Last Friday, July 23rd, Claude and I had a date, just the two of us. Katelyn was in LaGrange with the Marx family so Claude took me to dinner. Now, when you reach our age a date is a functional, chore filled occasion. Who am I kidding...when we lived in Denver and the kids were in grade school, we called it a date when we went to go buy groceries together and have a soda pop on the way home. When we lived in Maryland and the kids were teenagers, we called it a date when we took a trip to Hardee's for a soda and sit on the corner and watch the traffic at the intersection while we drank our sodas and had a chat. A date is really what you make it and feel good about calling a date. So there you have my definition of dating.
Friday's date was a trip to Georgetown.
- Drop items at the Scott County planning office.
- Dinner at O'Charley's.
- Visit the AT&T store to check on my Documents to Go on my Blackberry.
- Visit to Walmart for groceries
- Fill up the car at Walmart
- Drive thru the dry cleaners to pick up dry cleaning.
- Home before 6pm.
Saturday, July 24th, Andie brought Katelyn home. Andie, Hayden & Bailey then stayed for a visit over the weekend. Papa came out Saturday afternoon and we had a family dinner.
Claude found a BBQ sauce recipe for a Carolina BBQ sauce that he wanted to try. He had a small pork roast. He cooked the roast in the sauce all day in the crock pot and then covered the roast in this BBQ sauce when he served it. It was good. Not like any kind of BBQ sauce I've ever had before. It was almost like a vinagrette dressing.
I bought an ice cream freezer and made that wonderful lemon ice cream I tasted and learned about on Thursday night in Frankfort. It was really good. In case you missed the last post, all you need is 1 small can frozen lemonade, 1 2-liter bottle of 7-Up (use only 7-Up) and a can of Eagle Brand milk. Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream freezer. Really good stuff!!
Jake wrote a wonderful blog entry titled "Anatomy of a Snuggle". It was about Tiny, Papa's little dog. (There is a link to Jake's Blog on my Home Page of this Blog.) When Papa arrived I had Katelyn bring out her lap top and find Jake's blog entry for Papa to read. He enjoyed it so much. Never fear when looking at the picture. He is drinking a Dr. McGillicuddy rootbeer.
It's always fun for Papa to have the little ones around to watch them play. Hayden is explaining all about planets to Papa as he sits on Papa's lap.
It was a full and good first day to our visit. We all needed a good nights rest to be ready for Sunday.
Sandi and Katelyn attended Church. Claude, Andie and kidlings stayed home. They did come into Georgetown to have lunch at Cici's with us. Then back out to Sadieville for quiet time. Hayden and Bailey were soooooo excited when they found a table with a TV monitor over it that was showing 'Ice Age'.
A friend I visit teach gave Claude and I some pickling cucumbers. I really wanted to try pickling them instead of putting them in a salad. This was a great time to teach Katelyn a bit about canning. Andie was also eager to learn some more about canning.
I pulled out the water bath canner and the jars and we set to canning Katelyn's first 3 pints of dill pickles. What fun it was. Here are pictures Andie took of the process.
Andie is our cake decorater extraordinaire. She decorates the most beautiful and unique cakes and cupcakes. My birthday is really soon and, while I had forgotten it, Andie did not. She came to Sadieville with the items needed to finish up special cupcakes for me for an early birthday celebration.
There are several things in life that I enjoy a lot...just 'cause. One of them is moose. They just fascinate me. Someone once said they look like they were made by a committee. I'm not sure what it is but I just enjoy watching a moose. Well, Andie had directions for how to decorate a cupcake like a moose. So my surprise birthday cupcakes were moose cupcakes!!
I also have to thank Andie for every one of these pictures. She got these shots of Katelyn learning to ice cupcakes. Here is Katelyn decorating my moose birthday cupcakes:
Is not that just the cutest cupcake you ever saw?!
Well, Katelyn may disagree. You see, when she went to visit Andie and kids they had 'wolf' cupcakes for Katelyn's birthday which had just past. Katelyn is a Twilight fan. She is definitely 'Team Jacob' (the werewolf). So of course she needed 'wolf' cupcakes.
Thank you Andie for sharing your talents for our birthdays.
Another thing Katelyn wanted to learn about while visiting us this summer was drying fruit. We purchased peaches during the week so we set to getting them in the dryer. No pictures of this process. But it is an easy one and Katelyn was very happy to have the dryer on the deck full of peaches for our up-coming trip to St. Louis.
Hayden and Bailey got up from quiet time and we headed out to learn about marshmallow guns. These little treasures Claude purchased at the last Double-Stink Hog Farm Fall Festival. They were great fun for the Camp Christensen we had the next summer. This was Hayden and Bailey's maiden voyage into marshmallow gun territory. A good time was had by all. They guns would be easy to make if someone set their mind to it. They are not glued together so the pieces can come apart and they can be cleaned. It is also best to use the miniature marshmallows and let them air out and dry a bit before using.
