Some stuff I may not have shown here yet from this spring

I'm probably doing some of these things twice. I forget what I post sometimes when doing catchup.

Oh!  Guess what?!  Leon got his hair cut!!

Totally his idea.  Just out of the blue, he said he'd like to have it cut.

OKEY DOKEY THEN!

Here is him and his dad a day or so before Ryan took him to a barber.

And then Easter happened!  EVERYONE hunted for the eggs except for Leon and myself.  He helped me hide them all.

Then with Maddy in the picture and me taking it.

I was hoping someone would photoshop the other in, and they tried with AI, but Maddy's face was either totally wrong or mine was or she was missing hair. So weird...  We'll just put both pictures beside each other. :)

Maddy and I went to see the Red Hot Chili Pipers!

Got great seats in the balcony and they sounded super!  Second time seeing them and I just know that Robb would have loved them.

Aggie was on a kick of building towers with the magnetic tiles for a LONG time!  She and I would build it as high as we could just for her to knock it down.

Isn't that just the way?!

These days she's into reading out of the Learning To Read books from World Book with Poldy the scarecrow.  Wouldn't that be cool if she was reading before kindergarten?  

I'm not pushing her but B-B-B-Bat!

I tried my hand at fixing one of my electric canners that toasted the motherboard.  I bought the right motherboard and installed it just to have it happen two batches into some pork that I was canning.

sigh.  I pitched it.  I still have one canner left.  I'll get another someday.

The week after I got back from the Mediterranean cruise, Aggie and Jen went with her folks to see an aunt in Arizona.  They had a greatl time and I got some wonderful pics of their adventures!

And I dog-sat once or twice for Maddy since then.  I love her little shrine for Dad.

I still have Maddy's old Barbie Jeep from 2001 in the garage and this past week, I started to resurrect it for Aggie.  I bought new batteries because it's been 8 years at least since it saw the light of day and was tucked in the garage freezing, thawing, freezing, thawing ever since.  Apparently the batteries were the least of it's worries.  There is corrosion on the little plunger under the foot pedal and after buying the wrong size off Amazon, I called the only Power Wheels dealer in Iowa and they have the parts in that I need! WOOHOO!

Headed there this weekend with the jeep in the back of my car!  I WILL get this working!

Then it will totally need a paint job.

More pics on this Monday.

OH!  and I am still working hard on Italian speaking but started looking around for a group of Italian speakers near me.  I thought I'd found one but then they hadn't posted anything for a few years so shoot.  But a few days ago, someone sent me a note and woohoo!  The Italian conversation group still exists!  and she updated the FB group!  I'm going tonight!  Can't wait!  Apparently there are all levels of Italian speaking there, beginners and experienced but I'm fairly confident that I'll sound super stupid but I really want to learn how to be fluent.  So here goes!

Oh!  and I want to get into making cheese!

Ok, I'm done now.

May July 4th Be With You!

 I'm going in to get my Gold Star driver's license soon and started panicking a little.  A few people have said that it would be difficult however Maddy said it was easy.  I'm not seeing the difficulty yet.  Most of the documents are in my 2024 tax envelope besides my passport.  I'll be stopping by my safety deposit box to grab my SS card but I did make a call to DOT and they said as long as I know my SSN number, I can sign a waiver.  Eh - I'll see if I have it instead.  Now, do I know where the key to the safety deposit box is?  maybe.

Update: I got my gold star paper driver's license this morning!  Yay!  Take your tax papers in to use as the SSN.  Easy peasy.  Maddy was right.  If you've got a set appt, you get RIGHT in!  They skipped from 725 to 789 (my number) almost immediately!  I almost missed it.

The red/white/blue shorts I made for Aggie turned out cute!  They're pretty loose on her around the legs.  Maybe because I'm so used to seeing her in legging shorts and these are NOT leggings.   Whoops I don't have a picture of them!  I plan to make more shorts similar before the fair.

Today (and yesterday) was a DOOZY at work!  Whew!  nonstop chaos.  Maybe I can get to the project I was trying to get to on Monday tomorrow...  It needs to be done by Monday or Tuesday and I do NOT plan to work over the weekend!

Update: Still not done with the project. The crisis from yesterday flowed over to today. Eh - that crisis is done for now.  With any luck the other issue will be a ten minute project. Crossing my fingers!

The leftover Easter lily plants from church a couple years ago, finally bloomed!  Are they pretty?!

They run on their OWN calendar!  and my outside is the hothouse for them.  I finally planted the ones from this past Easter but it may have been too long before planting.  They may not make it.

