Dad Day

This week, 5 years ago - I can remember it like it was yesterday. My dad was taken into the hospital sometime near the end of October, and never came out. I don't remember thinking that it was necessarily the end when they took him in, but I travelled 3 hours to be there that day, so there must have been some inkling. His smile was still there that day, his sense of humour still intact. On his first day they did a "cognitive test," to evaluate just how with it he was, or wasn't. Asked to write a sentence on a piece of paper, any old sentence would do, my dad penned what was to be his last written request - "Can I please have a beer?" That was my dad, right up until the end. 2 weeks later he was gone.

It seems like it was years upon years that Dad was sick. It was 4 years in the end that he fought against a cancer that first appeared in his liver, and later in his colon. He fought like hell, like all of us expected he would, and I don't think many others would have lasted as long as he did.

This year has been tough. Partially because of another family member going through a similar story. My cousin Katie is 26, and her husband is currently lying where my dad laid 5 years ago - in a hospice, in what appears to be his final days of a fight with cancer. They've been married for less than 6 months, and the whole thing is a whole lotta heartbreaking. The fact that it's all happening at the same time of year is more than a little bit freaky.

However, of all the times of year that he could have gone, I'm glad it was at this time of year – I put my poppy on on November 1st, and spend a week thinking about him a little more than usual, and remembering Remembrance Day that year and spectacular outpouring of family and friends that we had that day for his funeral (which was on Remembrance day.) I have a poppy in my car, and one on his photo that hangs in our house, and I like to think it keeps him close, and keeps me remembering all year long.

These past 5 years have been full of SO MUCH that my dad would have liked to see. 5 grandchildren, one for each year. (Well, kind of. My brother and his fertile wife went and had twins 10 months after they had their first kid. I know. I KNOW!)

Plus, just this past Friday, there was this: Y'all, that is my MOM, graduating from college, with a diploma in Fashion Design! If you'll recall the fashion show that she did back in April, and her beautiful final collection. (If you haven't seen it before, take a gander on back.) This is my mom, once again, confirming the fact that she is a rock star.

So, needless to say, the man has been missed.

And now, for a wee trip down memory lane!
(I have a new appreciation for this photo of me and my dad, since sitting in this very same position myself!)Check out the 'stashe! And the pants! And my hot ma! And that little bundle of cute? That's me, of course!This is the cabin that I built, still in it's early stages. Dad was sick already here, so was mostly relegated to "supervising." But he was an expert at supervising!
Not sure where this was taken, but I kind of love it!
I think this is one of the last pictures taken of Dad, at our housewarming party in September of 2005. (That barren field of dirt behind them is not my house, in case you're wondering!) That's my dad's traditional scowl, which both my brother and I have inherited. He's happy here, it's just a little hard to tell!

So that's all. Another year, come and gone. It doesn't get easier it seems, it just gets farther away, but that's one of the reasons I like to take a moment and remember every year, so it doesn't get too far, so the memories don't get too fuzzy. I still hear his voice, telling me to take the car in for an oil change and put away the lawnmower and don't water the tomatoes too much already!

Yes Dad, I hear you, and hopefully I always will!

Shared Times

Oh, hello poor neglected blog. Did you miss me?

I have a post for Corben's 9th month sitting in the hopper, I've been trying to get it finished for over a week! A week, people!

Redonk.

Anywho, we just returned today from a FANTASTIC trip to Bayfield to attend the wedding of some dear friends.

It started off with awesomeness simply because it was in Bayfield. I love Bayfield. We had a cottage in Bayfield for a few years when I was a teenager, there were some excellent memories made there. Things have really changed in Bayfield - many of the shops have changed, some have moved, some have disappeared. There are a still a few landmarks that have stood the test of time though.

I got really drunk one night in this bar when I was about 18 or so, with my best friend Marie, and some boys from our highschool that we bumped into. The bar was way more "rustic" than it is now, and under a different name. The boys that we ran into were playing that night at the bar, we thought they were the coolest. We hung out in the bar, "with the band," and stumbled home very late at night singing REM tunes. Genius. (Maybe you had to be there...)

Anyway, where was I?

Right, wedding.

We stayed at The Little Inn, somewhere where my drunken teenaged feet (or even my sober adult feet) had never tread. It's fancy.It was a beautiful ceremony, which I took absolutely zero pictures of, because I was too busy bouncing a napless baby in my arms. And then we got down to the business of dinner.

