amazing...

o Summer conference was wonderful.  Seeing friends, being encouraged and built up in faith, being outside, getting my steps in, where do I start?  I cannot properly sum it up.  There are so many children and young people, this year the focus was on the little ones.  So the youth aged kids, the mentors, along with adults and older kids, ran stations and did activities...can you imagine, teenagers not just living for themselves?  It's pretty special.  (The youth have their own weekends and outings and camps throughout the year, so they're glad to give back!)

I brought out all the dollhouse stuff, collected ride-ons (brought out our fleet, asked others to lend some, and bought a few on Marketplace)...there were ball pits, and kiddie pools, and inflatables, and a foam play area, bubble machines, a dunk tank, a pool party, cookie decorating, glowing lantern decorating, leather stamping, face painting, painting, sand sculpturing, coloring, a street fair with Mexican food, and on and on...Suri went out for a few hours to be the dog in a picnic play, and meet the kids afterward, she was a good girl.

Rhys and Achilles, and yes, that baby had a screwdriver...:)

Elise with the dollhouse stuff...

We set this up four days in a row, they don't get tired of it.

Sonja and Char, racing on the two Razor trikes we got from marketplace...the kids had so much fun on them!

Achilles takes a break from all the action...

Our campsite...Ben, Evelyn, Margaret, Kathryn with Rhys...

A Norwegian friend, Achild, Ashley with Declan, Ben and Evelyn...

Sonja and Char working on the lantern crafts, and Elise enjoying making one...

Tennyson!

Sebastian with his lizard, and Miss Charlotte Claire with Suri...

On stage!

The kids liked meeting her...and yeah, that's me in my tropical shorts.

Aye-aye, Grant!

Wulf, Achilles, Camille at the fireworks...did I mention there were fireworks?  Really good ones!

Garden tomatoes and another zucchini...

Wulf, he has a little bike, he can ride it like a champ, and he really enjoyed being able to ride around at summer conference.  

We commuted to the conference, it's only 20 minutes away, and our camper is so water damaged we cannot stay in it anymore. We are hoping to replace it some time soon, but in the mean time, we still use our yard to have lunch, or dinner, or to just sit in the shade here and there.  The conference was five days of non-stop fun, and lots of work, too.  I was busy coming back home a few times a day to let the pups out, feed them, let them run around...they don't like staying home alone. 

Anyway, it was a good week.  Also, I shouldn't be sitting here.  No sir, no how, no way.  We are going to physical therapy in like an hour, then leaving immediately after that to go camping, and guess who isn't packed yet?  er, like, I have SOME things on the kitchen table, but oh dear, I need to move it move it.   

I'm excited about camping, we have a site right on the beach again...but tenting, ugh.  The hard part is getting down on the air mattress on the ground, but the harder part is getting up off of it in the morning.  And sand.  Did I mention that I do not like sand?  I don't mind walking in it when it's on the beach, but when it gets in my tent, or worse, in my BED, oh dear!  We have been bringing a nice rug with us, put it in the tent, it catches a lot of the sand...

Anyway, my coffee is gone, and I NEED to pack, won't be blogging at the beach, no electricity...so bye for now, and have a good weekend!

oh sunshine, yes, I'll take it!

 Here in central NY, cloudy weather is the norm.  The winter gives way to spring, and you crave the warmth and sunshine, simply long for it, but...clouds, chill, rain, maybe a little more snow as winter is so reluctant to let go.  Then comes summer, and we are READY for sun.  This particular summer, it seems like we've gotten what we want.  Today AND tomorrow's forecast:  sunshine.  And don't hate us:  the humidity is low, the temps moderate, high in the seventies today, absolutely perfect, in my book.

Speaking of perfect...Rhys!  I did not buy her this adorable bonnet, because as you can probably guess from her hand hovering there, she didn't keep it on for long.  Oh, she's cute.

Sonja K. was talking on the phone with Achilles with his sandals, that's Miss Cam there too.  We met Kathryn in Target...

I buy chicken breast in Target, it's a good price, and well trimmed.  My secret has gotten out, it's been out of stock the last few trips.  Then this time, it was in stock, with one dollar off stickers on each package, but...the price jumped!  It was $1.99, then $2.39, now $2.99 a pound...that's still cheaper than some places in the country, but ouch.  

