Sisters - "On The Road Again"

Well, yes we were on the road again...however not far. My sister Carol from Naugatuck, CT has had fun staying with her daughter Beth. (That includes her son-in-law, Brad and her four grandchildren...Isaac, Zachary, Austin and Mikayala.)

Whenever a family member comes to stay for awhile, they like to visit as many members of their immediate family as they can squeeze in. So Carol, Louise and I took off to Johnson Creek to visit my sister Jan from Watertwon, WI. And who doesn't have more fun than sisters at an outlet mall....the more the merrier. My sister, Jan treated us by buying us gifts at Bath and Body Works. That makes shopping even more fun. Thanks sis!

Then we headed off towards Watertown to a few garage sales...a must! Didn't find much of anything but had fun looking.

My three sisters are all good cooks and than there is ME. Jan had fixed us a taco salad and made the taco shell... see video below. She also made several apple pies from apples from her apple trees. While eating lunch at her home I just listened while the three of them talked about different foods they prepare and how they cook them." Hum, hum, " was my comment from time to time. All I know is that I enjoy what they cook. While eating a piece of her apple pie, my sister Carol said..."You should have cooked this pie longer. Some of the slices aren't done." "Well I didn't want the crust to burn." was Jan's reply. I just laughed and continue eating my pie with some vanilla ice cream.

After lunch, Carol and Jan went outside to view Jan's fruit trees and garden. Then it was time for Louise, Carol and I to head home. Jan gave us some pieces of pie to take home.

That evening Gary and I were going to the football game at Hononegah High School. We would grabe a pork chop sandwich at the game. When Gary got home, I told him about my day and also the two slices of apple pie that Jan had given us. Gary, "Apple pie. Where is it?" While eating a piece he said, "She should have cooked this a little longer. Some of the slices aren't done." HAAAAAAAA I am so glad that I AM NOT A COOK. I enjoy eating food not critiquing it.

Enjoy the video of the traveling sisters.

Bargain Time

Don't you all love this time of year...I mean those wonderful bargain racks. I know that it takes time to look...and try on various article of clothing but it can be fun and rewarding. For instance... For me it all started with a brown and white top. I beleive it was like $30.00 and I got it for only $10.00. Now all I needed was to find a nice white skirt or pants to go with it.
But it would also be nice to find a necklace to draw it all together. Soooo today I was going to see my mother. I stopped at Arby's to get her an orange swirl drink, but it was 9:50 and they don't open until 10:00. WHAT'S THAT ALL ABOUT? Anyway my favorite store Kohl's is just around the corner. (And they open at 8:00) Why not spend those 10 minutes looking. Yeah...just looking. Well you guessed it there on the bargin counter was this necklace for $7.20 (was $18.00). And since I had my new top on, it went perfect with the outfit.
Now I hadn't found any white pants YET. So I rushed by the bargain rack of clothes and low and behold there was one pair of white pants (and yes in my size). Bargain price $9.80. (Orig. cost $49.00)
Now you tell me! Did I do good or what? My total cost at Kohl's was only $15.64. Yes today is Wednesday and it's SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT DAY!!!! I got $2.55 more off of my purchase. There are some advantages to getting old. With the blouse the whole outfit is only $25.00. Not too bad.

If we could all learn to buy our summer clothes in the Fall and winter clothes in the Spring we would save a ton of money. It took time to do all of this, but it was fun doing it.

It Really Was A Surprise!

I must use that wonderful word "FINALLY". From the beginning and knowing that Ann-Marie would turn 30, I wanted to do a surprise party for her....but when my sister from France came as a surprise to all and when AM air conditioner went out and she was staying with me...the surprise got put on hold. BUT FINALLY on August 23, we had a real surprise party for her. With only two weeks to plan and with help from Tammy and Louise, we DID IT!!!! And a special thanks to Angie who promised to get her to our home that day.

Since Ann-Marie keeps losing her sunglasses, I decided to make sunglasses the theme of this birthday party. Everyone made it so much fun by going either to Dollar General to purchase a cheap pair or passing a used pair along.

Gary and I had an old computer chair we wanted to get rid of, so we told Angie who would be picking Ann-Marie up to tell her that we phoned asking if she would like this chair. Angie just told Am that she wanted to pick it up before they went out to eat. The party guess parked their cars away from our home. I was out in the front, pulling weeds while Gary was in the garage recycling something. If I get the video to work, you will see how that played out.

We had a Great Time. We had excellent lasagne from Logli, garlic bread, and a tossed salad. Later we had that delicious chocolate cake with Bavarian cream filling from Hilander...along with choice of ice cream. Everyone got a party treat bag full of wonderful chocolate candies before they left.

