Amanda's Birthday - Take 2

My parents went bowling on the night of the "all December" birthday bash and they also had bowling on Amanda's actual birthday night so......

Here is Amanda the Sunday before her big day -
Celebrating with Nana and Grandpa.

Uncle Teddy, Jake and the Cokester were also on hand...

Happy 17th - again.

Amanda's Birthday - Take 1

Amanda turned 17 on the 21st of December, but due to the holidays and people's busy schedules... it is always so difficult to celebrate with everyone.

So.....here is the first event.

Steph carries a cake that honors ALL friends and family that have December birthdays...

an annual tradition.

(probably not the best way to carry a cake though)

Amanda and the other birthday people (not pictured)

after the lighting ceremony.

I actually chose this photo because you can see, hidden to the right

and about ready to bite into the cake,

is our furry little friend who never misses a good party!

Happy Birthday

Dad, Angela, Chrissy, Amanda, Ellen, Nancy,

and whoever I missed.

Fuzzy Yet True...

Don't adjust your glasses...yes, this is out of focus.

I had to post it anyway,

because a photo is worth a thousand words....

And this photo says a lot about my kids .....
....their personalities, their brother/sister relationship, etc...

It is just sooo THEM.

The Cheetah

I never have figured out how to add a picture to a post...without it ending up at the top.

So, I found this after I posted about the ZOO

and couldn't place it where it would make sense.

So .. read the Zoo story.

This is the cheetah and those students

who chose to stay behind the fence of the exhibit.

Let me tell you...it was not a happy camper.

Milwaukee County Zoo

What do you do on one of the coldest days in December???

Why, you go to the zoo with 65 children, of course!

Admission is free on Mondays.

This is my class of 19.

If you are checking my math.... you'll notice that there are only 18 here.

Number 19 is hiding in back.

This was the least of the annoying things she did that day.

Some of her other antics included:

Throwing ice balls at the outdoor peacocks.

Climbing on the exhibits.

Chasing the birds and trying to pet them.

Knocking on the glass of the cheetah's cage.

(after she had climbed over the fence and was right on the other side)

Running across the park where it was off limits.

Pushing other children - practically over a fence.

Running away from us.

Using foul language.

Trying to get money out of any machine we passed.

I could keep going here.....that was only one of my little darlings.

Welcome to my world.

*I do have a small handful that were a pleasure to take on this trip...

On the Road...Again

When you have a commute of 3 hours per day......

And you're barely moving...........again.

Sometimes, something makes you grab your ever faithful camera...

which happens to be riding shotgun today!

To take a photo.

Dad's 75th Birthday

On December 1st my Dad turned 75 years old!

Party Time !
Yeah, no problem! Someone's got a lot of wind :)

My Dad's 3 sisters.

Uncle Russ and Aunt Linda

Yes, she never misses a good party !

With Mom

Teddy and I with Dad.

Candy came to celebrate a day earlier due to her work schedule.

Craiggers and Tara...more on them later!

My Dad and all of his siblings.

Sorry, this was not the best pose - I have better.

For some reason, this is the one that is reduced.

So there was the big birthday bash!

Good food, good cake, and good company.

Happy 75th Dad!