Recently in General Category

This afternoon we took the girls to the Y to swim.  Steve and Delaney were in the deep end, and she was determined to learn how to dive.  Steve gave her some demonstrations and pointers, and before we knew it she was diving like a pro!  Unbelievable.  It's amazing how well she and Ella swim, considering they have never taken a single swimming lesson.

As for me, I took lots of swimming lessons at Cross Lake while i was growing up.  The one thing I never quite learned to do (fear factor!) was to dive.  I did do it in order to pass my Junior Lifesaving class.  But I haven't made a dive since then, which is at least 45 years!  Safe to say, my diving days are done!

We are back from our trip up to Minnesota with Delaney and Ella - had a nice visit with Steve's folks, plus went on some fun outings while we were there.  The girls loved the Mall of America and the shopping time in the American Girl store.  Delaney had saved $ to buy a Bitty Baby, and Ella had $ to buy some accessories for her regular sized doll. We ate at the Bistro inside there also.  The mall is so huge that we really only spent time in one-quarter of the place.  There is a full sized amusement park there too - I took Ella on one ride.  I also drove up to Pine City to visit Glor (she owns the house I grew up in there!) but unfortunately she was in Duluth!  But the girls and I had a blast roaming around inside my old school, eating lunch curbside at the rootbeer stand, and driving around the town, lake and river areas etc.  Also took them to Como Park in Saint Paul - a nice zoo and beautiful conservatory, Japanese gardens etc. , to the Minnesota State Capitol and twice to the Minnesota History Center.  We didn't begin to run out of things to do in the cities.  And for Steve's folks, Delaney and Ella put on the "Shakespeare's Sonnets" program (the one Gloria and I did at Poetry group - including the quiz at the end, Maureen!).  Delaney read the sonnet and Ella (a fantastic reader for a 6 yr old) read the paraphrased meaning. 

We had a nice 4th of July and today Taylor, Melissa and girls are coming over for mesquite smoked turkey breast on the grill.   Missing Matthew and Davie, who were part of our Independence Day celebration for the past three years!

It has been a busy week so far ~ lots of people in and out of the house it seems.  On Monday I had birthday brunch for Gloria with the help of Barb and there were six ladies to celebrate this special occasion.  This morning my devotions group of four was here, this afternoon Delaney and Ella ate supper with us before mid-week church school and tomorrow night I am having Conversation Club (seven ladies possible). 

I love it when I can clean the house, have it looking nice and tidy and make good use of my efforts!! 

We had a grand feast yesterday - the turkey came out perfect, and along with mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, fresh green beans, cranberry salad, corn casserole (from Davie), sweet potato casserole (from Melissa and girls) it was a delicious meal.  I would have to say that the meal at thanksgiving is probably my absolute favorite of the special occasion meals throughout the year.  There is something about catching that first whiff of the turkey roasting in the oven....heavenly!!

We also miss being with the rest of our families in Minnesota, but we do have a special way of remembering family both past and present.  At our table, we use the silver cutlery that belonged to  Steve's Grandparents Hatfield, dishes from my Grandparents Cherrington, crystal goblets from Steve's folks, water glasses from my Great Aunt Olga Sunde, a serving spoon that belonged to my Great Gr & Gr Sunde,  and a compote dish of my mother's. It is a glorious way to hold hands back through the years and always a way to share thoughts of these special people as we gather for our meal.

On the news tonight there was a story done about the school Ella attends in Fishers.  She is one of the 15% schoolwide absentees down with the flu virus - likely all of the sick children have a variation of H1N1 the report stated.  She didn't feel at all well last Saturday when we picked apples at Stuckey Farm, and by that evening she had a 101 degree fever that didn't go down until today.  We knew she wasn't feeling well when she told us the smell of the candy corn in the store made her feel sick!!  That plus the fact she was hardly talking, which for Ella is quite abnormal!!  So far Delaney hasn't become sick, but Grandpa has!!  Steve started to feel a bit lousy last night, but went to work today.  Tonight he feels no better and even thinks he may stay home tomorrow - in 30 years at Lilly he could count his sick days on one hand I think!!

I am planning to stay well.

We celebrated Steve's 58th and Ella's 6th birthday with a nice Sunday brunch at our house.  We usually have scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, various fruits, and Grandma C's coffee cake, cinnamon rolls  and tea rings depending on the supply in the freezer!  Today we also served mimosas and red roosters which really hit the spot.  A good time was had by all, and Ella especially as she got to open lots of great gifts!!

This morning I finally went and had my Christmas present massage from Matthew and Davie. The woman who did it was wonderful!!  It lasted for one hour and I was nearly unconscious with relaxation if that is possible.  Wow - what a treat.  My aches and pains are definitely less noticeable and my wrists especially feel so much better.  I will definitely be thinking about doing this more often from now on!

I am not usually given to the Star Spangled Banner being "performed" at sporting events, but after watching Jennifer Hudson sing it at the Super Bowl tonight I must make an exception.  A huge exception - she can sing the pants off of any song she tries, and the emotion and patriotism in her rendition was felt by me all the way from Tampa to Indianapolis.  At the end of the song when she looked to the sky and raised her hand in emphasis, the tears just came - I couldn't help it.  And a little while ago I watched it again on Youtube, just to make sure...yes, it was brilliant.

The girls and I went to the YMCA today and swam in the nice warm pool! They love to swim as much as anything else, and since they have had their fill of snow play over the past few days, this was just the ticket.  One of the nice perks we have with Uncle Eli is free membership to several health clubs, including our nearby Y - what a great way to spend a snowy afternoon.  All the time I was in the water I was thinking about how soon I would be enjoying the real thing!!

And the weatherman says it will get even colder before the end of the week.  We don't often have below zero temperatures here, and that's just fine with me!  I was outside for awhile this morning, putting some tree branches in a garbage can - when the girls were here on Sunday they played outside and were pretending to be Laura and Carrie Ingalls, gathering wood for a fire!  So the nice pile of branches was the leftover part of their play.  I am continually amazed and pleased by their "old-fashioned" games and creativity.  While they enjoy the latest gadgets, they also spend alot of time drawing, coloring, painting, playing school, using their dollies and other playsets etc.  Ella is a beginning reader and can sound out most any word.  Delaney is reading a variety of books - I don't think there is any subject she isn't interested in.  Sweet, sweet girls.