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Lindsey Open House at IN State

My neice Lindsey had an open house at her sorority this weekend at IN State University and she showed us around and we went to lunch...it was a nice day and great to see where she is during the school year. She is going to be 21 this month and growing up to be such a great young lady. She was my flower girl in our wedding in 1992...so it is hard for me to believe she is going to be 21 this year!!! Here's a photo of her as my flower girl and a photo this past weekend of me next to her, with my mom and her Dad behind and Mark behind me. Thanks Lindz for a special time with you :)

Zac got to pitch

Zac got to pitch for a bit during his game last week. He did a great job and if he practiced a while he could actually be a good pitcher because he has good form! It's hard to know when to let the ball go...but He looked good doing it! :)

Zac Guitar Lessons

Zac has been taking guitar lessons for a while now and I am very proud of how he is coming along! He can play several songs now and is having concerts for us occassionally when he has practiced new songs. He is not ready for video taping, but when he is I will post one!!!

Rachel's New LOOK!

September 12, 2009

Rachel got her hair done and it looks awesome! She had it re-layered and foil highlights and here is her new look :) Beautious!!!

Labor Day Weekend

We spent our Labor Day Weekend camping as we have the past two summers at the Dunewood Campground which is a rustic campsite without electricity. The only thing that saves it for me is there are bathrooms and showers not too far away from the site! The other factor that makes us return is the beach just a couple of miles away from our camp. The kids have a blast playing in the deep sand, skipping rocks, and digging for eternity! The scenery is superb and I look forward to it every year to be with my family and friends.

We go with my friend Linda’s family, which are a boy and girl that are the same age as Zac and Rachel and another friend Jon Brown, who brought his three boys. This year we decided to hike Mount Baldy, which in comparison to last year’s hike up Mount Tom was pretty lame. Although is was a nice short hike, we decided it was not a very hard trail at all but once we arrived there were plenty of dunes for the kids to roll down and climb back up to! The adults were fine with it and didn’t have to exert the energy, so we sat and enjoyed the beautiful sites while making a simple breakfast and watched the kids run full speed down the huge hill. After that a visit to the beach for the rest of the afternoon was on the agenda! It was fun for the kids to dig and play games even though the water was pretty chilly, thoroughly expected from our chilly summer!

The following day we made a train trip into Chicago wanting to explore and get some Gino’s Pizza. That stuff is the best pizza and worth the 25-minute wait in line to get in the restaurant to be seated! We shopped and went on the Magnificent Mile and Water Tower Place Mall before it was pizza time. After Gino’s we headed back to the train station while running into Kayla and her family after seeing the White Sox and Red Sox game. What are the changes that we run into them?...it’s like a needle in a haystack, one-in-a-million change that we left Gino’s at the exact right time to run into them. We said our goodbyes, after chatting and picture taking, it was back to the train station to catch our train at 11:15 getting us back to the campsite at 12:40. Everyone was exhausted!

The next day was for packing up and heading home. This photo was taken at our campsite the first morning that I couldn’t sleep from being chilled. Although, once I saw this site, I knew God was there and I felt at peace and a sense of warmth came over me. I know that He watches over us even though we are not expecting it and consoles us at all times. He has given us a beautiful earth which needs to be explored…

McIntire, Larry R

My uncle passed away this weekend. I will have to go visit the funeral home Monday (tomorrow) and see the family. Here is his obituary.

Holiday World09

What a fun trip the Bish Family had at Holiday World! We finally got a group photo of The Bish Family (minus Laura...we wish you could have been here :) We reserved RVs at Camp Rudolph and had a great view of the lake!

We arrived Friday evening, staying until Sunday before noon. Saturday our family went to Holiday World with Katies family. We first rode the Raven and then on to the Scrambler. What is nice is that we could then go back to the campsite to eat lunch. Each family was responsible for preparing a meal, and that worked out nice too! We were to make dinner, so Mark stayed back to prepare the grill and start making dinner and Rachel also stayed back to play with her youner cousins after their naps. Zac and I wanted to get back in the park and ride the Voyage and then get soaked on the Pilgrim's Plunge 2x (Why not, with hardly no line and we were already soaked!) The sun poked out a couple of times in the afternoon, although the weather was chilly so the water park was out! The campfire was warm as we all gathered together around it when we could.

Here are a few photos of our time at Holiday World. Way to go Papa & Grammy for getting the big golf cart, that was a HIT!

Rachel and Zac waiting in line for the Raven!

We also celebrated Bruce & Rachel's August Birthdays! Happy Birthday to you both!

Click Here for all my photos from this trip posted on Facebook.

Happy 12th Birthday Rachel

I hope Rach had a Happy Birthday...I took her and a couple friends to go-cart, then they came back for a sleepover. We had Taco Pie for dinner, which was her request and then DQ log cake. Grandma Betty came over and brought the cake and she watched the Colts play their pre-season game. I posted tons of photos on my facebook of Rachel's fun day so Click Here if you would like to view them! We are off Sunday to see Journey & Heart as a family at the State Fair and can't wait!!!! We all have been looking forward to this since the beginning of Summer!