Oh my stars. Dinner? Was spec-tac-u-lar. 5 courses of delectable goodness. Rich, luxurious, please sir may I have some more goodness.

A wonderful little twist? 5 tables. 5 courses. The bride and groom played musical tables and joined each table for a course. Great idea!
The boys were brilliant. Griffin was an angel for the most part (with the promise of cake for good behavior) and Corben was charming as always. The reception was held in the same building as our rooms were in (they were RIGHT THERE) so after cutting a rug on the dance floor for a few hours, we put the boys to bed, took the baby monitor out to the party, and carried on.

Today we spent the morning enjoying some more delicious food, hanging out with friends that we don't see nearly often enough, and wandering the streets and playing in the beautiful fall colours.

(Griffin was thrilled when I told him he could throw leaves all over me!)
This? Is my new favourite picture of all times: (Click on it for the closeup, it's better. Trust me.)
Shared times, indeed! What a great weekend!

Family Photos

When Corben was born in January, and we decided that our family was complete, I also decided that this would be the year that we'd get some professional family photos done.

I stumbled across Gigi Photography, a local photographer, and fell in LOVE with her photos. Over the months preceding our shoot, I've gotten to know the lady behind the camera. Through Facebook, Twitter, and our respective blogs, I've loved getting to know Gillian - she has a heart of gold, and makes absolute magic with her camera.

Today she posted a little preview for us on her blog...and I'm THRILLED with how the pictures turned out. They're everything I hoped they would be, and it's going to be agony I'm certain to chose only a handful to print when we have a full gallery to choose from.

Gillian also asked me if she could feature some of my soaps on the blog and do a giveaway, and I happily obliged. So head on over to Gillian's blog, check out our beautiful family photos, and enter yourself in the giveaway - all you need to do is leave a comment!Thanks again, Gillian! You've made this Mama a very happy lady!

2010 Buddy Walk

(OK, you can't actually click there for info, but you can CLICK HERE instead!)

It's that time of the year again! If you're in our fine Nation's Capitol, the Canadian Down Syndrome Society's Buddy Walk is this weekend. Would you consider supporting my friend Kate and her adorable family? You can check it out and donate to Kate and her family over on her blog, or head out to the walk this weekend and join in!

Down Syndrome Buddy Walk 2010
Date: Saturday, October 2nd, rain or shine
Time: 10am sharp (registration from 9am -10am)
Where: Andrew Haydon Park

"Jackson's Sunshine"

Karma. I love karma. Do a little bit of good, get a little bit of good back. It's like the barter system on the most basic level, and it's something I can get on board with.

Karma manifests itself differently for everyone. Me? I have parking karma. No matter how busy the street, the mall, the whatever, there is always a parking spot for me very close to the door. Which is good, since I'm usually toting a kid or two, maybe a dog, and invariably some other armful of something that I'm picking up or dropping off. I am very happy with the way that karma returns it's blessings to me, and when the parking spots start to dwindle, I know I'm either being a jerk, or it's time to build up my karmic stash again, and I better get busy.

***********

Griffin goes to daycare with a little dude named Jackson. Griffin and Jackson are buddies, but they are very similar in personalities - both headstrong, stubborn and the bruisers of the bunch, so they sometimes end up butting heads, often literally. I have a soft spot for Jackson though, I see a lot of Griffin in him - he's a true rough and tumble boy, with a heart of gold underneath that tough exterior.

Jackson is also one of those kids who has the unfortunate privilege of knowing the inside of Sick Kids Hospital way too well. He has Hydrocephalus, and has had more surgeries in his short three years than most of us will have in a lifetime. Or three lifetimes. So when his mom sent out an email looking for donations for a silent auction to benefit Hydrocephalus research at Sick Kids, I knew I had to help.
This quilt was more than a silent auction prize for me. I challenged myself to free-motion quilt the entire thing, which I have never done before, and I couldn't be happier with the results. I started it plenty in advance, spent some time picking out some GREAT fabric, took my time, and did it all right, with no shortcuts, and no rushing to finish. I tried (and think I succeeded) to make this quilt gender neutral, to make it more appealing to everyone. I used every last scrap of the 6 fat quarters that I purchased, and carried it over onto the back with a quilted strip that I love love love!I feel like I've taken my quilting skills to the next level with this quilt, and I'm stoked to do more. I have a pile of fabric upstairs that I bought two years ago to make a quilt for Griffin, and now I'm glad that I waited to cut into it. I also have a stack of fabric ready for Corben, and I'm excited about it too. (SOCK MONKEYS!) And as a result of posting the quilt photos, I have requests for more!I'm glad I took up the challenge to make this quilt. It's brought me to a new place in my quilting journey. It's hopefully going to fetch a pretty penny at the silent auction and benefit a great cause. And, I figure it should be good for a few really good parking spots!

