Happy Birthday Ack!!!!!

Today is Alex's 14th birthday!!!!!

Just this week, Ian decided that he could say Alex instead of calling him Ack. Since Ian started talking, Alex has been called Ack. Now, just because he can say Alex does not mean he calls him that. Oh no, if you ask him to call for Alex, he still calls for Ack. And, for the record Alex is pronounced "Owwwx". Sounds almost painful doesn't it? Regardless, Alex is still Ian's favorite human on the planet next to Mommy. And, if he gets in trouble with Mommy, he cries for Alex!

I am going to add a few pictures after posting these few because it is truly amazing how much he has changed in just the last couple of years. He has truly grown into a young man from the child we saw in pictures just a few years ago.

Alex at 14:

School is a struggle, but he has been really working at it. We hope that he continues to work for it.

His voice changed dramatically since last year. If you call the house and he answers, you will not be able to tell if it's him or Mark.

He is taller than Mark now, too. And, I don't even want to discuss the size of his feet!!!! (He passed Mark up a more than a year ago in the shoe department.)

He is one of the most helpful people that I have ever met. No matter what I ask him to do, he is not afraid of the challenge. (Even a stinky diaper doesn't stop him! For the record, he asked me to show him how to change diapers. And I don't usually let him change the stinky ones.) Just this past week, he used Mark's snow thrower to un-bury about 8 of our elderly neighbors when it was bitter cold. And he had to be forced to accept some money for his efforts. Nana would be so proud, just as we are!

He is truly kind to other people.

He has finally found the sport that interests him and will hopefully keeps him healthy into adulthood. The improvement both physically and mentally has been amazing. As his wrestling skills have improved, his self confidence has grown exponentially.

He still has a case of the 'stupids'. I still ask him regularly if he ate his bowl of stupid this morning. I don't know what it is about teenage boys, but it seems that sometimes their brains are just not connected. He can get this totally blank look on his face and you can just tell that it's not computing. A simple task can seem huge, because the brain is just not there sometimes. Don't know if it's because he is thinking about other things (girls) or if he just turns the brain off, but it can make your crazy! Beth and I labelled this particular problem the 'stupids' a few years ago. And it seems that almost every teenager goes through a bout of them at some point. They are clearly not stupid, they are just doing stupid things. It's enough to make a person insane. (And, I understand now exactly what I put my parents through!)

Girls are still a mystery. (Thank God!!! And, I hate to tell him that they will be when he is 50!)

Alex,

We hope you have a wonderful birthday today. Good luck at your wrestling meet this morning. I hope you enjoy your Moose Turd Pie** this evening!

Love,
Aunt Heather, Uncle Mark and Your Little Buddy, Ian

** Story of Moose Turd Pie: Alex complained one day about something I made for dinner. I told him it could be worse, he could be eating Moose Turd Pie! Then, I told him this story: A group of lumberjacks at their camp decided that they would take turns cooking, but only would switch when someone complained about the food. Well, this one poor guy got stuck cooking and no matter how bad it was, no one ever complained. Finally, he got fed up and collected moose turds for a pie. He served the pie, they asked him what it was and he told them Moose Turd Pie. They all said it was the best damn Moose Turd Pie they had ever eaten. Needless to say, Alex does not complain about my cooking any more!!! So when Alex asked me to make him an ice cream filled cake and that he wanted Moose Track ice cream, I decided to call it Moose Turd Pie.

Ya Just Gotta Love Winter in Ohio!!!

Winter in Ohio means ICE STORM. This particular storm was fun for several reasons. First, we already had snow on the ground. Second, we got a couple more inches on top of that. Third, the ice started raining down on top of it all for about 5 hours. Fourth, the high temp has not been above 20 for several days. Finally, it snowed about 8 more inches after the ice! So basically all the snow under the ice became ice too with snow on top to hide it all.

I took me about an hour to chisel into Mark's Explorer. I didn't even try to get into my car until today. Why? Please notice that the snow is higher than the bottom of the car. That means I would have been stuck at the end of the driveway for sure.

See the white at the top of the red? That's a layer of ice about 1 inch thick. The sides were covered with about 1/2 inch of ice too!

A little perspective.

The bottom edge of the scraper is on my patio stones. The scraper blade is about 3 inches long. And, that's all ice, no snow!!!

