More Summer Fun

It's still hot here. Hot, Hot, Hot...did I mention it's hot? My word, we have hardly gone anywhere or done anything because of the heat!
This week Celeste had "Safety Town" for 3 days and I didn't even take a single picture of her! It was too hot! Dana dropped her off each morning at 8:30 and I picked her up at 11:30- she had a ton of fun and learned lots of fun safety stuff. Then today, Isaac arrived from NC and the older kids spent the day at the indoor water park- camera? Nope- too hot INSIDE!! I just dropped them off and picked them up too- but it was so warm in there, my camera would've probably had moisture all over the lens! But such fun they had!
We do take evening walks each night- heat or not and last night we went to the park at Alex's school. We took a few photos:

I took these swing pictures, but Celeste made the collage- not bad for a first time!

Leah actually took these of Elaina yesterday- she is getting so good with my camera- I let her take pics as often as she wants because she pays attention to details and gets great shots! She made this collage all herself too.
Since my picture program has disappeared, I have been making more of these collages, but really because I can't upload individual pictures until I figure this mess out. Luckily they are cute!

Buddy the Boss

Today was Alex and Leah's fondant class at JoAnn's. They could hardly wait! I think they had a great time, and we learned a lot about fondant- things I wish I would have known Saturday when we did Leah's birthday cake- but now we do, so look out birthdays from here on out! Here is the montage of their class and creations:
They are officially taking orders! ha ha- I bet it won't be long- and if we get to eat the trial ones, I won't complain!

Birthday Girl

Yesterday my first beautiful girl turned 9!!
NINE
Nine...honest- really, can't believe it still.
She is really into clothes this year- must be the "going into 4th grade" thing because she really didn't care a whole lot up to now. She is content in Old Navy t-shirts and "soft" pants- no jeans. Well, not this time around- much more into structured things and hip outfits. She still has this tiny body- barely wearing an 8 and shoes, still a 13. Tiny for a NINE year old!
The other thing she is really into is "Cake Boss". She and Alex watch it daily- even DVR the shows so they can watch them first thing in the morning. I can't complain- it's better than Phineaus and Ferb!! So, for one of her gifts, we got her cake decorating classes and then we attempted to make our own with fondant (before she takes the fondant class!). Here is our (HER) creation:It was a two layer 8" round. We did the white fondant (yuck!) and then had some left over to make the pieces for it- the 9 and the L's and O's were her idea and so she decorated it solely herself. All I did was the icing and putting the fondant on- she smoothed it down and created away. She was so happy with it- and I think for a NINE year old, she did an outstanding job. Now she wants to make more, since Aunt Stephanie got her a whole cake decorating kit! We are really adding to our (her) decorating collection.

The Dowell's and us got together to eat this wonderful creation and open lots of fun presents:
Grandma and Grandpa did a fabulous job of spoiling her with amazing fun clothes- even took her shopping to pick them out! Lucky girl!
We love this girl. She is such a wonderful daughter. We could not ask for more with her (perhaps less lip, but she is NINE, right?!) She has been so helpful with Elaina- I don't even have to ask her help, she jumps right in and helps constantly. I am so blessed to have her at this time with all she does for me. I remember when I first held her- she was so tiny and precious- I think of her the same now- she had a stomach ache on Friday night- in the middle of the night she came to me and I held her in my arms and we fell asleep on the bathroom floor, then a while later we slept in her bed. She is still a snuggler. Lucky me.
Leah - we hope you know how loved you are- you are an amazing NINE year old and we are so lucky to have you- if you could only know an inkling of how much we love you- we hope you do.

Fun with Picnik

My Picasa has been causing me grief! I CANNOT get it to work!! I am not happy, so I have had to look elsewhere for a good photo editing program. I have used Picnik before, but not tried all the fun features it has to offer. Though it doesn't store my photos and catalog them like Picasa, I have had a lot of fun using it to make fun pics like these:

And yes, I could do this all day!

Morning Visitor

Earlier this week, we had a visitor:There are wooded areas that surround our subdivision on two sides. It isn't uncommon for us to see them by the ponds around here, but I have only seen a few in the street or in yards. The girls were eating breakfast and noticed her outside the window. Leah took a few from in the house and then caught her as she ran out toward the front yard. Great action shots, right?!
I love that we live in the "city", and still get some wildlife.

We have a few ponds around us that we frequently go to on our walks in the evening. There is a sign posted requesting that you not feed the wildlife. But, I ignore that and we do this:Yes, we are rule breakers! But I can't help it- there are ducklings that need fed! I know how that feels, have you seen my duckling?! Doesn't she look hungry?!!How could you resist not feeding that?! Same thing with those ducklings!!

Cake Boss

Leah took a cake decorating class yesterday. She was super excited, if you can't tell by her face! We baked her cake and took all our supplies- and 2 hours later- this is the finished product:Next week, she and Alex will both be in a fondant class together making another great cake. This was part of her birthday gift from Grandma and us- I think she has some talent!! We surely have a cake boss on our hands here-
and with cake comes happiness- so I am good with it!

