New York City or BUST!

So. .I may have mentioned earlier that my friend and coworker, Cindy and I have been tossing around the idea of "kidnapping" our totally country bumpkin (in the best sense of the phrase) hubbies for about 6 years now. I decided after I went to New York City about that long ago with another coworker. .that everyone should go see it at least once.  We have talked about it several times a year ever since. .the hope being. .that with another guy along. .maybe the boys wouldn't feel so "out" of their elements!

Times Square. .totally a favorite place of mine!! It is so bright with lights..that you can hardly tell the difference between night and day

Shortly after the new year, we decided that this was THE year (I'm still not really sure why THIS year. .but it was so deemed). At first we weren't going to tell them where we were going, just get the tickets and make them wait. .yeah RIGHT! I am THE queen of "can't keep a secret". ."wanna know what I got ya for your birthday. .huh. .huh. .huh??" "Really, you DON'T want to know???" "Hmmmmph!"

The secret lasted about 2 weeks TOPS!

The people are everywhere here. .and they are all tourists. .snapping photos. .just like me! The tall building with the lights in the center back is where they drop the ball on New Year's eve

We let Lane pick the dates. .since he is the most tied to his farm/ranch operation. It had to be between harvest and planting and calving and a lot of other things. .And when he picked November, I have to admit I was nervous that the weather would be bad and we would have to reschedule! We were excited, however, to see the great fall colors of the eastern US. Thankfully, the early snowstorm that hit NYC, happened 2 weeks prior to our trip! And the colors were still beautiful!

I was tickled with the Bubba Gump Shrimp sign. .we actually ended up enjoying a great meal there Saturday night!

We bought a flight and hotel package in June. .as well as trip insurance!! Cindy's dad had died from an unexpected accident earlier this year. .and Lane's parents aren't in great health either. So we thought it would be prudent to have a backup plan!! We didn't expect to be the ones dealing with a dying grandparent and subsequent funeral so close to the trip. Additionally, I mentioned last week that there is an awful epidemic of stomach flu in our community. .and we had 4 vomiting children over the course of the two weeks. .the last 3 getting sick all on the same day. .approximately ONE week prior to our deparature date! I got a head full of gray hair worrying about who was next!

Ice skating rink at Rockefellar Center. They moved the Christmas tree in on Friday. .it was set up under tons of scaffolds on the platform you can see at the very back of the photo. It still needed to be decorated.

With plans for the grandparents to tag team the crew. .we headed out for Wichita after work last Wednesday. .our plane left at 6 am Thursday morning. And as well as everyone slept, we should have just left here at 3 am. .we would have probably gotten just as much sleep!!

Did I mention that all the bright lights totally captivate me?? I loved the trees and their lights!

It's an amazing thing to feel all your responsibilities and worries become as faint and as obscure as the ground below as you soar above the clouds to a new destination. We changed flights in Minneapolis. .and there I checked two items off my "first time for everything" bucket list. .you know. .that list that we all have that doesn't necessarily contain a list of goals we wish to accomplish, but rather a list of things that you may have never considered doing until you were checking them off. I have NEVER consumed an alcoholic beverage before 9:00 am. .CHECK. .Ikes Restaurant in the Minneapolis airport serves up a phenomenal Bloody Mary. .CHECK. Thankfully, Jeremy and I decided to split one, in case it was totally nasty. .cause this one arrived in a jumbo mug with a 5 foot length of celery coming out, in addition to a skewer that contained. .an olive, a pearl onion, a pickle, a 1/2 pound hunk of Velveeta, and a meat stick? Really??? It was incredibly yummy!! I highly recommend it!

We never got by this lego store while it was open. .the sign is made out of Legos. .and you can kind of see the bins that go straight up the wall filled with multiple colors of legos. .every 8 year olds' dream!

