Friday Night Frights

The final leaves are slowly drifting to the ground, and the creaky old door of October 2010 is closing. This has been a very busy month full of weddings, travel, visitors, and parties...but it's been a lot of fun too. I hated to see it end without one more haunting. Almost every year a group from some organization in town will do a fund raiser at the fireman's cabin. It's back a long lane into a wooded area, perfect for a haunted trail. Last year I took Driana and a friend and we had a blast. This year I put the invite out again and my other Grandkiddo Summer, a friend of hers and Driana decided to go with me. Not only did we help the fire dept., and 4H to earn some funds, I had a great time with these cuties.. It wasn't quite as scary as last year, but they did their fair share of screaming. The temps were in the 30's, so it was chilly. A warming fire was set up in a couple of places, and we were not cold at all. A hay wagon picked us up in a parking lot near by and drove us over and through the woods to a place that was certainly not Grandmother's house!

Ok ladies, lets get this spookfest on the road...or the hay wagon I should say!
I do believe that would be Hogwart and a witch friend that flew in to give us the rules of the woods. They forgot to mention no pics. After I blinded a few of the workers later on, they asked me to stop. Opppsss...sorry!

Geezzzzz, quit monkeying around!

There had to be aleast one "sweet and cute" spot to give you a breather, and my ears a rest from the screams of my little friends.

Let me out of here! Sorry Bub, you're on your own because we are so "out of here"!

Hello ladies. The spooksters loved having cute, young girls screaming their heads off. They went after them and left us old, ugly chicks alone!

After all the screaming they did, a snack was definitely in order. Thankfully, the vendors had some yummy chicken sandwiches, hot drinks as well as cold pop and chips. The fire felt wonderful as we waited for the hay wagon to come and take us back.

Ok girls, Friday night frights is over and it's time to put a lid on October, Halloween and spooky stories. Driana did offer me this last invite however: "YaYa, have you ever seen the movie "Pet Cemetery"? We're going to watch it when we get home, you can join us if you want." Me: "Hmmm, no I've never seen it, and I just remembered something I really, really need to do. So you all go and enjoy it!"

A Very Scary Thought

This is a haunting story...it starts out one day in the not so distant past...Me:"I'm thinking about maybe doing a Halloween party this year"...silence.
Me:"I'm really thinking this is the year for another Halloween party..we didn't do one last year...remember?"...sound of Jack slumping in his chair, looking the other direction, hoping I will just go away. Me:"Yup, I'm definitely doing a party and you are invited along with 100 million of our closest friends and all our relatives." You probably know this, but eye rolling and lips pursing don't make any sound. But Jack, (God love him) pitched in and along with family and friends made this year's party a huge success. We changed things a bit as far as how we set it up and it flowed great, had many, many attendees, and much, much food, and best of all, tons of fun and laughter. The night had food set up in the decorated and spookified (new word) garage, haunted house, campfire, pinatas, trunk or treat (people decorated their car trunks, opened them up and handed out candy to all the kiddos who came by)one very funny and fun donut game, and then the ending had spooky stories up in the creepy woods...with a surprise axe murderer hiding in the shadows...It was spooktakular! The following are some of the cast of characters who came and helped us celebrate a holiday that lets kids be kids and adults be ridiculously crazy! I did dress up but never got a pic on my camera. I'm hoping to see one show up on another blog!

