Favorite Foto Friday

Just call me difficult! Going off script again with my FFF post. Mostly out of pure laziness. Since I have sooooo much to catch up on I'm using this post to play some catch-up!!

So as you can see my Dad is in town and behaving maturely...wonder where I get my irreverent streak?!?!? He's here for two weeks because it is family picnic season!

Brothers and nephews along with in-laws who like to call themselves outlaws....

Children and cousins big and small....

....men...

...women...

..and children gathered together to celebrate the fact that they are FAMILY!

Auntie Peggy really enjoyed it this year since she passed the baton of Picnic Organizer off to another family member.

Most really just enjoyed the play time.....

...while others enjoyed playing catch-up! My mother's brother brought his family up from North Carolina for this year's gathering and while it was hard to see my mom, aunt and uncle as the ONLY three from their generation to feel up to attending this year it was nice to see the three of them together. Who knows how many more times that will happen?

3 different generations as well as 3 different families at a single table is no big deal at our picnics....

...where the family tree has grown so big that we now must run it as a descendent list minus the 'out-laws' and it still is 44 inches of single spaced names!!! I was so busy visiting that Mari stepped in and took over some of the photo journal duties and ended up with my FFF!

I can still see you smiling behind that burger Ethan!!!

Sooo not fair!

You cannot even begin to know the number of times I have heard that phrase since becoming a mother. I'm not sure why they keep saying it because for years now my response to that phrase has been, "Show me where on your birth certificate it says welcome to a fair world??" These past two weeks have heard those phrases uttered at a higher frequency than usual...because BFF/Cousin Deirdre was gone on a two week vacation that included a sizable stop at Disney World! Now I just recently mentioned how Patrick and I have put a moratorium on trips to the mouse's house in Florida and be assured the girls are very well aware of our stand. Kids being kids....when Deirdre came home and saw the pictures of Julia doing the zip-line she wailed, "Soooo not fair!!! I cannot believe you did that without me?!?!"

Well since we were going back up to Aunt Agnes' lake house.....we let Deirdre come too!!

The BFF/Cousins simply share EVERYTHING!

I even managed to get my camera settings coordinated to catch her as she whizzed by my position!

But then a funny thing happened on the way into the landing tower......

...even Deirdre found humor in the situation....as she sat waiting out in the middle of the zip line ....

...for the crew to come and TOW her in since she had NOT made it all the way to the landing tower when her slowing speed caused her to gradually stop and then slide BACK DOWN the zip line!!! Another memory sure to make the dinner table highlights many, many times (-: I'd post the video of Mari and I laughing like fools as we realized Deirdre was not going to make it to the landing tower but my system takes forever to load videos!!! Amazingly, she wants to go again.

It was a good day for me and my camera that day as I also managed to coordinate the settings and zoom to catch one of our frequent visitors up at the lake house....

...made me happy with our Disney moratorium when I discovered that neither my husband NOR my children had ever seen a bluejay before this week!?!?!?

FFF- Our Choice

Good thing Nora let us choose our own Favorite Friday Foto because I would probably have been going rogue yet again! This week's photo has no technical merit. I have no actual photography skills to speak of but I have a camera that helps me out that way (-:

So how do BFF/Cousins who were cruelly separated by the two week vacation of one family spend their first night back together????

TOGETHER...like joined at the hip, sharing a single blanket on a single recliner together!!!

Tomorrow's post....Anything you can do I BETTER GET TO DO TOO!!! But until then go check out Nora's blog for more FFF posts.

PowerLESS

Had some electricity for a while during the night but we're back in the dark again! Power company had to turn us off so they can get at some of the countless power lines dragged down by trees uprooted in the weather 'incident' of Tuesday night. So I did go out and take a picture of our damage that we have not gotten cleared as of yet....

This last picture keeps reminding me of the Shel Silverstein book....

....Where the Sidewalk Ends!

Limited battery left on the lap top, so sorry for the brief drop in posts)--:  .....but good news is Auntie Peggy is done playing Little House on the Prairie...she has power back...for now anyhow!

Micro-burts VS. Straight line wind

...really does the definition matter??? Just a note to say that my suburb had a weather incident Tuesday night that resulted in hundreds of trees being uprooted or losing limbs that took down bunches of power lines leaving us powerless. Fortunately for us, our home is located in a high priority zone because it includes a school and hospital and we had our power back after 24 hrs. Auntie Peggy is not faring so well...her generator is still roaring in her backyard and it may be another day before the giant old elm trees that fell across her street are cleared allowing her to get her car off her cul-de-sac!

