Poor Bridgie

Bridget suddenly realizes she is eating supper with parents in matching shirts.

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

BFF's Laughing in the Rain on Prom Night

These always make me laugh...

Greetings from the King & Queen of Smilde

May 2003

This is just to ease the letdown of the Monday after Valentine's Day. I love the green in this one!!!

The Conjugation Ship

Leo needs attention as Maria conjugates Spanish verbs in preparation for her last final exam which was yesterday.

This is So Exciting!

A couple of years ago, this picture of me eating a donut at the Brian Diemer Americam 5K was in their brochure. This year, I saw it featured on a billboard! For the story behind it, click here.

Leo Says

Dogs have owners, Cats have staff.

Cathy and the Crow

At Emily's 13th birthday party, Cathy had a little run-in with a big black crow and it got stuck in her hair!


Entertainment provided by Cathy, October 10, 2008

Yet Another Post About Leaves

The other day, Sharon & I were walking outside on a leaf-strewn path and we saw the biggest leaves ever. Look at them!

Since I knew that wouldn't do much for you, I had Leo model with one for you.

Humor in the Ugly, Part 3

Old Mum still enjoys the fall color. For Mum's background, click here.

Black and White Thinking

Leo looking good in Black and White

Calvin: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn't they have color film back then?
Dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It's just the world was black and white then.
Calvin: Really?
Dad: Yep. The world didn't turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Calvin: That's really weird.
Dad: Well, truth is stranger than fiction.
Calvin: But then why are old paintings in color?! If their world was black and white, wouldn't artists have painted it that way?
Dad: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Calvin: But... but how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn't their paints have been shades of gray back then?
Dad: Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the '30s.
Calvin: So why didn't old black and white photos turn color too?
Dad: Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?
- Calvin & Hobbes

Humor in the Ugly, Part 2

We were having a lovely Sunday lunch out on our deck next to the mums yesterday when the subject of their prolonged existence came up.

John: I could probably get a few days off work if I tell them my Mum died.
Maria: She died because Poppy wasn't with her.

Maybe I should go throw them away now.

Humor in the Ugly

Remember the beautiful mums that John planted on Labor Day? They never recovered after a solid week of September rain (see above) The other night at supper, I was wondering why they were still out on the deck.

Me: Why are those flowers on the deck still there?

The ever-funny John to his daughters: Those flowers are making Mum mad.

He's still the funniest guy I know.

Some Things I Love About Our Church

So we had a Potluck yesterday, but it had a twist to it. We all had to bring a sack lunch, put it on the table and pick another sack lunch. The thought of it wasn't that appealing - we all know how I feel about packing lunches. But I packed 4 good lunches and participated in the event with our family. (Edward even showed up!)

The lunch I chose had a toaster in it! The lunch was imaginitively prepared by Gracie and included a placemat, napkins and everything to make a BLT! It was wonderful. Thanks Gracie!

Betty & Wilma, the church ladies

After lunch, I was walking around with my camera trying to take photos of some props for the church website. I talked to Cathy who is recovering nicely from her back surgery. It went like this:

Me: I didn't know you really had a leopard dress.

Cathy: This is my Wilma Flintstone dress.

Me: Oh yeah, I need some pictures of it, ok? (she forgot about this bloggy thing)

Since we couldn't find a big beaded necklace, Cathy, I mean Wilma, found some Blow Pops to stick in her dress. See? You probably thought that that was a necklace. Our friend Julie was looking so much like Betty Rubble that she decided also to pose, and her son Josiah was the perfect Bam Bam.

Wilma and Betty look on while Bam Bam thinks about bamming on the Jimbay.

Big Sandbox

Last weekend, nephew Brian was so intoxicated by the beauty of the sand and water that he fell over the sand dune cliff.



Maria, Bridget, and Uncle John were dispatched to help him up. I calmly stood by to take photos.



Not to worry - John rescued him and it made for some good photographs.

Look Here People

Sister Mary and niece Tiffany look stunning in red.

Matching Shirts

Years ago, we went on vacation and I had gotten matching turquoise shirts for the whole family so we could easily identify one another. The family gave me a hard time, but we had many fond memories from that trip.

Imagine my excitement last Sunday when there we were wearing our matching MCC shirts and there was a photographer there ready to take our photo! It was exciting except for the fact that Maria wasn't with us. We were thinking of her while it was taken though! Hi Maria!

Photo by K. Reed

Cape Hatteras Misadventure

One day last week when we were at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, John and Maria set out on a small adventure to Cape Hatteras to see the famed lighthouse. As you can see, Maria was quite pleased to see it and pose in front of it.

As John was fiddling with the camera (pulling a Judy), Maria grew tired and began to rest on the lighthouse. Suddenly, it tipped over.

Not to fear. Maria picked it up and put it back in place. No one even noticed.

Oh, and then, on the way back from the Cape, John got a $170 traffic ticket for passing in the right lane. This was the real misadventure.

American Idol Funnies by John

This quote was from John while he was discussing with the girls next week's show-down between the Davids:

"Why archuletting me make a prediction about who's cooking up a big win next week?

Guest Blogger Day: Bridget

I'm helping out my mom today!!! She said i could clean the bathrooms or do her blog...so i chose the blog. Duh. She picked out a couple of pictures of me and my friend Jessica. ( not very good ones though)

What is Truth?

I actually remembered when I woke up yesterday that it was April Fool's Day so I was on guard and it was working out good for me. John told Bridget she could go back to bed because school was cancelled and I quick blurted "April Fool's" because I don't like to see people be disappointed.

Bridget came home from school at 3:35pm and excitedly told me about all the jokes that were made in school that day in the name of April 1. I was amused. The truth is, on this day, watch out or you'll be fooled.

Oh, remember that picture of me eating a donut that was in the Brian Diemer 5K brochure? Today a friend wrote to tell me it is on their website this year. I thought this was pretty cool so I sent the link to John. He called me later in the afternoon to tell me he also saw the picture on a billboard on 68th street on the way to work. I was so excited at the thought of a bigger than life picture of me out there - I don't know why, I just thought it would be funny. He told me it was that billboard by the railroad tracks and I couldn't picture it, so he said it was that one that says April Billboards at the bottom, so I said what side of the road is it on, and he said you see it when you're driving TO school. I was all, why do they like that picture so much??? I still couldn't picture where the billboard was, so he told me it's the one that says www.aprilfools.com. I finally got it.