Like this one:

Derek walks himself up the wall like that.  Jared just loves being where Brother is.  You can see the rest of them here, at Amy's xanga blog.

As she explains, The Amazing Jared is now a mobile baby, crawling - no more wounded soldier stuff for him!  And Derek is forming complete sentences.  He's beginning to grasp simple concepts.  Same and different, for instance.  Wow - how's it happen so fast?

Faron's doing well after his bout of Swine flu - he went back to work on Monday and today was the first day he didn't crash as soon as he finished eating.  He had a CT scan today to see if there is a problem with his kidneys, something they've looked at before but over the years (the first time he had a kidney dye test both my parents were still living - Dad died in 1981, so it's been a while!) the symptoms keep recurring, so hopefully this time they'll decide to look elsewhere or find whatever it is.

He also has an appointment with a plastic surgeon (Stryker, for locals) to have the growth over his left eye removed.  That's in December. 

We're gonna get this man healthy again!  If we could just get him to consent to having his knee surgery...

I've been claying up a storm and have more than a dozen new pieces to list on Etsy when I get myself around to it - I have to edit the photos and for some reason, I keep avoiding that step.  I have another half dozen larger pieces ready for the oven, so I have truly been busy.  I'm very thankful that I haven't gotten the h1n1 virus so far - probably I was exposed to it years ago and have some immunity - imagine, me immune to something! 

Tiana's ready to go back to work on Tuesday - she got the all-clear the other day.  And they went out for Mexican food last night so she's well along the road to recovery! 

And, not health related, thankfully, unless perhaps her mental health - Hazel's got her kitchen torn apart as she got a new range after having had a counter top unit for several years, and got a dishwasher, too. The new microwave is yet to be installed.  Chaos reigns just now, and it's not over - she's decided she doesn't like the dishwasher where it is!    Please pray for her and her son Duke as they work this all out. 

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He'll probably be walking by the time most of you see this, but when I got around to editing the video of the Voices of Hope, I finally edited this one, too.

You can see he just uses his right arm and leg to motor around. His left arm and leg are almost motionless - its creepy if you haven't seen him jumping and banging and doing all the stuff he should be with both arms and legs! 

At then end, he plays with poker chips left from Jason & Tiana's wedding.  We have lots - and so does he.  They took a bunch home. 

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But a gang of us got out on Friday night to attend Hope Enterprises Annual Dinner, where staff, clients and volunteers are recognized for their contribution to the success of this wonderful organization.  Hope Enterprises consists of group homes, a sheltered workshop, training programs, and a host of other things I can't remember, all for those with varying degrees of mental retardation and brain injuries and disorders.  Our Ron is a client, and this year, Hazel was recognized as Caregiver of the Year - of course we'd be there "en masse," to cheer her on!

First, we found our table:

It was a round table, meant for 8 people, but we squeezed 9 in, including me with my wheelchair.  This year the event was held at Lycoming College, in one of their gyms.  It's been held for several years at the Scottish Rite Auditorium's dining room, and let me tell you, there was no comparison!    This was a huge improvement over their lack of a sound system and cramped quarters, not to mention, a warren of tiny hallways leading to the elevator, which was a pain with my wheelchair, I can tell you.  But at the college - easy peasy!  Straight in, all the way.  And we parked about 100 ft from the door, opposed to downtown at the Scottish Rite - we always got dropped off and the poor driver (usually Haz) had to go and find a parking places, sometimes a couple of blocks away, and then walk back.  Not so bad at the start, but not fun in full dark on an October evening. 

So, we found our table and got some appetizers - a wonderful array of stuff that put us all in hog heaven.    Duke, Darla, Kim, Hazel, Robin, Stacy, Ron, Cathy and I were all around the table, sharing and pilfering from one another's plates, having a great time.  This part of the evening was probably longer than it needed to be - some of us ate a LOT - more than necessary before a full dinner to come!

