All I Want For Christmas…

Busy, busy, busy

The lack of activity on this blog does not in any way reflect the level of  activity in our household.  The start of school means the lazy days of summer are behind us.

Our weekly activities outside of school include:   Soccer games, long with practices once a week, Sarah is in tumbling class, Abby has started her third year of ballet, Sarah and I go to the Library’s story time, and I’m going to a Ladies Bible study.

In between all that is the regular stuff that needs to be done. Add to that, the slew of paperwork to begin another adoption.

So that’s why it’s been a little quiet here.

Some random soccer shots 

Sharing a ride on the tricycle.

Going to Papa’s house. Pretending to be Daddy. Her favorite dress-up outfit.

Sarah’s First Day of Pre-School

Sarah started pre-school last spring when she turned three.  We wanted to get her started with speech therapy as soon as possible.  She went two days a week for two hours each day.  Her cousin Joey was in the same class.  The first couple of weeks, she cried, but after that, she did just fine.

This school year, she is again going two days a week but for three hours each of those days.  Her school is down the street from Abby’s school so it is very convenient to drop Sarah off right after I drop Abby.  It’s just one extra trip to pick her up at 11:30.

So Wednesday was Sarah’s official first day of school.  And she was ready with her new back pack, too.

Those are capris… not just short jeans.

I’m not sure if she didn’t want me to take any more pictures or if she wasn’t too sure about going into the school.

Her teacher is the same teacher that three of Karen’s kids had in pre-school.  She is so sweet.

She did great on Wednesday and her teacher said it was like she never left.  We’re hoping she makes lots of progress in her speech this year.   

First Grade!

Abby had her first day of school on Tuesday.  She is growing up so much, I can hardly stand it.

Sarah was ready for the day as well.  We had her pre-school orientation after we dropped Abby off.

Such a big girl with a big back pack stuffed with school supplies for the first day.

At her desk.

With her new teacher.

This is the first year for Abby to go every day of the week.  I know she’s up to the challenge before her and I can’t wait to see how she shines!

Surprise!!! (but not entirely)

A few weeks ago, my sister told me she had decided to have an “end of summer pot luck dinner.” At the time she told me, I thought it was a little odd, but not too much.  We get together as friends and family often enough to have bonfires and such so I just thought she wanted more togetherness before school started again.

The day of the “pot-luck” was RAINY!  We haven’t had a good rain like that in a while.  It was nice.  But it kinda put a damper on the “pot-luck.”  So Karen and Timmy (and the rest of their family) spent the day cleaning out the garage so we could still have it outside.  I would have been there helping too, but we had some chores that needed done around our house as well.  And some shopping.

While we were at the store, I had it on my list to buy toilet paper.  Billy thought that we didn’t need any and I thought it was odd that he should care if we had a few extra rolls.  And earlier, he reminded me that we were going to Karen’s for the pot-luck.  Usually, he says, “are we doing anything tonight?”  I thought it was odd that he should know.  There were a couple of other “odd” things including a missing check that happened that day as well.

As we were getting ready to go, Abby says to me, “Did you know… oh never mind.”  I could not let that one go, but she said it was a secret so I didn’t press her.  Then as I was coming down the stairs, she was busy making something at her work table and quickly hid it from my view.

As we were arriving at Karen’s house, I thought it was odd that there were SO many cars parked on the street AND everyone was already at her house.  People in our acquaintance are usually 15 minutes late or so.  I turned to Billy and said, “Am I going to be embarrassed?”

Then as we walked up to the garage, they all shouted, “SURPRISE!”  There were big “40” signs and a “Happy Birthday” sign.  It was NOT the casual, end of summer pot-luck AT ALL!! It was an early (four months and 10 days to be exact) birthday party for me.  Wow!  Billy had actually pulled it off.

He had been thinking of my impending fortieth birthday for a few years and wondering how to do it.  He knew I always wanted a summer birthday because my birthday is actually 6 days after Christmas.  So he asked Karen when they should plan it, and the rest is history.

