Trick or Treats with His Royal Highness

Prince Caspian

The Potty-Mouthed Princess and Her Men

Okay so, after the big ER run last week, seemed
like everyone had colds and so I make some
really quite excellent chicken noodle soup
from scratch and it was yummy but
Zoe was over it by the second or third serving
and so here's the direct screamer quote I got on
Halloween Night after her dad had made
her eat soup before she could go trick or treating,
"I HATE your freakin, nasty soup Aunt Jeri!"

This is her main squeeze FrankenGus!

Here they are at the start of their evening of tricks and treats!

This is her and her "Big Daddy" after she lost her slipper.
Isn't it just like a princess to lose her slipper and have
to have chivalorous, manly help to get it back on.

FrankenGus - Happy Halloween!

He wanted to be just "a little" scary this year. I
hated to tell him that he was the most freakin'
adorable Frankenstein EVER..

THANK GOD...

Thanks be to Holy God, she's fine.
She took a little ride in the ambulance from school
to St. V's the other day and scared at least
10 years off all of us.

Her poor folks work an hour away or more each
which leaves Aunt J on deck for things like this
and I didn't get the call right away SO
Miss Zo got to ride sans concerned family member
BUT that's okay because Mrs. Lawrence,
(she has a halo) who has a God-given gift
for calming and comforting others with her
sweet and gentle nature stuck to her
like glue and INSISTED that she wasn't
leaving Zoe not even to sit up front in the
cab, rode with her. WE LOVE HER!

We also love the school nurse, Jeannie and
Ms. Bach her teacher and Mr. Joe her principal
for making the right call to send her to the hospital
and for insisting along with Mrs. Lawrence that
she not ride alone in the back with the
unfamiliar but fabulous EMT guy. They were
BFF's by the time they arrived.

I got my GO call in a relatively short amount of time
and Gusser and I beat her to the hospital. I was
stuck for a couple of minutes behind a dang glass door
while she was wheeled in but could tell from sight that
she had perked up for them. Everyone else arrived
shortly after that (too shortly...thank God for
keeping all of us safe while we were panicked and
crazy and trying to get to her at the hospital).

We're learning that Zoe has some kind of unpredictable
blood-sugar issue (low) and occasionally she bottoms
out and presents like it is her heart which freaks us all out.
She shows some cyanosis and gets all clammy and is
despondent...nearly unresponsive really and FREAKS
everyone out. This time, the nurse gave her two boxes
of juice, nearly had to pump it in her, and she still didn't
perk up SO they called the ambulance. The nurse said
that she felt like she was watering a wilting flower.
I love that...Zoe is such a bright, shiny flower.

Anyhow, by the time we got to the hospital, her
blood sugar was back up and she was sleepy so
we're still trying to get an official diagnosis of
hypoglycemia. Her folks are following up, this week,
with the endocrinologist to talk about everything.
She also had a virus which decided to spew (literally)
out of her while we were at the
hospital waiting for labs and xrays to come back to
confirm it wasn't her heart. Vomit is so fun.

These little sugar "drops" do seem to happen
when she's coming down with something...unusual...
BUT that's always been Zo's medical MO. The
things that don't normally happen with anyone
else, will happen with her.

SO...that's our story for this week...

Thank you God for our Zoe...OH, and
Pastor Samme and Kelly Brown who
send the MOST, bestest, greatest, fun-est,
surprise get-well balloons EVER!

IKE..

Ike blew through Indiana on Sunday hard and mean with winds
still sustained at a Category 1 Hurricane or so we heard.
Mom and Daddy lost 4 trees (uprooted right out of the ground)
all of which were away from the house,
fortunately...Thank God. They're still without power though
as the tree above hit their incoming electricity pole.
They're really roughin' it...I believe they're heating water
on the grill for coffee and such. A lot of Scott County is without
power. Schools are out and businesses are closed. It's bad enough
here...can't imagine what it must be like on the gulf coast.
Our back yard got blown around pretty bad. Winds blew the
tiles right out of the patio table. We had a little lamp break
but weren't much worse for the wear. I managed to cut my hand
picking up glass...so dumb...but I'm fine. We no like Ike!

Another beautiful picture from Jen Cox

I suppose that this is more than just a "shout out" or
a "HOLLA" to Jen Cox. I am unabashedly a fan
of this woman's photography. LOOK at this picture.
I LOVE it. It, in my opinion, is a perfect shot...wow...

So, not only did she take this amazing picture BUT
she GREW the pears and then went on to make pear-sauce.
Amazing...

I wanna be her when I grow up...

check out http://www.jendcox.wordpress.com

Isaac's Latest Joke

Isaac, "Hey mom, what's it say under there?" as
he motions randomly at one of many objects on the table.

Me, "What's it say under where?"

Isaac, "Hahahahah, you said UNDERWEAR!"

Be forewarned...3 year old boys think that
slightly irreverent body-function humor or
ANYTHING to do with those areas (i.e. underwear)
is HYSTERICAL!

