Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Oh Christmas Tree
On the first day of December we got out tree! This is very unusual for us as we normally wait till a week or so before Christmas. However, the excitement of a certain 5 year old this prompted us to jump in the car and head out. We went to the same lot we have been going to ever since we moved into this house. They are nice and it is close to home so all together it works for us. Last year Jay went out by himself and got a nice tree, expensive tree. This year was the first time we all went and we looked around pulled out a few and then settled on a smaller, full, wonderful tree. And the best part it was only $25! All right it pays for me to come along.
We through it on the roof rack and took it home. The boys pleading to put it up. It really was not as hard as normal to get it up this year. Maybe because we have done it so much now, or maybe because we got a new tree stand. Either way it was up and I was tired. But that would not do tonight. The kids simply would not rest with out decorating it. I saw a beautifully decorated blue, white and silver themed room in a magazine that I so wanted to recreate in my house. It would have worked so well since I have such a beautiful colored blue room. But to buy all new decorations...I just could not afford it this year. My husband said lets just use the stuff we already have and after Christmas we will buy new stuff for next year. Fine with me. So we pulled out the many Rubbermaid tubs marked Christmas and opened up. The children of course were like kids in a candy store. Ohs and ahs pulling everything out. Since we are using the previous decor we wrapped the tree the classic white lights and adorned it with a bunch of gold, silver, and frosted balls. I through on a few gold bows too. It is very pretty, classic and timeless. It is the beautiful tree I remember from years past.
We through it on the roof rack and took it home. The boys pleading to put it up. It really was not as hard as normal to get it up this year. Maybe because we have done it so much now, or maybe because we got a new tree stand. Either way it was up and I was tired. But that would not do tonight. The kids simply would not rest with out decorating it. I saw a beautifully decorated blue, white and silver themed room in a magazine that I so wanted to recreate in my house. It would have worked so well since I have such a beautiful colored blue room. But to buy all new decorations...I just could not afford it this year. My husband said lets just use the stuff we already have and after Christmas we will buy new stuff for next year. Fine with me. So we pulled out the many Rubbermaid tubs marked Christmas and opened up. The children of course were like kids in a candy store. Ohs and ahs pulling everything out. Since we are using the previous decor we wrapped the tree the classic white lights and adorned it with a bunch of gold, silver, and frosted balls. I through on a few gold bows too. It is very pretty, classic and timeless. It is the beautiful tree I remember from years past.
Monday, October 27, 2008
A plan for fun
Today is the day. The circled day on the calender that we have been waiting a whole month for.its our Halloween Party !!!! We have so much fun planedA pla ahead I am tickled with spooky excitement.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Fall at the farm
There is a farm about 10 minutes from here that we visit every year. There are so many things that the children can expend their energy on we spend hours of enjoyable fun there. It has a huge boat that they climb all over. I wish we had a yard that could support one of those Noah's Ark play sets. Maybe one day, until then there are a few around town I can take the children to play on.
They have tricycle race tracks, tunnels of fun, hay piles, and hay barrels to climb over.
They have a small animal feeding area. You can feed sheep, cows, and goats. The boys definitely was the goats. Those billy goats climbed up ramps super high only to await the food that was being sent up by kids. Mine feed them over and over as they got a big kick out of turn the wheel making the can go up.
There is a huge hill. I am not sure if it is a pile of the dirt that was collected from leveling out some of the fields or if it was just an abnormal mound there. Either way it is great for sliding. Up and down we all went time and again. It can be a work out to run up that hill that many times.
One thing that is really neat is they had two corn mazes one for adults and a half the height one for kids. How cool we made our way through that one and it prefect size for Gregory.
We had fun. We will be back and if it were up to two little boys we would have never left. Their unhappy faces are apparent as we hulled them out of there crying. Oh well a quick nap and then they will be happily charged to play again.
They have tricycle race tracks, tunnels of fun, hay piles, and hay barrels to climb over.
They have a small animal feeding area. You can feed sheep, cows, and goats. The boys definitely was the goats. Those billy goats climbed up ramps super high only to await the food that was being sent up by kids. Mine feed them over and over as they got a big kick out of turn the wheel making the can go up.
