Fun Stuff

It's been a little crazy around here lately. Here are a few snippets of life around here:

First, our visit to the pizza place: About two weeks ago, we were trying to find somewhere different to eat. We decided that pizza would be good, but wanted to try a new place, so we chose a well-known local chain of pizza restaurants. As soon as we walked in, well...how shall I say this? I'm not sure the health department visits often...or maybe ever. It wasn't outright dirty, just really dingy and not at all impressive, but after dragging two hungry kids out of the car, we just decided to give it a try. We were the only customers there, so we sat at a table and ordered our pizza.

A couple of minutes after ordering, an employee came out, got his salad and pizza, and turned on the huge tv up in the corner opposite Andrew and Emily. The tv was blaringly loud, but the best part was the choice of show. The employee (a 50-60-something man) had chosed some show on the true crime network (or something like that) and I believe the title of the program was "World's Most Shocking Criminal Acts". It was one of those shows where the crime is reenacted while a narrator (and sometimes the actual victim) describes in excrutiatingly graphic and gory detail what happened. So our meal went a little something like this:

Us: Trying to have a conversation while eating pizza

Tv: "The robber grabbed the helpless store clerk by the hair and violently slashed her throat. As she lay there, her arteries spurting more blood by the second, the clerk desperately attempted to dial 911, but the would-be robber viciously stomped on her wrist, shattering it in a hundred pieces. As she lay there moaning in pain, the store clerk remembered the panic button and pressed it in the hopes that someone, anyone might be able to save her life."

Us: "Emily, don't look at the tv. So, what did you like best about your school year? Emily, honey, please don't watch the tv. Let's talk about something else...."

Tv: "In one of the most brazen robbery/murder attempts of our generation, the would-be robber shattered the window and began shooting, guns blazing, instantly riddling 3 innocent children with deadly gunshot wounds to the head, stomach and face. Their mother huddled in the corner, trapped and unable to come to their rescue..."

Seriously, this might be the worst dining experience we've ever had.

************************************************************************************
Next up, last Friday night: We went to a corporate picnic/baseball game at the local minor league stadium. The picnic started at 6:00 pm. with the game to follow. This is a yearly event and one in which the schmoozing is at a minimum, so we usually try to put in our face time there. Emily was very much looking forward to the game, which was supposed to be followed by fireworks. Both kids took a late nap (Em never naps anymore.) Andrew got home, we piled in two cars (since Ethan wouldn't have lasted for the whole game) and off we went, despite the very ominous-looking sky off to the west.

By the time we park and get into the stadium, the sky is almost navy blue and there is a rumbling in the distance. We arrive at the picnic deck to find absolutely no one there. Apparently the picnic was cancelled, but no one bothered to email/text that. We stood around, knowing it was going to storm, but trying to decide whether to wait it out and see if it would pass quickly or just go home. We waited too long. We were told that we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and that we had to all go up to the main concourse and wait it out. Thankfully, we were already there and the stadium was no where near full.

And then the heavens let loose. Wind, rain, more wind, lightning, wind and a nearly 20-degree temperature drop. It poured so hard you could hardly see. We happened to be standing near a ticket/info room that had a tv, so we watched as a MASSIVE storm was being tracked on radar. We were probably there for about an hour, standing in the same place, with two kids who hadn't eaten and had nothing to do, waiting for the storm to pass, or at least settle down enough that we could make it back to the cars.

When we finally did get back to the cars and started driving home, we saw a ton of trees down, power lines down and property destruction. You literally could not drive a block on any street anywhere in several towns, without seeing trees down. It was easily the most destructive storm I've seen in the last 10 years of living in this area. Thankfully, we don't have any major trees around our house, so the only "damage" we had was the grill cover having blown off the grill.

