Month: July 2012

  • Boring?????

     

     

    For some, maybe.

    For me, not so much.

    Truth is, there really hasn’t been much to blog about.

    Our days are pretty much the same,

    day in and day out.

    We have nothing going on this summer,

    so our routine rarely varies.

    I take comfort in that.

    I am thankful for that.

    To me, it means that we aren’t going through

    any serious health trials or 

    other life struggles that many others are

    dealing with on a daily basis.

    It means that we are just able to 

    enjoy being with each other,

    to be happy with the small things 

    that happen in our days,

    to learn to be content.

    We spend most of our days just 

    hanging out….inside/outside,

    playing games, reading, watching some tv,

    nothing very exciting, but still enjoyable for us.

    That doesn’t mean that we don’t have the 

    small day to day stuff that can happen 

    with a large family spending alot of time together.

    Cuz, we do.

    whatevah

     

     We have days when we don’t exactly get along easy-peasy.

    But, that’s life too.

    And we deal with it and move on.

     

    We have had one sorta big change, but it really hasn’t 

    affected how we go about our day at all.

    Hubby has a new job.

    He just started this week.

    It came at just the right time

    and 

    seems to be a good choice for all the right reasons.

    The biggest change for us will be that he is working lots 

    and lots of overtime, so we won’t be seeing him as 

    much as we had been.

    For him, the biggest change will be starting over again,

    being the new guy on the job again, 

    and getting used to working in a new 

    environment again.

    This is his first week at it and so far, so good.

    We are thankful again, for God’s timing 

    and they way that he continually looks out and

    provides for our family.

     

    For now, though there just hasn’t been too much to blog about.

    We’re still here. 

    Just being “boring” for awhile.

    silly

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    (There hasn’t even been alot of picture taking, so I don’t have any pics this time either.)

     

     

     

     

  • Happy Monday~

     

    Good Morning~

    Bob left for work awhile ago.  I got up when he left.   I’m sitting here, enjoying my first of my two cups of coffee for the day. I’m also sitting in front of an open window, listening to the birds start their day.  We are finally getting a break from the extreme heat we’ve been having.  So that means we were able to give the air conditioners a break and open up the windows.  I’m thankful for my air conditioners, but so glad when we can have the house opened up.  Of course, I’m also grateful for the break in the energy bill too.

    It’s Monday morning again. It sure seems like our days/weeks go by so fast and we are back to a new week so soon.  

    Our weekend was nice.  More of the same. It’s really hard to write up a new post, since we pretty much do the same thing all the time. But, I’m not complaining.   I have to say our days have been really laid-back, stress-free this summer and I much prefer it to crazy busy.   Since it wasn’t so hot, we spent more time outside this weekend.  Sitting on the front porch and sitting in the backyard. Nikki cooked on the grill.  We ate outside. Those that wanted to did some swimming.  Some did a bit of grocery shopping.  We read books. One or two of us, (not me)  may have been caught napping on the swing in the backyard or relaxing in the hammock.   We played computer games, card games, outdoor games.   We watched some tv, some Nascar, some movies, etc.  Jake and Aaron actually went to the movies again this weekend – this time to see the new Spiderman movie.

    Really, we are blessed this year to be having a very relaxed summer.  None of us are complaining though.  We seem to be soaking it all in…..

    I’m thinking that the next few days will be more of the same, as the temps are only supposed to reach the mid-80′s.  Of course, a few of us will be back to work, but in between that, I’m hoping for another relaxing week.  It’s also supposed to cool down to some really comfortable temps at night, so the air conditioners will continue to rest and we will have some great sleeping weather.  

    Here are the links to some of the baking and cooking we’ve been doing.  I say “we” but it’s really been Nat, Nik and Alli who’ve been holding down the fort on the kitchen front.

    We finally tried a new recipe that I pinned on Pinterest. (I love Pinterest!)   Here’s the link to the recipe on the website where it’s actually posted. I’ve been pinning so so many now that it was time to give some a try.  Alli made this first.  She made it for Jake to take into work to share with his co-workers for his birthday.  It looked and smelled sooo yummy that Nat made us one for Sunday dessert.  And it was delicious!!! A new favorite..this one will be added to our “keeper” recipes.

    Nikki also made some of PW cinnamon rolls…..That is the most amazing icing for cinnamon rolls ever!!!!! We all loved it…..coffee and maple together….um, yum!!

