Christmas Post #2 - On to the McHenry Clan!

On Saturday, we all gathered at Granny and Grandpa's house for a celebration with my brother's family and our kiddo's. Since we are re-populating the kids' table, this party gets more fun every year. Besides Katy and David, there is Gabe, who is the same age as Katy. And Abby and Stan are expecting little "Chip" around Valentine's Day; so next year will be four kids under the age of 3-1/2. What a joy! Here are a few pix and stories from the second Christmas (sort of like the second breakfast in Lord of the Rings.)

Ever since Gabe visited Granny and Grandpa last spring, he has had a fascination with tractors! His favorite songs and video's on U-Tube are about tractors, and he sings a song about "International Harvestor" with great gusto. Here is is playing with an old "Johnny Jump-Up" that Granny and Grandpa found in the barn in Markle. In spite of the new stuff, Gabe still liked this tractor about the best of everything.

When my baby brother, Neil, was small, his favoite toy was a stuffed monkey named Zippy that he took EVERYWHERE. When I was looking at catalogs this fall, I came across the Vermont Country Store advertising a "cheerful chimp" that was an updated look-alike for Zippy! I had to get this for Neil's grandson, Gabe. Here is a picture of Neil inspecting the NEW Zippy for authenticity. (Zip passed.)

David kind of liked this green bow. He really thought the part about eating dinner after we opened the presents was the best idea.

Mayhem #1. Abby, Bonnie, Grandpa, Katy,Granny, Gabe, Emily, and Brian.

Mayhem #2. Granny, Katy, Gabe, Stan and Brian.


This is Melanie and I relaxing and watching the proceedings as gifts were opened. You had to pace yourself with this crowd. Opa took most of these pictures. He's not IN a single one!

Bonnie and Abby and Gabe are enjoying the festivities here. Gabe liked the accordion that Oma and Opa got for Katy; however, Katy was afraid of it for some reason. Continuing my musical tradition, I try to get some kind of a music maker for somebody for every holiday.

This is Neil. He isn't an easy one to get a picture of, so I took this opportunity to post him.

Gabe liked his Sesame Street shirt. Here he is identifying all the characters. It isn't good to wear a shirt if you don't know who is on the front of it.

On Sunday morning, Grandpa got out the tricycle and took Katy for a ride around the kitchen and living room. Her legs were too too short to reach the pedals, but Grandpa-power took care of the problem.

Both of our Christmas celebrations were wonderful. And now I am sitting here staring at the last few hours of 2008 and thinking how many wonderful things happened . . . in spite of all the hype about kissing this crummy year good-bye. I can find a lot to be happy about in 2008, and I have to believe there is hope for 2009. Have a wonderful, safe evening. I'm off to do my exercise video of Latin Dancing with "Dancing with the Stars." I'm getting a head start on my continuing commitment to make sure I get some kind of exercise every day in the coming year.

What's your commitment/resolution for 2009?

Christmas Post #1

In looking at all the Christmas pictures, it is obvious that I can't do justice to our time with the family in a single post. So this is a start on our time in Columbus with Brian and Emily and Katy and David and Melanie.

We arrived in Columbus on Wednesday, and Opa and I got settled in time to go to Christmas Eve services at Heritage Christian Church in Westerville with the family. This picture is Katy in her Christmas dress before we left for church. She looked so sweet . . . even with the crumbs on her face, which we washed off before we left.

This is smiley David opening his fireman toy on Christmas morning. David is now 9 months old and weighs approximately 22 pounds. He crawls and pulls to a stand when he feels like it. Generally, he is delighted to be carried around so he can see what you are doing at all times.

Here we have Katy demonstrating what it means to be mobile and wireless when you are two and a half. Apparently, playing with your toy laptop while sitting in your new sled is the way to go!

For some reason, 2008 was the year of the COAT. This is Aunt Mel's new coat, which was really nice and quite stylish!

