Playing Curious George~ what a hoot~!

Here is Ben playing the Curious George Game.. Oh how much fun this game was last night when Tracie and I played with Ben.

It's a board game...It has a device that is like a walkie talkie and it tells you where to go and what to do.. When it tells you to hide and seek that person puts on this mask and then he has to hide and the other players have to find that person. We had a great time and Ben learned a new game. The masks were so fun .

Ben and I went to church yesterday. He loves the praise singing and he brought a white artificial flower and waved it in the air to the music. It was so cute to watch him.. During the sermon Gran Annie had lots of activities in her magic bag to keep him busy.

After lunch Ben and I went outside and went sled riding. For some reason I can't get my pictures to transfer over to my computer so I could post them.. I'll fiqure out something and get them posted ~ we had so much fun and he loved riding on the sled.

Today the weatherman is saying we are going to have several snow storms and by Tues. ~~end up with a foot of snow.. That's a lot of snow.. It's still January and this is when we get our big snowstorms especially in Feb./ March.. So I'm ready~~ I have my 9 gallons of water stored in the basement just in case we have no electric.. No electric no water. I will put boiling water in my stainless steel container so I can have hot water for tea..

Watched the Hallmark special last night with Betty White.. I love Hallmark specials and this one was a good one.. I remember hearing my Aunts talk about waiting for their husbands to come home from the war. My Dad was never called to go to the service.. Both of my brothers were in the service. It was a great movie , sad but happy too.

Going out to feed the birds ~ I can see them out there congregating and saying "Where's the food"? Don't you know the storm is coming? Come on we are hungry...

Have a Tiggieriffic Day~!~! Ta Ta For Now~!

Going sled riding today~! WHEE~! hang on baby~!

Yesterday I picked up Ben at daycare and he was so happy to see me. What a boy~! He told his teacher, Kaylee "There's my favorite person".. Kaylee looked at me and smiled and I told her that is what Ben calls me.. and of course I tell him he is my favorite person. Kaylee thought this was great~!.. She says she remembers her Grandma as a great person and has wonderful memories of all the things her grandma did with her.

This is a old picture because I didn't have anything new to post.. It shows Ben as a happy boy, he is so happy with his Thomas the Train. He doesn't play with his Thomas the Train anymore, which is kind of sad.. He is 4 now and has moved onto Mario and Luigi and his John Deere Tractors and equipment with a barn.. Tracie said last night, maybe we should put Thomas the Train all away and when spring comes bring it all back out. But the barn and all the farm animals, tractors, and the equipment put them on the train table for now.. I said 'That was a good idea.." When the kids were little I would do that very thing.. Box up 1/2 there toys and twice a year change them. It was like Christmas , they thought they had new toys.. So today we are going to do that very thing.. I have a big tub here to put everything into and we can get things set up for Ben.. I'll have to remember to put it in the car so I'll have it when I go over to her house.

BUT first we are going to a geocaching event that is going to be held in Central City..at Pinicon Ridge Park.. It's going to be held at Woodpecker Lodge where there is a big huge sledding hill.. Tracie is going to take her sled and put Ben's snow pants and all the other outside clothes that one has to put on to keep warm.. and take Ben sled riding.. I told her I would drive the car to the bottom of the hill where there is a road and when she got there with Ben I would drive them back up the hill (via the road ) so they could go again.. This is a big hill and would be hard to pull him back up . At this event we will have lunch first.. It's a potluck and there will be good food for all. I'll take my camera and take pictures. Ben is all excited to go~!

In my bible devotion this morning it was about "What will your "life sentence" be? Our lives are our greatest legacy and we only get to have one life, so make it count. Leave a legacy of excellence, encouragement, purpose and Love.. My mom passed away 43 years ago ...I don't recall her faults or mistakes or the disagreements we had (which were few). After all who's perfect? What I remember...was her love...She gave me a legacy of love they'll embrace generations to come... My Mom and Dad were so in love throughout their marriage and they taught us kids to love each other and to serve other people with love.and to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls. Guess I'm passing it on to others and to my children and grandchildren.. Love is something that calms the spirit and with God all things are possible..

Have a tiggeriffic day~!~! Ta Ta For Now...from Iowa :)

Behind everything you do~~there's a thought~!

Good Morning ~! It's 29 degrees and it's going to be a nice day.. Cloudy ~ that means no sunshine today.. SOOOO guess when I go out today I'll have to be the sunshine...There are so many people so tired of the cold and the snow ~ in reality what can one do? Nothing...accept the fact that we are in for a few more snow storms until Spring actually arrives.. When you see the Red-Wing Blackbird in our area you will know that Spring has officially arrived.. My brother that lives in South Carolina called me the other day to tell me that he had a whole flock of Robins and Red-Winged Blackbirds in his back yard.. He said he has never seen so many birds..(He used to live in Miami Florida). I told him well, that is a good sign that spring has landed in his area and in a couple months it will be here... Get out your seed catalogs everyone and start planning on what you want in your gardens this year. Winter is almost over, we just have to be patient and wait for all this too pass.. Somewhere in the bible it says "And this too shall pass".. this is not forever and Spring will get here along with Summer and the rest of the seasons..


These orchids are so beautiful~! These pictures do not do them justice. On Thursday I go to neighbor's house and other girls from the neighborhood come and we have tea and work on our different projects. knitting, quilting, sewing quilts together, one gal is teaching her 9 year old girl how to sew and she is making a really cute skirt, . Sharon has such a wonderful house ~ Lots of windows ~ lots of light and lots of flowers blooming in the south window.. She always makes us feel welcome and it's a happy place to go ~! This is the highlight of my week to go to Sharon's house (except for Sundays when I go to church) ...Lots of sunshine here with girls laughing, encouraging each other and just relaxing~!
Outside of this window in the day time you can see all different kinds of colorful birds at the bird feeders. If you are having a hard time with handling winter this is the place to go.. Lots of talking and sharing, lots of color with the flowers and she has this cat that humors us ~ Sinbad likes to grab your yarn or jump into your bag. He is very playful and is just a really nice cat.. I love Sinbad~!




Talked with Holly and Jackie this morning on Holly's speaker phone. Jackie is the gal that we have been helping . Jackie told me that she has accepted Christ into her life.. She said she is serious about changing her life and she is going to change how she thinks.
In our daily devotion that is what it says: It says this kind of thinking is not easy and it doesn't happen instantly.. Picture yourself in a boat with the automatic pilot set to go in a certain direction, then you suddenly decided to go somewhere else. You have two options:
1-Willpower . Grab the wheel and force it to go where you want; by sheer will power, overcome the autopilot. But you'll feel constant resistance. your arms will get tired, and when you let go of the wheel, guess what? The boat will go the way it's programmed to go.. Getting the idea? That's what happens when we try to change our lives through willpower: Your willpower can only produce short-term change, but it creates constant stress because you haven't dealt with the root cause and reprogrammed your mind. The change doesn't feel natural so eventually you give up, revert to your old patterns and say, "I guess this is just the way I am. I'll never change.
2~ God's power . There is a better way~The Bible says: "let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Change always begins in your mind~! The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act. You say, "How can I change the way I think? " By programming you mind each day with God's Word. "How can a ...man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to You word"...Ps. 119:9
I really like this devotional book because somedays the devotion for the day hits the nail on the head in what is happening in my life.
Have a tiggeriffic day~!~! Ta Ta For Now from Iowa..

