Most sad of days

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, a tragic event that is too painful to recount leaves me without computer. The culprit of this travesty who shall remain nameless (Carl) claims that the incident was an "accident". Beyond the damage that has left a shell of a computer, other victims include the numerous pictures of our weekend activities held hostage on the camera without a soul (or machine) to claim them. Personal damages include suffering through two straight days without looking at a computer, having access to the internet, e-mail, blogs or discussion boards. Withdrawal symptoms experienced so far include hearing typing on the keyboard in the middle of the night only to awaken and realize that it is crickets chirping. It's feared that full-blown symptoms of shaking and panic will soon set in leaving me vulnerable to the possibility of hospitalization/being institutionalized. It will take a great deal of strength to get through this difficult time, but with the help of the library I think that I may survive. Please be patient with the lack of updates to the blog during this TWO TO THREE WEEK period. All complaints and/or concerns can be sent directly to Carl Deetz at his e-mail account.

Baby shower Part I

The guest of honor - my cousin Andrea

(Her due date is November 13th which was one of my due dates for Lily)

The shirt Andrea is holding is from our cousin Patrick. Andrea told Patrick that he can be the "Assistant Godfather" so the shirt he made says "I LOVE my AG" on the front and "GODFATHERS ARE OVERRATED" on the back. Too funny.

Baby shower Part II: Party-goers

Prepping before the party

Game time! (Look at the intensity)

Lily Superstar

Angela and Cousin Maria

Cousin Gina and Niece Courtney

Ang and the girls

The Meyer Girls

Post birthday party (Angela's 24th) at the park

Mom with all the grandchildren looking at the camera at the same time!

The grandkids go rock climbing (at the urging of the adults who wanted a picture atop the rock ;)

Lily shows her strength...

...and Nick shows his!

Abby gets a little help from her dad

Ang may need some of that help too

Getting a jump start on my family calendar with the June birthdays, Jeff & Courtney (Katie was a little too busy at the time to stop for a picture)

The February birthdays - Suzanne, Susie, and Abby

There are no words for this one...it just cracks me up!

Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 Picnic

Lily's favorite - face-painting!

Lily and Mary

Mary and Grandma

Angela's home - YAY!!!!!!!

Suzanne and Mary with her moolah after running in the kiddie races


Lily with her cousin Courtney (who is now in middle school, btw! :-O)

We had an awesome time on Saturday at the SMW Picnic. The whole fam was there to enjoy kiddie races (with $1 prizes for all participants in every race), the bounce houses, a face-painting clown, and pony & horse rides for kids. We LOVE excuses to get together and have some fun!

Pony rides!

Grandparents Garden Hop

Today at Lily's school, they hosted an event called the Grandparents Garden Hop. Grandparents came to the school and worked with their grandchildren to plant bulbs that will (hopefully) come up in the spring. It was a fun event at which Grandma & Lily really got to get their hands dirty.

A new view

We did some rearranging yesterday and moved Lily's easel to the "sitting room" which is used as Lily's playroom. (But, really, what room of the house is not Lily's playroom?) I like that the easel is now next to a large window to serve as inspiration for her artwork. On this particular day, it inspired her to sing B-I-N-G-O while drawing with colored chalk :)

School field trip to the zoo

Just in time to see the penguin feeding

(Lily is on the far left with purple pants. She is sometimes confused with her friend next to her in yellow because of the curly hair.)

Checking out the giraffes

A close look at the prairie dogs

I didn't get a lot of great pictures because I was a chaperone with multiple little people to look after. Unfortunately, the bus company that her school uses does not allow children under three on the bus, so Lily did not get to partake in her favorite part of field trips. Just two more months now.... However, you would never know that she is the youngest in her class. She has really shot up recently!

Why doctors don't teach art

Just so you don't think this was staged, the dialogue between Carl and Lily was going on for at least 15 minutes before I decided to pick up the camera. I think Lily will join me in shaking her head and laughing at her kooky father when she is older.

Future blogger

Lily sometimes tells me that she needs to "check the blog" or "update the blog". I can't imagine where she could have learned this behavior.

An afternoon at the park

Always unconventional

Lily's favorite area of the playground is definitely the sandbox

Lily worked on her "cake" for her birthday party for a good 40 minutes straight

The following video shows her constant enthusiasm. She needs no audience to belt out her own unique songs in any situation. She really is so much fun to be around. In some ways, her personality reminds me of her Aunt Angela - look out!!

Full service at McDonalds

Naturally with a blog set up for Lily, most stories that I share here are about her. However, today I would like to share a story simply because it is the funniest freakin' thing I have heard in quite some time.

My brother and sister-in-law, Susie, have three kids and therefore are extremely busy and naturally distracted. One day, Susie was going through the drive-through at McDonalds. As you can imagine, kids are shouting out from the backseat what they want while Susie is relaying all the information to the attendant. Hamburgers without pickles, small coke, medium fry, no wait, medium coke, small fry..... When she finally gets around to placing her order, instead of ordering the "Big and Tasty" as intended, she informs the attendant that she would like the "Big and Nasty".

Although this story was told to me by my brother a good 2 months ago. I laugh - out loud - every time I think of it. This is definitely my favorite story of the summer and will probably be my favorite of the year. Every day deserves a good laugh. I hope this has provided one for you today:)

Toadily Frogs

Last night, we went to a children's program at our library called "Toadily Frogs". It entailed readings of several books about frogs/toads followed by a craft project. So, our library is not the flashiest of places, but they do a good job with children's programming and events. In fact, we are scheduled to go to another one this weekend!

Baked apples recipe

for Aunt Loretta...and anyone else who wants to try it :)

Fill bottom of a square baking pan with enough water to cover
Mix in 1T cornstarch, 1t vanilla, and a handful of chopped nuts

Core apples (as many as you would like)
Peel a layer of skin all the way around each apple to let them "breathe"

Mix together 2T brown sugar and 1 T butter for each apple that you are making and microwave until butter is melted

Put apples in pan and stuff with the brown sugar mixture

Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Take foil off and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Easy peesy!

A taste of autumn

While summer has its perks, the smells of the approaching autumn season never fail to please.

The anticipation

The goods: baked apples

Savoring the last days of summer

On Monday, Lily started going to school part-time (every day until 12:30). While this is the practical thing to do while I'm not working, it is also nice to have a balance of her getting what she needs from school and getting to spend some time together. On Tuesday, we went to my parent's house in the afternoon to hang out. After a delicious home cooked meal, Lily went fishing with Papa while mom and I strolled down to meet them a bit later. Lily and I both love the serene setting there with so many things to do within a short walking distance.

One of several lakes in the community

Look what I can do, Grandma!

Lily was the official keeper of the hot dogs