Heading for the Hills!!!

The Mystery is Solved!!

I was just getting ready to put the bucket in the garage and give away the wine or something, it can't 'live' on my stool in the kitchen forever! Then this afternoon our next door neighbor guy came to the door with a lady that I had never seen before. They were smiling and laughing and said there was some kind of problem (they were speaking only German but I figured that out) and then she pointed to where the bucket had been left and said the word for bucket and the light bulb went off in my head. I was so excited to figure out what the deal was with it, I had just told my friend around the corner about it and she was baffled too. I pantomimed that I was confused about it and gave both the bucket and the wine to the lady. Apparently her husband was supposed to have dropped it off with our neighbor but left it on the wrong porch! I don't know if our neighbor was expecting it or not, I assume this lady came by and asked about it and he was clueless. They were laughing and teasing each other...he put the bucket on her head at one point! They insisted on my keeping the wine but they took the bucket with them. Whatever!

Walk quietly....don't scare the frogs!

I just love that funky paper with the circles on it, it is made by Fancy Pants. I hadn't planned to use it with this layout...originally I thought it was going to be fairly straightforward...several different kinds of green patterned papers...but I grabbed this new paper I got a few weeks ago cuz when I saw it in the store I NEEEDED it even though I didn't know what for! Anyway....it is printed on both sides and I thought I was going to use the plainer other side...but then had an AHA moment when I saw the circles and thought about those frogs hopping into the water and ripples and I just HADDA use it! The layout is a Scraplift of a good cyberpal Lam who hangs out at Scrapbook Chalet with me and all the other cool chalet girls. We are still playing fun August games and one of them was to scraplift this layout of Lam's since she is the guest designer this month. I love how she does lots of layouts with lotsa photos..cuz I LOVE to take lotsa photos and wanna use them all on my pages.

And ya know....speaking of Lam (her name is really Lisette btw)....she gave me a very cool award on her blog. Check it out!



She says it is for folks who comment on blogs a lot and help make people's days brighter. I think I would like to pass this award on to:

Brooke cuz she we have had so much fun this summer at the Chalet and I know she is getting ready to start school again...yup, she is a teacher...and that earns a reward for sure in my book!
and
Tammy because she just gives and gives and gives each day and has such a wonderful outlook even when things are less than wonderful in her own circumstances. Post this proudly my friend...you deserve it!

What's this all about?

Isn't that weird? Yesterday Colin and I came home from our errands to find a bucket with a bottle of wine in it sitting on our porch! No note with it, nothing to hint at who it is from or for what reason.... I don't know what we are even going to do with it. I guess for now I will keep it and see if the answers becomes apparent in the next few days. ????????????

Kid at heart

Yup that would be me! I love to watch kids because then I get a good excuse to play with their toys! Alas...my boys are too big to really have a lot of toys around, but I didn't let that stop me this week. I bought a bottle of bubbles and a set of wands. Colin was sure hoping I wasn't going to open them up on the train platform! It's probably a good thing I didn't....I was surprised to learn that bubbles now don't come with a wand in each bottle. What a rip off! Good thing we bought the other set to go with them. Today was my birthday so I decided to prove that I'm NOT old inside! Colin and I did bubbles in the backyard and it was so fun! Even Colin had to admit that he still likes to make bubbles, as long as I don't tell any of his friends! Heehee..

I've been Tagged!!!!!!!!!

Too fun! I always get a kick when someone tags me. I know, I'm weird! LOL

So this one is Seven Things You Don't Know About Me.
Hmmmmmmmmm...

1. I have an internal compass in my head that I can FEEL which way is North almost all the time. It is very weird.

2. I can't walk in high heels so I wore ballet slippers in my wedding.

3. I never wear makeup and my husband prefers it that way. (WHEW!)

4. I live in Germany but have never had a German beer.

5. I have 3 different first names depending on which form of ID you look at. My passport says "Danette", my military ID says "Dana" and my drivers license says "Danae". But everyone calls me Didi! Confused yet? LOL

6. I hate onions but love onion rings.

7. I can go to Disney or Universal Studios in Florida for free.

WOW that was harder than I thought it would be!
Now.....which 7 people should I tag next???? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Tammy, Suzanne, Diana, Kat, Shawna, "G" aka Bahama 97, and Lisette

Round and Round and Up and Down!!!

