. It may sound trite, but I really felt the presence of Joyce, Madeline's Grandmother, and R.K. and Ester, her Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother. Each of them had a profound influence on me in my decision to be Baptized, and in turn impacted our decision with Madeline as well. I believe that they were happy in Heaven today.

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. Mark 10.13-16

Water Park Fun

Thanks to Mom and Dad, we had a fun couple of days at Madeline's favorite place on Earth, the water park! Nicole came along with us, which was great too because I think she had a really good time :-) Madeline has come a long way in just a few days swimming. Now she can swim around under water with no difficulty (I just need to convince her that she doesn't have to hold her nose all of the time.) She loves staying in any hotel room, so she had a lot of fun doing that too. Nicole was excited because she had a big bed all to herself.

Last day of vacation today (big bummer), we are pretty worn out from all of the swimming, so I am not sure what we are going to do. I'll keep ya posted!

Oh, BTW, my blackberry jam turned out GREAT! I am very pleased.....

Fun at Home

Today we had a great day at home. Madeline played inside in the morning, and then we swam in the afternoon and had a pizza party at the Roby's house. It is amazing how Madeline has advanced in the pool in two days! Today she stuck her face in (in the past she has cried if she got water in her face), then Margaret showed her how to cross her legs and sit on the bottom, and then she kicked her legs and swam under the water! She came up and said "it's a whole new world under there!" It was a great time all around. After that I came in and made Blackberry Freezer Jam. I don't know whether or not it set up yet, I'll have to check that tomorrow. If it doesn't work, I'll have blackberry syrup, like I did the time I tried to make grape jelly :-) Here's the evidence...

Video from Hubers

Here is a little video I took of Madeline at Hubers - she was making up a song while picking the blackberries, so I had to get video of that! She really didn't notice me video taping her, it was too cute!

Today we are just going to hang around here & swim in the pool, I'm looking forward to it! I might also make preserves out of my blackberries from yesterday, I'll report back about that!

Day at Hubers Orchard & Winery

Dad beat me to the punch blogging about today, but I had to do it too, because we had such a wonderful time! Honestly, it was a special day that I will always remember with my Dad and my girlie. Madeline loved it, and I think Dad did too! Also, we did finally get into the pool, and it was great! Not sure how I'll get photos of that, since there is not really anyplace to put a camera while in the pool, but Madeline said she liked it "EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD!" So, the pool is a success, and worth all of the work for sure. So, here are some pictures from Hubers :-)

Neal's Graduation/Good Luck Party

A couple of weeks ago Bridget, Johnny & Jeanine and Neal's Aunt Leah had a party for him to celebrate his graduation from high school and his joining the Marines. I have mentioned many times here how proud we are of him, but wanted to once again, since he will be leaving for his boot camp next Sunday. I had to borrow a camera to take pictures at his party, and for some reason many of them turned out blurry, so I am really bummed about that. I think that you can still get an idea of how many people came to celebrate him. (Neal has on a blue cut off tee shirt - and the guy in the picture with him is his recruiter, who said that was the first time a family had invited him to a party like that) So, please take a few minutes to say a prayer for him, and for his family in the next couple of months. Good luck, Neal!

July 4th Week-end

I have grown food! My cucumber plant has produced two cucumbers, and I am so proud of myself that I had to memorialize them :-) We had them for dinner, and they were quite good I might add. My tomato plants are really big, and are covered in tomatoes, which I guess will all ripen the same day. I'll blog those when they are ripe. Since I don't really eat tomatoes though, I was more pleased with my cucumbers.

We had a fun week-end overall. Yesterday we spent the day at the Hite/Edelen family reunion at the Hite's farm at Helsinki. I was almost there when I realized that I had forgotten my camera, so I have no pictures from the day, but basically it was about the same as the normal camps, except for a huge amount of food and more people. Madeline had a big time. In the evening they had their traditional fireworks show. As I have told many of you, don't imagine a few fireworks like we may have seen as kids. We called the event "Thunder Over Culvertown" because it was HUGE! Remember that these guys have their blasting licenses, so they are able to put on a show. I was thinking that the fireworks show was bigger than the ones we used to watch at good ole Jessamine County High (I'm not exaggerating here). It's kind of interesting because there is no sound system, so you just hear the blasts and the echoes, plus all of the kids either crying or saying "that one is my favorite, no that one is my favorite". Madeline was scared at first again this year, but was pretty OK by the end. We got to ride our 4 wheeler too, so that purchase has been a good one too. Madeline and I got up this morning and went back (after Madeline slept until 10:00), and hung around until around Noon.




Steven spent the entire day working like a pack mule moving dirt with a borrowed wheelbarrow to level out a spot for our pool. After literally hours of manual labor, we are now working on filling the pool, and it looks like this:



As of about 10:30 pm tonight, it had water in it up to my knees, so I am staying up late trying to fill it as much as possible before I go to sleep (hence the long blog :-) Hopefully, by the end of the day tomorrow, we'll be swimming! Thank you to my sweetie Steven! Madeline and I are very excited....

I am off this week for some much needed rest, and Madeline and I have lots of fun plans. We were going to Atlanta, but for several reasons we have decided to to go. So, instead we are going to Hubers Orchard and Winery tomorrow with Dad, we plan to see a movie, and are going to do a day trip by ourselves either Tuesday or Wednesday. Then Steven has off Thursday and Friday, so we are off to Mom & Dad's cabin. I am looking forward to some serious rest (both mind and body).

Favorite Fourths of July

Rebecca commented that one of her favorite Fourths was at Hilton Head - I remember that! I do remember that - I loved Hilton Head! My favorites - childhood picnics at Pine Mountain State Park. I remember Grandpa up there, and Violet and Shirley giggling and arguing over who got the good food :-) I remember the rock shelter in the picture and the view from Chain Rock. Since Madeline came along, I love the Hite family fireworks on the Fourth - everyone on lawn chairs at the camp by the lake, and watching the fireworks overhead and their reflections in the lake, which are huge! Big fun....

Send me a comment and let me know what your favorite Fourth was :-)

Happy Fourth of July!

I wish you all a Happy Fourth of July! I am proud to be an American, and pray that our great country stands strong 50 years from now, for our children's children. Love to you all!

Crazy Day!

I have had the craziest day that I've had in a long, long time today. I decided that yes, I had to take the puppy back. Don't tell me that I'm a bad mother, just know that I did what I thought I had to do. Then, strangely enough, a friend asked us if we wanted one of those big blue pools to put in our yard. So tonight Steven started filling it. So, thankfully, Madeline and I have something fun to do! So, if I have a sunburn after a couple of days don't be surprised :-)

The end of the puppy thing as far as the blog goes is me saying a big public THANK YOU to my husband for being the kindest most gentle guy in the world with me about the dog. This was not Steven's big mistake, it was mine 100%. I never said I was perfect, just a regular Mom trying to do her thing!

Next, I have to thank my Dad, for helping me through a very tough decision and a very, very hard evening.

Also, thanks to Rebecca, Mom and Margaret for all of their moral support.

While I am pretty embarrassed about how publicly I did this crazy thing, I don't feel like I am having a panic attack any more, so I think I did the right thing.

Pool pictures will follow sometime, I am sure! (Don't worry Dad, I'll take the ladder out when the pool isn't in use, and Madeline will never, ever be in there without an adult present)