Last night, Aggie and I used ALL of Leon's magnetic tiles and built a beautiful building!  She loves playing Godzilla and destroying it, not leaving one tile on top of another.  She can be brutal.

Getting out my red/white/blue banner to hang on the front of the porch soon.  I guess it needs to hit the dryer for a bit to shake out some wrinkles.

Have a wonderful 4th of July!!!!

Thank you to all the men and women who made/make my country free!

Easter-tide

 Well, the Easter egg coloring last weekend turned into ONE egg for Leon and the rest of two dozen eggs for Meri and myself to color.  I failed to get a pic of them.  shoot.

Aggie and Jen were out of town until that evening so they couldn't join in.

Ryan completed a set of minis for a game he wants to get going with some friends.  He loves to paint tiny statues.  I can only imagine playing it is like the game Risk where you put out a ton of little soldier guys but in this case, monsters.  He said that I'll be playing too. :)

That Saturday afternoon, some ladies from church were supposed to come and watch Passion of the Christ with me and one by one, they cancelled for one reason or another.  Oh well.  I decided to work on the yard instead so that the Easter pictures would look halfway decent this year.  It's no fun when the kids are digging through molding leaves to find candy. 

TURNED out that it rained all day on Easter Sunday!  So the Easter egg hunt was in the living room and only Aggie hunted.  

Can't have everyone hunting when they're run into each other just turning around.  And there really aren't TOO many places to hide the eggs.  There were lots of plastic candy filled ones too.

Aggs had a ball.

Meri assisted by pointing them out.

Maddy outdid herself with her holiday cheese ball!  At Thanksgiving, it was a turkey with a pretzel tail, at Christmas, it was a snowman.  Well, get a load of the empty tomb cheese ball!!!

Even an angel made out of a cheese stick and the tomb sealed with a Ritz! 

I can't wait to see what she does for 4th of July.  Fireworks?  I don't know.

But for Mother's Day, I'm totally expecting a cheese ball bust of me.

Monday after work, Aggie "helped" me rake out the dead leaves in the garden and around the rhubarb.  She sat on my lap while I tried to saw out some volunteer trees under the leaves of the day lilies.  I'll have to get back there sometime and finish the job.  Then I ran a couple more loads of yard waste out to the towns lawn waste dump.  While there, I found clumps of hosta plants and more day lily bulbs!  Yay me!!!!  My garden will be built up with cast off plants!!!  for free!!!

Then she and I went on a walk out to Robb's grave.  It was still pretty wet from the Easter rains but it was fairly warm and a beautiful time out. She didn't beg ONCE for the overcrowded playground a block off our path!  I'm hoping she forgot about it for now.  I'll take her there, but I hadn't been out to the cemetery for a while.

Anyway, there was more yard work done this week and I started hauling the cement chunks back to the back yard, making the hill behind the garage a little more palatable and less thistly.  I'll show you when it looks less yucky.  I plan to work on that exclusively tomorrow morning and try to get done in time to go to the 20th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice.  Those Fathom Event Classic movies are the BEST!

Next week is 50th anniversary of Monty Python's Quest of the Holy Grail!  I hope to take Leon but we'll see what the week holds.

Has it been 50 years already??!

Am I feeling old?

yes.

Granted, I didn't see it until I was probably 20 but still.

Egg Alternatives for Easter

 I know the high price of eggs is ridiculous but I did notice that the price IS coming down just a smidge.

But if you're still egg price shy when Easter rolls around, consider this.

and for those who DO love chocolate, specifically homemade Cadbury eggs!...

Click for the link HERE.

I've already had my Cadbury egg for March anyway.  Thank GOODNESS April is right around the corner!  But I should probably drop that niggling 5 (shh! 15) pounds before I make these.

I've got the recipe saved for a future reward for weight loss!

Everyone needs incentive, right?

And finally, because... why the heck not?  MARSHMALLOWS!

Getting the grass off them might be a trick.

Easter & Sewing

 I'm slowly but surely working on these dresses for the wedding.  The bride is coming tomorrow so we can finally get the bodice fitted exactly right.  Whew!  It has to fit perfectly before I cut out the other pieces.  The skirt pieces, there are 13 pieces so far.  There were more but some have been sewn together already.  As I've said before,  I hope she's strong!

The first bridesmaid is coming the following weekend for a fitting.  Probably the final fitting.  She lives in Minnesota so she's not here often.  Her sister will come at the end of May for her final fitting.  

Things are coming together...

We had a beautiful Easter.  Some of the kids joined me at church for the men to serve breakfast and then the service.