We hit JFK airport by 2pm and to our hotel several blocks from Times Square by midafternoon. Of course, Jeremy was still quite skeptical of how enjoyable the trip would REALLY turn out to be, and so when the first thing that he saw on our nightstand was TWO pair of earplugs. .I was sure that we were in trouble too!!

This was made out of legos too. .pretty impressive. .Devin was impressed!

We met Lane's brother for cocktails in a revolving restaurant (too cool) and then ate at a sushi bar for supper. Jeremy was really a good sport. .his brother took us to a sushi place in Houston a LOOOOONG time ago. .and he turned green and refused to eat it. I reminded him that he eats oysters on the 1/2 shell and sardines for goodness sake. .how bad could it REALLY be?? We both enjoyed it a lot. .we tried such things as fried duck rolls, tuna rolls, plain tuna sashimi, salmon fixed several different ways, tempura (deep fried stuff. .I think ours was octopus or something with tentacles), and eel (our fave). .we also choked down a sip of Japanese saki. .some type of rice vinegar wine. .my perception was that it tasted like rubbing alcohol laced with a little suntan lotion. GAG! I also made another discovery. .Asian people are so petite and thin because it's impossible to eat enough to get fat with two little sticks balanced in one hand! They are starving to death! It was likely some sad little China man crushed his chopsticks in his hand in disgust only to figure out that he could eat MORE and FASTER, if he tied the chopstick pieces together in a manner resembling the common FORK! Amen brother! They didn't have forks there. .so I mostly looked around quickly and scooped it up with my fingers!

There's the crystal ball that will be dropped over Time's Square at midnight to ring in the new year. .It really isn't very big at all!! And apparently sponsored by Toshiba!

The hotel was really very quiet. .and we slept like logs that night! The next day included hanging out with Lane's brother. .walking the residential streets near Central Park. .and hopping a bus for a tour. .oh. .and spending a couple of hours waiting on Lane to replace his phone in a Verizon store that kept telling him it wouldn't be long! New York minutes aren't fast. .contrary to what you might believe.

The city was actually having several Veteran's Day parades. .and we ended up right in the middle of one as we crossed the parade path in our hop-on bus. .

HA! We got off the bus near Ground Zero, in the hopes of seeing the new memorial. The line was REALLY long. .and we opted to skip out and head for supper. We ate in a little place called the Pawn Shop. .which was a prohibition bar. Once upon a time, people would go into the pawn shop and use their code to get to the back room where the dancing and alcohol were. When the cops busted the place, the liquour disappeared out of sight and they could never prove that anything illegal was going on there! We tried some more unusual foods. .oysters on the 1/2 shell. .not my fave. .fried oysters, Kobe beef appetizers, lobster tacos, and several other things that are gone from my memory already! Skip left for home Saturday morning. .and we hit the ground running!

The new Freedom Tower being built. It should be finished sometime in 2012. .and will be the tallest building in North America. There is a huge crane on the top of the building. .and there will be another layer on top of what is there now, as I understood it!

I came home with about 350 photos on my camera. .so I will have two more posts soon with some more photos. .and some more stories! Thanks for dropping by!

We Made It!!

Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore

Send these the homeless tempest-tost to me

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

So, with lots of merciful blessings. .and some plain 'ole good luck. .

If you are reading this. .

means that we successfully boarded the plane bound for New York City Thursday morning. .before the crack of dawn cracked!!

With a community full of sick people. .and having survived 4 children down with the stomach flu over the last two weeks ago. .I was worried until the end. .if fact. .as I write this during a 10 minute down time before bed Tuesday night. .I still pray that if get sick. .it will be AFTER we land in NYC. .so we can recuperate quickly in a hotel room. .instead of missing a flight and the entire trip!