Lexi the cute princess is with her cousin Rachael who was dressed as Lexi's Dad from years ago...it's a long story, but they both looked great!
This time of year we have the real ladybugs flying everywhere, but here was the sweetest one of the night...Addy...who didn't look at me because I was dressed up as a gypsy and she didn't believe it was YaYa...really Addy, it's me!
I'm not sure what the name of the costume character is, but the cutie inside is the one and only Zeb! He came all the way from Toledo!
Cute toy story character Leisy!
I think clowns are scary. I've never liked clowns. But who could not love this little clown? Certainly not his YaYa...Loved it Cameron! You looked Marvelous Darling!
A Star Wars Storm Trooper showed up. I didn't get a pic of Taylor's parents and baby sis...They were Han Solo, Princess Leah, and an Ewok respectively.
The retro 1950's poodle skirt girl, Katie. Nice glasses!
Not everyone dressed up, but we still had to say the obligatory "Gee Driana, that's the scariest costume ever!" gag. Yes, YaYa is a dork.
The dessert table had some cute cakes with gummy worms, and tastey chocolate brownies and of course cut-out cookies. Every year I make the witches fingers. Couldn't pass up this party!
Everyone brought a covered dish to share and there was a ton of food. It was all so yummy. But if I had to pick the most creative, it would be these two snakes full of delish sandwich fillings. Boy was it good, colorful and theme appropriate! I need the recipe for that!
We had tables set up in the yard and the girls and boys from Church carved pumpkins on Wednesday night and brought them over for us to judge. We used them as centerpieces.
We have a permanent fire ring in the backyard, but since we were having the party gathering in the front of the house this year, I had Jack make a temp ring in the front. Some folks might be nervous about digging up their yard...not me. They guys always fill it in with the dirt and sod and today you wouldn't know it was there. Good Boy Scout trick.
A good Halloween event needs a haunted house. Craig and Jack took the task of setting it up. It has lights and sounds that made it a glowing beacon for all the little kiddos to run through, scare each other and laugh like crazy. Even the "old" kids loved it. I bought it a couple of years ago and even though it's only used occasionally, I love that thing!
After the pinatas and the "Trunk or Treat" was over all the older kids, and any adults willing and able, came to this starting point...notice the red splotches on the sign? Could it be blood??? They would soon find out!
My camera doesn't take night shots too well, but up this path we had tiki torches burning a guiding light for anyone brave enough to follow. Also in the trees we had balloons with glow sticks inside and ghostly faces painted on the outside hanging from tree limbs. Very effective! I headed back down to the campfire as the storyteller weaved her bloody tale and knew my mission was complete when all of a sudden loud screams of terror blew through the night to our ears...Awesome!
You two are just to smiley to be scary and too cute to ignore..Happy Halloween everyone!

The Sweetest Day

This Friday we got a call from the newly weds, Amy and Eric, asking if they could stop by on their way back from Niagra Falls to stay over night and visit before heading back to Chicago. We had a great time! Friday night they and Phil and Amanda went up to Akron to the Haunted School House and really had fun! Saturday we were up and out to first get Amy an adjustment from her Uncle Jack and then on to a few spots they wanted to see. Someone, I won't mention who, left their camera at home. Someone, I won't mention who, never does this...except that day. So someone, I won't mention who, missed some great Kodak moments like the Parsley Pot and the Grandpaws Cheese Barn Van...It made someone, I won't mention who, very mad. They then headed back to Chitown with a car full of goodies, happy memories from the Falls, and a shot gun. I forgot to mention that Eric and the other guys went to the Fin,Feather, and Fur outfitters while the women folk hit the "girlie" places.It was a Sweetest Day treat!Then this afternoon Jack and I decided to take a little drive to drop off some things at the kids place in Nankin. We got to chat with Steph and her brother and give the kiddos all hugs and kisses! We don't get to see them as often as we would like because of their, and sometimes our, busy schedules so it was great to see them. Then we headed off to the cemetery to visit Jack's parents, and his brother's graves. I don't know why, but I love to walk around a cemetery, read head stones...crazy I know, but Ashland has a beautiful one that many people use as a walking area. Very peaceful and this time of year very beautiful. Their graves were all decked out and looked lovely. We sure miss them.
I think this may be the last weekend for good fall color. This tree is at it's peak.
The reds of these trees were so pretty, I just had to click a pic!
Now this is really sweet...little Cameron playing with someone's phone. He is always eager to smile and say "cheese".
This was a sweet thing that Jack did...very pretty! Thanks Babe!

