The Parade

Every year our village has a parade and celebration in August, and this was the weekend!! Sunday we attended the parade...it is within walking distance of our house!!! We had the usual firetrucks from surrounding communities and bands and horses......but have you seen these horses??? so tiny!
In Wisconsin, we even decorate our huge snowplows to display in the parade.....
oh yes, Fred Flintstone was there too.....
There were a few other "cool cats" as well....

Moving Day

On Friday we loaded Andrew and his things and headed to college. We packed the back of my SUV.....
and Grandpa's van....
John even loaded the Love Sac (beanbag chair) into his van to meet us there mid morning....

The move in process was smooth.....we pulled our cars in a parking spot behind the dorms and the girl's soccer team moved all of the boxes, etc. to his room. Luckily, his room was on the main floor....just a few doors down from where we came in....

Andrew's roommate had already moved in the day before and we opened the door and found the beds already in a "bunk bed" fashion on the left side of the room. After looking the room over and analyzing the space, they decided to move the beds to the other side of the room to maximize their space......and yes, they made room for the Love Sac.....it was quite the attraction when they brought it into the dorm.....it took 3 girls to carry it in!!!
Here's the final outcome.....(Andrew sleeps on the lower bunk)

and here is Andrew organizing the desk area of his room....
Someone doesn't want Andrew to go..........
We're missing Andrew terribly, but we know that he's having fun and hopefully getting ready to "hit the books."

The big day.....

Well, today is the big day......we take Andrew to college this morning....here's a bunch of his "stuff" that we are going to attempt to load into the car. As I'm looking at this picture, I'm noticing that we are missing the fridge and the computer chair.....and the big bean bag chair... I guess we have a little more gathering to do!!! Best wishes Andrew!!! Love ya!!

The Readers

Why, oh why, do they suddenly become interested in reading for hours, when school is just a week away.....they've had all summer to read!!!!

Wordless Wednesday....Back to School Shoe Shopping

Mr. Hummingbird

My parents bought us a very clever hummingbird feeder....it not only has the beautiful red color but it has the little perches so they can sit and enjoy the sugar water..... how awesome to see these creatures up close!!!!

Sunday Dinner

Our family usually has a big dinner on Sunday where the whole family sits around the table and enjoys the meal. Well, we figured out that this Sunday was the last dinner before Andrew left for college, so we decided to splurge and have a really nice, yummy, and fattening dinner. We pulled some steak out of the freezer, had sliced potatoes and onions made on the grill, and a side of tomatoes and/or grapes. It was fabulous.......look at these guys chowing down....no time to look at the camera or even smile a little bit....it was all about the YUM factor!!!!
and someone had a problem this weekend....she got a cracked tennis ball stuck on the end of her nose.....OUCH!!! (But we had quite a few laughs about it!!)

Salsa

With lots of work and effort......and lots and lots of tomatoes.....we were successful at making 8 pints and 8 quarts of canned salsa!!!

Anna Grace....

This girl likes accessories......

Wordless Wednesday....The Bouncer

The Party (continued)

I am not kidding you when I tell you that Andrew's graduation cakes were at least 4 inches thick.....this one was a yellow cake with the most wonderful strawberry and cream filling....oh, it was delicious, and it disappeared a little quicker than the other cake.

This one....
was a yellow cake filled with custard......YUM-O!!! Both cakes were enjoyed by the crowd!!

There was a guy that lives at our house, that went "all out" for the party.....he claimed to be the "bouncer" and that he was "dressed to impress"......
He just looked hot....not in a good way.....to me.....long sleeves, tie and dressed all in black... There were some other guests that went "all out". I guess it's a tradition within Andrew's friends....obviously, some felt that it was too hot for the attire....
We had so many wonderful friends stop by and wish Andrew farewell and goodluck....it was a very memorable evening.....and yes, Gramma Sue and Gpa Phil were there too....

The Party!!

In order to avoid all of the other "graduates" parties we decided to host Andrew's party in mid-August, which sounded like a great thing last March. Well, little did we know that this summer would be unusually hot, humid and buggy in August.

In order to get ready for 120 people eating at our home, I rounded up my kids, best friends and relatives and enticed them with homemade zucchini bread if they would help cut up 8 watermelons, 2 bags of oranges and separate 6 bags of grapes......the workers were happy, the work was done in 45 minutes and it saved us about $120.....ordering fruit trays for that many is EXPENSIVE!! I love my kitchen angels!!!!
At the party, we had a little dedication area for all of Andrew's awards, artwork and scrapbooks. I thought it turned out pretty good, considering it was our family room......
At one point in the morning before the party, I looked over and all 4 kids were looking at the scrapbooks....and reminiscing about various trips and Christmas's.....just giggling and laughing....it made all of those long hours working on their scrapbooks worth it!!!

and someone had fun with some of Andrew's props......
More party details tomorrow.......

KONGS

These are KONGS.....the dogs LOVE these.... Bella will even fetch one of these when she hears the toaster!! Minnie and Bella BEG to have peanut butter put into these...
Here's Bella begging...
Here are the dogs licking the peanut butter out of the kong....it keeps them busy for about 10 minutes....
Snuggling with the Kong.....

Warming Up

I must be keeping the house too cold for the doggies....they needed to lay out on the patio to warm up......but they didn't stay out there very long!!