So I've still been hanging out at Facebook.. I love that place.. BUT I've also have spent quite a bit of time this summer between rain showers taking LOTS and LOTS of pictures.. I first wanted to hit Covered Bridges in NH.. and along the way.. I noticed MORE and MORE history... So that led to more and more car rides and "adventures"...

So.. I thought I would share a few pictures with you... and what I've been up to so far this summer...
I met up with a dear friend for the first time in 15 years... THANKS to facebook!!! We decided to hit Boston and visit the Tall Ships... they come in every 10 years.. and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to meet up with her and take a TON of photographs!!

While in Boston.. they had the MOST AMAZING HUGE Market... We took the T into Boston so we could only grab a few things... otherwise.. I think we would have loaded up on fruits and veggies...

Radishes from the Market...

Along the way to seeking out Covered Bridges we found a few other gems like I said...this being one of them...

This is a Glacial Pothole.. the sign said it's been used for many many years especially for the Native Americans.. I've lived in this area now for 16 years and never knew this existed until we stumbled upon it.. look at old barns to photograph as well...

This is one of the old barns that we found.. I love the sign because it says it all!!!

This is an old Mill Called Blow Me Down Mill... I've searched on the history of it.. and just not sure exactly WHAT the Mill was used for.... but it's beautiful and deserved to be photographed at different angles...


I sure hope NONE ever tried going out that side door.. ha ha!! that's quite the drop.. but then again.. I'm sure there was some sort of different structure there in the past...

This is the Windsor VT/Cornish NH covered bridge.. this bridge joins the two states together over the Connecticut River.. This is the worlds longest two car wide bridge in the world and the longest bridge in the Northern Hemisphere.. and when you ride across it with your windows down .. you can still smell the wood... as if it were built yesterday...

This is the Birth Place of VT.. Windsor.. This is the Constitution House.. The first constitution to prohibit slavery and to establish universal manhood suffrage.

Windsor also had a Prison at one time... this is photo of an old prison cell that now is exposed to the outside world that is storing this kind of machinery in it.. what it is??? I don't know.. but the color and shapes caught my eye....

An Old Barn.. again in Windsor.. it reminds me of some sort of fairy tale story... especially with the strange door in the upper left hand corner.... this barn could tell a lot of stories I believe!!

Broken down saw horse.... with a nest!!! it's amazing how the nest blends into the color of the old wood...

This was seriously.. a drive by "click" shooting... I loved the three silo's and I happened to roll down the window and snap.. and kept driving..... I gave them a black and white effect due to the blurriness of the tree's I caught in the photo...

My other time consumer... BASEBALL!!! Our last game is Wednesday.. the Championship Game... The little men have done AMAZING this year.. they are 12-2..

How is your summer going so far? And great pictures or stories to tell.. tell me about them so I can peek and read them on your blog!!

About a month ago we brought our son to a Pediatric Endocrinologist for some special testing due to his weight. Long story short our entire family has taken on the path to eating right and exercising even more. I'm very proud of my hubby and son for doing just that! They have lost a great amount of weight just this past month! And my son has added 500 calories to burn.. if not more.. to his exercise program. With in this first month people have already complimented him!

So I'm trying to be creative in our menu's.. trying to buy very LITTLE boxed items... and more fresh produce or frozen veggies... it's been hard.. my coupon days are pretty much over when it comes to food... BUT.. I'm okay with that.. if I have to sacrifice more for my food budget now.. than medical bills later... I'll be okay knowing that my family is maintaining a healthy life style.

I won't lie.. it hasn't been super easy.. but manageable enough that the three of us have become a great support system.. and it hasn't bothered me that I've lost 12lbs myself!! Ü

So.. here is a dish I made last night that was OUTSTANDING! And I thought I would share!




Triple Cheese-Spinach Manicotti

3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup finely shredded fresh parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped --I omitted
3/4 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves,minced
1 ( 15-ounce) container fat-free ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained,and squeezed dry
1 large egg
12 manicotti shells, cooked without salt or fat
cooking spray
1 ( 26-ounce ) jar fire-roasted tomato and garlic pasta sauce ( such as Classico)-- I used what I had on hand

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well, and set aside
3. Spoon cheese mixture evenly into cooked manicotti, and arrange in a 13-X9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour pasta sauce over stuffed manicotti; sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
Yields 6 servings WW points 8 points/serving.. however I kept out the pine nuts and if you check all the points for your items.. I believe you'll find that the point value is less... A green salad would compliment this dish!

Hope everyone had an AMAZING 4th of JULY!! Happy Birthday U.S. of A!

