Altered Six-Pack

My friend & Creative Memories upline Nicki recently promoted to Unit Leader.

Our unit had a party for her this past Tuesday evening.

I was perplexed as to what to get her when I came across this little item on the Scrapshare website.

It is a cardboard six-pack holder that Jerry spray painted blue for me & then I used die-cuts from my Sizzix machine to embellish it.

The little tags read as follows:
"You aren't a DUM-DUM" filled w/ Dum-Dums
"You're a SMARTIE" filled w/ Smarties
"Now before you make a $100,000 GRAND" filled w/ $100,000 Grand bars

"TAKE 5 for yourself!" filled w/ Take 5 bars
"Lots of HUGS &" filled w/ Hershey Hugs
"KISSES to you!" filled w/ Hershey Kisses

She really liked it & I loved how it came out. It was a terrific way to recycle & have a unique gift!

Helipcopter

We had a little excitement in our neighborhood last night.

The fire company was dispatched to assist Bowmansville for a trailer fire at Sun Valley Campground.

Since we live so close, Jerry was the first person on location. He arrived & found the resident of the camper badly burned. Apparently there was a gas leak in the camper & when the resident tried to light the stove/oven, it exploded.

It was decided to fly the man to the hospital.

They landed the helicopter right down the road from our house.

The boys & I walked down the road to watch the helicopter land & we got there right before it did.

















Jerry took these pictures. I must say my husband is a terrific photographer.

ONE OF MY BIGGEST PET PEEVES

You know what one of my biggest pet peeves is???? People telling me how my youngest son is and the asinine comments they make about him.

It especially irks me when the people making the comments are ones that don't even have any children themselves. I mean come on.

My youngest son is no angel. I know this. He has an alter personality we affectionately call "Buttholio". He can be very VERY difficult, stubborn, mouthy, obstinate & just downright mean. I KNOW THIS.

Here are examples of stupid comments & the answers I would like to retort. Most of the time I bite my tongue until it bleeds.

You better hope it's just a stage. Ya think? I mean I was hoping that he would be throwing temper tantrums forever. It would particularly helpful when he is an executive in a boardroom to lay on the ground & kick & stomp.

If I were you, I'd beat him. You know what genius...I've tried. He doesn't respond well to physical punishment. It makes him more physical. It makes me feel like crap for having hit him. I guess you should just be glad that your not me.

You're the parent. I AM?!?!?! I am so glad you pointed this out to me. I was thinking that his real parents were going to be back for him any day. Thank you! THANK YOU!

I'm so glad he's not my kid...I'd kill him. Then you'd be in jail. You say that would be better than dealing with him...okay let me know how you feel about that after a couple months there. You know I'm not thrilled & jumping for joy about the outbursts either, but that's right - I'M THE PARENT.

Thank you for letting me vent.

CROCS & PEPPERS

I was looking forward to this weekend so much. Nowhere in particular to be, nothing in particular to do. Just be with my boys. That's alright.

We got up this morning & went to a tool sale out on Fifth Street Highway. I found a 4 foot table for Potter County & a little somethin'-somethin' for my mama.

As we were leaving the tool sale, Jerry got a fire call so we raced back to Brecknock (didn't make it to the call, everything was taken care of) and then headed out in search of a pair Croc Sandals that I have been dying to get for almost a week.

Well, I found my sandals - YEAH!!! It was only after looking at about ten different stores that I finally found them. I was so happy & as soon as I got in the car, I put them on. OOOHHH - they are so comfy!! AND they showcase my beautiful & original dragonfly tattoo. But what else could I expect from Crocs?!?!?!


We stopped at Weaver's grocery store on our way home to get a few groceries where we ran into our friends Jen & John (it was so good to see them!) & then on to Jerry's parents to get some green bell peppers for stuffed peppers for Sunday. We then went down to Tothero's fruit stand to get some corn (found zucchini too!) and then made our way home.

We made Chinese Coleslaw for supper tonight & also had sausage sandwiches with onions & peppers that were from Jerry's salsa garden.

He picked the peppers this morning before we left & then took pictures of them this afternoon.

In case you can't see from the picture. The one on the left is 8 inches long! It is a grilling pepper that gets a smoky taste when grilled. We can't wait to try it!

HOME

Well, we made it home safe & sound on Saturday, July 7. Mom made the trek with the boys & I and then after depositing us at Snow Shoe with Jerry, she made her way north to Cherry Springs & Keener's Store for some ice cream. I was so jealous!

After an uneventful trip back to Berks County, we started putting our stuff away & then made our way to Shillington for the Greater Governor Mifflin Community Days fireworks display.

As soon as we got there, we made our way down the midway to get Auntie Anne's soft pretzels & lemonade, a chicken quesadilla, a candy apple, cotton candy, nachos & a couple of sodas to tide us over for the rest of the night.

We went up to Cumru Elementary to watch the fireworks & I was not that impressed with the show this year. Thank goodness for all the fire company people that make the evening a lot of fun.

We got home a little after midnight & promptly went to bed.

On Sunday, we went to watch our nephew Scott play baseball. A game which his team won 16 - 0 and was called in the third inning due to the mercy rule. We had planned to stop at Jerry's sister's house to swim & since it was close to lunch time, we stopped at the grocery store on our way there & picked up some hot dogs & chips for lunch. After we grilled & ate we went swimming. The water was a little chilly, but it was stifling hot & it felt very refreshing!

