Mommas Place at Home

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

2011-04-26T11:00:00.010-04:00

Easter Sunday we took the family out to eat at Golden Corral for a brunch. Combo breakfast and lunch. Afterward we took a drive to Metro Beach and sat by the river in the marina area. The sun was bright and warm, and most of us got a little sunburnt after such a long winters rest! LOL!

This is Wendy, me a Sarah and Matthew! Wow her son is getting so tall! He's age 11 and Sarah's 12. Her Husband, Mark did not go because he's having health issues with his blood pressure and he's trying to stay on a diet.

This is Barlow and me with Wendy's kids.

Here is Caroline and her family. Dont Darin look Buff! He's been working out with weights and really loosing his baby fat and pumping up his muscles!

Barlow with Darin and Amber and Me!

This is when we arrived. Nice day out!

___________________________________

This month I was sent to have another Cat scan to check on my corotid arteries from the last stroke. The doc says its about the same about 60+ %. He sent me to a heart doctor to verify that my heart does not have any problems and can withstand the surgery. She sent me to get a Stress test that showed that there may be some problem with my heart. This Thursday I go in for a heart catheterization to verify, and put a stint in any part that is getting blocked.

They say that if I do get a stint, I will have to stay overnight, otherwise I get to go home the same day. I get to go through this again maybe next month, because the vascular doc says that he can do the same thing to open my right corotid instead of cutting my neck again. (At least Im praying he can. My right neck was cut real bad already a couple years ago for the Perotid surgery i had. The skin is already tight there. Well, I pray that it all goes well for me.

Had a triple biopsy on Wednesday.

2011-02-17T15:54:00.003-05:00

I saw my family doctor last week and he noticed a note in my Cat Scan results that said that I had some type of growth going on in my throat at the base of my tongue. He sent me to an ear, eye and throat doctor to have it checked.
Last Wendsday he scheduled me for a triple biopsy of my throat, lungs and esophogus just to be on the safe side. He did a little scope in the office to see into my throat and just noticed some swelling of my throat near the base of my tongue, but could not see much else.
Let me tell you, when I woke from the anastesia my arms and the back of my calves hurt like charlie horses, and I was stiff and sore! I remained sore and the pain remained in my lower back , my hips and legs, and my arms hurt to raise them. It was great pain like I had been dropped from the table onto the floor or something. The doctor called me on Saturday and he said the pain was from the anastesia! Let me tell you, that I have had LOTS of surgery before and never had such pain from anastesia like this time. My family doctor recomended Advil for the pain, and by Sunday evening I was feeling much better, but still a little sore.

Today I went back to the ENT doctor for the results of the biopsies. Praise the LORD! The results were NORMAL! No sign of any cancers! Let me tell you, I was praying a lot since the operation while thinking of my Daddy, who died about 7 years ago from Mouth cancer. He had a growth under his tongue which was removed along with part of his tongue, a small part of his lower jaw and had lymph nodes removed from under his chin in his throat. The poor man had to liquify all his food, and drink energy drinks while he went through kemotherapy for almost a year, before the cancer returned in his lymph system again that finally killled him a year later. That picture was in mine and my husband's thoughts as we waited for the results of my tests.

I thank the LORD that I have been spared one more time! Now my next thing I have to work on is quitting smoking! Thats gonna be the hard part, because my Husband still loves his smokes, and doesnt want to quit. LORD give me the strength!

A little bit of our Christmas Eve

2010-12-30T11:05:00.016-05:00

Wendy and her Dad

Matthew and Sarah

Caroline at my tree

Matthew ---->

Bits and Pieces of our Christmas Eve -----------

Caroline, Frank and family portrait!

2010-11-28T11:10:00.002-05:00

I had the privilage to scan a copy of a Family picture that Caroline had made a few weeks ago at the Value Fresh store near me. They did a great job and everyone looks fantastic!

A very happy family for Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T17:40:00.014-05:00

Amber invited her boyfreind, Khalil, standing next to my new Blue and Silver tree.

Sarah and Darin in the play room

Wendy looks good!

Wendy with cousin Steve, Uncle Ed, Caroline, and Aunt Sally. Glad they could still make it for this Thanksgiving!

Sarah and Matthew digging in to the meal!

Darin and Khallil played some pool!

Amber and Khallil going to play some pinball.

Barlow and Frank got their plates, not enough room at the table, the family room is comfortable.

The lovely Caroline, looking great!

The Bufffet full of food!

Barlow getting his serving, happy dance! lol!

The Buffet, (2 turkeys, potatoes, stuffing, yams, and gravy, with sides of Vegies breads, cakes, pies, and jello. Caroline made the deviled eggs and brought her special spinach/ cream cheese dip for the crackers! Thanks Caroline!

Everyone loved the food and the deserts, we even made muscles and shrimp cocktail, for treats. Darin and Frank polished off ALL the muscles! Full bellies were the word for the day. Frank and Darin headed up to Caroline's freind , Barb's house last night for a chance to kill a Bambi's dad. Hope they get one, Darin is rooting to get one this time!

Still doing good!

2010-11-09T14:57:00.002-05:00

Well, so far so good again! I saw the vascular surgeon today, and he doesnt think my corotids are quite as clogged as the hospital thought. He says its about 60% or a little higher, but they dont feel surgery is necessary yet. He wants to talk to the Doc who did my Cat scan once more, but he dont feel I need surgery yet. 70% or more they would do it right away, but he has scheduled me for 6 months from now. He also will discuss with my family doctor to folllow up with a cardiac doctor to check if the clots might be somewhere in my heart area. I got back in mid May for another ultrasound of my corotids again. Phew!

So far so good!

2010-10-21T16:58:00.005-04:00

Well, so far so good. My vision is back in my left eye and on October 20th I went for the CAT scan with dyes to have my corotid arteries checked and see how much blockage is really in there. I go to the surgeon on November 9th to see the results. Ill report his findings soon.

The hardest thing is staying away from smoking any more. My husband smokes like a train and I enjoy my smokes. I know they told me to quit, but it is SO HARD! My hubby tried to smoke outside, but that only lasted 2 days! It got cold outside! I have tried to reduce my smoking, and spread out the cigarettes about an hour apart. There is NO magic pill to help me. (I wish there were) I want to be around for a long time Any sugestions to help with the cravings?

I had another stroke this week!

2010-09-25T23:23:00.003-04:00

This Tuesday, September the 21st, at 11 a.m,,I went blind for a day. Turns out that I had another stroke in my left eye, and blood was being cut off in it! I was up and getting dressed and had just sat down before going over my Wendy's house to help her take her son to the dentist. He had a tooth that would not break through since the baby tooth was holding tight in the place it needed to be. I sat down to wait for the time to leave when suddenly I could not see anything but a white veil over the whole vision field! I have lost a lot of vision from my right eye over the last year and a half from a previous stroke that bled into that eye last March. The eye specialist has been treating me with Laser to treat that. He stopped the bleeding, but I was left with a cloud or haze over the eye, from the damage to the retina. I can see shapes, and colors of the surrounding areas, but no detail! I cant read a sign or make out a clock or words on the Television.

This stroke that happened Tuesday had BOTH eyes in the same cloud!!! I couldnt even read the phone to call the doctor! I had my hubby help me call the doctor's office and they told me to come right in by 1 pm. Hubby had to drive me! The doctor dialated my eyes and had a scan of the inside, then they put a dye in the IV and tried to see how fast the dye reached my eyes! It didnt show any blood coming into my left eye at all after 2 minutes!

The doctor then had his girls prep me for a proceedure that he put a needle into my eye and sucked out some of the internal matter. This procedure allowed the pressure to let blood come back into my eye, he patched my eye and sent me directly to the hospital to have the rest of my head checked for further signs of more stroke going on in my head! He was concerned that I could have a major stroke!

I spent 4 days in St. Johns Oakland hospital and they have done MRI's and Cat scans and doplers of my head and Arteries . One surgeon thought that I might have an infection of the arteries in my neck and wanted to do a biopsy of one near my temple. If I did have that, I would be put on steroids for a year to help clear that! steroids can really mess with your head! thank GOD I didnt have that! BUT....... while they were cutting out a piece of the vein and stitching me up, I woke up while they were working on me!!!!!!!! I told them I could feel them up, and ouch! that hurt! there from under the surgical drape they had over my face!!!!! They were flabergasted that I had woke up!! They hurried and finished me and got me back to my room!

They told me on Friday that my kidney are too weak to do a test in the MRI with dyes to enhance my arteries, but the original MRI shows that my right corotid is blocked more than 80% and i will have to have the test again and then arrange for the surgery soon to clear it!!!

That still dont explain how I got the blockage to the left eye though! I had the same kind of blockage in my right corotid soon after my original stroke back 6 years ago ! It was more than 90% blolcked!! I have to follow up and find out soon! At least the shot in my left eye save my eyesight in that eye for the time being!!! I got it all back the next day after the procedure he did for me, he save my life!
Ill keep ya posted on future events as they happen!

My digital camera died!

2010-09-06T09:31:00.002-04:00

Its been about 6-7 years, but my trusty digital camera died ! Ive got a lot of pictures out of it over the years, but it finally give up the ghost when the pictures it took were all black. Guess the lens doesnt open to take the pic. It took a few weeks to finally find one that I could afford, and it turned out an Olympus Stylus. I havent taken many pictures yet, but Cider mills are now opening, and I hope it lives up to the hype. We'll see....

Family Reunion Picnic

2010-08-18T09:50:00.010-04:00

On the 14th of August, my niece Tammy, who had took over organizing our Bagnasco family reunion at Stoney Creek park. We had at least 60 adults and kids show up, and thats just a small sample of ALL the family my husband has... Many couldnt make it. We had a pretty good (cloudy) day but it was great to see all that came again. My hubby has 6 sisters, and only 3 were able to come to this one. My thanks to my niece Tammy for taking over arranging the picnic again. We just couldnt handle it anymore. She even made a booklet with all the family tree diagramed in it, with pictures of many of the family.

< my niece Margaret

My hubby, Barlow with Bunny---

My Caroline ---------->

My hubby, Barlow with 3 of his 6 sisters.---

When we first got there.... Movie clip^

2010-07-27T10:16:00.007-04:00

Heres some Beautiful Lillies that are blooming in my pond garden right now. There are 5 stems of blossoms getting ready to bloom. I love iT!
Also, some pics that Amber took of my pond with the LED lights on the fencing around it that Amber helped me put on. Looks like a fairy land at night! And last but not least... A blanket throw I made from the left over yarns in my basket with black rows between the bright colors. It will be nice and warm in the winter for when Im lounging on the couch. Just finished it yesterday!
Now we need some family to have so more babies for me to crochet for............. Keep me busy!

Last but not least... Ive been seeing a eye specialist for over a year for a stroke in my right eye. He has been zapping the blood in my eye with laser to stop the bleeding. Im going again for laser tomorrow. BUT... he says the white haze I have in my vision is from damage to the retina and that will Never get better..... I was hoping it would. OH MY!

New baby stuff for my Sister's daughter, Amie.

2010-06-28T19:42:00.008-04:00

My Sister, Nancy who lives in Florida, has a daughter named Amie who is now expecting a baby girl in November. Ive been working the past several months on the following items as a gift to her first baby. She was the girl who married 2 years ago in Indonesia to her Indonesian husband she met while working on a cruise ship!

This is a frilly little bonnet .

This is her first HOODIE SWEATER!

This is a detail of the blanket I made, the yarn has light tones of pink, blue, yellow, white and a little purple in it. Stitch is a fan stitch again.

This is a larger view of blanket.

A better shot of the hoodie sweater.

This is a stuffed toy Wackie Duckling that I made for her first toy.

A closer look at Wackie Ducky!

I guess my toys are making a hit with my friends and family. I just got a request to crochet a puppy dog for a young grandson of my daughter's neighbor. Back to WORK!!

Water leak led to Remodeling our kitchen!

