How I became Mrs. Utt.

Ronnie & I will celebrate fifteen years of marriage in December. 

Man, do I love that guy.

Funny enough, it didn't start out that way. 

We actually were friends.  Well, if you go back far enough, it turns out we went to high school together.  But since I was the talkative, loved socializing type and he was more the quiet, I'd rather be in the woods type we never met. 

Fast forward almost ten years later:  I had returned to church and there was group of people all around my age that were single so we tended to congregate together.  Ronnie was also part of this group.  We spent time going to concerts, movies, picnics and hanging out at Shoney's after every Sunday night service.  Don't laugh.  Shoney's was the place to be on a Sunday night. 

A few years had passed and I was working in the cath lab with some great folks.  I decided to have a Christmas party at my house and invited a bunch of friends.  Of course, Ronnie was there and my friend Steve from work came with his wife Debbie.  That Monday at work, Steve was questioning me all about Ronnie - what a nice guy he was, was he single - trying to play matchmaker.  I told Steve that Ronnie & I were just friends and would stay that way.  Steve let it drop then but would randomly ask about Ronnie over the next several months. 

The following Summer, my hot water tank went out at my home.  Ronnie offered to fix it for me.  He had to come up to the hospital to get my card so he could pick one up at Lowes.  Of course, his biggest fan Steve saw him and started right back in on his Ronnie campaign.

A few days passed and Ronnie was having trouble replacing my hot water tank.  It still wasn't fixed.  Steve really amped up his campaign.  Every break we had, I had to hear about the awesomeness of Ronnie.

I remember telling him, "Listen.  God is not up there worried about me being single.  If God wants me to date Ronnie Utt, God will tell me to date Ronnie Utt - not you!".

He replied, "Well, maybe He's using me to tell you."

And in all my compassion, I answered back, "Well, he used a jackass to tell Balaam so I guess he could use you!"

Ronnie was at my house working that day but before I headed there I stopped at my Nan's house to set up her medicines for the week.  My mom was there at that time and we were talking about the hot water tank and just what all was going on - basically a gab session.  My mom asks me why I don't go out with Ronnie. 

I already had to hear about this all the live long day from Steve - I didn't need to hear it again so I told her what I had told Steve, "God is not up there worried about me being single.  If God wants me to date Ronnie Utt, God will tell me to date Ronnie Utt"

My mom's response:  "Well, God used a jackass to tell Balaam, maybe he's using me."

I literally turned on my heal and left without saying a word.

When I arrived home Ronnie had finished replacing my hot water tank.  We talked for a while and as he was getting ready to leave, he turned to me and he asked me if I would pray and see if it would be God's will for us to date.  

I told him that after my day, I was fairly certain that answer was yes.

We were married within six months.

Our day trip.

OK.  I have to tell you about our trip on Wednesday.  I'm going to be honest and say I was going just because I wanted to spend time with our friends, the Estels.  Turns out, it was a great trip. 

We headed up to Wheeling to the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum.  Their website was a little dullsville, so I was worried the kids wouldn't do well just looking at displays of toys.  I was wrong.  Every other room had a hands on toy to play with.  Super fun!  Ron & I had fun looking at all the toys we used to have as kids - my green machine and Donnie & Marie dolls, Ronnie's army men and big wheel - super fun.



Slat car races

Wheeling model company that also works as a defense contractor.

Kinects roller coaster room - amazing!

Amazing details - all out of kinects.

The Rockenboch construction playset was a hit.









From the toy museum, we headed west across to Belaire, OH to see the "Toy & Plastic Brick Museum".  This place is the largest private collection of Lego's.  It was amazing the things that were built out of Legos. 

Ronnie & his good friend Spidey.

The only thing this guy likes more than Legos is Star Wars. 



The Mona Lisa - from Legos

I'm disappointed that I didn't take my Nikon that day.  I didn't want to lug it around so I took Ronnie's camera.  A lot of my pics didn't turn out well - including a life size Darth Vader made entirely from Legos.  This is just a small sample of what we saw there.  The museum is in an old school.  Almost every room had a massive display in it.  The only negative would be that it's a look, don't touch kind of place.  They do have a hands on room where kids can go and build, but there was a birthday party later that day and we weren't allowed to play. 

