Summer in Our Backyard

On this last day of August I thought I'd take you on a tour of our backyard. "Are you coming?"... First we have Ms. Chipmunk helping herself to breakfast on the deck--- birdseed. She doesn't wait for an invitation. Okay we'll take the steps to your right and go into the backyard. Please follow me over to the area by the backstairs to where we have a repurposed porch swing---now a plant bench. Mr. Ken put the legs on for me. We'll move across the yard now...Are you keeping up? Here we have the "Memorial Bird Garden"--in memory of my Mom, she loved to watch the birds frolic around. There are Marigolds planted around the birdbath. Shall we move on? This area is next to our shed in the back part of our yard. When we got our new grill several years ago I repurposed this into a planter--Moss Rose is the occupant this year. Off we go... Our last stop is the west side yard--yes, it is HOT on this side of the house but we won't be here long. Since it IS soo hot over here we have given up growing ANYTHING (weeds like the heat). Off to your left as you look at this picture we have put down red mulch and GREAT BIG decorative rocks. Going towards the front of the house you will see this birdbath and flowerpot that holds birdseed. That's the end of our tour. We hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into our backyard. Fall is just around the corner so enjoy these last days of summer. ~Keep on Dreaming~

The Horrors Of Moving

Today was moving day for Ken's youngest brother and because we love him we agreed to help him move. All was going well UNTIL we began to unload the truck at the new place. As you can see I have acquired a injury. I was unloading the truck as the guys hauled the stuff up the stairs when I noticed BLOOD. I started looking all over me to see where it was coming from and then I noticed that my thumb was oozing blood. I didn't feel anything when it happened but after I figured out that it was my thumb it started hurting! I remembered seeing a roll of paper towels somewhere so I started rummaging in boxes, found them and wrapped it up. I worked the rest of the day with my thumb wrapped and pressure being applied. The thumb FINALLY stopped bleeding but I kept it wrapped because even the outside air irritated the cuts and peeled area of the thumb. Yes, I lost skin in this little endeavor. When we got home I washed my hands and my thumb but I thought I was going to lose it when the water ran over the thumb. Lots of OUCH, OUCH, OUCHES going on. Dr. Ken helped with the bandaging. I've hit it severals times of course, using the bathroom is NO fun and eating is an experience. This work week should prove to be interesting. My kids will be fascinated with my bandage. All for the love of a brother-in-law! ~Keep on Dreaming~

Thoughts on "10"

***Please bear with me :)***

I have been mulling in my head (when I have time) ten.

You see there are two milestones occuring this year

revolving around the number ten.

1) Ken and I will celebrate our ten year anniversary!!

2) At the end of this school year I will celebrate ten

years at school!

As I reflect back over the last ten years many things

have occured in mine and Ken's lives. We've gone on

some wonderful vacations to St. Louis--they have a

beautiful garden there, Minneapolis--we went to the

Mall of America a MUST see place, they also have

beautiful gardens, especially The Sculpture Garden

One year we went up to Omaha--we got to go to

a Omaha Royals game (our farm team), The Omaha

Zoo is really nice-not too small, not too big. We

took a two week adventure to the Southwest via

Colorado-then on to Sante Fe, Albuquerque,

Phoenix, Amarillo and Oklahoma. (2004) One of

the things we did in Albuquerque was take a HOT

AIR BALLOONRIDE at the crack of dawn.! We helped

set up the balloon and then off we went over the city.

The sunrise was BEAUTIFUL!

In 2007 we went the other way--to the

Southeast. Memphis--GRACELAND, Nashville--THE

GRAND OLD OPRY, while in Nashville we drove up

to Kentucky and went to MAMMOTH CAVE PARK,

on the way back to Nashville we stopped at THE

CORVETTE MUSEUM--pretty interesting. From

there we went over to Pigeon Forge and stayed in

a CABIN up in the mountains! I wasn't too sure

about this but after staying in a tiny hotel room

and running into the TV at night this was WAY

better. We went all over Pigeon Forge and THE

SMOKEY MOUNTAINS. No DOLLYWOOD for us

I don't ride many rides and we used the money

for a HELICOPTER RIDE--we decided to do this

since we took the balloon ride in the southeast.