2010-05-26T09:50:00.011-04:00

Several weeks ago, we discovered Water, coming from under our cabinets, and leaking into the new kitchen floor on the laminate flooring we had done 2 summers ago. The laminate was swelling and buckling up at the ends. We thought it was a leak from under the sink, but my contractor while looking for it, found out it was a leaking DRAIN pipe that led from my kitchen sink to behind the wall into a main drain, within the wall behind the cabinets. It was flowing down the wall and onto the sub floor under the cabinets and out behind my stove onto the kitchen floor. Let me tell you, I was SO glad that it wasnt a leaky water pipe! Everything I ran into my sink and down the dran was getting into my lower cabinets and out onto the floor!

They had to take out the cabinets and all the old subfloor, and replace all the cabinets from the sink left to the stove, then apply a Mildewcide to the other plywood to kill the mold. Now, the house insurance paid for all but the plumbing work, and paid for the new cabinets, and MORE so that I had enough left to finally get my backsplash done in ceramic tile also. With a suggestion from my contractor we decided to do the wet part of the kitchen, around the stove, refridgerator and sink with ceramic tile also, so it can be just mopped up. I think it was a great IDEA! My kitchen looks so much more modern and up to date now! He did the counter tops 2 summers ago for me and they look so nice against the new cabinets and floor!

Here is the new lower cabinets from the sink left to the stove. ( one of the old cabinets remain right of the dish washer)

The wet part is the newer stripped subfloor after spraying with the anti mold product.

Here my contractor, starting to prep my untiled backsplash for the tile he was going to put up. He used rope to measure the seams between the tiles.

Here is a close up of the tiles I choose for the backsplash. The glass tiles put a real pop of color to the kichen. The color is blue lagoon!

The finished behind the stove area! Before grouting.

They laid cement board down on the kichen floor to accept the tile flooring.

Almost finished! The tiles are nice light tan!

Finished with the stove back in its home!

New floor and the fridge is back in place also!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-05-08T18:55:00.008-04:00

May 7th was my 61st Birthday. Caroline had me over tonight for cake and ice cream to celebrate it. Here's some highlights. Barlow took me out for dinner at a nice resteraunt last night, he had the fish and chips while I had a Huge City Chicken stick! YUMMY! Wendy brought me over a nice "Grandma " tee shirt, that I'll model later.

By
By the way, Barlow and I celebrated our 40th Wedding anniversary on May 1st. Seems like only a short time ago in my memory but a long time in reality.

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-08T11:05:00.005-04:00

This is a Mothers Day tribute to my Mom, Jeannine Potulski who died at the age of 45 in 1972. She passed with ovarian cancer. She was a talented woman who could draw, paint, knit, crochet and sew anything. She was a 19 year old bride in this picture with my dad, Art. She looks so happy here.

I miss her everyday and hope somehow that she is smiling from up above at us and my beautiful grandkids! She and Dad are loved and missed so much.

A baby bonnet and blanket for Cindy's new baby coming in July!

2010-04-26T21:07:00.005-04:00

My niece, Cindy Korber is due to have a baby in late July or early August. ( He third child) I have been working for 3-1/2 weeks on these for her. The thread has pinks, blues, whites and puples spread throughout. I edged it in pink, cause shes having a girl. The little cap has a ruffled edge around it. Im loving the colors! Hope she loves it too! The stitch is a fan stitch of 5 double crochets.

The ancient story of the Yetti is explained.

2010-04-21T12:04:00.004-04:00

There is a leagend of the mysterious beast called Yetti, that has been told around the world. Recent reports is that he has been sighted in the neighborhoods of Warren, Michigan, hiding in the woods and the hall ways of East Detroit High School! I managed to get a few pics of him in and out of the garden jungles!

I have finally identified who this gigantic beast is........................

He is my grandson, DARIN Yetnick!!!!

All his friends have nick named him Yeti, since he is so tall, has long arms, and Big Feet! The name fits, so I captured this Photo of him for all eternity! May the legand live on!!! LOVE YA DARIN!

Two more little baby penguins!

2010-04-11T12:07:00.012-04:00

Saturday, Caroline, Amber and I went to the Detroit Zoo and did the whole park, It was great! Nice day, but cool breeze. I snapped only a couple pics, but Amber took hundreds of them. Amber even talked me into getting her a stuffed tiger baby. We loved seeing the polar bears swimming in the tunnel, and trying to get at the seals, in the sealed off portion of the tank. Amber took pics of every frog, snake and animal we saw just about. She posed with a lot of the neet animal statues they have about too. Such a nice day, and a close to Caroline's last days of her vacation.

I finished two more baby penguins that I had promised both my Wendy and Missy, Caroline's neighbor, who loves penguins also. Wendy picked the smaller one, and I sent Frank over to give the bigger one to Missy. Now I am working on a shell blanket for a baby my other niece is having this summer. AND I just found out yesterday that my sister's daughter, is 10 weeks pregnant with her first baby also. That gives me plenty of crochet projects to work on for a while!

He's NOT Tony the Tiger!

2010-04-05T11:57:00.005-04:00

Just completed the latest crochet project. This one is for Amber's girlfriend, Kiki. She wanted a tiger, so I made her this tiger kitten. He's ready to escape the jungle to pounce!

Ain't I Cute!

Bet you cant see me hiding!

Now I promised a couple more Penguins for a couple people, seems that they are very popular! Then I have time to make another baby sweater and hat for a niece thats expecting a little girl in late July. I got some neat multi color pink, and purple baby yarn for that. Having Fun!!!111

A sweater vest for my Wendy!

2010-04-03T09:45:00.002-04:00

Just finished a sweater vest for my daughter Wendy, on Friday Morning, just before she came to clean for me again. I worked for 2 weeks on this sweater, and at the last 1/4 of the right front, I ran out of yarn and had to buy one more skein to finish it! I think it turned out pretty good. She likes it. Lookin good!

Another Kids project in Crochet

2010-03-28T19:14:00.006-04:00

Another of Amber's best friends named Linsey wanted a horse toy from me. In the meantime, I am still working on a sweater vest for Wendy. I got the back of the sweater done, and most of one side in the works so far.
In my rest time I worked on this little horsie. I had just a little of this color yarn left so I had to scale back the pattern from the original plan, but Im please with it as it turned out. The pattern showed straight legs in the back, but Amber said it should curve back like a dogs legs do, so, I tried. Even made a little saddle on his back LOL! Hope she likes it! The color is not really pink, but more like peach. Closest I had to tan.

A New Penguin Personality,

2010-03-23T10:04:00.004-04:00

Amber asked for one more Penguin for one her best friends, named Mercedes. This one has its own personality unlike all the rest. Hes another cutie!

Now on to making a sweater for my daughter Wendy, this one will take a while.

Amber has a few others friends that want little toy animals as a mascot for their group of friends. One wants a horse, another wants a tiger cat. Looks like I'll be busy for a while. Im having so much fun with these things!

A Big surprise for Caroline!

2010-03-22T10:13:00.003-04:00

Last month, Caroline and I were shopping at the Joeanne Fabrics store looking for more yarn for our projects. Caroline found a free pattern for a shawl in this beautiful design. She said, "You can make this for me, Mom". I told her yes its pretty and stuck the pattern in my purse. I really didnt look at it much in the store or have any plans for it till I got home, and decided, Yes, I can do this! I decided to start it and make it a surprise for her. It took several weeks to finish it, but I finished it last night, then drove over her house to deliver the surprise. SHE LOVES IT!

The picture showed a much smaller girl posing with it, and I could had made it somewhat bigger than it is, but Caroline is happy with the results. I figure that she can have it for a long time in rememberance of me. It was a very neet project to do.

A Penguin toy for Matthew!

2010-03-21T09:55:00.006-04:00

This is another design for a Penguin that I found, and I like it a LOT! Matthew likes playing CLUB PENGUIN also, so I wanted a different design from the one I made for Sarah. To me it looks like a "dancing feet" penguin and he's a baby chick. LOL! Hope he likes it. Wendy will come on Friday to help me clean house and she can take it to him then.

Side view on baby Penguin.

Rear view showing tail.

Love it! Now I got one more Penguin to make for Amber's girlfriend Mercedes, the girlfriends all want different animals for a mascot for their group. Other animals they have requested is a tiger, and a horsey. Their keeping me busy!

The Penguin Toy, for Sarah!

2010-03-19T16:19:00.005-04:00

This little Penguin is for my Wendy's daughter, Sarah. both Sarah and Matthew love to play a game online called CLUB PENGUIN, where your character is a penguin and you get to play games online with others kid's penguins and make an igloo house and decorate it.

Now I am setting up to make another Penguin for Matthew, and I have a different patter in mind for this one.

'

I have been invited by Amber's 2 girlfriends to make some more little animals for them, after they saw the piggy I made for Amber. Sounds like I have a full slate of things to make for a while. My daughter, Wendy also requested me to make her a sweater vest in black, that opens in the front. I just bought the yarn, in a nice black with little flecks of yellow, red, white and blue dispersed within it.
Im gonna be a busy Mom for a little while. LOL!

PS: I've been working on a surprise project for someone else, but Im not telling who for. HE HE HE!

SOME PIGS REALLY CAN FLY!

2010-03-11T20:06:00.003-05:00

Well, Amber inspired me to try this. She saw a piggy pattern at the yarn store and asked if she could have one made for her, Her Mom mentioned this to me, so I sought a pattern online for a toy Piggy. This one has angel wings too!

Not bad for a first try! Gave it to Amber this afternoon. She always loved stuffed animals., specially pigs. Im searching for more toy patterns for other animals, or dolls since I have a big bag of stuffing to use up now.

At the moment I decided to crochet a pair of baby booties to go with the sweater and hat I made for the niece's baby then I'll send them off. Any Ideas what else I could crochet next?

TA DA! The first baby sweater I ever made!

2010-03-08T16:20:00.003-05:00

Well, I just finished it this morning, a baby sweater and a tammy cap for my nieces new baby named Ashlen Hope ! I followed the measurements and instructions from a pattern I found online. Its supposed to fit up to 9 months. It all half double crochet stitches. What a job, but so nice, I couldn't wait to finish it!

Now to find a pattern for a toy that Amber requested, she likes pigs, so Ill try to find one for
that. Remindes me of that day, years ago, I was 5 or 6 yrs old, when my Mom crocheted a baby lamb for me, I carried that Lamby around for years, till it started to fall apart at the seams!

Another Crochet project

2010-03-01T10:25:00.003-05:00

Last Night I finished a sweater vest for Amber. You cant see it far away, but the yarn has threads of 3 shades of dark blue in it. She says she likes it, but she took this pic, just after waking up for school, so she looks sleepy.. Its not perfect, but I did it all by measurements, and I didnt even measure Amber first! Not bad thought for a first piece of clothing.

I also make a matching choker necklace, and a little bracelet to go with the sweater.

Next project, a baby sweater for a niece who just had a baby girl. Wish me luck!

A weak try at Crochet Jelewry

2010-02-22T13:12:00.003-05:00

I tried to crochet a bangle bracelet with beads with blue string, but it was very difficult to see the stitches that are so small. I will try again later with another pattern. This one is single crochets. Amber liked it anyway for an ankle bracelet. LOL!

I finished Amber's Slippers.

2010-02-19T17:27:00.002-05:00

I just finished the slippers I made for Amber, she wanted Lime Green! She took them home, and later took a picture for me, because I finished them at the time that her Dad came to bring her home after staying the night one night this week.

Now I got to find a new project to crochet! I saw some cute ideas for some vests or shawls that would be fun. Ill look around and see what I want to start now.

My Crocheting projects, so far.

2010-02-16T13:51:00.005-05:00

My first project, a pair of slippers for me. Not from a pattern, but followed a design I saw on You Tube. Not too bad, but stretched out real fast, so I added some elastic to the top to tighten.

Second project, I made a same color pair of slippers for my Caroline. Shes getting them this week. She inspired me when she asked me to teach her how to Crochet.

