What Do Flavors, Dental Floss, Double Bar Codes, and Teenagers Have In Common?

Answer: Gwen!

I am constantly amazed at the vocabulary this little 4 year old has. While riding in the car she was telling me all about the ice cream truck and the fact that her Daddy let her buy ice cream. She was talking about Cottonballs, and I thought surely she meant cotton candy. She rolled her eyes and said with great disdain, "I'm not talking about flavors, Grandma." I'm not sure exactly what cottonballs had to do with the ice cream, but clearly I missed the point!

I suggested we hit the Disney store since they're going out of business and I wanted to pick up a summer nightie to keep at my place. She managed to talk me into not only the most expensive nightgown, but princess shoes (which she assured me she could use as slippers with her nightie) and a large Lucky stuffed dalmation (if she stayed at my house without going home first, she would need a stuffed animal to sleep with! Duh!). How could I say no? Anyway, she was looking at Lucky on the way home and informed me that "Lucky has dental floss stuck in his teeth." Then she made the observation that the tag had a "double bar code." Huh? Incredible.

Finally, heading home we passed 3B Ice Cream. "Look at all those teenagers eating ice cream." Not kids, not people, no, they were teenagers. She cracks me up!

Pots of Posies

I'm not much of a gardener. In fact, I really don't like gardening at all. But, I love having pots of posies scattered around during the summer. Especially since "the fence." I hate the fence. Love the hot tub, love the location, love the fence, but only in the winter. During the summer it simply blocks the view of what little landscaping we have. So, the pots of posies perk (like that alliteration?!!) it all up a bit.

I'm a great one-day gardener! Take one day, buy the plants, get 'em in the pots, sit back and enjoy. Kera usually helps me with the pots. After taking a course at HACC on container planting, she puts together some really stunning pots. She was busy this weekend, I was in the mood, so I had to figure it out on my own this year.

A friend of Brent's told me to visit the flea market. He has seen people leaving with massive flats of plants. I wasn't very optimistic, but thought what the heck, we might save a few bucks. If nothing else, we could enjoy the day at the flea market - something we haven't done in years.
I made out great! I bought 3 flats of beautiful posies at fantastic prices.

I don't know what it's all going to look like as they continue to grow, but they're looking pretty good for now.

Love the Attention

The attention that I got on Mother's Day was awesome. We took my Mom to the Officer's Club for brunch. Mom loves it there, the food is so-so, but we love the people working there. So, it was a good choice as far as spoiling her goes. I pretty much finished a 2-up scrapbook of our Disney adventure last December for her gift. The only problem was I can't get it closed! I am so bummed. I'm working on the solution though.

While on our way to Wegmans (it was Brent's first experience there!) to pick up stuff for dinner, Kera called. She forgot to mail my card. But as I was mowing the grass later in the afternoon, she pulled in with Chris and Gwen. Ah, life is good!

After I had made several passes past the front door as I was mowing, I noticed a box at the front door. Turns out Allison and Trav sent me beautiful flowers. I was touched. I cried. I acted like Moms all over the country were acting. How cliched!


Brent made dinner for his mom. Wegmans to the rescue! Yummy salad, marinated swordfish kabobs, dessert - yup - all from Wegmans. Gotta love that place.

All in all, a fantastic Mother's day.

Back in the Game

Ok, Renee has convinced me that I should continue blogging. Of course, she will nag Brent until the cows come home, or he fixes the PC situation, whichever comes first! My money's on Renee though!

I was very surprised by the number of people who contacted me - I had no idea so many people were reading my rambling posts. So, since it was fun (except for the frustrating part), Renee's willing to help, and Chris made the comment that I had given up "already!" I will forge ahead and get back into the blogging game!

I give up

Ok, this really isn't too difficult. It's pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, what isn't so straight forward is my husband setting up a computer. He's the only one who can find anything. So, I'm done with this. It could have been fun, but frankly, it's just not worth this frustration.

GAWT VI Planning Begins

Each year my family gathers in the Finger Lake wine region in New York for a day of wine tasting, catching up with each other, and general merry-making. We've done all the lakes with good wineries, and have started to repeat. Not that we minded because new wineries pop up and we found another gem last year. This year, we'll be touring the west side of Lake Seneca.