Paul is going to Colorado for a few days, and asked me to bake some cookies for his co-workers...a triple batch took two hours to bake yesterday, yielded 162 cookies.  I brought a dozen to Kathryn last night, I'm sure I won't have trouble unloading whatever he doesn't pack and bring with him on his trip.

(I would love a double oven, or two ovens, or a huge multi-racked convection oven, yes I would)

Dinner last night:  the girls made a barbecue chicken pizza from leftover grilled chicken breast...with red onion, and garlic butter on the crust, it smelled so good, but I didn't have any.  I had leftover chicken cooked up in some butter and ginger, an egg, and a piece of sausage.  

Here's a nightmare:  yesterday when we came home from the store, putting groceries away, we took care of some leftovers, and there was a bottle with like two inches of wine in it from a few weeks ago...I told Sonja she should just pour it in a glass and drink it...so later, I was out in the sun by the pool with Charlotte Claire, and Sonja comes out with the wine glass...I took a sip, Char took a sip, then Sonja drank it...then, when I was still in the pool and she was picking up her stuff to go back in the house, smash!  The glass slipped out of her hand, broke on the deck, and pieces fell into the pool.

Char got the broom, and a bag, and started picking up the big pieces, but there were chunks glistening in the pool...near my feet.  I used the skimmer, Sonja used a raft paddle, and we played capture the glass chunks.  The water had to be still so we could see, and I had to not step on any.  It was a long, tedious game, one we had to win, but we think we got it all.  

Ah well, life is interesting.  I was talking to my sister yesterday, and we agreed:  everyone has their trials.  If you think someone else's life is better than yours, you are mistaken.  We all have things to deal with, ..."He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust." (Matt 5:45).   

Anyway.  Have a really nice day!

I'm sorry, did I forget to blog?!!

 Oh the summer days, a seemingly endless supply.  I'm 57 years old, and I still don't like knowing what day it is during the summer...or how many days are  left until school starts...

Yesterday after physical therapy, Camille and I went to a little Mennonite market, looking for some interesting sprinkles, for a cookie decorating activity we're doing with the kids at summer conference.  Well, they didn't have any good sprinkles, but we still managed to spend seventy dollars.  Who on earth needs a 500 pack of cupcake liners?  Apparently, me.  A big jar of local honey, some milk chocolate covered almonds for Miss Char, some coarse ground pepper for Mariel, xxx sharp cheese for Paul, a dozen ears of fresh sweet corn, and a big jar of molasses.  Camille decided, upon walking in and seeing some baked goods, including molasses cookies, that she was going to go home and bake.  

By the time we got home, I was going to bake, too.  I've been eating the keto zucchini muffins, they're so good, so moist, not as good as real zucchini bread, but not bad.  So I got out the kitchen aid, and put on the shredder attachment, chunked up two huge zucchini from the garden, and made 24 muffins, plus two regular real loaves of zucchini bread.  

The recipe is from Low Carb with Jennifer, Jennifer Banz (this makes 12)

2 cups almond flour

1/2 teas salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I double this, plus add pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 C granulated sweetener (I used monk-fruit, mixed with brown sugar Swerve)

1 teas baking soda

2 large eggs beaten

1/4 c melted butter

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

(whisk together dry ingredients, I melt butter in glass measure, add on top of shredded zucchini, beat the eggs in the same glass cup, add to the bowl, and mix it all up). (it's super simple and quick!)

She recommends squeezing the water from the zucchini before measuring.  I add extra zucchini to my muffins, it makes it so moist.  They bake at 350 for around 20 minutes, maybe a bit longer.   She has a recipe for pumpkin muffins too, same thing only a cup of pumpkin puree instead of the zucchini, and add pumpkin pie spice)

Anyway, I was baking away, Camille was baking away, and our house smelled like a bakery.  I did take a nice swim after shredding the zucchini, while the sun was shining, did some water aerobics all by myself out there, tried not to think of the way the shadows are changing and summer is ebbing away, winding down.

I put most of the muffins in the freezer, it really helps to have something like that for when you just want something baked.  

Our dinner was so good last night:  burgers with tomatoes from the garden, and the sweet corn.  The apex of summer, right?

This fine morning, we are going to Target!  I need chicken breast for this coming week, and Target's is the best, they haven't had any the last few times I went.  So, I told my girls that I'm leaving early, so if they want to go, they have to wake up early...early, ha, we're leaving at nine.  

