This dad

This dad is awesome and usually has a smile on his face whenever someone mentions his children. He has thought at times that he was an ordinary dad- a guy too busy to spend lots of time with his children. But I have the photos to prove that he had time for beach trips, Seattle trips, Nutcracker performances, lego building, game playing, school field trips, gingerbread construction, model building, camera excursions, basketball playing, music performances, Broadway traveling shows,
pasta making, computer fixing, driving instruction, car repairs, plus much more.

And that smile was there...when his family was young...even though he had just lost his job while I was still in the hospital with Nick.

Although a little crooked-his smile was there on his birthday with some older children in 2007.

And though the family has gotten bigger and you can't see it from this view-it was a smile on his face last Christmas as we shared another tradition of longstanding.
Today he will smile as Amy treats him to lunch at "Miss Delta's" and then a stroll among the shops on Mississippi, as he eats lasagna with the rest of the family and while he plays yet another round of "imagine if" or "Apples to Apples".

and he will continue to smile at every remembrance of how rich his children (all of them) make him....

the not-so-lovelies

or why you should be careful who you give your camera to....

It was the lovely Gabriele's birthday and after a dinner of Lemon Chicken Risotto made by moi, it was present time. I gave Nick the camera or he took it-I'm not sure which. Not necessarily a good move as obvious by the number of not-so-lovely photos. I always show nice ones, but this time I'm going to show you what happens when he is in a mood....

nice

not (well half not)

not

lots of hands showed up

definately not

not

another hand

this one is nice

oh-another nice one

another hand (Gary has the camera this time)

dessert...

definately nice

turnabout is fair play!

the end

the Weather

Today we had our longest period of dry weather in quite awile. I kept saying to myself that I should go out and mow and I actually avoided it until about 3pm...but then I looked out and saw how tall the grass was and gave in. Some places I had to mow twice because the first pass just layed the grass down under the tires.

Then like " When you give a mouse a cookie..." I saw the cedar tree needed trimming. So I got out the trimmer like this one-
and set to work. I'm sure what little I did will cause me to be sore and I know I didn't do it the correct way-but it is better. I saw this little baby online-
maybe I need to see if we can rent one! or better yet pay someone else to do it the correct way...any suggestions??

By the time I got most of the trimming done but not picked up-I had moved onto weeding and then the rain started...
as I write-it is pouring outside. Gary is out with Dr. Nick perusing the art galleries in Portland for their monthly "First Thursday" event. Hope he remembered his umbrella...