Meet my new giraffes

Meet my Giraffes, the tall one is Tessa and the smaller one is Casey.

Here's Casey on the left

And here's Tessa!

Two of my favorite Preschool students, Tessa and Casey bought me these two really cool giraffes as an end of the school year present. (A bit late but they had to take some time to find just the right gift they said) I had mentioned to their mom that I am beginning to like giraffes and had purchased a few stuffed ones for Tizzy so she thought I should have these. She figured they would help remind me of Tizzy until she got home. They are a perfect remembrance of those two special students. Luckily there are still two more children up and coming from this family so I won't lose contact for awhile anyway.

Note to Tizzy: I cannot wait to show you my special giraffes. Hurry home, little one!

A day in the park with the twins

Sliding side by side is such fun!

Cal enjoys a ride on the swing. And this happy smile is all for ShiShi. Nana was no where in sight.

"Look, Brother, a tractor!"

Ride 'em cowboy Jake!

Here are Calvin and Jake driving the little car.





Last week when Lynne and I were walking without dogs or kids we found a new park in a new subdivision in town. It looked like a fun park for the twins and Meghan so we decided to take them there today. Meghan was not able to join us due to some misbehavior at Farm and Fleet last night, so it was just the twins and the two grandmas. At first the boys had a bit of trouble finding exactly where they wanted to play, but once they found the slide they got into their routine of going up the steps and down the slide over and over and over again. The park has a cute bouncy car that they enjoyed and a bouncy horse, too. One of Calvin's favorite activities was jumping down off the step while I held his hands and counted to three over and over again. Both boys got very excited when they saw a lawnmower (tractor as they call it) and kept saying tractor in their cute little way and pointing to it. All in all the park was a big hit and they were both sleeping on the way home so I figure tired boys mean they had a great time.






Note to Tizzy: I just learn so much from spending time with the twins. I keep imagining what you must be like by now. I wonder if you are beginning to talk like they are. I don't think a tractor will excite you quite so much as it does them. My experience shows that girls are just not as interested in that kind of thing. I also took Jake out of his carseat and put Cal into his, so I did get some good practice with that, too. I think I better practice with a doll and your seat so I am comfortable with that when come home. Friday, Sept 12 cannot come soon enough for this grandma!

Another successful Celebration!

Just look at that sweet little face!

The hostesses Alissa and Mallory with Courtney

Here are grandpa John and me with Tizzy's beautiful cake. Her daddy requested an eyeball. We wore our special grandma and pa shirts for the celebration.

The parents playing with one of the fun toys. This one had been tested and approved by Tizzy's little friend Aidan. I think it will keep these two amused during their wait this month.

Tizzy's great grandparents!

Our Adoption Celebration today at Courtney and Paul's house in Oshkosh was another very successful party. There were over thirty people there all celebrating our sweet little Tizita. Courtney and Paul received so many lovely gifts. Their friends were so generous and it is obvious that they have a wonderful support system in Oshkosh.

We all got to sample some traditional Ethiopian dishes and the guests were able to test their knowledge of Ethiopia with a trivia quiz.

Judging from the lively conversation and how long everyone hung around despite some very warm temperatures I am deeming it a success!

My special note to sweet little Tizzy today: There are so many people waiting to meet you, hug you, and play with you. You are a very lucky and loved little lady. A few of your little friends played in your play room today and it passed all inspections. Not only is it a fun place, but a safe place, too. We took lots of pictures so one day you can see all the people who were here to wish you safe travels home.

One Celebration down, one to go!

Every couple needs some new tupperware!

This is Grandma and Grandpa Damman with the happy couple. Nathan is very happy with the new knife that they gave him.

Proud parents with the bride and groom.

Alissa, Mallory, and Courtney with a very special gag gift for the bride.

Here is the happy couple with their picture cake. It is so odd to be eating people on a piece of cake!




Neither of my girls likes the whole shower idea, so this is the weekend of celebrations for them. Today we had a party for Alissa and Nathan at John's folks. John's mom had planned some fun games and there was lots of good food as well as many nice gifts. Tomorrow we will have our adoption celebration for Tizzy at Courtney and Paul's. To me a shower by any other name is still a shower...

We have a date to meet Tizzy!!

We will meet Tizzy on Friday, Sept. 12!

Courtney just let me know that they will be traveling on Sept. 4!

God's timing is perfect as we knew it would be.

Our wedding first and then our grandchild!

We will meet you soon, Tizzy!

IKEA or bust!

