Points to ponder

The magnolia bush, now a tree, is in bloom outside the sun room window. Like everything else growing in the out-of-doors in Mn this spring, the flowers are making an early appearance -- due to global warming, I'm sure. I have a love-hate relationship with the tree. The flowers are beautiful. White, fragile, fragrant pompoms. But how can it be normal for a tree to have flowers, especially big ones, before it has leaves? What was Mother Nature thinking? 

Speaking of Mother Nature, she may or may not be responsible for the content of the picture below. How could anyone, even Mother Nature, have predicted the fascination preschoolers and toddlers would have for technology? Here are four hot and sweaty little boys, huddling on and around Mommy/Auntie Angie to find out what's new on the iPad.

Visiting NC

We're back from our visit with the NC branch of the family. From what we've heard, it was warmer in MN than in NC while we were gone. That's not usually the case, because mid-March and state basketball tournaments often mean snowstorms here. It's great to have the unseasonably warm weather in MN, though, especially with the St. Peter Saints boys' basketball team playing in the state tournament at this very minute. Go Saints!

Speaking of "Go Saints!", we discovered that Hannah Rachel Dellon is a die-hard Carolina fan. We heard a lot of "Go Tarheels! and "Boo Duke!" while we visited, complete with thumbs-up (UNC) and thumbs-down (Duke) gestures to make a solid point of her preferences. Hannah was thrilled when the Blue Devils were drummed out of the NCAA tournament a few days ago. I foresee a heated conversation with Uncle Charlie and Auntie Angie about this!

Our visit fell partly on St. Patrick's Day, which got a multi-day tribute from Hannah, the local St. Pat's Princess. She turned many heads by wearing her sparkly green crown to el parque.

Even though Vivi didn't wear a crown, she was in full action mode on her trips through the slide tube.

We had a special lunch with Larry's cousin Linda on Saturday at Panzanella, a yummy restaurant in Carrborro. Linda brought Vivi a cuddly mama lamb and baby lamb, which were an instant hit.

The St. Pat's Princess received a cuddly mommy bunny and baby bunny from Linda. You can see how much Hannah loves her new spring pets!

After lunch we all took a tour of the UNC Botanical Garden, a lovely and quirky site not far from where E and E live. Lovely because of the flowers and plants, and quirky because of numerous  (and humorous) pieces of outdoor art found around the grounds. I should have taken more pictures, dang it. If you look closely at the photo immediately below, you'll see Evan tracking down an especially quirky piece of art, one that darted around quite quickly in the foilage.

It may look like Hannah is sneezing or wiping a bug off her nose, but actually she is getting a good whiff of rosemary. The herb garden had dozens of rosemary bushes-- yes, bushes-- planted throughout. Rosemary and other herbs are grown for industrial purposes like in cosmetics, shampoo, etc.  The little pots of herbs I plant in the summer to enhance the flavor of salads and pasta are miniscule  in comparison to the mammoth bushes grown for commercial use. Who knew?

 

And here is Evan on a gigantic chess board. He's trying to figure out why one of the chess pieces is wearing a shamrock crown.

Yup, it's the Irish Princess chess piece, ready to make a move.

Vivi loved playing chess, too.

The Botanical Garden has a colorful morning glory whispering bench that fascinated Hannah. She talked to her daddy through one morning glory, and he listened out of the other. Here are Evan, Larry/Dad, Linda, Irish Princess Hannah, Elisabeth, and sleeping Vivian enjoying the bench.

Larry/Dad/Paco and I were excited to see the progress on E & E's house. These two shots are from the car as we drove by on Tuesday, and unfortunately they don't show the house very well. But, as you can see since the Kodak site photos, much has been done to frame the addition, and cover it in Ty-Vek (or whatever the brand is!). Hannah gave us a grand tour of her new room, Vivi's, and the bathroom in-between. Can't wait to see future pictures as more and more is accomplished.

 

On Monday morning we took a trip to a science museum for kids. Again, I was remiss about picture-taking. But, I did capture Hannah building a really cool building. She spent a LOT of time focusing on her creation, figuring out ways to make the long flat blocks balance in different ways so she could build up and up and up. Her finished construction project has a Jenga-like quality to it, don't you think?

I really had to save the best picture for nearly last. We had pizza for supper on Monday evening, assembled almost entirely by Chef Hannah. Instead of a chef's hat, you might notice the bicycle helmet. No comment. Charlie will have one, I'm sure. It's the first time I've seen anyone needing a helmet to spread sauce on pizza crust, though. I guess NC has some strict cooking laws.

This photo of Hannah is the REAL last picture. For most of Tuesday morning, she and Vivi stayed at home and played with Grandpappy and me. Hannah decided to draw pictures for her cousins in Minnesota, in part to thank Ethan and Owen for sending their artwork along, and in part to let all four cousins know how much she misses them. She made a picture for Grandpappy and me, too. Thanks, Hannah! Thank you to E, E, H, and V for a great visit. See (most of) you in May in Minnesota!

