Reunioning

    So, we're back home after a nice week of vacation with Tom's family. Sometimes when you have to pack up lots of clothing, food, bedding, and other paraphernalia and drive 4 1/2 hours to get to the campground, it can make one wonder if it's worth the hassle. I'd say I've come to the conclusion that it was. We had many good times, and created memories.
    Some of the highlights for me: (some were just the little things)
     -A ladies tea. Complete with lace tablecloths, fresh wildflowers, sparkling juice, and an impressive spread of fancy snacks! It was so relaxing to have all of us around one table visiting--without interruptions! Thanks to the men who took care of the little people!

     -Vacation means I get to see my husband every day. I took that for granted until we got home and started the work week, and I realized how much I missed it.
     -I noticed how often the piano was played over the course of the week...nieces and nephews and a couple of brother in laws that would spontaneously make lovely music for all of us to enjoy.
     -On the subject of music, I greatly enjoyed singing with the rest of the Schrocks. I think almost all of us love to sing, from Dad S. to the young grandchildren, which makes a pretty large chorus!
     -Getting to know my nieces and nephews better. They feel almost more like cousins than nieces and nephews sometimes, due to the fact that I'm only two months older than my oldest niece!
   Other good thing included but are not limited to: delicious meals, lots of corn hole games, wiffle ball,
cute babies to hold, a pinata which we all took a whack at, and family pictures.
    I was getting quite annoyed at the quality of pictures my camera was taking, but toward the end of the week I discovered a simple error in the setting of the camera, which greatly improved my photos from there on out. I'm a little sad for all the pictures that are grainy, but they're captured memories nonetheless!

     From Friday evening through Sunday we were joined by the Kauffmans for a more extended reunion. I think that brought the count to about 200 people. One thing's for sure, I didn't know many of them! :) That turned out to be fun too, getting to know more people and enjoying some volleyball and other activities, including an auction. We helped organize some children's activities for Saturday afternoon.

     Well, that's only a fraction of my pictures, but if I don't post this soon, it'll be stale, so...that's all folks! 

     For those of you interested in family photos from the Schrock/Kauffman reunion here's a link to my picasa album: https://picasaweb.google.com/102593028581683522819/SchrockKauffmanFamilyPictures2012

It's warm....

It's warm for Wisconsin. Very warm. Maybe the reason I think this is partially due to the fact that this is the first time I remember living in a trailer house in the heat of summer.
In case you were wondering, a trailer house heats up like an oven in 90+ degree weather. I think it's about 92 degrees INDOORS at the moment.
But, we have a little window AC in our bedroom, so we sort of live in our bedroom these days. 
Hot, humid weather makes me feel like a bad wife altogether. I have zero motivation to do housework. Just doing the dishes works up a sweat. My meals consist of light things like chips and dip and chocolate milk shakes. Fortunately, my husband says he doesn't get very hungry in this hot weather anyway. We eat our meals on the bed. It seems like a bad habit, but under these circumstances, we do what we must.
I did do laundry, watered my flowers, went grocery shopping, and did some craft projects so far this week. And washed dishes.
We eat a lot of freezees. And I dream of a house on the lake or a pool in my back yard at least.
But most of all, this makes me realize that I'm very thankful that I live in Wisconsin, where this kind of weather is fairly rare. I certainly hope that southerners eventually acclimate to the heat, because living a hampered life like this gets old.
Oh well, we're blessed. And tomorrow's a holiday, so we get to sleep in and then spend the afternoon with my family.
A happy 4th of July to you all. Stay cool. :)

Life in June

   It's a perfect summer day here in Wisconsin...70* and sunny. I love it! June's been a good month...Kara and I started it out right with a big day of garage-saling and thrift store shopping on the first day of June! :)
   We also had some fun Schrock family get-togethers...these always include cute kiddos, lots of laughter, and generally, a pretty good spread of yummy food!

     The following weekend we headed to Indiana...

     This little man rode with Tom and I for a while...I love watching him grow up! And yes, he was eating fresh peas--and loving them! 

     The main reason for going was for a dispersal auction of my great aunt's belongings/a Kauffman family reunion (which would be my mom's side of the family). 

    The Kauffman cousins know how to have a good time! Our definition of good: "crazy, including lots of laughter, and some very blonde moments."

     

     I really like this picture of Grandma and her daughters. They are all very special to me!

     I had to include this too:

     We came home from the auction with more than I had anticipated...Our purchases included, but are not limited to: this trunk, all these old books and the old camera...

     This big jug, which we will use to save our loose change for something wonderful (still to be decided).

    And this little beauty (for $2). Ok, I'll admit it's a bit old, but my mom always used one at home, and I found myself missing having my own, so this was just the ticket!

   And here are a few pictures of us from the weekend:

     Since I've been home more this week, I was determined to take advantage of it and get some more decor up around here. It seems like the more I'm home the better my creative juices work. Maybe it's just that when I work away, I lose motivation for projects here at home. Anyway, here's the one wall arrangement I came up with this week. I think it still needs some tweaking, but I need some time to decide what it needs. I was going for the canvas look with the saying, but in reality it's just a cardboard box, scrapbook supplies, and mod podge. It'll work for now.

      

     Yesterday I did strawberries...it felt slightly strange to do them all alone. No siblings to help pick, no Mom and Kara to help with the cutting, and none of the others to do the washing, smashing, and sweetening. It all went well though, and my jam set up just fine! Yay! 

     I also made my first strawberry pie, since I knew that was on Tom's list of favorites. He pronounced it "fierce good". 

 Well, I'm off to enjoy the sunshine and make my laundry keep happening! A lovely afternoon to you all!