HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!!

A special start to this world on a Sunday afternoon,
His mother was baptized, baby still in the womb.
That was late spring and by the end of the year,
What joy! A boy! And not an eye without a tear.

Home… gazing… the shimmer of moonlight caressing his face,
All would be changed forever now. We wouldn’t remember a time without him in place.
Some colicky nights that he quickly outgrew,
To play happily alone or giggling & gurgling when attended to.

A little boy with swings and sandbox, sitting under the sun,
And two sisters coming along to eventually join in the fun.
In school he liked reading and did well in art.
He made lots of friends and must’ve broke some little girl’s heart.

In junior high he wore a mullet and light blue tapered jeans,
He played basketball & was crowned king, well liked by his peers it seems.
In high school we found he had his dad’s legs & speed,
Breaking records in track and running hard in cross-country.

A short stint at college, some jobs here and there,
It took him awhile to find a calling in which to place care.
He found a house he loved and wanted to make a home,
And a girl of his dreams to bring to so they would no longer roam.

We skip ahead now and find him being born, again, somehow.
Jason David Staton, a babe to this new life he’ll avow,
But I see a great man of faith, admitting he’s been broken,
Wanting all to taste of this world to which he‘s been woken.

His art is still there and comes out in different ways:
Plaster molds, cooking, walks in the woods with his dogs these days.
His heart is kinder from the soft blows of love.
He’s still funny and quick, oh the crazy things he thinks of!

Well, birthdays are a great way to end out the year,
Thinking back with love on all you hold dear.
And this is my way of saying to my son
I love you Jas and because of you I’m the blessed one!

Have a great birthday Jas!

Love you,
Mom

Our Pigeon Man

Here's an article more fully describing Joe Zeman Jr., aka Pigeon Man.


He was remembered:

STEF'S DAY!

What is the date? Good grief! The 21st!
Today’s the anniversary of Stefanie's birth!

Since that's the situation, the event at hand,
There should be a big celebration in the land.

For Stef is special, a child of God
And I want to bless her with more than a nod.

She's funny and fun, thinking she might be Lucy.
The Golden Girls make her laugh till she's light-headed and woozy.

Stef’s always sweet and thinks the best of others,
That helps Carol and me since we are the mothers.

Through good times and bad, through thick and thin,
She stands by her man and believes in him.

She'll shop till she drops especially at Target,
A sale, a reduction, she's likely not to forget.

She loves her dogs, to dream, and draw,
She'll rearrange a room and paint a wall.

There's plenty more that I could say,
But let's hear from you all on Stef s special day!

Happy Birthday Stef!!

Love ya,
Sally

R.I.P

A Chicago man widely known as "the Pigeon Man of Lincoln Square" was struck and killed by a van Tuesday afternoon on the Far North Side.

For the full story

(hey, I can't see my tool bar to insert a link or change fonts etc. Any ideas?)

UPDATED to fix link. Still don't know why you can't see the toolbar.

ERIC IS HOW OLD?!

Eric woke up this morning and said with a cry
“I’ve turned 30 today.” “Oh me!” and “Oh my!”.
Now don’t feel downhearted, dejected or sad,
I’ve shown up to tell you it’s not all that bad.

For Eric’s fulfilling a lot of his dreams,
A husband, a dad and a great job it seems.
He’s got friends all around and a church he can love,
Blessings galore sent straight from above.

You might think he’s quiet, guarded or shy,
But you see his true heart when he plays with his guys.
He wrestles with Cal and makes Ike giggle,
They lay on the floor and wriggle and wiggle.

His friend from the 6th grade and love of his life,
You see that he’s proud of Leah his wife.
He’s faithful and loyal, hardworking, consistent,
Emotional, loud or a braggart he isn’t.

He’s easy to love, has a true servant’s heart,
If he’s called to help out, well, he’s just doing his part.
If you’re there on a weekend to the bakery he goes,
You may even find him baking cinnamon rolls.

So you see by this tale that all’s well and good,
You’d probably pick 30 too if you could.
So say what you want & don’t hold it back,
Of cheers on his 30th may Eric have no lack!