Then there were introductions and grace and three songs by the choir and finally, the food.  Except our table got skipped somehow so we were the last served.  It was ok.  We bring our own fun and were having a great time among ourselves. We had steak and chicken, with steamed veggies and broasted potatoes, which was all preceded by fruit cup - I guess I should have taken a photo of the plates before we attacked them, but sorry.  Didn't happen! 

Here are a few shots of the gang around the table:

Not sure why they look so solemn.  Darla's sampling the fruit cup.  Duke & Kim look to be getting bad news.  I don't recall any, so I guess it's just a rare un-giggling moment!

Haz & Stace. 

Ron & Darla - note his flower, which signifies he's part of the Voices of Hope - Hope Enterprises own choir.  More on that later!

Ron had his photo taken with a variety of females - that's kind of his thing!

I don't recall this lady's name, but she was ever so sweet. 

And this is our Kelly:

These next photos are kind of cute, Duke & Haz both had occasion to talk on the phone during the dinner!

I think they were both talking with sons - Duke with Erik & Hazel with Tim.  I may be wrong about Hazel's...

Robin and Stacy were on the ball and brought Hazel some flowers:

Stacy got the big splashy bunch of flowers, while Robin got a tasteful, foil-wrapped single bloom.   

After dinner came the awards, which seem to go on forever.  There are a lot of people involved, and various partnerships with businesses, and such - many recognitions to be made.  Finally, it was time for Hazel's award.  The presenter made a lot of how Ron's life changed when he came to live with Hazel - Helen's house was much quieter, with only Ron & Helen and Merle.  And he didn't get involved with Hope until after Helen's death.  So he went from a semi-recluse to a guy who goes to work every day, is very involved with Special Olympics and travels and goes out to eat - favorite of all is going out to eat!  She talked about how talkative and lively he is, and as if to prove it, Ron went up with Hazel to get her award, charging up the ramp and jumping - literally! - up to the podium to say into the mic, "Hazel Kriner...this award...and HERE SHE IS!"  It was so cute! 

Hazel was gracious and humble and gave God the glory, of course. 

Sorry the photos are less than great quality - not sure why that is.  I checked all the settings and they should have been good, but maybe my hand shook.  Everyone at our table had insane giggles at one time or another or several times...poor Stacy had one of THOSE times - cabin fever let loose, I guess, after a week in with a sick little girl.  She started giggling early on in the award presentations and never stopped.  Well, she TRIED to stop, but then someone would make a noise or a cough and it would set her off again. 

The evening concluded with the Voices of Hope:

Again, the quality is a bit off - I think I was just too far away.  But you can see how much they're enjoying themselves.  And we all enjoyed them!

Great evening - one of the best we've had in a long, long time.  And for a family who enjoys themselves together as much as we do, that's saying a lot!  The Kriner siblings had such a great time, they all went out and had a drink together afterward.  I hear they had a lot of fun then, too.

On a more serious note, when I got home that evening, Jason called from the emergency room to tell us that he was there with Tiana, who was being scheduled for gall bladder surgery, which ended up being yesterday morning. She came through well, but it was a rough week for her, leading up to it, poor sweetie. I just spoke with her on the phone and she's happy with the morphine pump.    She says we did a great job raising Jason to be a supportive husband - he's wonderful! But we knew that.

Faron's laid flat today with what I'm afraid is the flu - hacking cough, awful headache and just wants to be left alone.  Normally, when he's got a complaint, he likes to involve me, if you wives know what I mean.  But today, he's just on the sofa, hiding out from the world.  He was in bed until 8 am - unheard of for him.  Then he moved to the recliner for an hour or so, and then he lay on the floor for some reason, and finally the sofa - like Goldilocks, he found his "just right" spot and I've only heard a cough now and again to prove he's still alive.  Not sure what will happen about work tomorrow, but your prayers for both of our sickies would be great appreciated!

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Derek, visiting Grandpa Faron (you should just hear him say that!  So clearly and sweetly - I just melt.) & Grandma.  (He's stopped calling me Silly 'Ma.  I'm just "Grandma.")

We had such a good weekend, and I think they all did, too.  Here are a few photos of the various ways we kept a 2 year old happy on a rainy, cold weekend.

