Fireworks!

I was on vacation over the Fourth of July, but the rest of my family was at my sister Jenny's house for a surprise birthday party and fireworks. I love this picture of Zachary. I think he's a little bit excited about the fireworks portion of the evening!

Caden looks like he's not quite sure yet. I heard they had a wonderful time and I'm sorry I missed it.

My not-so-new great nephew, Micah

Micah Bradley was born February 5 and I'm very late in blogging about him. He's the second child for my nephew Andrew and his wife, Rachel. And big brother Caden just loves his Micah! Here's is a picture of him fresh in the world (photo by Jack and Jill Portraits):

Doesn't it look like he's waving to everybody? I love this picture. The next one is from June, I think. Taken by his mommy, who he thinks is the funniest person ever.

And this one is from mid-August. I can't believe how much he changes. And she's not only funny, but a good photographer. His mommy took this picture too.

Here's the big brother, himself. Caden at my house with Mardi Gras hat and nerd glasses. He loves those glasses!

This one of Caden was taken outside in August. His mom tells me she bribed him to get these pictures, but I'm not at liberty to say what she bribed him with. I still think it was win-win because it's such a cute picture. And yes, he's just as ornery as he looks.

 

Hedwig Lives

My niece, Katie, and I went down to Oklahoma City in January to see a production of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," for which my nephew, Christopher, designed the costumes. I have to say, the denim cape he fashioned for Hedwig was my favorite. It's genius what he did with the bib overalls! He also styled the wig with wings you see in this picture.

The dude on the left is really Renee Anderson (not a dude) and the lovely lady on the right is Matt Brown, who is a dude in real life. These two rocked the stage (literally, it's a rock musical) along with The Angry Inch band and I very much enjoyed their heartfelt performance. I can't really explain well the premise of the show, but the message is pretty powerful as told by Hedwig about her life growing up as a boy in East Berlin and the botched sex-change operation that allows her to leave the divided city of her birth. It's about finding the other half that completes you. And that sometimes you have to lose a piece of yourself to be free. It means even more to me now that I know how much this show has meant to Christopher.

It's always fun to go down to OKC for a visit and this time I got to meet the newest member of the family, Nugget. He's almost four months old and just cute as a button. Well, see for yourself. He's not only cute, but incredibly friendly. He'll lick your face off if you let him.

Zachary turns 3!

In the middle of my week of vacation at the end of April, Zachary turned three years old. His party was the weekend after his birthday and almost everybody was there to celebrate his special day. The day before his party I got to spend the whole day with him and Grandma Sherrie. We worked on a project to make Mother's Day gifts for his grandmas and his mommy. I think they were a big hit. We also went to the park where he made me dizzy by turning me on the spinny thing and mom laughed her fool head off when I couldn't walk. She's somewhat evil. No pictures of that because she was laughing too hard.

His party included a cookout, cake and, of course, a pile of presents. Here he's flashing his I.D.

Preparing to blow out the candles.

And tearing into the present pile with mommy reading him his card from yours truly.

Some of his favorite toys. I just got him boring books and clothes.

It's so cliche, but I cannot believe that he's already three years old. It seems like just yesterday when he was born. He's getting so big and independent and I sometimes miss that little baby. But then he says something really funny and I'm so glad he's older and more entertaining!

Singsation

In April I drove out to Oakley to see and hear my nephew, Jeffrey, in Singsation. On the way to Ellinwood to ride with my sister Teresa I had a tire blow out on a lonely country road in Rice County. As luck would have it, about five minutes after I pulled to the side of the road, some people whose kids I used to babysit drove by on their way to Wichita. Clayton was instrumental (OK, he did the whole thing) in putting on the spare. I was able to make it to Ellinwood without mishap. So grateful they came by when they did.


They kicked off the show in their fanciest outfits. Jeffrey's the second from the left in the back row. He did a great job on his solo of "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" which he heard for the first time last year in my car. He was really nervous, but I was so proud of him. Some of the other solos...well, not so much. They were all way ahead of me, though, because I'd never get up and sing in front of a crowd. Ever. At least not without a lot of alcohol first.