Summer conference/Family week starts tomorrow at our church.  We used to stay out there in our camper, but our camper has seen better days.  Once the leaking started, she went downhill fast.  I know you're not supposed to love earthly things, but I loved my camper.   The whole cleaning/packing/moving in for a week, loved it.  Coffee in the morning outside, seeing all of your friends...loved it.  Well, we are planning on getting a "new" camper, not brand new, but a nice one, one that is small enough to tow on our little camping weekends, just the thought of it, yay!  But, it isn't happening yet, so we are commuting.

Commuting makes it much more difficult, even though it's only less than half hour away.  We are bringing out ride-ons and dollhouse stuff, and even Suri is going for one of the children's meetings.  We have to bring out coolers with drinks, and our lunches, and dinners.  We can still use our yard, but the camper...it's just not usable anymore.  

So we'll be thankful for what we have.  I did plan meals, keeping it simple:  ordering pizza one night, making crockpot salsa chicken to have in tortillas (fajitas), hot dogs on the grill with salad, and the first night is a barbecue so I don't have to make anything.  The conference ends on Wednesday, then Thursday there's PT for Cam, then we leave for a 3 day camping weekend.  When we'll pack for that is beyond me.

Paul leaves Sunday morning for Colorado, comes home Wednesday evening, for work.  You can't always pick and choose the timing of those things, so again, we're going to be thankful, thankful he has a good job.

Paul found a huge cricket, and saved it to show Achilles.  The little guy was interested but hesitant...

Sunny, however, was really interested....

The girls (Charlotte Claire, Sonja K., and Camille) who still live at home...they are too much fun, I'm thankful for our outings...this was the other day, we had taken the bottles and cans back, then went to get an oil change, which was hysterical:  Sonja was driving, the truck, and the guy guiding us into the bay was like No, THIS way, NO, OVER HERE, pay attention!, he said to Sonja.  She WAS paying attention, but he told her you almost fell in like four times!  oops.  Us all laughing like idiots, oh dear.  we can never go there again.

We then went to the thrift store, and to BJ's (helium tanks for summer conference).  

Anyway...summer isn't over yet, and I intend to enjoy the heck out of the rest of it.

recap of a Monday....

 Yesterday was one of those days where I was happy just to putter around the house.  I cleaned out a kitchen cabinet, then another one, then another...oh, so nice to be organized, it almost makes me feel like a normal person!  Oh, I can clean something out, and get it all nice, then what the heck!  It doesn't take long before it's shambles, in spite of me promising it'll stay neat.   

In the busy years, when I was knee deep in small children and my only breaks were nursing a baby, with a few toddlers perched on the arms of the chair too, if I was lucky...more likely, they chose the nursing time to drag a kitchen chair across the floor, heading for the salt shaker or the sugar bowl, or perhaps took the Desitin into one of the bedrooms and finger painted with it.  

In any case, I was BUSY.  From the time I got up in the morning, til the time I got in bed at night, it was non stop.  Feeding, consoling, washing up, cleaning, going off on adventures, appointments, cleaning, washing clothes, putting them away, then afternoons giving way to dinner times, and oh my dear LORD, I have to make dinner AGAIN?  And yeah, there were days I was fork prying frozen chicken pieces apart under running water, because there was nothing thawed for dinner.  You could just put them in the oven, and take them out every little while and pry, but you had to get the styrofoam package off first. :)

Anyway.  Back then, it made sense to put things back with no rhyme or reason...and honestly, for YEARS, even the peanut butter always got put in a different place.  I didn't like it that way, either.  So it's been a real work for me to be organized.  

I wasn't TOTALLY unorganized though.  I kept their clothes nicely.  I hung most everything up.  And I kept the floors clean, I do not like crumbs or sticky on the floors, at all.  The kids always ate at the table, and were washed up before getting down, so we kept the food mess confined.  There were toys scattered, but at least it wasn't yucky in here.  

Anyway.  I do like cleaning and organizing cabinets.  When I open the cupboard, and it's all neat, I love it. So yesterday, the girls had the let's do something vibe going here, mostly Miss Camille.  When I finish this...we can go somewhere.   When I did finish, I sat in my chair with a coffee, put my feet up, and...Sonja and Char wanted to stay home...I kind of did too.  Cam was bummed.  She wasted her WHOLE morning, waiting to go somewhere.  oh dear.  We went somewhere.

They have such different styles...Char, the tomboy, Sonja so lovely, Cam with her country girl dress on...