    Jake had a birthday last week and for his birthday supper, he wanted PW’s wings…..only when we make them for supper, we use chicken legs…..so we made some of them….and some honey mustard legs to go with them, using this recipe for honey mustard wings.  And when it’s time for Jake to choose his birthday dessert, you can most always count on the fact that it will be something with strawberries…..and it was……we have several tried and true recipes w/ strawberries….a couple of them are trifle recipes….I can’t find a link to the one we ended up making, so I will have to post it later….but, again, we were reminded why it’s a favorite and also in the “keeper” section of the recipe binder.

    No pics this time…I have a few of Jake’s birthday pics, but need to get them uploaded to the computer first.  

    ~Have a great week.~

  • Today is Jake’s 20th birthday.
    All I can say is Wow!!!!

    He has to work tonight, but we are going to have a nice birthday supper before he does.

    He chose strawberry trifle for his birthday dessert…and Alli is going to bake him a peanut butter sheet cake to take into work and share.

    He’s sleeping now. His sleeping gets all messed up when he has holidays off…..working 3rd shift does that. 

    We were woke up very early this morning when some strong thunderstorms moved thru.

    There are lots of branches down.  Bob said trees are down, wires down…and limbs everywhere.

    He said some traffic lights were out in town as well.

    I saw on the news that power is out all over.

    Ours blinked out once, but came right back on….thankful for that.

    I will have Nikki get some pics of the branch that fell right next to our car…again, thankful it didn’t fall on the car.

    Huge walnut trees surround our yard on all sides, so I always worry about downed limbs during storms…makes me 

    so nervous…thankful again, that mostly just small branches fell…..

    Guess I will call today, “Thankful Thursday.”

    ~*~*~*~*~*

    We had a nice 4th of July.

    We hung around at home.

    Very hot and humid.

    Gotta say I’m most thankful for our air conditioners right now.

    Bob and I made a trip to the grocery store.

    Nat tagged along as an extra cart pusher, lol.~

    We had hotdogs/coney dogs and sloppy joes, deviled eggs, sweet macaroni salad.

    Red, white and blue cupcakes for dessert.

    Ice cream cones later.

    The kids did lots of swimming, played games, watched some tv…

    nothing too exciting.

    Bob took some of the kiddos and went to the fireworks….the rest of us stayed home.

    We only have the 1 car…and it only seats 5 of us…..but that was okay, because not everyone really felt like going anyhoos.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

    Here are some pics:

     

  • A Lazy Weekend~

    I have to say this was a very laid back weekend for us.

    No real housecleaning.

    No ripping up carpet.

    No yardwork.

    No project of any kind.

    Just everyone sitting around, doing whatever, taking it easy.

    Friday~ Abby had a headache and was sick to her stomach all day. I spent most of the day on the couch with her and read a book. Bob made his last trip to our favorite grocery store.  It went out of business and Saturday was the last day. Pork Chops on the grill for supper. Toss Salad to go with. I Love Lucy marathon on Hallmark on the tv.  Tiger’s baseball.  Aaron and Jake went to a late movie.

    Saturday~ Farmer’s market for Jake.  Lance’s Bakery for doughnuts.   Nat worked until 2…..Water balloon fight #2…..450 water balloons!!!!!! Everyone got wet, except Jake, who was upstairs catching up on some sleep. A tripe to Kroger for some essentials…..Alli and Daddy made everyone a chocolate milkshake.  Bob and I played a game of Scrabble.  Grilled BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, and beans for supper.  I finished another book!!!  Yup, 2 books for me this weekend.  Tiger’s Baseball, Nascar and more I Love Lucy on tv.

    Sunday~  We all slept in.  Swimming.  Nat and Nik walked uptown for a bit…..Burgers and Sausage on the grill, fries, cole slaw for supper.  More swimming.  A trip to Meijer for pool supplies….. Ice Cream Cones.  An evening ride in the country. More I Love Lucy. (seems to be a huge favorite here right now…whether it’s on tv or the girls are popping in a dvd…..I love when they watch it though, it makes them laugh soooo much…then they have to come tell me about the episode they are watching.)

    Told ya it was nothing too exciting, lol.~  

    But, it was a nice weekend for us and we had some family fun.  It’s nice that the older kids still live at home and we can have these times.  I know someday the house will be quiet and Bob and I will sit here, asking each other, do ya remember the time…….?????? At least, I think someday, this house will be quiet, lol.~