Hey Browns! He's Available.

He's Marvelous, He's Curious George

I took Grammy and the kids to Pittsburgh for an overnight this past week to meet Curious George. They have a special (ends Oct 3) exhibit at the Pittsburgh Children's Musuem (which is a kick a$$ place for kids to explore) and on Wednesday and Saturday, George himself makes an appearance.

Let me tell you.....he was the cutest thing. EVER. The twinadoes ran into his arms and just kept hugging him. Nolan would not let go! They gave him kisses and hugs, high fives, and snuggles. It took everything in me not to run up there and hug him too!

The day before the musuem, we made a stop at the Duquesne Incline. It was Grammy's first time and she was a little nervous. My sweet boy made sure to hold onto her so she wouldn't be afraid.

The kids were a little  a lot, wound up when we got out of the pool at the hotel and my mom could see that I needed to get away. IKEA was only 10 minutes away and I was running out to pick up dinner so a quick stop for some retail therapy was in order. I got some frames for some of my photography and a few kitchen gadgets, but the hour alone was worth a million dollars. Thanks, Mom!

So that rounded out our summer of adventures and bridged the gap to fall. Stick around and see what kind of mischief we get into in the next few months.

All the photos.

Pymatuning

It's been a long time since I've been to the Spillway at Pymatuning Lake. Just to give you an idea, my parents took my friend, Heidi and I, and while we were there we bought matching neon half-shirts that had "Pymatuning Lake" written like paint splatter.

Yes, it was the 80's.

Grammy was on vacation this week, so we decided to do a little road trip. I emptied the freezer of all the old bread I had been saving and loaded up the kids and their potty (can I say it one more time, potty training SUCKS) and off we went.

I have no memory of the spillway (and really only remember the shirt because there is a picture of Heidi and I wearing them), so it was like I was there for the first time too.

The Three Amigos

The twinadoes had a good time throwing their "loads" (Nolan word for "loaf") of bread and were done in about 4 minutes.

Feeding "loads" of bread

My turn! My turn! My turn!

I decided to follow the compass on the car (mental note, add GPS to Xmas list), and explore a bit. We ended up in a little town called Linesville. Think main street USA on a smaller scale. We had lunch at an awesome little place called Rebecca's and then hit a couple of shops before heading out.

Coloring at Rebecca's. One of the few times he is not smiling is when he is concentrating.

I love this girl with all my heart.

The Main Street USA thing

We took mainly back roads home and ended up in familiar territory which happened to be near the wineries. After a stop at a roadside fruit market, I decided my mom and I deserved a glass of wine. I know Debonne has lots of open space for little ones to burn off energy PLUS they have a brewery so I knew I could bring Daddy home a treat. It was more like dinner since I wasn't home to cook, but I didn't hear him complaining!

The roadside market happened to have a John Deere. Nolan asked the man, "why is your John Deere H He knows all the models) hiding in the corn?"

We got our wine and got comfy outside while the kids put on a tumbling show on the outdoor stage. We were the only people outside, so it was quiet and we could hear the music that was being piped inside.

Ladies & Gentlemen, the Tumbling Twinadoes!

Now, call me kooky (as I'm sure my husband will), but approximately how many songs have there been made from 1944-2000? Millions, right? As my mom and I were sitting there enjoying the lovely fall day and the kids were having a rager, my Dad's favorite song came on. Well, one of his favorites, he had 5 that I know he LOVED.

I don't see this as a coinicidence. 

 I like to think that somewhere in the heavens and through fate, that song played for us. I think it was my Dad's way of letting us know he was with us, just like he was when he took me to Pymatuning so many years ago.

Is that you, Dad?

Airshow

Loge seats rock. Not much else to say. The pictures speak for themselves.

Enjoy more here.

Downtown Photo Challenge

My BFF mentioned a photo contest to me at the beginning of summer. I promptly forgot about it until last night. I googled it and found the deadline to be the very next day. I never used to be an under-the-wire kind of person, right?

My entries.

Category: Living City

Living City

Cleveland would be nothing without Clevelanders. Whether it's large scale events, small informal happenings, spontaneous moments on the street, interactions among friends or between strangers... it is people that bring the city to life. Submit your best images of Cleveland's great citizens and visitors to this category.

Catergory: Future Forward

Future Forward

In this category we are looking for images that exemplify growth, optimism and positive change around Downtown. What are Clevelanders doing to make the best of hard times? What types of projects are people taking on? How are businesses weathering the economy? What are people doing to stay positive? Submit your photographs that you feel show a bright future for our city! These shots may be altered to allow for creative expression.

Wish me luck!

A Decade

A decade.

Ten years.

1,200 months.

3,652 days.

