The Many Faces of Jon

The first quarter of every year is crazy busy for most accountants. In extreme cases they may get to see their families for only minutes a day. This was the case with Rick and his family in February. During one such week when he was working a 7-day stretch, and logging about 19 hours a day, Elizabeth and Jon decided to come for a visit. What a joy it was to have them with us. We felt a bit guilty knowing that Rick was working so hard, but that didn't dampen our fun, and we had great time crafting, and shopping and just catching up. Elizabeth is such a delight.

By far the most fun we had was just enjoying the antics of our little Jon. I discovered a couple of things about him.

1. Jon finds cameras irresistible. All I had to do was pull out my camera, and he was like a moth to a flame. He immediately had his face in front of my lens trying out all sorts of expressions. You have to look far and wide to find a bigger ham.

2. Jon loves TV. As you can see he loves to watch it standing up, and appears mesmerized by the antics on the screen. That's because he is watching one of his favorites.

After watching for a bit, he expresses his delight in the show by breaking out in a little happy dance.

What is Jon watching that makes him so happy? Why it"s "Little Bill", of course.

Oh how we miss our little Jon.

Luke's Birthday "Miracle"

Our little Luke had a birthday, and we celebrated with a rousing family party. Everyone had a great time--everyone, that is, except for Luke.

He spent much of the party asleep on the family room floor accompanied by his big birthday bunny. Meanwhile, the party went on.

Luke finally awoke in time for the breaking of the pinata. Try as we may, we could not convince him to participate. He buried his head into his mom's shoulder refusing to even watch the fun. But there was no shortage of eager kids that were willing to do their part to pulverize the pinata.

But when it came time to enjoy the fruits (candies) of their labors, suddenly Luke was eager to take part.


He was especially obliging when it came to opening his birthday presents.


But his attitude suddenly turned sour when all eyes were on him, and everyone was anxiously waiting for him to blow out his birthday candle. He flatly and unabashedly refused.


Everyone tried to reason with him, but he turned away, seemingly not the least bit interested
in those yummy cupcakes.


The more we talked, the more sour his expression, and the more he refused.


At this point, the situation was getting serious.
"Please, Lukie, please!"

Nope! Luke buried his head in his hands, unmoved and unyielding.

Just when we were about to give up hope, the candle suddenly and mysteriously went out, and everyone cheered!
* * * IT WAS A MIRACLE! * * *
(insert MOTAB singing "Hallelujah Chorus")

Just as suddenly, our Lukie was smiling again, and more than happy to lick the frosting off of the flameless candle and devour his cupcake.
And so the evening ended on a happy note, saved by a miracle.

BTW: Our Luke turned 3--can you tell?

No Harm--No "Fowl"

Late this afternoon, when I was coming downstairs to start dinner, I noticed something moving among my plants on the ledge high above my dining room. I was immediately struck with terror because my first thought was--MICE!! WE HAVE MICE!!!!!! But, when the critter took to the air, I realized it was not a mouse, but... a bird! (I don't know why, but the thought that a bird was loose in my house was much more tolerable than the thought of a vile little mouse scurry around on my ledge.) Now, this isn't the first time I had seen wild birds flying loose in a building. On occasion I have seen them flying above us in Costco's huge hangar-like structure, but I had never seen one in my house, or anyone else's for that matter. What a phenomenon, I thought--but, then I remembered when my mother's home was invaded by a much bigger bird, and the occasion was accompanied by a bit more violence.

Mom's kitchen sink was in front of a window that looked out onto the street. On this particular day, she was busy doing dishes and looking out the window. She dropped something on the floor, and bent over to pick it up. Just then an object came flying through her window at high speed shattering the glass above her, and landed with a thud on the opposite side of the room. At first she thought someone had thrown a rock through the window, but she turned around she saw a pigeon lying motionless on the floor. She was astounded. How could a bird fly fast enough to break the glass with such force? She picked up the bird, and carried it out to her patio intending to give it a respectable burial after she cleaned up all the glass. A few minutes later when she peeked out, the bird was gone. It was evidently a tough old bird that survived the blow. Now, that was a phenomenon!

So what did we do to free the poor bird? The first thing I said to my husband was, "Grab the butterfly net and see if we can catch it!" But, silly me--we don't even have a butterfly net. Hmmmm. What could we do? My clever husband suggested that we turn off all the lights in the house and open the doors so it could fly to the light. We did just that, and the bird flew into the kitchen and smacked into the window, then flopped around a bit dazed. Dick hurriedly took off the window screen, and then we basically herded the little thing out the window to freedom.