Yesterday John, Courtney, Mallory, and I headed down for our annual trek to Ikea in Schaumburg, IL As is usual for us we get turned around and a little bit lost on our way there. This time we ended up in a forest reserve, who knew that there is a forest that close to Chicago. Beautiful area, but no Ikea in site. We got back on track and headed into the store armed with our lists. Mallory wanted a new dresser to replace the one she gave Tizzy along with other miscellaneous items that no fifteen year old can be without. Courtney wanted to find shelves with bins for Tizzy's room and other things that a thirty year old can't live without, and John and I were listless. ( Meaning without a list, not dragging) Everyone had good luck and got the things on their lists. John and I had luck and got many things we didn't really need but couldn't live without. Picking up the boxes for the dresser and shelf was quite hilarious as Courtney and Mallory were controlling the cart! We headed over to Alissa's and dropped Courtney off there. They headed up to Appleton for a wedding dress fitting. I heard it fit very well and they were both extremely punchy in the bridal shop. All in all a very good day.

Note to Tizzy: We heard that on Monday your mommy and daddy will know when they can come and bring you home. We cannot wait! Once we have an actual date we will all feel much better. Grandpa and I bought you a few more toys yesterday at Ikea, of course we did! I know you will like them. Stay safe little one.

How high will it go?

This blog entry is just to document the price of gas these days. This was taken on July 15 and as I was walking today I noticed that the price was actually down to 3.99! It is coming down! Who ever thought we would be happy to see it under 4.00! John only buys gas at this Clark because it is the real gas, he doesn't like any additives.

Well Tizzy there is not much for me to add as a note for you today except that I don't care how much gas costs as long as you get here soon!

Hula Girls at Heart

Connie and I enjoying a margarita at the Jimmy Buffett concert-I cannot explain that goofy look on my face. I must have been in mid sentence!

Today I want to take a few minutes to blog about my oldest friend. No, she is not old age wise, but I have known her for a very long time thus she is an old friend.

Connie and I were in the same Kindergarten class at Douglas School. I have no memories whatsoever of that class except that I hated the school. I was painfully shy so I don't even know if I ever talked to Connie. I probably didn't talk to anyone! I just like to think that somewhere in my subconscious I filed away the name of a sweet little classmate.

Connie went on to a Catholic gradeschool and I went on to a Lutheran gradeschool where we each spent the next eight years of our lives. Our friendship really blossomed on the first day of High School. The Parochial school kids were always on edge those first few days because we had to feed into a group of Junior High kids who had been together since 7th grade and already knew the ropes of the High School. In those days all students in grades 7-12 were in one building and it was a scary thing to enter that huge school with so many kids after eight years with the same 40 kids. (yes, our classes were big in those days)

Anyway, Connie and I had a study hall together and we sat across from one another. We started talking and she told me how she had lost her pencil case with her locker key on it. Well, she moved into my locker and our friendship was born. We did a lot of walking all over town. It just so happened that we lived just blocks from each other. We both scare so easily and when we would walk home in the dark we had to part ways up by the pool. We would both take off running toward our homes sure that we were being followed by murderers! If we babysat together we about drove one another crazy with fear. Connie's family moved to Brandon during her Sophomore and Junior year and I missed her so much. She came back for our prom the night after she had been the queen of her prom at Brandon. I was so happy when she moved back here for her senior year. We made many more memories. College took Connie to Stevens Point while I went to Carroll. I loved my visits up to Point. If I remember correctly there was a woods near her dorm and some drinking went on there.

Connie went on to marry Paul, I went on to marry John. We visited each other often and always had so much fun sometimes involving cranberry drinks, cements, and our husbands scaring us! I went on to have Courtney and Alissa, Connie went on to have Sarah and Nathan and our little families shared so many happy times. I just loved visiting Connie and Paul because they always had so much planned for the kids making ice cream, slip and slides, bouncing on waterbeds, sliding down steps in sleeping bags, homemade playdough, pinatas and the fun just went on and on. Now Sarah is married to Chad and Courtney is married to Paul. It warms my heart to see how they have become such good friends, too. Chad and Sarah have little Aidan and soon Courtney and Paul will have little Tizzy and the friendships will go on into the third generation.

The best thing about Connie is that she always has such good advice for me. Back in the days of High School romances to present day stresses she has always been there to guide me along with her helpful words. I know that I can tell her anything without being judged and she will mull it over and help me work it out. Even if we don't see Connie and Paul as much as we would like, every visit is special and memorable. I never had a sister, but I like to think that if I did have a sister our relationship would be like Connie and mine. She is like the sister I never had.