Joie de Vivre

Today's topic at Five for Ten is Memory.

Since we had a bit of a shit week here, I had a humorous post planned about memory, the noun. As in the part of my brain that I gave birth to when I birthed my child(ren.) As in, why can't I remember where the hell did I put my keys, AGAIN? As in, I know we just met 10 minutes ago, but what's your name again? Yeah, that memory. The one I don't have much left of.

But then last night I went to a wake. A visitation for a 47 year old man, who died at the end of a beautiful day, that was at the end of a beautiful weekend, that was at the end of a beautiful life. And instead I want to share this with you what I learned last night:

Memories are made. It's up to you how often you make them, but if you live your life with purpose, as if each day may be your last, then you'll make them every single day, and you or your family will never be disappointed when your last actually arrives. Even if it arrives out of left field, suddenly, when you least expect it.

And, if you do live this way, you'll live on and on, long after you're gone. People will share stories of you around dinner tables and campfires. Pictures of you will cause others to smile, bringing back the sound of your laughter, or your voice in song, or even just the sound of your voice in greeting as you welcomed friends into your home.

And maybe, most importantly (for me at least) is that the spirit of you will live on in your children. Friends, family, loved ones will look at your child(ren) and they will see you. Remember you. Remember how much they loved you. They will see you, in what you have taught your children to be. Children learn from their parents - be it good or bad, but they learn it all, soak it all up, and then turn around and live it all over again, whether you're there to join them in their joy, or not.

Hopefully you're joining them. But just in case you're not...

Make memories, every day. They don't have to be Disneyworld memories, or epic events. It can be as simple as a backyard picnic. A hand held. A smile given. A smile received.

Last night I watched a three year old boy run into a funeral home with a grin on his face that lit up the room. He ran to his Mom, who was standing in front of his fathers, her husbands casket, and handed her a bunch of flowers that he had picked from some unsuspecting neighbouring garden. She smiled and laughed, and placed the flowers in the casket, along with the dozen or so other flowers that he had gathered through the day for his Dad.

Sure, there will be a day, or many of them, when he realizes what is missing in his life and he will be sad. But that joy, "joie de vivre," savour-every-moment and pick-every-flower-you-can kind of spirit, he gets that from his father. His mother too. Although she is suddenly a widow, she will never be alone. She has her son, and in him, her husband too, and all that they shared.

Life is short friends. Live it up.

Takin' care of Business (Part The Last)

Last weekend, along with the fashion show, my niece and nephew turned two. This is by far, the best shot of the day:
It was also the first in a series. When we realized we were missing a kid, we tried to add him in. And make everyone stay seated. And smile. Which, with 5 children under 4 is damn near impossible. Alas, the moment was lost:

Happy birthday Theo and Jolyn!

And thus concludes the Taking Care of Business. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Takin' care of Business (Part Three, Four and Five)

I have been blessed with a plethora of awards in the past few weeks. (BTW - a plethora = 3.)

It is now time to acknowledge, and pass on said awards. (Business, part three, four and five.)

The first comes from Lara, and Gliding Through Motherhood, who is incidentally the only blogger that I didn't know in real life that I've actually met, which was the supercoolest! Lara is the mother to three beauties, including a set of twins. Go give her some love! This award is also the supercoolest, because we take great pride in telling like it is around here...sans sugarcoat, so thanks Lara!

The Rules of the Honest Scrap award dictates that I must:

1. Brag about the award. (on it.)
2. Include the name of the blogger who gave you the award and link back to that blogger. (That's Lara. Done did it, but I'll do it again!)
3. Choose a selection of blogs that you find brilliant in honest content (see below...towards the end)
4. Show their names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with this award. (Again, it'll be down there, later...)
5. List at least ten honest things about yourself.

Ack....