It was fun, we got Lydia an outfit for her birthday, and some headbands and a necklace.  It was absolutely pouring out, so we dawdled, waiting for the rain to stop.  

Miss Camille with Orange Guy...

Anyway.   The days go by too fast.  Now, I have to leave to take Camille to physical therapy, then Kathryn is coming over with Achilles and Rhys, and we're going in the pool...and at some point, we're going on a mission to pick up an old electric typewriter for Cam...she's writing a book, and has wanted one for a while...I found one that seems to still have ribbons available...for twenty bucks.  

Have a really good Tuesday...be good!

birthdays and wineries and swimming, oh my!

 Summertime, why can't it just last forever?  Bare feet.  No coat.  Windows open.  The crickets in the evening, tree toads croaking.  The birds singing in the morning, the pool.  

We had a birthday here on Saturday, and it was a warm ordeal.  I made macaroni and cheese, and it was really good, if I don't say so myself.  The pulled pork came out really good (I put vinegar and brown sugar on it, along with pepper, and some cajun spice, then a bottle of Wegman's Memphis bbq sauce when it was all shredded up in the crock pot).  I made pasta salad with little tomatoes from the garden, and cucumber from the stand down the road (and black olives, green peppers, and red onions).  We forgot to get hot dogs for the kids, so we put chicken nuggets in the air fryer, a few batches of them, they were actually really good.  There was a watermelon, and Grace brought some coleslaw.  

Margaret made the cupcakes, beautiful cupcakes, with pink buttercream frosting.  Grace made a "smash" cake for Ruth, happy first birthday beautiful little Ruth Eleanor!

It got hot in here, and it was rather getting time to eat, but I announced we were all going in the pool first.  I could have stayed in there for much longer, it was too much fun, and so refreshing, but kids were hungry.  I had turned off the oven, so the mac and cheese was done and hot, (what were we thinking, no AC, and turning on the oven!).   After cooling off in the pool though, it was much nicer to get the dinner out, we just set out the plates and forks and put serving spoons in everything, and we all bring our plates out to the deck...there's a little picnic table for the kids, and I put a table cloth on the new fire table, and it had cooled down a bit by then...not much, but a bit.  :)

Ten of the kids made it here for the birthday, and some spouses, (we also gave Sam some gifts, his birthday was on the second), and nine of the grandchildren.

Yesterday, we went on an adventure, Evelyn and Kathryn and I, along with Grace, and her mama who is visiting from Louisiana.  We packed a cooler with cold seltzers and waters and iced tea, and Evelyn brought some yummy charcuterie snacks, off we went towards the Finger Lakes.  Seneca Lake, so beautiful.  It was hot and humid, again, but there was a forgiving breeze from the lake, and it was cloudy, so it was more tolerable.  

We went wine tasting!  Now, I cannot tolerate alcohol any more, but I can have a few sips here and there, just a taste of a taste, and do all right.  I really enjoy the different wines, so it's hard, but I am thankful that Evelyn lets me take little tastes of hers.  

The funniest and loveliest thing:  Grace's mom, Tammy, had on a beautiful dress....the exact same one I had on, only a different color/pattern!

Grace and her mama...

Kathryn and Evelyn...

Evelyn, me, Kathryn...

I love love love that we had the same dress on.  I was going to wear a sleeveless dress, but I kept going back to this green dress, thinking I really wanted to wear it, and then Tammy got here and had one just like it, I don't know why it tickled me so.  

We had a nice time, were a bit silly, but enjoyed the scenery, and shh, stopped for ice cream on the way home.  Now, I should know by now that as much as I enjoy it, I never feel well later...I get used to eating cleanly, and it throws me off, hurts my tummy...blah.  It WAS good, but not worth it, for me.  

It's warm and humid again here today, but there are no plans, and the girls are here, and we might do something fun...whether that something fun includes a trip to Target, or to a beach, or just hanging out in the pool, I don't know, but I'm excited about the day.

Our week:  PT for Camille tomorrow and Thursday.  I will probably be working with Abigail this week, as she is returning from Norway today.  I have to get all of my dollhouse stuff out and ready for our summer conference children's area, next week.  I have paperwork to do for Camille's home school, and dr. appointments to make.   

Next week is our church summer conference/fellowship week.  It's focused on the children, so we'll have lots of things to keep them busy, with the youth/young people and adults mentoring, helping with it all.   I'm going to be helping Margaret with a cookie decorating station, and helping set up the toddler area.  