Please note that Hayden is standing beside Claude's cherry tomato 'tree'. It was supposed to be a little plant. Claude grows them specifically so the kids can pick and eat as they ripen. This year the plant really grew into a tree and is laden with wonderful cherry tomatoes. Not sure what he did or if it was that older bourbon barrel, but this is a very happy plant.
We also logged some time in the sprinkler for Hayden and Katelyn. Bailey was not so much interested because she had marshmallows and chips to keep her busy. That and she took to her flower planter with the play dishes again. We don't even plant flowers in these flower planters anymore. We just leave them full of dirt so that Bailey can enjoy them when she is here.
It was a hot day and I'm surprised we stayed outside as long as we did. Andie and I did walk down the hill to check on the little grasses she gave me from her flower bed. They are all growing well on that hill. They must be hearty little creatures. Bailey enjoyed the sandbox while Andie and I visited on the hill.
Then it was time to get back inside for some dinner and play before bedtime for kidlings.
Andie painted Bailey's finger nails pink and her toe nails purple during the week previous. I believe this was Bailey's first time to get her nails painted. She is really enjoying her favorite colors on the tips of her digits. She also loves to plunder in my jewelry cabinet. I have a lot of bangle bracelets and this time we put everyone of them on her arm. She kept them all on for a very long time and toted them around for frequent wearing the rest of her visit.
Then it was time for the 'surprise' birthday cupcakes.
We had a little more quiet activity and then it was off to bed for the kidlings and time for 'adult swim' for the rest of us. Katelyn is soooooo happy she is officially an 'adult' during 'adult swim'. The joy of turning 18!! How grateful we should all be for the good things computers can do. Hayden really wanted to color Saturn. Just Google 'Saturn Coloring Pages' and there you have several great choices for him. He picks the ones he wants. You print two copies in case Miss Bailey feels she needs to participate. And back up to the kitchen you go. Andie left her chalks here long ago for Paul to use when he wants to draw. Hayden and Bailey enjoyed being able to 'blend' the colors with the chalks.
Monday morning was 'beauty shop' time. We put it off as long as we could. Bailey and Andie needed their bangs trimmed. Bailey was first and did a fantastic job of sitting still.
Andie did her gathering and loading of her car and finish up of laundry. As she was gathering we found Bailey making toys out of the canning things. I have a few Beannie Baby animals. They are collected because they are seasonal or they would be fun for grandmonsters. Bailey's favorites, which stay with her all of her visits, are the little horse I got at the Kentucky Horse Park and the little deer she thinks is Bambi. The dishpan was my mothers and her mother's before that. I have shelled or snapped many a pea or bean in that pan. I used it to put the ice cream freezer in so it would leak on the floor of the kitchen. The canning tongs were used for the dill pickles. Bailey seems to think they are perfect for wrangling a horse!!!
It was a fun visit. The Marx family left for LaGrange and Katelyn left for work. Claude and I just crashed.
Tuesday, July 27th, Katelyn worked in the morning. Then she had a missionary discussion at the Church in the afternoon. Then we headed to Papa's to cut his hair. Neffie and Mike are coming to visit him and Mimi and I really didn't want him looking too shaggy when they got here. Then home to finish up laundry for Katelyn, Papa and Claude and me.
Wedneday Katelyn worked in the afternoon. Claude had meetings in the afternoon and I went to the nursing home to sing with Papa and visit Mimi. Then I hurried home to get Katelyn from work. Claude had a Blue Grass ADD dinner for us to attend back in Lexington. It was at the Embassy Suites and is Sunday dress. Katelyn and I got in our Sunday duds and were ready to roll on time.
It was an interesting foray for Katelyn. Her first observation was that the Embassy Suites was not the Holiday Inn. We usually stay in the Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea, Michigan and have had several family reunions there. I'm sure that was what she was comparing this hotel to. The Embassy Suites has a fountain in the lobby that she really seemed to like.
There is an older gentleman with snow white hair that is the spitting image of Colonel Sanders that attends this function. He came in his white suite and black bow tie and cane. Katelyn was quite taken with this character from Kentucky's history.
They gave us all nametags and even had one for Katelyn.
The meal was particularly good this time. Katelyn went back for more rolls.
She also got a kick out of the dinner table discussion on politics. A big discussion was had on Rand Paul. I'm guessing most of our table were Democrats and they were aghast that anyone would send this man to Washington, DC. Katelyn tried her best to keep up with it. She is very interested in things to do with politics. She really didn't know Jack Conway's name and he was the other person spoken of at dinner. It was a lively chat on most people's parts and others of us just listened with interest.
Then came the real reason for being there, the meeting. Business was handled, approved, seconded, etc., etc., etc. There was an agenda and a time table for all this to be completed. As the ending time came closer and then was being passed people got a little fidgety. The most amusing part for me was the very end. By this point we have made motions and seconded them and said 'Aye' several times. Katelyn was getting the flow of that part. Then they asked for someone to make a motion to conclude the meeting. Just as someone made the motion and before another person could second that motion I heard Katelyn say a resounding "Aye". Claude and I both laughed out loud. Then we hurried to our car assured of the fact that Katelyn understood the process and how to end a meeting!!
Now I'm caught up till the next time...
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