So long, Tata

Last week was a bit of a blur for us. My great-grandfather past away after 98 years. To celebrate such a long life, we joined the many (35! 3 sons, 11 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren) of his descendants to say goodbye. We drove down to Southern California for the services, and then stayed to catch up with the rest of the family we so rarely get to see.

Big thank yous to Tom, who had the courage and determination ;) to round up this unruly bunch for a photo. In the picture are the 3 sons, 7 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, and 2 great-greatgrandchildren (Tony & Meagan) and various spouses.

We decided to break up the return trip by stopping off in San Luis Obispo, for a little reminiscing and positive brainwashing for the kids. They are all fired up to go to Cal Poly when it time to go to college. Meagan has decided she wants to be a horse doctor after checking out the baby horses at the Horse Unit. Tony thinks it would be fun to build robots with the engineers. Tom and I just like that they want to go to college :) We also spent a day in Monterey, checking out the ocean and the Aquarium.

To my LA friends- I am very sorry I didn't have the chance to meet up with any of you- it was drive down on Monday, Tuesday with the family, and Wednesday drive back.

Is my Bunny done yet???

Meagan's much-loved Bunny needed a bit of repair work, so it was Nana to the Rescue! Meagan sat, somewhat patiently, and waited, asking every so often, "Is my Bunny done yet??" Thanks for fixing Bunny, Nana!

Lookin' Good!

Check out Tony's new peepers!

His teacher mentioned last month that there may be a small problem with his eyes. She had rearranged everyone's seats and Tony's was now in the back of the class. Every time he needed to copy something down from the board he was up out of his seat, walking up to the board and squinting trying to figure out what was written. We took him in, and behold, the little man needs specs. He's been slowly adjusting to them, commenting often- "Wow, everything is nearer now, I can see!"

Earthquake update

Mom heard from Dad, he and the telescopes are ok. They felt it, but no damages. Whew. As for my grandparents, they are on the far side of the island, it supposed to hit on the Hilo side, so they should be ok too.

Earthquake and Tsunami

just a quick note. Dad is in Chile and we haven't been able to get a hold of him. He is several hundred miles north of the epicenter, so he probably felt it, but isn't in any danger. It will be a while before the phones are back up and everything. Right now I am more concerned about my grandparents who are in Kona, Hawaii. Their condo is on the coast. I'm sure they will evacuate someplace inland, I just hope there isn't any damage...I'll keep you posted.

Too much fun

It was raining (again) yesterday so Meggie and I decided it was time to make some cookies. My little helper scooped and measured and stirred...all with the hopes of just a little taste. Every time she added something to the bowl she'd ask, "Can I have some now??" At the end, I couldn't resist handing over the beater. (And I'm so glad I had my camera nearby!)

I think she liked it?!

Oh, and here's a shot of my brother last week when he came back from fishing with my mom. He's been borrowing Tony's boat so he can fish at Lake Shasta. Nice catch!

Did you miss me??

I'm Back!! What can I say?? There hasn't been a whole lot going on around the March house lately. After the frenzy of the holidays, we kinda went into hibernation mode. Now that the weather has finally decided to play nicely, we're out and about more. Tom is back to bike riding and brewing up a storm. I think he has 12 gallons waiting to be bottled. Yum!

I managed to finish up this little lovely before school got too crazy....

Cute isn't it? I'm pleased as punch with it. It is hand appliqued and machine pieced and quilted. Funny thing, the piecing gave me more trouble than the applique- go figure. All I can say is that biases are kinda tricky... I have several more little projects lined up, but that school thing got in the way. I'll just have to wait until the semester is over in April. I passed my CSETs (the California Subject Examination for Teachers- California's answer to deciding who is and isn't a highly qualified educator under No Child Left Behind) so that's it for testing until after I student teach in the fall. Yea!

Tony, our first grader, is keeping us on our toes. It seems he has a thing for math. His teacher has him learning the multiplication table. And he gets it! Its like he can "see" the numbers and why they equal what they do. He's been adding and subtracting multiple digit numbers in his head for a while now, and he wants to know what comes after multiplication. Oh boy!

Meagan is our social butterfly. She is begging us all the time to invite her friends from Rosie's over for play dates and tea parties. This is her, all dressed up for the Valentine's Day party at Rosie's. I didn't get them in the picture, but she even has her sparkly "glass" slippers on.

So, there you have it, us in a nutshell for the past two months. Sorry it took so long Dad!