Yes....that blur of color going by in that photo is me and Colin riding a REALLY fun ride at a festival. I LOVE to ride the rides, and it is definately more fun if you have someone to ride them with. Colin used to not like many of the faster rides, but he is getting braver now and will ride them IF I will go with him. How can I say no?? Well earlier in the day I could....my tummy was full and just watching the ride made me feel odd...but once that wore off we were ready to spin! Even when the boys were small I loved taking them to carnivals and fests. Experiencing their joy with them is one of the best things about being a parent I think.

The Nectar of the gods.......

aka Mountain Dew! If you live at our house or have spent any time around me then you know that is the drink I speak of when I refer to the "Nectar of the gods". I just gotta have my Dew! I know it has the most caffeine and probably the most sugar than other soft drinks. I know you can get it in Diet or Caffeine Free versions. But...YUK! I have tried...really I have tried and I just can't switch. In a pinch I will drink a Mellow Yello but I know the difference....and they now have it available here in Germany too in some places, but I can taste the difference between a German Mountain Dew and the "real deal". Just not the same. It has been my favorite drink probably since I was in 4th or 5th grade. I even remember the first time I had one! I was a member of a church kids group and we had gone on a picnic or hike or something in the city park and I found this unopened can of Mountain Dew and brought it home with me. (Yeah...I know...gross...but I was a kid and you know how kids are, always dragging who knows what home!) I guess mom and dad looked at it and decided it hadn't been messed with or whatever and they let me have it. It must have been a 'big deal' for it to stick in my memory like that. I don't think I had ever heard of it before then. Once I got older and my friends and I started to have regular sleepovers with the accompaniment snacks and beverages we always made sure to have Mountain Dew. I think that is when it became "my" drink. When I was pregnant I did watch my caffeine so I drank the unleaded kind, but it was such a treat that first day after giving birth to have Bill surprise me with a 2 liter bottle of the good stuff! Ahhhhhhh! And our refrigerator has always had it in it ever since. Believe me we NEVER run out! I am however trying to cut back...I am a bit (well more than a bit) thicker around the middle than I like to be and I know if I drank even ONE less a day it would make a difference. So now I allow myself 2 cans of that glorious sweet beverage a day and drink water the rest of the time. Cmon pounds....start dropping off!!!!!! LOL

How exciting!!

The Design Team at Scrapbook Chalet is going to have a party all month long! All sorts of challenges,chats and events going on, some ongoing, others short term. No matter how long they are happening for they are all definately going to be FUN! Yesterday I spent most of the day working on a page for Kat's Scrap Scurry game. One of the ways we could earn points was to make a page using all Basic Grey products. Being someone who LOVES Basic Grey I had no trouble with that part of it. Since it was all Basic Grey I decided to send it to the gallery at the Basic Grey website and see what would happen. I haven't submitted anything in years! Imagine my surprise AND excitement to find an email from Basic Grey in my email ALREADY today!!! YUP...my layout is featured in their online gallery. Hmm....maybe I should start keeping track of what supplies I use in the future and start submitting again?



By the way...this blog entry is even good for points in Jozzie's Blog Challenge! See how easy it is to get points?! You gotta come play too!!!

Railroad Crossing....look out for the cars!

Last weekend we visited a train museum in Heilbronn. They had a huge collection of over 80 steam engines in different states of repair and renovation all displayed in and around a working roundhouse. We were among about 4 or 5 people visiting that day and pretty much had the run of the place. It is just amazing how HUGE those steam locomotives are! We took loads of pictures and did our best to see everything there was to see....clearly more trains than Colin cared to see...he was getting a bit bored by Bill and I taking so long, but it was a photographer's paradise! I was practicing different ways to frame things and also closeups and Bill was just taking great photos. Here are a few (well more than a few) of our faves....



I thought these three reminded me of the 3 bears...Papa train on the right, Mama train in the middle and Baby train on the left!

Here are a few pictures of the roundhouse area....























Here's some closeups.......














At one end of the railyard were a few seemingly forgotten locomotives and cars rusting in the weeds and berry vines.




















Colin did get to try his hand at switching the tracks. Pretty strong guy to move a set of tracks like that! WHEW!