Hi guys - YES I finally posted a blog!!

Hi guys, I really have been incredibly busy but then who isn't with 4 kids in and out from one week to the next. Here is a quick catch up on what we have been up to.

Here is a pic of my fish from when we took our fishing trip/bird trip to MO. It was a VERY fast trip, drove for 6 hrs, got there, checked into our motel room and fell fast asleep, the next day got up early and fished and then that afternoon picked up the bird and started for home, 6 hrs to get there, 7 hrs to get home. My behind was sore after that car ride. The bird is Lahja, he is sooo pretty, he is a German/Finnish male Goshawk. He is a very cold weather hunter so in the coldest part of the winter Tony will be hunting him on ducks. Next time we go to MO, WE WILL SEE the Mr. and Mrs. Mel. lol!

This is a pic of our two kayaks that we bought last month. We have had so much fun with these two boats, the kids just love them. Last weekend we took them to see Amy and Jake and went out on East Fork lake in Ohio, soooo much fun. There is a great big beach there, the lake is huge and we all took turns taking them out, the ones on the beach watched Jake. He is too little to go out... In this pic we are at Harrod's Creek, right down the road from our house. We are attending and participating in Via Colori this weekend in Bardstown KY, we are one square of 55 that will be painted on the street during their Italian Street painting festival. Tony, me, Scott and Tawny will be the artists, Amy, Becky and Jake will be there to help. We are camping for the weekend at the State park there right outside of town. I think it is My Old KY home park, it is very nice, thank goodness it has great showers, with that many people in the camper we can't use the shower.

Our big news is that the condo is now ON THE MARKET. I have been going up there regularly getting the carpet installed, having the painter paint the rooms, moving, fixing up and generally making myself crazy over it. lol! Yesterday I made one more trip, met the realtor and we signed the paperwork for Sibcy Cline to sell it for us. It is gorgeous!! I sure hope it goes fast, there are several on the market in our complex, I doubt they look as good as ours....:)

I'd best get back to making food for this weekend. I made pretzels the other day. Today I am making pulled pork and peanut butter cookies!!

love you all!

Di

Pic from camping at Lake Jericho

This handsome man is my hubby making a fire at our campsite at Lake Jericho last weekend. We had so much fun, took Derek, Warren, Scott and his girlfriend Tawny and Jake with us. We camped with Jake the first two nights and Derek slept in his van. Then on Sunday after the graduation party Warren and Scott and Tawny joined us for the night. Tony's friend Paul came down from his house on his Harley and joined us for dinner and the evening. We had so much fun! We went out on the canoe with lil Jake and he had fun "sweeping under the water" with the paddle. That kid is soooo cute, he really enjoyed the fishing too with his little Spiderman pole and the plastic red fish.

Had a bit of an "incident" in the canoe with Jake and Tony and I. We 3 had been out fishing the lake for a couple hours, we were caught in the rain and it was raining very hard. We were trying to come in at a different spot than the dock and Tony had the brainy idea to pull Jake and I in the canoe up onto the bank, only the bank was quite a bit higher than the water level. Well Jake went flying back into me and I fell my rear end into the very pointed end hole in the canoe, got stuck in there!!! Well I was hoppin mad but Tony was laughing so hard at my prediciment that it was pretty hilarious. Strained my back pretty good, had to lay down most of the day Tuesday it hurt so bad. It is funny now, NOT funny then, lol!

Got to go and get this house cleaned, will post more......I PROMISE!!! I miss you guys!

Love Di

The obnoxious Ex dropped her law suit

Yey!! Tony's ex emailed him last Friday and said she was dropping her law suit against him. He was supposed to go to court tomorrow as she was asking for $750/mo in child support. This is a woman that has 2 trust funds that give her so much money every month that she only needs to work 15 hrs a week.

We are really relieved this is over but she caused Tony so much grief since we got married that it really is ridiculous. She said in her email on Friday that "letting go has been hard for her", so her form of letting go is apparently to punish him for being happy. She is a dry alcoholic and really has had some very unfortunate things happen to her in her childhood days, an alcoholic mother that ended up burning the house down and killing herself by smoking in bed. An uncle that abused her horribly for years growing up, just an awful past. So I do feel for her in many ways, but these past few months of her having her "fit" has been ridiculous.

