Fun in the Sun

It is hot!! But I'm not complaining!  I promised that in the midst of ice and snow and below freezing temperatures last winter, I would not complain when the heat came in the summer. Here we are and I am true to my word.
Little Miss Leanna is visiting for a few days while her Mommy is a week in Pittsburgh for her annual Air Force Reserve training.

She has a good time with Grampy Bobby doing things she wouldn't be allowed to do at home or with Mommy around!

She hates when Grammy Nina puts those darn cute clips in her unruly hair!

Ready to walk any day!

 She's finally taking a nap, so I'm going to try to catch up a little.  I know my blogging has really gotten behind this summer.  This summer seems especially full for us.  I barely have time to write anything and my enjoyable blog reading has really suffered.  A person can only do so much!

Last Saturday, July 2nd, we had our annual 4th of July party.  It was a beautiful day, as most of our summer has been, we had a great attendance of friends and family and plenty of good food.  

My brother in law, John, on the left, was designated grill cook.  He did a great job!  John and his wife, my sister in law Debbie, came from Cincinnati, as did my brother, Chuck, and his wife, Jill.  This is my cousin Fred on the right.  Two days after our party, Fred and my cousin Susie, his wife, became first time grandparents of twin boys!

cousins Frank and Betty

l-r: son Austin, cousin Fred, cousin Steve, DIL Melissa, cousin Betty

Cousin Mark with my brother's dog, Frankie

Look behind Mark in the above picture to the bank on the other side of the lake.  That is where the fireworks were set off that evening.  We have a beautiful front row seat to the fireworks show right in front of us!  

My good friend, Paula, along with her daughter, Marielle, and Marielle's newly adopted twin daughters from Africa.

It was also Leanna's first birthday on June 28, so we celebrated while we had the gathering of friends and family.  I got her a Tinkerbell cake because she sort of got nicknamed "tinks" when she was a very young baby due to the odor that such a cute little thing could put out!

She thoroughly enjoyed her first birthday cake!

And was very happy to share with Big GG (Great Grandpa, my dad)

This post for today is done and she's still sleeping!  It felt good to sit for a while and write in quiet!  Maybe I can even get another load of clothes folded if I hurry up!

Caylee's Law

I have 4th of July pictures and lots to tell you about my fun and happy long holiday weekend.  The weekend was filled with loving family and friends and much laughing.  More on this later.

But today I have to comment on the sad sad life that the Anthony family is living right now.
Being the grandmother of a 1 year old granddaughter and a 2 year old granddaughter, I just can't even imagine what Cindy Anthony may be going through!  Then to also be the mother of the person that is probably responsible for the death of this precious little girl!?  How do you deal with that?
I'm not happy about the jury's decision on this.  I feel there was sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to find her guilty of at least manslaughter.  I also feel sure that Casey will still live a life of hell, whether it be behind bars or not and her judgment day will come in another form.
Something good must come of this and I feel that passing Caylee's Law would be one good thing.  This would make it a crime for a parent or guardian not notifying law enforcement of a missing child in a timely manner:

Caylee's Law, contact your Senator and Representative: there should be a new federal law created called Caylee's Law that will make it a federal offense for a parent or guardian to not notify law enforcement of a child going missing in a timely manner.
Let's keep another case like Caylee Anthony out of the courts.

If you agree, please sign the petition I have posted at the top of my sidebar.  Keep Caylee's voice alive!

Reunion Over

I'm back.  You wouldn't think a little six hour one way trip to Cincinnati and two nights of parties would wear a person out, but  it did.  I guess when it's your 35th class reunion, age makes a little difference to old party animals!  All went very well, though, and it was a lot of fun.  I just don't know how much fun I can take!  I really enjoyed seeing my best friend, Melinda, whom I haven't seen for over five years.  Melinda, her sweet and beautiful 18 year old daughter, Michelle, and I stayed together at a Marriott Towne Place Suites.

  It was very nice.  It was more like a condo than a hotel.  We had such a good visit and talks.  It's just like we saw each other a month ago.  The sign of a true friendship!  We spent time at the mall, going out to eat with our mothers and Michelle, drinking wine and just talking.
Friday night was a get together with our class at a local tavern.

Me on left, Melinda on right

Saturday  Melinda wanted to get her hair done, so we decided to also get our make-up done together.  It was a fun girlfriend time together!  

 Saturday evening was a little more dressy affair.  

Blurry again.  I need a new camera!  What a shame because our make-up looked really good!

We had a good time and it was so much fun to see old friends.  I think because of facebook, I felt like I knew 

some people better now than I did 35 years ago.

We were back "home" by midnight, but I guess we just couldn't get relaxed enough to fall asleep right away.  The next morning I woke up with a start at 11:00!  I couldn't believe it!  I had to also wake up Melinda and Michelle.  We were supposed to meet our mothers again for brunch at 11!  Wow!  I haven't slept that late for years.  We changed brunch time to noon!

