Catching up.

I know I know it has been forever since I've blogged. So now I have bunch of catching up to do. A lot has happened since my last entry. Like everyone else, we have been crazy busy for the past several weeks. Between Jonathan working long hours at work and me being overloaded at work and our weekends being crazy, not much time for blogging has been available ( I know, sad excuses). The only thing I've managed to catch this month is a cold!!
First, I managed to drop a glass dish on my foot, now 2 weeks ago. I had a very nice large glass dish that was given to me by my Aunt as a wedding gift. I was trying to put the dish in the refrigerator when the thin delicate glass snapped in my hand and crashed down on my foot. Instantly I start to panic when I see the blood poring from my foot and hand. I hollered for Jonathan. He came running to see the glass dish and the Watergate Salad that was in the dish, all shattered on my foot. He helped me get to the kitchen chair and grabbed some paper towels to help soak up the blood. After we wiped the Glass and salad off my foot, we found about a 1" cut on my foot. It managed to stop bleeding after a few minutes but my finger took a while longer to stop. Jonathan called nurse Geneva (his mother) onto the scene. She arrived and helped bandage up my foot, and we all determined that I probably didn't need stitches. So, my foot was in pain for a few days, mainly because of the bruise from the dish dropping. Last week I noticed that the cut was not healing. So I decided to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic. When I get there, they didn't hesitate to stick me with a tetanus shot (and everyone knows how much I LOVE needles!). The doctor examined my foot by pressing around the wound. She hit one spot to the right and it nearly made me jump off the table. The doctor asks "are you sure you don't have glass in your foot?" I said "uhhhhh, I don't think so". So she let me take the antibiotic for a few days to see if the pain would go away. When I went back on Friday, the pain was still there. So now, I am going to pay a visit to the X-Ray man tomorrow and then pay a visit to the surgeon sometime after to determine if I need surgery. GREAT! I will keep you all posted.

Also, the day after I cut my foot was the day the power went out. We were out of power for only 2 days. We spent one night with Jonathan's parents and then went home to power. I will definitely not complain about this. We were so fortunate compared to others (my parents) that were out of power for 7 days.

Last weekend we headed west for a wedding in Illinois on Saturday. My step brother and his now wife, Lacey, got married in her home town of Summerfield, Illinois. It was a really great time at the wedding and reception. A chance for my family, who rarely gets together, to have a great bonding weekend. On Sunday, we decided to head into St. Louis, which was only about 20 minutes from Summerfield. Since we were so close, we could not pass up the opportunity to go up into the St. Louis Arch. There was nine of us in my family who decided to caravan to the Arch. We had so much fun! It seemed very strange bonding with step-siblings we didn't always get along with as kids, but suddenly as adults we had a really great time.

When we arrived back home from Illinois on Sunday, we were met in the driveway by ANOTHER stray Kitten. It seemed as if we had the dumping corner for stray kittens. I hesitantly began feeding the kitten because I felt sorry for it. But since my cat liked to growl and hiss at it, bringing it into our house was not an option. I posted notes at work to see if anyone would take a free kitten. A lady that I work with decided to take the kitten for her kids. I agreed to get the cat checked out by the vet to make sure she was healthy. Yes, it was a she and I decided to name it Paprika. That's right. Pepper and Paprika! The only issue we had with the cat (actually a big issue) was fleas. The kitten was flea bitten. The vet popped a pill in her mouth to make the fleas fall off her and then recommended we give her a Dawn bath. It was pretty funny to watch Jonathan give a cat a bath. This long haired fuzzy kitten was suddenly reduced to practically nothing. I wish now I had taken a picture of Paprika while she was wet. Instead I have a regular picture at the bottom the post. So, yesterday afternoon, I headed to Dayton to drop Paprika off with her new family. I miss her already. She was a very loving and affectionate kitten, unlike Pepper who likes to terrorize us!
I also forgot to mention that we were finally able to get Pepper the cat fixed and declawed. His days of terrorizing us have come to a screeching halt. It's kinda sad to see him try to climb on things when he doesn't have nails anymore. Our legs and clothes are now very thankful for the claws to be gone. Now we just have to crack the habit of him biting and chewing. Ideas anyone!!




