In My Life...

'Twas a long day of work, housework, then Jessi's dr. appointment in Lincoln, so tonight we're just watching "Biggest Loser" and I'm cruising blogs. I found this little quiz thing here and decided it would be fun.

The instructions are to copy and paste the list to your blog, highlight the things that you have done in your life and then link back to me so I can see your list!

1. Started your own blog
Three years, 11 months ago I started my first blog, Play For A Moment. On March 17, 2007 I wanted to share what we're cooking, so I started Living Dangerously While Eating. I've also contributed to a few other blogs.

2. Slept under the stars
Yeah, but not for years.

3. Played in a band
Just once, in elementary school. Had no clue what I was doing...

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower
I used to get the kids out of bed in the middle of the night and drive to the country to watch the Perseid meteor shower in August. The last time was five years ago when Jess and I took her convertible out and parked it in a cow pasture.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity
Yeah, but apparently I could afford it since our standard of living didn't change because of it.

7. Been to Disneyland/Disneyworld
Disneyworld with Jess and the Benedict High School Band. I'd like for Nick and Greg to be able to see it, too.

8. Climbed a mountain
I love the Rockie Mountains!

9. Held a praying mantis
only to move it

10. Sang a solo
Not on purpose...

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
counted cross-stitch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning
After eating at a Mexican restaraunt - both Greg and I got sick.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables
Oh yes.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight
many times

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
I wasn't ill, but one of my children was. I've truly never called in sick when I wasn't.

24. Built a snow fort
Back in the olden days when we got lots of snow all winter long

25. Held a lamb
Petting zoos are great for this

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse
In elementary school

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
I see the sunrise just about every single day.

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise
Once to Alaska, once to Mexico

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community
South of Amana in Iowa, and kinda sorta in Virginia

36. Taught yourself a new language
not enough to be conversational, but I did teach myself quite a bit of Spanish when I worked at Head Start
Took German in High School since Grandma and Grandpa Regier spoke it often.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Money doesn't make for happiness, so no matter what our bank account says, as long as I have my family I'm satisfied.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance
Followed the ambulance transporting my son...

47. Had your portrait painted
pen and ink sketch drawn...

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain
:o)

53. Played in the mud
mud pies, mud cakes, mud goodies all around

54. Gone to a drive-in theater
I remember my parents loading up all five of us in our pajamas, blankets, pillows, and a grocery bag full of popcorn. Oh, and my first date was to the drive-in...

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business
home day care

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
I was an enthusiastic cookie salesgirl for many years!

62. Gone whale watching
near Juneau, Alaska - there were four whales all together and it was amazing!

63. Gotten flowers for no reason
gotta love those dandelions!

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Tried once - they finally got the needle in a vein, then took it out immediately. Ugh.

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
I don't think I ever could...

67. Bounced a check
way back in college when my mailed deposit arrived at the bank after my check...

68. Flown in a helicopter
from Skagway, Alaska to Denver Glacier and back. I hated it at first, but then decided it was really pretty cool!

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
a baby doll that my mom named Stacy - don't know where she is now

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Three times so far. One of my favorite places in D.C.

71. Eaten Caviar
Never thought I would, but it is SO GOOD!

72. Pieced a quilt
does a comforter or several count?

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
Driving it myself, thankyouverymuch! :o)

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book
Been published in a book, but I didn't write the entire thing.

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car
Yes, and it hit 100,000 miles today.

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper
It's York - everyone has their photo in the paper at one time or another...

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House
stood outside the fence and ogled it

87. Nursed an animal back to health

88. Had chickenpox
Had everything - chickenpox, mumps, measles

89. Saved someone’s life
called 911 for my brother - don't want to ever have to do that again.

90. Sat on a jury
had to go through the selection process, but never got called

91. Met someone famous
Tom Osborne - he came into Village Inn when I worked there in High School. He is too famous!

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one
too many...

94. Had a baby
A couple of times. :o)

95. Seen the Alamo in person
It was a little overwhelming to stand there and know that so many people died...

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
I've seen it from an airplane...

97. Been involved in a law suit
only from a distance

98. Owned a cell phone
own it but hardly ever have it on

99. Been stung by a bee
You can read about it here.

Take a Guess!