Then Leon's siblings and his mom joined us for lunch and an Easter egg hunt.  The little girl on the right is a friend of Jen's daughter.  Such a cutie!

They had a ball running all around our yard hunting down eggs, rubbing wheels on the cars, finding things in an overgrown garden from last year...  

It was really cute.  We'll have to do the egg hunt again next year, but possibly too many people crowded around our table at lunch time.

It started snowing as soon as the hunt was over.  BURRR!!!  It's all gone now and today is supposed to be in the 60s!  So spring will come, but it's been pretty shy.

And Ryan asked me to take a picture with Frank.  It's a good picture!  But as soon as I snapped it, he said, that's ONE down for my quota!  sigh...  He only allows me to take 10 pictures of him each year.  

I need to make sure he doesn't see me take pics when we're at the cabin this summer...

Ok, back to work.  Have a beautiful day!

As long as I'm wishing...

Easter was a very nice holiday!

The Thursday before, Meri, Shub, Leon and myself decorated eggs.

The kids were very creative but somehow I just got the plain early ones before their creative juices really got going...

That Sunday, Meri and I met up with my sister and her family at the HyVee deli for an Easter brunch before our afternoon church.  What a fun time!

After church, these three hunted for eggs in our yard, this year the front and back yard. It's been a while since we did that.

And Meri's face in this pic was great!  But she'd kill me if I'd posted on FB so here it is here.

Leon had two eggs with $5 bills in them.  If Meri and Shub came across one that was marked with an L, they left it alone.  They didn't have any money in theirs... Sorry guys!  Maybe next year!

Since Easter, I've been swamped.  Mostly moving my MIL out of the downstairs and into assisted living near my BIL, about 45 minutes away.

But this week, I'm working from Maddy's house in Wisconsin.  The rest of the gang is at home coping the best way they can without me, which is to say, just fine.  Thanks to Ryan, I got to video chat with Leon this morning during his breakfast.  And as I suspected, they're fine.

Matthew and I have lunch together and after work, Maddy and I are cooking supper together.  All other times and in between, I'm loving on my grandpups and doing some crying.  Isn't this pic great?  It's in the guest room.

She and I are attending a Grief share meeting for her later this week and on Saturday, we're planning on making a bunch of freezer meals before I head for home.

Having a wonderful time!

Wish he was here.

Post Easter Tuesday

If you're staying away from eggs these days, close your eyes.

But this is a breakfast that I wait all year long for.  The unlimited egg salad bagels, the week after Easter!

Here's my recipe.  It's not fancy, so don't mock me! nor criticize the amount of cholesterol I'm eating...

Easter eggs - 3 - peeled, rinsed and run thru the egg slicer in two different directions.

Mix a couple globs (probably 1/4 cups) of Miracle Whip or equivalent. NOT MAYO! and a good squirt (probably a tablespoon) of spicy brown mustard.  I couldn't find the horseradish or I'd add a tiny bit of that too.

Add to chopped up eggs and mix well.

While you're doing this, you should have already popped both halves of a plain bagel into the toaster.

Then scoop the egg mixture onto the bagel as you eat.  Sometimes you end up with more egg mixture, sometimes more bagel, but improvise and finish it all.

YUM...

Also, we picked up Leon's school books yesterday from his teacher in the parking lot.  He will have assignments and other things to do to fill his day this week.  WOOHOO!!!  

(Yesterday, he and I sewed together a FortNite ghost plushy.  At this rate his room will be too full of plushies to find his bed...)

So with the books, came about 7 different apps or websites to get into for him to be able to access Epic, Prodigy, etc.  He was so excited, until we couldn't find the right app or other things popped up for him to have to do. UGGGG, I have to eat supper???!!

We'd get an app to work once, but then when he went back into it, he didn't find the right thing. 

*WHAT are you doing in Samsung and Google settings?!!!*

So this morning before he comes down. Yeah - it's 8:30 and he's still sleeping.  He's staying up as late as summer during this Covid thing...  

Correction - he JUST came down.  and he's thrilled!! 

I spent an hour this morning getting all the apps set up and he's able to get into everything now.  repeatedly. yay!

So... ON to the day!  May it be a great one!

Easter came without crowds!

Easter weekend!!!

Friday night, we made homemade chili dogs and while DQ chili dogs are not fabulous... but very welcome on Good Friday, homemade chili dogs aren't even THAT great.  We used canned chili with no beans and it just didn't have the flavor to it.  dang.

