The Silver Lining of Strep...

No mother welcomes illness...like a strep infection. However, there is a slightly twisted side of me that appreciates the "side effects" of a minor health issue. For Daniel, having a cold or the flu brings back the long-ago abandoned (as in at age 23 months) daytime nap! Since he was 2, we have literally taken photos of this child napping in daylight hours. I kid you not...we have only FOUR nap photos! All illness-induced slumbers and a boat nap or two. For Tommy, a little bug means he might actually sit on the couch for more than 3 minutes at a time. A good thing for the mother (and wife) of Perpetual Motion Males. And...for Jonathan...a bug...like the strep infection of last week means...a quiet day at home...making art. Below is the latest "keeper"...MELT my heart!

Once Upon A Time...

..There was a little girl named Annie who lived in a NY orphanage...you know the story...she runs away and finds a fellow "orphan" Sandy the street dog. We did too -- back in 1996 -- on the streets of west Cleveland -- W. 76th to be precise. Ironically, in the summer of 2007 our sweet Sandy played the part of "Sandy" in BGSU's summer production of Little Orphan Annie.

So...what better name for Sandy's look-alike-successor who also was a street dog -- this time on the rural roads of Richland County...

Introducing...LUCKY Orphan Annie...just home from the Richland Co. Dog Pound! (We did not know you could shop for a stray like you shop for a boat or car or house -- here is a plug for petfinder.com. And very special credit goes to MeMe and Grampa for driving to Mansfield from Ashland to be first in line at 10am to "hold" her for us!)

Oh - and in Mack Family Dog-naming Tradition - there must be some nautical bend...first Beacon then Sandy...Annie just by chance has very nautical initials "L.O.A." - boater-talk for Length Overall!)
Much like Sandy, Annie is sweet, calm and loyal. But, unlike Sandy who had 5 years of HomeHighnessHood, Annie is quickly learning about being the youngest of 4 -- chase, catch, tickle, tackle...she WILL be a kid-dog, no doubt!

Our Dear West 76er!

That little greasy stray pup we found on West 76th Street in Cleveland had a pretty darn good life! Today marked 12 years, 8 months for our Sandy Barker Mack. It will be hard to fill her position at South Shore Marine -- the official greeter -- with a near-perfect attendance record! But ornery she was -- just last week she ran away from the office...to a neighboring business (beggin' for Scooby Snacks). On Friday she was playful, spunky and even helped deliver a new boat with Tom. That night she and Tom and Daniel took a long walk through Bay Village. By Monday she was gone. We are grateful for her quality of life! She certainly had a full life -- from exciting daily adventures as Tom's sidekick to the endless number of special FOS's (Friends of Sandy). We will miss our dear animal. Aunt Pris reports that Uncle John was just waiting for a sweet dog to join him -- and she is confident that our Sandy is now chasing balls thrown by dear Uncle John. What a great match!

Fall Fun

Our last (and coldest) trip of the season to Cedar Point... All summer I had avoided the dreaded Ferris Wheel - the slowest ride and (more importantly) the slowest line in the park. "But Mom! We haven't ridden it all year!" So, in 40 mph winds, we circled three SLOW times -- stopping at the top -- in the even-stronger and colder winds without proper clothing -- to load the opposite cars. It was miserable -- can't you tell from the looks on their faces!?! They LOVED it! They had time - at the top - to study every buoy, island, marina, bird...grain of sand...on Lake Erie! I, on the other hand, could not wait to get off! Next year, I will bite the bullet and surrender to our one-time-a-year ride on a warm day, light breeze! The park is full of Halloween decor and characters -- and at 4pm -- The Snoopy Halloween Parade down the main strip! They were in awe...My personal favorite was the wheelchair pumpkins. Very neat! And then...back in Bay Village...

Jonathan & Tommy in our colorful backyard. Mrs. Glinka's 1st grade class

A priceless moment...Superman prepping King Daniel for the Normandy Elementary Costume Parade...

Packed up and heading home for Trick or Treat...Daniel and his classmate Tommy...King Daniel, "Saint Jamie" & Jonathan as Thomas (again!) ready to trick-or-treat with the Sooy Family! Tommy refused a plethora of costume choices -- from monkey to fire fighter. He also refuses coats, jackets, sweatshirts, socks and covers. (Can you say "Philsey?") I think we better move south!The first stop -- our neighbor Miss Alice. She had two baskets -- candy and "stuff". Daniel chose chocolate - Jonathan chose a travel-size Purell. ???? Don't ask!