It is over and so is any respect that Tony had for her...........very sad to end a relationship that way.

On an up note we got Amy all moved into the new apt. and it is sooo cute! Scott and Tony and I took a little enclosed trailer up there yesterday and moved the washer and dryer in for her and then took home lots of stuff from the condo that was mine. The garage is almost empty but there is a lot of cleaning and work to be done to empty the condo completely. Then we have to rip out all the carpet and redo that and paint all the walls. Goodness, it never ends it seems. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

Derek was asked to interview with Channel 12 in Cinci for a camera tech position, he has an interview for Wed. He is really torn about whether to do the interviews or check into the half-way house. He knows the answer but is having a hard time making himself do it, it is a 6 mo. program at the house. But this is the first interview he has had in his field, they are not easy to come by.

Hope the Mom's had a great day yesterday, we had a good day, had fun working hard and getting stuff done up there.

Big hugs to everyone,

Di

Rollercoaster day

This has been a rollercoaster day. Derek called first thing and was in tears, he is drinking again. Then I heard on facebook that my SIL Dawn has a tumor and will need surgery. She had breast cancer and has been through the mill with it over the past 2 years. Then my super helpful husband sent all the invites for Warren's graduation back to his ex-wife, they were NOT done! Honestly, some times I wonder why I get up in the morning.

Yesterday I helped with Dare to Care feeding people on the street from the produce and bakery trucks, we fed 270 people. That was really awesome, lots of the food came from the Churchill Downs and their leftovers from Derby.

Then I went up to the condo and helped Amy move out and into her new apt. She is sharing with two of her closest friends. This new place is so nice, she will really like it there. Her and Jake will still share a room but they have a lot more living space. Everything is new and it is really pretty. I drove back so that I could go to my hair apt. this morning, and I didn't get in until 12:30 am. so guess that is why I am so out of it today.

Well best get at it, I have a lot to do to get ready for dinner.

Monday April 27

We had a really busy weekend. I bought these 12 Barbie dolls at a yard sale we went to on Sat. before the soccer tournament started. These dolls are so cute I couldn't resist them, I bought 3 bags, each had 4 dolls and an assortment of clothes and little shoes and hats. I had ONE barbie growing up, only 1 as we didn't have much money. Now I'll have a stash to play with when we have Tony's grand nieces over and when Jake is here or when I want to play with some cute Barbies!!! They are mostly 1966 and 1968 years and in really great shape. I LOVE BARBIE!!! Will have to take a few camping with us on Friday, one bag had a little cooler in it!!

This is a pic of my soccer warrior husband playing in the tournament. They didn't win one single game but they had fun and will probably do it again next year. They have been playing in this tournament for 20 years!!! It was great weather and great fun to see them play quick 6 on 6 games on the smaller fields.

We picked up the camper on Friday, had fun learning all about the camper from this cute little couple. We hit the IKEA store on the way home in Cinci. Had to buy this adorable folding picnic table and chairs set, made of really solid wood and will probably outlive both of us it is so sturdy. We also bought a kitchen island which we have to put together tonight. And some dishes and pots and pans for the camper, just had a great time on our little trip.

You all have a great day!!

Love and hugs,

Di

Thursday April 23

More about our trip to Alb. Deb sponsored a candidate for initiation into the Catholic church so she had a LOT of committments at the church while we were there. She of course had volunteered to make cookies for the reception Sat. night after the vigil and she ran short on time. So Tony and I said we'd make some yummy decorated cookies as we LOVE doing that together. I made a cookie recipe from the back of the cookie cutter package, it was a Wilton cutter, it made the best cut out sugar cookies I have ever tasted, Mom and Deb agreed. Deb makes a homemade baking powder from baking soda and cream of tarter, we used that recipe for the powder and these cookies came out so nice and got so big. So when someone says use FRESH baking powder for a recipe use this one, you won't be disappointed. If someone wants the recipe I'll ask her to send it to me, it is just two ingredients but the tarter and soda must be new and FRESH or it is pointless.

