Whale Watching in Maine

We headed out 25 miles in the Atlantic Ocean to see if we could see some whales. About half way out we spotted a blow from a whale. Slowed the boat down and the whale did not surface again. So, we headed out to the area that we were suppose to see several whales. People on the boat spotted one and then I thought I missed it. A few minutes later seen another one and here are some pics that I got. The Whale watching was not that good the boat lady said, so she gave us free tickets to go again. Unfortunately, we did not have time for another five hour trip.
This is the boat that we went out on.
Shawn and Mitchell awaiting the departure.
Tom, Amanda, and Lea also waiting to leave. These guys got soaked on the trip. We had 6-8ft waves. Then they went down in the front of the boat and sat on the floor. Then Tom came up to sit with me after a while then---SPLASH! So, I hung onto him to go inside. Well, that is where my stomach started to go UH-OH and we headed back out to the front so I could see the horizon and have some fresh air. Something about being confined and all that movement. Funny thing, when we were heading inside, I hung onto Tom's shirt and the rail and my feet left the floor a couple times. CRAZY!!!!!

The whale came out of the water pretty good for us. I thought I would see them jump out of the water.

The same whale, but came out of the water more with a bigger arch. Probably to go down deeper into the ocean.

Two Days!

We leave in two days. After Matt's graduation on Saturday we are heading over to Maine. I am so excited for this trip. We will have so much fun, sightseeing, relaxing, fresh seafood, charter fishing, and who knows what else.

Today bought two boogie boards for Shawn and Mitchell. They are excited to use them.

I am looking forward to relaxing on the beach, visiting the sites, viewing the sunsets and listening to the ocean and feeling the breeze off of that ocean.

I just want to thank everyone who stopped by and wished me a Happy Birthday. Much appreciated and that was thoughtful of you all. Also, all those friends and family members of mine that have made that day special for me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birrrrrrtttthhhhdaaaaayyyyy to meeee-eeeeeeee, Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA

It is so hard to believe that I am 41 years old! Where did that time go? I have to say that I have had a pretty good life and for the most part have enjoyed most of it. I have been blessed with great friends,( most of my friends are like family to me), certain family members, and two natural birth children and two step-children. I never imagined what the years would have brought to me. Yeah, in my head I had an idea, but some of the things that happened I kinda figured on and some things, I never would have planned on or imagined. But, all in all, I am thankful and happy to where God has brought me in my life.

Isn't it interesting how life's roads bring you to certain places? Some of the roads have been like a Sunday Drive and some have been like a roller coaster at Cedar Point. Sunday Drive-slow and take a gander at what is around you and breath in the air, stop and smell the roses, and sometimes it takes time to get through what you need to. The roller coaster side- sometimes it goes so fast you scream with excitement and then it is over. Sometime it can be scary like Top Thrill Dragster.

Anyway, I hope you all have a blessed day and try to enjoy every moment of your life. Don't make life so serious all the time. Try to have fun with it! Take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the view.

Saturday my friends Ted and Faith and their three kids made me dinner at my house and we had steak, baked potatoes, mac salad, tossed salad, garlic bread, cake for dessert. All of it was so yummy and I am so glad to have friends like that. They kept kicking me out of the kitchen. So, I stayed in the pool for a while and tried to keep my hands tied as I wanted to help.

Sunday, Tom's Mom and Dad, Sister Sara and her friend and Amanda and Shawn all went to Carrabas for dinner. Very nice Italian Restaurant. It is one of my favorites. Mitchell and Mason could not go because they were at their Mom's for a visit. I got the Pasta Weesie--it is a Shrimp Alfredo and mushroom in an Alfredo wine sauce. Did I mention how tasteful it was? Holy Cow!

Can Do All

I was wandering along on the Internet and came across this video. First I thought, that is really special that the father would take his handicap son out on a triathlon. Well, that is what I think it is, where you run, swim and bike.

