Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall!

Happy Saturday everyone!  This is the weekend that represents the end of summer.  You can feel the temperature dip in the evenings and early mornings.  It usually warms up during the day, but it is still different from a few weeks ago.  I love the fall.  I think it is like my New Year.



(pic we Heart it)

It seems as though the wind brings fresh air and new beginnings.  It was always fun getting the kids ready for school.  There was an air of excitement, they were nervous and excited at the same time.  They wondered what teachers they were getting, and who was going to be in their classes.

(pic. We Heart it)

( pic. We Heart it)

And then they started College, we had to buy towels, bedding and every other thing a new College kid needed.  The boys were easy, they were happy throwing everything in a plastic bag, but our daughter seemed to be much more organized.  Plastic containers, suitcases and everything had to match.  Girls have so much more STUFF!  Did I ever tell you how much I missed her when she went off?  Well with 3 boys and 1 girl, you can understand that, right?  Her first year away, I was looking forward to her coming home this one weekend.  Well it just so happens that we were going to have a snow storm.  I was devastated!  My husband must have know how upset I was, because he took off work that day and we drove up to Penn State to pick her up!  Don't get me wrong, I love my boys dearly, but they don't call as

much as your daughter does, just to chat.

Penn State.

.

(pic. We Heart it)

# 3 & Wife M., Husband B & daughter, #4, graduate, me & hubby, # 1.

Number 4 ( the last one) and his then girlfriend K.  Now his wife.

Now they all have graduated and left home, 3 are married, we have 3 grand kids, and I don't know where all that time went!

So now here we are in the new Fall season and we don't have to move anyone up to school anymore.  I love it and hate it at the same time.  We don't go up to school anymore just to see the kids and go to the football games, it is just different.  Although  now we can enjoy helping our grand kids get ready for school, and the excitement is back again.  We can watch our 5 year old grandson play football, I can't believe they start them that young now.  We can watch our grand daughter in her cheer leading outfit, cheer for the teams.  I am also delighted to say that I am watching the youngest, 3 months old, while our daughter goes back to work.  I am so glad that I can finally help her out now that I am not working anymore.

 
Megan

Connor

I know this is a soccer game, I don't have a football picture yet.

Ryan

So this is how my Fall season is starting this year.  How has your season been going?

Getting kids off to school?

Enjoy the last weekend of Summer!  Say hello to Fall~

Susan

Rainy Days

I like the rain, especially when it starts to cool things off.  It's really great if you don't have to go out that day!

We really needed rain, now we seem to have an excess.  We had more rain these last few days then we normally have for a whole summer.

During the dry spell, I was so worried about our grass that I watered the lawn every day.  Now my husband said that it seems like we just watered the weeds. The front yard is filled with weeds!  We live in a community where they take care of your lawn, mow your grass and shovel the snow for you, which is great, but I think they need to plant some more grass for us.  It looks like our lawn is the worst in the neighborhood. I was

told that now we just have to wait until it is time for grass planting.

 

I just finished reading 'The Help'.  I loved it!  Now I can't wait to see the movie.  If you haven't read the book I highly recommend it.  I was impressed with this writer, Katherine Stockett.  It was her first novel as well.  It was sad, funny and very well written.  Put it on your summer/fall reading list.  Although, it has been out for a while and in paperback so I may be the last person in America to have read it.

We had our first book club meeting Friday night.  We had 9 ladies show up.  We decided to pick an older James Patterson book, 'You've been warned'.  Many ladies had already read some of the newer best sellers so we were a little limited on what to read.  I am really looking forward to this.  I made a fruit salad and some canoli's, beverage's were wine or ice tea. One of our ladies brought a big box of wine and some apps.  She is very excited about the book club as well, can ya tell. 

Today is my daughter's birthday, 34 years old.  Her daughter told her that she couldn't come up stairs because she was getting all dressed up for her mothers birthday.  I have to post this picture, because she is only 7 years old and acts like she is 15!  God help us through those teen years.

She told her mother that she even dressed up her American girl doll, Ashley.  Very Chanel don't ya think!

Have an awesome day!

Susan

Back Home.....

Well, we are back from vacation.  I love going away, but I always love coming home.  We had a wonderful time with our family!  It was fun, relaxing and hot!

Before everyone arrived on Friday.

Once everyone arrived, the men all went to play golf.

And then off to the Beach. Nieces and Nephews playing with grand kids.

The baby was so good.  Sometimes we actually took him to the beach.  Other times Grandpop stayed up at the house and babysit.

Daughter along with her cousins.

 We even took an updated family picture.  It was a little windy, so I am not sure if I like the way they turned out.  I also think it was too early in the evening to take the pictures, I prefer to take pictures a little later, but we had two different families to get photographed and my daughter wanted to start earlier.  I haven't seen the pictures that everyone else was taking, so I am hoping some of them turned out better then mine.

Family

Of course, some of us needed some refreshments during the photo shouts!



Two of the grand kids.

Sister in law with her family.

Sister in law with her family.

# 1 son with girlfriend

Daughter and her family.

# 2 son and wife.

# 3 son with wife.

Just trying to get everyone together.

Then, it was time for our seafood fest!  Everyone had a job.

Scallops, fish, lobster, crab, muscles along with corn, salad, baked macaroni and many more good side dishes!

Sunday night I made baked Ziti for everyone along with garlic bread and salad.  Some more relaxing along with some computer help from # 2 son.  Trying to teach me "light room" for pictures.  I think that is going to take some practice on my part!

Then it was time for everyone to say good bye, until next year!  Hubby and I stayed until Tuesday, which was wonderful.  We didn't have to sit in traffic on Sunday night!

We have to thank Andy and Nancy (sister & brother in law) for hosting our week and weekend!

Now back to reality along with laundry and cleaning!

Susan



Shopping day with Mommy and Nonna.....

I should save this for Wordless Wednesday, but it was too cute to save.  Went shopping with my daughter and the grand kiddies yesterday.  Pictures say it all........

The beginning of the day...

End of the day....

The car was full, they had to share a seat! 

 Usually they wear us out, yesterday, we wore them out!

Have an awesome weekend!

Susan



Wedding Day....

Well, the wedding was fabulous, and we had such a great time!  Karen just passed the Bar exam, and now she is working and Pete is going back for his masters in International Business.  He just spent 3 weeks in China, and they are going to Italy for their Honeymoon!  They did the wedding their way, very economically.  They had a friend take pictures, another friend made the cake, which was beautiful.  She didn't want a Vail or flowers, saying they were a waste of money.

The drive to DC was about 3 hours, well maybe 3 1/2 hours including stopping for breakfast.  We drove down with my sister & brother in law, Andy & Nancy, so we discussed everything under the sun, including the wedding and wondering who would be there.  The bride and groom reserved a block of rooms at the Rouge hotel because it was only a block from the reception.  They had a bus take us to the church and back.  The hotel was very modern.  They called it a boutique hotel.  A little too modern for my taste, but everyone stayed there so it was fun.

The lobby.

Our room

Middle son # 2 and wife M.

hubby and his three brothers.

The Bride & her Father

Taking their vows

On to the reception, which was held at the Carnegie Institute of Science.

Her dress was beautiful.  You can't see, but it was tea length.

Mr & Mrs T

Another Mr & Mrs T

Daughter & her Hubby

Daughter giving advice to her dad

Tote & Hubby

The T ladies

Isn't the cake different!  It was delicious!

I can tell you that fun was had by all.  It is always special when we can get together with family!

It's good to be home.

Susan