Break a (Christmas) Leg.

Isaac had one of the speaking parts in our church's Christmas program this year. He played Nigel, a boy from 2050. He did a great job. Everyone in the play did a great job.

Isaac's track record with church plays isn't that great. The first one he was in, when he was 3, ended in his pants falling down while on stage. He was dressed as a lion and suddenly he was standing on stage with this awful look on his face. That scarred him. He played Joseph one year. You see that one picture with his "I'm hating this so much" face? That's how he looked while playing Joseph. This year's event went off without a hitch though. He was fully clothed, remembered all hs lines, and delivered them excellently. We were all very proud of him.

It's great watching him do more and more things.

Thanks for checking in

Diann

Christmas Begins

Christmas is official in our house when the Santa collection is out of the boxes and displayed all over the family room. Isaac looks forward to putting the Santas out more than he looks forward to getting the tree up. I must say, so do I.

I think Isaac counted 17 Santas. My mom started this collection for me, oh about 17 years ago. It's my favorite part of the holiday. I can't wait to see the new one I get each year. Hint hint.

We were at it earlier than usual this year. We had everything up and looking festive soon after Thanksgiving. The outside lights were up around the same time too. Although, that's because of our new neighbors. Their display kind of shamed us into doing it up right!

Isaac really enjoyed the decorating - particularly when he found an old tree skirt in the decorations. Isnt' he cute? My little "prancing" elf!

Roy seemed to enjoy the decorating too. Once he carried all the boxes up from the basement, he took his normal decorating position. Our marriage is one made in heaven - he's the muscle and I'm the flair!

Sleep well, Roy. You'll need all your strength to host all the Christmas events!

Thanks for checking in

Diann

Thanksgiving

We had a really great Thanksgiving at my sister, Bonnie's, house again this year. Every year she gets nervous about all the preparations, but every year it comes off without a hitch. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

Roy pitched in for the clean up - like he always does. Isn't he a great guy? How many husbands would be doing dishes rather than sleeping in the other room? Can I tell you a secret? He left early, walked home and slept in OUR other room! The rest of us stayed and played Scattegories and made up our Christmas lists. It's our annual tradition - draw names and then post our lists on mom's refrigerator.

Bill, Kelly, and the kids came after dinner. It was their year to eat at Kelly's family's house. We missed them.

Now it's time to focus on Christmas. It's time for me to get nervous about all the preparations. Actually, I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, about the turkey picture - I had to include it. While we were eating Roy said that it looked like the turkey stuck his hands in the air and surrendered. I don't think he had much of a choice!

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Isaac's 10th Birthday

Isaac recovered soon enough to enjoy his 10th birthday. He requested a steak dinner at Grammy's house (as usual). We celebrated with Gram, Pap, Grammy Zoe, Aunt BoBo, Uncle Dan, Megan and our family friend, Crystal.

It was nice to get together -especially since we've all been pretty much housebound with his illness.

A big "thank you" to Pappy for taking pictures. Mom left her camera at home (what is wrong with me).

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

PS: I'm sure Isaac would want me to mention that the dressing table in the background is Maddie's - not his!

Can you spell pneumonia?

Just the other day I was telling a co-worker that Isaac hardly ever gets sick...

Saturday night he came down with what we thought was the stomach bug. Monday morning the dr. "didn't like the sound of his lungs" and sent us for chest x-rays. Monday night we were in the ER getting a breathing treatment and another chest x-ray. Since Saturday night, our lives have been consumed with forcing liquids, rubbing backs, inhalers, antibiotics, very little sleep, and a TON of cartoon network.

He's a little better today. He's nibbled on 2 cheese crackers (yes, 2) and had 2 (yes, 2) bites of toast. His stomach still doesn't like the antibiotic. He's also coughing - a lot. These are small steps, but we're thankful for all of them. His eyes aren't quite as sunken and he hasn't asked me, "Why me, mom?" yet today.

He's out of school until at least Monday. Roy will be taking over nursing duties tomorrow when I return to work. I feel good knowing that he's starting to eat a little now.

Going through this (minor, yet traumatic) illness has made me EXTREMELY thankful for a healthy child. I am now keenly aware of the many parents who deal with illness on a daily basis. We are blessed.

