A Bad Week

I’m glad this one’s over.

All but one of Jack’s fish died this week.  After owning a fish tank since last June, Jack is no stranger to fish death.

We have a fish graveyard in the flowerbed behind our house, for goodness sake, with sweet little tombstones marked with the names of Deb, Christopher, Gibby, Mr. Fishy Wishy the First, and Molly Wolfe.

This is an old photo.  All fish mentioned above not yet represented by gravestones.

A few weeks ago Deb died, so we bought Jack a replacement fish, whom he lovingly named Sierra. 

Now we hate that hussy, Sierra, because we think she introduced some bad fish disease to the tank.  It all started with our bala shark, Hagrid.  All of a sudden he got huge, like he seriously grew an inch overnight, and then started doing a crazy swimming dance in the tank.  Mr. Fishy Wishy the Second was next, and he’s the one Jack cried the most over.

Here’s Mr. Fishy Wishy the Second watching an episode of Spongebob on Jack’s iPod:

                                        RIP, Mr. Fishy Wish…you were loved.

Then Sierra died, and Jack was kind of happy.  He hadn’t bonded with her yet, and he feels kind of bitter toward her, as you can imagine.  The only fish left is Alex, our sucker fish.  I actually kind of blame Alex for this whole mess, because, thanks to him and his excellent tank cleaning skills, I haven’t had to clean the tank for awhile, and, quite frankly, I’m worried that that is the reason they all died.  The tank looks great, but it was kind of neglected.  (Shh.  Don’t tell Jack.  I’m letting Sierra take the fall for this one).

On top of all that, my sweet, perfect Aunt Betty died last night.  I’ve mentioned her before, you can read here where I’ve linked any post that’s mentioned her…just keep scrolling down.  Aunt Betty is my mom’s sister.  My parents didn’t go out much when I was little, but when they did, and when we found out the babysitter would be Aunt Betty, I was always so happy!  Aunt Betty didn’t just plop you in front of the t.v. or act annoyed that you were there.  She pulled out the board games and the dress up box and the snacks and we played and ate up a frenzy!  Aunt Betty was the queen of games.  As adults, we all rolled our eyes when she’d get everybody involved in a game (and we rolled our eyes even more while we played because she’d be disorganized and not have everything she’d need or she’d forget the rules).  Every Christmas she’d bring a big basket with her to the Christmas party, and we’d giggle at the selections…some new things (candy bars, sticker packs, socks with labels), but you could tell she was also cleaning out her drawers with a lot of the things in there (half used candles, a  mug from her trip to Canada 20 years ago, socks without labels)!  Parties aren’t going to be the same anymore, I’ll tell you that.

Aunt Betty suffered a stroke in December, from which never really bounced back.  She never went home again, and was never really her old bubbly self again.  She asked often, “Why won’t Jesus just take me to see Henry?”  And now I think she’s probably with Uncle Henry and her granddaughter Katie, and getting the angels all involved in a crazy game, and so, so happy.

We will all miss her so much.

Memory Lane

It’s February.  It snowed again.  Yet another two hour delay (I actually like two hour delays, I wish school always started at 11:00, then I could sleep in more have more time for exercise and dusting).  There’s just not much going on besides the fight breaking out behind me over the t.v. remote, but I’m betting you don’t want to see a picture of that.   Or maybe you do, but that’s totally mean that you would get so much joy from my personal misfortune.

I began blogging about this time two years ago.  I wish I had discovered blogging sooner, not only because it’s a valid reason for turning my back to fights breaking out over remotes, but because I’ve found I really love the creative outlet blogging provides for me.  Also…there are years and years worth of stories stored in my head and photos stored on my computer that will never get an audience. 

Or will they?


Does the fact that the spaghetti is Healthy Harvest cancel out the fact that there is Easy Mac in the cupboard?



Ha!  This is my bratty brother Dave.  He is very cool and plays in a band.  (This was not his best hairstyle ever).  (And his other guitar is nicer).  (I am happy to report I no longer own that chair.)  




This one is from 2008, when Maddie’s feet still didn’t reach the floor.  I’m not sure anymore why she removed her pants to practice .





We felt bad about removing this baby ear of corn from its mama.  Or maybe…just maybe… we saved the world from being taken over and dominated by some crazed mutant corn alien who enslaves us all and forces us to husk and butter all of its mutant corn alien friends who then taunt us with their deliciousness.  

This is why I don’t write fiction, people.