There is a fellow blooger I follow called ~ Silence is Broken two,too,to ~ In her blog yesterday she was writing that she found this wonderful book; Boundaries when to say yes when to say no. To take control of your life. written by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.. It sounds like a really good book to read...you can go to her blog and read what she has to say about this book...

My first time at making mittens..

This is my mitten.. I have the thumb to finish.. The stitches are on a stitch holder.

This is what my amaryllis looks like this morning. It's going to be so pretty. I like the variegated flower.. There is going to be 8 blooms.. With it being so white outside and cold ~ it's really nice to have something blooming inside my house.

Well, here is the mitten I have diligently been working on for a week now.. I have the mitten done and now to get the thumb completed.. Ta Da ~ my first mitten. It went pretty easy considering I tore it all out one time and had to start all over.. But that is how you learn.. I have the second one 1/2 made and it's going together a lot easier than the first one. I worked on this mitten while Dave drove us to Hampton,Iowa (2 1/2 hours) for the Iowa Plowing meeting. We stayed in a really nice Hotel.. the Americ Inn.. That is a really nice place... When we come back in August for the National Plowing matches we will all be staying in this hotel.. It has a pool, rec room, sauna, breakfast room, wifi Internet, just about everything we will be needing.. The lady that operates the lodge gave us special rates because we were going to have 40 people coming to reserve a room. I decided that since Dave and I will be there for 4 days I was going to have a suite. $90 a day that's not bad... Why not.. I have never stayed in something so big and decided this year we would do this ~ especially since the price is only $10 over a standard room. My eyes are set on that big Jacuzzi. Looks very inviting after a hot day at the plowing matches.

Talked with my friend Holly to see how Jackie and her two children were doing. Holly told me she went back to the house she was living in and packed up more of her and her girls things. She talked with Chad the guy who has been abusive and told him she would not be moving back in with him. (Yeah). The two little girls, Abbie and Emma are his girls and he wanted them to stay the night with him.. She asked the oldest girl Abbie age 5 if that was O.K. They had supper with him and the girls decided to stay the night..Chad told Jackie he quit smoking and has not had a beer since Sunday. That is good.. but she told Holly she wasn't going to move back in with him regardless.. She has goals that she has set for herself which is good. She seems to be making very good choices and with the help of Holly and her family and me I think she knows what it's like to receive genuine love now .. She has never ever had anyone truly love her.. Her family background is just awful, abusive . I just can't imagine having to live in such a family. Holly said she is waiting for us to say "We can't help you anymore".. That's not going to happen.

Goodness to be, I lost the mitten picture and tried to get it back on this page. Yikes it's the flower~! Well, I guess you'll just have to look at two pictures of the Amaryllis and one picture of my mitten.. this is so frustrating~!

Have a tiggeriffic day~! I'm going to town to get a few groceries.. We are out of everything.

It's a sunny day and 23 degrees.. We are having a heat wave...Going to feel nice when I go outside.

Ta Ta For Now from Iowa...:)

Yesterday neighbor girl Lori called me and said "Can you help me today?" I said "Sure , What's up".. She had found these three wooden bookshelves on Craig List. They were in Vinton, Iowa. These bookshelves used to be at the blind school that is no more.. I feel bad for those parents because this was a great school for your child to go to and learn... I said "Well I have to be back before 2:30.. She said we can do that.. So she picked me up at 11 and off we went.. There were 7 bookshelves 7 foot tall and had 6 shelves.. We picked out 2 of the best ones and loaded them up into her suburban.. She was really uncertain that these were going to work.. I said,,with a little elbow grease and some Old English Oil you will be surprised.. So she called me this morning. She scrubbed them up and put the oil on them and her books were on the shelf.. She was so excited..~! She said they were going to be great in her basement family room and these shelves costing only $50 a peice was a perfect buy.. These shelves were solid wood and of course were very heavy... But they were solid and not that fabricated wood that they make nowadays. She was happy and I was glad I was able to give her an extra hand.
When I got home I went over to Holly's house and picked up Jackie to take her to get her daughter from Kindergarden at school.. As we were driving ~ Jackie was telling me her goals and what she wanted to do with her life. Her first priority was her girls.. I thought that was good.
She said that earlier that day her and Holly tried to find a car for her to buy.. So be praying for that idea...They didn't find anything yesterday.. but they are still going to try and find something. Today Jackie is driving Holly and Fred's old van (that is what Fred drives back and forth to work)... he is using the suburban for right now. Jackie still is in disbelief that we are helping her in such a loving way and has taken her under our wing to be with her and her children.. When one has not never received true unconditional love it's hard to understand.. We are strangers to her. I gave Holly some money to use to help with groceries.. We are trying our best to show her that we care and we are praying that she won't go back with this stupid idiot and live in the house with him... SO far so good.. She doesn't want to go back with him.. He threw her out ~! but he tells her he misses her.. Yeah right~ he misses having someone to beat on with his words in mentally abusing her. This is something new to Holly and I and we are just praying for God to help us with this new adventure we are doing in helping Jackie and her girls.. She has NO one and I mean no one.. Poor thing she has NO self esteem.. but she knows she wants something better for her and the girls.. Just be praying for this whole situation .

Took care of Ben last night while Tracie went to school He was so much fun~! We played UNO card game for kids and colored in the coloring book. Of course we played Super Nindento before he went to bed.. It was so nice to see him again.. His other grandma gave him a haircut and he looked so cute. I haven't seen him for 4 days... Tracie bought him a Luigi stuffed doll on the internet.. He was so excited.. He had Tracie write his name under one of the feet. He got that from Andy on toy story.. She said Ben took Luigi with Nibbles this morning with him to Pre-School/daycare.. He loves Luigi... He tells Luigi "You and Nibbles are my best friend' and GranAnnie is my favorite person"... Oh it melts my heart when he says that..Grandchildren are a gift from God..
Today Dave and I are going to Belmond Iowa. The National Plowing Matches are going to be held there in Sept.. So we have places to check out and people to talk with.. We are planning on staying the night don't know how late the meeting this evening will be and we will be ready to either stay the night or drive home. 2 1/2 hours.
Have a tiggeriffic day~! Ta Ta For now...from Iowa

Life just got really busy~!

This is going to be quick but just to let you all know that my life is very busy right now. At church yesterday there was a prayer request for a young girl with 2 children ages 2 and 5.. They are girls.. Her abusive boyfriend threw her out of the house where she was living. He is a alcololic and smokes drugs.. She went to Donna's house ( Donna takes care of her children during the day for daycare).. Donna says this girl has no mom or dad and no place to go.. Holly, my friend and I looked at each other and after church we went to Donna's house to talk with this gal,, Jackie.. Holly's basement in her house has a furnished bedroom, bathroom and living room and we asked this girl if she would like to move into Holly's basement.. Jackie was so overwelmed with our idea that she had a hard time deciding if that is what she wanted to do.. She has never had ~ someone to truly love her and show kindness. She came and took a look and decided that this would be good but just temporarly.. She knows of an apartment that will come up in February that she can move into and this would be a great place to be until then.. Poor girl she just has no self-esteem.
So Holly and I went yesterday with Jackie and moved her out of her house.. The boyfriend was not home.. thank goodness.. She just took her clothes and the girls clothes and toys.. Everything else she left there.. She needs to buy a car which Holly is out and about trying to find one with Jackie.. So my life just got busy with helping Holly with helping Jackie.. I love it~! Helping another person is so wonderful. And Jackie is so elated because she has never had this kind of love given to her with people helping her get her life back together.. Her parents were very abusive (father and uncle abusing her) Mother denying anything going on and when Jackie was 12, her mother kicked her out of the house.. SO foster care has been Jackie's life for too long.. And then she is starved for love and meets this loser bait and thinks life is going to be better.. Jackie is 27 years old and I know Holly and I and our church will be able to help her get a better life. So anyone that would like to be praying for Jackie and her two youngs girls that would be wonderful...
So that is my life right now for a few days... Have a tiggeriffic day and ta ta for now from Iowa...