This really got long and I haven't even said as much as I wanted. I just want Connie to know how much I value her friendship.

My message of the day to Tizzy: You will meet my friend Connie and when you meet her you will know why she is so special to me. We already have plans for you and her little grandson Aidan to play together.

Wasting Away Again in Margaritaville

The Jimmy Buffet concert is over for another year and it was every bit as great as we expected it to be. We started our concert day with a pizza lunch at Balistreri's in Wauwatosa to celebrate Nathan's birthday. After our lunch we picked up some brownies from Simma's bakery, only the best bakery in the world. We did some Wii fitness back at Nathan's. I could not master the hula hooping at all, truth be told, I really could not master any of the skills but it was fun! We left for Alpine Valley about 3:30. It had been raining in the morning which could have been a disaster with our window paint, but I had the wherewithall (is that even a word and what does it mean) to trace everything on the inside of the windows, too, so it wouldn't wash off in the rain! By the time we left for the concert, the sun was out and the rain was long gone. Jimmy would again be singing under clear star filled Wisconsin skies!

We met up with our friends, Connie and Paul and many of Connie's brothers, sister, and their families. My next blog will be dedicated to my oldest (not in age, but years of friendship, Connie) so be sure and catch that one. We had some margaritas while taking in all the coconut bras, hula skirts, fins, parrots, pirate flags, etc. It is one awesome parking lot beach party.

One thing that always fasinates John and I about the crowd at Jimmy's concerts is the wide variety of ages. There are people in their sixties walking around in hula skirts and parrot hats mingling with thirty somethings in coconut bras and cheeseburger hats and then the teens who were nothing but a thought in someone's heart when Jimmy Buffet first started singing. It is nothing short of amazing to see all these people get together in Margaritaville!

The concert itself was great and we were lucky to get out of the parking lot in less than a half an hour. All in all Margaritaville was as much fun as ever! Until next year...

From Ethiopia with Love

Here is our second picture of Tizzy which came on her birth certificate. Isn't she just so beautiful and very serious! Now we cannot wait to actually meet her. Courtney and Paul should be traveling soon!

Note to Tizzy: You are too cute for words!

Tizita's birth certificate is here!!!!!!!!!

The proud parents-it will not be long now!
Time out from the Buffett news for an annoucement of monumental importance! Tizita's birth certificate has arrived! Now Courtney and Paul just wait for travel dates!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buffet or Bust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the outfit. Check blog on Sunday to see John and I in full costume.

Designer Sherri at work!

Designer Mallory busy creating!

Getting wasted again in Margaritaville designed by Mallory

Fins to the left designed by Sherri!

Cheeseburger in Paradise!!!!!!! Burger designed by Mallory





The preparations have begun. Tomorrow John and I go to the Jimmy Buffett concert at Alpine Valley. Today Mallory and I painted our car windows and then worked on my outfit for the concert. Here are the pictures! Of course I will update after the concert to let you all in on how things were in Margaritaville!
Note to Tizzy: I will play you some of my favorite Jimmy Buffett songs when you get here. I know we will enjoy singing and dancing to them! As far as the concert goes, I won't take you to one until you are much, much older! They are for mature audiences only-we will stick to Barney for awhile.

Random thoughts and ramblings

Mallory and me at Sandy Beach.
This entry is just to help me remember some of the things I have done these last few days. No pictures ( I lied, I did find a nice picture of Mallory and me) and probably not very interesting to anyone, but I felt a need to document a few things so I could go back and remember them.
On Wednesday, Lynne and I took the twins for a walk. This was probably our best walk yet this summer. It seems we are getting it together better and watching for things like lost shoes and hats so we catch them before we are blocks away. The only problem with this week's walk was the heat and humidity. It was in the low 90's and Lynne and I were both just dripping with sweat by the time we got back to my house! We are really hoping we sweat off a couple of pounds. The twins were none the worse for wear. Back at home my mom, Mallory and Meghan had been playing and as soon as we got there the twins joined in. They are not near as strange with us as they were in the beginning of summer. I am picking up so many tips about the things that Tizzy will be enjoying and learning when she gets here since the boys are just one month younger than she is. I know I have to teach her High Five as that seems to be one of their favorite things as well as kissing, clapping, and throwing!
That afternoon Mallory and I cleaned out a shelf/dresser piece of furniture that she has had since she was little. She wants to get a new dresser and is going to give this piece to Tizzy. I think everything she owned for the first fifteen years of her life was in that piece! We threw out five bags of garbage and she kept many things. Then we moved the piece into the spare room and we laughed so hard. Mallory took a few pictures to email to Courtney so she could see the piece and she insisted that I be on the pictures. They are less than flattering and that is why you will not see them on this site.
I am just going to add a few memorable lines here, but they will only make sense to Mallory and myself. I just want to remember them. I know they will make us laugh everytime we read this. Mallory is going to be sixteen and I know she won't want to be hanging out with her old aunt for too much longer, so I really cherish these good times.
1. "Well, Kevin, you will have to sleep on the day bed since we can't move this away from your bedroom."
2. "I will just leave the car in Peace's garage since it rolled there, I will buy new."
3. Little boy changing into his trunks in the pool.
4. "I have to keep an eye on these rafts."
5. "Quick put that knob back on the cupboard!"
6. "What is wrong with your camera?"
Okay that is enough. I apologize in advance if this entry seems confusing to you.
Note to Tizzy: I think you will like the new piece of furniture that Mallory is giving to you. It will be a great place to store many things. Believe me you will be able to fit a lot in there. And as I said before, I will be teaching you to High Five as soon as I get some time with you. I know you will be a quick study!

