At a loss for words

I have two things to admit.  They do not make me proud.

They even confuse me a bit, but here goes.  Healing comes with acceptance and sharing.

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I went for years without eating a Snickers bar.

Because I didn't think I liked nuts in chocolate.

I went all through high school without eating one.  Until I was a senior.  And then I ate one and realized I'd been a fool.  A fool I tell you!

I've been making up for lost time.


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Next, and related to the above.

I went for years without eating my parents' glorious spaghetti sauce.  Oh, I can taste it now.  Savory and fresh, chunky and smooth - just a little bit of fire to keep you coming back for more.

And I rejected it for years in favor of cheese because I didn't think I liked onions.  Well, let's be clear - I didn't like onions, but one day, we were out of cheese.  I remember thinking to myself - come on Mom, how could you do this to me?  You know I don't eat that stuff.  But I grudgingly tried it.  And the same thing happened (although, I'm pretty sure this happened in early middle school).  I realized I'd been a fool.  A fool!


I can't get those years back because I can't find my copy of the recipe.

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Mom?  Dad?  Please, look kindly and mercifully on this, your wayward daughter.  I'd like to come in from the cold and enjoy a feast of thanksgiving.  Give me the recipe again?

I may even share some with my family...  but only if we're out of cheese.

Merry Christmas part II

OK, so I know I'm doing this a bit out of order since I haven't even got the pictures from Christmas up yet, but here are the pictures of MayLee and Alyson in the jammies Gma & Gpa got for them. You'll see in their arms the little bears they also included who are wearing little aprons.  The girls have matching aprons to wear too.  :)

Dose 4 - The Roadtrip within a Roadtrip

In addition to hanging out in town, we decided to go on a mini roadtrip while we were in Topeka.   The girls have never been to the Cosmosphere space center and it's been years and years since we've been.

Before I give you the meat and potatoes though, here are some appetizers.

Grandpa C on a walk with the girls

MayLee playing at Aunt Amy's house

Alyson playing at Aunt Amy's house

MayLee with one of her cousins

Here we go now...


To be honest, we double dipped.  On the way to Hutchinson, we stopped in Abilene to see the Eisenhower Museum.

We waited for a while before our tour of his boyhood home.

At the Cosmosphere, they have an entire HUGE airplane in the lobby.  I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of the whole thing, but here we are at the tip of the airplane. 

It's cool - there are no ropes - you can touch it, take pictures with it...

...or even sit your kids on it.

MayLee is looking at what we soon found to a lunar module.  Pretty cool.

Alyson was kind enough to share her chapstick (tap-stitch) with Grandma C

The girls got to learn about Mars explorers

Aly got to sit in an ejection seat

Grammy, Grandpa C and MayLee next to the Apollo 13 space ship command center.  Uh yeah.  I said the Apollo 13 command center.  The one they made a movie about.

MayLee fell asleep in Grammy's arms

Grammy and MayLee (asleep) in front of a the Lunar Module

We had a blast - an awesome, exhausting and memorable day!  Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Grammy, Grumpy and Aunt Rachel!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you,

For the piano, violin and voice lessons.
The braces.
Buying me those horrible choir dresses and telling me I looked beautiful.
Letting me use your embroidery floss for friendship bracelets.
Tutoring me in math when it probably wasn't fun for you either.
For teaching me how to be kind and how to love myself.

I never realized that you, as parents were and probably are still proud of me - as I am of my girls.

For what it's worth, I'm proud of you too.

I love you.

Mmmm Summer

Looking forward to summer by looking back.

2008 - Grandpa C with Hawaiian Ice at Alyson's first ball game.