Now this is one of two slippers I am making for Darin. He chose RED as his color! He's got size 14 feet, so I had him try on the first one to make sure it would fit him. Alas, they too will stretch out eventually.
\

Now its on to making a pair for Amber, who requested lime green slippers! I hope they turn out as well. Crocheting has been fun again, havent done it for many years, need to research other projects to do later. I tried the crochet string, the ones you make doilies from, trying to make chrocheted jewelry, with beads, a little difficult to see the little stitches, but I'm trying it. Will post it if it turns out okay.

My new hair cut and color.

2010-02-04T13:42:00.002-05:00

This is my new haircut and color I had done yesterday. I wanted to lighten the different shades of gray I had in my hair. I still had some light brown on the bangs and the back was a darker gray that the front area, that was truly white. The hairdresser didnt have an actual white color for me, but I picked the lightest blond color they had available. Now my hubby is happy he has a blond wife.LOL! I think I like it..... Do you?

For Grandparents Everywhere! Too CUTE!

2010-01-08T12:56:00.003-05:00

This is so funny!

Grandparents:

1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under
the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd
done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and
started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you
forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!" I will probably never
put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing the toilet paper
good-bye...

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy
Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62.
My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked,
"Did you start at 1?"

3.. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother
changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to
wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and
more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she
threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room,
putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the
room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice,
"Who was THAT?"

4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what
her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside
on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a
tree in our front yard. We rode our pony... We picked wild
raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed,
taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to
know you sooner!"

5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked,
"Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I
mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we
alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.

6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her
grandfather's word processor. She told him she was
writing a story.... "What's it about?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her
colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out
something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and
was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At
last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think
you should try to figure out some of these, yourself!"

8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin,
we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from
attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in.
Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa.
Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."

9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly
replied, "I'm not sure."
"Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised, "mine says
I'm 4 to 6."

10. A second grader came home from school and said to her
grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to
make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little
surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said,
"how do you make babies?"
"It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i and add
'es'."

11.. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a
public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote:
"The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The
teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't
you know what pregnant means?" she asked.
"Sure," said the young boy confidently. 'It means
carrying a child."

12. A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to
their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past.
Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog.
The children started discussing the dog's duties.
"They use him to keep crowds back," said one child.
"No," said another. "He's just for good luck."
A third child brought the argument to a close."They use
the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."

13. A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived.
"Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want
her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her
visit, we take her back to the airport."

14. Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good
good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart
as him!

15. My Grandparents are funny, when they bend over; you
hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog.

SEND THIS TO OTHER GRANDPARENTS, ALMOST
everyone.

IT WILL MAKE THEIR DAY!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T10:39:00.006-05:00

May this new year bring more prosperity and good things to all our family and friends

Comments by ZingerBug.com!

A little bit of Christmas, happy kids!

2009-12-29T14:09:00.011-05:00

Our dog, Bunny is learning to open her presents too! She loves the squeeky toys.

The kids put in their requests ahead of time, but couldnt open until Christmas. They were so glad to get the games systems of choice. Matthew got an x-box, Darin a Play Station 3, Amber got a new camera, a MP3 player and some movies she wanted, Sarah got a DS-i system and accessories. Matthew challenged Darin to get the highest scores first in their games!

The game/ match is on!

The kids playing games at the games table.

Aunty Sally, Uncle Ed, and cousin Steve joined us for dinner also. They enjoyed Galumpkys, Kielbasa, chicken, and ham and specially the cream pies for desert! They wrestled for first pieces of banana cream pie! LOL! Lordy so much left overs! We are freezing some of the ham for soups and eating the Galympkys and sausages for the last couple of days.

Today, Tuesday, Amber had spent the night with us after her Mom and Me went to Bingo together but didnt win anything. Caroline gave me a bingo bag for my daubers and a cushion for my bony butt when sitting throught Bingo. It worked too!

This morning Amber helped me put away my tree and my singing Christmas dolls so there is only the outside lights on the porch to put away this weekend. For New Years Eve we plan to buy two party pizzas and have the family over again in the evening to celebrate, but I doubt if anyone makes it to Midnight! No cooking involved! YAH!

Merry Christmas to All !!!

2009-12-23T14:43:00.002-05:00

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Hoping that you and yours enjoy the food and gifts for the holidays and have good health! Enjoy and treasure the days to follow!

2009-12-07T12:51:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

2009-12-07T12:45:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

After Thanksgiving leftovers then to the Christmas band concert for Sarah

2009-12-06T17:49:00.012-05:00

The family came over the day after Thanksgiving for seconds on the dinner leftovers. The kids played pool after dinner. Sarah, Amber on left, and Darin and Matthew on right.

I stopped to pickup Amber, then went to Wendy's house to take Sarah to her band concert at school. Here's their new kitten, its about 2-1/2 months old. Sarah, Amber and Matthew.

Here's Sarah going to her station with her coronet to play in both the Jazz band and then the concert band. She loves playing and is really good at it. She even writes her own music, then plays what she wrote.

Our Thanksgiving Feast with the Family!

2009-11-27T10:33:00.008-05:00

We got it all done, with the help of Frank, Darin, and Amber doing some of the prep work. Dinner was great, we killed one turkey, and have one more to finish later today. Even our elderly Aunt and Uncle were able to come and share with us!

Sarah, Wendy, and Amber on my decorated front porch.

Matthew and Darin Chillin on the couch.

Amber taking self pic.

Caroline waiting for the feast!

Cousin Steve hamming it up for the camera!

Uncle Ed, waiting for the dinnner!

Aunty Sally , my (other) Mom.

Grieving for a son we wont ever get to know!

2009-10-23T14:59:00.006-04:00

The last few days we have been doing research to find my husband's son from his first marriage back in 1968. We found an address, but it mentioned dec.2005, on the internet. We knew that after the divorce, the grandparents had adopted him and changed his name. He was born Barlow Kenneth, but they renamed him Kenneth George, with their last name of Corona. The grandparents had never told Kenneth that he was adopted. We know, because, years ago, we got their address and phone number and tried to call, once he was grown up, Kenneth answered, but the grandfather grabbed the phone and would not let us talk to him! The grandfather protested that Barlow was not the real birth father of Kenneth.

We hoped that one day that he would seek the truth, and look up his birth father.

We did some reseach and found the obituary in the Macomb Daily saying that he died April 1st, 2005. A memorial in the internet told that he worked for the city of Frazer, the later with the city of Troy, with EMT's but didnt say how he died, only that he was on Life support in Beaumont hospital when he died. Others on the memorial book said that he was pictured on Fire trucks. He last worked for the city of Troy. He was 36 years old at his death.

We wrote to a police officer who commented on Kenny's Memorial page, to ask how he died. He commented back, that Kenny had health problems, and that his blood sugar had reach over 1000! and that he went into a coma, and never came out of it.

Kenny left a wife named Jenny, and we are trying to find her. Maybe she can shed more light on the life and times of Kenny.

Last Sunday was a great day for the Cider Mill!

2009-10-14T18:49:00.008-04:00

Sunday morning Caroline called us to go with them to Yates Cider Mill and they brought their two pups Toro and Hershey. Caroline, Frank and Amber standing in the cool shade by a picnic table.

Darin held on to our Bunny for us. It was a cool and brisk day, but was okay once we got into the sun.

Barlow brought some GOOD bakery donuts with him for all of us. But it was too cool sitting there in the shade. We later wondered over in the sun to eat and drink our cider. Barlow even treated us to a hot dog!

Here's Amber standing near a carved bear that a guy was demonstrating in a tent. Wow are these nice! You can see the Mill in the background.

Here's the guy actually carving a bear for the crowd. The little bears are so cute! They said that the small bears were going for $150.00!
He had some done in front with cute signs. I wish I could have had one.

Another view of the carver, making another bear.

There was a lot of cute dogs with their families, we saw so many pups and big dogs, Amber was in her glory wanting one of each! LOL!

Amber's 14th Birthday Party

2009-09-29T13:22:00.006-04:00

Amber waiting for cake and ice cream.
Doesn't she look older than 14?

Amber getting ready to serve ice cream.

Blowing out the candles.

Happy girl! Age 14 now!

Caroline in the kitchen prepping to serve cake and ice cream.

Darin is happy to eat banana cake and ice cream!

Because Caroline and the kids were gone for the weekend to visit her girlfreind up North, we had the cake and ice cream on Monday.night.

5 Years Posting!

2009-09-27T10:05:00.002-04:00

I just noticed that my counter says that I've been posting to this blog for over 5 years! It almost slipped by me. It all started the months following my stroke in May - 5 years ago. I was home and wanted to write about the proceedures I had to go through following that. What a great 5 years this has been. I've met a lot of nice people in the blog world. Here goes another 5 years if all possible.

Ambers 14th Birthday = Saturday!

2009-09-27T09:36:00.003-04:00

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Happy 14 th BIRTHDAY AMBER!

Since Amber is up North with her Mom and Brother visiting Caroline's best girlfriend, there is no pics yet. Hopefully they will be back tonight and we'll have cake and ice cream later. Maybe some pics will be forthcoming. Wishing the best of the year for Amber's 14th year. We LOVE YOU SWEETY!

Danny and the Juniors Play at City Hall concert!

2009-09-14T10:32:00.010-04:00

Caroline, Barlow, and Amber joined me to see Danny and the Juniors in concert at City hall this Saturday. They rocked the concert with hits like, Rock and Roll in here to Stay, At the Hop, Teenager in Love, and many more old time hits! We had a great time! This was the first concert that Barlow had attended, and he loved the music, brought back old memories of the 50's. Most are still popular today as well.

Danny and the Juniors - Today and in the 50's

Here is bits of some of the music they played.

Some people were dancing in the street in front of the stage, and we know they all had a great time. Even Caroline got up to dance on the grass with Amber, (who was too embarrased to dance) ,but I got up and danced with her to one song! ( I have no shame) LOL!

Caroline grew up listening and dancing to our old time rock and roll songs, she used to rock as a baby to Babysitting Boogie and she would sing the " Boogie, ung-a-ding!" at the right chorus. TOO CUTE!

I was showing Amber how to do the "BRISTOL STOMP" the other day when we heard a song she was playing with the same similar beat, she just laughed at me.....LMAO! She thought it looked like the charleston! Remember Line Dancing! Those were the days!

A bounty of flowers in my front garden

2009-08-20T18:07:00.007-04:00

This is my biggest one, its a Hybiscus bush with big dinner plate sized flower on it. It the prize of my garden in my front yard. I want to get others with different color flowers also. Im slowly trying to replenish the flowers in my front garden that my hubby accidentaly killed last summer.

This is a closeup of the flowers, beautiful!

These Black eyed susans I dont know the name of the plant, but they glow so nice.

I think these are Gerbera Daisies, not sure, but they are colorful!

This is a suculent plant in front, with a baby Hybiscus behind. The baby was planted I think by birds in another place in my front yard, so I moved it here. The suculent plant gets purplish red in the fall.

Here is one of the two snow ball bushes in the front yard near the house. I have a different type of snowball bush that blooms early in the spring, but its just green now.

This is the new Greek type statue that my hubby bought me last month at the nursery on sale. Because of Caroline having her lighthouse stolen last month, I got a metal cable and tied it to the large porch bench, so nobody will be able to steal mine so easily. She looks so nice on the porch.

Happy Birthday Darin!

2009-08-18T17:17:00.006-04:00

Happy BIRTHDAY DARIN! Turned 15 on SUNDAY!

Here's a little interview I did with Darin for his birthday, he acted a little shy, but look at the 5 oclock shadow he is wearing. His Mom will make him shave that for school pictures the end of the month. The hats he's wearing was his gifts from his Mom for his birthday, we gave him money so he can buy more books or games or whatever he wants. We had banana cake with ice cream. MMMMmmm good!

We are so proud of Darin and wish him all the best with his future! With a loving and caring personality like his, he will go far in anything he does.

