Piano judging at Wright State University....

My daughter recently went to a ribbon festival of piano judging at a local college close by. As you see she did VERY well.........

We are so proud of her!!!!

.......and so was her teacher!!

Busy Bee........

Busy Bee.............that's me!! I have been so busy with homeschooling, cooking, dishes, grocery shopping, baking, laundry, photography, painting, sweeping, raking, driving, helping, washing, brushing, dressing, making, sorting, hugging, typing, buying, fixing, calling, and answering that I have had NO TIME to blog!!! Imagine that............how selfish of me.
Anyway...........I hope all of you are well and I am sure you are preparing for the upcoming holidays.
May you ALL have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

I was going through some old pictures today and found this one of my daughter. I could not stop laughing........too funny, I had to share it!! She had made this dress out of a paper sack. I guess she was a bit embarrassed and did NOT want me to take her photo???????. ...not sure why the face; but, it makes for a good laugh!!

Then I came across this photo and it almost made me cry(see below). My how time has flown. Not sure where it has gone????????????? BOO HOO
Question:"What in the world do I have on??"

Then I saw this photo of my daughter with her cousin. Too cute!! We had gone to see Suesical the musical and the girls posed by this giant CAT. Love it!

Here's my son with Grandma Kay!! Look how little he was. Now he's almost 10!! My daughter's the size of me now!! She's 12. They are GIANT!!

This holiday season.......remember all your loved ones (and those who've passed).
If your tired of the day and need a break........just get out some old photos and reminisce, it's worth it!!

Elk......

A month or more ago, my husband and I were on our way home from a busy day. We are not normally driving in this area (North of our home) and I usually don't see "Elk" in Ohio.

I had my camera with me and and I screeched for him to stop and turn around. I had to get a photo. I have a telephoto lens but it's not the best. Here's what I got.
Amazing animals.....I stood for a long time abut could not get him to lift his head.

Butterfly & the Grasshopper......

During the Summer I went out in our backyard for a break. I quickly spied this butterfly. I think it had just hatched out. The colors on this thing were amazing. I don't think I have ever seen one like this before. I chased it around and got several good shots.

Then I spied the grasshopper. Can you see him??

I'll zoom in for you.......

A little more zoom.........and he's easy to see!!

Buddy Walk 2010

Buddy walk is held once a year and we try to go but sometimes don't make it every year.
This year it was GREAT!! Perfect weather!!

This year I saw the most people EVER at Buddy Walk!! So exciting to see that.
It warms my soul to know that all those folks care and understand.

Running towards the finish line!!

We took the dog with us this year "Myra". She had a good time.
The medal must have looked better on her??

New friends were made and fun was had by all!!

Fun with daddy!!

See you all next year!!

Soccer....

My boy has been playing soccer. He likes it for a short while and then he's done. He's not much of a go getter. He likes to do practice kicks in to the net. That's his favorite.
He plays with a local team in our area for special needs kids. Our coach's (husband and wife) have a child on the team as well.
It's a great experience to get my boy out there and involved.
They recently took pictures.......... That did not go well. He just wants to see the camera and photos. He's not much for posing and smiling.

He was good for me at first.........but then I got faces like this........

He's always happy to with daddy!!

Team Photo!!

There are lots of folks on the field to help guide the kids. Even my daughter got involved.

Game over...great job team!!

20th Anniversary Surprise!!!

September 15th was my husbands and I's 20th wedding anniversary.
Yes "20". I know I can hardly believe it!!

Anyway for a couple months my husband had some BIG exciting thing planned. This unknown thing...... had gotten canceled twice before this (once due to scheduling and once due to weather). I guessed MANY different things and asked MANY questions (some where not completely answered though).
HHHMMM Where are we going?
AHHHH I know!!
Believe it or not I guessed it!!
I knew it had to do with my husbands friend who owned a small plane. He would not confirm that though.........I also though maybe a hot air balloon???
We got to the small airport and they said "come on, lets go". I said (as pioneer woman would say) "say whaaaa"!!! I could not believe it and I said that ALL day!! It was AMAZING and so fun/exciting!! THANKS HUSBAND!! and thanks husband's friends/pilots!!

The friend and his wife are both pilots. We were going to Put in Bay in northern Ohio, Lake Erie. We had been there once before and it's a lot of fun.
I could not wait to get there......to eat food of course!!

The wife flew us there and the husband flew us back.
Whew... it was nice to have two experienced pilots at once!

Hold on.......here we go!!

Oh my gosh so beautiful.......you could see for about 30 miles!!

Look at those clouds!!

Approaching Lake Erie!! It only took us about 1 hour to get there. FAST!
It would take about 3-4 hours to drive there.

There's Put in Bay!! So much to look at from above!!

We went right to lunch at the marina!!
UUMMMMM crab bisque soup!! One of my favorites....and boy was it good!!

Golf carts are the ONLY way to go!! WEEEEEEEE

A little fun was had at the chocolate museum.
Ompa Dompa Doompity Doo. I've got another riddle for you!!

Speed it up!!

The Butterfly House and Perry's Cave is AWESOME.......it's my favorite!! They have a giant greenhouse full of butterflies from all over the world!!
I went a bit crazy with the pictures.

Below is a gift shop before you go in. This was a large wall of framed butterflies and a stained glass window.Beautiful!

They even had nice glass art inside the greenhouse.

Watch out.......the butterflies will land anywhere!!
Here is one on my leg and one on our pilots purse. Too funny!!

This was the cutest dog ever!! I talked with her owners inside the butterfly house and when I came out I got to see "Daisey".
So sweet!

A beautiful church.I had to snap a photo.

More food of course.......we had to get ice cream!!

Pilots need to fuel up too!!

Soaking it all in..almost time to leave. Boo Hoo!!

Hold on we're off again!! Can't believe it's time to go already.

Goodbye Lake Erie.....it's been fun!!

Goodnight Comanche "Pop". Maybe we'll see you again someday!!

They sure surprised me!!
Thanks so much for a GREAT day!!

Hey husband, let's do this kind of stuff more often.......
What's in store after the next 20 years??
I have some good ideas!!