The End..of the week

Yes, it's the most beloved day of the week. Friday. It's been a crazy busy week. Today is no exception. When you see this line up you either join in, hop in front of the line, or take a pic to blog about it.
Yes, we work hard here...to prove it here are two hard working nurses leaning against the crash cart obviously engaged in a very technical conversation.
This pic reminds me of the Sesame Street song..."one of these things does not belong here"...can you guess? It's brown. We're blue. He's fixing something for us so we let him stay.
Today was Dr. B's 40th birthday...he's just a baby! We had a carry in lunch. Have you ever seen so many crock pots in your life? There are many great cooks who disguise themselves as nurses! Food was delish and I know he liked it. He liked it so much that after his last case he injected both my knees with cortisone to celebrate. I only winced, jumped a little and didn't even cry! Hmmm, I wonder what he'll do to me on his 50th?
This lovely cheese tray was sent by Donna's (starkeyhollow) husband to thank us for, as he put it, our friendly help in giving him pain. The knee will heal and you will forget the pain Larry. That's the same bull they told me when I had my kids...liars. Hey, thanks for the cheese tray though!
October is half over and I would like to take a moment to pause and remember that it's also breast cancer awareness month. Here in surgery we honor that in our own special way. We wear pink gloves all month and also these cute masks are available. If you make the pic bigger you will see the little pink ribbons on the mask...also you will see the wrinkles on my face. Those were not handed out, I earned them all by myself... with a lot of help from my children.

Humor Me...Please?

Here are some more pics from the wedding weekend. Since I publish a blog book at the end of the year I wanted to have more pics from that weekend. So these are some of the characters that make up my family, my blog and my wonderful life. Probably pretty boring for anyone who is not related and probably for the related ones too, but you'll just have to humor me or scroll on by. You won't hurt my feelings...I love you all anyway! But before you scroll on by, I must tell one little not funny at the time, but now is funny story. After the reception was over, I had gone home, changed into working clothes, came back and helped clean up. I had my Mom's house keys. As we were all leaving, she asked if I had them. I then proceeded to hand them over because Mom and Midge would beat us home. So we all went to our cars. When we pulled into Mom's driveway, they weren't there yet. So we sat and waited. I was holding a large hunk of wedding cake that Midge had me bring home. And we sat. And sat..with the cake on my lap, and, well you get the picture. I was hearing voices in my head (nothing unusual for me) telling me to go back to the Church.I ignored them. Over and Over again. After about 1/2hr I saw these two people walking down Mom's street. Yep, Midge and Mom had walked home from the Church. Their car didn't start. They called and called me on my cell which I had left in the house. The same house we were locked out of because I gave the key to Mom! They were still in their fancy wedding duds and poor Mom had on heels. Poor Midge was carring a huge hunk of wedding cake too. I don't know why I find that funny, but I do. It was about 2am and Mom wasn't sure she could make it. She did it though. Midge said they looked like 2 old hookers hoping to get lucky on a Friday night. At one point Mom had jumped into the street to flag down a car she was sure was ours...which of course wasn't ours because I was sitting in the car with a huge chunk of wedding cake on my lap, listening to voices in my head and ignoring them. So now we smile about it and Mom feels pretty good about making that hike at 2am and her being 84 and all...bragger! So humor me while I throw out some pics from the rehearsal dinner we did in Mom's backyard and other little funny tidbits. Tidbits only funny to me I'm sure.
Greg (my brother) and his wife Deidra.
The Man and Woman of the hour..Amy and Eric and then there's Uncle Jack..the man of all my hours!
Katie, sister of Bride Amy
Bill (brother of Bride Amy) and his wife Laura
All three flower girls..they did a great job at the wedding! Threw out the rose petals like they were born doing it!
This is Anthony our Grandson at the rehearsal dinner. He wanted to know why we had to rehears eating dinner. I thought that was funny... I guess you had to be there.
What's so funny about these ferns? Nothing really. I got a great deal on them from the flower shop by Jack's office and we drove them out to Chicago in Aug. because Midge said she needed them for the wedding. We named them. Big Fern, Little Fern, and Birdnest Fern. (it had a nest in it..that means good luck)We are so weird.
I mentioned before that I had problems with blurry pics. My fault for some, but this one is probably not because of me. When it was Amy's turn to say her vows, Fr. Damien, trying to be funny, slipped in the phrase..."I promise to be obedient..."Both her and Eric whipped their heads at him, not quite sure he really said that...then Fr. Damien burst out laughing and so did everyone in the Church. We know Amy is just not that type if wife! Obedient? He did that on purpose and it's so out of character for him that it made it more humorous.
My Mom cracks me up. She's introduced and escorted into the reception by my brother Phil..it looks like he can hardly keep up with her! She has to sprint everywhere. Show off.
This is a funny shot..not haha funny, but weird, weird funny. Addy looks like she's on the dance floor with ghosts. I really need a new camera. Or maybe some lessons in photography. Or maybe it's just artsy fartsy!
Finally, what's humorous about this isn't the fact that Addy is crying her eyes out...not sure why...it's that all the kiddos are wearing red plaid. They come from different families...different states...yet they all have on red plaid. Ok, so it's not hilarious but it did make me smile and isn't that what life's about? The small smiley, sort of humorous things?