My green thumb is so excited~!

My brother sent me this picture of his pinkish/lavender/white orchid that was blooming. He lived in Florida at the time.. He now lives in South Carolina with my sister.. I'm sure he will have these growing in their greenhouse they just put up this fall. Goodness to be this orchid is so big and so beautiful.. Makes my orchid look puny.. But at least I coaxed my yellow orchid to bloom.. It was a proud moment for me when I saw the little buds coming and then when it bloomed (yellow) I was really excited~! It's so wonderful to see in the living room ~something blooming while it's so cold and snowy outside. A breath of color right before your eyes.























This is my amaryllis ~! Look at that~ 3 stalks coming up from that bulb.. I forgot what color the flower is suppose to be ~ so it will be a surprise. Won't be long and that first bud will open and then the others will have their turns...I'll really be excited when they bloom..








I put this picture on here and now I don't know how to get it off.. While it was still warm outside I took a picture of Mia.. She is such a sweet dog and so soft.She loves this stuffed animal and carries it all over the house with her..She belongs to my friend Holly.

Well, last night I went to our girls gathering at Roxanne's house. Yes, I forgot my camera.. Yikes~! what was I thinking? I was not.
We had such a great time and I didn't get home until after midnight.. I still have both of my shoes and my car didn't turn back into a pumpkin.. lol... We had lasagna for supper with salad and garlic bread. Then we snuggled in the living room and watched two movies.. "Old Dogs" and "It's Complicated. I think..this movie was with Myerl Streep and Alex Baldwin.. It was such a great movie.. I think I have the title wrong but I'm not sitting here any longer trying to think of the name... The girls wanted me to stay all night but I said oh my goodness I need my own bed.. You know at 66 years old I just can't sleep on a hard floor anymore.
I had a great time and it was hard to settle down when I got home to go to bed. So I sat up with Dave for a little while and knitted on the pair of mittens I'm doing. They are going along great and this mitten, I'm using those double pointed needles.. Took me awhile to adjust to them but I really like them a lot. The first mitten I used straight knitting needles and then when finished I had to sew up the seam... With the double pointed needles there will be no seam to sew.. I like that..
This morning it's 13 degrees.. warmer than yesterday,, it's snowing outside.. How can it snow when it's so cold... I like it when it snows ,the temperature rises and it's warmer outside.
Dave and I want to see the movie "True Grit".. So I looked up the times and it's at 11:30,2:00 and 4:30.. So not sure which time we are going . We can go out for breakfast and then a movie.. or go out to lunch and then the movie.. go to the movie and then go for supper.. I'll let you know tomorrow..:)
Have a tiggeriffic Saturday~ ta ta for now from Iowa..

OHHHHHH if anyone wants the recipe for the Garlic Pepper Baguette that I posted earlier you can find that recipe at http://www.talesfromthecoopkeeper.blogspot.com/ She made her bread the conventional way.. Kneading it and then baking it... I have a bread machine and I made it in that machine. I mixed up all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (I used 4 1/2 cups of flour) put all dry ingredients in the bread machine added the water/butter and let the machine do it's work. It was so delicious. It's a dense bread and very good.. Makes your house smell so good when it's baking. I have a machine that makes large loaves..

From Revelie to Taps...all in one morning~!

This morning I got up to a rosy sky and it was so beautiful~! It was also -13 pretty cold I would say...Put on my bathrobe and shoes ~ grabbed the camera and went outside to get this picture.. Oh my goodness the cold just took one's breath away and I went back inside and put on my coat.. Yikes~! Wouldn't want to put my tongue on anything metal this morning.. You would be stuck for along time... I took the picture and turned around and there was the moon in all it's glory in the West... WOW two planets to see in a blink of the eye~! IT was an amazing site...

This was later in the morning and here is Mr. Rooster. He is so cold he is standing on one foot.. So glad I have food out for him and the wildbirds.. He was so handsome ..

Well here is the moon in the West going down while the sun is rising in the East.. Goodness to be this was so spectactular..~!

Spent most of my day in my PJ"S.. Lori the neighbor gal called and said "R you in the mood for a cup of hot tea?" I said "I'll get dressed and be right over"... Had a great time talking about girly things with Lori . I took her the receipe of the bread I made yesterday.. Garlic Pepper Baguitte... She copied it down and said she was going to make it sometime soon.. I told her I used by bread machine to make it and she showed me hers.. I told her I thought it was big enough to make that bread. That is really good bread..

This evening our church is having a all girls supper/ movie /slubbler party at Roxanne's house.(she goes to our church) I'm going for the supper and the movie and then I'm coming home.. no sleeping over for me.. That is for the young girls who can still sleep on the floor.. My bones couldn't handle sleeping on the floor. It will be a great time and the movie we will be watching is called "Old Dogs"... sounds like a fun lap slapping movie.

Have a tiggeriffic evening...ta ta for now from Iowa.. It's now 1 degree.. Warmed up from this morning... ha ha...

Nothing runs like a Deere....

Yesterday was a pretty nice day considering it's still a cold day. After Dave came home from the work out center he got out our brand new John Deere snow blower.. Actually it's a year old but because the neighbors have always plowed us out we haven't had to use it much. The boys across the road are in high school now and playing basketball and their schedules are pretty busy.. So ~ it's a good thing we have this machine. Dave looks pretty good behind that mean machine ~ don't ya think?

He is in front of the our pole building getting the big snow drift that was in front of the doors.. That snow blower really gets the snow moving and out of the area...

I am so glad we have this snow blower.. It does the job and it's not hard to use, which I won't be learning how to do..

I know it won't be hard to learn,, just get out the instruction manual and da ta,,,it will tell me what to do..

Well, now that he is finished he looks pretty snowy. He got the whole driveway and even in front of the mailbox.. That part is so important..that the mail lady can get to your mailbox easily.
I DO want my mail delivered to my house.. If you don't have your mailbox area cleared of snow ~ the mail person won't deliver.

I'm so happy ~ the orchid that Maria had gotten me couple years ago for my birthday is getting ready to bloom.. When I received this plant it had 6 blooms.. I have babied this thing and have done everything possible to get it to bloom.. The neighbor lady, Sharon has several orchids and she told me what I needed to do.. Thanks Sharon~! I have success.. I can hardly wait until it's in full bloom.. I'll post that picture then..

