they performed and they won...

 

I am just a bit bias when it comes to the Saxophone players in this picture!! One belongs to our family, two are very special friends of our family.....so *Saxophones* in our high school band are very special! Trying to capture pictures of a marching Saxophone player during a competition is just not easy.....so if you look closely...the one marching near the front of the picture, near the 40 yard line nearest the "auxillary" and the "drum" is our *sweet grandaughter* isn't she just the best (??)...for us she is very special with the other 3 grandkids...love all four a whole bunch!!

 

Another picture of that Saxophone player, she really marches in very good form, she aims to please the director! *IF* SHE IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING ~ SHE DOES IT VERY WELL!! No question about it, she does it 100% to the best of her ability, and this applies to everything she does!! Luv you Mickey!!

Now about the competition....WE WON, WE WON, WE WON...first place, best drum major and also best auxillary! The highlight of the winning is that we WON FIRST PLACE competing with a band that has always WON FIRST PLACE when competing with us...OH THE SWEET FEELING OF VICTORY!!

I am somewhat reluctant to *toot our horn* (trying to be humble) but I am *tooting our horn* (no pun intended) because our band kids have worked so hard to get where they are, and to have this victory...for this I say CONGRATULATIONS to the High School Marching Band...you deserve the win!!

To those of you reading this blog post....I do apologize for the darkness of the pictures, the stadium lights do not do justice to the pictures!!

welcome to my house...

This says it all! And *yes* this greets the visitors that stop by my house as they step unto my brick walk! A gift to my husband from a grateful customer at the shop! The words are actually *cut* into the mountain stone!

WELCOME!

visiting the university...

We had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with *our* DGSs on Saturday...they are amazing young men....*luv ya Joe and Dan*...it was concert time for Dan (grandson #2)...he sings beautifully with the Lehigh University Choir (making his HS choir director proud)...IT WAS A WONDERFUL CONCERT!!
Isn't this a *beautiful * building (?) this dorm is where Dan is housed overlooking the university from high on the hill and one of the original beautiful stone buildings on the campus..(strange as it may be...also the dorm that Dan's dad lived in ~ a few years ago)! Dan actually gets to see the sunlight daily from his room, not the same as our dear son (Dan's dad), to see the sunlight he needed to climb steps from the lowest depths of the dorm.....(that was definently tough for this mom!!

This is the Zoellner Music Building (extreme opposite of the *beautiful old stone* that is the style of the original dorms* ~progress at its best I guess~ ....this is the *music building we go to anytime we hear a music concert and also where we went to the wonderful concert to hear Dan sing, he has a beautiful voice. This is also the building that we have the privilage of hearing *awesome* concerts that involved Joe...(he plays the Tuba and has received many awards for his ability with the Tuba)...did you know a Tuba can do more then *umpa, umpa, umpa* (??)...it has a beautiful mellow sound when played correctly! *Thank you Joe for allowing me to hear the beautiful melody from the Tuba*!! And just in case you are not sure *what* university is getting all of this attention and the tuition for #1 and #2 grandsons...it is Lehigh U....a wonderful university that is very familar to our family!!

cottage industry ??...

My *sweet grandaughter* has a *dream*....to have her very own "cottage industry"!! Keeping in mind that she is an extremely busy young lady, dance classes, marching band, concert band, piano lessons, church youth group and *honor roll student"....YEP BUSY IS THE WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES HER!! Luv you my *sweet grandaughter* ~ you are my *HERO*!!

She is a real advocate of protecting *library* books from user damage, and this year is required by her 'English teacher' to read many books (she loves to read so this is not a tough chore for her) unless you factor in her time limitations. She decided a small book pouch would be in order, and searching thru her *our* fabric stash came up with some really gorgeous combinations! Her very first version was a trial run and is being used for her own *library books*....but her friends clamored for versions of the same book pouch! NOT GOING TO BE THE SAME if *sweet grandaughter* has her way...so she is 'creating each unique version' of the *book pouch* to share with her friends as gifts, and now being requested by others! Each pouch has its own design and its own color combo...her mind is always spinning with new designs...(which only seems to appear when the product is completed), and each one makes us marvel at the change...and we love each one more then the previous one (typical designer don't you think ?) !!

This *book pouch* also serves other purposes of a more "personal nature"...and since the school WILL NOT ALLOW purses or bags to be carried during school it puts a burden of a "personal nature" on these teenage girls(I am sure you understand)...so the "book pouch" can also be used for certain personal items to be tucked into the bag with the *library* books!!.....Shhhhhhh don't tell...but it works for the girls that now are owners of their very own *book pouch*!! Stay in touch for more pictures as the ideas flow! Oh and by the way...she has requests to make a stack of the *book pouch* to be sold at a craft show in November!

just trying to get along with BLOGGER...

OK 'blogger' and I have been having a problem...I have been trying for days to post...and to add a few pictures from my yard......but to NO AVAIL...but tonight I can add pictures but not all in the same post! I do apologize for taking 4 different spots to show you *autumn* at my house...but I SOOOOOOO wanted to share what I see...so with a bit of patience you will catch a glimpse of what I enjoy at my house! Unfortunately also...my part one appears in the 4th position...I am sure you will figure it out!! ENJOY my venture in the yard!

blue skies and the beauty of fall...

and walking east...