Happy Birthday Eric!!

Love ya,
Sally

Awesomeness

I thought I better post this since my last knitting post was this debacle. (Thanks Richard!)



Awesome, right?! Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself.

(The camera makes Kari's art look crooked. Its not. I would never let that happen.)

Recap

Mom
Gift card from Williams Sonoma
Rosie Thomas CD with the REM song on it
gift certificate from Arcadia Knitting www.arcadiaknitting.com
John Hiatt CD, esp one that has "Have a Little Faith in Me"
Best Buy gift card

Tom
Gift Cards to best buy

Leah
clothes. Medium shirts. Size 8 pants. Or medium pants
Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy
No sweaters
I would love a little sharp knife. Preferably Rachael Ray.

Cal
An umbrella (they sell them for like $6 in kids' toy stores)
Another membership to the museum or the Minnesota Zoo
books
Cal needs a puzzle organizer. "They" have these wooden table-like things with slots for wooden puzzles. I have no idea how much they are or where to find them. And it's late so I can't look it up right now.

Isaac
http://www.elc.co.uk/toy-34123
http://www.creativekidstuff.com/ ...tasyblocks.html
http://www.creativekidstuff.com/...ravel- town.html
socks.
Books
Also, there are these cds put out by Putamayo and they are great kids cds. You can find them at children specialty shops. Here's the link to their home page.
http://www.putumayo.com/en/ putum...tumayo_kids.htm

Becky
iTunes gift cards
more art from Kari
earthy smelling candles
The Complete Vegan Kitchen (or another Vegan cookbook)
an orange tea pot
a pasta/veggie streamer pot

Cheryl
Game Stop gift cards
Cool (outside) vest - size L
another business card holder from Leah (she lost it and it was her fav)
Sweaters for work – Size L

Richard
Anything from They Might Be Giants Discography.
Blues Brothers
Blues Brother 2000
Clerks X
Best Buy Gift Cards
"The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs

Kari
the Oppenheimer CD (they only have one, so if you go to Best Buy or something, I think it should be pretty easy to find). I'd also like the Social Distortion greatest hits CD. Any of the "Dexter" series of books would be great, too (except the first one - I just splurged on that). So, I think that includes "Dearly Devoted Dexter" and "Dexter in the Dark". They're all by Jeff Lindsey.

Eric

Jason

Steph

Heyyyy Jason, Steph and Eric give us some ideas.

Christmas Exchange

Stolen from Sarah Jane on their family blog:

"Hey All-Talked to Leah Rose last night about our annual Christmas Exchange, we both agreed that we should still do it. If anyone opposes strongly just don't participate. We thought we could try it a little different. We could do a boys and a girls gift exchange, with a limit of 15$. So I'll buy a gift for the girls exchange (no gift cards) (something like jewelry, bath and body, something for the house etc) and Brian will buy something for the guys one (tools, video game, poker chips etc). Then on Christmas we'll play the game where we pull numbers and steal. So mom, dad, you can play, Sally, Grandma Holper, etc. Anyone who buys for the exchange is in. Sound good? Leah is telling her side I'm telling ours. YAY CHRISTMAS"

Thanksgiving

Hey Familia. I'm using this post as a kind of mass email. Cheryl and I are leaving for Seattle tonight - I'm hoping we don't end up sitting in Ohare all night! I'll miss you all this weekend. Just another Thanksgiving seperated.

I plan on kicking a little A this weekend with the scavenger hunt. Watch out.

Let the Hunt Begin

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hope that this turns into a lot of fun.

The Rules:

Attempt to take a picture of yourselves with the items on the list.
You get one point for every picture, and .25 points for every member of your family(pets included) you can cram in there.
1 extra bonus point per picture if you capture "that guy"(will add link at home) in any of the pictures.
10 points for being the first to complete all the pictures.
5 points for being second.
100 points if you are married to a Kari.
Just post your findings here.

The List:
A cow
A Baggage claim
A delicious pint of beer
A $50 bill
A star fruit
A unique building
A Winning a poker hand
A Letterman's Jacket
A broken mug
A mouthful of cranberries.