Of course, no trip to the Wheeling area would be complete (at least for Ronnie) without a stop at hunting & fishing Mecca - aka Cabela's.  Ronnie & Kevin had their fun time while Tracy & I kept the boys entertained in the shooting gallery.

A great day trip!

Storage Wars: Here's the facts.

Photo source: Pinterest

Ronnie & I have rental units.  A set of apartments, a mobile home park and storage units.  He was building the park when we were first dating, so you can say that we've been in the storage business for a little over eleven years.

From time to time, and more often than you can imagine, people will just stop paying for their units.  After so many attempts to reach them without response, WV law requires you to place an ad in the legal section of the paper listing their eviction if not paid within seven days.  If there's still no response, we proceed with the eviction. 

We've done this before with very little interest from anyone.  Ever.  At all.  Until now.

I'm blaming A&E's show Storage Wars. 

We placed an ad in the paper last weekend for two nonpaying units.  For reasons unknown to me, Ronnie put our home phone number in as the contact number instead of the business line that he keeps with him. 

I don't think it was an accident. 

Our phone blew up with calls.  Apparently, everyone and his brother must watch this show.  Not only do they watch it, they must believe that it's real and that they are going to find bars of gold and unicorns in our storage units.  That could only be the reason for all...those..calls!

So, while I have no idea what goes on in California storage, where the show is held, let me tell you what we usually find in unclaimed/unpaid storage units here in North Central WV.

1.  Boxes and bags full of unpaid bills. 
2.  Dirty baby strollers/beds/pack & plays.
3.  An amazing abundance Christmas decorations.
4.  Clothing.   Mostly from the 80's.  In either size 4 or size 44. 
5.  Dishes.  Lots & lots of dishes.  Mostly chipped.

Ronnie & I have watched "Storage Wars" before and I can see the why people like it.  I mean, it's a modern day treasure hunt.  It's fun.

Just don't call me at 10pm and ask "Hey, is you guys gonna have a thing like Storage Wars?  I seen your ad in the paper.  Can I come over?".  Trust me.  You won't like my response. 

And yes, we really did receive that call.

Words to pay attention to.

Monday we canned at the church...more to come on that subject later this week.  Today, I just want to give you a little laugh.

Mid morning, Josiah (age 3) runs in the kitchen yelling "I have to pee, but I can do it!" and runs across the fellowship hall into the men's bathroom.  Normally, I wouldn't let him use a public bathroom on his own, but no one else was at the church and he handles his bathroom business on his own at home.  No big deal, right?

Five minutes later, having not heard from him, I sent Josh in to check.  He came back with those dreadful words....."Josiah had an accident".

OK, still no big deal.  I have extra clothes in the van.  I grab the clothes and head into the men's bathroom.  (As a side note, men of Trinity, you are being a little short changed in the bathroom department.  The ladies have very nice couches and setting areas to socialize while we wash hands, apply face, that kind of thing.  Maybe you should have a  couch fundraiser.)

Anyway,  upon entering the bathroom, Josiah tells me that his accident involves a #1 and a #2.  Ugh.  As I change his clothes and pull down his pants I happily discover that the...umm...let's call it offensive object...is stuck to his bottom and not smeared in his clothes.  I go to set him on the toilet thinking that this is going to be easier than I expected. 

I step forward and place him on his throne.  At the same time, the offensive object falls off of him and onto the floor just as I step down.  I go slip sliding away all over the handicapped stall, grabbing onto the bars and praying this doesn't end as badly as I think it will.

I'll spare you the gory clean up details.  Suffice it to say, twenty minutes later we are both clean and dry.  I've cleaned the bathroom, scrubbed the floor and taken out the trash. 

I've also heard a play by play of what happened again and again from Josiah for the same twenty minutes.  He told everyone we saw yesterday about it.  Fantastic.

Does this kind of stuff happen to anyone else, or is it just me?

Amish Invasion....Part 2.

