Shoot Me #14 of 52

Is it Thursday already? Every Thursday I will be participating in "Shoot Me" hosted by Forever In Blue Jeans. You too can play. Click here to sign up and to see the other participants. Here are the rules:

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did!

I am pictured here with my niece, Holly at Cross Creek Flower Farm.
This photo was taken recently by my Mom.

Wordless Wednesday - Toes in The Sand

Photos taken by Nature Girl

  

Aliens Are Attacking My Shrubs!

These pesky alien-like creatures protected in their camoflaged cocoon emerge in the evening to feast on my arborvitae trees.  They are bagworm caterpillars and they are killing my trees. We have a row of arborvitae trees that line our driveway and so far, we have had to replace two of them which were devoured by bagworms and by the looks of it, one more will have to be replaced. If we are lucky, we will be able to control the infestation by spraying insecticide or simply plucking them off the trees. The cocoons that the bagworms have formed look like pine cones, so they easily blend in looking like part of the tree.

The bagworms will continue to grow and feast and molt until August, so we have to inspect the trees daily for new cocoons. Unfortunately, the presence of bagworms often goes unoticed until they are mature and the damage is extensive! Wish me luck in my extermination efforts!

  

Letters From Camp

Today we pick up the girls from their week long church camp. I really really missed them. Oh who am I kidding. I didn't really really miss them. I just missed them a little. I rather enjoyed my peace and quiet at home this past week. Although when I got these letters in the mail, I have to admit, they tugged at my heartstrings for a minute. I received a total of 4 letters from Nature Girl. Each one of her letters gave me a sense of how much she is missing home. I received one letter from Funny Girl (my oldest daughter). She seems to be enjoying camp to the fullest. In fact, as quoted by Funny Girl, "I am not even close 2 crying, ha ha."

Even though in the past they have always come away from camp having met many new friends and having learned many new songs and having shared many great experiences, I'm sure they will both be glad to be at home and to sleep in their own beds and for their mom and dad to tuck them in at night. Or, will they just be happy to have their cell phones and i-pods back?! Hmmm.

  

Shoot Me #11 #12 & #13 of 52

Whenever FW and I get the opportunity to be without our loving and adorable teen girls because they are "occupied" with friends, you won't find us on the family pontoon boat. Nope. You will find us enjoying "we" time on the motorcycle. Just him and I riding free to usually nowhere significant. Sometimes we will simply take a short ride around the lake. Sometimes we will just ride around the neighborhood. And sometimes we have a destination. 

This time, our destination was the small quaint town of New Oxford, PA, which is less than 1/2 hour from our home. We came upon historic Kuhn Tavern hoping to quench our thirst from the long ride. Only to our disappointment, did we learn that Kuhn Tavern is no longer a "watering hole" so to speak. The tavern has been a museum and historical site for many years. The museum was closed, but we were lucky to meet the current owner, Mr. James Stock, who happened to spot us peeking in the windows of the renovated building, which originated in 1763. How lucky were we to get a personal guided tour inside?!

Here I am pictured below with Mr. Stock. We are standing in the downstairs hall archway, which is the only original part left of the building.

Me on the porch of the Tavern

Since we were thirsting for a cold drink, we did what any biker would do....we moved on to the next "watering hole" and found ourselves at Scozzaros Old Mill Inn, an Adams County landmark situated between New Oxford and Gettysburg. We had a nice dinner on the deck and then we headed 15 minutes West to historic Dobbin House Tavern located in the heart of Gettysburg for our after dinner coffee. It was certainly an enjoyable quality evening spent with my hubby prior to having my surgery. 

Historic Dobbin House in Gettysburg, PA

FW outside of the Dobbin House

Is it Thursday already? Every Thursday I will be participating in "Shoot Me" hosted by Forever In Blue Jeans. You too can play. Click here to sign up and to see the other participants. Here are the rules:

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did!

3 Reasons Why I know My Kids Will Love Camp This Year

My kids are at church camp this week. Can I hear a yahoo!!! This will be their third year attending church camp. The past two years they stayed in rustic ""platform tents" (click to read more) and there were always lots of bugs and spiders, no electricity, and the closest bathroom was a short walk to a one shower/one toilet outhouse.  Not bad, but not good either. They always tolerated it, because after all, it was a "camping experience".

However, this year, they graduated to the "cabins". They were totally unaware that they would be staying in the cabins this year until their dad dropped them off. The cabins are equipped with carpeting, electricity, bunk beds and a large bathroom. I am confident that this alone will make their camp experience so much nicer, therefore making it the number 2 reason why I know my kids will love camp this year.

The number 3 reason I know that my kids will love camp this year is the fact that they will be sharing the experience with their good gal pal, Samantha.

And the number 1 reason I know that my kids will love camp this year is the hottie counselor pictured in the top photo. I took one look at the group photo that FW took of the girls and the counselors and I knew, I just knew they would take a liking to him!

I can't wait to hear all about their experience.

Under the Knife

No, I have not been boating, or on vacation, or hiatus, or suffering from blogger burnout (in case you were wondering where I've been). I had surgery. So, for all of you sensitive readers and/or MEN OUT THERE, you may not want to read any further. 

W A R N I N G - Sensitive material below

I debated on whether or not to share this information with the entire blogosphere, but then I thought what the heck. So, I apologize in advance to FW (my hubby). He knows that I can't keep secrets. He also knows that the type of surgery I had was body altering, so people who live near me and know me will notice something different about me. Plus, all my close friends and family already know. Plus, plus, everyone in my church knows too. God love my church family. Ever since the pastor (being the good pastor that he is) put me on the "Prayer List", I have had an out pouring of support from them.