Have fun!

A Must See Film

Thank you Richard for pointing this out:

See Ya

If new art from Kari or Cheryl chillin' on the couch with Lily are on the Family Foto Fscavenger Fhunt list, then I'm totally in the lead!




Thanks Kari! I love my painting!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

I haven't forgotten about this, time has just gotten away from me. Postpone a week, if you have any more ideas get them up here, then I will post the list sometime within the week.

Family Foto Fscavenger Fhunt

So I'm a big dork and came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea. I think we should have a blog photo scavenger hunt. For the next week think of 3-5 things to add to the list and put them in the comments. Next Monday I'll compile some set number of them (10?20?), then we will have a week to get pictures of ourselves taken with the items on the list and post them back here on the blog. Who up for that?

Christmas already

Hi everyone! So, I guess its about time to start thinking about Christmas. Although, I know Leah is already on it as she bought Scott his present months ago.

Mom and I were talking last night and we thought it might be a good idea for everyone to post a few ideas for gifts. I think last year turned out great - should we stick to $20 or $25 (?) per person?

I'm assuming everyone can be here for Christmas Eve again. It was way too much fun to miss anyway.

Ok, see ya in the comments!

AZ & Lily!

I was in Phoenix for Stacey and Matt's wedding this past weekend. I had some pool time and lots of fun with Amy and her family (I'm an honorary Opahle now) and the wedding was beautiful and a really really wonderful time.



Here's Stacey with Mom's purse that she borrowed for "something old". Stacey is the 3rd of my 4 friends who have married this year to borrow the purse. Mom, this was your great aunt's purse, right?



Palm tree and the sunset from the terrace.



Matt & Stacey. I don't have many pictures since everyone else was going wild with their camera and I'll be getting those sooner or later. This is right where the ceremony happened. It was beautiful and of course pictures don't do scenery justice anyway. The restaurant was on the top of a cliff overlooking Phoenix.



Amy and Becky before the wedding on the terrace. I have no idea how to straighten this picture out.



And for the finale.... We got a kitten!! Her name is Lily and she's part siamese. She was born on my birthday! Its fate! She's really cute and funny but still being a little shy. I hope she's running around and not such a scaredy kitten whenI get home tonight. Mom and Tom, you'll have to stop by to see her this week!

Movies

I saw two really great movies this weekend and I have to share- and you will soon see I am not a writer, nor try to be. Although I do sometimes use the word "nor."

Reign Over Me with Adam Sandler and some other cool dudios was so so great. It was sad, real and had redemption. I loved it. It was rated R for language because the F word was used probably about 10 times. I usually don't like to watch rated R movies, but this one was f-ing awesome.

Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore and British sappy guy in all the romances... what's his name? Bridget Jones... You know. This movie was also great. It made fun of the 80's a lot, which I can always appreciate. And it was a feel-good movie. I wish Eric would have watched it with me so that we could have laughed together but he is at a monster-truck rally tonight. However, I actually had a harder time watching this PG-13 movie than Reign Over Me. It had a lot of scantily-clad booty shaking and orgasmic noises. It made me a little uncomfortable. So, actually, I'm glad Eric is watching the school buses get smashed into pieces.

I do realize that these movies have been out for a while, so many of you have already seen them. In that case, just let me know if you f-ing agree with me.

Happy Birthday Scott!

Ultimate Kickball Champion

Our kickball team won our division! We are going to the regional tournament on October 27 (I know... it's Isaac's birthday). I am super bad at kicking and get out every time. But, I'm a rockstar outfielder. I made a double play this week by catching the ball and tagging second base because the runner didn't tag up. It was awesome.

Finally!

Hey we bought a couch! As you can see, its gorgeous, but a monster! A little bigger than expected... Also new is the end table and tv stand (complete with Family Guy in the background).

A little distraction for this hard week I guess.

IT'S LEAH'S BIRTHDAY!!

