Bierhanzl Beeswax

Le Blog

2009-08-14T00:45:00.001-04:00

I posted a little update on the baby blog.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer...thinking of all you Bierhanzls out there.

Caper the sweet puppy boy!

2009-08-03T00:52:00.002-04:00

Here is our lovey new pup!! He is incredible, having this little guy has been even more wonderful than I had imagined... the kids and I are loving him so much, though the cat isn't so appreciative of her new roomate, she's taken to hanging out in the flower box outside the bathroom...

Spring is Here!

2009-04-26T23:14:00.000-04:00

Snow Beautiful Snow

2009-01-18T22:52:00.002-05:00

All of this constant snow reminds me of a winter I never had growing up.... I love it. Its like winter in "Little Women" or something, sparkly and cold and just so pretty. It is perfect for playing and skiing and sledding and avoiding inside with a cup of hot cocoa....

Does anyone know Lindsey's email address?

2009-01-08T14:43:00.004-05:00

I'm not even sure how to spell Lindsay.
My brother just got his bike stolen and he lives a few blocks from her store. I think.
This is Alan. You know, Leah's husband.

The True Meaning of Christmas

2008-12-25T13:20:00.000-05:00

Waterskiing Santa and his Kneeboarding Reindeer!

Also featuring Frosty in a dinghy...

Making the call...

2008-12-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

"So I said, OK then sell our position in CDOs and buy put options for the financial stocks... hold on..."
"Please, no photographs..."
"Do not make me call Security..."

Tapas

2008-12-22T22:06:00.001-05:00

Graham and Marilyn discussing politics over some tapas and Sangria in the District.

Baby pictures!

2008-12-22T22:03:00.000-05:00

Fall Fun

2008-10-23T00:16:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but it's freezing here. Lows in the 30s tonight!
Fall is here so we've been making the most of it. That's Brennan eating his first 'smore. It's a backyard campfire, but still...

And the weekend before last we took the annual apple picking trip to Stribling Orchard in Markham, VA. Much better crop than last year - it actually rained this year and I understand that's important for some reason. Zoe was unimpressed, but the boys had a great time. Total tally so far: 2 apple crisps, apple turnovers, apple strudel muffins, and apple pancake (Mom's recipe or does someone else want to take credit?)

Oh Baby...

2008-10-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

Everything is going great here. Zoe is doing really well, sleeping great (only getting up once a night), and enjoying all the attention she gets from her big brothers.
So far so good...

Zoe

2008-09-17T16:32:00.000-04:00

Zoe Bierhanzl

It's A Girl!

2008-09-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

Baby Bierhanzl
9:44 AM
8 lbs. 9 oz.
20 "

Everybody is doing great!

More to follow...

:-)

zara and me at work

2008-05-04T19:12:00.002-04:00

Don't we look happy? We love our jobs. Especially the babies.

Baby Bierhanzl

2008-04-29T23:46:00.000-04:00

OK, it's us. :-)
Barbara is due in September. Haven't you heard? Three is the new two. Just to shake up the people who thought we'd never have any kids we decided to keep going.
Do I hear four?
Kidding! We have to live through three first.

Hope to see you all at Amy's wedding, if not sooner.

me at work

2008-04-29T19:40:00.004-04:00

oh god this has taken me forever just to figure out how to sign on!

This is a darling baby I take care of at work.

The picture above is of a baby that I have not yet cared for. My co-workers told me just to pose in front of his isolette and look bossy like I usually do. The first picture is of Dr.Narkewicz and Nurse Repscher, pretending that they are doing something work related. I believe that they were looking at vacation pictures. What can I say? It was a slow day, other wise I wouldn't have had time to take pictures.

2008-04-23T22:26:00.003-04:00

OK, I love the idea that Amy had - blog where you work!
In that spirit, I present... my desk.

I feel like I must relate the anecdote of the chair. My company bought some new office furniture and was tossing the old stuff. At the time, I was dealing with a herniated disk, and I had already given my fancy Aeron chair to a co-worker because it was hell of uncomfortable. So here's this scratchy upholstered 70s-looking monstrosity on the trash heap and I wheeled it into my office initially as a joke. But damn if it didn't feel a lot better than any other chair in the office. I'm in my second year in this chair and i have no intention of giving it up. (it also reclines WAY back)

This is just the view out my window - perhaps the smallest park in DC? For the excessively curious (or those addicted to Google Maps) that triangle is bounded by 21st Street NW, M St., and New Hampshire Ave.

Let's see some more work pics!

Where do you work?

2008-04-21T09:44:00.003-04:00

Ok next time I'll post one of me at work. How about the rest of you? I'd love to see where you do what you do.

Marilyn

2008-04-19T23:53:00.002-04:00

Marilyn in her professional attire, working at Dr. Carpenter's office.

He does minimally invasive surgery. Marilyn takes out stitches and staples.

Louise at the shelter

2008-04-19T23:50:00.003-04:00

You can't tell it's me, but I'm feeding one of three kittens abandoned in a dumpster. They were found shortly after we took in 54 cats from a trailer where a woman was being evicted.

Louise

2008-04-19T23:42:00.003-04:00

Louise and Little Man. Photo taken after the Furball. I am busy with SPCA duties, everything from writing the newsletter,press releases, letters to the editor, meeeting with the county legislators. Who knew, I was planning to be a recluse.

2008-04-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

April 9th, Alan's Birthday!!!

