Happy Halloween

Here's what Emily, Jordan and Aly looked like when they left the house a few minutes ago.
They are out roaming the neighborhood meeting up with friends.

Orchid Show

My Mother's Orchid Society had an orchid show this weekend. It's a wonderful place to take my camera. Here's a few of the shots that I got yesterday.

The Cemetery

There are two cemeteries in Hartford. One is newer where people are still buried today and the other is a very old cemetery, almost ancient. I can't tell you how many times I have driven by the "old" cemetery and never gave it a second thought...until a few weeks ago. In our little home town newspaper I recently read an article about a man from down south somewhere that was into his family tree history. He had tracked his (multiple great) Grandfather's grave to the old cemetery in Hartford. And what made it so cool was that his Grandfather was a veteran of the revolutionary war. How cool is that??!! This man drove all the way to Hartford Michigan to find the grave. I wish I would have kept the article. Anyway, that's what got me to thinking about the cemetery and the graves in there. Yesterday I grabbed my camera and drove up there. It was worth the effort. It was so awesome to walk around and look at the headstones. So many were like this one. It was barely 18 inches tall and the inscription was long worn away. Who is this mysterious person from so long ago? I really wanted to find the "Revolutionary War" veteran but I just wasn't sure who he was. I did find some with dates that I thought might be him. This grave had a marker that said this person was a veteran from the war of 1812. His last name was Thomas and I could read "aged ?? years". I noticed that a lot of these graves stated the persons age when they died. I don't think they do that anymore.
I couldn't read this one either. But the side markers read "Mother" & "Father".

Here lies Martha, wife of Thomas Conklin, died on Dec. 6, 1813, at the age of 27. That means she was born in 1786. That's 100 years BEFORE the civil war!!

Here "sleeps" Alvin. I couldn't read anymore of it. Look at the hand pointing to heaven. I was intrigued by that.

This must be a family. See the broken stone propped up against the monument? It was sad to see so many broken. This one was in good shape compared to some.

What did I learn by walking around this cemetery? Here this awesome bit of history has been right under my nose for all these years and I have never given it a thought. I learned that sometimes it's a good thing to do something totally out of the ordinary and go places and do things that you never thought of doing before. This was an awesome experience and I could have gone my whole life and never stopped there and looked around. What else am I missing in this world just because I've never given it a second thought?

I am so frustrated!!

I decided that I am only half of a wanna be photographer so I went and bought the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. I figured that if I really wanted to be a photographer that I needed to learn how to use Photoshop to really utilize my photos. And....I am nothing but frustrated!!

Here's my first attempt. I messed around with it for hours last night and all I came up with was this photo. I learned how to put a wig and crown on Seadra and a flower in Craig's hand. I was so frustrated and angry that I wanted to hit something. I imagined that I would be able to sit down and create masterpieces. HA!!

I had to walk away from it. I've decided that I need to educate myself so I got on Amazon this morning to order an "Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for Dummies". I'm a dummy when it comes to this stuff so maybe the dummy book will help me. But..... Elements 6 is the newest version and just released and the how to books aren't released until December. Great!! Do I just order the #5 version book or do I wait until December?

I am determined to learn this stuff. I talked to a photographer at an art show a few weeks ago and he swears by this software. So many of my online friends do the coolest things with Photoshop and I want to join in too.

Wish me luck......that I can learn this stuff and that I don't kill someone in the process.

Two More Days (actually 4)

It's Thursday. I'm down to the last two days of my week off (4 if you count the weekend). It's been a wonderful week. So needed. I have hardly left the house except for a few quick trips into town for this or that. I've played with Seadra and Zoe, went for walks, messed around with my photography, did some blogging (of course), and just enjoyed myself and my family.
Jordan passed her drivers test yesterday and is now an official licensed driver. I would like to say that she was all excited and rejoicing, but it was bittersweet. She was in tears last night because she was feeling like she didn't do well on the test, even though she passed. Craig and the road test guy both pointed out her weaknesses and she was feeling all defeated. To try and cheer her Craig let her drive over to Shane's house last night all by herself. She perked up after that. But.... we are keeping a close eye on her and we are not ready to turn her loose yet. She wants to drive herself to dance lesson tonight but that is too far and we all need more assurance of confidence before we do that. It will all come soon.

So what am I doing my last days off this week. I don't know. Today it is beautiful!! It's sunny and the temps are rising to about 55 today. I should do something outside as the next 2 days are suppose to rain. Maybe I'll head on over to the nature preserve with my camera and tripod.

