Year in Review and Wishes for the New Year

It’s New Year’s Day and time to look ahead to a fresh new year. Before we do that, though, let’s take a look back at 2011. I have a lot of pictures to share, and I didn’t get Christmas cards or a letter done, so if you don’t mind...

January found us moving Jessica and Bradley into their own home about 15 miles away after living with us for over a year. Jessica found out in late November 2010 that she and her boyfriend were expecting a baby, so they started building their new life together. We have enjoyed getting to know Scott and he’s an amazing partner for Jessica as well as father to Bradley.

I still kept Brad during the day while Jess worked full-time. I must’ve blinked, because all of a sudden, he grew from a baby to toddler.

  

   

At the end of April, I left my early morning job in preparation for caring for Bradley and the new grandboy we were expecting. It took a few weeks for me to sleep past 4 a.m., but it’s all good now.

In May, our son Nick was hospitalized suddenly after becoming quite ill. He’s doing great and living a healthier lifestyle now.  He was able to join us for Halloween this year, in costume even. Don’t ask who he was supposed to be – just a generic character from a video game – I can’t be more specific than that…

Greg and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in May, and I turned 50 in July. We celebrated by attending the  Bob Seger concert in Omaha. It was a great show! 

I’d like to say I’m none the worse for wear at 50 years old, but in May I fell down the deck steps, landing on my knee, and I’ve been hobbling about ever since. That, combined with the arthritis, has slowed me down a bit.

The injury kept me in my chair for a few weeks, and I wanted to be productive, so I dug out my crochet needle, invested in some yarn, and turned on YouTube for instruction. Many hours spent over several weeks found me with a pile of dishcloths for Christmas gifts, a blanket for Silas, and some winter scarves. My nephew Wyatt saw the yarn and things I was working on, and asked me to teach him, so with a few quick crochet lessons, he was on his way.

We had a fun week in June when my nieces from Sioux City visited. Tay got to go to Vacation Bible School with Randy’s kids, Reese and Brad became friends, and we enjoyed a day at the zoo.

The last day of July, at 3:26 in the morning, Jess and Scott welcomed their baby boy, Silas Paul. He’s our sweet love-bug.

    

 

In September, Jessica, the boys, and I went to Sioux City for a visit. One of the fun things we did was visit at the shop where Alan works. Bradley saw all the motorcycles in the window, yelled “GO!” and ran to the door. He wanted to sit on every bike, and was thrilled when Uncle Alan finally let him on one.

Bradley had his second birthday at the end of September. He’s a big fan of Cat in the Hat, so Jess constructed a giant hat for his cake.

Halloween was our usual fun time with Randy’s family joining us for a quick supper then trick or treating. The weather was awesome and it didn’t take Bradley long to figure out the whole “trick or treat” scheme!

In November, Jess and Scott put a bid on a house here in Benedict, and closed on it a few days before Christmas. They moved enough things to be in their house for the holiday, and the past few days have been spent painting, packing and unpacking boxes, and getting settled into their new home.

That pretty much sums up the past year for us. What do we look forward to in 2012? We know we’ll enjoy those grandboys who live just down the street from us now. They grow so fast and we don’t want to miss a minute of it. I have a list of craft/sewing/decorating projects to tackle. Greg plans to build a covered patio in the backyard. (He’ll be building lots more things if I can give him part of my list, but I’ll have to be sneaky…)

We are incredibly blessed with a happy healthy family and more, and we thank God daily. We wish you many blessings also in 2012, and if the world doesn’t end on December 21 like the Mayans say it will, we’ll try to get real Christmas cards done!

Summer Revue

It has been awhile since I caught up with you all here. I hope someone will read this and that you haven’t given up on me since my last post a couple of months ago!

‘Twas a busy summer, and Bradley has kept me running for most of it. When he took off walking at 8 1/2 months old, I knew I was in for trouble. Not the way I’d planned to spend the summer, but no complaints here. It has been an enormous blessing to watch him grow and learn.

Instead of me writing a novel to catch up on the past few months, lets do it in pictures, shall we?

Went to Sioux City to celebrate Reese’s first birthday,

and Taylor’s third birthday.

Took Randy’s kids to Little Diggers:

Greg built a new swingset for Bradley:

We took a field trip to the Lincoln Children’s Zoo:

There was blue rock shooting (Ben, Alan, Nick),

and target practice:

Of course there was swimming!

(Brad and Jess)

(Taylor)

(Taylor, Grace, Reese)

and Abbie stayed a few weeks.

We took Abbie home to Texas where we enjoyed our first visit to Joe’s Crab Shack…

At the county fair, Bradley fell in love with the baby chicks in the FFA animal tent:

At home, he LOVED sweet corn!

