Hiatus.

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I will be taking a break from the blog. My father suffered a heart attack on Saturday night and had to have bypass surgery yesterday. He is doing very well and is expected to make a complete recovery. Once he's home from the hospital, we will hopefully return back to our regularly scheduled (and sporatic) blogging.

All the best,

Melissa

The fairy princess at play.

I always tell everyone that I don't have a girlie girl. I never pushed all that princess stuff, and even if I would have, Lauren seemed to prefer the company of other kinds of toys such building blocks and stuffed animals anyway.



I wasn't a girlie girl either. No baby dolls, dresses or Barbies for me, no sir! (Okay, the Barbies did come a little later, and I have been known to wear an occasional dress, even though Mark claims that I haven't shown my legs since our first date in 1994.). So in my mind, all was right with the world.



Then, she was invited to a prince and princess birthday party last weekend. I wasn't sure if she was going to be into it or not. We didn't even have a princess dress for her to wear. $20 later, we were all set with our Silvermist costume (She's a friend of Tinkerbell. In my day, Tink only had one friend - Peter Pan. Now she has a virtual sorority to drink with..I mean play with.).



Of course, she took to the princess thing like a fish to water. Or maybe that's a naiad to water.




The shoes on the other hand...now THAT's my girl.

Fruits of my labor.

Ugh...I am so behind on everything. I still haven't gone through the photos from Lauren's birthday party, but I swear that I'll upload them before she graduates high school. Meanwhile, I figured we could celebrate Mother's Day in a timely manner.



Mark and Lauren couldn't wait to give me my presents, so actually received these yesterday. At preschool, Lauren made me a card, a potted plant (That they actually planted on Earth Day - the preschool got a two-for-one out of that craft.) and an oh-so-stylish bag (Look out Coach!).



Mark gave me two books that I've been wanting.The Cook's Country Cookbook contains recipes for every home cooked dish you can possibly imagine, plus really neat tidbits of the history behind the recipe. It even has the recipe for my favorite dessert - Strawberry Poke Cake! There are so many others that I can't wait to try. When I do I'll be sure to post photos of the finished product.

The other book is pretty self explanatory. I haven't had a chance to look at it, but if it's like the other Martha encyclopedias (I have both the homekeeping and crafts ones), I'm sure it's awesome. By the way, look at Martha sitting at that sewing machine. That is *exactly* how I look sitting at mine. Except I'm a lot sweatier. And I look like I'm going to kill someone with my bare hands.



Lastly, here I am with my favorite (only) son. He's actually a daddy's boy, but what can you do?

Good boy.

Yesterday, Mark and I both took a vacation day in order to recuperate from the weekend's festivities. I thought I was going to spend time going through the photos from Lauren's party so that I could post them today, but life had something else in store for me.

In the afternoon, Lauren and I had went outside to play, while Mark was already outside planting flowers in the front of the house. I let Daisy out as well (Marcus was in the front of the house with Mark) who did her usual bolt around the back yard. I walked with Lauren to the front of the house so she could help her daddy. After she was safely deposited with sprinkling can at the ready, I went to check on Daisy.

That's when I saw the giant black dog out of the corner of my eye. I had thought that it was one of our neighbor's two Akitas who like to come over to our side of the hedges and make a mess in our yard. I instantly panicked because Daisy was loose and no where to be found. So I ran to the front of the house to tell Mark what was in our yard. I was relived to find that Daisy had already fled to the front of the house (Smart girl).

When I went to find Mark, I saw that he was holding not a Akita, but a rather large and rather old black Labrador Retriever. He was wearing a dirty old red collar with no identification.

He seemed friendly enough, so I began to pet his head (Daisy followed me to the back and started giving him the sniff.). That's when I saw his sorry state. He seemed well fed, but his entire hind end down to his tale was balding and scabbing from either the long term effects of fleas or possibly mange, in addition to several other rough bald patches in various places on his body. He had a huge sty over one of his eyes that almost blocked his vision. And he wasn't fixed.

Mark put him on a leash so we could walk him over to our next door neighbor's house to see if she recognized him. Unfortunately, she did not.

So we tied him up in our backyard and gave him some water. While Mark walked around the neighborhood seeking out potential owners, Lauren and I got acquainted with him.

