Cat Bath

Ken recently painted the garage and the cat was enjoying his company while he worked. After a break for dinner he discovered she had taken on the paint job herself. Thankfully she had only gotten a little paint on one of our plastic lawn chairs. However this warranted a bath for poor Schnicklefritz. A task I sure was not looking forward to! But to my amazement she didn't mind a scrub in the tub. She actually purred part of the time and the girls giggled most of the time!

I know she looks rather cross. But believe me she was purring when I snapped the photo.

Who Pooped In The Park???

WARNING! WARNING! The following picture may not be appropriate for those with weak stomachs!

The question who pooped in the park was recently posted on my sister Lois' site. Well the correct answer to her question was either a.moose or b.elk according to my handy field guide with drawing and descriptions of scat for various mamals. Now the question at our home is who pooped on the front lawn? The following is a picture of what Ken found while cutting the grass just the other day. We believe it to be evidence of a bear visit. Any other good guesses? We placed a ruler next to the excrement for scientific purposes. It may be hard to see in the photo but it is a 5 inch ruler with a small magnifing glass. This should help give you an idea of the size. As to content neither of us was curious enough to disect the specimen in order to verify the animals diet.

Cowgirl Boots

You may have notice that Emma was wearing cowgirl boots to the party. Or as she calls them her "rain boots". They have become her favorite choice in foot wear and insisted on wearing them to the party. Mommy has since stored them away in the closet until cooler weather arrives. Simulated leather along with 80 degree temperatures and a girl with sweaty feet aren't a good mix!

Fairy Party

Here is the long awaited report on the fairy party that was held several weeks ago in the woods at a friend's house. There are many more photos but due to a slow dial-up and an impatient me these are all you get to see. If you want to see the rest you'll just have to come visit us.
All decked out as fairies and ready for fun! Posing with Mikaila the fairy hostess.

The table was set and fancies were served including a special fairy nectar brewed up for the party guests.

Party crowd making silly faces for the camera.
It was a fun filled day of events. Party activities included a treasure hunt with clues hidden inside rocks, a maze cut into the lawn, and fairy folklore. Then in the afternoon more fun was to be had with a pool party held in the greenhouse and water balloon games. But that's not all,in the evening was a Bar-B-Q which all family members of the guests were invited to attend. What a great party Mikaila and Jencene (and Ian the Elf)!

Feeding The Hungry

This weekend was the Annual Tristate MCC Relief Sale. It's a funraiser for MCC which is a mennonite organization that provides aid and relief services to areas stricken by natural disaster or poverty. An agency that I try to support as much as possible. So this past week we baked, packaged and donated 6 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 6 1/2 dozen peanut blossom cookies and 12 cakes. Alot of cleanup service was provided by Emma and Rachel in the form of beater and spoon licking. And now when the Kitchen Aid mixer starts up Rachel comes running and exclaims num nums! Emma also helped me count out and donate all our pennies for penny power and we attended the silent auction where my husband purchased an hour massage for his appreciative wife. So, since $1 will feed approximately 3 people, instead of feeling guilty for indulging in a massage I will try to think of all those hungry people my husband helped to feed.
If you would like to know more about the relief sale or MCC visit their web sites at
www.tristatesale.org
www.mcc.org

For Kristen

Kristen,
I wasn't sure what your e-mail address is so here is the recipe you wanted. If you have any questions give me a call.
Aunt Phebe
P.S. To Ann-marie thank you! I think you and Brandon gave us the ice cream machine as a Christmas present at house-church several years ago. It gets used ALOT. We like it so much I ordered one online for my Mom.

Simple Vanilla Ice Cream
(for a 1 ½ quart machine)

2 cups heavy cream (chilled)

1 cup whole milk (chilled)

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together all ingredients and freeze according to ice cream machine directions.

Update

Here is a quick update...Yes my Mom did make it home from the hospital over a week ago and is doing much better. My sister went back to Florida after "summering here in the mountains". She had quite an extented trip between the amount of time she planned to stay and the unexpected events that came up to keep her here. Emma and Rachel will miss having a cousin close by on a regular basis. I will miss the babysitting swapping. Here are a few cousin Asa photos from his visit here.























Aw...do I HAVE to kiss him goodbye???

Recent Events

I have not had much time to blog lately. However if you follow any of my other family members blogs you can see or read about recent events in my life. Some of which have included...Trips to Katie's for ice cream, a dedicaton service at The Casselman for my Uncle Phil's memorial garden (can't wait to see how much the garden grows and becomes even lovlier till next year), a good Scrabble game with Dad and my brother Urbane in which I won (of course), and spending time either babysitting my nephew Asa or staying with my Mom who is in the hospital with pancreatitis. Looks like the next several days will again either be spent in the hospital or with the three little munchkins since the doctor expects Mom to be there several more days and Ken has left town again on an unexpected service call. He will be in Texas the next several days but should return before the weekend. If the munchkins allow me some computer time in the next several days I will download some pictures to post. Emma, Rachel and I were invited to a very nice all day party at a friend's this past week and I took a ton of pictures!

The Big Spring Part Two

My Dad taking a rest at the Big Spring.

The Big Spring. Local folklore says the length to the bottom is unknown.

The bottom is covered with sand which moves from constant bubbling.

It Looked like a nice place to go for a dip (except for the fish and bullfrog).

Our little hiking princess.

A snake I began to step over thinking it was a stick until I saw the Orange band around it's neck. Anyone know what kind of snake it is? I haven't taken the time too identify him or her yet.

About half way into the trek in I began hearing complaints from the hiking princess "There are too many rocks! I can't do it anymore! Carry me. I want to go home!" No complaints were heard atop Kendall's shoulders which is how she traveled the entire way back out.

We were all glad to get back to the picnic area where Julia and my Mom stayed to set up lunch and take care of the two youngest ones. And boy did those Fluffer-Nutters taste good!

The Big Spring

This past weekend we (Dad the navigator, Ken, Emma, Deb, Kendall and myself) took a hike to a natural spring refered to locally as "The Big Spring". The weather was nice and we had a picnic lunch consisting mainly of Fluffer-Nutter Sandwiches, chips and chocolate cake. Sounds like a good nourishing meal for a group of hungry hikers doesn't it?

Debbie found butterflies to photograph.

The group (except me) ready to locate the Big Spring.

Ken and Emma with her walking stick.
We arrived and managed to get Emma to hold still long enough for a few pictures.

Time to stop blogging and head off for a Bar B Q. Stay tuned- there are more Big Spring photos to follow at a later date.

Salon Treatments

Aunt Debbie and Uncle Kendall are visiting for the weekend which means Emma gets a little salon treatment in the form of a manicure and pedicure. Rachel seemed eager to have a treatment herself so Debbie broke our house rule of needing to be two years old for your first manicure or pedicure.