I used a thin powdered sugar and milk and vanilla recipe for the icing and when it was not quite dry Tony put on the colored sugars in the design. An easy way to decorate a lot of cookies quickly. We gave them a boat load and Deb said 3 people commented that they were not only beautiful but delicious!!

Have to get the Dahlias into the ground today, I've had them on the kitchen counter for 2 days. The bed is ready I am just unsure how tall they will get. Guess I'll just do it and see what happens. Best get my behind movin............

Big hugs and love to everyone,

Di

2nd post for today - QUICKIE

Just a quickie to tell you all what the blood morphologist lady Susan told me when we saw her in Alb.

She said my blood was AWESOME, that I am eating pretty clean and it shows. She gave me some fine tunings to do and a few little supplements that I need to be getting enough of but all in all I am lookin good.

One thing she stressed is to be sure not to eat ANY wheat flour in any form and any refined sugar in any form. She is so right, I have been very careful this past 2 weeks and the zingers are almost completely gone. The facial and scalp nerve pain is gone too!! If I have a diet pop of any kind the joint pain comes back in a hurry so that is out too. For sugar substitute I am using Agave and it is great. Fibromyalgia pain is down to an all time low if I follow this plan. Trick is to keep things in the house that I can eat and to not take even one bite of the bad stuff. One bit and I am off and gone and eating the WHOLE THING!!

Big hugs,
Di

I am BACK!!

Picture of the ladies on Easter Sunday. In the back: me, Mom, Deb, Jamie, Angie, the little girls are Malea and Tori. (Jamie and Angie are both pregnant!!) Pic of the kitchen in the camper, not a good pic but shows how big it is!! I it has the cutest little stove and oven, can't wait to whip up some yummy breakfast some cool morning!!

Pic of the outside as it sat in their driveway. Needs a good scrubbing, but great shape for a 95 and only pulled 250 miles it's whole life!!

Hi Everyone! I haven't been on, been so busy getting everything caught up after our trip to see Deb and family in Alb. But now I am caught up and going to post a few things. This is our new camper, we go to pick it up on Friday. I have been busy getting a few things for it so we can take it to Tony's soccer tournament this weekend. If they win they keep playing all weekend, so just in case we will bring it and he can have a place to rest and recoup before the next game. The tournament is held at a set of fields that is "way out there" in no mans land and it is hard to get back between games.

Our trip to Alb. was so fun. Deb was her usual super hostess self. Mom was a little on the annoying side but she means well, she just likes to make almost every single conversation about her so that does get tiresome. But she is 75 and guess she is entitled to be however she chooses to be. We feel like we cooked and baked the entire time we were there. We have a big ravioli dinner on Sunday and that takes 2 days of cooking to pull off for all those people. Then Deb sponsored someone for initiation into the church so she had all kinds of committments from Wed - Sunday. We made awesome cookies for the reception at the church after Sat. Mass. The folks loved them and that was fun. I baked egg shaped sugar cookies and Tony decorated them, well I iced them and he decorated the "pretty part". He is sooo good at that, we make a good team.

I am going to try to catch up with your blogs. You all have a great Wed!

Big hugs,
Di

Getting ready for ALBUQUERQUE!!

Okay, this isn't a picture of our last trip to Albuquerque, it is a pic of us in Makoshika State park in Montana. This is an awesome park right outside my hometown of Glendive. I was just looking for a good pic of Tony and me having fun on a trip. This was taken in July of '08.

We leave for Alb. Wed. afternoon so I don't know how much blogging time I will get in before then. I told Deb I would bring her cookies for her reception for the RCIA folks and bread sticks for Easter dinner so I have a lot to do. Plus I want to try out my new iron on the curtains I am hanging in the guest bedroom.

We had everyone over for early Easter on Sat. Tony made pork tenderloins on the grill and I made lots of veggies and red potatoes, rice and broccoli, rolls and deviled eggs. Amy and Jake came on Friday so we had a little visiting time and Scott was here too all week. We had Tony's mother as well as my girlfriend Patty, so we had fun.

