Cherry Crest

Adam had early dismissal on Friday, so we went down to Cherry Crest Farms, and met my mom there. They think of everything down there, i thoroughly enjoy taking the boys to this place.

When Ben was a couple months old, his Therapist noticed his toungue is always hanging out. To this day, it's always out when he's concentrating on something...

Adorable baby sheep!

Good form Ben! (bet his toungue is hanging out)Brad celebrating his basket, see the ball?

Couldn't believe Adam wanted to do the big slide. It was fast!

new pixs

Adam's school pictures came in yesterday. I think he looks so grown up! Yes, he's wearing some of his breakfast on his shirt :)

I'm not sure if typical Kindergartner's are into trading pictures, but Adam was totally excited about trading pics today, but when i picked him up from school today he said noone had any pictures with them :( Adam likes school and almost always has something exciting to tell me when i pick him up. He's an observer and takes everything in. He has handled the adjustment very well, but i wouldn't say it's comfortable for him yet. Everything is still pretty new. I have really enjoyed getting to know the moms during pick up time, and the weekly prayer time at the nearby church. I'm discovering there are quite a few christian families in his class. That's such a blessing.

While it was still warm outside, i wanted to get an 18 month picture of Clay, a week or so early. After getting on and off horsey 15 times, he held still long enough to get a non blurry picture.

You can tell a lot about a child's personality from their first words. My other boys said "grandma" (me-me) and "baby" early on, as well as things they saw, like "moon", "star". Clay's first words have been more action oriented, his favorite words are "eat", "ride", "stuck", "uh-oh", and "ow", (like ouch).

Today he did the cutest thing that took me off guard. His version of baseball is he'll take a bat and hit a ball out of my hand. Well today he hit the ball, dropped the bat, and starting running in a big circle. Running the bases just like his brothers. Precious!

Might as well throw in a recent picture of the twins. Because i love those sweet little boys.

Cookies

Stop what you are doing and make these.....
They melt in your mouth! I made these a lot when we were first married, Rod loves shortbread. It's a little different now making them w/ kids, but they still taste the same!

Berry Shortbread Dreams (Taste of Home)

1 cup butter (no substitutes)

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 c. flour

1/3 cup-1/2 cup seedless raspberry jelly

GLAZE:

1 cup 10x

2 - 3 tsp. water

1/2 tsp. almond extract

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in extract; gradually add flour until dough forms a ball. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle (or your finger:) make an indentation in the center. Fill with jelly. Bake at 350 for 14-18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Spoon additional jelly into cookies if desired. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over cookies.

more parties and ticks

Last thurs eve i had the priviledge of hosting my mom and her cousins for another birthday supper/celebration. This group of ladies have been going out together for years for each other's birthdays. they often celebrate 2 people at a time, so they don't go out 9 times a year! i told my mom i'd like to host it some year when it's her birthday, so she thought we should do that for her 60th. These ladies are so fun!

4 hours prior to the supper, i had no idea how i was going to make the table look. i put some things together and it worked out nice. The napkins look kinda red on the picture, they were more of a burgandy, like the rosehips.

Bet you can't tell they are related :)

Sunday eve we had a family reunion here, my grandmother's side of the family. There were around 50 people, the weather was so nice, praise God!
Some of the Stoltzfus gang.... Rod is working on perfecting his chicken BBQ. It was good! he discovered the longer it sits on the roaster after being cooked, the more tender and better tasting it is.
I so appreciate Rod's help these last couple weeks, i couldn't have done it all without his willingness to be with the boys, and help in other areas (like the dirty floors).

on to the ticks.....Earlier this summer, Ben had a funny looking 'rash' followed by flu-like symptoms and the dr. diagnosed him w/ lyme, which comes from deer ticks. I'm sure it was an accurate diagnosis, as none of the other kids got his "flu", and the rash and symptoms both cleared up after being treated. So now Friday night i spotted a deer tick on me, i saw it early in the day and thought it was a scab (in between my fingers). Then in the evening i was itching it and thought it felt different. It wasn't until i looked close that i saw legs. Deer ticks are about the size of a flea! they are so so small. Rod pryed it off of me right away and burned him. i gave it a couple days then went to the dr., it is 'puffy' where the tick was embedded. She gave me a one-time dose of something that is supposed to prevent you from getting Lyme, if taken within a certain window of time. The night before this happened i was talking to mom's cousin about ticks/lyme (she lives near the woods too). I think it was God's timing that this all took place after listening to her stories, i might have ignored the "scab" if she hadn't said that deer ticks look like a tiny scab.

Hope i didn't make anyone paranoid with that! It's good to be aware of it, i guess.

Blessings to your week!

party!

Yesterday was my mom's surprise 60th birthday brunch. it was a great time. mom was totally surprised, which makes it all the more fun.

there's mom, with her hand on her hip, in shock...

she did quite well with the change of plans (she thought she going out to eat w/ her sister and 2 sisters-in-law). . . instead she had a brunch with 15 friends/family!

Her favorite Phillie. That's right mom, you don't look a day older then 51.

Can't think of anyone I'd rather plan a party for. Let's do it again Thursday eve, shall we? :)

click here for a wonderful worship song.

another fun time at the beach is in the books! i always think 3 nights should be long enough to get away, but it goes so fast.

we left wednesday just before our road became flooded! got to Ocean city and it was sunny and warm. we missed out on the excitment of 12 inches of rain.

i think i get this picture every year. the camo hats really fit in well with this setting :)

Adam wanted to ride bike everywhere! He got up early with Rod in the mornings and they went on long rides. Clay had a blast this year. He wanted to do everything his brothers were doing. He even got a free ice cream cone, just by walking up to Kohr's and giving them 'the look'. So glad my mom came again this year. the boys love their grandma!Started reading the boys "charlotte's web". I loved this book when i was little. I told them i'll let them watch the video after we finish reading the book. Adam says "how many days does it take to watch the video?"
Until next time, Ocean City, NJ........