Vacation pictures!

For those of you who didn't know, my family and I went on a trip to the Northeast, specifically Maine. We returned Thursday after a wonderful time with family. Some friends asked me to post pictures, so here goes! Here's a narrative of events first:

On Wednesday, we arrived in Portland and explored some lighthouses. We also went to an excellent restaurant, Espo's Trattoria. The food was great, the portions, HUGE! Thursday we saw my grandparents in Freeport and shared a meal. We also visited the famous L.L. Bean, which is incredibly impressive! :) On Friday, when the rain poured buckets, we drove to Beals Island, where we met my brother and sister-in-law. We spent three wonderful days with them! Saturday the six of us went to Jasper Beach. It's named Jasper Beach because of the rocks filled with jasper that make up the amazing stone beach. The weather was great! Sunny and cool, with a breeze. After spending most of the day there, we just managed to beat the fog back to Beals Island. Unfortunately, the fog stayed over the island for the remainder of our trip. That night, we did something neither Ev nor I had ever done before; we cooked lobsters. Dad and Kim were the only people who ate them, but to my credit, I did try some. Personally, I thought it was chewy and tasted kind of strange. Like my mom said, it's like eating rubber bands. But to each his own! Sunday we hiked 2 1/2 miles to a beach, but the fog lay over everything, so we just smelled the ocean smells and and stuck our hands in the cold water. We saw a whale's head, or what was left of it. Jer, Kim, Ev, and I went out later and threw bumpers for Jer and Kim's dogs. It was so much fun!! The dogs were usually right on target, so it was very fun to watch! Oh, and early the next morning, at about 4:30 am or 5:00 am, the lobster men went out and then the Coast Guard tested all their very loud equipment. I think fewer people slept well that night. Monday we parted ways with Jer and Kim and then drove down to Bar Harbor, the home of Acadia National Park. But the fog was settled over Acadia too, so we drove back to Freeport. Tuesday we explored Freeport, but Wednesday Dad, Ev, and I went skeet-shooting. My only comment: it's a little harder then it looks, and I'm not going to do it again. My shoulder is still recovering. Thursday was just flying home, which sounds easy, but wasn't. We were delayed about an hour and a half out of Portland, and the Atlanta airport was backed up due to heavy thunderstorms earlier in the day. We finally made it home at 8:00pm. Our checked bags, however, didn't make it to our house until Friday morning. Happily they are now in our possession! Vacation was great! I hope you enjoy the pictures! (I'm sorry, but they're not in chronological order.)

Ev skeet-shooting.

Me, also skeet-shooting.

Two boats coming in after a day at sea....

Portland Head Light: beautiful!

Dad and me, starting our hike back from the beach...in the fog!

Mom sitting on a rock at the beach.

The whale's head.

Dad and Kim...and the lobsters!

Jer putting the lobsters in the pot.

Ev holding a lobster.

Jasper Beach: gorgeous!

Ev and Jer examining some rocks.

Family picture!

Training!

Bono has a fear of loud noises, mainly fireworks and thunderstorms. After spending two nights comforting Bono, one of them at 2:00 a.m., my family and I were ready to try anything! Dad suggested getting out Bono's old crate, but I was dubious. Bono has bad crate memories, since he used to be destructive and was therefore always crated when we were out. But we got it out anyway, figuring it was worth a try. However, I was pleasantly surprised! Bono is really fine with it. He's gone in all the way and laid down a few times, and half-way in even more! I am going through lots of treats because every time I go in my room, I tell Bono "Crate!" and toss a treat in the crate. It's working great!

From lemons...

to lemonade! After going through countless lemonade recipes over the course of many years, Mom discovered one that is really good! To make, cut and squeeze 8 lemons (or approximately 1 cup of juice.) Then make sugar-water: one cup hot water, 3/4 of a cup of sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then add a full tray of ice. Mix together, and then add 6 cups of water. *You may want to use a full cup of sugar. We used 3/4 of a cup, along with 4 drops of stevia.* The recipe may need tweaking, depending on how you like your lemonade tart, sweet, etc.). Enjoy!

