Michigan, Here I Come!

I'm in Michigan!! I've been so busy before leaving for Michigan that I didn't have time to blog. I did take pictures, but I think I'll just begin my blogging with the current events instead of back-tracking. I will mention that we received our first snow in New York last week and I did another cooking school in Roosevelt this past Sunday with over 50 in attendance. Monday morning I packed for my trip to Michigan!! When I pack, I pack. My car was packed with two ice chests full of frozen corn, green beans, and peaches; a box of six half-gallon jars of grape juice, six jars of pears, six jars of grape jelly; a box of onions, potatoes, pumpkins, butternut squash, and beets, all from our garden that I insisted I bring to share with family in Michigan. Bob thought it was a little ridiculous, but then he brought out a box filled with eight quarts of maple syrup and the ice cream freezer. He will be flying out to Michigan for Thanksgiving and he wants to make homemade maple-walnut ice cream. It's really good!!! I also had to include my Bosch so we can make bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, and of course potato buns for Thanksgiving. Also included in my packing were bread pans, muffin pans, casserole dishes, and cooling racks. I'm staying at Rachael and Derrick' house and Rachael has most everything I need, but with the number of people that we will be cooking for, I think a few extra pans will be helpful. I also brought my sewing machine and a few supplies so when Rachael gets back from her trip we can work on projects to sell in her etsy shop. Also, I'm going to make curtains for my new little grandson's nursery, due to arrive in three weeks. I packed one of my accordions so I could do a little entertaining for the grandchildren. And, I'm hoping that my cousin, DeAnn, will have some extra time so we can get together and play a few songs together on our accordions. I did manage to pack a few clothes. I just wanted to make sure the important things were packed. I left my house in New York Monday morning at 11:00 a.m. My first stop was to be at Natalie and Adam's house for the evening to see their new home, have dinner with them, and spend the night.

With the car all packed, I got out my GPS and programed it for my first stop. It was suppose to take me about 7 1/2 hours. Guess what? It took 9 1/2 hours for me to arrive. The GPS gets lost as much as I do. Adam and Natalie took me on a tour of their home and then it was time for all to get a good night's rest.

I got to see Natalie's kiln and all the neat projects she is making. She is making the cutest little cups for children. She puts a little bunny in the bottom of the cup so when the children drink all their milk, they find a bunny. I have a cup from when I was a little girl and it has a kitty in the bottom of the cup. The grandkids always want to use the kitty cup when they come to visit. They have to take turns, because I only have one.

Natalie and Adam's house is beautiful. They have done so much work on it, putting in new slate floors, bathrooms, and painting. They still have quite a bit of work to finish the whole house, but it is looking great! The view from the back of their house is beautiful. Their backyard overlooks the lake and they have their own boat dock. Walter was so excited to see me. He is such a good dog. And so big!! He is huge!! I couldn't find my camera, so I didn't take pictures.

I arrived at Rachael and Derrick's house Tuesday morning. My GPS and I got along much better on this little trip. Lori came over and we made a special dinner to celebrate Rachael's birthday (one day early). We made wild rice salad, rolls, cottage cheese loaf, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and apple dumplings. We had a fun time together eating and visiting.

It was exciting to see the kids when they came home from school. They were all so sweet. They came running into the house calling, "Grandma!, Grandma!" Hugs and kisses followed. Even little Katya was excited to see me. She told her mom that she was going to be good for grandma Cece because she was soo old. I say, whatever it takes for her to be good for me is O.K. with me!!

The kids were so excited when they woke up because dad had tucked beside each of them while they slept two little bears.


Rachael left me detailed instructions and an itinerary of events to take place while they are away. They are very helpful in getting the kids to school and lessons on time.

This morning I was on my own with the kids. Everything went smoothly. The kids got up when I woke them up and got dressed and came down for breakfast. I had in mind making scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, but the kids wanted homemade date/nut bread with grape jelly and milk. So, that's what I gave them. They ate almost the whole loaf of bread. Then I washed four faces and we headed for the car. We had prayer before we started the car and then as I drove the kids sang Jesus Loves Me, Deep and Wide, and several other songs. It was so cute. Even little Ben sang. Katya and Jack sang Jesus Loves Me in Spanish and then German. We had a fun time driving to school. When we arrived at school, I got out to help the kids out of the back and it was so sweet because as each child got out of the car, they gave me a hug and I gave them a kiss on the head and told them that I loved them.

Then Ben and I headed back home. He wanted to go to the Farm Store, so I told him we would go later in the morning. And, we did! We had a great time looking around the store. He checked out several tool boxes, and let me know which one he thought would work best for his tools. And then he found the work shirts and work boots. He thought he needed some, but I couldn't find a shirt smaller than a size 5. He especially liked looking at the chain saws. I found a few things I wanted to get to surprise the kids, but when we went to check-out there was a bag of peanuts in the shells. I said to Ben, where did these come from? He told me he found them and thought we needed them. So, I bought them, and he enjoyed munching on them as we drove to Lori's house to help her organize the nursery.

Ben checked out the tool boxes and this one he thought would be perfect because it had a big drawer at the bottom for the big stuff!

Ben found a remote-controlled tractor that he thought he would like to have.

Ben was checking to make sure his peanuts were in the bag.

Lori's nursery is so cute. We had fun going through all the beautiful shower gifts she received for this soon to arrive little baby boy. While we worked on organizing the nursery, Todd took Ben to work with him on the farm. He was so excited (Ben that is) to get to ride in the big green tractor. Ben told Todd he wanted to ride in a red tractor, but Todd let him know that they only have green tractors on his farm. And Ben said that would be O.K. Soon it was time to leave to go and pick-up the kids from school.

Ben and Uncle Todd getting ready to go to work. That means riding on the tractor.

Where do we start? This is the nursery with all the beautiful gifts that need to be put away. We started by putting the clothes in piles by sizes. I think this might be the early signs of "nesting" for Lori.

We headed directly for Kristen's guitar lesson. I had put the guitar in the back of the car before we left for the Farm Store. While Kristen was taking her lesson, we went into town to do a little shopping. I wanted to pick something up for Rachael for her birthday and knew what I wanted, I just didn't have time to get it before she left. So, she will get her gift when she gets back from her trip. The kids were really good and we got back to pick-up Kristen just a few minutes before she finished her lesson.

When we arrived home, I knew that Kristen had lots (I mean lots) of homework, so she started working on it as soon as we got home. I told Jack to take his shower and get his pajamas on, and Katya followed after Jack with a nice warm bath. With both kids bathed and ready for bed, they could now begin working on their spelling assignment while I prepared dinner. The kids must have been really hungry because they ate everything and asked for seconds and thirds. I made macaroni and cheese, broccoli, mashed potatoes and gravy, and spinach salad. Katya ate two helpings of broccoli and three helpings of salad. Jack ate seconds on everything and so did Kristen. It was funny, because Kristen got up to fix her own plate of seconds and put salad, potatoes and gravy, and broccoli on her plate. Then she put it in the microwave for a few seconds. When she took it out, she had cooked spinach salad. It must not have been too bad, because she ate it!

Katya and Jack learned all their spelling words. Jack knew his when I quizzed them, but Katya needed a little help with a few of them, but she learned them all and was so proud of herself.

After story time and prayer time, the kids had 10 minutes to get in bed to receive their special surprise. They did it! And I haven't heard a peep out of them. Kristen was still working on her homework and I helped her finished the final project and then she was off to bed too.

It was fun having Francie and Lori joining in on all the fun of the evening. They soon went home and now it's just me and the dogs downstairs, and they are sleeping! I want to do a special birthday blog for Rachael, but it will be a belated birthday blog. I did bring all 11 containers of pictures to go through to do the blog, but I just haven't had a chance to pick them out yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Rachael, I hope you are having a great time in the Bahamas. Happy Birthday to my first-born. You were so much fun I had five more!! I can't believe you are 35 years old. Maybe Katya was right when she said that I was so old! I love you Rachael. Happy Birthday. The kids are doing great and I'm having fun.