More Fall Small Town Living Fun

These are some great pics of the kids at another pumpkin patch, picking their pumpkins, going in a corn maze, and playing in the leaves at Grandma's house.  What a fun family day we had!

 These lovely flowers are from Princess B's field trip.  I love that farm!

 Look at the Pure JOY on their faces! Anticipating their jumping into the leaves at Grandma's!

 Forever a ham, The Rock Star!

 Go Little Big Man!

 My sweet oldest boy~Always meticulous at finding just the right pumpkin!

 Little Big Man could barely pick up his pumpkin, but he insisted on carrying it himself!

My favorite bunch of cuties at the end of the maze.

More Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Look at the fabulous antique wagon Princess is standing beside.  What a great display!

 Grandma and Little Princess walking through the corn maze.  This picture softens my heart every time I look at it.  They love each other so much!

 What a wonderful little country store they have for their patrons right on the farm! Look at all the fall goodies!  PS-I LOVE twinkle lights any time of the year!  They add that special something to nooks and crannies!

 Princess B playing in the kids' grain house.  She's right at home with the trucks~she's always playing with her brothers' toys at home!

 Yes, I let her pet the donkey, and Yes, we doused her with hand sanitizer as soon as she walked away!

Is that Princess B milking a real cow?  Nope, just looks that way!  How cute is that?!!!

And finally, a hay ride around the farm with lots of kid friendly Halloween displays along the way.  What a perfect ending to a perfect day! I LOVE small town living!
I hope you enjoyed your fall season, and if you don't have a change of seasons where you live, I hope you enjoyed my day on the farm!
Blessings to you and yours,
The Queen Mama

Fall Fun at the Pumpkin Patch Farm

Little Princess had a preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  It's located on a wonderful family owned farm about 25 minutes from our home.  My Mom and I took her and had a fantastic time! Enjoy the pictures of our small town day trip!

 Princess B~always happy to pose for the camera!

And me, The Queen Mama, loving some Fall Small Town Fun!

  Grandma even got in on the fun!

 

A Baby Changes Everything...

My dear friends, I am so sorry I have not kept you up to date since summer! Life has been wonderfully busy, and I have the best news ever!  We have a new baby in the house! We picked her up straight from the hospital at 17 days old.  She was going through methadone withdrawals, but is absolutely fine! We don't know how long she will be with us, but she is 1 month now, and we will love and cherish her as long as we have her!  I can't post a pic because of confidentiality reasons, but I will tell you that she is so precious and sweet and a true blessing to our family.  God is Good!  Please keep checking back for some great small town fall and christmas photos!
Blessings to you and yours,
The Queen Mama

Check Out My Estate Sale Goodies

I participated in a local estate sale auction online.  I got two boxes full of linens, and these are just two of my favorite finds.  An adorable vintage sheer yellow apron (looks like it was never used), and an antique embroidered linen from China with the tag still on.  What do I do with these?  Well, I love to use my favorites for my mom's group gatherings or family holidays.  Some I sell on Ebay, and others I am planning on using in making items to sell on Etsy! (I always talk a good game, but getting it done is another story!)

This is another flea market find. I turned it into a soy candle with a vanilla scent.  I eventually want to sell these on Etsy also.  I just need to get organized!

Recipe for a Happy Marriage

Many people ask how my husband and I have achieved a relatively low key, happy marriage of 15 years.  Here's my simple recipe:
God + Love + Laughter =Happily Ever After.   Here are some more of my favorite "marriage" sayings-some I find humorous as well as helpful-not sure who wrote them:
A Happy Wife means a Happy Life.  If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  The marriage that prays together, stays together.  (You can substitute family for marriage as well.)
EVERY WISE woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands. – Proverbs 14:1 May God Bless You and Your Marriage,
The Queen Mama

Are You Ready for Some Football?

It's Football Season in our town!  The younger boys started a few weeks ago.  It's The Rockstar's 6th year playing, and Little Big Man's first.  It's a huge commitment for our family (for anyone's family for that matter), as practice is 5 nights a week and a game on the weekend.  What we do for our kids!!

Old Houses I'd Love to Rescue

These are  pictures I snapped from the car on the way home from our vacation.  I have a soft spot for old houses.  I think I must have lived in the Colonial and Victorian eras in a former life!  When I look at these houses, I wonder about the first inhabitants, what they looked like, what type of life they lived, what were their daily joys and struggles?  What did the house look like?  Who abandoned them and why?  I wish I could save them all!  Anyway, here you go..Enjoy!  Love, Queen Mama

 

Baby Pangs

I felt compelled to post today because Big Daddy is tired of hearing me tell him over and over!  I am having major baby pangs!  Not necessarily newborn baby pangs, but just longing for more little ones to love.  Maybe it's the pangs of little ones in the system I am feeling, that need a forever family.  At any rate, I am so anxious and the wait has been over a year.  If you read my Our Family page, you will learn more about our adoption journey.  Well, thanks for listening!  I'm going to continue praying, and I appreciate your prayers as well!  May you be blessed, The Queen Mama

Are There Ghosts in Gettysburg?

The Rockstar was adamant about going on a Ghost Hunt while we were in Gettysburg.  It was planned for our last night, but the weather forecasted storms.  We told him we were not going to go, but he was crushed.  So Big Daddy took him on a last minute tour at 11 pm.  The Champ had no interest in going, so he and the Queen Mama and the  little ones stayed at the hotel.  It wasn't a ghost hunt, but it was a ghost walking tour of the town.  Big Daddy is pretty much a skeptic, but changed his mind after the tour.  He swore he saw a curtain move in one of the upper windows of a building (the tour guide told him it was a documented haunted spot).  They were encouraged to snap pictures everywhere and look at them later.  That orbs and different lights were usually ghosts.  So, they snapped away.  Not sure if they saw ghosts or not.  You can decide for yourself!