Katy got a chest full of Dora "princess" dress up clothes. Here she is helping her daddy take pictures with his camera while wearing one of her princess outfits over her pajamas. We spent a good deal of time waltzing to Christmas music on the stereo . . . because everyone knows that a princess has to DANCE!

Emily also asked for a new coat. This is her new outfit with the trendy scarf.

One of the Dora princess outfits had high heeled shoes. These were quite intriguing to Katy, and she spent a lot of time putting them back on and trying to figure out if they were on the right feet. We finally convinced Katy to take off this outfit and put on some pants and a long-sleeved shirt. She was getting cold.

Opa couldn't fit in the little outfits in the Dora princess box, but he was still required to play. The little skirt made a nice hat as he waved the magic wand and danced around the living room. (I think this picture might be worth some money, don't you think?)

After dinner, we let David look at the lights on the Christmas tree and play with a couple of the kid-safe ornaments. This is the perfect end to a wonderful Christmas Day.

The best Christmas ever . . . a new floor and a new stove!

As you probably know from an earlier post, Greg and I took the plunge and replaced the ceramic tile in our main floor with hardwood as our major Christmas present this year. The actual tear up and installation of the new floor was a 3-day effort (not including clearing the area and cleaning up). This 3-day process started Tuesday, 12/16, right after we returned from Melanie's graduation festivies in Columbus!

If you are also a reader of Emily's blog, you also know that I returned to Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon with a bucket on my lap . . . . All I had had to eat for 36 hours when the installers arrived Tuesday morning was a bowl of mashed potatoes and 3 glasses of water. Luckily, I had arranged to work from home Tuesday and Wednesday to be here while the workers were here. This actually saved me a sick day from work, because I could not have gone in Tuesday. However, I was able to sit in the glider in the master bedroom with my laptop and participate in conference calls and answer e-mail and generally be productive. I digress as usual.

I went downstairs and took pictures every few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, and herein I provide a short pictorial record of our project with the BEAUTIFUL RESULTS!!! It is truly amazing. And the new stove isn't too shabby either. I am sooooo happy.

This is Dave and Billy at the beginning of the tear out of the ceramic tile. That pole Billy is holding is like a steel ramrod; it weighs about 25 pounds.

This is the corner where the refrigerator sits. The sub-floor was water damaged, and the baseboards were screwed into the wall in this corner. Ken didn't say any bad words, but he was muttering when he tore this out.

Here Dave and Billy are sweeping up the layer of sub-floor and getting ready to lay the 1/2-inch plywood that was put down to replace the tile and the layer they took up. This brought the floor to the same height with the hardwood as the previous surface. This made the transitions to other rooms work the same as before.

Once the 1/2-inch plywood was down, Dave and Kenny opened the boxes of the flooring material and started piecing the puzzle together. (Billy didn't come on Wednesday or Thursday; just Dave and Ken.)

Here Ken is lining up the new hardwood strips in the eating area in the kitchen. I really liked their nail gun contraption. It had it's own compressor thing, and it drove nails in the flooring with a pull of the trigger.

Here is the finished floor in the kitchen. Pretty, huh???

And here is my amazingly wonderful new gas stove with convection oven and shiny surface. We have really enjoyed cooking on it already. I love it so far. The oven works so much better than the old one.

Here is the eating area today after all the clean-up that Greg and I did. It is so warm and beautiful. And all I did is mop with vinegar and warm water. I love it!

Merry Christmas from our Small Group!!

Our small group meets on Tuesday night, and we had a Christmas party at David and Susan's house this week. Their daughter, Tessa, took a picture of us. And we ARE a smart looking group! We are missing a few people, so Mary, Cathy, Larry, Nancy, and Ed are not pictured even though they are very much part of our group.

L-R: Paul, Greg, Kathy, Susan with Madison the Wonder Dog, Marian (back), Amy, and David

AUNT MEL'S GRADUATION!!!!