As I watched this video I thought to myself, God only gives the privilege for certain people to take on a challenge like that. The ones who can handle it I think. Maybe the ones who God knows that they will do right by taking care of God's child.

I have known some people who have had this privilege and have done a fine job. God bless them for doing well.

This man will be truly rewarded in Heaven some day. Also, I cried during watching this video and was so happy to see the smile on this kids face as his father did this event. I know doing that would be difficult just for the individual himself let alone having another one to carry, push or swim with. All that extra weight. Yet, the father did not care about that and did not think it was such a burden. Just like our Heavenly Father. He does not think that we are a burden or a hindrance to Him. He will carry us through too.

Enjoy your day! God bless!

Bonfire

Well, the evening was really wonderful and fun. We had our friends Faith and Ted and their three kids here, My sister-in-law Sara and her boy Connor, Several couples and a few guys from Tom's work at the USCG that work in Grand Haven. It was fun getting to know a few people that I have heard about through Tom talking of them at his work, very nice people indeed.

Life in the service is definitely interesting. It really is neat to see how all these guys get along so well and they have to move every four years. That would be hard, getting to know people and making friends and then they have to leave.

I had a cook out first and then we got the fire going. Some guys were messing around with a football. Some were jumping on the trampoline at various times. We had camper pies, some were filled with cherry or apple pie filling, some were pizza pies and of course the old stand by of smores. Chips galore and veggies.

A few people never knew what camper pies were. So, they had fun making them and I think one guy must have had six of them. What a riot. I don't know for sure, but I did see him eat three and enjoyed every bite making comments throughout. He is right, they are good!

Well, it is late and I am kinda tired so I am going to sign off for tonight.

Enjoy you day!

Cooks Forest, Pennsylvania

While we were out in PA for a wedding, I decided to take the kids up to Cooks Forest. This is in Allegheny National Forest. This is all close to Clarion, PA.




Shawn, Amanda and Matt climbed all the way up the fire tower. It is a long way up, I had to put my 300mm lens on to get this shot. They are not able to go into the box part. I do not know if this is a working tower anymore. I imagine not.







Shawn was enjoying climing around a lot. He would jump from rock to rock, and even noticed a black snake while we were there. That can stay there too!!!











This picture is the four of us after we were climbing some rocks by the fire tower.
Then we decided to walk over to Seneca Point, which really is not that far from where we were.



This picture is the view to the Right (West) at Seneca Point. Years ago when looked out there, could see more of the river to the left, but the trees are more grown. Very interesting I thought.

I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH AWARD

Alright, I just checked to see if I did the linky party right and it did not work. But, if anyone is interested in checking out the people I tagged, they are at the right in my blogger land and can click there. Still things to learn. I still love ya, even if I didn't get it right! hahaha

I have recently been tagged by Lisa at A Place to Land and thought that I would tag as many as I could in my blogger land.

1. Mari--You are an awesome person! I am happy that I know you. Love ya! My Little Corner of the World I am proud to say that you are my friend.

2. Nancy--Just like Mari, I have known you for several years and am proud to have you as a friend. Love ya! In my neck of the woods

3.Amanda--My dearest, sweetest daughter-I love you with all my heart and am so blessed that God has given you to me to bring up in this world. You have been a blessing to me.The Untold Story .

4.Lisa--My blogging friend. I am glad that I am getting to know you and enjoy looking at your blog and am encouraged at times by reading it A Place to Land .

5.Matt--I have known Matt since he has been dating my daughter and am happy to have him around and love his optimistic: upbeat attitudehttp://theuntoldstory-trueloveforever.blogspot.com/

6.Jen--To my sister-in-law (round one). I love ya with a whole heart! You have been such an encouragement to me and you are such a joy to be around. Glad you are my family. We Wobbulous Weltons-jovialjen

7.Jennifer --I have known you since blogging with Mari and am happy to know you and to see your smiling face at church once in a while. We have kids that are in the same class and I have seen you around before, but am proud to say that I know you now.