Ben is with his Dad for a few days.. So I won't be seeing him until next Monday.. I'll pick him up at daycare and bring him to his Mom's house.. Tracie said he got in trouble on Tuesday,,,at daycare. He picked up the hamster by it's tail... had to have a time out.. She said when she picked him up he was so excited to see her that he walked across the table to get to her.. and gave her a big hug and said "Let's go home MaMa"...She said as they were walking out of the room he was holding Nibbles in the air by the tail.. and he did that all the way to the car.. Silly boy~!

Mr. Rooster is here at the feeder..This morning when I got up I went out and made sure there was plenty of cracked corn and black oil sunflowers in the feeders.. Glad I did,,this boy is very hungry.. It was -3 this morning so I didn't dilly dally.. I really like it when we get snow~ at least it warms up into the 20's..

Last night I decided I needed to walk ~ So I moved the kitchen table into the center of the room and I walked for 25 minutes...from the living room into the kitchen back to the living room.. figure 8.. We have two living rooms so I have a large area to walk. I felt pretty good after my walk.. I decided since it's so cold outside I would start doing this daily until the weather gets warm enough to go back outside.. I have also been doing some Tai Chi exercises.. I also take gallon jugs of water and lift them for strength exercises. A sedentary lifestyle is dangerous for your health plus I can't lose weight sitting in a chair or help my diabetes..

Learning how to knit my 2nd mitten with double pointed needles. That way I don't have to sew up a seam... Goodness to be there is a method in using those needles. It feels really awkward.. Going to my quilting/sewing group of ladies tonight and I'll get some pointers from them on how to work those 5 pointed needles.

Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa.... It's warmed up to 11 right now.. It's 10a.m.

I love all the seasons and with each day it's a new adventure...

Ben's new cat Jacob...Meow~!

This is a picture that Ben took of the cat he got for Christmas from his Dad. His name is Jacob. Ben named him after one of his friends at school. He now has a cat at his Dad's house and a dog at his Mom's house..
YES~~ I have finally figured out how to get pictures on my computer..
It's still not great but at least I have gotten this far..


Here is Ben with MaMa Nibbles ~ sitting on his new trampoline.. Tracie called me from Goodwill (a year ago) and said "Mom you won't believe what I just found... It's a MaMa Nibbles.. When she brought her home I was so surprised this BIG rabbit looks exactly like his little Nibbles right down to the ribbon on his neck.. Ben loves both Nibbles . So now MaMa Nibbles sleeps in his bed right next to him and Nibbles.. It's so cute. When he goes to bed he has MaMa Nibbles give Nibbles a hug and a kiss good night.

Next time I go to his house I'm going to video him jumping on this trampoline and bouncing with Ma ma Nibbles. Then my next learning will be how to get it on this blog.. to show you how good he is at jumping and running in place on this trampoline. He makes me tired just watching him... He is one happy boy with his new jumping trampoline.


This morning is quiet and snowing ever so slowly. Baby it's cold outside 13 degrees with a chill factor of I don't know.. at this point of the year I don't really care. I just know that to go outside one has to bundle up.. Went out this morning and fed my birds.. Oh my goodness ~ used the last black oil sunflower seed out of the big plastic tub I store it in and looked in my checkbook to see when the last time I was at the Co-op for food.. Dec.28th.. Well that 50 pound bag lasted for 3 weeks. I'll have to drive to Springville and get me another one.. I still have 25 pounds left of the cracked corn... I really enjoy watching the birds outside my window so it's just a given that I will keep feeding them. Oh my goodness the sun just came out and what a uplifting feeling that is to see.. It has been so cloudy for so long I can see how some people get so down.. WOW~! it's truly a wonderful sight to look at the sun shining against the snow. The birds are now in technicolor...lol... they even seem happy that the sun is out.. lol.
The weatherman said tomorrow morning to be prepared ~ the temperature is going to be -13..
Won't be going anywhere tomorrow during the day..Retirement is a great life~! except for the pay... not worth a toot.~!
Guess I best get dressed and go outside and enjoy the sun while it's shining.. Get my Vitamin D.. run to Springville get bird food. Stop at the library and get another good book to read and then run into Marion and buy me some more yarn .. The mittens I'm making look good and I'm going to start on the other mitten so I have a pair.. ha ha.. While I'm there I'm going to buy me some sock yarn.. I want to teach myself how to knit socks.. I've always wanted to know how to do that..all I need is a pattern..
Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa... oh my goodness we have gone from 13 to 11 now.. That's O.K. it's wintertime and it's suppose to be that way.. Just think in 44 days it will be Spring and this will all be a memory... just like it's a memory the HOT summer we had last year..

In September, 2006 Dave and I went to the World's Ploughing Match in Grangeford,Tullow in Ireland.. As we were starting to ascend into the airport (Dublin) I was able to get a picture of the land of Ireland.. Oh it was just what I expected.. Just like the John Wayne movie with Mareen O'hara.. I can't remember the name of the movie ~ but it was in Ireland.. It's still one of my favorite movies. The land was divided up with stone fences and you saw lots of sheep.Lots of green, the green in Ireland is non other than the green you see in the U.S.A. that is why it's called Emerald Green.. It's more than your eye can gather the green is so bright. In Ireland and all of this area I think they stop for tea twice a day and have scones. Daily ritual 11p.m. and 2 p.m. I loved it~! . So here we are riding in a tour bus and we are on top of this really big hill. The place we stopped was like a big garden center with a gift shop and a open garden eating area.. IT was so beautful.. We sat at the tables and these two girls served us tea and scones.. They were deicious~! The tea there is so good. I bought a big box of tea to bring home with me.

In the airplane> as we were decending I was able to take this picture.. Isn't it just beautifull. I was thrilled.. and could hardly wait to get my feet into all that green..

I don't know how those tour buses drive on the narrow roads that are in Ireland let alone stop when someone says "OH look at that sign".. There is a Hollywood here in Ireland..."
So our driver stopped after I made mention of the sign and he let me get out and stand next to it and he took my picture..

My hat is a John Deere hat and it has pins on it from all the different (28) countries that compete in the World Matches. It's getting quite heavy but I'm sure I'll be wearing that hat when we go to Sweden.

Many photographers from different newspapers from different countries have taken a picture of just the hat (no pic of me just the hat) and has published it in their newspapers.. I'm known as the hat lady.. It's a lot of fun~! Am looking forward to going to Sweden in May..

We made it to Des Moines, Iowa and back.. I was working on my knitting all the way there. I making mittens.. Had a good time visiting with all the other ladies that were there.. The Machine Shed has such great and delicious food.. I had the chicken pot pie... yum yum~! it was so good. We stopped on the way home to see Ben and he was jumping on his trampoline.. When he saw me coming into the house he ran to me yelling "GranAnnie">>>~! I picked him up and we hugged and kissed each other.. He now likes to kiss me in the eye now and it's wet . Silly boy... He showed me his new tricks on his trampoline.. He now can jump and spin ... or he runs fast standing still.. IT was great and it's good excercise for him.. Would be for GranAnnie but jumping is not for me anymore or running.. I wet my pants. Walking is good.