There is a huge hill. I am not sure if it is a pile of the dirt that was collected from leveling out some of the fields or if it was just an abnormal mound there. Either way it is great for sliding. Up and down we all went time and again. It can be a work out to run up that hill that many times.
One thing that is really neat is they had two corn mazes one for adults and a half the height one for kids. How cool we made our way through that one and it prefect size for Gregory.
We had fun. We will be back and if it were up to two little boys we would have never left. Their unhappy faces are apparent as we hulled them out of there crying. Oh well a quick nap and then they will be happily charged to play again.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Away for the day
Today we are jumping in the car and heading south to my parents and the home I spent most of my childhood years in. I primarily grew up in Washington D.C. and I loved it! I wish my kids could grow up there too but that is not in cards right now. My husband hates it there. And yes he did give it a try. We lived there for a little while and he just got to claustrophobic. He does not like lots of people, big crowds, heavy traffic (who does?)and many other reasons. His dislike for it is the main reason we do not live there. The second being the high cost of living. We simply can not afford to live there. So I will go down there today and enjoy it while I can but then return to my small quaint affordable country home. We both love it here in Amish country. What a difference?!
The life of boys
What are you two doing? Stop, stop, but wait let me get a picture first the STOP jumping on the couch!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Big Boy
This big boy is sitting next to me. He is my baby but you can't tell that to him. He won't even admit to being a little boy. I am a big boy he says in his 3 year old baby voice. Big or little I love him! He is so soft, cute and cuddly. My baby who is begging me to play rock paper scissors.
A drive today
I can't sleep. In Fact I have been up for hours. Tossing and turning. I finally decided it is time that I need to go get some coffee. So I jumped out of bed and jumped online. Coffee is brewing.
I fell asleep real early last night which leads to my not being able to stay asleep now. But I can get lonely quick and curious George is about to come on. So I ran upstairs to waken the best two buddies to watch curious George with. Ahh snuggled up on the couch with them that is better. DH is still upstairs, he has no problem sleeping.
It is a beautiful morning and that is good because I will be doing a lot of driving today. About 5 hours. I am going out to Altoona. This will be my first trip there. It is about an hour east of Pittsburgh, another place I have not been too.
On my "to do" list is visit many of the nearby cities. Unfortunately none of these cities are really that nearby. We were going to go to Philadelphia this upcoming weekend but for a variety of reasons that trip is now pushed back indefinitely. One day I will make it there but today I am going to grab my coffee, grab my sun glasses and head out to Altoona. See you soon.
I fell asleep real early last night which leads to my not being able to stay asleep now. But I can get lonely quick and curious George is about to come on. So I ran upstairs to waken the best two buddies to watch curious George with. Ahh snuggled up on the couch with them that is better. DH is still upstairs, he has no problem sleeping.
It is a beautiful morning and that is good because I will be doing a lot of driving today. About 5 hours. I am going out to Altoona. This will be my first trip there. It is about an hour east of Pittsburgh, another place I have not been too.
On my "to do" list is visit many of the nearby cities. Unfortunately none of these cities are really that nearby. We were going to go to Philadelphia this upcoming weekend but for a variety of reasons that trip is now pushed back indefinitely. One day I will make it there but today I am going to grab my coffee, grab my sun glasses and head out to Altoona. See you soon.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Berkeley Springs West Virginia
It was a warm day after a cold and rainy weekend. I had to work that weekend so I did not get to spend much time with my family. Work was ruff and I missed my boys so we decided to go down to Berkley Springs West Virginia. Berkley Springs is a natural warm springs that promotes itself as the countries oldest spa. It is so old and that it has been visited and used by many famous dignitaries such as George Washington.
Now it is used and played in by my two wonderful kids. The water there stays a constant 74 degrees so we all jumped in. Gregory outlasted all of us to no surprise. He really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed them.
After hours of playing I tried to talk DH into getting some ice cream just down the road but we wondered across this interesting looking restaurant. We peek at the menu and decided to have a late lunch instead. Upon walking inside we also discovered it was an art museum. Wow we thought as we looked around at all the beautiful sculptures. Oh no we thought as we looked down at our kids. How were they not going to touch? I wanted to touch half of the stuff there. But I wanted to stay as far away from those hefty prices as I could. We decided to stay and eat since the children were all ready excited. They did remarkable. Such good kids! We were there for over 2 hours and they sat and ate and were impressive that even the owner complimented us on them.
