Ant-nees and Nucas

Aunt Kirsten got to spend the night with Anthony and Lucas this weekend and, oh, the fun we had. I took advantage of my new movie software and caught some of the action on film.
But first, a little trip down memory lane, courtesy of Uncle Joe.
I forgot how much Lucas looked like Anthony when he was first born.

Uncle Joe and Lucas, circa 2006

Anthony, July 12, 2008
(If his hand gesture is any indication,
I think he's already sick of me taking photos.)

Here are the two of them on camera, with a little help from Grandma Ruth

Saturday, I got to take Lucas to the fruit stand (he's very good at throwing tomatoes into a bag as if he's trying to bounce a basketball) and the "big store" Meijer, where he loved to go fast in the cart and was very encouraging when we would finally locate something we were looking for, with a big, "WE FOUND IT!!!!!"

Although I was appropriately warned on Saturday night, I still found myself unprepared when Lucas woke up at 5:30 a.m. and I was forced to start my day only four hours after I went to sleep.

He's very sweet in the morning though, and we had a project ready to go. Banana muffins! I'm kind of the "muffin lady" to him now, so I brought enough bananas to make a double batch. After a pre-dawn breakfast, we got to work.

He was so intent on overseeing every step of the process, we just sat and talked while the first batch baked. He was too engrossed and excited to see the fruits of his labor that he just sat and patiently waited, talking about the banana muffins.

Here's an excerpt from when he was helping me stir the flour. He's talking about the ingredients (I still can't decipher what he's saying about the milk), points out that he makes a mess and clearly is excited to eat banana muffins.

Here is a longer one, when we're first pouring the sugar, etc. into the bowl. You get an idea of how encouraging he was at the store when you see his excitement when I find the extra sugar in the pantry. This one's about 5 minutes and not the most exciting thing in the world, unless you're Gigi, which is why I'm posting....

I had a fun, fun weekend with my boys. I'm so glad I live so close to them now.

Getting to know Snickers

1. Describe your hairstyle in two words or less: Hair putty.

2. What's your favorite song/artist? JBiz latest (not released yet and I do not remember the name anyway). Summer 2007 Michigan State Fair performance was crackin.

3. What's the last movie you really enjoyed? The Erotic World of Vanessa. I found it in a neighbor's driveway when I was twelve and I sure did enjoy it . . . until Ryan swapped it for a tennis racket or something. I watched that movie everyday in the summer of '88.

4. How's your love life? Newlywed great … and about to be changed.

5. If there was one dessert you could eat until it hurts, what would it be? Too easy. Chocolate covered gummy bears followed by mint chocolate chip hot fudge sundaes (with extra fudge).

6. When is your bedtime? Fall and spring 11:30 p.m.; winter 10:00 p.m.; summer 3:00 a.m.; after baby is born is whenever I can get rest.

7. Einstein said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin. What else does a man need to be happy." Customize this quote to fit yourself. All of the above with a pup like Dougan and a Persian rug.

8. What is your pet's name? We have a stuffed animal named Geck. Everyone knows about Dougan – the greatest pup ever and a doggy model (no other dog in the family was on the front of a real greeting card – American Greetings circa 1988)

9. What's the funniest thing you can recall Grandma June saying when she was mad? (Insert quote from your own grandma if June was your great-grandma). Mad? I was too scared if grandma was mad to be aware of any words she may have said. She was not really ever mad around me that I recall and that is most likely because I did not want to make her mad. Stealing those extra candy bars got much easier as we aged thank God. I suppose, "Dan… now quit that. Settle down. Stop that right now Daniel!"

10. What's your favorite thing about Balice Christmas Eve? Trying to read Paul's or Ron's expressions when they open their gifts is entertaining. I enjoy watching a Balice, DePover or Burrows man pretend to be grateful for a brand new set of wine glasses and the book Two Little Girls in Blue by the Queen of Suspense herself, Mary Higgins Clark.

Happy Anniversaries!

Janet and Harv celebrated their anniversary on July 9!

Nick and Beata will celebrate theirs on the 15!

Congratulations and Happy Anniversaries!!!!

Getting to know Skin

1. Describe your hairstyle in two words or less.
Decent - considering what I have to work with J

2. What's your favorite song/artist?
Anything Josh Groban sings!!!!

3. What's the last movie you really enjoyed?
The Great Debaters (AWESOME); P.S. I Love You; Definitely, Maybe; High School Musical II J

The Great Debaters trailer


4. How's your love life?
Absolutely, positively, unbelievably fabulous!!!!!!

5. If there was one dessert you could eat until it hurts, what would it be?
Mary Perrien's white cake with white frosting - or just about any good (white) wedding cake - and I DO eat it until it hurts!!!!!

