Of Thee I Sing...

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

                                   

Wishing you all a safe, happy and truly memorable 4th of July! 

God Bless the United States of America, our military troops

both at home and overseas and may God Bless each one of you!



Summer Is Here And That Spells...

...busy, busy, busy! You all know what I am talking about right? Of course you do.

So much to do around the house and yard, so many sweet things to take part in!

And add in a busy 12 year old's schedule and you have...well...you have one pooped old Mom! But I love it...I DO! Just ignore the bags under my eyes and the annoying yawning...

The last 2 weeks have been such a joy. We celebrated my Mom and brother's birthdays, the end of elementary school of Grace & the end of the college semester for Dan. I had lunch with dear friends on several occasions, dinner with our oh so special neighbors and dear friends, several sleepovers, trips to King's Island, an end of the year school party, a Sheryl Crow concert, 3 graduation parties, the start of Summer School and Summer Strings Camp and...um...okay. We get the point Susie Q! It's been busy! Sheesh!

This is my sweet Mom and my kids on her 83rd birthday!

We had a *week of Mom* with dinners out and at home, a trip

 to a local dinner theater and another to a great restaurant in Cincinnati!

This is our wonderful nephews, (Bill's brother's sons) Chris and Nate, with Grace. Chris graduated from High School last weekend! He is entering Wright State in August to study Law Enforcement.

Nate will begin HS in the Fall and Grace will start Middle school. Wow. Where does time fly? *sigh*

Mom's cake at the La Comedia dinner theater. We had such a great time,

 the food was so good and the musical, Church Basement Ladies, was lots of fun.

That Sunday we all took Mom, and our friends Julie and Kelly, to

The Grand Finale near Cincinnati for Sunday brunch. It was delicious!

The decor is such fun and so pretty and warm.

Julie and her daughter, Grace's BFF, Kelly!

Grace and her Uncle Jim! Jim took Grace to see the Sheryl Crow/Colbie Calliat

concert this week! It was a surprise to her and they had a wonderful time!

My Mom with her two kids!

Don't Bill and Jim look like the *Champagne Brunch Bouncers*?

I love this picture!

The Grand Finale is in Glendale and the area is

both historic and beautiful. Truly lovely old homes...

Several gorgeous old churches...

...and a beautiful town square filled with shops, cafes, pubs and

this old train station museum.

I have also had such fun over the past 3 weeks meeting friends to see two great local bands, The Stumps and White Rabbit. Each plays classic rock and are so talented! The bands have one other thing in common, their drummer! I went to High School with Gary and it has been my honor to be asked to take a band photo for each one, images that will appear in the newspaper along side their recent interviews.

The Stumps

White Rabbit

Just a glimpse into the  Summer craziness at Rabbit Run Cottage! It is a busy season but we wouldn't have it any other way right?

I hope you are enjoying June and staying cool...the swimming pool is calling so we are off again!

Love to each one of you!

Friday Free For All

Whew! I am so behind it is almost sinful! I am just now beginning to make my way around bloggy world to say howdy to all of you. Where does the time go? *sigh* But I am also behind in posting a little of this and a lot of that too. Here are some images from last weekend! Oh my was it ever jam packed. Not only was it a weekend filled with football, family and food but we also met friends at a local club to hear our favorite band, The Stumps. What a treat it is to sit and chat with friends and hear one heck of a band play the songs of the 60s and 70s. And then it was on to even more fun and frolic!

(And yes. I AM too old for all of this but I keep plugging away. Pop in a Tylenol Arthritis, have a jolt of Diet Coke and I can do anything. Okay, not ANYTHING but...well...)

Friday evening was spent at our high school's football field. Is there anything more American than an Autumn night, under the lights, watching your local high school play? Grace, and the other cheerleaders in her grade level, were asked to perform along with the High School squad.

She was SO excited. We hopped on over to the field with my brother Jim.

Here is Grace with one of her coaches...beautiful lady isn't she?

Grace with her oh so pretty and just as sweet Middle School cheer mentor.

The sky was so blue and clear. The air crisp and cool.

The perfect night for football!

A little pre-game performance by the band...

A tunnel was formed by the teachers, staff and students

for the team to enter the field...

The balloons were released as part of the tribute to those we lost

on 9-11 and to those who serve in our armed forces.

The game begins...

The girls enjoyed being on the field and being a part of all the fun.

Grace is already excited about going to high school...even if she

DOES have a few more years to wait! Grace with 2 of her cheer friends!

Saturday dawned bright as we headed out to an early game.

Our squad had an early morning start but with a day as pretty as this,

who could mind getting up to greet it?

And yes. The team is usually very supportive of their cheer squad. *smile*

What a lovely group! Hello girls!

Look who stopped by! Grace's Aunt Lisa and Brady!

And there is Grandma & Uncle Jim...um...Jim? I support Ohio State too but shouldn't Boo do one of OUR cheers? No? Okay...O...H...I...O!

Hey Boo! We won! Our team is 5 and 0 baby!

Brady wanted to be a part of the victory tunnel...here he is

with his Mommy and his Uncle Bill!

Here come the cheerleaders too!

There is Grace just about to run through...

The next day we headed to Lebanon and A Day Out With Thomas!

Boo ran the corn maze with his Dad...

And had a chat with the big guy himself...

And posed for Auntie Sue with Mommy and Daddy!

Then he just had to show off the new duds...

A cute T

(The front reads, "I spent a day out with Thomas...")

And stylin' Thomas shoes...

Equal one happy Booman!

Then it was time to celebrate Grace's Gotcha Day!

She chose The Cheesecake Factory and wow. Did we eat well!

Grace and her Grandma deciding what to order...

And after dinner, Grace and her BFF, the divine Ms.K, sampled

a little dark chocolate mousse cheesecake and a little white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. Believe me. They WERE as good

as you might guess them to be!

Thank you for breezing through a recap of last weekend's fun just as we get ready to begin another jam packed Fall Saturday and Sunday!

I do hope your week was a sweet one and that you are

enjoying this, the sweet beginning of Autumn.

I am beginning the decorating process and loving this season's arrival.

It is this time of year when my heart truly springs to life.

I hope you will enjoy each day of it.

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q