This morning I went outside and shoveled the snow away for the birds at the bird feeder station that I have at the lilac bush. There was quite a bit of snow. Their feet get so cold standing in the snow.. I can see them sometimes standing on one leg.. If I scrape away the snow they have just the ground to stand on with little snow. We are having a snow storm right now and when the snow hits your face ~ it hurts. Has ice in the snow, guess one would call it sleet.. The wind is blowing very hard and causing the snow to make big snowdrifts.. There is a BIG one in front of our garage.. Our driveway is plugged with lots of snow.. I told Dave he would have to go out and get the snowblower running and clear out the snow on the cement pad in front of the garage. The neighbor boys will do our driveway for us later today. There are two boys, Connor age 15 and Brannon age 17. These boys always take care of our driveway for us in the wintertime when we have lots of snow. . Springville cancelled school today..

Can you believe it > it's the 17of the January.. We are half way through the month..Goodness to be just yesterday it was Jan. 1.. Guess today I'll go through my files and pull out everything for 2010.. and get ready for tax time in April 15... make space for 2011... That sounds like a good time.. It's always good to get the filing drawer cleaned out and ready for the new year.. I don't have to get a tax file together as I just put tax items in the file I have set aside for those things through out the year . Getting my tax items together to take to our tax man is a piece of cake..

Have a tiggeriffic day~! Am going to get another cup of coffee and get busy...

Ta Ta For Now from Iowa... where it's 25 degrees and snowing hard... I love it~!

Three Crosses on a Hill

While we were in Pennsylvania last year visiting my husbands twin brother I saw these 3 telephone poles and got up and literally ran for my camera and went outside.. It had been a cloudy day and the sun came out to shine on the hill across the way from where he lives.. Don't they look like 3 crosses.. I thought it was so cool..

Well, this morning we are getting ready to go to Des Moines, Iowa (2 1/2 hour drive) for a board meeting for the Iowa Plowing Association. Dave is the President and I always go along with him . There will be 8 board members there and their wives come too.. We eat at a restaurant called The Machine Shed..I love their food.. The guys eat at one table and us girls eat at the other table.. It's always fun to see the girls again.. We have a good time sharing pictures of our grandchildren, some of us bring our sewing (knitting) projects we are working on and it's just a great time of gabbing with girls from all over the state. We will be leaving here soon so I better hurry and write what I want to say today.

Yesterday I went down a back road to visit a gal that goes to our church.. Verli Hiner..As I drove into her driveway I saw several flashes of bright blue.. I got so excited.. I got up to her house and she let me in and I asked her what birds she had that was so bright blue.. She said "Annie I have bluebirds"... No, really? Theres an old legend that claims sighting a bluebird assures a day of good luck.. If that's true I just had the good fortune of having lots of luck sent my way.. (course I always tell people if they have Jesus in their hearts we don't need luck). Well anyway she had a feeder in her backyard right outside her window and there were several bluebirds feeding.. Oh it was glorious,,those birds against the snow just made them look like jewels.. She said her bluebirds usually stayed the winter. I always thought they went south every year.. She feeds them raisins and wild bird food that has fruit in with the seed.. Cool~! It was so fun watching them flit from the feeder to the bush next to the feeder.. I told her I had a rooster pheasant at my feeder every morning.. She thought that was great as the snow is making it so they can't get the corn in the fields..

Well, time is up..gotta go.. Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa

It's a great day~!

This is not what it looks like outside my daughters window at her house in Michigan... This picture was taken in May.. I can just feel the warm sunshine shining on my shoulders.. like sitting next to a warm fire..

I can't get any pictures to go from my camera or phone to my computer ~ so I'm using old photos..

Yesterday morning Dave and I went out for breakfast.. It was downright cold but that's O.k. the restaurant was very warm...Dave always likes to sit in the booth right next to the window. As we were sitting eating our breakfast an older man and woman got into their car. I noticed that their hood was not latched and it might cause them trouble when they go down the road.. So I quickly got out of my seat and ran outside and got to the car just in time. (thank goodness they were old and it took them time to get into their car).. I got their attention and told them what the problem was that I saw.. I immediately lifted their hood and got it closed tight. The lady was so thankful~! I told her no problem...I just didn't want them to have problems driving down the road. I went back into the restaurant and some of the people clapped their hands and some said "Good Job". for looking out for this older couple.. I smiled and said "Thanks"... I feel it's our job to look out for our fellow man and help them when it's needed... I love doing things for other people..
Later that morning we went to the grocery store.. There was a young mother with a toddler in her cart that was wanting fruit snacks and then when she got up the aisle he was asking for a surgary cereal. Of course this Mom was telling the toddler , (he looked like he was 4) "No".. . I just smiled because there was a man that had his own cart and when this mother wasn't looking he put those fruit snacks in her cart and the cereal.. The mom didn't even notice.. He caught my eye smiling and just laughing at what I saw.. He put his finger over his mouth and just smiled.. In other words...Shhhhhh~!
When it was time to check out , this lady was in front of me checking out her groceries.. She had all sorts of things in her cart that she hadn't put there (thanks to this man) and I just laughed and smiled.. It just made my day~! She told the clerk "I don't want these things"..and then she said because there was so many things.. "Never mind"..I'll take it all... The little boy was smiling big time..because these are all the things he wanted... Oh I just laughed.. I don't know where the man was but I'm sure he had a good time putting things in her basket without this lady knowing it... (she must of been very busy not to notice beforehand)...I have always thought this would be fun...to do..one day and actually now I got to see it happen.
In the past when I'm at church and I see a camera just sitting on a table. I grab it and take some pictures of babies or someone I see that I think would be fun to take their picture or I take several pictures of the person who owns the camera and then I put the camera back on the table where it was.. I can only imagine what happens when the owner of the camera looks at the pictures that are on their camera, they are saying "I don't remember taking these pictures">..orrrr how did I get a picture of myself? I love doing things like this.. Have never done the grocery thing but I have thought of it and thought it would be really funny.
After grocery shopping we came home and I got all the groceries put away.. took a nap and then decided that I wanted to knit a pair of mittens.. I went upstairs to my sewing room and found my pattern and the correct knitting needles and I'm now making a pair of mittens. While I was knitting, I thought "Goodness to be I should think of next years Christmas presents to my grandchildren.. This year I made hats... next year i can make mittens to match their hats.. So now while it's cold and I'm in the mood to knit I'm going to be making mittens for my grandchildren and children . I'm inspired... I got Jodie's slippers made and a pair for her husband made and they are in the mail going to her house in Michigan. Now onto the next project ~~~ mittens for next years Christmas presents...
Well guess I best get going for now... It took me 2 hours reading all the blogs I enjoy reading, gathering all kinds of ideas. What a joy it is to read all of them and trying to leave as many comments as I can;. It makes for a shiny bright day even thou it's very cloudy.. I tell people when it's a cloudy day we have to be the sunshine.. smile big when you see people, makes them wonder what you are thinking... lol
ta ta for now...from Iowa .Have a tiggeriffic day~!~!

Computers ~!~! Yikes~!

I can't get any of my pictures that I have taken to download onto my computer. I worked all morning thinking that the file I have them all stored in was too full for anymore...SOOOO~ I got out the CD-R and started copying my pictures onto them... Then deleting the folder.. thinking I would have more room to put more on... But no that didn't work.. So guess you will all miss the picture of Ben that I took the other day and all my other pictures. I don't like to post without pictures.. But I have no choice.. I spent all day yesterday working on this stupid computer. Decided I must be the one with no smarts for this computer and I'll have to take it to someone who has the know-how...very frustrating..