Thanks for checking in,
Diann

It's been awhile...

We recently gathered at my sister, Bonnie's, house for some pumpkin carving, roof fixing, and birthday celebrating. We are very serious multi-taskers. It was Bill's (brother) birthday, so we made him get on Bonnie and Dan's garage roof to see if he could live another year. He made it. The pumpkins didn't fare too well though. They sacrificed themselves for the good of Halloween decorating.

The Hons' joined us for the work and the fun. Harley, our newest under 4 foot tall friend got involved in the pumpkin carving. It was a fun day.

Time to Catch up! - Roy's birthday.

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've updated. The start of school has been a little bumpy.

These first pictures are of Roy's birthday. He's now 44 (you can tell by the glasses). He received a lot of fitness equipment and gift cards as gifts. That's what he wanted. The picture of the box is to show you what Roy and I will look like in the near future. If we just sit on that ball a couple hours a day our bodies will miraculously be firmed and toned. I can't wait. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures.

The next set of pictures is, of course, the mandatory wave good-bye first day of school pictures. I have to tell you, he walked much faster coming OFF the bus than he did walking TO the bus. He's still not sure if he likes 4th grade. In the mornings, he hates it. On the weekends, it's not so bad. Hard for me to understand. I always loved school.

Well, I have to get moving. It's deck staining day at the Vera's house. That should make some interesting pictures...

Thanks for checking in

Diann

New Neighbors

Our neighbor, Betty, moved out yesterday. She's been in that house since I was little and lived in this neighborhood. It was sad to see her go. We found out recently that the people that bought her house are about our age and have 3 boys. One of them is going to college this fall, but the other two are 12 and 9 years old. We are very excited that Isaac will now have someone to play with. He is surrounded by girls - not that he minds all that much (and I'm sure he won't mind at all when he's a little older). He really needs some boys to hang around with. I remember growing up in this small town and having a ton of friends. We were always busy and always having fun. I want that for Isaac too. It will be great for Roy and I as well. We could use some neighbors our own age too. I'm looking forward to getting to know them later this week.

Thanks for checking in.
Diann

The End of Summer

Tonight is sort of the end of summer for us. Tomorrow is new teacher training at school, and then Monday both Isaac and I start for real. Tonight is Meet the Teacher Night for Isaac. There's no turning back once you meet the teacher!

I can't believe that summer has gone by so quickly. We accomplished a lot: vacation, Ecuador, deck, new windows, picnic, lots of swimming, and lots of company. It was good, if short.

I'm looking forward to the beginning of the school year. Isaac is definitely not. He and Roy are taking a day tomorrow and have one last adventure. They're going to the mall and to the movies in Williamsport. With Roy's work schedule, they don't get a lot of time together. It will be good for both of them.

Well. I wanted to close the chapter on summer officially so that I can start blogging about school. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say. It's going to be a good year!

Thanks for checking in.
Diann

Deck - Completed

The deck is done! It looks great. We've used it once. Yes, once. The day after it was completed, the temperature went down into the 70's with nighttime lows in the 50's. The water temp. of the pool dove to 72. It rained. It thundered. We would just sort of look at our beautiful deck from inside the house. We put the solar cover on the pool and we managed to get the water up to around 76 degrees in time for Dee and Garrett to come swim. The weather was great that day. The boys had a blast christening the deck by jumping from it.

After swimming, the boys decided to play outside while Dee and I had some "couch time" (which was long overdue). When we checked on the boys (which was long overdue) we found them building a ladder - with power tools. Ahhh. I can't tell you how many times we have found those two doing something ... let's say surprising. Dee and I take it all in stride. We've learned to just shake our heads and go back to the couch. Ignorance is bliss. There was no blood, so it's all good - and we have a lovely ladder for the tree now.

This is our last week of summer. Yep. School starts Aug. 25. Expect more updates on that subject...

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Deck interrupted - for picnic

Once again we had our annual special ed. picnic at the cabin. We had a great time. The day started out with a downpour and had me very worried that we would all be huddled in the cabin or under the porch trying to contain a lot of kids. But, the sun came out and it turned out to be a perfect day for a picnic. The kids played in the ever-popular pink sand, had a little gun battle, and found a dead porcupine (it is the woods, you know). The adults sat in our usual lawn chair circle and gabbed. It was a very relaxing time. (we only lost 1 child for a short time) A few times I looked around and thought, "I work with the best bunch of people." I'm already looking forward to next year!

