Just some pics of the kids at their swim lessons. I think they enjoy it and I couldn't be happier with the instructors. They seem so patient.

Nothing much---just thinking on the blog...

OK, who the heck is Amy Winehouse and why is she in the news all the time? Did anyone else see the news on Yahoo? Why is she so freaky looking? Am I just that out of the loop or am I above it all? Hee hee.

We won our softball game tonight. I didn't get on base except for one time. All the other times at bat was like I was golfing. "Oh, here you go, shortstop! Here's a nice present for you called a softball." Why couldn't I get it past third or short? What's up with that?

Pete is traveling this week. It is his big SERA 17 conference. They talk about manure and how it is ruining our planet and what we need to do about it. Last year University of Arkansas hosted it. It's in Annapolis, MD this year. It would have been nice to go (sans kids) but I am working some this week and, Lord knows, we need the money...

Besides, I am going to DC later on this week to see an old h.s. friend that lives there now. She has three girls and it's great fun getting together. I can't help but remember how goofy we were back then and be blown away that we're both mothers. Scary. (I'm talking about me there).

And my daughter has gotten so smart-alec-y. What should I do about it? She makes threats like "If you don't let me watch TV, I will stay in my room and not eat breakfast or lunch or dinner." I tell her that she will get hungry. It's amazing that kids can try to use food as power at that age. (BTW, I say it without emotion).

Ultimate Chick Flick did not disappoint!

I saw Mamma Mia! last night. Ahhhhh. It was so goooooooood. I saw the play with my sister in New York City about 18 months ago. I loved the musical, but I almost liked the movie a little more than the play. Meryl Streep was awesome and for those of you that like handsome men, the movie delivered. It was so much fun that the audience sang along with some of the songs and clapped with the music! So, if you're feeling down, go see it! It will make you laugh and cry and laugh again!

A little this and that...

Tonight Kendall and Clayton had their second swim lesson. It's great watching them get comfortable in the water.

Today I picked green beans from our garden and we ate them tonight. I steamed them and sprinkled a little salt on them. I can't put it in words what it was like to grow, harvest, cook and eat something from your own back yard.

And we bought a futon off of Craigslist.com. It is for the apartment so we can accommodate more people up there. We have it rented for one of the Penn State games. Yippee.

Happy 95th Birthday, Nana!

Pete's grandmother will turn 95 tomorrow. I think it is so cool that my kids have a great-grandmother. She is Nana to everybody. We went to Boston this past weekend for her birthday party. It was at the Rialto at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She wanted only close family and her best friend, Helen, who is 95 also along with Helen's daughter.

Here is Clayton looking cute as ever (if I have to say so myself!)

Pictured here are Anne (Pete's sister), Nana, the chef and owner, and Julie (Pete's cousin).
It was a quick trip up there. We left Friday and arrived around 9:30 pm. Saturday we visited Nana at her apartment. She was anxious about the big party. We then had lunch back at my in law's house. Then around 3 pm, Pete's sister and her family arrived from NYC. Here are the great-grandchildren before the party.
Here are Dorothy, Helen and Anne.
Here are Nana with her four grandchildren.
And here I am with Pete and his cousin, Julie with Tom (Anne's husband) in the background.

Today and Abba...

Why do I crave chocolate/junk at night when I've eaten fairly healthy all day?

Oh well. Today was a good day. I consider myself to be a "glass half-full" kind of person. My pal, Ronda, came over today so the kids could play (and the moms could sit on their butts and talk) and she loaned me her Abba Gold CD. I downloaded it onto the iTunes and then to my iPod. Now, that's some good music. Anyway, I had to run some errands tonight and on the way back home, the moon was a beautiful orange and the humidity was high so the sky was a little foggy. The fields of corn and soybeans were aglow with lightening bugs. I had my iPod plugged into my car and I was listening to Abba. I believe the song was "I have a dream" with "Fernando" playing just before it. My glass was running over.

Bad Karma...

We didn't do anything special for our anniversary. We did go to Trout Fishing in America on Saturday night so we counted that as our special date. Anyway, about a month ago Pete asked me if anything was going on July 14? I answered, "You mean other than our anniversary?" He was asking because he needed to go to Columbus, Ohio on the July 15. Well, he decided to make it a one- day trip since our anniversary was the day before. Wasn't that thoughtful? It turned out that I had a softball game on the 14th. Pete said I could play. Here is where the bad karma comes in. We lost last night by 2 runs. There were runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. We were home so it was our last time to bat. And guess who was up? Yep, that's right. It was my turn to bat and I am 50/50 at best when it comes to getting on base. Well, I hit a good line drive right to the short stop and she caught it. DANG! Game over.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. Wow! Time flies when you're having fun. Yep, the last 7 years have been a blur. I guess having two young kids will do that to you. Anyway, I love you, Pete. Now here is a little joke:

A man and his wife, now in

their 60's, were celebrating

their 40th wedding

anniversary. On their special

day a good fairy came to

them and said that because

they had been so good that

each one of them could have

one wish.

The wife wished for a trip

around the world with her

husband.

Whoosh! Immediately she had airline/cruise tickets in

her hands.

The man wished for a female companion 30 years

younger...

Whoosh...immediately he

turned ninety!!!

