The Best Of PA

Well in June we managed to: 1) see a Rapunzel play 2) go on a pontoon boat ride 3)visit a lavender farm 4) participate in a one day science camp 5) have a poetry tea party with frienda 6) have a Fathers Day meal with Lawracys 7) visit Grandma Cooper and cousins at Cabelas and Cracker Barrel 8) have pioneer planning meeting with friends and girls got to make fruit loop necklaces there. Elly and Danny joined the church choir. Elly has a beautiful voice and we are trying to share her strenghthen and share her talent.  None of that hiding it in the ground.☺

  leisure time of drawing, reading and climbing up tables to look out the window   Warning: This post is a brag session, which can be entirely annoying, but it is also a form of journaling all those warm fuzzy moments I want to remember.  And it is all true.  I can complain about the messes, whining and frustrations another day.   As you know we are BIG into reading aloud.  We read some picture books, but most of my time is spent reading them poetry and chapter books.  The girls are now 7, 4 and 1, which are perfect ages for picture books.  And they do plenty of thumbing through those on their own.  I read them many picture books, but I LOVE reading longer stories with them and for me .  I started when Elly, my oldest was 4.  At that time she did not have the attention span of lasting through a whole chapter.  Now she doesn't want me to stop, while the 4 y...

   This picture is from this past Sunday September 28th Boiling down maple sap into syrup    Well I can not believe it has been 10 months since I last posted; but life gets busy and before you know it, winter, spring and summer has gone and we are in a crisp fresh, fall.  In winter we had a baby and tapped our maple tree and made maple syrup.  In the spring, my sister and her family moved from Utah, back to Pennsylvania and is living in the same town as me (dream come true.) The summer was a the girls dance recital, trip to Lancaster and vacation to Myrtle Beach with Cooper Family (where we all got the flu, but still had a blast) and now we are entering the fall where school and activities began. I am soo happy October has arrived.  If you know me at all, then you know it is my VERY FAVORITE month!  It is so beautiful outside. Girls dance recital       ...

It is easy to be happy with the weather we are having these days. Sunny and seventies with flowers in bloom. The school season is wrapping up, though I doubt that it will ever really wrap up for us with all the summer work books I've a crewed, summer camp to plan and plenty of books to read. There is much to be thankful for. I went to the doctors yesterday, I was spotting and it still irked me that I was not feeling ill. The results were less than complimentary. There was a sack in there, bunt was empty. No yolk sack or amniotic fluid that the specialist could see. "It is not measuring up to where it should be...it is much smaller. When was your last period again??" She already knew, but was checking up in hopes it was still early. The doctors said to wait two more weeks but that it was a 50/50 chance really. Too early to tell what was to happen. But it's okay. The sun is shining, I have two gorgeous girls I am blessed to stay home with. They...

1) Think about the lyrics of popular songs and the meanings behind them. These days I've become a fan of classical music. 2) Try to Read all the Classics, that I should have read in school, but had no desire to do because I was WAY to busy socializing. 3) Really try to dress modestly. I believe I tried my Darndest to do the opposite before growing up and serving a mission. 4) Attempt to make MOST things homemade. It was all about the fancy brands before I knew how much LIFE cost. Turns out homemade is always better.

I have been eagerly researching small towns and villages whom are well known for their longevity, specifically a high percentage of centurions. It all began with some research into a little town not far from where I live, called Roseto. It is an old Italian American village steeped with old traditions, generational families, family businesses and old churches. Though I've never visited, but plan to, I am told it is like walking into a 1950's town. The amazing thing about this quaint village is that until recently it had an extremely low percentage rate for heart disease, despite all the fattening foods being cooked up. Another article I read up on was a man from Greece whom moved to the US. At 66, he developed lung cancer and was told he would have 6 months left to live. So him and his wife left the US and moved back home making funeral arrangements along the way. At first he took it easy, but eventually I'm sure with different diet, a quieter pace of life and ...

The Cooper family just had the best day!!  To save on cash and time we decided to combine the girls birthday parties this year, and to only invite family.  The first day of Fall was very fitting, considering what activities we participated in.  There was of course the usual: Eating, where we enjoyed some chilli cheese dogs, chips, fruit veggies, beer bread..okay seltzer water bread for our family, cupcakes and pumpkin dump cake.  The guys as always played ping pong and lawn darts. And the kids did this: 1) Hayride in our neighbors back yard.  Thank you Kunsmans for allowing us to use your land and wagon! 2) Pumpkin painting/decorating Elly's work of art 3) Face Painting   What a superific day and you could not beat the breezy beautiful weather!  

I used to read blogs every day. I would post as many comments as I could to be supportive and blog five times a week, as well link my post to Facebook. My it was draining, but I had a dream to eventually become a published author of something. And I did shoot for the stars....but when you give your all to one thing, another falls to the back burner. My girls, just five and almost two were the victims. I found myself spending hours on the computer editing, posting several pictures, linking up to any blog I could find. I would ignore them for soo long till their tiny whiny voices cracked through. And instead of being joyful that they yearned, no needed my time and attention I lashed out "Just a few more minutes! I'll be done soon! Go play! Out of the room! I'll be out soon!" But five minutes always inevitably turned to twenty minutes, and in the end we wound up with an unhappy Mommy and girls. Un-necessary tears. My decisions needed to be re-eva...

Tuesday: A short hike and Girls Night A short hike Katie dropped Mary and I off somewhere on Wasatch Boulevard-home of multi-millionaries.  We were about to take a short hike up the mountains.  But first we had to find the trail.  There was a steep wooden staircase we trekked up.  It led into a wealthy neighborhood.  Several styles of McMansions surronded us, brick, stone, castle, roman palace.  And we walked the whole neighborhood, searching for the hidden path to the mountains.  I suppose we were a bit distracted by the sheer size of the mountains and luxury homes.  Eventually we asked one of the residents arriving home where the path began.   "Just down the hill there, next to to the craftsmen style home."  She pointed in the direction we had recently passed.  How did we miss it?  We thanked her and headed towards that craftsman style house. With mor...