What Happened?

So I claimed I would write more and snap more photos because so much was happening. 

Yeah, so that didn't work.  The writing and picture taking part of it at least.  All the stuff still happened.  Here's a recap.

Sunday, March 18th:  The whole family hit my house for our annual pierogi making and feasting.  There was much making and much much feasting.  My job this year was the boiling of pierogis and then the frying of them.  This hot and steamy work which was made more bearable by cup after cup of our festive punch.  (FYI:  Even though I didn't get in the least bit tipsy or drunk, I was graced with a hangover the next day.  Woo hoo!)

We topped the day off with one of our favorites, fake ice cream cake.  So pretty, so easy, so fake.


Tuesday, March 20th:  Who gets their kids out of school at 11 AM so they can go sit outside on a sidewalk (in stunningly beautiful weather) for six hours so they can have as-close-as-humanly-possible positions for the Artic Monkeys/Black Keys concert?

That would be us.


Friday, March 30th:  The kids didn't have school, but they still had to be there bright and early to leave for State Thespian Conference.  Their fall show, The Bad Seed, was chosen to be a featured performance at the conference. Such an honor.   They had to hire a truck to carry the very large set, all the props, costumes and everything else related to putting on the play.  After the truck was loaded and the bus showed up, off they went.  They had an amazing time and the show was extremely well received.  The kids said the audience freaked out at the ending and started screaming.  I would have liked to seen that.


Sunday, April 1st:  Happy Birthday to The Girl and The Boy!  They got home around dinnertime from the conference and were utterly exhausted.  I baked a cake but they weren't up for much for festivities than that.  Maybe this weekend we'll find someway to celebrate them turning 17.

Two Cats Turn Four

This day is almost over, but I couldn't let it close without some pictures of Jack and Meg today on their fourth birthday.


This has been the look on Meg's face for the past day. Tomorrow I'll post why.
She really hasn't moved much.
These are the best pictures I've ever been able to take of her. She's usually a non-stop kind of cat.

Jack on the other hand tends to take it easy.

Really easy.

Really, really easy.
Until he wants something...Then he wakes up and turns on the charm.

Happy Birthday Kittens!

Birthday and a Crash

Here is what I bought myself for my birthday.A cast iron dutch oven!Isn't it a beauty?
Of course it had to have legs to get charcoal underneath and a concave lid to put the charcoal on top. I can't wait to take this thing camping.

I baked my birthday cake in it. Devil's Food Cake with raspberry. Yum! Warm cake right out of the dutch oven with cold ice cream was bliss.


From the kids I received a new super soaker to replace Pixie's Gun which finally bit the dust. Here's the boy with Pixie's Gun back in 2006. Pixie's Gun was a gift from my secret pal at camp back in 1991. I'm pretty sure Flame gave it to me. I spent many a summer day terrorizing little girls with that super soaker.

My new gun is a bit of an upgrade.

When both tanks are full it weighs over eight pounds. It has a strap attached to help you carry it. It has three settings: Light, Medium and Soak. It's an intimidating thing indeed.

A nice dinner out, family on my patio and a new watering can rounded out my birthday into a lovely day.

Then I gave myself one final gift.
In a moment of sheer grace I fell off the back porch and proceeded to get the worst scrape I've ever had. It hurts like a mother.

Happy Happy to The Sister

Today is my beautiful and brilliant sister's birthday.
I'm sure she won't mind if I say here that she is 33 today which is the age, if she were a hobbit, that she would be considered an adult.
But of course she's not a hobbit, but it's an interesting fact all the same.

Happy Birthday darling! I hope you find being an adult hobbit enjoyable!

As for us, in just a few, The Girl and I are headed out to camp. We are going to Pleasant Valley which is a Girl Scout property out in Tiffin. I hope it's just a bit cooler out there. I'll be posting every now and then on my Facebook, so check in there if you're dying to find out what we are doing. I'll post pictures when we get home.

Marco's Birthday

In the week leading up to today I would occasionally mention one of the other people around the house that it was the dog's birthday on Sunday. The conversation usually went like this...

Me: Yo, it's Marco's birthday Sunday.

Other Human: Oh yeah? How old is he going to be?
At which point I would mumble something about finding out. No one had a clue how old the dog was but we had several spirited debates about it...

Me: He's going to be seven.

Other Human: No six.

Me: I think it's seven.

Other Human: Weren't you going to look it up?
I just looked it up and in fact today he is six. Eventually someone will mention that he is forty-two in dog years. Not to worry old boy, you're still just a big dumb puppy to me!

Happy Birthday Marco!

