the remaking of a kitchen

we got together at j and j's motorhome after the game to drown our sorrows and do a bunch more visiting. on sunday, j and j joined us at the nebraska history museum and that was fun. we found my 5 year old mother sitting in her playroom in the albion house. what a hoot. after all that hard work we headed to the unl ice cream store for double dips and then on to eat in the haymarket. good food, good friends. good fun.
on monday we had a lazy start and then to omaha for don's 2 week check up with the doc, more game discussion and then headed home. a long weekend, and a lovely one.

Labels: john and julie, more fun, ne hx museum, the band

we are just back from a terrific weekend in nebraska. well mostly terrific. the game was pretty ugly, but we did break a record! not that any one is excited about 8 turnovers, but... the rest of the weekend was lovely. we knew john and julie were coming and julie alerted others to that fact, so we met up with dave and lea, john and lois and had lots of fun. on friday night we headed to misty's with a great number of other fans. we were told there would be an hour and 45 minute wait, and believe it or not, we agreed to that. the guys took off to check out the parking spot that john and julie had been given. it took most of the allotted time for them to accomplish that task. in the same time, we talked about a lot of everything and met some other fans, took photos and met herbie. we had a lot of fun and got in some good visiting.

Labels: dave and lea, herbie, john and julie, john and lois

this was a busy busy week. i returned home from a visit in california and then had a one day turn around before we left for nebraska on wednesday. i slept in so it was a late start, and although we arrived in the midst of the commuter traffic it wasn't an issue.
don's cataract surgery was thursday morning and that went well, so we went for breakfast after wards. i was able to catch up with my with my friends lea and janelle and had a fun visit with them. we haven't seen each other for several years so that was great.
we went for the post surgical visit on friday and don was pronounced healthy and well enough to attend the saturday football game. i went off to lunch with friends kay lynn, midge and liz and we talked and laughed for almost 3 hours. then don and i were off to lincoln for the rest of the weekend. the game was not a fun time although i got to see friends lea and dave and ryan who was home for the weekend. really nice....that part anyway. gotta believe the team remains a work in progress! sigh.
on sunday met up with kari and her family at holmes park and joined in the making strides against breast cancer with kari's team. we were invited to brennan's birthday celebration but felt we needed to get on the road instead. we arrived at 9 pm, a good 7 hours drive.
today it was yard stuff....don mowed and i pulled out the dead tomato and pepper plants, and dug up my garlic. i moved all the pots (with dead plants) to the concrete thing for delivery to the shed in the next few days. tonight is an edina reads presentation at the library, so i am helping with that.....kao kalia yang reading from her book THE LATE HOMECOMER.

Labels: cataract, family, friends, stride to prevent breast cancer

i had a long plane ride home through phoenix. because of early morning snow in minneapolis, planes were running late all day. i spent an extra hour and then some waiting around the gate.
this is what the deck looked like when i arrived. all the ginkgo leaves fell in my absence, and the maple tree in front is showing very red while the one in back is just beginning to turn. don brought in all the green tomatoes and to be red peppers that are still green, and those plants now have that melted look that happens with a freeze. our growing season seems so very short!
it was very cold, so i was glad to have several layers under my raincoat and really delighted to find gloves in the pockets!

Labels: home and snow, red peppers, tomatoes and cukes

sarah and i gave siena a bath.....she was a little nervous at first but seemed to enjoy being down in the water after she adjusted. i shampooed her hair and amazed sarah when i really scrubbed with a washcloth. siena seemed just fine with the whole procedure and was not upset when we got her out of the water and wrapped her in dryer warmed towels. she seems to like being clean. :)
when we were drying her hair it really did look a bit curly. these are post bath photos taken as she peered over david's shoulder.

Labels: bath, curls?, enjoyment

siena enjoys her play area on the window seat too and i have a little video to prove it. her oohs and aahs have expanded to little squeals that promise to become giggles very soon!

Labels: playing, window seat

siena with just a little help from her dad held on to one of the rings on her play station. it was really cute....she kept looking at her left hand on the ring until her little fingers slipped off and then focused on her right hand that still held the other ring. she made some bells ring and one of these days will figure out how that happened and really have a blast!

Labels: enjoying her play station with david

jewlee was glad to see siena and the pleasure was mutual. they had a little dance to celebrate the occasion.

on saturday jewlee, emily, akai, zucca, ruby, turkey and of course felicia arrived in california after their long drive from colorado. sarah, siena and i drove to lafayette to see them and jewlee's new home. her new home is gloriously fabuloso and comfy besides. i think it is perfect for her first cali nest. :)
the dogs seemed pretty cool about the whole thing.....zucca and akai were lounging by the pool and ruby and turkey were lurking by the table and lounge chairs. jewlee gave the latter two a bath with soap and the hose....they mostly did ok with that except for ruby getting her flat snoot full of water. too funny. the big dogs took a run down the hill to relieve themselves and z was able to get her fur and tail totally entangled with brush and brambles of some sort. pretty normal. kyra had purchased bones for the 4 of them so they were gnawing away happily and pretty much thought everything was just right.
jewlee and emily seemed to have survived the drive and were chipper and funny. it was great to finally meet e after hearing about her all spring and summer. i really liked her. i haven't met kyra as yet, but hope that will happen next time i get out west. what a treat to have the 4 girls in the fam together around the pool. yay!

Labels: akai, emily, jewlee, new home, ruby, sarah and siena, turkey and zucca

siena likes her passie, but lately has appeared to search for her thumb. she is able to put most of her fist into her mouth and gums away or sucks on it. her thumb is carefully tucked within her fist, but it's getting close to popping out and getting right into her mouth!

Labels: siena, thumb

siena enjoys having her mommie read books to her. she is learning about the barnyard dance in these photos....lots of animal noises and excitement coming from sarah and rapt attention from siena. this kid is going to be an avid reader!
the last two pictures were after the reading....some big stretches and then a brilliant smile! too precious!

Labels: readubg, sarah and siena, stretching and smiling

it's been a long while between posts. again. no excuses, just life getting in the way. i am just back from a siena-sarah-david and jewlee (!) fix and have some photos to prove it! siena is big enough now that she can ride facing front in her bjorns. she seems to enjoy seeing the world go by and is quite content. it's fun to see her looking quite pleased with herself as she goes out the door.
my task while there was to get siena re-accustomed to taking a bottle. needless to say it was not on her personal list of things she enjoyed! one day i was able to get her to take about 3 ounces, with david and i tag teaming to keep her distracted when she protested. the next day, she was pretty upset and finally took a bit with david feeding her and after a walk took another bit with me wielding the bottle. between us maybe 2 1/2 to 3 ounces. it is definitely something to keep working on and hopefully she will get the idea and just deal one of these days. :) she is getting breast milk in the bottles but she would much prefer the direct method of delivery!

Labels: david and jewlee, sarah and siena