middle child's family

ghost of Christmas past

my mom, me, my dad and brother Christmas about 1959, i think i was about 10 or 11. Mom passed away in 2002 and dad in 2008. This is when there was just 2 kids, after this photo 4 more siblings were born, more on that later. We were at my paternal grandma's house in the city, my dress was blue dotted swiss with velvet trim, just the thing to wear in the winters of the midwest! i don't remember the stuffed animal but it must have been pretty special. Merry Christmas to everyone and Peace to the world.

santa tyson

already for Christmas

becky and family

my daughter and her family, including santa ty

bathtime with the little kids

first birthday

last week was my great niece's first birthday, she is in the pink, and my granddaughter is in the red. This was the first time they have met and they were not quite sure what to make of each other! Christmas is going to be fun this year

Declan

Declan picking up plastic insects with tweezer and putting them in a ice cube tray with his "parents as teachers" teacher. She was testing his fine motor skills. The kids do the "pat" program every three months or so. Miss Melody comes to the house and testing the kids on their skills to make sure they are on target on their development. the best things is the program is free.

laney loo, my little bookworm

thanksgiving

I know this is a little late, but i've been sick

again. Got over the strep throat, felt pretty

good the week of thanksgiving, cooked for the

family, part of the family is above,

did a little Christmas shopping and woke

up Monday morning sick again. Went to the

doctor and was told i had the "seasonal flu"

started taking tamiflu and felt almost

human a few days later. Now i'm

just trying to stay well for

Christmas.

fair trade market

back to posting, have been sick (worst case of strep throat I've ever had) and have been getting ready for thanksgiving, i'm cooking for about 45 people and that is just my immediate family! we have 4 generations in attendance. my daughter and i attended the fair trade market today. this is the second year i've gone, my belly dance troupe is part of the entertainment and it a good way to help third world countries. i brought 2 bars of hand made soap made in Africa: jasmine and rosemary scented. Paula and me; the dancers go out into the audience for some audience participation Nisaa

part of belly dance troupe

To those who served

THANK YOU!

R.I.P Dad

Happy All Hollow's Eve

some postcards

two of my favorite postcards from postcrossings.com. i found this site about 2 months ago and the end results is you send postcards to somewhere in the world and you get postcards from all over the world. i've received postcards from austraila, china, the netherlands, portugal and several other countries. postcrossings makes going to the mailbox fun again!

saturday at the pumpkin patch

company

clean up the house, company's coming!

the awakening (also called the giant)

1980's sculpture by J. Seward Johnson. The piece is 70 feet in length and 17 feet high at its tallest point. Consists of 5 separate pieces an outstretched arm, a hand, a leg, a foot and a head completed with a gnarled beard. it weights 4700 pounds and is made of cast aluminum. The day was dark and rainy, perfect day for a giant waking up!

and another

Tomorrow is my last day of vacation, all my plans washed out by the rain. it has rained all week and has been cold. i was planning to get some yard work done, but instead puttered around the inside of my house. However and there is always a however in life, it was a good time to do some photography.

I walked 3 sides of this barn in the rain and weeds, it was spooky looking and the gray skies didn't help. It looks like the glass left in the window might be old, to me it looks like it has bubbles in it

The much faded red paint and the rusty roof are my favorite elements of this picture

big rigs

my great nephew loves big rigs. this was a bulldozer he was allowed to get in during our county's 200th anniversary picnic

flooded road

this is the street in front of my job on thursday

another

photo from alzheimers memory walk

1/2 of the family at the walk

how tired is tired?

tired enough to fall asleep eating dinner! days are busy when you are almost 3

rain rain go away

it has been raining for 24 hours. this is the street in front of my job. the water was at least 1 1/2 foot high. we got 3-7 inches in the past 24 hours and it is suppose to turn cold in the 30's saturday night. brrrrrrrrrr

fort zumwalt park

C'eol A'laine (beautiful music)Gaelic singer of Irish and Scottish reels, jigs and more accompanied with Celtic harp, Irish whistle, mountain dulcimer and bodhran

fishing lake at the park

rebuilding Zumwalt's fort, where families took shelter during the War of 1812 from Indian raids

September 30

almost sitting up alone

deep in thought

sunday

a bunch of us that worked together over 15 years ago get together every year or two for a reunion. this year we had wind and rain and cool temps. we are going to start holding our reunion every year from now on since we are getting older. didn't have a big turn out this year i think because of the weather. this gentleman came all the way from texas to attend. We were all feeling pretty important until he mentioned that he was on his way to maine for vacation!

last saturday

daughter in law and youngest granddaughter at alzheimers charity walk oldest son, his girlfriend and granddaughter sister in law and youngest great niece daughter and youngest grandson. most of my family did this walk, we raised $1300.00 for the alzheimers society in memory of my dad. we had a great day for a walk, sunny and mild temperatures. we walked 3 miles thru a nearby park and have decided to make it a yearly event. SATURDAY AFTERNOON after the walk went down to the riverfront for the irish festival. this year there was a wedding. young couple met at the the festival last year and decided to get married there this year. love a man in a kilt they had a replica a of thatched roof cottage. the groom and the minister. the groom had the biggest smile all though the ceremony. the bride and her parents. then my camera battery gave out so i didn't get any pictures of the ceremony.