Mike…

 

Last week Mike took the kids out for a walk in the woods. These kids love Mike and to have him all to themselves, well it’s heaven.

Mike and Jim are building a boat trailer. We have a 12’ Johnboat that we use for fishing. Mike has done the welding and now painting of the trailer while Jim is the fabricator and supplier of supplies.

Can you tell he loves his mud tires?

The rock that Mike is sitting on has been there since he was a wee one, well really even before that, and since he’s been old enough to sit up on it we’ve used it for a fall picture. Justin and Hannah had to be part of the picture too.

 

I’m shrinking, I remember when they both had to look up at me and really it wasn’t that many years ago. This is the day we had grandpa’s funeral.

   

Camping and hiking, our most favorite thing to do together. Mike has a problem getting up after all the hiking we did camping. We walked a 5.8K loop on the Washburn Hiking Trails.

Mike, I love you. Thank you for always having time to do stuff with me. Thank you for loving the daycare wee ones as much as I do. They love you like a big brother. Thank you for being such a great mentor for Scott. He’s a great kid and you had a lot to do with that.

Thanks my friends for letting me share Mike with you. I hope that your kids make you as proud as Mike has made me.

Take care everyone and God Bless!!!

What should of cost….

I’m still clipping coupons and trying to save as much as I possible can, now more then ever, so I thought I’d share my purchases today with you. Cub Foods has a pretty good deal going on with dessert type stuff, stuff I don’t normally buy because I usually bake or cook my own…but… for these prices I can handle a few simple, no thoughts desserts and treats (shhhh, don’t tell my other blog about these though, I don’t think they’d fit into my Life Style Change).

What should of cost about $50.00 or a tad more if you don’t shop at Wal-mart cost me $27.00. Store coupons of $15.00 and Vendor Coupons of $5.00.

I do have to admit most of this was limit two so I had to have my daddy come in with me and be the second buyer but he didn’t seem to mind and he gets excited too when I can save money on goodies he knows I share with him. :o)

If it wasn’t for Naomi I wouldn’t of gotten all these coupons though so I must be sure to thank her for her help in helping me save and still be able to have treats.

So that’s it today folks. I have a post about Mike coming up tomorrow. I have to share my son with you guys. It’s been a little while and hey, he’s so worth sharing. He makes me so proud to be his mama.

Take care my friends and have the most blessed afternoon possible. Remember, when it’s one of those days, make a list of the blessings God has bestowed on you and the day will become one of “those” days to remember.

Wordless Wednesday….

 

Little Falls Craft Fair…

Holy Cow were there people there. Lots and lots and lots and lots….

 

                      

Brenda and I went and spent 5 hours walking all over Little Falls looking, ohhing and ahhing over tons and tons of super talented people. In the end I brought home just a few treasures.

  

 

If I had been a millionaire I could of found something at just about every single booth but with just a little bit of money to my name these are what I wanted.

I’m going to take that cute frog and make it into something like the leaf hanger for my mama. I think it’s a bit big for her to wear as a pendent but I’ll make it removable just in case she does want it one day. The rest is other two goodies are for me. I did find one more thing but can’t share it since it’s a gift for some one really dear to me and she reads my blog (Pat).

We we finished up in Little Falls we headed to Rice because that is where the extras go that can’t fit at the Little Falls Show. That place was so much more relaxed. Then of course how can you be so close to St. Cloud and not go there so we did and went to Michaels Crafts. Oh I just love that store. Brenda and I have bead stash money for replacing what we need from our shows so we took a bit of that and picked up some essentials we needed and then looked at all the ideas. WOW, I wish we had a Michaels around here…then again that might not be too good either. :o)

Brenda took me to T.G.I. Fridays for supper. I have never been there before and it really was great. The service was better then anywhere I have ever eaten. ANYWHERE’S!! And the food was excellent. Not to expensive for a nice restaurant. Then we headed home. According to my mile counter we went 170 miles and talked every single second of that time and more. Thank you Brenda for such a great time, it is written on my calendar for next year!!

So now it’s onward and upwards to our craft show the first weekend in November. We have some great ideas to work on and some stock that needs replacing.

I hope that you got to do something great this past weekend. Even if it was just relaxing and enjoying the family or time alone rejuvenating.

Take care my friends. Have the most blessed day possible. 

Check out what Kim got!! WOW did she do great.

Goodwill find….

