Leaving for camp

Well my dear friends, this will be my last post for a week. Sunday morning I will be taking my Boy Scouts on a week long campout. It's an awesome time that I look forward to all year long. When I get back, I'll post pictures so that you can all see the beautiful timber that will be our home while there. Been watching the weather and it looks like this heat is going to break which will give us beautiful mid 80's or so for the days....aahhhhh, I'm getting so excited!!!

2 days of fun

Well Dear Friends, let me tell you about my fun day yesterday..and the day before that.

The fun started on Tuesday morning when I got to drink this yummy cherry flavored drink. The fun was put on hold for just a little while, but then WHAM! The fun began!! A few hours later I got to drink another yummy cherry flavored drink and the fun just seemed to continue on and on and on.

Skip to Wednesday morning...and I was so hungry I thought my belly button was gonna start eating on my backbone! You see, on Tuesday while I was enjoying the fun of those cherry flavored drinks, I wasn't allowed to eat anything.

So, Papa Bear takes me to the hospital for both an upper and lower GI...oh yeah, I'm so excited! I've had the lower before, but this was a first time for the upper...and oh my goodness that stuff they gave me to gargle with is awful!!! But then the drugs kicked in and I was out.

There is a pain medication that makes me sick but I couldn't remember which one it was...yep, it's the one they gave me. I woke up getting sick..that was a joy. So then I got more meds to counter the pain meds. THEN I cramped so bad I thought my insides were trying to get on the outside! 2 hours later things are fine and Papa Bear is bringing me home. On the way I talked him into stopping to get me a chocolate shake...MmMmMMMmmmm it tasted so good!

At home I went back to bed, only to get up and get rid of that yummy chocolate shake..sigh.

Today though I am back to me again. A little tired and a touch of a tummy ache, but nothing I can't live with. Now all I have to do is wait for test results to come back. I'm thinking I don't want to have that fun again for awhile!

Mmmmm...Brother Bear has been doing a lot of fishing since coming home. Of course, this fish fried up in butter is totally healthy!

Poor Kitty

My poor poor kitty had to have surgery on Saturday.

He has a tube inbetween the front and back skin of his ear to drain it.

Darn neighborhood cats beat up on my cat...darn cats. Bait is mainly an indoor kitty, but longs to be outside. He has no front claws so we try to keep him in. But..with having a daycare, my door is opened several times a day, which gives Bait several chances to run for freedom. He snuck out Tuesday and we didn't see him again until Friday afternoon..with a tore up ear, a terrible infection and a fever. Not to mention he had lost weight and I could feel his butt bones.

Our neighbor has a cat that will actually come through the slats on our fenced in yard and beat my cat up in our own yard! Darn cat.

Bait is doing well, eating and drinking. He has to go back in 2 weeks to have the tube removed. Poor poor kitty.

Another busy week in the old Bear den...I'm beginning to wonder if there will ever be any non-busy weeks around here! Graduation and all that surrounded it is behind us, now on to Boy Scout Camp. My Scouts and I leave for a week long summer camp 1 week from today. We spend a week in the timber at Ingersoll Scout Reservation in London Mills Illinois. This reservation is about 1200 acres...and I think over the years I have hiked every stinking one of them!

It is such a wonderful time every year. The boys go to merit badge class during the day, and we enjoy troop activities the rest of the time. This year our outposts will be tubing the Cedar Dell Creek, Crawdad-which is basically an awesome waterslide...in the mud!, and Paul Bunyon-which is early early morning and we get to throw tomahauks, climb a spar pole, use cross cut saws and all that type of lumberjack stuff. Not to mention with Paul Bunyon we get to eat pancakes that are HUGE!

In preporation for camp though, I will be a busy bee. This week finds me cleaning out the scout trailer that we store all our camping gear in and restocking it. Gathering all my personal gear that has been scattered due to water in the basement. Writing a short sermon for the Sunday night service at camp and a regular sermon to give at church the day after I get back from camp.

Also....I want my home to be in tip-top shape before I leave so that the Hubs will have a nice home to come to at the end of the day. If possible, I'd also like to have meals made up and in the freezer for him.

I'm beginning to think that if I didn't stay so busy all the time, I probably wouldn't know what to do with myself!

