2014 Week 48: Festivities

Christmas decor began to appear this weekend. So far only the "anorexic" tree was trimmed. All other ornaments and seasonal items lay strewn all around me.  I will attempt to ignore the mess and finish this blog post.

 We enjoyed authentic Chinese food at the Monday Night Meal. Nanxin brought a great variety of bags of imported items and cooked everything in a "hot pot." She kept scooping out and passing around all kinds of interesting and very tasty items: beef that looked like bacon; bamboo shoots like white carrots; clear plastic-looking sweet potato noodles; a variety of greens; tofu cubes; dough balls (actually called 'Big Gluten Balls' on the bag!); and oh, so many more. We were well satisfied after that enjoyable culinary experience. Thank you, Nanxin!

This week Mike finally finished the last pour in the long road to repair his sculpture that he has been working on for over a year.

I didn't have to teach all week. Even so time was taken up with people and festivities. . . and a small necessary surgical procedure--a BCC lesion was removed under my right eye Tuesday morning. In the evening at Malachi's 16th birthday celebration, the drooping bandaid was quite obvious.

I had fun taking pictures and talking to family and friends.

Matt & Kayla                                                                         "What's Daddy doing?"

"Nanna loves me."

Baby peers meet. Rebecca Rose is fascinated by the boy her age!

Sam and nephew Ollie                                                                                  Rebecca Rose

Wandering Wheels, a wonderful place for a birthday party and sleepover. Something for everybody: swimming pool; ping-pong, pool tables; fuss ball; even a piano the little cousins can play.

Looks like the babies and little ones took center stage, but really the celebration was about this big guy! Love you, Malachi. We are so proud of you. Hope you had lots of fun with all your friends!

Diane spent three days with us, and on Thanksgiving Day the three of us drove north to Warsaw and had a lovely dinner with Mother and brother Alan's family at my nephew's new place. Thank you, Daniel!

Friday evening we bundled up and drove south to Noblesville where we walked around the Court House square admiring all 20 of Stpehan's ice creations set up by his six-man crew.
Here are only a few of my photos. I like the little girl admiring the train.

And a favorite "Frozen" character (I haven't seen the movie yet) from ones Stephan posted on FB.

Then we watched The Ice Man himself work on a four-block Santa going down the chimney.

We didn't stay till the end so here's Stephan's photo of the final sculpture.

A fun time for all!

Diane's poses

2014 Week 47: Snow, cold, deer, and dear ones

Snow and bitter cold came early. 

 The mourning doves are migrating and this is one of their stops.

Hunting season in full swing. Son Stephan has been out here three times. Saturday, Karen came along and we had a delightful visit and breakfast. That's the day he got his first deer. She says she brought him luck. ;-)

I stole this photo of Rebecca from Facebook, and thought it would be my one blog pic for the week, but there were numerous opportunities later on. Couldn't pass this one up, however, because of her delightful smile and the sparkle in her eyes.

Then, this photo appeared, another 'must-include', this time mostly because of Nanna Leah's smile.

A girl after my own heart--she already likes books!

Us great grands enjoyed plenty of Rebecca-time at Zion's birthday party Saturday.

Jude ran to welcome me and led me to see the birthday cake.
Zion was very excited about everything. Even as a baby he was intense.

Well, Kristie looks a mite intense as she deals with the piñata (smile).

Actually Malachi turned 16 this week but his celebration is planned for next Tuesday.

2014 Week 46: Love of Theatre

I just have to begin this post with a photo of Rebecca wearing the hoodie I knit for her. It is still a little big for her, but as her Mama said, "She just had to wear it." (Was it a weather or fashion-related choice? Her own idea or her mother's?) It is snowing after all!

Matt was away this week on an out-of-state job, so Kayla joined us at Monday meal and Rebecca made the rounds admired by all and had a special bonding time with Aunt Karen and Uncle Stephan. (I think they've decided to dispense with the Great qualifier.)

Tuesday, a day to remember our veterans. . . and friend Trisha's birthday with a Mexican dinner at Mi Pueblo.

