Memorial Weekend

1+1 Candles =11

What a full weekend to kick off our summer break!  Friday night, H celebrated his birthday with some of his friends.  As you can see, we now have an excellent photo of him blowing out the candles on his cake.  (Thank you, Honey for always taking the time to read my blog and for taking the picture.  It is perfect!)  All of the boys were wonderful and I hope that we get to spend a lot more time with them this summer. 

Saturday we woke up early for the boys to participate in the annual Boy Scout pancake breakfast.  They sold all of their tickets (Thank you to all who supported the boys!) and then some so their scout accounts have enough to enable them to take part in more activities this year.  That is a huge relief for them.  So far they are looking at camp coming up and possibly taking some other merit badge classes at Koteewi. 

Their lines may not be formed, but their hearts are.

Directly after the pancake breakfast the boys marched in the Memorial Day parade.  The local VFW post held ceremonies on our bridge over Morse Reservoir and the Cicero Cemetery honoring our fallen soldiers and veterans.  I am proud to take part in these ceremonies and I think it is important that our children be taught the sacrifice that these men and women make for us and their assistance of other countries to gain freedom.   God bless our country and God bless the soldiers and our countrymen who recognize what true freedom is and uphold it to the best of their abilities, which is not easy in our current time.

Next we drove to Greencastle for my cousins' graduation open houses.  We missed the first one, but made the second.  It was great seeing family and getting to introduce my husband and new children to aunts and uncles that had not yet met.  We have four high school graduates in our family this year.  Two live too far away for us to visit.  I hate not being able to spend time with my extended family more often.  This is the part of our history that I loathe--our having become so mobile.  The separation weakens the feeling that only time and experience with extended family brings.  On the plus side, we now have the internet, video chats, cell phones and blogs to help us gain some of the time back.

B & JStP on Morse Lake

Yesterday turned out to be a gorgeous day.  Sun and 90 degrees!  A perfect day to be out on the boat.  The kids played outside and then made some PB&J sandwiches and watched a movie in the theater while B, JSt.P and I took the boat out for a spin and then went for lunch at Wolfies at the marina.  The lake was extremely crowded.  We had some older boys working on our big boat while we were gone.  When we got back, all of the guys took the big boat out for a test run.  It is still not running well, so we'll have to do some more work on it, but a cookout on B's new grill (early Father's Day gift) was a great pay day and way to wind up a wonderful day outside. 

Today is officially our first day out of school since we did have classes on Friday and yesterday was a holiday.  Grandma and Grandpa W have been in town since last week and have been visiting with the kids.  The kids will spend the day with them today before the W's head back to Ohio.  No telling what they'll end up finding to do.  Board games, movies and going out to eat seem to be favorite activities.  B talked about taking me to play golf.  I think that I would only cause the groundskeeper grief, but I'm game.  B does have some business stuff to take care of, so it may end up that we just have a quiet day together.  That may just be what the doctor ordered after our busy weekend.

School is Out and Summer Begins

May 24th was H's eleventh birthday.  I uploaded the pictures to the computer this afternoon and discovered there weren't any pictures good enough to include here.  There weren't even any pictures of him blowing out his candles!  There were however, three pictures of B rolling up the sleeping bag that we bought for H.  Next year, I will take the pictures.  H is planning on having some of his friends over tomorrow night so maybe I'll get a second chance at having the party pictures, but I will always know it was a few days later instead of The Day. 

Tomorrow is our last day of school.  I cannot decide if I am looking forward to having the summer off or not.  Of course not having to plan lessons, print off guides, grade papers and having to be on a rigid schedule are tasks I am ready to set aside for a few months, but having children tell me they are bored by ten o'clock in the morning is not something I treasure.  Already this month, I have taken actions to get them to play.  Yes, I sometimes have to force my children to play.  In the picture above, you notice smiling faces, and this was the first day of the required playtime outside.  I have not had to lock the door yet, but I have sent them outside and told them that as much as I love them, I do not want to see their faces until supper time.  One day they came back in after about 30 minutes and they complained of not having something to do, so I gave them chores.  Hopefully they'll learn that playtime does not equate to punishment.  I'm not sure who needs more prayer, them or me. 