Yesterday I picked up Ben at daycare and came to my house. Ben helped me shovel the snow off the walks. He loves doing that..he is such a great helper. He stayed right with me until all the snow was off the walk.. I took him home and Tracie told me after I left Monday night and she was getting him to sleep he said "Mama lets talk"... She asked him who his favorite person was,,,He said, "My favorite person is GranAnnie".( I felt my heart swell, and got a little emotional with tears) .. I told Ben " Do you know who my favorite person is?" He said "No".. I said "My favorite person is Ben.. Oh my goodness he just beamed.. He got the biggest smile on his face.

He came over and gave me a big huge hug and kiss... What a boy..

Tracie got him a small trampoline. He was so excited.. He immediately started jumping and jumping . He jumped for along time. He got Nibbles his stuffed and beloved friend and had nibbles jumping with him... He does everything with Nibbles.. This is a great thing for Ben, he is such a busy boy maybe this will help him with all that excess energy he has pent up being in the house so much. She got it at Aldi's grocery store. Yeah Aldi's..~! That is a great place to buy some of your groceries..
Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa.

This is Thursday Jan.13,,,

Now my computer is really annoying.. I have Favorites where all I have to do is click on it and then I can click on my blog and ta da it comes right up.. Everything else works but this one doesn't budge.. So now I have to google annieptigger.blogsot.com and then I have to sign into my blog each time . Annoying and then some.. Called my friend,Jeff who fixes my computer and
he said bring me the tower and I'll take care of it for you.. Last time it took him 2 months to fix it.. HE works full time at Rockwell Collins and he loves geocaching. BUT he doesn't charge me.. Last time I got him a gas gift card and a gift card to his favorite restaurant and one to Dairy Queen.. He won't take money and I feel if I had a Best Buy Geek fix it for me it would cost a lot more than these gift cards.. Jeff is always happy for the gift cards... He's a great guy..
Yesterday I finally got the Christmas tree down.. Didn't take long.. Everything is back in the plastic tubs and that room is back in order.. Looks pretty bare in there now..Have to get Ben's train table set back up where it was and get his area ready for him when he comes again. I rearranged my living room and made it so our chairs look out towards the windows and I moved the TV to the other side of the room . Plus Dave where he was sitting could see into the kitchen and watch me fix a meal.. He would supervise me in fixing the meals, a regular movie director.. So I decided he needed his chair moved to the corner so he couldn't see me.. (it's much better now)... It's so nice now I can see my birds come to the feeders outside our picture window and we can also see the TV.. Have been making slippers for my daughter and her hubby and listening to my Ipod. (if I could put pictures on here I could show you) Found a wonderful podcast with Knitpicks.... plus knit picks has a great website for knitters or crocheters.
This morning Dave and I are going out to breakfast and then get groceries.. Eating breakfast out is my favorite meal to do this. Guess I best get dressed and get ready..

Was reading my devotion this morning and this is so true..:
Here are three rules for living: (1) Learn to control the climate around you. Negativity is contagious; look out for it's "carriers." Love them , lift them, but don't let them infect you.. Filter what people say to you through God's Word. "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power (ability and a can-do attitude) and of love (which always looks for the best) and of a sound mind (which is stable and consistent) 2timothy 1:7 .

(2). Learn to laugh at yourself... A woman who'd been given a lovely plant took it home, watered it, fertilized it and set it in the sun.. A year later she discovered it was silk--and she still laughs about it.. When you're secure in God's love and approval you can laugh at yourself; it's a mark of spiritual maturity.. (3) Learn to factor God in. Ever hear of the 90/10 rule? When 90% of the circumstances are uncontrollable, focus on the 10% you can do something about.. Paul did that. "We were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.. Nevertheless God"

(2Co 7:5-6 ) Note the words, "Nevertheless God." When you're facing a mountain always remember : God can move it, He can level it, He can tunnel through it, or He can help you climb it.. All you have to do is factor Him in by seeking His face and consulting His Word." Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise".. (Col 3:16. Keep a rich deposit on Scripture within you and draw on it daily...

Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa... annieptigger@aol.com

Good Morning from Iowa~!

This week-end was such a shocker of what can happen when someone becomes so obsessed with killing someone. It's just hard to believe that something like this happens.. So many lives were lost and so many families were affected by this. The congresswoman Gabriele Gifford, that is in the hospital fighting for recovery from Arizona.. being shot in the head like that ~ it's just remarkable that she is alive. I would call it a miracle from God. I am saddened by the young man who was engaged and going to get married soon. The judge who just stopped by after going to church to give his support to Senator Gifford. The 9 year old little girl saddens my heart the most.. To lose a young child like this would be so awful and hard to recover from for along time. I know how hard it is to lose one of your children as it happened to me 15 years ago with a traffic accident. Wally was 33 at the time. He loved the Lord so I know he is with God and I'll see him again another day..

Our freedoms are being jeopardized here in America.. With 30 states in financial trouble and so many people out of jobs , and with our government spending money like their hair is on fire.. they need to be reminded on how they got in office . The only real assurance that we have is our faith in God... and prayer..

God Bless America ~ land that I love ~ stand beside it and guide her ~ through the night with a light from above..From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans , white with foam..God Bless America. My home sweet home.. God Bless America. My home sweet home.. That song just went through my mind..I remember when Kate Smith would sing this song.. It finally came to be her signature . The song was written by Irving Berlin...in the 1900's.

I love that song... Was talking just now with a wonderful man, Dick Pederson , he has such a great attitude and wonderful love for the Lord.. He just makes my day when he calls me. His laughter is contagious and the way his thinks is so refreshing. I told him how some people just like to sit and worry.. My thoughts on that is ~ I'm glad there are people that do this ~ frees me to not have to do all that stewing and worry.. Worrying is something that causes fear in your mind and then it causes you to have health problems.. Dick called me to tell me that he is getting his reservations in order to go to Sweden for the World Ploughing Matches. Dick and his wife, Marilyn live in DesMoines and they will meet us in Chicago to then fly to Sweden on the same plane. It's going to be an exciting trip.. We are going to take the train from Stockholm to Mjolby, Sweden and I told him I'm going first class on the train.. cost me a little more but it's only money.. He laughed and said you are right about that.. I figure this is the only time I'll be taking a train like this and I'm going first class..

Mr. Rooster just sprinted to the feeder.. He is so funny. You can see him running from the field across our yard to the feeder.. As soon as he gets here he looks around and around to see if he is safe. Then he hunkers down to eating ~ eating~ eating.. He will be here for 45 minutes unless he gets spooked by something, then off he will run like his hair is on fire back to the field. Sprinting with all his heart.. His legs flying underneath him like propellers.
Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa....