Both boys were a bit tired on Friday night after a day of travel and visiting with Grammy & Pappy Regel.  Even happy, love-everyone, Jared, didn't much care for time with Grandma.  So we got them off to sleep (my part was to go to my own bed so they could settle the babies, Faron having gone to bed before they arrived.) And I was wise enough to not bother them with photos then, either. So my first quality time with either boy was Saturday morning.  Jared came in to snuggle and I got a couple of cute pics. Here's my favorite:

He was pulling himself up to stand on the bed, using my bed jacket for hand holds.  That happy, excited look is pretty much standard for him these days.  He's so thrilled to be standing (sometimes for a few seconds without holding on to anything - not bad for nearly 7 months!) and getting around with his "wounded soldier" crawl.  I have a bit of video I'll upload tomorrow. 

And Derek came in to share his Apple Jacks with me.  Here he is eating his cereal like a puppy dog:

These next few are just fun pics of the kids interacting with their dad, mostly.  He's such a good daddy and they adore him. 

Jared's really starting to enjoy being tossed up in the air and such.

Oops - shoulda fixed that red-eye.  Oh well. He's still gorgeous!

And here's daddy with both boys - I can't remember if they were looking at a book or playing with the ever-frustrating-to-Derek "Bop-it game," that's been around since Jason was still in high school. 

Around mid-morning, Amy & Derek made marshmallow Krispie treats, but for some reason, that photo didn't load.  I'll have to re-try that one. 

Bud & Shirley (Grammy & Pappy) came up for lunch and to watch Derek (and Pappy helped) do his first Jack o lantern.  Amy bought a couple of carving sets, which included safety knives and goop-scoopers.  Derek was great at giving both pumpkins pockmarks, and with Pappy's help, did quite well at cutting the rest. 

Jared doesn't look too sure about things, does he? 

Derek didn't MIND the goopy stuff, but he doesn't look exactly sure about it, either, does he?  Love those eyes!

And here's Derek's Pirate Pumpkin Head.  This is a real pumpkin, but Amy's planing to pick up one of those foam carving pumpkins they have at the craft stores now, to put these pieces in.  Very cute. 

The first pumpkin carved, and standing with his garden-mate, the Pirate. 

Back when we were planning to do some kind of a hay ride for the kids, before the weather messed us up, I'd ordered a Fisher Price Pumpkin Hayride toy - a tractor with two farmers (both female, but despite Amy's best efforts, I refused to bite, except to say these two were sisters.   Came with a wagon with a pumpkin at the back where the top comes up and a black cat peeks out, and a spinning thing for the farmer/driver of the wagon.  Well, the silly thing hadn't come as of Friday, so I was left hoping that it'd arrive while Derek was here on Saturday, and, it did!  Derek was asleep when our "Femailman" came, but woke up to enjoy a snack and a surprise.  Pappy and Mommy settled in on the floor to play with it. 

I love this photo, though, of Jared standing at the coffee table, just itching to get down there with them!

The left-over poker chips from Jason's & Tiana's wedding are great toys for both kids.  Derek built towers, and Jared tried to see how many he could stuff in his mouth at once.  Actually, in the above photo, I think that Amy was spinning chips for Derek.  Jared kept banging chips on the table, and even got one to spin himself.  He looked so fascinated and happy.  It's a shame he couldn't manage to do it again. 

Jason & Tiana stopped in before everyone but Jared and I went down to the Korean church for one of their bi-annual dinners.  Tiana & Derek had great fun with the plastic box from the Pumpkin Head pieces.  Here's Derek with the bottom smooshed down over his face:

Tiana made do with the flat lid for on top of her head.  Wasn't quite the same.

When everyone else left for the dinner, Jared snuggled up on my chest as I lay in the recliner and we two had a lovely nap.  After they came back it was dark, and Grandpa found candles for the pumpkins and they lit them and put them out on the porch, but facing the house, so Derek could enjoy them.