Collage Overload

It has been a busy summer- too much going on- not enough time to blog! Hate that!! I AM taking pictures, though. Elaina is getting so fun to photograph these days. On Thursday she started blowing bubbles and today she started laughing out loud- oh so fun!
On the other hand, she is still not sleeping very long at night and sometimes I think she doesn't even know night and day- she just naps here and there, including overnight! Oh my! So tonight we are going to let her cry it out- it could be a long night!
But to show you how dang cute she is during the day, here are a few collages:




We do have other kids I take pictures of too!! Here is Alex playing baseball. His season is now over- they did really well. Alex pitched a few games and Dana was the coach again. He has one more year of rec league, then he can play at the Jr. High level. It seems that just as the season gets going, it ends- 8 games is just not enough! Alex got a lot of really great hits and made some spectacular plays this year- next year he will do even better!And we have gone to the pool and kept cool too:Still more has gone on, but for now, this is what you get! Stay tuned for more excitement! ha ha

Catching Up

Last week was a doozy...
There were many reasons why I have been slacking on blogging...
I took pictures, though.
Jen and her crew came to visit for a few days and during that time, it was the 4th and my grandpa passed away so I had to go out of town for that. Nonetheless, I took 240 pictures and am trying to condense them into collages so I am not on here all day posting!
To sum it up, it was a wonderful, awful week all at the same time. It was so great to see Jen and hang out with her awesome family, and then it was great to see my extended family and spend time with them too- even though it was not the circumstances I had hoped for. My amazing Grandpa Szalai passed away on 29 June, peacefully. For posterity purposes, I am adding his obituary:

PIERPONT — John Szalai, age 83, of Pierpont, Ohio, died Wednesday morning, June 29, 2011, at Jefferson Health Care Center in Jefferson, Ohio.

He was born July 8, 1927, in Henlawson, W.Va., the son of Marton and Elizabeth (Naykas) Szalai. An area resident most of his life, John served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

He was employed with the former Nickel Plate Railroad for 23 years and then was maintenance supervisor at Brown Memorial Hospital, retiring in 1992.

He was a member of the Monroe Athletic League, enjoyed playing ball and bowled in the Brothers Bowling Banquets for many years, winning in 1973. He was an avid Cleveland Indians fan and enjoyed country-western movies and music and being with his family.

Survivors include his wife, Thelma J. (Armstrong) Szalai whom he married August 30, 1945; a son, John M. (Jane) Szalai of Monroe Township, Ohio; four daughters, Darlene J. (Robert) Dowell of Columbus, Ohio, Trudy L. Robison of Conneaut, Ohio, Pamela (Gary) Anderson of Conneaut and Lori (Mark) Evans of Hilliard, Ohio; 15 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. Also surviving are two sisters, Liz Passmore of Monroe Township and Cheryl Sharp of Conneaut, Ohio; and three brothers, Steven, Michael and Daniel Szalai.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Martin Szalai; three sisters, Peggy Smith, Sophia Tiche and Suzie Tiche; and two grandsons, John Szalai and Cody Robison.

Graveside Service will be 11:30 a.m., Saturday, July 2nd, in Kelloggsville Cemetery, Monroe Township, Ohio.

Calling Hours will be from 10 to 11 a.m., Saturday, at MARCY FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATION CENTER, 208 Liberty St., Conneaut, Ohio.

Words can't describe how much I miss him- he was the very best Grandfather one could ask for. I have only the most wonderful memories of him and my years with him. I wrote him a letter before he passed, and decided to put it in his casket instead of reading it to him. It was more healing for me I think. I am so grateful for the memories my children have of him, too. That is priceless. I told him in the letter that I am forever grateful for the choice he made to marry Thelma Armstrong, for had he not, there would be no me, nor my mother, nor my children. I can never thank him enough for that. Until we meet again...my love is overflowing for you.

After the funeral, we went to the farm and had a huge meal- I took just a few pictures of that- and tried and tried to get a shot of my grandma with Elaina- it was not working!! The time has come where my grandma doesn't recognize me- and though I knew that would probably happen, I don't think I was ready for it. She still hugged and kissed me as usual, but she never called me by name, and kept asking whose baby it was. I still savored every moment with her and love her with all my heart.
Elaina made her rounds too- she was so good at the funeral home, and then slept a lot at the get together- but I still managed to get a few shots of her in both her usual forms- happy, sleeping and screaming!
On the other side, having Jen here was super fun. There is never down time when we are together. We laughed and told stories and visited places on campus we hadn't been to in a while. So much has changed since we graduated!! Imagine that! It was fun sharing stories and embarrassing her daughter, Gwen. We laughed to tears for that! We ate good food, and stayed up late- the best time!!
So, without further ado...here are some pictures:

We always have lunch at the stadium- this year we went to the bookstore afterward. We found some hot deals- like Tressel sweater vests and Pryor jerseys 1/2 off!! Too funny!Here we are: 4 OSU grad girls, with our crews- 13 kids now between us- WOW!!
O-H-I-O, and some cute shots, including the hubbies, who are also all 4 OSU grads!
Fireworks with the Wolf's! Not that great of a spot to watch them, but little traffic, so it was fun!
Sunday we went to Sean's for his birthday cookout- we had another wonderful time there too! Lots of friends, family, food and fireworks! Only down side- flat tire! But we still managed to have a super night!
Now I am hoping life slows down a bit. This week has been good so far- I am happy to have my routine back and some normalcy for now.