So, unlike the bird invasion at my mother's home, there was no damage to the house (not even a birdie dropping), and no injury to the bird. As they say, "No harm--no fowl".

One More Down!

Just found out today that Rick passed the law exam which is the third out of four exams he needs to get his CPA. The coveted CPA is very close now. As soon as busy tax season is over, he will take number 4. Good Job Rick! We knew you could do it.

"Car Fights"-- Remedy for a Bad Day

Beginning of a Bad Day:
Yesterday I was tending Shelly's youngest while she and Dylan made the long trek to Loma Linda to the doctor. At the same time, Caleb had the opportunity to go the McCallum Theater on a very much anticpated field trip with his kindergarten class. There they saw some sort of production about a frog princess. When I picked him up from school I couldn't wait to ask him all about it. When I did, his reply surprised me, he said, "It was stupid and boring!" Oops! I wasn't expecting that reaction. I guess if a little 5-yr-old goes on a much anticipated field trip and comes home complaining that it was stupid and boring, then it must have been REALLY bad.
But then, on the other hand, considering his choice in TV shows, the play was probably REALLY good. (I don't have too much faith in a 5-yr-old's taste in entertainment)

The Remedy:
Caleb had inherited a box of Matchbox cars, and he approached me with the box and a request. Because he had a "stupid, boring" morning, he asked me to make him feel better by playing "car fights" with him. Of course I wanted nothing more than to have a contented boy on my hands, so I was more than happy to oblige him. Well the car fights began, the battle raged on, and in the end all my cars died, and Caleb declared himself the winner. The champion was at last happy, and the "stupid, boring" day was saved.

Milestones

Riddle: What do baby girls, walnuts, and PICC lines have in common?
Answer: They are all milestones. February 5 was a day of milestones for three of my children.

Ricky: Elizabeth, Rick's beautiful wife, had a sonogram today which revealed that she was carrying a baby girl! Our Jon will have a little sister and will become him a big brother. This sweet baby girl will be number 18 in our official grandchildren count. The score: Boys-11, Girls-7. She is coming in June, and all of us are very excited to get her here. Hurrah for our new baby girl!

Mindy: Mindy's little Zach has allergies to eggs and dog dander. When he is exposed to those allergens his skin breaks out into a very uncomfortable rash. A few days ago he was snacking on trail mix in the car. When she looked at him the side of his face was swollen! So she took the mix away from him and today tested him piece by piece to find which little tidbit was the culprit. Ah ha! It was the lowly walnut that caused him the problems. The list of no nos is growing: No dogs, no eggs, and now no walnuts in the house. Hopefully this will be the last addition to the list. That is a great discovery. Now she will be able to control his environment better. Maybe now his skin will clear up and he won't suffer any longer. Down with walnuts!

Shelly: Today Dylan's doctor gave them the great news that he no longer has to be hooked up to that old ball and chain--the PICC line. He had the great pleasure of pulling it out himself. It has been 10 long weeks since he left the hospital and had to stay plugged in. Shelly and Dylan called on their way home from the doctor to share the news, and I could hear the ecstasy in both of their voices. Dylan can go to school, swim, spar, jump on the trampoline, fight with his brothers, clean his room, and do all the fun and not-so-fun stuff boys do. Yes, he can be Dylan again. Shelly can sleep all night, swim, and get her refrigerator back. A celebration is in order!

Dining at Diane's

Dinner at Diane's...

Ah, the very words make one salivate and conjure up visions of delectable gastronomic delights. We had the pleasure of breaking our fast at Diane's on Sunday. We have a family tradition of breaking fast with Lisa, Ossil and family, which includes Diane, better known as Aunt Diane. Diane is a talented and lovely lady that we have come to consider family.

The ambiance was wonderful. We had dinner on her patio by a crackling, inviting fire. The conversaton was, of course, absolutely brilliant considering who was in attendance. The kids were inside eating their chicken nuggets and fries. They were as happy as clams, and oblivious to the delights we were consuming, especially little Ayden who spent most of the night curled up in a chair by the fire sleeping contentedly.

We began with a cream of carrot soup (that was to die for), and flaky and melt-in-the-mouth rolls. A green salad, fresh from Lisa's garden, was next, followed by a citrus sorbet which served as a "palate cleanser" designed to ready our taste buds for the entree. The entree was roasted chicken with rice pilaf, green beans and, of course, our Signs family, traditional have-to-have-every-Sunday jello (my contribution to this dinner). We topped off the dinner with a dessert of brownies a la mode, yum yum!

Oh, Diane--chef extraordinaire--you've done it again.