Autumn and Herbie

My computer cord was delivered today while I was busy being sneezed on by a bunch of first graders.  Woo hoo!  Now, of all the posts swimming around in my fishbowl of a brain, I felt that Herbie’s fans would most appreciate a post devoted to him.  You’re welcome!

Let’s begin by taking a look at Herbie’s favorite fall flower, the chrysanthemum.

Herbie and I have had many a lively discussion debating the merits of the chrysanthemum vs. the aster, with Herbie stubbornly proclaiming the chrysanthemum’s superiority which  I think, quite frankly, is ridiculous.   I mean, you’d think he’d open his mind for a friendly discussion about bloom time or frost resistance or pollen production, but NOOO, it’s chrysanthemums all the time with him.  It actually gets a little annoying, if you want to know the truth.

When the chrysanthemum discussions get a little old and my head starts to hurt from all the eye rolling I’m doing, I take Herbie outside for a visit to Mr. Skeleton.  That always calms him the heck down!  Herb gets a little freaked out with these visits.  “What’s another nice fall flower Herbie?  That’s right, dude.  The aster.”

Herbie likes pumpkins though!

In fact, he loves pumpkin seeds so much that he usually starts begging to carve the pumpkins in mid-July, but I’m all, “Herbie, why you ackin’ so cra-cra?” and he’s all “If you really loved me you’d do it” then I’m all, “If you really loved me you’d stop pooping every two minutes” and then his shame takes over and he shuts up already about the stinkin’ pumpkin seeds.

Herbie also enjoys climbing amid the autumn foliage!  I bet you didn’t know guinea pigs could climb trees, did you?

He gets so excited that he just keeps climbing and climbing.  One time we had to call the fire department in to get him down, which was really quite embarrassing for everyone involved, especially me.  There were a lot of questions posed regarding my “competency” as a pet owner, but anyone who was really watching would have picked up on Herbie snickering as he sat in the fire fighter’s hat, whispering,  “Chrysanthemums rule” under his breath.  Seriously.  What I put up with.

Herbie is also always up for a good romp in the leaf pile.

In the picture below, Maddie is trying to get him to calm down.  Sometimes he takes leaf throwing a little far and more than one person has ended up in tears over Herbie’s crazed “tornado o’ flaming leaves” as he likes to call it.

“I sorry.  Can I has a pumpkin seed?”

Still, we love our sweet Herbie.  And we wouldn’t trade him for all the asters in the world.

I’m Back---But Not Really

I haven’t been able to blog and it’s been driving me crazy!

Two weeks ago, Maddie and I spent the weekend together at a swim clinic in New Jersey.  She swam and went to lectures with Olympic medalists (really, she did!)  and I hung out with my friend Ellie and the other moms and watched old Mad About You episodes, and went shopping and basically took it easy.  It was awesome!

Then when we got home, I realized I left the cord to my computer on the desk in the hotel room.  Now it’s two weeks later, and I still don’t have it back.  I’ve been waiting impatiently every day for the FedEx man but every day Ralph, Louis, and Demetrius (my Cherry Hill Housekeeping Management Team) let me down.

I have some blogpost ideas in my head.  I took a Fall Photoshoot of Herbie and I have all of our Halloween pictures and October Instagram and I CAN’T USE ANY OF IT! 

Last night Dave suggested I use his computer to update my blog, (and duh, why didn’t I think of that before?) but I can’t include any pictures so mostly you’re just getting this explanation.

And also this bonus photo from 2009 that was on Dave’s computer…

and this one from 2010.

And I hope I’ll be back soon.

Hall of Famer!

On Saturday, we packed up the family, stuck our Redbox movie (Mirror, Mirror) into the car’s DVD player, and headed north to the suburbs of Scranton, for my father-in-law’s induction into his undergrad college’s Athletic Hall of Fame!

The evening began with a cocktail reception.  The kids were thrilled to be given cans of Pepsi, while the grown-ups all enjoyed some wine and got to meet some of Al’s college friends/teammates.  When it was time to find our seats, I realized that all five grandkids had camped themselves out in the first row of the audience.  Dave and I had actually discussed the possibility of not even bringing our kids, as we were worried that a bunch of speeches would be hard for them to sit through, and we didn’t want to mar a lovely evening in any way with wiggles and whispered fighting.  However, we also thought it was important for the kids to see their Papa receive this award, so although they were there, the front row was not where we would have picked to install them.

There were three other inductees, and all three were introduced by someone special to them, and then they themselves also gave a speech.  I’m not kidding you when I tell you how entertaining the speeches were.  I’m not talking fireworks or bells and whistles.  Instead, the presenters and inductees generally gave simple, thankful speeches that even held the attention of an extremely bouncy eight year old.  All of the kids were spellbound, and super well-behaved.

Finally, it was Al’s turn!  (When your last name starts with W, you’re always last.)  He was introduced by his former roommate, who not only gave a glowing introduction, but also shared a story involving “tubbies” that had us in stitches.  I was laughing so hard, I was crying, but I will not repeat the story here, because although Dave’s dad responded to lovely that introduction with humor and grace, I’m not sure he would have actually wanted his audience in on that story.

