Ellie's 5th Birthday

Ellie turned 5 on July 21st...

The plan was for us to celebrate her birthday back at my mom's house...Brian was going to drive us half way and my mom would drive us back to Butler...

The night before we were supposed to go, Jake threw up and Ellie had a really high fever...(oh! the humanity!) (as Jill would say!)

We weren't sure how long their sickness would last so my mom decided to just drive to our house just in case we weren't able to make it back in time for Ellie's birthday...

Fortunately, everyone was feeling better the next day, so we made the 6 hour trip back to my mom's...

Ellie got to pick her favorite dinner...spaghetti and meatballs...we also had our first corn on the cob for the season and fresh green beans from the garden...Bliss!

I picked up an icecream cake from DQ and although it wasn't very fancy, it was really good!

Presents from cousin, Josie!

Josie was so excited for Ellie to open her gift...

One of Ellie's favorite gifts was a veterinarian costume, given to her by our home teacher's family.

My stepfather is a vet, so it was adorable to see her playing "vetinawian"--

Here she is trying to find the office cat, Billy's, pulse?...

She even got to help out during office hours that night...

Everyone loved it...

We had a fun week visiting at my mom's house and getting to see Aunt Katie and cousin, Josie...

We did a fun project that I will post about later...I've got so much to catch up on!

My mom and I are leaving as soon as Brian gets home from work to go on a mini girls getaway weekend. We're driving up to upstate NY (near the Canadian border) to visit a family cemetery and to go on a whitewater rafting trip...

I'm frustrated that I haven't been the best documenter this summer...

I can't seem to keep up with it all....

We'll be back on Sunday night...and I look forward to catching up next week with everyone's blog that I've been out of touch with...

Random Feathery adventures...

We've had a Carolina Wren nest in our flower box for a few weeks now, with a full compliment of eggs. About a week ago, the eggs hatched and it's been so fun to watch the baby birds eating the worms from their mother...


Yesterday, when I went to check on the nest, I noticed only 2 birds and only one was still alive. I wasn't sure if it was the sudden change in temperatures (it's been so grossly hot and humid these past few days) but upon further investigation, it looked as if something had killed the one baby. Possibly another type of wren (they are territorial) or a sparrow.

I hadn't seen the mother flying into the nest, so I feared that something might have happened to her. I called Aark, which is a local wildlife rehabilitation center. They told me to bring the baby in and they would put it in an isolate.


When I called this morning to check on it's progress, the woman there told me that it had eaten a few meal worms for her and there is hope that the baby will live.


While I was there, I asked them if they had any ducks that might need a home and they told me that they had about 20 mallards that were ready to be released on a pond, they just hadn't had the chance to do it yet.

I told them that I had a pond and was willing to cart as many as I could back to my place and release them.

I went to the local liquor store and gathered up as many boxes as I could went back over to Aark to help wrangle the skiddish ducks into the boxes.

Those poor ducks were freaking out, and it took us forever to capture them...We ultimately ended up with 13.



The kids helped me carry the boxes over to the pond and we released the ducks two by two.

And they're off!

I went out to check on them this morning and this was the sight I saw.

It looks like there were only eleven that made it. I'm not sure if the other 2 were just hiding in the reeds or what, but these guys usually stick together, so I'm trying not to think about the food chain right now....

It felt so exhilarated yesterday when I did this...

I love being a part of wildlife, and hope to one day be able to volunteer at a place like Aark.

When we got there yesterday, they were feeding a fawn and an osprey. We also got to see a baby screech owl --so cute! I love that my kids get the opportunity to see things like this.

I'm going back to Western PA tomorrow with the kids to visit my mom and won't be home until Thursday night...I think when I get home, I'm going to go back to Aark and help to release the other ducks. They also have a pekin duck there that needs a home...(I know the perfect place for her!)

**Have you ever rescued a baby bird?

**Have you ever visited a wildlife rehabilitation center?

**Would you have gone to the same effort as I did to save the birds life?

Five for Friday---the losing it edition

1. My friend, Olivia, who is an amazing cook, (just not a good gift giver as she showed up on my doorstep at Christmas with a takeout container of roasted duck!--sweet holy moses!) came over to my house today to show me and a few friends how to make her delicious summer rolls...

I've been dying for her to show me...so I was thrilled when she was able to work this into her schedule...

She used to own a restaurant when she lived in Hong Kong....


Here she is cooking the ground pork and beef mixed with oyster sauce, garlic, white pepper and fresh cilantro and thai basil...

these are the ingredients used inside the rolls...fresh cucumber, cilantro, basil, mint, pork/beef mixture, and rice noodles...

they were a bit tricky to roll because the rice paper is so thin, but oh! so worth it!

What a feast we had for lunch today! We made extra for everyone to take home so this was what was on tap for dinner as well!