Happy Birthday to you L Diddy,
you sure have turned out pretty!
I've noticed that you get giddy
when those guys of yours do something witty.
You've moved away to a far city
and at times it makes me feel sad and sh----,
but your heart's not dirty or gritty,
you're loving and kind and show pity,
we could even find you on a committee
pointing others to the Celestial City.
So I hope you like this little ditty
that says my love for you is not itty-bitty!


Newborn Leah 1978

School Pics. Can you guess youngest to oldest?

Leah's early years.

Leah and Eric 1999.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday Leah! I love you babe-
Mom

Must Read

I just finished reading Extremly Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It was AMAZING. Its about a 9 year olds search for a lock to a key that he found in his dad's closet after his dad died in 9-11. Its real and sad but the saddness is tolerable and shouldn't scare you away for many reasons. I highly recommend it if for all.

For your convenience.

Thanksgiving

What is everyone doing for Thanksgiving? Eric and were talking about having everyone up for the weekend. Would that be doable? We don't have tons of bedrooms like the sauna house in MO, but the basement will be done, so lots of people can crash there and Cal can crash with us. So, we'd have two extra bedrooms plus the recroom. What do you think?

Staceys' Shower!

Today Mom hosted Stacey's shower at their beautiful condo. I wasn't the photographer of the event so the following pictures are the "after party". (Tom was only part of the after party - he hung out at the beach while we invaded the condo). We stayed and enjoyed wine with Mom, Tom, Nurse Jackie and Cheryl. While we were enjoying this wine, Mom hatched the idea of having monthly Sunday dinners at her place which turned into Saturday night dinners with the McElroys coming maybe once every other month. Sounds fun, right??! What'd'ya say?
Miller's, maybe we can get you here once or twice!



Anyway, has anyone seen the movive "Jaws"?..... The one with the sharks?

Gavin Thomas

Kim & Lee had their baby this morning! Gavin Thomas, 8lbs, 3oz and everyone is doing great. Cheryl and I went to the hospital tonight to meet him. He has fuzz all over his body and a conehead! I love him already.

Title

Hey family! We had a ton of fun on vacation. I think we should do something like that every month or so. Maybe we could at least get together for a steak dinner? No? I miss everyone already.

It's Gonna Be HOT, HOT, HOT!!

Hey everyone, I just looked up Lake of the Ozarks weather and they are saying hot! Perfect swimming and boating weather. And if I'm as savvy as I think I am you'll be able to find out by clicking on weather. And if it didn't turn out I'm just a loser after all. FYI this is Sally (obviously) and not Dad no matter what this #&*% thing says.

5 Days!

I'm so freaking excited about vacation, I could pee my pants!

Das Tube.

UPDATE: Nevermind! It's losing air after all Richard's hard work. Sorry, guys! :*(

What do you guys think? Is the tube big enough or do we need to get a different one?

Games and Cereal

1. Please write down which games you will bring for the week so that we don't bring doubles.
2. What General Mills' cereals do you like? (HN cheerios, Oatmeal Crisp, Cookie Crisp, Golden Grahams... go to the website for a complete list)

Hell Card

I can't stop laughing at this card. I'm posting this mainly for Eric, Richard, Kari and Scott. And I think Leah too. I showed my Mom at dinner and she said "All of your girls are going to heaven!"

I just found out that Jason actually reads this blog too! I'd like to include him above.

Becky's Birthday Dinner

Alright, where did Cheryl go?














Becky & Cheryl














Me & Beck














Cheryl, Julie, Stacy, Jackie, Becky, Tammy & Alisa















Jackie made a delicious vegan cake and Becky was too
high to eat it. JUST KIDDING!! Becky did one of her
"take my picture and I'll close my eyes" poses. Oh well,
it was her birthday and she can do whatever she wants!

I had a fun time w/Becky and all her great friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECKY!!!

Today is Becky’s birthday and I’d like to say a word
About my middle child, in case you haven’t heard
Of just how great & fun she is, her talent & her fame,
A few of her adventures I’m gonna’ pause and name.

The time she jumped out of a plane, her dad & I did miss
When I ask if she’ll repeat for me, she says she’s now a wuss.