Wedding Day...Take One!

Amy and Eric's Wedding Adventure. Sounds like the title to a blockbuster movie. Any parent or couple who has ever put together a wedding knows it's as complicated, expensive and nerve wracking as a major motion picture. The day is full of emotion...laughter, tears, bridezilla moments and memories. Amy is my God child. I stood in the same Church and held her as an infant. Watching her walk down the isle, take her vows, having Jack and I due a reading in the Church brought the water works to my eyes. She looked so beautiful, but most of all happy. A happiness I hope she carries for decades and decades of celebrating a day that was all Amy! She ran the show in her style and did it the way she always dreamed. Her mother knocked herself out preparing this day for her. She not only did the decorating, the rehearsal dinner along with Mom and myself, but the food for the day as well. It wore me out just imaging all the time and effort involved. We all helped as much as possible, but this triumph was hers. I noticed Amy tearful as the evening reception went on and realized she was missing her little brother Jono. They were very close and I know he was watching from his spot in heaven...I even looked for a white feather.

This is a pic of the reception room. Midge did everything and I mean everything...from the centerpieces to every flower that was held by a bridesmaid, to every twinkle light or piece of netting..It was really beautiful. Great job!
These favors were on the tables..litte first aide kits. Good idea when the Bride is a nurse and the Groom is a fireman/EMT.
I was sad because many of my pics came out blurry...operator error I'm sure. This was the best one from the church and it's a bit dark. I wasn't sitting in a great place to take pics either because Jack and I did a reading at the ceremony and ended up sitting far from the aisle to catch any good shots. My excuse and I'm sticking to it!
This gentleman played the bagpipes as the wedding party was leaving the ceremony. Very cool!
The wedding cake was so pretty and tasty too...but the topper was the cutest thing. Look closely at the Groom on the topper.
The Groom's cake was amazing...a fireman's hat!
Midge looks so happy here because finally all the months of planning and making everything from centerpieces to salads was finally coming to a close and it was time to just sit back and enjoy the evening...hahaha, that joke is for you Mudgie!
I thought my Mom looked just lovely! Here she is (next to our friend Fr. Damien) happily applauding the Bride and Groom.
As Amy and Eric made their entrance into the reception, the happiness on their faces said it all and Amy's triumphant raising of her bouquet was classic Amy!
It was great that all my sibs could make it for the wedding and share a moment to be together for a photo shot..unfortunately the camera taker blurred it. Hopefully some of the professional shots came out clear.
The next day we all just chilled out and recouped. Grandma and Anthony had a nice moment to sit and talk about some very important things in life...It's sweet to see an 8yr old and an 84yr old sharing life's philosophies. However, I did see Mom slip him a few bucks, so I'm not sure what was said!
Last night Jack thought it was time to take all the cousin little tykes to the park by Mom's house. He even took Sophie, Midge's Jack Russel. Sophie enjoyed every last dog sniffin minute! The little cousin's parents also came along for the walk and were able to laugh and talk and catch up on their lives as each of them live in different parts of the country and don't get a ton of opportunity to get together.
The kiddos sure love this playground ride...Me?...makes me queasy just pushing it!
Even the adults (yes Phil, you are a grownup)got in on the playground fun! It was a nice way to end a very busy wedding weekend.
So all I can say is: Midge,you did it! It's a wrap! It was exhausting, funny, crazy busy,(and I wasn't even there for the set up!)but it turned out to be a happy day for Amy and Eric. Everyone seemed like they were having a great time...and as a famous person once said..."TTTHHHAT'S ALL FOLKS!"