Father's Day

For my dad...I love you

Obama Man Video

I heard this on the Bob and Tom show on the radio and had to come home and find it on youtube. It's a spoof from the old "Candy Man" song from Sammy Davis Jr.

Brother Bear has graduated!!

Not really sure what happened here, but my pictures came up in reverse!



Food line at party



Cleaning driveway for party




Glad to be done with school and graduation!





Capt. Jones....his team leader and mentor while at school....Capt Jones doesn't look near as tough here!






WooHoo!!!! I am so very proud of Brother Bear!!

Lip Sync Boy

This video is just too funny! I wonder if his parents will show it on his 18th birthday?

Friday Recipe

Miss Maggies Milk Shake

This is a recipe I got years ago from Miss Maggie when she was the owner of Hillbilly Housewife, a christian frugal site and message board that I spent waaaay too much time on (for those of you who are reading this that were there also, you know what an addiction it was!).

Anyway, this is a milkshake with NO ice cream! And MmMmMmmmmm good!

2 C. ice water
1.5 C dry milk
2/3 C. sugar
1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1.5 trays icecubes
2 T. corn oil (optional but helps)

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend for at least a full 2 minutes.

Add in your favorite flavorings or fruit for your own special concoctions.

Wordless Wednesday

My thinking spot

Running on the outskirts of my little town is the Hennepin Canal. I grew up learning about the canal from my grandpa. I spent summers swimming it its dirty stinky water. Smooching happened by the old shed at Lock 19 as a teenager. I grew up having a great love and respect for the canal. When I was newly married to my oldest son's father, we were so poor we didn't have two nickles to rub together, but we spent many nights fishing the canals muddy waters. Free entertainment. Even took a cob of corn from the nearby field for carp bait. Good times, good memories.

This spot on the canal that is pictured is at the end stairs of Lock 20. It's a peaceful walk to get there. Through the years, if I needed to get away, or to think, or to just 'be', this is where I would go. Just me and the bugs, the fish, the sound of the Lock, and God.

I spent time at my spot today. I've been troubled by a situation and I needed some direction. As I sat having a conversation with God, I told him that I didn't know if this feeling I have to give up this situation was what He wanted me to do, or if it was just Satan being his naughty self and trying to sway me. As I sat there listening to the water and feeling the warm breeze, my eye caught some movement on the water. A snake. I sat there on the steps watching this snake slither through the water. A snake....satan is a snake. My questions were answered.

Friday recipe

Easy Mexican Casserole

1 pound ground beef
2 C. salsa
1 (16 oz) can chili beans, drained
3 C. crushed tortilla chips
2 C. sour cream
1 (2 0z) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 C. chopped green onions
1/2 C. chopped tomato
2 C. shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350*

Brown ground beef until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in salsa, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

Spray 9x13 pan. Spread crushed chips in bottom.
Spoon mixture over chips.
Spread sour cream over mixture.
Sprinkle with olives, onion and tomato.
Top with cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.
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I varied a couple of things when making this:

I cooked the onion with the beef and I didn't add olives as I didn't have any. I also used just regular old onions.

This was a definate hit with Papa Bear. I will say though, we were not near as impressed with it the next day as heated up leftovers. I guess that means we will have to eat it all the first time!

Thankful Thursday

I'm so very thankful for a healthy and happy granddaughter! What a blessing she is.

Wordless Wednesday

Blog block

I'm suffering from a bad case of blog block. It's not for lack of ideas in my head...there seems to always be something going on in there. It just doesn't seem like any of the gobbely-gook going on in there is worth putting into print.

Some random thoughts in my brain today:

*If this rain doesn't stop, my flowers are going to drown.

*Next time I spray paint, I need to wear shoes to keep my feet from being painted.

*I really probably should have washed my hair this morning.

*I wonder if anyone even reads my blog.

*My big brother is happily married and I'm so happy for him

*I hope my little brother is able to be content with life soon.

*When my parents are old, I'm going to be changing their diapers.

*Heehee...when I get old, my son will have to change mine!!! Paybacks!!!

Now you've gotten to have a glimps inside my brain, aren't you glad you stopped by here this morning??

Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors in this country to perform late term abortions, was killed while standing in his church yesterday. I do not agree with what he did, but there is no excuse for what was done to him.

The 6th Commandment is 'Do not kill'. It's not a suggestion.