GADS...

Come and Walk with Us!

Autism Advocates of Indiana Presents

8th Annual Answers for Autism Walk
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Cox-Hall Gardens
2000 West 116th Street
Carmel, Indiana 46037

Registration: 9:00 am
Walk: 11:00 am

Rain or Shine!

For more information visit http://aaiwalk.org

Isaac's Quote of the Day...

WHAT is this picture about? He's trying to be tough
or something that's for sure. Okay, since Uncle Gary's
Labor Day Party Isaac has been OBSESSED with
flashlights and every night when he and his father
walk the giant-bounding-monkey-dog thing we have
Isaac takes the flashlight and the other day this
is what comes out of his wee mouth...

"Wook Dad I'm the sun!"
"The gwass (grass) thinks I'm the sun..."

Well, we thought it was stinkin' cute...

Summer Art Institued - Eiteljorg Museum Trip and Hardrock Cafe

We finished up the day at the Eiteljorg to see
ACTUAL 50-60 year old original prints of Ansel Adams
and were amazed at his artistry and felt a little
like we were cheating with all of our digital cameras
as Mr. Adams had to think hard, wait for perfect light,
frame well, take the shot, hike out and go home
and then develop his amazing pieces.
WOW...is all we could say and it pales.

Indeed there is beauty everywhere in God's creation.
One only need raise his eyes and look.


We had dinner at The Hardrock Cafe which
ended with many of the kids and one of the
teachers dancing on tables and chairs to none
other than YMCA. I suppose you can take
only so much beauty and culture before you have
cut loose, eat a cheeseburger and dance to old rock songs
on the table at Hardrock... :) They were LOUD and
we literally rocked the bar.

Brown County Hike To Shoot Nature in the Style of Ansel Adams

The Lake Leading up to the trails...

Do you see the tree just left of center down
near the water's edge? We think that tree
has a wonderful story to tell. This spot
on the trail had fairy dust in the air, we felt,
and it seemed as if the old tree wanted to
tell us a tale of some grand adventure.


We stopped and talked with "Charlotte" for a while.
She was kind enough to let us take her picture.

I spied him down the trail standing in a shaft
of bright sunshine immersed in capturing a
particular shot...I was blown away
at the sight of a face I love SO MUCH
being lit in such a beautiful way...SO,
I HOLLERED at him to stand still and the
following is what I got...

We had to take these quick and so I started shooting
telling him that I wanted a picture of him in that
beam of sun...so he holds out his hand and closes his
eyes...and I get this picture...I promise, it is not posed by me.


Love this one...shows off his sunny disposition...
again taken fast and without direction...those are the best kind.


Love that face!

We had a blast...we love to hike and take pictures.
We were studying Ansel Adams and had great
fun learning about him and the nature that he loved so.

Summer Highlight - Studying The Art of TC Steele at his home in Brown County

One of the most lovely things about this summer
was our enchanting visit to the home and studio of
TC Steele in Brown County. Eli actually sketched
on the grounds of this beautiful place where artists
still come to study and create.

The View for Mr. Steele when he painted this piece.

The view today...

I stole K's birthday tribute to mom right off her blog! I'm a bad sister... :)

Create Your Own

Nana's Birthday

So, Nell's (momma's) birthday rolls around and
we girls decide to take her and Daddy to dinner, just
the five of us, to Ruth's Chris.
It was yum and really nice to be together with
the original fab five. The food was super and
The Riesling...was to die for.

Daddy wouldn't get a Kobe Steak ($75 ala carte, ouch)
but I think everyone was pleased with their choices...
my scallops and Mahi-Mahi was fantastic. Did I mention
that the Riesling was out of this world?
(Listen, I said it about bottle #1 so I HAD to say it about
bottle #2...)

Momma wanted us dressed up and matchy
which about sent K and Daddy into orbit but
they pulled it together for the birthday girl.
K even wore heels post knee surgery.
We looked cute. OH, and I had these gorgeous
red heels. -Can't see them in the dumb picture...
Shelby said that they were "gangsta" whatever
that means. She stole em' right off me when
we got back to try them on herself and so
I figure it means that she like them.

Richard and Nellie Needler
AKA
John and Marsha (when dressed up and acting lovey...you know...
from old movies when they say in a breathy, romantic voice,
"Oh, John!" "Marsha, what fools we've been!"
and Marsha bends one heeled leg up in the air as they
passionately embrace.)

Vic and Ronnie (for when they're hot-roddin' in the
convertible or the caddie...yes, they have both.)

Richard Needler's Little Brats
(although, I hear that the least bratty one is on the right.)

By the way, It really ZINGS me off that the only way that I'm as
tall as K requires me to wear four inch heels...SO not fair.

Oh, and the third bottle of Riesling was as super as
the first two. Were we celebrating The Nell Person
or what? Whooo, Hoooo!