520 Saturdays.

10 years ago, the day started off wonderful. Our friends, Bev & Chris got married. The reception, an afternoon affair where Bill was the DJ, was a lot of fun. The party then moved to the hotel where all the out of town guests were staying. In between the reception and the after party, I went over to my parents house to see my Dad. He was miserable. His legs were swollen beyond belief. Cancer had overtaken his body and he could no longer fight. My mom told me she was finally ready to contact Hospice for help.

It was time.

He was trying to rest in the spare room bed, but was very uncomfortable. I leaned in and kissed him goodbye and told him I loved him, as I always did. His voice, barely a whisper, replied, “I know you do, kid.” I laughed and said, “Of course you do.”

I went to the after party, but my heart wasn’t in it, so we headed home. Shortly after 11pm, the phone rang and I was out of bed throwing on shoes before I even said hello.

I knew the time had come.

I don’t remember anything about the drive to my parents house. I don’t know if I drove or if Bill did. I don’t know which roads we took. I know when we pulled in the driveway, I jumped out before the car was turned off.

The next couple of hours were a blur. I think my half-sisters, mom, and Aunt Eleanor held hands and said a prayer. A few of my moms friends came over. Bill and I left shortly after the funeral home came and picked him up.

I do remember the drive home. We took Lakeshore Blvd; about a 15 minute drive. It was well after 3am and all the traffic lights were blinking yellow. Just before we got to the intersection to turn onto our street there was a Walgreens drug store driveway with a stop light. As we approached, the light turned red. We stopped. Out of no-where a large bird walked in front of the car. The light turned green. Bill edged forward. The bird would not move. It looked right at me. I can remember the chills. I know I said, “That’s my Dad.” The light turned red again. The bird looked at me again and flew away.

There have now been ten August 19th’s . I dread each one just as much as the previous year. This day is the hardest. It sucks. The memories are close and the pain is as raw as it was ten years ago. Tears come quick.

The kids and I will go to the cemetery with my mom. My son, my sweet boy, who’s middle name is George after his Grandad, will brush the grass and dirt from the grave as he does whenever he visits. It makes my mom cry even more when he does that. Then he will take my mom’s hand when she tells him it is time to say a prayer. He will say the only one he knows aloud…..”Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May the angels watch me through the night, and keep me in their blessed sight.”

I know my kids have an angel watching over them through the night, every night.

I miss you Dad. There is a huge hole in our family without you.

We Have A Winner

I wrote a little essay for the library writing contest this summer. It won 2nd place. I can't wait to head to Bremec's Garden Center and spend my winnings!

Check it, and the other winners, out.

I also won two photo contests this summer.

One for the Great Lakes Medieval Faire.

The other for the Lake Farmpark.

But the best part is that I have people interested in paying me to take pictures! Woo hoo. Maybe, I will finally get paid for doing something I love so much. I feel like I found what I want to do, now I just have to make it happen.

Nothing boosts your self-esteem like a little positive feedback!!

Building Planes

A few weeks back, when we went to the Lost Nation Airshow, Uncle Sam & Aunt Deb bought some planes for the kids. They needed to be assembled, so it was going to be a little fun project for everyone.

Well, maybe more fun for some.

First, Reagan needed to read the instructions.

Then there was the assembly help.

It contained many small screws, so glasses were needed.

Ready for take-off!

I'll Fly Away

Another beautiful summer week is in the books.

Summer is just flying by.

Speaking of flying we headed to the airshow at Lost Nation Airport for the Gathering of Eagles XIV. Bill and I have gone to this event many times. He even took a ride in the Yankee Lady, a B-17 (bucket list) a few years before we were married with lots of other "responsibilities."  We took the kids when they were just over a year old so Daddy and Uncle Sam could introduce them to one of their passions; military aircraft. It is safe to say that we plan to make this a bi-yearly (because it only comes around every other year) tradition.

We arrived at the airshow and were quickly joined by Uncle John, Aunt Jan, Uncle Sam, & Aunt Deb. Again, 6 on 2 is the best ratio for twinado safety at events like this! It also allows me a little time to take pictures, something I can't really think about when I've got to keep one eye on a Whirling Dervish.

I say it all the time, but the twinadoes are SO SO SO SO lucky to have these four people in their lives. They have cared about them since the day we knew they existed when they were just 4 week in utero-even before that really, they have watched them grow from their first breath, and they are the people (besides Mommy, Daddy, & Grandmas) that the kids love most in this world. They know they are safe with them and better yet, I know they are safe with them.

After the airshow, we all retired to our backyard for some lunch, pool time, and margaritas. Lunch eventually turned into dinner and then a feature of Clifford's Really Big Movie.

It was an unexpected day of awesomeness. Sitting around with friends, a margarita in hand, watching planes fly over our house while the kids bopped around in the pool. No deck work, no housework, no errands.