Here’s the man of the hour:

Can you believe I forgot my camera?  And my phone!  I took this one with Maddie’s iPod, and all pictures that follow are my mother-in-law’s.

Al gave the best speech of the night.  I’m going to steal my brother-in-law Allan’s Facebook status, because he described it best: 

Interesting how different people measure success.
Yesterday as my Dad accepted his induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Keystone College, his remarks were not about his accomplishments. They were about the importance of the people in his life. He honored his own Mom and Dad, who supported his endeavors by sitting through countless games. He highlighted his sweetheart, Julie, who although she could not always attend his games due to the nuns' strict rules about curfew at her nursing school, has seen her undying support since those early days, manifested in the numerous softball games of his that our Mom has attended over the past 40+ years, as well as all the sporting events she attended for their 4 children and now 5 grandchildren. Dad referred to the pride his parents would have with this induction, but also the pride he has that in their place, sitting in the front row, were his four children and five grandchildren.
Dad acknowledged that his athletic achievement was only possible because of the teammates he had, as well as the talents and opportunities God provided for him.

Dad showed us yesterday that success is not trophies nor stats. It's the right priorities of God, family, friends, and hard work. Thanks, Dad, for an amazing life that continues to teach us.

Al  got a huge, well-deserved round of applause.  Here are his “stats” from the program:

1959-60- Never missed a start in the Baseball or Basketball seasons,
Baseball team captain & second base man, guard in basketball, All-East Team in Basketball
1960- College Athlete of the Year
1960-61 -Never missed a start in the Baseball or Basketball seasons,
Team captain in baseball & basketball, All-East Team in Basketball
1961- College Athlete of the Year
1963- graduated Gettysburg College, bachelor’s degree, married Juliana Zelna
1965- graduated Drake University, Master’s degree
1968- graduated University of Vermont, Ph.D. in Biology, began teaching at Lebanon Valley College
2012 -49 years of Marriage
-4 children -5 grandchildren -44 years as professor of Biology at LVC (and counting)

And here are some pictures of the Man of the Hour:

                    Al impressing us with his foul shot, 50 years later.  Also, doesn’t he look like Johnny Carson in the old photo?

Al with his children, from left, Dave, Allan, Mike, Al, and Sue

We are so proud of you, Al!  If there were a Father/Grandfather/Father-in-Law Hall of Fame, no doubt you would have been their first inductee.

Two Recipes and a Craft

Since nobody brought me any Snickerdoodle Brownies, I decided to make some myself.  Who needs you people, really?

The original recipe came from here.

I guess these should really be called Snickerdoodle Blondies since there’s no chocolate in there at all.  Anywho, they came out moist and delicious, and totally reminiscent of a Snickerdoodle cookie (which is one of my favorite childhood cookies).  Here’s the recipe, and it’s still not too late to get back in my good graces by bringing me a few.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2 2/3 c. flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

2 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. butter, softened

2 eggs

1 T. vanilla (this seemed like a lot, I think I only put in a half T.)

2 T. white gran. sugar

2 t. cinnamon

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease a 13x9 pan.  Cream the butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients (though not the last two ingredients), and mix well.  Spread the batter, which will be very thick and dough-like, in your pan.  Mix together the final sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough.  My helper did this step for me. 

Any guesses what his Halloween costume is going to be?

Bake for 25-30 minutes, remove from oven, cool, and cut into squares.

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Moving on to another great Pinterest find, Peanut Butter Nutella Swirl Cookies.

The original recipe came from here.  I would write it down here for you so you wouldn’t need to go some where else for the recipe, but I’m going to send you there, because I kind of enjoyed reading the snarky comments under the recipe.  Apparently, the blogger made the mistake of initially saying “soda” instead of “baking soda” and this caused a minor flurry of alarm and then spurred one commenter (Melissa Burton) to not only clarify what the blogger said, but to tell everyone how unclear the recipe was and say that she had made the blogger’s recipe and improved on it by adding cashews.  Another commenter made a comment like “if anyone thinks they should put actual soda pop in their cookies, they shouldn’t even be baking” or something similar.  Not a huge deal, but still fun reading!

Anyway, get yourself the recipe from there, and read the comments while you’re at it, but know that this recipe is easy peasy, makes about 6 dozen (mine are smaller than hers, I used about 1 T of dough per cookie), and is probably going to be my cookie exchange cookie this year (although I think I’m going to drizzle some chocolate over them to pretty them up for Christmas).

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And last but not least, I found and made a three minute craft on Pinterest and really like how it turned out!  I wish I could tell you what fonts/letter sizes I used, but I can’t remember, and if you do it, I think you’ll have fun playing around with the fonts and finding one you like.


The first two dates are Dave’s and my birthdays, then our wedding date, then the kids’ birthdays.  When I went to the original site to give you the link, I found that the link is no longer available, sorry!  If you are on Pinterest, you can go to my DIY board and see a picture of the original pinner’s project (which looks way better than mine…it’s more like subway art.)  My Pinterest link is over on the right!

Have a great week!

