Weekend in Iowa

Quinn and I went to Iowa on Thursday night after work. One of the reasons was to pick up Madison. She had a great time with her Iowa family. We were sure glad to see her. Tony had to stay and work. He also coached Quinn's first CYS soccer game on Saturday morning (obviously Quinn wasn't even there!). Here are some quick photos for you.


Supper at the Amana's on Saturday night.


Madison made a stepping stone that evening. All of the kids are planning on making one. We only have 1 mold though and it has to "cure" for 2 days before you can remove it!



A trip to the mall and the carousel, Mikayla and Haley with a frog captured at Grandma & Grandpa's house, Jeff getting in trouble by Madison and Jenna for some smart comment... Grandma making Paula Deen's DELICIOUS peanut butter and banana grilled sandwiches for breakfast, Grandpa and Jenna working on Sudoku... and all of the kids chanting "Let us eat in the living room!" ...since all kids are banned from this in the new house. : )

God's Kitchen Momento

When we helped serve at God's Kitchen last week there was a mentally ill and disabled gentleman there who was a fantastic artist. He quickly sketched this picture of Jesus with just a pencil while waiting for supper to be served. Quinn got to keep it. Beppe framed it for him. Isn't it beautiful? We all have gifts, passions and a purpose in life. Sometimes it's figuring out how to use them all together that is hard. Quinn certainly was blessed to have this as a gift at the end of his evening.

My Staycation

I have LOVED my staycation this week! Yesterday I was thinking about the fact that I have never stayed home on a vacation before... unless you count my maternity leave with Quinn as the last time....9 years ago. It's been over 9 years since I've had 5 consecutive days off of work and didn't leave town. I have absolutely loved my week! I've tried to imagine what it would feel like if I stayed home all the time... surely the newness would wear off right? Is it possible to be bored at home at this stage with my kids so busy? I really doubt it. The low stress of not balancing work with life was an absolute incredible and freeing feeling though! Now the week wasn't just all butterflies and rainbows... keep reading to the end. : )

Top 5 great things from my staycation:

1. Spending more time with Madison and Quinn. Especially Quinn since Madison left for Iowa on Wednesday. He loved the "Mom and Son time" as he called it, working on this crazy airplane model that is probably more challenging to me, than to him!
(Sorry I have very few pictures with me in it!)

2. Driving Quinn and Nate to football every single day of camp... instead of having to arrange for a car pool ride! Yippee! (It's the little things). ...And getting to watch his scrimmage on Wed & Thurs too.
3. Hosting Amy, Jeff, Jenna, Mikayla, Haley as well as Scooby and Daisy (their 2 dogs) for 4 days. We always have a great time!
4. Going to the fair as much as we wanted. Six out of nine days is a record for sure!
5. Staying up late and sleeping in a few days too.

Bottom 5...
1. Tony had to work all week and really didn't get to spend much time with us at all on our staycation. He is a hard working guy and I prayed for him a lot this week, relief just has to come soon don't you think?
2. At first Cocoa loved Scooby and Daisy but by the end of their stay, she had become rather homicidal and even had a few attempted murder attempts on those poor little dog's lives! I think she saw them as rabbits or squirrels and that meant chasing and shaking. Yikes! We had to coordinate their "free time" so they could avoid each other.
3. I had some trouble with my back and leg! Occasionally I get the low back pain and leg pain and it's been acting up the last few weeks. I REFUSE to become one of my own patients (since this is the number 1 diagnosis I treat) but it was pretty miserable for a few days. Walking Cocoa (and walking at the fair) brings on numbness and burning in my legs and toes!
4. I've really missed Madison these past 4 days. I know she is having a wonderful time in Iowa but never the less, this made my bottom 5 list.
5. OK, I could only think of 4... and I'm not going to try and stretch to find something else wrong because the good by far outweighs the bad!

Now, I'm going to have to take a dose of my own medicine tomorrow morning when the alarm clock goes off... and "Be happy that I had a vacation, not feel sad that its over!" That was one of the many wise things I've learned from my mom. (Sometimes I do have to repeat that to myself over and over until I finally FEEL what I'm saying though! Ha!) Back to the real world tomorrow.

Thanks for reading. Love to all! Leah

4H Fair ~ Day 6

Are you tired of hearing about the fair? Today was the last day of the 9 day event! Berry Plastics had their summer corporate picnic at the fair. They also provided wrist bands for unlimited rides from 12-6pm. Tony and I aren't much for rides any more. We can do rollercoasters but not the spinning kinds found at fairs! We managed to ride the ferris wheel and the Crazy Mouse which is like a mini-rollercoaster but the cars end up spinning too. I heard myself scream a few times... I think more because of thinking this can not possibly safe if this is a portable ride and not permamently secured to the ground!!! Tony ran through some fun house but I was "rejected" because I had on flip-flops and I wasn't about to take off my shoes and run through where 100,000 other sweaty kids have been. My Microbiology class in college ruined me forever! Ha! Good-bye 4H Fair. See you next year!