Jess has just under a month until her due date, so I thought it would be fun to have a Baby Pool. If you want to take a shot at guessing stats, click on the button at the top left of my blog that looks like this one. You will go to the baby pool site where you can easily enter your predictions about baby's sex, birthdate, weight, etc.

I will have a yet-to-be-determined prize for the person who comes closest.

Here are a few facts that may or may not help you:
a. We do not know the sex of the baby.
b. Heart rate is consistently between 140-152.
c. She's carrying high.
d. She's measuring farther along that she is now, so the dr. thinks it will be a large-ish baby.
e. Her original due date from the calendar is October 4.
d. Her due date from ultrasound is October 2.

According to the dr., since it's her first baby, they don't want to induce labor. Even if you don't join in the pool, we'd appreciate your prayers for a safe and healthy delivery (and as close to the due date as possible - she will not entertain the idea that she could go overdue!). :o)

Reading time!

Wyatt has been sick for a couple of days and missed school on Friday. When they came up to watch the football game last night (GO BIG RED!), Leslie brought his homework along. He was tired and didn't feel great, but was kind enough to allow me to record him reading aloud for a minute. (Well, I told him it was for Aunt Tonita!) :o)

About that Garden

It's been awhile since I posted a garden update, and the change out there is significant.

We had a bumper crop of cucumbers and made what seemed to be bushels of them into pickles. I have pulled those up now. Except for the last batch of cinnamon pickles that will be done in a couple of days, we're pretty much over the pickle-making process. I do have to say, these were tasty cucumbers to slice up for supper, so I'm thinking the pickles will be delicious.

The green beans didn't do much at all. (Thanks, Leslie, for sharing yours!) Neither have the bell peppers.
The lone surviving jalapeno plant is doing well and I'll leave that as long as possible.

Carrots were planted late, so it'll be a few weeks before we harvest those. They look great, though.

We enjoyed lots of lettuce for fresh salads. Until the grasshoppers arrived. What was left has since bolted with the heat wave we had last week.

The herbs did great, and we'll be using most of them for several weeks yet. The dill, however, is done and is going to seed. It's also full of yellow swallowtail caterpillars. :o)

The forward portion of this update photo is the tomato bed. Eleven tomato plants in a 4 x 8 foot raised bed. What was I thinking?

Greg helped me put a light fence along the one side of the bed, and I tied branches onto that so I wouldn't have to dig so much to find the ripe fruit. Unfortunately that big storm we had a few weeks ago flattened the tomato bed - not breaking the stems, just laying everything flat. The tomato plants are so heavy with fruit, I can't pick the fence back up. Hopefully Greg will help me do that this coming weekend, and we can brace it so I can get to all the yummy goodness that is ripening out there. Oh, and next year we'll use a heavy fence with real fenceposts that will withstand the summer storms.

This year was the first with raised beds. There have been pros and cons, and once this year's garden gets cleared out, I'll make a plan for next year. In the meantime, the focus will be on tomatoes. Many, many tomatoes.

He's a Game Player

A couple of weeks ago when Wyatt was here, I started teaching him to play checkers. He caught on fairly quickly and we had a good time. Apparently someone was feeling left out... At first, Tucker tried to lay on the board, and he kept stealing the same red checker. He tucked in under his chest and laid on it and I had to dig it out. I kept nudging him off the board, and we'd continue playing.

Soon, he stayed off the board, but just barely. He watched attentively, easing back when I made my moves. Then Wyatt reached across the board for his "king". With no warning, Tucker began smacking the back of Wyatt's hand with both front paws!

Of course, that move startled us and kind of frightened Wyatt. I laughed, made sure Wyatt was okay, and petted Tuck's head so he'd not feel left out. I made my move, then explained to Wyatt what he could do with his pieces. He reached out to move his checker, and again, Tucker swatted his hand away!

This happened again the next move. Pretty soon, Wyatt didn't want to play anymore - "Tucker keeps smacking me!" - so I moved the cat away from our game so we could finish. We barely cleaned up the checkers and the cat was lying across the entire board, keeping it safe from the little boy. :o)

Baby Love

Like the song says:

"Cause baby love,

my baby love

Been missing ya,

Ooh, miss kissing ya"

We had Miss Reese here last week for several days and she was an angel the entire time. Something about a baby's smile and belly laugh that is good medicine for everyone in the room.