The two little tea lights they used lasted for at least 2 hours.  Derek kept stopping his play and running over to the French doors to look at his pumpkins again.  It was a fun thing to do. 

We were all in bed and the boys were sound asleep before 9:30 - a rarity for the night-owl Derek!   I was even able to sleep a solid 5 hours that night.  I have a few more photos and a couple of short videos to share from Sunday - hopefully I'll do that tomorrow. 

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The polymer clay I use for my creative outlet is limited to basic colors, which gives each clayer the opportunity to develop his or her own "palette" of color. To do this, one must carefully mix clays, recording how much of each color is used to create a new color. These are color recipes. 

I've been collecting recipes from other artists for a while, and have fooled around with some of my own, so it was time to find a way to organize them. 

Here are my color samples and recipe cards, ready to be filed:

And a close-up of an individual recipe card. 

I had a recipe box, but I never consulted the recipes, so I eventually gave a lot of them away and pitched some others.  When I need recipe ideas now, I use the web.  (same with color recipes, but having the color chips is very helpful, when designing and planning a project - like paint chips.)

The box was actually a gift from my sister-in-law, Deb, years ago, but it was out of fashion as it was, and I wanted to spruce it up.  I had a bunch of "stuff" photos from Las Vegas that I wanted to use some way in a collage or something - they were so colorful, it just seemed like  perfect mix.

Here's the box, from a few angles, after I did my decoupage thang:

Oh, gee - the top looks nasty in this photo - doesn't show like that real life at all!  The camera has a cruel eye! Catches all my mistakes!

But it's fun for me to look at, this box, and my recipe cards fit in their nicely with plenty of room for more.

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So here it goes!

Kim's a Party Lite Consultant, and has been one for several years.  Over the years, I've acquired several piees, and have my eye on one or two more right now.  PartyLite's stuff really is quite attractive.  Here's the link to her personal page: Party Lite, Kim Matthews.

It's not necessary to have a party or attend a party to purchase items, now, you could look at all the lovely things online, and then order them directly from Kim, via her site.

Check it out!

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Here are a couple of "shadow pics," that I took a few weeks ago, looking out my window one morning.  I love the play of light and shadow from this view early in the morning.

This is the black walnut tree next door, with the sun streaming in over the hilltops.  Amazing how dark it is on our driveway and how bright just a few feet away.

This is the broader view:

It was still so dark right close to the house it was hard to see the grass under my window. 

One day last week, Faron came home from work and asked if I'd seen the rainbow.  Nope, I hadn't, but fortunately, it was clearly visible from my window.

The colors were actually much more vivid than this photo shows. 

It had begun to fade in this next one:

And in this one, it was all but gone, but this one end was very clear and bright:

Sometimes, when I begin to feel sorry for myself that I can't get about as easily as I'd like, I have to remind myself how very thankful I am for my lovely house, in this beautiful place, with the gift of such gorgeous things right outside my window.  God blesses me so much!  And these are just temporal things - besides surrounding me with beauty, He also put me in a wonderful family, with great friends, and most of all, gave His Son for my sin!  What's there to to feel self-pity for? 

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The gardens, despite the fact that our soil is seriously depleted of several key minerals and such, and despite the attack of a ferocious windstorm and one or two visits from at least one bear, produced well. We had as many tomatoes as we could eat and share, and enoug peppers to put more than a bushel of strips and chunks in the freezer.  We had about a half bushel of onions over and above what we ate and shared during the season, and more corn than Sue cared to think about.  Peter's watermelons were delicious and prolific, as were Faron's pumpkins.  Most impressive of all were the potatoes. 10 bushels!

Peter brought his little cart down with his 4-wheeler and hauled 'em home that way - he's got a cold-storage area in his basement.

The guys figure that all told, they had perhaps 5 hours of work all season in the gardens (they were not weed-free!) and less than $100, apart from this little beastie which Faron purchased to harvest the potatoes:

This being a potato digger.  Actually, it's just a rear plow blade that works very well for diggin' taters.

