Wordless Wednesday-Fall Family Pictures

(It was a half hour from darkness and you can tell in the "non-crispness" of the pictures. Bummer!)

See other Wordless Wednesday participants at 5 Minutes for Mom.

A celebrity in our midst?

The middle girl in this picture is my goddaughter (Is that how you say that? Mark and I are her godparents.) Anyway, her mother sent me this picture. It is from a photo shoot for an add for Kellogg's cereal straws. Isn't that fun? So if you see this in a magazine you can say, "Hey I know that girl." Wink!

Marvelous Monday!

He makes me smile!

I love it when my husband plans a weekend for us! He takes care of every detail so that I can just enjoy the ride. Friday morning we got the kids off to school and headed north for Traverse City.
We stopped at Beans to Brew on our way out of town for a Chai and a bagel to go. Our next stop (3 hours later) was Sleder's in Traverse City for lunch.

Then we started a tour of 3 different vineyards. I have never done this before. I really enjoyed it. Mark had been to all of them before on a "work" trip. He had actually arranged it all for work when the plans that they had for sailing got canceled due to rain. The first winery was Bowers Harbor. At each stop we were able to taste 6 different wines. This was great for me because I enjoy a glass of wine now and then but I never know what to order. Mark usually orders for me. Now I have a little more knowledge of what I like and what I don't like.

Next we went to Chateau Chantal. This vineyard had the most amazing views. It is located high up so you can see for miles and with all the colors right now it was just beautiful.

Here is a view from the drive as we were leaving.

The last winery we visited was Chateau Grand Traverse. I must have consumed to much wine by then because I was enjoying myself so much I forgot to take pictures of it. Wink! We arrived to this one just in time to join in on a tour. It was very interesting to see the whole process of making wine.
Here is a picture from a roadside "Kodak moment" spot. Mark enjoys asking random strangers to take our picture. At least the wife of the man Mark asked was laughing also.

After we were done "touring" we went to do a little shopping. I love walking downtown Traverse City.
Then it was off to the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa to get checked in and to change our clothes for dinner. We weren't in the same room as last time so our view overlooked the parking lot, but out past that... still gorgeous.


We had a wonderful, delicious dinner at Amical. It is a bistro downtown. I highly recommend it but don't forget to make reservation. Mark had made us a reservation earlier in the day while we were shopping and it is a good thing. We heard the hostess tell someone who came in without one that it would be an hour and a half wait. Yikes! That was at 8pm at night. We were seated within 10 minutes and we arrived 5 minutes before our reservation.

Mark waited patiently for me to get ready Saturday morning. The fact that there are hunting shows on the TV makes it really easy for him to be patient with me.


The next morning, after sleeping in without hearing kids (heaven), we went back downtown to the bookstore for Chai and a bagel. My hubby knows what I like. Then we did a little more shopping (big sales at Kohl's) and headed for home.

Here is a picture of the golf course Mark was planning on taking me to on the way home. I would have loved to do that but I had left off my wrist brace (still not completely healed from breaking it this summer) and my wrist was already bothering me. I didn't want him to pay the money if it was just going to aggravate my wrist more.

We stopped in Rockford to have a late lunch at Reds on the River. It is a beautiful restaurant and it lived up to what people have told us about it.

Then back home to my kids. I am so proud of how well they got along and behaved while we were gone. We left Zack in charge. He took the girls to the football game Friday night. Then Saturday morning he took them to Grand Video and let them pick up a couple of movies to watch. I had my doubts about leaving them home overnight alone but Mark thought Zack was capable of watching them. He was right.
A wonderful weekend had by all.
Smiles!

Weekend Get-away

Edited to add: Whoops! I goofed and this never posted. It should have posted Friday. Oh well still figuring out this "post while I am away" thing.

Mark is taking me away to the Grand Traverse Resort this weekend. We went there two years ago and really enjoyed ourselves. It rained a lot that weekend but the view from our room was still gorgeous.

I can't wait to take a nice long soak in this bathroom again.