2008-04-09T22:23:00.003-04:00

I love making a cake to celebrate all of the wonderful April birthdays in our family. Alan, we hope you had a wonderful day! We were thinking of you and can't wait to hear how it went (particularly if you had a meringue cake or not). That's what I should have made! Also a belated shout out to Barbara and a future shout out to Taylor, Harper, Ariana, Grandma, and Zara. Are there any other April birthdays? Much love to you all...Hugs and Kisses from all of us.

* Happy Birthday *

2008-03-25T09:18:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Billy! We're thinking of you and wishing you a beautiful, wonderful, happy day.
Hugs from us all!

crystals rock

2008-02-22T16:51:00.005-05:00

So, MaryJo sent crystal-loving Jack a crystal growing kit for Christmas. Oh my gosh- this thing is amazing, we have grown all sorts of crystals, smooshy ones, hard ones, all different colors, some are instant, some take days. The crystals in these pics ended up filling the glasses. Thanks Mj!! The funniest part of the kit are the goggles that it comes with (on Jack in pic). Although most of the chemicals have all sorts of warnings about contact with eyes- the goggles have a label that reads "this is a toy and not a safety device".... hmmmm, note to self, have poison control on speed dial...

Lubies

2007-12-14T08:51:00.000-05:00

Our fabulous friend has a fabulous blog that comments on her life in NYC and the art she runs across while she is there. She wrote a little somthin' something about Joshua. Check it out.

Something new

2007-12-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

An update on the baby blog. Also, check out Josh's recently renovated website.

Halloween Parade

2007-11-18T21:02:00.000-05:00

The Peanut was a hit!
Everybody cracked up - several strangers even took pictures.

Every year our town has a Halloween parade and they let the kids walk in it at the beginning. It rained a little bit but it was still a good time. There were marching bands, lame local floats, too many politicians, Shriners in tiny race cars, and Salvadoran dance groups.

Apple Pickin'

2007-11-18T20:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it's turned into something of a tradition with us. If it's October, then we're out at Stribling Orchards in Markhan, VA. Everyone had a great time as usual. You can't tell from the pictures, but the drought must have hit the fruit industry pretty hard. There were very few apples on the trees. Still, we got enough for a couple of pies, turnovers, and apple pancakes. Upside of the drought: we didn't get rained on!

And relaxing on the porch with a cold one later....

2007-10-10T21:01:00.000-04:00

Brennan's Birthday Party!

2007-10-10T20:58:00.000-04:00

A beautiful baby girl

2007-08-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

New post on the bienkobaby blog.

2007-07-23T20:11:00.000-04:00

The Blue Pearl is launched! So I sold the old chevy :( and bought a boat :) she is very old but still able to have fun-kinda like me . It took a bit of work to get her running and we hope to get her up to ithaca soon. Doris, Louise Marilyn-want to water ski? be prepared to sign a waiver! We all love the water and it's agreat thing to do with the kids now that theyre older.

2007-07-23T20:03:00.000-04:00

Leah and family were here for her bf 's priscilla wedding, she made this cake, we all helped to make the cake topper more appropriate. and yep it was delicious.

New in my life

2007-07-12T11:06:00.001-04:00

So I dont think I have posted on here so I thought I would give an update on things with Michael and I. I have a new job that is different field then im used to, its with a financial company that helps people in foreclosure. Its a small company but even though I have only been here a month they have moved me to a salary position and given me more responsibility so thats looking good. Michael is also scheduled to take the post offfice exam so keeping our fingers crossed on that front. Were looking for an apartment because living with Michaels mom is driving us up the wall and we need to strike out on our own. So if anyone has any old stuff they wouldnt mind donating to us that would be great since we have no basic stuff like dishes, silverware, pots, pans, dinning room table, chairs. Were looking for an apartment that will accomadate our boy Monty and mr. Bailey our cat which is also difficult.

Tovah and John were here last month and played with moms chickens and goats. Here the pics she took with her cell phone.

Tovah Rocking out a bit

And finally the latest update on my back tattoo

2007-06-19T20:51:00.000-04:00

The Bierhanzl's head to Disney World!!!

Breakfast at Crystal Palace with Tigger!

Ditto with Eyore! Sense the theme?

Yep, you guessed it...

2007-06-19T20:47:00.000-04:00

Fun with the Zimmermans!

Brennan earns his ears....

Then passes out...

2007-06-19T20:43:00.001-04:00

Then recovers with a refreshing beverage

2007-06-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

First Pony ride!

Boat trip across the lake for breakfast

Hanging out at Animal Kingdom lodge

Love the shirts!

2007-06-19T20:33:00.000-04:00

Brennan samples his way through the trip.

2007-05-24T20:37:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful and fun place Myrtle Beach is Clean air etc. My great guy, and those great kids

I found it!

2007-05-22T22:52:00.000-04:00

Here's that cake I've been looking for:)

So I found this recipe on MarthaStewart.com while searching around the Internet for a new and yummy cake to try out. It's Bourbon Banana layer cake. I loved the recipe Because it had Bananas and Buttermilk in the cake, Bourbon, Butter, and Bananas in the center and it is frosted with a whipped Bour Bream Bixture. The only tricky part is making the filling. First you melt the butter and as it begins to brown you add the sliced banana & brown sugar, flip, add bourbon, and ignite with a match, finito! There is always a bit of apprehension that goes along with lighting something on fire in your small kitchen, surrounded by wood cabinets, in a small apartment, in the middle of a state that is in a code red fire risk. I asked Josh to assist with the fire part; I held the pan and Josh lit it on fire.