Pepper decided he was gonna hitch a ride with us on our trip tp Illinois. His first night being left home by himself. He was a good boy.
St Louis Arch. Sooooooooooo much bigger standing there then it seemed driving past it
View from the top of the Arch. The stadium is Busch Stadium

Picture of Paprika. She was not in the mood for a picture. She really was a sweet kitten.

Paula Reds Have Arrived!!

If you were reading my blog last year, you already know that I now like to make applesauce. Unfortunately, I was a bit behind last year in getting my apples. We went to Brumbaugh's fruit farm about late September hoping to find my favorite apples to make applesauce with, Paul Red. Me, being unaware, was told that the Paula Red apple is an early apple and were long past gone. I was a bit let down and settled for whatever they had sitting out at the time.
Soooo, this year, I was on it. I decided to take action. I called Brumbaugh's 2 weeks ago to ask when the Paula Red apples would be ready. They told me they didn't have any yet but should have some by that Friday. I politely asked if they "reserve" apples (hey, ya don't know until ya ask, right?) I was told yes. The girl told me they weren't expecting a big crop of Paula Red this year and that they would go fast. I panicked!!! UHHH. UMMMMM. " I''ll take 3!!" I said. Ma'am? 3 apples?? she said. "No. 3 large bags".
So that's what I have. 3 large bags of Paula Red apples. About 70 apples total just waiting to be pealed and turned into my favorite applesauce.
My dilemma. Should I feel guilty for taking so many apples when they didn't have that many this year? I missed out last year because I was uninformed. This year I was educated. So... I guess the early bird gets the worm!

Grandma's first visit

This past Saturday was my moms first time getting to see her new grand baby Max. As you can tell, she already loves him to pieces.
Isn't he the sweetest?? He was so good for Mom when she came to visit.
Mommy Betsy calming Max after his diaper change

Night of Fire!!!!!!!!!!

This past Saturday, Jonathan and I went back to the Muncie Dragway in the middle of nowhere Muncie, Indiana. The event that night was Night of Fire. Where along with the locals that like to bring there cars to the track, but also an exhibition race for anyone with a monster machine. The prime attraction was the semi with jet engines. Unfortunately just as he was at the line about to go, he broke down. Then the thunderstorm came. Luckily we managed to get some pics while walking around behind the scenes. We got to see some of the other exhibition cars go down the track, but I wasn't able to get very many pics since they are obviously going so fast. About 9:15, they called the races and everyone ran for there cars.
Jonathan and I have been to this track many times before, but this was only our second year seeing "Night of Fire". Since we saw the Jet Semi last year, we weren't to hip on waiting around for him to fix the truck. I'm a big fan of the long Dragsters while Jonathan loves all the hot rods loaded with the Nitrous.

Dragster with a really cool paint job.
Exhibition dragster "Blue Ice" loaded with a jet engine. (as if they aren't fast enough)
Awesome Corvette that did really well on the track.
Premier attraction "Shockwave". Jet Semi that broke down on the line.
Yes, this is a quad-runner also loaded with a jet engine. A bit scary to watch shooting down the track

No. This one doesn't have a jet engine. I just thought it was goofy looking
A perty Camaro doing his burnout.
This was really cool. This guy is a local that he and his wife have been building up this truck. It is just a diesel Dodge Ram loaded with 2 sacks, Nitrous and large racing tires. They said they were experimenting with the Nitrous for the first time. I can't recall how fast his time was, but he got a wow and a standing ovation from the crowd.
The only semi-clear picture we could get on the track. Only because he did his burnout all the way up to where we were. We caught this as he was backing up to the line.

Max Nicholas Swigart born: 8-5-2008

Introducing, Max Nicholas Swigart. Max is my new baby nephew born just today @ 4.24pm, weighing in at a healthy 6 lbs. 13 oz and 19" long. His proud parents, Nick and Betsy, are doing very well after the long labor and delivery. We aren't exactly sure yet, but the family suspects the red head gene had been passed down to Max.
Jonathan and I made it to the hospital after work and got to meet him. He wasn't even 3 hours old and they let us hold him.
I am over the moon happy for my brother and his wife!!!!!!!!!! Check out the pictures!!