Have a great weekend!
Ginger- No stealing all my Duck, duck, goose points while I am gone this time. ROTFL!
-Smiles!

Right now...

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Right Now, I am:

feeling... like I need to get off from the computer and get ready for the day.

enjoying... the fact that I have NO WHERE to be today.

wondering... what I should make for dinner tonight.

listening... to a silent house and it is wonderful.

drinking... the last of my Chai (without any whip cream thanks to some little thief in my house).

wanting... to be finished with the bills (I am procrastinating).

loving... my clean kitchen which is a miracle in itself.

looking... forward to a mini-getaway to Traverse City this weekend with Mark.

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What are you doing right now?

Wisconsin visit

We had wonderful weather for our trip to Wisconsin. Here we are outside/behind our hotel at Monona Terrace a Frank Lloyd Wright building. We are actually on top of the building. It is a roof top garden/patio above a huge conference center, gorgeous. In the back ground you can see the state capital building.

(all the pictures are clickable to view them bigger/better)

Zack thought it would be funny to cover the label on his root beer so people would think he had some Wisconsin beer in his hand instead. Silly boy. And I am looking funny trying to decide whether or not Mark will figure out our camera.

How many times do you think we have been told, "Wow, he certainly is his father's son"? This picture proves it's in the "jeans". Pun intended. LOL!

Here is Mark and Zack on the walkway to Monona Terrace.

Here we are on the Wisconsin football field before the game. I need to stop worrying if the person using my camera knows what he is doing and just smile. LOL!

We have never sat SO far up for a football game. It gave us a whole new view of things. I was worried with it being a 7pm game that we would get cold way up there in the wind. But it was just a gorgeous night. We couldn't have hoped for better.

Wordless Wednesday - The way to the boy's heart...

Root beer and shrimp cocktail. Does it get any better?

See other Wordless Wednesday participants at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Are you ready for some football?

University of Wisconsin vs. Penn State @ 7pm. We are somewhere buried in the sea of red. Let me know if you see us on ESPN. LOL!

Smiles!

My Husband....

I am giving the "scheduled post" a try. We (Mark, Zack, and I) are gone for the weekend on another official college visit to the University of Wisconsin. I am not looking forward to the long drive but hopefully with the trees starting to change it will at least be a scenic drive.

I seen this on a couple different blogs and thought it would be fun for while I am away.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Hunting DVD, football, or NASCAR (side note: unless he has picked college football I am probably not in the room with him)

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? French and Thousand Island (yep, together, don't ask)

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Coconut. It is the only food he will spit out.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Diet Coke. He's diabetic so that's as strong as it gets for him.

5. Where did he go to high school? West Ottawa

6. What size shoe does he wear? 13

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Guns, he already owns more than I know about. Should I be concerned? Now y'all are thinking, "No but any unannounced guest to your house should be." And I would add, "Especially you boys wantin' to date my girls!"

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? All of them and the more mayo the better.

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Chips with chip dip. Apparently you can't eat chips without chip dip. Who knew?

10. What is his favorite cereal? Special K or Cheerios.

11. What would he never wear? Anything with a Notre Dame logo on it.

12. What is his favorite sports team? MSU. He played football there. Go Green!

13. Who will he vote for? McCain.

14. Who is his best friend? Me, however, Ed is running a close second lately. Should I be worried?

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Where to begin.... buy chips without buying chip dip, snap my gum, park the suburban in the garage front end in first, leave my keys anywhere other than on the key hook by the door, trust me this barely scratches the surface. Poor guy, how does he make it through the day being my husband.

16. How many states has he lived in? One, unless confusion counts. (Ha! I made myself laugh with that one. Maybe I need more sleep.)

17. What is his heritage? German and Dutch.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? Cheesecake. He would be a happy man.

19. Did he play sports in high school? Yes. Football, wrestling, track (sounds like another guy in my house...)

20. What could he spend hours doing? Hunting.

21. Does he belong to any men's organizations? He helps lead the men's ministry at church.

Pay backs

Mark did a favor for a neighbor yesterday and look what the neighbor sent home with Mark...