4H Fair ~ Day 5

Today Quinn and I worked on his airplane model for several more hours...

and then we went to the fair for the 5pm Horse Pull. He had never seen this event before. We met Tony and B&P at 6pm. At that time the horse teams were pulling 10,000 pounds and 1 team had dropped out, leaving 9 left. I wonder how it turned out?

We ate supper and Quinn climbed on the tractors and showed Tony the projects that Madison and he had entered.

We went to the rodeo at 8pm. In the previous years we went to the 2pm rodeo. It was MUCH more crowded for the evening show. I think we'll stick to the 2pm show from now on. The rodeo was neat though. They always save the bull-riding for last. We didn't leave until 10:30.

Look at this poor cowboy who obviously lost the battle with a bucking broncho or bull! I made

Quinn promise me not to grow up to be a bull rider!

It was another fun evening at the fair. We miss Madison like crazy! You can get a glimpse of what she has been doing if you click HERE.

Airplane Model

As you know Quinn is infatuated with airplanes and he has always enjoyed models. He has only had the snap-together kind. Today we decided to get a step #2 model which is supposed to have a little bit of gluing and painting involved. Well, let me just say that he is "all over this model" and that's how we spent basically our entire afternoon today. He didn't want to quit. I told him I needed a break and had to make supper. He put 1 hour on the microwave timer and said that our break would be over at that time! Man... is he a slave driver or what?! However, there are over 200 pieces and it is all gluing! We are picking and chosing which things to paint. I've never put together a model, nor have I ever desired to put together a model, but we are using some team work to get this done. Tony enjoyed models when he was a kid. I know he would enjoy helping him but the poor guy just works too much right now. I'm learning too. Tony asked me tonight why we got such a big plane (the wing span is about 16 inches). I told him I thought if we got a bigger plane, that the pieces would be bigger and easier to handle than a little model with itty-bitty pieces. He had to smile and said that the bigger models just have MORE pieces, not less!! I guess that proves my lack of model building. Live and learn! We will get this done though and will show you the end result... it may be awhile though!

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The bottom picture is him showing what we accomplished after about 3 hours of work!

Concord Football Camp

Today was the last day of football camp. It was only 4 days long. The weather cooperated beautifully though and was so nice and pleasant the last 2 days. They had a little scrimmage tournament today and Quinn's team won the super bowl. Ha! After their skills testing earlier this week, he got second place in Punting (out of the 4th graders). This camp was for 4th, 5th and 6th grades. He definitely was one of the smaller kids out there and didn't get to be as active during their plays as he wanted to be (he never touched the ball during real play) and thought it got a little boring because of that but I think overall he enjoyed it. He isn't playing in the CFL league this year... we'll wait until he is older and bigger for that, much to Quinn's earlier dismay. This week confirmed that we made the right decision about that.

Applesauce

The Iowans left this morning at about 10:30 and took Madison with them. The one thing she wanted to do the very most this summer was go to Iowa so we made sure it happened. She'll be gone for 10 days. I can hardly stand it. She gave me a nice warm hug and even had a few tears. I thought that was sweet...until the truth came out... "I'm going to miss Cokey so much! Take good care of her!" Yah. The dog has moved in front of Mom (sniff-sniff).

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Quinn and I spent the afternoon at B&P's putting away 2 bushels of apples. We got 113 pints. I was down to the final 4 pints in my freezer so the timing was perfect. This applesauce recipe is simply the BEST applesauce ever. Quinn enjoyed grinding the cooked apples and even tried cutting apples this year. He made me so nervous and I think he grew tired of my eagle eyes on him. I guess I do want him to be cutting his own foods with a sharp knife by the time he leaves home. I suppose he has to start practicing now.

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B&P go to God's Kitchen in Elkhart twice a month to serve a meal to the indigent people that live in that area. They've invited our kids to come with them several times but it has never worked out. Quinn and I both went tonight, leaving about 15 minutes after putting the last pint of applesauce away. I served up generous portions of apple pie to help fill the plates and Quinn was one that served full plates of food to about 90 people by carrying them out to the eating area and serving them. He enjoyed it. It certainly is a different perspective for him and he handled himself well. We talked later about how "helpless" and "hopeless" some of the people seemed. We decided that God could be their reason for hope in their lives, and the hope we have in Jesus. We hope that the free meal provided them a little hope in their lives for this moment any way. We went out for supper with B&P and some of their church small group friends afterwards. It was a nice evening and good ending for a full day.

