Poor Aviva

Being the littlest cousin can be pretty tough.  Aviva and Ben are best friends, but his enthusiasm usually climaxes in his wacking what ever he is excited about as hard as he can - including Aviva.

When Aviva's cousin Andrew came to visit, he found great pleasure in literally walking right over her, as well as seeing what would happen if he knocked her down.  You'd think he would have concluded she would fall and cry since that what happened every time, but he didn't seem to catch on.  Or maybe he did and that's what was so irresistible.

Last Sunday Lisa walked into the study and found poor Aviva with Ben, Keely and Max.  Keely and Max were covering her back with band-aids, while Ben drew on her with a yellow highlighter.   

You Got Served

All right, it was a landslide folks.  Shauri Quinn wins for You Got Served.  Thank you so much for all the extra suggestions.  Maybe some of y'all should steal some titles and jump on the recipe blog bandwagon so I can keep eating well. 

Here is Shauri's well deserved dedication:

Game night: strikes fear in the heart of some, ecstasy in the heart of others.  Game night ranges from the entire family and all of their friends ferociously competing then shamelessly singing and dancing the night away, to just some of the family intensely competing.  And I'm not scared to say that without Shauri, game night, in any of it's forms, would not be the magical experience it is today.  She invites the guests when we're too anti-social; she organizes the games when we're too lazy;  she makes us laugh when we want to fight; she lets us use her yellow prom dress when we can't come up with anything else; and most important of all: she makes the carmel popcorn.  Here's to you  Shauri Shar.   

Photo Shoot with Shauri

If you can't see the photos below, go to http://silentspinsterstories.blogspot.com

The Charlottsville Quinns

Ryan and Amy were in town for the past week and it was great.  We were sad to see them leave today.  Instead of giving you a play by play, I'll just list some of the highlights from the week:

• Max refers to Mason and Katie as, "my friends."  As in, as soon as he wakes up in the morning he asks, "Mama, where my friends?"  He pretty much followed Mason around wherever he went. 
• Mason and Katie love Pokemon.  Ohhhhhhh do they love Pokemon.  So it didn't take long for Max to become obsessed as well - even though he didn't understand one bit of how to play.  It was a pretty funny to hear Mason explaining the rules and telling Max about each character's abilities, rarity and power while Max nodded is head as if he was soaking in every bit of captivating information.  
• Amy had her birthday while she was here.  That night while she took a bubble bath, I got to spend some alone time with Andrew and I loved every minute of it.  He jumped on me and cuddled me the whole time.  If there's one thing that boy knows how to do, it's cuddle.
• That night the girls watched a movie downstairs.  Abram was reading a book in the living room and out of nowhere, Andrew (who had crawled out of his pack and play and crept into the living room) jumped on him and put him into a headlock.  In his own words, Abram nearly wet his pants, it was so unexpected. 
• Another thing Mason and Katie like to do is make presents out of paper and then wrap them and give them to the lucky one they have chosen as the recipient.  This morning Mason handed a "present" to Max and his response couldn't have been better, "Wow!  What is it?!"  "Wow!"  Then after he opened it and found homemade Pokemon cards, there were more, "wows" and a few "thanks!"  Who wouldn't want to give that kid a gift?
• Ryan was gone most of the time, but the night he got back Max seemed to really take a liking to him.  Abram put him to bed.  After laying with him for a while I took my turn.  When I was done he said, "Aunt Shauri sleep with me?"  I told him no and that he needed to go to sleep by himself.  5 minutes later he appeared on the stair case.  I started to threaten him, but he just pointed to Ryan.  I said, "You want Ryan to sleep with you?"  He nodded in the affirmative.  Ryan, being the great uncle that he is, laid down with him and he was asleep 5 minutes later.  

I Need a Name

I'm doing it.  I'm fully committing to my food blog.  The idea is that once a week I will post a menu (and accompanying recipes) for a Sunday dinner, lunch with girlfriends, game night, picnic in the park, you get the idea.  

Here's the problemo: I can't decide on a name.  So help me out here people.  Vote on my poll on the right, or better yet,  leave a comment and suggest a name.  Ooh, and if I choose your name, I'll send you a Kitchen Aid.  Well, not really, but I will dedicate a recipe to you :) 

Max's First Ballgame

Max is now officially a man. I know -- it may be a little sexist and/or a little machoistic, but I really believe (this is Abram by the way), that organs alone do not make a man. True manhood is defined by a willingness to wear face-paint in honor of home and country. Think Braveheart. Then think: Max, wearing the face-paint of a tiger, attending a Detroit Tiger's baseball game. His first ballgame.

Sure, we only lasted 1 inning (because of rain delays and sleep deprivation), but Max left his mark. We attended the game -- along with Uncle Shawn and Cousin Keely -- as part of Butzel Long's summer outing. Pre-game festivities were held across the street and Max and Keely got balloons, face-painting, and a family portrait. Keely was painted up like a butterfly. Max became a tiger.

As we made our way through the stadium, people would stop my little tiger and say how cute he was with his little tiger face. Then I'd tell Max to scare them. "Roar" he would say -- a little too much Simba and not a lot of Mufasa -- and the little crowds would go crazy with laughter. Max ate it up.

It was a great night. The only problem was dead camera batteries, so the only picture remaining is the family sketch (attached).

UPDATE: Luckily, Uncle Shawn took a few pictures on his phone, which capture the beauty of the tiger.  And those of you that know Max can imagine the roar.

I Must Do My Duty

After who knows how many years of watching American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, and never voting, I am now declaring to the world that starting next week and forever more, I will vote.  Well, for So You Think You Can Dance anyway.  And I will not just vote for the person I don't want kicked off that week.  I will vote for the four people I want in the finale.  The fact that Will and Chelsea are not in the final four is just not okay.  Not okay at all.