Very cool ride-not much into flying but this was

too much to pass up! We continued this trip

in Asheville, North Carolina We spent one glorious

day at THE BILTMORE ESTATE!!! What a grand

house and talk about BEAUTIFUL gardens, they've

got them there! If you haven't been there you must

go it is fabulous. Most of our recent trips have been

here in the city--those long trips take it out of us!

As you see we have traveled a lot, we've reconnected

with people we haven't seen for a while, we've worked

on the house. As we were planning our wedding and

moving me over from the Missouri side Mr. Ken gets a

bee in his bonnet that we should paint the house (as if

we didn't have enough to do). Now in Ken's mind it was

ONLY going to take two weeks to prime AND paint the

house! It took two weeks to paint the back of the house!

Needless to say many weekends you could find us paint-

ing clear up to October and yes wedding plans were still

going on for that December.

We've had fun and also our share of sorrow--Ken lost his

Mom three years ago and I lost mine two years ago this

December. We miss these wonderful women--without

them we would not be the people we are today. I also

lost one of the bestest friends I've had ten years ago.

Joy was a character--loved her dearly.

Time ticks on and the years go by so fast--I thought it

would take forever to get to five years, well that time

flew by fast As we were settling into marriage I was

starting a new phase in my career in Education-I went

from Preschool Special Ed. to Elementary Special Ed.

Two different worlds let me tell you! As time has ticked

by the Special Ed world has changed too. We are seeing

more children diagnosed with Autism and more lower

functioning children. We've had children functioning as

low as an infant to almost their chronological age with

mild issues. In these past ten years I can really think

of four students that I was happy to pass on.

One was just down right mean, one had a period on time

when he could be aggressive, one screamed ALL the time

it seemed and one was a "runner"--a lot of door watching

with him. I do love seeing a student come in and watch

them grow over the school year!!

The last ten years can be summed up as:

I live, laugh and love each and every day. Some days are

better that others but we go on. I'm looking forward to

ten more with Ken and ten more after that. He is a

wonderful husband and friend and I wouldn't trade him

for NOTHING! As far as work goes we'll see what happens

at the end of this school year.

I told you I've done some mulling! If you made it through

this THANKS!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Did You Know?????

Four months from today is CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! The following is from usefultrivia.com: The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Grover Cleveland's daughter. On May 15, 1950 Coca Cola became the first product ever to appear on Time Magazine. Introduced in 1963, the very first Easy Bake Oven was turquoise and came with a carrying handle and a fake stove top. The very first Pizza Hut was built in Wichita, Kansas. Running for eight seasons, "Bewitched" was the longest running of the so-called "fantasy" sitcoms in the mid 1960's. Catwomen made her first appearance in Batman #1- Spring 1940. The world's biggest pumpkin holds the record at 1,385 pounds! Beauty and the Beast was the first full length animated feature to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. It did win a Golden Globe for Best Picture. The game Twister consists of 24 spots of four different colors. Fish scales are commonly used in the making of lipstick. It makes it SHINY. :) I give you this information to file away to use during an unexpected lull at any of your future parties. Enjoy! :) ~Keep on Dreaming~

A Day In The Sun

Yesterday Ken and I spent some quality time outside. We went downtown and watched from a bridge-The Kansas City Aviation and Airshow. We joined many families and couples who came to see the show. I decided that we would take our lunch so, I packed the insulated picnic bag and we stopped for sandwiches, chips and sodas. Mr. Ken drove us downtown and we parked down the hill from the bridge then made our way up to the bridge and picked a place to sit and have our picnic while watching the planes. There were aerobatics-flying straight up. and straight down. This plane carried the parachuters. This picture shows four of the six aircraft civilian formation aerobatic team. They did formation stunts sometimes four planes and sometimes all six. Some of the contrails from the aerobatic team. We also heard before we saw the US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon. It flew over soooo fast that a picture was IMPOSSIBLE! What a fun time we had sitting in the sun, having a picnic and watching a lot of talented pilots. ~Keep on Dreaming~

Out For A Drive

Today was another beautiful day and I had a case of cabin fever due to being home for two days with tummy issues. I think part of it is allergies too. Sooooo Mr. Ken took me out for a drive. We ended up at Shawnee Mission Park here is town. As you can see the water was a lovely blue. Here we have two people taking advantage of the weather. It was windy today so this boat was MOVING!

