I Am A Garbage Picker!

About five or six years ago, we bought our house. I wasn't

so crazy about it at first. The walls were all done in

wood paneling, and I must admit, I felt like I had entered

some sort of a lodge.

We looked at the house a few times before we made

an offer on it. Each time I tried to see the possibilities.

I tried to appreciate the large rooms,

high ceilings, and clever use of space

that the Arts and Crafts era bungalow offered.

Eventually we bought the house, but the

one room I continued to hate was

the kitchen.

Notice the red and white checked floor.
The walls were covered in a cream and brown tile,

and of course paneling.

The weekend I went to Maine,

Jon painted the cupboards a bright red to

match the floors and the Coca Cola

stuff that I had.

It made the room look so much better.

Then he painted the rest of the

kitchen. He covered the tile with a bright

white paint.

He covered the paneling with a robin's egg blue paint.

The room was transformed.

We ordered a bright red sink and some

boomerang patterned Formica.

Our kitchen has become fun.

I've always wanted the kitchen to be warm,

inviting, and groovy. I think we're on our way.

Tonight, while we were eating dinner,

I noticed one of our neighbor's carrying the

above step chair

outside to the curb to throw away.

The blue caught my eye.

I dashed from the dinner table and ran across the street.

It's official, I'm a garbage picker. He let me take the chair.

I cleaned it up, tightened the screws, and voila! Almost

like new.

Now I'm on the hunt for a Formica topped

table from the '50's.

Who knows, maybe someone will throw one out, and

I can make a career of garbage picking!

A Weekend Trip to Maine

My Mom and I have always been close. She worked

extra hard when I was growing up to keep our

communications open. She was ALWAYS available

when I needed her. She would

talk with me for hours when I was a

teenager and EVERYTHING was a crisis.

We used to take, what we would call, "Fun Girl" trips

throughout high school and college. We went

to see football games together, so that I could

watch a boy I had a crush on play.

We went to visit colleges together.

We went to Niagara Falls, Maine, Pennsylvania.

Wherever we went, we always had fun.

Then, she and my dad moved away. I got married. We had
our kids. We were still "Fun Girls", but we didn't take any
more trips together.
Foolishly, I thought we'd have time once the kids
were older, once things settled down, became less hectic.
Last October, my view on life and time together
changed forever. No longer was my life unlimited
time. No longer could I say, "We can do
that next year, next month, next week."
I believe without a doubt that I am the person
that I am because of my mother. She put all of her love,
time and energy into me. She loved without
selfishness. She gave to me with no thought of
her own needs. She encouraged me to be
whatever I wanted. Her life was a reflection of
love and faith. The type of love and faith that I hope to impart
to my own children. Last spring, she read
an article about a clam festival in Maine. She cut it
out thinking it might be fun. She thought I might enjoy it.
I thought, we should enjoy it, together.
Last weekend we took a "Fun Girl" trip
to Maine. We staid right on
the ocean.
We ate at lots of fun restaurants that she had read
about. We took a trip to Yarmouth, to
the clam festival.
We had fun. We made memories.
We talked about life. We talked about death.
We talked about all of the fun
that we've been blessed enough to have.
We took time to watch the ocean.
Hear the birds. Eat lots of seafood.

We took time to just enjoy each other. We enjoyed

the time that God has given us together.

Although I don't understand this illness, I

trust that my Heavenly Father does.

I'm tempted to say, "This isn't fair. Why does

my mom have to have cancer."

But then I think of the number of people that don't have

a mother that they love so much. The people that

don't have all of the happy memories that

I do. I think of the time that God is giving us.

The time that He is allowing for me

to hold my mom. The time He's given me to tell her

that she matters. That her life changed mine. That

she inspires me. I have the privilege of

making memories with my mom.

I hope that as my children grow, they will

see me as I see my mom. They will share the happy

memories with me that I share with my own mom.

I hope that God will give me lots

of time with my mom. I do know that if her

time on earth is shorter than I would like,

I will meet her again, in Heaven.

For that, I am grateful.

Yummy Cupcakes

I think that I've mentioned before that I love to bake.

I especially love trying new recipes, or creating my own recipes.

I tried my hand at lemonade cupcakes.

I loved the way that these turned out.

The cake part tastes a lot like a pound cake, but not quite.

I made a whipped cream frosting. I decorated them

with gummy fruit wedges that I found at a farmers market.

I also sprinkled them with yellow sparkle sugar.

They really did taste and look great.

Little bites of summer.

Cute Pictures of Some Cute Kids

I took this picture one morning

while we were out walking. I loved seeing

them walking together holding hands.

K. loves sugar as much as his mother.

Here he is enjoying a lolly pop or lady pop as

he calls them.