As you already know if you are a reader of "Live with David and Katy," this weekend was Aunt Mel's graduation from THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY! Katy has been talking for a couple of weeks about this event. The rest of us have been anticipating it for a couple of YEARS! And it was very, very sweet. As usual, I cried through most of Pomp and Circumstance, the part where Melanie walked up to get her diploma, and the big smile we got as she held up her open diploma with her name on it. I actually tried to take a picture of her as she came down the stairs within 5 feet of my chair . . . and I was crying so much that I took a picture of the wrong student. Too bad I don't know HER parents. :-) But the rest of the pictures are worth a thousand words, and this is a short series that doesn't even begin to show how proud we are of our Melanie Rose. We love you, babe!

The great seal of The Ohio State University on the platform at the Schottenstein Center where commencement ceremonies were held on Sunday, December 14, 2008, at 2 p.m.

Here's Melanie headed for her seat. She's just to the left of center in front of the blond girl. :-)

After the commencement, we all went to Buckeye Hall of Fame for a Graduation Party and dinner with the family. The rest of the pictures are from THAT part of the celebration. This, by the way, is the part that KATY will refer to as 'Aunt Mel's Graduation.' Here is Melanie with Greg and me.

Here Melanie holds her two biggest fans in the world. David and Katy helped us celebrate big time. And David thought the hat with the tassel was COOL, Aunt Mel!

Here it is, folks! The diploma we all adore. A Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology.

What graduation---or ANY event---would be complete without Brutus Buckeye? Go, Bucks! O-H-I-O and all that stuff!

Here is a great picture of Melanie with her Grandma Martha, Sue, and Dad. We don't know who that football player on the wall is, but he is looking over Dick's shoulder and smiling just as much as everyone else. He must be a long, lost relative or something!


Here is Melanie's Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Neil with their grandson, Gabe. They had a great time at the party; and I only wish I had also captured Abby and Stan and Granny and Grandpa on film as well. Somehow, they escaped the photo shoot. But a good time was the order of the day.

On Saturday night before graduation, Greg and I got to have dinner with Mary and Matthew. We went to Figlio's and shared some good food and conversation. It was great to hear all about Mary's job at BMW and their adventures living in Montana for a year. When we left, everybody was wearing some kind of a hat except Matthew. When you travel with those Froehle's, you need to sign on for a little panache. Next time, Matthew vowed to wear a hat too so he wouldn't feel left out.

The last two days here in the 'Burgh have been interesting as we have had the ceramic tile flooring in our kitchen and hall and entryway torn up and replaced with hardwood. Over the weekend, I will post some pictures of that wonderful experience . . . after I clean off about a half inch of dust and grime and get the commode out of the dining room . . . .

Only 8 days until Christmas! YEESH!

Melanie's Graduation



This coming Sunday, Melanie will be graduating from The Ohio State University. Here is a description of Melanie's department and education from the OSU web site. It is kind of hard to describe in a few words, but I'm working on it.



The Department of Human Development and Family Science engages in research, teaching, outreach, and the preparation of scholars and professionals to enhance the lives of individuals and families.

Subject Matter of the Program

• the nature and process of human development over the life span


• the dynamics of marital and family relationships


• conditions in the family, community, and society that enhance, support, and impede


• individual development and family well-being


• early child development/education/day care


• dysfunctional family systems/family therapy


• family life education

After graduation, Melanie is going to work as a staff member for Great Commission Ministries (http://www.gcmweb.org/) and will be doing student ministry on Ohio State campus. We’re really proud of Melanie. She has discovered that she has a lot to share with young women of high school and college age because of her life experiences over the last 10 years. This is a difficult phase of life for young people, and she wants to mentor and lead from a loving, Christ-centered foundation with the young people at Ohio State. I’m sure she will make a wonderful staffer!

Congratulations, Sweetheart! We can't wait to see you receive your diploma and to celebrate this wonderful accomplishment with you.

Thanksgiving Pictures! Finally!