Deck Part I

Things have been silent in blog land for the Veras lately. Sorry. We're just doing summer things - swimming, washing beach towels, making iced tea, eating cool pops, and mowing the lawn. However, now deck construction has begun and things are a little more exciting around here.

A good friend of ours, Gary, is helping Roy build the deck. Gary and another one of our friends, Scott, are in the parttime contracting business. So, when we have a bigger job around the house, we call on them to help. Gary is on his own on this job though because Scott is having a little difficulty with one of his eyes (get well soon, Scott).

These pictures show 3 days of progress. Keep in mind that Roy gets home at 9 AM, goes to sleep for about 3-4 hours and gets up to meet Gary in the backyard. Gary is coming to our house after working at his real job all day. So, this progress has been made in about 12 hours all together. They're doing a great job. It's been hot, hot, hot. I think the final picture should be the guys sitting on the deck in lounge chairs drinking a cold iced tea. I'm getting really good at making it. Or, maybe they would like a cool pop. We'll see. More pictures to follow.

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Hidden Valley

Isaac and I spent the day at the Davis' camp ground on Tuesday. It was a great day. The kids rode around on the bikes, blew bubbles, and swam while Dee and I spent some time catching up. Their campsite is so peaceful and relaxing with a lot of shade and a nice breeze. I didn't realize how much fun it could be to ride around in a golf cart! It's like a whole other world there. Everyone has a campsite that they've decorated and made their own. Most people own a golf cart and ride around with big smiles on their faces. They're smiling because they've left their phones, washers/dryers, and bills at home. They have nothing left to do but enjoy. I now understand why my good friend, Dee, built a brand new house and spends most of her time in the summer in a camper. I get it now.

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Moving...month

At the end of this past school year, a member of my department (and good friend) retired. That left an available room. We decided to switch the rooms around. Yesterday Donna and I and our kids spent about 4 hours moving materials from one room to another. These pictures show the results of our labor. Every piece of material that was in my old room is now all over the new room. The saying, "It will get worse before it gets better" sure holds true here. I will eventually get all of this stuff put away and have a nice new space that has been organized and cleaned. In the meantime, I think I'll be spending a lot of time at the school. I'll try to remember to take some "after" pictures to post here. Don't expect them for a little while. This will take some time!

Thanks for checking in.

Diann

Happy 4th

We had a good 4th of July. Roy started putting the replacement windows in the house and we had some "little" fireworks at the house at night. Mom, Dad, BoBo, Dan, and Megan came to watch. Isaac was so excited about the $15 box of fireworks that he insisted that everyone come to watch. Oh the simplicity of being a kid.

The town of Lime Ridge was really in the patriotic spirit. There were at least 3 families shooting off REAL fireworks. We were surrounded. It was great. It was so loud, that when my sister, Bonnie (AKA BoBo) got out of her car to run to my porch, a stray dog jumped into her car and went to the back seat to cuddle with Megan. They couldn't get the dog to come out and they couldn't find the owners. So, they ended up taking the dog home for the night. They eventually found the owners the next morning and returned Chester.

On the fifth, everyone went to the cabin (except Roy who stayed home to work on windows). Grammy bought more fireworks, but to get them the kids had to do a scavenger hunt. The fireworks were hidden in Grammy Zoe's basket on her walker. The kids did a little "victory" dance when they found them. Isaac, Carson, and Maddie had fun lighting the fireworks while Uncle Bill did a good job letting Isaac handle the lighter. He was handy with his water bucket and a lot of direction. We toasted Dad with rootbeer floats. It's been 6 months since his heart attack and bypass surgery. I guess his cardiologist would rather him toast with rootbeer and vanilla ice cream than the traditional toasting beverages (?).

It was a good two days, although I must say I'm a little disappointed in my family's reaction to my watermelon. So what that it was yellow instead of red. So what if Kelly's red watermelon was sweeter. It's time to break out of the ruts, you guys. Try something new.

Thanks for checking in.

Diann