Let Your Inner Diva Shine

So Sleepy

One morning, about 10am - nowhere near naptime - Josie crawled up the steps and then conked right out. I’m sure it was the cold medicine I’d given her. She looked so cute. I couldn’t leave those lips alone. Dec 05

Baby Baby

The Kerrs gave you this little baby doll for Christmas. After you opened it at our impromptu party at the bowling alley, you fed the baby doll right away. You knew just what to do. My baby with her baby. Dec 21 2005

One of my favorites lately

Are You Ready for Some Football?

For her birthday this year, Lydia insisted on a football party. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m guessing it has something to do with her whole teenager obsession. Football might be yet another thing she associates with teenagers, just like sweatshirts.
Grammy sent this adorable cheerleader outfit to Lydia for her birthday, along with lots of gum. Lydia loved, loved, loved this present. She put it on and jumped all over the living room, shouting “Me a cheerleader! Me a Nighthawk! Go Comets!”
Steve wasn’t so thrilled to have her wear Vikings anything, but he was a good sport about it. Lydia always says the Vikings are her favorite team, just because a former neighbor gave us some old Vikings jerseys. I wonder how long her loyalty will last.
She wore this outfit to her football party that weekend too. Couldn’t have looked cuter, really. Steve picked out an Iowa Hawkeyes jersey for Lydia for her birthday, so when the party was over, Lydia had 2 Vikings jerseys (from that neighbor), 1Viking cheerleading outfit and 1 Hawkeye jersey. Well on her way to becoming a football fanatic. Go Lydia! You a football girl!

Together

I hope the four ofyou always stick together. I hope that when you are older, your sisters are the people you want to spend time with. I hope that you always hug and talk and hang out and play like you do now. I hope that when friends change and boyfriends go, that you each always know your three best friends in the world are there for you. Together. Forever.

Whee!

You girls always loved a good tire swing. We’ve had a few incidents on them, though - I know Lydia for sure lost her lunch twice. But that never held anyone back - you always all wanted faster, higher, spinnier. You would all usually giggle and scream, a girly “Ahhhhhh!” Sometimes someone would suggest closing eyes, so you’d try that a while, that weird feeling of spinning with no bearings or boundaries. I loved hearing you laugh yourselves silly. Photos October 04, Journaling Jan 06.

Indiana Pages

I just finished my scrapbook pages from our Indiana trip. If you want to see any of the pages in more detail, just click on them -- they should appear larger in a new window. No making fun of me and my new hobby obsession, this digital scrapbooking thing --

Page 1: Honestly, I didn't even really want to go. I wanted to see Steve's family and celebrate his only aunt & uncle's big day, but I worried that the trip would be a lot of stress and hassle and not a lot of relaxation. But I was wrong. The trip was great! We had so much fun together as our own little family, and being around extended family only made it better. It was a quick trip, with lots of driving in not too many days, but it was a fun one with lots of memories. Steve & I have made it our rule that, whenever possible, we see family. I'm glad we stuck to it.

Page 2: Our van was like a frat house for little girls - messy and full of self-indulgent vices. Grammy took all of the girls shopping for snacks, so we had a big tote full of junk food -- fruit snacks, licorice, crackers, chex mix, snickers, smarties, more! The rule was -- no rules (that's a first!). The girls could eat pretty much whatever - they had a blast. And the TV was set up and we brought tons of movies, so it was party time. The girls did great on the trip there and back - they are fun to travel with. They were easy- going and excited to see new things.

Page 3: Our first night in Indy, we met Sue, Cindy and Denny at Bob & Becky's home, then we headed on over to Arni's Pizza. I've been hearing about this pizza from Steve for years. I'm not sure if the pizza lived up to Steve's memory or not, but Arni's is a great pizza place. Fun decor, including a real truck and all sorts of vintage toys. And great company that night - lots of Luekens, lots of Gronds.

Page 4: Steve's gramma, Dessie Holden, moved into this home at ### Street in Lafayette, IN in XXXX. Steve has great memories of staying here during their annual summer treks to Indy. It's a small, quaint home but I'm sure it was filled with so much fun those summers.

Page 6: This awesome park is right near Steve's gramma's former home, and Steve and his family went here all the time when they visited Lafayette. The park includes a zoo (which unfortunately was under construction when we visited), a waterpark, walking trails, a pond with ducks and swans and - of course - tons of play equipment. Elly had lots of fun "babysitting" Josie; they played together so nice. The 3 big girls had a blast on the tire swing (even though Lydia lost her breakfast a few minutes later). I loved watching the girls play with Steve and hearing about Steve's memories of the park, especially the story about him and Jim getting lost.

Page 8: Maybe the best part of the weekend. After our trip to Columbian Park, we drove by the Frozen Custard stand across the street. Not open until 11am. So we drove around Lafayette for a while, looking at Purdue, Peg & Joe's house, the old downtown, so on. But at 11:01am, we were at that stand. About 3 minutes later, Dave, Brenda, Hannah & Lisa pulled up. A few more minutes, and Jim, Barbara & Amanda were there too. Turns out, they were all driving around too, just waiting for the stand to open. Funny how siblings can be so similar. It was an unplanned meeting - and just perfect.