I LOST all will power from the diet that I've been on! (this is day 4 and I totally blew it!)

2. Reilly lost her first tooth two weeks ago...

Because she wants everything on her own terms, I didn't want to rock her world by forcing the tooth out...(even though my fingers were almost quivering with anticipation!)....

After a few bites of an apple, it came out...No tears!

The toothfairy must be turning into a softie because she scored $5 for her first tooth...(I hear the first one is the most coveted for the toothfairy)...Prices go down after this...

3. Meet Dennis, the man who saved my bacon the other day...

The kids were bored and had zero creative juices, and I was losing my patience with them... I called Lowes and asked them if they had any refrigerator boxes available...(some of my favorite memories were from the cool refrigerator boxes that my mom used to make into little cottages for me)...

Fortunately, Dennis was able to hook me up with this brown beauty...and even helped me load it into my car...(the kids didn't mind ducking the whole way home)...

It's not quite the "cottage" that my mom used to make for me, but this made for one heck of a fort for a few days...

4. I went into Jake's room last night to give the hamsters some treats and noticed that only one was in it's cage...

We searched everywhere, but weren't able to find him...

I had a feeling of who the culprit had been that left the door to the cage open in the first place, but wasn't able to confirm my suspicions until this morning when I sat Ellie (AKA..."busy body")down and got the real story of what happened...

She just simply wanted to pet them and forgot to close the cage...I'm so ticked off at her for losing that hamster!

5. Our vegetable garden is in full swing, so that means that canning projects have been added to the flurry of summer tasks...

I canned India Relish from some of my green tomatoes. I also pressure cooked green beans, but forgot to take the pressure gauge off when they were done processing, (so much for multi-tasking!) so I'm pretty sure they've LOST all nutritional value...

**What is the toothfairy going rate for a tooth in your house?

**Did you ever play in refrigerator boxes as a kid?

Let the games begin!...

Warning: I wanted to get the week posted and done with, so I combined the whole thing into one post...(grab some caffeine)

Last Sunday night, two angels (in the form of Fred and Susan Taylor) came to my doorstep bearing gifts of bread and cake! Susan knew that I was expecting my company the next day and she thought the bread would be a nice addition to the meal I was making for their arrival.

She also brought with her a delicious chocolate pound cake with frosting recipe written out in her elegant handwriting...



I am not much of a baker and was planning on making Pillsbury frozen breadsticks, so the home baked goods were a delight beyond words!


The RV pulled up in front of our house around 6:30pm Monday evening and dinner was ready and waiting for their arrival...

Baked ziti, Junior League salad, and homemade bread!



After dinner, everyone (including the adults) played a game of baseball in the front yard. I took several pictures, but the the lighting was too dark. This was the only one I could come up with.


The lightning bugs were out in full force and since they don't have them out west, everyone was thrilled with the random twinkling lights. I've always loved lightning bugs...it's actually one of my favorite things about July!


Day 2 began with a trip to the Statue of Liberty. We took the ferry in from the New Jersey side to avoid going all the way into Manhattan.

We rented a car for Larry and Jen so that they wouldn't have to drive the RV beast around town.

The kids played musical chairs for most of the trip so we never knew who was ending up in our car until we were pulling out of the driveway. (--this was the first batch...)


The first mishap happened when I had to call poison control while we were driving ...
Ellie was in the back seat sucking on antibacterial lotion...and I wasn't sure how much she had ingested...arrrrrrrhhhhgggg....

No worries...they said she'd just be a bit tipsy if anything...(lucky girl)

Brian, Dave, McKayla and Larry

( I never get tired of seeing the New York skyline!)

here we are on the ferry going to Ellis Island...

I didn't realize that Jake had brought his 2 pocket knives with him (one of them being the new one he had just gotten the day before in Gettysburg). When we went through security before getting on the ferry, they confiscated the knives and would not let us have them back.


There was much gnashing and wailing of teeth to be had. I felt so sorry for him, but I suppose it was a lesson learned.


I actually went up to one of the security guards and tried to plead with him to let Jake retrieve them after we came back, but he would not back down. I asked him at one point what he thought we were going to do with the knives...stab the statue or something? (that did not go over well)--Ahhh...that New York spunky side comes back from time to time...



I really love Ellis Island. I've been there several times and always find it to be interesting.
I always marvel at the many sacrifices that our ancestors made for the price of freedom...

this was an interesting exhibit that I didn't remember seeing before...

(when you look at it one way, it's the American flag...

at another angle, it's pictures of people...

One of my favorite things to do at Ellis Island is to see the 30 minute film that they offer--

It's called, "Sea of Tears, Sea of Hope" and it's excellent...(and free!)

It's just a great overview of what people had to go through to get to Ellis Island as well as what took place once they got here...It's very sobering...

Jake and Jaxon...two peas in a pod...

