Summer memories on this Snowy Day in December

Entry for December 21, 2010...

Tyler watching Daddy play baseball at the Rt. 30 batting cages.

The Blizzard - December 12, 2010

It should be noted that during the most terrifying moments, when it was a complete white-out and/or there was only ice-covered road in front of us, I was NOT taking pictures. Obsessive as I am about the documentation of our experiences (this is the most accurate way of describing my "hobby"!), I could not bring myself to wipe the sweat off my hands long enough to find the "Take Photo" button on my phone. I also do not approve of taking pictures of people stuck in ditches, having just spun out on the ice into the snow-laden banks while the wind comes whipping by sideways at 60+ mph... yeah, that's just not cool. Or the 20-car pileup which caused miles of snarled traffic behind it, causing additional fender-benders and spinning out of cars.



Photo 1: Taken at 2:25 pm... having left Springfield at 12:30pm, this would put us on Route 10, heading East towards Lincoln, IL. Having been turned back at the Veterans Parkway entrance to Rt.55 North, we took the back roads up and over (29 N to 10E to 55N). We found out later that the closure was due to a pileup that included an exploded and burning semi truck. Right.

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Photo #2: Taken at 4:41 pm; this would put us on Rt. 55, somewhere after Bloomington, because we stopped not too much later, at 5:10. This picture makes it look like the semi we were following was FAR ahead of us, but it could only have been 8 to 10 feet at the most - we didn't want to lose his taillights, for fear that a complete white out would come and we wouldn't be able to go OR stop...

Well, the ending to this story is a good one. The kids slept almost the entire trip, so they were not aware of the stress that had taken hold of Matt and Jackie :) We stopped for the night at the Pontiac/Flanagan exit, #197, having driven 5 hours and gone about 70 miles (that's an average of 14 mph!!!!!). The Comfort Inn was luckily also right across from a WalMart! We needed supplies, as Gracie had a fever and Tyler was thirsty (surprised? anyone? That kid drinks more than he eats!) In short, the hotel was a "fun vacation" for the kids, who spent the evening watching Fred Claus and jumping from bed to bed and back again. Some BK dinner and cookies for dessert, and who doesn't like a good blizzard!?!? However... never. again.

Thanks for reading!!
Jackie

Best Pics_2010

If I were to have a "Best Pictures of 2010", the below items would definitely be included... I am working on my masterpiece, the Shutterfly Year In Review photo book, and I am considering making a section of that book just for my most favored pictures from the year. Generally, you will find these in my monthly-produced photo books that reside on the bookshelves, but they are probably enjoyable enough (at least to me!) to print twice. Is there agreement? :-)

The first "photo victim" is a January, 2010 snap of Matt and Gracie in the Bears blanket. Gracie's little face coming out of Matt's midsection is just too funny!! This one also hangs in our upstairs hallway as part of a collage.

Photo #2, from February 18, 2010, is a frozen Tyler snap! The expression on his face is priceless! Tongue sticking out, rosy cheeks, and the floppy hat - he is precious!!

This next one is in March, a freshly-braided Gracie in her favorite purple furry coat, with the requisite "tights and a dress" on with ballet flats... drawing outside with chalk. Her favorite thing to draw is a hopscotch board; I think it is good practice for writing out numbers - sometimes I make her "hop" to the Spanish count too :)

Okay, apparently, I took some really nice pics in April 2010, because I couldn't pick just one... or 2...or 3. I picked 6. yep, 6 - it's my blog, my pictures, and I wanted all 6. :)

Gracie and Tyler in Springfield at Easter - the colors in this one are brilliant, and they could not be any cuter!

Totally random Gracie pic - a gift from Grandma in Springfield turns into *FUN TIMES* with the packaging!!!! She was so proud of her Mickey-hat!

***3 more April pictures from an outing to the "Secret Park": Swingin' Away Gracie, The Case of the Curious Boy, and Fencing Lessons with Sticks!!! Someone please ask Matt how many times he has let his daughter totally nail him with one of those "swords"!!!!!!