So, where was I. Oh yeah, my surgery. On July 14, 2010, I had mammoplasty reduction surgery. Notice I said, "reduction". For those of you who do not know me personally, I was rather *ahem*, large busted throughout my teen years and into my adult life. Let's just say that I have always been unhappy with my breasts. Aside from being totally self conscious of their largeness on my 5'1 petite frame, they have continuously caused me neck and back pain for years. So, after losing 54 pounds in the last year (not one ounce was lost from my breasts), and after much thought and support from my husband, I finally decided with my Doc's recommendation to go under the knife.   

It was a five hour long surgery and the surgeon was able to remove over 2 pounds of tissue! I was deathly ill from the anesthesia for two whole days. The headache and nauseousness did me in. So, on a positive note, I lost 7 whole pounds in 3 days! I really do feel lighter. It is like someone removed two bowling balls from my chest.  

Today is day 5 following my surgery and I am feeling great. I saw the surgeon today so that she could remove the drains from the sides of my breasts. What a relief to not have to sleep on my back. I have a little bruising, but the surgeon said I was healing very well. I have been surviving soley on Extra Strength Tylenol.   

I am very happy and pleased with the results, and contrary to what you may think, FW is too. Did I mention how supportive and loving and caring he has been through this? I am so blessed to have him in my life. My family and friends have also been very supportive in helping me with meals and the kids. I thank you all!!

I will be resting and recuperating at home the rest of this week. Again, I am so blessed to not have to work this week. It will be a 6 week full recovery and up to 6 months before my breasts are back to a "normal" state. *sigh*.

        

Answered Prayers

"The Greatest Prayer is Patience"

Many thanks to my blogger friends who prayed for rain in my corner of the world. The crops and the grass and the shrubs and flowers are all getting a good dose of rain, as we have had some nice steady showers over the past few days.

Do you have a refreshing drink you especially like in the summer time? A sweet tea, cold  lemonade, or a frozen Margarita? How bout an iced coffee? Lately, iced coffee has been my specialty drink this summer. I enjoy mixing up my tall "to go" cup with some crushed ice and then filling it with an iced vanilla coffee brewed fresh from my Keurig machine. Then, I top it with a squirt of low-fat whipped cream!  When you can't beat the summer time heat, you may as well sit in your rocker on the  front porch and enjoy your iced coffee. That is where you will find me this time of year.

Just another one of life's little blessings. 

Beauty School Hostages

My youngest daughter, Nature Girl, turned 12 in June. Since she was away at Girl Scout camp over her birthday, I gave her the choice of having a party or a "Day of Beauty" after she returned home from camp. Thank goodness she opted for the "Day of Beauty". I did not want to deal with having yet another teen party after my oldest daughter's birthday party the early part of June.

So, it was off to the local Beauty School where I planned for Nature Girl and her gal friend to have a complete hair and nails makeover. The Beauty School seemed the perfect place. Afterall, their prices were right up my alley. A hair cut & style, manicure and pedicure cost me a whopping $23 bucks!  At the Beauty School, students get to "practice" on real customers before they become licensed beauticians. They offer pretty much every beauty service you can think of from skin care to waxing to hair color! You really can't beat it, especially if you have alot of time on your hands. Since the students are learning and they want to do a good job, it takes a little lot of extra time for them to complete the services.

Four hours later, and I mean a whole 4 hours later, the Beauty School released my beautiful birthday girl and her gal friend all done up with fancy hair and nails!

I'm not so sure they would agree that it was worth the 4 hours of pampering. Even though they loved their new look, it was a bit too long to sit. Good thing I promised them lunch dinner at McDonald's and shopping at the mall! They were famished and they needed a new outfit to go with their new look!

Dying Of Thirst

We have not had rain here in weeks. Perhaps even a month. The once lush green grass has turned a crunchy brown, the vibrant colored flowers are wilting and the crops are suffering. The brutal summer sun continues to beat down upon us daily and there is no promise of rain in the near future. We need rain, badly.

Signs of stressed crops at a nearby farm show the corn's leaves curling and pointing upward toward the sky trying to retain every bit of moisture.

The ends of the leaves are turning a yellow brown and shriveling up from the dryness and the hot sun.

Even the farms that are using irrigation methods in their fields say the heat just sucks all the moisture out of the plants.

If only this irrigation method would help.

  Please pray for rain in my corner of the world.

Shoot Me #9 & #10 of 52

Is it Thursday already? Every Thursday I will be participating in "Shoot Me" hosted by Forever In Blue Jeans. You too can play. Click here to sign up and to see the other participants. Here are the rules:

Shoot Me! It's time to stop hiding behind that camera of yours. Your family is missing you in the picture. So it's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did!

Since I missed last Thursday, I am posting photo #9 and #10 this week. The first photo of me with my family was taken during our recent mini vacation to Raystown Lake in the mountains of South Central PA. As you can see by the sweatshirts, the weather was a bit on the cool side in the mornings, but it quickly warmed up to about 78 degrees. It was picture perfect weather and the lake water was warm too!

The second photo shows Church Lady having too much fun at a 4th of July party hosted by our friend's Mike and Donna. Who wouldn't have a good time at a weekend party complete with Maryland steamed crabs, pit beef, pig roast, tons of picnic food, beer truck, swimming pool, volleyball, horseshoes, bon fire...geez, the fun never ended!

Wordless Wednesday - Staying Cool