4H Fair ~ Day 4

We met Amy & Jeff at the fair around 4pm. We walked around, went to the Dog Club show for awhile and picked up some more FREE "samples" of 17 pound bags of Science Diet dog food. This dog food brought much conversations between Jeff and I. Amy just rolled her eyes. Sure hope our dogs like this. I think I ended up with 6 bags over our 4 trips to the fair. Poor Haley fell asleep during the quiet dog show. She was NOT happy to wake up. She was sleeping so hard that she was drooling. We went out for pizza on our way home from the fair.

A swimming break!

This has been a fun start to the week. Our mornings are pretty busy. Madison has to be at teh CJHS for band at 8am and we pick Alexa up by 7:45. She gets home around 9am. Quinn has Concord Football League (CFL) Camp from 10-12 at CHS. The mornings this week involve some running around. Amy & Jeff went to Shipshewana to the Flea Market this afternoon and I took the kids swimming at the neighbors for a few hours. It was a beautiful day... not too hot, just right, in the 80's. They managed a squirt gun battle, cookies and popsicles during that time.

4H Fair ~ Monday, Day 3

Today was wristband day at the Fair...the kids rode for hours and hours. Quinn ran around with Tyler from about 2pm and he didn't get home until mid-night! They stayed until the rides closed at 11pm. He thinks he rode 50 rides today. We had a great time walking around, looking at the 5000 non-animal exhibits, eating and laughing. This picture of Jeff was taken after he got off of the "Ring of Fire" ride. He had had "one too many" (rides that is). In the pastor's words, "That's the closest to hell that I ever want to come!" HA!! He was sweaty and pale by then. Poor guy. I have to laugh when I remember the top middle picture. I had just told Amy that I remember cramming into the Dragon Wagon when my kids were little so they would go on it... it's for a preschool sized child. She remembered that she rode the Dragon Wagon as a child and hated rollercoasters ever since. I then ran into Karla and stood talking to her for a bit. I heard this familiar scream/laugh and looked over to see Amy & Jeff crammed into the cars, racing around the track. They had a neat tiger show at the fair this year. They usually have some exotic type of animal show... to off-set the 1000's of farm animals I guess. ; )

4H Fair ~ Sunday, Day 2

Amy, Jeff, Jenna, Mikayla and Haley arrived around noon today. We went to the Backyard BBQ for lunch and then walked outside for the 4H parade. The kids got enough candy to make them smile. We enjoyed the club floats but got a little tired of the "plain 'ol advertising" ones. In the evening we went to the fair for the Nicole C. Mullins concert. It was AWESOME! Quinn ran into Tyler right away and he went to the concert with us too. Of course there were some traditional fair snacks afterwards. It was a great day!

4H Fair ~ #1

Friday the 4H Fair opened. It is the 2nd largest county fair in the country and bigger than most of the State Fairs too. We thought we would just run by for a little bit because the kids wanted to see how they did on their projects. We also knew that Amy, Jeff and the girls are coming out on Sunday and will spend a few days here so there will be lots more trips to the fair. Well, the "little bit" turned into almost 4 hours! They just "had to" do this real quick...or "have to" do that and "we don't care if we see this again next week!" We got back around 4pm and then Tony and I went back at 6pm for the Credit Union's summer picnic. The kids were each invited to River Oaks Church's "Kids Blitz" evening so they went to that.

So how did they do on their projects? Madison got a blue ribbon on her blanket, blue and "special recognition" on her poster and a blue and an honor ribbon on her cake. An honor ribbon means that her cake was in the group that they considered for the grand champion. She was happy with that. The "special recognition" yellow ribbon means that it was included in the exhibit as part of the general health focus for the fair. Quinn got a blue on his model and a "special recognition" and red on his First Aid Kit. I was trying to figure the red ribbon out (2nd place). They made the kits at their 4H club meeting, together as a club. I never even read the requirements. I guess I should have read them at home too! He didn't care though. He said
"this is the best fair ever!" because of all of the airplane models that were submitted. He was in airplane heaven looking at all of them.

The pictures above are of visiting the obvious animals and then they were looking at some stuffed animals (there must be a formal name for them) that are native to Indiana.

Well, that was the first trip to the fair. I assure you there will be more!

