An updated picture of the north deck door at 1pm

Here's a link to a great story about a cat that was reunited with its family.

The Spring that sprung....

Here's a couple more views of the 'winter wonderland' in SPRING! If you want to see pictures bigger, click on them, then click on the 'back' arrow to come back to the posts' page.

UNBELIEVABLE!

Well, I guess it isn't UN-believable, since I'm lookin' at it out the window and the garage. When I first got up I kept going from window to window, hoping for a different outcome/view. It didn't work.

We were in the belt to get only a 'mix' and no accumulation, so this is a RUDE awakening. It's supposed to be in the 40's tomorrow, but I think it will have a hard time getting there with this much snow, and the flakes are huge (but pretty, still).

Wednesday (last week because today was boring)

Izaac and I went to look for new sprigs in the asparagus patch last Wednesday when it was NOT windy (so it wasn't too bad outside) for Uncle Bobby. We only found some green weeds growing under the dead stalks.

Apparently, while I was trying to take a picture of the patch I made a 12-second video. The picture isn't that fantastic, but the sounds of the birds trying to encourage spring's arrival is wonderful.

Does the weatherman know the date?

Did somebody forget to tell the weatherman it's SPRING??? It's cold and it's been really dreary, and we had flurries off and on during the day, but this afternoon, it really decided to snow!

Or, did the man forget to tell the 'weather' it was spring? Somebody better get the calendar!! It's EASTER! Happy Easter Everybody!

Okay, here are the t-shirts my mom and Samantha made for us

That's about all I have time for, since Izaac has been here since Tuesday afternoon, and he's been very mobile--scooting everywhere! Alex home for the afternoon picking up sticks in the muddy yard, and staying for supper. I'm definitely outnumbered tonight at 3 to 1!

The big surprise of the party...

These (except for my daughter, holding Izaac in-between them) are our neighbors from Des Moines, Janet and Kevin Reynolds. We didn't know they were coming, and it was really a nice present to see them.

Their son, Jason, and ours, Alex, were 6 weeks apart in age. They played together on baseball teams (with Jason's dad, Kevin, coaching them) from t-ball through 5th grade (when we moved). Samantha was Janet's 'adopted' daughter and my kids would have lived their entire lives at their house if I'd have let them.

This is the cake my mom had done at the bakery of our baby pictures and the picture of us from last year. It turned out phenomenal! (It was tasty, too!)
Uncle Johnny is giving Izaac some home-made vanilla AND chocolate-malt flavored ice cream, too. Man, what a party! Lasagna, homemade breadsticks with garlic and parmesan and salad. It was a great party.

Can I help with Spring Cleaning?

That seems to be the question Noel had for me from the cupboard I was emptying to wipe out last week. The answer was basically, NO!

I did get her to cooperate (by bribing her out of there with some old toys sprinkled with fresh catnip) and I got the mixer, cupboard shelves and canisters washed and dried before she came back.

A view of the world

Izaac and Bogie looked so cute sitting beside each looking out the window. I took these in a hurry, because neither one of them is still for very long. Izaac went home Friday.

Izaac attended his first South Hamilton Music Boosters Supper Thursday evening in Jewell. It was a spaghetti supper and Barilla (has a noodle plant in Ames, which is only about 15 miles from Jewell) donated the sauce and spaghetti noodles. Thanks, Barilla!

It was very good, and we saw most of my hand-bell choir mates (who are music boosters and were serving the supper) and some school people we hadn't seen for a long time. It was fun.

All these pics are from August, 1997.

This is John rubbin' her belly (she would let you do this basically forever if you wanted!).
This was Chia's favorite position for us to pet her, with Samantha.
Chia with her favorite boy, Alex, almost 11 years ago. I think they're both smiling in this picture. She used to try and sit on Alex's lap, just like she was a small lap-dog.

Chia went to the 'Rainbow Bridge' this morning

We have the best vet, and last week he reminded me of the things to look for when 'it's time'. For never having had a dog before, I wasn't sure what to expect when we moved here (and the dog came with the house), but it wasn't long before she was 'part of the family'.

Her favorite person was my son, who isn't around much anymore due to his college and work schedules (in Des Moines), but I know she really loved all of us and was happy we were around more than her 'original parents', who were very generous about letting us have her.

(they moved to town, and we're in the country, and tried to keep her in the 'new, in-town yard' one day, but it was a 6-foot fence and she was gone in 30 seconds, so the country is where she was really happy.) She was almost 14 years old. We'll miss you, Chia-Bia.

Izaac coming to Camp today.

This is a 23-second video of Noel (safely inside) kicking at Queen, who is sitting 'regally' outside. Queen is trying NOT to pay any attention to the 'weakest link', but you can see she looks over several times to make sure she's safe (on the outside of the door).

Izaac coming to camp for a couple of days. I hope I can keep up with him. He's a bundle of energy lately. (I am getting close to OLDER, you know.)

Izaac with new front (top) teeth.

If you click on the picture I think you can see them a little. I got to see them when he was laying down (for a 'change'). You can see three all the way through on top, plus the edge of the fourth one in the middle in front.

That's his Aunt Michelle, whom he LOVES, because she's so fun. He spent the night at 'aunt' Samantha's Saturday night just so they could 'hang' for the day and evening.

The trip to Des Moines was literally a 'breath of fresh air', because they had the windows open and it got to 62 degrees. By 4pm, it had dropped 10 degrees, and the rain started about 5pm. I drove through heavy rain more than half-way, then slush for about last 10 miles. The wind was gusty, too. It was 32 when I drove into my driveway.

Now everything is covered in ice this morning--big crunchy ice.

Yes, it's my Birthday!

It's a 'milestone' number, but I don't think of it as 'over the hill'. I don't feel any older than yesterday!

This is one my favorite webcam views (or in-person view, but I can't be there ALL the time...) of Chicago. It's Michigan Avenue, over the Chicago River. I LOVE to take the touring boat rides (or any boat ride, for that matter). This moment I froze from 2/22/08 at 3:10 in the afternoon. Thanks for the memories, Chicago. "I'll BE BACK!"

What's a 'Brad Paisley'?

That's the gag line we've been answering the phone with (only to our daughter, Samantha) since she sent me a text message telling me she had tickets to the concert. Her dad thought it would be funny to text her back, and that's what he wrote.

Samantha got this great picture last week at the concert. She got really close! I like Brad's new song, "Letter to Me", about writing a letter to himself when he was 17, knowing what he knows now.