A Trip to the Domes

We are having a fun filled weekend with Tizita. She arrived on Friday afternoon and is spending the weekend with us while her mama and papa are in Iowa at a wedding. Friday was a sunny, warm day so after school Tiz rode her bike down to the volleyball park. We had fun playing together at the park. When Grandpa got home, he and Tiz played outside and enjoyed some more of the nice weather. We ended the day with the three of us snuggled together in our bed watching some videos.
On Saturday, we headed off to the Domes. On the way we made a quick stop at Claire's because when Tiz woke up she asked us, "Grandma, can you and grandpa buy me some glasses?" Well, who can say "No" to that, so here she is with her new cheetah glasses. Tizita took many pictures at the domes. I think she has a real eye for photography and perhaps she will be a photographer one day. Just look at the nice shot she took of John and I. She also took about fifty of different plants, but I cannot post all of those!

She enjoyed the tropical dome the best and was surprised to discover the waterfall.

Grandpa spent time explaining the different plants to Tiz and she was a good student.

She said she liked to touch the different plants and always did so with a gentle touch.

Tiz was surprised to see how big these leaves were.

The show dome was filled with Easter lillies and other pretty spring flowers.

Tiz found a stage and performed a song and dance for us.

After the domes, we headed over to visit Alissa. Tiz and Alissa shared computer time, had dress up time, and we all played some wii before going to Balistreri's for pizza.

We still have Tiz for most of Sunday and we have a few ideas up our sleeves depending on the weather. Check back for details.

Easter 2011-quite possibly the best ever!

We just celebrated what I think was the best Easter yet. We were lucky to have Tizita spend the Thursday and Friday before Easter with us before the rest of the family joined us for the remainder of the weekend. On Thursday Tiz came to preschool and since I only had a half day, we spent the afternoon together at the park. We fed the ducks. Notice that Tiz is wearing her long blonde wig in this picture. We played at the park.

We enjoyed some time in the backyard.

After our adventures at the park, Tiz wanted to cook. This is her favorite thing to do at my house, so we cooked. She never follows a recipe, just throws things together, all edible, but not always the best of combinations. We usually bake it and then her papa graciously eats it. No one else is brave enough to give it a try, but today her concoction seemed a bit like a pancake so we made just that, some pancakes.

We beat our ingredients,

We fried out pancakes,

And then we all enjoyed them with our dinner. We ended our evening with some playtime with grandpa which included an Easter egg hunt organized and run by Tizita.

Friday brought our annual egg dyeing. This year all our colors turned brown since Tiz enjoyed putting the eggs in all the colors. We always like to make a brown egg in honor of my dad, so he would have been happy with all the brown!

On Friday night Mal, her friend Kelly. Alissa, Courtney, Paul, John, Gigi (my mom) and I enjoyed a fire and some beers (not Kelly and Mal) and great laughs in the basement. Nathan was not with us this Easter due to his school schedule and we missed him.

Saturday brought the annual egg hunt. Everyone had fun looking for the plastic eggs outside and then opening them and checking out what goodies were in each one.

This year I just did the clue hunt for Tizita since everyone else complained about my hunts. The clues were all over including up in Tizita's cooking supply cupboard.

The baskets were all found in Gigi's closet and I think everyone was happy with their contents.

Saturday ended with brats on the grill and the girls and Paul going out. Tiz and I watched Aladdin and then we had a good night's sleep.

Sunday we went to church and enjoyed Gigi's scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner.

Tiz with Gigi and Gigi's Easter lily.

And finally, Tiz modeling the beautiful dress that I bought her for Easter!

As I said, I think it was the best Easter ever. The only thing that could have made it better was if Nathan could have been here with us.

Happy Easter!

Due to computer problems this will be short and sweet: HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
JESUS IS RISEN, HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Singing on Palm Sunday

After two weeks of practicing we were finally able to march down the aisle waving our palm branches and then go up on the altar and sing, "Clap your Hands." It was another great performance and I am one proud teacher. Clap your hands, all your people, shout unto God with a voice of triumph,

Clap your hands, all your people, shout unto God with a voice of Praise,

Hosanna, Hosanna shout unto God with a voice of triumph,

Praise Him, praise Him shout unto God with a voice of praise,

It was indeed a special Palm Sunday for all of us!

Tilapia

I just wanted to document my dinner from last night. I made tilapia with an Italian dressing marinade and it was so yummy. I don't usually stray from my comfort zone in life and that is also true in my cooking. I make the same old meals over and over again, but I stepped out of that box last night and prepared something new and different. I found the recipe online, it was easy and good for us. About six years ago to the best of our recollection, John and I stopped eating sweets and started exercising everyday, no excuses. Both of us lost about 15-20 lbs and felt marvelous about our accomplishments. Well, slowly those pounds have crept back on as we began eating sweets again. On Friday we both decided to get back to that lifestyle and weight of six years ago. One of my main reasons is because my clothes is getting a bit snug and I can't go out and buy bigger stuff. Capri and short season is just around the corner and I want to be able to those things in comfort. So, wish us luck on our endeavor. I will keep you updated as we move along.

Enjoying the spring weather

Courtney and Tizita came for a pleasant mid week visit today. They are staying overnight and will head back tomorrow. (Wed. to Thurs.) The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. We headed to the park to spend some time playing with Meghan, Calvin, and Jacob. The kids had a great time running around and the grown ups had time to sit and chit chat. It was a great day. I look forward to many get togethers with Lynne and company this summer.