Another Free concert -THE COACHMEN

2009-08-04T14:05:00.004-04:00

Sunday Caroline and I went to another free concert and saw The COACHMEN at city hall. They say that they've been playing for 41 YEARS! They played some Big Band music, as well as Frank Sinatra, and then played more, recent music, they played the twist, they played Margaritaville and many more favorites. Great Fun! I know Ive heard of the name of the group before, but just dont remember where Ive heard it from.

Its was a beautiful, breezy day when we watched the show, but it got really cool after the sun went down over the horizon.

Notice the older guy dancing in the forground with the white and black shirt. He appears at all the concerts and gets on the stage steps, dancing the whole evening long at each show. Hes a riot to watch. He even had a younger guy, dont know it their related, but he was asking a bunch of ladies to dance with him, also, or dancing by hisself.

Some of the audience was dancing on the little side road in front of the stage also. It was so cute to see what looked like a 70 year old man dancing every dance with a young teen aged girl who might have been his granddaughter. Got to hand it to him, I wouldnt have had that much strength! Caroline and I were just glad to Bee Bop in our chairs! LOL!

Concert at City HALL. The As Is Band

2009-07-29T10:39:00.005-04:00

On Sunday Caroline, Wendy the grandkids and I went to another free concert at Warren city hall. We saw the As Is Band for the second time since last year, and they Rocked THE HOUSE! They are THAT GOOD! There wasn't a song we didnt know. Sorry if the sound is a little garbled, as we were sitting front row in front of the giant loudspeakers. We thank the city for all the great entertainment we are getting from them.

The city has a big fountain with jets of water that shoot out of the floor in sequences and the grandkids had fun running through the waters before the show. So much fun for them! We cant wait to see what they have scheduled next. I promised the kids that I would take them to the city pool during the week when its not too busy because they have a playscape a regular pool, a hot tub thats huge, and a water slide and tubing in a flowing river in it..!

check out the band's website at : http://www.theasisband.com/news/

My Tree's Fallen and Cant get up! I got a Boo Boo! And Friday Night Concert in the City Hall

2009-06-28T10:17:00.007-04:00

As you can see, our trees have been leaning for years at a 45 degree angle towards our neighbor's yard, but now with the rain the one tree is leaning on top of the neighbor's swing. The roots of the trees are coming out of the ground. We are waiting for our tree guy to come and cut them out for us. None the less, when we called our insurance company they told us that the neighbors insurance should take care of it for her, but, since she called the city, we are facing a fine if we dont remove it. Luckily, our insurance did reconcider and made us a check for the cost to remove both trees. THANK GOD!

This is the base of the trunks showing the roots coming out of the ground. I hear from the tree man that Box Elder trees do this quite often.

_____________________________________________________________-

I got a boo boo! My dog, Bunny has a tendency to guard the area near our desk and doesn't like anyone to approach the area. I was serving dinner to my hubby on Wednesday and got a little close, and Bunny came at me with teeth showing. I stood my ground, and was going to tap her on the side like the Dog Wisperer does, to calm her down. Well.... she caught me on the hand with her canine tooth and ripped my skin open. Like Caroline says, she spend 5 hours in her hospital with me getting two stitches and antibiotic shots to make sure I dont get an infection. I dont know why she does this protection. She is great otherwise. She is food agressive when she has a bone she's protecting. But she is not agressive otherwise.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One Friday Caroline, Amber , and I went to a free concert at City hall again. We saw a band called "Stewart Franke and Band" . We liked the band, but they played more jazzy /rock type music and didnt play any songs that we knew well. We are looking forward to some great bands coming up this summer, we hope!

Father's Day Picnic

2009-06-22T10:19:00.008-04:00

Barlow wanted a picnic for Fathers Day and we headed to Stoney Creek again.
Here's Caroline and Me .

Darin, Frank, Amber and Caroline, cooking.

Barlow, and Amber waiting, Caroline is cooking

Barlow with our dog, Bunny

This is Knight, the "Bad"dog.

Happy Birthday CAROLINE AND BARLOW

2009-06-08T14:02:00.003-04:00

Today is my Husband, Barlow, and my Daughter Caroline's Bithday. Caroline is 39 today and Barlow is 62! What a birthday present I gave him! Lets hope they have many more! I'll never forget the day after I gave birth to her he came to visit me in the hospital and he commented that he had to celebrate his birthday all by himself. THATS when I realized that I gave him the best birthday present of them all! All during the pregnancy we didnt realize how close it was going to be to his birthday! My husband is the only son in his family, he has SIX SISTERS!

Much happiness to both of you!

the old days

2009-06-06T13:26:00.007-04:00

This is my Husband, Barlow with his sister Grace at about 19-20 years of age. This is just before I met him while cruising drive-ins with my girlfriend. We stopped at a drive-in restaurant called " WOODS" in Detroit one day, because my girlfriend used to live in Detroit and knew the area. Barlow parked next to us and started talking to us He had a big Chrysler car with a automatic record player under the dash, and Barlow let us choose the 45 records to play. Later we all pulled over to parking lot next door and played music and danced until late in the night! Barlow looked a lot like John Travolta at this stage of his life, and I WAS IMPRESSED! He had BIG arms from working for his brother-in-law as a brick layer and cement layer . He asked one night, who wanted to go with him to the Roostertail one evening, and of course, I said I do! That was our first date. One of many more.

This is my graduation picture, in 1967, which is just before I met Barlow. I was almost 19 when I met him in the fall of 1968. I had hair to the middle of my back then, I dont know why I went to a hairdresser and had it put up so high. Actually, she had put it higher, but I squished it down some! TEE HEE!

Well time had not done anything for our looks, the gray hair, the extra fat that we put on, has not done us justice over the years. Just thought someone would like to see some of the old days pics.

Here is Barlow and Darin recently at a picnic.

A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

2009-05-08T08:39:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I was invited to my Caroline's house for a Birthday dinner and arrived to find THIS when I arrived. My Granddaughter AMBER and her girlfriend decorated the front door with this sign and balloons! If you notice, one of the balloon signs on the poster say " DANG your OLD" ( LOL) Darin met me at the door when we arrived. Caroline made us pot roast, carrots, and boiled potatoes. It was YUMMY!

Caroline even decorated the house on the inside for me. I was really surprized!

Here is Caroline and my Hubby, Barlow who is petting the dogs.

Amber here with her girlfriend from school who helped her with the outside sign and the balloons.

Here is my CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE with Amber trying to take a LICK! LOL!

After dinner and cake Amber invited us to go to a Talent Show at her school, it was really fun, and they had some very nice talent in it. Amber's friend Uribi did a wonderful rendition of OVER The RAINBOW in the show.

Lots of Celebrations this month!

2009-05-05T18:51:00.005-04:00

Well, May is a busy month for me. On May 1st was our 39th wedding anniversary. Where did time fly? We didn'd do anything special to celebrate it. My daughter Caroline gave me a beautiful card to show me she remembered.

On May 7th, this coming Thursday will be my 60 th birthday! My daughter Caroline has invited us for dinner at her house on my birthday and shes making me a cake too! THANK YOU CAROLINE! I cant believe how fast the years have past. I still have the mind of a 30 year old, but, with all the illnesses I have had over the past 5 years since my stroke, my body feels like a 80 year old. Artheritis had wracked my hips and ankles, causing me to waddle like a duck to walk! LOL! The sore on my hip is still being treated by home care nurses. And since last September, I have had what my eye doctor says was a stroke in my right eye. It causes a gray haze inside my vision. The eye doctor has
given me 3 Laser treatments, and says that he has stopped the bleeding inside the eye, but it will take 4-5 months for my body to absorb the blood and hopefully clear up my vision. Fingers crossed!

Both my husband and I have really slowed down and cant do nearly as much as we used to do. Old age has not been kind to us! LOL!

On the 10th of May is Mothers Day and we dont have much planned for that day either. We want to get some new flowers for the flower beds in the front yard, budget permitting this month. ( and weather permitting) My hubby killed a bunch of bushes and flowers in my flower beds last summer, in trying to kill the weeds that were growing around them. Remember, that Grass and Weed killer kills EVERYTHING it falls on!!! He said he didnt know that! LOL!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS IN BLOG WORLD AND TO MY TWO DAUGHTERS! Being a mother and a grandma has been the highlight of my life, and I wouldnt trade being a Mother for anything else.

OOOPS I DID IT AGAIN!

2009-04-15T14:25:00.003-04:00

YES, FRIENDS, I SPENT THE LAST WEEK AGAIN IN THE HOSPITAL FOR ANOTHER INFECTION ON MY BODY NEAR MY RIGHT hip THIS TIME! I got another abcess on my belly near the right hip bone. I spent from Sunday, April 5th to Monday April 13th in the hospital on IV antibiotics to heal this one. I missed Easter Sunday and I know that my Hubby missed me a lot. He came to see me at the hospital each day, but he only had the dogs for company during the day and nights. This infection grew from a quarter size to 11 inches long in 3 days flat! I saw my regular doctor on Saterday the 4th and he prescribed oral antibiotics to take until I could see the surgeon on Monday, but I could not make it till then and went in on Sunday the 5th. Im doing fine now and again have home nurses coming to help pack and bandage the wound for me. They say that the diabetes I have can make such infections blow up fast and to see my doctor as soon as I notice such a thing again. My sugar reading I have been monitoring, but just because I have diabetes the infections can multiply quickly within me. So I have to monitor them well.

On the other hand we did not celebrate with the kids, Caroline and her family left last Saturday on her vacation to see her sick Mother-in-law and wish her the best with her treatment. I know that sickness stresses both my girls and I dont mean to to that to them.

What A BAD BOY! Saved by Oxy Clean!

2009-03-20T19:35:00.002-04:00

Well in the past few months our Knight, the 11 month old black lab pup has been trying us at every turn. He's chewed up a bunch of plastic statues we left out for the winter in the pond area in the back yard, hes chewed up big holes in my Husband' s tee shirt and socks. Knight has destroyed over 10 rubber toys. He has tried to grind his teeth on my new dining room chairs. He's gouged up a 4 inch section of wall in our pool table room either with his teeth or his claws and ate the plaster! This week he got a hold of a plastic ink pen, somehow stealing it from my purse, and chewed it up to pieces and left a couple of big blue stain on my almost new blue carpet in the family room!!!!!

This little boy is heading for a quick trip to the human society if he doesn't get smarter and quit the chewing on everything! Its not like he doesn't have snacks galor. My Hubby buys all kinds of Milk bones, chewy sticks, and rawhide bones and he rewards the both of them after every trip they make outdoors to relieve themselves.

We tried Tide, hairspray, multipurpose cleaners, even gasoline, and could not get the stains out of the carpet. Caroline reminded me to check online for what the do. All the attempts to clean it just spread it further and just made it worse. Online I read about using OXY CLEAN laundry detergent mixed with 70% rubbing alcohol and a little warm water, and to apply it and let it stand for about 5-10 minutes on the stain. Later we rinsed it with some warm water on a rag and Glory BE!!! It did take the stain out! Let me tell you, that I had bought some Oxy Clean years ago and used it for an additive to my laundry, but I never noticed a big difference in my laundry, but NOW I am convinced that it does remove stains. If I didn't try looking it up on the inter net, I may have never found the solution to my problem.

I guess Knight has a reprieve for right now. but he is really testing our nerves and our patience.

UPDATE:

Last night we discovered that KNIGHT ate two big mouth sized chunks of material off the bottom of my Husband's new winter COAT!!!! While he was sleeping the dog decided to munch on the coat for exercize. We found only small remnants of pieces of material laying on the floor below the coat that was hanging on the back of our dining room chair. !!! This little boy is heading for the dog pound really fast at this rate! WHAT ELSE ARE WE TO DO????

Boomers Great Adventure

2009-03-15T12:50:00.015-04:00

I wrote this story for my grandkids back in 2004
and I was inspired by the story about their missing hampster they had. I envisioned this story happening to him. I thought that some of my readers would like to see it again. Someday I want to have a printer print this up into a real book form as a memory for my grandkids.