6. When is your bedtime?
When all the sporting events are done for the day and I've played all my computer games.

7. Einstein said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin. What else does a man need to be happy." Customize this quote to fit yourself.
FAMILY, friends, music, music, music…and a little cash in the bank. Harv's answer would be "being part of the Balice family" J

8. What is your pet's name?
Harvey Joseph is my full-time pet and I share custody of Mildred Marion.

9. What's the funniest thing you can recall Grandma June saying when she was mad?
She used to get mad at Margaret and say "Boy you burn me up" and Margaret would say "sizzle, sizzle" and make her laugh (or at least it made ME laugh) J

10. What's your favorite thing about Balice Christmas Eve?
The Balices!

Getting to know Flakes

1. Describe your hairstyle in two words or less.
Needs highlighting

2. What's your favorite song/artist?

JBizz, of course! :) (Although I liked our wedding song we danced to, or, the one by Elton John from the Moulin Rouge movie, or the one by Edith Piaf that Josh Groban also sings)


3. What's the last movie you really enjoyed?
Hard to say, I haven't been to a movie since 2006 before Lucas was born. I did like my French film class and all the films we watched in there. Moulin Rouge is my favorite :)

4. How's your love life?
I have a newborn and a toddler...you can figure out my answer!

5. If there was one dessert you could eat until it hurts, what would it be?
Cold Stone Creamery Birthday Cake Remix

6. When is your bedtime?
Before 9 or whenever Anthony falls asleep near that time or before!

7. Einstein said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin. What else does a man need to be happy." Customize this quote to fit yourself.
Healthy, happy family, good friends and everything French!

8. What is your pet's name?
We do not have a pet and I don't think we ever will, unless it's a fish!

9. What's the funniest thing you can recall Grandma June saying when she was mad? (Insert quote from your own grandma if June was your great-grandma).
I always liked it when she got mad at Dan for tickling us: "Dan, now you stop that!" Once she even came over and starting hitting him.

10. What's your favorite thing about Balice Christmas Eve?

Everyone being together. I am so thankful for our wonderful, enmeshed (sp?) family!

Free tickets!

I don't know that it would be worth the trip to Sterling Heights (about 2 hours from Ionia) according to MapQuest) but there's a stack of free tickets for upcoming concerts at the outdoor amphitheater at Freedom Hill. I've never been, but I'm constantly hearing about concerts there.

We have free tickets on the lawn for the following shows. Let me know if you're interested and I'll snag you as many as you like!

Kirsten


Thursday, July 17: Wynonna Judd

Friday, July 18: A Tribute to the Legends: Elvis Meets the Beatles

Sunday, July 20: Sugar Ray with The Spin Doctors

Thursday, July 24: KC & the Sunshine Band, The Village People (although I read the policeman was hospitalized today)

Sunday, Aug. 10: Boyz II Men, wsg Shai

Thursday, Aug. 21: Bow Wow -- The H.I.M Tour, wsg Lloyd

Sunday, Aug. 24: Kenny Wayne Shepherd


For more info on Freedom Hill, go HERE.

From where I sit...

Laugh and the world laughs with you


Everyone knows that it's quite difficult to live your life without a sense of humor. In my family we learned very early on that not only is laughter the best medicine, but it could very well be the cure. The difficulty lies in trying to discern the difference between hysterical and mildly amusing or humiliating and self deprecating. In other words, what might seem outrageously comical to you could appear to be
downright stupid to an innocent bystander. Case in point: one of my siblings (and I refuse to divulge which one for obvious reasons) called me to help them out of a jam (literally) last week. In seems that in an attempt to maneuver the car out of the garage it became stuck...sort of. I was greeted with a friendly wave coming from the drivers side of vehicle which was parked horizontally in the two stall garage. My first thought was “how on earth did that car become “lodged” in that position without smashing it or the something in the building itself?” The explanation that I got was reminiscent of a number of incidences that we have all found ourselves in over the years. In an attempt to solve a problem they just chose what they thought would be the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, that path lead to another and then another until there was no path at all.

One of the garage doors would not stay open. They had meant to fix it but just hadn't gotten around to it. I was not called to assist not because of any expertise or even the slightest hint that I had some kind of magic solution, I just happened to have plans with this sibling and they were already late. Besides that, after hearing about the dilemma over the phone, I had to go and see for myself because I couldn't picture it in my head. To say that I was stunned upon arrival would be putting it lightly but you couldn't help laughing about the situation. Now we had to put our heads together to figure a way out.
They would steer and I would direct or should I drive and let them direct? The answer was obvious. It was their car...their garage...they would be most comfortable in this libelous environment. They knew (or should have known) how they got there so now all they had to do was reverse the steps...yea, right. Something strangely funny happens in your brain when you find yourself so turned around that you can't remember how you got there. Besides, it's not easy to get out of a pickle like this when you can't stop laughing long enough to figure out a “plan.”

After several attempts to get the car out of the open door, we made a joint decision to go to pseudo plan B. Let's start steering the car back into the original position and then hold the broken door open and get out that way. Fortunately it didn't take us long to escape and just file this in the family vault of stupid stories. During the course of this predicament I didn't see any neighbors peering out their window nor did anyone passing by stop to gawk, sneer or take pictures so my guess is that no one even noticed all the fun we were having at our own expense. Thank God we have all inherited my parents sense of humor along with their stamina for predictable screw ups. After all, they had seen and heard it all through many years of all of us wreaking havoc with their home, cars, landscape, and lives in general. It's kind of tough to keep telling your kids and grandchildren to “think before they act” when we are all still finding it so difficult.

by Karen Balice Gregory