While she was here, she survived her first tornado siren and severe thunderstorm. We had to scoop her out of bed in the dead of night and drive to Greg's parents' house a block away in driving rain. She never flinched - slept through the entire drama.

One afternoon/evening she spent with her cousins, playing and laughing and getting worn out. :o)

There was lots of cuddling, rocking to sleep, nibbling toes, and kissing of her neck that happened, too. We loved having her here, and miss her terribly!

The Last Summer Day

Today was the last Tuesday of the summer that I had the kids since they all three start school on Thursday. We had such a fun day!

A good part of the morning was spent working in the garden, emptying pots and baskets of scraggly flowers, sweeping the sidewalk, and gathering piles of weeds I'd left around the back yard. They each earned a dollar for their labor, so they made sure they worked hard enough to get paid. :o)

Break time meant sidewalk chalk - lots of sidewalk chalk. So much so that they all had to strip down before coming inside, and I tossed their clothes in the washing machine.

After getting changed, we threw together some PB&Js and headed out for a picnic. Instead of eating here in the yard, though, we climbed into the car and drove the few miles to Stromsburg's park. My thought was that we'd have lunch, then possibly swim in the baby pool (if there were no babies there). They had other plans. As soon as they saw the big swimming pool, they would not even entertain the idea of just wading in the small one. So I took the plunge (so to speak) and as soon as the pool opened, we were heading to the locker rooms to get a shower "before entering pool area". I didn't have my suit, so just sat on the side of the pool with my feet in the water, and watched the kids turn into fishies before my eyes.

They had so much fun, and it was great to watch them go from timid and cautious to comfortable and confident. They'd not ever been to a big public swimming pool before and loved having the room to play. By the time we left, Wyatt was jumping off the side, and both Wyatt and Grace were putting their face into the water. Garett was pretending to be a shark, chasing the others back and forth across the pool.
Of course, no one wanted to leave when it was time to go, me included. Now I know that next summer we'll make this a regular activity. I look forward to it as much as they do! :o)

Feel "The Force"

One day a couple of weeks ago just Wyatt came for the morning. Leslie dropped him off with me in the parking lot where I work. As he jumped out of the van, I noticed two light sabers hooked on the waistband of his shorts. I asked if he was expecting an Imperial invasion and should I be on the lookout for Stormtroopers?

Later that morning we finished up our third board game. It was time get our bodies moving, but alas, it was raining outside. Wyatt invited me to have a light saber fight. :o) Sorry, I said, we can't play light sabers in the house. That is an outside game.

Please, Aunt Tammy?

No, Honey, it's an outside game.

We can just play right here in the living room... please?

(Sigh - how do I say no to him?)

We popped in the DVD of the very first original Star Wars movie (the best one in Greg's opinion, and the only one he owns) and selected the light saber fight scenes.

Thus began the re-enactment of Luke's light saber training and Obi Wan dueling it out with Darth Vader. We had spins and jumps and chased each other around the room. In the house.

On the furniture.

He kept saying I was Darth and he was Obi Wan. I told him I preferred to be Princess Leia. I mean, she was all over those light sabers in this movie. Okay, she wasn't, but I don't look like Darth Vader. Do I? Okay, I don't look like Princess Leia, either, but this is fantasy play, so go with it.

He was a worthy opponent and our duel ended in a draw. We both lost body parts - you know those light sabers are sharp - but neither of us gave in.

Fortunately there was no one there to take video of this amazing battle, but I do have a couple of "after" photos. We were both winners. :o)

After the Fury

Yesterday morning, shortly after 3:00, we were hit with an extremely strong thunderstorm. Straight-line winds measured at 78 mph caused major damage to the trees in our little town. This one was directly across the street from our house. It was planted just a couple of years before we moved here, so it was about 30 years old. Lots of the trees that were lost were much older. This is the extent of damage we had in our yard, and it's an easy fix. Greg will just nail the lattice back up. The lawn furniture in the front yard was untouched.

I don't know specifically what woke us up, but we both jumped out of bed at the same moment, 3:23. We lost power about 10 minutes later, then the tornado whistle blew. Fun times.
The power was back on by the time I got home from work about 8:30 a.m., and by 9 or so the tree across the street was gone.