BOOMERS GREAT ADVENTURE! (a children's story)
by Paula Bagnasco

DEDICATED TO MY GRANDCHILDREN:DARIN, AMBER, SARAH, AND Matthew

COPYWRITE 9/15/2004

Illustrations copywrite September 2004 to January 2005

Boomer and Nicky were two fat and happy little hampsters who live in a habitrail cage at Darin and Amber's house. They had a carefree life, filling their pouch like mouths with seeds and running around the tunnels. They loved sleeping soundly in their litte upper chamber. When awake, they spent a lot of time chewing long and long on their mouths full of seeds and getting fatter and fatter.Occasionally Darin and Amber would takie them out and play with them, allowing them to run up and down their arms or cuddling by putting their cheeks aganst their soft fur. Boomer especially liked rolling around in his big plastic ball so he could explore more of this outside world. He discovered that it was much bigger and more wonderous the more he explored.He saw huge, strange animals that would occasionally sniff the ball and then dissapear somewhere into another room. It wasthe dogs that lived there who were interested about this strange little creature in the plastic bubble was. They could'nt smell it, whatever it was, so they never bothered trying to get at it. Boomer was glad these strange creatures didn't try to eat him.

Boomer in ball/ Dog

On Saturday, Darin would clean their cage and make sure they had fresh food in their bowl. Boomer was sitting in his upper chamber munching some of his seeds, but when he stood up nice and tall, the lid fell off the top of the chamber. He saw that he could escape and thought, "Gee! I can go out and see some of the world. What an adventure this will be!" So at that, he climbed out and down the table cautiously. Soon he scurried along the floor down the hallway.

Boomer escapes

When he reached the living room, he scooted behind the media center and hid for a little bit, then quickly headed for the kitchen. There was some familiar things he had seen from his bubble, but there was also so many nooks and crannies that looked intriging. He was never able to explore there before. He hurriedly ducked into the crack between the stove and cupboards into a strange, dark world he have never seen before. There was tall drawers he climbed into and out of, and he was having a merry old time exploring the new space. In one drawer was a big bag of bird seed, so he packed his cheeks with some, so save for later on in his journey.Upon climbing down the last drawer he explored, Boomer saw movement in the dark and went to see what it could be. It scurried along the wall and Boomer followed. Suddenly there was a little light in the area coming from a small mouse hole in the wall and that's where Boomer met Buddy. Buddy was a Daddy mouse who has been occupying the interior of the wall with his nest of 5 little baby mice. In the corner, Buddy's wife, Sarah guarded the babies who peeked out from behind her. Boomer tried to introduce himself to Buddy. Buddy just stood there looking at him with a strange look on his face. Buddy was wondering just was was this strange animal with the big cheeks was standing before him.Buddy said, "What are you? And what are you doing here?" Boomers stepped up and told him, "I'm Boomer the hampster and I'm out here exploring this new world I found. What are you?" "I'm Buddy and we're a mouse family. We've been living here searching for food to feed my family here." Said Buddy as he motioned behind him. Sarah was in the corner sheltering her babies in the nest and she pressed herself further back into the darkness.

Boomer meets Buddy and Sarah.

Buddy retorted, "We don't like strangers, and we sure don't like stranger that are not like us!""Well!" Boomer said, "I don't want any trouble. I'll just get on with my adventure, and I won't bother you or your family. Nice to meet you Buddy." At that Boomer was sidestepping slowly toward the mouse hole in the wall. Suddenly a much larger, dark figure stepped out of the shadows to block the way.Bart was blocking the exit. "I say IF you go, WHERE you go, and WHEN you GO!" Bart exclaimed. Boomer froze in his steps while the big ferocious King mouse snarled in his face. "How did you get in here, and where were you going?" said Bart. "I just escaped from my home cage and was exploring this new world." shuddered Boomer, gulping. Suddenly Bart grabbed Boomer by the neck and squeezed, forcing a volcano of seed to spew from his cheeks into a pile on the floor. "And what have you got here!", exclaimed Bart.

Bart chokes Boomer

Bart growled angrily, "So your stealing food from us!""Oh no!" cried Boomer, " I just found it up there.." Boomer motioned up to the drawer space he had just climbed down from. " I was just saving it for later, when I get hungry." Boomer sighed meekly. "Any food to be found her is OURS!" choroused Bart and Buddy."You will pay for this!" Bart snarled. "Cheeks like yours might come in handy for hauling a day's meal to us. I'm not letting you go anywhere."For the next three months, Boomer was chained up by the neck in Bart's house under the dryer. Bart only set him free to seach for food while Bart stood in the dark shadows watching and waiting for him to bring a pile for him and the others.

Nightly the dogs of the house were put into their dog crate by the people to sleep. Boomer then would be on the hunt to find anything he could haul back to feed the mice. The more he brought, dog nuggets, bids of food from the cupboards, or any morsal of food from under the table, the more they wanted. The baby mice were getting bigger, and always cried that they were still hungry.Boomer started saving a few scraps of food in his cheeks, and when Bart wasn't looking, Boomer would drop a little extra for the baby mice. Sarah could only smile at Boomer as he went by, while the baby mice would cover the pieces with their bodies so Bart could'nt see.

Boomer knew that Bart was very powerful, and he didn't think he could win a fight against him. Boomer had been a fat, lazy little hampster and never had to fight anything in his life.After searching all night and bringing all he found to the mice, Bart would grab a big armfull of food from the pile Boomer deposited for himself. Then Boomer had to be chained up again and follow Bart back to his bed consisting of a sock under the dryer. Bart would drop a few crumbs in front of Boomer, then crawl up in his nest of dryer lint and sit and glare at him while munching on his goodies. The chain was fastened to a pipe next to Bart's head and any movement make the chain clatter against the pipe. At the slighest jingle on the pipe, Bart would sit up and growl at Boomer.

Boomer longed for the days when he felt so safe in his cage, munching his seeds and playing with his good pal Nicky. "Will I ever see Nicky again? Will Darin and Amber ever hug me, and play with me again?" Boomer wondered.During the day he could hear noises and movement throughout the house, but Boomer was sure that Bart heard it also. Boomer could see Bart's outline in the darkness, sitting and glaring at him.Boomer worked so hard, and Bart and the other mice demanded more and more from him each day.

Little did Boomer know, that his hard work was making him stronger, and was no longer a fat and lazy hampster.

One Evening while searching for more food, he could clearly hear the voices of Darin and Amber sitting in the dark living room laughing at some movie on television. Boomer ventured a little farther than normal in his quest to find food, while Bart stood nearby watching him. Boomer was listening to the kids voices, "I just got to try it!" Boomer exclaimed.In one quick leap, Bart attacked Boomer, trying to grasp Boomer by the neck and raking his claws in Boomer's forehead. "Oh no you don''t!" cried Bert. Boomer easily shook Barts now fat, lazy body off of him, sending Bart sliding across the floor. Boomer ran faster than he had ever run before in the direction of Darin's voice.

Boomer escapes to Darin With one great leap, Boomer was up on the edge of the couch and he scrambled ontoDarin's lap. "Boomer!" shouted Darin. "Where have you been so long?" Darin quickly picked him up and turned on the light to look at him better. "Oh! He's hurt!" yelled Darin. Darin then washed his hampster's sore head and hugged him against his cheek. "We've been looking for you for so long!" Darin murmured.

At that, Darin put Boomer back into the cage with Nicky while he watched them snuggle together at their bowl.After a good meal and a big drink, Nicky and Boomer climbed up together into their chamber and huddled close together for a long nap. "I've had enough adventure for a while, it's good to be home."

THE END

Almost all healed!

2009-03-04T19:40:00.002-05:00

Many of you know I have been getting treatment at home from an abcess that the hospital lanced back in January on my upper left thigh.

Well, as of today my nurse said that I will be discharged from them as of this coming Friday! The cut in my leg has healed to the point now that the doctor told me on Monday that they dont need to pack the cut anymore with gauze. Yesterday my nurse said that in the last couple days that the cut has closed a LOT since she saw me on last Friday. Its only a dime sized hole now. It was about 6 inches long and 3 inches deep at first when I left the hospital. Amazing! I am so glad to have this over with.
_______________________________________________

This reminds me of when I was in high school, and I THOUGHT that I wanted to go on to be a nurse. In the middle of 11th grade I told my family that I wanted to be a nurse, and took college prep courses in preparation. I even got hired at Nightingale Nursing Home as a nurses aid to get the feel for working in that career. I started as part time.

Let me tell you, I loved working with the poor sickly patients, caring for and feeding and clothing them. I got really close to a lot of them. Some had dementia and many just had ailments that their family could not handle at home. The patients were very nice, and I loved helping to take care of them.

Later, after graduation, I worked there full time and I was transfered to the ward where the patients were worse off. I had a boy, then 18, who hung himself playing cowboy with a rope and cut off the oxygen to his brain. He could not talk, or walk and could barely sit up in his bed. We had a 23 year old woman who got MS after giving birth to her daughter, and could not talk well and could not walk. Her parents had her baby and her husband left her soon after the birth. She used an alphabet on a pad of cardboard to spell out what she needed because her speach was so bad. Later I had many patients die after having cared for them for over a year. I suffered from their loss and later changed my mind about being a nurse.

I went on to work in offices, and loved the interaction with customers and co-workers. I worked for 14 years for Holley Carburetor Co. as a Receiving clerk and later a Traffic Co-ordinater following shipments around the country to our Southern plants. But I was laid off when the company decided to whittle down and then close the plant here in Warren, Michigan.

After that I worked for 16 -1/2 years at Specialty Sealants, in Sterling Heights, MI, selling caulking materials and Waterproofing products to contractors in the area. I was the one and only office manager doing all the ordering, stocking the warehouse, driving the Hi-Lo, and doing all the customer service, recomending the right materials for the jobs.

Now, since my stroke, which was 5 years ago, on my birthday, May 7th, I was forced to retire and have gotten on dissability Social Security. I could no longer do the job I used to do. My job now is to take care of my hubby, Barlow, and together we try to take care of this home. He retired about a year and a half ago due to increased pain from artheritis in his knees.

I spend a lot of time helping my daughter, Caroline, by picking up her kids from school and taking them home on the days that she has to work those hours, and by going to going to Bingo on occasion. Time has slowed down, day by day, but the years keep spinning by so fast its like we're in a whirlwind and cant stop it! I feel like a 20 year old mind in a 80 year old body! How do I make it stop! LOL! (or do I?)

2009-03-04T19:33:00.000-05:00

Just For Fun, this is mine. borrowed from my Caroline's blog.

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

2009-02-05T18:06:00.008-05:00

THE MOTHER of ALL ICICLES!!!

Like my daughter, Caroline, the family urged me to photograph THIS icicle hanging from the gutter in the back of my kitchen ALL the way to the bottom of my house! It was born from a humongous ice dam coming off the back of my house. I never saw such a huge icicle in all my days! My Grand kids have been anxious to knock this one down, but my hubby said NO! it might knock down the whole gutter and the boards holding it up! ( I hope not!)

This is the ice dam that bore such a huge icicle! Lots of weight sitting in those gutters! We are expecting a warm up tomorrow and until at least Monday, and we are hoping that this melts ALL away before it creaps under our new roof and destroys our walls.! GULP!

Here are a few shots of out our front door of the snow drifts in the neighborhood. Most of the snow has compacted into ice mounds at this point, but we're hoping it will melt and go away real soon!

__________________________________________

I'm still healing from the wound that had me in the hospital last month for 5 days. The home care nurses come each day to dress and bandage the cut on my leg and check on my sugars and listen to my heart. They are great ladies, but I will be so glad to be able to not have to have them come anymore. At least I have had no complications so far with it healing, but the healing is going VERY slowly! ( Which I am told is the way the doctors prefer it. Healing from the inside out) They tell me the cut has closed about 1- 1-1'2 centimeters in the last month, still have about a centimeter to go or more. YEAH- UGG!