Future Football Players

Quinn and Nate picked up their football gear tonight in preparation for camp next week. Of course they had to put on their equipment and play ball right away. They were letting me take their pictures but were refusing to smile... "Football players don't smile!" I finally got them to crack up a bit though, those are my favorites. Double click for a larger view.

4H Fair Projects

The 4H fair starts on Friday. It didn't work out for her to be in the Dairy Club this year and have a calf but Madison, Quinn and Nate joined the 4H Minutemen and entered 3 projects. This year the 4H focus is on health. She made a poster on Broken Bones. She also made a fleece blanket with knotted edges and last night she spent 3 hours decorating her cake. We went to 3 different stores over the last 1 week, looking for their strict size requirements for the styrofoam "cake" part of it and finally found them last night at JoAnn Fabrics!! Tracy took Madison and Alexa in today for the cake judging and they both brought home blue ribbons so they were delighted. The other 2 items won't be judged until closer to the end of the week. Quinn is entering a First Aid Kit (along with the health theme) and a model airplane. He hardly stands still enough for me to get a picture so I need to take those yet. Jeff, Amy and the girls are coming out for a few days next week and will go to the fair with us. Sunday is the parade (which lasted 4 hours last year) and then the Nicole C. Mullin concert is free at the fair on Sunday night. I'm praying for cooler weather! It's been blazing HOT this week.

Tonight Quinn goes to get fitted for his football equipment prior to football camp next week (2 hours each day). This Monday Madison started daily beginning band from 8-8:45am, M-F... until school starts. Are they serious about their band out here or what?! Tracy and I are car pooling Madison and Alexa to/from band so that works out well. They both are playing percussion instruments. I take them on my way to work and she picks the girls up and brings Madison home.

Other than that, Tony and I can be found at work. That's what's going on in our lives this week. What's going on in yours?

All-Star Softball Week

Hi Everyone,
Wow, it was a busy week. Sorry for not posting. Most of the week my wireless was down at home. Boy, is that ever unhandy! It's amazing how much I use the Internet for this and that. Everything from recipes to the weather forecasts. Madison played with the Concord Major Softball team in the all-star tournament this week. She had games Monday through Thursday. They were only 1-3 at the end of the week but they were a very competitive team and I think learned through the process. We came really close not even having an all-star team so I'm really glad it all worked out to play. I have a special "in" with a big guy and all of our games were at Concord! I didn't even know that was possible (it's not supposed to be possible). That made it easier for sure. I picked out and ordered the uniforms. They have their last names on the back. Their socks are white with the black outline of softballs all over them. Don't they look sharp?



Other events of the week...
I had 2 flat tires on Monday. I was coming back from picking up a player's jersey from the screen printing shop (long story in itself) and my cell phone rang. I answered it and at the same time ran over something in the road. A few miles down the road, both my right front and right rear tires were flat. I was talking to Tonya on the phone. Within 15 minutes she and Tim brought me their second vehicle to take and use for the rest of the evening. We borrowed Gordon and Cynthia's spare tire (they also have a Honda Odyssey) and Tony was changing tires at 9:30 at night and it was after 10:30pm when we ate supper at home. I felt really blessed to have a vehicle to drive so quickly though. I was on a tight schedule to get to the all-star game and didn't have time for a flat tire... let alone two!!

Here's a picture of Quinn as we get around in the 'hood with our van on donut tires. I felt lopsided for 2 days! ha! The kids were embarrassed to ride with me!



Other than that, the kids have been finishing up their 4H projects, they are due this week. It's a beautiful day today and we are looking forward to a much quieter week.

Freedom Fest 2008

week in review

This last week was certainly a strange one without Madison here. She went to camp on Monday afternoon and by Thursday afternoon I had decided that I had had enough of camp for her and was ready for her to come home!! I really miss her! I wonder if she was counting down the days until she came home. I honestly hope not... and I doubt she was. Even Quinn said, "It's really just not the same around here without Madison here." We pick her up at 2pm today. Can't wait!

Quinn got sick on Wednesday afternoon/evening and had flu-like symptoms for about 12 hours. The strangest thing...! Who gets sick with the flu in July?? I missed a half day of work on Thursday. By Thursday morning he was feeling fine again. Boy was he sick though! I'm really wondering if it was somthing he ate...

This was the first week of the month and that means it was month-end for Tony. This week just about kills him. Last weekend they chose to convert to the new Berry Plastics computer system and then directly went into month-end. Of course they had computer bugs to be worked out which slowed the month-end process down. One night he didn't get home until 2am! He worked all day 4th of July as well. I am helpless to help. I'll be honest here and say sometimes I don't think my prayers help too much either. I think I need the prayers too... to help my attitude!

