ICEFEST 2010 AND OTHER NEWS!

Today Jim and I and Becky and Barry headed to downtown Chambersburg and ICEFEST 2010. It was FRIGID! Dressed in layers and feeling like a stuffed sausage, we made our way through crowds of people to look at the amazing ice sculptures throughout the downtown. One of our stops was the Tuscarora Mountain Winery. Notice their unique ice sculpture that fit so perfectly with their business. Notice that Jim and I are drinking HOT coffee! Man was it cold! We did buy a few bottles of their wine, too!

Barry and Jim posed outside of Lyon's Menswear where this gigantic frothy tankard of beer was located. Little kids who walked by said, "Look at the giant glass of root beer!" We knew better.
Becky and I couldn't resist this two seater that made our tushies even colder!

Barry can only wish! Sigh!

Miss Ocean Lover had to take a ride on this icy dolphin perched outside of

F & M Bank.

There were so many more sculptures than in years past, all beautiful. We have made it a tradition to attend ICEFEST each year and really enjoy it. They even had a forty foot ice slide beside Gartenberg Jewelers. No, none of us slid down the slide; there were too many kids waiting in line. It was also great to see downtown just bursting with people. The shops were crowded, people were buying everything from candy to jewelry to food to unique gift items, and everyone was having so much fun, in spite of the cold temperatures. It even snowed about an hour or so while we were there, which just added to the atmosphere. Bravo to everyone involved in ICEFEST!

Other News :

*I had my one month weigh in yesterday and have lost exactly ten pounds since the first of January! Woo Hoo! I can now feel it in some of my clothes, so this is one New Year's resolution that is right on track! I received some other good news in the mail today.

*In 2006 I was a presenter at the Sixth Holocaust Education Conference at Seton Hill University in Greenburg, PA near Pittsburg. I was asked to submit a paper on my presentation and it was accepted and published as part of "Selected Conference Proceedings" from the conference. The publication was distributed at this year's conference, which I was unable to attend. So, I just received a copy of the book, Emerging Issues in Holocaust Education, today. My seven page section is entitled, "Integrating Project-Based Learning into Holocaust Curricula." It was a real thrill to see this in print.

Resolution Update, Etcetera

Thought I would give you an update on my progress or lack thereof regarding my last post - New Year's resolutions. I finished The Help and it was a wonderful read. I highly recommend this book. It was one of those books you hate to see end. I am currently halfway through South of Broad by Pat Conroy. I have been a fan of his for years and was so excited to begin this book and am loving it. His characters are so rich, so real.

We are currently in the throes of remodeling the upstairs, another resolution. On Friday and Saturday I painted the upstairs hallway at light green and Becky's old bedroom a shade deeper. Jim wasn't able to help because he is battling a horrible upper respiratory infection - could have pneumonia in his left lung. I ached all over from painting the ceiling. HATE CEILINGS! We decided to have someone do our bedroom because all of the trim work, ceiling, and walls that need to be done and I am not up for more painting. It should be done sometime this week and then the hardwood floors can be installed. It's alot of work prepping for this, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

One good thing was that we purged every room. I donated hundreds of my Holocaust and World War II books to our school library. The librarian is going to create a Holocaust collection area in the library. I still have three bookcases worth of books left!

I had to share this photo taken of Jen, Annisa, and me by Tina Flohr. I wish Becky would have been with us that day because I LOVE this photo!

A few more random photos to share. Two weeks ago I got to see Aidan and Ryan play basketball. How fun! This is a picture of Aidan getting ready to shoot a basket during a relay exercise. HE MADE THE SHOT! He made two shots in fact, helping lead his group to a victory! Go Aidan!
This is Ryan's first year playing and he did such a good job during all of the practice activities. I love this photo of him doing a little one-on-one with his coach. Ryan is full of energy and puts his complete effort into whatever they do.
How cute is this! Ryan was doing his homework when the little "homework helper" just had to get in on the action!

Okay - back to the resolution update. I am still losing weight. Down 6 1/2 pounds in three weeks. By spring, look out! I will be a new woman!

The only other resolution I have been working on is the fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In less than a month we will be hosting the Love Crop scrapbooking and craft crop - February 20th. The registrations are arriving almost daily so we should have a successful event and be well on our way to reaching our goal following the October Crop, which is always our biggest event.

Hopefully I will stay focused and will continue to work on my 2010 resolutions. I have to stay accountable to myself and to my blog readers!

It's A New Year!

Another New Year! It is amazing how quickly the days, months, and years just fly by. So many times we make New Year's resolutions and then break them, so for years I refused to give in to the temptation to make resolutions. However, I am making an exception this year. Maybe I should "set goals" rather than "make resolutions." Sometimes a change in semantics is in order, so here goes!

1. Keep a list of books read. I used to do this every year and it was interesting to look back and see just how much I read and the kinds of books I gravitated to that particular year. Also, when Annisa posted the list of books she read this year, it inspired me to keep a list again, so I started my list for 2010. The first one I finished was The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee, who autographed the book at the conference I attended in November. Yes, 8 is her middle name and not a typo! The second book was Beg, Borrow, Steal: A Writer's Life by Michael Greenberg. I am currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This is the first book I am reading on the Kindle that the girls got me for Christmas. Love it!

