testing testing

ETA: Only the small pics can be seen in their entirety...medium and large get clipped. Hmmm, I might have to change the formatting of this little 'ol blog. One more thing to add to my "To Do" list.

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Testing out posting pics from flikr and the various sizes. :)

Pics are from First Beach, WA (any Twilight fans out there??) and part of the 10 mile Lake Ozette loop trail Keni, Noelle, and I hiked in September....and have yet to post.

testing flikr posts :)

trick-or-treat....smell my feet

...give me something good to eat.

We actually had some goblins say that to us last night. We didn't have the usual flood of kiddos we normally have. We have 5 bags of candy left over. On a normal Halloween night, all or at least close to all 9 bags of candy would be GONE. So definitely, not as many kids last night. Perhaps because of the cold?? I think I drank 3 cups of hot chocolate while we passed out candy...if anything, just to wrap my cold fingers around the hot mug.

We got Michael dressed in his fisherman costume and I took him to three of the neighbors' houses before trick-or-treat started (we have such understanding neighbors). He really only wanted to stop at one house (Sharon's) and then got an attitude at the other two houses...signing "all done, all done" and trying to stomp his way back home. He doesn't eat candy, so this is one "holiday" he could really care less about.

We had him sit outside with us for a little while and entertained him with the bowl of candy. Like I said, he's not excited about the actual candy part, but he found a little treat that had a picture of Buzz and Woody on it, so he was excited about that. Then he signed "all done, please, go". So G took him inside and put on a movie (Shrek) while we finished passing out the candy.

It seems to be customary for the firetrucks, medics, and police to cruise the neighborhoods and pass out candy. Our neighbor across the street from us is a firefighter and he was on duty last night, so he made sure to hit up our street. :)

We brought Michael outside to visit with Jerry and "his" truck. It was so dark out by then that when I took their picture, I couldn't tell that Michael had blinked. boooo. Not to fear though, we have a few other pictures of M and firetrucks courtesy of Grandma Kita and her firefighting/paramedic days.Michael's pumpkin he painted at school and a couple gourds he picked out.
We hope you had a great Halloween! G's off golfing this morning (after a frost delay)...he's trying to enjoy the nice weather as much as he can before he's trapped indoors (which to me, that means it's almost scrapbook season-yippeee!!).

This year seems to be flying by - I can't believe it's NOVEMBER already!

weekend fun

On Saturday, we went to visit some dear friends that we haven't seen in such a long time. They live out in the country and we ate dinner outside by the fire (thanks for the yummy food Emily!!), enjoying some great coversation and story-telling.


Jared's rabbit ears over Michael's head turned into a peace sign when Michael turned around and caught him in the act.

We brought Arty with us and we watched him go nuts running, running, and running. So much room to run around. At times, he sounded like a horse galloping when he was running so fast! He also visited with one of their sheep...this one is Bolt.

I think it's been said before that Randy and Emily have some cool toys and it wasn't long before the boys got them out to play.

Once it got too dark and cold to ride, we chilled by the fire until the little ones were tired.

We were glad we got to stay late enough to enjoy the campfire...thanks to Michael for being so good and well-behaved this time! We can't wait to see them again - and are so thankful for having such great friends!

feeling so sad and blue

Because of the power of the internet, I have been able to reconnect with some of my long lost high school pals (thank you Facebook). Many, if not most, I haven't seen or talked to since high school some 20-something years ago. One of my friends, Sarah, has a blog that I read to see what she's been up to...nothing unusual there, as I have this little ole blog for friends to do the same thing. Anyway, Sarah and her husband Matt have a little boy named Ben who was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at age 2-1/2...and just 6 weeks before she gave before she gave birth to her 2nd child, daughter Madeline. Neuroblastoma is a very aggressive form of childhood cancer. Ben fought this cancer for a little more than 1-1/2 years with every drug, chemo cocktail, radiation treatment available before being declared "NED" - No Evidence of Disease.