Greg got me a new flat-screen monitor for the computer! Woo Hoo! I am crankin' now! AND he showed me how to find my picture stuff again since he reloaded my OS. Here are some pix from our Thanksgiving Day visit with Stan and Abby and Gabe at their house in Wadsworth. In attendance were Stan's family: Dale and Judy, Matt, and Grandma Rose. From Abby's side, it was Granny and Grandpa, Bonnie and Neil, Greg, Melanie and me. The food was awesome, and Stan and Abby's new house is great! They had several inches of snow on the ground, and it was very pretty but still a beautiful day for travelling.

Bonnie and Abby relax after lunch in the living room.

Gabe played with the new race car set that Granny brought. It was actually Gabe's birthday present that never found its way into a box back in late September. Oh, well! It became a fun distraction for Thanksgiving Day.

Stan and Judy in the kitchen while performing the ritual clean up after the meal.

This is Stan and Abby's back yard. If you look really close, there is a deer in the corner on the left by the big pine trees.

The Key - - -

Well, my tech person is still adding software to my computer; and the transfer of pictures from my camera is too much trouble until I get a minute to figure things out. In the meantime, a friend at work sent me this video which is worth a thousand words. Enjoy!

Brief Blogger Break

I have not been posting things for a week because Opa has been upgrading my operating system at home. My computer was running sssoooo ssssllllooowwwwllllyyyyyyyy that he decided to bite the bullet and reformat C. He just reloaded my camera software on Monday evening, so I haven't tried it yet.

I really love my tech weenie sweetheart . . . except he loves to try new software and thinks that I do, too. It has been a struggle to convince him to just put back the latest version of iTunes and the stuff I was using. I simply don't have time to learn to use all new applications; maybe one or two---but not everything major all at once.

Anyway, I have pictures of the Black Bean Lasagna that I made last weekend from my Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine. It was delicious! And Greg is extending the gas line for my new gas range scheduled for delivery in December. And the floor is supposed to be installed the week of December 15. Things are cooking all over.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hopefully I'll have some pictures from ours on Friday.

P.S. We went to see Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond movie. My favorite character is still 'M.' But there are a lot of dead ends in this movie . . . . (sic)

My Response to the Tag from Poo!

Here goes. Six (somewhat) interesting things about me per the tag from Poo!

1) My biggest surprise ever was when I discovered that my mother was not BIG! At the age of 12, I was shocked to discover that she was barely 5-feet tall and that I had been afraid of her all those years . . . and she is a shrimp.

2) When I was 21 and single, I went on a vacation to Hawaii for 2 weeks with total strangers. I just signed up, got on the airplane, and flew off without ever having met my room-mate from St. Louis. It was a wonderful, memorable trip.

3) I met my husband, Greg, on an internet site for the Dayton Daily News Dateline. One of the first questions I asked him in e-mail was how to pronounce his last name. Little did I know that I would be answering that question for the rest of my life.

4) I've had two babies by natural childbirth.

5) I love to sew and have made just about everything from a tablecloth to a winter coat at one time or another.

6) I got a 2-year degree out of high school and then went back to college in my 30's. I earned my Bachelor's degree from Wright State University in night classes while working full time with two kids. I was 40 when I got my Bachelor's.

Now, to tag somebody that hasn't already been tagged is a challenge. Hmmm.

7) All my blogger buddies are Emily's friends because none of my friends has a blog. Greg!! Maria!! Teresa!! Mimi!!! Granny!!! Grandpa!!!! Send me your list in e-mail and I'll post it on my blog. :-) That's 6 interesting things about YOU.

Butterscotch and Bisque!

Santa better trade in his sleigh for a delivery truck this year, because the Froehle Christmas is looking like Homer . . . that is Home Depot is taking over.

As some of you know, the ceramic tile in the kitchen and hallway is cracked and damaged because of some bad decisions about sub-flooring by a previous owner and some water damage from the refrigerator. We have been pricing and exploring options and saving money for replacement of the floor for about two years. We got delayed a couple of times along the way for a number of reasons; but the planets finally aligned; and we are off and running with some updates.


