Birthday Boy!

Our oldest grandson turned 11 today!

First let me say Yikes...

Dylan got to spend the day with his Papa and Grandma yesterday and boy did we have fun.
OK the boys had more fun than me, but I was happy knowing that they were having fun.

First a trip to the Boy Scout store to get a kit for the pinewood derby. Papa agreed to help Dylan make his.
Papa took the time to read all the requirements before cutting.

While I visited my ART Doc for a treatment. (My other shoulder is freezing up - Thanks again to Andy for turning my onto this wonder) the boys went and saw Narnia - they both liked it.

Dinner was at Dylan's favorite restaurant - ours too! Applebees.
Here he is with his surprise birthday sundae. And he wasn't even embarrassed when the staff sang Happy Birthday to him.


Dylan has never been in the hot tub when it's been dark or cold. So he can cross that off his list of things to do, cause here he is with papa in the hottub at night and cold out.


We gave him his presents - and that boy put together a 73 piece Harry Potter lego set in 15 minutes. I just sat back and watched. Truly amazing! The second one (153 pieces) took a little longer but not much.
I made him pancakes for breakfast this morning and Papa took him home.

I thought that our kids grew up fast, but with the grandkids they grow up soooo much faster.

Happy Birthday - Dylan!

Unplugged

I have been unplugged from my computer.
I haven't blogged. (oh yeah and heard about it too)
I haven't checked my e-mails. (sorry if I didn't respond to your Christmas wishes).
I haven't even turned the damn computer on.
I spent the Christmas unplugged.
I had a great one though.
We had our normal breakfast Christmas Eve morn with the Duppler family. You can tell who just got back from vacation. Hint: They have the tan faces.

I missed my Bryan. This was the first breakfast he has missed in the 26 years we have been doing this. He was with Mary and her family in Cleveland.



Matthews just wanted his pancakes and of course after Uncle Mike suggested it - ketchup on his sausage. Carrie says he would put ketchup on everything if she let him.


We spend the afternoon at Carrie and Dave's so Matthew could nap. The grownups played a very addicting game called "Apples to Apples". AWE, COME ON!!!! was repeatedly shouted. LOUD!!

Mike and I got home in time to put the ham we won at the moose in the oven. Nebraska corn and potato casserole soon followed.

The food turned out pretty good, but it's the presents that made the evening.

Kaylyn loved her doll and all it's clothes. Stacy noticed right away that the pajamas matched the quilt I made for Kaylyn when she was born.


I bought the boys Zumba pants. I wasn't sure how they would like them, but they loved them. Dylan got White Sox and Logan, the Flordia Gator, Tim Tebow fan got Bronco orange and blue. Logan's pants were way too long so he asked me to fix them. LIKE RIGHT NOW.
That turned out to be quite the challenge seeing that I just opened my second bottle of wine.
It all worked out.
Here they are being silly modeling their pants doing their cousin Jon imitation. They thought he was pretty cool when he showed up to the Turkey bowl with a cut off t-shirt sleeve for a hat. They are wearing the cut off pant legs.

We played a few games of "Apples to Apples" while the kids played twister. Kory is not a game player, but even he had fun. Notice the boys still wearing the "Jon" hats.

It was a very quite night - just family spending some fun time together.

Project Runway

OK maybe I didn't come up with the design.
And the colors were already chosen for me.

But I did have to measure the model (doll) and make my own pattern.

so ....

Kaylyn's doll can have the same "flower girl" dress

That....

Kaylyn wore in Bryan and Mary's wedding
I am very excited to get a picture of them together.

Cookie Bake

I hosted the Cookie Bake again this year.
Mom was the only no show. She wasn't feeling up to it.




We each brought a different kind of cookie dough to bake.
AND We also had a lot to celebrate.

Carrie who was feeling pretty tired brought peanut blossoms. Her 8th grade cheer leading squad won the middle school competition on Saturday.

Sharen's future daughter-in-law, Erica brought a family recipe with coffee in it. Yum. YES - Jon popped the question and Erica said yes.

Mary who made my Mom's molasses cookies drove out from the city with Bryan (he did some laundry while we baked). Mary got a new job.

Stacy and Kaylyn came in from Genoa. Stacy brought chocolate chip and Kaylyn brought freezer sugar cookies with Snowmen and Reindeer in them. Stacy has headed back to school to get her Masters.

Sharen (bird nest and a new do over cookie made with cocoa puffs peanut butter and m&m's) and I (cut out cookies) was just happy to have all our daughters together with us, doing something we loved to do.

We had cookies all over the house. There was plenty for all of us to get a sample of each cookie to take home.

Knock, Knock

Who's There?
That would be nobody...
Today is the last day for workers at 300 Lake St.
The old Courier News building is turning out the lights and folding up shop and moving the paper. The paper will still exist, but most sales people and reporters will be working out of their homes, and the headquarters will now be in Aurora.

I made one last visit.
My last time here I was carrying out my belonging in a box.
It was nice to go back to visit with old friends.

I got a few hugs from the newsies (reporters)and a warm reception from the new boss in Advertising. I trained her 6 years ago.
My desk was the same as when I left it, so I sat down and made some phone calls to some friends at other plants. It really felt good to catch up and to know that they miss me..

I walked around the building and thought of old times and old friends.

Business Office/Sports Dept.

Old Dispatch Department

Old Composing Room
They asked if there was anything that I wanted. I told them No - I took everything when I left 20 months ago.

Oh yeah, maybe there is just one thing - a piece of the old press that we used as a door stop.

>

Winnings

So I won the mystery pot Thursday night. Mystery Pot is where you put a dollar in the kitty and if they draw out what you bowled in either of your first 2 games you win the pot.
Don't ask what I bowled because it doesn't matter with the point of this post.

What to do with it?
Usually I would put it in my purse and it would disappear with the rest of my change.
Not this time.
I took $50 of it and bought a square on a super bowl board. And the rest Mike and I took with us over to the Moose Saturday night for a meat raffle.
Must of had some luck in them there bills because we won a ham for Christmas dinner and some thick cut pork chops with our first $8.

The First Snow

I promised my sister-in-law a picture of the first snow. So here it is Kathy!



I loved it as a kid - skating, sledding, building snowmen and snowforts.
I loved that our kids loved to play and sled in it too.
I love that my grandkids would rather play in the snow than inside playing video games.

I love the first snow.
I love the way it clings to the trees.
I love to see the tracks of the wild animals across the backyard.
I love to sit in the hot tub with the snow falling.
I love getting up in the middle of the night and looking out the window seeing the moonlight reflect off the fresh snow.
I love that we live somewhere that we get to experience the snow.

Let it Snow - Let it Snow - Let is Snow!!!!