Everything is dry, dry, dry, dry

I kept hoping it would rain today...

So, yeah, catch up time again.  *grin*  So sorry to my faithful readers.  Lets see, I went to sewing club last week... and that was about it.

Saturday Bob and I borrowed some of Rustin's trimmers and worked on trimming vines.  Evil insidious things.  Ok, that's maybe a slight exaggeration...  They are very nice for privacy, but they're also really messy, spread like crazy, and were killing my lilac bushes (for that crime they paid dearly... bwahaha).  Anyway, there's a gap between the HS's fence and our back fence and there were vines growing across the gap and up into our trees.  Not cool.  Bob worked on cutting those back and I tried to rescue my lilac bush.  I was not making any headway and we decided we might need a chainsaw.  Soooo  we all went over the R and S's and helped them finish seeding their lawn and then they came over with their chainsaw.  This is the aftermath:

Poor lilac- it used to look nice and green, but with the nasty vine removed it's mostly just sticks.  We're crossing our fingers it will recover next spring.  The girls were getting hungry so they had a snack on the patio and made lots of noise banging on the table. 

 On Sunday we dropped little miss off at the farm and headed to Champaign for Sarah and Ryan's wedding. It was a lovely day.  I did not take any pictures.  I'll admit to getting a little choked up when she walked down the aisle.  *grin*  The reception was really nice and there was really good food.  We got to sit with cool people that we haven't seen in a long time, so that was fun.  And, of course, Cecily was better for my mom in church than she ever is for me... and so they wonder why I dread Sundays...  hehe. 
Grace and Eden came over Monday evening.  Tuesday Aunt Shelly came over and watched little miss while I spent an exorbitant amount of money at the eye doctor.  *gah*  And insurance won't cover near enough of it.  Oh well, it's only money, and hey, the last time I got new frames and lenses was 2005.
I'm flying!  She was having so much fun and I never quite got her whole face in the picture:

 
Wednesday we went swimming at Jessica's with Mom and Shelly and Lori & company.  Girl has no fear.  And she loves her floating bumble bee- "want bee! want bee!"

 
Sprout and Matt dropped this off on Monday.  I'm pretty excited.  This wardrobe was the first piece of furniture that Grandpa Koch bought.  I always thought it was kind of cool looking and asked him about it when I was there once to borrow a trimmer (yes, I know, we really should get our own).  The right side is for hanging clothes and the left side is drawers, except the top two are false drawers that pull down into a little writing desk with those square cubby things!  It even still has the Montgomery Ward stickers on the back. 

 It's not in super great shape and it probably doesn't have any real value other than sentimental, so my only plan is to wipe it all down good with murphy's soap and store sewing supplies in it.  Oh and tighten the legs a little so it isn't tippy.

While I was in the basement taking pictures.... here is my laundry.  I've been trying to make it more functional and pretty and less scary-basement.  So far we've added hooks to hang rags on, the light, the mirror, the sink skirt, the shelf, and the cabinet to the left of the dryer. And a random washboard from the farm that is "conveniently travel sized."  *grin*    The sink is still a little nasty- anybody know how to clean an old cement laundry sink?

 And I just finished tracing/painting the sign.  It makes me smile.  And think of my cousins.  And Wyss vacation.  And that one never ending Rook game.  I showed Shelly when she was here and she approved.  However, she thinks my couch is ugly. 

These, Shelly, are ugly couches.  I do not have an ugly couch:

(no offense to anyone who owns a couch like these... slipcovers are wonderful inventions.  *grin*)

Anyway, I've been seeing praying mantis all over the place this year.  More than I've ever seen at one time before. They're kind of cool for bugs.

 And last, but not least, this is why I have not done many tomatoes yet.  I'm waiting for them to ripen... hehe.  We may have to try fried green tomatoes some night. 



Mommy.... I pick it... matoe!


Blessings.


Summer time... and the livin' is easy...

Well, so we laid really low last week and it was lovely. 

My garden is pretty much a mess, but nobody sees it so I don't care. 

Monday evening we took Cecily to Dale and Meg's to play with the rest of the potluck kids and we ate out at La Gondola and got Dairy Queen for dessert.  It was so nice to eat in peace and quiet and only feed myself...  haha. 

Tuesday was Bob's Dad's birthday so we spent the evening there.

Cecily was eating a chocolate pudding cup and getting it all over- Bob told her she looked like she was wearing war paint, or, as she called it "war pudding."

Friday Cecily and I went up to the Washington Greenhouse and bought some plants because they are on sale now....  August is not the best time for planting things, but hey- they're cheap-ish! On the way back we stopped at Restmor to visit Beulah (our old neighbor- our future new neighbor is super cool and I'm excited!).  She wasn't in her room when we got there and we found her at the "Lighthouse Party," that we crashed.  Ah, the indignities of old age; coloring pages, trivia, and Kleenexes for prizes.  Although, I do love a good coloring page...  When the party was over we took little miss energy to the courtyard and she ran around in the landscaping while we chatted.  *sigh* 

This came in the mail the other day- the caption made me laugh a lot.  The things they can mail you these days.... hehe.

It's actually some kind of USB adaptor Bob ordered for work.  *grin*

 

I started pulling these tread thingies off the basement stairs- they are kind of gross and that metal strip on the edge doesn't stay down and puts holes in socks.

Underneath we have orange paint over green paint and lots of nastiness.  I like orange (go Illini!), but that shade is just nasty.  There are traces of it all over the basement.  Ick.  I think the plan is to paint the risers the same light grey as the walls, and paint the treads black with some no-slip additive.  We shall see how that goes, I've never painted stairs before. 

 
 We moved some furniture back into the main room downstairs...  So much more cozy than when we first saw it!  Look Matt, your John Deere is still on the chalk board!  Ooooo and check out the floral couch!  Hehe.  I just read that florals are back....  woot woot.  I actually kind of like the couch.  I wouldn't choose it for my living room, but it's not an ugly floral, and the colors are nice.  *grin*  And Cecily loves to slide while I'm doing laundry (Thanks again Streits!!).  It already looks full and there's more that will go in here... at least that's the plan.

After church on Sunday we went to Skylines to visit Grandma Koch.  Cecily was ready for a nap so she was slightly less rambunctious, which is always good.  Matt came over for the evening and brought supper.

Mom called me yesterday because there were peaches ready.  Woot woot.  So Little Miss and I went to pick them up and ended up eating lunch at the farm.  Then we came home and I did peaches all day.  *gag*  I have to can them so Bob can eat them and they're sooo good in the middle of winter, but I just don't really enjoy the process.  Too much boiling water and stickiness everywhere.  And my feet hurt.  Just two more types of produce to go....

We were on the committee for Church Potluck tonight.  I was in charge of table decorations and two pies.... soooo we got groceries this morning, baked pies this afternoon, and barely got the flowers arranged in time.  I bought some sunflowers at Kroger and then raided my garden/ landscaping for filler... including my lettuce that went to seed and is sending out delicate sprays of tiny yellow flowers....  pretty, but embarrassing when somebody asked what it was...    It was a nice evening and the food was really good, but I was glad to come home tonight and put my feet up. 

Blessings.

The Wedding

It's over!  It was a really good weekend.  I think everything went really smoothly, at least it seemed like it, and Cecily was pretty good which made it so much more fun for me! 

 

Friday evening we went to the fellowship hall in Roanoke and ate pizza and set up all the tables and the decorations.  There were lots of people there, even Ed and Peggy and Steve and Renee!  

 
Saturday morning we were up bright and early for pictures at Glen Oak Park.  We had the florist make a tiny bouquet for little miss because we knew she would want our flowees....  it was so wee and cute! 

 She loved it, though she kept shoving it in poor Bob's face.  (She does that and then says mmm... good... hehe.)  Such a patient man.

 She did fairly well for pictures.  I don't think she is smiling in any of them, she's either sucking her tongue or has her mouth full of Smarties.  hehe. 