He also joined the rest of the boys in the Oakley Plainsman Singers for "Goober Peas" and he's the goober on the right in this picture.

We had a good time and I was glad I made the trip out for it. I needed new tires anyway.

OKC trip

A couple of weeks ago (OK, almost a month ago) I went down to Oklahoma City with my mom and sisters for our annual girls’ weekend. Jenny studied on the way down (she has to keep up her perfect 4.0 GPA in grad school, you know). As usual it was filled with lots of laughter and some really good food.

Christopher, one of my nephews, lives in Oklahoma City and works at a couple of restaurants. We went to one of them while he was at work and it was a great experience. Ingrid’s is a German bakery and restaurant. We dined there on the Saturday for lunch and my reuben was excellent, but the slice of German chocolate cake I ate for dessert was the best I’ve ever had. It was so good I took a picture of it and my sister, Teresa, made fun of me. On the left is mom's strawberry cake. On the right is Teresa's coconut cake. My German chocolate is in the middle. It really was divine.

There was live music when we got there but they put away their instruments not long after we arrived. Ingrid’s was featured on a recent episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” on the Food Network. We got to meet Maggie, the kitchen manager, who showed Guy Fieri how they make their famous reubens. Search for it on YouTube if you haven’t seen it.

Here’s a picture of Christopher at work behind the counter. He’s very photogenic, don’t you think?

We also ate at Iron Starr barbeque and it was delicious as always. Sorry no pictures of that.

There was also a healthy dose of slot machine play for my sister, Jenny, who has a bit of a gambling itch that needs scratching every now and then. Mom, Teresa and I were happy with about three hours’ worth of gambling. Jenny needed about eight hours’ worth. So we left her there and picked her up later. Very little shopping this year. Mostly we just hung out, ate and played cards. It was so much fun I'm ready to go again.

RENT is awesome

My nephew, Christopher, is in a production of "RENT" at the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Guthrie is the neatest town and although I'm slightly biased, the production of "RENT" is quite superb. Here are some photos that I swiped off the Pollard's Facebook page.

The first one is a promotional photo of the cast. Christopher is on the stairs (halfway up) with his leg up on the railing. He makes a very attractive homeless person, doesn't he?

He's part of the Company (or Ensemble, if you prefer). One of his roles is Squeegie Man. Say it with me "honest living, honest living, honest living"!

Another role is the Waiter in the Life Cafe, which gives him a solo part in one of my favorite songs, "La Vie Boheme," right before halftime (or intermission as most people know it).

But my favorite was his solo in "Seasons of Love" right after halftime. He makes me so proud when he belts like that. Not that I had anything to do with it, but still. It gives me chills. That's him far right. I wanted to pause and rewind and listen to that moment over and over again.

Yes, he's sporting an actual mohawk. I'm looking forward to attending another performance before it closes at the end of the month. The rest of the cast isn't half bad, either. If you're in the neighborhood, you should check it out. Buy tickets here.

Viva La Vie Boheme.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

Today is my brother Mark's 49th birthday. In honor of this milestone, I'm posting this video of Zach, Mark's son, eating the frosting off of a piece of cake at Caden's 2nd birthday party a couple of weeks ago. I am pretty sure he never ate one bite of the cake itself. Enjoy!

Christmas came and went

I have struggled this year to get everything done. Not just blogging, but everything. It's weird because I had six months with no job and still have not completed tasks I thought I would have finished. The month of December has been a complete blur. I'll recap as best I can and try to be a better blogger in 2009. I've missed posting. Honest. And I pledge to do better than the three posts I've managed to do this month. Shameful.

One of the Christmas celebrations (we've already had three and will still have another) we had at work was a luncheon hosted by Bishop Michael Jackels. It started with a mass at the Spiritual Life Center and then we had a delicious meal catered by Corporate Caterers. Bishop Jackels served me wine and then coffee before I pushed back from the table. He has a great sense of humor and I had a great time at the luncheon. Here's a photo of the Bishop serving coffee to Michael who's the director of the counseling center and the Marriage for Keeps program.

Just in case you were wondering, I didn't win one of the poinsettias that were on the tables. Also, I'd completed my hours when this luncheon was over, so I didn't have to go back to work that Friday afternoon.

