Happy Birthday Maike!

Maike turned 11 yesterday. As usual, G made her an Alpo and Milkbone birthday cake.
And as usual, Maike gobbled it down.

Forensics

Forensics season is well under way. G has been doing well with an Informative speech comparing the ship Titanic with its Greek mythological origins. She's also quite happy to be able to see her former Maestra Lindsay, who has been working at the meets.



G with Lindsay and other teammates

Happy Valentine's Day

Easy Living

G using her laptop in her new papasan, with Luna close by

ChWiistmas

We all took turns playing various Wii games. (There's a great picture of Rich, but he would not be happy if I posted it!)

My mom doing Wii Fit!

Hats Off to Hats On

What is Christmas without Holiday Head Gear?

Christmas in PA

We spent Christmas in Pennsylvania with my mom and dad. My cousin Rich came up from the Tidewater area to be with us. We did Chinese and Thai food again on Christmas Day (two years in a row -- guess that makes it a tradition) and generally just hung out.

Matching jammies for Christmas

New designation for Rich & G: "1C1R"

Merry Little Christmas

One of the playlists on my iPod is called "Merry Little Christmas." I am collecting as many covers of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as I can find, because to me of all of the seasonal songs it has the widest range of interpretation. Dan and G think I am nuts, but Joe helped me out tonight and gave me seven more, bringing my total to 15*. Of course Judy Garland's version is first on the list, with James Taylor's right behind it, because I prefer my Little Christmas melancholy.

*For enquiring minds: Judy Garland, James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Linda Ronstadt, Carpenters, Amy Grant, Shawn Colvin, Gloria Estefan, Carly Simon, Julianne Hough, Kenny G, Kenny Loggins, Michael Bolton and Neil Diamond. I would love to add Chrissie Hynde's and The Muppets' versions, as well as any of the old crooners like Andy Williams and Perry Como, as well as any really dreadful versions (since I already have a few of those).

Christmas Tree - Phase Two

The tree is up at Grandpa's! It was a little challenging though. Half a string of lights that were toward the top of the tree went out after all of them had been strung on. Dan got them working, but it required a lot of futzing around. The needles on this tree are really sharp, so we had to be really careful as we hung the ornaments. G continued her tradition of wearing the tree skirt as a skirt while decorating. It's a lot shorter now than it used to be!

Christmas Tree - Phase One

Usually G and Grandpa go to a nursery to pick out a tree, but this year we decided to put up one of the trees from here on the farm because we have so many. G, Dan, Joe, Maike and I went out this morning to cut one that G has had her eye on for a few weeks. It was fairly warm out and we had a chain saw, so it was relatively easy. The tree has to thaw out before we can put it up inside.

Snow Dog

Maike loves snow. She's rolls in it and flips it and tries to catch it. Here she is waiting for G to throw a snowball into the air.

Snow Play

Snow Day

10:30 a.m. today

Laptop

We got G a laptop for Christmas, but gave it to her early because of the amount of work she has due between now and Christmas break. We are already finding her all around the house, working (or playing!) away on it.

Cookie Walk

G and I pulled ourselves out of bed this morning to be at the head of the line at the annual cookie walk at a nearby Catholic church. Although it was flurrying, there was no ice on the roads and in the parking lot as in the past two years. The bells were chiming as we got out of our car into the swirling flakes. As G said, it was something you'd expect in a movie. We came home with 5 pounds of cookies -- heavy on the Chocolate Crinkles for G, Peanut Butter Blossoms for D, Russian Tea Cakes for Grandpa and Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies for me.

First Snow

12.03.09 @ 4:30 p.m.

Thriving

There's a small space underneath the exterior phone box where we plant alyssum every year. This year the chickens (before the fox ate them) kept digging the area up, so they didn't do very well. Then it was dry and whatever was left died. However, some time during October, a few plants emerged and now they are thriving. It's pretty amazing, since everything else has just about died off. I'm hoping they make it to December.

In a Fog

7:30 a.m.

Glee

Though my family has suspected it for weeks, today I am coming out as a full-blown *Gleek*! Drove them crazy over the weekend with YouTubing my favorite songs, so I broke down today and did a massive download from iTunes, so I can go back on the down-low with my obsession! (Very un-Kurt of me!)

