ring weekend: part 2

saturday we were able to spend the day with our son and sightsee around west point.  we visited fort putnam which is at a high point inside the post.  it was interesting and had beautiful views of the hudson river as well as usma (united states military academy).

view from fort putnam, atop west point

later in the day tone and a bunch of his friends got together for pictures with their new rings. what a great group of guys!

my 'boy' is on the right on the front row. 

here we are together as well before the formal dinner.

me and two of my favorite guys. 

and they have a life size ring which you can have your pictures taken in front of.  when my husband went to there, we had our picture taken in front of it, so i thought it was great chance to do that again... those pics had to be ordered from the official photographer, but here is a picture of the ring.

that's one big ring!

after the dinner, my sweetie & i headed to the middle of pennsylvania to stay in another bed and breakfast.  this one is the pump house bed & breakfast and is in bloomsburg, pa.  it was a very neat place with a lot of history. they are just finishing up updating the rooms.  here is where we stayed.  i would definitely recommend it.  there is also a lovely river running right behind the houses.

we stayed downstairs in this house at the pump house b & b.

and now, we are back home.  it was a great trip... but it is always nice to be back in your own bed.

road trip to west point

yesterday my husband and i set off on a road trip to visit our son at west point for his ring weekend.  it's a big deal for the cadets.  they order their rings back in the spring and then wait until this weekend to receive them.  and in addition, 25 years ago, my sweet husband (fiance then) received his ring.  now, it is our son's turn.  yay!  but we decided to stop on our 10 hour trip and spend the night somewhere on the way.  here is how the last two days have gone...

first we stopped by the yuengling & sons brewery. 
my son-in-law really likes this beer.
so, we stopped by pottsville, pa
(at 9:30pm, in the dark, on an interesting street)
just to be able to tell him that we were here.

it is the oldest brewery in the united states. learn something new every day!

next,
we spent the night at a very nice b&b in macungie, pa called the stone house inn.

it is also a spa with massages, and more...
but, we had a ring ceremony to get to in ny.

pennsylvania has so many of these lovely stone homes.  here are 2 more
we passed on our morning walk. 

made it to west point and went to meet our son.  here is the 'beat navy tunnel.'

a quick shot of us together before he went to change uniforms and march
down to 'trophy point' for the ceremony.

that's our boy with the smirk on his face.
and his good buddy, jimmy, behind him.

the 'firsties' (aka seniors) marching in for the ceremony.  that's a lot of
exceptional young men and women preparing to serve our country.

and the rings.  a proud father and son.

then the wind and rain came in fast and everyone ran for cover.  tomorrow is the dinner and dance.  that will be fun!  i even got a new dress :-)

no rest for the weary

things have been busy around our house for the past week or two.  our oldest son headed back to west point after 7 months of medical leave.  his classes start this coming monday, and he has surgery on the 25th...  our daugher and her husband have now interviewed for the peace corps and are awaiting an assignment which they hope will begin next june.... our youngest son had golf tryouts all last week and matches started this week.  we (my husband & i) try to go to all his matches because: 1. we love seeing him play and 2. we love leaving the cares of the world and just relaxing on the course.  in addition, our church served lunch to 180 band members at a local high school for which i made 200 cookies and baked 35 potatoes.  it was fun to work with my friends from public house and see the kids eating lots of taco salads, too!

i actually did (almost) finish straightening the computer room/office the other day, but haven't had a chance to take a picture in the day.  that will be coming soon. 

i hope to be working on a few handbags, painting a floorcloth, and reading a new book starting this weekend.  oh,  and getting my latest quilt top put together.   too much?  well, i will at least try to get started on something.  :-)

interest in pinterest

ok, so i got up this morning and thought i might get some things done around the house...  famous last thoughts.  my mistake?  opening my laptop and seeing what new stuff has been pinned on pinterest (check out my 'pins' here).  have you heard of pinterest?  it is a website which allows you to 'pin' photos from anywhere on the web so that you can remember it and refer back to it with ease.  what they don't warn you about is how ADDICTIVE it is.  pretty soon they will need a pinterest anonymous group.  it is now 10:00a and i have successful accomplished the following:  watched the last two episodes of 'the office,' eaten a much too large piece of the best coffee cake ever (no seriously, that is what it is called), and spent an hour on pinning lovely things on my pinterest boards.

hmmmm... i have now broken away for a little while.  my goal today (now that i am setting my laptop down and being product, that is)?  clean, straighten, rearrange, simplify our office/computer room/library.  seems as the summer has progressed, the last thing anyone wanted to do was file, straighten, put away anything in here.  but with school around the corner, it is time.  and it is driving me CRAZY.  so onward and upward.  i am turning on the music (loud), getting out my cleaning supplies, and prepared to spend this 90+degree day in here:

stuff piled up every where... ugh

lovely bookshelves that my husband built for me.. all disorganized and a mess!

 goodness, i better get to work. 'after' pictures tomorrow... or monday depending on how long this project takes.

new little neighbors

years ago my husband built a birdhouse and attached it to one of our children's windows upstairs.  nothing happened... no birds came... for years.  in the meantime we did have some wasps take up residence for a while.  it was interesting to watch them... and to knock on the window to stir them up (knowing they could not get us because we were on the other side of the glass!  mean, i know, but the truth). 

anyway, eventually, after years, some sparrows decided that our cute little run down birdhouse was worth rehabbing. and in they moved!  so, they have been raising their families there for the past 4 - 5 years or so.  we heard a lot of chirping the other day and my husband noticed that the latest eggs had hatched.  sometimes their is so much nesting that we aren't able to see inside, but not this time!  here are our newest little additions to the neighborhood:

mom (or dad, i can't tell them apart) showed up yesterday with a big huge grasshopper in her mouth.  good to know that they are eating well!

a new ride...

i have always loved mini coopers.  what can i say?  they are little and cute... two things that always appeal to me, so a couple weeks ago we sold the car i had been driving for about 4 years to our daughter and her husband... which meant that i could finally look for a car i loved!  woo-hoo!  we have looked at a lot online and at several in person until we finally found the perfect one.  and after all that... i DO love it!  here is a shot of its loveliness:

my sweet mini

it just makes me smile to get in it and drive it.  :)  it is zippy and fun.  anyway, that is what i have been spending quite a bit of time on lately in addition to my weekend trips to the beach and my brothers wedding.

also, i have made 2 more handbags!  they are popular with my family and friends, so i have been trying to catch up on them.  here are the newest 2:

i still have one more to make to be up to date on the 'orders' i have received. then, i will be back to working on my floorcloths and a quilt that needs to be done by mid-september.  i know, i know, i better get my behind in gear!