Shoulder Time

Cozy PJs + "Ba-Ba" + Daddy's Shoulder + Peaceful, Sleeping Toddler=

A Yummy & Rare Moment!

Mama PickPocket

- Exhibit A -

Mama PickPocket has the enviable job of emptying the pockets of dirty laundry produced by four boys. One particular "boy" is known for leaving behind (so to speak!) business cards, Sharpie markers and heavy bolts/nuts/screws. All of which, if missed by Mama, can cause great damage and/or drive our condo neighbors nutso due to clanking nutsoes in the dryer.

(That 42 year old will remain unnamed.)

However, the pocket filler best known, by far, for both the

great quantity and variety of premium pocket loot is...
Mr. Collector himself - Jonathan Paul Mack!
Last week alone, Jonathan managed to find everything in Exhibit A above. The pile grew and grew on the laundry room counter until I just had to document and inventory for historical sake.

Hey Mr. SandMan!

Setting: 2nd row of Honda Odyssey.

Parked at restaurant - heading in for dinner.

Tommy woke up from a deep "vannap."

(Any desperate-for-their-toddler-to-nap-parent knows what that is).

As he rubbed his crusty eyes he started wimpering:

"Mommy! There are sandcastles......on my face!"

Of course, MotherOfTheYear snapped a picture before helping her poor child! Too cute.

Happy Birthday Sweet Jonathan!

Jonathan's birthday started with his favorite breakfast splurge -- a Heinen's doughnut -- on our way to school. Later in the morning, Tommy and I joined Jonathan for his classroom birthday celebration. The Montessori tradition involves a special song and story about how many times the Earth has circled the Sun since that very special day -- September 25, 2003. Jonathan then opened the Dr. Suess books that our family donated to his classroom.
After school, Jonathan's birthday wish was to go to Mitchell's Ice Cream!

We then had an unexpected weekday trip back to Sandusky since Gramma Mack was admitted to the hospital. (She is fine now!) But since Uncle Mike and Aunt Sally were in from Williamstown, MA and staying at our condo for the week (when not sailing on Whitehawk), it was an added bonus to celebrate with them. We also fit in a short sunset dinghy ride...On this day we give great thanks for our 2nd born son Jonathan Paul Mack -- named after Molly's maternal grandfather. Jonathan is a wonderful brother -- patient with and kind to both his older brother Daniel and younger brother Tommy (most of the time anyway)! During the last year he has learned to ride a two-wheeled bike, become a strong swimmer, evolved into a confident preschooler and continues to make beautiful artwork -- often mailing creations to our favorite artist-in-residence MeMe...A few words to describe our 5-year-old guy:

sweet, kind, gentle, positive, creative, wise, sharp, sensitive and silly!

And most of all...precious!

Happy Birthday Jono!

A Fall Getaway

Thanks to the generous help of a small team, Tom and I were able to sneak away to beautiful Charleston, SC for a few days. I left two days early to meet up with some graduate school friends -- Bobbi, Stacie and Tracy. While we only spent 11 months together in our MA program, that time was intense -- and pretty hilarious looking back. How fun to stay connected despite the years, miles and busy kids!

Tom and I then spent two days at the Scout Boats dealer meeting with the very kind and oh-so-hilarious fellow Great Lakes dealers.

More photos coming soon...I cannot find them!

The Calm Before...Ike!

See those flags blowing above Tom's head? 35+++ knot winds made the Cedar Point Boat Show interesting...but that was nothing compared to what was coming later Sunday night. Tom ended up staying late into the night on the docks in order to protect the 20+ South Shore Marine boats at the show. Anchors came loose, a small boat sank at the dock, big drama. Meanwhile, I was at home with 3 boys -- brushing teeth and reading bedtime stories by candlelight. We lost power for 10 hours on Sunday in Sandusky...but Bay Village, with all of her giant trees, was much harder hit. No school on Monday - again on Tuesday for some buildings. And as of this moment I still have friends without power -- some 72 hours later. Who would have guessed just how powerful Ike would be so far from the Gulf? Here is a look around our neighborhood today...

Our street (above) is still closed due to power lines down. There were two house fires in our neighborhood - one just three houses down. Apparently many Ohio power workers are in hard-hit TX -- delaying the repairs here. Amazingly, our yard had only a few small branches down and no power outage. Whew!