If the Sweater Fits...



Ta-Da!

I finished it!  Finally!  I started knitting again in November of 2010 after another refresher course, this time from my niece, Jellybean.  Originally, my great-grandmother taught me.  I think that I was around 7 or 8 years old.  She bought me a crochet hook and knitting needles and some yarn and taught me how to use both one summer in my backyard when we lived on Locust Street.  I think these were for my birthday, but I think that we were all together to listen to the Indy 500--this was before it was televised to our area.  I let both crochet and knitting go not long after. 

I was an active girl and preferred to do my needle work high in the branches of a tree as opposed to sitting nicely in a chair inside.  It never occured to me that this wasn't the best situation.  I simply saw it as combining the best of being feminine and embracing the outdoors.  Sometimes I would leave the ball of yarn and needles in the tree to come back to after lunch or whatever interrupted me.  The last time I did that and probably about the same time I put the yarn down was because of the neighborhood boys.  They had seen me knitting and purling away and leaving my supplies in the tree.  Later I came back to discover that they had unwound my ball of yarn, twirling it around the branches as if it were garland on a huge Christmas tree.  Needless to say, Dad was angry.  I felt terrible.  I remember he chased those boys through the backyards of our neighborhood with a wiffle ball bat yelling at them to, "Run for the hills, boys!"

Fast forward to me at twenty-six and hearing the wonderful news that I was going to be an aunt.  Yipee!  I decided it was time to reacquaint myself with crocheting and I popped out two little blankets.  They were identical except in color.  One was pink and the other bright red.  I have been "hooked" ever since.  (Thanks again, Jellybean!)

As much as I've enjoyed crocheting, there comes a point when everyone you know owns one of your blankets, you have an abundance of scarves and the sweaters are too bulky.  Let's remember that no one wants to add bulkiness!  I recognized that knitted sweaters looked more svelte, but try as I might, I couldn't get the hand of knitting.  Mom knits like crazy--socks anyway.  I tried to have her teach me, and I completed a couple of projects that were so basic that they only used knitting and not purling.  I gave up--again.  When Jellybean came of the age and she started knitting I was jealous and just bound and determined to get it right this time.  Well, as you can see by the picture, I finally did.  I completed my first sweater for myself.  I knit one for KR, but that is another story and it now sits in a Goodwill somewhere in central Indiana. 

I feel triumphant and just wanted to share my latest project with you.  Maybe I'll actually be able to wear it this weekend seeing as though tomorrow's high is only in the 50s!



Peri-Monster

 A recent self-portrait

I am exhausted.  Body and mind.  As a woman I feel overwhelmed with the volume of information I must digest just to take care of myself.  I believe I am reaching "that time" of my life and the loss of sleep does not do much in the way of helping me keeping clear of the cobwebs in the brain.  In fact the loss of sleep only adds to the extreme mood swings. 

I have tried some lotion loaded with plant hormones.  I exercise at least 3 times a week.  For the most part I have a healthy diet.  I drink water.  Now I read that perhaps I should be increasing my serotonin levels by eating complex carbohydrates found in peas and beans  and eating more frequent meals and  drinking hot milk.  Of course losing weight is at the top of the list, but that is confusing when I read in one place that by regulating my hormones everything will balance itself out in my body, but that means very low carb intake and excluding all sugars--even natural sugars and  then include plenty of natural fats.  Other diets to lose weight, including the latest my doctor recommended, says that I should eat pastas and exclude all fats.  What is a girl to do?

Can I phone a friend and ask Oprah if I can use her personal trainer?  Anyone have a cook I can hire?  How about a body double, can that happen in real life and not just in the movies?  How about the science fiction approach and have a brain/mood dump? 

Life in my house is not pretty and it is all my fault.  I apologize and in the same breath can hurl insults.  I am surprised that my body can produce that many tears.  It is a good thing that I keep up on my water intake.  Maybe I should plan monthly vacations to exotic ports around the globe.  Perhaps I should just relocate to some small South American country and change my name.  I could become a hermit.  If I keep this up, my husband may soon be searching for small islands with furnished cabanas.  Anyone have one of those?  If so, please contact B.