Derek did drop in for eating with all of us on Sat. but left to go off to a band trip to Dayton Ohio. He seems to be doing better, only drank that one night that he was here...and got kicked out the next morning. He is really suffering not having a place to call his own but that is what he needs and I don't feel sorry for him one bit. He showered here on Friday after his landscaping job and left a pair of pants to be washed but that is the only thing he has done here since he left. He has both the landscaping job and the BoomBozz pizza job still and seems to be doing great at both. He is making lots of money on tips delivering pizza, averaging $70 a night. He brought Tony his phone bill money on Sat. and that was nice. So he should have enough to get a place soon, the van has to be really uncomfortable and cold sleeping in that all night.

I have the guest room all back to the way it was only better. I'll hang the curtains from the old house in Bellevue today, they are so cute, a light green plaid with a cream color in cotton, tab curtains, I love them. They will go with the floral spread nicely.

Tony has a cold and he is trying hard to give it to me!! Gotta love those husbands, if they have a cold does it occur to them NOT TO KISS you on the lips??? HECK NO!! lol! I love him to death and can't deny him a kiss that is for sure, waited Waaaay to long for a good hubby.

I want to tell you all thank you so much for your unfailing support through these times with Derek. It means more to me than I can say! If I don't get with all of you before we leave I hope you all have a great Easter week and a blessed Easter Sunday.

Big hugs,

Di

Derek's gone

Derek is gone again, this time at my insistence. He came home in the early house yesterday and was drunk!! He couldn't get up to go to his landscaping job at 7 and I went in and found him really hostile and very drunk in bed. I ordered him to collect everything he owned and leave and then the fight started. Apparently he thought he could just blantently abuse the privilege of living here and we wouldn't care.

I had to call Tony back from driving to work to get Derek to settle down somewhat. In the course of his rant and rave he smashed his head repeatedly into the side of his van, at rage at himself. He put a good sized dent in the van and I can imagine only added a headache to his misery.

So the end of the story is that he went up to Cinci and had dinner with his sister and Jake after he sobered up. Talked to her at length about his habit and then drove back down here. He parked the van in a lot somewhere and went to his landscaping job this am. He texted me and Tony several times throughout the day and begged to come back here, promising to change THIS TIME.......

He will not be back here until he completes a 6 month drug/alcohol program and graduates with honors, even then I doubt he will want to live with our rules, they just got even tougher.

So that is the latest in our story with Derek. One drink makes for one more drink and makes for total misery for him.............

Big pitty party..thrown by Myself, with Myself as the Only guest...

I threw an all out GIGANTIC pitty party for myself yesterday. I had eaten some bad for me stuff the day before, just because I guess. So yesterday morning, no surprise I was feeling really bad, pain in every joint (from the Frosty no doubt) and zingers running rampant in my body. But the real problem was between my ears, I had let this disease get the best of me.

So I sat down at my painting table and told myself I was going to paint a really mean picture of Jesus. Afterall God was the one that let me be like this, I was in a brand new marriage and full of pain and anxiety, that was certainly not fair. I sat there and just attacked the fabric with oil markers, just drew the worst looking picture I could think of , really upset and really just mad at God in general.

I texted Tony that I was feeling so badly and he texted me back to meet him for lunch. I had already picked a fight with him that morning and was thinking that I needed to say I was sorry in person. We met at O'Charles and had a really nice lunch, he rubbed my aching hands until our food came.

Later yesterday evening after our meeting I worked on the painting some more. I was thinking that Jesus has an odd way of mellowing my soul and spirit when I am angry at him. He makes me look straight at him and see the pain and misery that he went through for us. As I was putting on the final washes of color for the background and dragging the colors over his face I thought about the crucifixion and how it must have been so painful to endure not only the physical pain but the agony of his friends hiding from him in shame.

It came to light to me that God gave me this pain for a reason, I have something very tangible to offer up to him.

Di

Casey is home!!

I took Casey and Rocky out for a walk in a really neat park this morning. They loved it and it was just like old times, just me and the two boys. Note in this last pic the cool rainbow at the bottom of the picture, that says it all!!

Love Di

Been layin low........