Today was our trip to Countryside Produce Auction in Salisbury, PA.  Or as my friend Tracy called it, our Amish invasion. 

We were up and at 'em at the crack of dawn.  I dropped the kids off with my friend Alisha and met everyone at Hardee's by 7:15am. 

We arrived in plenty of time to sign up for our number and scout out the produce as it arrived.  This pictures shows the sellers setting up.  When they're done, this whole area is full of veggies and the shelves in front of Ronnie were full of mums. 

While it was still definitely worth the trip, the produce prices are so much higher this year.  I don't know why I didn't expect this.  The prices are higher in the stores too. 

Here's what we bought:

75 dozen ears of corn
10 bushel green peppers
100 pounds red potatoes
5 bushel apples
2 pecks of onions
1 flat of yellow tomatoes

 After splitting the large lots with Tracy and Scott and selling a little to one of Ronnie's friends, we have $230 total invested in 35 dozen ears of corn, 4 bushel green peppers, 100 pounds potatoes, 2 1/2 bushel apples, 2 pecks of onions and 1/2 flat of yellow tomatoes.  Fresh produce, unsprayed with harmful chemicals and picked within the past 24 hours. 

We also bought lunch for Ronnie, Ronnie's dad Ron, and myself from some sweet church ladies for $8 including drinks and whoopie pies for the boys.  Eight dollars total!

If you're interested in checking it out, it's called Countryside Produce Auction in Salisbury, PA.  Remember, this is not the place to go to pick up a few tomatoes.  You will be buying large quantities of food.  There are not guarantees as to what you can get.  Whatever is brought in is what's for sale that day.

We were really needing peaches, but only one lot was brought in.  They sold for $19 a 1/2 bushel (which is ridiculous).  Oh, and take cash.  They don't take credit or debit cards.  (You know, because they're Amish).

I really think that next year we'll only plant green beans and zucchini.  Everything else is such a good buy at the auction.

Instead of spending time trying to keep up with the garden, we can spend time keeping up with the boys. 

I'm off to can (and can, and can, and then can some more!).

Enjoy your Saturday!

Amish Invasion 2011.....Part 1.

The plans are made.

The trucks are ready to go.

The boys are on their way to Alisha's for the day.

Here we go........

VBS

We went to VBS at Fairmont First last week.  This is the church that Ronnie's parents and his brother's family attend. 

What a great job Shannon and all the teachers did!  The boys had a blast and I was very impressed with what they learned.  Even Josiah came home telling me that he learned about Saul and Paul. 

Thanks again to everyone for their hard work.  I know of at least three little guys who loved it.  Can't wait until next year!

Fishing Memories

We went fishing at Guyses Run on Saturday morning in what started out to be just a little drizzle and rapidly progressed to pouring buckets down.

On the bright side, the boys caught a lot of nice fish.

Ronnie must have felt a little left out, so he decided to go swimming.....

OK, maybe he was trying to grab his new $40 pole and decided to dive after it. 

Would I have picked a rainy day to go fishing?  No.  No, I wouldn't have.  But I will say that we did have a great time and at least I didn't have to worry about anyone getting wet from falling in.  We were all soaked through and through. 



If you haven't been fishing at Guyses Run, you should go.  It's a great little area.  Adults fish for $3 and kids under 6 fish for free - no license needed.

Check out their hours here. 

And maybe pick a day that it's not a monsoon. 

Just a Normal Saturday.

Here's my Saturday so far:

Slept in until 8am.
Fixed brunch.
Made an ice cream cake.
Cleaned my kitchen.
Washed some laundry.
Trimmed and dressed a goat's hoof.

Sure, that seems like a normal Saturday.

I'm off to move the boys bedrooms.

Friday Evening with the Family.

Surprise, surprise.  Ronnie unexpectedly got the night off of work.  This never happens.  He's usually working over instead.  So, what to do on a nice Friday evening at home?  The initial plan was a nice dinner and some ice cream on the porch, but then opportunity struck.  Actually, it crossed the road to our garage.

