Hello Monday ~ 5/27/2024

 

Holly & Sarah

I want to take a moment before getting into my Hello Monday post to REMEMBER and HONOR all the brave men and women who gave his/her life so that we could be free.  I think sometimes we look at this day only as a reason for a three-day-weekend and don't truly remember and honor the ones who so greatly deserve it.  So make sure to pause for a moment Monday or whatever day you may be reading this and be grateful.

With all that being said, I am super grateful and excited to have this three-day-weekend.  It is Sunday night as I write this post and it feels so good to still have another day off to look forward to!  I'll let you know how we spend our Memorial Day in my Friday Favorites post (make sure you stop back) but for now I'll share our weekend adventures.

I came home Friday from work and was greeted by these two wrestling.  Oliver and Flynn are so funny together!  I couldn't help myself, I had to snap this picture and share it!  It cracks me up :)

Laken finished up her AP Language class which was her last class of Junior year.  Does that mean I have a Senior???

Every year, on the last day of school, we eat out to celebrate finishing up another school year.  This year Laken decided that she wanted Cracker Barrel.  Only my youngest daughter would order a hot chocolate on an 85F day  :)

The hubby likes to play the peg game at Cracker Barrel.  I don't know the technical name of the game, but I do know that the hubby cheats so that he's not a "plain old ignoramus"!

We went grocery shopping Saturday morning and we couldn't pass up these gorgeous orange Dahlias.  The hubby loves orange flowers and something about these really caught my eye as well.

One the way home, we once again saw the geese by the pond near our house.  Look how much the babies have grown just from when I posted about them last weekend!

Saturday afternoon/evening we stopped by Kaylee and Shawn's.  We spent some time looking at their newly planted garden and the flowers that are coming back up from last year.  Kaylee had just got her hair cut and was worried I would think it was too short but I think it suits her and she looks beautiful no matter what!

They have a Mock Orange Bush that reminds me so much of my Gram.  Gram loved plants and flowers and had a Mock Orange off the back porch.  I think the new owners of her house cut it down, which makes me very sad.  Moving on to happier things!

My grandpuppy, Dahlia, hated that we were outside and she was inside the house.  I made sure to say hi to her before we left.  She is a Great Dane and is such a lover!  Sweet, sweet Dahl Baby!

Aunt Donna and Uncle Charlie invited us to dinner that evening so we took corn-on-the cob to contribute to the meal.  It was our first corn-on-the-cob of the season which is always exciting!  What was even sweeter was getting the corn 10 ears for $2 at Weis.  That price is unheard of these days!  I wish we would have gotten more, to tell you the truth.

Aunt Donna had these cute little piggy corn-on-the-cob stickers.  I had to snap a picture of the hubby using them.

When we got home after dinner, we watched 2 epidsodes of Tracker.  We still have 2 more episodes to watch to get caught up.  It might even be over the season.  If so, we'll have to find another show to watch before bed.  Any suggestions?

Sunday morning we got up and the hubby made us cinnamon rolls for breakfast before Church.  He usually either makes us cinnamon rolls or muffins.  They are out of a can or a mix but I appreciate it SO much.  He's a sweetheart and I love him so much.

When we got home from Church it was time to catch up on some housework which included laundry, dishes and floors.  I had dumped the clean clothes in a pile on the bed and came back to find Oliver "helping".  He did not like me moving the clothes and messing up his little cocoon.  I tried to not disturb him, but I really wanted to get done with the housework and sit on my swing for a bit.

Which reminds me...I didn't get my swing painted the weekend...BUT, I still have all day Monday.  I'm hoping to pick up the paint when my hubby goes to Lowe's and get it finished before the rains come.  

Finally, I'll leave you with a picture of the beautiful "blue" rose that is blooming right off the back deck where my swing is.  Isn't it gorgeous?

So those were our weekend highlights.  I can't wait to read all about yours!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful week ahead :)

Colletta

Friday Favorites ~ 5/24/2024

 

We did it!  We made it through another work week!  Well, almost, anyway...  I'm so excited to have a 3 day weekend ahead.  But first, let's talk about the past week.

The hubby was on vacation all week and I enjoyed having him home during the nights.  I slept so much better which is weird because he's been on third shift for a long time and before that he worked swing shift.  I should be used to him being at work while I sleep.  There is a chance that he might be able to transfer to first shift but we have to wait and see.  I'm really hoping and praying that it happens.  I think it would be good for us at this stage in our lives.  We'll find out more when he gets back to work on Tuesday.