Woooooo hooooooo! There was a gigantic ball of flames that stretched about 3 feet high and surrounded the telephone book that sits on top of the refrigerator. I'm not being dramatic; it was the biggest flambé I have ever seen. Although we were nervous for a second I figured if I stepped into the middle of the room the fire would dissipate without bringing down all of our belongings with it. The result...a delicious cake that has the wonderful flavor of brown sugar and bourbon that won't leave you tipsy.

I love you Mom and I wish I could be there to eat cake and celebrate with you. I am so glad you had a great time on vacation. You deserve the rest and relaxation. Welcome home. Hugs, kisses, and much love from the Bienko family.

April Showers?

2007-05-09T14:51:00.000-04:00

Okay, so i don't have a digital camera, which is my explanation for the posts that come a month after the event. With that said, here are some pics of our April snow storm. I should mention that today is BEAUTIFUL! 85 degrees and sunny, wahoooooo!

More from the trip..

2007-05-08T21:53:00.000-04:00

So, mom gets here on Friday night and we have to do the Wegmans run- for what else- cheese, cheese, and more cheese! Cheese, then a trip to the commons, followed by a walk through the woods. Life is good.

Beautiful Silly Sweet Sixteen

2007-04-29T19:27:00.000-04:00

Have a great time Ari!!!! Love you.....

Ariana

2007-04-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

Ari, Here is a blissful banana pie to wish you a belated "blog" birthday! Congratulations again on getting your driving permit, orchestrating what will be a fabulous party, and just being a wonderful person. Cheers to a sweet sixteen, we love you!

2007-04-20T22:21:00.000-04:00

New post on the bienkobaby blog.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Harper!!

2007-04-18T19:45:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh Mj, your little peanut is two! Alan insisted on making this cake himself to celebrate :0)
Jack helped, I think he was the official ingredient taster...

xoxo Happy Birthday Taylor oxox

2007-04-12T12:59:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Thing!!! Here is a yummy vanilla cake with lemon cream & fresh strawberries inside, frosted with fluffy white meringue. Thirteen Hugs and kisses to you and one for good luck of course. We hope you have a perfect day. We love you, MaryJo, Josh, Harper, and baby.

Happy Birthday Alan

2007-04-09T08:06:00.000-04:00

Hope you had a really great birthday weekend. It's relly great for such a golf fan to have twice the reason to celebrate. If only we lived in the same town we could have made it more of a superbowl event. Some year...Anyway, Have a wonderful day! Much love from the Bienko Famimly.

The Boys are Having Fun

2007-04-05T21:58:00.000-04:00

As you can see, the boys are enjoying themselves. We're settling in nicely, the computer is back online and I finally got Blogger to work again.
Brennan is really turning into a big kid, and Graham's getting good at helping out with him - finding the lost Binkey, picking up the dropped bottle, etc. Brennan loves to watch everything that Graham does. How long does that brotherly harmony last? Anyone?

New House!

2007-04-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

OK, so we've moved in and unpacked somewhat. The neighbors are nice - we invited some folks over for a combination Barb's Birthday/Housewarming party and everyone was friendly. Brennan doesn't seem to care much one way or the other, but Graham loves the place. He's obsessed with the garage - or as he calls it, the "parking garage". It just about makes his day if he can hit the button on the garage door opener.
We love it too. I think we'll stay put for a little while.

Come visit! We have a guest room and everything!

Happy Birthday Billy

2007-03-23T19:52:00.000-04:00

Just giving a shout out to Billy the birthday boy aka Booma. This is THE chocolate bourbon cake made especially for you. I wish we could celebrate together, eat cake, have a cup of coffe, maybe a game or two of cards...Perhaps some of you have had this cake on one of the occasions Mom and Billy have made it. Soooooo yummy. This is my first time making it and I will let you know how it turned out. Also a very happy birthday to all the other beautiful March babies...Edgar Ryan, Jill, and Quinn (straight from Aunt Doris' bday list, thank you!). Hope you are all getting some sunshine and having a wonderful spring. Love to you all, the Bienko's.

Another Baby

2007-03-08T12:08:00.000-05:00

There is another Bienko baby on the way! Josh ad I are so excited for Harper to have a little brother or sister. We think he will be a great older brother. The baby is due at the very end of August. The 28th to be exact, just 3 days after Jackson’s birthday! It should be a long hot summer her in Athens, but I am vowing to spend everyday possible swimming in the pool with Harper. It’s already starting to warm up here; it gets to a high of 60 something each day. We are hitting the parks like mad because Harper is definitely at the age where he really appreciates climbing, sliding, and digging in the sand box. The babes will be 28 months apart. I think that will be manageable, at least that’s what everyone tells us! We will be getting a sonogram in about 5 weeks, although we won’t find out the sex of the baby we’ll definitely post the pictures so we can all take a guess.

polka dot beauty and more

2007-03-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

We were lucky enough to see Ari all dolled up for a polka dot sweet sixteen. She was beautiful. Here are also some pics that make me think of grandpa. Seeing all sorts of creatures in all sorts of .......... creatures :0) We noticed that the rutabega was quite playful, as was my best friend sillas baby belly.

a few of my favorite things

2007-03-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

We went to mom's to see the ever growing Bienko fam. Of course much fun was had, many illnesses were passed, snow fell, and we ate and cooked and cooked and ate.It was all incredible. I think you would get such a kick out of Harper Edward! I can remember you teaching Emma economics terms when she was his age. He is so adorable and smart- and all about pronunciation. Mj was telling us a story and said the word - promotion- so Harper looked at her and started talking about "promotion, mama" very important. He is so sweet and lovey.