What we discovered was a sweet dog. He could sit and shake hands. When we would leave his side, he would bark in protest (Mark and I ended taking turns sitting with him the rest of the day so he wouldn't disturb the neighborhood peace).



And Lauren kept commenting on what a nice dog he was.

I just couldn't understand it. Someone obviously loved and cared for him once. What had happened?

I'd like to say to that this story has a happy ending and that we found his owners, but that's not how it goes. No one in our neighborhood recognized him. Unfortunately, due to his condition, we couldn't keep him around for fear he'd transfer what ever he had to our dogs and potentially to us. So in the end, we called pet control and sent him along to meet an unknown fate. Based on his age, condition and general situation, I'm afraid the outlook isn't good.

But at least I can take comfort in the fact that he got to spend one more day with a family who cared about him and let the world know that he was a good boy.

5.

Party preparations are underway for Lauren's birthday party. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share some photos of my fifth birthday party. Note that these are all old Polaroids that I didn't feel like fixing in Photoshop (Okay, I did run a cooling filter on them.), so please do not adjust your screen.



The year is 1977. The place is my parents' apartment in East Liberty. I was big on Peanuts when I was little, so I had a Snoopy themed party, complete with matching cups, plates and tablecloth. And look at everyone standing around admiring that cake. I mean, how could you not? It was THE BEST CAKE EVER. Clockwise from the left is my Pap, looking puzzled by a party favor, my Grandma Bruno, my Uncle Mark, my Grandma Pranty and my Great-Grandma Skoog.




Here I am with my Aunt Beth. I loved hanging out with her because she was closest in age to me (Seven years is close when every one else is much bigger than you.). By the way, the striped t-shirt was my ZOOM shirt. ZOOM was a popular kids show at that time, and the kids on the show all wore shirts just like that. By the way, you know you're loving that rainbow pillow. My great-grandma crocheted a lot.



Here we are eating cake. Note that we are eating in the living room because all the adults are obviously eating at the kitchen table. Also note the daisy afghan on the couch (great-grandma strikes again). Looks like I got Cootie for my birthday - AWESOME!



Here I am opening presents with my mom. My Grandma Pranty is sitting to the left. In my memories, she is forever wearing that green pants suit.

And there you have it. Who knows - maybe 33 years from now Lauren will be blogging about the photos that I take today!

Spring break.

Just taking a break to enjoy what Spring has to offer. Since we had a stretch unseasonably warm weather, everything bloomed early. The crab apple tree next to our house is so gorgeous when it blooms, I wish it would stay that way all summer. I was hoping that the blossoms would have lasted for Lauren's birthday party, but alas, they are all gone until next year.



Lilacs are my favorite flower. My parents have several mature lilac bushes lining their property, so my father surprised me last weekend with a whole vasefull.



A couple of months ago, I sewed this bag, but I never got around to taking a photo of it. It was my second attempt, and I'm quite proud at how well it turned out (My stitches are super straight - hooray!). I love this fabric by Wendy Slotboom - who can resist raccoons and titmouses?

A word about the trench coat: It came from Land's End, and unfortunately, that's back where it will go. The size is right, but the fit isn't right for my frame - if that makes any sense (In other words, it needs to be cut petite). Too bad because it is such a pretty color.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that Lauren scored not only her first goal at today's soccer game, but SIX TOTAL GOALS. She was on fire!

From the Ross Family Archives

In February, the media announced that never before seen video showing President John F. Kennedy's arrival in Dallas the day he was assassinated had been released. We too recently found our own never before seen videos.



Newborn Lauren making questionable noises



Six month Lauren getting a kick out of Daisy.

Lauren will be turning five this weekend, so this is the first of several Laurencentric posts to come. Today, she came a long way from her baby days, as daddy took her to visit for the first time the school where she will be attending kindergarten. I wished I could have gone as well, but I needed to be at work.

Anyway, she was scheduled to receive both a health and an academic assessment, but in typical Lauren fashion, she refused to share any details with Mark as to what had occurred. On the way home, she did tell him that she met her teacher and said that her new school was nice. She also asked when she would be going there. When Mark told her not for a few months, she exclaimed, "But that's so long!"

