Happy 89th Birthday, Mom!!

Woo hoo!

Today is the 89th anniversary of the birth of my mom. She was a child in the Roarin' Twenties; and became a teenager during the Great Depression (she is standing, in back).
During World War II, she wrote letters to servicemen, and married one shortly after the war ended. All of us children were part of the baby boom generation.
In the 1970's, her mom turned 80, and her children started getting married.
Then, about the beginning of the new millenium, her grandchildren started getting married,

and great-grandchildren came to the family.

She still goes camping. She still takes care of a large vegetable garden and numerous flower beds. She's amazing!

She's my mom.

Garbanzo Bean Soup

Sorry, no picture, because we ate the soup before I thought to grab the camera.

This recipe has been shared on WHO radio every fall for the past 20 years.

This year, I decided to try it.

2 cans garbanzo beans

1 16 oz can stewed tomatoes (or, 6 tomatoes)

6-8 potatoes, diced (no peeling necessary)

1 green pepper, diced

1 bermuda onion, diced (I used another sweet onion)

1 lb bacon, diced (cut with scissors)

2 C chopped ham, diced

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp sweet basil

3/4 tbsp chili powder (to taste)

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper to taste

Simmer in a large pot 4-5 hours. If it gets too thick, water can be added.

I cooked the soup in the crockpot. I put it on high for 4 hours, then low on 4 hours.

***

It smelled wonderful as it was cooking, but eating it was Yummmmmmy!

PS. The recipe said it would serve 4-6, but in our family, it would be more like 12. The crockpot was FULL.

At least there was an apple harvest...

As opposed to our garden which didn't do very well this year. And the apples taste so good!
There were a few wormholes, despite spraying a few times this summer. Still those apples made good applesauce. Some were dried, some have been enjoyed with cream cheese apple dip.

Ymmmm....

Oh, the bathroom

We were a bit leery of tackling the bathroom--there was so much that needed to be done. The door was stripped and ready to be painted.

That part was easy.Then there was the left-over glue from some old plastic tiles on the walls.
New wallboard was brought in to cover it up. When putting in the tub-surround, the men ended up having to take out the plaster down to the studs--a messier job than we'd hoped for.
But once the new sheetrock was in, and then the tub surround and shower put in, wow! Did things look different!

The pink paint was covered up with a nice beige, to contrast with the white, and a new light fixture was put in over the medicine cabinet. And now, the bathroom is a brand-new room.

It was a miracle!

Making progress...

Finally, some pictures of the home makeover I've been helping with.

1. Dining Room, after the drapes were removed. The oak windows were in good shape, the walls were not. I got to learn how to spackle and texture to repair the cracks. The piece of furniture was getting one of its legs repaired--that's why it's propped up at an odd angle.

2. Dining room with new colors and curtains.
Another view. Without the drapery, the room is so light. The other two walls are the light, buttery color. The living room still has the lime green that used to be in the dining room as well.
3. The front entry way, done with the same two colors. They brought out the nice color of the oak!
More pictures to come.

Coming soon...

to this spot, pictures of the major project I've been involved in the past two weeks. I've been having fun!!!

Back to School

Wow. It took me almost a month to post the back-to-school front porch picture. School began on Aug. 20th, but Alice still wasn't feeling well from her tonsil surgery. She went to school for a few hours each day for the first 3 days of school. Our picture actually was taken on the 3rd day of school. My "little" girls are getting big! They are both now taller than I am.

There were some good times as well...

On the swing at the school playground...or reading with Grandpa...
or spending hours and hours with Alice building an X-wing fighter...
or spending hours and hours on the trampoline, with and without the sprinkler.
Even Alastair loved it, along as the rest of the kids didn't bounce too high.

I'm so glad when Brenna comes to visit...

What would I have done without her when we were baking cookies?Or mopping the floor?
(notice the gardening gloves)
Or dusting the furniture?
She even helped pick up all the apples that had fallen from the tree.

What a great helper!

On a short trip to Wisconsin...

Now that school has begun, it's time to post some recent happenings. Like the quick 3-day trip to Wisconsin to celebrate Catherine's birthday (a major milestone one that ended in a zero) and have some fun.

Unfortunately, Kevin had to work and didn't get to go with us. But Lily, the dog, can now recognize when we're getting close to Catherine's house and she gets so excited. Afterall, this is the house where food "falls from the sky". When we arrived, the dog didn't rush to check the smells on the trees left by other dogs--she ran into the house and checked under the kids' chairs for any tasty morsels that had fallen.While Connor was at a tennis class, the rest of us cooled off by wading in the creek.