It was a great day with my family. A wonderful time at Berkeley Springs West Virginia, we will return soon.
Now it is used and played in by my two wonderful kids. The water there stays a constant 74 degrees so we all jumped in. Gregory outlasted all of us to no surprise. He really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed them.
After hours of playing I tried to talk DH into getting some ice cream just down the road but we wondered across this interesting looking restaurant. We peek at the menu and decided to have a late lunch instead. Upon walking inside we also discovered it was an art museum. Wow we thought as we looked around at all the beautiful sculptures. Oh no we thought as we looked down at our kids. How were they not going to touch? I wanted to touch half of the stuff there. But I wanted to stay as far away from those hefty prices as I could. We decided to stay and eat since the children were all ready excited. They did remarkable. Such good kids! We were there for over 2 hours and they sat and ate and were impressive that even the owner complimented us on them.
It was a great day with my family. A wonderful time at Berkeley Springs West Virginia, we will return soon.
Carpentry runs in the family
We took the children to Lowe's the other day to a children's workshop. They had a great time. They made firetrucks. They turned out so adorable and the kids did a really good job. There was so much noise. Everywhere around us were little ones beating away with hammers on a concrete floor.
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
Mark 6:2-4
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
Mark 6:2-4
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Outdoor Challenge
We got another addition to our Wii collection, outdoor challenge. It is yet another game that requires you to get off your couch and pretend to do something you really could do outside your front door. For instance running, jumping on a trampoline, but there are somethings you just cant do that normally like canoe, or glide through magic tunnels, even log jumping. Its a lot of fun! Boy what a good time my Mii has.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Marriage Monday:Finances
Want this button?
We are looking at finances for marriage Monday. In particular how to deal with this tough economic time. Somethings that my family has been doing to help make our dollar go further are:
1. Eat at home more often.
2. Pack more snacks to take with us when we are out so we are not always dropping $20 at an unhealthy drive through.
3. Buying groceries from a store that offers points towards discounted gas.
4. Not buying the kids anymore toys until Christmas.
5 Throwing away catalogs as soon as they come in. That reduces to temptation to unneccissarily buy.
6. Canceled a trip...well indefinitely put off. We have really wanted to take a vacation to Philadelphia but after looking at how much it would cost us in gas, hotel (the biggest expense), food, museum fees and other stuff we decided we just needed to put it on the back burner.
Well these may not be the best ideas to save money and they are working for us. The times are tough and we still need to dramatically cut back. Our big ticket spending is through the roof.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Fall Fun Fest
Fall is an absolutely wonderful time of year! Our family LOVES festivals. Surly, fall ranks the busiest festival time of year. And why not? The weather is perfect, the colors are beautiful, the food is plentiful (thank the LORD), and the fun is everywhere.
September 20 we packed up the kidos and headed over to a farm a just down the road, (yes we are blessed!) where they were having their annual fall farm day. It is a very large working farm.
They had all different sort of "booths/events" set up everywhere. We started on a hayride of the 300 acre farm. They hay ride stopped and 4 different stands where different environmental and community groups would give you a lesson. We learned about the dangers of quarry's, the importance of recycling, agricultural spraying, the efficiency of steamy tractors and their hot drawbacks compared to the gas gussling combines but their time saving capacities, and the modern innovations in farming.
We got to pet baby calf's.
Even milk cows. However, when my youngest saw it he thought the cow was peeing! It was cute at the time.
They had the same barrel train ride that the children have been on many of times at different events around the county. I never knew it traveled but none the less the children were over the moon to see it and oh so excited to ride it in the fall too.
But the best thing that comes from cows is of course ice cream. We filled up for FREE!!!!! Our Favorite dairy and I am not just saying that because the ice cream was for free but it truly is and has been every since we moved to Pennsylvania. They had ice cream for everyone.
They really did the farm up making it look so nice and inviting. Autumn decorations were everywhere and the feeling of fall was abundant. The lesson to be learned was do not try to capture that perfect photo for mailing out on Thanksgiving cards AFTER you gave your kidos ice cream.
