Lake Home for Sale: Mother Nature at Her Best in West Central Illinois

Lake Home for sale! Gorgeous post and beam home on 235 acre lake, high on hilltop overlooking 3+ acre peninsula of mature oak woods. Truly a Summer and Winter playground. Observe nature at its best year round. Deer, wild turkey, bald eagles, coyote, fox, and much more can be seen from this beautiful land. Here are some features you must see:
-2000 square foot home on 3 acres is for sale. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, 28'X 20' great room with 21' wall of windows allows you to blend in with Mother Nature's woods.
-Heated/cooled 2 car garage on lower level.
-Large recreation room with walk-out patio doors on lower level opens to covered patio.
-Large laundry/utility room with birch cabinets and counters.
-Efficient Geothermal heating and cooling let you live very economically for under $700 PER YEAR!
-Boat dock on private cove
-2 car covered carport in addition to heated/cooled garage
-16' X 24' shed, with electricity, to play/store your toys!!
-Covered porch on north side of home; wonderful spot to listen to rain bouncing off the leaves; this is the perfect meditation sound courtesy of Mother Nature. Wrap around deck on 3 sides overlooking lake is lovely to catch summer breezes.
-Amish built 18' gazebo overlooking lake for quiet moments. Two weddings were held here.
-Wildflowers in front yard filled with prairie grasses and wildflowers; butterflies and birds abound.
-Large kitchen with 8' center island overlooks great room. Tons of storage.
-Large Buck wood stove with catalytic burner for high efficiency, trimmed in Gold, heats entire home if necessary.
Home designed by architects who specialize in preserving nature.
Featured at Century21 of Macomb, Illinois. Phone: 309-333-0414 for information

New entertainment center for Gast Road!

Bridgman-our final house??

Dad is up in Bridgman this weekend. I am on call so must stay behind. I was just out walking the puppies, and I looked at the house from the gazebo. What a pretty place! We have had many pretty places, for sure. Lots of time, money, and love went into each one of them. Guess we always wanted to "do our own thing". I have such mixed emotions about leaving this last place....our own piece of the back of beyond! But, we miss all of you kids, and your kids. I don't want to be like my parents and not see you or your babes! We want them to know us! We came a long way from our little 2 room furnished apartment on Maple St in Forest Park, then to Congress Parkway in Chicago, to Indiana St in St. Charles, to Brierwood Drive, to Chevington in Charlotte, to the townhouse, to Town and Country, to WaterfordView Court in St. Louis, to Longridge, to Congress St in Rushville, to Goldsborough in Rushville, and now to Gast Rd, Bridgman. Whew, that is a lot of building and packing boxes and moving. I swear we still have boxes we never unpacked!! And to think, way back on Brierwood Drive, I said we were never moving again!!!! Well, I think we are getting to the end of the road! Thru all those moves, we had babies and then they grew up and now we have more babies....and they are truly grand. And, that folks, is why we are on the move again....to see all those grand babies.
love, mom

Tom up in Bridgman for weekend

Dad is up in Bridgman this weekend in spite of the snow and cold. Actually, he said there was only about 4" on our driveway, so he could back the trailer up easily. We went to Springfield several weekends ago, and in an effort to help the economy, we bought a kitchen table with 2 chairs and 2 benches, and a TV table/credenza. He picked it up and brought it up there. Should look nice in my new kitchen.
Kev, Linda, and Isabelle are up there now, too. Wish I was there, and wish all the family was there, too. Ah, but I'll have to wait a while for that. I am on call for the hospital this week, so I must stay here and keep the doggies and cats company.
We are going to Bridgman Feb 12 thru 16 to hopefully hang some pretty drapes and shades that Darlene is creating for us. Should look nice soon!
Love, mom

Had a wonderful Saturday with Sandra

Sandra and I had lunch today at the Old Dairy in Macomb. We first went shopping at No Place Like Home! We talked and laughed and cried and discussed how lucky we are to have a wonderful family. All of your ears must have been burning!! After sharing a huge banana split, we eventually went home. Nothing like spending a day with your sister talking about a family you love! Hope you all had a great Saturday. Hope all the grandbabies are OK, the mommies and daddies are OK, and hope to see you all soon.
Love you, Manga

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The tooth fairy came last night!

Isabelle lost her very first tooth yesterday! It had been loose for a couple of months, and the permanent tooth had grown in behind it, so when the dentist saw it yesterday, she recommended it be "extracted". Isabelle was so brave, she didn't cry at all, but her eyes did widen in disbelief when the dentist took a gauze pad and snapped that old tooth right out of her mouth! I think I experienced more pain than she did :o).

The tooth fairy saw how brave she was at the dentist and rewarded her with a lovely little note and five whole dollars.....noting, of course, that this was just because it was the first; that future teeth would only bring one dollar each! She's been proudly displaying the void in her mouth to anyone who cares to look.

Love,
Linda

P.S. This blog is a great idea, Sherry, thanks so much for starting it!

Manga's Meatballs?

I had a request from Ohio to make some meatballs. I am honored. But since I am not retired yet, and cannot send any to Luke, his Mommy will have to make some!

I never make meatballs the same way twice!! It varies depending on what I have in the house.
Usually, I start out like this:
2-3 lbs lean ground beef (I don't put in pork but some people like to)
2 eggs
1 cup oatmeal, dry, or breadcrumbs, or cracker crumbs, or crunched up bread cubes, from fresh or stale bread (Nonnie always said to use fresh bread soaked in milk till soft & then throw that in with the meat)
1 t. salt
chili powder
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
This is the basis. Then I start adding stuff!! Leftover mashed potatoes, leftover rice, finely chopped carrot, or other veggies. Onions, mushrooms, whatever you have. If it is in finely chopped pieces, it blends right in with the meat and children do not recognize it! I have put in wild rice, finely chopped tomatoes or even catsup, leftover jars of baby food--good way to get peas and green beans in kids!
Mix it all together.
Then, make your meatballs, and put them on a broiler or baking pan and put in oven. 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or till done. This allows the fat from the hamburger to drain out. Or, you can fry them in olive oil in a frying pan, turning till all browned.
These freeze well, too.
Little people love these meatballs!!!! I wish I was there to eat them with you!
love, Manga

A call from Kevin up in Bridgman: our furnace pump is leaking water. Dad is packing and heading up there....6 hour drive. Kev said he needed his 4WD to get in/out of his and our driveway. Yikes. Should we have retired to Florida?? But then there would be no grandbabes! Luke just called me up and told me he wanted some of Manga's meatballs. He told Deb they should go Vroom, Vroom, Vroom in the car, go up in the sky, go to Manga's, and she would make him some meatballs!!!!! OK, can I wait till Sept 1, 2009 to retire????? It won't come soon enough!
Mom/ Manga

So what's a BLOG anyway??

Papa asks this question, of course. What a name, so what is a blog?
Here is wikipedia's version:
A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
So, now you know......

Hello World! Today is the first day of my blogging experiment! Our family is spread so far apart, and I feel we are missing so much! So, I thought I'd try starting a blog! Gosh, how do I do this? I googled the question, and found my answer right away. Via Blogger, I could start one right away. So, I am trying this out. We shall see what comes of this. Maybe a child, a grandbabe, a friend, a family member will answer, and we can all stay closer.....I'm so excited about this.
Love you all, Manga