Later, Catherine taught us how to make cool jewelry.
And on a warm afternoon, the slip-n-slide was fun for big and little kids. All of this was prelude to the next phase--taking Connor and Brenna home with us to Iowa!

When Tonsils Turn Against You

On Friday morning, I took Alice to have her tonsils removed.

"No food or drink after midnight. Arrive at 7:20 a.m."

The outpatient surgical unit is attached to a group of doctors' offices, so it isn't in a hospital, and doesn't smell like a hospital. The nurses were very nice and spent a lot of personal time with Alice, addressing any concerns she had. They used a topical anesthetic before putting in the IV. They did everything they could to make this as easy as possible. They even let me go with her into the operating room and be with her until she fell asleep with the anesthesia.
Then it was only a half hour before the doctor came out to tell me those tonsils had been HUGE and there was no option but to have them removed.

Also, the adenoids did not need any further work.

As Alice came up out of the anesthesia, she would give such big grins at me, but she wouldn't let me take a picture post-surgery. I fully understand. I wouldn't want any post-surgical pictures of me either! (It would look worse than any passport photo!).

She's been surviving on popsicles, pudding, ice cream, applesauce, instant mashed potatoes, soup, and fruit smoothies.

The doctor prescribed liquid Lortab, so she has been a bit on the loopy side, but the pain is better that way.

On the up side, on Saturday she watched a marathon of Fred Astaire movies on TV.

On Sunday, she didn't want to stay home by herself and went to church with us. After the first hour, she said she could make it through the whole block. And she did! But after a quick lunch she slept 4 hours straight.

She's hoping to be able to attend school when it starts on Wednesday.

Where did the summer go?

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. After our Idaho vacation, I looked forward to lazy days by the pool with a book in hand, and I think maybe I've had one or two of those days, but nothing like what I was hoping for!

As usual, it is the schedules of others in the family that seem to dictate what my schedule will be:

Elley's orthodontist appointment;

Girls' Camp;

a school physical for Alice that led to a Ear, Nose & Throat specialist, which led to a visit to an allergist AND to having her tonsils removed;

Elley going to EFY;

back to school clothes and supplies shopping;

going to Wisconsin for Catherine's birthday;

bringing back two grandchildren to spend the week;

Deborah coming to visit;

Catherine coming here to pick up her children;

helping with school registration

and

Kevin leaving for Mexico for a week.

Whew! Maybe when school starts this week I'll get to relax and read that book.

When the canal is too cold...

...for floating, go to Warm River! There is something about crystal-clear water that invites the toes.Whether throwing rocks at a certain target,
or floating by, the water is almost magical.


And afterwards, you can wrap up in a warm towel.
(What is Grandpa looking at?)

Alice and Emily made many, many trips down the river. Still, the shade of a tree is sought after in the
middle of a sunny afternoon.

I hope our kids remember that Grandma Beth still goes camping at nearly 89 years of age!

When we REALLY want to relax...

One reality I've discovered. The larger the group, the longer it takes to plan something to answer the question, "What should we do now?"

Sometimes, it takes hours.

In the meantime, the downtime can be very refreshing.

Nieces are entertained by their aunt Deborah at Grandma Bailey's piano.
The cool basement often became the refuge in the afternoons of heat.
Brenna wanted her arms stroked, and her grandma loves doing that. Brenna goes into "la la land", and Emma thought she'd give it a try.
Although we loved doing things with the family, my favorite memories are just in being together.

Relaxation, Bailey-Style

For some reason, sitting around and doing nothing has never been part of the Bailey lifestyle. So we plan hot dog roasts in the orchard (even though there were rain clouds encircling us)... where cousins can have a great time with the roasted marshmallows.
Keeping the hot dog "sticks" from poking others makes the event a bit more exciting.
For further excitement, we build a potato gun.

Or two.

And then experiment with the fuel to make the potato fly the highest or furthest.
And if there is any free time, Bocce balls are always nearby.
No wonder the family loves gathering here.

Three Years Later...

On July 7, 2005 we visited the Idaho Falls zoo; we went again this year on July 1. I'm glad Alice wanted her picture at the same spot.
Again, 3 years ago,
and this year! How they have grown!