Wordless Wednesday #34 ~ How Do You Like Them Apples?

Our apples appear to be ripe for picking...They're a little tart, should be great for baking! Whatd'ya think??

Good Night, Sleep Tight...

And don't let the bed bugs bite! That saying brings back mixed feelings for me. Growing up in the 60's, I recall my favorite aunt saying this to my siblings and me, whenever she was visiting us, and it was bedtime. I never actually knew what a bedbug was at that time, but I was scared to death that they were going to come and bite me in my sleep. I loved my aunt, and I miss her dearly, but I remember thinking it was a rather scary thing to say to a little kid! I would lie awake, imagining these huge bugs crawling out from under my bed, or out of my closet, to get me. As I got older, I never heard anything at all about them and decided they were just a myth.

As it turns out, I was wrong. They are NOT a myth at all! In recent years, I have learned that they not only exist, they are becoming more and more prevalent right here in the good old U. S. of A. Which is why Orkin would like to get the word out about what to look for if you think you may have them lurking in your house, and what to do about it if you do. About three years ago, I developed a mysterious rash on my arms and legs, at that time, I researched bed bugs, along with other possible causes of my rash. I never did determine exactly what caused my own itchy problem, and thankfully, it eventually went away...but meanwhile, I learned a lot about these tiny creatures, that for years I had thought to be nothing more than folk lore.

What are bed bugs?
Bed bugs are flat, light tan to brown and oval-shaped until after they feed; then they fill out and turn a reddish color. The adult is approximately the size of an apple seed. Adult bed bugs can live for more than one year without feeding and can sustain extreme temperatures, making them difficult to kill.

For more information, or for a free inspection, visit http://www.orkin.com/ or call 1-800-800-ORKIN.

Look (Grand)MA, No Training Wheels!

About a week and a half ago, my grandson Christian, who will be five years old in October, learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Here he is on his tiny 12" bicycle.

After a few days, with the seat up as high as it goes, he and his mom decided he was ready for a bigger bike.

Jessica is in the Air Force Reserves, and will likely be going to TX for training for 10 weeks, starting October 1st. If she does, she will miss Christian's birthday again. While she was in the AF, her 5 month tour of duty in Iraq just happened to be over his FIRST birthday...and though she did get to spend his 2nd with him, she was once again sent to do some training (I don't remember where) over his 3rd birthday. We celebrated early at a water park, before we took him home with us for 6 weeks that year. Okay, so she was able to spend his 4th birthday with him last year, but now, since it appears they will again be apart for his birthday, Jess decided to get him an early birthday present. Besides, he will get a lot more use out of it for the next couple of months than he will the months following...here during our Minnesota winter anyway.

She ordered a brand new bike online, and it arrived yesterday evening...

with "some assembly required"

Jess was able to get it all put together, before Grandpa Ray got home. She had him check it over, just in case she hadn't tightened things up enough. After inspection by Grandpa...and a bit of initial hesitation on CJ's part, he got brave enough to try out his new big bike (all 16" of it). Yay, CJ!

ROCK of AGES! ~ Original Broadway Cast Recording Review

New Line Records just hammered the in-store release of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of five-time Tony Award nominated "ROCK OF AGES." For those of you not in the know, Rock of Ages is the new Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. Set in 1987 in a legendary Sunset Strip rock club, a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to the greatest metal songs of the 80's. The musical is an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

Personally, this wasn't exactly my "cup of tea," but then...I was busy raising my oldest three children in the 80's...and not really listening to these songs, "back in the day." I do remember them, but I suppose I'm more of a product of the 70's myself...and if you like Broadway musicals, you're sure to love this cd. Here are the great 80's songs you'll find on it:

Just Like Paradise / Nothin' But A Good Time

Sister Christian

We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands

I Wanna Rock

We're Not Gonna Take It

Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You

Waiting For A Girl Like You

Wanted Dead Or Alive

I Want To Know What Love Is

Cum On Feel The Noize / We're Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)

Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night

Here I Go Again

The Final Countdown

Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)

High Enough

I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Can't Fight This Feeling

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Oh Sherrie

The Search Is Over

Don't Stop Believin'

To see a video of the making of the soundtrack click here.

You can order a copy for yourself from Amazon.com for only $12.99!

Winning It...Again! Way to go, PEFC!

Last year, I blogged about our church's softball team playing in their tournament and "Winning it." That same week, the kids' softball team also won first place. Unbelievably, both teams repeated that feat this year, with the kids winning on Tuesday night, and the adults taking home their 1st Place trophy on Thursday night. Here are the guys, (there was one girl playing this year also, but she was not present) posing for a picture BEFORE the game. The local newspaper was there taking pictures of them, since they were obviously going to (at least) place at this point. I took advantage of the already-posed team. Notice how clean and un-sweaty they are in the above photo.

Since I am not a sports fan myself, (understatement of the year), and wasn't paying a lot of attention, I borrowed my husband Ray's commentary from Facebook on the following pics:

"Joel O. has been our coach and mentor for a few years and he led us to our second championship in as many years - he deserved our accolades ....

.... and the ice water shower to follow"

"Umpire Don presenting the First Place Trophy and game chart to commemorate our victory."

"We beat a good team from (a nearby town) 8 to 7 coming from behind in the 6th inning with a rally started by Nathan S. I present to you the 2009 "P-town" Free Church adult Championship softball team. We were also awarded the first ever Sportsmanship Award, which will be presented at next years organizational meeting."

Congratulations guys! Especially on the brand new "Sportsmanship Award," that's pretty cool! The Ump told them after presenting the trophy, that he and another umpire had decided to initiate such an award just the night before, and it took them both about 5 seconds to blurt out, "PEFC" in unison, as the first winners of it. That speaks volumes about what godly men and women they are...even when they're not actually in church, and is an awesome reflection of God's love. They won't receive this award until next Spring, but the ump told them that until then...they have "bragging rights." Of course, all glory and honor goes to HIM!

Wordless Wednesday #33 ~ Where Does My Grandson Fall Asleep??

On the stairs...

On the chairs...

Aw..who cares???

Festivities For A FIRST & A FIFTIETH!

Last Friday night, my friends and I were once again "partying" at church. We had a couple of good reasons to celebrate, this time though: This is my friend Jody, with her littlest "joy", Miss K. who turned ONE year old that day.

This is her Barbie cake, made by our friend, Lisa! Didn't she do a great job? She made a small cake for little Miss K. to dig into too.

We also had another friend, Miss Pam, who shares the same birthday...she just happened to be celebrating her "Big 5-0" that day.

This is the cake that I decorated for her. Being of the "over 50" crowd myself, I prefer not to be all morbid about it, and chose the much more upbeat "It's Beautiful Over the Hill" theme.

I thought it was interesting that we both put little pink flowers with yellow dots on the cakes, as if we'd planned it that way. We hadn't.

Some of the guests, waiting for the Pam to arrive...to yell, "SURPRISE!"

Meanwhile, the other guest of honor decided a little nap was in order.

Here she is digging in to her own little birthday cake.

"Mommy, is this REALLY okay?"

Singing "Happy Birthday to You"

The two "birthday girls"

Birthdays can be MESSY!

...But it's always fun to get PRESENTS!