Monday evening was Nate's Senior Awards Ceremony.  We won't be able to attend graduation because he only has a limited amount of tickets, so we wanted to be at the Awards Ceremony to show our support.  We're very proud of Nate and feel very blessed that Laken has him as part of her life and that he allows us all to be part of his life.

After the Awards Ceremony, we went to a close by ice cream stand called The Penguin.  While waiting for our ice cream we witnessed the strangest thing.  At first I thought it was a normal traffic stop with a state trooper pulling over a speeding car.  Next thing we knew, it was as if we had stepped into an episode of "COPS" !  The car took off and then about 10 police vehicles went flying after it.  We were witnessing a car chase!  It was unreal and a bit unsettling.  What an interesting way to end the evening!

We had a very cool, rainy stretch which was a bit miserable for us but the flowers loved it.  Especially our little rose bush off the back deck.  It has been pitiful the past few years but this year it is going to town!  There are tons of buds and the roses are rich and beautiful.

Now that I'm getting used to my new phone, I am starting to fall in love with it.  Especially the camera!  It is so good that I was able to actually take a picture of a jet flying over as the hubby and I were sitting on the porch swing Tuesday evening.  It was really neat to zoom in on the picture and see the jet "up close".

Wednesday evening, before Bible Study, the cats were playing in the middle of the Family Room floor.  Flynn and Oliver were going crazy!  I took quite a few pictures of them because my camera is so stinking fast!  I picked this picture out because it shows their personalities off the best.  Oliver thinks he's big stuff and Flynn is telling him he's small potatoes.

Thursday morning I woke up with an ear ache :(  I was able to get into my PCP and it was verified that I have an ear infection.  My appointment was at 5pm and the pharmacy closed at 7pm so I made it just in time to pick up my antibiotic.  My PCP also told me that my ear canals were red which indicates allergies and recommended that I use Flonase as it is really good at keeping the ears clear.  I stopped on the way home and picked some up so hopefully I'll be feeling better in no time!

Which brings me to now, Thursday night.  One more day of work for me and one more day of school for Laken before we can enjoy the weekend and the SUMMER!  I'm so excited!  It is supposed to be nice weather  Saturday and Sunday but rain on Monday.

My goal for the weekend is to get my swing repainted before the rains come again.  I still need to pick up the paint so I'll probably do that Saturday morning after Oliver's vet appointment.  I thought I'd add a "before" picture showing the fine job the hubby did replacing some of the boards on my swing.  Good as new!  Hopefully I'll be able to show an "after" picture Monday.

I also hope that everyone has a wonderful long weekend!  Let me know in the comments if you have any special plans or if you have to work the weekend.  I'd love to hear!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Colletta 

Tea Time ~ 5/5/2024

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~I hopped on the blog after being away for a while so that I could post some prom pictures.  You can check out the full photo dump HERE, but I'll also post one of my favorites of Laken and Nate on this post.

~On my last Tea Time post, I was getting ready to start my new job.  I'm now almost three months in and I have learned a lot!  The people I work with are great and the schedule can't be beat.  So far, so good :)

~We have a new addition to the family!  He is a little orange ball of rotten and his name is Oliver O'Malley.  Yes, that is the hubby's face behind Ollie.  They were snuggling :)

~I actually started book!  It is called "Rest Now" by Kelly Balarie.  I really want to be able to "seize joy" in my life so I picked this book from my TBR shelf.  I got it from christianbook.com during one of their weekend sales.  I'm excited to be reading and making progress on this book.  I'm also excited because I have another shipment of 7 (I think) book on their way to me and I got them all for $19.47!  That includes shipping :)

~The weather here in PA has been crazy.  It went from 90F and sunny to 52F and rainy in the span of a day.  Thankfully, the rain held off until after walk-ins for Prom.  It did rain Saturday for the after-prom at Hershey Park though.  Laken said that she and Nate were not going to let a little rain ruin their time at the park.  She was glad to get some dry socks on when she got home though :)

~I hope to post again soon.  I've been struggling a bit with fitting everything I want to do into the free time that I have.  If you have any tips, I'd love for you to leave a comment!  I appreciate any and all recommendations :)

So, what is new with you???

Colletta

Tea Time ~ 4/21/2022

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

~I'm Back!  Just about a month ago, my desktop computer blew up on me.  It wouldn't even power on.  I took a bit of a blogging break to decide what to do.  I missed blogging but it was too hard to create a post on my phone or Kindle.  Finally, I decided to hijack my daughter's Chromebook to blog when she's not using it for her cyber schooling which means early morning or later in the night.  I've been back for a little less than a week so lots to catch-up on!