Harold and Ken-Remembering our Dads

In my last blog entry I mentioned my dad, Ken and Joan's (my college roommate) dad, Harold. I felt it was only right to give them a blog entry today. These two pictures were taken back in 1974 at our the apartment that Joan and I shared. The first picture shows Harold on the left and Ken on the right engaged in some big conversation. They are sitting at a cable table on barrel stools. My girls will remember that same table because it served as our kitchen table for a number of years. It was a fine table once Joan and I got the hornets nests out of it! Joan made the lovely striped curtains out of sheets and the wall hanging is one of those guaze hippie bedspreads. Ahhh the memories! The second picture is my dad on the right and Harold on the left. Margaret is in the background. These are the only pictures I have of the two of them together, but they are priceless! As Margaret said yesterday, "You know the guys are looking down on us right now!" And as we sat quietly, we thought we could hear them laughing!

Message to Tizzy: I wish you could meet your great grandpa Ken. He would have been so happy to have you join our family. But maybe he knows all about you already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A long overdue Mother and Daughter Outing

This is Joan practicing with her mom's walker.

Our two fantastic moms! Marge and Margaret

Is this how Joan and I will look in 30 years?

My College roommate, Joan and her mom Margaret, me and my mom

Today was a very special day. My college roommate Joan and I have always wanted to get our moms together. We talked about it so often, but as things so often go in our busy worlds we just never got around to it until today. They haven't seen one another for at least 30 years so it was about time for a long overdue visit. We started out with a tour of Margaret's home at St. Camilla's in Milwaukee. What a beautiful place to live out your golden years. Joan's dad died four years ago. Our dads got along very well during our Carroll College years, too, so we had to spend a little time remembering those two special men.

After some visiting and catching up we had lunch at McCormick & Schmick's a restaurant specializing in fresh seafood. What a yummy lunch in such a beautiful atmosphere. Margaret and my mom have that special friendship where you can just pick up where you left off no matter how much time passes. Joan and I are lucky because we have that same friendship.

We had a lot of laughs today and I figure if Joan and I can age as gracefully as our moms we will be blessed.

I think we left Joan and her mom today with the hope that we won't wait so long for the next visit.

Today's message to my little Tizita: When I showed Margaret your picture, she just could not get enough of you. She kept commenting on how cute you were with your big brown eyes! Margaret and Joan are Armenian and she knows a lot of things about the history of Ethiopia. I think there are many Armenians in Ethiopia and that is why she followed the history of Ethiopia so closely. I intend to have Margaret meet you once you arrive.

Meet our little Tizita Desta Van Auken!

Grandpa, Grandma, and Tizita Desta
No, she is not actually here yet, but I thought it was time to post this little picture of her with us, her proud grandparents! If you read Courtney's blog you will have already seen how beautiful she is but I present our little Tizzy for the first time on my blog! Her mommy requested that I not make the picture any bigger on my blog for now, so I will respect her wishes. When they get Tizita's birth certificate (which should be soon) they will also get an updated picture. Now that will be exciting!
Note to Litttle Tizzy: As you can see we are wearing the shirts you gave us for Mother's-Father's day. We just have to practice saying grandma and grandpa in Amheric. Hopefully we will have that down by the time you get here.

Painting!

I am working on a small part of the blue wall. I have a blue stripe running right down my side from when I bumped into the wall. This is why I don't paint much!

John is working hard on the yellow wall. 6 hours after we started.