Here's Peter enjoying the fruits (Hah!) of two harvests:

Added to that, they both enjoyed it.  And we all enjoyed the produce.  Tiana actually had so much corn throughout the summer that she had ENOUGH!  We never thought she'd turn it down, but at the end of the season, she did.

We're keeping well.  Have enjoyed visits from our former pastor and good friend, PG, and our good friends (and another pastor) Bret & Jane McAtee, from Michigan.  Both were wonderful but much too short.  (The visits, not the friends.)

I'd though Joe & Amy and the boys would be here this coming weekend but Amy & and I (mostly I) had our dates crossed - it'll be next weekend.  Although he's definitely looking forward to time spent with Joe & and his family, Faron's much relieved to have a whole weekend (so far) to finish up his latest project, which is enclosing the back porch to make an exercise room.  He's spent just about $5 doing it so far, and with a gallon of paint and a few odds and ends, he shouldn't spend much more than $50 finishing up.  Peter's stockpile of building materials has helped but we also had various odds and ends from our own remodeling projects to put into the thing.  And it'll give him a place to ride his bike this winter, and to run on the trampoline as he feels fit enough.  Whoohoo!

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Well, maybe not "perfect," but it was certainly fun!

Jason & Tiana were here Sunday for lunch - filled peppers baked in tomatoes, with mashed potatoes.  Mmmmm.  Only thing missing was the wonderful baked corn my mama used to make.  We just didn't go that far. 

After lunch, which we enjoyed on the porch, as it was a lovely, cool but sunny day, Faron & the kids decided to go and pick pumpkins, so he and Peter can begin to start conditioning the garden for next spring's planting. It seems the ground is devoid of several essential nutrients (Peter had it tested) and now is the time to start replenishing it.  Winter buckwheat planting will come after a load of wet mulch.  As they got up to go, I decided to get my scooter and go with them.  Of course, once down there in the beautiful sun, I wished I'd grabbed my camera.  Never fear, Jason had his in his pocket.  That's my boy!

Faron drove the truck (which will forever be "Tiana's truck," even though it's Faron's now) down into the field to carry the pumpkins up to the house. They all had to make several trips to pick them all.

Silly things like this are always an adventure with Tiana.  She just makes it all so much fun! 

"This one is the very best!  This is MY pumpkin!"  "Oh, THIS one is PERfect!  I want this one!"  "Look honey, this one's shaped just like your head!"

Here she is showing Jason a couple of beautiful pumpkins which are all stuck in brambly stuff. 

Of course, she only said it was stuck in the vines.  She didn't mention the brambles until Jason was all itchy and scratchy.

Then she marched off, triumphant, with the "best pumpkin, EVER!"

Of course, there were lots of icky pumpkins, and some were sluggy - covered with slugs.  Jason decided to leave this one.

His dad came back and knocked off the slugs and put it in the truck. 

Quite a lot of pumpkins for $2.50 in seed and a half an hour to plant and pick 'em.    Faron said it was worth more than that just for the fun Tiana made it Sunday afternoon.

She was so cute.  She hasn't quite caught on that she's our kid now, or maybe that we spoil our kids so much.    She asked if she could have one, and then she wanted to carve it right away. 

This is her "Perfect Pumpkin."

We convinced her it'd be gross by Halloween if she carved it now, but she wanted to roast the pumpkin seeds Sunday night.  I told her to go and get another one to cut up today for the seeds.  She was shocked!  So I convinced her to get the one that mice or something had chewed on when it was small, and it had grown up all scarred on one side.  "Oh, ok!" 

We all sat and watched as she scooped out the guts and sorted seeds from slime.  BTW, she's a champion top cutter-upper.  Can't wait to see what kinds of faces she cuts in hers and J's pumpkins.  He stayed far away while she was slimey.  Faron & I had ring-side seats.  Faron's on the stacked plastic chairs.  "Dad's booster seat," J called it. 

Brat.

But it did look funny.