Had to post this pic as Sunday is our 1 year anniversary of the first day Tony and I met in person!! We met during the sweet 16 games, our teams were playing on the same night, just not each other; the Cards and Xavier. We met at the BW3's in Highland Heights, Tony drove for 1.5 hours to watch the two games with me and have a beer and then he drove home. Goodness, that should have been a sign of a great guy in itself. Who would have dreamed that a year later we would have been married for 3 months!! Seems like a whirlwind courtship but in reality it was just right. We didn't want to waste one more minute not being married! And we have turned out to be the perfect people for each other, even our kids get along great.

I've been laying low the last couple of days, trying to get my back to stop spasming. I over did it at the gym earlier in the week and have paid dearly. I did get on the mini tramp yesterday for a few minutes just to do something, that didn't hurt but this am I woke at 4 with bad pains. I have to stop acting like I don't have a herniated disk before I end up in bed.

Casey will more than likely be in Indy on Sunday. There are horrid storms through MT and ND and they are moving slowly. They also have a stop in St. Paul to unload so that will take some time. Can't wait to see my baby, he will be tired from all that riding I am sure.

You all have a great day, I have more bookkeeping to do and then I am done, whooo hooo!

peace and love, oh and have a great weekend if I don't get on again.

Di

This is better...........

This is the Peobo resist that I wrote about last time. The gold line is very pretty and it comes out of the tube easily, doesn't run and give you a nice fine line. In the moving I lost the little pamphlet of directions on how to use this but I looked it up in my Dharma catalog, I do have to iron this resit to fix it to the silk, no biggie, this silk scarf will not be washed so I have no chance of washing out the silk paint with this method. These colors, this bright will always stay this bright, think I have come across a plan............finally!!

I bought 4 silk scarves from Dharma, 9" x 54", all blank white, ready for painting/dying whatever. So I will hopefully get at least two done this week for our trip to Alb. Mom and Deb will love them.

Our doggie Casey will be given to the transport guy today by my Mom in Seattle. We are very excited to have him coming home. Amy was here yesterday to pick up Jake and have a little cookout with us all. She is sooo hyped up, she hasn't seen her doggie in over 3 years!! Tony and I will travel to Indy on Friday (we think) to get him from the guy as he passes through on his way to northern Ohio. Mom is already on her way to Seattle, I talked to her this am. She has so many doggie things she is sending along, plus his big kennel that we used to ship him on the plane out there. This guy is going to really wonder when he sees all that stuff!

We had a blast with Jake this weekend. Scott ended up staying with us for Sat and Sun instead of going with his mother to her friend's house. That poor kid gets drug along to the weirdest places with her and her lady friends. We took Jake and Scott with us to church and Scott was such a help with Jake. Of course Jake pulled the "I have to pee" thing in the middle of mass and Scott volunteered to take him.

We had everyone over for a cookout during the Cards vs Sienna game and it was great fun. Amy had Sarah and Kyle come too as they both go to school at U of L and they were in town. Lots of kids, lots of food and lots of fun. I always wanted more kids but of course Don wouldn't allow it, once we had one of each that was the end of kids. It used to make me sad but not anymore, now I have the bigger family that I always wanted and I am loving it!!

Have a great spring day everyone!
Di

This didn't work too well..............

First off, Happy Anniversary to Tony and me!! Today is our 3 month anniversary, man how time flies when you are having fun, lol!

Here is a pic of my little sample piece of silk that I tried the gel glue resist method on. This is a shot before I washed out the gel. Well, sorry to say that this method did not work on silk and with silk paint. I had to wash it so vigorously to get all the gel resist lines out that I about wore out the silk and the silk paint faded horribly. These colors are nice and bright in this pic but the finished piece looks like an old dirty rag!! I think this gel might work better on cotton with real dye as you don't have to steam cotton to set the dye. Dye is the way to go as it sets very well and does not fade at all, and the colors are super vibrant. In the directions for this method the lady used cotton, so cotton might be the only way to use this gel glue.

So today I am trying another trial on a different reist, this is a commercial water based gutta from Peobo. I have three tubes that I have never opened, it makes a very fine nice line, I tried it on paper last night. This resist you do not wash out, it comes in colors like gold and silver and copper and it shiney and really neat stuff. It adds a really pretty fine line in color for the design, I am excited to try it. For color I am going to try dying the piece in kool aid, you can get some awesome effects in kool aid on silk. I have to boil the silk piece so hopefully the gutta will stay, I'm crossin my lil fingers.

