living these days

We have been enjoying our living room a lot this week. The sun coming through the curtains is energizing. I like the pale yellow curtains we have up; they let all the light in.

John is a little light too these days. He is a lot of fun, much of the time giggling and discovering new things. We have been sick with colds since New Year’s Eve. John hates getting his nose wiped. Last night after midnight, he had some difficulty breathing since he is so congested. By the time I put him back to bed he was breathing perfectly. Praise God, because I was praying He would intervene.

I am continuing the holiday season in our house for the next week (aka I don't feel up to taking down decorations yet!). Our Christmas tree is up and I am thinking of making more holiday foods I enjoy. Mary and I made cut out cookie dough when we were home and then never made the cookies! I am still craving those cookies. I cannot remember a year without cutouts. When I feel better, maybe I will make a batch.

Looking at the sun coming in the windows again. I am so glad we decided to leave the original wooden windows in the living room. They are one of my favorite parts of our house. The wavy glass and all. Our house is about 100 years old now.

Here are some snapshots of our Christmas and New Year’s family time. We spent a few days in Archbold and a few in Ocean City.

Nadaly was so great with John. She was very tender and inquisitive with him. The interaction in this photo was one of my favorite times at our Christmas dinner this year.

John loves Phin...he even bit his nose!

Family Time

We had some fun times in August visiting friends and family. Courtney and her family came to see us. It is so nice to have a good friend like her...it was great to see her! Her kids are growing up so much! It has been fun to see them a little more often this year.

Here is Uncle Randy and Cousin Morgan, and of course Maria the dog. Don't they look cute? They drove several hours to come and see us. It is always nice to catch up and see family.

Great Grandpa McCullough pictured here with John, his great grandson. What a neat day, John and Gramps got to meet. Gramps drove all the way up from FL and came to see us the same day he got into Indiana. Amazing!

Here is Great Grandma McCullough admiring "grandma's sugar." How beautiful to see such a big smile at little John. Babies are fun like that:).

Grandma Knox adores John, she loved on him whenever she could. I really like this picture, they both look happy.

Here is brother Ryan and Nadaly. They look like good ship captains don't they?

Don't you think they need one more kid? John looks so natural with them! Uncle Jason and Aunt Megan came over and we all had fun hanging out before we headed back to Ohio. Maci is amazing, she is such a fun little girl! We even saw her walk this trip!

The Christmas Adventure II

We saw the ocean in Ocean City, NJ.

Uncle Hubie pulling Ida and Mary on the snow shovel, Daniel happened to throw a snowball in the picture too:)

Trip to Glick Christmas in Oley

The Christmas Adventure

An adventure it was...to Ohio and back, off to see the Jersey Shore, a short trip to Oley and back home to Philly.



In the middle of all the adventure, Hubie and I spent Christmas Eve at home. We even got a picture in front of the tree:)






It snowed a bunch in Philly while we were gone in Ohio...this is what was left! Luckily it snowed in Ohio too, or we may have been super disappointed.









We had a nice time with my parents in Ohio. We went to various parties and got to spend a good amount of time together. I got to see my new niece Maci too!
















Grandma Knox had us all over for Christmas dinner, here are some of the ladies catching up on the year.





Grandma McCullough had us cousins over for dinner on Sunday night. It was a special time with them, so nice to catch up a little. I think it had been two years since we saw each other.





Time to take a rest...more family adventure pictures to come!

You must be wondering...how is my Gramps doing?

Well! Hubie and I made a trip down to Fort Meyers to find out. Everything was in order, he is doing well, and we had a nice time together.

Here are some fun pictures to chronicle our time with him.

Gramps, Hubie and I went to Lover's Key State Park, a wonderful beach with shells in the sand:) I like to go there whenever I visit Gramps. It was a beautiful day.

Hube played in the water a lot!

Wii bowling was really the hit of the trip (hey, that rhymed!) Gramps and his friend Sandy taught us the ropes.

Knitting Begins!

Knitting has now begun for the fall and winter seasons! I find that I am a seasonal knitter for sure. When the weather warms, I would much rather sew light cottons or work in a garden.

When Hubie and I visited Irene and and Andrew a few months back, Irene showed me how to incorporate cables into my knitting. After getting the proper tools for the task, I started a hat project a few weeks ago. There was a super cute hat I found online, and felt it would be a nice first project.

It has been knitting up very slowly....what I didn't realize, each line in the chart needs to be repeated several (5 or so) times. I think the end product will look cool though. After 8 rows, I can finally see the cables shaping. This project has been a test in trust...trusting that this pattern really works!


We bought a pomegranate yesterday. Another tell tale sign that fall is here. No kidding, this fruit was as big as a softball. I couldn't believe it. I was first introduced to this fruit in the Bethanna lunchroom(my previous place of employment). Minda, my coworker brought in this beautiful pom and let me try it! They are unique...a standard fall treat for me now.

Minda also shared with me how to get the fruit out to eat. Cut both ends off, then cut the red skin around, like you are cutting it in half. Only don't really cut it in half, just cut through the skin. The fruit should pull apart, leaving you with the two halves. Then pick away at the popcorn kernel-like fruit, and be sure you aren't wearing a light colored shirt. Sometimes the fruit squirts:).



My little niece Maci was born in September, already over a month ago! I get to see her at Christmas-time when we come home. My sister in law Britt took some pictures of her this weekend, Maci already looks so different. I can't believe it!


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

William, Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard

We recently made a trip to Massachusetts to visit Hubie's brother Jack and his family. It was such an enjoyable trip. They just had a baby, William, and already have three kids before him.















It was Grace's first day of kindergarten! We got to see her get off the bus on her first day.











Hubie and I took an afternoon and rode the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. It was so relaxing and beautiful! We had an awesome time. Here are some pictures:













This was a chapel in the camp meeting section of Martha's Vineyard. It was the meeting place for Methodist Church revival in years past. Now, there are amazing gingerbread type houses all in a circle. The houses took the place of tents, which people originally stayed in during the camp meetings.




The beach was rocky and windy, so relaxing! We got our feet wet and then laid in the sun to dry off. The homemade gelato and ice cream we got was fun too. Hube and I spent a fair amount of time walking around the island, perfect before our drive home!