Memorial Day Weekend

We had a really nice trip to Pennsylvania to visit Taylor

and Lauren!  We took the boys on a train ride,

the two men went golfing and the girls went wine tasting!

Lauren's parents, who live in a nearby city came over one

evening so we could go out to dinner with our big kids, which

was extremely nice and much appreciated!

And there was lots of racing for our race car loving family

with Formula 1, Indy 500, and Nascar all in one day.

The train ride was in Millertown, a beautiful little town that was

decked out in lovely banners that paid tribute to their hometown

military heroes, hanging baskets of flowers and American flags.

The best part of driving home was the sky!

We started out with fog in the mountains and then it broke

into sun, blue sky and tons of big puffy clouds. 

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a beautiful route to take and

the boys loved the tunnels cutting through the mountains. 

It made a 7 hour drive very tolerable!

The kitties held down the fort while we were gone!

I didn't have anyone check on them...we just put out

plenty of food and water.  They can come and go as they

please with their cat flap, of course.

They sure were excited to see us when we got home!

Most were out lounging on the back porch and when I stepped

out there it was hilarious to see them all come running!

They chatted, wrapped around my legs and rolled over my feet.

The Mister stepped out and said, "Oh my gosh, you really do look

like a crazy cat lady!" haha.  All 13 were here, healthy and fine.

Oh, and Sterling appeared a little later....let himself in and stayed

long enough for some food, fresh flea control and a little attention.

So, I hope you had a good weekend.

Did you do anything special?

♥  

Merry Christmas!

♥

Back Home

Me, today.  Home again and jumping back into the routine.

The Mister did a great job holding down the fort!  He even

did laundry (which is usually forbidden. ha.).  I got home

around 11:30 last night and the house was quiet and clean,

boys tucked into bed and the kitties laying around purring.

Home, sweet, home!

This morning, the boys peeked in our bedroom and when they

saw me sitting in bed drinking coffee, they were so cute!

Their eyes got big and they came over and initiated 

 giving me a kiss.  Aw.  So good for my heart!

I can ask for a kiss, but the rare times they

do it without prompting are just the best!

You know how I love clouds...had to take a few pictures 

from up in the sky!

This is my niece and her daughter who I went to visit.

Her husband is a musician and on tour in Europe and with

a second baby on the way, she needed someone there to help

out.  I was more than happy to go and we had so much fun!

We did some running around, ate out, shopped and even had

a therapeutic massage on our necks and backs, one at a time,

and we took turns holding that beautiful little one!

We stayed up late chatting....so good for both of us!

The boys' teacher sent me this photo of Spencer while I was

gone.  He was doing a craft on a field trip.  I love the light,

the softness and the look of concentration on his face!

And here is Alex today, all smiles when he came home to

find me still here! hahaha...he has serious anxiety

when I'm gone or even look like I might go somewhere,

(like fixing my hair or putting on shoes).  I guess he 

staged a hunger strike while I was gone until pizza

was served the third day and he couldn't resist. lol...

Well, I need to catch up with all of you!

Hope you had a great week.

I'll be around to say hello over the next day or two.

I have a studio full of etsy orders that I need to get

into the mail!  I've hit the ground running!

It's good to be home, but it was good to get away, too!

♥

The Weekend

1. The view while sitting on my front porch.
2. Sometimes late at night a group of cats comes in together to eat. Always makes me laugh at the sea of kitties.  Spencer came to get me when Slate wanted to share the chair.  If only Spencer would loosen up and enjoy Slate.  He SO wants to be friends!  He just loves the boys!
3. We sure had fun at the nascar race!  Our guy won again!  Such a fun day with Taylor and Lauren.
4. Tiger and Velvet.  Tiger is laid back and relaxed.  Velvet has that fight or flight look with those big eyes.  I think she was afraid I was going to try to pet her.  She needs to loosen up just like Spencer! ha.
5. Sauteing these three veggies seems to be the beginnings of many yummy meals lately!
6. A rare daytime moon!
7. Domino.
8. Mrs. House Finch, in her understated loveliness.

♥

Sweet Corn Trip

I went to my favorite sweet corn farm this morning!

The drive is pleasant and the weather was perfect!

I came home with 4 dozen ears and shucked, cooked,

cut, and put it all in freezer bags.  

Yum.

♥

Rainbow

We sure had fun at the NASCAR race yesterday!

Mainly because our guy, Jeff Gordon, won the race!

There was a threat of thunderstorms that totally 

missed us, so we had nice weather, a great time

and came home with suntans, freckles, and smiles.

We even had a huge, magnificent rainbow

take us home.

The only downer was that I charged my camera

battery the night before and forgot to put it

back in my camera before we left. 

So, I was forced to use my phone camera, which I'd

 never used before!  Not only is the quality much less, but

my finger was over the lens on most of my shots!  Geesh!

 So, you get to see the rainbow, since this shot came out best.

We had so much fun, we're doing it again in August...

travelling up to Michigan.  Can't wait!  

Did you have a nice weekend?

We're back to the polar vortex with cool temps and

a breeze today!  Feels like fall!  Lovely!

♥

Gone to the Race!

Taylor and I have been NASCAR fans ever since he was about 2 years old.

Someone gave him a model race car when his brothers were born

and we started watching the races on Sunday afternoons so he

could find that car going around the track.

Twenty one years later, we've not missed watching a race

and now that he doesn't live with me, we text each other

while we watch.  We've been to a few races, too, which is 

always fun!  Today will be extra fun because I'm going with

Lauren and Taylor.  So, there will be girl talk, too! 

That's like the cherry on top! ha.

♥

The Anxious Parts

This post is to dispel any misconception that we could throw 3 autistic

teenage boys in the jeep, drive 8 hours away and stay in a hotel

for 5 days without there being some anxious moments. :)

Yes, for the most part they were great, but there were a few times

when I thought they acted like they had been through enough.

Alex was the most anxious, and I was really surprised when he

refused to have a bowel movement the entire time we were gone.

I guess he just didn't feel comfortable away from home!

Sorry, but just keeping it real, especially for my parents-of

autistic-kids here. :)  And after we had been

traveling home on Tuesday for about 6 hours

he cried big crocodile tears for a good 30 minutes.

Poor buddy.  I think he had been stretched and pushed over his

limit far enough.  He was happy and 'relieved' when we

got home and all was well again! ha.

But for the most part, they really did very well!

And they really loved the dance floor at the wedding reception!

The music was loud, but they all wore their sound-reducing headsets

and did just fine....except for those moments I captured in the

first collage above. lol....

I loved how everyone danced with them.  So fun!

We also took them out of their comfort zone and ate at

Red Robin one evening.  That's another loud place! ha.

I peeled the corn bread off of a corn dog and Spencer

ate that with mandarin oranges off the kids menu.

Harry ate fries.  And Alex, was thrilled with an onion

ring tower and chicken fingers. I'm glad we tried it.  Sometimes it's 

just easier to do what you know they are comfortable with.

But it's also good to push them a little and try something new.

♥

Strasburg Railway Train Museum

♥

Strasburg Railway Train Ride

Very fun day Monday, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania!

Here's the highlights of our train ride!

♥