8.Kim--at Stone Gatherer also goes to my church and she always has a smile on her face. I am looking forward to getting to know her more.

9.Joanne--I also enjoy reading Joanne's blog and am encouraged. Enjoying getting to know you.one so blessed

10.Deb--I have known you for several years also. Happy to say that I do. I always enjoy her blog also. She always has uplifting and encouraging words. Riding Free with Deb

To all my other friends and family who do not blog. I also love you. You all know who you are.

Enjoy your day, always smile, it makes people think you are up to something sometimes. LOL

My Neice's Wedding.

I am finally getting around to adding some pictures of our Memorial Day weekend trip out to Pennsylvania. We had an awesome time and my neice Katie had a very nice wedding. Wade and Katie were full of smiles and they looked so happy!

I think most of the pictures that I took for them turned out pretty good. I am not a professional, but it was fun taking them.

The next post will have our adventure to Cooks Forest. Got a few cool shots and will work on it tonight after I exercise at Snap Fitness.

I am heading back outside to get some more powerwashing done on the front porch. I got the house deck done yesterday. Then will do the pool deck another day. I don't mind doing the work, but am frustrated that the pool deck has to be color stained again because it is peeling. ARGH!

Enjoy your day!

Fire Pit

I put the fire pit ring in the yard last year. This year, I put the colored stones around it and some sand pebbles. This will be so nice when we have a fire out there. I love relaxing by the fire. While I was sitting by the fire Saturday night, I was thinking of what I could do and I think I like how it turned out. Actually, I do like how it turned out!

Family Fishing Frenzy

This is Mitch. He had a great time fishing!













This is Tom fixing the fishing line. Great job Dad!













This is Mason (yellow) and Mitch. The boys sure had a great time fishing. They caught five sunfish total. One was at least 6 inches long. Tom was lucky. When he took a fish off the hook, he was able to squeeze out some eggs. So, we did put all the fish back at the end.







This is Shawn with the last catch of the night. Such a cute little fishy.

As I walked down the driveway this is what I saw.

How cute is that when they are all bonding like that?!

Here I am! I only put the line in a couple times and the fish were nibbling on the fake worm then I let Shawn finish with the pole and then we went in for the night.

Here is Amanda. She couldn't handle not knowing what was going on, so she came down from the house to have some fun too.

Mason and Shawn. They must like each other!

We had a great time fishing in the pond.

Does anyone have any fun fishing stories?

Blossoms and Bees

I just wanted to share with all of you that beautiful tree along side my garage that bloomed more than last year. There are so many blossoms on it and the aroma that comes off it is spectacular.


Below is a closer shot of some blossoms off of this tree. Such great detail in the flowers. (All pics are clickable).
This one below is off of a little crab apple tree in my back yard. The tree is not very big, but it was fun taking these pictures.
You know the tree in the first picture? Well, as I was taking some shots of it, I heard a noise. There was a lot of buzzing going on. I am not sure how many bees were in there, but it sure was noisy.
The bees sure are a fascinating creature. Without them we would not have the pollination that we need to keep everything growing.
Hope you all enjoyed the pictures that I have added. I thought they were kinda cool. I can't wait till I go to Maine and then I can take some pictures there. Never been there so it will be fun to see what I come up with. We will be going in June. Yippppppppeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HERE IS A LITTLE BEE KNOWLEDGE FOR YOU:

Honeybees (or hive bees) are in the animalia kingdom, the arthropoda phylum, the insecta class, the hymenoptera order and the apoidea family. Beekeepers are sometimes called apiarists. Honeybees and bumblebees (apidae subfamily) are social bees and live in colonies. Solitary bees make their own small family nests.

There are 10,0000 - 20,000 species of bee including many wasplike and flylike bees. Most bees are small from 2 mm (.08 inches) long to 4 cm (1.6 inches) long. Bees and wasps are closely related. The main difference is that bees provide their young with pollen and honey, while wasps eat animal food, insects, or spiders. In addition, wasps have unbranched hairs.