Yeah! Finally out of the hospital

2009-01-11T10:20:00.003-05:00

Just a little post to let you know that I spent 5 days in the hospital for a leg abcess that had to be lanced. It started out a small one a pimple, but since it wouldnt pop open, it kept spreading along the leg till it was 6 inches down my leg. They cut it and drained it, and kept me on antibiotics for the 5 days.

I went in on Monday, 1/5 and came out on Friday 1/9. Thank God that they let me come home on Friday because I was going bonkers, not being able to sleep all night. I would sleep good for a few minutes, then wake and check the clock and it would be only 5 minutes later! This continued all night long! Five to 10 minutes at a time, ALL NIGHT! ( watching the clock go around the dial.) Even when I did get some sleep, someone was coming in waking me for blood pressures, testing sugar, or taking blood ALL NIGHT LONG! I hate hospitals!

The doctors have arranged for a visiting nurse to come daily to change the packing in the wound and bandage it up for me. The cut runs about 5 -6 inches long and 2 inches deep! This sore grew that big in only a couple days and it was deep and really sore. I have two prescriptions for antibiotics to take at home several times a day. I can live with that, as long as I am a home! What really kills me, is that the doctor that called the visiting nurses to come here were supposed to supply to me a bunch of bandages and gauze and give the nurses instructions on what he wanted done. This wasn't the case. I got nothing, and the nurse happened to have some gauzes in her own kit to do the job. She had to order some more sent to my house for this week coming up.

Well things are looking up now that Im home, and the nurse says healing is going well. I sure would'nt want to see anyone else I know have to go through this!

Hope you all are well and happy!

Merry Christmas at Grandma's House!

2008-12-24T19:45:00.011-05:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Well, the family got together tonight to celebrate Christmas and have dinner at Grandma's house. Dinner consisted of Galumpky's ( stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce), Kielbasa, Italian Sausage, Smoked sausage, sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, corn and green beans and a huge lettuce and tomato salad. My Aunt Sally and Uncle Ed came with my cousin Steve and the gang loved the food. I think Ed had a piece of most of the pies and also a piece of cake.

Amber brought a couple of her music CDs and we had fun beebopping to some of the hits on it. Caroline and I really like the new song by PINK, called "SO WHAT". It has a great beat and we were really bopping to that one. After dinner Amber, Darin, Matthew, Sarah and Amanda (my step granddaughter) were sitting around our stereo playing more of her new music. The kids played checkers on the table in our pool table room and were chatting.

Here is Frank and Caroline after they just come in.

Here is Amber, Sarah, Matthew and Amanda playing checkers. This is our pool table room,/play room, we have a pinball game and a shuffel board also in there.

This is Darin by the Buffet counter with the food on it.

Here is Matthew and Sarah. Aren't they getting big? Sarah will be 12 the end of January and Matthew will be 10 the middle of January. How time flies!

How cute! Amber giving Darin a hug!

Caroline, Amber eating with Cousin Steve and Frank.

My Lovely Aunt Sally with her handsome hubby Ed.

My two girls! Caroline and Wendy.

It was my delight to have the whole family together with me tonight and be one together again. With Caroline's work schedule, working her both day and night each week, we always have to check her schedule before we can plan a day like today. I'm just to happy to have all those that I love so much getting together with me for a day. Makes all the work cooking worth it to me.

I hope however you celebrate the Holidays that everything comes out as great, or greater that what we have had!

Butterfly Award For ME! ?

2008-12-11T17:58:00.009-05:00

Well, Caroline nominated me for this award, and I have to nominated her blog also, even if she is my precious daughter, she has amazed me with her wit and humor in portraying to others her life and family in her blog.

I also nominate Mal for this award because he was one of the first to visit and comment on my blog, but he is very interesting in his blog in a Aussie way, lol, and he amazes me with his stories and his children and his band.

I also nominate Momma at Momma's Corner for her humor and wit in portraying her life and times with her family and her animals, she got me beat in her tennacity to get things done. Im amazed with her stories, and she makes me laugh.

I also nominate Naomi the old lady of the hills, for her love of people, nature and her lovely photos of birds, bees, and her lovely flowers.

And Lastly, MISS ZOOT, who I read daily for her humor, her lovely, beautiful kids, and wonderful artistry in producing a great blog read.

Sorry, as of yet, I dont have so many to add, but I'm meeting and hearing from new friends all the time. I reserve the right to nominate others that I find as time goes on.

The rules for this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

3. Nominate 10 other blogs for this award

4. Add links to those blogs

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-07T11:58:00.004-05:00

From Our House to yours Seasons Greetings

Sara's First Band Concert

2008-12-05T19:43:00.006-05:00

Sarah has been practicing big time for this concert at school, in her first semester of taking band this year in 6th grade. Grandma and Grandpa has signed to pay the rental cost for her so she can be musical. She's doing a great job so far, based on what we heard her playing at our house for Thanksgiving. The school has a very small stage with over 100 Students in band this year! There was very little seating up close for a huge crowd, so we could not see the kids on stage in the far back rows we were behind some big people in front of us. We could hear the band well, but just couldnt see them. We took these pics after the show where we could get some better shots.

I brought her cousin, Amber and a school friend of Amber's who wanted to come along, and Wendy brought Amanda Sarah's 16 year old half sister as well as Matthew, Sarah's little brother.

Here's Sarah tooting her horn

Amanda, Sarah's big sister

Amber and her school friend (left)

Matthew, Sarah's (BIG) Little Bro.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T13:50:00.014-05:00

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving together with my girls, the grandkids, my elderly Aunt Sally and Uncle Ed and my Cousin Steve.

Caroline

Caroline came over on Wednesday with her kids and helped chop the vegies and peel the potatoes for dinner, they they all helped clean my floors and wipe the tables and vacuum my house. (Caroline even cleaned the filters for my vacuum cleaner)

I just had to assemble the stuffing and put the turkeys in the oven and baste them, then put the potatoes on to cook. I had two turkeys again, because traditionally we have the kids over again on Friday to help eat up all the leftovers, so we have actually have two dinners each year. The first small turkey was used up on Thursday, plus half of the second one.

On Thursday Caroline came over earlier and made deviled eggs from the eggs i boiled and help me set up the buffet table with cheese and crackers and set out the vegie tray with Ranch dressing. Only Sarah and Wendy came for dinner as Mark and Matthew were feeling poorly from flu symptoms, and at 1pm my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin came.

My Uncle Ed is now 95 (but you would never believe his age by looking at him) and I believe Sally is now about 87 or 88. They are beautiful people and have been a source of love and support for all my life. Sally has been like a second Mother to me since my Mom died several years ago.

Frank and Darin helped drain and mash the potatoes and set it into the trays for the buffet. Everyone feasted and were raving about how good the food was.

After dinner we brought out the pumpkin pies, the jello, the apple pie, the cherry pie and the banana cream pie, Steve even brought me a plate of mixed fruit. Everyone were wanting a nap after such a great meal.

Wendy then wrapped all the left overs and washed the dishes and pans for me and fixed a couple plates to go home to poor Mark and Matthew to saver the feast.

All cleaned up and waiting now for the CHRISTMAS FEAST TO COME! I cant thank my family enough for all their help before and after to make this feast happen, and without which I dont think this old lady could have pulled it off!

I was so busy that day that I didnt even get out my camera to take pics, so with the help of Caroline and her camera, here is a glimpse into out big day..........

Darin and Grandpa chatting in the family room

Caroline, Frank , Darin and Amber

Sweet Aunty Sally

Uncle Ed and Cousin Steve

Cutie Amber

Wendy - Frank in Background

Sarah

It beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2008-11-16T20:16:00.002-05:00

Yay! I got the decorations out front for Christmas just in time before todays first big snowfall. The milder weather earlier last week was a good time to get it started. Red flashing lights are on the pine wrapping around the porch rails and decorate the front window. We got a good inch of snow this afternoon and more is scheduled to later tonight and the next few days. AND I'm still working on getting our Thanksgiving dinner planned and purchased! Well hope your Holidays are beautiful and everything is as wonderful for all of you!

Carousel and Santa - lit trees on porch with a lighted wreath.

A Nice Day for the Cider Mill

2008-10-20T15:22:00.010-04:00

Saturday was a great day for going to Yates Cider Mill and Amber was staying over while Darin and Frank went small game hunting and to try out Darin's new gun we got him for Christmas. They didnt get anything, but Darin got a little experience with the gun. Amber is our animal lover and is great with the dogs, so she helped us take the dogs for a walk and ride there.

I was really shocked that the leaves were falling so much at the place, while ours at home havent even turned color yet, much less fall! Yates is only about 15-18 miles North of out house but there was much more color up there. Im NOT looking forward to Winter! Amber took the dogs for a walk along the beautiful river and watched the ducks swimming. The dogs liked walking the trails in the woods and were tuckered out after. Amber even ran into two classmates on the trails in the woods, seems that a lot of people had the same idea for such a beautiful day.

Bunny and Knight were glad to relax in the car after the excitement of seeing other dogs, and so many people walking around. Lots of people stopped to pet the dogs and remark on how cute they are. We agree.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION TO A LOVELY YOUNG LADY!

2008-09-28T19:59:00.007-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER !

Amber turned 13 this Friday and for her birthday I took her and her brother to another Concert at Warren City Hall, which included carnival rides, and concerts, including the Polish Muslims a comedy band who use Polish names and foods in their very funny act on stage with current songs, and for the final act we saw Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, singing their famous songs like Jenny Jenny and Shake a Tailfeather. The kids just enjoyed the shows and being out with Grandma.

Amber's here waiting for the show to begin. See the stage on the left.

Grandma and Amber, what a great girl she is.

Darin wasn't feeling very good but he said he really did enjoy the shows.

The Polish Muslims band.

Mitch Ryder on stage. on the right.

After the show the city had fireworks for the crowd, but it was late after the show, so we left early.

It was great to spend Amber's Birthday evening with her and her brother. I thank God that the still like to hang with an old lady like me.

A new BABY in our household!

2008-09-23T16:22:00.005-04:00

This is our new baby, Knight, on the right with our 15 month old Bunny on the left. Knight is a 6 month old Black Lab mixed puppy who my son-in-law found as a stray at his work last month. Of course, since they already had 3 dogs, he asked my hubby if he wanted him. (hubby hid it from me until the dog arrived) He is very shy, but playful with Bunny. In the last few weeks we got him his first puppy shots and last week had him neutered. (although Bunny was already fixed when we got her from the shelter., but just in case.) Knight is just learning his name now and has only had a couple accidents in the house so far, but we put him in a dog crate during the night for safe keeping, till we are sure we can trust him. Poor Bunny continually catches him playing with all her toys and eventually takes them away from him, and once in a while they get into a fight when Knight gets a little rambunctious with his play biting. Amber caught a few shots of both dogs licking and rolling on the floor together. Let me tell you, they both keep us busy watching out for them, and seperating them when they get too ramuctious with their running around.
We're a two dog family now !

<---This is Knight , I had to chase him down to get this pic. LOL! He's got floppy flippy ears!

Sometimes I think Bunny wonders what do to with this little kid we brought her to play with. ----->

This is the two kids licking and rolling on the floor for our entertainment. Bunny has the pink collar, Knight is in blue. i hope that eventually they will be good friends as they grow up. Time will tell.

Construction is FINALLY Finished!

2008-09-21T10:29:00.011-04:00

Finally this summer we had our contractor who beautified our house come and finish our final work on our garage and he built us a nice big shed to add to our storage.

This shed is 12'x14' and we plan to paint it light blue like our house siding with white trim.

We had the contractor cut down the garage to a 1-3/4 size to allow us to get the mower through between the house and the garage, (there used to be only a 2 ft. path between the garage and house),leaving a little carport to drive the riding mower through the carport. He had to use metal poles to support the roof.