Look!!! I think he's smiling!!!!!!
Mommy Betsy and Max.
Max's first bottle feeding.
Do I look happy or what?
Uncle Jonathan

Evening in Celina

This past Saturday evening, Jonathan and I decided to head up to Celina to stroll around Grand Lake and to grab some dinner. Got a few pics on the Lake.

We drove one lap around the lake before we decided to eat at Bella's in Celina. A really great Italian restaurant right next to the lake.

After dinner we decided to find where Jonathan's cousin Kenny and Amy live. And wouldn't ya know it, they were out working in there garden when we came up to there house. So we decided to stop in and say hi. We got to check out there REALLY big garden and received some really helpful advice for our garden next year.

With the great weather that day, the evening turned out real nice for us.

Introducing.......PEPPER!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we now have a new addition to our home. Making his grand debut to the world, is Pepper!!
pepper arrived on our door step exactly 2 weeks ago today. Jonathan and I were up getting ready for work when we heard a cat in the front bushes. We went outside to find a small kitten popping out of the bushes. He seemed to be crying like a baby. I couldn't help but fall in love with him. Jonathan new it was over right then and there.
Jonathan has never wanted animals in the house (country boy) and I have been pondering the thought of a cat for a while now.
Later that day, after Jonathan and I talked, Jonathan said he would let me decide if we were going to keep him. I tossed around the idea for a few days while I was feeding him on the front porch everyday. I knew we couldn't keep him as an outside cat because our road is way too busy. So the only options were to keep him in the house or take him to the animal shelter. I decided to keep him.
That Saturday I took him to the vet. We found out that he is in perfect condition and is 8 weeks old. That was the day we brought him into the house.
He has been so much fun. Although we are literally counting the days until the claws can be removed. Jonathan and I both have battle wounds all over us. Also hoping the furniture can make it another 1 1/2 months.
I know Jonathan was a little leery of having him in the house, but as predicted, they have now become buddies. I have to say, I think he is quite personable. We get the biggest kick out of watching him play. His own tale can entertain him for quite a while. Instead of scratching his scratching pole, he climbs it then spins around and around. I seem to call him Turkey more then anything when he is being ornery.
I guess I could tell a few more stories, but I will just let the pics do the talking.


Here he is!!!!!!! What a turkey.
Pepper thought this would be a good place for his next nap. On the news paper while it's being read.
My two best guys.

A Very Busy Weekend

This weekend has been very busy for us.
If you have ever driven by our house, you have seen the hideously large bushes in our yard. We had 7 of these in our back yard. One fell down with the ice storms we had last winter, and the others we cut down this weekend. Jonathan started with the chainsaw on Thursday and then rented a chipper on Saturday for he and his dad to run everything through.

On Sunday I threw my sister-in-law, Betsy, a baby shower for my new nephew, Max, on the way in less then 3 weeks.. Due to space, we had the shower at the Holiday Inn, which really ended up working out pretty good. They made all the food for us and did all the prep and cleanup. Only thing I had to do was decorate and bring the cake.
I also gave Betsy the baby blanket that I had made for her. All those weeks that Jonathan was working out of town, I spent at Jonathan's parents house. I had the idea and did all the prep work. Jonathan's mother helped me sew it together. I hadn't touched a sewing machine since I was 13 and a Girl Scout. I was definitely a little rusty. I sewed it together and Jonathan's mother fixed all the boo boo spots for me. Pics are posted below.

I also have an updated picture of our garden which seems to have exploded the past few weeks. I have a pic posted of the first cucumber picked on Saturday. We invited Jonathan's Mother over for lunch since the guys were still chipping up the bushes. We all got a taste of the first pick of the season. We also noticed the Roma tomatoes finally starting to come in. The corn has the silk, but the beetles seem to be getting there way at the moment. I think we will be spraying this week to keep the pests off. Hopefully the corn will make it. I think the corn might only have another week or two left.

Look Out!!! Stand Clear!!
Timberrrrrrrr!!!
Running everything through the Chipper.