Honeybees live in hives or colonies. A small hive contains about 20,000 bees, while some larger hives may have over 100,000 bees. Hives include one queen, hundreds of drones, and thousands of worker bees. The worker bees are female, but they do not breed. The queen bee is female and creates all the babies for the hive. The drone bees are male and do not have stingers.

Bees communicate with each other about food sources using dances. The sounds from the movement of the bees is picked up by the tiny hairs on the bee's head. Bees use the sun in navigation.

The honeybee's hive has cells made of wax. This is where the queen bee lays her eggs. She can lay 1500 eggs in one day. When the larvae hatch, they are fed by the worker bees. The workers collect pollen and nectar from flowers. The pollen is used as a protein source and the nectar is an energy source. Some of the pollen lands on the pistils of the flower and results in cross-pollination. This is important for some crops and flowers. The relationship between the plant and the insect is called symbiosis.

Bees turn the nectar into honey. Workers must visit over four thousand flowers to make just a tablespoon of honey. Beekeepers must be very careful when they remove honey from the hive. They try not to hurt the bees. The beekeepers give sugar syrup to the bees to replace the honey that they take.

The "killer bee" is actually a type of African honeybee. In 1957, it was accidentally released in Brazil during a science experiment. It began to move north and reached Mexico in the 1980s. It can now be found in the southwestern US. These bees react very quickly, attack in large numbers, and swarm for long periods of time.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

The Little Things

It is the little things that count

And give a mother pleasure -

The things her children bring to her

Which they so richly treasure...

The picture that is smudged a bit

With tiny fingerprints,

The colored rock, the lightning bugs,

The sticky peppermints;

The ragged, bright bouquet of flowers

A child brings, roots and all - These things delight a mother's heart

Although they seem quite small.

A mother can see beauty

In the very smallest thing

For there's a little bit of heaven

In a small child's offering.

- Katherine Nelson Davis

Softball and Friends

Hello There!

Boy did I have an awesome time visiting with my friend from long ago and watching her twins play ball! I also enjoyed the visit with them as a family after the game. I have known Karen for 25years and that is a long time for a great friendship. It was so nice seeing everyone again, reminiscing, laughing, talking, enjoying each others company. (the pictures you can click on to enlarge).



This is Kaitlyn with another awesome hit. She hit it way out in the outfield. Then she got to second. You can see the pics as I photographed her running to the base. Also, Kait was hitting well all afternoon. She kept getting hit after hit. Triples even! She made some awesome catches out in center field. On one fly ball, she ran all the way into Left field and caught it on the run. Sooo FAST! Great catch Kait.





Here she is going past first and on her way to second.









The arrival and a small break till the next hit.









This is Nicole (Colie), she is a great pitcher. I would say that 95-98%of her pitches are strikes, if not, they are so close that you would not want to let it go by. She winds up and delivers!








Colie pitching again. In this picture you can see to the left of the picture the bat hitting the bright yellow ball. So cool! That is Kait in Center field behind Colie.

They have been on varsity all four years of High School and do a tremendous job.

Great job girls!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAWN-10

May 6, 1998 A very active boy was born into the family. Shawn Robert Burgdorfer. We are so happy that God brought you into our lives 10 years ago. You are a very special boy to your Dad and I.


You were so cute with that big smile in the Michigan onsie.

Here are a few more snapshots throughout your ten years. Five years old on the Woodchucks T-ball team. The A-Town getting ready for school park night. Amanda and you when we were staying at a Hotel on the Ohio and West Virginia border on the way to see Grandpa Lehr and your Aunt Gina, Uncle Steve and Cousin Steven.





