Lazy Sunday...

 

I love days like today best of all.  Even though I woke up with a case of vertigo, the day ended up being just wonderful. I have suffered from positional vertigo for about 6 or 7 years. I haven't had a case in quite some time, but when I get hit I am usually a mess for the whole day. I am so happy that today wasn't like that. I ended up with a headache but I was able to function, so it was all good.

My kiddos were both home all day today, and with them, a host of their friends. Cookie Monster's buddies all hung out today for most of the day alternating between their game-fest and the NASCAR race and Princess Pea had a sleep over with her bestie Frizz last night so they were pretty much out of sight. The extra kids stayed for most of the day. I love that they feel comfortable enough to hang out.

Sweet Honey put on a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup and I worked at making cookies and apple tarts. Or course the cookies were a big hit, but it was the first time I made the apple tarts so I wasn't sure how they would go over. The recipe called them apple kolaches, but my Polish Honey said that they are not "real" kolaches lol. Even if they weren't, he dubbed them a "Keeper". Made me smile. It makes my heart so full when I can make a loved one happy!



Apple "Kolaches" or Apple Tarts

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sweet Honey

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Cooking!

Luna and I went out and played frisbee earlier too! She loves that game and will go until she just about drops! It is so cool to see her bounding through the snow! We have to be careful though because she looks kind of like a coyote and around here, they are fair game for hunters!




Luna and her Frisbee

I was also able to get the laundry and the dishes caught up. I wish I could have done more with the house this weekend. It was definitly on the "to-do" list but we ran out of weekend! One can only do so much.

Currently I am studying the Gospel of John and learning much about God's Love for us. I love reading this book and discovering more about Jesus and how he taught people. I listent to Skip Heitzig on our Christian radio channel on the way home from work everyday and it has been so eye opening and insightful! I'm excited to learn more!

Another project I have been working on is pictures for scrapbooks and a slide show for Cookie Monster's graduation party. I have an external hard drive that is giving me fits and giggles. Everytime I try to open one of the files on it, I am told that I don't have access to these files. I have found a sort of work-around to remove most of the files, but not all of them yet. I worked on that for a bit this evening until I felt my frustration level rising, then I knew it was time to walk away.

Well, I think I am going to take my new books and go curl up under some blankets. It is getting cold again and I hear that we are in for quite a storm tomorrow into Tues. We are under a Winter Storm Warning here in West Central Wisconsin for 8 - 12 inches of snow again. Yuck. I am so ready for spring!

Good night my dear friends and God's Blessings on you all.

Safe Travels to all who may be affected by this newest storm.

Remember...God Loves You!

 

  

Jinx keeping an eye on me while I work

My favorite candle!

Saturday

 

It's 8:30 and I'm finally able to sit down and relax.  It's been a pretty busy day! Princess Pea had her field day for hunter safety today which pretty much consisted of three hours of tramping through the woods pretending to shoot pretend animals. It was only about 20 degrees so it was a little chilly! I was so busy helping her I didn't get a chance to take pictures. :-(

When we got home it was a quick lunch of left over biscuits and gravy, meal planning for the next 2 weeks, a shower and then a trip to town for Honey and I. It is 40 minutes or so for us to get to the mall and Home Depot and places like that. With the price of gas we don't go very often and while we were there I was finally able to order my glasses!  I'm so excited! I haven't had new ones in nearly 7 years!

We had a short stop at our favorite store, Barnes and Noble. I'm proud to say that I didn't buy anything but Honey did. He got himself a couple books and bought me the complete collection of William Shakespeare's plays. A pit stop at Bath and Body and then it was to Home Depot for bird seed and water softener salt

Then the main reason for our trip,  groceries!  Ugh! We were out of everything it seemed!
I was so excited to see my two other new books arrive in the mail! The Dictionary of Mythical Creatures and The Dictionary of Fairies!

When we got home from town, I started dinner and helped Honey put away groceries while Princess Pea emptied the dishwasher.  Tonight it was homemade enchiladas!  Yummy!

 

While they were in the oven, Princess Pea and I ran to get her best friend for a sleepover.  Cookie Monster has his buddies over for a video game-fest and now Honey, Luna,  and I are collapsing for the night!

Good night everyone...sleep tight!

  

A quiet night...

It's a pretty quiet night here tonight. Cookie Monster played pep band for the girls basketball game. I just learned the girls lost which means tonight was his last pep band ever. He is so sad!

Princess Pea is hanging out watching a Cake Boss Marathon. She loves that show.
Honey and I have spent much of the evening reading. I got one of my new books in the mail today. It's the Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Everywhere from Atlantis to Avalon.

As a Bible believing Jesus loving Christian,  I sometimes wonder if my love of Faeries and everything related and imaginary is wrong.  It's not like I believe they are real or expect them to appear in my garden. I just think that most renditions are so beautiful. I love the idea and simply find enjoyment them.

Well it's getting a little late here and Princess Pea and I have Hunter's Safety from 9-12 tomorrow morning.

Here's one of the quotes I adore...

 

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis

Good night dear friends!

  

 

I hope you all have a safe and blessed night. 

Lists and calenders and journals

I have a problem..I'm a list maker, a journal keeper, and a calendar junkie...I live by them. if I stop using these tools, my life slides into veritable chaos! I am quite forgetful so if I don't write it down, it's lost forever!

I started writing in a journal when I was 16. I wanted to make sure and capture every moment of my life. Now that I am older I am so glad I did. I'm not sure why but my memory is so full of holes it looks like Swiss Cheese. I remember very little of my childhood and now I have these wonderful books to look back on.