2. Lose 25 pounds. Just how did the pounds keep accumulating? Sigh! Since January 1st I have lost five pounds in ten days. Woo Hoo!!! How easy it goes on and how difficult it is to get it off. I am committed to getting in good shape in 2010.

3. Update the Upstairs. Our bedrooms upstairs are in major need of a redo. Our bedroom, the hall, and Becky's old room need repainted and new lights. The room where the boys and Kari stay when they are here needs new border, so I replaced it last week. Then I ordered new bedspreads, which were on clearance, so I redid that room very inexpensively! The main spare bedroom is in good shape, but Becky's old room has issues. For some reason, the paint around the ceiling light is peeling off, so the ceiling and walls need painted. Our bedroom just needs the walls painted. So, Jim and I will be doing some painting over the next few weeks. The biggest problem upstairs is the flooring. All the carpets are in bad shape and so we are thinking engineered hardwood throughout the upstairs. Tomorrow we are getting an estimate.

4. 20th Anniversary Celebration. Next year will be Jim and my 20th anniversary so since Jim loves cruises, my goal is to book a cruise for next spring. Any suggestions?

5. Photography Fun. I would love to learn some cool photography techniques this year. Perhaps I'll take a class or use online tutorials. I could really use an upgrade to my digital camera, but I have no idea what to get. I don't want anything too complicated to use or too expensive, so. . . . anyone have any recommendations? I love the point and shoot capability of the standard digital cameras, but there's only so much you can do with them.

6. Write. Since teaching the Creative Writing course this semester, I would love to do more writing on a regular basis. No, I don't have the great American novel in mind, but I would like to explore some story ideas and do more with poetry, which is my first love. My goal is to set aside some time each week to write. Wish me luck with this because time is always an issue for me and when I have to make choices, the writing is always on the bottom of my list.

7. Trip to the Big Apple! For the past several years Becky has been my travel buddy to NYC. As you can see from my blogs last year, we had a blast! However, in May she is going to be a mommy. Who will be my travel buddy in 2010? Will NYC be possible this summer? Hmm! It's definitely on my goal list, but it might not be realistic.

8. $7000.00 for JDRF. Over the past three years I have helped organize scrapbooking crops to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Last year we raised almost $6000.00. This year I would like to hit $7000.00. Our first crop of the year is February 20th and is open to scrapbookers and other crafters like knitters, jewelry makers, etc. Anyone reading this blog who would like to attend, let me know and I will send a registration form. Anyone who would like to donate to JDRF to add to our total, just shoot me an email and I can tell you how to donate so that it goes under team Aidan and Ryan's Warrior Walkers. Aidan and Ryan are my grandsons who have Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.

Ok, the "goals" are made and they are in writing so all of you can hold me to them! At the end of the year I will post the results. If I am successful, maybe I will make "setting goals" a New Year's tradition! Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Memories 2009

There are so many wonderful memories from this holiday season!  Christmas Eve day, we baked "ginormous" cupcakes (gluten-free, of course) and the kids had a great time decorating their masterpieces. Their Mom thought it would be fun to decorate the kids' noses!

Any time we get together for family events, it has been a tradition that Aidan (with just a little help from Nana) makes place cards for the table.  He loves coming up with new ideas and it is fun for me to share this tradition with him.
The finishing touch was adding glitter and gluing peppermints on the cards.
On Christmas Eve we go to my Mom's house for dinner and gifts.  Kari loved getting all dressed up for the party!

The boys are just "too cool", aren't they?

Another tradition is everyone getting their picture taken in front of the tree.  We started with Barry and Becky.

We also had a little sing-along and piano playing featuring the dueling piano players, Annisa and Becky!

The kids loved opening their first gifts of the holidays! Clara is all smiles.

Another family tradition is our birthday cake for Baby Jesus.  This year we got a yummy ice cream cake from the Meadows.

Dixon had a great time with all of the cousins, but finally fell asleep!

On Christmas Day, Santa sure was good to everyone at our house!  Sasha and Clara got Fancy Nancy dolls, clothes for the dolls and a cute suitcase for the doll clothes.

Ryan's eyes about popped out of his head when he opened this Bakugan seven-in-one Dragonoid. 

Jen and Adam take a few moments from unwrapping presents to smile for the camera!

Annisa and Becky wanted The Pioneer Woman Cookbook, so Santa made sure they each got that special book!  They just better invite us to taste test the recipes!


Sports Nut Barry is all smiles with his Syracuse sweatshirt.  It doesn't take much to make the guys happy when it comes to sports!
Jim was thrilled with a digital picture frame that the girls filled with family photos.  He couldn't wait to take it to the office today.

I couldn't believe it when I opened my present from the girls - a Kindle!  WOW!  I have great kids!

Kari was in present heaven!  She loved everything she unwrapped.