After a hard look at laminate flooring, the installers told us that our floors aren't very level and are not going to work well with that material. So we are getting a pre-finished hardwood from Bruce in a color called "Butterscotch," which is pictured here (sort of). The materials are on order and should be here and installed in early December. I have fond memories of wood floors from childhood days in the house that Dad built in Markle. Memories of sliding on the throw rugs across the freshly-waxed floors and watching my mom mop furiously when the suds saver on the washer ran over and got the floor wet . . . water turns the wood dark!!!! I think the materials have greatly improved. The wood look is still my favorite---hands down.



Ever since we have lived here, the electric range that we bought with the house has given me fits. The house in Beavercreek had built-in appliances, so we took these appliances because they fit and matched the kitchen. Well, the stove is by far the worst range I have ever owned. The oven doesn't heat evenly and routinely burns baked goods on the bottom. The timed bake and cleaning features don't work. The burners are very hard to control. It works for basic things like spaghetti, but don't try to do anything creative. Since we are fixing the floor, we will be moving the stove. So I took this opportunity to say, "Let's just keep the stove going once we get it out of here!"

Greg is partial to gas ranges, so we decided on a new mid-range from Maytag! It's made in the U.S.! I love it! And it will be so wonderful to be able to actually COOK and BAKE without burning things. We are going to have to run the gas line about ten feet across the unfinished basement to put this in. But the plan is to get the range delivered after the floor is installed but before Christmas.

The picture here is the model we got in stainless steel. We are getting "bisque" to go with the kitchen, so the top of the range will be light to match the rest of the frame. Otherwise, I know it isn't as personal as jewelry or lingerie; but I'll take this over a mystery gift from Victoria's Secret!

What do you think, ladies? Would you go for a new hardwood floor and a cook range for Christmas? Maybe I am showing my age that this gets me excited.

Happy Corvette Pictures!



One of my work friends, Judy, is married to Rich. (They have a son named Michael.) Judy and I have been lunch buddies for a year or more starting our acquaintance by spending lunch hours at Dave's Famous BBQ Restaurant in the North Hills eating baked potatoes and salad and such with our Federated discount.

Last January, Judy's husband, Rich, was working in their attic stringing some electrical wire and fell through the ceiling in the foyer area where it was two stories to the ground. Rich was seriously injured in this accident, and he was unresponsive for several days. The doctors told the family that a long recovery was in store, and there was no way to tell if Rich would ever walk again let alone drive or work. Well, doctors are sometimes surprised at how much faith and perseverance and hard work can do. Rich worked extremely hard, and he had tremendous support from Judy and his employer and a lot of people on their knees praying for him.


Rich started back to work part-time after about six months of recovery. The doctor's said it was unheard of for anyone with this type of injury to consider working in less than a year. But Rich started out with a couple of days a week anyway. After a few more weeks, he retested for his driver's license and added another day to his schedule. In September he started working 4-5 days a week and was released by his therapists. He is an amazing person; and his family and friends and boss and the people on the EMS board where he serves are a testimony to what it means to stand in the gap for a friend.

I got to see Rich again last month at the Sojourner House Jazz Explosion at LeMont where he and Judy were part of the group representing Federated at the event. A great deal of our conversation was about the new car that Rich got recently . . . a vintage Corvette! This car is a 90-something model that is a collector's item. Rich is extremely proud of this car, and I gave him a hard time because he didn't have any pictures of it with him at the event. Well, Judy and I had lunch this week; and Rich sent me a CD with several photos on it. When I opened the pictures this evening, I knew there was a blog entry in these photos. My only regret is that Rich and Judy aren't in any of the photos. Because the story here isn't about the car. The story is about faith and commitment and hard work and being able to drive again.

Congratulations, Rich and Judy and Michael, on being able to celebrate at the end of a long, hard year. You deserve it! God bless you.

P.S. Judy said the car is a 1996. It was the last year for the C4.

Remembering Amelia

Greg's niece, Amelia, was killed in a tragic car crash three years ago in Louisville, Kentucky. I knew Amelia only briefly as a spunky teenager with a mind of her own that loved life . . . grabbed it by the horns and lived it to the fullest.