Christmas preparations were late for me this year. The tree didn't get lit and decorated until about a week before the holiday. Jennifer and Bella helped me decorate. A three-year-old's decorating sense is wonderfully refreshing! I managed to make about 10 dozen sugar cookies and five loaves of English muffin bread this year in addition to wrapping my gifts, trimming the tree, writing the Christmas letter (they just got mailed this week) and packing up to go see my family. I decorated some of the cookies for friends and co-workers, but my family has been trained by me to frost their own cookies. Pretty smart, huh?

Zach was definitely the star of the show at my family's Christmas Eve celebration. Andrew, Rachel and Caden were with Rachel's family in Missouri, so we were without his antics. Zach kept us plenty entertained on his behalf. I'm already excited for next year when they'll both be two years old. I've got some pictures of other people, but the ones of Zach are by far my favorite. Without further adieu...

He walked all around the house in one of my dad's boots until he lost interest and focused on the platter of cookies and goodies my sister Teresa brought. Dig the Santa suit!

And he helped grandma eat some of her birthday cake. Or more specifically the frosting on her birthday cake.

Lynette, John, Jenny and Mark tear into their presents.

When Zach opened his presents he wanted to play with them immediately. He looked at or played with each thing before he moved on to open the next present. Especially the books. Notice how he's using Jessica's legs as a book rest while she continues opening her gifts. The whole living room is filled with people and chaos, yet Zach is looking at his book.

Some of the chaos at the other end of the room included Christopher and Frank (sitting on the floor), Teresa, Katie, Kyle, Victoria and Jeffrey. You can also see Anissa's head on the right side of the picture.

After things calmed down a bit, Christopher and Victoria worked on a teapot puzzle that Teresa got from Jenny. Teresa said: "I don't do fuzzles. I mean puzzles." We all agree she should do puzzles instead of sending out forwarded email messages.

Mark and Jeffrey enjoyed looking at one of Zach's new books. Mark had to work the morning of Christmas Eve and he comes over right after getting out of his truck, that's why he has on his work jeans.

Zach's nighttime rituals

Part of my trip to Ellinwood to see the family included spending an evening with Zach and his parents, Mark and Terri. When I pulled up to their house, I could see Zach in his high chair eating his supper. He saw me and I opened my car door and waved to him. He enthusiastically waved back. It's so nice to have that unconditional love and have someone be happy to see me since lately it's been rejection letters or non-communication from potential employers. I needed that so much.

I got to observe Zach's bath, which was pretty funny. Like most kids, he sure enjoys running around naked. I chased him back into the bathroom after he escaped. Notice how he's checking to see if I'm behind him. He likes to splash around in the water and play with his toys, but he likes to be squirted with the shower attachment the best.

Once his bath is finished, his daddy comes to get him and dries him off and gets him ready for bed. After he's in his jammies, they go through the ritual of turning on his night lights and asking his bear on the lamp that grandma painted for him to watch over Zach as he sleeps. Sweet. They end the evening with Zach getting his milk fix and then crawling onto the couch with daddy for a few minutes before they both retire for the night.

Notice that Mark's clothes are lying on the couch behind them. He gets up for work very early so he lays his clothes out ahead of time.

Those boys are growing up

While I was in Ellinwood I got a chance to see both of the little boys, although my time was limited since I was in the bathrooms painting most of the time. I had a little bit of time on Sunday to go see Zach at his house. His parents told me he was taking a nap, but when I went to his crib to look in on him he was playing some music and hugging the music thing on the side of his bed. After I got him out we played in the house for a while and then we went outside. Terri brought out some laundry to fold on the deck and Zach was very helpful with the socks.

Yesterday my mom was keeping Zach (I planned my painting days around that fact) and so the three of us went to see Caden and his grandma (my sister Teresa). Teresa watches him every other week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Zach was so excited when I told him we were going to see Caden, he just about jumped out of his skin. Caden had just gotten up from a nap, but he was happy to see his buddy, Zach, too.

Caden's 1st birthday

This past Friday was Caden's first birthday. His parents threw a party to celebrate on Saturday. Even though Caden didn't feel so good, he seemed to have fun. He played with Zach and his other friend Brooklyn in the new treehouse that his Grandma and Grandpa S. gave him.


