Summer Flowers

Well, I wanted to post some pictures of my summer flowers. The last picture is of the daylilies that I bought with a gift certificate from Kevin & Sarah last year. In the shrub behimd them you can see the dragonfly solar light that Kurt's family got for me. At night it blinks on and off like lightening bugs. The next is of daylilies, calla lilies and an iris that I bought with a gift certificate from them this year. The hostas are all in bloom and are from last year's gift certificate. Notice the angels reading books by the hostas. I have five identical ones. One for each of my grandchildren. Next is a picture of my trumpet vine. It is huge and is usually swarming with hummingbirds. There is also a close up of the blooms. The last (first) picture is one of my honeysuckle vine on the trellis next to the trumpet vine. I love all my flowers and hope you enjoy looking at them too.

All Star Casey

Casey is playing in several tournaments. We missed her game Thursday night. She got a trophy. I will post a picture of her with it. We did go to her game last night. She had two games and we made the last one. She plays again today at 1 pm in Defiance. Keith has two auctions today in Defiance! So I will drive over myself and he will come when the auctions are over. I will post a couple of pictures with Casey in action and another with her trophy and her Dad and Grandpa.

By the way, yesterday was Sarah's birthday---hope you had a great one Sarah.

Denny Update

I went to the Harborside Nursing Home in Bryan after work last night to see my brother Denny.
He is doing better. His daughter was there. He didn't seem as confused to me. Deb said he still has his moments, but he is doing so much better. He walks with a walker and only needs one aide to walk with him. His balance still isn't good. He started re-hab yesterday. We have all told him he has to work extra hard so he can come home. He has a really nice room there. Thank all of you who have been praying for him.

I'm Back................Again

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted to the blog, but it has. Well, we left off with Sarah's shower in Edgerton. On the 17th I went to the girl's softball game and took a good picture of the three generations of Whitman Men as it was Kraig's 12th birthday. I will post it. Then the 21st we went to Lindsay & Damon's wedding and will also post a picture of that. The 22nd we went down to Cincinnati for Sarah's shower there. We didn't get to spend much time there, but I was glad I went and wouldn't have missed it for the world. They have her nursery all ready for her and will post a picture of her "reading nook" with the chair Kurt's got for her. On the way home, we went through Berne, Indiana to pick up six chickens Keith had purchased through an ad in the Defiance paper. We got six pullets and one rooster. They are Americana chickens and will lay blue and green eggs. They should start laying in a month or so. Denny got us a "Fresh Eggs" sign for the chicken coop at a garage sale. Monday morning the 23rd we left on a bus trip to Iowa to see the John Deere combine plant. We had a good time. We stayed in a hotel that was connected to a casino so we went to the casino Monday night (Keith came out ahead, I lost $10). Tuesday we went to the John Deere Pavilion, John Deere Store, The Rock Island Armory (my favorite of the trip very historical and we saw the national cemetery there and a confederate cemetery from the cival war for prisoners of war) and the John Deere combine plant. It was our first and I believe our last bus trip. When we want to stop, we want to stop and you stop when they want you to and eat where they want you to. June 26th I went to Red Hats and they had a birthday party for me....surprise. On the 27th Keith & I went to Casey's ballgame, she made All Stars again this year. I took some pictures of the chickens on the 28th and will post lots of pictures of all these events. We went to JoAnn's to watch the fireworks Saturday night. They were the best they have ever had! Keith went to Cleveland Monday morning and got back early Thursday morning, just after midnight. He is working on getting an auction ready there. I had dominos here while he was gone. The drain on our geothermal heating and cooling system plugged up while he was gone and I had to do some mopping up of water. They came to check it out and we will have to put a new drain in from the house to the pond. There goes the economic stymulas check!!! Thank you George Bush. Here it is the 4th of July. Where is the summer going?? Boy It has been a long time, I can't pull up my pictures to post them. I'll try again later.

Got it!! Some things to be thankful for....I took Mom back to her surgeon for a check up. She is completely healed. Her doctor said she was amazing....he has patients in their 60's who have taken longer to heal. Mom is 94 (and a half!) She is going to continue to use a walker as she feels more comfortable and safer. She can do anything now that she did before she broke her hip and we are very thankful. Something to pray about...........my brother Denny had a stroke on the 19th of June. He was taken by EMS to Hicksville hospital and life flighted to Fort Wayne Parkview Hospital. After a week, he was tranferred to Hicksville hospital for rehab. He was taken back to Fort Wayne (Parkview) Wednesday this week. He had a fever they could not break and they did not know what infection may be causing the fever. He is VERY confused and keeps trying to get out of bed. Please pray for him. I fear it will be a long road back.