There were no baseball/softball games this week and no practices (Madison missed her practices). I had intended to get a lot of cleaning done but only managed the basics. Oh well. I did spend lots of time ordering the Little League All-Star uniforms. That's a whole 'nother story which I won't bore you to go into.

Anyway, that was our strange summer week.

4th of July

This evening we went to Terry & Karla's for a BBQ, swimming, and Tony's fireworks. I love getting some action shots of kids while they swim. They are all so cute I think! We enjoyed watching an airplane sky-writing the words "AIR SHOW" as an advertisment for the Goshen Air Show tomorrow.


Hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, water melon, apple pie... these are some of the "regulars" on the 4th of July menu. It has "accidently" become a tradition for Tony to set off some of his own fire works. Even Nate's family called tonight to see what time he was going to shoot them off. We invited them to come on out but they decided not to. We really, really missed Madison this year. Just isn't the same without her!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

America's Past Time

Tonight we went to the South Bend Silver Hawks vs the Lansing Lugnuts baseball game.
The Silver Hawks won 4-0. We sat directly behind the Silver Hawks' dug-out. It was a beautiful but cool evening. The kids all enjoyed the different food treats. The fireworks afterward were good. They always are though. Quinn's opinion was "they were actually kind of boring.... I think Dad's fireworks are a lot better."

Off to Camp Friedenswald

Madison, Jenna, Alexa, Peyton and Kiley are ready for camp!

This afternoon I took Madison & Jenna to Camp Friedenswald for Jr. Camp Week. We got there at 3:30. Registration started at 2pm and I wish I could have gotten them there earlier but of course I was working. I got off work early to be there by the end of it. I think we were the very last ones to register. At least we avoided the lines this way! They didn't have much time to settle in before camp officially started at 3:45. They won't come home until Saturday afternoon. They have been so excited all weekend. Madison has been packed since last Friday! Camp is all they've talked about. On the way up today they each admitted that they were a little nervous... about the night time tonight. Last year they didn't sleep well on the first night and remembered being too hot and then really tired the next day. They had a really hot week last year. This year it's supposed to be in the high 70's, low 80's, so the weather will be much, much cooler. I think they'll sleep better. Plus, they are in one of the brand new cabins and it has it's own bathroom and shower. I don't think they are roughing it too much. The girls asked me to stay for awhile once we got there. I told them I would stay as long as they wanted. Madison suggested staying overnight tonight. I guess I didn't mean that long! They soon caught up to Alexa, Peyton and Kiley within minutes after getting there and they had an all camp meeting within 15 minutes of our arrival that they had to get to. It was suddenly just fine if I left. They didn't even want help with their beds. I gave them both hugs and kisses... Madison yelled, "Send mail!" and they were off into the Peaceful Woods without a look behind them.

The van ride home was suddenly much quieter and I miss them already. (sniff)



Camper's Name
Camp Friedenswald
15406 Watercress Dr.
Cassopolis, MI 49031

One more picture

Nathan C's mom emailed me this picture, taken right after the group's celebration on the field. Don't you LOVE Quinn's face?? This will make me smile every time!

Camp Address

Madison & Jenna are heading off to camp this coming Monday, June 30 and they will be there until Saturday, June 5th. If they get 3 pieces of mail in one day, or a package, they have to get up and sing a song in a group. I've been told it's great fun.

If anyone would like to send mail, you can send it to...

Camper's Name
Camp Friedenswald
15406 Watercress Dr.
Cassopolis, MI 49031

Champions!

We didn't play our best, but what mattered was the score at the end of 6 innings... 8-7 in our favor. If we would have lost, we would have played this team again right away because the tournament was double elimination. Thankfully we didn't have to do that. Quinn pitched the first 3 innings. He ended up scoring the winning run after getting walked. After he scored, all the boys rushed on the field and one of them picked Quinn up in the air. It was so cute. We finished the season with a 16-1 record. Way to go Concord Berry Plastics!

Championship game tomorrow

Quinn's Rookie team plays Mancinos (the blue team) for the championship tomorrow morning at 9am. We anticipate doing well (our record is 15-1) but you never know! ANYTHING can happen in a game! Tony & Quinn have been outside pitching tonight... Quinn is going to be the starting pitcher and he is nervous but also excited about it. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

Today was a day to catch up at home. I took the kids went swimming for about 2 hours at our neighbor's in the afternoon. Tonight Tony wasn't going to get home from work until 7:30 or after so Madison, Quinn, Jenna, Nate and I went to watch Dylan's championship game. It was a close game. Dylan's team led the entire game until the last inning. They ended up losing. (Like I said, anything can happen). It's double elimination so they have another chance tomorrow morning in the final championship game.