How the Other Half Dines

For years we’ve been dangling a carrot in front of the kids.  For years we’ve told them that when their manners at the dinner table get good enough, we would take them for brunch at The Circular Dining Room in The Hotel Hershey.

For years we did not go.

And although I think Jack still has a way to go, and Ben still needs to remember to not discuss bodily functions at the table, we decided it was time.  The whole week before our reservation, we talked manners.  We talked napkins in our laps, remembering to use please and thank you, appropriate conversations and voice volume, and, for Jack, that sitting on one’s bottom and not head is not just a suggestion, but a must.

We wore our Sunday best and elegantly strolled/tripped into this gorgeous place:

We were seated and Maddie suggested a toast.

Ben ordered hot chocolate at the waitress’s suggestion and deemed it the best hot chocolate ever.  In fact everything was deemed the best ever.  The bacon tasted like real bacon (like the bacon I serve them is fake?), the sausage was juicy and the best ever, the blintzes were amazing, the fruit was the most flavorful, fruity tasting fruit they had ever had.

Their manners were impeccable, and I am not kidding you.  The water server even commented on their manners when each of them gave him a “thank you” after receiving water.

And did I mention the chocolate fountain?

They had large bowls of strawberries, marshmallows, pound cake cubes, and pretzel rods, and although all three kids tried it out, Jack went back three times and even wanted to fill a mug with the chocolate and just drink it (we said no to that one).

                                                                                                         The very picture of elegance, my friends.

Ben’s favorite was the chocolate cream pie…

But Maddie and I love the “Autumn Spice Panna Cotta” the best.  I’d never had panna cotta, but I think it may have kicked aside crème brulee as my favorite dessert!

I took this picture of Dave so you could see the painted ceiling and the gorgeous stained glass windows behind him. 

We had a fabulous meal a a fabulous time together.

I think Jack definitely felt at home here.

Will they have good manners forever now?  Ha!  Don’t make me laugh.  But it’s good to know they can do it when they have to.

Birthday Stuff

Jack’s birthday was yesterday….scroll down and you can read the post I wrote for him on his birthday if you missed it. 

Last year Jack wrote a note for me so I’d know the order of events for his family party.

Thank goodness he was only requiring periods of talking, none of those crazy party games or pinatas.  He wrote another note this year (he will have a friend party later, this note refers to our day at home on his birthday):

No talking this year, just lots of playing, cake baking, present opening and eating.  He knew Dave was taking him for a picnic lunch at the train station (#6), but he didn’t know why:

Maddie and I made him an Edible Arrangement while he was gone!  He asked for one for his birthday, but we talked him out of it, telling him that if we bought him that, he wouldn’t get many other presents.  After he and Dave got back from the train station, Ben rang the doorbell and delivered it to him.  Ours wasn’t nearly as pretty (we have a newfound respect for the Edible Arrangement people), but he loved it anyway.

For dinner he asked for corn dogs, homemade mac and cheese, and canned peaches.  He found a recipe in my cake book for Peaches and Cream cake, and he wanted it to be a tiered cake with green icing.

So after some ear pulling…

And some wishing making…

It was time to blow out those candles!

And eat.

Happy 8th Birthday, Jack!

Birthday Boy

Jack turns 8 today!

                                                     Only minutes old and smiling.

Jack was my quickest delivery…two pushes and hello baby!  I remember crying, “Look at him, Dave!  Just look at him!” over and over, like I had never seen a new baby before.  Those three moments of births I was lucky enough to have are my favorite moments ever.  Hands down.

Can you believe that I didn’t have a camera when he was born?  Me!!!  We think it got thrown away on Ben’s birthday in August because we couldn’t find it after that, and we hadn’t gotten around to getting a new camera by the time Jack was born in October.  My mother-in-law took that photo above for me and the two photos we used for Jack’s birth announcements, so here’s a picture of her to say thank you for being my photographer (She’s holding a fussy Jack with my nephew Tyler).

Eventually we got another camera, and I haven’t stopped taking photos of him since.  Also of Maddie and Ben, but you know I would be lying if I said I take an equal number of photos of the kids.  Since Jack is the baby (and therefore kind of the cutest because of his age-- shhh don’t tell the big kids I said that) and because the big kids always seemed off at school or busy doing big kid things, I have A LOT of pictures of Jack).

                                                                          First try of solid food.  He did NOT like it.

             He had to get used to a lot of kisses, and a little roughness, right from the start.

                                                                        Jack was sick here, with a temperature.

Jack was a very happy baby.  He was also very busy, and once he started walking, around the age of 10 months, there was no stopping him, and he’s still the kid sitting on his head in many pictures, climbing every tree he can find, scaling fences, and generally driving me a little crazy.

Dave and I were in the middle of thinking about having a third baby when Jack decided to surprise us and made his own decision to become a member of the family, and good golly, am I so glad he did.  Jack keeps us laughing, (and never stops talking) and I predict a career in show business (if he can get over his shyness with strangers, that is).

                       Jack was sick on his first birthday.  I made him dig into cake anyway for the photo opp.  Bad mother.

He’s my Sweetheart Wuvvypants and I am so glad he’s mine.  Happy Birthday, to my eight year old baby.