I've been addicted to facebook!
Seriously!
But I sit here and wonder why? I mean.. I post little snippets daily and maybe one or two people respond... which is fine.. I understand.. but what am I really accomplishing? Am I liking the fact that I can be nosey in other peoples worlds? or am I looking for ways to find fault and annoyance in people?
I'm learning my time might just be more productive reading blogs and writing in my own!

So what have I been up to ... so much... still wondering when my tomorrow's became yesterdays... and how every days usually seems the same until one day out of the blue it doesn't!

So this past month...
My son graduated from 8th grade is going to be a freshman!
He joined BabeRuth Baseball
He's losing weight.. and doing a GREAT job at it..
My daughter Graduated highschool
Got scholarships that we didn't expect
is taking a trip solo for the first time
and is working hard
We also had a visit from my friends daughter... and I got to do some of her senior pics.. I was really excited to help out

Here are a bunch of pictures with her friends BEFORE graduation!!


Here she is with the Valedictorian.. they have been great friends since 3rd grade!


And here she is with the Salutatorian.. they have been friends since 1st grade and still going strong!

SHE GRADUATED!!!

After the graduation..and three hours of sitting!!!

It was a good night... we had some family here and around 10pm all the grads get together for one last night and celebrate...

Later on in the weeks.. we decided to go strawberry picking.. due to the TONS of amounts of rain that we are getting it was HARD to find ripe berries..

But we did find some amazing asparagus!!!


and because my time is running short already this morning.. I'll throw in a few pictures I did for my friends daughter... where they live there are no mountains or views like NH.. so she asked me to help her out.. and of course I said "sure"...

I tried to encourage her to wear other outfits... but she was dead set with these...

It's that time of year again.. PROM!!
This is my daughter this year.. her Senior year.. her last prom ever.... along with her boyfriend.. whom she went to the prom with last year!
This years theme was the 50's... hopelessly devoted... to me.. it seemed like a Grease theme more than anything...

She decided to kick it up a notch this year and go as "Barbie"..


This photo was touched up by my awesome photoshop friend Wendy... the first picture looked like a construction Cone sat on my daughters arm!!

ahhh a Kiss

this is what we call.. "Sassy Barbie" and "Laid back Ken"

This is... "in the box" Pose...

Them being goofy and moving around and making faces..


And a few pictures before "Ken" showed up..

I just can't believe that graduation is right around the corner... and college is sitting right there....
I look in the mirror and wonder if I look the age of a senior in highschool soon to be college student.... and I just wonder.... how many times I blinked while she grew up into a young woman.... This year has just flown by... much faster than I thought.... I'm trying to savor every moment....

A list I found this morning when I woke up... I thought it was too cute!


Psalm 139:13
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

I became a mother two months after my 18 birthday. When most of my friends were going off to college and obtaining a degree for their future..I held my future in my arms.. I fed my future.. I bathed my future... I listened to my future cry... laugh... even sing... I even sang to my future...

The past 18 years plus.. I've had kids grace through my doorway... and even with Mother's Day yesterday.. I still had three boys here playing that were not "mine"...and that is ok.... because in a few years... those kiddos will have families of their own... and the house full of children will be gone.

For now.. I will continue to measure each child who walks through the door... for some reason.. all kids love to be measured to see who they are taller than.. or whose graced the doorway before them...



Someday when we sell our home... these two doorway moldings will have to come with us... I want to re-do my kitchen this summer.. but these have to stay.. until we move!!!

And just for some giggles.. these are the many children who have graced our doorway in the past 10 plus years.. here at this home....













I think sometimes my husband struggles with the fact that his older brother is now considered a part-time missionary and travels to Ecuador. He feels that his family has put him up on a pedestal and call him the "better" Christian... in truth there is NO GOOD Christian.... claiming to be a Christian means you recognize that you have faults... failure's... and you sin...
What my husband has to remember and I remind him ever so gently.. that we ARE missionary's.. we just don't have to leave our doorsteps and fly half way around the world.. to share God's love, mercy and grace... all we have to do is live by example...we don't have to ask for money.. and we don't have to post our goals on church bulletins or mail our pamphlets... We do this DAILY.. just not one week out of the year....

Even though these children didn't grow under our hearts... God has surely found many opportunities to have them grow in our hearts.. some of these children that have walked through my door have some sad stories to tell...but I'm hoping that each time they have or will walk through the door.. they can lay that sadness at the door and play and be a kid.. and enjoy a few hours of fun and laughter.. and most importantly... a loving home.