As the anniversary of Amelia's accident approaches (next week), her mom is getting this tribute ready to post in their newspaper. I wanted to share it with all of you. Whenever people's lives touch, they are never forgotten. They leave impressions on us, and we become like diamonds reflecting all the people we have known and cared about. Amelia touched a lot of people.

Thanks, Peggy, for sharing this picture and tribute. May God fill you with lots of friends to celebrate Amelia's life and with tons of happiness knowing how much you loved each other in life.

Cappuccino

About a year ago, I discovered the fine delicacy at Starbucks known to me now as a "Grande Non-Fat Decaf Cappuccino." My love of this drink only grew when I found that besides being warm and wonderful, it was only one point on Weight Watchers with the skim milk. Soon I was stopping too many mornings for my fix; and those $3.19 a pop charges started eating into my pocket money pretty seriously.

Enter the cappuccino maker! I've spent many months finding the right expresso and the right grind. I have an official, stainless steel steaming pot and a couple of official Starbucks cup and saucers to make this treat perfect. At first I had trouble getting the temperature right; it just wasn't hot enough until I preheated the cup in the microwave with some boiling water. I'm proud to say that I think I've got it. This is the masterpiece I made on Saturday morning after my waffle . . . which by the way was prepared for me (the batter) by my darling husband before he left at 5:30 a.m. to catch a flight. Again, I digress. Ta Da!!! The perfect cappuccino!

Sunday Update . . . Life on the River

Well, the jewelry box glue was dry this morning, and I put it back together this afternoon. I think it's going to work. What's your opinion? Do you think Melanie will like it?


We've had a very cultured weekend. Friday night we went to the opera to see Samson and Dalilah. We aren't usually into the opera . . . having only seen The Barber of Seville previously. It was okay, but we weren't really thrilled with the Barber of Seville. Greg bought a couple of 'sampler' tickets from a telephone sales person this fall, so we picked this opera and La Boheme to try. La Boheme is in March; we're going on my birthday. :-)



We REALLY liked the Saint Saens music in Samson and Dalilah; and the VOICES WERE WONDERFUL. It was an amazing production. Today we had our subscription concert for the symphony. We went to brunch after church and then headed downtown. We had a little extra time, so we walked down the waterway under the Convention Center and out to the river.



The pathway from Tenth Street goes down the middle of the street when it passes under the Convention Center. The sides are like a waterfall along the walkway with pools of water cascading down to the dock area along the Allegheny. I have been seeing it when I go for walks at lunchtime, and it was fun to go down and look. Here is a picture of Greg along the walkway this afternoon.


There is a beautiful, paved park area on both sides of the Allegheny all the way to the point. You can also cross several of the bridges on foot and go to the North Side where the PNC Park (baseball stadium) and Heinz Field (football stadium) are located. This is a busy place for restaurants and all kinds of activities, including a controversial casino that is being built. I have enjoyed walking along the river at lunchtime for exercise this fall. There is always a lot of foot traffic during lunch time as people stroll or sit by the river to eat or chat.


There is, of course, a homeless population in Pittsburgh like any other city. When you walk the river walk, you see evidence of many people literally living under bridges. But one thing that struck me about these humble abodes is that there is order to them. For example, some of the people have accumulated some serious bedding. It is not unusual to walk under an overpass and see a bed on the concrete, neatly made with the pillow in place and the flowered comforter spread out to cover everything. These people are so close to us every day, yet their world is drastically different. Living under a bridge . . . .

Back up at street level, there is Point State Park with its beautiful fountain and lights. This month the water in the fountain is pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. People in their cars sit on the double decker Fort Duquesne Bridge and complain about the traffic and the cost of parking. The contrast is maddening.

One time I packed some food and took it in my car to give to a man who hung around my parking lot all the time. When I offered him the food, he laughed at me and asked me for money. I said I didn't have any money to give him and went away. Does the insanity come from living on the street, or do they live on the street because they are mentally ill? How can I help them and still be safe?