But, it sure was pretty when it was falling down.

Best part, it is snowing again!!!!!

Ian in Blue

Ian Being Ian

The kid is a riot!!! Truly goofy with his own sense of funny already. He is busily exploring his world and finding out what he can and can't do. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just along for the wacky ride that comes with having a toddler around. Rarely having a dull moment, always having a camera at the ready, and keeping an eye and ear on what he is doing, that's how I spend my days.



Getting a chance to lick powdered sugar off Mom's tamper.
(I use the tamper to push dough into small pie molds.)
The best part of this picture:
Grandma making the same face!!!!
What is that all about Grandma?

Newest plaything: His pajamas!
For the last couple of days, he has been dumping all of his pajamas in the floor (see the mess?) and wearing the bottoms on head. He changes them several times during the day. I guess he just can't decide which one goes with his outfit!!

Being silly with Grandpa.
He has managed to get my Dad to do things for pictures that I never dreamt possible. I'm with my aunt, Papaw must be going thru a second childhood!

Great smile!!

Notice the orange thing on his legs? That's a pair of underwear he was putting on over his clothes! He walked around like this for about an hour, happy as a clam.

Self Portrait

One of Ian's favorite things to do right now, is to get ahold of a camera and take pictures. He regularly gets his fingers on either my camera or Papaw's camera. He always leaves us some fascinating pictures. Sometimes they are self portraits, sometimes they are close ups of his toes, you just never know what you will see. For example, I have an entire collection of pictures of my Dad's shoes! I can't wait until he learns how the focus works!!!




Ian by Ian, 2009

Memories of Pineapple Ice Cream

I can't go around letting you think I had one amazing grandmother when in fact, I was lucky enough to have two!! Two amazingly strong women, that I probably learned more from than just about any book I will ever pick up. I just learned from them at different times in my life.



I probably have more memories that I can easily recall of Grandma B because I spent more time with her as an older child/young adult. On the other hand, I was an almost constant shadow to Grandma M when I was really young. But again that's not to say that Grandma M was any less amazing or a smaller influence on my life. Because in fact, she was a huge influence in my life directly and indirectly. Directly because of the time I spent with her and indirectly because my Mom was raised by her and raised me.


My Mom is one of 5 children. I can't imagine raising 5 children today let alone in those days. The one I have costs me a fortune just to keep him in clothing that fits!! During my Mom's childhood, Grandma M took on several jobs to keep the family afloat. In other words, she was never idle and how could she be with 5 kids!! By the time I came around, she was carrying mail in the small town that I now live in.



So, my quality time spent with her mostly meant walking her postal route, the very same route that I now live on. That's right I 'helped' deliver mail to the house I live in and to Mark's parents house. And, yet Mark and I did not meet until I was in my 20s. Life is weird like that sometimes, isn't it?!? I would follow along on her route or bug Mom to meet her for breakfast or lunch at the local diner. (Mom, Dad, Ian and I actually had lunch at that very diner this week! Some things never change, I guess.)



Besides that special time spent with her, I relate two holidays with her to this very day: Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July. Strange choices as I am sure that most people have memories revolving around Christmas, but let me explain:


When I was a kid, Thanksgiving dinner always took place at her house. She would have my uncles set up a table the length of her family room (with the requisite 'kid' table next to it) and we would always watch parts of the parade while getting dinner on the table. Thanksgiving when I was really young also meant seeing my uncles tossing my brother (rolled up like a ball) across the table when my mom wasn't watching. As I got older, my cousin, Julie, and I became responsible for doing the dishes. Julie and I both swear to this day that Grandma cleaned out the fridge and all her cabinets each year! She would just keep adding to the pile of dirty dishes. The more we washed, the more Grandma added to the pile! Meanwhile, my aunts, uncles and parents just stood by watching/laughing. Of course, they all said it was just our turn, because they had all done it for years. So what did I learn from Thanksgiving dinner: 1) How to make sure my uncles didn't get ahold of you to throw you across the table. 2) How to a wash lot of dishes!! and 3) Most importantly, how to cook an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people.


When Mark and I got married, we took over Thanksgiving dinner. By that time, Grandma was getting confused about the every day tasks of life. Ultimately, Alzheimer's disease took its toll. But, I will always cherish watching/helping her cook that important dinner.