Lil Jake comes to spend the weekend with us so I have lots to do to ready the house for him. Scott has been here this past week, first time he has spent 5 consecutive days with us and it was fun. He is a great kid. His Mother had to keep him on the phone for 1 hr. last night with her non-stop nonsense. She is the most combative person I have ever met, even beats out my ex and that is saying a lot.

You all have a great day and enjoy our last day of winter!!

Di

Hey guys

Hey guys, no time for photos today. I have so many things on my plate that it boggles my wee mind. I am trying to get at the pieces of silk that I bought from Dharma so that I will have Mother's Day gifts in hand when I get to Albqueruque for Easter. So much easier than mailing them later. But, alas..............that means I have to actually create the little masterpieces first!!

One of my Mother's contacts in art out in Port Angeles gave me a really great heads up on a technique for using a resist on silk that is NOT toxic and therefore going to be really good for me. It is plain ol gel glue, the kind you give kids to use, who wudda thunk it! I previously used melted wax for a resist but the smell and toxicity of melted wax is just to high of a price for me to pay. Plus, in this house there is no basement to hide in and create a mess in so anything I melt is smelly all over the house. The 4....soon to be 5 doggies and Tony and the kids cannot all wear a facemask all day!! Well maybe they could and maybe it would be super cute to see us all in them but that ain't gonna happen, ha!

So my focus today is #1 go to my fitness instruction apt. at LAC (Louisville Athletic club) #2 finish the trials on this new resist and use my best paints so I can see if it works #3 MAKE AT LEAST ONE OF THE DESIGNS on the silk scarf so that I am feeling like I am making progress on this quest.

It is raining here today so I won't be tempted by outside stuff. Like yesterday when Derek and I went to Auto Zone and bought oil and all the stuff to change my oil. That was actually really fun and REALLY MESSY!!

Oh by the way, I do not have YO's email address. I read all of her posts but can't post to her blog and wanted to email her but alas it is not in my mail box. Can someone please email me at dmenglert@bellsouth.net her email address.

Thanks and hugs all around!

Di

Casey is coming home!!!

My step Dad Bob with Casey in Port Angeles, WA.

This is a picture of Casey and Amy taken some years ago when we lived in Alexandria. Casey was/is Amy's dog. She begged and begged for this dog from the pet store, we had to visit it several times a week as a puppy in a large litter. It turned out that this little guy was the runt and the very last dog left. The owners of the pet store said to one of the workers, " if that lady and girl come to see that dog again just give him to them", so that is how we ended up with Casey. Don always called him the most expensive free dog ever. We built a $3500 fence for our yard and the main reason was so Casey could have a great fenced yard to bark in. lol!

Casey was my constant companion when I first got sick, he slept with me in the bed when Don would go to work and I was first bed ridden and at home. This went on for almost a year I was so heavily medicated to stop moving that I slept almost constantly. Casey would jump in the bed with me and snuggle next to me to comfort me. Many days I spent crying to him and holding him wondering if I would end up in a nursing home I was in such a horrible state with the Dystonia. When I started to get better we adopted a little friend for Casey, Rocky our little Chihuahua, they were fast friends and had so much fun together. Casey was a gently giant to our little 1.6 lb tiny baby puppy, he would let Rocky lay with him for naps it was so cute. Our two cats at the time would always snuggle with Casey too for naps, he was just the most loveable dog ever.

Fast forward to Don kicking Amy and me and little unborn Jake out of our family home. He said and take that "damn dog with you" so we tried to do just that but non of the apts. that I could afford on disability would allow 50 lb dogs. So my mother and step-Dad who had just lost their two sweet yellow labs to old age said they would take him in for a year for us. This was such a blessing for us and turned out to be a really amazing blessing for them. They missed their two big labs so much, they had them since they were pups when they died so they had not been without pets for many years. Casey fit right in and helped heal the wounds and losses from the "boy's" deaths.