Jordan's Test

Jordan is taking her drivers test tomorrow and has some anxiety about the whole thing. If all goes well then after the test Craig will take her over to the Secretary of State office to pick up her license. It's a big day tomorrow!!

Surprise

Last night we had a surprise birthday party for Caleb and Jordan. And we actually pulled it off. They were completely surprised. Most all their friends and family were there. I can hardly believe that our children are 16 and 18. What a joy they are. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because I just laid there thinking about what a blessing they are and how much we love them.This post would never end if I showed you all the gifts that they got but I just had to show this. One of Jordan's very best friends since they were 3 years old is Emily. She is a gifted artist and did this drawing of Jordan. I just cried!! You can't see it real well as it is wrapped but Emily is having it framed so I will post another picture after it's framed. Jordan loves it and it will go fantastic in her room.
Jordan and Emily

Our Trip to the ER

My precious daughter was stung by a bee today. She was at the school outside for band practice. The phone rang and I saw from the caller id that it was the band director calling. My first thought was that Jordan was hurt. Why else would would he be calling in the middle of practice? Actually it was Jordan on his cell phone. She sounded different. "Mom, I was stung by a bee on the tongue and my tongue is swelling up. Mr Pagel told me to call you and see what you want me to do." I dropped everything and ran right up there.

Yes, her tongue was about twice it's normal size and was growing. She said her throat wasn't feeling constricted but it was getting hard for her to swallow. She was talking like she had a mouth full.

OK, do I take her home and "hope" it doesn't get any worse or do I take her to the emergency room. Off to the hospital we went.

I told the woman at the triage desk that she was stung by a bee on the tongue and her tongue was swelling. They didn't even let us sit down and whisked her right back. They were all over her. They gave her antihistamines and steroids. Immediately her tongue swelling started to go down. We were only there about an hour. Jordan is fine; she is now home and resting.

Oh yea, how in the world did a bee sting her on the tongue? A bee decided to go inside her pop and then Jordan decided to take a drink. I bet she won't ever take a drink of pop outside again without a screw top in it.

The Gift

So I get off work at 6:00 tonight. I'm in my car driving home. I'm tired and I just want to get home and curl up all cosy for the rest of the evening. I turn onto I-94 merging onto the highway....I couldn't believe my eyes!! Right in front of me was the most magnificent, beautiful, vibrant rainbow I have ever seen. I've seen a lot of rainbows in my life but never ever anything like this one. It was like I was right under it, in all it's glory!! My description cannot even begin to do it justice. It was a complete rainbow too.

Being a fall rainbow it was over the top of all the fall colored trees. Absolutely amazing. Honestly, cars and trucks were pulling over on the side of the highway just to stare at it.

I was all alone but I was screaming with excitement. In the worst way I wanted to take a picture of it!! But of course I didn't have a camera. I got the above picture off the Internet. I don't carry my good camera around with me because it is just too big. It wasn't two days ago that I told Craig that I wanted a pocket camera to carry in my purse for just these occasions. Now I am determined more than ever to get a pocket camera. Soon....

The rainbow didn't last very long. I bet it was gone within 2 minutes. I am so thankful that I was there at the right time. It really was a gift.

I Love This Season

I took these pictures almost 2 weeks ago on a walk next to a cornfield. There isn't much green left on the stalks now 2 weeks later. Soon it will be harvested. Cornfields are everywhere in Michigan.

I had to work at two hospitals yesterday and when I do it involves almost 100 miles worth of driving in one day. I do not like all that driving but I will admit that I'm enjoying the scenery this time of year. The colors are not at their peak but each day the colors are more vibrant. I'm determined to get some fall photos soon.

This is my favorite time of year!! Everything about it is so perfect. The temperature is awesome, the trees are beautiful, the smell of grape vineyards, pumpkins on the porch, leaves falling.......

My hubby left this morning, but it's a short trip this time. He's in Florida for an advisory committee meeting. He'll be home Friday night, hopefully just in time to hurry over to the homecoming football game to watch Jordan perform at half time.

Time to go and get ready for work....Is it Friday yet?

Miss my blogging........

I have an hour before we have to leave for Jordan's band competition so I thought I would sit down and blog for a few minutes and visit some of my online friends as well. But wouldn't you know that the laptop only has about 10 minutes of battery left and I am already getting warnings to plug it in. I wonder who didn't plug it in the last time they used it!!! Jordan!!! I could just plug it in and continue to use it but it's old and the plug doesn't charge it unless it's propped a certain way so I can't just plug it in when I am using it. Soooooo, this post will be short...