For Wednesday Mike had planned a special outing for the two of us--dinner and theatre at Beef & Boards, where we saw Fiddler on the Roof  one of our favorites. We saw it first in German  and I remember listening to the sound track over and over.
Mike also arranged for us to spend the night in Indy so we wouldn't have to drive home so late.
Look at who welcomed us at the hotel?

That same day was The Amazing Taste event at Ball State University. Stephan outdid himself again with yet another ice creation for the occasion. Hmmm. . . I wonder how many years he's been hired to do this? You may remember last year's ice sculpture. One big difference this year is that it was carved in his new shop on his own land. Stephan has worked very hard  moving his entire operation, building a large freezer, and on and on. A couple weeks ago he gladly turned in the keys to the studio he leased for over six years!

This week the window of milder temps was rapidly closing so we hasted to complete any outdoor chores. I trimmed the rose bush and brought in the last roses of summer.

I just had to include this #tbt photo that surfaced on Facebook--Kristie's kindergarten graduation. What is significant is that the little boy in the background to her left, is Sam! We are so grateful that in God's sovereign plan and in His own time and way He brought them together for a beautiful lifetime partnership.

Friday we attended yet another theatre performance--Tartuffe at Taylor University.

Only six more weeks left in 2014 and time to reflect over the year, write a year-end letter, and decide whether to continue Meemaw Moments in 2015 or change my focus to Meemaw Memories, looking back over the many years that lay untouched, archived. What do you think?

2014 Week 45: Baby pics and more

Pleasant week weather-wise and otherwise. Went for a walk one day and sat for a bit by Taylor Lake.

Michael spent hours rewiring and installing the new heat control unit. The old one burned out and we waited  a few days for the new one but the house remained comfortable enough.

After that was fixed, Mike went back to working very diligently on repairing damaged parts of his sculpture and finally was able to pour, hopefully the final time.

Ready to go!                                                               Pour!

Our voting place is only a few blocks from where Kayla and Matt live, so I just had to stop by and hold our sweet great grandbaby!

Thursday was Sam's birthday, and we had found the perfect picture for #tbt (throw back Thursday), his first passport.

Saturday we were at the Matthews Marketplace, annual craft fair.

It is very close to Kayla's house so she and Rebecca came for a visit.

Sunday we got together for Sam's birthday.

But it's possible that Rebecca got more attention than he did!

Karen hinted that most photos are of Rebecca now. So I turned around and took one of her!
I also wanted to show off the pictures we finally hung after  months, maybe years!

Enough baby pics for this week, don't you think?

2014 Week 44

Fall beauty lingers, lovely weather for walks. However, wintry chill is creeping in. We had our first hard frost this week.

On one of those walks I came on the fallen giant from different sides.

Can you see a corner of the house?

Tuesday was Open House for the robotics team, another of many weekly robotics meetings, until build season begins in January.

When my older student walked into my Spanish class, we realized both of us wore Kohl's specials.

Mike has been busy glazing the many new functional pieces getting ready for the craft fair Saturday.

When that was over he went back to repairing the damaged parts of his latest sculpture.
Always watching something of interest on TV. Here he looks up to savor the end of the World Series.

For Thursday's cultural focus on Mexico, I wore the beautiful Mayan terno or huipil, a most generous hand-made gift, cross-stitched by a lovely lady I met. 
The students also enjoyed the photo album of my travels in Yucatán with student groups.

Being Halloween week, I didn't feel as conspicuous walking around in costume.

Friday, October 31st

Our Halloween baby

Both Friday and Saturday, I attended a writer's conference--had a good time with fellow writers, learned a lot, was inspired, and came away with a growing sense of direction. However, I confess I felt like a "radish among redwoods," to quote a friend.

Sunday I represented Mike at the awards ceremony of the Grant County Art Association, and picked up his first place winning sculpture entitled "Abandon" (lower left).

Other good news for Michael is that his pain is lessening and endurance is increasing.