The rest of this week has been pretty boring:

Monday: Finished putting stuff away from our vacation. Aidan & I went to Wal-Mart to get a few groceries. Fire Company meeting at night. Austin & Aidan spend the night at Swavely's.

Tuesday: I went to the laundromat all by myself (thank goodness!) & puttered around the house until I went to pick up the boys that afternoon. Got a phone call from the food services director about a job interview on Friday.

Wednesday: Aidan & I picked green beans (enought o fill two plastic shopping bags) at Jerry's dad & mom's in the morning & then spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading & puttering around. Went to see Lisa when Jerry went to the fire company & was SO glad that I did. I have missed her terribly!

Thursday: Went to a viewing in Honey Brook (my former boss's mother passed away), came home & puttered around the house, read, spent time with my cherubs & then went to Wal-Mart this evening to get pictures developed & pick up some screamin' deals on school supplies. We went to Sonic for supper. I tried my very first Vanilla Coke there & let me tell you - it was DELICIOUS!! We came home & put our groceries away & loaded our golf clubs into the car & headed for the Pagoda Driving Range.

We had so much fun there! The boys were actually encouraging one another & giving each other "knuckles" when they would hit a good shot. I am hoping that baseball isn't going to ruin the boys golf swing. You can tell when then hit the ball that they have a tough time with the correct swing because they are used to hitting a baseball. Nonetheless, it was a blast & we are all looking forward to doing it again really soon!

Tiger Woods??

Arnold Palmer???

Nope - just me & my boys!

WEEK NUMBER THREE

Week number three was a busy one & we still have two more days!

Actually I should start with this past weekend. We (Dad, Tricia, Austin, Aidan & I) constructed a patio for Mom' birthday.

It was an experience to say the least, between trying to hide what we were doing from Mom (thank goodness she is totally unassuming!) and then the actual construction...it was a "making memories" moment!

We started out Saturday by just puttering around the house, "pre-cleaning" for the party. Mom told me to ask my father if he would take down the boxes that were overhead in the garage so she could go thru them when she got home from working at the Historical Society booth.

The thoughts running thru my head at the time were, "When does she think we are going to have time to do that?" Not remembering at that moment that she was unaware of our impending masonry work.

Dad is just awesome, because while she was still here, he went out in the garage, climbed up on the ladder and proceeded to drag down all her boxes of treasures, some of which had been packed up there since we moved into this house in almost 26 years ago.

Well, Mom, Tricia & I started to go thru them. We found her high school diploma, a plate that was my great-great grandmother's that Mom had been looking for, yarn, clothes & among other things, Maggie's Cabbage Patch Kid, Lisa, who Maggie thought was long gone due to Dad & Tricia's cleaning up & burning stuff over the past few years.

Here is Steve with one of the treasures we found. Doesn't he look smashing!

After going through most of the boxes, Mom had to leave to go down to Community Day. Then the work began. Actually the night before, Dad & Tricia had started work on the patio by laying out the edgers & moving ground.

After she left, we poured leveling sand into place, carefully laid out the pavers & then filled in with sand.

She came home from working at the Harbor Creek Community Day down at the township building (actually she walked home!) and came out on the porch to find us putting on the finishing touches. Needless to say, she was surprised, and she said "But all I wanted was a Borders gift card!". Hmmm...not gonna happen. It look really nice. I must say we did an excellent job!

View of new patio from up on the porch.

View from down in the yard.

Our next big project was getting ready for the party. Sunday, we rested & just hung out around the house, Steve, Maggie & Charlie came up for the day & it's always fun to spend time with them!

Noooo...he isn't spoiled at all!

There was cleaning to be done, food to be made, rearranging of outside furniture...all in all there was a lot to do, but we all worked together & got it done.

The party was a huge success, attended by approximately 73 people, lots of food & definitely lots of fun!

The Rodland/Ebersole/Morton boys enjoyed playing together. They had quite a game of football going. Even Steve & Kendra joined in!

My poor nephew! He looks adorable in his frog hat that Shamma got for him, but I'm sure he'll hate these photos when he gets older!

The evening was capped off by a terrific fireworks display courtesy of Chuck, Mark & Matt. It was really nice. There was a little bit of excitement when something malfunctioned on the platform (yes we are rednecks, Chuck has a fireworks launching platform) and a stray firework came flying across the yard at about five foot off the ground & hit Chuck in the back of the neck.

All in all the evening was terrific. It was so good to see everyone, visit with people I hadn't seen in ages & just to be with family & friends.

On July 4th, we attended a picnic at the home of a family friend where there was more tasty food & lots more fun. Aidan was thrilled because Ed was there & he had just commented to me the other day that he hadn't seen Ed for a long time and hoped he would get to see him soon.

We then came home & spent the evening with everyone (Saba, Shamma, Tricia, Maggie, Steve & Charlie). The boys played softball & football with their aunts & uncle, Dad burned the huge "white trash" pile out back & we just relaxed & had our usual good time.

Me - doing my favorite thing - spoiling Charlie!

Today is Mom's birthday & we are all going out to dinner at Freeport. I hope to get some photos.

Tomorrow Dad leaves for two weeks on a business trip to Asia & we have a graduation party to go to. That will wind down our whirlwind vacation extravaganza.

Will hopefully have more photos to share!