We have planned for 6 months. .and it seems surreal that the time is actually here!! Jeremy is caught up in the shop. .and Lane enjoyed some nice rain to foster hopes of a wheat crop next summer. .Cindy and I are ready to put aside the emotional drain of caring for people for a few days. And we are all ready to enjoy the experiences of this trip! Our hotel is a short walk from Times Square. Our bucket list includes good food. .Statue of Liberty. .a harbor ferry tour. .some more good food. .and lots more tourist-y fun. .oh and hopefully a visit to my hero, Bobby Flay's downtown restaurant!

It's been a long time since Jeremy and I have been away for even a day or two by ourselves. .and though I worry about how everyone is getting along at home. .I will relish our time away to relax and enjoy life!

Hoping I have some fabulously fun photos to share when we get home Monday!!

Have a SUPER weekend!

Lights. .Camera. .Action!

I am not a fan of facebook. I rarely get on. .and if I do. .I might run down the first page of posts to find a newsworthy item or two. A few weeks ago, I found myself scrolling down the page when I saw a post to a friend of ours from church about family photos. The girl inquiring wasn't able to make it to the sitting. .and since I had mentioned having Deb take our photos this summer. .I decided to see if she would be interested in doing our family pictures.

Thankfully, she was open to the challenge. .and we discovered just how talented she is!! I have boycotted school photos. .since generally they stink. .and they cost out the wazoo. .so I needed individual photos of all the kids. .plus I wanted some little extras done. Like, with just my guys. .

. .and just the girls!!

And she threw in some of her own "extras" as well!! FUNNY!!

Doesn't Camille think she is just "all that."

I loved the individual pictures she took of each of the kids. .

Our Justin Bieber look alike. .

Tristan Michael. .age 15

The "Drumminator"

Grant Thomas--age 13

Our little "devil"

Devin Jacob--age 8 (very soon to be 9)

And. .

Miss Thing

Camille Grace--age 3 1/2 (soon to be 4)

She was all over the bubble blowin'. .and it was really hard to decide which one I liked best! The rest of their individual photos weren't too hard to choose. Each kid had a photo that was just them. .their eyes. .their smiles. .their expressions. .or lack thereof. Debbie did an EXCELLENT job of capturing "us"!

We took the pictures at our house. I was really leery about that. .cause there weren't any really great places to get photos that would have nice backgrounds. .without dead cars, or buildings, or dead grass and vegetation!! But, Deb stopped by after church and looked around and thought that it would work fine. And I am so glad that we did!! The pictures are just that much more special! Most of them were taken by our new fence. .which you have probably been able to tell. The lighting was best here too. She also did some photos

around the pond. .the pitcher pump water feature. .and the old slipper slide we put in the garden a couple years ago.  

And she was so in tune with all the details. .where everyone's hands were, how their legs were, etc. And,

amazingly. .there wasn't a whole lot of bickering! Taking them at our house, also allowed for multiple outfit changes. .so it didn't look like we took all the pictures on the same day.

There were so many photos. .it will certainly be hard to decide which ones to print! I'm thinking that I will either have her make a collage. .or I will get one of those collage frames and do a lot of the "extra" prints. .like the ones above. .where just different small groups were photographed.

The last thing I told Debbie that I wanted was a photo of just Jeremy and I. .and I told her that I wanted a

picture that looked like we were "in-love," and not old and staunch. .as have been the way all of our previous photos have turned out!!

I LOVE the way she captured that!!

I think this one was my favorite of the day. I like the color one too. .but the green tint to the water pulled my eye over every time I looked at it. I am sure she could fix that. .but I am a lover of all things old. .and black and white. .and this works good for me!

I apologize for the family photo overload. .but I wanted to share some of my favorites with you all. .AND. .since my family hasn't recieved any family pictures from us in quite a while. .now they can even choose their favorites and put in their requests!

Enjoy your day!

BOTH Weekend Projects. .Check. .Check

We enjoyed a super three day weekend full of little things. .with a couple of projects thrown in! I was so pleased to be able to get to some things that have needed done for quite a while. .like going through some clothes, cleaning up a closet space or two, and a little reorganization project in the kitchen.  I don't know if any of you make lists or not. .but I started one Friday of the things that I really wanted to get done last weekend. .and got to check most of them off the list.  The first "major" project was a front door over-haul.