We haven't heard from them since Sunday so I don't know how the seeds turned out.  They're headed north this weekend to (hopefully) catch some fall foliage and perhaps see a whale or two on a whale-watching tour.  They'll be gone 4 or 5 days.  I told them Faron & I were a bit jealous of that trip - it's one we have always talked about taking.  We thought of inviting ourselves along. They both got that kind of shocked silence that only someone who is holding his or her breath can get.  I quickly reassured them that we wouldn't dream of inviting ourselves along - only that we thought about it.   They were much relieved!

This weekend we have no big plans - Faron has a few odds and ends he'd like to get done before our next visitors, Bret & Jane, come next weekend.  Rachel and I may do a project with her birthday present from us.  Photos to come when it happens, this weekend or whenever. 

Joe & Amy and the kids plan to be here the weekend after that to go "pumpkin pickin'" and considering the itchy-scratchy stuff, I'm glad they are pre-picked before we let Derek loose in the brambly stuff to choose a pumpkin.  G-pa (that's "Gee-pa," Faron's most recent name from Derek) will arrange a few pumpkins in the field for his little hayride that weekend.    The rest will be used to decorate the front of the house for the fall.  I'd hoped to tie a few corn stalks to the porch posts also, but Peter was too quick with the mower for me!   Oh well, we've got lots of pumpkins!

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Princess Rachel had her 14th birthday this past week, and the usual suspects, to borrow a phrase from Lois, gathered to celebrate at her house.  We had a great time, I got some fun photos, and before I could post them, we all got the wind knocked out of our sails an attempt to hurt a part of our family in a way designed only to hurt.  If you haven't figured out by now that "family" for me is a very broad term, and hurting one of its members hurts all of us.  It's taken me a few days to get my wind, so to speak, and to want to post these photos.  I also never posted photos from the lovely but brief visit Lois & Sam made here last weekend.  I've provided a link to her blog above.  Her photos are way better than mine, and she took more.  

But back to the birthday...

The birthday girl:

Who had her hair cut and straightened on her birthday, and who is also taking baby steps into the girly world of makeup.  She's doing very well with just a bit of eye liner and nothing else. 

Her cousin Harry, on the floor, with his mother-in-law, Cathy, then her Uncle Paul (her dad's side, for all of those who are trying to reconcile that photo with my much older Uncle Paul) and her dad.  She's showing off a bar of organic chocolate, I believe.  Actually, like her mother and her very best aunt, any kind of chocolate works. 

Princess Magaly and her mommy watch.  Maggie's a brand-new, all-day kindergardener, and she loves it.  She was getting pledges for a walk-a-thon at her school.  She really hasn't gotten the "why" of fund-raising yet.  She just knows, "I need money.  If I get a lot I get a prize."  Her aunts, uncles and cousins did their best to oblige. 

Kael,  getting "bored" by Aunt Robin.  "Gonna bore a hole and I don't know where...think I'm gonna bore a hole, right...through...THERE!"  He'd been having ice cream and cake.  Can you tell? 

New-dad-to-be, Harry, is infatuated with Kael.  Bet you couldn't tell that, either. 

Erik, trying out my reading glasses:

That's Harry, from the front side. 

Erik, giving Kael a lift...

Amber, Kael's mommy, enjoys his hot-shot attitude, standing alone.  We don't think he knows it yet.  He thinks he's hanging on to something so he's fairly confident.  He has his first birthday on October 30.  Looks like he'll be walking before that. 

Princess Jennie and her daddy.  Not sure why John's so serious when Jennie's so giggly.  Must be a guy thang.

Kael enjoyed an ice cream cone - a mini one Aunt Robin expected to be much larger.  Oh well, when she realize how small the cones were, it just meant we could all sample all three flavors if ice cream. 

"Mini" it may have been, Grandpa (who was holding him at the time) still deemed it too big for the one giant bite Kael tried to get away with.

I love that photo.  Duke's hands are so huge, Kael looks so surprised, and it's such a classic baby-adult scene.   

Sorry for the deluge of Kael photos, Rachel.  I know you prefer it that way anyway.  Happy birthday, sweet girl.  You are growing up into such a lovely young lady, and I'm very proud of you. 

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