Another Canary!!

Kevin & Sarah got home Saturday afternoon. In the picture I am posting of them, they are getting caught up on all the scrapbooking I have been doing lately. Sarah's baby bump is more than a bump now. We are all getting excited about the baby's arrival. Keith went to Wolf Lake near Albion, Indiana Saturday morning to a sale to get some laying chikens. He didn't find any he liked but he got me another canary for my birthday. This one is yellow and white. It was not sexed so we don't know if it is a male or female yet. Keith took a cage with him so he was all set. Last night after everyone went home, we put them together and they are getting along fine. I told Kurt's kids when they came that I needed a name that could be a male or felmale name that started with a K or C. So Casey said we should name it Casey. So Casey it is. Kurt's family came over in the late afternoon to see Kevin & Sarah and we went into Hicksville to eat out. We all had a good time together.

Baby Shower for Sarah & Kevin

Christy, Casey, Chloe, Cayla and I had a baby shower for Sarah and Kevin Sunday, June 8th at my home. There were 22 in attendance. We had a nice time and they got some really wonderful gifts. I have posted lots of pictures. The first one is of Kevin & Sarah with the cake which was yummy. It was three layers with raspberry filling between the layers. The next picture is of the really cute pink chair that Kurt, Christy and the kids got for them. The next one is of them holding up a comforter I got them and the next is of the diaper bag that I made for Sarah. It has six pockets inside and two outside. The last is of them reading a card while opening gifts. The girls helped me with the games, we played baby bingo, fill in the blanks and word scramble. Christy made the delicious punch. Kevin got to see family members that he doesn't get to see too often and it was a fun time.

Newest Member of our Family...Clyde the Canary

Here is the newest member of our family. I got this canary (male) yesterday. He has done some chirping, but no singing yet. The woman I got him from said to give him some time to get used to his new surroundings. At Chloe's game last night I asked the kids to help me name him. Had to be a K or C name. Kraig came up with Clyde....and Keith liked it...so Clyde it is!!

Sunday Fun & More Ballgames

We had a really fun Sunday. Kurt's family came over in the morning and went fishing. Kurt brought his four wheeler over. I had asked them if they could come over sometime this weekend to help Keith put a dock in the pond. Well......the pond is deeper than we thought and our posts weren't long enough, so that project wasn't completed! Kurt grilled burgers for us and we had a little lunch. It is alway so fun to spend time with Kurt, Christy and the kids. In the afternoon, I asked the girls to help me punch out markers for the bingo game for the baby shower for Sarah. We had fun doing it. We made circles, hearts and stars. Even Kraig came into help us out. It was fun working together with the kids. Monday Keith made the roost boxes in the chicken coop. Now all we need are chickens. Kurt has a rooster for us. Keith is going to put new shingles on the roof of the chicken coop too. Tuesday night Casey had a softball game in Edgerton. I went but had to leave early for a Historical Society meeting. If I wasn't the treasurer and had to make a report, I would have skipped it. When I left the game, her team was down 4-6. Christy told me tonight that I missed an exciting game as the final score was 12-12. Wish I had stayed :o( Casey is a good hitter and usually hits the first pitch. As you can see from the picture, Grandma is slow on the shutter, you just can see her running and the bat is on the ground, just like the picture I took of Chloe last week. The other picture of Casey is at the Edgerton game playing third base. They were just warming up when I took that one. The first pictures are of tonight's game. I went up to the fence to take a picture of Chloe at bat before she even got up there. She usually hits the first pitch too. So at least I got a good picture tonight. She DID hit the first pitch. The next picture is of Casey. She was the catcher tonight. I went to take a picture of Casey batting, but she was on first base before I got a picture taken!! They played a team from Fairview. As they don't have scoreboards, I don't know who won. But is is more important to just have fun.

Chloe's Game

Chloe had a game in Hicksville on the 20th. Keith & I went to watch her. She is the catcher. She is pretty good at it, but likes to bat the best. As you can see by the picture. I went up to take a picture of her at bat. The first pitch she hit and was on her way. The bat is down and I almost didn't get her in the picture!! Like I said. She loves to bat. It was really cold and windy. I went and got a blanket out of the trunk and wrapped up in it. Keith took my picture. Also I will post a picture of the mushrooms Keith got in our woods.