Although the trip isn't until October, planning for this year's trip began as soon as the last trip was over. Lodging, which generally pleases no one, begins right away. The Clan Elders actually reserved a block of rooms in Watkins Glen on their way home last year! I reserved the bus yesterday, and was pleased that the fuel surcharge was only 15%, up from 10% in previous years. What a bargain! LOL!

I just can't wait to have everyone back together again! Check it out!

Happy 4th Birthday, Gwen!

The cool thing about being a kid (or Brent) is that you get to celebrate your birthday multiple times. Gwen had a princess party with her little friends, and then got to party with the Gault, Daily, and Shultz grandparents.The curious thing about Gwen is that she gets very shy as soon as you give her a present. And she absolutely hates to say thank you. I have no idea how she came by that little quirk.

Uncle Rick came over to join in the festivities and watch Gwen rip through her presents.

Baking with Gwen

Ok, the cake is really for Kera's birthday. I'm embarassed to say though that I have no pictures of Kera. I'm sorry!

12 in 12

I found a blog that talked about scrapping 12 in 12. The premise is that you take pictures on the 12th day of every month. You select the 12 pics that best "describe" your day and you scrap them. At the end of a year, you'll have 12 layouts that document your year. Pretty cool, huh? March was the first month I took the pics - I had some trouble getting 12.

Don't you hate taking up precious weekend time dealing with dirty clothes? Laundry and the dry cleaners. ugh. Although it was cold on Saturday, March 12, my cherry tree was in full bloom and my daffodils were golden yellow. During my travels I found time to frequent our LSS in Hershey. Rick and I worked on journaling his Australia trip, and had dinner. Topping off the day with a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc - glorious! Looking over it all, it seems like a pretty typical Saturday for the Shultz's.

How to Eliminate Saddle Sores

Ok, as much as we all bust on Brent for being just way, way too anal, there are times when we do appreciate it. In this case, Kera's been having some issues spending time on the road. After one painful training ride, it was time for Dr. Brent to whip out the books, the measuring tapes, the plum bobs, etc. and take a few measurements. The diagnosis? Incorrect bike fitting of course!

Crop Til You Drop

Twice a year, I have the opportunity to attend a scrapbooking crop in Butler. I go with my 2 favorite cropping buddies, Kim and her Mom, Sandy. We always have the best time when we get together to scrap. This crop had about 120 people. It's held at a church camp and includes the room, meals, and space for a very reasonable price. The best part, of course, is heading to the Scrapbook Super Station which is only about 10 minutes away. Shop, shop, shop!

This year I worked on my brother's Australia album. He had the opportunity to spend 3 wonderful weeks "down under" and I promised him a scrapbook. Just looking at the gorgeous pictures makes me want to go too!

Here's my scrap space. It took me hours to pack for this trip, and what you can't see are the 2 XXL's and the stamp case I used to pack all my stuff.

Playing Catchup

Since it took me so long to actually get my first post out there, I have quite a bit of catching up to do. So, you're going to see some posts that are way behind the times. Hopefully though I'll get caught up soon!

Easter

Easter is so much fun with grandchildren. I filled 50+ eggs and then Brent and I hid them in the living room for Gwen to find. She came prepared with her Easter basket and started hunting for them right away.

Gwen Hunting Eggs

Remember playing Cootie?

Two Bugs

On Sunday, we were invited over to my Mom and Dad's for Mom's traditional, world famous standing rib roast. It was yummylicious. Every time Mom tries to roast something these days, her thermomether is broken - apparently it doesn't matter how much you pay for those suckers, you only get one use out of them! Anyway, the roast was still mooing, so we plopped it back in the oven, had another drink, and life was good.

At each of our family dinners, someone gives the champagne toast. Travis was put on the spot at the last minute (another favorite trick of the Clan Elder!) and he rose to the occasion.

Again, the highlight was our grandaughter - Kylie. She is just so darn cute. She talks up a storm now and has the sweetest little voice. We had a little outdoor egg hunt but she really just wanted to eat the candy! I found the funniest outdoor bowling set for Ky. The pins are in the shape of milk bottles and the ball moos when it rolls. I laugh everytime it moos. Kylie seemed to have fun with it too!

Kylie would rather open the eggs than find them!
Chocolate Face Moooooo!