As for the the Fourth of July it always meant three things: 1) Watching the parade from her front yard. 2) Seeing who could spit watermelon seeds the farthest off the front step. (My cousin, Julie, holds the record!) and 3) Hand -cranked pineapple ice cream! Each year she would make the ice cream base and my Uncle Cliff would be in charge of cranking the handle. Of course, all of us kids would beg to turn the handle, but would stop when it became too hard to turn. Then, Uncle Cliff would taunt us into cranking until he couldn't listen to us complain any longer! But the result was always delicious pineapple ice cream! Just this past year, Mom and I discussed making some for the Fourth of July weekend. So, what did my Mom get me for Christmas this year: An Ice Cream Maker! Any guesses as to what I will be making this July?


Again these are just snippets of memories, but they are the ones that stand out for me with regard to Grandma M. We always had a great time when we were together and I will always cherish her presence in my life. I loved her dearly, still do, and miss her terribly and probably always will. Just thinking about the time lost with her as she slipped further and further into the Alzheimers makes me angry to this very day.

100 Years

What can a person experience in 100 years? Why do I ask? Well, earlier today I was thinking that it was indeed January 18, 2009 which means it is Grandma B's birthday. Then my Dad called to remind me that she would have turned 100 today. That got me thinking about all that a person can experience in 100 years.

Unfortunately, she didn't see the entire 100 of those years as she passed away several years ago. But, I am sure that she would have continued to be amazed at the events of the world today. How do I know that? Well, one of the last world events she witnessed was September 11th. I remember watching the continual television feed of the horrific events while she sat in her chair eating her coffee soup. (Coffee soup was the last food she ate and I was the only one that could make it the way she wanted it. It consisted of a slice of bread, sugar, coffee and milk. Sounds completely disgusting to me, but that's what she wanted. And at that point, she got whatever she wanted. We all knew the end was near and catered to her every whim.) While watching the news, I remember her commenting about how crazy the world had gotten.

So, can you imagine what she would think now? Terrorists taking over hotels in India and killing many innocent people. We are still searching for Bin Laden and the remaining terrorists responsible for 9-11. Attacks in London and Madrid to the transportation systems. Those are the bad things, but there are also changes that she would have been interested in. Changes such as the election of Mr. Obama. Changes in our economy which I am sure she would have compared to the Great Depression she lived thru. Seemingly unlimited access to news, information, etc. by way of the internet. ( I think she would have loved being able to see all the stuff on the internet. Recipes, pictures, news, shopping, etc. all would have excited her.) In her personal world, she did not get to see two amazing Great Grandsons. She would have loved that the most. They would have delighted her to no end.

All of that is just a snippet of what she didn't get to see. But think about what she did see. She learned to 'drive' a horse and buggy, then a car. (She and my Great Grandmother drove thru the back wall of the garage because she didn't stop in time. And, the entire time my Great Grandmother was yelling 'WHOA'!!!!) Indoor plumbing, cooking with gas or electricity instead of a wood stove. The invention of the television which has grown into the immediate information fountain that it is today. The number of wars she lived thru alone is staggering: WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. Amazing!!!

Again those are but a snippet of what she got to see during her years on this earth. It is almost too much to wrap my mind around. What will I get to see in my lifetime which I doubt will be anywhere close to 100 years!?!? Better yet, what will her Great Grandsons see in their time on this earth?

I Just Couldn't Resist, Papaw

My Dad brought me a flash drive with a lot of pictures on it. And, I was luck enough to find these gems!!

Lordy, Lordy, Someone Around Here Is Turning 40 (and it's not me!!!)

Just posting a few pictures to let everyone know that today is Sam's 40th birthday!!!

That's right, the big 40!
(Or in other words, SHE IS OLDER THAN ME!!! And, I just like to make sure everyone know that every chance I get!)


Sam,

I hope you had a wonderful birthday today! I look forward to our now yearly 'Girls Night Out' this Tuesday in honor of your birthday. And, no matter what happens I promise to not take any pictures that night!!! But, I will gladly sit next to you in jail while we contemplate doing it all over again!! Cuz that's what sisters are for after all!

You are any amazing friend, wife, mother and sister. I don't know what I would do without you in my life.

Happy Birthday with lots of love,

Heather