Happy Birthday To You, Terra

My daughter turns 15 years old today (She is in the middle). I remember the day she was born. It was a Sunday and the OR crew had to be called in from their holiday. Had to go through a little bit of labor until all was prepped and ready to go.
Our daughter weighed 7lbs, 1 1/4oz. and was 18 inches long with dark hair and a cry that told everyone she was not happy to be disturbed!

Here she is with her cousin, Cory. She loves him so much. Glad they get along so well.

We are having so much fun with her. After all the boys left the house, we still had this little spitfire around to keep us busy. She kept us running to dance class, skating practices and competitions, soccer, basketball, volleyball and track and running her to her friends and all their activities....I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

I'll have to post more pictures of the birthday girl when she was younger. I love her so much and am so very proud of the things she has accomplished.

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl. Mommy loves you big as the world and to the moon and back.

Oreo Delight Anyone?

I made this yummy dessert for my nephew's graduation party and had a few requests for the recipe. So.....here it is:

Oreo Delight

35 Oreo Cookies--crushed--- you can use the regular or mint--I use regular.
6 Tblsp butter, melted
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4cup sugar
2 Tblsp milk
1 (12oz) tub Cool Whip, thawed
3 1/4 cup cold milk
2 pkgs instant Jell-O milk chocolate pudding
optional: more crushed Oreos to sprinkle on top (I use about 5 or 6 extra)

Crush cookies and mix with melted butter in medium bowl. Press firmly onto bottom of 9"x13" baking dish. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk in medium bowl with wire whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/4 cup Cool Whip. Spread over crust. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Pour 3 1/4 cup milk into bowl. Add both pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk for 2 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer. Let stand 5 minutes in fridge.

Drop remaining Cool Whip over pudding and spread. Sprinkle more crushed Oreos on top. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.

I make mine the day before. I like it better after it sits overnight.

Our New Hang Out Place

This is our new hang out spot. We finished the fire pit and really love it! You can't see the pond in the photo but we are able to enjoy sitting around the fire and enjoy the pond too!

Here is a better picture of the finished fire pit. My hubby did such a great job. I'm so lucky to have him (most days....hehehe). He and our grandson filled the areas between the bricks and the steel ring with sand then started collecting twigs for our first fire.

Coals all cooled down after the first fire.

We haven't had another fire since the first....it's actually been too warm and we have been getting to bed earlier but we will have more. Can't wait to make s'mores out in the back yard and not have to wait to go camping to make them!

What A Cutie!

My son sent me this picture of my granddaughter. We haven't received too many pictures of this little darling....long story. Isn't she just gorgeous!! She is growing up so fast. It's so sad because she lives so far away with her Mommy in Canada.

I sure hope that one day our little granddaughter will get to come back to the states so we can give her all the hugs and kisses that we missed giving her.

I love you Sophie and I always will....you are our sunshine.

A Little Road Trip

Yesterday we took a little road trip. Both my husband and I took the day off to go and watch our daughter in a track meet. We packed a cooler with some goodies and water and picked up our grandson and headed out.

Our first stop was a roadside park. Our grandson was getting a little antsy so we thought we'd stop so he could run around. They had a hand pump for water and that kept him busy, he and his Grandpa had fun with that. Then he and I played freeze tag....I love that game with him. The look on his face when he freezes cracks me up every time.

The next stop was in Iron Mountain. We went to the Home Depot and picked up some things we needed for the house. I sure love those home improvement stores! There is so much I want when I go in there! So many ideas just come flooding into my brain and you can just see my hubby cringe every time I say "Hey, check this out. We could........". Poor guy.

We did a little more shopping around the area and stopped at a Polaris dealership. They were closed! Oh well, at least they had some machines outside and Nathan sat in or on every one of them.

We headed over to Iron River but first stopped at Wink's Woods. I enjoy walking around this store...even if I don't buy anything. There is actually too much stuff in this place. What drew me in were the yard signs they had in front but none that I actually liked. Oh well, saved a few bucks there.

We got to Iron River and checked out the town. Had to make a visit to the local hardware store which is huge! Then off to the school to watch the track meet.

Terra ran in the 100m and 300m hurdles, the long jump and the 1600m relay. She did well in each event.

Thought maybe Nathan would fall asleep on the way home, but......he was up the whole trip. I sure was looking forward to some shut eye but that would have to wait.

Our Camper

Our table.

A couple posts ago, I mentioned going camping and thought I would take you on a tour of it. Come on in and I'll show you around.

This picture is a full view of the 30ft. camper.

This is a picture of the bed. It's kind of hard to get the full picture of the bedroom but....it's a bedroom.

This is the bathroom sink. Not a whole lot of room but enough to get what you need done.

The kitchen sink. It's not bad having to do dishes while your camping. It's so much easier when you don't have to wash dishes outside with lukewarm water. Like I said....no more roughing it.

More kitchen. This camper has a stove AND an oven. our last camper just had a stove. Didn't think I would ever need a stove camping but it sure has been used.

More kitchen. This is the fridge and freezer. A FREEZER! One that you can actually fit a lot of stuff in. In our pop-up you could fit one half gallon of ice cream and that was it. Love this!

This is a shot of the drawers and closet space in the bunk area.

The bunks. They aren't uncomfortable at all. I've slept back there with Nathan.

The entertainment area. This camper came with a DVD/radio/surround sound. Watching movies is just cool!