I'm going to cheat and combine these 10 honest things about myself, with the seven things about myself that others don't know, that are part of the rules from the Kreativ Blogger Award that I got from Cynthia over at She Puts Her Quiet Hands in Mine. Cynthia and her blog are new to me, and they're now one of the first blogs I click on when I arrive at my reader in the morning. Go check it out! Thanks Cynthia!


The Kreativ Blogger Award Rules state that I must:

1. Post the award. (Done)
2. Thank and mention the person who gave you the award. (Got it.)
3. Pass the award on to seven blogs who you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award. (Below...)
4. Name seven things about yourself that others don't know. (With the cheating...)
5. Don't forget to notify your seven Bloggers about their award and post a link to their blog. (On it.)

So now, if I may present:

The 8.5 Honest Things About Myself That (Most) Others Don't Know (hehe...do you like how I did that?):

1. I keep score of the little things. Like if I buy you coffee, next time I hope you'll buy me mine. I'll never mention it, and I hate that I do it, but it's true.

2. I have resorted to eating bakers chocolate in the case of an intense chocolate craving. I'll do it again if I need to.

3. I am a pack rat. I can't even throw away old clothes that will never fit anymore, because I just look at them and see free fabric.

4. I drink the orange juice out of the carton all. the. time.

5. I have been known to push the garbage in the garbage can down just that little...bit....more so I don't have to empty the damn thing and take the garbage outside. (But I think they may be onto me for this one...)

6. I wear slippers in the house all the time so I can't feel all the crap and dirt and dog food on the floor. If I know company is coming, I'll swiffer. And if you stop by unexpected? Consider yourself warned.

7. My second son's placenta is currently in my freezer. Did you know that some people eat their baby's placenta after birth? It's said to ward off PPD. I read up on it. I considered it. And then about 8 seconds later, I dismissed it. Planting a tree seems way less disgusting.

8. If my house ever caught fire, I'd grab my children, and my CPU before I left. It has ALL our family pictures on it. (I'm assuming that the dog and the husband would make it out on their own...they're smart like that.)

8.5. I like liver.

The last award, came from a new to me blog, Dayngerous Discourse, and it looks a little something like this:
I totally did a little "aw shucks" when I saw this one, because Daynger has only been reading here at LOTR since the Party, and she already likes me enough to give me an award. So thanks! (This is one smart blogger, people!)

And now, for the bestowing of the awards. Picking 27 or so bloggers and linking to them all to bestow these award may just be enough to make my tiny little sleep deprived head explode. So I am going to do a big cheat here, and give a big shout out to some folks who I think embody the spirit of ALL THREE awards. My friends, feel free to claim any and/or all of these awards as your own - I kinda think you all rock!

Ginger at The Small Moments
Erin at BlueBirdBaby
Desiree at So Fawned
Lisa at Boondock Ramblings
Chantilly (aka Thursday) at My Girl Thursday (who's darling wee girl is just a few weeks older than Corben!)
Michelle at Burgh Baby
Jayna at Yankee Drawl

Wow. Thanks everyone, for liking us so much! We like you too!

My Mom the Rock Star

3 years ago, one year shy of turning 60, my Mom went back to school.

Yikes.

She's a brave woman...the thought of going back to school nearly sends me into convulsions, but she did it. Not only did she go back, but she went straight into a college program with 19 other students, most of them somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 years old.

Egads!

But she did it. And this past weekend, the students showed their final collections at a fashion show at Museum London. Mom of course rocked it! We were disappointed after the show when she didn't win any awards, but found out today that she came in 2nd place overall, with less than 1% separating her from the winner! (Would have been nice of them to mention that on the night!)

Here's a little taste: Mom's bio from the program, and 4 out of the 5 pieces from her collection, which are STUNNING.Josie Jansen was an elementary teacher by profession but chose to leave that to raise her family. Her passion for sewing with fine fabrics was developed by a need to sew for herself in the days before stores carried ready-to-wear clothes for tall women. She is thrilled to be fulfilling a long standing goal of complementing outstanding sewing skills with the new found knowledge of fashion design. After losing her husband to cancer, she decided to fulfill that goal, with little background in art.

It’s been an amazing journey. While at times feeling conflict between schoolwork and keeping up with five young grandchildren, she is very happy with her ‘back to school’ experience and would like to thank the program’s professors for their patience and mentoring of this mature student.

