Blessed

Wes , Lyle and I went to Old Fort Niagara yesterday, we had a great time, the kids got to learn how to prepare and shoot cannons, and rifles, and how to march like the French. We ate rations cooked right there out of wooden bowls with wooden spoons. We heard battle stories and ghost stories. It was 82 degrees and Lake Ontario was beautiful. On the ride home I was thinking about the day, and about how blessed I am. I left my house at 9 am rode along Lake Erie, past Niagara Falls and the Niagara river, and spent the day on Lake Ontario. After I got home we headed to Houghton past Rushford Lake and through the Allegheny mountains, along the Genesee river, and If I had more time I could have gone to Letchworth (the Grand Canyon of the east). All those beautiful places within a days ride from me. In the words of Jim Carey as the Grinch "I don't know why I ever leave this place!" See everyone soon.
Love Sandi

Want to Get to Know Somebody? Understand Their Story

Want to Get to Know Somebody? Understand Their Story

i read this the other day thought i would share i found it pretty interesting

J, Can Your Dog do This?

Take a look at Daaron playing with our new "Puppy" Sasha. Sorry the video is sideways, I always do that and forget I'm video taping rather than taking a photo. The second one is better and upright. Let me know what you think.
Mike, Debra, and Daaron (and Sasha).
p.s. Aunt Deb says don't look at the dirty house because she's been sewing all day. Keep all eyes on the cat only. All eyes on the cat only please!!!

Spot Cam

Can you spot Cam on this video? http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/93629354.html?

Dinosaurs!

We went to the dinosaur exhibit with the kids while we were in KS, it was dark, so the picture aren't great. We had a great time, all but Addi, she was afraid.

Question

Ok, you all know me, what would you say are the 3 tasks that I do best? and enjoy. . . That is the question that I need to answer, Actually the question was "what are 3 tasks you love to do?" I don't know, maybe its the word task that has me hung up, it sounds like a negative thing to me! And who wants to do anything negative? Help me, please, anyone . . .

Tami

Busy Me

Update from Uncle Phil: I'm in Franklin, KY at McDonald's one hour early for my appointment because I forgot about the time change. Grrrr. On Thursday I go to Ft. Knox, in the field, with soldiers, for four days. Which is cool but the weather in gonna be yuck. Sometimes that makes it all the better though ;) MREs in the rain. Saturday we will have our LIVE FIRE and shoot Rockets from our rocket lauchers. Then back home. To New York (yeah) and then to Bowling Green to do a wedding and off to Orlando for more training. I finally a week in Greenville for youth camp for a whole week.

I'm tired already. But you wanna know the really cool thing that is going to happen (besides J's Birthday) ... Tami's and my anniversary! 19 years! BooYah!

iBloom

Hey guys, I've just become an affiliate with iBloom, (i think, if I did things correctly) so, if you have any contact with iBloom, can you do it through this link and let me know if it works.
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/?af=1188261
I think you can go here and get to ichoose2 also. Ladies, if you aren't doing ichoose2 yet, check it out, and if you are, tell me what you think. I know that Sandi is ahead of me, I'm just on day 2, what day are the rest of you on? If you've clicked on my link, let me know so I can check and see if it shows up, that way I know I did things correctly. Thanks!!!

Happy Mothers Day!!

"If your a mom who has ever wondered if all your hard work is making a difference -the answer is a resounding yes! The simple truth is that no one has greater power to impact your home than you!" Karol Ladd

"Make a memory with your children, spend some time to show you care. Toys and trinkets cant replace those precious moments that you share." Elaine Hardt

"A mothers love is like a circle it has no beginning and no ending. It keeps going around and around always expanding, touching everyone who comes in contact with it."Art Urban

"As she supplies the affection and care that make a contented home, each mother is strengthening the individuals within her own circle as well as in the nation." Earl E. Chanley

"For the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world!" W.S.Ross

love ya

Sandi

Random

Instead of another blog about my dull life, and because I really don't have many original words of wisdom, here are some random quotes I found interesting this morning.

* "Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyways"
-Mary C. Crowley
* "I have many times been driven to my knees by the utter conviction that I had nowhere else to go"
-Abraham Lincoln
* "Constant complaint is the poorest sort of pay for all the comforts we enjoy"-Benjamin Franklin
* "He is richest who is content with the least"-Charles H. Spurgeon
*"Happiness is a habit cultivate it"-Elbert Hubbard
*"The man who forgets to be grateful has fallen asleep in life"-Robert Louis Stevenson
*"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams ,and endeavors to love the life which he has imagined , he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours"
-Henry David Thoreau