Fast forward to July 8th and it's been 4 years that Ben has been "NED". However, during his 6-month routine scan they found a mass in Ben’s chest behind his heart and he needed a biopsy, which the doctor did the next evening. Three agonizing days later, the pathology results confirmed a recurrence of this awful disease.

I made a donation to the "Ben Brewer Fight Neuroblastoma Fund" page, which sends the funds directly to their family. The website includes photos, their story, and information about Neuroblastoma. I hope that many will donate... you can use PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, AmEx & Discover. Please open your hearts to this wonderful family! You can read more about Ben and his family (Sarah, Matt, and Madeline) here and here. Happy, hopeful thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated too.

about town

I met my friend HB Loretta for lunch last week and we walked around town to snap some pics - it was such a nice day for a change.

First was lunch at Casa Fiesta, which helped in a small way to remind us of our trip to Puerta Vallarta a couple of years ago (those were good times!).

Then we stopped by the courthouse and the veteran's memorial.

We searched and searched for family names amongst the honorary memorial bricks with no luck. The final stop was Loretta's workplace...which also happens to be her church.

I love the beautiful colors of the stained glass. My pics don't do them justice - it was very dark inside and we didn't turn on the lights.

It was nice to get out for a taste of spring. I can't wait until the nice weather is here to stay for awhile.

4-wheelin'

Last weekend, we headed down the road to see our friends Randy & Emily & Seth & Jared for some 4-wheelin' fun. We really enjoyed spending the day with them and visiting and riding.

Jared, ready to speed away on the zoom-zoom.

Seth waiting patiently for everyone to get their gear on and get moving.

Gary and Michael ready to go.

Michael, who did not like stopping for breaks, had Emily give him a ride around the yard too (please, please, please).

My turn to give the boy a ride.

Michael and Jared taking a break together.

Every time we would stop riding and take a break, Michael would sign "more", "go", "please" and then lead G over to the 4-wheelers. He was in heaven...he loves anything outside and fast.

Gary taking Michael through the dip of water (lots of splashing fun)!

The boys waiting for me to catch up (again). I kept stopping to snap a few pics...I couldn't help myself.

What a fun time and a beautiful day of nice weather. Thanks for having us over to play...we can't wait to come back to visit!

girls' night out

What a night I had Saturday! G's mom, my bestest friend Kathie, and I went to Zoofari. It is one of the Columbus Zoo's biggest fundraisers and is an adults only party featuring tons of yummy foods to sample from local restaurants, refreshing adult beverages and foamy pops, and lots of musicians and bands throughout the zoo grounds.

Here are some of our highlights:

Carole, me and Kathie waiting for the festivities to begin.

First stop....City BBQ goodness....our FAVORITE of the night! The shrimp wasn't bad either.

The tickets for admission came with 3 drink tickets, which we didn't want to go to waste.

We even saw a few animals while we were walking around, although not many were out.

After everyone is fed and feeling fine, the concerts begin. The Menus from Cincinnati rocked the Pavilion with their fun music and crazy antics. Yes, that is a skirt and strappy tank top he's wearing (later on, he changes into a woman's bathing suit with a tutu, then changes again into a pink teddy).

While The Menus were at the Pavilion, Phil Dirt and the Dozers were at the WatersEdge taking us on a trip in the time machine playing a lot of Beach Boys and Jan & Dean songs, even sneaking in some Doobie Brothers and Eagles (their Hotel California cover was awesome).

Drum solo...followed by a flute and guitar battle. Surprisingly, the flute gave the guitar a pretty good battle too. We even met Phil after the show....

This picture is a special one just for Kathie. :) Mmmmm-mmmm goodness!

It's been a long time since Kath and I have gone out and had such a blast....but we were both so tired the next day, that just goes to show we're getting old. Maybe we're just tired from having so much goodness going on in our lives. After all, we stayed at the par-tay until closing time!

Oh, and Kathie....you were still cute, even without your Vegas outfit!!

Carole, thanks for another wonderful time. We always have so much fun together!