Madison had an exciting softball game last night against the blue Concord team. We've lost to them twice this year. We were behind 2-4 in the last inning. Two outs and our 9th batter was up to bat (Taylor). She hit a ball to 2nd base who ended up muffing the throw for an error and scored Madison for the tying run and Jenna for the winning run. The girls went wild! And Taylor was the hero. It was so fun. We finally beat them!

Tony is going through the computer conversion this weekend at work. Rollpak to Berry Plastics (yes, it's been a year and a half now and it still isn't done). He is expecting lots of hours at work. There are 20 people to start the process at 7am tomorrow. He told them he was coaching his son's championship game and wouldn't be there until late morning. It doesn't sound like they were very happy about it. (Like, really not happy). Hey, this could be a once in a lifetime chance. Moments today are tomorrow's memories. He will be glad (I hope) to remember tomorrow's game, instead of showing up on at 7am to work on a Saturday! I know he made the right choice. Hopefully the "heat" won't be too bad when he finally gets there.

Well, that's all for tonight. I need to get this weary body to bed earlier tonight!
Happy Weekend!

Joy amidst sadness

Yesterday morning Madison and I left for Iowa about 7am. Aunt Lydia's funeral started at 2pm so we drove straight to Wellman for the viewing and changed our clothes there. It was so nice to see some extended family that we haven't seen in a long time. The picture in the top left is of the 5 first cousins that were there...from Iowa, Indiana, Kansas and Colorado! We picked up right where we left off and shared plenty of laughter amidst some tears. Walking up to the funeral home, Madison said she couldn't wait to see if she was finally taller than her great aunts... and wondered if they would have a heel on their shoe to give them the edge. Aunt Neva and Aunt Fern were good sports and took their shoes off at the luncheon so Madison could measure up. We decided that Madison has both of them now... at least by a hair or two. Boy, was she delighted. My dad's side of the family is not known for their tall statures!

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The funeral itself was very nice. There were probably 40 people there... that was quite a bit more than what I was expecting. When you are 98 and have been in a nursing home for 10-15 years, you don't have a lot of friends to come any more. Actually we were delighted with how many came. I loved it when these little old ladies held my hand and told me a story about what they remembered about Aunt Lydia. Mostly from the sewing circle at church... and one woman even remembered the family's butcher shop where she worked. (She was pretty ancient herself). Penny read scripture and prayed. I gave a tribute; basically memories from my growing up years. My brother-in-law, Jeff,gave the devotional and did a great job. He put on his comforting pastor voice and it worked. Amy, Jenna, Mikayla, Haley and Madison sang Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace version. Jenna played the guitar and they were awesome! (Some fast practicing once Madison arrived). These were the great-great neices... who also knew Aunt Lydia... although sadly her spry and healthy years aren't part of their memories. It was a simple and yet beautiful service. One of the quilts that she made draped the top of the casket. My mom had a little angel figurine sitting inside the lid of the casket. It was a momento for my grandma to keep. Her wings will glow at night. My mom thought of every thing. She arranged for a wheelchair van for Grandma which even took her out to the cemetary. Mom, you did such a great job. My work sent a beautiful planter with flowers and a beautiful card that made me cry. They are so thoughtful and I know their words come from the heart as Christian sisters. My own grandma has been on my heart and mind so much these past few days. This was her last sibling to pass away and surely the sister she was the closest too. Thank you all very much for your prayers this week.

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We helped a little with the moving process for Amy & Jeff's family last night and Madison and I stayed overnight there. We got to go and tour their new house. It is BEAUTIFUL!! It's neat to see all of their plans on paper, actually coming together in real life. They've done a great job and I'm happy for them. They hope to actually spend their first night there some time next week. Their house is sold and the closing is July 11 so they have some time.

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We didn't get to stay even 24 hours but it was definitely worth the trip! We brought home a surprise though... Jenna came back with us. It's going to work out afterall for her to go to camp next week with Madison. We are tickled to have her here! They are like 2 peas in a pod and will love spending the next 10 days together! Thank you Amy & Jeff for sharing her with us!

Iowa's Flood of 2008

Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, IA are two of the very hardest hit with the terrible flooding over the last few weeks. What we saw yesterday was "not bad at all" (according to my neice, Jenna) compared to what it was last week. Last week water was over stop signs, restaurants had water up to their ceilings, roads were washed out and the interstate closed due to water. We saw lots of water but it had receeded out of most buildings. You could see the dirty water line on some of the business' windows. This morning the news said that at least 300 homes in Cedar Rapids needed to be torn down... immediately to stop mold from continuing to grow etc... Can you even begin to imagine that.
I'm feeling very, very blessed right now.