Our guts need a break, so it'll be a while before we perfect the recipe before next year.  But hopefully we can get to the DQ and back to our usual traditions by then.

On Saturday, Ryan, Jen and Leon colored the three dozen eggs I'd cooked up in the IP the previous day.  They were beautiful!

Those three are very creative!  Do you see Leon's dragon egg?  I don't think anyone will get to eat it before he forgets that it's in the fridge.

 Late that afternoon, I bemoaned the fact that the last several "silent" Saturdays, the one between Good Friday and Easter, I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to watch The Passion of the Christ movie.  Been feeling guilty about that!  And Robb said once was enough for him, so it's not a together show...  He suggested that I go upstairs and watch it that evening.  So I did!  

And oh my!  Mel Gibson did a beautiful recreation of what happened.  Gut wrenching of course, but I think every now and then you need a visual reminder of what God did for us, the humans he loved, by sacrificing his only son, Jesus, to take away our sins.  Every time Mary gasped, I cried more.  Maybe it's a mother's empathy, don't know.  But each whip strike made me jump too.

James Caviezel was perfect for this role!  

I didn't get it all done by the time Robb came upstairs, so Meri and I watched the last 45 minutes together on Sunday afternoon.

On Easter Sunday, we were up early and I made Easter baskets for all the people under my age that would be at our house for lunch that day.  I had made face masks for all of them and Robb suggested wrapping up rolls of toilet paper to go along with the candy.  perfect!  They definitely had the 2020 theme going!  

Then, Robb and I attended "small" church for the Easter service.  Only nine total in the building.  

And yay!!!!  the organist showed up!  We got to sing Alleluias!!!!  I think she heard my weak piano attempt on the online Good Friday service and thought we needed a more professional sound. ;)  

Actually she did hear the GF service and thought that hearing the hymn was a beautiful addition to the lessons and sermon that the older recorded sermons had been.  So she wanted to offer her talents.  and it was beautiful!

After church, my nephew, his gf and her brother cancelled on us.  So did Shub.  So it was just the local McVal clan and I needn't have bothered vacuuming! 

Lunch was great!  As Robb put it, you can't go wrong with a Cure 81 ham, but you can certainly overcook the scalloped potatoes.  I didn't think they were bad, I love them!  But he thought they hadn't had enough moisture in the crock pot and had gone too far.  Eh - more for me!

And since it's was pouring rain and COLD outside, Meri and Jen hid the Easter eggs and candy all over the living room, staircase and upstairs hall for Leon to find.  Usually they would ALL go hunt them down, but I had other things to attend to and they said okey dokey.  They only hid one dozen eggs as there are only so many places to hide things here without just dumping them in a toy box and putting a firetruck over it.  Those would have been lost forever...

Or until after three months, someone dumped it out and the smell of rotten sulfury eggs would NEVER get out of our house.

Here's the boy just before the hunt began.

His haul is still sitting on the dining room table and people may or may not be swiping candy here or there.  Robb said that to help prevent childhood obesity, we should eat their Easter candy.

I'm not convinced that that is a bad idea.

I had visited JoAnn fabrics last week and DUOed with Meri while I was inside.  She picked out the fabric for her face mask and Shub's.  I got one of each done for the baskets, but will complete their second pair last this week.  She loved hers.  We put pipe cleaners in a small sewn in channel so you could shape the mask to your face better and not blow your exhales into your eyes or fog up your glasses.  Perfect!

We spent the day visiting with each other, watching the Passion (with Meri), putting together a puzzle with Leon, washing up the china, eating a second lunch of a ham sandwich at 3pm... , and visiting with Maddy and Matthew via DUO.

Except for the weather and company cancelling, it was a beautiful weekend and Easter!

I'd have no luck at all.

Wow, what a weekend!  Let me start off by saying Happy Easter!!!  

I don't know why I don't have someone snap a picture of me wearing things I've made.  Maybe because I don't want to see myself until I've lost 20 pounds...  Or I'm just forgetful and have too much on my mind at all times.  I'll go with that one.

Anyway, for Good Friday service, I wore the outfit that I wore for America's Got Talent and Mom's funeral. Black flowy top and knit pencil skirt with a slit.  

 The Tennabrae service is special, where the lights get dimmed a little every few minutes of the readings and I was suddenly struck by a memory of Mom that when I left the church in silence and darkness, I had to scrounge for a kleenex in the car.

On Saturday, Meri and Jen came over and helped Leon and I color some eggs.  

It was a glorious mess and they had a great time.

