Girl's Night Out!!!

For Christmas last year, Keith and Joel gave Kristy and Kelly a gift card to Fionn McCool's in Fishers. This was to be used for a "girl's night out," a break from the usual routine with the kiddies at night. Lucky for us, they invited Holly and I to go with them tonight. We had a very nice dinner, without the usual interuptions when we are all together! All of us actually were able to eat our meal while still hot and no one had to get up from the table to take Reese to the potty. It is wonderful to have 3 loving and thoughtful daughters and to enjoy being together. I hope we continue this and evenutally, include the granddaughters when they are older, too! Sorry, Ryan, you will have to have a "boy's night" with Grandpa Stan, daddy and Uncle Keith!

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old....

The Girl Scouts have it right: "Make new friends, but keep the old; some are silver and others gold." Today I met a "golden friend," Kathy. We go back over 38 yrs to our freshman days at Purdue. Kathy was from the Lafayette area and I was from a small town in northeastern Indiana. While Kathy "grew up" with Purdue, I had only been there once for a few hours, before being dropped off by my parents. I was terribly homesick for weeks. Kathy lived in the room beside me and it wasn't long before I discovered we had some of the same interests - TV - and we both liked vanilla ice cream with broken saltine crackers on top! I knew I had met a soulmate !

We were eventually roommates our Jr and part of our Senior years, and have remained friends throughout the years. Even though Kathy stayed in Lafayette, and there were years we didn't talk or see much of each other, we always picked up where we left off when we saw one another.

While I was busy with 3 daughters, Kathy had a very successful teaching career. Our lives merged again 7 or 8 years ago when she began dating a high school friend, Terry, who had lost his first wife to cancer. They are now happily married and living about an hour away from Indy.

Terry is a wonderful man and I am thrilled that they are together. This golden friend surely deserves it! (Now, I wonder if Terry likes vanilla ice cream with saltines???)

"The Bachelor"

I don't know exactly when it happened, I think it was at the end of the season of "The Bachelorette" when Trista choose Ryan. It was at that moment when I became a hopeless reality love show junkie! I was hooked on "For Love or Money," which reminded me of a saying one of my childhood friend's brother told her, "marry for money, love will come later..." as well as "Marry my Dad," or something to that effect, where the children selected a woman to marry their dad, as well as "The Bachelor," and "The Bachelorette." I was there when Andrew Firestone choose Jen, and followed their relationship until their breakup and her subsequent much-touted appearance as "The Bachelorette." Here she had a hand in personally selecting her 25 eligible bachelors, and at the end, didn't choose any of them. Then there was the dashing Vanderbilt Doctor who choose the adorable little teacher, but by the time the last rose was given out, they were already a thing of the past. Of course who could forget the dashing Naval Officer and Gentleman, Andy Baldwin, and his pick, Tessa. Again, a thing of the past.

I thought this season's bachelor, Brad Womack, would be different. He was there to find the love of his life and I thought for sure he had found his soulmate - if even for a few weeks - in Deanna. Alas, it was not meant to be as he picked neither one - Deanna or Jenni - at the final rose ceremony.

Okay... what is up with this??? Could they not just pretend - for the sake of romance - at least until the credits on the final show are over? I mean, this is the modern real-life version of Cinderella. Girl meets her prince, falls in love, and lives happily ever after - or, in this case, until the final rose ceremony.

The Creation of a Fashion Diva

Many kids have favorite clothes they like for one reason or another. Grace is taking that one step further...the other day, I stopped at Keith and Kelly's to drop off a Christmas outfit I had bought for Grace. She was finishing her lunch in her high chair and as I pulled the outfit out of the bag to show Kelly, we heard Grace say, "that's cute! That's cute!" I couldn't believe she was giving a fashion review at 19 months of age. Look out Kelly and Keith...I think you have a baby fashionista on your hands! Here is a picture of Grace, taken today after Clare's Baptism. Of course she is fashionably dressed in an aqua blue velvelteen dress with brown dots and brown trim, white tights, and the perfect little brown ballet flats! Little Clare was cute in her Baptismal Gown - made by her daddy's grandmother for his Baptism 32 years ago. After the ceremony, we had a lovely luncheon at Keith and Kelly's.

A Somewhat Photogenic Family....

