Happy 80th, Dad!

My dad turned 80 this past Friday. We started the celebrations last weekend with a birthday dinner at Tagliani's for Dad, Mom, Mark, Kelly, Dan, and me.

Yesterday we had a cake/ice cream party with the whole family. Even JD and Janel got to participate over Skype. That thrilled my folks to no end! We snacked on cupcakes - displayed in the shape of an 80 of course (we even managed to stick 80 candles on them) - and ice cream. We had a great time visiting and catching up with each other and celebrating the life of a very important man to all of us.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

This Week in Photos

I've had the grandkids a few extra days these past two weeks. Katie is in the process of changing jobs and has been in training. Extra days require extra fun so that none of us become grumpy. Here's a bit of what we've been doing.

Last Friday Gigi came to play!

On Monday we headed for the park:

A Day in the Life at Grammy's House

Yesterday was a great day at Grammy Daycare. Sunny is getting old enough that she can play by herself for long stretches of time. Thunder is enjoying the freedom of walking wherever he wants to go whenever the urge hits him. I just love to eavesdrop on Sunny's play time. She has an active imagination and she talks to and for all of her little animal and dolly friends.

She attended her first movie in the theatre this weekend. So yesterday a lot of her play centered on turning the lights off to have a show. Thunder's big thing is rocking in rocking chairs. He rocks a few times and then starts "singing" as he rocks. I haven't managed to snap a photo yet but I'm hoping to soon.

Is there anything that brings as much joy as grandkids?!

Sunny wore her headband today and thought Rascal would enjoy wearing it as well. Poor dog, he's still wearing the cone from his surgery a few weeks ago. He's such a good sport!

She wanted a picture with Summer. This is as close as Summer will allow her to get. 

This is one of those imaginative play times I love to listen to. She gathered all of her friends and lined them up for a "birthday show". I don't know where she gets her ideas from!

TUSAL for September

It's September - only 100 days until Christmas Day. The year is sliding by. My TUSAL jar for this month consists mainly of threads from Katie's Stocking. Yes, I'm still stitching away on it. I'm changing threads so often that I have to use "tunnel vision" and just look at each little section. If I look at the big picture of what's left I get overwhelmed.

By the way, TUSAL stands for Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long and it is hosted by Daffy. You can still sign up by going here. It's fun!

My TUSAL jar for September and the Minnie Mouse glasses case for my stitching glasses

Someone's In The Kitchen

Today Sunny and I baked cupcakes. They were Halloween Funfetti cupcakes. She helped by putting all of the cupcake papers in the muffin tins, mixing the dough, and watching them while they baked. It was so much fun! I think next week we'll bake cookies...

Using the mixer is serious business and requires lots of concentration. But finally there was time for a smile!

Thunder did NOT like the sound of the mixer!

Reading a book while waiting for the oven timer to ding.

A girl and her cupcakes.

We made a good team!

We Will Always Remember - We Must Never Forget

Remember the Alamo! But who among us can really remember the date, the names, the reason, or the choices made in 1836 as Texans fought for their independence.

Remember the Maine! This one's even harder than the Alamo. The U.S.S. Maine exploded and sunk in the Havana harbor on  February 15, 1898 during the Spanish American War. I vaguely remember learning about it at school, but the memory is so distant that I had to ask my husband if the Maine or the Alamo came first.

Remember Pearl Harbor! This one is much easier. Some of our parents and grandparents actually remember this event. There is film documentation of the actual attack. There have been countless movies made about the Day of Infamy that plunged the USA into World War II. Even so, the people who have clear first-hand memories of this event are few. World War II vets are dying at an average rate of 740 per day (in 2011). We remember Pearl Harbor... but barely.

We Will Never Forget! Maybe it's a good thing that the slogan changed for 9/11/2001. But the reality is that we will forget. It's been 11 years now. And even though every year I watch the 9/11 specials on National Geographic Channel, and Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, and others, I wonder how many other people are watching them. How many of us take a few hours to remember the heroics of United 93 passengers. To relive the horror of the second plane into the South Tower. The disbelief as first one, then the other tower fell to the ground. Gone... in an instant. The explosion and collapse at the Pentagon. 

I wish we would never forget. But we will. That's the reality of life. The horrendous moments of our life lose their horror. The shock fades. The pain heals. We go on. But for today, let's make a pledge. A pledge that we will always remember we must never forget. For today, let's pause and thank God for the healing the nation has experienced this past 11 years. Pray for the families of those innocents who were the first casualties when the war on terror struck our homeland. Give thanks for the first responders who willingly put their lives on the line each and every day to protect us. For today let's remember.

Stitching Update - Week 35

Wow, I don't know where the year is going. I just know that I'm discouraged by my lack of progress this year. {sigh} Earlier this year I told you about the afghan project I'm working on with Jessica and Janel.we held the first afghan exchange last week when we visited JD and Janel in Kansas. Now I'm stitching on Janel's afghan, Jessica has mine, and Janel has Jessica's. Our goal is to switch again around the first of next year.

I don't know about the girls, but I am really enjoying this project! It will be so cool to see the finished product(s) in a year or so. For this week's update I'm sharing photos of Jessica's afghan which I passed on to Janel.

The safety pins indicate squares still to be stitched. We each drew a chart of our afghan showing the layout we wanted. Jessica's theme is "A Few of My Favorite Things".

Her favorite color is yellow so I stitched this in variegated thread.

Of course stitching is one of her favorite things!

She collects snowmen...

... and pigs!

Kansas Part Two

While we were in Manhattan, we visited the Konza Prairie Biological Station. It is a native tallgrass prairie preserve. JD and Janel volunteer there. We were able to drive the Buffalo Loop which is not normally open to visitors. We saw wild turkey, buffalo, and lots of grasshoppers! It was a very interesting place.

After that, we visited The Discovery Center. It is new to Manhattan having just opened in April 2012. The exhibits contain information about the history and ecology of the Flint Hills area. It is a beautiful facility.

Saturday was a game day for K-State University. The kids drove us past the stadium several hours before kick-off. Oh my goodness gracious! I've never seen anything like it. A sea of purple as far as the eye could see. RV's. Buses. Tents. Thousands of people milling around at tailgate parties. I've never been to a college football game. It sure looked like fun!

On Sunday, we drove up to Topeka. We went to meet my friend, Carla. She was my best friend in Jr High, High School, and beyond. We lost track of each other a few years after I moved out to Arizona. We reconnected via the Internet a couple of years ago. We had not seen each other since 1979. It was so great to see her! We had lunch and did some more catching up.

JD and Janel took us to Shawnee Lake. They were married there in July 2009. We were unable to attend the wedding and it was so special to me to see where it took place. They walked us through their big day. Now when I look at their wedding photos, I have a better sense of the event. It is a beautiful location!

We had so much fun on our trip. Although it is always hard for me to say goodbye to JD and Janel. I miss them so much when we're not together. But it's always good to be back home...