~I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and celebrated the death, burial and resurrection of our LORD.  Laken was technically on Spring Break Thursday though Tuesday but had to do a lot of catch-up work all but Sunday.  All her classes have to be completed by May 20th so we're getting down to the wire!  She did take breaks to do the important stuff like coloring eggs :)

~The kittens are growing like weeds!  They have one more vet appointment for their last booster shot and then I have to make the appointments for spaying and neutering.  Flynn and Clover "think" that Kona loves them and they take every opportunity to snuggle with her that they can.  Kona is very patient with them even though she sometimes just gets up and moves to another room!

~The chicks have their feathers and are ready to be outside.  This is all a learning process for us so any tips on raising chickens AND/OR ducks would be greatly appreciated.  The coop is all ready except for the fenced in yard.  Still some work to do on that, but the girls are loving all their room!

~I've started reading The Definitive Edition of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.  It is the May 2022 reading selection for the Kindred Readers Book Club.  If you're interested in reading along, we'd love to have you join us!  I'm really enjoying the book.  I remember reading a version of the book in 7th Grade Reading Class but there is so much that I didn't pick up on or have forgotten.  It is a completely different experience reading Anne Frank as an adult!

 

I hope you enjoyed catching up!  I'll be back next Thursday with another Tea Time but I hope you'll check out some of my other posts :)

How was your week?  What's new with you?

 

Colletta

Thankful Thursday ~ 11/12/2020

 

Here are some things that made me thankful/smile this week:

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~ Revival!  We have been blessed this week to have had Revival Services at our Church with Derek Baker and Kirk Hacker.  After the normal "sermon portion" of the evening we then had a "discipleship" class in the social hall where we learned more about how to handle different scenarios we might come across when witnessing to people.  It was quite interesting.  I'm glad that I got to be a part of the experience :)

~Our Veterinarians!  I mentioned last week that we found a kitten under our porch and we named her Dusty.  She had some issues with going to the potty and got a blockage.  Our vet kept her for days working with her.  Dusty got to come home Saturday but Tuesday morning when I woke up I discovered she had passed away during the night.  She was so tiny that her chances were not good for survival.  I am thankful for everything the vet did to help her and also for the discount that was given for their services.  It just wasn't meant to be...

~Our Veterans!  Not to be confused with veterinarians are our Veterans.  Yesterday was Veteran's Day here in the USA.  I am proud to say that my Dad served in the Armed Forces so it is a big deal for us.  Our Church's Youth Group usually has a dinner to celebrate the Veterans, but due to COVID we had to cancel the dinner.  Instead, we sent our local Veterans gift cards for the diner in town.  We wanted to make sure to still show our appreciation.  Thank you to all those who have served and are still serving!  God Bless the USA!

~A Negative!  Laken wasn't feeling well last week so after a few days of her not feeling up to snuff, I called the pediatrician.  She recommended a COVID test.  Sigh.  So we waited for 5 hours at Medexpress for her turn to have the test administered on Friday.  We quarantined while waiting for a call with the results of the test even though she was feeling better.  Thankfully, the call came in Monday around noon that Laken was NEGATIVE for COVID!

~Groceries!  I know this seems like a strange thing to be thankful for, but after quarantining, we were getting to be like Mother Hubbard's Cupboard in the food department.  We still had plenty of food, don't get me wrong.  We were just out of the favorites and go-to's.  We were down to the foods that would take effort to prepare and you would have thought it was the end of the world with "nothing in this house to eat"!  Thankfully, I was able to make a grocery store run and stock back up on the "essentials".  :)

What are you thankful for this week? 

Colletta

Thankful Thursday ~ 11/5/2020

 

Here are some things that made me thankful/smile this week:

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~ Health!  First and foremost, I'm thankful that me and mine have all stayed healthy during these crazy times.  I pray everyday over my family for safety and health.  How has your family fared?

~A Baby!  My cousin, Steph, told us recently that they will be blessed with a surprise addition to their family on (or about) April 5, 2021.  She already has 2 boys ages 8 and 3, so I'm secretly hoping for a little girl!  I see so many cute baby girl clothes and I'm ready to start spoiling :)

~November!  Personally, I love turning to a new page on the calendar.  Not only is it a new month, it is NOVEMBER!  How did this year fly by so fast yet drag on so slowly at the same time.  I can't believe that it is time to start planning the Holidays.  But, we did get some snow flurries in the beginning of the week so I guess I can start getting in the Thanksgiving/Christmas spirit :)