For several years I have wanted to change my door color to red. We finally got serious about it nearly a month ago when Jeremy brought in his auto paint catalog. His rationale was, that by using auto paint and sealing it. .it would last a LOT longer. .which was a good thing, provided that I actually liked the way it turned out! I picked out a dark red color. .and he ordered it several weeks ago. Things kept coming up that prevented us from having a whole day to mess with it. .but THE day arrived on Saturday. He made me get up early. .around 7. .which, for me on a weekend, is early. We took the door off. .

And put up a temporary door. The second layer of chairs got added by Devin right after lunch. We had a very stiff south wind Saturday. .and this door opens to the south. .so the wind was blowing the quilt. .and the chairs ;-) And it was only chilly in the house for a few hours in the morning.

All of our doors are metal. So he applied auto body putty stuff to even everything out. He missed a few small dings that weren't even evident until he started spraying on the primer. You can see. .there were a LOT of dings. .four kids are hard on things around our place!

I also helped him tape off the windows but then he was on his own.

We put some screws in the ends of the door to make a little rotisserie. So he could easily spray everything. .and clear coat it at the same time. The primer was black.

He even repainted the white side of the door. .making the outside red as well as the edge (since it opens out of the house. .the proper etiquette called for a red edge too).

Oh my. .was I excited to see this luscious barn red color!!

He was not sure how the sealer would go on. There was no recipe for mixing in the agent that makes a matte finish. .since I told him that I did NOT want the appearance of a car door. But it actually turned out very well. .hope he wrote down his recipe. .cause in the spring, we'll do the other two outside doors.

I LOVE it!! My boys think it looks retarded. .but what do they know anyway!!

Project number two. .the hanging of the Christmas lights. .was also supposed to take place Saturday. .but due to the gusty and biting south winds. .we put it off. .praying it would be nice enough Sunday to do it after our annual church meeting. Wow, was it ever!! Very little wind and temps in the mid 60's made it a scrumptious day to enjoy the great outdoors.

The kids were just glad for a good excuse to be able to clamor all over the top of my house!! So much so, that they invited a neighbor over to do the same. .I made sure his mother knew first that they would probably be on the roof!

I got a lot of the LED lights after Christmas last year. .and I think I will love them. They are blue icicle lights. .which made it around the front of the house and about 1/2 of this west side. They hook up to some large blue bulbs that I had bought last year. It was amazing to hook every single strand up to the one in front of it. .and plug them into the same outlet! Hooray!! I think that I will put lights on my new cedar fence too. I got inspired!

The weather was so beautiful, but I was still surprised to find this little butterfly out and about!! This mini-rose bush, as well as the knock out roses are still blooming their hearts out!

I also was tickled to find new gayflowers at the bottom of this clump. It is the one I transplanted from our pasture last fall. Many times native plants have R-E-A-L-L-Y long taproots (to get enough moisture from the dry climate). .and I was worried that they wouldn't survive. .I was not disappointed in the least!

I actually left and felt compelled to return to take a photo of these super sharp points on the agave plants. They truly didn't look this wicked in the plant catalog. .I'm sure the first kid that steps on this baby making a short-cut through the waterfall area will make it their last short-cut through!! I'm thinkin' it would make a believer out of me!

After a beautiful, picture perfect day yesterday. .

. .We are enjoying a much needed rain today!!

Last night I was able to look through our photos from our family picture-taking session a few Sunday's ago. I look forward to sharing those with you this week!!

Wishing you a wonderful fallish day. .wherever you might be!!

Thanks for dropping in, we love to have your company!

Horticulturally Fortunate!