I had one game: HOW WELL DO YOU REALLY KNOW ANN-MARIE? I asked thirty questions about AM and you had to give the correct answers. The prize was a gift card to Olive Garden. Well I was surprise how many didn't know as much about AM as I thought they might. Candice won...but she gave her prize to Angie who was runner-up. That's a story for another time. One of the questions was: What day of the week was AM born on? Now I told them that at least on this question they had seven possible choices to choose from. What day do you think she was born on? You get the same terms....and no you do not get a gift card for Olive Garden.

After the game AM opened her gifts...always a fun time for the party girl. Gary and I decided to get her something to remember her 30th by...so we purchased a Chocolate Pearl Ring. I fell in love with it when I first saw it and hope that she will enjoy wearing it. What fun she had trying on the different sunglasses. Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and had the traditional cake and ice cream.

At the end we got a great group picture of everyone wearing sunglasses. FUN FUN FUN

ANN-MARIE THIS IS THE END OF YOUR BIRTHDAY....I HAVE TO GET A JOB NOW TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS FUN. LOVE YOU AND NEXT YEAR WILL BE VERY LOW KEY. RIGHT?

Grandson turns 11

Monday, Gary and I headed for Dixon to celebrate Andrew's 11th birthday. The drive is always a beautiful drive. Whenever we get the chance to see the grand kids, we jump at the chance. Andrew love Indiana Jones and that was the theme of his birthday cake. He couldn't wait to take a bite out of it.

While we were visiting, we finally got to met Merlin the kids cat. Merlin is very big and I was surprise that Gary took to him right away.
Every six months, Andrew's mom and dad measure the kids growth. This year Andrew measured in at 4" 11".
The above picture was taken by 6 year old Brigitte. She did a pretty good job for just being six.
Dave and Camille asked Andrew where he wanted to eat lunch and Applebee's was the place. And of course the birthday boy got free dessert. The rest of were looking forward to the cake and ice cream at his home, so we all passed on the dessert.
Our gifts to Andrew was a new diagonal strap bookbag and a intendo DS game. He was so thankful for all his gifts. Not just from us, but from his parents and other grandma and grandpa. We are thankful to have such a great grandson.

Tomorrow (Ann-Marie's birthday) Brigitte and he will start back to school. We know that he will take his new bookbag with him and think of us. We love you Andrew and Brigitte and may you enjoy this new year of school ahead of you.

Happy Birthday - Ann-Marie

On August 20th, my one and only Ann-Marie will turn 30! It truly seems like yesterday that God gave us this bundle of joy...(by the way, that is her middle name.) My daughter has always enjoyed many things in life, but going to a dinner and play is near the top of her list. And since she took off work this week, we went to a play. Fireside is one of our favorite place to see plays. So on August 14, Candice, Ann-Maire & I went to see the play: The Rock & The Rabbi.
Since Ann-Marie and I do not like to drive in heavy traffic, Candice was so gracious to do the driving to Fort Atkinson.
I wonder what's in that birthday bag?

One of the many wonderful things about the Fireside, is that you can order a birthday package. It includes a small bottle of a non-alochlic sparkling drink.
A nice birthday cake with a lit candle on top. And even though the dinner includes dessert ( a banana creme brulee...which none of us really liked) we had a piece of the cake...mmm good.
What better gift to give a reader than more books. It will keep her out of trouble for about one day. She is such a fast reader.
The meal included: Simon's Chopped Salad, Freshly baked bread from The Fireside ovens, roasted New York Strip Sirloin of Beef...with escalloped potatoes and fresh asparagus spears, and baked fresh mushroom flan!!!

And of course you can order special drinks, like this chocolate oreo cookie. Both Ann-Marie and Candice enjoyed this drink.

What a wonderful way to celebrate her 30th birthday. It was a fun day! May God bless you my one and only. Love you and have a .........

Happy Happy Birthday on Wednesday, August 20th.

P.S. My daughter also shares her birthday with my oldest sister, Linda and my youngest sister Laurie. So I also wish them both a Happy Birthday.

The Night The Lights Went Out!

On August 4th we had a family farewell party for my sister Linda from France. My sister Carol is here from CT so she was able to see Linda before she left. In the evening, Gary, Linda and I had just finished our supper when a hugh bolt of lightning hit a transformer. Yes, the lights went out in Rockton...at least on our block! I was worried about the food in the freezer more than anything else...we had just restocked it. When Ann-Marie arrived and after having her supper by candlelight we played Yahtzee by candlelight.
In the middle of the game, a loud voice came from the garage...."There's a beautiful rainbow in the sky! Get your camera and take a picture of it." yelled Gary.
Sure enough...it was so beautiful. and then Gary pointed out something else...
there was a double rainbow!! Look closely and you will see it.
So Linda's last night with us was a night to remember. The lights did come back on around 8:30 that night. The next day we got her off okay. She phoned the next day to let us know that she had arrived home safely. For Linda I know the time went by fast and it all started with an invitation to Louise's surprise birthday party. And indeed she surprised everyone there!

