This was waiting for me in my texts. 🙂
Category Archives: Holidays
Happy early birthday to me!
It started out as post-swim lessons dinner but turned into my birthday dinner because Tom is sneaky. 🙂

We all really enjoyed it and we learned Katie doesn’t like caramel sauce and Owen’s favorite is hot fudge. (I was partial to the hot fudge myself, though the caramel was better all by itself.)
On our way out, the kids saw other kids getting their picture taken on the PF Changs horse so they had to do it, too. 🙂
What’s a birthday celebration without a burnt cake, sloppy joes on the ceiling, and a toddler tantrum/early bedtime?
For a special treat, I decided to make a Tres Leches cake for Tom’s cake—I’d never made one before but it didn’t seem too hard and it was a Pioneer Woman recipe so you know it’s fairly easy and should be delicious. I’m talking from scratch here, people. Like whipping egg whites and making my own whipped cream. I set the cake timer for the minimum stated time…and it was obviously too long and the edges were burnt. GRRR. I always set the timer for 10 minutes EARLIER than the minimum just in case but not today. I trimmed them off and hoped for the best.
One of Tom’s favorite meals is sloppy joes so that was an easy dinner as well—and they were delicious. After dinner I got out the cake and poor Tom lit his own candle. 🙂
And then I excitedly tried the cake and MEH—it was nothing special. I think the cake was just too dry from being overcooked and I had only put the suggested two cups of liquid into the cake when I should have tried for more because of it being overcooked. Oh well. Tom liked it and the kids loved it but now I want to make it again and try for better!
So then we were clearing off the table and loading the dishwasher…when suddenly Tom trips and I see something flying through the air. WHAT THE…?! Turns out, it was sloppy joes. Yes, sloppy joe meat was all over the place. Tom’s flip flop caught on the edge of the gel floor mat and he tripped. The dishwasher door was fully open so he was violently trying not to fall into that so while trying to catch himself, he slammed his hand down on the kitchen island/stove…RIGHT on the spoon that was still in the sloppy joes on the stove…which sent sloppy joes catapulting across the kitchen and then, as Owen noticed minutes later…on the ceiling as well! Keep in mind we have like 10′ ceilings in the kitchen.
Maggie cleaned up all the chunks off the floor and I wiped up after her while Tom got out the ladder and wiped down the ceiling. Then it was a matter of looking around and discovering all the tomato sauce speckles all over the place…on the cake, on the stove, on the refrigerator, on the wall… Hoo boy. I’m sure we’ll be discovering them for days to come.
Of course, I posted about it on Facebook…and I love our friends:
So we got that cleaned up and then it was time for the kids to Skype with Uncle Rob (which had been temporarily postponed to clean up the mess). Well, Owen asked if they could put on their Halloween costumes to show Uncle Rob. GRRR. A simple request, right? Except they’d both been asking me ALL DAMN DAY to wear their costumes and I had already told them at least four times that I’d let them wear them before Halloween…just not today. So of course I was annoyed but agreed. Well, Katie had taken hers off like a kid does so it was completely inside out. She knows how to fix it, but she didn’t want to. I was still busy in the kitchen so was talking her through it—but it wasn’t good enough for her. She actually had it about 95% of the way fixed when she started stomping her feet at me. That’s never the answer, so she got a warning that she would be going to bed if she continued. She continued. So she got taken up to bed and she was a HOT MESS. (She really needed an early night—she hadn’t caught up from the late night when we had friends over for dinner plus being at the pool for three hours…)
So…HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOM! Burnt and dry cake, a kitchen mess, and a tantrumy toddler. What better way to celebrate, right? :heart:
They picked their Halloween costumes!
Watching the first game of the season in style!
The dress in 1991 and 2016.
Okay, folks, who wore it better? Yes, here’s a DOOZY of a Then & Now. I first wore this dress to my high school Senior Awards Night and then to my graduation party (as seen in the photo, 1991). I loved the dress and kept it at my mom’s house all these years, wanting to get back into it someday. And that day was today to celebrate our 15th anniversary! And I traded the single-strand pearls for the pearls I wore with my wedding dress!
Sidenote 1: Owen took the picture from tonight.