Or how about those cars she’s had from a T-bird to a Del Sol
But now she’s giving all them up cause biking is her goal.

She’s more in stores to buy some yarn than in the local bar
She knits with passion and she wants to be a fiber star!

She loves to cook and stir things up from soy she’ll make a treat
Just get outta’ the way when she gets hot and don’t ask her to eat meat.

Being an Aunt to Cal & Ike is something she enjoys
She waits for visits expectantly and buys them clothes & toys.

She loves her family & friends and to that circle she’s loyal
Just don’t do wrong to any of them or you’re gonna’ see her boil!

She’s so much fun to laugh with and we did till we felt pain
When I picked her up at Midway and was found in the cab lane.

She’s forgiving and forgetful and expects the same from you
She doesn’t hold the past in grudge and every day is new.

She grew up in a small hometown and camped and hiked for fun
Now city life has got her heart, a new era has begun.

So here’s to Becky at 32, my daughter and my friend,
My love and admiration of you is never going to end.
Have some fun, enjoy the day, give thanks and look around
All the good things brought your way, may this year they abound!!

I love you Beck!
Mom

Question.

I was trying to do the title of the post all Dwight Shrute style ("Fact . . . fact . . . question . . .") but I decided it would be too long. So, anyhoo. I do have a question to pose to all you McMiltons about vacation. My best friend since high school lives in Missouri and she planned to visit for one night while we're on vacation. Originally she was going to get a hotel room somewhere near the area, but she's run into some financial difficulties and asked if it would be all right if she could instead stay at our vacation house for a night. She and I both understand if you guys aren't comfortable with that, but I wanted to give it a shot. So, let me know your thoughts on the situation. :)

Harmony Info

Hi everyone!

I received this in the mail from the owner of Harmony. It has directions and all sorts of useful info. I hope you can somehow read it. I'm not very advanced with these "computers".

Items you may want to bring: seasonings for cooking, wine from TJ's, coolers, beach towels (not supplied), citronella candles, iPod and dock, beer can chicken cooker, fishing poles

I should be getting a call from someone regarding check-in, but so far the time is 5:00 p.m. on Sat.

Can't wait to see everyone in Missouri in less than 2 weeks!!

Boat, boat and more boat

Hey, family.

I put a 12 person deck boat on hold for the 13th-16th. The total is $1380 (plus gas and tax). We don't pay until we get there, but I suppose we could send mom and Tom the money whenever we have it.

$1380 + $110 (I'm assuming 8% tax) = 1490
1490/5 couples = $300.

I'm guessing about another $60/day in gas. 60 x 4 = 240
240/ 5 couples = 48

So, all that to say, save $350 for the boat! Woohoo!

It's Time.

Vacation is around the corner. The bill has been charged to our credit card and it's now time for everyone's final installment! Please remit asap.

We are gonna have such fun!

Party Hardy with Lisa on her 30th

Lisa and Me









All of Lisa's Mpls friends










Fancy raspberry dessert









Leah and Jess










Leah trying to be sexy. Lisa succeeding.

The whole table- 12 of us.

We all dressed up and went to eat at this super fancy French restaurant with awesome food. It was so fun. Lisa's husband flew in her two sisters and best friend as a surprise.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

I know I already sent this to a couple of you, but I just have to make sure you all can listen to it. It's so dang catchy, right?

Happy Birthday, Tom!

Today is the day to celebrate Tom.
He is absolutely da bomb.

He is friendly, fun and oh, so cool.
And what a substitute he was at school!

But that's nothing compared to the way
that he brews coffee. What more can I say?

I haven't even mentioned his awesome acting.
He blows everyone away! And that is a fact (ing).

We're glad you are part of the family- it's true.
So celebrate hard now that you're 52.

Vacation Update

Hi everyone!

7 Weeks till Family Vacation 2007!

Quick Update:

Our 2nd payment of $2026.25 ($405.25 per couple) is due July 11th. Mom and Tom have agreed to use their credit card again. Let's have it paid off before the trip!