Family of Mice

A little light is all I needed to see the tiny little 4 legged furry mice. They were having a party.. They had gotten the minature marshmallows off the pantry shelf that goes down my basement steps.. They had opened them and they were scattered all over the floor. I went back upstairs and turned off the basement light and got my flashlight.. As I was sitting on the basement steps with the flashlight shining on the ceiling,,so the light would reflex on the floor.. I just sat and waited and was very quiet.. SHHHHH~! These mice must be leftovers from Chirstmas. Pretty soon out they came from their hiding place and cautiously tip toed back to where the marshmallows were.. Nibble Nibble ~ stop~ look around ~ Nibble Nibble ~ stop~ look around. Then they just gave up looking and just stood on their hind legs with the tiny marshmallows in their hands chewing on those fluffy sticky delicious sugary treats... It was so cute, they had sticky marshmallow stuck on their faces, whiskers,and paws... I wish I could of gotten up and got my camera. Taken the picture of all the fun they were having. They were in Marshmallow heaven... Well, I got up and went out to the shed and got the live trap and put all the marshmallows into the trap and left.. I'll check it out in the morning and see if they went in to get somemore treats. If they do I'll take them to the neighbors who has a nice barn they can live in and hopefully they are careful and the farmers cats don't eat them... I know that sounds cruel ~ but did you want me to put out poison?

Today I went to the neighbors house to take her some cookies I had baked...She came to the door looking really bad.. I asked her if she was sick and she said no. She had all her teeth removed yesterday and she was really under the weather.. I made her some soup and hot tea.. She was so happy I came to help her... Her husband came home from work and I came back home. I had grilled chicken for him and made a baked potato and some green beans.. He was really happy.. He was glad I came over to see how his wife was doing and take care of her.. He said he wasn't working tomorrow and he would be home to take care of her.. I was so glad to do it for her. Isn't that what neighbors are suppose to do? Watch out for each other>. I think God had it all planned that I was suppose to go to her house today.. Sometimes we just need to listen to him whispering in our ears. They both really thanked me and I was so glad I could help..
You never know what the day will bring. ( I told her about my mice and she said I should of just put out the poison)... she offered one of her cats to come to my house and take care of them.. I said "No I'll just see if they cooperate and get into the live trap".. take them to the Neitert farm up the road. She just laughed at me..
Well, you all have a tiggeriffic day~1 ta ta for now...

I counted 8 of these red beauties~!

This morning the lilac bush was just covered with Mr.& Mrs. Red Cardinal. I counted 8 males.. This picture is from the other day when the sun was shining. This morning it's very cloudy and when I took the picture it wasn't what I wanted.. So you can just imagine seeing 8 of these beauties. Last year I had maybe 2 pair.. The blue jays have doubled in their count and of course I have all the other small birds that come to the feeders.. Mr. Rooster was here this morning .. Talked with the neighbor last night, who is a advid hunter and he said that Mr. Rooster is the only male pheasant in the area.. I told him I went out and bought 50 pounds of cracked corn and black oil sunflower seeds to feed him.. He was so happy. He said he bought 6 males and female pheasants and let them lose on his farm. He said the only one left is this rooster.. Well, I'm glad I'm keeping him fed and safe.

This time of year is always a fun time.. One's life just gets rejuvenated in getting projects started, trying out new recipes, reading books, eating healthy, going on walks like me, losing weight, the list goes on and on.. With being retired and not having to work, my days seem to get very busy. Seems like I am more busy now then when I was working. But it's lots more fun than having to go to work.. I can chose what I want to do with my day... I sit in the mornings with my cup of coffee and just relax and enjoy reading all the blogs I follow. They make me laugh, some are written to where you have to think about what was written and then digest it all. I love the sheep stories with Eunice and Renny and the gal that is in the blue ridge mts. I love all the ones that put something out there to teach children how to read, color, or just do projects. Then there is the ones that put scripture and a small bible study ~ how great is that.. The pictures and videos that are put on these blogs are so entertaining. How can anyone say they are bored or get depressed this time of year. There are so many exciting things to see and do.

I was very upset yesterday when I heard that they are going to ban Huckleberry Finn through-out the USA, because of the language that was used in the book.. the word N---- was used in those days. That is just part of our history and was part of the lifestyle back in those days ..way before I was born. I'm not saying it was right but goodness to be we can not protect our children from everything.. that is what they said they wanted to do.. Protect their children.. YIKES~! then turn off the TV...don't watch those stupid soap operas.. Keep your children and yourself away from schools , malls, public places where the lanuage is do dirty and foul...I wouldn't have those words in my hand with what was just in their mouths... YUCK~! (can you tell I'm not very tolerant to foul language?) I wish these people would just be realistic and get on with their lives . Make America a better place for us and our young people. I can remember when we could leave our homes and go on a vacation and not even lock the door, didn't even have to lock your car.. I better stop here... I could go on and on..

I'm going to the neighbor's house this morning to take her some machine oil for her sewing machine, so she doesn't have to run all the way to town just for a few drops of oil.. It's always fun to talk with Sharon.. She just got some roving and a spinner from Punkin Patch in Kentucky.. She wants to spin the wool to make her own yarn.. How is exciting is that. She said we could learn how to do this together.. I told her we needed to buy some sheep and then we could put little coats on them to protect their wool and then use their wool to make things.. Oh I'm all for this new project... but you have to have good fences if you have sheep and that I do not have.

Best go,,,Have a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now... from Iowa... where it's a cold 18 degrees and I'm lovin it...

Get out your Green Thumb~!

My sister Lynn who lives in S.C. and my brother Dave who used to live in Miami , Florida but now lives near my sister in South Carolina put this green house together.. in Lynn's backyard. They both have extra large green thumbs.. Look inside that green house they already have green plants growing..~! They are having so much fun.

I'm sure the seeds they will be planting soon will grow for the vegetable garden or the flower garden. I can never remember what flower is what~ So when my flowers are blooming and I can't remember it's name I take a picture and send it to Lynn and she calls me and lets me know.. This year I am ready with some markers.. I had some old metal knitting needles and I was going to throw them to the county dump ~ but I decided to recycle.. I'm going to use them for markers with laminated labels stuck on the needle.. Stick the rest into the ground and ta da ~ I will have a marker that well put a name on the plants I can't remember their names... I thought it was a great idea...

Have a tiggeriffic day...ta ta for now from Iowa...

I didn't know you could do this~!

Yesterday in the mail I got an invitation from my son, Rich who is going to be marrying a wonderful girl named Lisa.. Look at that stamp~! I thought this was so cool~! This is the first time I have ever seen something like this.. Guess I'm behind the times.
I try my best to keep up~ but it just seems that new technology just zooms right on past me.. which is O.K.
They are getting married Feb. 26 and I can hardly wait. Rich has 3 children and Lisa has one.. It's going to be a wonderful life for them... Their children are happy for the wedding.

Yesterday I went over to Tracie's house.. Tracie and Ben are very sick with the sore throat, cold. Ben has medicine that goes into a nebulizer and he has to have treatment twice a day. He sits there and holds the mask himself.. "I do it~!.." Poor Tracie was so sick she stayed in bed all day.. I boiled some eggs and took them over to see if I could get Ben to eat something. He loved cracking them on the table and then peeling off the shell. Of course the salt shaker has to come to the scene~ shake~shake~shake..m-m-m-GranAnnie this tastes really good. He didn't like the yellow yoke, but at least he ate the white part.. He ate 3 eggs. Yeah~!