This is a picture of Ryan peeking in this HUGE gift bag.  He got a bag full of swords and Nerf guns, which he loved, although he did say he wanted a REAL sword.  We told him Santa would never give a six-year-old a real sword, but maybe when he was older he would get the real deal!Santa brought Dixon some cool little boy toys.  Surrounded by his sisters' dolls, this is a real treat for him and his dad!
Aidan, our LEGO fanatic, couldn't believe his eyes - he got so many LEGO kits!
Jim's parents joined us for lunch.  We got them a big box full of Tastefully Simple products and some wine from the Tuscarora Mountain Winery.
Our family was so blessed to be together this holiday season.  Although a few of us were fighting colds, we were together and that's all that mattered.  Wishing you and your family a wonderful New Year!

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

Yesterday morning in the midst of beautiful swirling snow, I threw on a pair of sneakers (n0- I do not own snowboots and yes, I am going to get some!)  and went outside to take a picture or two of the "white stuff."  It was brilliantly white and sparkly. There wasn't a sound to be heard, so quiet, until Jim went out a few minutes later and started the snowblower.  

The trees always look glorious when they are snow covered.  This little guy  at the end of our walkway looks amazing!

Even the tree on our porch wore a coat of the white stuff.  The white lights just made the snow sparkle even more.

Throughout the day I just couldn't resist watching the snow fall.  It has been so long since we have had a white Christmas or any kind of significant snowfall in our area, so I just enjoyed it.  I spent the day doing laundry, cleaning,  wrapping presents, making a last minute gift for someone on my list who shall remain nameless, and making a big pot of soup.  I used Tastefully Simple's potato soup as a base and added vegies, diced chicken, Tastefully Simple Bacon-Bacon, and was it ever delicious!  Jim appreciated it after having been outside three times over the course of the day removing snow from our driveway and some of our neighbors' driveways.  There's nothing like some comfort food to ease an aching back! Today the sun is brightly shining and some of the snow is beginning to melt.  I hope that just enough remains for a White Christmas!

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS!

Each December the Lion's Club hosts a Christmas party and we get to take the grandkids! Unfortunately, because it is held during the week, the only two we can take are Sasha and Clara. Aidan, Ryan,  and Kari live too far away :(.  After school Tuesday, I picked up the girls and we went back to my house for "primping and glitzing!"  I curled their hair - used lots of product - and did their makeup - a little lip gloss, sparkly eye shadow, and a tiny bit of blush and overall "Radiance" from Bare Escentuals (love that stuff!).  They sure do love the "glam!"  Don't know where they get it!

Doesn't Clara look like a little angel and check out Sasha - ever the diva!
The girls are definitely not camera shy and struck a pose together -sisterly love!Sasha had the idea for this one!  How cute are they?
After a scrumptious dinner and dessert, we were treated to the songs of the season by the Chambersburg High School Choristers - so much talent.  They really put us in the holiday spirit.  Then it was time for a visit from Santa!  This is serious Sasha as she anxiously awaits his arrival.
Clara was not a bit shy at getting her present from Santa.  She was so surprised that he knew her name!  
Santa brought each of the girls a "Little Pet Shop" set and a sparkly purse filled with Princess chapsticks.  They were amazed that Santa knew that Sasha's favorite color was blue and she got the blue purse.  Clara got the pink one.  We had such a wonderful time and are ready for the holiday season!  It even snowed last night!

Meeting The Authors - Part 2

As promised, this is the second in the series of "Meeting the Authors."  I look longingly at the stack of books by my bed . . . sigh . . .  so many books - so little time!  Sarah  Ockler's latest book, Twenty Boy Summer,  is a story about love, loss, and letting go.

David Ward  is the author of  Behind the Mask, Beneath The Mask, and Escape the Mask, a wonderful young adult series that boys love, but I loved it too!  I was honored to introduce David at one of the author's sessions.

I also got the opportunity to introduce David's co-presenter, author Scott Westerfeld.  He is famous for his Pretties and Uglies series that teenage girls adore.  His latest book, Levithan, is amazing.  I highly recommend it for anyone of any age.  It includes over 50 illustrations!
For many years, I used the book Fallen Angels in my tenth grade English class.  It is a book about the Vietnam War by Walter Dean Myers.  My students loved this book and so do I.  It was such a privilege to meet him.
Another  renowned and popular author at the conference was Laurie Halse Anderson.  She is famous for her novel, Speak, which I also highly recommend.  The line to see Laurie looped around the exhibit hall.
Becca Fitzpatrick's novel Hush, Hush is being touted as the next Twilight and interestingly, she began this book long before Twilight, but it took several years for it to get to publication.  Can't wait to read this book!
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee, has been a New York Times Bestseller.  Her mission was to "solve the mystery of how dozens of people across America had won a lottery after receiving their lucky numbers in their fortune cookies!"  However, she learned much more as she interviewed owners of Chinese restaurants, learned the origin of  various Chinese foods, and uncovered other surprises.  Jennifer was so delightful and funny - this should be a really fun read!
I hope I can tackle some of these books over the holidays!  They are a diverse group of authors and genres and I am anxious to dive into them!