New plan for the boat: We'll rent a boat large enough for everyone for 2 days (and everyone chips in) and then those interested (Becky & Cheryl, Leah & Eric and Mom & Tom) will rent a small ski boat for a few days. Eric is currently researching a deck boat for the larger boat, rather than the tri-toon.

Items to bring: cooler, beach towels, toiletries, fishing poles (need license)

Check in is at 5:00 p.m.

sites to check out: funlake.com, lakelinks.com

I'm pretty excited! Soon we'll be relaxin' and maxin' on the lake.

Boat!

Harmony, our awesome house, set me up with a boat rental company. We get a 10% discount and the boat is delivered to our dock. Here's the specs:

175 HP Tri-toon (highest HP of all rental boats on the lake)
Brand new
Fits 15 people
can pull water-skier's or tubes

Cost:
$300 per day for Monday - Friday = $1500
or
Sunday - Friday with week discount = $1500
($500 deposit via credit card required. I beleive Mom and Tom are going to front their card again. Thanks!)

The person I spoke to said that another rental co., Glencoe, charges $450 a day for this same boat and $375 per day for a boat with less HP. I beleive this. When I first started checking around the price was more like $500 per couple for the week.

Also, the boat does not come with water ski's or tubes. Leah & Eric - is your tube with your boat in AZ? I think we should consider buying one if we can't rent one. Scott will probaby spend the entire vacation on it.

That's $300 per couple. Give me your opinoins, I'd like to book it for Sunday-Friday - It sounds perfect for us.

Sarah Jane

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH JANE!!

Hope you had a great day in Charleston!

Tuesday Love

Well, I wanted to post on the McElory Experience but I'm not sure how or if I can. Either, way... I'm ready to Love.



I love that the weather is crazy but always goes back to warm and sunny. I L.O.V.E that our Family Vacation 2007 is sooner then any of us execpt. And that we'll have more fun than some of us may expect. I L.O.V.E that I finally get to see my nephews in June who I miss so much that I can't put into words. I also love that I get to see my sister and Eric whom I miss also, but maybe not as much as my nephews. I love that I get to be honest during Tuesday Love. I love my sister and wish we lived closer. I love that my family is so close (and lucky to be) but I miss that we don't see each other as much as we'd like. I love that love my job - I never thought it could happen! I love that I'm helping Leah get home with the boys after their visit and I love that Leah and Eric asked me to help. I love that I'm finally celebrating Mother's Day with Mom on Saturday and taking her to Over Easy. I love that the only thing Tom had to say when my Mom told him was "Sooo?!" (Tom, we'll take you soon!). I love that I have a few days alone (but I miss Cheryl!)


Also, and most importantly, I love wine.


Haha, mabye most importantly is my family's sense of humor!


Happy Tuesday Love (or late Monday Love)! Someone link me (Tom)!

Krazy Kristy

Familia Vacaciones 2007

Hey everyone - follow these instructions to check out the new pictures of our rental house:

go to lakerentals.com and and type in 13773 in the property ID box.

It looks pretty awesome....!

Bright Eyes

Eric and I got a babysitter last night and went to a concert- Bright Eyes. It was great. My only complaint is that I wore my contacts and couldn't see a thing once I got there. I'm not sure why. So, I drove back home to get my glasses and missed the first opening band. The second one was awesome, though. Oakley Hall for those of you interested.

Bright Eyes is funny. He's this amazingly talented 27 year old who is overly politically charged. And he wants to be British. For real. He says the word "bloody" and he has a funny accent when he sings and talks. He was born in Omaha. Anyway, good concert. Fun times.

To listen, go here:
http://www.myspace.com/brighteyes
Listen to Four Winds.

Softball

Um, so our team lost 16-2 in our first game last night. However, I didn't do too bad. I hit a double and ended up scoring. The other times I was up to bat, I got to first, but the person running to second got out, which apparantly is called a "Fielder's Choice" although I kept saying I hit two singles. Also, I caught two fly balls and no errors! Woohoo! I found my calling.

Regarding those shoes you got.....

I think they are way cool - but watch out:

From PostSecret