The coloring of the trees shows quite a variation!! Oh the beauty of fall!

still walking ...

please do take a walk with me...

Sunday was a gorgeous day at my house and *dear hubby* was busy snapping pictures of the beauty in our yard! Unfortunately 'Blogger' is not allowing me to post more then this one picture. There are others that I am anxious to show you, but it may need to be one post at a time !!

I will try to label the pictures as I go! Enjoy my snap by snap of the camera!!

a blast from the past...

But in reality we do have a few of these in my area, and in traveling here and there I do have the excitement of driving my car *thru* the tunnel of the covered bridge! The bridge makes sounds as you drive onto the bridge floor, and you see the wonderful *old* lumber that surrounds your car!

If the bridge could talk what would it tell us (??)...surely in its many years of service it has experienced many things. The traveling horses pulling buggies or wagons, the tractors of old that traveled to and from neighboring farms pulling the hay wagons. The covered bridge could possibly tell us of the *happiness* that the children experienced as they climbed on the *beams* holding the structure high above the creek beneath it! Or in the summertime those same children jumping from the wooden timbers under the bridge to the waiting waters for a cool swim! Would the bridge want to tell us about bearing the weight of the many cars now considered antiques or classics that slowly made their way from one side to the other on the bridge? Could the bridge tell us how many times it has battled flood waters swirling around its support beams?

Surely the bridge builders of the past could not realize how anxious some of *my era* would be to preserve the heritage of the *covered bridges* nor how well the bridges have actually survived into the 21 century!

If you have the opportunity to look closely at a *covered bridge* you will be amazed at the size of the lumber and the amount of work and planning that MUST have been needed to construct a bridge that would last for centuries and continue to offer "a blast from the past"....enjoy!!

apples to become a pie...

When thinking about fall comes thoughts of *apples* which reminds me of apple pies, apple butter and apple cider!

It days past I would make *huge* apple pies....actually I would make my apple pies in a rectangle cake pan, because my DH and our family loved the fall tradition of *apple pie* so much!! I would peel so many apples that they would pile high above the top of the pan...in the homemade pie crust....and YEP it would need to be double crust pie...not the type with the easy step of *crumbs* for the topping! So it was important to double the pie crust recipe because *a skimpy thin pie crust* would not work nor filling a rectangle cake pan with a single recipe be enough.

Now if you notice the above paragraph refers to "days past"...because of working the hours I work, and the traveling we do because we enjoy being entertained by our wonderful grandkids and their talents, I no longer make *huge* apple pies, I actually have not made an apple pie of any size for years! OK now the pressure is on, because I have been asked to make apple pies for a special event in our hometown this weekend........and of course I said *oh sure ~ no problem*....WHERE THE HECK IS MY HEAD & WHAT WAS I THINKING with the "oh sure" statement!

OK searching my brain...for my recipe of the past for my pie crust...because the person when asking also reminded me of what they considered to be a "delicious pie crust" made by me.......OH MAN...pressure and more pressure.....thinking hard and hoping I can put it together once again!

Have a great fall day....and hope for me that I can *remember* how in "years past" I made that pie crust!!!

the overnight pumpkin patch...

I heard the sweetest tradition today, and thought it would be fun to share with my blog readers!

A friend camps yearly at a campsite where the children are given *pumpkin seeds* to plant when they arrive at the campsite for a fall campout! The children are encouraged to plant their seeds in a field that is tilled and ready for planting. During the night employees of the campsite quietly go into the field and fill the field with pumpkins as you see in the picture ;>)....!! In the morning after breakfast the children ride on a farm wagon to the field, ONLY TO DISCOVER that *overnight* their seeds have become pumpkins! The children are allowed to hurry thru the pumpkins to select one for themselves. It is their pumpkin, they can carve it, decorate it or just enjoy having the pumpkin that mysteriously grew OVERNIGHT!

I love this story, and the beautiful pumpkins that grow as a result of the children planting the seeds! When we believe ~ anything is possible!

the beauty of fall...

This is a sample of PA in the fall, unfortunately it is not a picture taken by me, but it is a touch of what I see each and everyday from my house! I live in the country surrounded by farms owned by the Amish and acres of trees and open fields!

Fall is truly a beautiful time of the year, and I love it! I love the coolness, the changing leaves, and the crunch of the leaves as my hubby and I take an infrequent walk! Thinking about, high school football games, marching band competitions, and music concerts! The smell of hot chocolate with melting marshmallows, the lighting of that first fire in the fireplace (just for effect) as we enjoy that hot chocolate ;>) !!

Soon it will be much colder, and then I will love another happening called *S*N*OW*....it means winter and slippery roads when I need to travel to and from work, but I still love the *white snowflakes* that shimmer in the headlights and bring *quietness* to the earth! Have you walked in the fresh fallen in the evening *S*N*O*W* and noticed the *quietness* (?) it is beautiful and helps to clear your mind of the everyday frustrations! Have you felt the *snowflakes* fall gently on your face and shoulders and wondered about the gentleness that God has allowed? It makes all of life seem peaceful and gentle! Oh the 'wonderment' of God's creations!

May you have wonderful and peaceful thoughts as you look at my picture of the *beauty of fall* and anticipate the gentleness of the coming snows!