Then that very next March 18th our dear step-Dad Bob passed on from brain cancer. Yes, today is the anniversary of Bob's death, he has been gone 3 years now. Casey has been a constant companion to Mom these 3 years and has brought her so much comfort much like he did for me when I was so bad and in bed. At 75 years young she can no longer care for Casey like she used to be able to when Bob was there, she can't get down on the floor to brush him and she can't lift him. And Casey is getting older and needs special arthritis meds and has trouble walking so he is now quite a bit more expensive than he was 3 years ago. I called Amy and asked her what she thought about taking Casey back home to us and of course she said, "yes, Mom do it, we need Casey back". So I told Mom I would look for a ground transport to bring Casey back home to us and we finalized a good transport for him yesterday.

Casey will be coming home on Monday of next week, driving with a moving company driver on his way to a move from Seattle to Ohio. He will sit in the cab with the driver and keep him company on the trip. I will meet up with the truck in Indianapolis and get Casey from him there. This awesome sweet dog is now making it back to us full circle. We can now care for him in his older years and time of need just like he did for me and then for Mom and Bob.

This is why I haven't been on the computer blogging, setting up his transport and bidding back and forth on UShip has been very time consuming.

Peace and love to everyone!!! We get our big sweet pup next week, I can't wait to see him, I haven't seen him in over 3 years.

Di

Latest project..........

I am making Jake a little covered pillow for his second birthday party. He loves this fabric and used to carry around the fabric piece before I had a chance to make it into something. We thought that was so funny so we had to take it from him when he was napping so I could make it into something. This pic is hard to see but I am machine quilting around each of the little cars on the fabric. Then I will sew each quilted side into a pillow.

On the subject of Katy's zingers. This method she has of going through the symptoms and systematically trying this and that to find the cure of reducing the zingers has me thinking. I am not supposed to be eating wheat flour products and sugar. I have been trying to give them up again and I have noticed that when I do give them up my zingers are greatly reduced. I had attributed the increase in them from the stress of living in a new city, new kids, etc. But now I think it is just the diet and a little of the stress.

You all have a great day, big hugs all around.

Di

Henry's Ark trip last Sunday

This past Sunday Tony and I took Scott and Amy and Jake to Henry's Ark since it was such a nice day. There were a lot more people there than the day Tony and Jake and I went in Jan when it was only 14 degrees. We were happy that Scott could join us as he couldn't make it to Jake's party on Friday and was busy on Sat. Scott is Tony's youngest son, the one that his Mother "hogs", literally! She will not allow him to spend the night with us anymore even though he has an adorable bedroom at our house...............YES, she is wacked but that is another story. We were happy to have him for the day on Sunday and he and Amy get along really well and Jake adores him. Scott is 15, Amy 20.

In the picture above Amy, Scott and Jake had to try out the very friendly burro for a ride for Jake. They didn't actually "ride" her, just sat Jake on her back. These burros were so cute and friendly and filthy!! Thank God we had hand sanitizer in the car!

The two camels that Tony about lost his left hand to while feeding! These two were VERY hungry and apparently love carrots. Wonder if you can buy carrots that are a foot long just for feeding camels??? lol!

This was the bunny area, neat very fat bunnies in elevated cages. Scott and Jake were big friends on this excursion to the Ark, Jake had to have him in sight at all times.

This emu was after us the whole trip down this little walking path to see the animals. He had to have whatever we were feeding the other animals, kind of freaked us out and he would get right in your face. Amy finally had to pick up Jake and run from this guy....Several of the animals at the Ark just roam freely among the visitors, not exactly the safest way to operate a zoo.

I am going to try to get caught up with all of the posts you all have put up this past week. We are working outside a lot lately and I just run out of time before Tony gets home and we have dinner and go to a meeting.

Love you all, big hugs all around,

Di

Fun weekend

Jake "big" Birthday present from Tony and me and Derek, he loved it!!

This is the crazy dinosaur cake I made for Jake for his birthday party at our house last Friday. Those are toys that I bought at Target and I just stuck them on the cake, the snake started to fall off toward the end. The frosting is homemade marshmallow creme, really yummy and was nice and glossy to spray the green coloring on it. Cake flavor was red velvet, Amy's favorite.