Going to Omaha

The girls and I are headed to Omaha for Asher's 3rd birthday this weekend!
Patrick Jr. is already there with Matthew and Melinda.

We are so excited to be all together.  Well almost all.  :o(
Patrick Sr. has to stay home for work.  Big projects are put in place on holiday weekends.
Did you know that?
It stinks.

Patrick Sr. will be missed very much.



This is the last time we were all together.






I wonder if the baby pool would hold all the kids.
That would be funny.



Hi Cindy!


*****

So excited to see how Malachi has grown.  I hear he is a happy boy.
Asher should be talking a lot!  He has the cutest voice.





Have you read "The Relatives Came"?




Ready or not.
Here we come!


Happy Labor Day weekend friends!

Love you. Mean it.

Donna

I want to re post this recipe that I learned from Five ingredient Fix.

Honeydew is in season.

I have made this with regular cucumbers and different kinds of yogurt and without the jalapeno.

It was called Fresh Cucumber Salad.

• 1 English cucumber, peeled and diced

• 1 cup (1/4 whole) honeydew, finely diced

• Kosher salt

• 2 cups Greek yogurt

• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced

I used ½ of a large English cucumber, two cups of honeydew,

yogurt to cover and a teeny bit of jalapeno. I am a wimp when it comes to spicy.

But I am so excited to share how much I loved this odd salad.

I haven’t purchased a honeydew melon in so long I can’t even remember if I have ever purchased one!  And a jalapeno…first time ever!

I liked this so well that when I finished my lunch today I made a second batch with the left over ingredients. Very exciting.

It tasted cool and sweet with just the right amount of spice. (practically none)

I highly recommend this delicious, weird salad.

UPDATE: Don't worry about the measurements.  Lots of honeydew, lots of cucumber, enough yogurt to cover.  Also, I put cucumber and honeydew in strainer with some salt and let it drain a bit before adding the yogurt.

Encourage one another,

Donna

Girls who wear glasses.

Katie wears these glasses around the house.
She thinks they are super cute.




Have you seen "How to Marry a Millionaire"?

It's pretty cute and funny.
So is Marilyn in her glasses.
(Her glasses play a big part in her story.)

Anyway.

It's always fun to wear glasses when you don't have to, isn't it?

There is a lesson in that...somewhere....

Have a lovely day!

Love ya!
Donna

This generation of children...

This generation of children....
is going to school and doing their homework and obeying their parents and going to church and riding their bikes and playing volleyball and reading books and laughing and loving and dreaming.

Katie hates it when she hears how awful her generation is.
She takes it personally.

I think the kids these days are wonderful.

I meet nice, respectful, smart teens every day.
I bet you do too.

I always expected the best from my children. I expected that they would obey me.
Mostly they did.
I think they live up to our expectations.

This generation is going to be wonderful.

That's what I'm going to believe.


Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s.  The school's theme this year: Peace begins with me.

13.1

Emma ran a half marathon on Saturday in Milwaukee.
This was her first half marathon race.  She has been training for the Chicago Marathon in October and this race just kind of fell in her lap.  She was going to run with her childhood friend, but Keeley's leg has been sore so Emma ran alone.  Emma has run this distance for training and thought she would come in around two hours;  which she did.



















I'm so proud of my little red headed girl.

2:04

 You can praise God by peeling a spud if you peel it to perfection. Don't compromise. Compromise is a language of the devil. Run in God's name and let the world stand back and in wonder.~Rev. J.D. Liddell

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.~Eric Liddell

Chariots of Fire.  Another movie for Emma to put on her list.  I am sure she has not seen it.





Now I want to see it again.

Happy Monday.

Katie is at school.  8th grade.


Encourage one another,
Donna

Look around

Last night as I set out at 10:00 to pick Katie up from a Back to School movie night in the next town over I noticed an unusual sight.  Fog dropped in or floated up or whatever fog does...creeps in on little cat's feet....at the baseball field.  It was eerie and beautiful.

On the way home I stopped at the ballpark to try to take a few pictures with my phone.

The pictures are not exactly what I was seeing.  The glare of the lights made big blobs of light.  They took away from the fog.

But that's okay.

It was beautiful and still and unusual and I will remember that.

The other day Katie was really obsessing about her hair.  She could not get the sock bun to look right.
She reminded me of myself.  Sometimes I obsess about something so little and unimportant that it takes the joy out of whatever I am doing.

I told her of the time I was standing on the Eiffel Tower and was totally freaking out because my camera was doing something weird.  There I was, in Paris, with my husband and daughter, in France, ON THE EIFFEL TOWER, and I was upset about my camera.  (Fortunately said fit only lasted five minutes.  But it was a stressful five minutes.)

Katie got what I was saying.

Lesson learned.  Or at least.....lesson taught.

We can't let little upsets mar the big beautiful picture.

Amen.

Fog

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on. 

Carl Sandburg

That's it!

Encourage one another,
Donna

What is funny?

This post is from November 2011.  I've been thinking about what I think is funny lately.  We know what makes the majority of people cry.  But laughter is a very different!

These pictures crack me up. 

Emma and Melinda trying on nutty clothes.

