Sunday, August 24, 2014

Reunion & ALS Ice Challenge

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday was a family reunion day with a potluck lunch at my Uncle Bobby's place.  I made baked beans in the crock pot and threw together a grape salad to share:


It's one of those recipes that is so easy you don't really need a recipe for it.  All it consists of is grapes, (I used green and black), whipped honey-nut cream cheese spread, powdered sugar, and a bit of milk.  Also, I topped it with a few strawberries, just to dress it up a bit.  Simply mix the cream cheese spread, dab of milk, and powdered sugar (to your taste), then fold in the grapes. That's all there is to it!  :)


Uncle Bobby is my favorite uncle on my mother's side of the family. 


Him and his lovely wife Laurie host the reunion every year and I look forward to it.


I like how they have cats, as their kids (why didn't I think of that?).  JK  :) 


Amazingly, with three kids, I mean cats, their house is always nice n tidy.  At least it was until we got there...  We took a break from the muggy and humid weather with a game of Headbands inside, in the ac.  No idea why Roni and Jean are honking noses.  They randomly do crazy stuff like that and it's starting to no longer even phase me.  :)


Getting back to the cats...


This one tried to eat my camera, as I had it on the floor next to me:


And poor Butterscotch may still be quivering in the living room corner from Jean tormenting him with her toes. 



While we were all innocently inside tormenting the cats, Bobby's son, Mathew, challenged all of us to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.



In case Ya'all didn't know, ice water is soooo freezing cold!!!

My Uncle Bobby is a real trooper though, and he helped awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," grow.



Bobby, in turn, challenged the entire Porter County SELF school.  :)


Jean challenged the Cooperider boys and the youth group from the Pendleton church.


Roni challenged the twins, I had encouraged her to throw Jolene and John in that challenge too, (it's the Aunt in me).  Technically, I think it is only the twins that are facing a wet bucket of ice thanks to their Mom.


I challenged Grace and Joe.  Gladys challenged AJ and Jacob.  I will also mention, for the record, that Glenn and Troy took the challenge too.  Glenn challenged Hub, and Troy challenged Sammy.


Brrrrrr----Refreshing!!!  :)  This gal never knows what will happen at a family reunion. 


The rest of the afternoon we played Bocce Ball.... and tried our best to not break the neighbors windows.  :)


Bocce ball was fun and I am new at playing it.  Basically, it's a ball toss game where the winner is the one who's ball is closest to the little white ball.


We played until storms came rolling in.


Cherish your family Folk's!  Even if they dump freezing cold ice water over your head, ya still gotta love em.  :)

Monday, August 18, 2014

Celebrations-- Continued

Ahh, Fishing!
 

I arrived at the lake about 9AM, because I had to make a quick stop at the school for the kids.


The first little gill totally made my day.  I was like-- "Wooohoooo, YES, it's a FISH!".


The little sunbathing turtle rolled his eyes at me and thought I was nuts.


All the fish I caught were fairly small.


No matter, I was in THE ZONE!  Catching fish, relaxing, and most importantly celebrating the first day of school.  :)


As I fished, a giant carp, I mean a GIANT carp, came swimming by.  Big fish, even carp, make my heart race when I see them up close.

  
After a few hours of picking on the fish, (all were released to swim on), I went back to enjoy my quiet house.  

Oh, and I took a minute to think the thought of a new blog name-- The Adventures of Valparaiso Gal.

:)


Saturday, August 16, 2014

Celebrations

Hey All!


Jean turned 19 the other day!


We took her out to Ryan's to celebrate her birthday.



This is Jean's very own birthday cake (she made for herself):


In other news, the kids got a new/used trampoline.


It's new to us, anyways.  The springs were badly rusted on the old one.  Gladdie misses it.


If you ask me, this one is no good either, cause it draws to many kids to my back yard.   :)


Speaking of kids, Thursday was-- Write Names On All The School Supplies Day.


And Friday--  They walked out the door and posed for the traditional, First Day of School photo!


We had a few minutes (felt like hours) to kill before the bus came.


So, I took several shots (and posted the ones of them not trying to kill one another).


The kids pick out their own outfits now.  Usually, I let them wear whatever they want, as long as it's clean when they put it on. 


Today was no exception and I thought they made good choices.  At least no one had on a swimsuit with pj pants.  :)


One thing I like about the house is the location.  It's nice to be able to see when people turn into the neighborhood, like the bus!  :)


Another nice thing is the bus stop is right in front of the house.  I'm sure the kids will appreciate that come winter.


There they GO!!


After the kids left, my friends and I played with all their toys, jumped on their beds and threw a party involving all their favorite games.


JK-- I enjoyed my coffee in a quiet house.

Then went off to enjoy the day!  :)
 Byeee!

To Be Continued...

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Stone Lake

School Starts in the Morning!!!  Yippeee!!!  I'm just a tad bit excited to send the kids to school and reclaim my freedom.  Can Ya tell?

It's not that my kids are really all that bad to hang out with.  We usually have plenty of good times together, like the other day on Stone Lake in Laporte.
 

Troy got real low on the boat deck, (under Jean's hand), as he wasn't taking any chances with the low tunnel overhead.  :)


 We had some fun on (and off) the pontoon and Mom joined us.


Getting things in order back at the house seems to be a never ending job.


It is coming along though.  Hopefully, by next month I'll have everything in order and out of storage.


I was also told, the "temporary house," is now going to be our permanent home.  It does have a pretty view from the back yard.  Plus, a small house is less to keep clean.  :)  


What's really nice is that I'm only 15 minutes from so many of my favorite fishing holes!  Btw, I am having major fishing withdrawals. 
 

I plan to remedy that in the morning after the kiddo's head off to school.  :)


It's hard to say, but I think I may be a tiny bit excited about tomorrow and fishing.   :)    :)    :)