wheeee

dan walking heidi's baby around

It was a big, loud party.

Chicken divan:

chicken, approx six breasts, cooked and cut in little pieces
broccoli, two very big frozen bags, boiled for two minutes
cream of chicken soup, four large cans
miracle whip, half the biggest jar
shredded cheddar cheese, 2/3 of the big bag
onion, chopped
curry powder, two containers, probably 4-5 tablespoons.

First cook the chicken and boil the broccoli. Cut up the chicken and put both in a big pan.

Then mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour over the top.

Heat through.

Serve over rice. This much sauce creates the need for 21 cups of rice:

7 cups of rice, 14 cups of water. Cook as usual.

We also had watermelon and a couple salads Heidi made. One was a pasta salad, spicy with chilis from her neighbors, and the other tomatoes and cucumbers with Green Goddess dressing, pretty delicious. My mom brought watermelon and Special K bars with chocolate frosting. (It ended up being a feast.)

So what is it about kids and dirt?


And it was also nice and loud.


opening gifts






Dan and Alicia's dog is a sheltie, and she's crazy about wrapping paper. Lori had a sheltie too who was just this insane about leaves tossed into the air. He'd go nuts as long as we kept tossing them up, exactly like this dog.


Here Little Jay is showing him a book about Marie Curie. Okay, that's a weird book to find on the coffee table.


Lighting the candles--

First, Dan--


Here it's Heidi and her nephews getting ready to blow out candles--




And of course we've got this guy, full of big ideas.


When I told him this wasn't a class on how to scoop ice cream, as a chunk flew backward onto his shirt, he said, yes it was.


All in all, it was the same doggone party we have all the time.

Loud. Messy. Wild.

Today when I talked to my mom, I told her she should bring a dog along if she could find one.

She laughed. The neighbor dog was unavailable. Too bad too because it's a greyhound I see sleeping in the window. Probably it's very fast.

Dan and Heidi, happy birthday. Best wishes for the year ahead and all the years that follow.

We love you so, Mom and Dad

happy birthday, you

Daniel.

I swiped a few pictures from Alicia's facebook page.

Tomorrow, thirty-one years it's been, and you've brought us so much happiness--more than you probably know.

Pretty baby



Beautiful child




Teenager



Man, now a husband and a DAD.

You know, I love a lot of people.

But in the whole world, not a single one more than I love you.

Thanks for being my kid, my son, my friend. This whole family is lucky you're in it. Happy, happy birthday. love, forever and always, Mom

sharing a birthday

Was not easy.

Heidi was born shortly after midnight, so her birthday was the day after Dan's. I think at points he resented it a little.

dan and heidi the week she was born

And then at some point, she resented it back because it's not like she had any choice either.

Here she's confused and mad because it's his turn to blow out candles, not her turn again, and she's not in the mood for explanations either. Plus it's hot, and she's tired. I recognize that nightgown.

Oh yeah, life.

Now they're big and old and nobody cries or storms around, so at least we've got that.

We're doing it again tomorrow night--the chicken divan, the big, fat chocolate cake that they have to share, twenty-seven years of sharing.

Oh, yeah.

We love you two so much. love, Mom and Dad

maria and the money

James, Jay, and Maria, 1997

Yesterday we finally made it to church, and it was a gorgeous morning, big old doors wide open to the breeze, stained glass sparkling in the morning sunshine.

The pastor called the kids to the front for the children's sermon and sat on the steps in front of the altar and showed them an old ratty five dollar bill.

The talked about it for a minute, and then he asked them if they thought a new five dollar bill would be worth more than the tattered one?

They weren't sure.

He told them no. It's not. They're exactly the same because the US government says so. A five dollar bill is always worth five dollars, and that's the truth.

Then he went on, no matter how imperfect or tattered we are, just like that we hold our value with God. Everyone's worth the same, no matter how good or bad, perfect or tattered, nothing can diminish our value either.

Cool analogy. I liked it very much.

And it also reminded me of this old Maria Story:

One morning the kids brought me the pieces of a dollar bill that had been cut up, and I was a little annoyed. "Don't be cutting up money. What are you guys doing?" I put the pieces on the dresser.

In a little while they were back while with bits of a five. That was more obnoxious. "Who is cutting up this money? This cannot happen. What's going on?" I put those pieces on the dresser.

THEN they showed up with bits of a twenty dollar billl, and that's when it was over. "Bring me all those doll purses!" And I started ranting.

I sorted the bills like puzzle pieces and taped them together, trying to see if we had enough to trade in at the bank or not. A dollar, or six dollars, that's annoying, but twenty six dollars? No. "You darn kids. Did you see her doing this?"

We did tape them and they were almost complete. At the bank the next day, I had to tell them, "A really bad baby cut up this money." The lady leaned way forward at the window, peering into the back seat at Miss Maria in her carseat. Then she came back with the new money.

And Pastor Mark is right--even cut up money taped back together still holds its value.

Nice.

With love on a beautiful Monday, Val

friday, yes

p.j. and aunt maria

The whole day was about yes.

p.j. and I went back to bed after she arrived. Within ten minutes she was asleep, and in twelve minutes so was I.

We slept until ten.

Julia was there at eight, poking me in the shoulder, asking when we were going to the park?


"Later. We are sleeping."

At nine, there she was again.

"Julia. We are asleep. We have all day to go to the park. Don't bug us again."

Well, finally at ten I got up and p.j. woke up at 10:30. She wakes up slowly, much groaning and stretching, and I crawled back into the bed and said, "Good morning, Sweetheart."

First time she's done this--she squinted at me, then reached up her arms to hug me around the neck.

Oh, you baby, you.


Then we did get dressed. Sandwiches were made. We went to the park. Alicia called and met us there with b.g. and it was gorgeous at the park, perfect lawn, spraying fountain, cool breeze, hot sun.



There were these kids though, who wanted to pummel Tim. He complained about them a bit, and then I went and sat on the retaining wall to observe.

I'd seen them sock him and hang onto his ankles while he was trying to crawl through the tubes. They were younger and smaller, and if Tim did anything back to them, he'd be the problem.

So I watched.

One of them took a running start, while Tim wasn't looking, and punched him in the stomach with two fists. In my exorcist voice I said, "NO HITTING!" The kid looked at me and I said again, "DO NOT HIT."

He was adorable and blonde, in a royal blue t-shirt. He crawled behind the equipment and peeked at me as though I was scary.

Good Lor-ed. That was the end of the hitting and all trouble.












Here they are with b.g. They were a long time at this spot, looking at little fish and snails.






Look at that grin.


Anyway, this was a gorgeous August day, and after Jay came home, he fetched pizza for the kids and friends here, and he and I went out for dinner. But first we were accidentally dressed alike, orange shirts and greenish khaki shorts. Okay, that's weird.

We're not going as twins. He offered to change, but I did instead, to a pair of black capri pants, patent leather flats, and a pink sleeveless blouse. (Let's see him twin me on that outfit.)

Here are some pictures of the volcano they made in the sandbox, and the costumes they made from a package.








Onward to Saturday. love, Val