Almost done!

The majority of Amy & Jeff's home is done. It's gorgeous! They are waiting for some decorative touches for the outside of the house, sod, and some basics inside. God answered their prayers with perfect timing for every thing (although the human side of them thought it was a SLOW process!) Ha!

A beautiful sunset tonight

Aunt Lydia 1/4/1910 ~ 6/23/2008

My great aunt Lydia passed away during the night. The Iowa nursing home called at 2:20am (I was afraid to answer the phone at that hour!) and again at 3:20am. She peacefully passed at 3am. The nurse assured me that they were doing everything to make her comfortable. Of course I couldn't sleep for a few hours! Mom and Dad were here and that's why they were calling here. Dad is the POA. Mom and Dad were going to stay until Monday but they left this morning instead, lots of things to do back home, and they wanted to go and tell my grandma personally this afternoon after they got there.


Aunt Lydia was a kind, sweet and gentle woman. She never married and she moved in with Grandma in the 70's (I think). It was pretty much like having 2 grandmas in that home. She was 98 and hasn't had much of a quality of life for many years now... mostly blind and deaf. My head tells me not to be sad, she is in a much better place in heaven now, her suffering has ended and her body is renewed. Today was her heavenly birth day and what a day of rejoicing they must be having today in heaven! My heart feels sad though. A chapter closing. She's ALWAYS been there. The circle of life is natural but painful too. I can't wish her back and I don't. She has finally finished the long race and she has won her prize. I consoled myself with this and didn't even feel any tears until the song/skit of "Come to Jesus" this morning at church. Wow. What timing.


The funeral will be Wednesday in Iowa. I'm planning on leaving early Wednesday morning right now. When you are 98 you don't have many friends left; and she never had her own family, we were her family. Everyone needs someone to grieve for them... for the loss of them. I need to be there with her neices/nephew and the greats and great-greats to remember her life.


A few words to describe my Aunt "Lydi"

Scrabble and dominoes
Chicken Gumbo over rice
Black tie shoes with a little heel

She helped me sew a wrap-around skirt for my 4H project. I have her sewing machine and stand (although the machine no longer works).
She taught me how to do embroidery. (I made tea towels for Amy for Christmas, with her embroidery floss).
Smooth dewy skin


Aunt Lydia has always been part of my life. I will still carry her with me in my heart.

Saturday's Recap

My mom and dad are traveling from Myrtle Beach, SC back to Iowa and so they stopped here for the weekend. They got here yesterday afternoon around 2pm. They got to see Madison and Quinn play ball today so that was fun. Madison played softball at 9am. They had an easy game and won 10-0 and finished in the 4th inning. Quinn's baseball game was at noon. They had an even easier game and won 20-1. This is the first game of the tournament. Tony is very "particular" about who he pitches and when for the tournament. He had Quinn pitch the final inning for Grandma and Grandpa... only using up 16 of his pitches. He is "saving him" for later in the tournament.

Tonight we went to Texas Roadhouse for supper. Yum!

Last regular season game

Here are some snap shots from the last regular season game. Madison and her friend Maddi both have brothers playing... although on opposite teams. This is also a good picture of Nate's mom, Shari, guarding the water balloon stash. Tony coaching Quinn from 3rd base. We won with the score of A Lot -to- A Little.

The picture in the top middle is of Dave & Tony standing together "to get their picture taken." I think they thought something was up... the boys were all giggly and standing with their arms behind their back. Dave tried to arm himself coming out of the dug-out with a bottle of water in the waist of the back of his shorts. Ha! That was a drop in the bucket!

Priceless!

Tonight ended the boys' regular season play. They finished 13-1 and are heading into the tournament with high expectations on Saturday! After the game the boys surprised Tony & Dave with water balloons and Silly String. Don't you just love this picture? More pictures tomorrow...
Leah

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers! Madison and Quinn are blessed to have an awesome, involved, caring, funny, teasing and lovable dad. He tells his children every single day that he loves them and supplies them with lots of hugs and kisses. After church this morning we went to Beppe & Pakka's house for grilled steak and chicken and then spent most of the afternoon outside. The background picture is a pig-pile provided by the kids today.

Bebe Gun

Pakka now has a bebe gun at his house... to take care of some pesky Starling birds I guess. He gave some lessons to the kids and Quinn spent much of the afternoon hunting Starlings. He didn't see a one of them though because he pretty much talked the whole entire time and scared everything away. Instead he used Beppe's windmill as target practice (with her permission). Madison tried it a few times but decided it was more of a boy-thing I guess and she moved on to something else.