Here’s my mom (on the left) and her big sister, my Aunt Betty.   They are funny together.   Aunt Betty is ten years older than my mom and was her second mother.  My mom slept with Aunt Betty until Aunt Betty got married and moved away when she was 19 (and mom was 9).  They fight like little kids.   Aunt Betty still likes to boss her around, mom bosses her back and tries to prove to Aunt Betty she’s a big girl now and doesn’t need her suggestions.  When I see them together, I’m both glad and sad that I don’t have a sister.





Looking for a Christmas tree.  Like I’m Christopher Columbus. 





Yes.  Jack was just eating dirt.





Can you say “BLACKMAIL”?





As cranky and tired as those baby days made me…pictures like this make me want them back again.



One of my favorite pictures ever.  For multiple reasons.

(Oh my gosh, look at the diaper peeking out of Ben’s Teletubby PJ bottoms.  I just want to pick him up and pat his sweet baby belly and kiss him.)

(Hmm.  I kind of want to do that to Dave too.)



Well, I guess I’ve ignored the t.v. remote business long enough, though now they’ve moved on to fighting over a ball and paddle one of them picked out of the dentist’s reward drawer last week.  No cavities!  Hooray!

P.S.  One of my favorite bloggers, Ally from Today is My Birthday!, lives in Christchurch, NZ.  Luckily, she and her family are fine, but I’m sure Ally will be filling us in on the earthquake details there in the coming weeks. 

Instagram August

I got a new app at the beginning of August and had pictures like this in mind when I added it to my phone…

Pretty cute, huh?  Of course, it wasn’t long until the kids discovered the app and I’ve been finding occasional gems like these in my photo stream:

My parents celebrated their 49th anniversary on August 1st! We stopped out to take them their gift and visit a little bit, and I snapped this shot of them:

Which of course, somebody embellished…

We spent the first week in August at the beach.  Here are some Instagrams that didn’t make my original Cape May posts:

AHEM! Jack Henry Wolfe, get that cigar out of your grandma’s mouth!

Anywho.

After we got back from the beach, we celebrated Ben’s 12th birthday the next day with a pool party.  He had asked for a Butterscotch Krimpet cake, and I couldn’t have asked for an easier cake to make the day after getting back from the beach…

This one’s from my big girl camera (not my phone/Instagram) but I’m going to share it with you anyway because I like it:

The following week, we hosted my mom’s side of the family for a little party.  We missed Aunt Betty at this one,  but my cousin Donna made the homemade peanut butter fudge and onion pretzels that Aunt Betty always brought, which was nice.

I only took one picture with my camera phone…Maddie and my mom.

And…you guessed it…

When we got back from the beach, we (Jack and I) were excited to see our sunflowers finally blooming!  Unfortunately, they are pointing the wrong way, which I’m sure makes my neighbor Elizabeth happy, but is a letdown for our side of the fence (it doesn’t really look it in the picture below, but the fence is just off the photo’s edge and they are looking that way).

                Now, at the end of August…they are looking pretty sad.

I don’t do a lot of Back-to-School shopping in August, because clothes are still geared toward summer, but we do get school supplies and sneaks.  I considered taking out a loan after buying three pairs at once.

Back in July I told my hairdresser that I was thinking about having her take three inches or so off the next time I go.  I am so tired of this bush on my head.  The thing is, when my hair is long, I can at least pull the bush back into a ponytail, and history shows that when I go short, my hair poofs out even more and then I can’t pull it back and I’m miserable.  But I’m sick of it!  Anyway, I was at an in-service and found someone whose hair I really liked (I think she’s part of the administrative support staff at the high school).  So after creepily checking her out for longer than was appropriate, I approached her with a non-creepy (I hoped) smile and told her how much I liked her hair and she said she had just gotten it cut the day before…it had been really long and she just decided to chop it off.  And then I told her how I have this horrible frizzy hair and she said she had horrible frizzy hair and then I (not creepily at all) asked if I could take her picture.  And she let me!  So here’s the picture.  Should I get my hair cut?  Tell me in person or comment!  My next hair appt is in mid-September, and I need to make up my mind!

Poor Dave.  He’s going to weep (inside, of course) when he reads this post.  He’s lived through 15 years of my hair issues.  Buckle your seatbelt, Honey, this ride ain’t over yet.

Herbert and I played a competitive game of Scrabble the day before school started. 

        It doesn’t matter who won.  What’s important is that we had quality time together.