Three Sunflowers

Sunflowers make most people smile. They are bright and cheery and represent the height of summer. I too love the sight of a sunflower. (In fact, I just snapped the above giants in the Garden at Jonathan's school a few weeks ago.) But I must admit that for me the sight of a sunflower is bittersweet. Eight years ago today, I carried three beautiful sunflowers into my precious 88-year old Grandmother Daugherty's new, temporary room within a nursing care building in Upper Arlington. She had fallen while walking outside of her assisted-living building (her daily routine) over Labor Day weekend and her brittle bones did not fare well. A determined woman and life-long Christian Scientist, she was not happy being confined to this hospital-like nursing care facility. Not happy at all. But, in usual fashion she was trying her best to see the silver lining. That day I took her by wheelchair on a walk around the building and out onto a small patio where she reveled in the warm filtered September sun. We eventually went back inside to her corridor and found a nice sunny window to sit in front of as we visited. She and I went through each of the grandchildren (my cousins) and she updated me in detail on each one. Little did I know that this day would be the last day I would see my treasure of a grandmother. The next day she had a stroke while in a therapy session and the following day, with several grandchildren and her four beautiful daughters by her side, Gramie passed away. That afternoon a group of us went back to that temporary room and gathered her belongings. We all chuckled as we tossed the therapeutic black laced shoes into the trash. She, who wore beautiful, elegant non-sensible shoes every day of her life, was smiling too -- we were all sure of that. As we left the room, I carried with me those three still-in-full-bloom sunflowers. What brought her a smile on Monday produced streams of tears for me on Wednesday.

As she aged and watched her dear Paul John and so many of her peers pass on, she always tenderly said, "Oh, someday I just want to blow away."

And so she did.

And that is why I cannot look at a sunflower without thinking of my

always bright, always positive, always beautiful grandmother.

In fact, I have three in a vase in my kitchen bay window this week --

in honor of precious Eleanor Greene Daugherty -- our Gramie.

Bairy Halls!

While I created this Tamale Blog thing back in December 2007, it has taken me a while...like nearly an entire year...to get it up and running. So, I do have a little backloggin' to do. This post is dedicated to Aunt Lisa who was a witness to A Quotable Quote from 4 year old Jonathan... In June we began to notice a very loud and aggressive robin flying around our front porch. Soon we learned why...she had taken up residence in one of our four hanging ivy geranium planters. The boys, most especially Jonathan, enjoyed peeking into her well-built nest -- three perfect Martha-Stewart-robin-egg-blue eggs! Each time our front door would open (which is often), Ms. Mama Bird would fly to the nearby phone line (see photo) and hover and fret about what might happen to her three soon-to-be's. Welp, one evening...it happened. We heard tiny chirping. Tom lifted Jonathan (their #1 fan) up to be the first to see the newborns. In his usual fashion, Jonathan's face lit up with wonder. Never one to be at a loss for colorful and descriptive words, Jonathan stood there speechless after I asked him what they looked like. His eyes looked up and left. His lower jaw shifted. His fingers touched his chin in that Thinker Position...as he tried to formulate just the right words to describe this most amazing sight of nature. Long pause. Another long pause. "Hmmm. Well...(pause)....They kind of....um....well....um...(eyes suddenly popped with the ah-ha description for which he had been searching). They kind of looked like......HAIRY BALLS!" (Pretty accurate -- photo below.) And there you have it. One of those moments when you say to yourself, "I better write that one down!" And so I just did! PS - All three hairy balls eventually flew to freedom a few weeks later. Mama Bird is now officially an empty nester. Maybe I will be thinking of her when my third goes off to college in 2025! Tweet Tweet!

Seven is Magic!

Happy Birthday Dear Daniel!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

To top off a great first week in first grade, we invited Daniel's entire new class to celebrate his 7th birthday at famous Malley's Ice Cream which is just down the street from our home in Bay Village. Nearly everyone from his class attended...including his teachers! It was a great way to get to know the other kids in the class and many parents commented on the simple, quick and NO GIFTS birthday! It was just all about...SUGAR! And new friends of course! Meme and Grampa even stopped by...
Wonderful Mrs. Glinka was nearly the first one there...and the last one to leave. What a kind and caring teacher! Mrs. Rodrigues, Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Vincent also joined us.
The kids colored mug inserts while they waited for their Malley's famous Puppy Sundaes. Seventeen of the 21 classmates came to the party...

And Daniel's birthday wish came true...On Friday after day five of first grade, we took a ride to Put-in-Bay on his favorite Contender! Gramma Mack came along. We hit the pool, playground and dinner on the porch. As we left the harbor, there was a glowing sunset...

It was a MAGICAL week!

(And this mama is exhausted!)