Saturday, January 31, 2009

winter

Today is a beautiful winter day. Bright blue sky and sunshine! Julia measuring our snowfall. Only 3.5 inches, but on top of 1/2 inch of ice.
Tim shovelling the ice at the end of our driveway.
on Wednesday ~before
on Saturday ~after
Our home.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

winter fun

Mike took Tim and Julia to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday morning to go ice skating. I'm not sure if Julia "fell" or is just posing for this picture!
She does have some bruises on her knees.
What an awesome daddy he is! They had a blast!
T&J
Today Cincinnati is being hit with snow and the kids were happy to have a SNOW day! Tim, Julia and I shovelled the driveway (only the second time I've shovelled snow since we moved to Cincinnati). Then Tim and Julia wanted to go sledding. The walked to a nearby hill and were gone for over two hours! Here is the before picture.
Julia's after picture.
They were exhausted....
...but they had a great time.
Before they left I had them make a "deal" with each other that when the first person was ready to come home, they would agree! To be honest, I was expecting tattling when they arrived home. "Tim threw snow on me" or "Julia was being a brat." Well, when asked if they had any arguments, they said "NO!" And the best news....they will probably have a snow day again tomorrow!

Friday, January 23, 2009

Flashback Friday

A walk down memory lane....dedicated especially to Kaitlyn! At the "glorious Pantages Theatre" in Toronto. We are going to see Phantom of the Opera. It was a Spring Break trip we took when Kaitlyn was 8 and Nick was 5.
Kaitlyn and her two brothers! Kaitlyn is 10; Nick 8 and Tim 1.
This is where you could find Kaitlyn almost all the time. She loved to read and write. She was especially into reading Babysitters Club books. We even took her to meet the author.
Lovely Aunt Linda. She took these two on a train ride to Florida. Kaitlyn 10; Nick 8.
Kaitlyn's first time to Disney World! She was 3 and a half.

Tacquamenaon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Me, Kaitlyn, Nick, Kait's friend, Cori, Mike and Tim in the carrier.
Summer of '96.
Kaitlyn and Nicky. He was such a big baby. Love her eyes in this photo.
Kaitlyn loved to "help me" do the dishes.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Metro or is it MetrA??

We had a great time while we were in Illinois. On Tuesday, December 30, 11 of us took the train to Chicago. This was special for a number of reasons, but one is that Julia had never been to Chicago. When I told her we were taking the "train" to Chicago, she asked if it would be a train with beds. ha! If you've traveled by train in Russia, you usually get a sleeper car. That was Julia's only experience on a train until this day. Here are Haley, Kylee, Kaylee, Julia and Kelsey on the train into the city. This is a picture is out of order... but this is "Baby Cakes" at Ed Debevic's restaurant.
This restaurant is a fun place to go if you don't mind getting insulted! ha! Nick had great fun with our waitress! (She called the kids brats, my mom "MEEMaw" and me "M'amm."
Looking the other direction...Emma, my mom, Nick and Karla.
This is my mom and her brother, my Uncle Edward.
He was passing through the train station and we got to spend about 20 min. with him.
Me and my Godfather, Uncle Edward.
(it was soo good to see you)
Nick, Haley, Kaylee, Emma, Kylee, Julia and Kelsey.
Hanging out by the train station.
Mom and Kelly on the free trolley. The day was cool and windy...typical Chicago weather.
Julia, Nick and I at Navy Pier. This was my favorite place at Navy Pier. Mike and Tim were not along because they had left for Cincinnati already. We missed you guys!
Grandma with her grandchildren.
The kids enjoyed two shows at Navy Pier. If you look close, you can see Kaylee in pink pants, Kylee in her blue coat and Julia two kids to the right of Kylee in a striped shirt. The entertainer was riding this small bike. He asked for a volunteer from the audience and.......


Julia volunteered! She was a hit!
On the way back to the Metra station, Kaylee, Julia and Kylee got to sit up front by the driver. They loved that and had such a good time. They had a great view of the city.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

bakin' cookies with Juju

I found my photos! In mid-December, Julia and I made the sugar cookies that you roll out and frost. We had such a great time. We made a huge mess. But that goes with the territory!
Below is Juju licking the beater from the frosting! They tasted very good!

Sorry! You can't taste them and I forgot to take a picture
of the finished product!



Friday, January 9, 2009

have I done better...I think not!

Part of my frustration of not posting much lately is that I like to post with photos and I'm having trouble *finding* what I've loaded in my computer. Here is a bullet post of some things that have been going on:

*We spent a week in Rochelle, Illinois with family. We had such a good time with everyone. Tim and Julia have such a good time with their cousins and it's just craziness!

*We took the Metra into Chicago one day. My Uncle was passing through and we rode in to see him then decided to spend the day! Julia had never been in Chicago and she loved it. We ate lunch at Ed Debevic's. If you've ever eaten there, you know how much fun it can be. Our waitress, Baby Cakes, was a riot and did her best to insult all of us. She was a lot of fun! Chicago still had a *free* trolley service and we rode it to Navy Pier. It was just a lot of fun!!

*My niece, Emma, came back to Cincinnati with us. She is a freshman in college and her college will be closing at the end of the year. She is considering a move to Cincinnati to live with us and attend a nursing school here. (no pressure, Emma) but we would LOVE to have you!

*Nick is home until Sunday. We have a great time with him here FOUR weeks and I will be very sad when he leaves. He is fun to have around and has been a big help to me/us.

*Tim auditioned for a movie but we haven't heard about any call-back. The cool thing about this is that it is being filmed in Ann Arbor, where Kaitlyn and Michael live.

*Julia has two basketball games left. She's had such a great time. AND, we've enjoyed watching her play. She always has a smile on her face.....with whatever she is doing!

*When is Gov. Blogo going to resign? What a joke he's making of the state I love!

*I think I like being a mother-in-law. I certainly like my son-in-law!

*My dad's wife, Connie, is still in pain....but now it's coupled with the fact that her mother died unexpectedly. Connie's dad died just this past August and to lose both parents so close together is very hard. Connie, we love you and you and your family are in our prayers.

*Nick is making a video to audition for Survivor. Wouldn't that just be so cool if he was chosen? Maybe the college loans could be paid off????? (OK, I'm dreaming)

*I love the church we attend! I'm growing and learning so much and feel it is such a blessing. It is authentic! No hiding behind fancy church words that people toss around to make themselves look more religious!

*I love my sisters...... all three ;-)

Karen

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year


I am sorry that I have not kept this blog as up-to-date as I would like. I will try harder in the new year. The last six weeks have been a whirlwind, with Thanksgiving, the wedding of Kaitlyn and Michael, Christmas shopping, surgery, more Christmas celebrations, then Christmas Day. We traveled to Rochelle, IL, for Christmas to be with my extended family. My mom and sisters and their wonderful families live there. My dad came up from Auburn, IL, for a night and we were able to spend some time with him, too. His wife, Connie, could not make the trip. She could use some prayers for her back. She is in a lot of pain.


I will do better in 2009!


Happy New Year
Karen