Book Reviews: "Born Again" & "Ryan White: My Own Story"

Having read my required reading for this summer (A Separate Peace by John Knowles), I have now moved on to the rest of the list. Here are my reviews of the two books I have enjoyed the most so far:

• Born Again by Charles "Chuck" Colson. This book is an interesting narrative tale told by Chuck Colson, the "hatchet man" for former President Nixon. It starts out by showing him before his conversion to Christ. He was a man who would do anything (and I do mean anything) to help his president. But then a friend of his gave him a book, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. After reading it, Colson completely surrendered his life to God, and then he discovered how many Christians there were in the Capitol! Some of his political enemies, men Colson had embarrassed, shamed, and hurt, became wonderful brothers in Christ. (That's all for this review, as I haven't yet finished the book. I'll give a more complete review later.)
• Ryan White: My Own Story by Ryan White. This is a touching story of a boy who has suffered all his life from hemophilia, a disease that makes one bleed at even the slightest fall or injury. At thirteen, he contracted AIDS from a contaiminated blood transfusion. After he got AIDS, everyone except a few turned against him. His school, his community, even his church, wanted nothing to do with him. I would recommend this book as an inspiring read. Written in the first person, Ryan White: My Own Story is well worth the time.

All for now! I'll be reading more books, so I'll post more reviews at a later time! Have a great week.

Heartland Reminder

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far! I would like to bring Heartland Golden Retriever Rescue to your attention again. They are now the first in the state of Tennessee, but they're not in the top 10 yet. Please keep voting once a day! For the link to vote, please go to the April 14, 2009 post, and if you have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, please go to the April 14, 2009 post. Thanks!

Happy Independence Day (just a little late.)!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July yesterday! We went to the local parade, which was a lot of fun, and in the evening we went to over to our friends' house. We ate, played Capture the Flag, badminton, Apples to Apples, and then set off a whole variety of small fireworks. It was a wonderful day remembering the fight that was fought to gain our liberty.

Car Pics!

Yesterday we got a 2004 Volvo station wagon to replace our 1991 Camry! (See the post from Wednesday to find out why this was such perfect timing, and just so everyone knows, all that was wrong with the old Volvo was a distributor cap!) Here are some pictures:

Argh!!!

Today was slightly stressful. The day started out fine. I worked on the computer, and listened to some online books. We had a vet appointment scheduled for both dogs, just a yearly exam. But right before we were to leave, I discovered that Tallie had rolled in, well....poop. So Mom washed her front while I washed her collar. Then we were blow-drying her, and she still smelled awful! So we washed her again, and then she smelled better. A few minutes late, we were on our way. But then, when we were about to get on the interstate, the car started doing funny things, like it's done three other times this year! So Mom pulled off to the side of the road, and then we called the vet, Gram, Dad, and then Dad called the tow truck. As if that wasn't enough, a vagrant-looking hitchhiker came up right behind us! Thankfully, he turned around and walked away. Right then, I was so glad for the dogs!! Gram reached us, and then we had to carefully load everyone in the car. So, I was stuck between the two dogs, and Tallie was still wet, and she didn't smell like really great. That was the bad part of the day. The good part was the fact that we got a new car today! Mom and Dad bought it yesterday, so it came just in time. The car is wonderful! I'll try to post some pictures later....

Pray

Today, a dear member of the church body and a gifted worship leader here in Tennessee went to be with his Maker. Please be in prayer for his wife and their four children. He had been in a battle with cancer for almost a year, and the past little bit had been most difficult. He is now in a better place! But please been in prayer for his family during this painful time. Thank you.

In He who is our salvation,
Livvy

Cupcakes!

Last night, while Mom was teaching a class and Dad and Ev were at a Civil Air Patrol meeting, I was busy in the kitchen making cupcakes from our favorite cake recipe. They turned out really well, although after I frosted them and when I was transporting them from the table to the counter-top, five of them fell off, and I had to throw one away, because it landed right by the dog bowl.... They taste scrumptious!

Where does it go?

I just realized that today is June 23. You might ask why this is such a startling revelation. I have been out of school for a month, and yet I feel like I've gotten very little accomplished. True, I've tutored, petsat, cleaned, and gardened, but still.... Where is the time going?! There is only roughly a month and a half of vacation left!!!

Squash!

Today Mom and I picked some squash from our garden! We fried them with onions, and they tasted really wonderful. As you can see, one of the squash is actually two conjoined. I'd never seen such a thing happen with vegetables!

Fresh Organic Produce: Straight from the Backyard!