After hamburgers, brats and all the trimmings, it was time for cake and ice cream. Caden didn't hesitate to dig in.

When he was finished with cake, he got a quick bath and snuggled into his jammies to open his presents. His favorites were the tractors (red, of course) and implements he got. Mostly he wasn't that interested in opening presents anyway.

Not long after the presents were all opened, he bid everyone adieu and retired to his crib for the night. But the rest of us partied on in his honor until dark.

Christopher graduates

You don't have to look closely, because you won't see Christopher's name under the Bachelor of Music section in the graduation program at Oklahoma City University. But he did graduate on Saturday along with about a million other individuals. OK, it wasn't that many, but it sure did seem like it.

Friday evening I hopped into the van and rode down to OKC with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and brother-in-law's mom. Christopher got a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in Music Theatre and a minor in Costume Design from the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at OCU on Saturday. He's been a student for five years and was thrilled to be graduating. He has one class to take next fall, but then he'll be completely finished. Hooray!

The day started bright and early with Baccalaureate at 9 a.m. Christopher sang in the choir. You can see him in this photo. He's just to the right of the choir conductor (with the pink sash and his back to the camera). They sang beautifully. And it only lasted about an hour.

At 11 a.m., commencement exercises began for the undergraduate degrees. I'm sure that's the best version of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" I'll ever hear since OCU has a knock-out music program. OCU's Wind Philharmonic provided the tunes.

At 12:55 p.m. (yes, it really did take that long) they called his name and he proceeded to get his fake diploma and have his picture taken with the university's president. In this photo you can see him on the big screen after his name was called. He's on the left side of the screen.

After two and a half hours of grueling graduation mumbo-jumbo, it was finally finished. The day was hot and humid, but we posed for just a few pictures outside the building before going to eat a late lunch. First, Christopher with his proud mom and pop, Teresa and Kenny.

Then Christopher with his sister Katie. And then with his grandma Wanda.


















Then me with the graduate.

I have to plug the restaurant where we ate lunch because it's so good. We ate at Iron Starr (urban bar-b-q) at 36th and Shartel. If you're ever in the OKC area you should check it out because the food is awesome. And it wasn't just because we were starving. It's always that good.

Zach's first birthday

Zach turned one today. I went to Ellinwood for his first birthday party this past weekend and stuck around to see him on his actual birthday, too. His party was huge! He had a big stack of presents, three birthday cakes and so many people were there to be a part of his birthday that it was unbelievable. His ice cream cake featured Lightning McQueen from the movie "Cars" and he had a special chocolate cake that he got to dig into with both hands. He really had fun making a mess of himself and the cake. First he sat with his mom:

And then his dad (my brother Mark) sat down with him for another round before he got a quick bath and then opened his presents. As you can see, Mark had cake and frosting all over him, too.

Before the festivities really got underway, Caden and Zach said "hi" to each other when Katie was holding them both. After the hamburgers, hot dogs and brats were cooked and consumed, it was standing room only when Zach dug into his cake and then opened his presents. Partly because of the rain falling outside we were crammed into the house pretty tightly, but it was so much fun to see him enjoying his party that it was worth it.

After Caden ate his dinner, he got a little drunk on the Bud Light. Luckily he wasn't driving home and stumbled out of there before 8:30 so he could go home and get to bed.

Here's Zach playing with the dump truck I picked out for him. As you can see, he had lots of help from some of his cousins and friends who were at the party. They helped him open his presents because there was so much going on that he got distracted several times before everything was unwrapped. One of his favorite presents was a toy four-wheeler he got from his aunt Leslie and her family. By the time almost everyone left, he was practicing his trick riding moves by holding onto the handlebars and standing on the seat. He finally gave up about 9:30 (almost two hours past his regular bedtime) and went to sleep. He's been trying to catch up ever since with long naps both yesterday and today. Poor little thing was just exhausted.

Mark's older son, Tyler (who's almost 19) stepped away from his "study time" on a Saturday night at Fort Hays State University to come to Zach's birthday party. I'll leave you with a picture of Mark and his two boys.