The contractor built a nice white gate to keep our dog(s) in the yard. He even used the same blue siding on the front of our garage. Looks nice- dont it? The carport will add to our patio in the back of the yard.

A new gate was also built on the far side of the yard to contain the dog (s) in the side yard. This used to be the only way we could get the mower into the back yard.

Here is a little peek at some of the flowers blooming in my front yard at this moment.........Love them. Daisies--->

<---Snowball bush

<------ My Easter lillies flower bloomed AGAIN!

Some Sedum flowers----->

Another Concert in the park

2008-09-01T12:07:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Caroline, Amber and I went to another concert at Warren City Hall, and saw a band called Michael Quatro and Band. It was okay but they didnt play much songs that we knew well, and he and his band were loosing their voices from other concerts that they did this week. They also had a few electrical problems cause his keyboad amp was burning out the plugs in the stage area and they had to do some switching around of pluggage.

Well, at least it was free, and we heard a lot of good keyboard playing, even though the sound was not that great in the singing end.

Michael is the one on the keyboard, his band playing Detroit City Blues in this one. His Sister, Suzie Quatro went up to also sing in this number.

It was a Happy Birthday for Darin- 14 !

2008-08-17T09:28:00.004-04:00

Singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Darin yesterday our BIG Young Man turned 14 ! We can't believe how big and smart a young man he is, and we are SO PROUD of him! May he be successful in everything he becomes.

Momma Caroline cant hold him in her lap on one arm anymore. In fact he could probably hold HER on HIS lap much better. LOL!

Amber and Caroline at the Birthday party, Amber is the next one to have a birthday coming up next month. She will be 13! A TEENAGER! OOH MYYY!

Grandma and Grandpa are really proud of these two! What a day!

A Free concert at City Hall

2008-08-12T11:10:00.006-04:00

This Sunday, Caroline, Amber and I attended a free concert held by the city at Warren City Hall. It was a little cold and windy, so instead of outside on the lawn they had it inside the hall in the atrium and it was great! The band was named " The As Is Band" they played top 40 hits. See their website Here: http://www.theasisband.com/music/
Here is Amber showing her enthusiasm for the band.

Here's Me in front of the garden beside the atrium.

Caroline and Amber sitting through the break from the music. Many other Warren residents were there also. We really tapped our toes and clapped to the music.

Here is a pic of the band. I recorded some of their sound, but the sound didnt come through so good on my camera. The one singer played several instruments including a huge sax, and a clarinet.

There is more concerts scheduled for the next few Sundays to come with Country music, a Concert band, and top 40's rock and Oldies bands. We plan to attend more of these in the next few weeks, it was so great, AND FREE!

My New and Renewed Flower Beds and The Pond

2008-07-17T14:37:00.013-04:00

These are my new and renewed old flower beds that are finished with a lot of hard work from my daughter, Wendy. I got some new plants and stone to edge the new beds, and Wendy did a lot of weeding and putting new mulch into the existing beds to get my front lawn back into shape. Too bad the weeds grow so much faster and prolific than any thing else!

From the side drive looking over the front lawn. Wendy stacked the white stone into a oval around the center bed, and then added more stone to edge the bed along the house. Too bad the flowers are not all in bloom at this time.

'This is along the side drive, the big plant next to the little pine tree is a hybiscus bush that is getting buds ready for BEAUTIFUL white and red flowers!

This is a new water fountain I got for the front beds. Really cute little guy! Very soothing sound of water.

This is the new bed added on to

the new addition in front of the new added bedroom we had built. To the far left is a new purple lilac bush, right of that is a yellow and green bush and then a hosta then another new bush with white little bell flowers then, my old snowball bushes.

This is the new park bench we got for sitting on the new front porch, so great for watching what goes on in the neighborhood, and the flowers, when they bloom.

This is the canopy with screens that we sit on the patio and watch the kids swim and look at the pond

This is my little pond, and a great place for my little fisher guy that Caroline got me for my birthday. It has fairies and a lighthouse.

Perfect place for him to sit and fish! LOL!

Well thats it for now, sorry that lots of things were not in bloom at this moment, but I'll catch them after they open up later.

This our 15 ft round swimming pool - the kids begged us to reopen for another season.

Thats it for now. Just a peek of things to come.

IM back! Mothers Day was great!

2008-05-29T09:53:00.007-04:00

Please forgive the small pics, but blogger wont make the pictures any bigger, I tried, but thats all it would do right now.

These are the great gifts my girls got me for Mother's Day/ My Birthday this year. The fishing guy statue for next to my pond, and a bouquet of red roses were my Aniversary/Birthday and Mother's Day gift from Caroline. The beautiful floral cabinet was the same gifts from my Wendy. Thanks GIRLS! I just love both of them. I know that having an aniversary, birthday, and Mother's day within a short time is a burden for my girls, but I do appreciate it a LOT! You both never cease to amaze me with your great surprizes!

I was away a little bit trying desperately to get my Kodak easy share program to work without all the errors. I tried re-downloading and re-using my disc, but still ending up with errors and the program not opening. Finally I got online with a Kodak representative and he set me up with a URL to finally erase all the previous downloads and then to re-download the program again, and its FINALLY working, (Somewhat) and Im back in business. (for the moment) Don't you hate it when things dont run right in your computer?

My Niece got MARRIED in BALI!

2008-05-05T13:47:00.007-04:00

This is my sister's daughter, Amie who just got married in a traditional wedding to Hendra in his native home near Bali! Look how beautiful she is.

And this the husband she married - Hendra.

These are Hendra cousins who attended the wedding. Pretty girls.

This is my Sister, Nancy, Amie, and Nancy's husband, Rob just before the wedding. Proud Parents! Hendra's parents had traditional costumes custom made for Nancy and Rob. Beautiful! Rob doesn't have his costume on in this pic.

Both familys visited Monkey Mountain to feed the monkeys after the wedding.

Amie met Hendra while working on a cruise ship for the past two years. Amie has been learning to speak the language and they both translated for my Sister when she spoke with Hendra's parents. Amie wants to also stage another wedding in the U.S. when they come back here in the fall or late summer. Her sisters and brother could not make the trip to Indonesia for this one.

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______________________________________________

In other news:

May 1st was my hubby and mine 38th wedding aniversary, my daughter Caroline bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses and Wendy bought me a beautiful display cabinet for my collectables with decorated painting of flowers and vines across the front and top.

Wednesday, May 7th will be my 59th birthday, lots of celebrating in this month with also Mothers Day coming next weekend. Where did all the year go? In my mind, Im still a 30 year old, but the old body tells me otherwise. There is still much more to come.

I've been having my daughter Wendy helping me weed and restart a new flower bed for the front of the house, as soon as we finish, I'll take some pics to show it off. I've bought some new bushes and plants to fix up the beds, and white stone to decorate the new beds in front of the new addition. More to come soon...

A Meme As my Daughter Suggested

2008-04-09T19:23:00.004-04:00

meme
I normally don't do too many memes...but this looked simple enough. Remember:You Can Only Type One Word

1. Where is your mobile phone? ~Purse

2. Your significant other? ~ Snoring

3. Your hair? ~ Colored

4. Your mother? ~ Deceased

5 Your father? ~ Deceased

6. Your favorite thing? ~ Surprizes

7. Your dream last night? ~ nonmemoriable

8. Your favorite drink? ~ Fruit

9. Your dream/goal? ~ Vacation

10. The room you’re in? ~ Family

11. Your ex? ~ None

12. Your fear? ~ Illness

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? ~ comfortable

14. Where were you last night? ~ Home

15. What you’re not? ~ skinny

16. Muffins? ~ blueberry

17. One of your wish list items? ~ cruise

18. Where you grew up? ~ Michigan

19. The last thing you did? ~ Shopping

20. What are you wearing? ~ clothes

21. Your TV?~ Big

22. Your pets? ~dog

3. Your computer? ~ communicator

24. Your life? ~ Happy

25. Your mood? ~ Tired

26. Missing someone? ~ Mom

27. Your car? ~ Van

28. Something you’re not wearing? ~Glasses

29. Favorite Store? ~walmart

30. Your summer? ~ FUN

31. Like someone? ~ everyone

32. Your favorite color? ~ Turquoise

33. When is the last time you laughed? ~ today

34. Last time you cried? ~ ?

35. Who will/would re-post this? ~ Friends

Have fun!~~~

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T13:19:00.004-04:00

We took the whole family to a Chinese restaurant called Mongolian Buffet for Easter Dinner. Everyone had a great time and a great meal, (saving Momma the cleanup later).

Amber WON the last set of Matches of the season! HERE'S PROOF!

2008-03-19T20:12:00.005-04:00

Amber is in the red and black tights, and she pinned the boy within the FIRST MINUTE of the contest! (You can hear Caroline and Frank cheering for her in the background)

We're so proud of our big girl !!!!

And here are a few others of her team that won also!

AMBERS Team woooped butt on Clawson's team!

2008-03-17T18:50:00.007-04:00

Here's the (war dance) they come in with on every home game! Such Intimidation!

See how big her team is compared to the opposition! They won all but 2 matches against Clawson.

Amber Has Joined the Wrestling Team !!

2008-02-23T14:13:00.009-05:00

Amber is one tough little lady, and last night, Sarah and Wendy, and I went to her school to watch a practice match her school had with another school's team in the area. She didn't win, but she gave a good fight against some VERY big boys on the other team. She has only had a couple weeks of practice so she's still learning. Her coach said that two girls students he taught in the past, went on to wrestle through college and one is going for the Olympics this year! She seems to have the determination to keep going, and isn't afraid that she'll get hurt.. So far...

They have kids as small as 60 lbs on up on each team, and they matched them according to weight classes.

The boys she fought looked a lot heavier than she does. At least we were her cheerleaders for the night and boy! did we cheer for her! Amber is in the red shirt and black pants.

Some Cute Little Ditties I found

2008-02-21T10:11:00.002-05:00

UPDATE on Frank

2008-02-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

Well, Frank is back home and is attending Physical therapy to try to get his fingers to move. Apparently it was definitely a stroke, and they found no problems with his heart. He will be out of work for quite a while with only one hand to work with. The family doctor is also going to have an ultrasound done to see about blood flow into his arm. Therapy is doing shock treatment to try to get the fingers to move. Lets pray that the therapy helps him get some use of his left hand and fingers. Only time will tell.

Sarah and Matthew's Birthday Party!

2008-02-02T18:35:00.001-05:00

Matthew Blowing out his candles, at the combo Birthday Party for Sarah and Matthew. Behind him on the left is his Half Sister. Amanda, and to the right is his Mother, Wendy. Since their whole family has birthdays in January, they celebrate all of them at the end of the month. Matthew turned 8 years old on Jan. 18th.

Here is Sarah who just turned 11 on January 31st, with her two friends from school and her Half Sister. We had pizza, cake and ice cream and pop. Then the girls played pin the tail on the donkey and put fake tatoos on each other, including Grandma.

HIP, HIP, HOORAY! for Matt and Sarah!

Frank is sick!

2008-01-21T19:03:00.000-05:00

As of Friday, Frank, my son-in-law, who is married to my daughter, Caroline, is in the hospital with a possible stroke. He called her from work in the afternoon complaining about his arm and hand were not moving for him. After extensive tests, they are very sure that he has had previous minor strokes in the past, and that he has had another. At first his entire left arm was very heavy and he had no movement of his fingers at all, but since being in the hospital for 3-1/2 days, he can now lift his arm, but not much movement of the fingers is happening. They are also monitoring his heart, as he also has a normal low blood pressure, but they are deeply concerned that his heart beats TOO SLOW! Normal persons have a pulse of 60-80 beats per minute, but his is only 43-46 beats per minute.
We need every prayer we can possibly get to help Frank get back on the road to full recovery. Their family needs him around for a long time yet.

WHAT A DAY! Happy familys! (Grandma and Grandpa's gang)

2007-12-28T19:27:00.000-05:00

Holiday decorations
----------------Matthew opening gift

Wendy and Amber at snack bar

Even Bunny got a new dog toy!