We also went mini-golfing the day before school started and I was reminded once again how much I hate mini golf.  I would seriously just pick up the ball and stick it in the hole if I could (and I did, actually, often scootch it in with my foot when no one was looking).  Anyway, here are my Mini-Golf Ninjas:

And then school started!  Here are my 8th and 6th graders:

And my 3rd grader, all alone on the elementary bus for the first time ever:

They all like school this year (although Ben would rather be home, but will admit he doesn’t hate it.)

Jack’s annual Scout Day at the Palmyra Pool was on Labor Day weekend.  Everyone had fun on the bouncy dives and the water slide.  (Even Dave).

And finally, Herbert:

Happy September from the fanciest guinea pig in the world.

Instagram June

Wow, can you believe it’s almost the Fourth of July?  Our June has just zipped by, thanks to swim/track practices,weekly swim meets, playdates galore, an art camp for Maddie, and just a general feeling of busy-ness.  Our summers are usually very lazy and there’s lots of sleeping in and lolling around like beached whales, but this June has felt rushed.

Here’s what’s been going on.

~Sooo I told you about the goldfish Jack won who promptly bit the dust, which then spurred a trip to That Fish Place down in Lancaster, and after a visit to the guinea pigs and snakes and chameleons, we headed to the fish tanks where Jack picked out some fish and a frog.  We brought them home, got them installed in our old tank, named them (Molly, Gibby, and Mr. Fishy Wishy, also Kermit the Frog), started to bond with them, but within two days Molly and Gibby joined our Lord in His great big fishtank in the sky.  So we headed to stinkin’ Wal-Mart where Jack picked out two Bala Sharks whom we named Christopher and Hagrid. 

Jack loves his fish and frog.  Above he has set up his iPod to play a Spongebob episode to entertain them.  If you look right in front of Patrick, you can see Mr. Fishy Wishy is actually watching the show!

~My friend Sue invited Jack over for some waterslide fun.  Jack had a great time sliding with Sue’s son Erik, and as a bonus, the Google Maps truck drove by while they were on the waterslide, so we are hoping that they will be on Google Maps someday!

~Grandma and Papa Wolfe went to Paris and brought us back a bunch of fahncy French chocolates!  Oooh la la!

~I attended my cousin Diane’s daughter Laura’s bridal shower.  (Say that three times fast!)  We greeted her with these little poppers that shot silver tinsel in the air!  Here’s the lovely Jamae throwing tinsel and sweet Laura cutting her very yummy cake.

The funniest part of the day was when my mom and her sister, my Aunt Betty, got together to pose for a picture.  I took a series of increasingly hilarious shots of them (mostly my mom) arguing as they posed.  Here are just three of them:

“Betty!  You are standing on my foot!  Just smile, you don’t need to kiss me!  OW!  Betty!  Your kiss hurt my ear!”

I finally got a good one of them though:

They love each other, but sometimes you wouldn’t think so.

~When we swim, the kids will always beg Dave, “Throw me, Daddy!”  And if they’re lucky, he will.

And if they’re not paying careful attention, Dave will hurl himself into the pool and make a gigantic splash right on them!

                                                                                             INCOMING!

~Ben signed up to be an altar server at church a few months ago, and he’s been getting pretty good at remembering when to do the different duties involved.  Here he is before mass with Maddie who is helping him tie his belt.  It’s weird the way they do it, and Father had to explain it to me several times before I gave up and handed the job over to Maddie.  Sometimes I worry about my brain.

~Our Ice Cream Tour has been going well.  Mostly.  Well, not really…we’ve been enjoying ice cream a lot, but we seem to be stuck at Rainbow Snow, which really is our favorite ice cream place in the world.  I always get this:

That’s peanut butter soft serve with hot fudge.  And it’s AWESOME.

~We finally went berry picking.  We missed sour cherries and the apricot crop was bad this year so we had to make do with black raspberries.

We ate so many raspberries while we picked we really should have paid extra (but we didn’t).  We made a black raspberry pie with them and it was delicious.  Notice it’s a lattice top pie!  I’ve always been fascinated by lattice top pies and have spent much time over my life gazing at them and trying to figure out how to do it.   I finally googled it and it was disappointingly easy to do.  Here’s where I got my pie recipe and here’s my lattice top link.

~See what I mean?  Busy, busy busy!  But trust me, we’ve still made time for this:

One month down, two to go.

Also, Happy Birthday, America!