We have really been enjoying the mild weather this fall. Some years we miss fall altogether as we go directly from hot to cold! This year after the blazing hot summer, we have really savored each beautifully temperate day! The flowers really started blooming, which was a site for sore eyes! We had a lovely afternoon last Thursday and I grabbed my camera to see what was going on. .this week is into November, and the blooms persist much as they are in these photos, including the water lily above.

I love the fall colors of the mums in the fall. I bought a few to scatter in my new flower bed. I have mums in other gardens and will hope to divide them a bit more in the spring! The purple salvia has persisted for the last two months. .and the napeta blooms have also served many butterflies the past months. I saw a painted lady as late as a few days ago!

I had mentioned several times that I had a huge bulb order coming. .and it arrived about 2 weeks ago. I didn't realize how many bulbs there were. .until I counted via their empty packages after the planting took place. Total count of 219 bulbs. Many of them went in the big bed I can see from the kitchen and dining room. .near the pond. I also added a bunch to sections of the above bed. Now I can hardly wait for spring to. .well. .spring. I got a great assortment of lilies, tulips, crocus, daffodils, allium, and some things that I can't remember, nor have I tried!

I adore the way the light hits the fountain grasses. Which reminds me that I have intended to dig a clump of this purple fountain grass out to over-winter. The one from last winter made 3 nice clumps this summer and turned out pretty cost effective!

The black eyed susans are blooming much nicer now than they have all summer. Some of them re-seeded, which excited me! I see so many bloggers have such great success with them. .but I admit, I've only had limited success. .hopefully I'm on the right track now! And of course, white mums in the front. The accidental combo works well here!

These gray-headed coneflowers really did well despite the drought, and the fact that they were only planted last spring. You can see that the Mexican hats are STILL blooming back behind them. .They have persistently bloomed for 5 months now!! Amazing!

Though the Maximillan sunflowers are dwindling, I was still able to find some nice photogenic clusters!

I took out a lot of the dead sunflowers because the sight was painful to me. .I did leave some for the finches though. .as they have been fun to watch clinging to the heads munching seeds!

Here's just a little peek from the west looking around toward the pond. A lot of bulbs went into the flower bed around where the fountain grass can be seen from here. Also some red rocket hyacinth went along this sidewalk. .there isn't much that smells better in the spring than those!

Here's a sideways shot of my greenhouse. Their are tomatoes in most of the big pots. I would guess most of them are going to be cherry tomatoes. You may remember that Cami uprooted them as seedlings. .and when Grant found her, he put the seedlings back into cells, without having a clue which cell they came out of. .she seems to always be surprising us with something. I also have a few peppers growing. I tried germinating some herbs as well as broccoli and cabbage. Nothing sprouted. .except for a few chard plants, which promptly disappeared. I thought I had a mouse in there, but I haven't had any other trouble, nor have I caught anything. .It got really warm in the greenhouse one week as it neared 100 degrees a few days in Sept and I wonder if they just rotted. .or if the soil was bad?

I did move in a few things from the yard. .and may try the cabbage again later. .if we ever slow down long enough for me to motivate! I have found that the greenhouse is a wonderful place of respite in the bitter cold months. .so I look forward to having anything green and growing during those times.

The lambs ear didn't actually bloom this summer. .but the wonderful gray fuzzy leaves were looking really nice the other day, and I couldn't resist snapping their photo!

Here's another small look at the new garden bed. The blue atlas cedar was planted in August. .and I have been in total love with it since!! It really changed the way the area looked. .which was a GOOD thing! I can't wait to see how the garden turns out. The zebra grass made plumes a few weeks ago. It should be significantly bigger in a couple years. .and I think it will make a great statement!

The temperatures are turning colder. .it even snowed yesterday afternoon!! I advised the kids that it will be "christmas light" weekend here. .We should have great weather to get them up on the house before it gets too cold. .and in time to light them up Thanksgiving night! We are also hoping to do a front door makeover this weekend. .stay tuned.

Have a wonderful weekend!