At 1 p.m. I told Ben he needed to take a nap so he could help his cold to get better. Usually I can't get him to take a nap but today I made a tent over his bed.. This was the key to getting him to first get into bed.. after getting under the covers and seeing the tent (blanket) over top of us he was delighted.. Oh my~! he was smiling big time and his eyes were so big . He loved it~! He sleeps in a bed that has tall posts on all corners ~ so it was easy to get the blanket high enough above our heads. I read him 3 books and then said it was time to sleep.. Nibbles was in his arms and within minutes he was asleep.. Oh thank goodness for tents.. He took a 2 hour nap.. Last night when I put him to bed he wanted the tent again over him... that was easy... he always likes to talk a little and of course we read some books.. and then Nibbles (a stuffed rabbit) and Ben gets kisses and hugs and off to sleep . I'm 1/2 way to 132 years old and I am so happy I still remember how to get small boys to bed and to sleep

Why do children fight going to sleep. It's beyond me ~ it's just so easy , lay down close your eyes relax and let it go...ZZZZZZZ~! I have no problems sleeping or taking naps...it just comes so easy.

I think I found the secret of staying warm and going outside in the frigid freezing outside. I have Curel body lotion and I liberally put some all over my body.. Couple days ago when I went geocaching I did this before bundling up.. you know I could feel a big difference.. Today when I went out for my walk,,,I lathered myself up with this cream.. and it was good.. Of course my silk long johns, heavy pants, sweat shirt and all the layers one has to wear when going outside plus the coat, scarf, mittens, boots helped a lot too. but I really am convinced that the cream is helpful in helping keep you warm..

Enjoyed reading all the blogs today that I follow.. Got a lot of great ideas from Activity Mom, I am MaMa hear Me Roar, Totally Tots,Two Bears Farm and the Three Cubs, theres more but off the top of my head I can't remember their names.... They have great ideas for toddlers and I like to try them out on Ben whenever I'm with him. Thanks girls~! Today I read in one of them about making sugar cookies the easy way.. no cookie cutters.. just divide the dough up in three balls. color two of the balls leave the 3rd one plain, roll them out ~lay the layers on top of each other . roll them all up like a log . It looks so cool~! Cut the log into even pieces~ put on baking sheet and bake.. easy squeezy... I can hardly wait to try these out with Ben...

Time to get busy~ washing day... Have a Tiggeriffic Day~! ta ta for now...from Iowa

Here I go again~!

This morning after my 2710 steps of walking which is over 1 mile I got me a cup of hot coffee.. It tasted so good. I really felt good after that walk in the cool temperatures..
I went on the geocaching web site to record my finds from yesterday and oh my goodness I saw that a brand new cache had been placed at the Grant Wood Trail... Yikes~! I called Holly and said "Hey you want to go geocaching there is a brand new cache and if we get there quick we could be First to Find.." Big deal in the geocaching world.. She homeschools her 2 children and said we have school work to do before we get to have fun.. I said No problem I'll go to the bank and before I leave I need to get my gps loaded and things ready to go.. It was 3 p.m. before I got to her house.. The kids were so excited. Holly couldn't go but her husband, Fred said he could go and the two kids..Caryn and Nathan... plus the neighbor boy Jacob.. so off we went..
We walked to the cache right away and I couldn't believe it>>> We were first to find.. So they decided that Caryn should sign the log sheet first since she was the youngest.. (9)..
In this picture of me you see over my right shoulder is where the cache was hidden;. The big tree ... It had a big ammunition box in the crack of the tree with lots of sticks on top.. You know that is where it is hidden because mother nature would never stack her sticks that way. The kids were so excited~! they were jumping up and down...

Here is Fred standing and the tree where we found the cache, is on his left.. as you are looking at Fred.

Here is Nathan beaming. He is 12 years old.. I love it when children get so excited about geocaching..

Here is Caryn, age 9.. She was the designated person to have the First To Find for this cache. She was really happy~!

Now the grand total of walking today was 4,574 steps... According to my Ipod pedometer I burned 229 calories walking today... Yeah.. My blood sugar should look good in the morning and hopefully the scales will show I lost something.. O.K. Varunner what do you think of this~!

Geocaching is a great way to get exercise and I'm tellin ya,,,you walk and walk and walk. But like Fred says there is something to find while you are walking..

It was a tiggeriffic day~! ta ta for now from Iowa... It was 30 degrees while we were out walking this afternoon...Pretty nice...

Varunner ~ I'm walking~!~!

Varunner is a gal that I follow with her blog.. Her blog name is Two Bears Farm and the 3 Cubs.

She is getting ready to go on a 1/2 marathon in Maine.. So I decided to have a mentor in losing these 25 pounds that I want to shed before I go to Sweden in May. Varunner thanks for the motivation~!

At the end of this long driveway you can see my house..

This morning I got up 7;30 that is not too early but when you are retired you can get up when you want.. I got dressed right away because if I don't I tend to stay in my PJ's 1/2 the day. Got my coffee and ate my breakfast.. Gathered all the trash that needed to go to the burn barrel. It's a sunny day and no wind and 22 degrees.. Nice Day~!~! After I got the trash on fire I decided this would be the time to go for a walk... Across the road we have wonderful neighbors , The Starrys. ..They let me walk in their driveway because it's a long drive way and I can get my 30 minutes in without too much turning around and around.. Plus the view is so beautiful.. I took my ipod and listened to the sermon from Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington,Illinois. This morning the pastor was talking about his first child being born and it was a boy and they were going to name him William Robert.. They thought this sounded like a regal name until they really thought about what his Uncles would be calling him .. It would be Willy Bob... They immediately decided this would not be too regal so they named their baby Andrew.. I laughed when I heard this.. In Isaiah it talks about a baby is born.. Is it a boy? Is it a boy?..this is a birth announcement.

....Now imagine this statement in Isaiah: A wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ~ it was before Jesus was born..700 years before his birth.

Jan. 1st 2011, babies announcements were being made with an announcement in our paper: On this day Caryn was born Or ~On this day Nathan was born.. What a joy this is for parents.grandparents ect. But for us when we hear the announcement in Isaiah that a baby is born.. Well, we know the rest of the story.. The baby was Jesus ~ born in a manger in Bethlehem.. to Mary and Joeseph...and he lives within our hearts now forever and ever.. Now that is a Joyous thing to have~!

This is a picture of my house as I get near the road... Most of the snow is gone. We had 10 inches and now with the melt down we had last Thursday and Friday this is what we have left.. Which is good.. Now we have room for more which I'm sure will be coming.

OHHHHH~! look who is here this morning~! After I came in the house after my walk Mr. Rooster was here.. Oh my isn't he so beautiful with the sun shining on his fine colorful feathers. Ben says he has a bloody eye.

I think pheasants are so awesome.. Just look at all the different markings and colors all over his body..

I carry my ipod to listen to but I also have a pedometer that is part of my ipod that tells me how many steps I walked.. Well I walked 2,710 steps this morning.. If one walks 2,000 steps it's one mile.. So I went a little over 1 mile.. Yeah~! for me...O.K. day 1....

If your going to lose weight they say it can't be done without the "W" word.. Walking or some kind of exercise.. Walking seems to be the easiest for me.. Plus I have a long driveway for the walking.. I have a nice road to walk on BUT I have found that I know tooo many people and as I walk on the road people are waving at me.. As they wave their cars are leaning towards the direction they are waving and that is towards me.. So I just think this driveway is best for me to walk..

Have a tiggeriffic day~!~! ta ta for now from Iowa....