Last day of school!

Maddie's last day of finals was May 23!

Yay -- junior year is in the books and it was a good year!

The Landscaping Club was fun for her and as she said,

a very chill club - no drama at all - gotta like that!

Last final is over and done!

Her classes were good and she especially enjoyed

U.S. History with Sister Jacquelyn.

Sister J is an amazing teacher and all the students

love her!  So happy that M had her for history

and worked hard every day to do a good job!

And on to summer break!

A little trip is planned and lots of volunteer work and

even working in the Rickster's office sometimes.

She and I have a big, long "summer bucket list!"

Happy summer!

Photography Final and Last Day of Junior Year . . .

Today is Maddie's last final of her

junior year of high school!!!

On to senior year! 

Woot Woot!

I'm sure some ice cream and probably brownie

deliciousness will be had today

or maybe a Mickey Ice Cream Bar!?!

Recently, for her photography final, Maddie

had to prepare a 10-photo portfolio

of a subject of her choosing.

She chose food items!

Let me say first, this photography

course has been challenging in more

ways than one as most of the assignments

were either outside or better results from outdoor photos!

And we had the worst winter on record and

a very, very thundery and rainy spring.
She was constantly running outside with her camera to try and catch
the best light for a photo.

Anyway, one of the photos she submitted was a bowl of neapolitan ice cream!

I just love it!

It reminds me of my Dad who used to always buy neapolitan ice cream as he figured

there was something there for everyone.

However, he later came to realize that

the chocolate portion went first, the strawberry next and the vanilla last! 

He thought we all would scoop across and have a little of each! 
So wrong!

I remember him laughing so hard when he realized what was happening!

Dear Al - we miss you so!

And we gobbled up the ice cream in the correct order -
chocolate, strawberry and vanilla last again!

Hippity Hoppity - The Easter Report

Greetings!

I'm just a tad bit behind on my blogging --

sooooo, let's jump back to Easter!

We had an Easter celebration at my son's house.

I made two yummy quiches and supplied

the chocolate milk. 

Chocolate milk always makes the littles happy!

We had such a wonderful time with a fun 

Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

Walt was the big victor in the egg hunt

with 28 eggs!

Maddie and I found these fun eggs ahead of time

for the hunt.

They were made of good old regular eggs, but filled 

with confetti!

You smacked them on the ground or on some poor

unsuspecting person's head (yes, that happened)

and confetti went everywhere!

They were a bit hit (pun intended)!

Philip later used his leaf blower to blow

the confetti out of the kids' hair before they went inside

(he thinks of everything!).

The eggs were so colorful that Maddie later used 

a few for photos for her photography class!

Somehow, I  managed to convince the kids and the Rickster

to get into a photo with me!

Yay - -thanks to Catherine for getting a picture.

After brunch and much egg smashing,

 we headed in a food coma for naps!

What a great Easter celebration!

Happy Golden Birthday - #9!

Today, May 9, our Scottish Terrier turns 9!

Muffy and her siblings - 2010

She's the sweetest dog . . . most of the time.

She loves treats and belly rubs.

She still follows Rickster around  like - well --  like a puppy!

Maddie, Muffy and Muffy's parents, Wallace and Logan

She likes a few other neighbor dogs like the

two Corgis across the street and the pups

on either side of our house.

But, she hates the Schnauzer Sisters  (Mildred and Gertrude - mini schnauzers)

from down the block.

No worries -- they don't like her either.

I think it's a terrier thing!

She's not a fan of thunderstorms or fireworks!

We keep a supply of doggie valium for stormy days/nights

and the 4th of July!

She's really one of the best dogs ever!

She's getting a little gray now and really enjoys

her naps -- hmmmm- I guess she's taking after me!

Happy Birthday Muffles!

Cinco De Mayo - A Marathon and a Tornado!

This past Sunday was quite a day in Lincoln!

It was Marathon Day and Cinco de Mayo!

The marathon route runs along on a street a block from home,

so I trekked over at 7:15 am to watch the runners.

I'd never seen the first runners before -- guess I slept a little later

in the past!

First, two police cars start the race, then police on motorcycles followed by 

bicycles and the runners are just behind.

There is always a crowd cheering the racers on!

It was so fun to see the start of it and the first racers.

I think one of them won the marathon!

And, bonus, it was a lovely Cinco de Mayo race day . . . 

almost all day long!

Maddie and I spent the day looking for props for a 

school project and were so happy to be outside for

a nice sunny day. 

But clouds were forming late in the afternoon!

And just like that  -- Cinco de Mayo 

turned in to CINCO de MY-OH-NO!!

We had wild weather and a tornado in Lincoln!

A sweet small ice cream/burger shop was destroyed.

Luckily, the workers escaped just before it hit the business.

At our house, we lost power around 5:30 pm  -

electricity finally returned about 11 pm.

That was a dark evening.

We are all so thankful that there were no injuries caused 

by the storm.

It was a Cinco de Mayo that will not soon be forgotten!