 Ahh... got to love this picture- Elsie told us to get closer together and we were all like... we don't touch each other.... hehe. 

 Such a sweet picture of little miss with Grandpa and Grandma...  too bad she's sucking her tongue.

 Aw, look at us, all grown up.

 I love this pose, I hope Elsie got a good one.  And even though she has her own bouquet, little miss 'I love flowees' is trying to "pick"  Michelle's flowers. *sigh*

 Our lovely photographers and Dad... 

 So after we finished family pictures they wanted to start wedding party pictures.... this was supposed to be the bridesmaids and Shelly and little miss wandered right over and parked herself in front of Shelly.  So funny.  She was very upset she couldn't be in the rest of the pictures.

We were next to the lagoon when we took her pretty dress off (wanted it to stay clean for Sunday) and the first thing she said was "I swimming," no thanks to her uncles. She got to hang out with grandma and eat candy while we took wedding party pictures.   I have no pictures of the groomsmen or all of us together because I was in the pictures and so was Bob...  and my camera was in the diaper bag. 

So somehow we lucked out and had a few hours at home before the rehearsal.  Actually, it was because the Roanoke fellowship hall is 45 minutes from our house, so going over there and back before the rehearsal would not have made much sense, plus someone needed a nap.  Which she didn't take.  She fell asleep in the car on the way to Washington.  Soooo... when she woke up she got to play with Carli at the condos.  

The rehearsal was funny.  The first time we practiced walking in Michelle didn't even make it down the aisle she was laughing so hard.  And all the bridesmaids were laughing at her.  O man.  Poor Ron.  hehe. 

Then we drove all the way up to Speer for the rehearsal dinner.  We took Cecily along.  I wasn't sure if I was going to regret it, but with the logistics of getting somebody to watch her it made the most sense.   She did pretty good.  She was not happy at first since it was after 6 and she was hungry.  So we broke out the stash of snacks and then she cheered up a lot.  There was one incident during supper where she gagged on a bunch of skittles that was kind of bad.... thank goodness my favorite ER/Trauma nurse was sitting right next to us so I didn't need to freak out.    

 Shelly makes some great faces.

 After supper little miss was a little bit wound up.  So I didn't really get to listen to much of what people shared.  I read her a poem, just like old times. Random acts of poetry forever!  And then I tried to keep Cecily contained; my efforts were mostly unsuccessful.  She managed to pull the tulle and the twinkle lights off the table and ate a lot of smarties in an attempt to keep her quiet.  *sigh* 

Sunday morning we sat with Kandace and Abby and we made it almost all the way through the service!  Then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to eat lunch and change.  Somebody's not nervous....  haha. 

 aaaahhh..... her dress is so pretty. 

 We took the traditional Wyss girls in the mirror at G and G's pic...  this is the best of several tries... 

 We were not locked out at church...  so we got to hang out and practice walking in the world relief room for a while. 

 Then we tried to get Cecily out of there...  Tate and Cailer were planning on watching her in the baby room during the wedding.  They came to get her and she started sobbing.  Sooo.... Grandma tried to take her to the baby room.  Still sobbing.  So they pulled Bob from his ushering duties and he came and got her (still sobbing) and took her outside for a while and then they went to the baby room where she calmed down and played with the kids and the toys.  So Bob did get to go up front, and she had a great time with the boys. 

I was so nervous, but we all made it in and I didn't cry!!   I only got slightly choked up walking in when I looked at Jakey up there as best man, and when Shells was walking in.  So I'm going to chalk up my weepiness at Matt and Lena's wedding to a stressful weekend traveling with a nursing baby.  My hormones have calmed down immensely since then. *grin*

Then it was off to the reception!  Cake is the best part.  They also had wraps and chips and fruit and strawberry, vanilla, coffee, and green tea ice cream.  So good.

 Hehe. 

 So I think this is the happiest little miss looked all weekend....  chilling with Brent's girls.