After the park we came home to the Escalade.

Grandpa took Tizita to the pool parking lot to drive the Escalade. They shared some special grandpa/Tiz time together.

I joined them and the two of us took a spin in the car.

What a fun day!

Of cemeteries, garages, and attics

It started out as a cloudy, cool Saturday but that did not stop us from cemetery duty. It was time to remove the Christmas decor and bring on the spring flowers. We started with my grandma and grandpa's grave. Granny gets purple flowers since purple was one of her favorite colors, the other favorite being brown. Lots of good memories come flooding back as we visit the gravesites. Next stop was my other grandparents, Ohma and Ohpa. Ohpa died when my mom was just nine years old so I never knew him. He was a Lutheran school teacher in Clyman, WI. He taught in a one room school house and my mom and my uncle were his students. When he died, his wife, Ohma took over teaching until they could get another teacher and she had had no formal training. Different times back then for sure.

Then it was on to my dad's grave. I found these bright and cheery flowers at the Dollar Tree, so for just $6.00 I was able to do the entire heart. I know my dad would have loved the bright colors. One year he bought a whole bunch of artificial flowers to put around our birdbath instead of planting real. They were all bright, assorted and colorful. We laughed about it because it looked like a graveyard. Funny man, funny memories. I miss him.

Here is the flag that John and I bought at Stein's a few weeks ago. So far there is only one other flag on the cemetery. I expect to see many more in the near future since we are trendsetters on the cemetery. We were the first with a heart shaped stand, now there are many. We were the first to wind the flowers around the stand and now many people do that, too. So I am expecting many flags. We don't mind that people copy our ideas though, it makes for a very pretty cemetery.

This is the little plaque that sits by his grave. It was attached to a wooden cross when we first bought it, but it fell off of that so now it just sits there. I like what it says.

One casualty was a cut to John's finger from the wire. Oh well, he is tough and it did not slow us down in the least.

After the cemetery duties, we tackled the garage. It had been full of junk that accumulated over the winter. With our new big recycling and garbage cans we had lots of space to throw the stuff we got rid of. Kind of funny that we have more toys and riding things than we did when our girls were growing up.

Our yard is coming alive with new spring flowers.

Finally, I ventured up into the attic to check out what we have up there. I have always loved exploring the attic. It is filled with so many treasures and happy memories. That is my Patty Play Pal doll which neither of my girls wanted anything to do with. I loved that doll but since she lost her hand, no one cared for her. I think I will introduce her to Tizita and see what she thinks.

Another veiw of the attic.

I did bring Courtney's Barbie pool down so I could clean it up and show it to Tizita. I know she will enjoy filling it with water and letting the Barbies go swimming.

The perfect end to our day, our first grilled brats of the season. Yummy!

What a productive, fun Saturday!

Signs

I have always been a big believer in signs. I look for signs whenever I am praying about a big decision or dilemna. Sometimes they are easy to see and sometimes I cannot find them no matter how hard I look. I am not sure if signs are something that the WELS Lutherans would teach and believe or not, but it is one thing that I believe in no matter what the official WELS thoughts are on them. It seems that the harder I look for a sign, the harder it is to see. I think the best way to hear God speak to me, be it through signs or an answer to a prayer is to sit back quietly and just let it happen. A few posts ago, I was complaining about our federal taxes because we owed more than I thought we should have to pay. I always have to get all worked about things first and then I calm down and look for the best way to handle the situation. I knew I didn't want to take the money out of our savings and we didn't have enough in our checking account at the time to cover the large amount, so I dipped into my Dave Ramsey envelope, the one where I have been paying myself $10.00 a day for about two years. It was hard to take money out of there to give to the feds, but it had to be done. After all that is what an emergency fund it for, right? My plan was to take out the amount we needed and then repay it with our state return when we received that one. But then, I saw a sign of how God had taken care of us without needing to dip into my stash. John brought home his check for the last part of March and it was big because March fell in such a way that it had more work days in it, I guess. Anyway God provided the exact amount of extra money we needed to pay the federal taxes. Coincidence, I don't think so. Sign that God has a plan and it is a perfect one for us, I think so! So, I am going to pray and then just sit back and wait for the signs to show up. They will not always be the signs we may want or understand, but we can be sure they are the best for us. This belief will make waiting for our next grandchild a little easier because God is in charge of it all and He has the perfect plan for our family. I am watching for signs!

If only Ken had been cremated

One of my favorite memories of my dad is how he used to use our basement fireplace to burn all our paper on Saturday mornings. I loved sitting down there with him and poking around at the fire. I still enjoy burning up our paper while poking around in the fire. Apparently that love has rubbed off on Tizita. We didn't let her poke around in the fire, but she sure did enjoy getting up close and personal with it. Here is my brother who actually looks very much like my dad sharing his fire skills with his girlfriend's son, Nick.

As we were enjoying the fire on this winter night, I couldn't help by think about my dad. I figured if we had him cremated, we would probably sprinkle a few of his ashes on the fire each time we poked around in one. I like to think he would have liked that!

But, he was not cremated, so this idea will not work, maybe I need to be cremated and kept on top of this fireplace so my family can put a few of my ashes in there during each fire.

Huh...