Mostly I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for my lack of blogging lately. My time is not my own lately. Between work, teenagers, and all the other things in my life it's been crazy busy, so much so that I'm getting stressed. Blogging is a stress reliever for me so I'm really missing being able to blog occasionally. And then when I get a few minutes to do it the computer is almost dead....

Better go ahead and post this before I loose it........maybe I'll have some time tomorrow.

A Walk in the Woods

I grabbed my camera and went for a walk in the woods today all by myself. These are the woods behind the cottage. It's not huge but there is a great walking path down the middle of it. And the best photo ops. I was feeling creative so here is what I came up with....... Beautiful path.I took this looking up at the tree tops.
I found this hollow tree. I was hoping to find something living in it, like an owl or something but I think that's mainly in the cartoons.
These woods are right next to a cornfield so all over I found evidence of little creatures having had dinner.

I loved the roots of this tree. Reminded me of an enchanted forest.

These mushroom were popping up in the middle of the path. After I took the picture I stomped on them; not sure why I did that.
Here's my attempt at a self portrait. I put the camera on a tree limb and jumped in front of the camera. Even though I was all alone I still felt like a fool doing this.

Today was the day....

Today was the day. I ate my first caramel apple of the season. Sounds like a simple silly thing, huh? But it's a day I always look forward to each year. Not just for the apple itself. It just seems to represent so many things....Fall, cooler weather, Halloween, Caleb & Jordan's birthday, marching season, football games..... The caramel apple today was just a small part of why I love this time of year.

Caleb & Jordan

A lot of my online friends have been posting these videos so I had to join in on the fun. Enjoy....

Band Competition

I'm going to apologize now as this is only the beginning of marching season and I'm sure you will be tired of seeing band pictures before the season is over......but this blog is about our family and band is what we are absorbed in this time of year. Today we traveled to Grand Rapids for the first competition of the season. The show is really starting to come together. The band placed 4th today out of 8 and also received 1st in percussion. Way to go Vanguard!!! Jordan and Dad
Jordan and Mom

Jordan

Do It Vanguard!!!

It's good to be home...

Oh, it's good to be home. No, I didn't go anywhere but to work but it was one of those days. If it could go wrong today, it went wrong. I left the house at 7:00 this morning and got home at 7:00 tonight.

But there was a good side to today. When I got home my wonderful family was there for me. Craig saw me pull in the driveway and before I was even out of my car he let the dogs out to greet me. I love that!! They hop and dance around as if they haven't seen me in days and it just warms my heart. Then Craig was sitting on the back porch waiting for me. We had about a 10 minute conversation while he was grilling the pork chops. Yes, dinner was almost ready and I didn't have to lift a finger for it. The kids had the table set and within a few minutes we were all sitting at the table enjoying each other. I was starting to feel myself relax from the stresses of the day.

Oh, it's good to be home........

It's Almost The Weekend

Tomorrow is Friday and I already have my weekend planned. I basically have the whole weekend to myself with no obligations. Craig and the kids are booked up Saturday and Sunday so I've made a list of things that I want to do by myself.

It's going to be wonderful weather weekend as well. Only in the 60's and sunny......Yahoo!!

Friday night Craig and I have a dinner date. I get to pick the restaurant but I haven't decided yet where I want to go. Let's see, do I want DiMaggios pizza, PaPa Vinos Italian, Gallagher's Irish Pub??? I'll see what I feel like tomorrow.

Saturday is my big plans. First thing early in the morning I'm going to hop in the car with my camera and tripod and head out to the nature centers, the beaches, and wherever else I end up for a day of photography. I'm packing a lunch and taking a bag chair. I'd like to take Zoe with me but I'm afraid that she would be too much of a distraction for me to concentrate on my photography...I'll take her a different time.

Sunday after church I'm not exactly sure what I'll do but I have plenty to do around the house and I need to do some shopping too.

And then before I know it the weekend will be over and I'll have to go back to work on Monday.

She's So Beautiful

I snapped these pictures of Jordan tonight while she watched Shane's soccer game. I know that I am her mother but I just think that she's so beautiful and I loved these pictures of her.

Church Picnic

One of my favorite things of the year was today.....our annual church picnic. I'm only posting a few pictures so you won't get the whole picture but we had over 125 people there this year. That's double what we usually have!! We devoured 100 pounds of ribs, 70 pounds of chicken, 7 dozen corn on the cob in addition to all the potluck food and deserts that people brought. The weather was beautiful and we all had a wonderful time!! We have a wonderful church family and I am so grateful for all of them. Guys on the grills.Dad overseeing the corn.Craig sharing with me. Caleb, Lindsey & Aly

Jordan, Lindsey & Aly.

My Dad & me.

Craig and Pastor Ron.

Some of our church family.