Little Men - Verbiage

Yesterday, Ben and Sam came over to play with Papa and me. Oh my goodness, what fun we had. We played corn hole, watched cartoons, had breakfast with Papa, flew airplanes, took a walk, saw cats and dogs and investigated the hot tub. I had Tony pose with Sam by the blue bird on the rock garden--one of my favorite pictures of Tony and Ben is with this bird--so now I have two favorites.

I'm going to post most of the pictures we took yesterday. They were all so good, it's hard to condense them into one blog so this is the text that goes with the pictures you will see in the next few blogs. You'll see Sammy singing like a soul man, my three cartoon guys on the couch, Ben and Papa, clinking cups of gatoraide over breakfast, Sammy following big brother into every adventure and Ben playing corn hole with Abby from next door.

Enjoy the gallery, as much as we enjoyed the day!!

My Daughter, The Runner, Part 2

Well, this is my second attempt at uploading pictures of Jenna at the race. Wish me luck!!!

It Wasn't Saturday--It Was Sammy-Day!! Part 1

What a busy weekend we had!! We got to babysit, but just for Sam on Saturday. While we missed Ben, it was nice to have some Sammy time. He is so vocal--he's the only one who knows what he is saying, but he talks non-stop. He got to play with all of the toys all by himself and he sat in Ben's chair. He was loving every minute of it. We took him for a walk and he said "doggy" and "kitty." He seemed to enjoy exploring the backyard with Papa and beating on the fireplace with the plastic golf clubs. He and I made some really loud music doing that. Every once in a while, when he wanted some of his juice, he would grab the sippy cup, come over to the rocking chair and tell me, "up." I picked him up and he layed his head back on my shoulder, relaxed for a minute and then was running around the house again being an airplane, throwing the ball or just jabbering away. Tony and I both noticed how quiet it was after he left. What a sweet little boy he is.

After that, we went to Crocker Park to have dinner at 87 West, one of my favorite places. It was for our anniversary. It was nice walking around, people watching and enjoying the weather.

And then today, we got up early and went to see Jenna run. She did 13 miles in 2 hours and 32 minutes. I was so proud of her. We met Jon and the kids on Detroit Avenue and watched her go by and then we went downtown and saw her run toward the finish line. We parked the car at East 9th and Prospesct and walked to East 6 and Lakeside. She did 13 miles and I was tired just from that quick walk. She looks so good and was so happy to have finished the race. My daughter continues to amaze me with everything she has accomplished.

Enjoy the photos of just Sam--I took 51, but only about 4 came out. Most of the others were either of the top of his head, or blurred as he ran by.

Gems of the Day

What a fun day we had on Saturday. Tony and Marie were able to be here with us for the Easter holiday, so we had Jenna and Jon and the kids over for Saturday brunch. Ben and Sam are just growing up too quickly. And, boy does Ben have energy. I didn't realize what an organizer he was until we were out in the backyard and he got four adults and a dog to race with him. And, like I said, Ben has energy....no matter how fast the adults and the dog ran back and forth, Ben always won the race.

In addition to some wonderful memories, we had a few "gems" as well. Poop was an ever present topic of the day. Ben tolerates the potty, he doesn't seek it out. But, with all of the fun he was having, who could blame him for having a small poop accident. And then there was Sammy. He took a great nap, but when he woke up...well, let's just say you could smell him before you could see him!!! But, the remark of the day had to be when Ben wanted to race some more. All of the adults were tired, but as Ben knows, it's pretty hard for Papa to say no to him. So, Ben said, "Papa, will you race with me?" But this time, Papa said, "Not right now, Ben, I'm pooped." Ben had to think about that one for a minute and then asked...."Papa, did you poop?" I guess that was only fair...people kept asking him the same question all day...it was Ben's turn.

And then the adventure continued with Ben being the photographer. He decided to take pictures of feet and happily went along snapping feet--including his own and Tyson's. Sam was active as well. We watched him take 16 steps and Uncle Tony introduced him to the small vac we have in the kitchen. It just fascinated Sammy--so much so, that he crumpled small fish crackers in his hands and then threw them on the carpet so Uncle Tony would turn on the vac again.

We had fun with Aunt Ma-We too. Ben asked her to teach him how to snap his fingers like she did so he could give Tyson commands. He's learning.

What a wonderful day it was....and as pictures are worth a thousand words, I'll shut up now and let you scroll back up and enjoy the day.