In the evening, I bribed her with the promise of computer games if she told me what happened at school. She confirmed that the teacher showed her some shapes and asked her to point at things. I then asked her if she thought she got the questions right, and she said, "Yes. The teacher said I was smart and gave me a high five!"

Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come. We shall see!

All we are saying...

...is give peas a chance.



(Just a little appreciation for the pets that are still with the living.)

The last cat nap.

 I'm sorry to have to come out of hiding with bad news. I'm sad to announce that our sweet kitty Beavis was put to sleep yesterday.

In January, I had discovered a small lump in her abdomen. We decided that due to her likely age of 20, we were not going to subject her to the stress of a vet visit, biopsy and possible surgery (That she probably wouldn't have survived anyway) and instead chose to let nature take its course.

She was doing well up until the beginning of April, when she lost her appetite. After the ordeal of all of us being sick during the month of March, I was looking forward to a much happier April, but instead, I was faced each day with the knowledge that I was saying goodbye to my little friend. I tried my best to make her comfortable by gently encouraging her to eat a few bites and carrying her upstairs to her favorite napping spot in the spare bedroom.

There is still a dent in the blanket where she used to lie.

Although it had to be uncomfortable for her, she still happily greeted me each morning, crying for food that she would barely touch. That made it especially hard. If she would have hid away from us, the decision would have been clear as to when to end her suffering, but she seemed to very much want to be with us, even though her body wasn't up to it.

When she didn't come out of her bed yesterday morning, I knew that enough was enough. Later, I heard her crying for me. She had gotten out of her bed to look for me after all. I told her that she shouldn't worry about mommy anymore and that it was time for her to rest.

Beavis was so tenacious - a fighter until the end. I thought for certain her sheer will was enough to sustain her to be the last one standing of our four original pets (Samantha, the border collie; Daisy, the sweet little lady; Spud, the male one-eared cat; and Beavis, herself.). In fact, just a few months ago, she stood her ground with Marcus and gave him a triple smack in the nose. However, it was not meant to be. I've been taking this a lot harder than I thought I would, but because she had been with me since what I consider the beginning of my adult life (when I moved away from home), I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

You may be wondering how we broke the news to Lauren. Lauren doesn't have a strong attachment to any of our pets, yet she would still call for Beavis on weekend mornings when she would beat me downstairs. I couldn't bear for her to call a kitty that would never come.

Although she was still quite small when Sammie and Spud left us, believe it or not, she still remembers them. So I simply told her that Beavis went to be with Sammie and Spud. She almost accepted that. Then she asked, "Is she coming back?"

Luckily, I was prepared for further questioning. I responded, "No, doggies and kitties can only stay with us for a certain amount of time. This is so there's room for all the other doggies and kitties who are waiting for a good home of their own."

At that point, she tells me matter-of-factly, "I know all about that. I've seen the commercials!"

So thank you, Pedigree. Your commercials may be sad, but they helped me to explain the circle of life.

1st Annual Ross Family Easter Egg Hunt.

Since she received an I Spy game in her Easter basket, Lauren has been hogging the computer a lot lately. Fortunately, she's playing in her room tonight because if I wait any longer to post these, it will be the Fourth of July!

I promise to post something more relevant later in the week, but for now, let's celebrate Easter again!

Usually, our neighborhood has an Easter egg hunt. Since by Easter week, we hadn't heard anything, we decided to throw our own. However, one of our neighbors ended up planning one at the very last minute, so lucky Lauren got to participate in two Easter egg hunts. Here are the highlights from the 1st Annual Ross Family Easter Egg Hunt!



Noah wisely observed the action from his swing because before we knew it, things got intensely competitive.



CATFIGHT! CATFIGHT! CATFIGHT!



I made everyone participate. Even the grandmas.



Mark giving my poor vertically challenged mother a hand so she could have the one and only egg that she found.



Lucky Uncle Mike found a soccer ball and an egg.



Requisite Crazy Uncle Craig and Mel C photo.



The point of all this was to give my party guests the opportunity to take some Easter treats of their own home. That didn't quite work out thanks to a certain Pappy finding most of the eggs and giving them all to Lauren.



Oh yeah - this is what we do when we get all the eggs, suckas!