That's right.  A 5 foot black snake.  The boys were all about that.  Ronnie proceeded to  tell them about snakes - poisonous vs. non poisonous, and show them the parts of a snake.  Their favorite snake anatomy fact:
Snakes also have "bum bums".  I mistakenly told them the correct anatomical term.  What was I thinking?

We left the dead snake on a big sheet of cardboard on the back deck while we had dinner.  The boys & I were all a little freaked out that the snakes nervous system took so long to stop moving.

Once the movement stopped, we were back outside for an impromptu science lesson.  Thank goodness Ronnie was there for this.  I have dissected my fair share of critters back in A&P classes, but I hate snakes. 

As I said before, the boys, especially Josiah, were fascinated at the thought of snake body functions. 



This is what homeschoolers do, right?

So, what did you do tonight?

Charli

Check out some other summer plans at Homeschool Creations here.



The Exciting Wright Brothers Memorial

Today, I thought I would share the overwhelming excitement of the Wright Brothers Memorial.  Let's face it, without their achievements, were would we be?
 
While I gave a brief review of what we learned this year about these amazing gentlemen, the kids excitement could barely be contained.....

We continued outside to the site of the actual first flight - they were breathless with anticipation....

They walked the entire 852 ft. length of that historic flight without a single complaint - too hot, tired legs, are we done yet - none of this was heard.  They were immersed in history.

The first flyer, fellow West Virginian Chuck Yeager....

All this leading up to the shining moment....becoming official Junior Park Rangers!

Thankfully we found a brochure rack that seemed to help us calm down from all the first flight excitement....

The pure joy of learning is so overwhelming on their faces, I'm going to have a hard time picking which photo to add to our portfolio.

Fantastic!

Charli

WV Weekend Round-up

Got any plans for the weekend?  Of course you do.  Don't we all. 
I thought I'd share some fun stuff going on around the area this weekend anyway.

• Morgantown Farmers Market - great produce, baked goods, fresh WV trout, steaks - this place really does have it all.  I'll be missing this one Saturday due to other plans below and the fact that Mr. B will be there with his delicious honey.  He's the one who taught Ronnie's bee classes.  I'm having no love for the bees this week and I'd hate to be banned from this great farmer's market for attacking the bee man.
• Sunset Drive In - That's right!  It's opening this weekend.  X-Men First Class and Thor are playing.  I have heard from numerous people that Thor was kind of a dud, but I would really like to see X-Men.  With it being the first show and PG13, I don't see us making it.  It might work out for me though, the boys should be very tired from all the walking we'll be doing in #3.
• YARD SALE DAY!  That's right.  It's my favorite yard sale day of the year.  The first weekend in June.  I'm going to go ahead and tell you my plans, but be warned- if I see you there scoping out my buys based on what I'm telling you here... I will take you down. 
• Fair Oaks development is my first stop and by far my favorite yard sale of the year.  There is a drug rep on the top street who's son is one size bigger than John and she is always selling his barely worn clothes.  Love them.  Plus, she has great toys & books.  I also stock up on a years supply of bandage scissors (I tend to leave my scissors at patient's houses all over Marion County).
• FGH is having one in the parking garage downtown Saturday.  They've had it in the hospital parking lot before and always have a good selection.  I'm interested to see how it goes at the new location.
• If you're in Clarksburg, I've been told the Nutter Fort city wide yard sale in Saturday.  It tends to be a nice sale also.
• Check out the Times WV for some other great sales while you're driving around. 

My mother in law is my yard sale buddy.  We hit quite a few sales over the summer, but this weekend our favorite.  I score all kinds of great learning games and toys that I use for school, as well as clothes for the boys.  I think we might splurge and have lunch at C.J. Maggies now that they're open in downtown.

It's funny how we change as we get older.  I would never have gone to a yard sale growing up.  Now, I love it.  It's like a modern day treasure hunt.  If you know of any other good sales or plans for the weekend, let me know.

Hope to see you out there.
Charli

Did you miss me?

