Wednesdays With Matthew

Wednesday is my day to pick up Matthew from school. I was a little early, so I took a drive through Arlington to see the new school. It looks like they are making great progress! The school is scheduled to open next fall, so Matthew will be among the first group of first graders at the brand new Arlington Elementary. Hope it lasts another 100 years!


When we got home, I was busy checking mail, etc., when I noticed Matthew in the pantry. I guess he was hungry for an after school snack, and had assembled some ingredients to satisfy his craving. Can you tell what he had in mind??


I had not really planned on making cookies today, but what's a Granny to do?? We got busy mixing up a quick batch of everyone's favorite, Aunt Worth's Oatmeal Cookies. Of course I may have to lobby soon to have the name changed to Aunt Susan's! :)



All mixed up, with a few tastes for quality assurance. Matthew liked using the cookie scoop.


Mmmmmmm..... hot from the oven.

Here he is sharing the finished product with Aunt Janet. Earlier, he had offered her a taste of the dough... on his finger! Which is, in my opinion, the very best way to eat it.

The Luck of the Irish

It was a great day of tailgating on Saturday, even though those pesky Irish got lucky again and the game ended in disappointment.
We had a fun group of friends and family sharing in the day. We missed David and Shylah who were attending her cousin's wedding. Hopefully David put on his happy face at the wedding and didn't let on that he was missing a big game. :)
Andrew and Darci brought their friends Matt and Shelly from Louisville along with their two girls, Abbi and Makenna. Matthew and Abbi got started on the fun with a little game of corn hole.


That lasted until Matthew spotted Tyler, to which he made a bee-line to a hug. Tyler and Matthew go way back. In fact, Tyler was there when Matthew was born. They were glad to see each other.


Tyler brought his parents, Rick and Kelli, his girlfriend Sammi, and his brother Kyle. It was great to see them. Here Rick and Jim are deep in discussion, while Kelli and Darci do some catching up. Kelli broke her ankle on the way to Andrew and Darci's wedding and spent the entire evening painfully watching from a chair. She was not about to miss their big day! We are happy to see her back on her feet.


Here is Kyle, checking out the food table. He is a freshman at Purdue this year, and he and Adam are both learning about college life while their parents are learning how it feels to have an empty nest.

Adam's girlfriend Alli was with us as well. She attends a school in Bloomington. :)

We had plenty of good food. Also stopping by were Adam's friends Aaron and Chris. Tyler's sister-in-law Amy and a couple of her friends joined us as well. It was great to see everyone.


There was some intense corn hole going on.


Darci and Tyler decided to compare bellies. Darci is due in January. Not sure about Tyler.

Matthew had to try on Tyler's Iowa Hawkeyes hat. His daddy didn't like it too much, but we know how much Tyler loves the Hawkeyes. We'll cheer for them as long as they're not playing Purdue. Tyler was happy by the end of the day when the Hawks got a victory over the Nittany Lions.

Tyler and Sammi.
Andrew, Matt, and the kids: Matthew, Makenna, and Abbi. The kids got to go with Hannah the babysitter since the game was so late.

Matthew giving Aunt Fer another smooch goodbye. He's good at that.

We cheered the team on the field. Joe Tiller was in the press box, and led the crowd in Shout before the start of the fourth quarter. He was even bustin' some moves up there.


It was a great day until those last few minutes of the game. We do like to win, but we know that the fun we have together is the best part of Saturdays in the fall. We'll be back. Hail Purdue!

TGIF

It's Friday! Spent a little time working, booked tickets to Haiti, out for lunch, and some time on the road. A good day, spent with special people. Jamalyn (the kids say my bff Jamalyn whenever I send her a text - like the commercial with Grandma texting her "bff Rose") came and we booked our tickets to Haiti in November. We'll have a small group going to take school pictures, spend time at the orphanage, and visit friends.

Jennifer had the day off and came to finalize her car purchase. She (and the bank) are officially the owners of that snazzy Jeep Liberty. So exciting. She was just in time for lunch, and we had a nice time at Chili's. Here are Jennifer and Jamalyn showing off some Chili's coasters.


Jennifer and I picked up Matthew from school in Arlington. He thought her new car was awesome, and can't wait for a sunny day when he can take a ride with that sweet ragtop sunroof open. He spent some time reviewing all the teams in the Big Ten, and told Aunt Fer that there are actually 11 teams in the Big Ten, since they let Penn State in. :)


He asked for one of his favorite snacks.... dill pickles. He ate two bowls, and thought they were Yum-my! Aunt Fer and I aren't crazy about pickles, so Matthew was pleased to give Fer a sweet pickle smooch when it was time to go.



Next stop, Columbus to meet Andrew and friends. They will all be with us for our tailgate tomorrow before the big game against Notre Dame at 8 p.m. When I told Matthew that he wouldn't get to stay for the game since it's so late, he said, "That's ok, you can just text us to tell me who wins." He had a little snooze on the way to Columbus. He really is sleeping, even though it looks like his eyes are open.

Here's Matthew with Matt, Abbi, Makenna, and Andrew on their way to get some supper before heading north. I'm sure they had a lively road trip. Hopefully no one mentioned "pig yuck."

