Spring is springing!

After such a long and dreary winter, it was a special treat to see blue skies and fluffy white clouds a couple of days ago.

I guess because of cabin fever, Andy and I have been getting out and hiking.  The above pictures were taken at the Boundary Creek County Park about a week ago.  It was still chilly, but at least the sun was shining, which makes all the difference in the way a person feels about nature and life in general!

My first class is over and done.  I worked all Easter weekend on the final paper.  It was quite a sacrifice to spend Good Friday, a day off work - all day at the computer trying to pull all my thoughts together into a cohesive and understandable thesis:  how to write in 2,500 words on a subject as huge as The Triune God.  As difficult as that was, I finally finished it to my satisfaction and submitted it, then waited in nervous anticipation for the grade.

I am happy to report that I got a 100% on that paper!  Wow...I couldn't believe it.  All my hard work and hours of effort paid off.  I got an A in the course with A's in all my papers and assignments.  Needless to say, I'm very happy with that.  Now to get through this final class, only 4 weeks to go, but still a lot of work to do before graduation.

In spite of being so consumed with studying and school, we're still getting a lot of hiking in and kid time.  Last week, Amy and the kids came down in time for dinner on Monday, then stayed overnight.  We watched a movie together, Chase chose Sleeping Beauty because he wanted to see the witch turn into a dragon (is that a boy thing!).

On Tuesday morning, Dawn and Kira joined us and we all went over to the church for the kids to play in the gym. 

It was such a nice day that we thought it would be good for the kids to play outside so we drove over to Pennington Park where there was a nice playground.  They had fun but it was cold and windy.  We played there as long as we could stand it, then since it was close enough to lunch time..."Let's go to Chick-Fil-A and let the kids play inside.

 

 A fun time was had by all!  I'm so impressed with how much fun Andy is with the kids.  He's like a kid himself!  Having fun seems to come naturally to him, I often wish I could be more like that.  But when I mentioned this to him, he said there should at least be one person who acts like an adult!


Yesterday I took several hours off work and went with Dawn and Kira and Dawn's friend, Betty and her 3 kids to a Sound All Around concert in Philadelphia.  It turned out to be quite an adventure.  We parked the car and walked to where we thought the concert was, only to find out we were at the wrong address.  So we got back to the car, paid for 15 minutes parking, went a couple blocks further and parked again.  Dawn, the kids and I got out and started hurrying to get to the concert while Betty parked the car.  Dawn had 2 of Betty's kids and Kira, hurrying along, while I tried to get Betty's boy to walk a little faster.  We got further and further behind, until I finally told him to climb on my back, which he was happy to do.  We must have made quite a sight!  We got to the Kimmel Center and got directions from the ushers in the lobby that the concert was at the end of the hallway, up the stairs, turn right and go to the end of another hallway.  We did that but it was not the concert we had tickets for.  So we had to trace our steps back out.  Unfortunately, the tickets Dawn was holding did not have the address of the concert on them, but we finally figured it out that it must be at the Academy of Music.  That building was across from the Kimmel Center, so off we trudged with the 4 kids.  By the time we got in the door, we discovered we were finally at the right place but we were 30 minutes late.  Dawn was feeling frustrated, mainly because she felt responsible, but the ushers were very kind and helpful and told us that we could just wait around for the next concert which would begin at 11:15.  So that was a relief, we could still use our tickets and after coming into the city and going through all that effort, it wouldn't be a wasted trip.

We had to keep the kids occupied for 45 minutes, but being good mommies, Betty and Dawn had brought lunch and snacks.

We finally got into the concert and it was definitely worth it although by this time, the kids were tired.

Well, the sun is shining, calling my name, enough time spent on the computer.  I'm off to get some vitamin D.

School, Kira & Grace

When I went to the student orientation before classes started, we were told that we needed to prioritize our studies.  That might mean cutting down on other activities in our lives.  Well, for the most part, I have concentrated on studying for my class.  I've had to forego Saturday activities because of attending classes.  In fact, I have no choice there because if even one class is missed, it's an automatic failure.  And for every 30 minutes you might be late, you get a whole letter grade lower in your final grade.  Needless to say, I am careful to get to class early and made it there even on the week I was sick.  Fortunately, I wasn't feeling my worst on the day of class, just suffering with a runny nose.

My first class is over but I still need to write the final paper which needs to be 2,500 words.  We have 2 weeks to get that in.  I'm planning to concentrate on that this weekend because I have Friday off from work.  So Friday and Saturday, and maybe Sunday afternoon will be spent inside at the computer.  I hope I can manage it without an attack of spring fever.

We have managed to fit in some grandkid time.  On Saturday, Tom & Dawn had a family wedding to attend, so asked us if we would keep Kira overnight and take her to church on Sunday morning.  She came over Saturday around noon.  I wasn't home from class until close to 2:00 pm, so Andy played with her, then put her down for a nap.  She had dinner with us, played some more, then bath time and bed again.

Here she is playing doctor with Andy.  The bracelets on his face were his medicine!

Sunday morning she let me put her hair in a pony tail while she was eating her breakfast.  She's not too keen on having her hair fixed.  I can't wait till she'll let me braid her hair, but for now, I was happy to do a little brushing and fixing.  I don't know why she's looking so sad in this picture.  It is a pose, though, since she knew I was taking it.  She was so excited to be here with us.  She kept hugging us and kissing us.  How fun to be so loved!

Sunday night we had our singles group here, women only this time.  One of the girls offered to make chili so I didn't have as much to do as usual.  I had made lemon bars on Saturday afternoon, then on Sunday, made cornbread and a salad to go with the chili.  The lemon bars were a big hit.

