Zoe turns 4!

I swear, my niece Merissa is 4- but NO-in reality, her DAUGHTER Zoe is now 4. Ouch. Here she is, all ready to smack her Pinata...

HAIR

Beautiful Emily hair- thick & with curls


Silly daddy hair by Emily's Beauty Salon

Little Katie

My friend Laurie came to visit yesterday. Laurie was the one who single handedly made our 30th High School Reunion a reality, not to mention many reunions before that one. She is an amazing person-sorry I have no picture of her-but I do have a picture of her cute-as-a-button 6 year old Katie, who played with Emily while we chatted.

Outdoor Ice Skating

When I was a kid, we would go ice skating in the winter time at The Winter Club. It was a magical place. Family night was on Sundays and my dad would take us skating. There was a hot chocolate machine and even family dinner nights. General skating nights were the best, especially when we got dropped off, no parents...I had my first boyfriend experience at the Winter Club. There was always a fire roaring in the warming room; Michael Jackson singing "One Bad Apple" over the PA system. I could have lived there.
Fast forward 35 or 40 years. I am at the Winter Lodge (same place; new name), breathing in the air that smells exactly the same, feeling the cold on my face. My sweet daughter is on the ice with a few of her friends, skating away under a cloudy sky, complete with falling snow from the snow machine. She has been skating since first grade. We were re introduced to this place in Kindergarten when the mom of identical twins in her class had all the kids in her class come to a skating party. Their mom is the Executive Director of The Winter Lodge. Cool.
So on this particular day, Emily is out skating with the whole rink open for just these few friends-they were doing a photo shoot for the rink's website and also some local papers/ magazines. How fun is that-the empty rink all to themselves!! I was envious and also so grateful that she gets to have that feeling I remember so well-gliding on the ice, cold breeze in my hair, having an absolute blast.


Double click on this last picture to really see the snow!

Cereal Straws

Just when you start to think there cannot be ANY new thing they could come up with that MY advanced kids would even SORT of want....cereal straws. Froot Loops flavor. WHAT ever.......

"There are a lotta people asking for help"

Block in her new outfit

Complete with BACKPACK!

And poor Ryan has yet another monkey on his head...

Emily's New Glasses

Look ma, I can SEE!

Block, the Bear

When Emily was born, I remember being stuck in the hospital after a dramatic C section, and I recall worrying about Ryan. He needed me so much. On day two of Emily's life there came a small distraction. Block arrived at the hospital, sent by my sister in law & brother. Cute bear, later named Block because of the three little baby building blocks on her front. Emily liked the bear right away; she would stare at it for hours. I had NO idea.

Nine years later, our beloved Block was in dire need of a good stuffing and a new outfit. We showed up at BUILD A BEAR and inquired about a re stuffing. The girl at the front said "Oh no I am sorry, we don't do that.".. Oh, well. Emily went in with her cousins to pick out a new outfit for Block. She got a lovely new pink capri pants outfit with a pink backpack to match. As I was paying for the outfit I asked the girl ringing us up where we might go to have a bear re stuffed. She said "Oh I can do that for you! Bring her back here & we'll fix her up, no charge." Yay! So here is the surgery-a little snip, Emily pushed the pedal to release the stuffing in to the bear, then a little sew sew and Block is good as new. She even has a little scar where the new stuffing went in. Pretty cool!



GOOD AS NEW!

New Year

DING DONG THE TREE IS DEAD (which old tree?) THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Emily had some play time with adorable cousin (and the last baby of the generation): EMMA And Ryan just cannot seem to get that Monkey off his head!!! sigh

Thank you, Robbie

Several months ago, our son decided that in order for his life to have meaning, he would need to acquire a certain CD-Disney's Haunted Mansion 30th Anniversary limited edition CD. He was pretty sure Santa could get a hold of this CD, even though it was made about 8 years ago, and LIMITED edition: 999 to be exact. So Santa looked. Santa looked and looked. Santa tried everything he could think of. Santa was in deep, deep trouble- not even HE could get one of these CDs. So, Christmas came & went, and our poor son tried to be brave and care about all the wonderful things he got-but all he could think about was the elusive Haunted Mansion CD, impossible to have....but his mom had sent an E mail to her old friend who had become pretty famous: the director of "The Lion King", and, as luck would have it, the director of Disney's film " The Haunted Mansion". She (OK---I) explained to Robbie that our son, obsessed with all things Haunted Mansion & diagnosed as autistic, was hoping for this impossible gift. I did not hear back from Robbie right away, so I figure it was truly impossible to get a hold of one of these things...I said thanks for trying (after Christmas came & went), and he said "Don't give up hope." On New Years Eve, I got a note from Robbie: "It's on it's way... Hee Haw." I am sure he spent some of his precious time, not to mention a few bucks, on this- and I want to say thank you, Robbie. You rock & roll. Who says success makes people forget their old friends??? Not ME!!

Bad Virus!!

I got very sick about 9 days ago, so all went to heck. Here are some photo highlights of cookie decorating, Christmas Day & New Years.. Julie, Madison, Amber and Erickson spent the night to ring in 2008. We are all well & together. As Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one- Hee Haw....(Sam Wainwright).






I think Daddy & Julie felt a bit tired by midnight......