We got to know Scott a little better.

Let’s not forget the flowers

and the vegetables in the garden. Bradley has become an accomplished tomato-picker!

So there you have it, a glimpse into what has been a fun and busy summer around here.

I have several projects planned for this autumn, and there will be fun galore with the grandboy as we prepare to celebrate his first birthday in a few weeks. I hope you’ll stick with me as I get back into the blogging groove!

Once again...

Yes, my computer is awaiting yet another repair, so I'm using Greg's laptop for a few minutes each day to try to stay caught up on email and such. Greg is going to attempt the replacement of the piece on my laptop where the power cord plugs in, but it'll be Wednesday or so before the part arrives. The computer shop wants $120-200 to fix it, and I just cannot justify putting that much $$ into a four and a half year old computer. Isn't that sad? Well, I'll either have my laptop back by the end of the week (fingers crossed) or will have to keep on stealing a minute here and there on Greg's until a new one comes along.

In the meantime, there are projects to work on around here that seem to get done quicker when there is no computer distraction. (Funny how I'm able to prioritize, huh..) One of those projects is finishing Bradley's bedroom, which has been the playroom for the past few years. Closet rearranging, furniture painting, and wall treatments will all happen. The toys will still be accessible for all of the kids, but the room will be his until he and his mommy get a home of their own.

Anyway, please wish us luck that my DIY handyman husband is able to figure out how to fix my computer, and stay tuned for updates on project progress!

Catching up yet again

Good morning! It is a lovely morning, sunny and cool, with just a tease of Autumn in the air. This is the weather I love and thrive on. After watching the DNC all last week, I told a friend yesterday that if I were President, we'd have Autumn all year long. :o) Anyway, it will be a perfect day for the Nebraska football team to play their first regular season game under the guidance of Bo Pelini and his staff. Win or lose, we'll cheer them on.

So let's catch up since I last posted earlier in the week. I finished my last shift at the theater on Tuesday evening. It was a little sad to hand my keys to the manager, but I know I'll be back there periodically to help, and now that I don't work there, I'll probably want to go see movies more often. I have enough passes to last a very long time...

That brings us to the giveaway I promised for those who commented on my movie quotes post. There were six commenters and everyone's name went into a dish. I swished them around and the name I pulled out was Bobbi! (She's the cousin who thinks she's adopted because she doesn't like chocolate, but we love her anyway.) Take a look and see what Bobbi won:

That lovely prize package contains some movie-watching essentials. Popcorn, of course. Now I do realize that Orvill Redenbacher 100 Calorie Packs aren't anything close to theater popcorn, but I guarantee you it's a LOT healthier for you! (I don't let Greg have the "butter" anymore. That stuff is not butter, but you knew that.) Also included are the requisite Milk Duds (to mix with the popcorn, thereby negating any healthy aspects of that 100 calorie pack), and to mix up the candy experience a little bit, there are Mike and Ikes and Cracker Jacks. (How long has it been since you had Cracker Jacks? I don't remember the last time, but I do remember that Mom used to buy them for us as a treat and oh, it was so much fun to see what that prize in the box turned out to be!) Lastly, there is one of the new Sun Theater refillable drink cups. Bobbi, if you see a movie in York, you can bring that cup along and get it filled for $1. And that's a good deal in the movie theater concessions business! :o) I hope you enjoy your goodies - they'll be on their way to you soon!

BTW, I responded to each person's comment here. Thanks guys, for playing along with me!

During the rest of the week, I finally painted Nick's old bedroom. As soon as I get all the furniture in there, I can decorate. I did get one little project done while watching the DNC. Here's a little hint:

I love how it came out and am anxious to show you, but patience, my dears. This room is smaller in real life than in my mind, so I'm having to tweak my decorating plans a bit. It will be done soon, though, because I need to move on to the next room so I can get the exercise equipment out of my living room...

I also got some tomatoes roasted and made into sauce. There are lots of tomatoes on the plants, it's just taking them forever to ripen. I know it's because of this cooler weather that I am so loving, so I'll be patient and wait for them.

On Thursday I had a mini family reunion at WalMart. I met up with Aunt Janet in the frozen foods aisle and we chatted for a bit. It was good to see her. She and I had no more than parted ways, when Barbie's son Robbie came around the corner. I see Robbie a few times a year, and I guess we really are from the same gene pool, because when we have time, we talk and talk and talk. I enjoyed my visit with him, and it was a long one. :o)

Okay, that is enough random catching up for today. I have a house to clean and Autumn decorations to put out. If I decorate, the season will come. Right?