Old Time Photos

On the road that leads to my cabin there is an old abandon house with a barn and a couple old cars. They have been there forever and they add so much character to the drive that I think that's why the city keeps them there. There is a no trespassing sign but I decided to be a little daring and climb through the marsh to get some cool shots.

I edited them to add some cool effects to them. I think they turned out awesome. 

Sunset Shots

I went a little crazy with the sunset shots because they were just so BEAUTIFUL.

Memorial Weekend

This past weekend B and I took Jake up to the cabin. We used our new camper and boy was that nice compared to the old cabin with spiders.YUCK!! Jake had a blast and I took so many pictures. B bought me a new camera for my Birthday in April and I just love it!! So I was taking pictures of everything. Stay tuned to many picture posts as well as my entries for May's Photo Hunt Challenge

We have a large family. There are 5 cabin within the same area that are owned by members of my family. A little ways down the lake my Aunt and Uncle have a cabin. Travel a little farther around the lake and you will find another Aunt and Uncle in their cabin and then next to them is my Cousin and his family. Across the lake is another family member. We have a lot of history on that lake and in the area. My Great Grandma was born and raised there. The time that we all spend together is precious. There are so many of us and so many generations. I have 3rd and even 4th cousins that I am close with. I think its amazing and I wouldn't change it for anything. That being said I took a lot of pictures of the weekend. I neglected as usual to take pictures of B and I with Jake but did get many of Jake playing and having a great time.

The start of Memorial Weekend always kicks off with the boys putting in the dock. Normally B helps with the dock but he is super sensitive to cold because of the chemo and couldn't handle the temp of the water. 

They were having some issues this year as one of our docks had the stairs give way. The boys put a lot of hours into building up the stairs. So much for a relaxing weekend for them but what would we do without them!

My Grandpa and Grandma live up at the cabin during the summer. My Grandpa loves to ride around in his golf cart with his dog Holly. This year Jake was big enough to go for a ride with Papa and boy he didn't want to stop.

Jake, Papa and Holly


Every Memorial Weekend everyone gets together down the hill at Uncle Dick and Auntie Mary's cabin and has a hot dog cook out. Here is a picture of some of my family enjoying the bonfire. It's only a quarter of the circle.

My Nephew Tony and My SIL Lori enjoying their hot dogs

Jake went up and down these stairs about 50 times that night. Boy was Mama tired. 

My Niece Leah Jo enjoying watching all the kids play. She is such a good baby

Jake loved playing on the slide.

Jake would cry when we would take him out of the swing

Playing ball

He dragged this bat around all day.

My Nephew Tony

Lake shot

Leah Jo. Look at that beautiful face.

My Cousin's dog Ellie loved the water

My Brothers Dog Hannah. She is always out exploring

I had to get a fire shot because I thought it looked so cool.

Doesn't this look real. It's a light in the garden at my Auntie Mary's cabin.


More picture posting to follow.

Wordless Wednesday(preparing for my trip to the grocery store)

I remember the days were I didn't really have to coupon. I just bought what ever and didn't really think twice about it. Times are a lot tougher then they used to be. This is a picture of me preparing for my trip to the grocery store.

Summer Swap!

I participated in the Summer Must Haves Swap hosted by Krysten and here is what I received.

My swap partner was Amanda over at Wandering Thoughts of  Scientific Housewife. 


My Package includes:

Waterproof Mascara
Sunscreen
Nail Polish
Summer Reading
Flower Seeds

Thank you Amanda!

FEVR Conference

Jake and I just got back from a trip to Michigan where we attended a FEVR conference. For those of you that are new to my blog FEVR stands for Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy and it's the eye disease that my son Jake has. A friend of mine Casey has a Daughter Emily and she also has FEVR. Casey generously invited Jake and I with her and her family to fly with them on their company plane to the conference.  Not only was this an amazing opportunity it was also Jake's first plane ride and I have to say he did AMAZING!! In fact my little man was pretty much amazing all weekend. I was terribly nervous because I didn't know what to expect with how he would react but I was pleasantly surprised. 

Had to get a picture outside the plane

Jake and Emily getting ready to take off

Friday night we attended a dinner where we were able to meet a lot of the parents. FEVR is such a rare eye disease so it was amazing to be able to talk to so many different parents that have children just like mine. Jake had a great time at dinner. He has this thing that he does where he goes up to any guy and wants them to pick him up. He pretty much did that most of the night. He played so nicely along side Emily.  They had a few different tables set up with different tactile toys for the kids. 

Little Emily. She is soooo funny and smart as a whip.

This is Sara. How cute is she!!!

There was a man at the conference that has FEVR. He walks with a cane and Jake wanted to try. No lie he knew exactly what to do with it. I think it's time to get Jake started on a cane. 

After the dinner we put the kids to bed and sat in the lounge and talked to a few of the parents. Casey brought her amazing babysitter Heidi and she stayed in with the kids. 


I learned so much this weekend. I have so many more questions but I feel like I now know what questions to ask. The parents that we met were amazing. Hearing their stories about their children helped me so much. Before today I felt like I just didn't know the stuff that I should know to be my son's biggest advocate but now I feel I have a way better understanding. 


I have to say thank you to Casey for allowing us to fly with her and her family. Casey is an amazing person who Jake and I are lucky to have met. So Casey if you are "stalking my blog" I just wanted to say Thank you for EVERYTHING. I am glad that we had a chance to get to know each other better.  

I just wanted to share one more photo of Jake and Emily on the plane ride home. As I'm freaking out because of the turbulence Jake and Emily were having a great time. Me I thought I was going to throw up. 

The Deck Is His Playground

I mentioned many times that Jake loves it outside. He would stay out there all day if I let him and I usually do. We have a pretty nice size fenced in yard which is nice when you have a toddler that loves being outside. I usually spend the majority of my day chasing him around the yard. Well I discovered the other day if I take off his shoes and he is barefoot he stays on the deck because he doesn't like the feeling of the grass under his feet. Maybe that makes me a bad Mom but as a good friend of mine says, it just makes me a smart Mom. Hmmm what do you think?

Today Jake was soooo pumped up from playing all day that I couldn't get him to nap. By 6 pm he was beyond tired. I put him to bed at 7 and for the first time in months I didn't hear a peep out of him. Usually when I lay him down he plays in his crib for a good hour or two. I checked on him at 7:30 and he was out cold. I'm hoping he sleeps good tonight because we have to catch a flight at 7 am. It will be Jake's first airplane ride. 

Wish us luck!

Tonights Dinner- Southwest Chicken Bake

I thought I would share the recipe for the dinner that I made tonight because it was sooooo Yummy!!

Southwest Chicken Bake

You can't really tell how good it is by the picture of course so you will just have to make it  to see

 Preheat oven to 400

What you will need:

1 lbs of boneless chicken breast

1 cup sour cream

I can cream of chicken

½ package of taco seasoning

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 package of Simply Potatoes Southwest Style

13x9 glass pan

(To cut the calorie and fat I use sour lean and reduced fat cheese)

·       In a large bowl mix together the entire package of potatoes, cream of chicken, sour cream (I used half regular and half light top the tater because I was out of sour cream and it was really good), 3/4^th of your cheese.

·       Spray your pan with pam or what ever you have

·       Spread the potato mixture in the pan.

·       Rub chicken with taco seasoning.

·       Place chicken over potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

·       Once done take foil off and sprinkle remaining cheese over chicken and bake until melted.

Serve with a side of sour cream or salsa or both

Enjoy!!