May 2010 - EXCITING!!! Another 5 pictures for you (and me!) to enjoy here, and after this I will be taking a day's hiatus to gather my thoughts, my favorite pix, and to do some actual work :-)
Probably one of the absolute, most adorable pictures ever taken of Gracie and Tyler together. Thanks to Snapfish for providing the border of my cell-phone-taken

picture!

Gracie, the ballerina - I love this photo, both because it is B&W, and because of the light and lines created by the studio's big windows.

~nothing more precious than a big sister helping her little brother get his shoes off so that they can go make a crazy mess of themselves in a flooded sand volleyball court!

Quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites of a sleeping Tyler (and trust me, I have too many "sleeping Tyler" pictures!!), this sepia snap portrays my little boy as the angel he is!!

And would any collection be complete without a *FUN TIMES* addition?? Kelly's 21st birthday, picture taken at "Blur" - which, for those uninitiated, is the over-21/Friday-night only - Zero Gravity club.

Well, in case anyone besides me reads this, farewell until tomorrow..or the next day... when I do June - November 2010, Favorite Pix. This was fun!!

Jackie.

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie!!

Happy First Birthday, Charlie Chaplin Magis!!!!!!!!!!!!
( AKA, Feline Escape Artist!!)

Charlie was born, actually, Nov 29, 2009 - and he got a beautiful new collar to celebrate!! Picture of that coming soon - he is so handsome!!

i. am. 30.

Yep, that's me. and he loves me :)

had to post this one, because they are TOO CUTE!!!

And, this one. i love it. he is amazing. matt, are you reading this? :)

Warning: Cute Pictures Below!!!


Gracie absolutely loves this necklace of mine - especially when she is in her jammies! Personally, I think she looks better in it than I do :-)



And, my favorite picture thus far of Tyler - he loves this sleeping spot, and who can resist a little guy with a football????



Yesterday, 9/26, we were just hangin' at home... Gracie wanted to wear her Halloween costume from last year and "play princesses" - so, we did some hair (lots of curls requested), a LITTLE BIT of MOMMY-APPROVED makeup + a beautiful costume = Voila! Princess Gracie!

Tyler is here because he is wearing his new outfit from G&G/Springfield and he looks supercute!! That's Thomas the Train in his hand - he sleeps with that train now (the football didn't last that long!!)

Tyler doing his DaDEEdaDEE song! LMAO!

June 2010 2

Click here to view this photo book larger

New Family Member!!!! (with fur...)

We have adopted a kitten!! He is a male tuxedo (just like our Hershey), just 3 months old, fully clawed, not yet fixed, freshly bathed...and such a good kitty so far. He knows all about the litter box (actually went in it 3 times in the first 15 minutes being home - seemed to be really having fun!), he does the full-body purr like our Hersh, and is so sweet.

If you can't tell, we haven't named him yet...we are going to give it a few days to get to know him and then decide what he should be called. As Hershey couldn't stop giving us sweet kisses when he was a kitten (and continues to do so on a daily basis to Jackie), we named him Hershey Kisses. Similarly, we are sure this new little guy will let us know what he's about, and we can then give him a proper name (Sergeant Pepper is still my vote though I think! For absolutely no reason whatsoever!) Of course, having asked Gracie what his name should be, her vote was for "Baby Hershey"!

This is my 2 little guys in the bathroom this morning, just playing while Mommy got ready for work. You can see that the kitten is still pretty sleepy, but he didn't want to miss the all the fun going on! Hershey, who is my companion every morning, did not initially take too well to the newcomers, and hissed a bit at the baby cat. I explained that this was HIS baby, and to be nice. :)

Checking out the view from his food and water bowls....he is so small!!!!

Baby cat got himself acquainted with the house pretty quickly, and is extremely comfortable around both kids. He was running circles around Gracie on the couch - she was thrilled!!!

And, last but not least, here is Ty and baby cat this morning again. I just thought I could get a better picture of his face if I held him up. He looks mad in the pic, but he was purring and having a great time with Tyler. Welcome new kitty!!!!!!!!!!



Okay, I decided to bring over the pictures that were sent to me from the girl I got the kitten from - here you can see his face and tuxedo markings much better. What a sweet boy!! :)