Andy and I left work early on Monday and drove up to get Grace for her overnight with us.  Her birthday had been several weeks ago, but I felt this was a good time to fit her in (between classes).  We have so much fun with her.  She is a delightful young lady.  Her requests of things to do with us included:  watch a movie, have ice cream, make lemon bars, go bike riding, go on a hike, play games.  I'm happy to say we fit it all in.

We borrowed a friend's bike and she and Andy rode to the church.  They rode around in the parking lot around cones that Andy set up.  They did all kinds of games using the cones, then went into the gym and rode around in there, too.

We took a hike before lunch at Laurel Acres park.  It was pretty wet, but we wore our boots and enjoyed the outdoors.  It was cold and windy, but we still had a good time together.

After lunch, we drove over to Amico Island Park and hiked around in there, too.  That is a cool place right on the Delaware River.  The tide must have been in because there was no beach at all.  Another time we had been there, there was a nice beach to walk along.

 

 Grace is a lot like her daddy and PopPop - instigating and causing "trouble."  She kept throwing the sweet gum sticker balls at Andy until he had to "take care" of her!

I mentioned to Grace that she might not have too many more years of overnights with us because she's getting older.  Then she asked how long she could keep coming over.  I told her we would keep the tradition going until she was married.  That prompted her next question:  "couldn't she still come over even then?"  Well, her husband might have something to say about that!  But I took it as a compliment to think that she's happy to be here with us.

It was a fun couple of days, but now the parties are over and I've got to put my nose to the grindstone again.

Keeping Busy

I've been busy, to say the least.  But in spite of all the homework for my class, I'm managing to fit in some grandkid time. 

 

March 5 was Grace's birthday.  I can't believe she's 12 already.  We didn't spend a lot of time with the family this time because they already had plans for the day.  So we got there in time for a yummy dinner of pizza and salad.  Grace is developing into a very sweet young lady.  I'm very proud of her and happy to have her as a grandchild.  I hope to have her over for an overnight with Andy and me, but it will have to be after my last class (the end of the month).

Then last weekend was our church's women's retreat.  I couldn't go this year because I have my class on Saturday.  But Dawn went and asked if I could babysit Kira on Friday until Tommy came home from work.  I was able to work it out that I could leave work by 12:00 noon.  I gave Kira lunch and we played for a little before I put her down for a nap.  She slept a very long time, over 2 hours, which gave me time to work on my paper that was due for class the next day.

When Tommy came and picked Kira up, I invited him to stay for dinner.  And believe it or not, he accepted! 

I'm really enjoying my class.  I'm learning a lot and enjoying the reading and writing part.  And I especially like that the prof of this class isn't giving tests, exams or quizzes.  The grade is based completely on reading, writing and class participation.  I have a reflection paper due every week (so 5 in all) with 500 words giving a summary and my thoughts of what I've read for that week.  I also had a 1,500 word paper due last week.  And the final paper needs to be 2,500 words due no later than 2 weeks after the last class.  So far 2 of my papers have been graded and I was so excited to get 2 A's!  Yahoo!

Needing a Break

My brain is frying and I'm feeling like I'm going to explode.  I've been studying, reading, writing, living and breathing The Triune God which is the class I'm taking right now.  I'm only 2 weeks into the class, 3 more to go.  I'm learning a lot so I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing, BUT...

So I'm taking a very little break to do some blogging.  It feels like I've been holed up in the house for the last 2 weeks so I don't have a lot to report.  So how about some food pictures?

A couple of weeks ago, we had a couple over for dinner.  I made a favorite recipe:  chicken with stuffing dish along with red skinned mashed potatoes and green beans with bacon (not exactly low calorie, but very yummy!)  

EASY BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS 

 (recipe from my good friend, Jane Wilson)

 

8 chicken breast halves, skinned and boned

8 (4 x 4) slices Swiss cheese

1 (10 ½ ounce) can cream of chicken soup undiluted

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing mix, crushed

2-3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Parsley (optional)

Arrange chicken in a lightly greased 12 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish.  Top with cheese slices.

Combine soup and wine; stir will.  Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with stuffing mix.

Drizzle butter over crumbs. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Garnish with parsley.  Yield 8 servings.

Mashed Red Skinned Potatoes (from Allrecipes.com) Prep time:  10 minutes      Cook time:  20 minutes   Ready in 30 minutes serves 8

"This recipe doesn't skimp on creaminess. Unpeeled red potatoes are mashed with butter, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper."

Ingredients:

2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk 1/4 cup sour cream salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add potatoes, and cook until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Drain, and place in a large bowl.
2.	Combine potatoes with butter, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Mash together until smooth and creamy.

 Green Beans with Bacon

(I don't remember where I got this recipe, but probably from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 8 slices bacon, diced
• 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in 1-inch pieces
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter; add bacon. Fry bacon until crispy; set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil; add beans. Boil for about 10 minutes, or until desired doneness is reached. Drain beans; add them to the skillet with bacon and butter. Toss well and heat until well coated. Add pepper; serve.

Serves 8.

For dessert I served Blueberry Kiwi Fool.

 Blueberry Kiwi Fool

(recipe from Better Homes & Gardens website)

Makes: 6 servings

Prep 20 minutes, chill up to 2 hours

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 - 4 kiwifruit, peeled and cut up (1 cup)

Directions

1. In a shallow dish mash 1 cup of the blueberries with a potato masher. (Or puree with a mini food chopper, food processor, or blender.) Stir cinnamon into mashed blueberries.

2. In a medium bowl beat whipping cream and sugar until cream is very thick. Fold in mashed blueberries.

3. In individual 6- to 7-ounce glasses or dishes, layer whipped cream mixture with remaining blueberries and kiwifruit. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 2 hours before serving. Makes 6 servings.

 Ok, break is over...back to the books.  Well, maybe I'll have a snack first.