Look What I Found....

... peeking over the edge of the coffee table.

A Very Merry....

...UN-Birthday to YOU!!!

Sarah had her (un)Birthday party this weekend and a great time was had by all. We had a Mad-Hatter tea party and all the girls decorated butterfly wings. And, since it was an UN-Birthday party, we asked the guests not to bring gifts. Everything turned out splendidly and Sarah loved playing hostess.

A Great Lady!

This weekend we drove 13 hours to North Carolina to celebrate the life of a wonderful woman: Tim's Grandmom, Celia Janis. She passed away on Monday, January 10, 2011 at age 92. We loved the time we had to spend with her over the years, and were so blessed to know such a great lady.

Below is her obituary: Celia Catherine Janis November 28, 1918 - January 10, 2011 Celia Catherine Janis, age 92, of Wilmington died peacefully on Monday morning, January 10, 2011 at Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center. Celia Janis was born on November 28, 1918 in Philadelphia, PA the youngest of seven children. She was preceded in death by her parents, Catherine and Albert Gorniak, her beloved husband John W. Janis in 1977, and all of her siblings and old friends who affectionately called her Sis. In April of 2005 she moved to Wilmington from St. Petersburg Beach, FL where she lived for 31 years, and resided at Brightmore and The Kempton of Brightmore. In her final few weeks, she lived in the Champions Memory Care Unit. The family would like to thank the staffs at The Kempton, Champions, and the Lower Cape Fear Hospice & Life Care Center for their kind and wonderful care. Mrs. Janis is survived by her two daughters and their husbands: Loretta and Jim Meyers of Wilmington, NC, Arlene and Trent Kitley of Twin Falls, ID; six grandchildren: Jonathan Meyers and his wife Stephanie of Charlotte, NC, Jennifer Meyers of New York, NY, Alexander Kitley and his wife Monika of Glenview, IL, John Kitley and his wife Jana of Boise, ID, Timothy Kitley and his wife Kimberly of Ledyard, CT, and Tiffany Erickson and her husband Loren of Lewisville, TX. In addition, Mrs. Janis leaves behind seven great grandchildren: Gunnar Meyers of Charlotte, NC, Klaudia Karatnik of Glenview, IL, Sarah and Claudia Kitley of Ledyard, CT, Gavry, Fisher, and Celia Erickson of Lewisville, TX. Mrs. Janis had a deep commitment to her Catholic faith and family. She will be remembered most as a loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She was also a beautiful lady with an independent spirit who will be dearly missed.

A Day... a Snow Day... and a Birthday!

We've been having a lot of fun around here, including a ukelele and guitar jam session (Claudia joined in the fun), and a daddy-daughter dance festival listening to the old LP's on the newly hooked up record player...

We had two snow storms right in a row this past weekend, and it made for some great sledding at the local Middle School. Sarah had a great time... until the inevitable snow sled/tube pile-up, and then the fun was pretty much over.

I just came inside from shoveling the last of the snowplow snow from the end of our driveway after the Nor'easter came through and dumped 16+ inches of snow on us last night. Our mailbox is almost completely buried in snow, and apparently a Nor'easter can stop the postal service (though not wind nor sleet nor dark of night can) because the mail carrier never came today - mostly because he wouldn't have been able to get to any of the mail boxes. School has been cancelled again tomorrow due to the slow road clean up - it is really a mess out there.

I have to say, though, that I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the snow plow drivers that have come by in the past few days... twice they stopped and made an extra effort to clear the end of my driveway as best they could. I imagine they felt sorry for me (a little old lady) out shoveling our huge driveway with our one tiny show shovel. Thanks Snowplow drivers!

On Monday, Sarah turned six! I can't believe she is so old. We are planning her (un) Birthday party for next weekend, but for her actual Birthday, we hosted the missionaries for dinner, and it was providential, because it turns out that one of the Elders had a Birthday on Sunday, so we sang "Happy Birthday" to both of them and they both blew out the candles. Sarah loved having the Elders here for her Birthday dinner, and was so excited all day long.

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

Merry Christmas...

We had a Holly Jolly Christmas complete with fresh carrots from the garden, homemade Polish noodles and pork chops made from Tim's Grandmom's recipe, a brisk Christmas Eve walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the luminaries, Christmas Eve pajamas, a makeshift re-enactment of the Nativity, and presents from Santa... who could ask for anything more?