La La La Love Ya

2007-03-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

Hello!!! Time to end this case of blog neglect. We had to switch to new blogger to post..... if you haven't done it yet, it is super simple to do, it would be great to get us all posting again. I know that I miss peeking into everyones lives. So, here is a peek into what's been going on in Ithaca.... Emma flew solo for
the first time to see Alan's parents in Florida, she was amazing about the whole thing, so very chill. I of course was an absolute mess knowing she was up there without us. Life is so different without her around. She is constantly singing and dancing around the house. constantly. I love it. We were so incredibly happy to have her home, so was Jack, who let us know that as soon as he is 5 he will be ready to go to Florida as well :0) Oh- also news worthy, Emma is officialy class president, I loved her motto- "It's no dilema, vote for Emma!" I found her adversary's motto "Save your soul, vote for Cole" just a little creepy. Jack's been growing up a bit, he's been playing soccer with much enthusiasm.... aka not wanting to take off his soccer shoes or shin guards for anything. I'm fighting off the winter blues. It's a good fight, a worthy fight. I'll be happy to look back on it and remember only the good things, like these smiling sweet peas! Hope your all well!!!

Merry Christmas from Virginia

2006-12-30T09:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, that is the real Santa Claus - right there on the National Mall.

A few more Christmas pictures...

2006-12-30T09:25:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from Brennan

2006-12-30T09:18:00.000-05:00

I swear that we don't do anything to his hair. That's just the way God made it.
:-)

Merry Christmas

2006-12-18T16:39:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!
We like it sunny and warm.
We like to celebrate with friends and family, but especially with Kandee and Tony. Can you guess why?

Cookies!

2006-12-14T19:57:00.000-05:00

I spent last Saturday making Christmas cookies to give to a few friends. I was really looking forward to making Grandma's gingerbread cookies and Aunt Joyces Meringue mushrooms and peppermint candy canes. It was such a blast from the past because those cookies hold so many childhood memories. I love the gingerbread although I'm not really sure that's what there called because they have no ginger in them. Is that what Grandma calls them? Anyway, they are so delicious and they bring me right back to Reading Lane. Harper loves them too. The mushrooms were so fun to make and they are so yummy and adorable, I will definitely be making them again next christmas. Then there are those pesky candy cane cookies. Anunt Joyce, how did you do it!? Sculpting those was a true test of my dexterity and patients. Not to mention how tedious it was to crush all those candy canes.

Here is a newish picture of Harper. Josh recently took out the paint roller thinking Harper would find it amusing. Sure enough Harper loves it! He runs around rolling it all over the house. He refers to it as a "roll it" and at the moment we took this photo he told me he was "vacuuming vrooom".

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

November Fun

2006-12-09T11:21:00.000-05:00

Graham and Edward went to a concert at National Geographic headquarters, and stopped for a little picnic in the park.

Big brother, doing what big brothers do best.

Graham and Tea, participating in the traditional Bierhanzl Thanksgiving post-dinner stroll.

Halloween Cats

2006-12-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

Every time we asked Graham what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said "A cat, like Nicki". Um... OK. So we finally found a cat costume. Here's Graham trick-or-treating, and a picture of Nicki for comparison.

Shout out to NYC!

2006-12-09T11:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks Aunt Doris and Uncle Edgar for the great shirts! We love you!

2006-11-24T20:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, you weren't here, irregardless we had a good time.
Love to all.........Oma and Booma

Happy Birthday Mary Jo

2006-11-22T14:50:00.000-05:00

Seriously,.... Have a happy birthday

Happy Birthday Maryjo!!

2006-11-22T08:09:00.000-05:00

happy birthday to mj, the best sister in the world.
I love you sweetie, i hope you have a beautiful day with your boys!
:0)

Happy Birthday Josh!

2006-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you have the very best birthday!! We love you and miss you bunches, we will think of you with every bite of carrot cake!

Apple Pickin'

2006-10-12T23:30:00.000-04:00

Ah yes, 'tis the season. We had a fine trip to pick apples last weekend. This particular orchard is just 35 min. west of us down I-66. So far we've had apple pie, apple crisp, apple butter, and apple crepes.

Mmmmmm... pie.

Happy Birthday Leah!

2006-09-18T21:56:00.000-04:00

Here is a yummy chocolate espresso cake for your birthday. Hope you had a wonderful day!

A few more baby pics (and then I'm going to bed)

2006-09-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

Look, the baby is sleeping...
Again.

I swear it looks like he's up to no good.

Pensive baby.

The Boys

2006-09-03T00:31:00.000-04:00

Graham came by the hospital today to meet his baby brother and seemed quite happy with him. Graham said he wants to "push him in the stroller" and "play soccer with him" - so well see how that goes.
After a while, Graham also observed that, "he doesnt talk very much". (Our neighbors are fond of calling Graham "Master of the Obvious")

"How's his hair?"
"Fine!"

Graham really was very gentle with his baby brother.

Oh my God, I cant believe I have two sons.

Brennan Joseph

2006-09-01T17:44:00.000-04:00

Everyone say "Hi!"
He already looks like he'll be a character.

Busy day today - lots more pictures tomorrow.