New Again is a collection of special occasion outerwear coats for spring/summer 2011. A trend toward “taking products and ideas from the past and adding a contemporary filter” has inspired this collection. The classic coat style has been given a modern twist with decorative fullness, ruching, gathering, pleats, or tucks. Fabricated in fine fabrics of silk, wool and blends, there is edginess in the contrast of textures. The styling follows the trend of blurring the line between coats and dresses, for a target customer aged 45to 60.

Photos by Lee Mann Productions

(Cheer up, ladies! You're wearing some beautiful coats! Can I get you some shampoo? Maybe a sandwich? How about some makeup remover...will that help?)

(I don't get models.)

I digress.

What I'm trying to say here is: Congrats Ma, you rock!

If you happen to pick up the September edition of Flare Magazine, keep an eye out for the "Unbound" Magazine. It has a piece from all the designers in the class in it, and will be distributed nation wide.

My Mom, she's famous!

Edited to add: Flare Magazine calls my Mom "one to watch for!" in an article today on the Flare Blog - check it out!

Eati, drink and be merry!

Hello Internet!  I know, I know, where have I been, right?  

Well, I'll tell you.

(But before I do, I must briefly gloat.  It's 8:30pm.  The monkey is sleeping, and I am IN BED, with a nice big glass of boozy yumminess and no work till MONDAY!!  Whoot whoot!)

So, my Dad's side of the family, being the logical folk that they are, like to get together for the family christmas gathering well before christmas, to avoid any other familial conflicts.  This year the party is this coming Saturday, and it's at MY HOUSE!!  2 days from now, about 35 family members will be descending onto our wee abode here on the roof to eat, drink and be merry for a few hours.

So...I've been getting ready for it.

Now I wish I could say that our house is in a state of constant readiness, so that guests can pop by any time and we can offer them something warm and tasty to eat, a comfortable bed to sleep in, and a toilet that's been scrubbed sometime in the past 6 months.  Very Martha Stewart like.  In reality?  I've been cleaning shit up for THREE WEEKS now, and I finally am ready to let all these people into my home!

While our house is hardly a pigsty, there is always stuff that "gathers."  They gather in what that annoying Fly Lady calls "hotspots," which are like big magnets for stuff to pile up on.  Dudes, my whole damn HOUSE is a hotspot!  So we've been chipping away at them, and at the same time made some major furniture movements, and after 3 weeks of toil, this place looks DAMN FINE, y'all!

My other new best friend, the cleaning lady, came by today to put the finishing touches on it all.  Tomorrow all that's left is a few more christmas decorations and some stuff in the basement that needs dealing with.  Oh...and the FIVE baskets of clean laundry that need to be folded.  The Laundry Fairy arrives tomorrow night (hi Mom!) but I'm going to try like hell to get them done before she arrives, because even Laundry Fairies need to chill some times!

Despite all the schlepping and hard work, it's awfully nice to give this place a thorough once over, at least once a year.  I sure as heck don't have time to pull this "hosting parties for 35 people" off on a regular basis, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.  

Hope they all drive their small cars, because I have NO idea where they're all going to park, with all that fricking SNOW out there.  (We had just about as many cars here the day we got married, but I realize that not once during my wedding day, did I think to give a rats patootie about where people were parking.  So maybe I just won't care on Saturday either!)

Rembering

Due to a childhood illness that left him deaf in one ear, my Mom's father (Opa to me) was spared from the draft in Holland at the beginning of WWII. This "stroke of luck" as he thought of it kept him from a fate of German POW camps, or possibly worse. When the Canadian troops liberated Holland from the Nazi occupation in 1945, Opa became eternally grateful to these Canadian soldiers who freed his homeland, and eventually would be his fellow country-men when he and my Oma and their then 3 children (one of whom was my Mom) immigrated to Canada 1951.

Through his entire life, my Opa retained his profound gratitude towards the men and women that were responsible for his freedom, and for the open-armed welcome that he felt he received when he arrived in Canada. He instilled this in all of us, from his children right down to his grandchildren. He was often found organizing Dutch tributes for his new homeland, and everyone from the oldest to the youngest were encouraged to participate.

"Ted S. points the way to four-year-old Jennifer to plant one of 1000 tulip bulbs donated by the Dutch Embassy to beautify the nearly completed London Art Gallery." November 1979

(That's me on the left, my cousin Mike in the middle, and my cousin Michelle on the right, in our traditional Dutch costume - wooden shoes and all!)

