Family Pictures

Back in July we did a family session with Michelle Logan from Urban Shutterbug Photography. Here are some of the pictures she took!

This last photo is one of my favorites. It is very "real". Tage hates family pictures. He is all about the candids. Mason wasn't thrilled after an hour or so of "sit here" and "look at that" and "hold this" and "smile" so he was getting a bit crabby (which is why there are more shots of me and Mason together than Tage and Mason or the three of us together.) So the expressions are perfectly "us".

More to come!

8 Months: A Day in the Life

Remembering

Mason is 8 months old today however the 8 month post will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm not sure why we honor our loved ones on the anniversary of their passing as opposed to any other day of their life but I've been thinking about my grandpa all week so it felt appropriate to share a picture of him today. Although my Grandpa Jay passed away 4 years ago today it feels like it was just yesterday I was doing his grocery shopping.

I spent Wednesdays and Fridays with Grandpa Jay from the time I was 6 weeks old until I was in junior high. He was one of the biggest influences (if not the biggest influence) on my life and in shaping who I am as a person. I know parents and grandparents aren't supposed to have "favorites" but it is no secret that I was Grandpa Jay's favorite. I've never met anyone with a heart as big as his and a hug as genuine. Every time we said goodbye, especially toward the later years, he would tell me how proud of me he was-- whether or not I had done anything to warrant it. My grandpa was the creator of the "handmade" birthday or Christmas card... it was always a note written in pencil on a white lined piece of note paper. I have a box stuffed full of them.

Grandpa Jay bought every one of his children (2), grandchildren (5), and great grandchildren (12) their first bicycles and every year he would take us all to Apple Hill to get a big box of apples for each family. My childhood is marked by memories of annual trips to Clear Lake for fishing and paddleboating, spring break road trips to Arizona for Giants spring training, back-to-school shopping and 4th of July birthday celebrations with the whole family.

Every Wednesday for as long as I can remember I would go with Grandpa Jay to help him with his grocery shopping. He drank 3 gallons of milk every week-- THREE! That probably helped attribute to the fact that he lived until the age of 90 and worked every day all the way up to the end. His kitchen was always stocked with Pringles, Pop Tarts, six different kinds of cereal, ice cream, several brands of soda and multiple flavors of Snapple (every grandkids' dream!) When I was 12 Grandpa would let me drive the car to do the grocery shopping... granted, it was just down the street. Then when I turned 14 he would let me go by myself!

On Fridays after school I would go over to Grandpa Jay's and dust his house, write out checks for his bills, balance his checkbook, and address envelopes to family members so he always had an envelope ready to send out his handmade birthday cards in. For birthdays he would treat the whole family to chinese food at our neighborhood chinese restaurant where they knew us by name.

Mason was named after my grandpa in two ways. "Mason" was inspired by Grandpa Jay's long-time membership in the Freemason society. Grandpa was so honored the year he received his 50-year member certificate and had it displayed in a frame in his living room. "JD" (Mason's middle name) were my grandpa's initials, which stood for James David. It was the best way I could think of to commemorate someone so significant in my life and to make him a part of Mason's life even though he will never know him.

To this day I have Grandpa Jay's phone number programed into my cell phone and there isn't a day that passes that I don't think of him. Here's to remembering those who have influenced our lifes and who are no longer around to see their impact.

Homemade Potato Chips

Okay, okay, to echo Lindsey's question when I made yogurt, "Why would you do that?" In this case there are several reasons I was prompted to make homemade potato chips. A) We always seem to have an abundance of potatoes in our kitchen (I'm Irish, what do you want?) B) We're on a budget (and really, who isn't right now?) C) Tage likes chips in his lunch. D) I don't like them because they're always so greasy.

So I gave it a shot and was amazed at how easy it was to make my own and found that I really liked them! Tage is okay with them but he really likes the salt and grease in regular old store-bought potato chips. The best part? These are made in the microwave. So here's how you do it...

1. Wash a potato and slice it into thin slices. I prefer the skins on but you could peel them.

2. Spray a plate with oil. We use olive oil for just about everything because it's good for the heart.

3. Lay the potato slices on the plate, making sure they do not overlap, otherwise they will stick together.

4. Spray the potatoes with oil and season to taste. I make Tage's with just seasoned salt but I like mine with chili powder. I really want to try to make salt and vinegar ones!


5. Put the plate in the microwave and cook. This part you'll have to adapt for your own microwave. In ours I cook the chips for 5 minutes on one side, turn them all over and season the other side, then another 3 minutes. You want to stop cooking once they begin to turn light brown. The thinner you slice them the faster they will cook.

6. The chips have a tendency to stick to the plate so as soon as they come out of the microwave I run a knife under them to separate them. Let them cool before you package them so they don't get soggy (I learned that with the first batch.)

Enjoy the crunchy goodness!

Weekend Fun

Congratulations Danny and Melinda!

Mason sat through his first full Catholic mass! I use the word "sat" loosely. He mostly flirted with the women sitting in the row behind us and tried to play with the little boy sitting in the row in front of us. I love how friendly our baby is!

Seating at the reception wasn't assigned and our table attracted some of the more, um, mature ladies in attendance. They wanted to see the baby! (Either that or Tage was looking especially nice in his dress pants and button-down shirt... ;)

Mommy needs a better camera-- maybe for Christmas? (Hint, hint...)

Game time

Pittsburgh at Chicago today!

Mason and Ella showing their team spirit.

Saturday Smile

Moving forward

A couple of weeks ago Mase figured out how to get up on all fours and got the hang of rocking forward and backward.

Today he showed me he can work his way forward! Granted, it is really, really slow (and pretty darn funny) but he's making progress!

It goes something like this:
- Straighten your legs and shove your butt in the air like you're doing a push-up, with your arms straight out in front of you.
- Bring one knee in underneath your body.
- Bring the other knee in so you're on all fours.
- Lunge forward and face plant.
- Repeat.

He is so proud of himself (not to mention exhausted) when he finally gets where he wants to go. In this case he was rewarded with the camera strap to chew on. Yum...

Weekend Fun

Mason spent Friday at Grandma Soni's and got to meet his Great Grandma Shepard and Great Grandpa Bob. What a blessed kid to have so many grandparents!

Saturday was Madeline's Christening in the bay.

Sunday we did some serious (much needed) house cleaning and made a trip to Ikea. Fun!

Monday Smile?

The Weekend Fun post is a day behind. I left my camera in the bay area this weekend but it is now back in my possession. In the meantime-- this picture was sent to me this morning by Uncle Jared with the subject "Born to ride". Too cute!

Weekend Fun

Daddy and Mason went to the Greek Festival downtown!

Grandpa John goes every year. (Mason has Grandpa John's eyebrows, you just can't tell because Mase's are so light.)

The three of us went to our friend Rachel's wedding. Mason fell asleep on our way there and woke up about half way through the ceremony. Tage and I weren't great about taking pictures... Mason looked so handsome in a little white polo shirt, khaki pants and a super cute hat. Unfortunately all you get to see are the shoes.

Saturday Smile

Swimming at the Anderson's this week!

My swimwear models.

Cousin Melanie showing us her moves.

Cousin Lauren (on the right) avoiding showing us anything (6th grader this year...)