Happy Saturday!
Love Sandi

Lazy Friday

Its cold outside and its cloudy and threatening to rain, so we have a fire going and Im pretty much spending the day on the couch. Im kind of double dipping, watching tv and browsing blogs on the computer. Im pleased that I finally identified the weed thats taking over every unmowed part of our yard. Its garlic-mustard and the leaves taste like garlic and can be used in salads, or whatever you want. They seed by mid summer and the small black seeds are spicy and can be used as a condiment, or ground and made into mustard. So for lunch I added some garlic -mustard leaves and some violet leaves (which dont have much taste, but wild edibles have 3-7x more iron, 20-30x more vit c, and 20-50x more vit A then regular greens, so there good to eat) to the lettuce I just cut from the pot on the porch. Yum, cant wait til lunch. I also found out that I have a large patch of gill-over-the -ground in my yard, so I picked a handful and hung it to dry. The leaves of gill-over-the-ground apparently make fine herbal tea when dried crushed and steeped 5-10 min in hot water. I just started reading a new/old book. Its called "American Folk Medicine", its interesting to read that many women, slaves, and indians were well respected for their uses of herbal medicine until "The New York doctors " succeeded in getting a law passed to stop all practice, except by those who got a diploma from a medical society established by law, taking away from the sick the right to determine for themselves who, and how they would be treated.(that practice started in the early 1800's... ). Did you know one of the hottest "new" exercises is hula hooping, I found a website that shows how to make an adult(larger and heavier) hoop www.jasonunbound.com/hoops.html I think im going to make one for myself, Ash, Alyssa, and mom and we can start some weekly hooping together. Its supposed to be really good for your back and hips and much more. I guess there are many web sites and tutorials on hooping, I havent looked but it sounds fun. Lacrosse game at the arena tonight, and steak and egg breakfast Sunday morning followed by Ironman 2 matinee. Have a good weekend. Happy Mothers Day!
Love Sandi

Babycakes

I'm thinking about cupcakes today, mostly because I they are not on my eating plan, however, on Mothers Day I'm eating one. So, now the questions is, where do I want to get it from? I can't make them, if I do they will be in the house until Tuesday nights bunco and that is just too much temptation for me. So far my favorite Lexington place is Babycakes. It is a tiny sized bakery that has been in business for just over a year, unfortunately it is one block from Gigi's which is much more visible and since it is a chain has a lot more money for marketing. Gigi's might have the daily walk in customers but I think Babycakes does a lot more event type of things. Their retail space is closet sized and full of flour and frosting and good smells. The day we went the owner was covered with flour and frosting and going in circles, she said she was busier that day than she probably should be. We picked out our cupcakes, chocolate, red velvet, and white chocolate raspberry. She frosted them with wonderful fresh made cream cheese frosting while we waited. YUMMY! The sad part - - she's not open on Mother's Day.

Tired

I am struggling to stay awake today. I think that I am finally getting my but kicked with this pregnancy its all catching up. I only have a few more days of work so that is exciting. We have graduation and a picnic onthe 19th and we are done. Gwen is doing the summer program and Ruben is going to start gymnastics June 14th we are excited for that. It was so good to have mom and dad here Ruben still keeps asking me, "hey where are your mom and dad?" Gwen said, "holy crap" yesterday which was a bog surprise considering she doesn't say much. But she is starting to talk more. I have 12 more weeks of being pregnant then we will have our new baby. We still have not thought of a name. We brainstormed last night for awhile but still nothing I am too excited about. The bathroom sounds like it is coming along great. Ashley's apartment looks so nice, a new apartment is so exciting. Well I am visiting with a friend her birthday is tommorrow and Ruben is bringing in her new bed. So we love you all Bye
PS J dogs like to sniff other dogs butts its like a handshake.

Something in the air?

Maybe there is something in the air right now. I visited with J last night and he is full of restlessness, the men in our family get a little "cocky" when they feel that way, sorry guys, it's true. J is sooo there right now. I've been home for just two days and am so unsettled that I am almost incapacitated by all that is floating through my brain. It's frustrating to me to feel this way so often. We all try to change our physical surroundings, homes, jobs, location, and still the restlessness returns. My best guess is that what needs to change is something internal rather than external, but the external is so much easier to deal with. Anyone have any idea's?

3:30am and the glow of the computer screen.

Wow, Its one of those nights where my head wont let my body get any sleep. I suppose ill have many of those in the next few weeks. (It could also be the coffee I had at Ashleys shower at 8pm last night) It seems like time is going by so quickly everyone is pretty busy around here, on the other hand there are still some things that move at a snails pace. We finally got the shower hooked up last night, so in the last month we got a new window, floor, toilet , tub and shower. Still waiting on an exhaust fan , sink , shower door, wall board ,and paint. (It will be beautiful when its done). I went to move Timmy back home from Houghton, hes done with this semester, hell be home till monday then go back for may term three weeks and then be home for the summer.(When did Timmy get the "entrepreneur, own your own business" Rogers gene? ) Anyways were almost done moving Ashleys stuff out so then we filled the space with Tims stuff. I'm trying to get rid of lots of my stuff (Why do we need so much stuff? Where does it all come from? and for alot of it what will I really ever do with it?) Yesterday I got rid of two large bags of garbage and a large bag of things to sell or give away, and theres lots more! Ash had her first bridal shower last night and I got to attend my first event as mother of the bride (weird!) It was interesting to me to see the same women examples that I had from the church , being examples to her.(Mrs Hendrix, Mrs crouse, Mrs Hutchinson to name a few). Alyssa went with us and she said"It made her feel important" because she was the sister of the bride and we got to eat first. Cams lacrosse season may be over just as its getting started , well know tomorrow. Ill let him tell you the details at another time. Well even though I wont be going to sleep anytime soon i had better wrap this up. Have great day everyone
Sandi