Crazy Summer So Far!

Well it's been a crazy summer so far...some lazy days with the kids but much running around with them as well. The kids have already been to CYO camp the first week after school and had a great time. We finished up Baseball with Zac as he played for two teams in the last tournament games but did not go very far on the bracket. He has fun anyway playing baseball and working this summer cutting grass! He has also started guitar lessons! Even though this year we had to fix his nose from a baseball accident in the outfield... now it's straight again :) Here is a photo of his nose and how crooked it was before his surgery.

Rachel's Softball team did not go on in the tournament but her old coach won, which made us happy because he beat the team that beat us in the tournament! Coach Chris & Chad are her All-Star coaches and that makes her happy to play for them. They have always been encouraging to her as they teach her more than her regular coaches did this past spring. She has also been doing lessons with a college student who teached batting and slapping. She has a bad case of poison ivy now which made her miserable this past weekend as we attended the Decateur Tournament for All-Stars and we got killed! Rach scored the only run stealing home and she walked to first on that one! Pretty CRAZY! Here are photos of her playing and scoring the only run!

"I don't want to GOLF here people! ..can you pitch me a good ball? ... Ok, I'll walk!

"She's SAFE...She scores the only run!"

The kids are now with Mark's mom & dad's in Cinci until Thursday. They are going to Kings Island this evening and I hope they have good weather and tons of FUN! I opted to stay home and get some things accomplished, like writing my blog (since I haven't for about a month & a half!) Here are the kids group photos from CYO Camp - More Summer Fun to come....

Zac is the one in dark blue and Ryan is next to him in grey...aren't they cute???

Rachel is at the top in pink :)

Memorial Weekend in Cincinnati

We went to visit Mark's family in Cinci this past weekend and had a great camping day at Miami Whitewater Forest Park. We got to do paddle boats and they have a waterpark area for the kids! Here are a few photos of our fun weekend.

Backsplash Grouted!

This is my backsplash grouted. I still have the rest of the backspash to grout but thought I'd show you how it looks now.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Zac won his first game last weekend! He looked handsome in his new uniform! He is back in a prep league but one of the oldest on the team. His coach is still in Highschool...He must really love the game to coach these boys! It should be a good team, some are new to the bigger field which makes it challenging! I love to watch my son play baseball. But this weekend they lost. We got sunburnt on our sholders and that HURT! Anyway...I am wishing my son a great Baseball Season and Go #3...I will be rooting for you!

Fun Birthday

What a fun Birthday! Bev made me dinner and a cheesecake! She is the most awsomest cook. It was nice weather so we hung out and had a great evening.



















Stace came in town Saturday and we went to Bazbeaux in Carmel for some pizza. Caitlin and Rhonda came along with Shelbi and Christian to make it a great night. Then we went back to my house and reminiced.

Backsplash

This is my backsplash that I have finally started on. We have one side done now, but it is not grouted yet. The majority of the backsplash is 4 X 4 Jinshan Carmel Polished Travertine with Reggio Border from the Tileshoppe in Caslteton. This is about a 8 in difficulty on a scale from 1-10.

My grandpa used to make tile tables, maybe it rubbed off on me. I really like tiling...it is a bit tedious, but if you can get through that part, it's fun! I will share more photos once I have the other side of the kitchen completed & grouted! It turned out better than I expected ad looks great with the granite counter tile. Thanks for checking it out! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

Countertop Granite Tile Project

We finally finished with our counterop project and awaiting our backsplash Travertine Tile to make it Complete! The COMPLETED Counter is here at the top. Here is our story of the project... and we would not classify this as a beginner project. On a scale from one to ten, I'd say it's a 10.

We had worked with tile before doing our basement bathroom floor, but this is 24X24 and very HEAVY! First, we had to remove the old formica, then plywood, mortar and place hardibacker board on top and screw it every 6 inches. THIS will not be removeable...! Then dry-fit the tiles, cut and make sure they all fit. Then mortar the tile down and try to get it level. This is tricky because it is hard to get the mortar all consistant throughout when you are putting it on the backer board like icing a cake!

We made up our own system of small shims for our spacers and used UNSANDED grout! You don't want sand to scratch the granite! We got all the tile at the Tileshoppe in Castleton and the corner and outside pieces are expensive, but well worth it to get this look! Here is a closeup of the tile... the color is called Jalor Cafe. They gave us Epoxy construction adhesive for the corners and side trim and said to use strong tape to keep them up!!! HAAAAAAAAA...yea right! As soon as you put them up then drop. You want them to meet up with the tile so we came up with this contraption! The books keep the wood pieces level and then you have to clamp the wood where the tiles meet...otherwise it'd be pretty JICK-JACK! The epoxy sets up overnight so the clamps can be You can see me smiling-but that was much closer to the end of the project!!! Oh, I think it was aftre 5pm too...so it was time for a drinky!!! ;)

Along the way we were delayed and had to buy a new dishwasher because ours stopped working and it would be $400 to repair! Hooking up the sink several times and forget to put a washer in the hose to reconnect it...which left a small drip and now I must repair my drywall ceiling in the basement! But my husband ROCKS! He is the best craftsman that I know and I love to help him. We work well together and it took lots of patience, believe me! But I have to thank him for a great kitchen :) and for taking a week off to do this project.