 

I fell in love with this basket. It’s all glass made in the USA from a company called Anchor Hocking. Right now I can’t find it on their website but my mama said a little while ago she remembers seeing it for something like $50.00 but thought maybe even a bit more. Well I didn’t really care about that though I am happy because I paid just $4.95 for it at the Goodwill. I am going to use it as a planter. I have a plant that I take out each year and it lives on the porch but in the winter it sits on my kitchen table near the window and ice-marker. It loves it there. I’m not sure if it’s just because the light is from the north so it doesn’t get to much but enough real light or that it likes the warm air from the ice-marker. I don’t know but when Tuna died (she was our little black lab) one of my daycare parents gave us this  little plant to remember her by and it’s now 7 years old and thriving. But since it has to be on my hardwood table there has to be no chance it’ll drip, drain or get the table wet and sit there so this will be perfect. I was just going to post this without showing you the final results but since I love pictures here is what it looks like now all used in ready for it’s winter place.

Amanda, what is this plant? Is it suppose to be like an ivy? I though it was just one of those plants that grew but it now has vines sorta like an ivy. Anyone else?

Okay now it’s time to do some tomatoes. Take care and have a blessed day.

Done…

  And daddy came and got a 5 gallon bucket full too!

 

So for now this is what there is for work to be done and some aren’t quite ready but two days in the house they’ll all be ready to can. I have a dozen or so of the ones like what is in my hand, they are huge and so meaty inside. I got the rest of the beet picked too so will do them tomorrow morning so we can eat that last batch fresh.

So there you have it, more tomatoes. More sauce, stews, soups, hot dishes and salsa. Winter will taste good this year!

Take care and have a blessed evening. I’m heading back outside to watch Mike learn to paint with a paint gun. Him and his dad are building a boat trailer. I’ll share some pictures when I get some taken. God Bless you all!!

Last week, this week, next week…until it freezes…

Tomatoes that is. Now there’s no complaining coming from here, it just means lots and lots of tomatoes. This is my second batch I did. I’m heading out shortly to get the third bunch, about 3 – 5 gallon buckets each time plus Kim got 2 laundry baskets last Wednesday and my mama a 5 gallon bucket. There is nothing, nothing at all, like homegrown tomatoes made into so many dishes. Okay, enough words, here’s the pictures…

 

 

This batch I froze. There was spaghetti sauce, tomato juice and soup base. When I made up my spaghetti sauce (which I also use for lasagna, spanish rice, other tomatoes based hot dishes. I add in the green and orange peppers (red and yellow if I have them), garlic, herbs and season and my hamburger. Of course as I’m making this some goes home with the daycare parents, my parents and even our best friends. So it’s a good thing they keep growing and growing.

I have lots to share with you this week so maybe each day this week there will be a post of some kind.

It is time to move on from the horrible week last week to a good one this week. My grandma is doing wonderfully, I think better then us kids but someone said that at her age it just comes with the territory and something she excepted faster then us. I don’t know, I just know losing someone you love and even though you know they are in heaven enjoying life again, it’s hard. But it’s life and it’s just time to move on. I’ll spend as much time as I can with grandma as will the other kids and grandkids and she’s even planning on getting out and about again. Today she went to church, now it’s been almost 2 years since she could go and do that. YEAH!!!

Take care my friends and I’ll try and talk to you tomorrow. Have a great Sunday. The Lord’s Day, a day to rejoice, relax and reflect on just all that we have and thank the Lord for it all. God Bless you all!!!

I was asked….

To share with you a letter I had written to my grandma. So here it is. It has spoken to a few hearts and thought it just might find it way into someone else's. I’m not a writer, I just write from my heart.

Today was grandpa funeral. A sad and happy occasion. Lots of great memories and lots of love and hugs. Tomorrow is the burial far away from home but close to his departed family. Another day of memories and more.

Onward to the letter. Take care my friends and God Bless you all. Remember we are only here for a season, enjoy all that is dear to you because seasons end and so do lives.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!

Oh how I know this is “not” a happy birthday grandma but it is your birthday and you do deserve having one. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you yesterday, I did try and call but your phone was busy so figured today was a better day.

I have been trying to figure out just what I wanted to give you for your birthday. Oh I know a hug would have done it but I was driving along and something popped in my head and I felt it was such a perfect idea.

I was told it probably wasn’t a good idea, she may not like that, she may forget, Mark might not like it but I had to grandma because it just felt right.

I am giving you a candle. I remember a ways back you and I were talking about candles and how you liked them but grandpa was afraid of them.

I didn’t buy it because of that though; I got it because I felt like it was a good idea. You see my thoughts in this is this:

When grandpa is feeling far away, when times are a bit hard I thought you could light this candle and in just a millisecond you’ll feel grandpa’s touch on your shoulder, you’ll feel a breeze in your ear and it’ll be grandpa telling you to “blow out that damn candle before you burn this house down!!”. He’ll squeeze your shoulder after you blow it out, whisper “I love you” and he’ll go back to watch over you for as long as you are here and he is there.