 I brought a bunch of stuff to decorate the car with (so that they didn't resort to using things from the bathroom like soap and lotion).  The window crayons and markers were pretty awesome.  Cecily was going around putting her little scribbles on all the post it notes she could reach.

My cousins and I know how to do a car up right.  *grin* Or something.

 I did have to follow them around erasing the inappropriate things they were writing on it...  *sigh*  The best part is it's all "clean."  Nothing nasty or slimy- just post it notes, t.p., balloons, and plastic wrap.  You can thank me later for being the car decorating Nazi, Michelle. 

 And here they come.  Notice Trent's squirt gun....and Michelle's hand behind her back...

 hehehe... he did not know she had superior armaments... best moment of the day!

 So that squirt gun has been in my car since our wedding...  I'm so glad I never took it out.  *grin* 

It took them awhile to actually leave... Dad was kind enough to wash the windshield.... 

And they drove off into the sunset leaving a trail of post it notes and toilet paper all the way into Eureka.  haha. 

So then we got to clean up.  And once again, little miss was exhausted and clingy so we left before the work was completely done.  Don't worry, we did help, and there were still a bunch of people there to finish it all up. 

And then Rita and Troy brought over my new chair!  It was very exciting.  Little miss loves it. 

I think tomorrow I am going to sleep in and do nothing but the mountain of laundry.
Blessings.
 

One more day...

One more dawn... One day more!

Yes, Shelly has that song stuck in my head.  We were singing it while we packed up her stuff.

I feel like I have been hither and yon this week.  I went to the farm on Tuesday to do sweet corn.  I went back to the farm on Thursday to finish up wedding stuff and helped Shelly move some things to her apartment.  I feel like I've been shopping every day this week for random last minute things. (window markers, crepe paper, plastic wrap, you know, important car decorating things) 

Tonight we ate pizza at the fellowship hall and helped get all the tables and decorations set up.  Tomorrow is pictures and the rehearsal..... and Sunday is the wedding.

I'm tired of wedding.  Mom is tired of wedding.  Shelly is tired of wedding. Dad is wondering where all his money went... and when he is going to get regular meals again... hehe....  So, nicest thing ever- Cecily and I ended up eating supper at the farm Thursday because Bob was busy- a very thoughtful someone brought Mom a casserole.  I need to remember that.  It was very much appreciated.  

Anyway, yeah, say a prayer for them and us (and that Cecily will not be a grump).  It will be a crazy two days. 

Blessings.

All we are is dust in the wind....



One week to go until the wedding!  And we've been quite busy.  And I've been neglecting posting...  woe is me... or woe is you?  hehe.  Anyway.

 

We've been to potluck- Cecily got to go to the farm and play.  Little miss and I picked beans at Di's and Lori's.  Well, I picked, she played with the boys and Grandpa and Cliff's bike.  She about threw a fit when we made her leave the trike... 

 

Michelle and Nathan's singing shower was last Friday.  It was fun, I guess.  I spent most of it upstairs keeping a little girl from destroying Paul and Jean's house. 

 

One day Cecily refused to fall asleep until she crashed about 5pm... sitting up on the couch with her sun glasses and tutu on.  Yeah.  Strange child.  

 Carol's church shower was Tuesday.  Fred was sick so she asked me to help her open gifts.  It was kind of awkward to be opening somebody else's presents, but it was better than writing them down...  plus I love opening presents. 

So I've been waiting and waiting for carpet to go on sale at Menards and this week it hit 49 cents. Sooooo.....  I had to hurry up and get the walls painted because painting with new carpet is no fun.  And painting with a toddler is no fun.  I got the upper part done with her awake, but I waited to paint the bottom while she was sleeping.  Two nights of painting after 10pm- one night until 1am- and I finished just in time for the carpet installer on Thursday. I was a little tired and sore.

I like it.  Bob say it feels like being on an ocean liner.  I'm not sure what to think of that. The top is called Sidewalk gray, and the bottom is called Smokestack gray although it's way more blue than gray.  And the carpet is gray.  I'm a little worried it will be harder to see spiders on dark carpet... Still a few more things to finish up- hide the pipe, the ceiling, the list is never ending.