March 20; A Day of Joy; A Day of Sadness

Today was our monthly "sister lunch" where my sisters and I get together, have lunch and talk about growing up. Today was particularly appropriate because our mother died 4 years ago today...and ironically, Jenna and Jon have been married for 6 years today. Jenna was pregnant with Ben when Mom died and how often I have said, I wish my mother could have seen Ben, just once. She would have fallen in love with him just like she did the first time she saw Jenna. And now, with Sammy, well, she would have been a terrific great grandmother.

Today we talked about our relatives in New York, Bill and Emily Cacassio. We called them Uncle Bill and Aunt Emily but I'm really not sure of what the relationship was. Uncle Bill owned a candy store and Lynn and I both remember going (on separate visits) to New York on a Greyhound bus with our grandmother (Papa's mother) and spending time in New York. What an adventure it was. We got to "work" in the candy store and were paid in candy bars. Those were fun times.

We talked about our aches and pains and how we are all getting older...but, being together seemed like it used to--Lynn, the oldest has all of the family memories, I am connected but there is a part that is missing and Fritz--well, she will always be the baby. We have to fill in memories for her. Lynn was talking about various memories today and Fritz said, "how do you know all of this stuff?" Lynn replied, "I lived it." It's hard to believe that we are all in our 50's.

Lynn is trying to organize a neighborhood event...50 years of friendship, with various neighbors that are still alive, but who have moved. I'm not sure how I feel about participating. I remember my friend, Gail, as a tall, slim girl with long, long hair. Seeing an older woman with grey hair will be very different. We'll see.

And so, another "sister lunch" is over. I haven't had dreams of my mother yelling at me since we started to do this, so I guess she is happy now.

Changes

If you've been following Jenna's adoption blog, you know that things have taken a few turns of late. While I realize the importance of ensuring that the children in international adoption programs are indeed, orphans, the more I read, the more it seems that the barriers that are put up to catch the bad people and protect the good, are just punishing the good. I'm certainly not an adoption subject matter expert, but I don't see why having Jenna and Jon go to Ethiopia twice instead of once is going protect our little girl. So many times I have said to Jenna, "if the agencies just read your blog, they would give you 10 little girls." But, I guess that's not the way it works.

I remember when Tony and I were writing the cook book with the life lessons (you know, the one you all keep in the top drawer in your kitchen and read evey night....), I wrote so many life lessons in there that seemed to old for you. Would any of you ever buy your first major appliance or get a substantial raise where you worked? Heck, those life lessons were for you to read years down the road....and yet, here you are all changing. Those life lessons do apply to you now and I wish I had written them better.

Think of all of the changes you have been through in the past 5 years. Think where you were 5 years ago. The time is flying quickly by. Somewhere I wrote about my father's ash tray. It was a slim dark green glass ash tray that sat by his reclining chair. It had a little old man outlined in gold. He was a grumpy old man; and the caption under him said, "time marches on.....damn it." For years I never understood that ash tray. But I do now. Time does march on and bring so many changes.

Maybe the way to look at that ash tray is instead of time marches on, time marches forward. Look at time as an adventure, my children. Look forward for the good things that are to come.

I hope that Jenna and Jon come to a decision that gives them peace. I hope that the changes and the decisions all of you make in the future do the same.

Children in the House

There are times when Tony and I cherish the silence of the house. We read, look at what the weather has done to the yard, he paints or I write. It is a comforting silence, but one, I realized recently, that I associate with my grandmother's house. My sisters and I weren't raised to make noise. We were "little ladies" who should play quietly. When I stayed at my grandmother's house my "quiet" training easily translated to that environment. She would take naps or water flowers. TV wasn't what it is now. There were 3 basic channels and nothing really aimed at children. So, for the most part I grew up quietly.


Maybe that's why when Ben and Sam are here I love the noise. Ben and Sam are very polite at the dinner table; they say please and thank you in all the right places....but when they play, they play. Sammy bangs on things and Ben runs through the house being an airplane. Toys that make music give us concerts and Jack's dog treat jar constantly barks. It's a circus, it's alive and I love every minute of it.

Jenna, Jon and the kids came over for dinner last night. We got to see Sammy take a few steps and Ben said grace at dinner. Seeing Ben standing next to Sam, I realized how tall they are both getting--although Sammy is still quite copact. They are happy little boys and I'm glad they came to visit. There's always something special about having children in the house.