September 20 we packed up the kidos and headed over to a farm a just down the road, (yes we are blessed!) where they were having their annual fall farm day. It is a very large working farm.
They had all different sort of "booths/events" set up everywhere. We started on a hayride of the 300 acre farm. They hay ride stopped and 4 different stands where different environmental and community groups would give you a lesson. We learned about the dangers of quarry's, the importance of recycling, agricultural spraying, the efficiency of steamy tractors and their hot drawbacks compared to the gas gussling combines but their time saving capacities, and the modern innovations in farming.
We got to pet baby calf's.
Even milk cows. However, when my youngest saw it he thought the cow was peeing! It was cute at the time.
They had the same barrel train ride that the children have been on many of times at different events around the county. I never knew it traveled but none the less the children were over the moon to see it and oh so excited to ride it in the fall too.
But the best thing that comes from cows is of course ice cream. We filled up for FREE!!!!! Our Favorite dairy and I am not just saying that because the ice cream was for free but it truly is and has been every since we moved to Pennsylvania. They had ice cream for everyone.
They really did the farm up making it look so nice and inviting. Autumn decorations were everywhere and the feeling of fall was abundant. The lesson to be learned was do not try to capture that perfect photo for mailing out on Thanksgiving cards AFTER you gave your kidos ice cream.
Monday, September 22, 2008
$1.75
My family has been sick lately and particularly me. When we are sick some chores get pushed to the side and some things build up. Yes the laundry is one of them. In fact it is at a terrible point.
Feeling better this morning I walked around the house and almost got sick again. Well actually disguested. There it was everywhere! Laundry!!! Piles and piles of laundry. Clean clothes, dirty clothes piled on top of dressers, washing machines and floors. I am surprised we still have any clothes left in our closets. Which brings me to another realization. I need to go through our clothes and give some away. There is just to much.
I through in my first load and made $1.75. Hooray! I don't mind doing the laundry. I don't even mind folding it and putting it away. I DO mind when there is this much to be put away but it is okay. I made and extra $1.75 so far and as you can see there is potential to make a lot more.
Feeling better this morning I walked around the house and almost got sick again. Well actually disguested. There it was everywhere! Laundry!!! Piles and piles of laundry. Clean clothes, dirty clothes piled on top of dressers, washing machines and floors. I am surprised we still have any clothes left in our closets. Which brings me to another realization. I need to go through our clothes and give some away. There is just to much.
I through in my first load and made $1.75. Hooray! I don't mind doing the laundry. I don't even mind folding it and putting it away. I DO mind when there is this much to be put away but it is okay. I made and extra $1.75 so far and as you can see there is potential to make a lot more.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A 6 item meme
I've been tagged, so here goes!
The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag
I love long hair. On me and on my boys. I hate getting their hair cut. It can put me in a bad mood for days. I wanted to see what a longer hair cut would look like on my DH, kinda the suave GQ looks,not long rocker or biker look, and it was horrible. His hair is so thick it looked like a big fluffy mess.
I believe thank to him I have now developed a mild case of claustrophobia. I start getting anxious when I have so many employees around me I am tripping over them. And when I am home I have to open all the door and shades to let the light in. Otherwise I feel to confined.
My birthday is the same as Albert Einsteins there for my parents gave me an "E" at the end of middle name Lynne because of him. Besides that I am named after no one.
I have not flown on anything but a private plane since 911.
I am watching Curious George right now. I like the movie and the soundtrack. I really enjoy Jack Johnson as a singer/songwriter. I have tons of his music. He would be in one of the top concerts I would like to go to. Also in that category: U2, Rob Thomas, and Dave Matthews.
I love peeps. But only at Easter time. I don't care if they are the chicks or bunnies or even what color they are but at Easter I eat them all the time. And of course they must be stail. I will not eat them any other time of the year they just don't taste right.
The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag
I love long hair. On me and on my boys. I hate getting their hair cut. It can put me in a bad mood for days. I wanted to see what a longer hair cut would look like on my DH, kinda the suave GQ looks,not long rocker or biker look, and it was horrible. His hair is so thick it looked like a big fluffy mess.
I believe thank to him I have now developed a mild case of claustrophobia. I start getting anxious when I have so many employees around me I am tripping over them. And when I am home I have to open all the door and shades to let the light in. Otherwise I feel to confined.