Birthday Party Escapades

This post is two days late. I wish to thank the three of you for not calling me out on that.

The party was a huge success! At it's height we had 23 kids at the house, so it wasn't that bad. The best gift that the kids received by far was the weather. The thermometer in the kitchen read eighty-two when the party started. It hovered right in the mid-seventies after sundown making the candle-lit patio a nice hangout alternative to the stuffy house. There were kids running in and out of the house all night long. Thank goodness I had the forethought to send Marco away. It would have been an impossible situation with him in the mix.


The boys were bound and determined to just play Xbox the entire time. One of The Boy's friends brought his Xbox over to talk to our Xbox. It was all just too cool.But the girls had other plans that first involved attacking the boys with balloons.

Defeated temporarily the girls headed outside to plan their next wave of attack.
And to build a human pyramid.

In the end the girls forced the boys to go on a scavenger hunt and play hide and seek or maybe it was sardines. The evening ended with all of them outside on the patio. The Man and I sat in the kitchen and listened to their very grown-up sounding laughter.

We ended up with WAY too much food and drink. Like embarrassingly too much. We'll be eating pizza around here for a long time.

One more Happy Birthday to the Girl and Boy! What a fantastic way to celebrate it!

Three Year Old Kittens

Three years ago today that sneaky stray cat once again stole into our basement this time to have her kittens. And because it was yucky outside and because the basement was similarly yucky and because those tiny little kittens were so darn cute, today we are stuck with these two.

There's a certain amount of patience and timing you need to photograph cats.

I have neither.

Happy Third Birthday, Jack and Meg! You make everyday an adventure!

Ode To Joy

In honor of my special day, my favorite Muppet,Beaker makes this presentation.

Lake Erie Crushers

In honor of Aunt Rhonda's birthday, we all headed off to a Lake Erie Crushers game. This was a first for all of us since the whole situation out there is brand spanking new. Being an independent league stadium, they do everything in their power to make sure you have a great time and want to come back. There's even this giant inflatable toy area.

Here's our birthday girl who was treated like a queen all night. That would be her sister, my mother, giving her bunny ears.

They have a birthday package there that is almost too good to true. First she was brought on the field so she could throw out the first ball. Here she is with Stomper on the pitcher's mound.

Here she is just before she threw the ball. This announcer guy asked her how old she was and she proudly told everyone 58.

Here's The Girl, The Mom and The Man's hands. We all got a birthday ice cream cupcake as part of the birthday package. While they weren't the easiest things to eat, they were worth the work.Coincidentally it was also a t-shirt giveaway night, so we all got a giant blue shirt just for showing up. The Boy here flashes the pseudo gang sign for "Hey, I'm at a baseball game".Uncle Dale came along. One of my favorite part of the night was when he was on the phone with my Aunt Diane and told her, "Yeah, it's real baseball! They've got uniforms and everything!"

This is my mom's BFF Cindy. She earned a spot in this post by buying me a beer. Cindy's favorite part of the game was ogling all the players. She declared, more than once, "There's not a dog in the bunch!"

And here's The Brother discovering why you don't sit in front of Dale.
Rhonda also got a game ball signed by all of the players and a program. Uncle Bruce bought her a ball cube in the gift shop to keep it safe. The goodies just kept coming!

The Crushers won the game in a spectacular fashion in the tenth inning. It was the topper to a perfect evening.

Then there were fireworks.

Happy Birthday Aunt Rhonda. I'm so glad we got to spend it with you!

Marco is Five Today

This is the last birthday post for awhile. I promise.

Happy Birthday to Marco!

We don't know the actually date of his birthday, but he was ten weeks old when we brought him, so we picked the eleventh as close enough. So today he is five years old.

And here's the baby pictures!

What is he getting for his birthday? A walk later and maybe a car ride!

Happy Birthday to The Brother

Yesterday, (sorry for being a day late!) my baby brother turned 18. This guy is leaving High School in a big way with a full ride to LCCC in his pocket. I told him that now that he was 18 he could buy his own lottery tickets, but that didn't seem too excited about that. But really what else is being 18 good for besides lotto tickets, cigarettes and Selective Service? The years between 18 and 21 are like adult limbo.

Anyway, true to my form, here's the baby pictures!

He was the worlds cutest newborn. No contest there.

You say you like vintage Man pictures? Here he is when he was just my boyfriend hanging out with the baby.


It's the classic Use-The-Baby-As-A-Shield maneuver. Check out those cute shoes!

Finally, one of my favorites. The Brother and Stella hunt for prey.

Happy Birthday, babe! I hope your day was a wonderful one!