Sidenote 2: When Owen saw me working on the collage, he said “WAIT. YOU HAD THAT DRESS 25 YEARS AGO?” 😯
When you’re just wandering at Costco on your anniversary.
Our official anniversary date night picture, taken by Owen.
Today marks 7,884,000 minutes, 131,400 hours, or 5,475 days.
Owen’s half birthday pool party!
Once again this year, Owen decided to have his birthday party at the community pool with Costco pizzas and cake (which I forgot to get a picture of)! The trade off is that many of his friends are away on vacations…but even though we had a small turnout and it was about 110°, everyone had fun!
After his party, one of his friends came back to spend a few hours. They had fun playing Xbox and then building Legos.
After he left, Owen opened his gifts and was COMPLETELY GEEKED to get some Ninjago Legos, a bunch of Pokemon cards, a Nerf bow and arrow, a Star Wars board game, and $15 cash. This was my favorite card he got:
And it didn’t take long before Owen and Katie had their noses buried in Pokemon cards.
Pool and pizza birthday party with friends!
Lobsters for Gramma’s birthday!
Leaving the island…
The weather was great in the morning, and we could tell it was going to be a perfectly gorgeous day. Of course. GRRR. :p
And better pics from Sunset Rock.
But, since it was so nice, we decided to walk back to town instead of paying $15 for the shuttle.
Stopping to pick wild raspberries.
Stopping to rescue snails from the trail! They were all over!
Waiting for the boat off the island. 🙁
Our 15th anniversary night on Mackinac Island
We decided to celebrate our 15th anniversary just a bit early (since we had available babysitters!) and spend the night on Mackinac Island. (It’s actually a bit longer story. I had wanted to go to the Headlands International Night Sky Park in Mackinac City so Tom was in charge of picking the hotel. He thought he was making a reservation for Mackinac City, but when we had to change nights, he realized he had made a reservation on the island—he had a few tabs open on his computer and called a different one than he was looking at! So our plans changed to go to the island instead!)
Unfortunately, we knew bad weather was on the way, so we chose not to do anything time-intensive like biking around the island…so when this happened…
…we stopped our shopping for a quick lunch at Seabiscuit Cafe. We had yummy whitefish chowder and a mediocre whitefish reuben.
The weather app we were checking seemed to predict that it would only last an hour or so, but the rain just kept coming. We decided to take the shuttle back to the hotel and wait out the rain in our room.
Our room was GORGEOUS with an AMAZING view…or a potentially amazing view if it hadn’t been raining and foggy.

This was our view before the fog rolled in and obscured the bridge:
It was quite chilly in our room and the heat was slow to come on, so we pulled the extra blanket out of the closet, rearranged the chairs, and crossed our fingers that the front passed soon.
We rechecked the forecast in a different app and that showed rain pretty much all day. 🙁 So Tom took a nap and I sat and tried to catch up on writing blog posts…while listening to a wedding taking place below us on the covered back porch 🙂 and watching it rain and rain and rain.
We had almost the same view at dinner:
And then we got to watch the wedding guests wander around during the reception:
Our meal was very, very good. We knew we’d blow NS principles out of the water, but we didn’t care because it was our anniversary and everything sounded amazing. And everything WAS. We were very happy with our dinner. 🙂
- Appetizer: Cheddar-Crab Fondue | Thyme-Lemon Gremolata | Toasted Brioche
- Soup: Lobster Bisque | Lemon Tarragon Oil (which surprisingly Tom loved—he’s not a big lobster fan)
- Entrée (me): Sea Scallop | Cheddar Polenta | Bacon-Fava Succotash | Ver Jus | Citrus Micro
- Entrée (Tom): Battered Whitefish BLT | Smokey Caper Aïoli | Peppered Bacon | Tomato | Frisée | Toasted Brioche
- Dessert (Tom): Chai Crème Brûlée
It had stopped raining during dinner so we went for a walk around the grounds and out to Sunset Rock.
And the panoramic view (click for larger version):
And do you see what we saw in the water? 🙂
It really was a pretty place.
After our walk we headed back to the room where we listened to the reception rave on while we watched Breaking Bad on Netflix. 🙂 Then it started raining again but thankfully didn’t storm since it was bedtime (though I wouldn’t have minded watching a storm from our room).
While overall it stunk that the weather was so crappy, we still enjoyed being together—alone!—all day! That’s always worth something. 🙂
Katie’s 4th birthday party!
Katie’s party was on July 13, but I forgot to get the pictures off my big camera—whoops! I’ll move this post to the right date later.
Once again, we had a gathering/pizza party at the Ramada pool!
I was kicking the ball back into the pool…and kicked my shoe right off! I watched it land on the side of the pool…and tumble right in. 🙂
The cake design Katie picked out!
And then back at Gramma Jean’s to open presents!
And she had to put on one of her new dresses!
Len Christmas 2014 and 2016
Birthday treats!
Dairy Queen (plus I got my Vacation Bucket List Blizzard!), the park, Pokemon hunting for Owen, splashing and throwing rocks in the river, a walk around the neighborhood with Gramma, and then a Gramma cuddle. 🙂
I thought she’d like sticking her feet in the river but she whined that it was TOO COLD! (It felt like bath water to me!)
Katie’s second 4th birthday photo shoot!
Building his Christmas Lego set!
Happy 4th Birthday, Katie!
Len Christmas in July, Year 3
This year our celebration was at Rose & Jim’s cottage on Houghton Lake. The weather started out a bit sketchy—chilly and windy—but within an hour it was absolutely gorgeous! It was a perfect day with lots of delicious food, fun watching the kids, a fun gift exchange, and conversation!
I’m only posting this picture because it’s the first “in the wild” picture of me that’s been taken and…I had ZERO idea who it was when I first saw it!
Hitting a box of $5 garage sale golf balls into the canal—well, trying to get them across the canal onto the island but not many made it there. 🙂
This happened quite a bit!
Katie wanted to fish…but only for about 32 seconds at a time and then she was off doing something else.
Alex caught the first fish!
Feeding the ducks off the back of the pontoon!
Going out to hunt for turtles for turtle races!
Apparently the tradition is to kiss the first fish you catch… What a sport!
At first, Katie wanted nothing to do with the boat—she didn’t even want someone to set her on the boat! But after the second trip she was jumping onto the boat herself and loving every minute of it! Owen loved it, too!
They caught a previously-caught-and-tagged turtle—no one here is C.B. 🙂
Owen said fishing was boring—we told him yes, it was. He’s used to fishing at the Fish Hatchery where the fish pretty much jump in your bucket. 🙂
Aubrey tagged her turtle!
I lined the kids up for their annual shot and didn’t even realize until afterward—when Aubrey pointed it out—that I did it wrong! She told me “I’m older than Owen!” And I agreed with her and then realized they had been in the wrong order!
Nick is 12, Owen is 7. Nick had the slight edge on Owen last summer and it looks very similar again this year…though I think Owen gained a very tiny bit on him. We didn’t set them on flat ground so we can’t be 100% sure.
In the right order! Katie (4), Owen (7), Aubrey (8), Gracie (10), and Nick (12).
All of the cousins: Jessica (an upcoming senior), Alex (an upcoming freshman), then Nick, Gracie, Aubrey, Owen, and Katie.
Maggie was FASCINATED with the turtles!
Marge gifted all us girls with one of her ostrich eggs!
Turtle races!
Trying to scoop up the golf balls that rolled in the canal!
It was exciting for everyone when Greg caught this huge dogfish! (Katie is still talking about it days later!)
We celebrated Katie’s birthday a day early!
And Aubrey’s two days early!
Uncle Timmy diving for turtles!!
The second run of turtle races (after they went out on the boat to get more turtles)!
Owen’s turtle winning the second race!
And a Then & Now throwback picture:
Goofy kids going a bit stir crazy on this rainy 4th.
Family, fun, and fireworks!
A bit of a crafty fail.
I had done ornament wreaths before with no issues…but today was a fail.
The ball size didn’t seem to work well with the wreath size and it kept growing in thickness and it just looked weird. And then with just a few balls to go, I broke an already-glued ball, obviously realizing at that moment I wasn’t using shatterproof ornaments.
I had a good run prior to this one, but I think my wreath-making days are over. This is likely going in the trash and I’m out about $20.
Owen became a pirate today!