My birthday is the same as Albert Einsteins there for my parents gave me an "E" at the end of middle name Lynne because of him. Besides that I am named after no one.
I have not flown on anything but a private plane since 911.
I am watching Curious George right now. I like the movie and the soundtrack. I really enjoy Jack Johnson as a singer/songwriter. I have tons of his music. He would be in one of the top concerts I would like to go to. Also in that category: U2, Rob Thomas, and Dave Matthews.
I love peeps. But only at Easter time. I don't care if they are the chicks or bunnies or even what color they are but at Easter I eat them all the time. And of course they must be stail. I will not eat them any other time of the year they just don't taste right.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Another day out with Thomas
He's back and we were there. Yup, our blue friend from across the pond made it back to Pennsylvania. I always enjoy going out to Strasburg to go to the trains. That particular train station is where they made all the Thomas trains in the U.S.(the big trains for the movies), where they shot the magic railroad, and it is clean.
It is also out deep into Amish country and a joy to drive by and see farms and workers.
But another great joy about going out to Strasburg is we pass right by my nieces house! So to all of our joy we stopped by and picked her up. This is the second year we took our little girl to see the trains and she is just as happy to shout "Thomas" as the boy when that number one engine come by.
Both of my boys have had a fascination with trains since they could make the chuga-chuga sound and push them around. So it is very fortunate we live in PA. Where there is an abundant supply of trains. Big trains, little trains, scenic trains, Lego trains, wooden trains, you name it PA has got it easy and accessible. There were all sorts of Thomas activities there. The 2 little ones really enjoyed the wooden track Thomas. They have one at home so the fascination with the three of them there was a little lost on me. I suppose just because they are new.
My oldest enjoyed the Lego Thomas. He played with this one for quite awhile as Lego's are new to him. Due to Mommy and Daddy being OCD we do not allow toys with lots of pieces.
However, I do think they enjoyed the pedal train the best. I was a little worried that Danica would not be able to do this as she is only 2 but no our little girl sat down a peddled as well as any other kid there.
Why do people put tattoos on kids? Neither my DH or I have tattoos and in fact we despise tattoos. But yup here we are tattooing our children and niece. Hopefully temporary tattoos are the only one all three will see.
My sweet wonderful DH while I was waiting in line with the children he snuck off. He went off with the best intentions and came back with presents for ME!! Oh how sweet! He picked me up a shew fly pie and a brand new bonnet. I love it. I wore it all day. This one is a sun bonnet. It works so well. Giving me shade as I work through the day. Thank you Jay!
It was a great day. I love my family and my little niece!
It is also out deep into Amish country and a joy to drive by and see farms and workers.
But another great joy about going out to Strasburg is we pass right by my nieces house! So to all of our joy we stopped by and picked her up. This is the second year we took our little girl to see the trains and she is just as happy to shout "Thomas" as the boy when that number one engine come by.
Both of my boys have had a fascination with trains since they could make the chuga-chuga sound and push them around. So it is very fortunate we live in PA. Where there is an abundant supply of trains. Big trains, little trains, scenic trains, Lego trains, wooden trains, you name it PA has got it easy and accessible. There were all sorts of Thomas activities there. The 2 little ones really enjoyed the wooden track Thomas. They have one at home so the fascination with the three of them there was a little lost on me. I suppose just because they are new.
My oldest enjoyed the Lego Thomas. He played with this one for quite awhile as Lego's are new to him. Due to Mommy and Daddy being OCD we do not allow toys with lots of pieces.
However, I do think they enjoyed the pedal train the best. I was a little worried that Danica would not be able to do this as she is only 2 but no our little girl sat down a peddled as well as any other kid there.
Why do people put tattoos on kids? Neither my DH or I have tattoos and in fact we despise tattoos. But yup here we are tattooing our children and niece. Hopefully temporary tattoos are the only one all three will see.
My sweet wonderful DH while I was waiting in line with the children he snuck off. He went off with the best intentions and came back with presents for ME!! Oh how sweet! He picked me up a shew fly pie and a brand new bonnet. I love it. I wore it all day. This one is a sun bonnet. It works so well. Giving me shade as I work through the day. Thank you Jay!
It was a great day. I love my family and my little niece!