This is our couch. Again, our last camper did not have a couch area. This area is on the slide. Nathan and Terra love sitting on the couch when the slide is put out.

That's it. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Maybe we'll see ya around at the campgrounds.

Another Project

Another window project. I did not take a before picture. The window came out of our son's house that he has remodeled. It started life as a mint green color but I spray painted it an off white and added some scrap book paper. I am thinking about painting the red part of my shelf off white too. What do you think? Feed back please.

Future Craft Project

I want to make this magnetic board soon. It's a pizza pan made into a note board. How cute! I think I may make these for the ladies I camp with. We always give each other some sort of gift when we get together. I think it is so stinkin' cute! Want one?

Ok....Who's This Mother Paying?

My nephew Cory made the paper...AGAIN! Good photo isn't it! Cory is having a great year in track. Good for you Cory....Auntie Erika wants you to autograph her picture!

My Days Ahead

My daughter had a track meet in Ontonagon yesterday. She placed third in the 100m dash, 4th in the 400m dash and their team placed 8th in the 800m relay. I'm really proud of her. She has been having some shin splint problems in one leg but she won't stop. She is just determined...Hope that lasts her whole life.

This weekend we have some more work to do on the fire pit. I will post pictures when it is done. I can not wait to have a fire in my back yard. Just sitting by a fire, looking out over the pond, is so relaxing! Of course I'll have to pick up all the fixin's for s'mores. I'm not a s'mores fan but I do love roasting marshmallows. Yummy!

Friday we will be going to Terra's track meet. It is a home meet.....always good to be home....no driving and no bus ride for Terra. I don't know what events she will be in but I do plan on getting some pictures taken. I will definitely video her 100m dash. I like to get at least one event on video. I'll post those pictures as well.

Saturday I am scheduled to work at The Conglomerate Cafe. My favorite part-time experience. I am so enjoying spending time with my big sis. Who would've known we could be such good friends. I am the younger, prettier one (haha...that's for you sis) but she is definitely the one with some smarts. I need to hang around this lady to get me some smarts :)

Sunday I plan on getting our camper ready for our first outing. I need to wash everything! After sitting for almost nine months it needs a little spring cleaning. Windows need to be cleaned and bedding needs to be washed. My hubby will be flushing out the anti-freeze and getting his part done. I am so excited to go camping.

Of course, when most people think of camping they think of tenting and roughing it. Well, let me tell you. I have camped in tents and pop ups and I am done roughing it! We have a 30 foot trailer and I love it. We haul along our TV AND the satellite! We eat like kings and queens when we camp. We also camp with family and friends and what could be better?

Again!

Ugh! Sick again! Took a few days off from the blog because I have another cold! I left work early yesterday, went home and changed into my pjs. I climbed into bed and slept until 5:30 this morning! I guess I really needed the sleep.
I feel a little better today....less pressure in the sinus'. Thank goodness!
I need to get better so I can go out and sit in the cold bleachers at my daughter's track meet Friday. It's their first home meet so I want to be there. Hopefully it won't be too cold but I will bring my blanket and wear my winter jacket!

Happy Tuesday!

We are having a lot of fun on the borrowed Yamaha Rhino. Our grandson just loves being able to sit in the front seat and our daughter loves just being able to drive it! This is good practice for her as she will be taking driver's education this summer. Tonight I am sure my grandson will have either his Dad or Grandpa out on the rhino going into the woods for big rides......if we don't go to the circus. I asked him if he would like to go and he wanted to know what it was. I told him about the animals, clowns, juggling and the other acts. He thought about it for a minute and then said, "No thanks, I'll drive the rhino tonight." We'll see.

Terra has a track meet in Houghton this afternoon. I want to get there and watch her and hopefully I'll be able to leave work early. We are one man short so neither of us have been able to take vacation days or leave early. I forgot my camera so pictures will have to wait until the next meet.

Was at the dentist yesterday. Had to have a cavity taken care of. First one in a long time! Got that taken care of and another thing crossed off the list.

Still on the list is the yard. I take care of that a little bit every day. The grass is getting to the point where it's going to have to be mowed. I need to borrow my Dad's tiller to work some ground to prepare for flowers. That will have to wait for the weekend. Not much else planned for the week.

Weekend Warrior

This past weekend my husband went to the camp to hang out with his sons and the guys to go 4 wheeling. So, my daughter and I were "home alone". We didn't have any plans....thought we'd just hang out, have pizza. Well, her friends called and then I was "home alone".

I had recently bought some paint to re-do our front porch. Thought this would be a perfect time to start since no one was around. I started moving things out of the porch at 9:00pm Friday and got to painting. Finished two walls (2 coats) and decided the other two could wait until the next day. Went to bed feeling like I had accomplished enough.

The next morning, my Dad came over with his dog and he told me they were taking a quick trip to Marquette. Sounded good to me so I asked if I could tag along. Of course I could.....they love my company.

We left at 10:00am and got home around 6:30pm. I walked into my porch and decided I was not going to wait until Sunday to finish. I wanted to surprise my hubby with all the work I did (and the work he wouldn't have to do). I got out the roller and paint and away I went. Both walls, two coats and the job was done. I do have a few touch ups that need to be done. You can see things better in the light of day, so I'll get to those very soon.

On Sunday my daughter and I went to Church. We stayed for a pot luck lunch honoring a couple of MTU grads and one of our Sunday school teachers that was retiring. Great lunch. Pot luck is my favorite!

Weekend warrior job complete!