Note the large round "orb" to the left of the reenactor.  Rockstar on Right. This used to be a riverbed where the wounded soldiers would wash their wounds.  The guide said it flooded after a sudden downpour and many soldiers died there.

My son insists there are faces in this odd red light. Hmmm.

Big Daddy swears he saw the curtain be pulled back in the top left window.  It's too dark for me to see anything.  Well, if there are ghosts in Gettysburg, I hope they were believers, and find their final resting place soon!

Our Gettysburg Vacation

The Rockstar and I are huge history buffs!  We had a blast in Gettysburg!  I think everyone else did too, except for Princess B ~ she doesn't like long car rides, and so was not impressed with the audio car tour we took through the battlefields. (She let us know this by screaming for about an hour straight!)  Anyway, we were able to get some great pics.  Below was our first stop-the Battlefield Tour Center.  We had our pic taken with President Lincoln!

Did I mention it was about 110 degree heat index?  The kids were like, Mama, really? P.S.-Thank you to the kind stranger who offered to take our picture.  Who knows~maybe she's reading this!

We saw some really great monuments, houses and barns that were actual sites of battle, and the civil war soldiers' cemetery.  There are so many unknown soldiers buried there.  It was quite touching and humbling to see.  The following pictures depict all of the above.  Note in the second picture the cannonball hole in the top of the barn wall.

Below is the monument of the Eternal Flame.  It burns atop the monument 24/7.

Rows and rows and rows of unknown soldiers!

 

 

 Above is an unknown soldier-buried 979th in a row. Below are rows upon rows of unknowns.

I love this pic of Bid Daddy, my Navy Veteran husband, solemnly reading a tribute with Little Big Man on his back.  It was so hot, and too much walking for him! We take every opportunity to teach our children about patriotism~hope he remembers this trip!  I love you Big Daddy!!

Hopefully you and your family will get to see Gettysburg someday.  A truly wonderful history lesson!
Blessings to you and yours,
The Queen Mama

Hershey Park Vacation

Our small town family traveled a long, long, way to the big time fun Hershey Park, PA.  It was a great time.  I definitely recommend it for families of all ages!!  Here's one of the top ten scariest roller coasters in the world, the Fahrenheit.

It goes straight up, then straight down, and on to more sideways loops. You will not find The Queen Mama riding this or any other ride!  However, Big Daddy, The Champ, and The Rockstar rode it while Queen Mama waited with a huge knot in her chest! What happens to us when we become mothers?  My sense of adventure is not gone, but my senses want me to stay on the ground!

Luckily, Hershey Park has a Boardwalk area with lots of water fun.

Here's Little Big Man and Miss B posing after some water fun! This is more The Queen Mama's speed!

Note Little Big Man is tickling Princess Miss B to get her to smile pretty for the camera! There is a wave pool that is a few feet deep with a slide and mini water slides for the little kids, and big water slides for the big kids and adults.  All surrounded by lounge chairs, lockers and lots of eating areas!

The Big Boys were good sports by riding rides that Little Big Man could.  Here's The Champ cheesing it up for Queen Mama on The Howler.

The Rock Star didn't want to ride this with Little Big Man, but he ended up having a blast!!  It went up so high-Queen Mama was again ready to have a heart attack!

How neat is this?! This is the Milton Hershey School which you can see from the park.


Hershey Park also has a zoo that is FREE admission when entered through the park.  Take advantage of their meal deal and game ticket packages that you can buy at guest services to help save money.  We had a wonderful family vacation! After Hershey Park, we visited Gettysburg.  Look for some great pics in my next post!

Please visit the rest of my posts for other great small town pictures, recipes, yard sale finds, and trips.

Blessings,
The Queen Mama

I Only Got on Base Once, Mom!

We may live in a small town, but baseball is a big thing around here! LittleBigMan had his first baseball game tonight for the 7 yr old All Star team.  He was so upset that he only got on base once.  He hit the ball every time, but got out at first the rest.  Mama told him not to worry, that he would do better tomorrow.   Now let me tell you, this type of thing just does not sit easy with the men in my family.  They are all fierce competitors, whether it be who finishes their breakfast first to who walks out the door first.  After sulking for a few minutes, he decided he wanted Mama to take a picture of him in his new uniform, and "Will you please put it on that blog thing you're doing?!"  So, to make my favorite 7 yr old happy,  here he is everyone, dirty face and all!

The Drive-In Movie Theater is Still Going Strong in my Hometown

Some of my favorite memories are those of my sister and I putting on our pj's and going to the drive-in with Mom and Dad. That was back in the days of Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang, Escape to Witch Mountain, and The Apple Dumpling Gang just to name a few. I am telling my age now! I hope our children will cherish this memory also.

Big Daddy and I took the whole family on a short trip to my hometown's Drive-In Movie Theater tonight.  The kids were so excited! We had not been there since our oldest boys were little because their younger siblings were always too young to go.  I packed up a bag of snacks, a cooler full of drinks, lawn chairs, blankets, and pillows, and off we went. It was $14 a carload night  for two movies.  We only stayed for the first movie, but what a bargain for a family of 6! Miss B wanted to keep climbing in and out of the car and wouldn't stay settled, but what did we expect, as it was way past her bedtime. 

This is the Drive-In Concession stand.  There are bathrooms on each end.  It hasn't changed much since I was a little girl.  We got a super large family-sized bag of popcorn  with extra movie butter for $4.50. Normally I pop my own, but this was a last minute decision after a baseball game, and I didn't have time.  Still, not a bad price compared to indoor movie theater popcorn prices.  

 Love living the small town life,

God Bless,

The Queen Mama