Congrats Abbi & Andre!

One of my IU girlfriends got married Saturday in Indy. Abbi and Andre were married in the Capitol Building which was a very beautiful and unique venue. Cocktail hour and the reception immediately followed at the Artsgarden which is a seven-story glass enclosed structure located above the intersection of Illinois & Washington streets.

The happy couple, Andre & Abbi

Our group, front: Matt, Tara, Kelly, Darren; back: Jan, Michelle S, Michelle K

The girls: Caroline, Michelle K, Michelle S, Tara & Kelly

Matt & I on a much deserved night out away from the new home construction and the girls

If I remember correctly, Matt and/or Darren or both, trying to be funny told Jan, our German friend, that it is US custom to take the large slotted box. If he took it outside, they would meet him. Taking the cash, while giving him all the checks. Looks like Jan got busted :)

Eleanor Goes Campin'

Over the weekend, Matt and I went to my friend Abbi's wedding in Indy so Eleanor went camping with Grandpa Buddy & Jaja (and crew) at Potato Creek. She seemed to have a great time, especially with her friend Brody! I hope someone will send me pictures soon to post. All I have is her pre-campin' picture.She was very excited, as you can see in her picture. Aunt Jennifer just gave her the new rolling Barbie bag which came in handy.

More pictures to come...

Eleanor & her friend Brody enjoying a nice lunch of turkey, grapes, and cheese.

Looks like the paparazzi found Eleanor despite the remote locale and the big shades

Eleanor's Picnic

After work & daycare the other day, I let Eleanor play outside. When I went out to check on her, this is what I found.

If you look closely, you can see each plate, dish, utensil, etc is lined up in a perfect serpentine. Quite strange. I mentioned this to Matt and he seems to think she gets it from me. Something about being meticulous on where things go, etc.

When I asked what she was doing, she replied, 'Having a picnic." Of course!

Eleanor and Casey - her favorite baby

Eleanor is getting great on her trike - peddling and steering, the whole bit. As you can see, she even takes Casey for rides :)

The Proof is in the Pudding

McCain and Palin killed themselves last night. Thanks mainly to Katie Couric, it was a day when the industry did its job well and served the voters of a troubled nation with a revealing look at two if its candidates. Like her or not, Couric performed her job (unlike the McCain's advisors who recommended her in the first place) and asked the tough questions that needed to be asked of a person who could be our next veep. If people think Couric was tough, wait until Biden gets a hold of her. McCain advisors have to be crapping their pants.

COURIC: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

PALIN: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie--that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

COURIC: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

PALIN: He's also known as the maverick though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about--the need to reform government.

COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

PALIN: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.

View the complete transcript. I will say, I feel sorry for Palin. She's had so much information thrown at her in the past 3 weeks. And you know she was flattered to be asked to join McCain on the Republican ticket, but you have to know your limits. It's like joining the swim team and not knowing how to swim.

Then comes David Letterman who is down-right hilarious after McCain snubbed him. Letterman tells audience that McCain called him today to tell him he had to rush back to DC to deal with the economy.

Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

NOTE: Sorry, I had to get that off my chest. In the future, I will go back to using my blog for posting about my family. Mainly Eleanor and Carolyn!

IU Girls 30th @ Cottage

I just returned from a fabulous weekend with my best college gals. We met up at the Streidl cottage in Allegan. My only complaint was there just wasn't enough time. Besides all the talking and catching up we did, here are our highlights:

The was absolutely no shortage of food. We could have stayed the entire week with the amount of food we brought for a day and a half. I told

We toured Lake Sixteen in the canoe and paddle boat. The weather was absolutely perfect!

If you're going to get together with girls you don't see often, what better place to chit-chat than around a campfire. I tried to get the fire going and wasn't having great success so I ran back for more newspaper. This is what I found when I returned: Jen ecstatic with herself for getting the fire going. Her response when I asked her how she got it blazing, "I just blew on it. I don't know, I saw it in a movie. Plus I was an Indian Princess when I was little" :)

The most exciting part of the weekend for Kristy - roasting marshmallows!!! She's got skill too. Nicely browned, not burned.

Michelle, heavy with child, is expecting baby #1! Here she is holding the card I slaved over for her. No pressure Michelle, but I too think you need to scrapbook and that card better make it in there!

All us girls! Love you, can't wait to do it again!!!

For more information on our weekend, see Kristy's blog (she's a much better writer than I).

Mike Young Recipient of Al Bush Award

My father-in-law, Mike Young, was honor Friday night during the halftime of Buchanan's football game. Mike is one of two recipients of this years Al Bush award.

The award honors individuals for past and continuing service to prep athletics as a coach, administrator, official, trainer, doctor or member of the media. The award was developed to bring recognition to men and women who are giving and serving without a lot of attention. This is the 16th year of the award, with the selections being made by the MHSAA's Representative Council.

Per the MHSAA newsletter:

Michael Young: Serving three schools in his career, with 32 of those 37 years at Buchanan, Young was a teacher-coach, athletic administrator and assistant principal. After his graduation from college in 1968, he spent four years each at St. Johns High School and Colon High School where he taught and coached. At Colon, he was the head coach in football and track, and he held the same roles at Buchanan – coaching football for eight seasons and track for four. He assumed the dual role of assistant principal and athletic director in 1984, working in both roles until 2001, when his athletic responsibilities shifted to a game management position. He retired in 2005.