It took us all week + a couple weekends to complete this. We figured about 60 hours, if you figure going to the store and getting clamps several times!!! Granite is great to set HOT things onto. You have to seal it occassionally, I'd say mainly for the grout...but this really makes the kitchen look great. The next challenge will be our backsplash and then when we save enough $ we will put new floor tile and wood flooring in the living and dining room. I can't wait for that!

Nostalgic Rainbo Roller Rink Memories

Facebook Rainbo Roller Rink Memories: Noblesville, Indiana This is a group on Facebook that I joined to remember Rainbo Memories! I found this article which was published in 2004. This is very "nostalic" for me...I used to frequent Rainbo every saturday night as a teenager and wish the place was still around for me to take my kids! I have many fun memories of this place and it's sad that it is gone...
I wish I would have taken photos back then or that digital photos were available then...I could imagine having so many photos with friends! If anyone has better photos of the place, even inside...that would really be cool! please email them to me :)

Alice In Wonderland Jr.

What a musical!!! NIS put on a great Alice In Wonderland Musical which I attended last Satuday. My daughter, Rachel was an oyster and a very cute one too! They cast it right on...the Alice was a great Actress/Singer! I didn't want it to end! Lots of work went into these costumes and my daughter and I both participated in many craft-nites to help create them. These were all hand made! If you want to view the rest of the photos from that night, I have posted them on My Facebook, but you have to be my friend to view them! If you are my aren't my friend on Facebook, shame on you! But you can go and get an account at Walgreens.com. Check them out by clicking here!

Well, We had put our house on FOR SALE BY OWNER because we liked this house in Mill Farm, but just found out that other house sold, so we aren’t sure what we are going to do as of now.
We might put the sign out anyway and see what we get. We were going back and forth thinking of staying and putting $ into this house but liked this other house so much…so I am sad.
I love this neighborhood though and has been great for the kids…just wish we had a bigger lot and more privacy. Well, we will see what spring brings. We’d like to stay in Noblesville, of course but not really many houses fit our bill.

Well, it's time to try to move on...

We are going to try For Sale By Owner and see what happens! I know it is a bad market, but we are interested in another house that has the things we want...since we have settled for this house back in 2000...although have really fell in love with the neighborhood and it's been great for our kids! We want to venture on to another house with (always) new challenges! I guess you can say we're bored and want new surroundings! Hopefully our house will sell soon enough to put an offer on this other house that we REALLY WANT!...So if you know someone who would like to move to South Harbour and experience Morse Reservoir, this is a great house for the price!!! There is lots of ROOM with a basement for those kids!!! Check out our listing on Owner's.com

Snow Bunny!

Rachel, you are a beautiful girl inside and out! I just love some of these photos that I took of you playing so light-heartedly in the first big snow of 2009...wow! What big flakes!

Agony of Defeat!

Zac has been training for 7th/8th grade Middle School Wrestling and they had their first meet the other day, Tuesday. They ended up winning against Riverside Middle School in Fishers, but Zac did not win his match :(

Here is Zac ready to start the match. He has a good look of determination in his walk! Slimming down, watching his weight and reaching his goal to get from 144 to 140. He went out there looking great and giving it his all for Jr. Varsity.

His opponent looked a bit bulkier...but he must have had just the experience and the bulk to keep Zac down. I hope that Zac used it as a learning experience and still continues to strive to do his best!

Needless to say Mom & Dad are really proud of him :) Win or Loose...the boy has been giving it his best effort and that is what is most important!

What's New With Tracey...

Well, we are well on our way at Our Creative Outlet! My design buddies from Scrapbook Corner are now designing all kinds of Valentine Goodies at Logan Village Mall in the heart of Downtown Noblesville! I am posting a photo of my latest creation that is also available on Ebay. I will have this on display at Our Creative Outlet if you would like to see it and purchase it there for $35.00 or if you aren't local and want to buy it on Ebay with only $8 shipping! Here's the link to my "Key 2my Heart Glass Block Lightbox"...

Happy New Year!

Bringing in 2009 New Year w/my honey at Wolfie's! We met up with some local friends so we could be close to home and brought in the new year dancing and having a good old time! I even saw an old friend from High School that I recognized (Paula!) WOW...it was a fun night! To see more photos of my night go to my facebook and add me as your friend!