While we were driving through the park, Ken and I were

pondering whether we would see "the deer." You see these cute little darlings have been in the news lately. They kinda have made a bit of a nusanse of themselves

to neighboring homes. So now the "Big Idea" is to have

an organized kill to decrease the enormous amount

in the park. I understand the issue BUT there has to be

a better way to control them! Aren't they pretty?

This looked to be a doe checking out the surroundings.

This is "Big Buck" check out those antlers!

***Photo alert--the deer pictures were taken while I was

facing the sun and they were in the shadows. They didn't

seem to mind that I was there so I didn't get too close--

I didn't want to frighten them.

~Keep on Dreaming~

I'm Thinking.....

I was home sick with a tummy ache today--not the best way to begin a school year but.... I guess I ate something that didn't agree with my digestive system. Of course, NOTHING agrees with it before I had my gall bladder out AND now that I don't have it! Anyhooo, since I was home I was able to enjoy today's weather as it evolved after our storms over the past week. See yesterday's rant. I went outside with my trusty camera in hand and snapped some of the beautiful afternoon sky and the clouds that were flitting by. These look like they are holding hands and one is saying

"Come on let's run!"

This one was in the southern sky--I'm not sure what it

exactly reminds me of but I thought it was cool looking.

This is my favorite! I love how the sun is surrounded by the

clouds, kinda like they are nestling it between them. All of the

pictures were taken around 5:30 this evening. Enjoy!

~Keep on Dreaming~

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

I'm not against rain but....I have had it ! We've had rain each day over the past few days. I guess the rain felt like our students needed to be greeted on their first day! Now, I know that you Mom's out there manage to get kids in and out of cars when it's raining so you wouldn't think getting kids off buses in the rain would be that hard RIGHT? WRONG--We ARE talking about child- ren with special needs, no spatial concepts, selective listening (stay out of the puddles) and most think that help is needed with holding the dang umbrella! Please don't think I'm making fun of my kids, I just speak reality. :) This had been my morning at work since Monday. At home the yard is a wreck, the garden has gone WILD, and we can't get to the grill because the ground is muddy in front of it. I guess the upside of it all is that we haven't had to water as much and the flowers and grass look good. Well...the grass will look good when it can be mowed. I will be glad for some SUN! Which we are SUPPOSED to get the rest of the week into the weekend! YEA! Hopefully the weatherman will be as right about the sun as he was about the rain. ~Keep on Dreaming~

A Simple Summer Supper

We had our evening meal a little later than usual and I was tired from school so I decided that meatloaf would have to wait until tomorrow. When trying to figure out a plan B meal I thought about sandwiches. One of my favorite sandwiches from childhood is BOLOGNA AND CHEESE. Those two items just happened to be in my refrigerator. We also had fresh vegetables from the garden , leftover cole slaw, and fruit. Two sandwiches one with mayo and one with mustard. DELISH!!!!! ~Keep on Dreaming~

Oh! Good Grief!

First I must apologize for the darkness of the picture.

If you look closely you'll see that we had a visitor today.

Not one I really want visiting-Yes, it was the sewer man.

My lovely washing machine decided that it had had

enough of the tree roots in our drain, so it rebelled

and overflowed ALL OVER THE LAUNDRY ROOM AND

INTO THE FAMILY ROOM! It didn't get too far into the

laundry room but it did get some stuff damp that I'd

rather not have damp.

Luckly my best bud Nancy at Acorn Cottage had

the name of a good plumber. Sooo we called them

and out they came to save the day now evening.

Before the guy got here Mr. Ken had to run the wet

vac. twice to pick up all the water that had overflowed!

What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening.

I hope your Sunday was more restful!!!

PS---Found out the water seeped under the wall and

got stuff wet that was on the floor behind the BAR.

I think I need something from a bar RIGHT NOW!

~Keep on Dreaming~

A New Addition To My Collection

Happy Saturday to Everyone! Today I'd like to share with you my new cookbook! Now if you were to come to my kitchen or talk with Mr. Ken you would find that I need a new cookbook like I need a whole in my head! BUT...... Our school librarian does a Summer Reading program for the students and staff each summer, she sends home a chart with all of us that we can keep track of the books, magazines, newspapers AND cereal boxes that we read over the summer. I turned my chart in yesterday and then I got to choose a book! I looked through all the books on the cart and then I found this little gem stuck between two BIG books. This book is titled Blue Ribbon USA-Prizewinning Recipes From State And County Fairs. Each state is represented with a prize winning recipe. Each recipe page gives a little ditty about the prize winner, the recipe and shows posters from that fair. The winner of the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia was Sarah Keyte for Catfish Wraps. Her category was Wild Meat or Fish. (No date is listed for this contest) The winner for the Douglas County Fair in Lawerence, Kansas was a twelve year old young lady-Ashley Lesser. Her Grand Prize winning recipe was for Strawberry Daisy Bread. I'm looking forward to checking this little gem out more . I'll

let you know when I try any of the recipes out.

The authors also have two other books one is called Cooking

USA and the other is called Cookout USA they both look

like fun reads.

Here a a few recipe titles from the fair book---

California--Salsa Jam

Colorado--Colorado Potato Cream Pie

Florida--Pecan Fudge Carmel Squares

Louisana--Pickled Okra

Oklahoma--Oklahoma Wagon Wheels

Looks like fun don't you think?

~Keep on Dreaming~

A Cultural Experience

DOES THIS BELONG AT YOUR LOCAL CONVIENCE STORE? ! I MEAN REALLY!!!! Last night Mr. Ken and I went to what we fondly call our nearest convience store--"The Cultural Center." We call it that because at anytime one is there you can get "some culture." It's a very good place to do some people watching and at any one time you can see all types of styles and dress. So, as we were pulling out of our "Cultural Center", I noticed this man get of of the passener seat -I had to do a double take because he was wearing a BATHROBE! Yes, I said "a BATHROBE." Mind you this was more of a lounge type robe not your flannel model AND he did have bottoms on (just wanted to get that in). I believe he also had slippers on. I wished I had been in the store when he went in, to see the other customers/staff reactions BUT... the reaction of the three people standing outside was enough. They were checking his outfit out too. I realize that we are talking about a convience store here but COM'ON! A BATHROBE! You never know what your going to see when you are out and about but sometimes I wonder if people even bother to look in the mirror before leaving the house. Now if you are one of these people wearing your bathrobe to your local convience store I hope I didn't offend you. :) I can tell you though that the robe is the first one I 've seen at our store! So if you are in a hurry just slap on the robe and take off. But remember you might get some LOOKS! ~Keep on Dreaming~

It's that time of the year!

Well, IT IS that time of year. "Back to School" time. Children and adults all over the country/world are heading back. Now when I was growing up we didn't go back until after Labor Day. Nowadays students are heading back earlier and earlier. So much for a summer break! I still have problems knowing that I only get two and half months off-it goes by soooo fast. Too many projects to get accomplished in that time frame! This year we will have some of the same students and a couple of "new" ones from the primary room. It is always good to see familiar faces and also see those changes that took place over break. One always hopes that the "new" ones transition well. When working with children with Special Needs you never know what might take place each day. It's like riding a surfboard-smooth ride or rough ride. We ride the wave daily hoping for smooth surf. I hope all of you have a good school year--either teaching, going to school yourself or sending your own off to school. Enjoy your year-I hope too. ~Keep on Dreaming~

Somebody had a BIRTHDAY!

That person was Mr. Ken-the "King". As you can see he has gone HOLLYWOOD! Mr. Ken turned the BIG 4 5 this year! We had a Fiesta party

for him and then we had this delish cake and ice cream.

This is Nancy from Acorn Cottage having a fit of giggles.

Our couch has recliners at each end and once she reclines

the chair doesn't like to let her go.

Here is "Cowboy Ken" at Texas Roadhouse---Ken's

youngest brother took him there for his big day. Before

we left "the saddle" came out. For those of you not

familiar with this restaurant--if they know it's your

birthday this is what happens. Your server yells

throughout the place, everyone turns to look at

you and then the staff start hoopin and hollern.

Ken got to swing a napkin and yell YEE HAA!

WHAT FUN!

~Keep on Dreaming~

TAGGED !!!!!

Good Afternoon Friends-- We have been celebrating a birthday this weekend and that is why I haven't posted for a bit. (In a later post) Now on to today's business--as my title says I've been TAGGED by Georgie at Decisionally Challenged. At first I was a bit confused by this but after mulling it over for awhile I THINK I have it down pat now. Rules of the game---- ---Link to the person who tagged you. ---Post the rules on your blog. ---Write six random things about yourself. ---Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. ---Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. ---Let the blogger know when your post entry is up on your site. My Random Quirks--- ***I sleep in socks year round! I'm not a barefoot kind of gal most often. ***I love, love, love potato chips with my toast. ***I DO NOT like liver, turnips, parsnips or what I like to call "yard waste " salad greens. ***I'm with the rest of you ICE lovers--IT ROCKS except in milk. ***Mr Ken and I met via my then friend- now sister- in-law and her husband-Mr. Ken's brother. ***I have a butterfly tattoo on my right shoulder. It was a birthday present when I turned 45! TAG YOUR IT!!! ~~~Home Is Where the Heart Is ~~~Acorn Cottage ~~~Brainella the Librarian ~~~Cottage Farm Villa ~~~Just A Girl ~~~Raise Your Hand If... ~Keep on Dreaming~

Wacky Wednesday

Hello--- Today I have deemed it "Wacky Wednesday" and as you can see from the above photo you know why! Now I need some help from all of YOU. Yes, I know it is to eat but we don't eat this very often. I was the lucky recipient of this from my brother-in-law. Suggestions on serving this monster! I would really appreciate it! Enjoy the day. :) ~Keep on Dreaming~

CHANGES

Hello Everyone~~~ Since I'm in this tiding up mode I decided to do some changing of the blog. Fonts are bigger, some things may be in a different location and Blinkies have been added to dress up the page a bit. I'm a re arranger --I don't like things getting stagnant sooo occasionally you'll see other changes. Hope you like them. If you read my blog, would you let me know. I realize commenting gets hard sometimes but right now I don't feel as if many people are seeing Country Dreaming. I appreciate the following of those of you who do read Country Dreaming. MAYBE I'm just impatient--since this IS a fairly new blog. Ya think???? Thanks for reading and listening!!! PS--I have a new music player too. It's pretty! :) ~Keep on Dreaming~

Sorting Continued

Good Morning--- Just wanted to give you an update on the sorting mission. I have found two more rooms that can be used for their purpose! Now, as I said in Saturday's post the sewing room was in pretty good shape but the sitting room-- a whole other story. I think we got confused and thought the daybed was one big shelf! At least now if need be someone can sleep on the bed! So the score was Calvary 2 and piles 0. Yea! On to the next mission--School starts soon. YUCK!!! ~Keep Dreaming~

Sorting Saturday and Sunday

Today was a sorting kinda day and it will continue tomorrow. My mission today was to sort out some of the piles in the sewing room. The poor room has a tendancy to collect things from other parts of the house, especially when we have company or the holidays. When school ended my bag just landed on the floor and today was the first day I have looked in it. I was able to throw things away or shred them. I'm trying not to accumulate sooooo much paper stuff. No treasures were found but I don't have anymore useless piles on the floor. YEA! Tomorrow's mission if I decide to accept it is to find the WHOLE sitting room. THIS poor room is the smallest room in our house and it has taken a beating this summer. But help is on the way--the Calvary will be on duty tomorrrow! Hopefully by tomorrow night I can see the floor, daybed and any other surface that has stuff deposited on it. Maybe on Monday I will be able to say that I have another guest room that is usuable for people not STUFF! Now, I don't want you take from this post that we are slobs--no, no! We just get busy and things pile up. You know???? Hope everyone is having a delightful weekend! ~Keep on Dreaming~