As an athletic administrator, Young hosted numerous MHSAA and Lakeland Conference tournaments. He was twice honored as a coach of the year, and also won teacher of the year honors. The South Bend Classic Track Meet bestowed a service awards upon him in 2002. In the community, Young participated in a Neighborhood Watch Public Task Force, and in lay positions at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University. He was nominated for the Bush Award by the Lakeland Conference.

"Michael Young is a great role model for anyone wanting to become involved in high schools sports," said Roberts. "He enjoyed working with young people, providing participation opportunities for them, guiding them in the way they should go and then delighting in their success. He is regarded as a loyal leader, and respected for his expertise and his integrity. We are pleased to honor him with the Bush Award."

Congratulations Mike! We don't know of anyone more deserving!!!

Register To Vote

Remember that the last day to register to vote is October 6th! If you're not already registered, get on it.

"But the right to vote is conferred upon our citizens not only that they may exercise it for their own benefit, but in order that they may exercise it also for the benefit of others. Persons who have the right to vote are trustees for the benefit of their country and their countrymen. They have no right to say they do not care. They must care! They have no right to say that whatever the result of the election they can get along. They must remember that their country and their countrymen cannot get along, cannot remain sound, cannot preserve its institutions, cannot protect its citizens, cannot maintain its place in the world, unless those who have the right to vote do sustain and do guide the course of public affairs by the thoughtful exercise of that right on election day. They do not hold a mere privilege to be exercised or not, as passing fancy may move them. They are charged with a great trust, one of the most important and most solemn which can be given into the keeping of an American citizen. It should be discharged thoughtfully and seriously, in accordance with its vast importance." - Calvin Coolidge

YES WE CAN!

Kodak Moment - from July

I was just looking through some pictures and came across these. I had the intention of posting them back in July, but for some reason never got it blogged.

So the story goes...

It was a warm day in July so I bought a little pool for Eleanor. We got it all set up and filled it with water. Eleanor immediately wanted to go in. As I went inside for her swimsuit, I realized that I had just put both her suits in the wash. I asked her if she wanted to swim naked and she said she did. Hey, the pool's in the backyard and she's two.

She started swimming, so I took the opportunity to clean-up the garage. She saw me putting away her life vest and wanted it. So she played in 6 inches of water, naked, with a life vest. It was definitely a Kodak moment.

Break Out the Jeans!

We're beginning to get some cooler weather lately. The mornings have been crisp with highs in the low 70s and the evenings cooling off again. Yesterday, we broke out the jeans and the girls looked so cute, I had to get their picture.
It was a perfect evening for high school football, so we put on long sleeves and went to Buchanan's first home game. Eleanor saw a bunch of her friends and had a great time climbing around the bleachers. Carolyn sat contently through part of half-time (we got there late) and most of the 3rd quarter. That's when she let us know that she'd had enough. It's nice that we're just a block away, so I could walk home with Carolyn and Matt and Eleanor could stay and watch the rest of the game.

Slide Sprinkler

We enjoyed our long Labor Day weekend by playing outside as much as possible. On Monday, we set up the sprinkler at the bottom of the slide and Eleanor had a blast sliding down, jumping over the sprinkler, then running to me to towel her off before she went down the slide again!

Do You Like My Hat

Remember that Dr. Suess book, Go! Dog! Go! where the girl dog keeps asking the boy dog if he likes her hat. He always says no, until the end when she has on the big crazy hat. Eleanor's balloon hat from The Old Mill Festival reminds me of that big crazy hat the boy dog finally says he likes.

We had a good time during the Old Mill Festival. They had some kiddie games that Eleanor played. Here she is doing the bean bag toss. She went 1 for 3, not bad! More impressive than that was the skill she displayed during Bozo Buckets, when she sank the ping pong ball in buckets 1, 2, & 3! The parents watching were impressed and started cheering for her :)

After the games, we took a few laps in the go-cart. Eleanor loved it and I was happy that being the smaller of the two parents, I got to drive her around in it. I had been watching the kids driving somewhat slowly, so I was surprised to find out the speed it had!

The Girl Loves Shoes

Eleanor loves trying on my shoes. She'll pull out every pair in my closet, put one pair on, come out and say "Mama, look", and we both crack-up. Then she'll run back, try on another pair, and continue modeling each pair, making us both crack-up each time.

Here she is in pink heels. It's actually quite impressive how well she walks in them.

She can even do tricks in them...

Eleanor Reading

My sister bought Eleanor a book called What's Up Duck for her 2nd birthday. It's a cute book with nice illustrations displaying opposites. We've read it a handful of times, then one day I asked Eleanor to read it. I'd say the word on the first page and she'd say the opposite word on the 2nd page. She did great and before long, she could 'read' without help. I know she's not actually 'reading', but she's able to know what each picture means by looking at it and the opposite picture.

Today she read the book to Carolyn (and some unknown person on the phone).