My calendar is my lifeline. With 2 very active kids along with my activities on the board, something would definitely be missed! When we moved i had entire box marked calendars and journals because I keep them all.

Over the years I have been trying to figure out a way to consolidate down to maybe one book, instead of one of each. I have found that buying a date book with large dates boxes or columns with time separations allows me to keep track of the family,  jot down quick prayers, notes of what happened during the day.

I still keep my grateful journal separate.  That way when I have a down day, all my blessings are in one place to remind my how much God loves me and how many gifts he showers on me. I also keep a notebook with my lists.

And then there are the lists...prayer lists, grateful list, several to-do lists including for daily stuff, graduation stuff, board stuff, grocery lists, stuff I want that I may not be able to get yet list, books I want list...lol I have lists for nearly everything.

 

As I was surfing the web the other night, I noticed that there are many thousand sites devoted to Mama organization and home life organization.  My favorite is Tsh Oxenreider at her website www.simplemom.net.  I have both her books and they are wonderful. 
So does all this writing and list making make me weird? LOL! Does anyone else feel the need to write things down lest they be forgotten forever?

Around the house..

I have been wanting to get back to blogging,  studying in my Bible, and taking pictures but life has become so hectic that I feel like I can barely breathe some days.
Princess Pea has been working hard on her dancing and has recently picked up another.  She finally gets to start pointe ballet!
Cookie Monster is busy with his band activities,  including 3 different Honors bands and festivals, pep band, jazz band, and polka band.
We are also getting ready for his graduation in June.
*deep breath* AND we are having a garage sale at some point because we have blended 2 houses into 1 and have duplicates of many things!
AND I am on the Board of Director's for our local heritage festival and chairman of the arts and crafts committee.
Whew! Like I said LOTS going on....so all that being said..here are a fer pics from around the house! Enjoy!

Deer Camp

Hi Dear Friends...

This weekend is the opening weekend of gun deer season here in western Wisconsin. It has been tradition in our family that all (or most of) the hunters stayed at my mom and dad's house the night before opening day. Then mom would get up and make them a huge breakfast at 5 AM for the first day of the hunt. She always had eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, toast, OJ, and coffee. Some years she even went for pancakes!

Since mom has been gone, my dad has tried to continue the tradition, however, between he and his new wife smoking in the house and the fact that she doesn't appreciate deer camp or the traditions associated with it, it didn't last long.

Last year my sister-in-law did it, but they have a very small house and it was pretty cramped. The hunting party consists of my dad, my three brothers, three nephews, two nieces and my son, so 10 in all.

This year, with us living in my folk's house, it was decided that deer camp would be here! I was so excited! Honey agreed to help with the cooking (he is much better at it than I am and an early riser). I am so thankful that he is so open and accepting of my family and encourages our traditions.

The family gathered Friday night for pizza, chips and soda. The hunting stories were flying and soon they were all singing the "Thurdy Point Buck" at the top of their lungs. If you haven't heard the song, check it out here!

My oldest brother and his two sons stayed here for the weekend. The rest came and went for lunch and dinner and then breakfast and lunch again today. It was great to feel the warmth and camradarie they all share and to have a hand in carrying on the tradition my wonderful Mama started many years ago! I was told many times over the weekend how much they all appreciated it!

Here are some pictures of the fun!

Looking at pictures from the deer cam on the computer

Cousins having fun

Silly Princess Pea!

Mapping out the strategy...so serious!
 

Hunting Stories

Princess Pea and her Bestie

Opening day breakfast!



Monkey Pile!

The Technology Generation!

The first two deer!

Cookie Monster's Doe - Meat in the Freezer

Teaching Grandpa to Text

 

Senior Year

So this is my sons Senior Year of high school. I must say, I am really having a hard time with this. he is my first born and now everything he is doing is his last - last Homecoming, last pep session, last parade, last band concert, last everything. I am so sad that his high school years are coming to an end. While I know he will be an incredible adult and go far in life, I am sad that he isn't a little boy any more and that I don't have more time with him!

Senior Picture

Homecoming

Best Buddies!

Last night we attended his Honor's Band Concert. Here in Western Wisconsin, a group of band directors got together about 25 years ago and formed a group called Western Wisconsin Honor's Band. The directors pick the best musicians from their band and send them for one day to a seminar/workshop given by college level conductors, musicians and composer. They they perform a concert for the public of the music they worked on. They get the music 2 weeks in advance of the workshop but only come together for the one day to work together on it.

Honor's Band

They have both a Middle School band and a High School band and it never ceases to amaze me at how GOOD they are at playing the music in such a short period of time! I am so proud of them all! They are such incredible kids! Some of them are nominated numerous times (Including my Cookie Monster!!) He was actually nominated in both 7th and 8th grade and again as both a Junior and Senior in High School! What an honor to be thought so highly of by his director!

Last Oktoberfest Parade

Anyway, the concert was wonderful and I will definitely miss seeing my son play! It will be so hard to see him move on to the next phase of his life. He will be taking the ASVAB test in December and then talking to a recruiter about joining the Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard. Either, way, he will leave for basic training next summer. It will only be part time, but it is all he has talked about for the last 2 years. It will be difficult to let him go, but I am so proud of the choice he has made to serve his country!

In the meantime, I will enjoy every single thing he does, take lots of pictures, and make lots of memories. I am so very proud to be able to call him my son!