Here is the pretty yellow wall.

Today John and I painted my classroom. Mostly he painted and I organized. The finished product is very nice. Pretty sky blue on three walls and a bright sunshine yellow on the last wall. It sure looks better than the beige they had on those walls before. I look forward to a very cheerful year because of the pretty colors! I have included some pictures of the work in progress.

All this for $11.75!

Sorry the picture of this little horse is a bit on the dark side but it is one of those Fisher-Price horses and I just can imagine Tizzy riding on it!

Some more cars to add to my collection!

Today I went rummaging again. I found some really great bargains. I bought another car identical to the other one I bought. I now have three little cars, but who is counting? I have one for each of the twins and their sister when they come over to play. I also bought that little jeep you see in the picture with the handle so we can push Tizzy around in it. You can see some of the other purchases.

Note to Tizzy: I cannot wait to see how you like all your new toys. I wonder which ones you will have the most fun with. I wonder if you will be like the twins who play with the buzzer from the game Catch Phrase when they go to their grandma's.

An Adoption Celebration!

This is the picture that Mallory chose to use on the evites!

Mallory. Alissa, and I have been busy working on a party to celebrate Tizzy's adoption. Courtney and Paul will be serving Ethiopian food so we can all sample some of it. Mallory has come up with some games we can play. Mallory did the evite cards yesterday. It made me realize how much more a 15 year old knows about computer technology than I do! She did a fine job of getting them all designed and sent off. I was just amazed at how much quicker it is to use the evite as opposed to regular invitations. In less that an hour she had all the evites sent out and we could see who had viewed theirs and responded. If I had to buy the invites, write them out, mail them, and wait for phone replies, it would have taken at least a week. The perks of modern technology! If anyone reads this blog and would like to attend the party just leave a comment and we will give you details. All are invited and welcome!

Message to Tizzy: We will have so much fun at the party in your honor. It won't be long and you will be here to celebrate with us but for now we will just shower your mommy and daddy with good wishes.

A few random thoughts on cemeteries

When i was a little girl and would walk through the cemetery this grave always fascinated me because I thought there were doorbells on it. I would always push these little buttons on the sides of the doors and want someone to answer. See I have been fascinated with cemeteries for a long time.

Notice the chair in this area. I guess this family figured you might like to sit and visit for awhile.

Notice the name on this one! Maybe some long lost Damman relatives who added an extra N to the end of our name. These Dammanns were well off I would say by the size of the stone.






I have always been fascinated with the history that can be found in our cemeteries. There are two cemeteries in Watertown that I walk through quite often. They are on my walking route so it isn't like I go out of my way to walk through them. One of them is the Lutheran one where my dad is buried along with my grandmas, grandpas, and countless other ancestors as well as friends. To some people cemeteries may seem a morbid place to enjoy but I find them comforting with many stories to tell. First off, I know where those people are and it is not in the ground. I can speak for my relatives when I say they are in heaven walking and talking with the Lord and having the time of their lives. To borrow from MercyMe, "I Can Only Imagine..." The gravestones are just markers with names and dates on them. It boggles my mind to think about all those people. I see graves of babies who lived only a day or less, mothers and children buried together who all died on the same day, same year and I think how sad for those left behind and then I wonder was it an illness that killed them all or maybe a disaster, I see graves of people who lived to be one hundred. Some gravestones are so huge and ornamental indicating that was a family with money while some are just small markers in the ground showing the last loving thing the family did for their loved one using all the money they had. I always wish that the gravestones would tell us what caused their death. That would take a lot of mystery out of the cemetery. But then what would my dad's say, "Kenny checked out early, not sure why, except that God wanted him home." And really that is all we need to know about any of these people. The other thing that I think about is no matter what one has in life (lots of money and material items or barely anything) it really does not make a bit of difference in the end. Our bodies all end up in the same place with some type of stone marking that place and maybe people walk by and look at it and wonder about us and maybe they don't care one bit. Maybe we will have relatives who will put some flowers on our grave or maybe all our relatives are long gone and our grave will have no decorations. In the end it really does not matter. What does matter is that we believed in Jesus as our Savior and went to heaven.
Whenever we drive or walk by a cemetery, John says the same thing, "People are dying to get in there." It is a joke I have learned to anticipate and enjoy.

Well Tizzy, you will be too young to appreciate cemeteries for a while, but I will show you where our relatives are buried and I will share stories about them as we walk by their gravestones. And then I will make sure that you know about heaven and Jesus and that dying is really a very joyous time for a Christian.