8 pounds 14 oz - Baby and Mom are doing great.

ari in shades, taylor with booty, and salty sand stands

2006-08-22T00:24:00.000-04:00

the best part of this whole trip to me was spending time with all of these wonderful people!!! ari and taylor are such amazing sisters, spending time with them was too much fun and splendidness to put into words..... which of course made me totaly long for mj..... mom and i always say that when we are all together, except for one, it feels like you are limping around, like you are missing a peice of yourself. but we did in fact limp around pretty well, i think jacks favorite beach was skaket a.k.a. skankit (that is what jack calls it)! but macaroni beach was fun too, and cold. very cold. i believe they called it a not-so-balmy 56 degrees. understatement. it's funny what the beach does to you, it makes you feel so alive and wonderful, and relaxed. i can't help but think of grandpa when i'm there, i guess that's why it feels so good too.

more from cape cod

2006-08-21T18:17:00.000-04:00

we had so much fun on this trip, but ariana's hole in the sand is sure getting lots of press. it was impressive, she was lifting all sorts of kids in and out of it for a while.

HJB

2006-08-20T19:51:00.000-04:00

Check out the new post on the
Bienko Baby blog

2006-08-13T21:33:00.000-04:00

Here is agreen egg that I found in the nest box that somehow ended up in a brown half shell. Notice how the egg color matches Mommy's blouse!

One of my hens hatched some chicks. So I now have 4 roosters in training.Anyone want one? These are some pictures I took today in between cleaning out the barn.

I was suffering from technical difficulties, but I hope this works now.

whales, twins and waiting

2006-08-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

2006-08-12T14:43:00.000-04:00

Plenty of seaweed and ari dug a dangerously deep hole

2006-08-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

Hi: we're just back from 5 days @ nickerson campground. see the brave rush in the water. see the enlightened rush out of the water-58 degrees. Ariana, alan and logan actually went back in with the boogie boards (marconi beach). Only Jackson was smart enough to stay out of the water with the fish. Of course we went to flax pond afterwards. everyone had a great time at skaket, skim boarding and catching hermit crabs. We couldn't fit in evreything we wanted to do but we went to provincetown-the penny patch is still there-and went whale watching and saw about 20 whales. incredible! The wait is longer than ever at Arnolds and we found a nice bar-b-q place across from marconi. I don't think all my pictures were attached to this post so i"ll add more.

Home

2006-07-30T20:36:00.000-04:00

We are home from our summer vacation road trip and it was wonderful. Aside from the driving (which Josh did 97.5% of) I wish I could do it all again right now. We spent time in Virginia, Maryland, and seven different destinations in New York. Although we didn’t get to see everyone, I think we did as much as we possibly could. The highlights of the trip were definitely the time spent at Mom’s house and the time spent in Ithaca. Too bad that couldn’t have overlapped some how. I can’t help but be a little homesick as I write this. I am always super adamant about not having sad goodbyes. I’d rather skip being sad and just start planning the next visit. This time it was really hard, I had so much fun and Harper loved Uma and Aunt Nee Nee so much. It was a good thing that we had an itinerary to stick to or I would still be there.

Here is a picture of Leah and I on our way out the door to see Priscilla's Husbands band play at a local bar. I can't remember that last time we did that. It was sooooo much fun.

Our time spent in western NY with Josh’s family was great too. It was a weekend of closure. Josh’s grandmother passed away in April and it was nice that we could spend a few days at her house before it is put up for sale. We reminisced about our visits with her over the past few years, watched old VHS tapes (Christmas in the 90’s and honestly it was very entertaining), and collected a few pieces of memorabilia including a mug, a fork, and a small jewelry box that plays music. The jewelry box belonged to Josh’s Mom and he has vivid memories of playing with it as a child. Josh also picked up a large storage container from his old house. It is filled with pieces of Josh’s child hood from when he was an itty bitty through college. His mother had accumulated all of it and Josh always knew it was stashed at his old house. What a blast to go through. Check out the awesome t-shirt designed by Josh:

The Weapon:Nike Air Trainer SC
Bo: Arrested for exceeding the speed limit in sneakers. No cars or trucks involved.

Then there was the reunion. A bit of a disappointment for Josh because there was only 17 classmates there! I didn’t care because a handful of Josh’s close friends were there and I was really glad to meet them in person. Josh and I had a blast because to us it was just a date, a night out together. We even got silly on the dance floor, yep, us and like 3 other people. But we didn’t care; we were having fun, fun, fun.

After all that craziness we headed further West for our final bit of closure. We hung out with Josh’s dad and his family. Josh’s dad is moving to South in a couple weeks, so our next get together with him will be Florida.
After all of that we embarked on our two day trip home. Not bad at all, just about 6 hours of driving per day and Harper was such a good boy. The trip was so good for him. He got to see so many loving faces and was definitely nudged out of his comfort zone. He was a totally different person when we got home and for some reason I was actually able to watch it happen over the days spent elsewhere. It’s odd because I am with him all day every day but I definitely felt like I got to spend so much more quality time with him. It was definitely just what we needed as a family before the craziness of the fall semester starts. More on that later…

Only two more

2006-07-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

It was a two week trip so hard to narrow the pics down.The skies are especially beautiful , always changing. This was 9PM form our moored boat.
We went over the Pontcysylite aqueduct, 127 feet above the valley and 1,000 feet long opened in 1805.
Thanks for watching.
It was very easy, thanks again Edward

2006-07-24T21:55:00.000-04:00

The Llangollen canal and our boat, 65 feet long 8 ft wide, steered from the back with a rudder.