One of the big projects when we moved into this house ten years ago was a large garden, and for many summers, we've enjoyed fresh vegetables. This evening I went out and looked around, astonished by the beauty and amazed at how quickly everything is growing! This summer, Mom planted tomatoes, leeks, onions, peppers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc. Flowers too! Here are some pictures:


A black-eyed Susan....




Mild peppers.



Tomatoes that are getting larger every day!

Squash! It tastes great fried with onions.... YUM!

Hee hee II!

Well, the joke went well. I had one friend who believed me -she is only eight! I couldn't stop smiling/laughing though, so it wasn't the best joke I've ever played. My knee, thankfully, is doing much better, and today I was able to go swimming. :) Thanks for your animal suggestions; I appreciate them!

Hee hee!

As I hope you have noticed, in the "Welcome!" section of my blog, I tell you I'll try to get you to try new things, laugh, etc. This post falls in the "laugh" category, I hope!

Somehow, probably playing badminton on the front lawn, I pulled something across the back of my knee. After a few days of hobbling around and getting sympathetic looks from my family because of the noises I was making, I started putting ice on my knee, elevating it, and resting it. (RICE: rest, ice, compression, and elevation.) I also have wrapped it in an Ace bandage the last two days, and I have decided to play a slightly mean trick on some friends this evening. Our church group is meeting tonight, and when people ask me about my knee, I am going to say,
"I went to the zoo this week, and an elephant kicked me."
It is completely ridiculous, but I figure I'll try it! If you read this post this afternoon, please give me your animal ideas. Like "I went to the zoo this week, and a(n)_________ kicked me." Just put it in Comments. Thanks, and I'll let you know how it turns out!

~Movie Review - "Crossfire Trail"~

My mom recently joined Netflix, so we've been getting some interesting movies. We got one this week, Crossfire Trail, a western, which is about a man named Rafe Covington who promises his dying friend that he will watch over the dead man's ranch and his wife. What Rafe doesn't count on is that the town hotshot is also after the ranch and the wife. The movie ends in a showdown where the good guys ultimately win. After every book and movie I read/watch, I've been trying to assess/review them. I would give Crossfire Trail probably a 3-3.5 out of 5 stars. I think the main problem of the movie was the fact that they did not, in my opinion, develop the female lead enough, so it lacked some emotion. I would still recommend it as a good movie to anyone who enjoys relatively clean (we did need the "fast forward" button once.) westerns, where good triumphs over evil.

More Latin!

It's now been roughly three weeks since Ev and I started Latin, and since we are covering two chapters this week, I decided to make my own Concentration game. I ended up making two: one for his Chapter 5 words and one for his Chapter 14 words. We've had a lot of fun playing the games, although I've won every game, so Ev is not very happy about that. But he enjoys it more than flash cards, and it's the same basic principle! Tomorrow I am going to review everything he's learned so far before we move on. It is really nice to have a "student" with a brain like a sponge! I also encourage you; if you have a sibling that struggles in something you are good at, or if they just need a hand getting ready for next school year's classes, help them! It's a rewarding experience to watch someone you are helping get really good at something, even if you're just there to encourage them! (Here are some pictures of one of the Concentration games. I apologize for the blurriness.)

Grandma's Birthday Bash!

Yesterday my grandmother turned 74, and last night, we had a wonderful meal and a delicious cake. There were some interesting moments though, like when it started storming while the chicken was on the grill, then the food was almost ready, and she wasn't home yet (thankfully she made it home at the perfect time): things like that. But the cake was perfect. There is a traditional cake that has been made for four generations now: the cake is comprised of lady fingers, chocolate, eggs, and the usual pinch/dash of other ingredients. So Mom made that for Gram, and then I got out our nice dinner dishes. You know, the kind of dishes that have been passed down for years. It was a wonderful night, and "Happy Birthday, Gram!"

Improvements

As you have no doubt seen, there have been some major changes to my blog. If you notice anything that looks really horrible, or if you have any ideas on how I can make my blog better, please don't hesitate to tell me!

Puppy Baths!

Here it is! The promised picture of Tallie and Bono's bath time. Both washings were uneventful, with Dad holding each dog in turn while I vigorously scrubbed them from head to tail. After Big Boy was washed, he watched in fiendish amusement from his towel as Tallie submitted to being soaked, shampooed, and rinsed. Tallie was a lot more reluctant to be bathed, and I had to drag her along to the "wash stand."