Anyway, after the carpet guy came I had to hurry up and get ready for company Thursday night.  We had Grandpa and Grandma Beutel, Grandpa and Grandma Wyss, and Pearl and Andy for supper.  I made pork loin and forgot to check it until it was dry and needed lots of BBQ sauce.  *sigh*  O well, I think they still love me.  It was a good night and little miss had a great time being the center of attention.  She even tried to leave with them...

Friday morning I picked up my bridesmaid dress and Shelly's dress and then we went to the farm to do sweet corn.  We had to try on our dresses again and Cecily wanted a pretty dress too, so Mom got some down from the attic that were hers when she was little.  She refused to take it off so she wore it home.  Silly girl. 

 We made her put her shorts on to play outside in it.  The ribbon was for "Gussy."



 

Today was the Threshing Day at Uncle Vernon's.  Bob helped direct traffic and he wanted Cecily and I to come along.  We spent most of our time petting the animals.

 She wore her John Deere shirt.

 She also climbed on lots of tractors. 

We spent a lot of time outside today even though it's almost cold!  Hopefully it's this nice next weekend! 

Blessings.

Tradition, Tradition!

... please tell me that I'm not the only one who wants to dance around like Tevya when I hear that song, or even just that word repeated....   or am I just weird?

I finished up the week with two showers and testimonies.  Yeah.  Fun times.

Thursday night was the Wyss family shower at Jean's.  Little miss got to come with me and she was pretty good.  The most amusing part of the evening was when I was telling Nathan and Shelly about how when Bob brings change home he gives Cecily a "cut" to put in her piggy bank.  And now sometimes she demands her cut when he walks in the door.  "Want cut?"  So Shelly got out her change and Little miss dove right in for her cut.  *sigh*

On Friday Bob was home sick and I had Sarah's shower in Champaign to go to so Cecily got dropped off at Rustin and Sharon's.  They took her out to Bob's parent's for the evening and she had lots of fun without us.  I had fun too.  We were all supposed to dress up... I was very unoriginal and went for the lab coat and goggles.  Amber had lots of good food and fun games and it was really good to see those girls again.  I got home kind of late, of course. 

So when I was growing up we'd sometimes go to Glen Oak Park on Sunday evenings and listen to the free band concerts at the amphitheater.  I think G and G used to take their kids too, so taking Cecily makes it a four generation tradition.  Bob was still sick (he's finally on an antibiotic- thanks Uncle Randy!) so I  got my parents to come with me.  We had a picnic and then we let little miss play.  She was not in a super great mood.  Warm Sunday evenings are just not her thing, apparently, probably because they come after long days in church.  I think she spent more time whining about and trying to get other people's shoes than playing. 

 
I remember this playground as being the coolest thing ever.  I think she liked it, even though she couldn't wear the silver sandals...

Then we headed down to listen to the band.  She did pretty good overall.  Minus trying to steal toys from the baby in front of us.  And putting the bug spray in her mouth.  And tripping in the grass. And trying to go dance with the Civil War dance society.  And drinking so much water to get the bug spray out of her mouth that her diaper leaked.  *sigh*  It's a good thing it's a very informal event.    

Grandpa even bought her ice cream.   I did end up taking her home  half an hour before the concert was over because I wasn't sure how much longer she would last without a complete meltdown.  She fell asleep in the car... poor hot, tired, girly.

In spite of all that, I really, really enjoyed myself.  They played some fun music (that I recognized!), the period style dancing was cool, and it was just a lovely night to be at the park. 

Oh, and randomly, I have decided that I like the red cellar doors.  Anybody who can guess what the name of the color is gets... I dunno... 5 points?  They're so pretty and shiny though that it's making it obvious that our other doors need a fresh coat of paint.  *sigh*  I'm not fond of painting outside- everything ends up with bugs in the paint and other things stuck in it.

Blessings.