Another Great Halloween Party By Sandy

Kelly, with Amanda and Zachary....

Sari, Katie and their scarecrow...

the slime....

Katie's legs.....

Chase as Frankenstein, finding a bone....
My brother and Kyle....

scarecrow making.....

We had a great evening!

Kyle's Finishing Touch With The Swim Team

Lake Placid High School made it to regionals! Kyle has had a great experience with this team and is looking forward to next year's season. The practices were daily and long, Kyle's weight trimmed down with all the vigorous exercise. Since swimming has ended he has put back on 7 pounds! At regionals the team has a tradition for initiating the freshmen...Kyle asked for a note from his parents as a way out; I said, "No Way" and Kenny gave him a note that read, "Make sure you get every bit of it off". When we got a call from a parent at the meet asking if it was o.k. to put sunscreen all over his head we knew he had been initiated!

Never too old for a "spot" of tea

Katie: "Mom, I'm going to Rachel and Sara's to invite them over for a tea party."

Mom: "No, not now....."

Katie: "Then when?"

Mom: "Ummmm, you need to make an invitation first and bring that over." (this keeps me from saying,"I don't know" or, "never", and buys me a few days.



Katie went upstairs, came downstairs, got on her bike and left. That evening I get a call from Adriana that Katie has invited her girls over for a party on Wed. and they would love to be there. I'm ready to say my instinctive, "No", as we have small groups in our home Wed. evening and that is my "keep the house clean day", but I can't do it. Half an hour before the party is scheduled to start I'm feeling mommy guilt for not having any pretty little tea cookies, cakes, or anything. I tell myself, "tea alone is good enough." I then pick the kids up from school and drop my neighbor's son off at his house. His mom, Denise, says, "Wait Liz, I made something for your family..." Then hands me a plate of beautiful miniature cupcakes each with a glob of whipped cream and sprinkles on top. What a small blessing with a huge message.... I'm sorry I forgot the napkins, Sara.

the dangers of not putting stuff away...

Dina and I started a "Mommy and Me" time at our church twice a month. We had lots of fun brainstorming ideas together....and had our first session last week using shaving cream, pictures of the fun time to follow; but I didn't put the shaving cream away when I got home.......voila!

A new life for the A-frame

Terry and Elery bought a beautiful piece of property on Lake June a few years back with the intention to build their retirement home here. The property came with this little uninhabitable one-bedroom A-frame that housed many creatures, never had A/C and smelled really strange. The first thing they did was build a beautiful dock and create a sandy beach, which we all enjoy regularly. A frequent question by visitors and family was, "when are you going to knock down that house?" Somehow it just never happened and the timing isn't right for building a home on the property....so the little stinky A-frame is being renovated to a humble cottage. We'll keep you posted on its progress, who knows...maybe you'll be staying there!

Happy 44th Anniversary!

Today we celebrated Terry and Elery's 44th wedding anniversary.....the original plan was to go out to dinner somewhere in Sebring. The more we thought about it the more we thought there might be a better plan....We thought maybe a lobster boil here at the house, but found it difficult and pricey to get live lobsters here. Next thought, lets just fry up some chicken wings and when Terry and Elery get here to gather for our big dinner we'll surprise them with a gift card to Red Lobster for just the two of them, and tell them to return for dessert and a champagne toast. Perfect evening for all, the kids could be kids, Kenny cooked dinner, and we all enjoyed a lemon-champagne punch and Elery's favorite, cheesecake with cherries on top.....

It's not even October yet....

We have two new residents on our back porch....a bat and a black cat. The bat lives in our umbrella and the black cat is trying to move in. He has already bitten each of the twins and makes our other cats "fuzz up" at the mere sight of it....the twins are so scared of it that they run in the house when seeing it and make me "lock door mama...mean black cat...", and Halloween isn't for another month....

Our Last Summer Vacation Evening of 2007

Tomorrow starts High School, Middle School, 3rd grade, 1st grade, early bedtime, early wake ups, packing lunches, microwave breakfasts, homework.....whew...we'd better make the next two hours fun! We headed over to the other side of the lake to Pop-Pop's dock. There isn't a house there, just a beautiful dock, sandy beach, warm water and our camper. We started with dinner in the camper; pizza, coke and Stacey Hunter's delicious mandarin orange salad that helped me make friends here in Lake Placid!

After dinner we hopped into Pop-Pop's boat and enjoyed the wind in our faces and the beauty of Lake June...

After our boat ride by Captain Kyle we enjoyed copious amounts of ice-cream with lots of sugary toppings....

Then for a swim in the lake.....

... a final "Good-Bye" to summer vacation....

and "BOO HISS" to the ready-to-go backpacks ....

But they went anyway.....and had a great day! P.S. Don't you think Kyle's expression in every one of the pictures in this post says, "I'd rather be in Russia!"....he had a great time there!