The girls are growing up!

Check out these three little cuties.

Madeline, 3 1/2 months

Maureen, 2 1/2

Caroline, 5, with new bike...

Got your glove? It's Corn Shuckin' Time!

Next Saturday, September 29th, join us at the farm in Good Intent for the annual Corn Shuckin' Contest. If you want to see how it was done when horses were the machines, this is the place to be. Corn is hand shucked and tossed into a horse-drawn wagon. At the end of 10 minutes, the picked corn is weighed and the amount posted publicly for all to see! Gloating and good-natured ribbing is part of the fun. Sibling rivalry has its place too!

One of the best features of the day for a non-shucker is the great selection of pies provided by the St. Pat's ladies.

Grace's Sleepover

Grace called last week and suggested a sleepover in Atchison. I picked her up and on Sunday we went to the farm to feed the cows. These are shots of her and her pictures of us!
We found a caterpillar and she was thrilled. "We're celebrating caterpillars at school!!" she squealed, so we found a container for the caterpillar and the plant he was on.

At the cow pen, Grace gets the gate...

Grandpa unloads the buckets of feed...

EWWW!! It stinks!!

Back at home, Grace becomes the photographer...

May I take your order, please!

Caroline was in waitress mode yesterday. From the time I arrived and she served all of us glasses of water, to lunch and dinner, she was quite the little professional. At lunchtime, she came to me with a sheet of paper and pencil. She had drawn pictures of lunch choices--bread, soup etc. and asked me to put a checkmark next to what I wanted. At dinner time, it went like this: (again with paper and pencil)
Caroline: Do you like Thai food or pizza?
Grandma: Umm, what do you like?
Caroline: Pepperoni pizza.
G'ma: Me, too.
BTW, there are NO five year olds in my school who would ask if you like Thai food...or name a stuffed bunny "Crabcakes".

The big, blue bandage

Jack broke his right leg and is in a temporary cast from hip to ankle. He didn't move much yesterday, but tonight had figured out how to scoot, and army crawl around.

The bad news is that he has to be carried from spot to spot and to the bathroom. Angie can't lift him, so Pat is staying close by.

Gracie's Trouble

This is a really sad story. On the second day of school, Grace and her BF Jill got into a hairpulling and smacking fight at school. They were sent to the principal! Here's Grace explaining what happened.

First it was just a little hair...

Then a little smackin'...

Then the Principal's Office...

This is the face Mr. Newton made...(above)

It's not funny, Grandma!!

Not another broken bone!!!

Pat called on his way to Children's Mercy with Jack. He broke his right leg on the merry-go-round at preschool. The same preschool where Grace broke her arm in June...How's the supervision there??

Scary stuff

I opened my e-mail this afternoon to find an e-mail from Mary H. (in all caps!) saying pray for Stephen!!
Brother Steve is in a hospital in Dallas with complications from Hep B. She also said Brother Frank was there on a business trip and trying to get to the hospital. I just talked to both of them, and Steve expects to be released tomorrow. Jesse is also back from his trip, so Stephen isn't alone anymore. Poor guy! He's been through a lot. I'm sending a care package as soon as I get my cookies made. (I've got a box! That's always the biggest headache when I want to send somebody something.) Love you, brothers!

Irish Festival Festivities

We made it to the Irish Fest over Labor Day weekend to see The Elders. They are so much fun!! There was a huge crowd, but we worked our way to the front, thinking we could cross over in front of the stage to the bleachers on the left. Ha! Mike and Bob chickened out when Connie and I plunged into the crowd in front of the stage. We managed to worm our way to the middle and were pretty happy there with the bouncing crowd.

Then some jerk gave me a big shove and told me to move so he could sit down. The chair was behind him, not me, so I ignored him. Then he poked me with a couple of fingers. I turned around and in my *meanest* teacher voice said, DON'T * YOU * TOUCH * ME!! So he didn't. He blew cigar smoke at us.

Well, he left, and Mike was gesturing like crazy from the top of the bleachers, so we snaked back over to them and had really good seats for the rest of the set. I love the Elders!!

Ahh...remember uniforms??

Caroline Rose

At the Baptism, I was talking to Grace and Caroline about how they were both starting Kindergarten this year. These two are 9 months apart, but in the same class.

Grandma: So, Caroline, you'll wear a uniform!

Caroline: Yeah, 'cause I go to St. Elizabeth's.

Grace: I don't wear a uniform, 'cause I go to St. Lansing.

Grace with the penguin she made for me.

Mom's 85th Birthday

Mom celebrated her birthday at LSOP in July. We used a "beach" theme for decorations. "Life is beachy when you're 85!" Trying to get a photo of mom with her great-and grand-kids was hilarious. They wouldn't sit still, but they sure are cute!!



Mike, Doc, Tom and Marguerite are enjoying cake.

Mom opening gifts.

The siblings...

Gorgeous girls! Sarah and Gretchen

Susie!

Madeline and Michelle

Jack and Pat

Maureen, Maggie, Grace and Jack

Hummel reunion

Aunt Louise and Aunt Kathleen





An impromptu reunion took place in May. Cousins Judy and Kathy were in town, so we met at Karol's house for a little food and reminiscing. The aunts were there, but I only snapped pictures of two of them. Can you believe Aunt Louise is 90+ and Kathleen probably 85?? Look at them!!


Who was there? Bud's kids: Judy, Kathy, Linda and Johnny, Linda's son Eric; Kathleen's kids: Margaret and Amy, Louise's kid: Nanette, spouse Jim, Karl's kid: Karol, and Frank's kids: Nancy, Terry and Jim, my daughter Michelle and her girls. Judy works for a doctor and lives in Denver and Kathy is a dietician in Atlanta. She loves her job and claims she'll never retire.
Nancy, Kathy, Nanette

Judy, Jim, Karol

A blogger? Me??

This is the craziest idea...but whatever! Since both my daughters are bloggers, I thought I needed an avenue of expression too. "Whine and Song" I hope describes what my posts will be: a little whining and a lot of "singing" my song. I'm a wife, mom, grandma and a school principal. That should provide plenty of material.