MYSTERY TRIP!

Our Mystery Trip turned out to be a lot of fun. Our first stop was in Middleburg Heights at the Olive Garden for supper, which was close to our hotel. Very surprised when 2 people from our church sat down at the table beside us! They were going on a mini-vacation too! After a delicious meal, we went to our hotel and got Scott settled in for the night and the kids and I took off for Strongsville Mall! If you've never been to that mall, you really should go soon, we LOVE it! Then we hit the huge Border's across the road. Saturday morning, we got up, at breakfast at Perkin's, then traveled into Cleveland (as if we don't go there often enough) and enjoyed the Air Show! Hot, but with a nice breeze and I enjoyed a yummy deep-fried Snicker's Bar! A lot like a corn dog, but with a much tastier center! :) Back to the hotel to rest, but the kids and I headed for the mall and Border's again.....we love books!

Sunday took us to Cleveland once again. This time it was The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! That place could capture your attention for hours or even days! We spent several hours there, then decided it was time to head for Holmes County. With Scott's scooter along, we were able to have a great time and he didn't have to worry about falling!

Monday at home for me, included canning pizza sauce, mowing the lawn and getting our 3 fountains mucked out! If you have a fountain, you know this is a necessary evil to keep them running nicely. I ran a couple errands after supper and came home to find that Scott had fallen. Poor guy fell on his ramp trying to come into the house. It had rained a little bit and he slipped and crashed onto his bad knee.......cut the knee and caused EXTREME pain. At this point he cannot put any weight or even any ice on the knee. Using a walker again. Felt so bad for him, but at least we had a fun weekend.

On another note, I will be taking Chris to Strongsville to the ortho Dr. on Wednesday. On Thursday he fell while skateboarding which took us to the local ER. He is in a splint for now, but it appears his wrist may be broken again!

WHERE WERE YOU.......

September 3, 1999.....any clue where you were or what you were doing??? For this family, I'm sure none of us will ever forget where we were when we got "the call". It's been 10 years since Scott had his accident and some days it doesn't seem possible that so many years have passed us by. Other times, I'm sure it's been at least 10 times that many years. We never had a clue that life would throw this curve at us, yet we have embraced it and gone on with smiles and laughter (most of the time) in a life that many can never imagine. If I ever get my book finished, you will be able to get a glimpse of what we have gone thru and continue to go thru each and every day. Life is good and I wouldn't change where we are now. Our faith is much stronger and I think we've leared a lot of lessons that life had to teach. To us, this is the new normal, but to others it seems hard. It's funny at times, and maddening at times, but this is who we are!

This weekend I have planned a Mystery Trip! We will leave on Friday when the kids get home from school and will return on Sunday. If you're planning a cook out, save us some food! No one but me knows where we are going, and I can't tell you yet! Check back next week and I'll fill you in!

Remember, Life is Good! and God is Awesome!

Road Trip!

We are home again and rested up???? from our little trip to Virginia. Had a great visit with my brother and his wife and their two beautiful dogs. Spent time on Saturday being tourists! Went and toured the Shenandoah Caverns. Really nice and Scott could even use his scooter in most of it! Went to a couple other favorite spots like Jess's Diner for lunch and the Barnes and Noble bookstore. We ate at L'talia for supper on Friday night and it was delicious! We went to the cabin on Saturday night and had a nice relaxing day on Sunday. Got to spend the whole day with them, then headed for home on Monday. All went well until we hit Charleston, WV, then a hose blew and we lost all air conditioning for the rest of the trip home! Really hot and humid down there, as well as up here when we got home.

Got all the applesauce done on Friday and am doing 30 dozen ears of corn on Monday!!!! I love to do corn! We were to Cleveland on Wednesday when we came home from Virginia for the second set of the nerve block for Scott. Overall, he is doing a lot better since the first injection!

Tonight Chris had his buddies here and they worked on getting the skate ramp in the rad finished. We had a surprise birthday party for my mom at her house on Saturday and a bunch of the guests came over and helped move the ramp from the garage up into our yard. They made it bigger in the middle and gave it a test run tonight. Now they are in the basement trying to get some sleep! :) Not happening quite yet from the sound of it. Hard to believe school will be starting on Tuesday. Summer sure did fly by.

Saw that "Wicked" is playing in Cleveland in November and early Dec. Let me know if you have seen it and what you thought of it.

FAST DAYS!

Seems like every day is going faster and faster and I am helpless to stop it! I'm sure everyone has days like that, but it just seems like summer is whizzing by at an alarming rate. Scott continues to do well, still has minimal pain, but a LOT better than what it was. We are leaving on Thurs. afternoon and heading to Virginia to visit my brother and his wife. Can't wait! :) We are mentally packed, but physically not even close! I was gonna mow tonight, but the rain changed my mind. So glad for the rain, but I think I heard the grass squeaking taller as the evening wore on and the drops were soaking in! Oh well, tomorrow night is another chance.

I will be taking Christopher to Strongsville on Thursday morning to get his knees checked out. He had double knee surgery for a congenital problem 2 years ago and is having a lot of pain in them as of late. Want to get it checked out, and we had the appt. made before all the plans were in place to head for Virginia. We will stop at Elkins, WV for the night, so at least I'll get a little bit of a break from the driving! We are taking Scott's scooter along and plan on touring the Shenandoah Caverns while we are down there. I had the vehicle serviced and had the brakes checked, as the extra weight from the lift and scooter will add to the need for good brakes!