Wednesdays With Matthew

On Wednesdays, I am blessed to be able to pick up Matthew from school and bring him home for a couple of hours until his mom gets off work. Rush County Schools dismiss a half hour early on Wednesdays, so I arrive at school to pick him up at 2:30. It is so much fun to have him run to greet me at the fence when his class comes walking out for dismissal. His school is in Arlington, and his principal is Mrs. Innis. We taught together at Rushville Elementary, and it is nice to know she is there watching out for Matthew. She does a great job with the school.


This is the 100th year for classes at Arlington, and they just got shirts today boasting, "100 Years of Quality Education." Matthew was so proud he had to change into his new shirt in the car on the way home. Next year, they will have a brand new school.


He rides bus number 39 (in the background) in the mornings.

Carter is also here on Wednesdays, and they enjoy their time playing together. Today they worked on some dinosaur coloring sheets to decorate our workroom, and Matthew showed Carter his new football helmet set with all the teams in the Big Ten.

When it is time for Carter to leave, he always has to make a trip to the snack machine, and invites Matthew to come along. Today, they each chose Doritos for their snack.

Here they are together ready to munch down on some chips. Mmmmmm....

You can also see Matthew's brand new Arlington Wildcats shirt. It's purple! :)

Visitors from Texas.

Carol and Barry spent a few days in Indiana for Barry's Purdue Vet School reunion, and we were happy to have them make a visit to Show Grace headquarters this afternoon. They had a busy day in the 'burg with stops to see the Gunn triplets and Gilliam Show Horses, and a few of us gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner.


Domino's pizza and pasta bowls were on the menu, with cherry pie for dessert. We had it one of Grandpa's favorite ways, warm with ice cream. Yummy!



Our entertainment for the evening was provided by Harper who enjoyed his own supper. It won't be long 'til he's ready for pizza like the big boys.


He spent some time flirting with Aunt Carol.

And showed us his tummy time skills.

He also got to hear some stories from Grandpa Stewart before heading home with Grammy for bedtime. Good night, sweet dreams.....

Book Club Monday

Our church has a book club for which I "inherited" leadership after Pastor Jamalyn left. Today we met for the first time since last May. We take the summer off, and it was nice to be back together to catch up and enjoy lunch and discussion. We are fortunate to be able to meet at Somethin's Perkin', and are warmly welcomed each time by Bill and Tammy Leak. They serve delicious soups, sandwiches, and coffee in their Christian coffeehouse, which also houses their church, Living Waters Ministry.

We had a group of five ladies today, and it was nice to have Judy join us for the first time. I enjoy this group so much, not just for the books we read and discuss, but also for the stories, the wisdom, and the friendship we share.

The book we read over the summer was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. It is quite a large book, and I wanted to give everyone (mostly me) enough time to read it. I don't go through books quite as quickly as the ladies in the group!

We found the book to be very interesting, but all agreed that we did not care for the ending. It is the story of a boy who is born mute, and learns to communicate through sign language. His family raises dogs, which are quite intelligent and seem to possess extraordinary qualities. Edgar is able to communicate with the dogs on an almost supernatural level. After the death of his father, Edgar is led to run away into the wilderness with three of the family dogs. His journey is a coming of age experience for him, and he returns home to confront the evil that has come to his home, but meets instead with chaos and tragedy which marks the ending of the story.

Our group enjoys reading a variety of books, and most often gives the books a positive review. I did not ask them to rate this book, but may start asking them to do so in the future. I would say this book might receive 4 out of 5 stars. I think we all found it to be a fascinating story, but were hoping for a happier ending.

Where Were the Boilers?

Another beautiful football Saturday. We arrived bright and early, set up tailgate camp, and enjoyed food, friends and family in the R lot. We are quite good at the whole tailgate thing, and it's great to welcome guests to our little corner of the Boilermaker fan village.

We had some awesome desserts, requested by Jennifer.


The traditional juicy burgers seasoned with Miss America spice.


The menu also included chips and dip, apples and dip, cheesy potatoes, and an assortment of beverages. David and Shylah enjoyed the day, and we also welcomed Shylah's brother Joe and girlfriend Mikayla, and a couple of David's chemistry friends.


It was a nice surprise to have Sabrina Smiley and Cole Weber stop by, and it was great to see them and hear about Sabrina's start at U of Indianapolis.


Peter Reding also joined us. He is walking on to the PU baseball team, so that is keeping him busy for now.


We were honored to have David's advising professor Dr. Dave McMillin join us at the tailgate as well. He is such a great guy, and was especially interested in hearing about Jennifer's work with sheep. Not everyone is comfortable with that kind of discussion!


We also got to meet Jennifer's new friend Dustin. Jim: "So, Dustin, have a seat." Too funny....


The half time performance of the band was the ONLY highlight of the game.


This is a random guy wearing the jersey of Jonathan's all time favorite player, Mike Alstott. Can you tell the game was a bit hard to watch?


Shy made us a reservation at Outback to lift our spirits and we enjoyed some great food and drink, along with great company.






The cheese fries and margaritas helped us forget the agony of defeat, and we'll be back for more next week when we take on the Irish of Notre Dame. That's pronounced the American way! Boiler Up!