Melinda doing a ninja kick.  (hysterical)

The girls broad physical humor outside Farm and Fleet. (Clay Matthews)

I like people that I can make laugh and that can make me laugh.

I'm a comedy narcissist.

Anyway.

Enjoy my goofy girls.  I know I do!

Snaps

Chanel who?

International Harvester, Farmall, John Deere, Carhartt.....

Being seen can mean more than one thing.

Black Friday Ninja

Aughhhhhhhhh!!!!

fun. times. good. times.

School Clothes

She just can't help it.
Katie LOVES wearing her new school clothes.













85mm lens
1.8 aperture
iso 400

and so it goes.


I'm so glad she found a few dresses that she really likes.
I have always liked dresses!


Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for our vulnerable brothers and sisters around the world.

Encourage one another,
Donna

Violence in Chicago

Yesterday Emma was blissfully shopping at Target in Uptown.  I know this because she posted a picture to Instagram of the store.  Moments later she sent me a text saying there was a shooting at the McDonalds a few blocks away.  Five people were shot.



Here is where the homeless and hungry line up for meals and meetings.  It is directly across the street from the McDonald's.

Emma's friend Anthony was in line.
He was hit with shrapnel in the hand and went to the hospital.
He is doing fine but is very frightened.

It was a fine summer day
Girls shopped
Children swam
Locust hummed
Lost boys shot

What will ever stop the violence?
Who can hope?

Will you join me in praying for the vulnerable people living in violent places....like Chicago?

Thank you.
God Bless

Donna

William talks about sweet baby George.

The rest of this interview with Prince William will air on CNN on Sept. 15th.




I told you he could make George sound sweet!

"At the moment, the only legacy I want to pass on to him is to sleep more and maybe not have to change his nappy so many times," he laughed.    ~Prince William

“I love these little people; and it is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us.”

~Dickens

Encourage one another,

Donna

Fun night at the Brewers Game.

What a great night for a baseball game.  I have been wanting to go see a Brewers game all summer.  We lucked into four tickets for last nights game.  Free tickets....a parking pass...and voucher's for free food at the game. Really!?!
Woohoo!!!
Everyone who comes to the game gets a free $10 voucher to thank the fans for attending.
Our big star Ryan Braun has gotten himself suspended and the team is in last place....

BUT.

We saw a really good game in great seats.

The game ended with a big home run in the ninth inning which won the game.

And in typical Boucher style.....we were in the car on the way home for the big game winning homer!

sheesh






Watching the game from these close seats was really great!  I tend to lose the fact that I am at a game when we sit way far away...which is usually the case.  Loved it.






Four tickets meant a friend for Katie!  Extra fun!



A perfect way to spend a Friday night in August!


"The game's isn't over until it's over."
~Yogi Berra

Now you tell me.

:o)


Happy Weekend friends!!

Donna

Eggs

I buy my eggs at the farmers market.
It makes me very happy to be able to do this.
I feel happy that I am supporting the local farmers.
I feel happy because they came from close by.
I feel happy because they are fresh.
I feel happy because they are healthy.
I feel happy because they are tasty.




And I feel happy because they are pretty.


eggs.
happy.
happy.
happy.


Eggcourage one another,
Donna

One year ago.

One year ago.

(Seems like forever ago.)

Katie and I went to visit Cheryl in Rhode Island.
It was the most lovely visit!













I am so thankful for pictures.  You don't know how much pleasure I get looking at these!
Beauty. Love. Thankfulness.

Excuse me while I go and live in my photostream.

Donna

8th grade

Katie and I went to registration for school yesterday.
8th grade.

Gosh. Grade School is almost over.

I remember 8th grade.  Well...  I remember cheerleading mostly.
Edison Jr. High.

E.d.i.s.o.n.

YAY!!  EDISON!!

The other thing I remember was learning to do a back handspring.
I landed on my head a lot.
My arms were weak.  It took a lot of work and practice but I finally got it.

It was 1970.

I know this because my cheerleading coach gave each girl who learned a back handspring a charm.

How neat is that?  I do not remember her name or what she even looked like.
But I remember something encouraging and kind that she did.

I wish I remembered who it was.




Did you have a charm bracelet?


Encourage one another,
Donna

I want to go to there. Beaver Dam. Blue Barn.

Culvers is thanking farmers.

The ad features a big BLUE barn.  I said to Patrick, "I want to go see it!"
He said, "It's fake."

(He is cynical like that.)

I looked it up on Google.
(Cause I'm like that.)



This is in Beaver Dam Wisconsin.
I hear you can see it from 151.

Can you say....field trip!!!


Encourage one another and thank-you farmers.
Donna

Hi!  My newest post is up on The Pioneer Woman's Entertainment section today.

It's a great list of movies that I can't wait for Emma to see.
I think you would like these movies too!


Must-see-movies for Counselors



*****
















Emma came home for a quick visit with her darling friend Whitney.


photo by Whitney Stewart

Sunday morning Emma needed to get in her run.  13.1miles
She is training for the Chicago marathon.
This was her longest distance so far and she did great!


Thanks for stopping by!
Love ya!

Donna