Now we're just trying to line up people to come and play with our new puppy and new kitten while we are gone. Hate to leave them, but really looking forward to getting away. It's been a LONG last couple of months. We will stay until Monday when we head straight home. Sure hope the humidity doesn't come along with us.

Today the storms beat the running kids to the windows! I had a call from Erica, saying that both bathrooms and our bedroom was soaked!!! Grab the towels, then turn on the fans, as I didn't want the hardwood floors to warp. She did a great job, and I got all of the towels and rugs dried once I got home. Even got a pan of lasagna made (although Chris did all of the work) for tomorrow night's supper. Then put a batch of party mix in the oven. Don't even want to try to go visit my brother without a big bowl of it! Chris is having a couple friends over tomorrow night for supper and then a bonfire. Hope the rain gets out of here by then! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS......IN JULY!

Only 5 more months until Christmas!!! Can you believe it!? Seems like this year is flying by quicker than ever. I wished several people Merry Christmas in July and got the Bah-Humbug reply! Oh well, I have been shopping a little and gotten a few gifts. Not really going out and looking, but if something jumps out at me and I know someone who it would work for, I buy it! :) On that note, Mom, Erica and I hit the Millersburg town garage sales on Saturday! Boy did we have fun. Started at 10 a.m. and didn't get back home until around 3 p.m. Filled the back of my Durango with a LOT of Longaberger baskets! My sis-in-law from Virginia is an avid collector, and when I hit a couple juicy sales, I gave her a call and got the thumbs up! Then we headed for Coccia House to get some yummy pizza for supper. After that it was off to check out the old cars at Wooster's cruise in! Sure would love to find one that we could afford. We would love to have an old car to run after ice cream on Sunday's! :)

This week seemed to bring more pain to Scott after he had been improving since surgery. On Tuesday I called his pain management Dr. asking for feedback on what we could do to relieve some of his pain. Got a call on Wednesday aroudn 5:15 p.m. asking if we could be to Cleveland on Thursday morning by 8:15 a.m. Sure, but what are you gonna do???? Gonna try a sympathetic nerve block. At this point it seems to have helped. Still has some pain, but back under control compared to what it was. Scott will have 2 more of these blocks over the next couple of months. We were lucky to grab an early appt. and then get out of town, as President Obama was making a visit to the Clinic. When the president hits town, they also tend to close a lot of roads, so we were glad to make a quick get-away!

Chris came home from camp in Michigan today. Along with a LOT of sand and dirt! The first load of clothes has been thru the washed twice!!! Oh well, they all had fun. Quiet week around here without him! I got the garage cleaned out, as well as the basement rec room and laundry room. Great feeling to get all that done!

FUN TIMES IN THE SUMMER!

So many fun things are simple and close to home. Watching boys skate, watching them scarf down TONS of food, even though they just ate at Kyle's house, Sobe the new puppy and Erica tussling in the grass, Chowder the new kitten hanging off the screen door.......the list goes on. Even though we have been home more than usual the last couple of months, there is a lot to be thankful for. Time with family is memories in the making. We have had a lot of laughs and have learned to appreciate sleep even more when the new puppy and new kitten decide to sleep all night.

On another note, Scott is doing better most of the time and has been in his workshop building Peanut Butter bird feeders!!!! Yea! I have sold 4 of them already! :) He did have a bit of a mishap with the door, as he didn't open it far enough and crashed it with his knee. But that is even feeling a bit better. Today he just relaxed in the breeze on the deck and watched the new puppy romp with Snickers our other dog!

No more work for me until Tuesday, which is awesome. We plan on going to Carrabba's for supper to celebrate our 16th anniversary! Taking the kids and Mom and Dad are going along to celebrate their anniversary which was in April. Should be a fun night!

JULY????!!!!

Where has the month of June gone? O.k., depending on when you read this, it is still June, but come on....I am still wondering where in the world January and February went. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather by sitting on our deck a lot! Didn't do much, as Scott is still swollen and sore from surgery. We did get that one weekend out, but decided to just take it easy and let him heal. Tonight he is horribly sore, probably due to the cold front and rain that is making it's way to our area. The birds have been chirping up a storm and have been eating a TON of food! Guess they don't want to be out in the rain. I split a coconut open this weekend and hung the 2 halves in our tree! Great to watch the birds nibble on it. I also made a fairy garden on our deck, complete with a little fire ring! Then I made a small one and put it on Mom's porch for her to find! I just love those little gardens. So many ways to fix them up.
We are planning on going to my Aunt and Uncle's for the Fourth of July for a cook out. Not sure what I am supposed to make to take along yet, but I'm gonna volunteer to make a cheesecake, as that sounds really good right now! I have a couple new recipes that I might have to try. I am off Thurs. thru next Monday!!! Glad to have an extra long weekend with Scott and the kids. We are also enjoying our new kitten, Chowder! He is so funny to watch. Right now he's chasing his tail in a box! We think he's got to be getting dizzy.
Erica is packed and ready to head to the Mennonite conference with her youth group in Columbus tomorrow! What fun for all of them. I am so thankful for the sponsors and their willingness to take the kids and have this experience with them.
Enjoy a safe and fun Fourth! ;)