Eatin' off the land...

Sunday we tried a different church. We went to the Milford Church of Christ. It is a small country church about 5 miles from our home. There were 31 at the worship service. After church, we went to Grabill, Indiana for lunch. Then we went to Fort Wayne to do a little shopping. We stopped at a roadside produce market that had a sign out for morel mushrooms. They were $30 a pound. They had a few in a berry box and wanted $20 for them. We decided we were not that hungry for them so I just bought a few tomatoes. I spent my gift card from Kevin & Sarah. I got a dwarf Kim lilac bush and two more yellow daylilies. On the way home, Keith said, "I think I'll catch supper tonight!" So when we got home he went fishing. He caught some bluegills, cleaned them and put them to bake on the grill. He went mushroom hunting in the woods. He found 5 really nice ones. I fried them up for supper. So we had fish from our pond, mushrooms from our woods and tomatoes for supper. How neat is that! Of course I scrapbooked this weekend. I am up to October 2007. Won't be long till I am caught up.

And So the Season Begins.......

Well, the softball season has started. Casey had

a game last night in Hicksville. She is on the

First Federal team along with one of Neil Balser's

girls. I have posted pictures of Casey at bat, Casey pitching and also playing first base. Her team did a good job and Casey is a pretty good pitcher. I did yard work all day yesterday. So did Keith. He helped me by pulling out two shrubs that were in pretty bad shape. I tried to trim the remaining shrubs, but ran out of steam before I ran out of shrube. I'll try to get them all trimmed before Sarah's shower. So going to Casey's game was a break we were ready for and the weather was great. I am just getting ready to go into town and visit Mom at the nursing home. Keith just called and he is on his way home from his auction. It was about two hours away, so I have time to get to town and get back home before he comes home. Hope you are all having a great day.

Update

It's been awhile since I have posted, but with no comments I wonder if anyone is out there.....I celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday and had a great time. Kurt & his family came and picked me up and took me out for lunch in Defiance. After lunch we went to see Keith (He had an auction in Defiance). He bought four little buildings at the auction. One will be our chicken coop, one for the kids to play in, one in the woods (so if it's raining etc. when you are hunting) and I'm not sure about the other one. Keith is talking rabbits and I was thinking of a goat. Time will tell. Kurt got me a beautiful clematis and a solar light with 5 dragonflies (one of my favorites) that lights up at night and looks like lightening bugs. They are woven up through my bush out front. Kevin called and he sent me a gift card to buy more flowers. I think I will get a lilac bush. Not sure what else till I get there and look around. Sunday Karen & I attended a Mother's Day Tea at the nursing home with Mom. Yesterday my Red Hat group, the Ruby Chapeaus, had a tea at one of the local places, Season's Bistro. The hostess works there part time and she set up a beautiful table. We had little sandwiches, three kinds of scones with clotted cream and a variety of Chai tea. Everything was delicious and we had a great time of fellowship. I will post some pictures and hope you enjoy them. One of Mother's Day with Mom, the clematis Kurt's got me, one of the red hats. Maybe I will get one of our little buildings too.

Busy Busy Weekend

Do you like the new look???

Well, I don't know if I told you this or not, but I started working all my hours in four days, so I get Fridays off. It is working out pretty good so far. This Saturday I went to a bridal shower for Jessie and Lindsay Whitman. Jessie is getting married May 17th and Lindsay June 21st. Then I came home, stopped to see Mom and then Karen & Bob came over. When they left, we went to Cayla's 5th Birthday party. By the way, Saturday was Keith's birthday. Cayla's was Monday. Sunday I took Keith to Fort Wayne (Karen & Bob met us at Red Lobster) We had his birthday dinner. Then Keith & I went shopping. We went to Gander Mountain, Home Depot and Sam's. Then I went in to visit Mom. Before I went to bed, I had to prepare the finance report for the cemetery. Monday I had to go to the Village Council meeting for the joint meeting with the cemetery. Tuesday night I cleaned up the house a little, did laundry, and did some more paperwork for the cemetery. This morning I had a cemetery board meeting at 7 a.m. before I went to work. I mailed out the invitations to Sarah's baby shower Monday. Tonight I don't think I have anything on the adgenda. May just relax. Friday (I am not working) Mom has a doctor's appointment in Fort Wayne with her surgeon. I am following her over (she will be taken in a non emegency transport) Karen will meet us there and we will find out how she is doing. I think she is doing pretty good. I will post some pictures. Hope you enjoy them.