Breakfast on board, rashers, toast and jam.

Chris and I going through one of two tunnels, at a speed of 2 MPH it was easy to get on and off the boat.

Or to leave the Chris and Jessica driving the boat while we explored ( another pub and hand pulled pint of bitters) on bicycle

Pictures from across the pond

2006-07-24T21:43:00.000-04:00

Thank you Edward! Still the best brother. Hard to choose from the 4oo pictures and I think you can only post 4 at a time so I may send a second set. Beautiful pistures of your butterfly garden. How do you put them in that format? On second thought never mind. Mary Jo, hope to see pics from the reunion.
Good news today,Dustin PT/Ct scan looks clean, they think they just see inflammation and lymph nodes secondary to the treatment.
Back to England. We had tea outside Kinsington Palce in the Orangery.
I expected to see the chimney sweeps dancing onthe roof tops

Big ben of course and Dustin on bicycle on one of the country roads.

Everything but the Butterfly

2006-07-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

Flowers from our butterfly garden.

Note the absence of actual butterflys.

Posting pictures

2006-07-19T16:02:00.000-04:00

Well, I had promised Louise that I'd put up a link to the software that I use to post picutres here. Now Joyce's post has reminded me.
I use Google's Picasa (http://picasa.google.com/) to organize my pictures and the software has a simple "Blog This" button that you can hit and automatically post whatever picture you're looking at.

It's also a decent way to organize/view/edit pictures. Best features:
- it's free
- when you install it, it automatically finds all your pictures and organizes them by date

If you look at my "Train" posts, you'll see a little logo at the end of the text. You can click on that to get an explanation of how Picasa works with Blogger.

[Disclosure: I have no financial interest, either current or contemplated, in Google, Inc.]

UK vacation

2006-07-17T17:50:00.000-04:00

Dustin and I just got back from our two weeks in England and Wales with his friends , Chris and Jessica, who live in London and also have a country home in Southwold, two hours north of London on the coast. Southwold is a combination Cape Cod and Southampton on a small quaint scale. After two hot busy days seeing London we spent 4 days in Southwold, recuperating, bicycling on country lanes and berry picking at nearby farms, of course always finding somewhere to have cream tea (basically tea with cakes or scones). Then off further north and west to Chirk on the border of Wales to spend a week on a narrowboat on the LLangdolen Canal. Nice slow trip (2-4 miles/hr) so we took turns either walking or bicycling around the area. Beautiful countryside, lots of shep and cows in pastures, flowers and nice people.
I can't seem to figure out how to include the pics so I will email.
Overall a great trip especially for Dustin, lots of rest, good food fresh air and exercise and he looks like his old self. Pet/CT scan tomorrow and results next Monday.

2006-07-03T23:36:00.000-04:00

Grumpy- A Love Story
I got my first glimpse of Grumpy last February when I was at the shelter taking photographs for the FurBall. Although I had only a glimpse I fell in love with the whiskers, the eyebrows and the vulnerability. I couldn’t get more than a glimpse because Grumpy was so shy that his reaction to people passing by was to bark and escape through his doggie door, and then to keep barking and peeking through the door to see if it was safe to return. He was one of many dogs that had come to the shelter as a result of a cruelty seizure and he was considered unadoptable. With patience and a gentle approach Billy, a shelter worker, was able to touch him and Mary, a volunteer, had him taking treats from her hand. But he was still far from being considered adoptable. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I’d stop by his enclosure every time I was at the shelter and eventually he came over and sniffed my hand. He wasn’t at all aggressive; he just didn’t feel comfortable around people. That didn’t really make him unadoptable, He just need a special situation and I realized I had that special situation, a quiet house in the woods with no close neighbors, an unused basement and a fenced in wooded yard. It seemed we were meant for each other. He had to be sedated for the trip to my house, but he adjusted quickly. Now instead of running back and forth from one side of his enclosure to the other he trots around the paths that he has created around the trees and through the bushes. He is no longer Grumpy, now he is Spooky Muldar Mc Dreamy, coming inside only to eat. And when he is inside he will apprehensively, but patiently, stand and let me pet him and brush him before heading back outside to enjoy his new surroundings- the trees, the sky, the rain and the fresh air.

More...

2006-07-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

Two more pictures that got dropped from the last post.
On top we have Graham and Barbara demonstrating that even Coach class on the Strasburg Railroad is a nice ride.

Below, an Amish buggy ride - proving that we did not rely exclusively on trains and cars the whole trip.

:-)

Train Trip (Pt. 2)

2006-07-02T15:35:00.000-04:00

Did I mention that while we were in Elkins we stayed in a yurt?

Anyway, we spent a day at Hershey Park where Graham got to drive the Big Rigs. Naturally, he rode the many train rides there as well.

We also spend a day in Strasburg riding the Strauburg Railroad (America's oldest short-line railroad!) and visiting the Railroad museum. For the record, the Strasburg RR is a good deal larger and more comfortable that the Durban Rocket.

Train Trip!

2006-07-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

Last month we took a driving trip through West Virginia and Lancaster Co, PA. Although we didn't plan it that way, it turned into the all-train trip. We started out near Elkins, WV where we took a drive down to Durbin to ride on the "Durbin Rocket" - an 8mph jaunt up and down five miles of track alongside a small river. Your choices for seating on the Rocket are "caboose" or "open car" (both shown).

Also a big hit in West Virginia was Seneca Caverns, where in addition to the grand tour we also got to pan for gems and arrow heads (looks like Graham found something!)