Matthew got a new TV!

Amber wanted a portable DVD Player

-------------------------------Darin got a TV and RC Helicopter

Sarah wanted Cash for a shopping spree!

Amber wanted the rest of her cash for a shopping spree.

Darin's excited opening his envelope.

Me- Looking at my present

My present - a necklace with Darin and Amber engraved on it!

How Beautiful!!!

Barlow's Present- Dog Tag Necklace -with Darin and Amber's picture engraved on it!!

My cousin Steve with Amber and Sarah behind him.

My Aunt Sally and Uncle Ed

Wendy, Mark, and Matthew and Sarah - family portrait

My little white tree.

My hubby- Barlow in Family room

Frank at the Buffet counter

Caroline, Frank, with Darin and Amber- Family portrait

Everyone ate their fill, munched on Pies and cakes, were thrilled with their presents. Wendy got me a beautiful shirt, pants and gloves, as well as a box of candy! We're spoiled that way. I also received a wonderful large picture frame with lots of windows to put our family pictures behind. Darin and Amber went together and bought Grandpa and Grandma a gift certificate for a dinner out at Ponderosa Steak House Resteraunt!

Well on now to the New Year. Hope this new one is just as wonderful or better than 2007!

Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our festivities....

I Found one Charnina Recipe! (for those that are searching)

2007-12-15T14:40:00.000-05:00

DUCK BLOOD SOUP(czarnina)

Collect the blood of a freshly killed duck or goose and stir in 1/4 cup 6% vinegar. Seal and refrigerate until ready to use.In pot combine duck or goose wings, neck, rump, heart, and gizzard with 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil, skimming off scum until no more forms, reduce heat and simmer 1 hr. Add several peppercorns, cloves, and allspice grains and 1/2 to 1 bay leaf plus the standard portion of soup greens and simmer another 1-1 1/2 hours or until meat easily comes away from bone.
Dice giblets, remove meat from bones, dice, and return to strained stock. The soup vegetables may be diced and returned to pot or used in another dish according to preference. Add about 2 cups dried fruit: prunes, apples, pears, raisins, and simmer another 15-20 minutes. Fork-blend 2-3 Tablespoons flour with blood & vinegar mixture, add about 1/2 cup stock 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly, then return to pot. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch or 2 ground juniper berries (optional), sugar, and a bit more vinegar if needed to get a sweet, sour, winey flavor with subtly spicy undertones. Simmer gently several minutes and serve with egg noodles, noodle squares, grated-potato dumplings or cooked, diced potatoes.

Source(s):
www.outernetweb.com/recipes/grandma/soup...

It's Beginning to look a Lot Like Christmas!

2007-12-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

Well I'm almost done with the Christmas shopping and have most of the food exept the last minute things like pies and breads. The kids are all looking forward to Santa, and our Papa Clause.( Grandpa) With the kids getting bigger, its been hard to pick out things for the kids for Christmas, so we offer either cash, (for a shopping spree) or the equivalent value in a Special wish for a gift. The boys, Darin and Matthew both asked for a flat screen television for their rooms and remote controled mini helicopter. Amber has wished for a portable DVD player, and the rest of her money to go on a spree. Sarah is wanting just the money so she can shop till she drops! Ha ha! At least they all get their wishes.
Our Christmas dinner always consists of our family's favorite, which is my Polish Galumpky ( stuffed cabbage rolls), but we'll also have sliced ham, Italian sausage, and Kielbasa. We also make boiled potatoes, and corn. I'm going to make some home-made cookies, and we'll have pies and cakes. (for Thanksgiving I bought one banana cream pie, and I did'nt even get one piece, so I think two will be the order of the day for this holiday! LOL!)

Looking forward to the great day ahead. Hoping yours will be just as great as ours will be too! What special holiday feasts are you all preparing for the special day? Is there a special item that the family always request from you?

_____________

A lot of people have been scanning the site meter of my blog in search of a recipe for Charnina soup. A dish, which is a Polish (i think) dish made from the blood of a duck with sweet plums or raisins in it. I know my Grandma used to make it, but I never got the recipe. (My mouth still waters for her soup with the home made noodles) Has anyone out there got one for me? I dont even know if it's possible to get the blood anymore. Sounds grousom, but it really was great the way my Grandma used to make it.

Tummys are full, all the family had fun, a good day was had by all!

2007-11-23T18:58:00.000-05:00

Uncle Ed and Bunny / Grandpa Barlow

Wendy / Caroline

Sarah, Bunny and Matthew/

Darin

SARAH AND one Turkey /

Vegie Platter

The Small turkey in the

Popeils cooker- looks great!

Tastes great too!

Big grown up Amber!

Well two turkeys and tons of food later, and a second dinner on Friday nearly knocked off all the great food we had for Thanksgiving! Doesn't everyone look happy and contented? How thankfull I am to have such a happy family with me at the holidays. Hope everyone else has such a great time like we did.

Have a Very Happy THANKSGIVING !

2007-11-21T18:52:00.000-05:00

As we sit down to our family dinner we will give thanks for all the wonderful gifts that we have received in this last year, and pray for continued blessings for the upcoming years for all our family and all our friends.

I think I'm spoiling HIM! AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2007-11-18T22:46:00.001-05:00

My hubby REALLY loves cookies with his coffee in the morning. He eats a LOT of them. Well, now that he's retired and staying home all day (and bugging me..,) he got the great idea to have me making all his favorite cookies from scratch in my nice new kitchen. Well, thats all well and good, but mixing the batter is tough and the pain it causes in my carpel tunnel wrists is getting to me. Luckily Darin and Amber have been over a few times and helped me mix up a few batches of cookies. So far I have made 3 batches of Oatmeal rasins, 2 batches of Peanute butter, One batch of Sugar roll outs, and One batch of Chocolate chip (doublel recipe) PHEW! The only thing is he dont realize that all those ingrediants cost a pretty penny. I guess he just likes to be spoiled like that. ( and I wonder if its not cheaper to just buy them already made, but he says mine taste better.)

Has anyone else got the mood yet to start baking for the holidays yet?

Well Thanksgiving is soon approaching and I have much more cooking to do this week. We have all the Kids and Grandkids coming to eat at my house as well as my Aunt and Uncle and possibly my Cousin to cook for again this year. I nearly got everything for it, but to get some fresh bread and rolls and a few vegies for the deli tray. Good thing Caroline always comes over the day before and helps peel the potatoes for me, cause they can be REALLY hard on my hands. Even Darin had volunteered to cut up some of the vegies for me, cause he says he likes cooking and preparing stuff like that. THANK GOD for good kids like that. ( both of them)

NA NA NA NA NA!, I have already set up my new balloon decorations up outside for Christmas! Bet I beat ya'all! ( now i hope its an easy winter so I can get them down again when the time comes! Otherwise they might be frozen to the ground till spring)

FINALLY! Got Amber and Darin's School pics too!

2007-11-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

Here's Amber's 6th grade photo and Darin's 8th grade pic. It took a while to get to me, (and then I forgot to scan them right away, so Caroline reminded me) They are are certainly getting to be fine young people now. By the way, the shirt Darin is wearing finishes with " I was just thinking real hard" LOL! And Amber just loves Eyore and has lots of shirts with him on them.

The Kids are getting big!

2007-10-28T11:26:00.000-04:00

Both Sarah and Matthew got their new school pics and they are great! See how big the little ones are now!

Still waiting for Darin and Amber's pics yet. These are the "little ones" of the family, not so little now... Note Matthew lost at least 50 lbs. during the illness with his tonsils, and still has'nt gained any back. He looks a lot better now.

Good Weekend was had at the Cider Mill!

2007-10-01T19:34:00.000-04:00

We went to the cider mill this weekend with our Wendy and her kids, Sarah and Matthew. It was so nice out and even our new puppy, Bunny had a great time throwing stones in the water and posing behind the big billboard. Cider and donuts! YUM!

The Construction is DONE for now..

2007-10-01T19:21:00.000-04:00

The Bathroom was the last room to get done, and surprise! The contractor offered real ceramic tile tub surround and floors instead of the plastic surround and floor tile I ordered. They did a great job and Im so glad the work is done! Now we can relax and enjoy! New tub, new toilet and new sink! How lovely!

The whole house got Oak stained woodwork including the bath. We just love it. Oak baseboards throughout! Even Oak Crown moulding around the family room!

THE NEW FURNITURE IS HERE!

2007-09-09T14:02:00.000-04:00

The new furnature is here and the Oak stained wainscoating is up in the dining room. Also new blinds on the windows. Any suggestions on the color for the drapes for these windows with all these colors?
(walls are a cantalope color) I haven't found any good ideas yet in my shopping expeditions. I love the dark wood of the table against the oak color floors and wall trim.

In Loving Memory of Shadow

2007-09-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, August 30th, 2007 we lost our beloved SHADOW, a 10-1/2 year old black Lab dog that we had since we rescued her from the dog pound 10 years ago. She was only 9 months old then and she was a faithful companion for us, going camping with us and the grandkids, following us ( just like our shadow) every where we went, and she loved to go for car rides. All she asked for was a lOT of loving. She would actually make us put our hands on her head to pet her any time we would sit still. She would nose her way under our arm or hand. I always said we should tie a fake hand on her collar to keep her happy.

Shadow stopped being able to eat about 4 weeks ago, and that was a Thursday. We tried to get her to eat soft food, and even hand fed her some nuggets, but everything she ate she threw up. The following week on Monday, we took her to the vet, and he did blood and x-rays, but could'nt tell me what was wrong other than her blood count was high, indicating an infection. He gave me anti-biotics and told me to call the other doctor that removed some large fatty tumors off of her chest, back in April to see if he could suggest any thing further for her. I tried to call and we kept missing each other for a couple days. When he finally did call back again, I told him that she still could not eat, but was drinking lots of water. He had me take her back in, and he felt a lump deep in her throat but the x-rays did not show for certain what it was. He gave me cans of liquid dog food and some medicine to settle her stomach hoping that she could get some strength from that, and heal whatever it was. Shadow hungrily ate the liquified food and seemed to regain some strength for about a week, but last Wednesday we noticed that her neck looked terribly swollen. She ate her food, and later that night she threw up a foamy thick white substance. The next morning I prepared another batch of liquid food for her and she took one drink and shied away. Then I decided to check her swollen neck. It was hard and painful for her, and she flinched when I pressed on it and started to choke on more of that foamy discharge again. I could tell she was in pain, and she was fighting to regain her breath again. I immediatly called the vets office, but her other doc was not in and they asked if I wanted to wait till Friday to see him. I decided that Shadow didnt have time to wait, and they had me bring her right in. The vet took another x-ray of her throat, and thats when she showed me that Shadow had a big tumor in her esophogus that was nearly choking off her windpipe, and that this was not operable. She said in involved too many major arteries, in her neck, and the only hope is to try to refer her to a cancer doctor to try Chemo, but more than likely that Shadow would die during the night or within 24 hours, because she would suffocate with such a small windpipe to breath through, and that would be a horrible way to die. She suggested that it was the best to put her down. I called my husband and we decided together that was the best to ease her suffering. It was one of the worse things that I have had to do. I kept petting her and telling her that she was a good girl as the nurse gave her some medicine to make her sleepy. They then put her on a cute baby blanket and told me to wait about 15 minutes for her to get sleepy. When the doctor came in, Shadow was laying her head on her paws, but still trying to look around at the people, moving her head right and left to follow us. The vet turned her on her side and Shadow had trouble breathing, and was gurgling as she breathed. The shot took just a minute, and by the time she finished, and put on her thesocope to check her hearbeat, she said, She gone.

Yesterday my Granddaughter, Amber came over with a paper she make for us in memory of Shadow. She recalled all the fun they had with Shadow since she and her brother were little kids, and this Tribute just broke our hearts! It was so beautiful I just have to show you it.....