Royal Shenanigans

Pip pip...cheerio (to be read in an English accent)!

To celebrate the Royal Wedding...

 join us for a spot of tea, and perhaps a very pleasing English scone.

Don your favorite hat...

 bring along a cheeky playmate...

 because it's Olivia's first tea party!

Hip Hip Hooray...three cheers for Prince William and Princess Kate. 

 .

Build It And They Will Come

The men folk are in the midst of a big project here.

Starting in the garage...because Spring has not sprung in our little Northern city.

Oh yeah...The teenager's first time with power tools!

This shot cracks me up...is that Chet, or scary Ninja dude with a drill gun!

The building plans started out as scratches on graph paper...

with careful attention to every detail.

Oh yeah...first time with an electric saw.

Because, if you build it...they will come!

Oh by the way, General Tsao says hurry up boys...the box is getting crowded! Mother Clucker has put on quite a few grams around the middle.

The Hunt

We don't always follow traditions closely at The Garlick Press...sometimes we veer off madly in the wrong direction.

 We start off with the usual Easter egg dying.

 The teenager made me the pink and lime green one! I'm a pink egg kind of girl.

We'll usually have a traditional ham and smoked turkey dinner...

including a plethora of desert treats like coconut cupcakes, brown-butter brownies and chocolate dipped marshmallow bunnies.

Warning...sharp veering ahead...

 Easter bonnet...

gangsta' bonnet!

 And because we're new grandparents...a new tradition.

Welcome to Nana and Papa's first annual Easter egg hunt.

 Is that the Easter bunny I see hiding those eggs...or is that some bunny else?

I know...I know...neither one of the grand babies can walk

or even pick up their own Easter eggs.

Look closely at Izzy...she's trying to sneak an egg from Olivia's basket.

Even the teenager got a little excited about Easter this year. 

There were grand baby eggs...and eggs just for the adult hunters.

Let's be honest, all the eggs were for the adults, since neither baby is allowed to have candy yet.

Ask Bob why he aced out his wife trying to get the prized silver Easter egg.

Gumming on a Kit Kat bar went well for Olivia until she actually broke open the wrapper.

It was a lovely Easter afternoon...spent soaking up the babies that are springing up around us..

Apparently she didn't like Peter Cottontail.

Easter egg hunting can make boys very sleepy...

and finally...Henry's out!

See we can be fairly traditional when we try...

and we're off again!

Happy Easter Peeps!

From Olivia and Nana...

Happy Easter to all our favorite peeps!

Hi Mom

Reaching deep into the back of a kitchen cabinet and feeling around for a notepad, I stumbled upon a treasure. Six o'clock, the dinner hour and my pantry was empty...obviously it was past time to prepare a grocery list. But I made a feeble attempt anyway.

As I brought the thin, small post-it notepad from the recesses of the dark cabinet, I noticed scribbles on the first page. But not just any scribbles...they were her scribbles! Page after page...a message written a couple of years ago from my angel. And today is the day her message found me

Hi Mom

I

Love 

to Ski

I

Love

You!

For a moment I unmistakably heard her delightful, teenage voice shouting to me from the scribbles..."Hi Mom!" 

And then I wept...big heaping, body shaking sobs!

It's Spring and I ache for her...similar to the ache I feel in the Summer, and the Fall and the Winter. A giant hole torn in the fabric of my life, losing a child is the hardest thing I've ever done...and continue to do. Surrendering to grief's icy grip, I let go of my usual brave face for a while...because sometimes it's OK to let go!

Fourteen

He's 14...He's handsome...and he's mine...all mine...all mine...

Sometime in the past couple of months The Teenager grew about 6 inches and blew past me in height. Now I'm the shortest one in the family, except for Olivia and Henry.

Practically overnight I had to start shopping in the men's department for him. Now I have to know his neck size when I buy him a white shirt.

His heart is tender, his mind is sharp and he's my hero...and not just my guitar hero either!

He ordered a Banana Cream Pie instead of cake for birthday desert.
Am I surprised that he chose to wear this T-shirt on his birthday...no not at all! Like all of us, he misses her every day...but he especially misses his big sister on the special days.

The advocate general made this video for him...it's hilarious and absolutely worth watching!
Wow we really miss her humor!

 What 14 year old wouldn't want this kind of attention on his birthday?

OK...so he's not all mine! Happy Birthday Son...Brother...Friend...Grandson...Chick Magnet...Uncle Chet!

I just love ya!