Uncle Billy's Pool

On August 1st, we were able to take the grandkids to swim in Uncle Billy's big pool. You would have thought that these kids were little fishes. I believe that they could have stayed all day. Caleb and Andrew would try different styles of jumping into the pool and giving the jumps different names. Billy's pool is so big. Gary kept saying, "This really is such a big pool!"
The picture below is my favorite...they look like they are ALL up to no good....but they really are good kids and did play well together.

I don't need to say much about the picture here with grandpa...these kids are the love of his life...besides me of course.

I could not believe that Gary could put Andrew on his shoulders, but he did...even did it for Caleb. Caleb jumped into the water before I could get my camera to take a shot of Gary and him. Brigitte is NOT afraid of anything. Put a life jacket on her and nothing stops her from having fun in this big pool
Jacob looks like the king and Brigitte the slave. But Jacob did pull Brigitte around and when I went to get the camera, Brigitte didn't want her picture taken. Most of the time I just have to sneak around with the camera hidden from her.
So you see, with a big family that I have come many blessings. We all say thanks to Uncle Billy, Aunt Lina, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Louise for making it a fun time with our grandkids...I know Caleb and Jacob would say the same. Thanks family! We love you.

Fun with the Grandkids!!!

Last time Gary and I had the grandkids, they worked alot more than they played. After they left for home I told Gary that next time they come, we will do just fun things with them. So when their father, Dave phoned asking if we would like the grandkids before they go back to school we were so happy to have them from July 30 - August 2.

Thanks to my big and wonderful family, WE HAD FUN EVERYDAY. On Wednesday we took them to the Discovery Center. (Forgot my camera) On Thursday we took them out to MacBerg Farm. Actually my sister Louise and her husband Bruce's farm. We did get rain in the morning but later the day was just hot and dry.

Candice and Brielle were able to come out along with Tammy and her kids. Tammy's two younger kids, Caleb & Jacob are close in age to Andrew and Brigitte's age. The kids had so much fun riding bikes, taking turns on the pony and just loved following Foxy the dog around.

As many of you know you always have fun at the MacBerg Farm. Enjoy the video below of our day at the Farm. P.S. When you see Louise, ask her what happened to that funny bike Gary tired to ride...do you think she ran over it or what?

Finally- The Auction

Thanks to my wonderful, patience (sometimes) daughter we got the slide show thru!

On Saturday, July 26th we went to the Old homestead of my cousin Joyce who passed away last year. Everything was to be auctioned off..even her home.

The time of the auction was 10:00 a.m. Most people arrive early to view all the different items for sale and decided if there might be something they would like to bid on. Before the bidding begins, you have to g0 sign-up by just showing your driver's license. They then assign you a number which allows you to be involved in the bidding.

My brother Dave and his wife Venita, along with my sister Louise and her husband Bruce, Dave and Patrick Berg, Tammy, Rick and their tribe, Gary and I all showed up early to look over the goods.

It truly was a fun day and when you look at the slide show, you will see some of the items that we were able to get. That day the house was even sold! It was so much fun, I think that perhaps I will go to more auctions. Try it! You will like it! The figurines are the items that I came away with..aren't they beautiful?

The Old Homestead

I'm Ready to Throw This Computer Out the Window

It has been a LONG Time since my computer will let me blog anything. I can't show a slide show...I can't even get thru the blog to even make a comment.

My home has been a real revolving door. Sister here from France for two month, the grandkids for four days in which one of them slept in the computer room. Then Ann'Marie's air conditioner broke down. When Linda was here, she used the computer alot to help put documents in print. Brett needed the computer to look for jobs on line. When both Linda and AM were here, poor AM had to sleep in the computer room.

I NOW KNOW WHY IT IS GREAT TO HAVE A LAP TOP (Is that one word or two?...at this point in my life I really don't care.)

My brother, Ron phoned me one night and when I told him about my present life he just said, "I know that you have inner peace." 'I WANT OUTER PEACE!!! was my wonderful soft answer.

So to somehow make this complaint short...I've been having a great time with my huge family, but you may never see any pictures from any of it. Great Auction I went to with family...grandkids at the farm...them swimming at Uncle Billy...the night the lights went out in Rockton (sounds like a country song) and the beautiful rainbow that Gary made us all aware. (And I did take photos of the rainbow..sorry you can't see it) Ann-Marie, Linda and I were in the house with lots of candles around us playing Yahatzee.

You may read this IF my computer will allow it.