A mini vacation in our own backyard.

We should do that more often!

Perfect Weekend....Almost

It has been a near perfect weekend at the pchak house. The only dark spot was finding out the news that an old friend of Bill's passed away suddenly in her sleep at age 53.

For the last 2 years we dialed back our 4th of July festivities considerably. With two babies, a new house with lots of construction, and just being plan tired all the time, I couldn't think about having 80 people over for a cook-out. This year we decided to ramp things up and get back in the swing since we have a lovely new deck. Next year when level 2 of the deck is complete, I think we'll be back to warp speed for the festivites, so put it on your calendar now: July 3, 2011.

As always when hosting a large party, I feel like I never get to spend quality time with people. I'm either checking to make sure the kids are OK, setting up food stuff, or passing out jello shots (an 11 year old tradition.) I always hope everyone is having fun.

The 4th is the only time I miss our Euclid house since we could just move the party to the front yard for fireworks viewing. We can't do that at our house now, but we do have the lake, which offers awesome sunsets almost every night in the summer. I'll take that over fireworks any day. (Euclid also cancelled their fireworks display this year, so I didn't even spend 1 minute missing our old house this year.)

Great food & drink, wonderful friends to share it with, a beautiful sunset, lots of friends for the twinadoes to play with, and the memories of those that are no longer with us.

We are blessed.

Adios, Mexico

It was over in the blink of an eye.

I am SO glad to have finally gotten a break from life as a stay-at-home mom. Arriving around 4pm on Day 1 and leaving for the airport at 8:15a on day 4, only leaves 48 to decompress, ramp up for some beverages, relax, shop for mexican wrestling masks, eat, drink, eat, drink, swim, eat, drink, drink, ride a bull, drink, and, well, drink. After losing yourself in infertility, pregnancy, infancy, formula, diapers, toddlerhood, and potty training for 5 years I was on the fast track to making every second count though!

I had the best sister-in-crime in Jan. We've never been together longer than an afternoon/evening and never really been just the two for us for any length of time. That did not matter. I haven't talked, listened, and laughed so much as I did in those 4 days. I think we traveled well together and just went with the flow (well, except for when we got stuck in the elevator on the morning of our last day. I went into panic mode and pushed every button 16 times, picked up the non-working phone 3 times, and held the alarm for what seemed like an hour before I pried open the doors and saw that we were only about 6 inches down from where we started!)

We took drunken cab rides into town (twice) to buy Mexican wrestling masks for our hubbies, we hung out in the water despite the red flags being up, we swayed in hammocks, we made friends with a bartender named Elder- but by the 2nd drink he was "Papi" to us, we rode a mechanical bull, we were told we were "the best wives" by several guys who wanted the wrestling masks, and we drank an awful lot of pina colada with bacardi anejo floaters.

We decided the only way the trip would have been better is that Bill, John, Reagan and Nolan were there (on the other side of resort hanging at the kiddie pool, but that way we could still see them :)

The stories are better in person, but the pictures do a pretty good job.

I find Mexico very beautiful. I hope you do too!

Contest Winners

Sorry, I didn't close the contest on the 20th, but things got crazy around here with my Grandpa's funeral.

The winners are Dave W and Coleen R.

Please let me know the best way for me to get your prize to you and I'll work it out when I return from vacation.

Congrats!

Reservation at the Heavenly Inn

We laid my Grandpa to rest on Monday. It was a very nice send off and I think he would have been happy with it.

My Mom & Uncle Bob gave eulogies and I've been thinking about my Uncle Bob's every since.

My Grandpa loved to eat. He would sneak away from my Grandma at family outings and shove as much food in as he could. She would realize he was gone and would yell, "Harry, where are you and what are you eating?!" He'd always come around the corner, mouth half-full mumbling "Nothing" and have three or four cookies sticking out of his pocket. It was very hard to see him waste away to nothing since he developed esophagus pouches several years ago and could not swallow, but I digress.

In Uncle Bob's eulogy, he said he'd like to imagine that the first thing Grandpa did when he got to heaven was to make a reservation at the finest restaurant, the Heavenly Inn, for 27 people; himself and everyone in his family that has gone before him. He named names and recounted a little fact about each person and why they were important enough to be at that table.

What a mental image that is. All those people gathering around one table again. Happy to see one another and talking about what has happened on earth since they left! The food is plentiful, the drink flowing, and the laughs continuous.

It has me thinking about who would be at my table when it is my turn to make that reservation, but that is another post for another day.

Who will be at your table?

Missing My Dad

Happy Father's Day to my baby-daddy! The twinadoes are lucky to have you.

Father's Day has been tough for me for the past decade and this one will be even worse as we will be putting my Grandpa to rest this weekend.