Baby shower cake that says "Baby Max".
Betsy received a Onesie that said Australia from one of my cousins. She just got home from Australia after three weeks, on Saturday. She managed to bring this back for Betsy's shower.
This is the baby blanket that I made.
Garden check. As you can see, things are a bit crowded with the cucumbers having there way.
First pick of the season before we cut into it. I haven't quite figured out why they call them Straight Eight Cucumbers. Judging by the look of things, we will have plenty to share!!

Niagara Falls

Last weekend, everyone knows we went to Niagara Falls. I have to say, Jonathan and I had a really great time. If you haven't been there yet then it needs to be added to your list.
We ended up renting a car for the trip to help ease up on the mileage on our car. We paid for a full size car hoping to get a Dodge Charger. We ended up getting a Jeep Compass. To me, it definitely did not seem like a full size car. It was an SUV that was smaller then our car. Luckily it was just my size for driving. I think it even grew on Jonathan along with getting decent gas mileage.
We arrived on Thursday about 2pm, about an hour ahead of what we predicted. We just kinda took it easy that day since we had been driving so much. We first headed to dinner at The Red Coach Inn. The menu was VERY expensive, so I ended up with a Cheese Burger and Jonathan got the Fish n Chips. They had to be the fanciest Burger and Fish I had ever seen. We then strolled down to the falls. Luckily, our hotel was within walking distance of most everything important. When we got back to the hotel that night, we got to watch a spectacular Fireworks display over the Seneca Casino that we could see from outside our hotel.
On Friday, we decided to join a tour that picked us up at our hotel. The bus took us to all the important sights and definitely saved us a bit of gas and driving frustration. Since it was the fourth of July, everyone around the world was also there. We got to stop at Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, Goat Island, The Whirlpool, Thunder Theater and a few other places that I can't remember what they were called. Jonathan and I really loved the Maid of the mist and Cave of the Winds. We got to take the boat all the way up to the falls in Maid of the Mist. In Cave of the Winds, we got to climb to the side of Bridal Veil falls while letting the falls come down on us. We got a few pics of m\Maid of the Mist but couldn't get any of Cave of the Winds. That night we watched the Fireworks displayed over the falls.
On Saturday, we just did our own thing. We walked the streets and the falls again. At night we headed to the falls again to see the Illumination at the falls. They light up the falls most every night and everyone migrates down there to get the best pictures.
On Sunday, we started home. When we got to Erie, PA we decided to stop on Presque Isle. This is a peninsula that goes into the Erie Lake from Erie. Presque Isle is a heavily wooded Park that was filled with campers, boats, fishing, biking and everything else needed for a great family destination. It also had a really great view of the lake.
We finally made it home about 6pm on Sunday.
Jonathan did take some videos while we were there, but we still can't figure out how to get them on the computer. Anyway, hope everyone likes our other pictures




The Trolley we took the first day that took us all around for $2.00.
Bridge over the Niagara River that goes over to Goat Island
Us at the Falls
Fireworks at the Seneca Casino
The biggest Firework we saw over the Casino. Probably the biggest I had ever seen.

One of the bridges that leads over to Canada. What you can't see is the long line waiting to get across the boarder.
View of the American Falls From Maid of the Mist
That's me wearing the rain poncho for Maid of the Mist
View of Horseshoe Falls

View of American Falls from the Observation Deck

Our goofy shoes given to us as part of the Cave of the Winds tour, so our sneakers wouldn't get wet.
Sunset view of the Canadian Farris Wheel
That's us at the Illumination on Saturday.
Presque Isle Fishing Pier and Lighthouse
That's me at Presque Isle Lagoon

What were you doing one year ago today??

One year go today, actually to the minute, Jonathan and I were getting married.

Above, is a picture of our anniversary cake. This was made buy the same lady that made our wedding cake. To make sure everyone got a piece of cake at the wedding, we decided not to keep the top layer of our cake. Instead, she offered to make us a fresh 1 year anniversary cake. Since Jonathan and I had both taken today off work, we ventured down to Dayton to pick up the cake.

So tonight we are cookin out and having cake for dessert.

I will have our Niagara Falls pics posted soon. I need a chance to sort through them and make sure we got some good shots. Also, does anyone know how to post videos on the blog? At the moment, we can't figure out how to get them out of the camera. We got a new camera before our vacation and now we can't figure how to work it. HELP!!