After leaving Elkins, we drove up through West Virginia to Lancaster County, PA to stay for a few days in Lititz and go to Hershey Park.

2,365 Miles

2006-07-01T20:15:00.000-04:00

Josh and I are getting ready for our trip to NY. We leave in a couple days and our first stop will be off the coast of Virginia to visit my Dad. After that we will continue north until we get to Mom's house. We will be there from the 8th through the 11th and then continue on to Ithaca. After a day or two in Ithaca we will drive a little further north to Caledonia, Josh's home town. Josh helped coordinate a 10-year highschool reunion for his class mates. I think he had a graduating class of about 42 people. I think a good bunch still live close by so hopefully lots of Josh's old pals will make it. He created a Blog in honor of this endevor and it's really funny even if you don't know any of the people. I am definitely a little nervous about the idea of going to a highschool reunion. Somewhare around a 5 on the anxiety scale. If it were my high school reunion it would be more like a 9.9. Fortunately no sign of my reunion in sight and this would have been the 10 year mark. Anyway, Josh and I discussed how funny it would be if we rented a fancy car to go to his reunion in. I'm thinking there are a few things that you should NOT do at a reunion. Arrive in a rented/borrowed car, drink too much (I'm sure there is a very fine line here), or bring up any "you kissed my girlfriend in 11th grade" garbage. Well, Josh and I are already violating rule numero uno. We HAVE to rent a car because we can't rely on the old VW to take us that far. It definately makes me feel better that our rented car will be more of the nondescript Dodge Stratus variety. But still!
I hope everyone is have a wonderful summer. I will be back to post pictures after our tirp.

Out at the ball game

2006-06-01T07:28:00.000-04:00

We had a great Memorial weekend visit from Amy and Billy. You can tell Graham was having fun at the Nationals game, and the Rolling Thunder rally was quite a sight. It was hot and sunny all weekend - summer is definitely here. Hope you all kicked off your summer with some fun.
:-)

me and dc

2006-05-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

One more picture from mothers day, my beeyoootiful tablecloth made by Leah and MJ (it's spread out on the futon for a better view). The DC trip was great, that's Edward, Barb and graham at the washington monument-we were enroute to the Smithsonian. I hope you can see ed and graham are wearing their big guy/little guy tee shirts from Marie. Two shots of us entering the pentagon parking lot-that's billy's inky arm in the mirror-and a shot of the number one washington national fans. i can't express how happy we were to be at edwards, we felt so comfortable in their teriffic home, and graham is too cute and smart, it was just perfect. we miss them soooo much. we love being "aunt emmy and unka billy.

Hi from Centerport

2006-05-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

Hi Everybody,
I have no idea how to do this but I'm determined to learn. Of course we're on our way out the door headed for the Wild West but I'm going to try and get Ed to help me add a few photos.
Thanks for setting up this family blog and for all the contributions, it seems like a great way to keep in touch.
I always have a lot to say, let's see how good I am at typing it instead.
Love to All, Doris

Trip to NY

2006-05-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

My trip to New York was planned around a surprise baby shower for my friend Stephanie. I have known Steph for 17 years so no matter what, I wanted to be there. Harper and I had a surprisingly smooth flight up. Billy was kind enough to leave work and come get us. We had a relaxing afternoon, followed by a seriously delicious dinner (thank you mom!), followed by one of my all time favorite activities - sitting around a kitchen table with family, drinking a glass of wine, and talking. That was great. And after 9 months so far away, I was ready for it!
Mom and I went to the shower Saturday afternoon along with a college friend of mine. It was a sunny glorious day and there was a big yard for Harper to play in so I couldn’t have asked for more. The only sketchy moment was when Harper got stung by a bee! His little baby finger was pink and swollen. He only cried for a minute or so and after the swelling went down I was relived to think we may be able to cross bee-allergy off the list. A few hours later, Leah arrived at the shower with Emma and Jack. I was so excited for them to arrive. Hugs and smiles, hugs and smiles…By Saturday night, all nine of us were under one roof. I was so exhausted, not to mention Leah who had worked all day, drove three hours, and socialized at a baby shower!!! Anyway, Harper was asleep so I just collapsed on the couch.
With three moms in one house, we spent the much of Sunday morning celebrating. We made a yummy eggs benedict brunch, hot coffee, and cold mimosas. Yes please! Later on, Louise, Jill, Jordan, and Quinn joined us. Wow, now that’s 5 mamas under one roof. We had a great time. The kids jumped themselves silly on the trampoline and although Harper was being a total mama bug, he did get some good one-on-one time with Roux (sorry Louise, I forgot the correct spelling). Hey Mom, we forgot to take an “after” picture of us in the kitchen with Louise and Jill…Next time. So, Sunday night was another home-run dinner (thank you mom!) followed by a little r&r. Boy was I going to need it because on Monday things went south. First I had to say good bye to everyone and then my 1st plane was delayed out of Newburg. I hung out with Harper in the airport. My flight home consisted of 3 planes and because the first plane was delayed there was a good chance that I would miss my second or third plane. If I had checked any of my luggage it would be gone for sure. So there I was carrying around a baby, car seat, pack-N-Play, back pack, and diaper bag. Umm….no, I didn’t need that vertebrae! Ok, so I got on that first delayed plane which landed 30 minutes after my second plane took off. No biggie, I just had to wait 2 hours in the airport lugging around a baby, car seat, pack-N-play, etc, until the next plane to Charlotte left. Unfortunately, that flight put me in Charlotte 2 minutes after my flight to Athens left. I was SO determined to make that flight to Athens though. I thought if the plane landed early (which it did) I could run and make it. I HAD to make it because if not, there wasn’t another flight to Athens until the next day. Some check-in lady told me I would never make it and I immediately burst in to tears. What a jerk. But at least some man near by felt bad for me and offered to carry my car seat and pack-N-play. To make a long story a little shorter, I never caught that plane to Athens. I got to the gate 10 min before departure and they wouldn’t let me on because the door of the plane was already closed. I begged and cried and that mean lady wouldn’t let me on. She informed me that they had paged me two times before they closed the airplane door. I told her that I didn’t hear the page because I was 35,000 feet in the air!!!! I figured Karma would surly get her for stranding me and my baby in the airport. The only option was for us to catch a flight to Atlanta 4 hours later. Reluctantly I took it which meant Josh would have to drive an hour and a half in the middle of the night to come get us. Fortunately, since this was the final leg of my journey I was finally able to check my luggage. Even though I checked the bigger items I was still quite a sight with a baby bjorned to my stomach, a big ol’ backpack strapped to my back and a bulging diaper baby slung across the whole mess. Can you believe that when we finally arrived at the Atlanta airport, which is a tremendous facility, the train that is supposed to take us to baggage claim was BROKEN! The walk felt like a mile although it was probably only nine tenths. But, I must say I met so many nice and helpful people during my journey home. I couldn’t have done it with out them. So it was a bit of an adventurous ending to a wonderful trip, we are home safe and sound and looking forward to our next trip up this summer.