Every year we try to get a family picture taken. Usually we go to Target and crowd in their tiny studio for a few minutes of agony. The pictures are okay, but the girls and I have often talked about having some outdoor pictures taken. Of course my family knows we have a lot of "Schenher Talk" = which means we talk about a lot of things and most fail to happen for one reason or another. Anyway, several weeks ago, Kelly mentioned she had found the name of a photographer and had checked out her website. I promised to give her a call and then...you know how it goes...you get busy and forget. The only weekend we could possibly do it was this weekend and calling last Saturday, at the last minute, I wasn't sure if we would find anyone available. Luckily, our photographer had a client cancel that morning, leaving her free most of the day on Saturday. It was a cool, but sunny, day and all 11 of us posed for various pictures. It is so hard to get 7 adults looking the same direction, with their eyes open, etc....yet alone 4 kids age 3 and under! We ended up with some wonderful pictures, taken in our back yard. By the end of our session, Reese was really working the camera! At 3 1/2, she was old enough to follow the photographer's instructions. Next time she might have competition from Grace and Ryan, since they'll be older....

...Then it's Back to the Real World!

Not too long after we returned home from Nashville on Tuesday, grandson Ryan had an allergic reaction to something Kristy was cooking. He has severe food allergies and began having labored breathing. Unfortunately, daddy Joel was in Arizona, so Aunt Holly watched Reese while Kristy ran Ryan to the ER. By the time she arrived, he was sleeping and his breathing was better, so after debating a while, she decided to go back home. I was at their house shortly thereafter and helped get the kiddies ready for bed. I don't know what Kelly and Kristy would do without Aunt Howwa! She always seems to be there to help when needed! Thanks, Holly!

The good news is that Ryan was okay and that Kristy did the right thing by taking him to the ER. Even though she didn't have to take him in, she would have been seconds away from getting medical attention if he had needed it. Kristy - if you think about moving, you might consider moving closer to an ER!

The saga continued the next day with Kelly being really ill with a virus. Thankfully Keith stayed home to help with the kiddies. The day after, both Grace and Clare had fevers and again, Keith was able to come home early and help Kelly take them to the doctor. I had mommy guilt (see, girls, it never goes away) by not going over to help, but we had things going on both days and also, the last time I tried to help, I got sick, too! Anyway, after a day, Kelly was starting to feel better. All just had a virus, and today (Friday) they all seem to be doing better. We have a big weekend - tomorrow we have family pictures taken and then Sunday is Clare's Baptism. We can't afford to be sick!

Getting Away from it All

Monday, Stan and I went to Twin Oaks Lodge in Nashville, IN, for an overnight stay. This was a gift for our Wedding Anniversary (back in May) from our kids, so we decided we had better take them up on it! We really enjoyed our drive down - it was a nice, but windy, day and there were still some trees with color. The lodge is out in the country and was very nice. It is a log cabin and was built especially for the B & B. There were 3 other couples staying at the inn Monday night. One couple was from Toledo, OH, and another from Lexington, KY. We never heard where the other couple came from. If you want to "get away" from it all, I would suggest you give it a try! The setting was nice and there was a nice gathering room with a wonderful fireplace where we visited with the Ohio and Ky people. No TV's - but since we had such a nice time talking to the other guests, we never missed it! Of course, my DVR was set to record "The Bachelor" so I could see who was received roses! Thanks, girls, Keith,and Joel for giving us such a lovely gift!

Shop 'Til You Drop!

This afternoon, my three daughters and grandbaby, Clare, headed to the outlet mall in Edinburgh. Grandpa Stan wins Grandpa of the year for watching Grace from the time we left until her daddy, Keith, got home (about an hour.) Then 3 hours later, Grandpa went to the babysitter, picked up Reese & Ryan, and took them back to Grace's house. Grandpa then watched all 3 little ones for almost 2 hours until we got home! Yeah, Grandpa!!! What a brave guy! (Daddies Keith and Joel are engaged in a competition this weekend - the DeCastleton.) Anyway, it was a lovely day to shop and I think all of us - especially Grandpa - are tired tonight!

Happy Halloween/Birthday

Yes, my birthday is on Halloween and as a kid, it was a magical day for a birthday. A big party every year!!! Once I became a mom, the emphasis was on the kids having a good time. Of course, I manged to sneak a little fun in there, too. Especially when my good friend and neighbor, Dale, brought me a water bottle filled with a special "witches brew" and we would walk around the neighborhood taking our kids Trick-or-Treating. Talk about deseperate housewives!!! We were ahead of our time! Anyway, now the focus is on the grandkiddies-Reese, Ryan, Grace, and baby Clare...