Fishing

One of those things that Madison moved on to was fishing in the back yard at the river. Pakka dug up some worms for her (and accidently dug up Beppe's flowers) and they actually caught 3 fish. It was a perfect weather afternoon.... in the 70's.

Backyard Nature

There is a lot of things to look at in B & P's backyard. They have several different bird feeders. Here I tried to capture some of the many birds we saw this afternoon. The roses were grown in Beppe's flower bed. Aren't they beautiful?

Basketball Camp

Madison went to the Concord Basketball Camp last week at the high school from noon-2pm each day. On Friday they gave awards in 5 different categories like free throws, dribbling etc... She got ribbons in 4 different categories so she was pleased. It was a hot week but she said she was glad she went.

End of President's Tournament

Madison's team made it to the "Final Four" game, out of 17 teams, but we lost tonight against Middlebury 15-1. Ouch. Madison had a nice hit but the 3rd baseman made a great play and caught her ball in the outfield. (Shame on her!) Peyton is staying overnight tonight. Everyone is tired and I'm sure they will sleep well.

Love, Leah

Tuesday evening

Madison had her first drum lesson today at 4pm. I got out of work early so I could race her over to the high school. She was so nervous! The teacher looks so much like her soccer coach, Marcus. She had this silly little grin on her face the whole time. She told me later that she was getting the giggles inside because she was picturing her soccer coach giving her a drum lesson.

We went straight from the drum lesson to the President's Tourney, Game 2 against Osolo (Elkhart). The girls won tonight, 10-0. They played in Edwardsburg, MI. They didn't hit real well in general... lots of infield grounders... but they fielded very well. They play again on Thursday and if they win, the championship game is on Friday night.

Quinn and Tony had a game tonight too. Berry Plastics won again, 15-5. They continue in first place in their league. It sounds like they all played well. Quinn said it was "really, really fun" and that the game was a great one.

Madison and I got home at 9:45pm tonight. Just wanted to update you from the sports world tonight. It was a beautiful, sunny, evening tonight.

President's Tourney, Game 1 against Goshen

Tonight was the first game of the Major Softball tournament. Madison's team played Goshen, at the Baugo fields. We won 14-1. It rained at the beginning but luckily it didn't last too long. Tomorrow evening we play in Edwardsburg, MI. I'll have to check the newspaper in the morning to see who we actually play. My guess is an Osolo team.

Good night everyone!

Leah

2 out of 4

Today was the beginning of the NISL tournament. Madison had a soccer game at 9:45 against Shipshewanna. We won 3-0. Her second game was against Chesterton, IN and after leading 1-0 nearly the entire game, the other team scored with only 2 minutes left in the game. We ended up losing 2-1 in double over time. It was a really rough way to lose a game. The girls played their hearts out though. They played so hard and played really well too. As their coach said, "I couldn't have asked you to play any harder." Just one of those things. We ended the season #2 out of 5 teams. The #1 team lost today as well. Anything can happen in a tournament.

Quinn's soccer team lost their first game today at 1:30...1-3 against the Goshen Stars. It was kind of rough. One of their Hispanic boys got yellow-carded for taking Nate out. How can those Hispanics be so good?!! Tony and Quinn came back to Concord for their 3:30 baseball game. I hated to miss it but Madison's soccer game was at the same time. Quinn pitched the whole game (a first) and he had 9 strike-outs in the 4 innings. Our team 10-runned them and finished 13-2. I guess he hit a double and made 2 crowd-cheering defensive plays. We are in 1st place in his rookie leagues. Wish I could have been in two places at once.

How do you like these pictures? Madison was helping Quinn put on the sun-strips and grabbed his face to get him to hold still to look at her. I love the expression on his face. A couple of moms brought blue face crayons to get the girls ready for their second game. They wrote Madison's soccer nickname, "Mad Dog", on her forehead. Ha!

The weather was weird today. We went from chilly and overcast this morning to hot, humid and windy this afternoon. The wind kept us all from burning up and it really really helped. We all are sunburned tonight.

Twelve hours after leaving this morning, we were happy to get home around 8:30 tonight.

Still Alive!

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted you to know that I'm still alive and kicking. I've been really busy with mostly work and softball. I never imagined volunteering for the Little League would take so much time!

Tomorrow we have 3 soccer games and 1 baseball game. I'll try and post tomorrow night. It's supposed to be hot and humid! I hope the day goes well!

Love, Leah