Missing my routine!

I'm having withdrawals. I worked three days last week and I am working three days this week. That means that I am not seeing my play group moms as much as usual and I am not getting to read the blogs that I find interesting.

I did hear a very interesting story on NPR today that I had read earlier on a blog called Film Literate. You can read about it here. It is amazing that this is still going on in Modern America. I suggest you check it out. It is about Jena, Louisiana.


And I've included a picture of the kids from when we went to the Spikes game. They loved the cotton candy. (What kid wouldn't?)

Like I mentioned, next week we will be near Damariscottia, Maine. I imagine we will be eating lobster and going out on my father-in-law's boat. My mother-in-law has Alzheimer's Disease, so it is important that the kids get to know her, too. I promise to take lots of pictures!

With anticipating another busy and tiring week, I am going to do a quick post. I have to work three days next week and then at the end of the week, we are heading to Maine. My in laws have a summer home on the coast up there and we always go for a week in August.


Our wild blackberries down our driveway are getting ripe. I love picking the berries and eating them on the spot. Every year, I look forward to this time.

Arkansas weekend/Wedding update

Our trip to Arkansas for my niece's wedding started out around 6 am on Thursday, July 19. My husband turned the corner and rolled down the window and said, "Smell that Dairy air." We live near a dairy farm. Kendall then shouted, "Woo hoo, I smell cow poo!" With that, we all laughed and off we went to the airport. It's two flights to Fayetteville from here, so the day was not bad at all. My parents met us there so that we could borrow my dad's car for the weekend. Once we landed, we decided on the AQ Chicken House in Springdale for lunch. From there, Pete, the kids and I drove to Siloam Springs to stay two nights with my old friend, Dana.

Dana lives on a golf course and the pink Mustang came with her house. We had just finished driving around the golf course terrorizing the golfers and rabbits.

Friday was filled with gatherings and rehearsals and rehearsals dinners. The kids were great the whole time.

On Saturday, we got up and ready and headed to Fayetteville. The wedding was at 4 pm. I think that is the best time for a wedding. It's not yet formal and the bride has all day to get ready. Lori looked beautiful and we were so happy for her. Ten years ago, she had her first of two brain surgeries for a brain tumor. So, this day was extra special. You can see photos of the wedding weekend on flickr.com./photos/kellykleinman.

After the wedding we drove to Harrison to stay with my parents. My sister has a boat so Sunday afternoon we headed out for some water skiing and inner tubing. I am hopeful that my kids will demand that this is a summer event as they get older! Here is my mom.
Here are my sister and dad. My dad was trying to water ski. I think it had been 50 years since he had done that.
And here are my sister, Kendall and Clayton in the tube. Here's to family!

Pictures of the wedding

Here I am pictured with the bride, Lori and the flower girl, Kendall. We were together Friday afternoon.

There are more pictures here. I plan on adding more in the next few days.

Lori's Wedding

The wedding was lovely. Kendall and Clayton did a great job. We were so proud of them. And our family was so happy for Lori. Just ten years ago, she had brain surgery to remove a tumor the size of an orange. It was a long recovery with another surgery on her 19th birthday to remove new growth. Every day is precious and she lives by that. She is an inspiration to our whole family and this was a wonderful day. More later.

We won our game tonight! Yeah!!! But, never eat triskets before a game! I was so thirsty.

Weekend recap and catching our breath!

Our weekend was a fun one. My friend from high school, Heather, came up from the DC area. She brought her husband and three girls. They arrived Friday evening. On Saturday, we went to the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. It is a large arts fest with music, art, food. You name it, it's there.

Saturday was our 6th anniversary, so we arranged for a babysitter and the four adults went out to eat at Zola's New World Bistro. After dinner we walked down to the lawn in front of Old Main to listen to a local 80's cover band, Velveeta. What a blast!

Sunday, we went to the other arts fest going on this last weekend. It is the People's Choice Art Festival. The kids got their faces painted and Heather and I got to look around at the art and jewelery.

You can see pictures here.

Last Day of Swimming Lessons...

Kendall almost jumped off the diving board. She wanted to so badly. I can remember that feeling. We were still very proud of her!
Here are Kendall and Clayton going the length of the pool.

Look! It's a rat

Oh, to be 3 and not know that you are supposed to run from these things. Clayton was having a ball. He's such an imp.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Take me out to the park. Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack, I don't care if we ever get back. 'Cause it's root, root, root for the home team, for if they lose it's a shame. 'Cause it's one, two, three strikes you're out, in the old ball game!

Last night, we took the family to a minor league baseball game. It was the State College Spikes vs. the Oneonta Tigers. Pete goes to a monthly ag meeting and last night, they met at the game. The weather had been bad, so I'm hoping that is why the stands were empty. I think the avg. attendance for the season is 4100.

Before the game.

I thought the sky was beautiful.
Here is Clayton working on the stats.
Here are Pete and Kendall. She, too, had been working on the stats.

Blood Diamond

After our friend, Ted, left, we watched 'Blood Diamond'. I have put my Netflix account on hold for the summer. This movie came from Hollywood Video and it is due back tonight. We are going to a minor league baseball game tonight, so no chance that we would see the movie. Anyway, I digress.

Leonardo DiCaprio has to be one of the best actors. He is so believable. This movie makes you think. There is violence, but it is not gratuitous. Leo's character is an ex-mercenary turned diamond smuggler. Blood Diamond is up there on my 'great movies list'. A must see.

Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold

Those are the words to a little song I learned when I was a Brownie in second grade. Anyone that knows me, knows that I like being with people and feel like you can never have too many friends.

So, last night my old friend from High School was in town for a meeting. We'll call him Ted. Ted went to the junior prom with my bff Dana. I went with our friend, Chris. It was a double date. So, Ted and I have always been friends, but like so many people, lost touch over the years. He now lives in Reston, VA. He will be up here once in a while for business. So, it was great to have him out to the house so Pete and I could cook for him.

I went to our Wegman's (the best grocery store ever) and bought 1 tuna steak and two swordfish steaks. I marinated them in a sesame oil and soy marinade that my husband found on FoodTV.com. They were delicious! We grilled them and I served wild and long grain rice and green beans that my husband 'stir-fried' at the last minute with shallots.

I had gone to play group on Tuesday so I ran out of time for dessert making. It's all good. I still need to lose about 5 lbs. Ted didn't care, either.

Next stop. This weekend. Old friend from High School, Heather, is coming with the whole fam damily. She lives in McClean, VA. Can't wait!

Bedraggled.

Whew! I've been busy the last few days. First, it all started on Thursday and Friday of last week when I worked at the local hospital. Then, the husband decided we needed to paint the living room since an old friend was coming up this next weekend for a visit. We went to high school together and we now live about 4 hrs from each other.

So, we prepped and painted the room. It looks so much better than it did. The previous owners had painted it a pale green with dark green trim (yikes). We have been living with it for almost 6 years now, and all of a sudden, it needed to be changed! It is taupe-ish with cream trim. Very Southern Living, if I say so myself. Pete also has to make things more complicated in every endeavor, so of course, he decided the room needed crown molding, too. It will/does look great, but I'm sick of messing with it. And to top it off, I got a phone call this afternoon from another old friend from high school that is going to be in town for business tomorrow night. So, I've got to clean and decide what to cook for the guy.

So, I will try to put some pics up later of the room. The kids were great this weekend. We hardly saw them as they were planted in front of the TV watching a Dora, The Explorer video. I know, bad, but what else are we supposed to do when we need to get things done?

a fish story

My husband is part of a blog and he posted a story the other day. You can click here for the story. I'm not so sure I like it. You can tell me what you think.

Swim lessons update...

As you can see, we have some progress with the swimming. Clayton got in Thursday night and received 'high fives' from the instructor. Kendall is still doing well.

Here is Clayton with the kick board:
This time he was concentrating. (I think I can...I think I can....)
Kendall is about to jump
We have one more week of this level. It is so exciting to see the kids improve each day!!

Argghhhhhh!

Sam Walton would roll over in his grave if he knew how bad customer service is at Wal-mart nowadays. Not even a "be with you in a minute" or "kiss my foot"! I mean really. Who am I? Just the customer. Enough said.

Swim lessons

The kids started swim lessons this week. Kendall is an enthusiastic learner while Clayton is a little uncooperative. But, it is so much fun watching them. The instructors are GREAT! Hats off to them. They are so patient and encouraging and are always smiling at the kids.

Here is Kendall kicking while floating with help. She loves it and gets so excited when it's time to go to class. Clayton will sit on the first step but refuses to do anything else. Oh well. I am a very proud parent and can't believe how much fun it is watching them. I actually get a little choked up sometimes.

New York!

I drove to Ronda's house Saturday morning, threw my stuff in her van, and we were off to pick up the other ladies. I think we were on the interstate and on our way by 8 AM. We made excellent time until we hit the toll booths for the George Washington Bridge and it took about an hour to get over the bridge and into the city.

We arrived at our hotel, parked the van, but we couldn't check in until 3 PM. We had a couple of hours to eat and explore the area. First stop was a deli across from the hotel. Mary Ann spotted Gretta Van Susteran walking down the street. She was the only 'famous' person we recognized all weekend. Of course, I had a Reuben sandwich which was delicious.

Then the girls went to the Top of the Rock and I had to make my way to Saks to spend a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket. I couldn't find a darn thing. That place is ridiculously expensive. No normal brands.

After that, we checked into our room. We had a 1 bedroom suite with a living room and one bathroom. No problem. We would manage. Then, Mary Ann (spotter of the famous person) noticed that the carpet between a chair and one of the beds was wet. Then she noticed the room smelled like cat urine. (good nose, Mary Ann). I called the desk and they immediately moved us to a Master Suite. WOW! Two bedrooms (3 beds) and 3 bathrooms, a living room, and a dining room table. Now, that was living. All of sudden, I felt like I could stay there with these other women for a week.







So, it was time to get ready for "Wicked". We had dinner first at a restaurant called Puttanesca. It was Italian--very busy, good food, service was so-so. Good time, none the less. Then walked to the Gershwin Theater where "Wicked" was playing. Oh my Gosh! What a clever story! We all enjoyed it.


Pictured above is Frankie (friend of Christy's-lives in Manhattan), Christy, me, Nicole, Storm (grew up in Manhattan-used to be in playgroup-now in San Antonio),Mary Ann, Ronda and Linda G.

For lunch on Sunday, we ate at Rosa Mexicano. It was really good. After lunch we walked around Manhattan, did some last minute shopping and headed home.

Christy and Ronda enjoyed a margarita at lunch.

And last but not least, Nicole wanted to go to the American Girl store and buy a doll for her daughter. I saw something that I thought was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen:

People actually pay money to have the doll's hair styled. Interesting.