I love you grandma and I am so sorry that grandpa left ahead of you but you know that he’s up there, sweeping and cleaning your mansion so when the time comes for you to join him it’ll be all ready.

I love you grandma and please always remember that I will be here to help you, hug you, be here for you any time you need me. I’ll be that pest that comes to visit at least a couple times a week and that pest on the telephone when your hands are full of cookie dough or cake mix.

Happy Birthday Grandma..

I LOVE YOU!!

My grandpa…Norman Victor Bill

My grandpa passed away yesterday. I don’t know what to say to help you know just how great a man he was. He was my grandpa. He’d greet me each visit with a “hi-hi”, a huge hug and a smile. He would talk in Swedish with huge smiles knowing I didn’t understand a thing he was saying. A long time ago Mike did an interview with grandpa and made a recording of him counting and speaking a little bit. I don’t know where it is right now but I am going to find it this week. He so loved Mike. He was always so proud of everything Mike did and he’d make sure everyone else knew too. He was a man that loved kids, kids of any size really. My daycare kids loved him as much as he them. When we’d do our fire trucks at school he’d help grandma watch my little ones for an hour or two. The last wee one he got to spoil was Hannah and I remember coming back from school with the fire trucks and both him and Hannah were sound asleep in his chair. Hannah would stop in to say hi to “pop-pop” when we’d go visit. Friday I took all my daycare kids to say good-bye to grandpa. They didn’t know it was a final good-bye but it’s something they’ll remember if they want too.

Before we left for camping this weekend, I sat with grandpa and he held my hand. He kept reaching out for me and he’d squeeze. He couldn’t speak much anymore but a visit early in the week had him looking at me and telling me he was hanging in there. He had beautiful eyes, eyes that always knew what was up. His hugs were strong and loving.

I’m going to really miss grandpa. Did you know, of course you couldn’t I didn’t tell you yet, that him and grandma were married for over 70 years. Can you just imagine being married that long? I hope that one day my grandson/granddaughter can say that about Jim and I. Can you imagine being married that long and now have to face life alone? I feel so sorry for grandma.

Grandpa leaves behind a wife, 2 sons and daughter-in-laws, 5 grand children, 6 great grandkids and a life time of friends that who all loved him for always.

Thursday is grandpa’s funeral at his favorite church and then on Friday we are taking him quite a ways to be buried with his family.

I so loved my grandpa and I am so glad that I know that he is in heaven with all his family waiting for all of us one day to be reunited. I will miss grandpa terrible.

NORMAN VICTOR BILL, 97 years old and will never ever be forgotten.

Tach Scata hof – Many thanks in Swedish…….he said this all the time.

Up coming weekend….

YEAH!!! Family time. I can’t wait. It’s time to just have some quiet family time, just the three of us. I am so ready. Do you have any plans for the last holiday before there’s no more long weekends? I love all three of us having the same days off.

I saw these tidbits today and thought you might like them…

• President Grover Cleveland first declared Labor Day a national holiday in 1894.
• The first Labor Day was celebrated in the US on September 5, 1882 in New York City.
• The average American spends more than 100 hours commuting to work each year.
• Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons.
• According to common fashion etiquette, this is the last acceptable chance to wear white.

So my friends with that I am going to be off until next week some time. I’ll share what we did for our weekend and it’s going to be time to start some crafts and thinking about Christmas (did you know it’s only 113 days until that day).

Take care everyone and have a great weekend. Mine will start a day early with garage saling tomorrow. Maybe I can find some great deal on stuff I just can’t live without. God Bless you all!!

“End of Summer” party…

Really it’s not the end of the summer but since school starts up next week it’s the end of summer vacation so each year I try and do something big for my kids. We’ve had parties at the park, we’ve gone to the zoo, we’ve gone swimming and we’ve had parties here. I was told this years party was the best yet but they said that last year with our Candy Land party.

This year our theme was Red, White and Blue. Yep, just the colors. We thought of many different things but we kept coming back to this. So today we tie dyed, played balloon wars, and a game called telephone. Then they played with Mike and the fire hose while I fixed lunch. Then to end we had dunking for apples in the pool. There was 12 kids and 4 adults. Got pictures, wanna see?

 

 

                       

The kids were my daycare kids, my cousins little ones, my friend and her little ones and of course Mike. It was great.

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We also celebrated Wilbur’s 7th birthday. Wilbur so loves all “his” kids and they love him too.

                   

  

  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILBUR!!! He is such a sweet, caring, loving dog. We are so very lucky to have him.

So that was our day. Busy, wonderful, tiring but oh so worth it all. Now it’s bed time so I can do it all over again tomorrow with my 6 wee ones. Loving my job!!!

Take care my friends and have a blessed day tomorrow.