~Dusty!  We found a little baby kitten under our front porch.  We have outside cats but none of them are the mother so we can only assume that either someone dropped it off at our house or one of our cats "stole" it from somewhere and brought it home!  It is a little gray fluff ball and looks so much like a dust bunny that we named it "Dusty".  We took it to the vet for a look-over last Friday.  She said that Dusty is probably only about 4 weeks old.  We have her in a box in the Family Room and are feeding it milk replacer, soft food and the medicine given to us at by the vet.  So far, so good :)

~A New Kindle 10!  I mentioned the other day that my laptop died.  I debated getting and ipad but they are SO expensive.  Instead, I got a new, larger Kindle.  I still would like to get a new computer tower to go with my old equipment (montior, keyboard, etc.) so that I can blog easier.  Right now I'm using the hubby's laptop but it acts up quite frequently and annoys me to no end!  I've already put in my request for Christmas :)

What are you thankful for this week? 

Colletta

Wednesday Medley ~ Love Your Pet ~ 2/20/19

Come join Terri @ Your Friend From Florida every Wednesday.

NATIONAL LOVE YOUR PET DAY

On February 20th, pet lovers everywhere observe National Love Your Pet Day.  This holiday is a day set aside to give extra attention to and pamper your pets.  This is a good day to focus on the special relationship that you have with your pets.

Did you know that most households in the United States have at least one pet?  While there are more cats than dogs in the United States, more households have dogs than cats, but not by much. Pets are not limited to the canine and feline categories.  There are quite a few who prefer the companionship of birds, reptiles, fish or rats.  Whoever your pet companion is, we are sure you will enjoy spending a little extra time with them on National Love Your Pet Day and reap the benefits, as well such as stress relief and lower blood pressure.  So on February 20 (and every day) show your appreciation to your pets!

HOW TO OBSERVE

Bring your pet a special treat, take an extra long walk or give them more attention on National Love Your Pet Day.  Whatever you decide to do, spoil and appreciate your pets!  Use #NationalLoveYourPetDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

Within our research, we were unable to identify the creator of National Love Your Pet Day.

1.  Have you ever had a special pet in your life?  Will you tell us about it?

My very first puppy that we named Pepsi :)  I was only about 3 year old when we got her.  I'll have to ask my mom who idea it was to name her after Pepsi.

2.  Did you grow up with pets in your home?  What did it teach you?

We've always had pets.  Growing up, most of my pets were outside pets.  Shortly before I got married I got my first inside puppy named Abby.  My mom kept Abby when I got married and moved out but the hubby had a Basset Hound named Daisy.  Having pets while growing up taught me about loving and caring for others.

3.  Do you ever wonder what animals are thinking?

Sometimes.

4.  Sometimes a pet gets out and doesn't return for a few days. What do you think happens to them when they go on a walkabout?

They have an adventure!

5.  With cats and dogs being the most popular pets, what is the most exotic pet you have personal experience with (didn't have to be yours)?

My cousin had a snake but I steered very clear of it when I visited!

6.  Please tell us something random about your week so far...

I thought I would share a bit about our current puppies.


Delilah is an 11 year old black lab mix.  We got her as a puppy from our local shelter.  She is the gentlest, most loving dog that there is.  She is getting up in age and enjoys laying on the bed most of the day.


Kona is a 1 year old chocolate/silver lab.  We got her as a puppy from a friend of ours who owns her father.  She has had her moments like every puppy has but the one that stands out the most is her chewing a giant whole in our king size mattress.  We've learned that Kona gets a bit anxious when there are no people around.


Won't you tell me a bit about your pets?


Colletta

Wordless Wednesday ~ 12/5/18

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Colletta



Wordless Wednesday ~ 10/17/18

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Colletta



Wordless Wednesday ~ 9/19/18

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Colletta



Wordless Wednesday ~ 7/11/18

~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

 

Colletta



Tea Time ~ Kona Mae ~ 10/27/17

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things that made me smile this week :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I mentioned on the blog that I've been having some issues with that pesky Anxiety/Depression.  Add to the mix:  a sinus infection and bronchitis and I've been pretty miserable.  (Don't worry!  I'm being treated on all fronts!)

My smiles this week are going to be all about:

KONA MAE

There is just something so comforting about a sweet animal, especially a puppy :)

As you can see, she's taken a liking to our bed!

Resting with Daddy :)

Taking over :)

She's ready for her close-up :)

Middle of the night snuggles :)

 

 

Please leave a comment with a link so I can return the visit!
 

Linking up with Friendship Friday, Five on Friday, Show Off Friday, Awesome Life,  Friday Favorites , High Five for Friday , Tricky's Five , Friday's Fave Five. Fresh Friday Finds, , Sweet Inspirations, Funtastic Friday .