What a great week!  We are now home safe & sound from our week in Nags Head.  I fully planned on blogging as the sun was rising over the Atlantic and making all of you insanly jealous, but there was no internet connection to be found.  Guess that's a good thing since my motives were not at all nice, huh? 
We visited the N.C. Aquarium and the Wright Brothers Memorial (more on that later this week).
For the most part with hung out at the house...

Gorgeous, right?  The owners lived on the other side, Ronnie spoke to them about their rentals and has decided that a ocean front rental might just be a great investment.  I give this idea an 7.5 on a scale of bees to 10.

We spent most of our time just playing on the beach.

This picture isn't the best, but it makes me laugh!

It was so nice not to have anything to do.  Just to take care of the moment at hand and enjoy each other.  No to do list, no school, no phones....ahh....

One last picture:

How can you not be totally crazy for a guy who doesn't mind being buried up to his waist in sand?

I do so love that man!



Fire Station Field Trip

We went on a family field trip to our local fire station.  Our friend John is a city firefighter and offered to give the boys a tour.  I'm pretty sure this was their favorite field trip, or at least a tie with Carniege Science Center.
They were shown the bunk rooms, the kitchen, and the "theater room", which looked like Ronnie's apartment when we were first married.  Nothing but recliners and a giant TV.  The only difference is, Ronnie had a few less recliners and one giant gun safe!
 
The boys tried on gear.....

They learned that firefighters are signaled by (loud) tones when help is needed. 

They asked questions about every single piece of equiptment they saw.

Wondering what that big hose is?  That hooks up to the firetrucks exhaust when they're being worked on to take the fumes out of the building.  They attached to big rolls in the ceiling with a wire to pull down for use.  And in case your curious, I now know for a fact they can raise a 40 pound boy in the air also. 

We loved this trip.  It was a great tie in with our fire safety unit. 



Do car trips and sanity go together?

I make no claims to being an expert on this subject.  While we've gone on many day trips and a few weekend getaways, our upcoming beach trip is the first week long excursion since having kids.  Our longest trip with the kids was a 6 hour drive last summer.  And we had Mammaw & Pappaw with us to help.

I have, however, gotten good at the art of distraction.  Frequent leg stretches, bathroom breaks and change in activities go a long way for a more peaceful trip.  I've also learned from this picture, that seating arrangement matters...A LOT.  It's best when we can't touch each other. 

So here's my travel plan.

• Leave at the crack of dawn - hopefully around 4am, so they sleep for a few hours.
• Stop at a restaurant for breakfast and move around.
• New DVDs -  I have 2 new Super Hero Squad and 2 new Signing Times that I'm saving for this trip, plus a Charlie Brown about the Wright Brothers, 'cause you know this is all going in the portfolio. 
• Old DVDs - some of their favorites like Megamind, Cats & Dogs and Phineas & Ferb.  I'm taking a big selection so we have some in case it rains at the beach house.
• Charged DS's - they only get to play these for 30 minutes each day on a regular day, and then only if they've stayed in their bed the night before and finished their school and chores.  I'm counting on this being a great time filler on the road.
• Snacks, snacks, snacks  - breakfast cookies, cheese sticks, graham cracker goldfish, apples, bananas and  Airheads.
• I also have "junk" that I've been gathering.  My mom loves to buy them little activity books, dot to dots, stickers....things like that.  I've been saving them and have put them into brown paper lunch sacks.  I'm going to hand out a different bag every couple hours. 
• To save our sanity, I invested in some wireless headphones.  I've never used the ones that came with the van because I was worried about damage to their ears from the volume.  I found kiddie ones on Ebay with volume control and dual channel.  Now they can listen to their movies and we don't have to.
• We also have our USA map.  It's a place mat that I picked up last year from Walmart.  We put a sticker on each new state that we visit.  They're excited to add a couple of stickers on this trip.
• I'm hoping for a nice rest area for a picnic lunch where we can run in circles for a while.  If not, I'll settle for a fast food place with a play area. 

Let me know if you have any other travel tips.  Just don't include reading - I have terrible car sickness.  I love the idea of reading together while driving, but I'm pretty sure I would lose it. 

Wish us luck!
Charli