Karen and Timmy did an excellent job of decorating their garage.

He even added twinkle lights.

Cheesecake – YUM!

See, I was bringing food to the POT-LUCK.

Here are some friends they invited to join the fun.

Church families

Kids from the youth group

Karen gave me the glasses I bought for her 40th birthday.

Billy and Karen had told everyone to “40” me - that is, give me 40 of something.  I got a wide variety of gifts including 40 pictures of my brother – all the same picture in two photo albums.  My brother-in-law also gave me 40 pictures of himself.

I also received 40 rolls of toilet paper from our dear friends that now live in Minnesota.  Long history there, and I laughed and laughed when I saw the card and knew who it was from.

Forty Sharpies from two different friends.

Forty pencils, pens, paperclips, pennies, quarters, packs of peanut M&Ms, all occasion cards, prunes (and a bottle of Geritol), coffee beans, and more.  My friends just love me!

Billy got me a bouquet of forty daisies.  They are still beautiful today.

I told him now that the party was over, he would be able to relax and enjoy the holiday season without stressing about giving me a party, too.  Well done, dearie!  I love you!

Canning Day

We planted a garden this year.  That means that I put in a lot of tomato plants.  Too many, really.  I do it every year.  You would think I would learn.

We gave a lot away.  And still have some growing if anyone within driving distance wants some.  You can have as many as you can pick.

My mom suggested canning some of the tomatoes and so I reluctantly agreed.  My nephew Timmy helped us pick them and then showed up to can the next day as well.  All help is appreciated!

   

We cut up all the Roma tomatoes and then juiced the big ones.  It’s more fun to juice than to dice!

Thanks Mom for facilitating and providing the inspiration for the canning!  I’m done for this year.

Friends

 

It was a mighty fair day for Fair Day!

This summer has been HOT! So when a day rolls around that sees temps in the seventies and low eighties, it’s so nice.  Such was the day when our county hosted Kids Day at the fair with free admission!! 

We always like to go and see the animals, produce, and art work, sample the food and ride the scary rides.  This year, we didn’t do the rides since we had just been to an amusement park.  But the fair offered plenty to see and do without them.

First stop, the animal barns.  The goats are so obliging.

Sarah is not too sure.

Why does that look on her face scare me so?  It’s like she’s saying, “just wait till I can reach the pedals, Mama!!”

The one-room school house on the fair property

Our fine player piano player

Produce, art, and more (click to enlarge)

CORN DOGS!!!

Sarah and Joey posing with dressed up vegetables.

Abby and her friend Megan

My first *real* post back in 2006 was of Abby and the county fair.  She was not quite three.  Take a look!

Carrousel Rides

To cap off our “Week ‘O Fun,”  the four of us went down to Mansfield to ride the carrousel.  We have driven through town several, yea MANY, times on our way south and always said, “we should stop here sometime and ride the carrousel.”  So when we were planning our week of adventures, Mansfield was on the list.

This carrousel runs almost every day of the year and rides cost only 75 cents (less if you buy several at a time).

Billy and I rode the first time with the girls and then they rode the rest by themselves.

They have lots of horses, but also other animals, like rabbits, bears, ostriches, and cats.

The girls chose to ride horses EVERY time.

Sorry about the photo quality of this one.  I couldn’t believe it when we got home and we had no good pictures of Abby.  She had chosen to ride on the inside horse most every time so it was difficult to catch a good shot. In every one, she was either turned the wrong way or in motion.  Boo, hoo.

Click on the picture to enlarge the collage.

 

Video watching tip:  keep your eyes on the girls as they go around or else you’ll get dizzy!

After riding, we had lunch in downtown Mansfield and then browsed through some of the antique stores.  I have been looking for an “Ohio” plate, but I still haven’t found one.

Then we went over to shopping mall area of town and found the dollar theater.  We saw Marmaduke and the girls enjoyed it.

It was a relaxing day to be all together and a nice ending to Billy’s vacation week.