Making a pizza at a local pizzeria.
The kids menu had a make
your own pizza. K. and Doodles loved this!

When their pizzas came out,

the waitress offered them a job.

They were so proud of their work.

I think the pizza tasted better, because they made it.

June and July in Review/How Could the Summer Be Going so Fast!

June is always a busy month for us.

On the 16th, we celebrate our anniversary, and on the

20th, it's Jon's birthday.

Since we've had kids, Jon always tries to think of

something fun for all of

us on his birthday. He's such a great dad,

because he enjoys thinking of things that the kids might like to do.

Last year we visited Fort Rickey for the

first time with them. This year,

we took them to Howe's Caverns.

They loved the cave under ground. They were the perfect

age to enjoy the trip and the history of

the place. After our fun day at the Cavern,

we came home for a birthday party.

Happy Birthday Jon!
In June it's my birthday too.
I always tell the kids that the best birthday
gift I ever got was them. Three years ago, on my
birthday, they came to live with us. On their "anniversary"
we enjoy cupcakes for breakfast, with candles, and a
"Happy Anniversary" song.
Last year, my mom made my birthday cake. Foolishly, I thought
it was just one of many more that she would
make. I appreciated the time and effort that she took making it, but
I don't think that I appreciated the fact
that it could have been the last.
In the fall, when she was diagnosed with
cancer, I remember sitting in the hospital wondering
would my mom even be around in the summer
to celebrate my birthday.
I'm so thankful that she was. This is a cake that she made
for me. I really took time to appreciate it this year.
As I blew out my candles, I wished harder than I've ever wished before
that my mom would be here for many more birthdays.
After birthdays and anniversaries, it's the Fourth of
July. My brother came up for a visit
on the Fourth. We all enjoyed fireworks together.
Last year, I thought we would have unlimited time to watch
fireworks, this year I slowed down and enjoyed each and every moment
that we had before, during, and after the firework show.

We bought the kids cotton candy and glow in the

dark necklaces. Something that we don't usually

do. We let them fool around with

Papa. We made sure to take

time to make memories that we can draw on

forever.

This year, we hosted a Fourth of July brunch. Jon

will be quick to point out that we ate it

on the 5th, so how could it be a fourth brunch.

So, I call it the Fourth of July weekend brunch.

We had a sweet potato fratata, home made bagels, stuffed

french toast, bacon, and waffles with strawberries and

blueberries.

The kids made patriotic decorations that

we hung in our yard.

We ate outside on the picnic table that we

bought for our anniversary.

Yet another reason that I love my husband. Each year, for our

anniversary, we buy something for our house.

We've purchased a barbecue grill, a pool, and some other things.

This year, I really wanted a picnic table, so that we could eat

outside. Jon really didn't want one. He sited

many things: Bugs, heat, inconvenience, and mowing.

He knew how much it meant to me that

we have a table, and he bought one. I love him.

After Fourth of July weekend, my brother staid for a bit

longer. We enjoyed some outings with him.

We went to Fort Rickey one day.

Here Doodles is feeding the deer. She

reminds me of her grandmother, taking her time

to feed each and every animal. She doesn't want any of them

to go without food.

All K. wanted to do was ride the paddle boat.

His sweet Tio rode with him around and around the pond.

It seemed like they paddled everywhere about 100 times.

Tio never complained, just enjoyed the time

with K.

The next day, we took a trip to the zoo.

Both K. and Tio love animals. What fun

it was for the kids to have the time with

their uncle!

My kids favorite thing is to listen to

Tio and I share stories of our

childhood. They love to think of us as kids

like they are.
We had to take time to feed the ducks.

Looking through the binoculars.

What a view!

The kids wouldn't pose in the tiger. Apparently they've

become too cool to do this. So I posed!

"Look, a baby box turtle!"

Aren't they cute!

We've enjoyed lots of fun activities at our

local library this summer.

Here Doodles is painting a bird house.

What an artist.

Big K. enjoying the

painting. Her method, slow and methodical. His method,

paint everywhere!

This summer the kids participated in the

Fun Run for the first time. They ran a

half mile. Doodles was so nervous. K. loved

every minute of it.

The best part of any race, the goodies at the end.

After the run, we went to a local county

fair. We went to see a dog show.

It was the cutest fair I've ever been to. It was

so tiny. They had a performing clown who made

balloons to order. K. ordered a sword, of course, and Doodles

wanted a flower.

The next morning, we went

to watch Jon run the Boilermaker.

Here we are, waiting for Daddy!

What a fun summer we're having. I can't believe how fast the

time is going. When summer starts, it feels like we'll have

forever. I realized that it's going to be August in just a

few days. Before I know it, we'll be ordering our curriculum

and starting soccer again. Time just goes way too fast.

Hope you're summer has been as fun as ours!