Wow! I feel blessed. I wish you could smell the grapes. I am not even in the same room with them right now and I can smell them. These are REAL grapes folks not the tasteless ones from the local super market. The basket of apples also has a variety of pears in it.

Thank you Mr. Zysk!

Smiles!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Getting back to nature.

Anna showed me this today in the Cabela's catalog and for some unknown reason I want one. Now you can rest assured I will never get one they cost $169.
Does that look fun to anyone else? Something in my "desire to get back to nature" self seriously thinks that would have been fun to have when we were still tent camping. I could never sleep under the stars with just a sleeping bag but this I could so do! It comes with a rain tarp and poles to put out a little awning also. How fun is that? Anna is thinking this would be great for camping in the rain. You wouldn't have to wake up to find puddles in your tent. Been there.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend.
Smiles!

Poor Kaylyn

(This picture is a year or more old but I love it.)

I have wanted Kaylyn to be tested for allergies for some time but our previous doctor did not really think there was a need. We recently changed doctors because our previous doctor had moved to an office further away.

Kaylyn had her first physical with the new doctor back in August and without me even suggesting anything the doctor asked me if I ever considered having Kaylyn tested for allergies. I chuckled and explained that I have wanted her tested but the previous doctor didn't see a need.

An appointment was set up before we left that day. We missed our first scheduled appointment because one of the requirements is you need to be off all allergy medication for 2 weeks prior to testing. Unfortunately the Friday before her Monday appointment Kaylyn was out in the garden and broke out in a rash all over her hands and arms and called me for what she should do. Without even giving it a second thought, because it is normal for her, I told her to go ahead and take Benadryl. It dawned on me that Sunday night as I was getting her paperwork ready that I just ruined her allergy test for the next day. Bummer! I called and re-scheduled.

Today she had her allergy test done. It was not good. The poor girl is allergic to everything environmental. The short list: dogs (we own 2), cats, rabbits (we had 1-just gave it to school), horses, small rodents (hamster, gerbil, etc), cantaloupe (already knew that from a reaction she had but they confirmed it), ragweed, tree pollens, molds (which means no real Christmas tree this year), grass (she should never be out when the grass is being mowed), cockroaches, dust mites (which means she gets to say good buy to her stuffed animals).... the list goes on and is much more specific but it is a lot. The nurse asked if I had a camera on my cell phone because it was a bad reaction. They rate them 1+ to 4+ with a 4+ being the worst and hers were all 4+ except one (of the ones that reacted). I wish I had thought to take a camera so her siblings could see what she had to go through. Then they had to prick her arm 5 times to confirm a couple more of the "questionable reactions".

They also did asthma tests on her because she has had pneumonia before. Sure enough she also has asthma. She has complained to me before during track when she is running but she tends to be "a little dramatic" (those that know her are chuckling now because that is such an under statement) so I didn't think much of it. Turns out she shouldn't be doing any kind of exercising without using an inhaler. They gave her one before we left the office. She needs to use it before gym class everyday.

I feel like we have so much to process right now. It has been an overwhelming day as far as so much "new to me" information.

Please pray for Kaylyn. She doesn't like change and was having the hardest time with the idea of having to get rid of stuffed animals. She has a bear that she has had for years that she sleeps with every night. Then also the idea of not having a real Christmas tree. Mark always takes the kids to pick out and cut down our own every year and Kaylyn loves "traditions".

Thanks for letting me get that all off my chest.

-Smiles!

Creative Love

Mari over at My Little Corner of the World had this posted. The idea is that you are assigned a letter and you need to list 10 things you love, that start with that letter. The letter Mari gave me was M. (You think she did that to give me a good starting point?)


1. Mark
2. Mighty Mountains
3. Missionaries
4. Michigan
5. Mom
6. Mother-in-love
7. Milkshakes (from Ray's)
8. Meals around our dinner table
9. MSU football
10. Mari

If you want to join in, let me know in the comments and I'll give you a letter.

Smiles!