Then Meri, Leon, Robb and I went out for a late lunch to the grand opening of Meri's best friend's, mom's Mexican restaurant.  Meri and her bestie had been up til 5am, helping put the restaurant in order for the opening.  So when we got our bill, her food was not on it.  Awe... They're pretty great.

The food was delicious.  The mom has a taco truck that is usually out during the week but she decided to open the restaurant also.  It is undecided if the taco truck will continue.  So for a family run business, she's cooking up a storm still.  The daughters are waiting tables and her husband is taking care of everything they can't.

Leon had a hamburger, but it was really a thinly sliced steak sandwich.  He is the pickiest eater ever, so he was a real trooper to eat it all up.  I got a sandwich that I don't remember the name of.  Zumbago?  no...  don't remember.  

Meri got beef tacos and shrimp tacos.  The lime slice from her tacos saved my mouth from over burning on the chips and salsa...  :)  perfect.

Congrats to them!  I hope they're a huge hit.

When we got back, I sewed a skirt to go with the colorful top that I'd made a few weeks ago.  And yet again, have no proof that I sew for myself.  One of these days I'll have Meri over to help me do a style show...

On Sunday, we went to early church with a breakfast following.  It was great and I don't know about you, but the scent of lilies puts me in another place.  I love it!  

AND I forgot to get a pic of Meri next to the cross with lilies.  sigh...  Maybe NEXT Sunday.  The lilies will still be there.

Then we went home and scrambled to get lunch ready in time.  Jen had limited time to be here and Meri's foot was hurting.  So as soon as Jen arrived, I set them all off for the Easter egg hunt.  

It's kind of funny watching a 19 year old and 27+ year olds hunt for eggs, but as long as they're enthusiastic, go for it!  And of course, Leon was excited.

Leon left eggs behind for them to find.  He's so kind!  He was mostly hunting for the candies.

Then lunch with the china.  After all was cleaned away, Meri, Robb and I played a fun game of Apples to Apples.  She won.  

I was planning on spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing, but Meri asked if I'd go shopping with her.  SURE!  So we went to the mall and lo and behold, it was closed.  Oh yeah, it's Easter!

Walmart was open.  They're ALWAYS open, so we walked around in there and she kept putting things in the cart.  I found a T-ball for Leon.  It's been frightening to pitch a ball to him lately, as I'm afraid of getting killed...  

After hunting down a place that Meri is contemplating moving to next fall, we headed over to my besties to visit for a bit before heading home again.  Got there just in time to get on a DUO call with Maddy and Matthew!  Meri had to head home and wasn't able to come in because of her foot.

So about 10 minutes into the call with Maddy, I got a call from Meri.  

Um Mom?....

Oh boy...  

She had smelled burning rubber in the van and a light on the dash had come on.  "What's that light mean?"  I had her pull out the owners manual.  "Something about tire pressure."  

The traffic on the interstate was really bad so she couldn't get out to take a look right away, but kept me on the phone until she could.  Yikes...  the back passenger tire was shredded.

Well, THERE's the smell is coming from...

We hung up with Maddy and got the boy and several jack contraptions out into the car and headed off to rescue Meri.  

Meri helped out a bit, but with her broken foot, we told her to check on Leon.  She climbed in with him and they drew together.  Leon has a new sketch pad.

I have to tell you, I am NOT a fan of where Grand Caravan's hide their spare tire.  The shredded tire put the back corner of the van almost down to the ground and the spare is dead center underneath the drivers seat and the passenger seat.  REALLY???  

While Robb worked on getting the blow out jacked up and loosened, I poured through the manual to figure out how to lower the spare.  Got it all the way down with some extra cord to spare, but it's still in the center of the car underneath.  I am NOT going to crawl under there, from EITHER side.

Luckily, Robb told me that there was an ax in the trunk of our car.  

Do you know how scary that would look to a passers by to see a grown woman, carrying an ax,  walking toward a man sprawled on the ground by the side of the road?   hmmm.. I covered the ax with a floor mat and brought it to the van.  It worked fantastic to hook the spare and pull it out.  

The thing hooking the spare to the cover thing was so corroded with dirt that we couldn't get it to come free.  Robb hit the heck out of it and it probably won't work correctly anymore, but we did it get off.  The tire was finally switched to the donut and it was actually low on air.  So we caravan'ed to the closest convenience store to fill it up.  

Then dropped the shredded one off at our car guy.  He was closed of course.  It's EASTER!  So Robb took a pic of it and texted him.  

prefaced with ,"Our bad luck continues..."

If I had no bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...

Doom, despair and agony on me!

Heehaw: if you didn't already know.