Pics from Mothers Day

2006-05-24T19:06:00.000-04:00

Just a few pics from .... mothers day of course. You cannot keep Ari from playing anywhere, in all elements. :0) I think I will be taking Ari's picture playing at the playground for decades. Although she looks chill here, beautiful Quinn some how did the trampoline on one leg! Sweet little Harper was so amazing, such a mama bug, and so incredibly kissable, well, at least sniffable, It's the one thing he will share with me and it's the best. and of course Mj, Jill, and Louise looked amazing as always. Everytime I go to mom's, she and Billy are knee deep in a crossword. I love that. It was awesome to see everyone...really such a great day.

Greetings from Michigan

2006-05-23T13:04:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, sorry it's taken awhile to post. John and I have been pretty busy lately. We just celebrated my 28th birthday yesterday, which was also the third anniversary of our engagement. I've got John home for a bit, then he leaves Sunday for a brief tour with his free jazz band, Graveyards. Then, in June, he's off to Australia with Wolf Eyes for 10 days. I've posted a video of Wolf Eyes playing at a festival in Austria, via youtube.com. (John is the guy on the left.) There are more videos of them on that site, but be warned, their music isn't for everyone!

We're still busy with our band, Dead Machines, releasing about an album a month! We're playing a festival in Seattle in September and are planning on a brief tour of Belgium and France in January.
Click here for a review and sound clips of our latest LP, "Dead End on Olson St."
We've also been working on our podcast, Inside Inzane Studios and our label American Tapes.

Work has been great; I'm still working at NOISE, a weekly in Lansing. I'm a copy editor, which means I do pretty much everything you can imagine - edit articles, write headlines, write articles, design layouts, prepare articles for the Internet, etc. We have a really tight-knit staff that works well together, so it's a fun job.

We've still got three cats - Lula, Tex and Daisy. Here's a photo of them comforting me recently when I was ill. And a photo of the Olsons.

Well, I've gotta jet. I love reading about what's going on with everyone. You all look amazing! I can't wait to have babies of my own!
Lots of love,
Tovah

Bierhanzl Beeswax

Le Blog

Caper the sweet puppy boy!

Spring is Here!

Snow Beautiful Snow

Does anyone know Lindsey's email address?

The True Meaning of Christmas

Making the call...

Tapas

Baby pictures!

Fall Fun

Oh Baby...

Zoe

It's A Girl!

zara and me at work

Baby Bierhanzl

me at work

Where do you work?

Marilyn

Louise at the shelter

Louise

April 9th, Alan's Birthday!!!

* Happy Birthday *

crystals rock

Lubies

Something new

Halloween Parade

Apple Pickin'

And relaxing on the porch with a cold one later....

Brennan's Birthday Party!

A beautiful baby girl

New in my life

I found it!

April Showers?

More from the trip..

Beautiful Silly Sweet Sixteen

*Ariana*

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Harper!!

xoxo Happy Birthday Taylor oxox

Happy Birthday Alan

The Boys are Having Fun

New House!

Happy Birthday Billy

Another Baby

polka dot beauty and more

a few of my favorite things

La La La Love Ya

Merry Christmas from Virginia

A few more Christmas pictures...

Merry Christmas from Brennan

Merry Christmas

Cookies!

Merry Christmas!

November Fun

Halloween Cats

Shout out to NYC!

Happy Birthday Mary Jo

Happy Birthday Maryjo!!

Happy Birthday Josh!

Apple Pickin'

Happy Birthday Leah!

A few more baby pics (and then I'm going to bed)

The Boys

Brennan Joseph

ari in shades, taylor with booty, and salty sand stands

more from cape cod

HJB

whales, twins and waiting

Home

Only two more

More

Pictures from across the pond

Everything but the Butterfly

Posting pictures

UK vacation

More...

Train Trip (Pt. 2)

Train Trip!

2,365 Miles

Out at the ball game

Ariana