Knots were tied!
This weekend, in New Hope, PA-right ON the Delaware River, Bill Cook and his now wife! Lorna Gifis got married! It was a little drizzly, but beautiful nonetheless!

I did not get any sweet and awesome pictures, as my camera has been a little sad as of late, but I had a great time!

The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, and there were lots of fun peeps to talk ( and dance) with!



(maybe one of my fave pics of all time)

Melissa and Mike!

Mother and Son!

Ben makes a toast! (Jeremy also made a toast - both really funny! But my pics came out too dark...)



Anyways, it was super great! The new couple is off to a great start!

Favorite Kids Books...Part I

I feel justified to say Part I because I read a lot of books and am bound to forget some that I really like.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Sweet and awesome book about what could happen if we encouraged nature to take over...

The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes by Phyllis Krasilovsky, illustrated by Barbara Cooney
If you didn't wash your dishes, eventually there would be a consequence. I super love the 50s illustrations by Barbara Cooney. It's totally red and black and white like an old school Italian restaurant.

The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino
Cynthia wants a pony, and gets a fish instead. What to do, what to do...

Franny B. Kranny, There's a Bird in Your Hair! by Harriet Lerner and Susan Goldhor, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
I'm pretty sure the title says it all. But Franny B. Kranny marches to her own beat, which I always dig.

Squids will be Squids by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
Why is this book so funny? I'm not sure. But it is an easy way to tell new parents that there is still an awful lot of funny things that they can laugh at with their kids.

The Sheep Fairy: When Wishes Have Wings byRuth Louise Symes, illustrated by David Sim
Wendy is just your average sheep--but a good deed makes some crazy stuff happen...and she saves the day! What could be better?

So this is just a few. If I haven't gotten these for your kids, and you want 'em, I'll be sure to add those titles to your holiday stuff.

Very Briefly
The sum-up:
I had a birthday party! It was a pool party at Gail's and everybody came! My friend Carlita was in town from LA and Burnsie and her beau came up from Jersey and it was super fun.





Then, we went to DISNEY! In Florida!
But I don't have any stinking pictures because my little camera broke and then I lent the card to Katie to make the picture CDs of everybody's pictures...
This weekend, Cass & Rich & Carter & Tristan came for a visit for Richie's 20 year HS reunion! They stayed at Gail's and everybody had a great time!

We had a tea party (of which I took very fuzzy pictures) and we watched a movie.
Carter to Joe: "Perfect timing, Joey! We haven't started the Dora movie yet!"
Joe to Carter: "Wow. Great." But Uncle Joe sat next to her and watched the whole thing!

T and Steph came with their parents and baby brother in tow for a playdate!

Paulie, getting more teeth!
I wanted to take the following pic on the steps, like going to the prom!

Grandpa pours the tea:

We toast:

Carter at the party:

Tristan at the tea party:

One of my faves:

And James is learning to drink:

which he's not really cranky about even though he looks it in this picture.
And in closing, I'll leave you with this:

Grandpa, with Tristan. Look at her hand--it is twisty-turny holding onto Grandpa's ties, which Grandpa said was a comment on her father's workwear---ba dum bum! He gets another zinger in...though we didn't hear about BabyRichie headbutting him in church for the whole weekend...

A Lot Happened...
We went to New Hampshire! It was Jamie's first time. Jack stayed home and got a spa treatment at the ol' vet boarders (came out clean-smelling, nail polished, and vaccinated). Jamie is turning out to be a really happy-go-lucky kid, who pretty much smiles and laughs all the time. Sometimes though, he'll just stare at me while I'm talking like I'm crazy...so he's no different from any other member of my family (ba dum bum!)

This is him laughing when I gave zurburts on his belly!

Slept through most of his first time at Squam Lake.

Woke up for a little "water time".

Here's the fams for the usual "everybody now" picture!
And of course, everyone took turns holding the new baby:

Other pics I love:






The next day we had a little birthday party and I drove home. It was a super nice, relaxing time.
Next up: recap the bday party!

Censorship is alive and well. All over the USA!

30 Things to Do While I am 30
I got 13 done...which isn't bad...

1. See the puffins in the wild



Well, we sure tried...too foggy every day. Those O'Hara girls were real troopers, getting up at 6:45 every morning of our vacation, trooping down to the docks...

2. Learn to play the drums




At Willie Mae's Rock Camp for Ladies!

With Gail and Gladys representing the Robo Poppins! Robo Poppins rock the hiz-ouse! It was the best time ever!!!

3. Learn to purl, instead of just knitting everything.

Did it. I still like straight knitting best, though.

4. Learn to knit in the round.

Not yet.


5. Learn to weave.

Found a class for this fall.

6. Take a full (read: semester-long) class in some kind of textile thing that I actually like.

Screenprinting at FIT, which was super -de -duper fun.


7.Make a quilt

Not yet.

8. Make my own clothes

At the MAKE Workshop in NYC. I learned to make a cool bag, a pencil skirt, and this dress, which I completely hate the fabric of...which I liked at one point. It is totally unfortunate, but I will start a new dress! And I have worn the skirt!

9.Be Kind, not right.

Well, I'm getting better?

10. Get my passport.

Not yet.

11. Get out of the country

Not yet.

12. Floss every day.

Yay! Well, mostly.

13. Ride on a motorcycle.

Not yet

14. Build a real piece of furniture

Not yet.

15. Learn to blow glass

NOt yet. But Port Washington's got a place.

16. Throw out 30 things.

Certainly did this...but I should throw out a hundred things next year.

17. Bake bread.
Not yet

18. Make from scratch: cookies, cake, lemonade.

Not yet. Well, I made mom's cookies.

19. Go on a decent road trip (more than 5 hours).

Maine maine maine. New Hampshire.

20. Write a book.

Not yet.

21. Get to Iceland.

Not yet.

22. Take a few tap dancing lessons.

Not yet.

23. Make a lamp or rewire a lamp.
Not yet.


24. Get new glasses.
Done. And sunglasses!


25. Start a savings account.
Done.


26. Get to Scotland.
Not Yet


27. Send 10 postcards.

Check check check--sent 'em from Maine to many friends. Couldn't send one to Carter because they didn't have an address yet.

28. Make something and sell it.

Signed up for September with my sweet onesies


29. Flatten my stomach
A little food poisoning took care of that pooch.


30. Go hiking for a day.
Not yet. Although all the flea markets might count.

Quick Recap

Using mostly photos:

Baby Colin Wulff joins the world. Liam is excited (and mostly potty trained)!



Colin is a very nice baby, and his feet are very big!



Aunt Sandy comes to visit!







Baby James gets christened.



I am his godmother. John Beyrer is his godfather.


Baby James wears a tuxedo that I bought him that is all white and even has a bow tie. But the bow tie makes him angry. And I suspect wearing a bow tie would make me angry too.



Loch took this pic!

the day ended with a picnic on Gail and Joe's upstairs new carpet and pizza!



Seaniebear turned 3!

and we had a party at Beanie's dad's house and everybody came!

It was a superfun party!
Last week at work, Shannon started insisting I call her my little star. That girl gets some crazy notions!
Tomorrow, we will talk about the 30 for 30 list and New Hampshire!