I was thinking back to my last Father's Day with my Dad and wanted to share something I wrote 10 years ago to give to my Dad on his last Father's Day with us. We all knew the end was coming and, even though I told him everyday how much I loved him I still wanted to say it all to him.

I can't believe it has been almost a decade that he is gone. I am sad for all the things he has missed; my wedding, my babies, and for my kids not having that awesome man in their lives.

I was so lucky to be "Daddy's Little Girl" though.


From the day a little girl is born, she is Daddy’s Little Girl.
It isn’t until later that she realizes why.

Dad, you’ve taught me some of life’s most important lessons,
and some of the more fun lessons of life. I couldn’t
have picked a better teacher myself.


I’ve learned that sometimes you do things you don’t want to-
No matter how cute I looked standing at the bus stop
in my little raincoat, you had to make me go to school,
even though I really didn’t want to, but I think it hurt
you more than it did me.

I’ve learned the power of just being happy for others-
Sometimes, even if you know it’s a mistake, you are
happy for someone because they are happy,
and when they realize they were wrong, you
are there to be a shoulder to lean on.


I’ve learned the importance of putting others needs before yours-
You didn’t really want to put up a pool every
summer, go to Disney World (except for Small
World and Pirates of the Caribbean), or sit in
a frozen tundra so your daughter could go to
a concert, but you did.


I’ve learned that fun things can hurt you if you aren’t careful-
Always wear long pants and a helmet on a motorcycle!



I’ve learned the importance of putting up with little annoyances-
The clicker on my Green Machine drove you crazy,
MTV was your worst nightmare, no more Duran Duran,
or me roller skating to the Bee Gee’s all summer.


I’ve learned the power of a relaxing afternoon in the backyard-
Sometimes the only place to ponder life’s wonders
is in the backyard with a cold beer and a cigar.


I’ve learned that beer still tastes bad & always will-
Ever since the first sip I took in the driveway
at age 10 or 11(that I quickly spit out), no matter
what you say, beer is evil!


I’ve learned that being a daddy’s girl makes me a more interesting woman-
Fishing, shooting guns, Friday night wrestling/tickling
sessions, playing pool, and Saturday lunches at
Beanies have made me a well rounded person.


I’ve learned that knowing another language makes you more charming-
Even if the only thing you can say is “le livre est sur
le tableau” or sing the refrain from Michele, Ma Belle.

I’ve learned the strength of the word Pride-
One memory I will have with me always is you
telling me how proud you were of me on my
College graduation day. Whenever I doubt myself
I think of that and I know I can endure.


The most important thing I’ve learned is endurance-
In the face of a challenge you’ve
taught me that you can keep going
long after you think you can’t.

Papa

Sorry I haven't posted this week.

My Grandpa passed away on Monday and the week seems to have gotten away from me.

Bill and I have been debating how to handle the wake/funeral with the kids. We read a bunch of sites and I talked to the kids the other morning about it since they asked me why Grammy was sad. We talked about how Papa is not breathing anymore and his heart is not beating and that he is up in heaven and we can't see him anymore. Nolan asked if Papa was holding Chandler, our cat who left us in December.

I've been very careful to not tell them his is sleeping or resting. I don't need them to worry about going to bed at night. Reagan is already showing a fear of the dark and needed to go to bed with a flashlight the other night.

I asked them if they wanted to see Papa one last time and say a final goodbye. They both said yes, so we will see how that goes.

Canning Party

Yes, I know, how very Amish sounding, right?

As you may or may not know, over the last several years I have turned into my Granny Pike. I raise some our veggies in the summer and try to can or freeze as much of it as I can to get use through the l-o-n-g winter. If only I could duplicate her homemade pizza, I'd be all set. Oh, and crochet like she did, too. If you didn't know her, she was an amazing woman who raised 3 sons (and most of the other kids in the neighborhood) on a coal miners salary (at least what Pappy didn't spend at the "company store" on Friday nights.)

Anyway, back to canning. Being the savvy shopper that I am, I got hooked up to host a canning party by Ball®. They sent me an awesome "party pack" that included all new untensils, a stainless steel water bath canner, coupons for free jars, and goodies to give away to my guests.

They suggested we make zesty salsa and pepper jelly, so that is what we set out to do.

We chopped.

We diced.

We simmered.

We ladled.

We put the lids on.

We canned!

We ate & drank a little, too.

It was a really fun time and, I hear, the pepper jelly is awesome over some cream cheese and crackers. I'm holding out to taste it. 

If you are intersted in canning and would like to get together to try more recipes, I'd be happy to try it along with you using my new stuff. Just let me know.

I also have, drumroll please, my first ever blog giveaway! Please leave a comment here and I will randomly selected two winners of a Ball® party pack. Contest ends 6/20/2010.