Woohoo

Today Josh graduated! He got his Associate's of Science in Computer Science. We are all so proud of him. It's so hard as a non-traditional student to make it through and Josh has not only done that, but done it well.

Josh's parents flew up to celebrate the big day with us.



And here's what he looks like getting his degree:

Josh's 29th birthday

Yesterday Josh turned 29. We had a wonderful day celebrating his birthday. He took a 1/2 day off from work so that he, Abby and I could have a celebratory lunch together. We would have loved for Evan to join us, but he was still in school at lunchtime. We had a lot of fun as a foursome later on with opening gifts, hanging out and a yummy home cooked dinner. I felt bad that Josh had to cook his birthday dinner, but at least that way he got what he wanted. Josh also got the "Anthony treatment" when he had his hair cut by the fabulous stylist that my sister is friends with. Now the 3 of us all look fabulous with our Anthony 'do's.

Enjoying our windy picnic lunch on campus. Josh had Indian food and Abby and I had hot dogs. The hot dog buns had poppyseeds on them but to Abby they were sprinkles.









Josh's new 'do:



Opening gifts:



Showing off the finger paint picture that Abby made for Daddy:




Pile of fried chicken!





Blowing out the candles on the yellow cookie cake:

A rainbow of books

Since I wrapped up the spring semester last Tuesday, I've been staying busy with the usual craziness of our household and starting up some new projects around the house. There are about a dozen things I have been wanting to do all year but just never had the time. Ever since seeing someone's books in a photo arranged by color, I have been wanting to do it with our bookshelf. Reading is a huge thing in our family. Josh, Evan and I read a lot. Abby is learning to read on her own, but we still read her a lot of books. So it was nice to turn something that is ordinary looking but important to us into something pretty to look at.
Here is a before picture:


And after:



I am still debating how to handle my display on the top of the unit. I'm sure I'll play with it some more before I'm done.

PS: Scroll down. I've been a busy poster. Tomorrow I will post pictures from Josh's birthday.

Winery pics

A couple of pictures from when we went wine tasting with Matt in Wisconsin. We had a lot of fun sharing our hobby of wine tasting with him. Josh and I are finally case club members at Wollersheim. I can't wait to go to some of the members events this year.

Wisconsin Dells

This past weekend Josh and I went for a quick trip to Wisconsin Dells with our best friend Matt. It was great to get away and relax overnight.
We ate:












We enjoyed the scenery:






Goofed off:




We also swam, played mini golf and went wine tasting. It was a really nice time.

Where did the time go?

It's really hard for me to accept, but Evan turned 13 on Sunday. He's a teenager now. I remember when he was like 3 playing with his train set. He had long curly hair that was so blonde it was almost white. Oh goodness, where did the time go?

For his birthday, he had 2 friends over. Josh made them tacos. Abby and I made a cookie cake with frosting for him. They also went to see Ironman. It was a really good birthday for him.

Evan and his buddies



Blowing out the candles. Of course we got the ones that don't blow out.



Opening presents at breakfast.

Trying to make sense of this one

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/01/babies.tower/#cnnSTCText

I don't recommend watching the video.

Villagers throw babies from temple roof

(CNN) -- In a ritual that would terrify most mothers, Indian villagers have cheered as screaming babies were dropped from a 50-foot temple tower.

For 500 years, worshippers at a Muslim shrine in western India have continued the tradition -- a rite considered to bring good health and good luck to the children.

The infants land and bounce on a bed-sheet held taut by men 50 feet below, and are quickly passed through the crowd to their mothers.

Villagers say no babies have been injured during the ritual, which is practiced by Muslims and Hindus in Musti village in the district of Solapur, in the state of Maharashtra. Watch worshippers throw babies from tower. »

It also takes place elsewhere in the country, mostly in smaller villages, on special occasions.

Parents who want their infants to participate in the event first take a vow at the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah, or temple. Villagers say the ritual is a way of giving thanks.

But critics want the practice banned, with many saying it's unsafe.

"The state has to interfere," said Sanal Edamaruku, founder and president of Rationalist International and the Indian Rationalist Association. The group supports secularism and freedom of expression.

What do you all think of this? I'm trying to learn and not judge (anthropology training and all) but I am just having a hard time not wanting to slap these people and take all their babies away.