So Jonathan is in Germany, adjusting to being away.  We talked via face time, and he's sent pictures and texted, he's working, and having fun....I'm not sure this is the wisest shirt to wear there, but it's Jonny.

Oh dear.  Anyway, enjoy your day, and be thankful, make good choices!  (Freaky Friday, a movie from way back when, we are movie quoters here...make good choices!)
 

taking a wee bit of a break, shh!

 So yesterday didn't end up being very lazy:  Kathryn and I went out and about with little Miss Rhys Harper:

She helped her little self to that stuffed dog, but no, we didn't buy it for her.  When she was sitting in the front of my cart, she helped herself to two shirts, took them right off the hangers and wrapped them around herself, all huggy.  :)

Home in the afternoon, a quick clean up, and yay, the girls got home from camping!  I had some time in the pool, then Margaret and Adrian came with Wulf and Tennyson.  Back in the pool, poor us!  I had marinated some pork chops and chicken breasts, so out to grill in the heat, wow, it was steamy, even after being in the pool.  

I had made pasta salad earlier, Sonja and Camille made some Brussel sprouts in the air fryer.  

This fine morning, I should be busy.  But, I'm sneaking in a little break....I got up this morning and got an eight pound pork loin into the crock pot with some brown sugar, vinegar, cajun seasoning.  Then, macaroni and cheese...two pounds of pasta, and 3 1/2 pounds of cheese...I make a roux: melt a stick of butter, some onion powder,  half to 3/4 cup of flour, then lots of milk...I never measure, just eyeball it...more than half a gallon...cook that up until it thickens and starts to bubble, then add in all the cheddar.  I like making something low carb for those of us who would love to eat all that pasta but really can't, so I put a bag of frozen broccoli in a bread pan, and poured some of the cheese sauce over it.  Cauliflower rice is good, as is cauliflower, but I honestly didn't feel like digging through the freezer, just grabbed the broccoli.  There was exactly enough cheese sauce to make two 13x9 pans, one 9x9 pan, and the broccoli.  Sprinkle some bread crumbs and pepper on top, wrap in plastic, and find a way to fit it all into the refrigerator....(I had to clean the refrigerator out today, before I started...)

I have more things to do as lots of people are coming over in a few hours.  I have to sweep and mop, I have to clean up the yard (we have dogs!).   I have to clean the bathroom and and and.  But it can wait a bit.  I am actually here all alone with the pups.  Paul is working, getting an apartment ready to rent, and the girls are all doing different fundraisers (building/sanding decks, working in the kitchen).   

Getting ready for a party all by myself is different.  I know I have a lot to do, but I decided to break it up.  I did a lot already, now I'm in my room, the only room in the house with AC, which we usually turn off in the morning...but shh, not today!  I'm relaxing in here, cooling off, before I go out and do more work...I am going to fit in a dip in the pool, too.  

This was from 2014.  Margaret was 17, Kathryn 16, Evelyn 14 (almost 15), Suzanne 13, and Sonja K. was 12.  My five-girls-born-in-five-years, as Miss Margaret was only five when Sonja was born.  (Jon was 10, Char 8, Camille 7) (then on the upper end was Emily 29, Abigail 27, Ben 25, Mariel 24,  Joseph, 23, Aaron 21,  Molly 20, and Sam 19)

Anyway...I'm enjoying a nice cool break, it is a very hot and humid day!!!!

oh just lazy...

 I have to get moving, just can't seem to today.  It's warm and humid, it feels like the heat is cranked in here...then I walk out onto the deck, and it's just cooking out there.  I did a few stray dishes, and put some things away, fed the deck kitty, and the house kitties, and gave the dogs some water, turned on the pool filter, pulled some weeds from the back patio, and not much else.  

I was busy yesterday cleaning out a cabinet, and Paul asked me if I wanted to go visit Margaret for a bit, as he had some things to do in the area, where she lives.  She was going to be going to the gym, but Adrian would be there with the kids, so off I went...they are so precious, Wulf and Tennyson...it's nice to be loved, there's nothing like grandkids!

Tennyson is going to be two years old next month!  He's such a charmer, love him so much.  And Wulf, oh he's got spirit and personality and he keeps me laughing, and is so soft hearted too...so much energy, too!

Ah well...big birthday party tomorrow here, I have to get cleaning...I don't know how many will be here, maybe 30?  Off I go...out of the comfy chair!