Last week of summer

This was our last week of summer vacation before starting school. I go back to work tomorrow at the school as a kindergarten teachers' aide. I was hired last year in October and loved it. The kids start school on Tuesday. Back to the grind for all of us.

The last week of the summer is always county fair week for us. For those of you who don't know, the Snyders are pig people. That's pretty much all we do at the fair nowadays (show pigs), but it's a pretty big deal. We have one of the biggest swine shows in PA and Steve and the kids love it. Brooke didn't think she was going to get to show this year having to leave for college, but it turned out that she got one more year in. Steve has turned into quite the expert and we breed, raise and sell showpigs to 4-H kids for the fair. And when I say "we" I mean Steve and the kids because I must admit that I don't have much to do with it. The kids know exactly what goes on in the barn but that's not really my department. Anyway, they had a lot of success again this year. No grand champ this year, but we did have a reserve homegrown champ. And the girls each earned reserve champion showman in their divisions and Gideon got third place showman in his division. Jake didn't enter the showmanship contest since he was on crutches and in his leg brace.

One sad thing that happened this past week was that we had to have our beloved golden retriever, Silver, put to sleep. She was old and had cancer. She had stopped eating and couldn't get up anymore. It was a very sad day for us but we're happy that she's gone to a happier place.

A week in the life...

Ah, yes. A week in the life of a lowly freshman football player. Jacob was to join the ranks of the oh-so-revered JV/Varsity football team by starting camp last Monday. Oh, the horror stories he must have heard because not only was he a little nervous, he was scared out of his wits! He was so scared he could barely eat (and that's saying something for this boy) and he was sure he wasn't going to be able to sleep the night before camp. Well, he was able to sleep and was up bright and early Monday morning. I made him eat at least a banana and off he went to camp. I felt like I was sending my baby off to Kindergarten for the first time because I was a little nervous for him. Needless to say, he survived his first day of camp. He came home exhausted but alive and well, nonetheless. He actually loved it, could talk of practically nothing else all week and joined in the team comraderie by getting a handsome mohawk just to prove that he was part of the team!! Alas, along came Saturday and their first scrimmage of the year. Jacob blew out his knee, and we're waiting to see if it's the dreaded ACL or, hopefully, just the MCL, which would be much easier to deal with. So, after all that, our poor little - I mean, big and tough #54 may be kissing his freshman year of football goodbye. So sad...

Before...Can you smell the fear?:

After...Exhausted but alive:

Phone call from locker room that goes a little like this.
Jake: Hey, Mom. Sooo.. can I get a mohawk? The whole team's doin' it.
Mom: (Pause) Oh, I guess.
Jake: Ok, thanks.

Half hour later, after mohawk has been completed and I pick Jake up.
Jake: Mom, why didn't you remind me about the pig show at the fair on Tuesday?
Mom: Yeah, I know. I thought about that a little too late, too.
Jake: Oh, man. Dad's gonna be mad.

However, Dad was not mad but simply said, "enjoy it for now but it's getting shaved off for the show." So we are "enjoying" the mohawk while it lasts.

Uh oh:

You can say that again:

I LOVE SUMMER!

I really do love summer. I love when everything is in full bloom, the garden is producing and the sun is out in full force. Boy, do I need that Vitamin D recharge after the long, dreary winters of southwestern PA. Steve and the kids planted an amazing garden for us this year and it's doing great. So far, no blight on the tomatoes like last year and we're crossing our fingers on it staying that way. I have been finding and creating new recipes for fresh veggies every day and I haven't gone for a full load of groceries in over a month!! We've just been grabbing milk, eggs, butter, bread and cheese. It's been awesome! We have tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, onions, peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, sweet potatoes, lettuces, spinach, basil, beets, cabbage, watermelon and cantalope. It's amazing how many different recipes you can come up with using these fresh veggies. And our little pear trees are loaded this year so fresh, sweet pears and pear crisp are always on hand. We're eating our own beef, pork and chicken from the freezer. It's my goal to see how inexpensively we can eat for these few months. I love it! I feel so self sufficient.

Not to change the subject or anything, but another thing I love is land. Ever since I was young, I've always gotten butterflies inside when I see a beautiful vista, whether it's a mountain range, valley, meadow, prairie, lake or cornfield. I just love walking out my door and knowing that the 22 acres all around me are mine. I adore the view out all of my windows. The window over my sink frames the most gorgeous, huge maple tree that changes the most spectacular colors in the fall. The other side of the house has a pretty pink flowering crab apple tree that we take a picture of the kids in every year. Several times this summer I have been gazing out a window and someone will say, "What're ya looking at?" I say, "Nothing in particular, just the view." I love that my kids can go out and run, play, ride, explore without ever having to leave home. With the overdevelopment and urban sprawl of cities and towns out across the farmland of our beautiful country, I am so grateful for my little corner of the world that I hope will always stay the way it is. Just a little, old, underdeveloped, beautiful farm.

The view from my back door:

The view from my front door:



My beautiful garden:

My abundant little pear tree:

Our "crabby" kids (haha):

My maple tree in the fall: