the remaking of a kitchen

Mafiosa, a true legacy

2011-11-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

when the mafiosa meet we often speak of jean. i think it would please jean to know that we continue to meet and have become better friends since her death. i knew jean and i knew tressa, but the other three, carol, sally and maureen have also become important friends. i can honestly say that there is no way i would have met them if not for jean. how amazing and what a wonderful legacy of friendship and connection she has left the five of us!
we religiously meet each month which of course is much better than jean and i managed those first few years. this coming december lunch will include our white elephant exchange and will be much fun and we will again think of jean!

Mafiosa 2 ladies at lunch!

2011-10-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

today was lunch day for the mafiosa 2. we were at the dock cafe in stillwater and as always it was the greatest fun. we had a window table and were able to watch an absolute downpour. it made us feel absolutely brilliant the we had chosen to eat inside rather than the outside that was offered! i love that place any time of the year....it is always a brilliant scene watching the st croix river flow by the cafe. it was a little late for fall color, but still quite beautiful!

Great time in omaha!

2011-10-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

we had a lovely time in omaha.....we couldn't find a motel in lincoln, so had to settle for omaha. then ann contacted me to see if POSSIBLY we would be in town on that very weekend. we were, so ann and i got to spend a whole day together. a delicious and rare treat! ann cooked a wonderful brunch for us and then we decided to go to the lauritzen gardens and that was another treat. we walked all over the place and saw so many special garden areas, and sat and enjoyed at several places. we also visited forever. i had called leigh anne to see if we could possibly get together. ann had never met meredith, so la made it happen. ann loved meeting jane's granddaughter and we all just enjoyed a short visit.
don and i took ann out to dinner later that evening....we went to the greek isles, and as always it was pretty tasty! ann was in town for the consecration of the new episcopal bishop of nebraska. jane and carroll were picking her up for lunch before heading to the big event, so i drove over to say good-bye again to ann, and a hello to jane and carroll.
this is a bit out of order, but thursday night we were planning to meet haley for dinner, and when i called her she said her mom and dad had just arrived! that was a lovely surprise! we enjoyed dinner and of course a long visit with david, kyla and haley. haley gets gold stars for getting to parents to join us!
then we drove to lincoln on saturday for the football game with ohio state. we had time to wander around campus which is always fun and then the game. the first half was deadly for nebraska....it ended 27 - 6. the second half wasn't much better, but then nebraska got going and the game ended 34 - 27 in our favor. an amazing turn around and a rather exhausting game to watch. lots of ups and downs and finally the win! yay! we had parked in a ramp, and the cars just were not moving, so finally we got out and on our way, but arrived back at our motel at 1:30 am. oh my.

Beautiful fall colors and lots of library time!

2011-10-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

it's been a very busy fall.....lots of time spent at the library. several local authors giving readings and of course the great decisions group. i have set up many many chairs. most of the volunteering has been basic labor! i've enjoyed both the programs and my fellow volunteers. all good things.
siena is again the star of the banned books display. her I WILL READ BANNED BOOKS t-shirts are quite a hit. nice to have some grandma bragging time. :)
we have another trip to a nebraska game and then rob and deanne's wedding in omaha before we are done with travel for awhile.

absent with no excuse

2011-09-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

i can't believe i haven't posted since our april visit to california. it was a lovely visit by the way. we enjoyed our first seder dinner to celebrate passover. it was a delicious meal and the passover readings were very lovely. we always enjoy the silver family so much!
now it's been several months since our visit for siena's second birthday. this time she was clued in to the need to open presents with gusto and even started singing happy birthday which was very sweet. the house lisa and jean rented was perfect for a family party. the boys and siena had a blast running around in the yard and siena ran around inside with her balloons. it was a great party!
since then we have stayed around home, gardened, enjoyed the fresh vegetables from the garden, and finally started painting the yellow room a more palatable color. not done yet, but it will be.
we drove to colorado the end of august....stopped in hastings and met kari and family for dinner and then got to see the newly redecorated family room and saw the choice of surface for the counter tops....which have now been installed. then on to ft collins where we were treated to dinner at megan's and got to see griffin and meet macklin, saw aaron (briefly) and ashley as well as jack and liz of course. the next day jack drove don and i up to estes and then on up trailridge to the top....we hadn't done that in years. a real treat! then we went to the volleyball match and watched nebraska lose to csu. we did not love that, but as jack said, it probably would not hurt ne, but would give the csu program as huge boost. i tried to believe that was a good thing. :( the next day we went to jackson's the sports bar showing the nebraska football game against tn chatanooga....that turned out better and we were able to be crazy fans with rest of the red clad fans.
we drove to denver the next day and spent a couple of more days with patrick. it was great to see him and we took another drive with him....through a canyon and into boulder and around in that direction. then we headed east and north to home and a couple of days of r and r.
we have been to one game against washington and that was fun.....the next one in against ohio state and we will go a day early so i can have a day with friend prenty who will be in omaha for another event. we go back the next weekend for rob and deanne's wedding and then the game with mn the next weekend....plus the husker huddle prior to the game. the next day jack arrives to spend a week with us.....have to get the painting done before that! we have various ideas for road trips and restaurants to visit. busy fall, but really enjoyable!

HOME again.....with angst

2011-04-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

we are back.....we arrived home (early!) on wednesday night and judy was our faithful taxi driver. it was good to get home, of course, but always hard to leave the family in california. david called wednesday morning and we met he and siena at aunt mary's where jewlee was working one of her shifts. :) brunch was great and siena kept us entertained....nunu joined us for a bit and jewlee too, with frequent interruptions to help other customers.
it was really a great visit....we did so many things. one thing we will NOT do again is plan a flight that arrives around midnight. there was confusion about the rental car which was finally fixed and other issues too, but we finally arrived at pat's b and b around or after 2 am. good grief. of course we did not sleep immediately and it may have been closer to 3 (make that 5 our time) when we finally nodded off. we awakened early and then got the word to meet jewlee and siena for breakfast at rick and ann's at 9:30 or earlier if we could make it. we had a cup of coffee with pat and then hoofed it to the restaurant. more later

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG!

2011-04-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

it's hard to believe that i started this blog 5 years ago! i have fallen down on the job recently and not posted as often as i'd like. life is good. that is the really best thing happening right now.
we skyped with sarah and siena on monday night and with jewlee and siena yesterday. it was great fun to see her and have her talk with us. she told us she was going to give us hugs and kisses when she sees us....something pretty special to anticipate. :)
we leave this evening for a week in oakland so we will have lots of opportunity to enjoy the family there. i cannot wait!!

Siena and sarah

2011-04-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

some more photos from another skype call.....i do love those calls so much! it is such fun to hear siena saying so many new words. whatever anyone says, she will try to repeat it. that can be a bit scary, and we will all need to watch it in the future!

Skyping with jewlee and siena

2011-04-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

jewlee was blowing on her face, which always makes siena giggle. it was great fun!

this was a call with siena and jewlee......siena played hide and seek with one of her toys and then grabbed jewlee's hat and had a great time with that!

Where has the time gone???

2011-03-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

wow.....talk about losing focus. how did this happen? it's been MONTHS since the last post and all i'm doing now is bemoaning that instead of saying something smart. it's been a busy time. we had a lovely chrismukkah with family and then january and cold cold weather, snuffiness and snow. a trip to tucson for me with judith where it was colder than imaginable, the hotel lost heat and hot water for several days and then home again and not feeling so good.
then ending up in the hospital for an entire week and finding that i had a RARE pneumonia and was an interesting case, and now home and recovering and doing really really well except for not sleeping so well. hopefully that will improve, but in the mean time i look pretty weary.

Chrismukkah

2011-01-03T08:32:00.001-08:00

wow.....a long time between posts. it's been busy around here. after thanksgiving we decided to do a major scoop of the yellow room which would include painting. well, the scoop is done, the painting not started. when i peeked behind the YELLOW wallpaper and noticed patterned paper that appears to be one with the wall i knew it was not a quick fix. so we still have a yellow room, but it's a much tidier room with new furniture, so an improvement!
we had a lovely chrismukkah! patrick arrived on the 17th and sarah, david and siena on the 20th. poor siena's mouth was invaded by a whole mouthful of teeth all at once so she was an unhappy camper for a few days. she wasn't interested in eating or sleeping and didn't want to leave here mama's side for any length of time. she recovered except for a reluctance to sleep and became the sweet little girl we all know and love. she loved looking out at the snoooow, sometimes snoooow-k and even had some sled rides through the white stuff. quite an adventure for a little california girl! she really enjoyed the "ights" and other decorations at our house and around the neighborhood. the more spectacular the decor the louder the announcement.....IGHTS!! needless to say it was the best fun to have them here and to see her become familiar with our house as she stomped her way from room to room. we all held her and read and re-read many books which we thoroughly enjoyed and i think she did too! she sat in the little chair that belongs to a set i received as a wee little girl and thought that was great fun.
sarah, david and i took her to the library and it was obvious she was pretty familiar with libraries! she walked up and down aisles of shelves stopping to proclaim "book" or mulcahyea (monsters) from time to time. we moved into the special kids reading room and she really loved that. i think there is very little that she didn't love and of course we just loved her no matter what!

Siena got tired, and we celebrated jeff's birthday with pie

2010-12-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

siena finally got really tired and got into her jammies....here she is telling us goodnite. it was jeff's birthday, so he blew out the candles on a delicious chocolate pie!

A little thanksgiving music

2010-12-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

a little proof the developing musical talents in the silver-tycz-wagman families. will on the piano, aleks on the cello and ben with the recorder. it was a really nice concert!! i'm looking forward to the next one!

Siena and the boys making music

2010-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

here we have will with his arm around siena as she beats out a tune on the piano...with ben playing some real music at the other end of the keyboard. then the piano, cello and recorder practicing for a little video action. they were Great!!

More thanksgiving

2010-12-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

here we have a pile of siena, auntie jewlee, and mommy sarah, siena walking with loni and siena entertaining herself on the floor.

Awaiting the bird

2010-12-06T19:48:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving in palo alto....what a treat! cara and steve invited us to join the silvers again for a grand feast. you can see that everyone is eagerly awaiting the carving of the turkey....and then there is a photo of jeff the creator of the magnificent bird showing his wild enthusiasm!!

A little night skyping

2010-11-10T18:32:00.000-08:00

well, actually it was night here, but late afternoon there, and we had such fun. we all got to laugh together, and siena is an excellent laugher! i had seen siena standing with her baba sandy, so we were pretty excited when she stood for us, without holding on to anything! what a star! i took a few video snapshots to prove it!

PEEK-A-BOO

2010-11-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

i had the best time last week as i played peek a boo with siena. thanks again skype! she did a palm plant on her face and thought it great fun. she is getting so close to walking. she can easily pull herself up using people's clothing, a chair, a table, her wagon. will we see a new mobility when we visit for thanksgiving?

Love those skype calls!

2010-10-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

this was a shot from a call last week. siena pulled herself up to the window sill in the living room and walked back and forth to pick up a plastic piece sarah re-placed after siena threw it on the floor. she then pulled herself up so she could see out the window. so cute!

we had a skype call a few days ago and siena showed off her new skills pulling herself up to the window seat in her room. you can see the amount of effort and concentration involved! she is getting ready to take off one of these days!

Making strides to prevent breast cancer

2010-10-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

a week ago on the 17th, i joined kari and a bunch of family and friends to walk for MAKING STRIDES TO PREVENT BREAST CANCER. this year's theme was making it possible to have more birthdays and since it really WAS kari's birthday, our shirts all said "it's kari's birthday" on the back. at the start of the race, the entire gathering of pink shirts, pink hair and boas galore all sang happy birthday to her. an lovely and amazing thing.
we went back to bill and judy's house after the walk and in the fine tradition, ate dessert first and they we left. the dessert was a wonderful cheesecake. yummmmm
we drove home and didn't get here until 11. tiredness ruled!

wake up time

2010-09-19T13:02:00.001-07:00

just up for her nap and smiling on skype. i love this little girl and her mommie too!

2010-09-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

After the game

2010-09-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

we attended the nebraska idaho game yesterday in lincoln and were struck with the amazing number of people in red below us in the street as we exited the stadium. pretty darn amazing. we do love going to the games....barbara who sits behind me oohed and aahed about my siena photos and i did the same for her granddaughter photos!

The big bear who loves strawberries

2010-09-03T16:41:00.001-07:00

we had a delightful skype call a few days ago. a special treat was watching siena enjoying sarah reading to her about the big bear who really likes strawberries.

Capping the deck

2010-08-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

NOW, all we have to do is wait out the month so we can stain the deck. the caps are just sitting on the posts so probably some glue will fix that part!

The new deck is completed

2010-08-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

with the previous posting, this shows the progression of the deck building. after the start of demo last week, the guys disappeared for the rest of the week. they weren't being lazy or ignoring us, they worked one day in the horrid heat and humidity and then worked another job that was inside and cool. last week was one of the hottest of the year and pretty miserable if a person was outside working!
they returned this monday and true to their word, finished up late this afternoon. we are very pleased with the results. it's great to finally have steps off the deck again....they have been missing since they disappeared in the kitchen makeover of 2006. the new steps are wide and broad and actually abut the concrete thing which hopefully will lead to a creative redo of that slab.
Along with dana and tom who have worked her previously, wes, dana's 14 year old son came the first several days of the week until he and his mom left on vacation to a cabin up north. dana finally was able to head up there today after they finished here.....he got behind on things last week, so missed part of the vacation. poor guy.
anyway, we like the metal spindles with the wood posts....we had some searching to do before we found the right thing. most spindles are round and painted, but we found these that are square with the powder finish which is rough and harder and less likely to scratch. we always seem to get into "the hunt for the perfect thing" each time we decide to make improvements. however, the search paid off and the results are great.
next on the list is painting the posts in the new footings and staining the deck and rails. sigh. not our favorite things, but it will be worth it!
we also have to find a grill that is not the size of half the deck. grills seem to have grown exponentially since last we purchased one!!

Busy times

2010-08-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

it's been a busy few weeks around here. our friend neal visited us last weekend and we caught up on his news and travels. this weekend, tom the potter was here and he kept us amused and gave us a beautiful blue vase. looks perfect on the mantle shelf above the fireplace. especially holding a stella d'oro lily.
this evening jess and amy came over and we had some chips and guacamole before going to the good earth. it was a great to see them and i suspect we will really enjoy having them in the area.

Upgrading the deck

2010-08-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

we have a new project in the beginning stages. actually it's finally in the start stage, we have done all the shopping and exploring products etc prior to this part and dana came on thursday while we were at lunch in hudson and removed the railings and benches on the deck. he found that the south end of the deck rail was pretty wobbly, so just took it out of there!
these photos show the before photos of the deck as well as the deck minus the rail...
tomorrow dana comes to remove the remaining deck and dig a few new footings for the deck and stair platforms.

The drive home

2010-07-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

our drive to st george took quite a bit longer than we'd planned, in fact our real destination was on down the road, but we were pooped and it was too hot, so we stopped. it was a new motel and quite nice, quiet and comfortable. from there we headed on to rawlins, wy, and enjoyed that place as much as we did on the trip out. we ate at the same place and it was still a delight and plan to stay in the victorian b and b there next time. from there it was on to lincoln and then home the day after.
the photos are of the clouds that greeted us the closer we drove north to home.

SLO and friends

2010-07-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

as we began our way home, we traveled down hwy 101 to san luis obispo to see our dear friends john and julie and their puppies tako and gromit. we had a wonderful time with them, but of course it was way way too short. john took as on the grand tour of the history museum where he is deeply involved and i think he has entice julie to be another volunteer on that list. there was a wonderful display of wedding gowns and photos etc that was very impressive. i took a photo of one saying that seemed to fit david's interests of late.
we got to tour the barn that julie has mentioned so often....the wondrous place with lovely people who spin, knit, dye, felt, quilt and whatever else is possible with textiles and they get to visit and enjoy eachother as they do! i am so jealous!
their friends steve and eleanor invited all of us for hors d'oeuvres one afternoon and we finally delightfully were able to meet them in person! we had a great visit and talked about all the weird connections.
julie and john took as to a river side restaurant on our last night and we enjoyed a wonderful meal there. we also met for breakfast the next day just to prolong our visit a little bit longer! and of course it still wasn't long enough....it never is!

Let the party begin!

2010-07-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

The actual party had two parts....before and after the nap. one of the photos shows the wonder of a fan with attachments as decoration. siena has always always been fascinated with ceiling fans and this has got to be the ultimate eye catcher. she loved it! one more reason baba's house was perfect.....ceiling fan in the living room!
the boys helped siena open her presents and they all enjoyed that part. it's so fun to see how they enjoy each other even thought there is quite a spread in ages. the boys are so dear as they play with her and entertain her!
sarah made the sweet birthday crown for siena and she will be able to wear it for many birthdays to come. the doll was made by me and i had such fun doing it. i think patrick and sarah had similar dolls as little kids.

The big day!

2010-07-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

it's hard to believe that it's been a whole year since siena's birth. after a bit of a rocky start she has turned into the most charming of little girls. she scoots, she jabbers, she points and smiles and just engages everyone around her into her world. we do love her so much!
her birthday party was in santa cruz at her baba sandy's home. her living in a condo with a swimming pool gets high marks as a party place! sarah and david planned ahead and decided on a pizza and pie party so no one was tied to the stove and oven preparing food and entertainment. siena was able to take her needed naps and be up and ready to go for the assorted festivities. one special occasion was siena's first experience in a swimming pool. she loves to take baths, but at first she was not impressed with the big bathtub of a pool. eventually she warmed to the idea, and jewlee was able to get her to do her kickies thing the perimeter of the pool, smiling and laughing all the way. she appears to be part fish!

ACCI gallery opening

2010-07-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

by some amazing karmic occurrence, i was accepted into a gallery's national juried exhibition, and it was in berkeley, and the opening was when we were in oakland for siena's birthday, and patrick happened to be there too because he attended steve's wedding in reno the past weekend. so, we all attended, plus sandy and cara came, and chris and heather, s and d's upstairs neighbors, friend louise and her friend nancy, jewlee's friend kate and her husband, pat our b and b hostess and her friend sima, my friend maureen's sister kathleen, sandy and dave our friends from rossmoor, kyra and heidi, jewlee's first housemate and the new person living with kyra, sarah's work mates, franziska and chris. it was great fun and truly amazing to have so many friends and family there. it was surely a rare treat!!

Two lunch friday

2010-07-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

friday was a really busy day! things seemed to be developing slowly, so my friend louise and i decided to have lunch at a neighborhood japanese restaurant. it was delicious, and we enjoyed having a quiet visit on our own. i got back home and we got a phone call from sarah so we got ready to meet at saul's deli for another feast. just another 2 lunch midday for me. i found a salad while everyone else enjoyed some fabulous sandwiches and we all shared some latkes. siena dived into the dill pickles which have become one of her faves!

Lafayette lunch, d'orsay visit

2010-07-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

on our second day in berkeley we drove to lafayette and met friends sandy and dave who live in rossmoor. sandy and don went all the way through school together in their home town. it was fun to see them in their own territory rather then just at a reunion. it was especially nice since they do not plan to attend the reunion this fall. they took us on a tour of rossmoor where they now live, near the city of walnut creek.
we stayed at a b and b we've visited previously and really enjoyed it so much. our hostess pat is just the greatest......very open and friendly.
the next day we had a special treat and i have no photos to prove it! jewlee, don and i drove into san francisco and went to the d'orsay impressionist collection at the deyoung. it was really fabulous. we all enjoyed it immensely. we wandered through on our own and then discovered we were all going back through the exhibit again. it was just lovely to see paintings we had admired in books and videos in the flesh so to speak. it took us several hours to see the entire exhibit, and then we enjoyed a lovely lunch in the cafe there....sitting outside in lovely weather. after that we wandered on the grounds and admired the sculptures in the garden. truly a treat of a day!!
don and i went to the hardware store and got some supplies to repair a "found" wagon for siena. it was found on the curb during an earlier visit and we decided to see if it could be fixed and become usable. it could and did! don brought some supplies and tools from home and was able to get the gas grill to function again with a bit of cleaning and repositioning of the ignitor. yay! that led to a wonderful dinner of grilled mini lamb chops, plus egg plant and zucchinis from david's burgeoning garden! truly fabulous. tara's ice cream seemed to provide the perfect end to the meal.

Enjoying time with the california family!

2010-07-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

we have just returned from a lovely road trip to california. this set of photos is of siena scooting around the living room and enjoying a lunch fresh from the garden!
as her admiring grandparents we enjoyed it all so much!
we arrived a day earlier than planned and i was able to deliver my piece to the acci gallery on monday as scheduled.

Off on our road trip to ca

2010-06-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

this will be a very short post.....we had a skype call this evening, and this is a snapshot of siena pointing at me. i melted. i can't wait to get to california and we are really leaving in the morning for our road trip!

Aaron and Ashley's wedding, visit with patrick, dinner with lucent gang

2010-06-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

from omaha we drove on to ft collins arriving just in time to check in and get some much needed food. we were absolutely starving for some reason. luckily there was an ihop just across the street from the hotel so we walked across for some sustenance. jack soon picked us up to go see a and a's home. it is a beauty and they have accomplished a lot, but still have much to do. it's about 100 years old and on a corner lot with a carriage house also on the property. they have mostly redone the kitchen and it's quite amazing. they tried to keep to the style of the times and have a front on the refrigerator that looks like an old ice box, and a similar front on the dishwasher. beautiful cabinets and counter tops and a huge old butcher block. all quite wonderful!
patrick met us at our hotel and we drove together to the wedding. the sky looked threatening, but only a few drops fell, and that was after the ceremony ended! i forgot to take photos there and took just a few at the wedding. it was all quite lovely, and a bit emotional too. the joy of this new partnership and still the loss several years ago came to mind. it was a lovely venue, and we scored seats in the shade which was amazing.....it was darn hot in the sun. we also were able to find seats in the air-conditioned tent for dinner where we sat with jack and liz's neighbors a funny group for sure! it was all quite enjoyable!!
that morning, liz and jack invited us for breakfast and so we had a chance to visit a little more than we expected with them. good stuff!
the morning after we stopped off in longmont to visit the graves of don's cousin jack and his wife maria. we arrived while they were watering and at first thought that the graves were in another section. WRONG! they were right in the middle of what can only be described as serious power watering. we stopped by the graves and read the words and dates, and finally i grabbed the camera and after watching the timing of the sprinklers, jumped out of the car and took this one photo. not bad considering!
the good news is that a lot of the bug carcasses were washed off the car by the sprinklers and the windshields were much cleaner!
then on to patrick's home where we became reacquainted with gidget and met old pete. they are lousy watch dogs, well, they did watch us come in the front door. patrick came home early from work so we were able to visit with him before we took off to meet marirosa for dinner. when we got there she sneakily said there might be more people coming. we ended up with 8 of us around the table, and lots of laughs and stories of the old days when they worked with don. it was really a great evening, and marirosa gets gold stars for arranging it!!

we were able to become friends with gidget and pete during the visit. pete does circles really well and howls mournfully if patrick is able to sneak out the door for a solo walk with gidget. pete doesn't recognize that he cannot walk or run for miles on end any more and is sad when he is left behind. gidget on the other hand has a patented method of letting everyone know when she thinks it is time for her walk.....sort of a growl/howl/yodel that is pretty unique. on the morning we were leaving patrick hadn't had time to walk her so when we came down stairs we got the surely you will walk me treatment. NOT

we had a long day's drive that day and then met my cousin bill for breakfast in des moines which was fun. got to do some catching up on our lives and hope to be able to meet his wife ellen and him again for lunch in the near future!

Stopover in omaha to see friends

2010-06-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

wow, a busy couple of weeks! so much going on that was good, seeing lots of friends and relatives and just have a good, fun time!
on friday the 4th, we stayed over night in omaha on our way to ft collins. it just happened to be the alumni banquet for the school and celebrating 50 years for the class ahead of me. i went with kay lynn and mary beth and saw so many old friends. i really wanted to connect with those friends ahead of us and was able to do that. i hope to be able to keep in touch with some of them after being able to see them face to face. several of them don't live that far from us and are on our way to nebraska, so it's possible.

an unexpected treat was seeing my cousin jo......i forgot that this would be an honor year for her, so we got to visit for a bit and our tables were next to each other so we could communicate back and forth. her roommate was there too, so we had to talk about them coming to our apartment to visit when they were freshman. great fun!

Scoot and toys

2010-05-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

another skype session with sarah and siena....this one cut short by the arrival of ms crumple cakes. the call was a little too close to bedtime, but very sweet while it lasted. siena did some of her scoot on her way to grab the computer, and showed us how she played with and chewed on some of her toys. she always seems to recognize us and that is a joy in itself and very heartwarming to the too faraway grands.

Another skype call with sweet siena

2010-05-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

today we had a great skype visit with sarah and siena. siena was in fine form, she actually laughed out loud at one point and she was "talking" and smiling away most of the time. she even demonstrated her new tricks....she can move! it does involve a lot of flapping, but then she bounces or hops forward on her little rear. it's very sweet. i took many many snaps, so here we go. the really close ups are when she was diving at the computer; in fact she was able to close the lid a couple of times. the side view of her smiling is when she saw her daddy in the front garden. she alternated looking at pictures in her books and chewing on them.....very tasty titles for sure.
one of my faves is her lifting her foot, so she could get it into her mouth! :)

i am just back from a lovely visit to omaha...staying at my friend judy's basement motel. i had a wonderful visit with her and her family, plus i was able to touch base with so many friends. it was very therapeutic and i think i just need to do something like that more often!! we even went to the henry doorly zoo which has changed so much since i last visited. it was a great treat!

Saying good bye and hoping for a another visit soon

2010-04-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

way sooner than we wished it was time for a quick trip to the airport so they could catch their plane and return to the west coast. it was such a fun visit and so hard to see them go. hugs all around and then again and always hoping to see them again soon. siena seems to react to everything going on around her and having her reach out to change from one set of arms to the next is just the very best thing! :)

while breakfast was being prepared, siena sat in front of the deck door until boredom appeared and then grandpa held her which she thought was great!

Como park zoo, david's birthday celebration

2010-04-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

after we returned home, it was time to prepare dinner and an early celebration of david's birthday. we had roasted root vegetables and marinated pork tenderloin. sarah made a delicious salad and the piece de resistance: banana cream pie. it was pretty fabulous and david loved it. later in the evening we had a snack of strawberry ice cream to cap it off!

we took a field trip to the como park zoo and conservatory gardens and it was great fun. david found the source of como popcorn, so we had a snack as we wandered. we saw all the primates and fell in love with the mostachioed tamarins.....truly sweet looking little guys. we saw lions, tigers, giraffes and zebras and some kudus who were also pretty cute. just a beautiful patterned hide. siena liked most of the animals and the fish too. we went into the gardens too, some of which were incredibly steamy.....really jungle like. the blooming flowers were lovely and we finally found a functioning fountain which was a treat for siena!

Siena taking a bath in the soaking tub

2010-04-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

siena took her first bath in the soaking tub and had a great time playing with the two rubber duckies her grandpa found for her.

sarah's good friend betsy came to visit and meet siena. i think siena received approval that night! sarah and betsy visited for hours after siena went to bed and that was a treat for both of them.

Enjoying mn

2010-04-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

siena seemed to have a good time visiting in minnesota this time. so many changes in just one month! diane came to meet her and siena felt the need to lean forward and smile. she visited with her grandpa in his den and thought that was pretty cool.

Who could resist this sweetness?

2010-04-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

she has the sweetest grin that shows off her teeth, at least the two on the bottom. the three on the top are a bit more elusive!

Learning to feed herself

2010-04-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

since we last saw siena she is feeding herself very well! it's adorable to watch her open very wide before she picks up the tiniest morsel and brings it to her mouth. this morning she struggled with her sippy cup and either poured in too much or held it upside down, but by dinner she had solved that problem completely. it's a joy watching her figure out how to do things!

Reading with her dad

2010-04-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

before siena took a little post lunchtime nap, she and david had a reading session. it's fun to watch her be so intent on the book and react to david's voice. she loves every minute of it!! pajama time! hippos go berserk and sneetches were the faves today.

Bongo drums!

2010-04-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

siena has started taking a music class, and sarah suggested she might enjoy seeing her grandpa's bongo drums. he found them and cleaned them up a bit and siena had a big of a jam session with the bongos. i think she shows a lot of promise! there were a few breaks to nibble on the edges, but still....

BIRTHDAY

2010-04-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOG! 4 YEARS OLD TODAY!

Siena in ruffles!

2010-04-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

i left out a series of pretty cute photos of siena taken by skype snapshots. she was wearing a very sweet ruffled sunsuit and i think she was even aware of her cuteness. certainly i was and sarah was too!

Spring game weekend

2010-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

i'm not sure where the time has gone since our quick trip to california. i guess it has something to do with being in nebraska twice since then, once for the funeral of my cousin who was way too young to die, and this weekend for nebraska sports.
we made plans some months ago to meet patrick at the spring game and he brought his friend adam whom we haven't seen for some years. it was a great game....really just a scrimmage, but still dear to the hearts of the rabid fans. they said over 77,000 were in attendance. truly amazing!
as i have to say, we won! we had to as it was the red team playing the white team and they were both nebraska. it's always fun and it was just a beautiful day.....clear and sunny and warm. it was warmer than we expected but who's to complain about that?!
after the game we met up with kari and brian and their 3 kids as well as brian's dad. he was the photographer for the shots of all of us together. (i think i have to explain my lumpiness in the photo. that is the result of being told i could NOT bring my backpack into the stadium. i stuffed field glasses, camera, etc etc into every pocket available and wore my coat which was not what i intended.) after photos, brian took the boys on the bus and on to his sister's house, and kari and kelsey came with don and i to wander around lincoln until brian reappeared to have dinner with us. we ate more than necessary at old chicago pizza and then on to the coliseum to watch the volleyball team play university of illinois. the latter team seemed to be very good. it was announced that it was agreed that the teams would play 5 sets no matter what the score. in other words, if one team won the first 3, still 2 more sets would ensue. so, nebraska ended up winning, but it was anything but easy. quite a struggle in fact by seemingly well matched teams. lots of mistakes on nebraska's side, and quick reactions by illinois. our coach said he still has concerns, but it's just exhibition season, and one player is still recovering from shoulder surgery, and one has mono and another didn't play for some reason. the season looks hopeful.

Textile art at the b and b

2010-03-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

i was fascinated by a textile piece on the wall of our b & b and our hostess mary agreed that i could take some photos. the artist's name is natsuko and raymor was the distributor of art of this era.

Dance party, again

2010-03-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

what would a visit be without a spontaneous dance party featuring siena and auntie jewlee. this contains francine flipinsky as well as vigorous kickies in double time. accompanying giggles may emerge.

Playing on the porch

2010-03-19T14:47:00.001-07:00

siena has suddenly discovered that being on her tummy can be fun. she can pull her arms up and get on her elbows so she can play instead of just quickly flipping to her back. all kinds of new things to discover!

siena discovered another fun game....peeking through the railing lining the front porch. it was really funny.....she would peek and grin each time.
the last photo is her examining very carefully jewlee's sore toe!

Siena in the basket

2010-03-19T14:32:00.000-07:00

it was discovered while we visited that a great place for siena in the kitchen is the basket used to carry stuff to the picnic table. she loved being there as can be seen. she was right in the midst of things, but had her own place to watch the action

she and her grandpa had a mini dance party while the cooking was happening.

Meet up at la farine

2010-03-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

a fun thing later in the day of the beach was meeting up with my friend maureen from minneapolis at la farine for coffee and a chocolatini. yum yum yum. maureen has a sister in oakland and just happened to visiting at the same time we were. what fun

Ocean beach!

2010-03-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

we all went to san francisco, drove through the city and then through golden gate park, across the grand highway and parked by ocean beach. it was a beautiful sunny and warm day and we enjoyed it to the max. david carried siena in a front carrier which she enjoyed. the waves came rolling in and we watched and watched. there is something wonderfully peaceful and almost hypnotic about watching the waves ebb and flow. i wish we could do it more often. alas....the middle of the country is oceanless. hah!
we had lunch at the beach chalet and all the food was really good. siena sat in her first tree which david caught on his camera. lots of adventures for her.

Chillin' on the window seat

2010-03-19T14:14:00.001-07:00

siena loves sitting on the window seat in her room and looking out at the garden and watching people. she also LOVES looking at herself in the mirror! she knows who that cute little girl is now....at first she just liked watching, but now she KNOWS! jewlee was reading one book to her while siena munched on another. this is a little one who would literally inhale and ingest her books!

Trying new foods is not always fun!

2010-03-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

siena needed some attention to her diet during our visit, so she was exposed to some new things. as you can see from her expression she was not entirely impressed with the apricots or the green beans. she had a bit of prune juice and she would not vote that as a fave either. she is consistently pretty pleased with her food as a general rule and will probably decide that she likes this stuff too. the next day she had some dried cherries and some raisins and those she really like!

Oakland in march

2010-03-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

we went to the berkeley marina for a walk on saturday and it was just lovely. not so breezy and comfortable temp. a nice treat. siena seemed to enjoy it all, especially when sarah was leaping around in front of her....giggles galore!
friday afternoon in the pouring rain jewlee and i went to lunch at a great sushi place on college avenue. we had a couple of rolls, some sea weed salad and edamame. yummmmy. it was nice to have the time with her and we had a visit and cleared the air on a couple of issues. a good thing all around. she is really enjoying being a nanny and it's hard to believe she has another career going with her clutter care. she is very creative and entrpreneurial that way!

these few photos are of siena wearing the shorts i found while on a walk the day before we flew to ca. we thought those chunky little thighs were quite adorable in green embroidered shorts!

we are just back from a lovely long weekend in berkeley/oakland. we stayed in a b & b in the berkeley hills above the claremont hotel and it was quite wonderful. it's probably an early 20's large house with all kinds of nice details. it was very comfy and we really liked the owner. of course the main attraction was the fam. we picked up sarah from work on thursday on our way in from the airport and after dropping luggage we went out to dinner at sol's deli which was delish.
then it was back to s and d's house to see jewlee and siena. they were sitting in the window seat, and i really really think siena recognized us! a treat for sure.
she is pretty cute and learning new tricks. these photos show her in front of the mirror in the non-functioning fireplace with jewlee and sarah. she had to turn around once and smile at the photographer. :)

Winter view

2010-03-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

this photo was taken at night through the kitchen window over the sink. it's looking out through the icicles hanging from the eaves.

Best christmas video evahhhhh

2010-03-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

i forgot this was on my camera, and have been watching and giggling. this is just way too funny, but in a very sweet way of course! :) this was during our christmas visit with the family.

More skype calls!

2010-03-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

we've had several skype calls lately, and here are the results. skype may be my new best friend!!

Bagels!

2010-01-30T18:11:00.000-08:00

several weeks ago the local paper ran an article about bagels and included the recipe. today was the designated bagel day and it was fun and they even taste good! don helped with the shaping and the timing of the boiling procedure. we ended up with two dozen bagels and shared some across the street. most of them are plain or water bagels as the woman called them in the article, the others are topped with sesame seeds.
we had some this afternoon with veggie cream cheese and they were really tasty! tomorrow morning will bring more tasting experiences! david requested some when they visited and i told him he can help make them. it's really easy and it's fun.

Video skype today with jewlee, sarah and siena

2010-01-30T17:59:00.000-08:00

another call today with sarah, siena and auntie jewlee. we got to see jewlee's new do which is pretty cute. her allergic reaction is under control and she is looking great! siena was wearing a dress that both sarah and jewlee wore previously and it came from another source to us. i love the history of little dresses!
as we were finishing up the call david came in with melinda so we were able to meet her, and david mentioned bagels which leads into the next post!

Another call with siena and sarah

2010-01-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

i feel incredibly lucky that we can communicate this way. it makes the miles just disappear for awhile! how lovely.

it was a fun conversation with siena smiling away and relating to us long distance. sarah's new do is pretty cute too! it warms my heart to see the love between the two of them.....very special.

we've had two skype calls in the past couple of days. always lots of fun. siena had to show how she could drink from her sippie cup. sarah said she decided to try it and filled the cup with water. when she handed it to siena she took it in one hand then grabbed the second handle with her other hand tipped it up and started to drink. guess she'd been watching people drink from their cups and knew the scoop! she didn't protest that it was water just went at it. what a smartie!

Cook's Illustrated beef stew

2010-01-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

the procedure was to start out cooking on top of the stove and then move the pan into the oven. the stew was removed to add the potatoes and then back to the oven for a bit. the finishing was done on top of the stove. we enjoyed it with a tossed salad and one of bittman's baguettes. it was all pretty tasty!

patrick gave me a subscription to cook's illustrated magazine as a gift and i've enjoyed reading all the details on the how and why of making a perfect whatever as directed in the recipes. i'd made a grocery trip earlier this week to get the ingredients and decided today was the day to try their beef stew.
it had a lot of steps, but after reading the trials and errors on the way to perfection i began to appreciate their efforts. it called for chuck blade roast and one of the details was removing the fat and the membrane and it took longer than i expected.
the rest of the ingredients were carrots, onions, potatoes and some other unusual things that i believe made for a better stew. i spent quite a bit of time on it, and of course watching the play offs at the same time added to the enjoyment.

Evening skype visit

2010-01-15T18:47:00.000-08:00

oh yay! a skype call certainly brightens a day!
it was such fun for don and i to talk to siena and sarah again.....and david too as he walked in from cooking dinner. siena was very interested in the computer cords which needed to be moved out of her reach. she is very curious and thinks that everything is good to chew....probably not the cords. poor baby. :)
she is trying new foods each day and seems to be enjoying them immensely. at the last pediatrician visit she weighed 17lb 8oz, the same as sarah at a year....she's 27 inches tall. did i mention she is adorable and the happiest little girl. we played long distance peek-a-boo and she was giggling. i do love to hear babies giggle. it is absolutely contagious.
we love skype calls!! :)

Viva le exersaucer!

2010-01-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

in preparation for the family visiting we obtained an exersaucer. it was delivered and set up and then picked up after they left. very nice.
siena had a blast learning to use it and kept herself and rest of us very amused. she has one at home, but this one was quite different. she started slow, but as the days passed she was able to conquer most of the options and had a great time. she was able to bounce and turn and make noises. we laughed as she began to extend her arms so she could make noise with one hand and make things move with the other. what a girl!!

2009-12-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

i had this great plan to have a family photo taken this year. i talked to my neighbor diane who is a pro and she agreed to be our photographer. the best laid plans....first siena's naps didn't work with diane's free time and then when we all were available....well you get the picture. we lined up our cameras and posed for our own, and it was interesting one or two people running to get in the photo before the click.
then on my camera it was inadvertently set for a video, which of course i had to keep. :)

Bathing in granny's sink

2009-12-29T20:30:00.000-08:00

we've seen siena take a bath at home, she loves it. she kicks and splashes looking very serious as if this is her present job and she knows she better do a good job. we weren't sure how she would react to taking a bath in our kitchen sink without her own little tub in place. we soon found out. the only prep was putting a good sized bath towel in the deeper of the double sinks and stretching it up the sides as well. one of the photos gives the setting and shows the pasta sauce cooking on the stove top.
she seemed to enjoy it very much...it was just different and although she kicked, the water was deeper so the splashes weren't so dramatic. it was still fun for all her adoring fans and for siena too.

Siena's first solid food

2009-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

during this holiday visit, it was determined by sarah and david that siena could have her first go with solid food. she started with sweet potato....carefully mashed with a bit of breast milk to make it smooth. it seemed like she had been observing this eating thing and opened her mouth and even leaned forward toward the spoon when david offered it. yeah, i know i am prejudiced in her favor, but she didn't do the pushing food out with her tongue that i've always observed, she simply took it in and swallowed and leaned in for more! sandy and i have always said she was terribly advanced and it's obvious!
the next treat was mashed banana, but sarah was eating the real thing and siena decided she was a big girl too! too cute! sarah fixed a delicious roast chicken one day so the next trial was some pureed white chicken, again with breast milk. she ate it but with a little less enthusiasm.
today as bags were being packed and a bit of lunch enjoyed before the trip home, another trial. siena and sarah were sitting on the love seat with david who was eating some sliced apple. aha thinks siena and leans right over and opens her mouth around a slice! she was pretty excited about gumming and sucking on the slice and showed a big smile! i just noticed that one photo shows her gnawing happily on her daddy's finger.
we feel very privileged that we got to see these first tastes....it's obvious that she is going to enjoy eating solid foods a lot. she even tried to grab the spoon; so she could feed herself? who can tell....the kid is smart!! :)

Christmas in MN

2009-12-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

we had a lovely family christmas with everyone at home. the schedules were a bit off set, but we had a great time while we were all together! guess who was the star of it all....well yes, it was our sweet sweet siena. she learned so much during her week's stay that she just amazed us all. she also kept us enchanted and in love with her.
i admit to being the crazy grandmother who bought way more cute clothes than were necessary. some how it just seemed to be my job this year. i could not resist.
patrick met her for the first time and he really fell in love, just like the rest of us! who can resist her? not i! not any of us!
it's amazing to watch siena as david or sarah read to her. she seems to enjoy it so very much and she listens and watches the illustrations.

Early december snow

2009-12-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

this isn't really our first snow of the season, but i was in oakland and missed the first one. well, i missed seeing the snow come down anyway, but it didn't make my flight from phoenix a couple of hours late, but that is another story. nebraska was hit with a much stronger storm that we got here. we had about 6 inches, and the wind blew most of one day and night, but about half the wind speed and amount of snow that was seen south of us. you can see our red flag parallel to the ground as a gust hit during the photo taking. the other picture is by the front door and the drift is from don's clearing the walk and the roof. we had to have this storm to entertain the california gang.

Our last day in california

2009-12-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

i'm finally getting around to posting the last of the california for thanksgiving photos. we arrived at sarah and david's later than we hoped and didn't get to visit with sarah for long before she headed out the door to an appointment. jewlee was there and she and siena kept us entertained until we had to leave for the airport. we probably allowed more time than necessary for that trip, but we had to get across the bay bridge and then across the city before getting to our destination.
siena was in fine form and we were outside which she loves. we took a walk around the neighborhood and just hung out for awhile and then we really had to go. i hated to leave....i always do, but we have christmas coming very soon. YES, they all have tickets and will be joining us in just 11 days, but really, who's counting. :)

Siena loves her bath

2009-12-03T17:22:00.000-08:00

before siena went to bed one evening we were treated to watching her enjoy her bath to the max. she is a very determined kicker when she's in the water much to the amusement of her adoring family. what can i say, whatever she does we are charmed, enchanted, in love. :)
i love the image of siena in the hooded towel looking over her daddy's shoulder!

Dining with sarah and david

2009-12-03T16:32:00.001-08:00

one thing i can count on when visiting sarah and david is excellent food! they both are wonderful cooks who like to work with good meat from the corner butcher combined with herbs and vegetables from their garden. the night before we left there were chicken breasts marinated with garlic and tarragon, and served with alice waters' green sauce. this was served with a yam, potato, apple roast with garlic. oh my goodness what a treat. ahhhhhh, also fresh greens with herbal garden treats and sarah's vinaigrette dressing. tara's furnished the ice cream. yum yum.
on another night we had my fave chicken stew with tomatoes, onions and raisins. delish. it's always just one treat after another!
on sunday afternoon we took a drive up the coast and had lunch in bolinas. it as a great opportunity to show siena the ocean. she loved it!!

More Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

More Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T18:35:00.001-08:00

we haven't seen the boys or some of their parents since sarah's and david's wedding, so it was a treat to be with them again. there was lots of activity as there should be when 4 boy cousins get together. they are lucky to live in the same area and to be such good friends.
patrick was the one missing from our family. hopefully we can all be together soon! airplane tickets are through the roof as a special holiday treat, so we'll have to see how that goes!

Thanksgiving in Palo Alto

2009-12-02T18:08:00.000-08:00

we arrived home from oakland last evening.....friend judy drove to the airport to be our personal taxi. very nice of her! we had such a good time. the b and b where we stayed was great.....walking distance from david and sarah, although we drove it. we were very comfortable there, the owner was great and we met some very interesting people over breakfast in the mornings.
our flight from msp left at 7:05 am....not my type of schedule, but that was what we chose as we were not sure of scheduling for t-day activities when we got the tickets. amazingly we arrived almost 45 minutes ahead of eta.....that NEVER happens! the return flight was early also. very strange, but certainly acceptable!
steve and cara were our hosts and thanksgiving dinner was really delicious and the company was most enjoyable! i finally gave up on bringing something from my kitchen and we did other things. i had seen photos of a similar turkey several years ago, and i have to say jeff's was the best i've tasted ....evah! truly tender and moist and herbilicious.....and that doesn't even count the deliciousness of maple drenched bacon over the top of the bird. yum yum. all the california silvers were there except for nancy who was in bed with some flu-like bug. not fair to her or to us who would have liked seeing her!

Video call last evening

2009-11-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

i had a delightful video call last night with jewlee, sarah and siena. it was such fun and it seemed like siena was getting the idea that there really was someone on the screen talking to her.
the thrill for me was seeing siena figure out for the first time how to give those sweet baby kisses to her mom. sarah has been giving her kisses which she really likes and the kisses seem to calm her when she's upset. once siena figured it out she just kept kissing sarah's neck which was very very sweet.
siena obviously enjoys attention from both jewlee and sarah and is smiling and enjoying herself more these days. i can't wait to see them all in person.

More action!

2009-10-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Nebraska weekend with good friends

2009-10-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Busy week

2009-10-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Home again

2009-10-13T20:49:00.001-07:00

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!

Bath time

2009-10-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Siena playing on the window seat

2009-10-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

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!

Siena playing

2009-10-13T20:32:00.001-07:00

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!

Jewlee and siena dancing

2009-10-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

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