Mom and I headed back to my brother's house after lunch, where we had a nice rest, a great dinner with family (my sister in law is a great cook), watched movies and had a good sleep.  Then we got on the road Monday morning back to the woods of Pennsylvania.  When I first got married and moved to Pennsylvania I loved going back to Cincinnati and almost dreaded coming back home to my small little back woods town.  Now it's flipped.  I love coming back to my slower (well, debatable), definitely quieter, calmer little life!  

I entered the gate to my community and drove up the long road toward my house.

It was fun to go back to high school memories, but there's no place like home!

Party and Be Happy!

Just a quick update.  I know I've been MIA lately.  This will have to be a quick short one, though.  I'm getting ready and packing to leave in the morning for Cincinnati for my 35th class reunion.  I'm most excited to meet up with my best friend that now lives in California.  She's flying in to Cincinnati tomorrow and we'll be staying 3 nights in a hotel suite and I can't wait to see her and catch up.
My mother is going with me so that I'm not driving the 6 hour drive alone.  She'll stay with my brother for a night and then with an old friend for two nights.  This should be a fun getaway.  It's just so much work to make the preparations to get going.  Thanks to a very good friend of mine, I have jewelry and shoes all ready to go with the new dress I bought.  I got my hair trimmed and color touched up today.  Got eyebrows and lip waxed.  Got some new make-up and a pedicure.  Pictures will come later, I promise.  I'm thinking right about now that this might be the last reunion I go to.  It's a lot of work to get fixed up!  It does make you feel pretty good, though.
Last Saturday we attended a beautiful wedding out in the woods of Pennsylvania at an Art School/Gallery.  Sounds a little strange, I know.  We thought so at first, too.  But it was an outside wedding in these beautiful gardens and a gazebo and the weather was absolutely perfect!  Here are some pictures

The groom is a very good friend of Austin, my oldest son.  His mother is the same very good friend of mine that helped me with shoes and jewelry.

Here's Hubby and I during the outdoor reception.  We were all dressed up and lookin' good and the setting was beautiful and I'm so sorry the picture came out blurry!

I'll be back home on Monday evening from my girl's getaway/reunion and then on Thursday I have family starting to arrive to my house for a big 4th of July party that we're having here on next Saturday.
I was starting to get a little overwhelmed and nervous the other day trying to get ready for all of this, and then I talked to myself and reminded me that this was all good stuff.  Just breath, relax, and enjoy the good life.  My self lecture worked and I woke up yesterday morning feeling renewed and energetic and sat with my early morning coffee and watched my birds.

I'll be in touch next week, with pictures and a reunion report, as soon as I get a chance!

No Lazy Days of Summer Here

Not enough hours in the day!  I still have so much outside work to do.  I'm still trimming and cleaning out my cotoneaster bushes and it's taking up way too much time.  

Last week Mom and I found our way to this Amish greenhouse that we had heard about and they had the biggest baskets of flowers I have ever seen for $15.00 each.  I asked the cute little Amish girl how they get them so big and she told me in her sweet little Amish accent voice, "They just grow".

This pot of these little yellow flowers was about $1.50!

I hung this huge basket next to my blue and pink seating area.  See my previous post.

Over the weekend, Mom and I took a little road trip to Pittsburgh to help Spring clean my girlfriend's mother's house.  Her mother and my mother were very good friends years ago, and the four of us have reunited recently.  See post about this here.  My friend's mother had a stroke a couple of years ago and just isn't able to keep up with her house by herself.  So my girlfriend arranged for a Spring Cleaning Party with family and friends jumping in with scrub buckets and food.  Mom and I drove the 4 hours to get there Saturday morning and spent the night in a very nice room at a Country Inns and Suites.  We cleaned again on Sunday and got back on the road for the trip home by 3:00.  It was fun!  Really!

I'm cleaning the light fixture in the master bath.  With a smile!

Hubby couldn't quite understand why we would be willing to do this when I keep saying how much work I have to do around here.  We did it because they asked!

We also stopped at an outlet mall before coming home.  I've been looking for a dress for my upcoming 35th year class reunion coming up next weekend in Cincinnati.  I wanted something classy, but sexy, but not too revealing, that fit well but not too tight, oh my!  And I think I found it!  We went into Dress Barn and I wasn't hopeful because I had been to a Dress Barn years and years ago and was not impressed.  Well, this one was a nice store with very nice clothes. 

Here it is.  I'll be sure to get a picture the night of the reunion.

I also found this cute little pink top and had to get it, too.

This weekend we have a wedding to go to on Saturday.  Sunday we'll have the 3 grandkids here and are going to brunch for Father's Day.  On Thursday I leave for Cincinnati to meet up with my best friend that now lives in California and we'll be going to our class reunion get togethers on Friday and Saturday nights.  I'll come home on Monday and then on Saturday the 2nd, we're having a 4th of July party here.  

For someone (me) that likes to just stay home and putz around the house, I don't know why I let myself get so    busy!