Then there are pictures of you when you and I are being silly with a clown wig and Groucho glasses. You use to sit on your Dad's lap and play with your matchbox cars and drive them on his chest and lap and make vrooooooooom noises. Sometimes you got really loud too. It was so cute and I know your Dad enjoyed it. I know he loved you and misses you very much.










Now we have a new beginning and a new family to add with some of our old family. You have a wonderful Step-Dad and two new brothers. You also have another Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Sara and Cousin Connor. We are very blessed to have so many people that love us.

The next pictures are when we went to the whitecaps game and you got to run out in the center field with one of the players for the National Anthem.

Then the last two pics are when we were in Mackinaw last year. We had so much fun visiting all the forts, camping, site seeing, the mystery spot.
I cannot believe you are Ten now!! Where does the time fly. You are so special to me Shawner Bauner. I love you so much!!!!!!! God has truly blessed me by letting me have you.

FREE TOWEL GIFT PACKAGE

Hello everyone!

My friend Ted from http://www.americanchairstore.com/ emailed me and said that if anyone is interested in posting his website on their blog he would send them a free towel gift package.

You can email him through his website too. Tell him that I sent you and you wanted to put his web site on your blog. He knows to check my blog and if anyone is interested can write me on there.
I guarantee that you will enjoy these towels. I love them!

Thanks!
Shelly

PLAYING WITH THE CAMERA

HI THERE!

I WAS PLAYING WITH MY CAMERA TODAY AND THERE ARE SEVERAL FEATURES ON IT AND JUST THOUGHT I WOULD SHOW WHAT I DID. I CAN SAVE A PIC ON THE CAMERA AS BLACK AND WHITE, SEPIA (WHICH IS LIKE AN OLD WESTERN LOOK), AND CYANOTYPE (WHICH HAS A BLUEISH HINT TO IT). THIS IS ALL KIND OF INTERESTING SO I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE.




















LETS TAKE A POLL TO SEE WHICH ONE EVERYONE LIKES? GIVE ME YOUR FEEDBACK IF YOU LIKE.
ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!

Baseball Fever!!!!!

This is Shawn swinging away at a ball.
Shawn has fun, he has played since 5yrs old. The boys are TEN now.




This is Mitchell swinging away at a ball.

This is Mitch in the ready position in RF.
Mitch is having fun, this is his first year playing baseball. He seems to like it so far.





This is Shawn catching a fly ball at second base. I was like, hey that fly ball is heading towards Shawn, I hope he catches it. Got my camera up real quick and snapped it. Lookie in the glove. There is a white object with red stitching--that be called the baseball that was hit. hahaha

I know the boys are having a good time playing ball. I am having fun watching them. After all, softball is my all time favorite sport. I have played since 6Th grade.

They have an awesome coach. He works so well with all the boys and explains things to them and has a very good personality. I guess he use to play baseball for Notre Dame. Way to go!!!

Sickness in the House

Hi Everyone!

The fun begins! One little fella, Mason, stayed home yesterday because when he went to the bathroom he has the runs. I believe that is why they call it the runs, because you have to run to get to the toilet because the fluid is flowing out your hiney!!!!!

Today he wakes up and is vomiting. Not fun for him and makes a miserable day. Then comes up and is crying thinks he is going to vomit again, nothing happened. Wants water. Sorry buddy, have to have ice chips because if you put liquid in there all at once your stomach is not going to like it. Then comes up, can I have something to eat. Sorry buddy, in a little while see how you do then will get you some toast. Okay! I know if he puts something in his stomach he will just hurl it up and that will not be fun for him. So, we are waiting patiently till he can have something. I have been around kids enough to know that these things happen. Because they want something to eat and then here it comes!!!!!

Tom text me from work and said that a guy he works with son is sick like that too. So, it is going around. BEWARE of this awful fun time! Then my daughter text me from school and said her stomach feels kinda upset. So, she was going to come home. Well, she is not here yet. She was also going to go away for the weekend to her boyfriends house and wants to still go. We will see if she is sick or what? No one wants to stay home if they had plans to do something.