************************************************************************************
And finally, last night: Just as extra power crews were finally restoring power to the last few customers who hadn't had any since last Friday's storm, we got hit again. We were putting Miss Em and Ethan to bed, and had just finished reading Em her story. We got quiet so she could pray and heard...the tornado sirens. So, we all headed down to the basement, which isn't a nice finished one, but rather a catch-all for anything and everything over the last 6 years. Which is to say, there's a lot of boxes, dust and spiders. (Oh, the spiders! Just the night before, less than 24 hours prior, I had to screw up my courage and kill a huge nasty spider down there. I told Andrew that if I saw another one like that, we WOULD be calling the exterminator, and I was absolutely not kidding!) We spent the next hour down there cold, cramped and scared, listening to the weather radio report all kinds of reports of rotation and high winds. We even spent a few minutes huddled under an old table under the stairs. To be fair, the kids did great given that they were very tired and there was absolutely nothing to do. Still, it was not fun for any of us.

And so, here's hoping that the rest of the summer is completely and utterly uneventful and boring!

Ethan at 11 Months Old!

Ethan: You're 11 months old! Only one more month until your first birthday...oh how the time has flown!

You weigh 18.5 lbs. and are 28.25 inches long. That puts you in the 5th% for weight and the 16th% for height. You have 6 teeth (four on top and two on the bottom) and your hair is...growing in several places. It almost needs to be cut in the back and over your ears, but the top is still a bit sparse.

You love all things electronic...including the remote. As I type, you're changing the channels on the tv. You're fascinated, as all men are, with gadgets. It's definitely a trait you're born with! You are also a good eater. You like just about anything we give you, but I think your favorite has been spaghetti. It's messy, but oh so tasty. You can eat enormous amounts of spaghetti for such a little fellow. You've also discovered the joy of chocolate chip cookies. You've only had a taste here and there, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't mind a whole lot more of them!

You're a very, very busy little guy. You crawl fast. You pull up on everything and you're cruising the furniture pretty well too. We had to put up a baby gate in the living room...something we never had to do for your sister. You enjoy petting (more like beating) the animals. I don't worry to much about Bella...she's a big sturdy dog, but the poor kitties with all their fur...and you're finally bigger than both of them and I think they're slightly scared. You try, sometimes, to pet them gently, but it's just a lot more fun to beat them, and us.

You play hard and sleep hard. You sleep through the night, on your belly and sometimes with your little bottom up in the air, knees tucked under you. I give you your bedtime bottle and then kiss you goodnight and lay you in the crib on your tummy and you crawl over to the spot where you want to sleep...and you sleep. No fussing, just sleep. It's a completely different experience from trying to get your big sister to sleep...still!

You are a happy little guy. You make all sorts of interesting noises with your mouth. You blow raspberries, you click your tongue, you (try to) blow kisses, you do a purring sound by rolling your tongue and of course you snort like a raging bull...In short, there's a lot of noise. No words yet, but lots of sounds and babbling. We didn't hear any of this with Emily, so it's new to us this time around.

And speaking of noise, whenever we get anywhere near an elevator, you go nuts. You start squealing and laughing like a hyena. You bounce up and down in your stroller and basically have a blast. I have no idea what it is about elevators, but it's pretty funny to watch.


You're a fun, happy and busy little boy and we love you more than you could know!

Great-Grandpeople

We recently took a little trip south to visit some Great-Grandpeople. They don't travel much anymore, for health reasons, so we brought our traveling circus (I mean, kids) to them.

Above, Ethan with Granny. Sorry it's so dark, but the sun was shining behind them.

Above: Ethan riding Great-Grandpa's horsey. I think they both had a great time.

Both kids with Great-Grandpa

Ethan and Granny again. It's hard to get a good picture with the wild man.

Above: Ethan, sitting on Great-Grandma Hazel's lap. She's 98, I believe. Emily was her first great-granchild...now she has three, with our two and their cousin.

It was a good trip, good weather, good times and a wonderful family.

Playing With Fire

Andrew and I got ourselves a new toy. It's more of a "man toy"...because it involves fire.

This is the newest addition to our outdoor living space, aka "the deck". We tried it out for the first time a couple of nights ago and decided that it's pretty cool. We also decided that two logs was one too many! We had a bit of a roaring fire going. Neither of us is entirely sure that this is a fantastic idea on our new wooden deck...but we decided that since we were both out there, with plenty of water at hand, it would be okay. It may eventually end up on the patio area, but for now, it does make a nice cozy place to site and enjoy a nice evening.