Owen went to a pirate-themed birthday party today—the same family that had the knight-themed party last year! He had SOOOOO much fun! He told us every single thing they did…which we actually confirmed when the mom posted all the pictures on Facebook! (These are all her pictures.)
Getting the “boat” set up—the kids had to stay on the boat (not fall off) while they moved it around. Passing the test earned a treat!
The birthday boy’s older brothers helping out—reading the Pirate Oath (below):
They used a Pirate Name Generator to assign names to all the boys—Owen was Lazy Jack Keys!
Getting ready to hunt for treasure!
A real treasure map!
Walking the plank!
Popping “canon ball” balloons (they sounded like firing canons)!
They were hitting the skull heads for treasure bags!
Searching for bags of gold!
Feeding [plastic] rats to the alligator! (The mom had her arm inside the mouth and would grab the rats or toss them back out. You had to stay until he “ate” your rat!)
X marks the spot!
They found the treasure and everyone got to divvy up the spoils—jewels, necklaces, and coins!
Some of his haul, which he promptly put in his own treasure box when he got home! (He also got a pirate bandana and two bombs which he’s in love with!)
Xander, the birthday boy!
Memorial Day cookout at the pool!
Otherwise known as Day 3 of 3. 🙂
We had a super fun four hours at the pool for the Memorial Day Cookout! We were there as soon as they opened and it was GLORIOUSLY empty—and quiet—as we were the only ones there! (We were there so early because we know the pool gets CRAZY when they offer free food—everyone and their brother who never come to the pool all summer otherwise show up for the free burgers, chips, and pop 🙄 —and we wanted to be sure to get good seats.) The forecast had called for rain all day, so we were excited that the weather held out and was actually very nice. The sun even came out to warm things up just enough for me to take a quick dip in the pool and take some pics with the waterproof camera! It eventually clouded over but it never rained!
We made her get out of the pool and dry off because her lips were blue and she was very visibly shivering—even though she didn’t want to. Yep, she’s definitely my daughter—that’s exactly how I used to be!
After two towels and some snacks, she was ready to go again!
Katie and her friend Ainsley (they will be moving later this summer). 🙁
The huge crowd (which my pic doesn’t really even do justice)—which we will only see for the cookouts today, July 4th, and Labor Day.
Cooking dinner with my mom!
What did we make?! CITY CHICKEN!!!! It’s a bit of work so I’ve never made it but my mom made it off and on when I was growing up and it’s a favorite!. She’s here visiting so we made it together today. 🙂
Of course, Katie had to help, too.

She did pretty good until the last piece she couldn’t get on the stick…and she wasn’t too happy (as you can see on her face).
What is city chicken, you may be asking? Breaded, fried, and baked skewered pieces of veal and pork. It looks like chicken legs—like non-farm “city” people might have. Apparently way back when, veal and pork were also cheaper than chicken so it was a faux chicken. It’s DELISH. (Similar recipe to ours here.)
Happy Mother’s Day from Owen
You can tell we just had chicken pot pie at home because his answers are VERY chicken-pot-pie related. 🙂
My mom’s name is Jennifer.
She is 42 years old.
Mom and I like to play xbox 360/to help me on my Lego to get me red bricks.
Mom likes to say “I love you/respond.”
My Mom really loves playing with me.
She likes to eat chicken pot pie.
She likes to drink energy drink. [Our Naturally Slim H2OJ.]
My Mom’s job is taking care of me.
If she had time, she would like to watch Ellen DeGeneres.
Mom is really good at making pizza.
If I could go anywhere in the world with her, we’d go to Florida.
I love my Mom because she is nice.
















































































































































































































































