Living, Loving, Learning

Griffin had a great basketball game today. Mom, you asked for some video of him playing, so here you go. This first one is of his only shot at a basket all day and although he did not make it, we are totally proud of the way he was focusing on the game. This video shows Griffin playing defense, which he loves and is the best on his team at it. And this is what most of the hour they spend on the court looks like. :)

Life is now all about figuring it out. She is fascinated by the world around her...what does it smell/taste/feel/do? Her curiosity has sprung into full gear and it is so FUN! We met up with our friends today at Fun4Kids (like Ceaserland without the crappy pizza and only$3/hour!) Lucy and Carlie are only 4 months apart, but what a developmental difference in those 4 months! Hey brutha, wait for me!

Photos may not be appropriate for viewers with weak stomachs!!

My Mom just sent me some beautiful pictures she took when we were visiting them earlier this month. Griffin loved the snow so much, he is a MI boy at his core! This is the amazing snow cave - thanks MorMor!

This is a classic "Lucy" look, meaning "I am having a GRRReat time." I was happy to get this look this morning, believe me. She has been cutting her two top front teeth all week and has been totally miserable. There has been much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth lately. Finally, this morning was the first morning in about a month that she woke up not crying. It is hard to get the shot with my little camera, but you can kind of see the pressure on those top gums. The teeth are just peeking out. OH, the drool, pools of drool and a week of soaked necklines.

Here is a new recipe recommendation for you guys. Ok, I know it sounds wierd but lasagna soup is totally delicious! There is a touch of crushed red pepper in it that gives it the slightest kick...beware if your kids are sensitive although both Griffin and Lucy enjoyed it with the red pepper in it. Griffin won't eat regular lasagna but he gobbled this soup up for dinner and requested it for lunch the next day. Only a few more weeks of winter, so if this sounds good, try it soon!

Griffin had his first basketball game on Saturday. The Lakers, what can I say, his coaches are not very imaginitive, are a team of 3 and 4 year old boys. The other team had a couple of little girls on it, which was fun to see. Griffin had a great time running back and forth on the court even though the basic concepts of the game are not quite there yet. He did get a basket, you can see his ball in the net below (he is mostly hidden by the blondie in front of him.) It was a pretty casual thing and we are not quite sure who won, or if anyone was even keeping score. It didn't matter to our little guy, as he was as proud of himself as we were of him!

Hugs and Kisses from Mama Gast to YOU!

We went to the pedatrician yesterday for a check-up. She said Lucy is perfect, developmentally speaking. That was kind of her to say since Lucy was screaming at the top of her lungs as the doctor tried to look in her ears! We are in full "pull up" mode; the movement not the diaper. Lucy is pulling up on anything, including the leg of my jeans, the outside of the bathtub and her toy stroller. Maybe a dancer?

We definitely made the BEST of the situation and really enjoyed our stay in MI. Griffin made the most of playing in the snow. He and Gran made a sled shoot and he and MorMor made a snow cave. He played in the snow most every day. Gran and MorMor also watched the little ones for us so Bruce and I could go out on a double date with the Marinos. We hit a funky little restaurant in E. Lansing (home of MSU) and then an Irish pub. We walked into the back room of the pub and it was full of Pirates! I am not kidding, full outfits complete with feathered hats, eye patches, pewter mugs of ale and umm...cleavage, lots of it. I have never stumbled upon a pirate party before so we found a table and started making friends. Unfortunately, it was the end of their party and time for the college DJ and students to start filling the place up. A half hour later as we observed the frat boys bundled up in boots and sweatshirts hitting on the coeds in high heels and tank tops, we all agreed we were

We took a long walk today - it was 70 degrees here, if you can believe it! It was a kind of scary walk as it was pretty windy and there are so many broken branches still hanging in the trees. There were trees split in 4 ways, like the picture above, most trees missing their tops and each house has a huge wood pile like the one below. I think we need to have a huge bonfire at the city park, every Saturday night, until the wood is gone! My boy who loves to pick up sticks had more than enough to choose from. New power lines And finally, the sad sad view of our backyard. My poor Magnolia tree.

Bruce got here LATE last night - YEAH!! We will be heading home tomorrow morning. I'll catch up with y'all on Monday.

Hanging at the mall...

So, yesterday when Bruce got home from work, our power was on!!! YAY!~~~ Even the phone/internet/cable connection had been restored. The big bummer was that there was no heat. The flood that had knocked out the pilot light of the water heater had done the same to the boiler. The sump pump did it's job and the basement is drying out again. Now, we are just hoping someone is able to get to the house and get these things relit without us having to replace them!! And soon so we can go home this weekend.

So many of you have asked so I have to give a Zed update. He is doing GREAT! First thing on Friday we headed to a pet store. We were hoping someone up here would be willing to "foster" Zed until we could take him home but even though we explained we had to evacuate, the pet stores here wanted to charge $8 - $10/day to keep him. We decided it would be more pleasant and affordable to just buy him a new set up. Now he is living the good life again in his new Winnebago (a 5 gallon, portable aquarium and light.) I talked Bruce into the green sand for a peppy new decorating scheme for Zed. No power yet at home. Bruce is doing OK , sleeping at home but taking showers at a co-workers house. We are hoping for some good news any time now!!

It all started last Monday night. Our car was making a weird noise and so we had dropped it at the mechanics shop. He could not figure out what was wrong with it and so after Bruce got out of work we went to pick it up (if he had been able to diagnose it and started to work on it, it would still be locked in their garage today!) We heard that there might be some freezing rain the next day so Bruce headed home with the kids and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things in case school was cancelled the next day. The parking lot was full, it was hard to find a buggy and I ended up spending longer in line then I did shopping. The locals are weather wimps compared to us Michiganders so I just figured they were panicking a little prematurely. About 3 AM the next morning, I woke up to the first branch falling. About every 10 minutes after that for the next 48 hours or so we heard the crack of wood breaking and the shatter of the iced limbs as they hit the ground. The Internet/cab