The weekend

On Friday, Ethan and Owen came for supper with their mommy. Afterward, they took a bath, put on their pj's, and then skyped with their daddy, who was in Oshkosh. 

 

On Saturday while the girl cousins were splashing in puddles in North Carolina (Thanks for the picture, Elisabeth!),

all four boy cousins came over to play. Here's a pile-o-boys having fun while Grandpappy appears to be napping. He's not....I just caught him in the middle of a blink.

As usual, the little guys were focused on what they were playing, and I couldn't get any of them to look at me for close-up shots. Owen was so busy I couldn't catch him at all!

Eventually, everyone needed naps. Everyone except Westy, that is. He chose to sit on the couch with Grandpappy and beg for more and more and more Teddy Grahams, until there were none left. 

 

Then Westy talked Grandpappy into pounding nails with the tool set. 

Sweet little boy, don't you think? 

 

Even though Miles claimed not to be sleepy, here he is after his nap. One of his favorite "teacher tools" is a highlighter pen, which he uses to point to words and pictures when he's being read to. It helps me focus when he points!

This morning Grandpappy and I skyped with the girl cousins. We watched both Hannah and Viv pack away more hummus than I've ever eaten, and heard about their weekend trip.

Have a good week, everyone!

20/20

This isn't a blog entry. It's a complaint. On Friday I got a bill from the ophthalmologist I'd visited a little over a week ago. Dr. Horton retired last summer, and he was replaced by a 12-year-old eye doctor who wants me to call him Dr. Fullofhimself while he calls me Jill. Considering how I'm five times his age, it seems a bit awkward. Actually, I'm not complaining about the newbie or the eye exam. It's the bill for over $200 that irks me, especially after paying around $400 for new lenses. I expected the hefty lens cost for my graduated lenses made out of shatter-proof miracle material with rolled and polished edges, anti-glare coating, and whatever else I was talked into. I have terrible vision and have been wearing glasses since I was in second grade, so it's hardly a surprise to pay that much for glasses, but more than $200 for an eye exam? Oh, and my insurance paid $32 of that amount. Ugh.

Happy Valentine's Day

Shenanigans

Ethan and Owen spent Saturday afternoon here while C and A went to the Gustie basketball game. They all stayed for supper, and before they went home, I asked  if I could take a picture of E and O in the jerseys "Unkie" Brit brought them this weekend. They were in a silly mood, as you can see here!

The kiddos had a great time wrestling with each other. Unfortunately they moved too fast for me to get shots that captured the fun they were having. Most of the time, Ethan was in control of Owen. Here are some of my attempts...

By the time I figured out how to use the movie feature on my camera (Charlie figure it out, to be truthful!), the boys had moved on to a new game of chasing each other. 

The good china

I wrote this entry in November (2010) and for some reason that escapes me, I decided not to publish it. But today, in looking it over and doing some fix-ups, it seems okay to share.
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I sent a note to Kathy and Mark (my brother) on the evening of Thanksgiving after looking at pictures of their grandchildren, Yana and Max on Fbook. I hadn't seen pictures of either of them for a while. Max has always looked like Jamie, and Yana somewhat like Oksana.  That's still the case, with Yana looking even more like her mom than the last time I saw pictures of her. In the course of writing back and forth, Kathy told me that she and Mark hosted Thanksgiving dinner for her family, 15 people in all, and they'd used Grandma Bene's china, a cause for some nostalgia on their part.

As a guess, I would say that I ate at least 40 Thanksgiving dinners from those plates. Add to that a multitude of Christmas and Easter feasts, all enjoyed from those dishes. And of course, I washed, dried, and put away Mom's "good china" countless times over the years.

As much as my teenage self cringed at the sound a fork made when I moved it along the surface of Mom's dishes (dry and scratchy), and as much as I thought the pattern was old-ladyish back then, my adult self felt differently. As an adult, I thought of those plates as part of going home for the holidays and spending time  with my parents and siblings, and with Grandma Kirsch, who brought enthusiasm and a lemon Jello mold to every family event. And talking with Uncle Mike, who  loved Buicks and couldn't tolerate even a tiny speck of fat on meat, which he humorously reminded my dad about as Dad carved the holiday ham. Uncle Mike was the only family member who actually called Elisabeth "Lisa", which had been our intent until she was born, and we saw that she was most definitely Elisabeth. That has nothing to do with holidays or table settings. Thinking about Uncle Mike reminded me of it.

Back to the dishes. I have some "good china" that I bought gradually and also got as gifts from Grandma Bene in the first 10 years Larry/Dad/Gpappy and I were married. We used the dishes from time to time, but now we never use them even though I love the pattern and the smooth feel of a fork crossing their surface. It's likely a carry-over from my Grandma Kirsch, who used her "good" possessions sparingly, and even covered the sofa and upholstered chair seats with plastic so they wouldn't get dirty. Good lord, what would happen if I chipped a bowl?  Oops.

Someday when the kids clean out our house for good, they'll look at my "good china" dishes and wonder where in the hell they came from and why we never used them. So kids, here's a look at the pattern. Maybe I can trick you into thinking we they were on the table at all of our holiday dinners!