Wordless Wednesday

Heres what's blooming!

Here is Michigan we've had some crazy weather.  2 weeks ago we had snow!  Nothing stuck to the ground, but still - snow in May?  A week later it was hot and humid, in the 80's and that's what we still have.  This warm weather is making our flowers happy though.  Here's what's blooming now:

The bleeding heart are always pretty.  They're almost done this year.

 The lily of the valley is blooming in the back yard.

The wooded area behind our back yard is full of money plant.  Right now it's all purple blooms, but in the Fall there are silvery discs on each plant, which is how it gets its name.

 Here's a closer shot of the money plant.

I love lilacs because they smell so good!  They are almost done for this year.

 In our front walkway area the dwarf lilac is also blooming.  It's a pretty little bush with flowers that look and smell like regular lilac, but about half the size.

 The two flowering bushes are Verbena's.  They are different varieties and we enjoy both, but the smaller bush flowers in a unique way.

You can see the Verbena flowers here - they grow along the top of each branch which really shows off the flowers.

 We're really enjoying seeing this new bed grow this year.  Bob built this gate and put it and the plants in last year. It's nice to see all the plants growing happily there.

 Over the weekend, the Siberian Iris opened up, and if you look at the trellis behind them, you can see some white Clematis blooms.

 The Siberian Iris are one of my favorite Spring flowers.

 Here's one of the Clematis blooms.

Last but not least is this Weigela bush.  Both the leaves and flowers are so pretty!

"Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor

 or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his 

splendor was dressed like one of these."

Luke 12:27

Memorial Day

Celebrate  *   Honor  *  Remember

 

Red Nose Day

Did you see anything on the Media about Walgreens Red Nose Day?  Today, May 26 was the official day, but up until today people have been buying red noses at Walgreens and posting pictures of themselves wearing them.  The profits from them benefited poor children in the US and all over the world. 
I was in Walgreens with Alaina and Ruby, and of course Alaina spotted the noses, and we had to join in.
So - here they are, sporting a red nose!

Cooking Thursday

I love using my crock pot.  It's especially nice when working a long day, to find supper almost ready when you come home!
I tried a new crock-pot recipe last week, which was very easy to put together, and it was good!

Crock Pot Salisbury Steak

4-6 hamburger patties
2 jars beef gravy
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 package sliced mushroom (optional)
1 tablespoon minced onion
salt and pepper to taste

Stir together gravy, mushroom soup and minced onion. Layer hamburger patties, mushrooms and gravy sauce in crock pot.  Season with salt and pepper.
Cook on low for 8-9 hours.  Meat will look pink inside, this is normal, but they are done.
Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Overnight fun with the girlies!

Alaina and Ruby spent the night here Friday night.  We have so much fun spending time with them!
Alaina asked all winter when we were going to go out for ice cream again, and we kept telling her we would go when it was nice out.  Nice finally came and we went to the ice cream place Friday evening.

 Alaina picked superman ice cream.

Ruby had chocolate in a bowl, and she loved it!

Alaina is a nice sister and shared some of her cone with Ruby.

When we came home, it was time to pile on Grandpa and play!

 Saturday was beautiful too.  Alaina took Ruby for a wagon ride.

They visited Malcolm - the little boy who lives in the flower garden.

Not surprisingly, I had to keep my eyes on Ruby all the time.  Every time I turned my back, she was climbing the ladder, and once up there, she loves to look over the edge with no fear of falling!

After playing ball for a little bit, Alaina took a little rest.

Such joy!

They stopped for a short photo-op.

I brought them home later in the afternoon - 2 tired, dirty girls, but they were happy and so was I!

The week-end

Last week we had our annual state inspection at the nursing home.  It's a time that none of us look forward too, and I'll tell you that we all rejoice when they leave!  I had to do a med pass with one watching me, and it's such a relief to get it done without them finding a problem.  When they do find something, it's pretty difficult to fight it, although we are going to try with one citation that we feel is completely unfair.   I don't know how inspectors that are nurses can argue with a Dr over the use of a medication.  In my opinion, if they want to question it, another Dr should be the one questioning. 
We did get lots of nice comments from residents and families!
Enough about that though!  The weekend was better!