I've been trying to encourage small and inexpensive souvenirs...(such as those pennys that you can flatten with the name of the place your visiting) but that hasn't been too popular...We've settled for keychains...

The thing about souvenirs is that they always seem like such a great idea at the time, but when you get back home to reality, they look so dumpy and out of place...(the only souvenir I do are charms for my charm bracelet...)


I'm getting mileage out of these dresses!--Red, white and blue just seemed so appropriate for this day...


The crown is open again for people to walk up but we just stayed on the boat...the kids were getting punchy and anxious to get home to play baseball (what the?!)--

(walking up the gazillion steps to get to the statue isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway...

the windows are like airplane windows...I went up once many years ago and that was enough for me...)

Day 3 was our trip into Manhattan...(I got a babysitter for Ellie)

What's a trip to NY without getting a slice of pizza?!--

We went to Rays to satisfy our pizza cravings and it did not disappoint...

Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, thin crust (Yowza!)

I completely acted like a tourist this day! I don't recall ever taking a picture of pizza!

$60 later (and that was without sodas) we were feeling refreshed and ready for taking in the sights...

Next stop was up to Columbus Circle to see the temple...

It takes your breath away to see this right in the middle of the city's hussle and bussle...

When we lived in NY, the temple hadn't been built yet, but this is where our ward was. Now there's a building on the east side...(It was actually neat to have to walk to the west side each Sunday because we got to go through Central Park and that was always so much fun...)

We went on a quick jaunt through the Central Park...

And onto midtown...(about a month ago, the city closed down 3 streets on Broadway
and set it up for pedestrians only...) I asked one of the police officers and he said it was only supposed to be a temporary thing, but he suspects it will remain permanent...

It's really neat to have that kind of access to the street...

I'm really amazed with how cleaned up midtown is...

We (and by we I mean everyone except Brian) went to see Wicked...

Have I mentioned how much I love this show?!


Jake and Reilly were excited to see it since they've heard me talking about it and they know all the music...

Here I am being present in my own life....

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these beautiful hydrangeas at Rockefeller Center...

We went onto the American Girl store and Reilly came down with the "greedy grape" syndrome.

It wasn't even that she was interested in the dolls themselves, she just wanted to buy something...she was checking out the clothes for herself...(ridiculously overpriced unless you've got a doll that you're trying to be twins with and even then, it's crazy!)

Day 4 found us in Philadelphia...where once again, the weather was picture perfect....

My sister in laws father developed a kidney stone while on the trip and was struggling to keep his composure...(his doctor called in some pain medicine for him, but can you imagine dealing with a kidney stone while on vacation?!) He was a real trooper...

First stop was to see the Liberty Bell--

and then on to something else historically significant!...CHEESESTEAKS!! Holy delectibleness!

This place is famous for their cheesesteaks and they claim to be the best in town...

Silence please--

While Brian and Larry were waiting for our cheesesteaks at Campos, a few of us went a couple of doors down to Sonny's (the competition) for fries as Campos doesn't sell anything fried...(the owner thinks it's too messy)

The guys at Sonny's were so funny and nice and wore these snarky "Bite Me" tee-shirts...

After bringing our fries back to our table outside of Campos, we dug into our cheesesteaks with vigor and gusto...

A woman who worked at Campos came out and made a few snide remarks about our fries--(what the?!)...We seriously thought she was kidding but soon found out that she was NOT!

Jen's parents tried explaining to her that they were from Idaho and that they couldn't be without their potatoes, but she wasn't buying it...

Outside of the Betsy Ross house, there were people in period dress telling stories of what took place back in that time...

It was quite interesting....

After we got home from Philadelphia, we had dinner and started trying to pack for the weekend...

The plan was for everyone to go to Palmyra, NY and see the Hill Comorah pageant and some of the other church history sights along the way...

Everyone kept trying to get me and Ellie to go, but I was exhausted and felt that it would be best if Ellie and I stayed behind...

After much badgering, I finally agreed that Ellie could go, but I was going to stay home...ALONE! Glory, Glory day!

Day 5 brought an end to the festivities as everyone packed up and I said my final goodbyes...

The gang's all here...

Ellie was the most excited of the bunch, I think, because she was getting to ride in the "home truck" as she kept calling it...she was thrilled that she got to "sleep" (and by sleep, I mean, talk and toss around all night) in the "home truck"...

When I went back in the house, I found this cute bag waiting for me on the kitchen counter filled with goodies...

Jen had stictched this up for me...I love the saying--it holds such meaning for me and will definintely remind me of our time spent together...

Along with a stack of travel themed scrapbook paper was this card that she made as well...

All in all, it was a wonderful visit...

It was great that the kids got to see their cousins and that we were able to show them some east coast sights...

The week was packed full of good food, good sights, lots of laughs...good times...

P.S.--Brian has all three kids and won't be back until Sunday afternoon...(is it wrong to love having time alone so much?)