Luckily the cooler weather that drove the storm our direction is holding so we can be outside with our chainsaws running full time without discomfort. But my Dad is arriving tomorrow from Florida to attend our family picnic and he is scheduled to stay with Auntie Peggy. We had a similar storm last year this time and he was at her house with no power too!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll be taking a break from limb removal to clean and rearrange the girls' bedrooms because I think I may be having company this weekend......

Didn't take any pictures as we were too busy working but there has been some good discussions about this week's "This is ME Challenge" given the circumstances. Might have it ready to post later tonight!

This is ME Challenge #7- Numbers

Trying to 'catch up' with some of the life history challenges in the next couple of days. Today I'm tackling 'My Life in Numbers'.

1] The number of husbands I have and ever will have! One is also the number of males living in our house now that cocker spaniel Kelty has gone to live with Auntie Peggy due to Julia's allergies.

2] Mari and Julia, the only children I have and will ever have!

3] My sisters Peggy, Anne Marie, and Jennifer.

4] The number of homes I have lived in my life so far.

5] My brothers David, Peter, Bill, John, and Steven.

6] My brothers-in-law Frank, Jim, Denis, Mike, Tom, and Martin.

7] The number of different schools I've attended in my life!

8] My shoe size...and as a teen it was veeeery convenient that it was also the same shoe size as Peggy and Anne Marie!

9] The age I was when I first moved.

10] Number of years I worked in a private dental practice before moving to public health dentistry.

11] Number of years I have been a Mom!

12] Number of nieces and nephews I have.

13] Age of my eldest child.

14] The number of homes my husband has had in his life!

15] Years we've been married.

16] Number of windows in my current home. [know this because we recently replaced the 1956 era windows!]

17] Number of times I've been to Florida since meeting my husband.

18] Age I was when my parents let me take my little sister to Colorado on my first solo road trip!!

19] Number of nieces and nephews Patrick has.

20] Number of sewing machines I have personally owned....so far!

22] Number of years I went to school.

36] Age when I got married.

39] Number states I've visited.

Sure there are many more numbers that could be included but this seems a respectable stab at the challenge! If you too want to try and record your life history in a fun way check out this blog!

Unbelievable Milestone....

Not a post for the weak of stomach...consider yourself warned!

Once upon a time there was a middle aged couple who traveled to a far away country and came home parents. The toddler girl in their arms was a wary and watchful child who most often chose to stand wide eyed and questioning at new events in her life. As she mastered the new language and developed a sense of security in her position in the new family she began to join in  group play....slowly, gradually, ever so carefully. Her cousins enveloped her in their love which allowed her competitive little soul to blossom and by school age she was a dancer and soccer player on par with her peers....except for one little detail...she NEVER fell and scraped ANYTHING....EVER! There was a RARE bump resulting in a bruise and there was the one incident when a tussle between cousins competing over a Pokemon card resulted in four stitches in her eyebrow but NEVER a skinned elbow or knee! She is a hesitant and cautious lady until she masters a situation. Her training wheels stayed on until she had well mastered balancing and pedaling a bike and on the rare occasion when the bike got the best of her she would leap from the bike so as to land on her feet. The new mommy never had to try and wash dirt from road rash nor ration band-aids or even chide a child to stop picking at her scabs!! Of course you know where this post is heading????

My kids used to groan at my Mom's favorite expression of  "Too much laughing leads to crying!" When Mari called the family nurse to report the 'crisis' and get a second opinion [because Mom is not to be trusted??] and the question of just how the injury was incurred was asked she responded with, "Well the too much laughing leading to crying worked!" Oh, and when she goes about skinning her first knee she does it all the way...

The too much laughing??? A water fight between cousins!!! Trying to make an escape she very uncharacteristically tripped over....THE HOSE!!!!

The crying??? Mari in pain, Julia and Deirdre in both sympathy for Mari and fear of Mom's reaction to the drenched clothes, and Mom for the pain of seeing the raw naked flesh which reminds me of how vulnerable a human being she is down under the careful, wary persona. No fear this lady will pick at her scabs but we've gone through a copious amount of Neosporin Plus ointment and band-aids in the few hours since the 'incident'!!! Thank goodness the dance recital is over.....