On Friday I got to go to a baby shower.  A friends son and his wife are expecting their first baby!

These cute things were at everyone's place setting.  The chocolate covered pretzels don't show up too well in this picture but they were drizzled with blue and tasted good!  The hot air balloon is actually an EOS lip balm.  Isn't that that cutest thing?

We had the girls overnight on Friday night.  So that I don't overload you with pics, I'll share that part tomorrow.

On Sunday we went to my sister and brother-in-laws church to see our niece Shaelyn give her testimony and join the church.  Here she is with my Dad.  It was a good morning!

Friday Funny

Cooking Thursday

The recipe I'm sharing today is one I got from a friend several years ago.  It's good when you need a treat for a group because it makes a big pan full and they are always a hit!

Crunchy Brownie Bars

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 ounces marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
3 cups Rice Krispies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat melted utter, sugar, cocoa and vanilla.  Add eggs, then flour and salt.  Pour into greased 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 inch jelly roll pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.
Put marshmallow cream over brownies while hot. Let cool.
Combine chips and melt, then stir in peanut butter.  Add Rice Krispies and spread over bars.  Store in refrigerator.

Wordless Wednesday

Greenhouse visit

Last week I made a visit to a local greenhouse to get a few plants.  We have a huge greenhouse near our home that people travel for miles to get to.  It's called Countryside Greenhouse and it has 8 acres of shopping space! It is a very busy place this time of year, so I usually wait until after Mothers Day to go, in the hopes that it'll be a little calmer.
When I got there last week, I could see that waiting hadn't made much difference.  The parking lot was filled up, even though it was the middle of the day and it was a weekday.  It was starting to rain and I had a brief moment of wondering if I should just come back another day.  However, I was there so I decided to run in and see what I could find.

 This old truck is in the entrance.

These 5 cats live in the greenhouse and you never know when you may see one.

 Flowers for almost as far as you can see.

The hanging baskets are on a track that moves, so they don't always get the sun from the same angle.

You can't see them well, but I got 2 hanging baskets and a planter.

While I was inside, I could hear that it had started to really rain.  I paid for my purchases and it was a total downpour!

 It doesn't show well, but the rain was blowing across the parking lot in sheets, and my car was at the far corner.  I could see it wasn't going to stop anytime soon though, and I knew I wouldn't melt, so I made a run for it.

By the time I made it to the car and got the plants put in, I was a mess!  My hair was dripping, my shirt was soaked and I couldn't see out of my glasses.

I think I looked like a drowned rat - but less cute than this one.

My plants look nice though!

Good friends, old times

I've worked at the Skilled Nursing Center for almost 26 years.  In that time, I've gotten to know so many residents, family members and co-workers.  Some of the people that I started working with are still there, others have moved on.
This past week-end we had a mini reunion of friends who were there about 15 years ago.  We met in a little pizza place in a nearby town.

There were 9 of us there.  You can imagine the talking, laughing and the reminiscing!

Here's the whole group.  There are 2 nurses, 4 CNA's, 1 cook and 2 physical therapists.

It's such a cute little town.  Here's how it looked when we left (and it was only 9:30!)
We plan to do this again in the Fall and hopefully some people who were missing will be able to come.

Fun with food

We had our MOP's (Moms of Pre-schoolers) last week. We talked about routines, and how most kids do well with a routine, as they like to know what to expect. We talked about having some things worked into a regular routine; like activity time, quiet time, task time and Jesus time (devotion or Bible story).

One of our hand-outs had an idea for a summer routine that was kind of neat.
Make it Monday - crafts, legos, forts...
Trip Tuesday - park, museum, picnic, friends house...
Wet Wednesday - Splash pad, pool or lake, sprinklers...
Thinking Thursday - research something they may be wondering about, like making yogurt, how cars are made, how do monster trucks work, where do baby carrots come from...
Friend Friday - have a friend over, or do something with a friend.

We did a craft that was all ideas for making fun snack foods with your kids.

Butterflies, made with celery sticks, peanut butter, pretzels and raisins.

Lady bugs, made with strawberries, blueberries and melted chocolate.

Fishing poles, made with pretzel rods, licorice strings and gummy worms.

Cute and fun!  I thought these were all good ideas for kids, especially with summer getting close.