Tiger Lilly

This is Tiger Lilly aka Lilly. She will be arriving mid August. She is growing on me a bit. I wonder how my cat will take it...

Whew! It has been non-stop fun around here this past week. We had the Central PA Festival of the Arts and the People's Choice Festival going on . They each have their good points. A high light for the kids is face-painting. Clayton wanted to be a pirate just like his buddy, Connor.
The sand sculpture wasn't finished yet here. We stopped by another day and the artist had a chicken sitting on a giant egg. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. Clayton loved this part.

Last night, Pete and I saw Trout Fishing in America. They are a folk group from Northwest Arkansas where I grew up. I think I saw them years ago in my hometown with my sister. Pete loved it, too. They do kids' songs as well as adult songs. Originally from Houston, they are around the Fayetteville area now. After the show, I introduced myself and told them I was from Fayetteville. Another couple had lived in Springdale and introduced herself as well. And then I ran into this Russian lady who had lived in Fayetteville for 10 years. We are all in State College now. Anyway, the groupies were out. I love watching a live music show. I always wish I was up there singing away.
The buckets of water are always a big hit at the Arts Fest in State College. Kendall is running around trying to avoid the water!

Supersize me...

I'm not talking about the movie even though I did see it (talk about beating a dead horse). I still eat at McDonald's every now and then. I've never been one to order huge portions anyway unless you are talking about dessert. Anyway...

Last night I went shopping after walking around down town with my husband and kids at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. We needed some basic household stuff as well as groceries, so I took advantage of the chance to shop sans kids even if it was 9:30 pm.

So, there I am in Target looking at toilet paper and it occurred to me that there is no normal toilet paper anymore. Forget just buying 4 rolls, but now it is "Mega" and "Ultra" and "Premium". And packs with 12 that equals 500! I know that is an exaggeration. How many rolls does one need at a time? and how big? Those humongous rolls don't fit on the holder anyway!

After Target, I made my way over to Wegman's. It's really nice shopping at 10 pm. So quiet....ahhhhh.

Birdhouses

While we were visiting my parents, my dad made the kids some birdhouses. We put them up this past weekend.

Did I mention I'm a cat person?

I saw this story on the web today. Just thought I would pass it along in case you missed it...:)

Reflection

So, I haven't posted a decent post in a while. Let me see... I enjoyed our trip back to Arkansas to see my family and I had a really nice time. My dad seems to have mellowed out in recent years which means that he doesn't get in fights with us over silly stuff. And I know that they won't be with me too much longer on this earth, so I try to let things slide. I did get to see my brother for about two hours on Sunday in the afternoon. He seems well and has plans to buy a house in Springdale. His younger daughter (my niece) was in town, too, so it was great to see her. I think it had been since her wedding last year when I saw her last.

Last year I was very home sick and when we arrived to Arkansas, I was taking everything in. This year I had the same Daylight Donuts and I have to say they are the best donuts on this planet still! However, this time I wasn't feeling home sick. My parents had been to our house in May and the kids and I had been back this past January. I do love the weather there and we did most of the same things this year as we did last year. We did do some extra things, too like go to the pool a lot and go to Silver Dollar City. I know that I would have a hard time living in the same town as my parents--it's small and it's in a dry county! I'm not a lush or anything, but I like a good glass of wine if I go out for a nice meal.

Anyway, it was great to be home. I love it down there and I always will. Fayetteville is not the same little sleepy college town that I grew up in, but it still has that charm that I remember from years ago. I wish my parents still lived in Fayetteville. Since they live in the same town as my sister, I get to see her a bunch when I visit them so that is a good trade-off. With all the new growth to the north of Fayetteville, comes great shopping and dining, too. I hope that change doesn't affect Fayetteville negatively.

The one thing I hope for: I want my kids to remember my parents. I was 4 when my mother's mother died and I have few memories of her. I want my kids to know my mom and dad. Kendall said some cute things that warmed my heart while we were visiting my parents. She told my dad that she would live next door to them when she grew up and they could visit anytime they wanted to. She told me that she was going to live in Arkansas when she grew up as we were leaving Silver Dollar City after being there all day (I didn't correct her at the time and tell her that we were actually in Missouri). I told her that my mom used to bring me there when I was a kid. She said she was going to take her kids there when she grew up and tell them that her mom took her there. I got choked up just thinking about it.

Music for the road trip

We were in Ohio at this point and getting punchy. Only another 13 hours to go or so...

Trip almost over...boo hoo!

I can't beleive our visit with my parents is almost over. Pictured below are Kim, Kendall, Clayton and myself in one of the rides at Silver Dollar City.


This picture was taken the evening we arrived. This is the Ozarks of southwest Missouri.
This picture is of Tablerock Lake in Southwest Missouri. I took this photo on Friday coming back from Branson.
Sunday, we went to Bull Shoals Lake with my sister and her husband. They have had so much water in this part of the country that the lake is 36 ft above normal.
Here are Kim and Alan.

You can see the tree under water. Amazing.
Kim and I could barely hold on the tube!
Today we went back to Branson to the Branson Landing. We had lunch at the White River Fish House which is owned by Bass Pro Shop. There is a huge aquarium in the store.
Here I am with my dad with Lake Taneycomo behind us.
There are Kendall and my mom at Branson Landing.