Shift Change

These sunbeams are known by many names, including Jacob's Ladder and Rays of Buddha, but the technical term for them is "crepuscular rays," because they tend to occur at dawn and dusk. When I was little, I asked my great-grandmother what they were. She told me it was the light created by Angels changing shifts. (Makes total sense if you are Catholic and living in a Pennsylvania steel town.) Whenever I see them in the middle of the day, as I did today, I always wonder what in the world is going on -- like maybe the Day Shift Angels need reinforcements.

Award

It's not too often I post a picture of myself here, but I had a really great moment this past week. Educators at G's school nominated me for a community service award that is sponsored annually by a local business. There was a big shindig at the arts center and each nominee was given his or her moment in the spotlight. Though I didn't win the top award, I was incredibly honored to have been recognized for the activities I have been involved in over the past two years. Thanks THK and AH for putting my name forward!

Chula Vista

Last weekend we took a minibreak and went to the Chula Vista Resort in the Dells. Not as big as the Kalahari, but we liked it and would go back. Kind of struck out at outlet shopping and didn't get too far on Christmas shopping when we stopped in Madison. We did however enjoy lunch at Casa de Lara and walking around State Street.

Happy Halloween

G recently became hooked on NCIS, which is in almost constant rotation on the USA Network. So when she went Trick or Treating with Cha and Mara last night, it's no surprise that she dressed up as NCIS Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto!

Pumpkin Art

Fall Book Fair

It's Book Fair time again! It has been pretty much all-consuming this week. Despite my fears of massive volunteer dropouts due to all the stuff that's going around (including H1N1) and depressed sales because of the economy, only one of my co-chairs called in sick (with flu-like symptoms!) and our receipts are about where they were last year. G was pretty restrained this year and I think that even with book donations I got through the week for under $125!

Fall Visit

Last weekend Pat & Bill visited from NYC. It was an unseasonably cold and overcast weekend -- at one point there were even snow showers. It was a fairly busy pumpkin day on Sunday and Simon was a big help with getting people back and forth to the field.


G & Simon played Marathon Monopoly

Jaspar & G

Opening Weekend

Kind of a slow weekend for pumpkins, even though the Packers have a Monday night game, because the weather was so overcast, damp and cool.

Firedog

It has been chilly and damp here. Dan pulled out the chimenea as an incentive to be out in this weather. We're not the only ones who enjoy it -- Maike likes to chase the stray cinders. Here she is waiting expectantly for something to fly out the top.

Fall Colors

Front Porch

Pumpkin season is upon us

Home Improvement

We are finally redoing our ugly front porch. Yesterday G primed the door -- now we just have to decide what color to paint it.

Twilight

Finally read it, on the recommendation of some friends. Kept waiting for it to get better, but it never did. Several hours of my life I will never get back.

Her Own Beeswax

In the past we've talked about making candles from the beeswax from our honey harvest, but never done it. (I even bought a book about it.) So this year we gave the beeswax to some friends so it didn't just sit around. We got a call yesterday inviting G to come over because they had all the paraphernalia to make candles. It is not as hard as I thought -- it just takes a little time and patience. The smell is not as sweet as you might expect, but more vaguely spicy. The kids had a blast making and shaping hand-dipped candles. One more activity to balance out going-back-to-school time in the future!

Honey Harvest

Becca & Jamie came up today for the third annual honey harvest. Now that everyone knows what to do, it went fairly quickly, even though there was a lot more honey this year. It was very obvious that different combs produced different shades of honey. Three in a row makes it a tradition! Can't wait for next year!

Big yield this year!

First Day of School

It's not how she looked today, but it's how I saw her ...

"Camping"

G and her cousin Cha have been wanting to go camping, but the summer got away from us. They settled for an overnight in Grandpa's tent camper. What with the unseasonably cool temperature, howling coyote and answering barking dogs, and migrating birds, let's hope it was a reasonable facsimile.

Mentor Program

G is part of her school's program that has 8th graders mentoring 5th graders. They had orientation on Wednesday. Here she is with her group for this year.

Sent

We have been waiting for over a year for the second book in "The Missing" series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It came out yesterday and G & I picked it up as soon as we could. She's through it already; now Dan & I are jockeying to see who gets it next.

Parting Shot

Philadelphia: Independence Hall & Liberty Bell

Did we make this stop so we could stand in the hall where 56 brave American patriots made their bold statement? No, we were there because "the vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the House of Pass and Stow" ...