There are drag marks on the streets all over town where tractors and chains were used to drag huge limbs to the dump. Chain saws buzzed all day long. The clean-up will continue as more damaged trees are cut down before they fall down.

He Lights Up My Life...

Look at this porch light. Ugh, right? It's tarnished and the plastic surround behind it is cracked and chipped. The back door light looked just as bad, so last Fall we purchased two new fixtures. Greg got the light changed by the back door within a few days of our purchase, but didn't get to the front light before winter. Early in the Spring I asked him when I might look forward to having the front one done. His answer? "Before Autumn." Hmmm, can you get more noncommital? Last week he was off work and got a few projects done, including this one.

Normally I might have just posted a before and after of the lights, but one of my internet friends requested some photos of the process.

First of all, I would have removed the glass panes and the light bulb, but he got right to it, cutting through the caulk and taking out the screws. Oh, of course you should turn off the power to the light, and that he did.

He's pulled the fixture off and is removing the caps from the wiring. Untwist the wires and remove the light.

Now take off the metal bracket that holds the fixture to the electrical box.

Pull out the electrical box, then tuck the wiring back up into the wall until you're ready to connect the new light.

The new surround is much larger than the old one. Center and trace around the new one.

You don't have to worry about it being perfect, since the new one will cover the marks, but don't go crazy. :o)

Use tin-snips to trim the siding along the trace lines. This gives some room to get under the siding to remove the old surround.

The old one was stapled into the wall, so he used the tin-snips and cut through them. Then pull the surround off, being careful of the siding.

Here it is all cleaned out.

He had to trim the siding a bit more before fitting the new surround in under the siding, then it slid in and fit perfectly.

Again, be careful with the siding, but it will pull up so you can get under it.

Pull out the wire and thread through the electrical box. Here he's putting caulk around the opening before putting it back into the wall.

The light fixture we chose does not sit flush against the wall, so there is a cover that goes over the surround. You can see it has a scored template for whichever size/shape of hole you need. Greg cut out the large round one with a utility knife.

He screwed the electrical box back in.

Then he snapped the cover on and screwed the bracket on.

I held the light up while he connected the wires and tucked them into the electrical box. Then he fit the light over the bracket and screwed it on.

Ta-Da! Here's the pretty new light!

Thanks, Honey, for letting me photograph your every move on this project. And thanks for getting it done before Autumn!

Still Singing...

Here is Garett, on the highway of Life, minus the lyrics. :o)

Sing, Sing a Song

Remember a few weeks ago when Jess got out her guitar and the kids each took a turn to play?
Here's Wyatt with one of his songs:

My Helper Man

Last week on Tuesday I had Wyatt for a few hours. We ran some errands, then picked up a carpet shampoo machine and headed home. Wyatt loves to vacuum, and that was his job before we cleaned the carpets: You can seek how seriously he took his job. He was quite thorough.
While he prepared the rugs, I prepared the shampoo machine. As soon as it was ready to go, he took it from me and got to work.

The machine was pretty heavy when it was full of water, so we took turns using it. Thanks to Wyatt's help, the carpets were shampooed in about an hour and a half.

To his delight, Leslie took the machine home with them and he got to help her clean carpets at home all afternoon. The key word there is "got" - I'm sure the day will come when it's more of an imposition to help us with our chores than it is a privilege, but until that day, I'm happy to have him as my assistant!

The Pink Guitar

The kids were very excited that Jessica has moved back to our house and they are able to spend some time with her again. (We're all excited that she's moved back to our house!)
The kids come here on Tuesday mornings while Leslie works, and we try to do something new and fun each week. This particular day found Jessi at home, so she helped entertain them by bringing out her guitar. (You should have seen Grace's face when she saw the guitar was pink!) They sat in a row for a mini-concert,

then each one got to take a turn. Wyatt sang of his love for Spiderman and regaled Ironman as being "awesome"...

Gracie also sang of Ironman...

Garett sang "Life is a Highway" from Cars. He's a Lightening McQueen boy.

Shortly after their performances, Jess inadvertently hit the ceiling fan with the neck of the guitar and broke some strings. That put an end to the music making that day, but I'm sure there will be more. Remember how Tucker loves pink? He'll want his turn...