Happy Remembrance Day. I hope you had time today to reflect on what the people that have gone before us sacrificed, so that we could live the lives we do today. I think a lot about my dad today too, as his funeral was held on Remembrance Day - although his sacrifices weren't in the war, he sure worked awful hard to make sure our family lived the best lives we possibly could.

(To give credit where credit is due, most of this information is taken from an article my Uncle Brian wrote that appeared in the Globe and Mail on April 11th of 2002.)

Dad

My dear ol' Dad passed away 3 years ago today.

Since my dad passed away, he has gained a son in law, a daughter in law, and (count 'em) FOUR grandchildren. I wish you had been around to meet them all, Dad....I think you would have liked them! We have Opa's picture up on the wall in numerous places, all his grandkids know who he is. Well...they know his photo, and I look forward to telling Griffin all about his Opa when he gets a little bit older. I'm pretty sure they would have loved their Opa just as much as Opa would have loved them.

(That's an itty-bitty ME on my Daddy's lap!)

Miss you, Dad.

(You can see more remembering dad posts and photos here from 2007 and here from 2006.)

National Down Syndrome Awareness Week

This is it!

I encourage you to check out the Canadian Down Syndrome Awareness Society website, and see how you can help. Our dear friends over at Baby Makes will be participating in the Ottawa Buddy Walk this weekend.

"The Buddy Walk was created by the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) in the U.S. Over the last thirteen years, the Buddy Walk has become the premier advocacy event for Down syndrome and has become a major platform for inclusion in communities across North America. In recent years, hundreds of thousands have walked throughout the world for Down syndrome, raising more than $4 million each year for local and national programs. The goal is to spread the Buddy Walk message of embracing diversity in communities across the country."

If you're in the 'hood, go out and support them!

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Hanging with Peeps

Griffin and Phelan gaze at....something.
"Gimmie that duck, or I'll eat you, kid!"


Perfectly adorable cinna-bum pants, purchased from Demandablue on Etsy.

4 Generations

(Methinks the 4th one is winning!)Just thought I'd share this - from Mom's 60th party last weekend - she decided to make all the munchkins matching outfits for the day (and apparently co-ordinate herself, and her Mom to the kidletts as well!)

Yup, my Mom pretty much rocks!

(L to R is: my brother Paul, Peter, Griffin, Moi, Steve (in the mirror!), my Oma, Theo, Jolyn, and my Ma)

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Ma's 60th birthday - whoot whoot! Happy birthday Ma! Sure hope your good looks are hereditary, and I look this good when I'm 60!!

Sunday, Lazy Sunday

Lazy weekend all together actually. Ate some KD (with our faces, apparently.) Hung out with some cute lady-friends (actually, Griffin looks less than thrilled by the company in this picture.)
Adara spent most of the weekend being perfectly adorable, and the rest of the time letting out these perfect little shrieks that go straight to your cerebral cortex. This gal means BUSINESS when she cries, and she'll make sure everyone in earshot knows about it too! Not loud, not long, not wailing, but just a high pitched, "pay the hell attention to me" screech that works a charm!
(I know, you'd never believe it could come out of a face so adorable as this one, would'ja?) Kendra and I spent a delightful evening drinking on the porch last night after the chilluns went to bed, and then had a lovely impromptu visit from Ken and Bridget, home for a few weeks from Hong Kong. Plenty of porch, plenty of booze, a lovely evening. Today: cute kids, sunshine, hangin' poolside, some laundry, and some rest.

Life, my friends, is good!

Happiness is: Day 8

Today I am happy that I finally found made the time to start turning this piece of fabulousness:Into this little bit of sassiness:
Good thing too, because the fete for which it's for is QUICKLY approaching!!

And while we're on the subject of Happy (as we will be all month!) I'd like to send a shout out to this little dude, super nephew extraordinaire, who today turns the big 0-1! We'll be seeing him on Sunday, and you can bet we'll be hauling the biggest, loudest birthday present we can hunt down, to pay back his daddy (my brother) for the I-only-have-one-volume-and-that's-supercraptastically-loud musical stool he bought Griffin at christmas (...that may or may not have been permanently relocated to Grandma and Grandpas house!)

Happy Birthday Big Man!