Aaronica's Day

I'm a week behind in blogging, and I'm blaming Dale! He worked with his new cell phone trying to download pictures from it onto the computer. Ever since then I have not been able to download pictures from my camera in the same way. I want it the way it was: plug in my camera, one click of the mouse and all my pictures go right into all the right places. It is no longer working that way, but I suppose I'll manage!My dear friend Aaronica, that I've known since her birth, was married six months ago in a very small ceremony. Last Sunday, on her sixth month anniversary, she had a small celebration and an opportunity for us to meet her husband Dave. Her sister Dawn made the most delicious cake! When Aaronica asked me to take extra cake home with me, she didn't have to ask twice!
Dave and Aaronica

Aaronica's other sister, Teresa, also recently got married. We met George that night too.

Kenzie enjoyed playing with Dawn's son, Monte.

Kassie chats with Teresa and Dawn while they cut and serve the cake. Dawn is expecting her second child next month.

It was good to see and visit with the Hoffman girls again! I used to babysit them, now they're having children of their own! This is the same family that introduced me to Dale and also helped me learn about the Church.

After we left that night Kaden cried for a good fifteen minutes going down the road saying, "I don't want to leave! I don't want to leave!" I think there should be another party after Dawn has her baby so we have an excuse to get together again real soon!

Annual Wagner Family Picnic

Each year around this time my brothers and I get together with our families for a picnic. This year is was held Saturday, September 4, 2010. In the past we held these picnics at Tim and Maria's house, but this year we decided on one last picnic at Mom and Dad's house before we sell it.One of the things I brought is a Pennsylvania Dutch favorite: Shoo Fly pies!
Tim brought his grill from home. Tim has been master of the grill at all of our picnics! Dave lends him a hand while Dale supervises!

CJ has become quite the chef! He now owns some of Nana's cookbooks and has been trying recipes from them. In one cookbook Nana had written "good" next to this bar recipe, so CJ decided to give it a try. They were delicious!

Kenzie hangs from the rings at Nana and Pappy's house. When I told my kids I could do the same thing, they didn't believe me.

I had to prove myself to them! Since is has been several years since I've done it, I had Dale close by as my spotter.

Brady and Kaden play out it what used to be Pappy's garden.

Mitch and CJ do some kind of jump flip off the swings. I had a pic of CJ too, but for whatever reason, it didn't post.

During our time together we had several good laughs. This was one of them: Mitch giving Brady a ride on his bike!

Part of the days entertainment, and reason for more laughs was Uncle Timmy reliving his high school track days as a shot put and discus thrower.

Uncle Tim then gave lessons to some of the boys.

It's looking like Brady will inherit one of Pappy's most prized processions: His 1986 Ford Ranger truck.

Uncle Tim shows Brady the engine.

Apparently there is a leak in the fuel line. Tim shows Brady where it is and assures him it's an easy fix.

I wanted these videos to post in order of where they belonged in the story, but they had a mind of their own!

Before everyone left the grandchildren picked out toys from Nana's toy closet that they wanted to keep. I'll box up the rest and get them ready for auction.

It was an enjoyable day! We were there for just over four hours. It will be hard to see our childhood home sell when the time comes. So many memories are in those walls. Our next family home together will be on high... a mansion. Our parents wait for us there.

Extended vacation

The children had off school Friday for an extended Labor Day weekend. After taking care of some chores and overdue phone calls, I took the three youngest boys to rent a few movies and to pick up pizza for lunch. The movies and pizza were a splurge.

Jerry and Sal's has become a new favorite.

We rented six movies. Avery and Bryson picked out Iron Man, The Spy Next Door, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Terminator Salvation. Kaden picked out two he had already viewed before, but just had to see again, Bolt and Aliens in the Attic. I'm not a big movie watcher, so did not watch any of these. I did however, finally get to view a movie I had been wanting to see: The Blind Side. I borrowed it from my SIL Bonnie. It was well worth the time. The next movie I'd like to see is Fireproof, which I actually bought used for $4.00 at the place we rented the other six. It will likely be weeks, or even months before I can get around to seeing it. I feel a bit of guilt sitting down for that length of time in front of the tube!

"What can I eat?"

On the weekends my children can go through several boxes of cereal, eating it for breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, etc, but on week days it doesn't seem to be an option. Each school day I'm asked, "What can I eat?" This week the children chose yogurt, oatmeal, chicken salad sandwiches, cheese and crackers, grapes, leftover BBQ chicken, hard-boiled eggs, oatmeal breakfast bars, peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and fluff, Fiber One bars, etc. for their breakfast, never cereal. In an attempt to eat healthier for myself, I made a small crock pot full of wheat berries for breakfast one morning. I knew there would be leftovers so I planned on added them to the meatloaf I had planned for the following night's supper. As the kids started getting up and asking that same old question, "What can I eat?" I offered them some of my wheat berries. To my bowl I added Stevia, raisins and walnuts that I shelled myself. (These came from my father's tree.) It was delicious! I made the same combination for Ashton. Brady wouldn't settle for Stevia and had to have brown sugar, Avery and Bryson followed suit. They've had wheat berries before, but it had been awhile. Avery was the only one that bulked after the first bite, but did eat some. The other three enjoyed their bowl of wheat!

I didn't end up with near the amount of wheat berry leftovers that I intended for my meatloaf!
Crock Pot Hot Wheat Cereal

2 1/2 cups of water
1 cup wheat

Place both in the crock pot the night before, I usually do it at 10:00 pm. Cook on low through the night. By 6:00 am it's ready to eat! You can then add any, all, or none of the following: butter, honey, sugar, brown sugar, Stevia, (whatever sweetener you prefer), nuts, dates, raisins, seeds, etc.
The next morning Brady requested another large bowl of wheat! Unfortunately, I hadn't put any in the crock pot the night before so he had to settle for oatmeal. Now if I could just get myself and the rest of the family to eat healthy at every meal!