It's S-O-U-P-E-R!

Nothing like a cool, crisp fall day to make me feel soupy...

And today is one of those days..

Mmmmmm  mmmmm  mmmmm...chicken and rice!

Was it good?  It was so good my son-in-law gave it his seal of approval and that's an honor!

Stay warm, stay well and remember to stop and smell the soup bones...

BOW?

I hope you've figured out by now that when Andy calls, things happen...

Yesterday he called and told me that I might want to meet him in the driveway and while I was at it, maybe I should bring my camera.

I was waiting!  What do you think of this?

And how about these?

And is this something you might want?

Would you park your hiney here?

And would you be impressed with this, or know the significance of it's color?

Does this make you swoon?

Or couldn't you just fall in love with this happy smile?

Yes, you are looking at the BOW  or Bike Of (the) Week...

 

Which, besides the house on the hill, is the only thing that is older than his mother (according to Andy).

It's a bike circa 1940 in all it's glory and Andy could not be happier!

After we admired his newest acquisition, he invited me to his house to see last week's BOW:

Whatta kid!

Happy Sunday!  I'm off to church while  Andy, Tony, Morgan, Vicky, Morgan's mother and sister are  off running a 5K race.  Yes, they are crazy but I love 'em!

God  bless you!

Jan 



A day late and a dollar short and a heartfelt THANK YOU!

Yesterday morning I woke up and remembered to count my blessings.  Not only did I have a roof over my head, coffee in my pot, toast in my toaster and warm (hand knit) socks, but I had the 3 F's:

Faith, Family and Freedom!

I practiced my faith by saying a prayer of thanks for my family and freedom and decided to get dressed and go to town and pay homage to those who secured our freedom for us...at the Veteran's Day Parade!

My adopted home town is small in stature and population, 2.7 square miles and only 15,000 people, but we take our parades seriously!

ALL the county high school marching bands participate...

  

Scout troups and other organizations take time to march and honor our veterans:

Did I ever tell you that Butler is the REAL home of the Jeep?  Yes, the Jeep was invented here!

Of course, no local parade would be complete with the Shriners in their funny cars!

They are so funny, doing figure 8's.  I love to hear the kids squeal when it looks like they will crash into each other.

Here comes the county treasurer!

Usually the guy who walks behind these horses with a snow shovel and a garbage can gets a lot of applause,  this year was no exception!

The kids standing next to me were so impressed with these guys.  They had real swords!

Don't know who this guy is, but he sure wins hands down for the best sweater:

~sigh~

Don't you just love parades?  I do!

Hey, even though Veteran's Day is gone, it's never too late to say thanks when you have a chance.

God Bless America!

Love you guys,

JAN

Good news!


I've said it before, life can change in an instant, a millisecond.  Here's more proof:


Here is an old photo of me and my cousin, Sue, taken last spring...

Not the very best photo  of us, but you can see that Sue is a very nice, attractive woman.  What you can't see is that when this photo was taken, she was the very proud grandmother of ONE, her beautiful grand daughter, Sophia, the daughter of Sue's daughter, Stacy, and her husband, Dan.

Life was good...

Suddenly, at 7:11 AM on November 7, 2011, Dan and Stacy's family of three became this...

A beautiful family of FOUR! 

Welcome to Miss Emma Marie, who bounced into this world weighing 8 lbs, 14 ounces (nice try, Stacy, but no membership to the 9 pounder club-try again!)!!!!! 

Emma Marie was welcomed and loved by big sis, Sophia Grace!

A Baby is Such a Nice Way to Start a Person

~contented and happy sigh~

It's in the bag...

On Monday, Andy called me to ask two things:  1. If I was free on Tuesday, 2.  If my sewing machine was in good working order.

It was not unusual for him to ask those questions.  It meant one of two things:  1.  He blew the rear out of his favorite pants, or 2.  He had some strange project going on and I was the only one crazy enough to participate in with him.

Turns out it was not #1.  Tuesday evening he comes banging into the house with two rachet straps, a belt and an empty 40 pound dog food bag and tells me we're going to make a prototype.

A prototype?  You have to remember that this is the kid who made a Christmas tree out of bicycle wheels, so making a prototype out of a dog food bag isn't all that strange...

We went into my sewing room and began to plan...and I began to sew, but I guess I was too slow, because the next thing I knew, he was...

Yes!  He took over the sewing machine...and did quite well.  He even mastered sewing in reverse...

He cut a little, sewed a little, pondered a bit and sewed some more...

He fiddled and finangled, stitched and strapped...

Finally he decided it was time for a try-on...

It's almost done!  All it needs is a...

And if it looks like this...

It can only mean one thing....

We're good to go!

Look at that grin...can only mean one thing...

Success!

Sigh...if anyone would have told me a month and two days ago that I would be counting my blessings and feeling thankful for what I have as well as what we lost, I would not have believed it...but God is good and in the midst of our grief, we still have faith, family and fun.  I am loved, and I am truly blessed.

Good night and God bless. 

Love,

Jan

This is my story and I'm (not) sticking to it!

Yesterday evening, about 6:30, Andy and I were working on a 'top secret' project when I remembered it was election day and I hadn't voted yet!

I left him in my sewing room and jumped in my car and high tailed it to the polling place and took my place in line.  I was excited to voice my opinion on the future of my county and joyously anticipating displaying my:

only to be told that they were out of stickers!  How could this be true?  Is it even legal to operate a polling place without them?

I was sad, I was dismayed, I was ticked.  I threatened to take my vote to another location but they pointed out to me, I had to vote there or not at all...so I  voted, which always makes me happy, I jumped in my car and drove home quickly since I left Andy in my sewing room with my beloved sewing machine and serger...

Yesterday was a good day...almost!  I'll tell you more about it later, but for now, there are things that need done, phone calls to be made...

Love you all,
Jan

For what it's worth...

Evenings can be long and lonely around here at the house on the hill.  Fortunately, I have been blessed with friends and family, both mine and Mark's.  I can't tell you how much I love it when  someone calls to say they are stopping by for a visit.

Tonight was one of those nights.  Mark's brother, Mike, his wife, Michelle and kids Tori and Tyler came for a visit tonight.  Tony made us tacos and Andy and Morgan came to help us eat them.  Tacos are his specialty.  They were delish!

Eating tacos was educational for us.  Tyler made his own, which was great, but the filling kept squirting out the bottom of his tortilla.

Aunt Jan to the rescue!

I always wondered what those purple clips were for...they sure kept those olives from squirting out!

After dinner, Michelle and I cleaned up the kitchen while the rest of the gang went out to the garage to play........

Garage hockey!!!!!

Sorry, there is so much junk in the garage that you can hardly see Andy in all his goalie gear...look closely...

Tyler in action!

Looks like Mike got the short end of the stick?

Tori was right in the game!

Tony didn't do too bad either...

 Suddenly, someone remembered that we need to be careful...wear protective gear.  Mike was the first to comply...

Didn't seem to help his game much...

Who won?

It was a tie!

Maybe we can have a rematch next time?



~sigh~

I am blessed!