Heads or Tails #20 - Who would you like to meet and why?

It must be the week for this question. Karen asked a similar question yesterday morning as well, and as you can see from my answer there - I really didn't have a clear-cut idea of what to say then. I've thought about it more since, and here's what I've come up with.

When I think about who I would really like to meet, several people do come to mind. I would love to have met my grandparents - my mom's parents both died before I was born and my dad's parents died when I was very young, so I have very few memories of them.

But when I really thought about it, I realized that who I would most like to meet are two people that I actually know quite well.

Let me explain... I've mentioned before that my parents were on the older side when I was born - my mom was 37 (my age!) and my dad was 41. So my memories of my parents basically start when they were in their 40's. I know how they 'turned out', but I would love to go back and 'meet' them when they were younger. To see my mom as a single teacher living with and taking care of her father and younger brother in the 60's. To see my dad with his first wife and family - from what I've heard and understand, he was a completely different father to my younger brother and I than he was to our older half-siblings. An improved one to be sure, but I still am curious about how and who he was back then.

Maybe I'm brought to curiosity about my parents' younger days by thinking about how my kids will never know or 'meet' the younger, single me - the person I was back in my 20's before I met Ron and started a family. Not that I was so much more of a terrific person back then necessarily, but it does seem strange to think that my kids will only know the 'me' of now and in the future.

Check out other Heads or Tails posts at Skittles' Place. And if you decide to play along for the first time this week, don't forget to mention that I referred you! :)

Monday Morning Meme #4

Karen from WriteFromKaren has started a new meme, appropriately titled the 'Monday Morning Meme'. It's a lot of fun - won't you join in? :)

January 21st Questions:

1. What famous person would you most like to have dinner with (living or dead) and what would you ask him/her?
   
   Hmm, I really have no idea. Let me think for a minute here - I'll get back to you on that one.
   
   
2. What do you enjoy blogging about the most?
   
   I would definitely have to say the sense of community and the awesome people I've met around the blogosphere.
   
   
3. What is your favorite kind of candy?
   
   My absolute favorite, 'addicted-to', 'can't do without' when they're available candy? These:
   The good thing is that they're only available for a month or two when Easter candy is out in stores. However, the bad thing is that since you can only get them for that short period of time, I tend to eat way, way too many of them...
   
   
4. Which sibling or relative are you closest to? What makes you close? Similiar interests? Or are you completely opposite?
   
   I guess I would have to say my younger brother. We've always been pretty close, from the time that he would hang around me and my friends when he was a little kid. We don't have much in common anymore (we live vicariously through each other - he's the single, 'urban' professional who travels often, and I'm the 'settled down with kids' one) and we don't see each other as often as we would like, but we are still pretty close when we're able to be. Knowing that we're the only ones who 'get' our parents and having the same memories from growing up - it's one big reason why I wanted Abby to have siblings.
   

So that's it for this Monday Morning - check out other answers over at Write From Karen! :)

On the road again...

Tomorrow is the second road trip of this holiday vacation of mine. The first was on Christmas Day when we drove to Detroit and back in the space of about 10 hours. Tomorrow, after taking Abby and Hannah to the dentist, we will be heading down to my friend Mary's house for the weekend. No plans - just a lot of visiting and letting the kids all run around and play. And with Mary due in just a few weeks with her 3rd child, lots of baby talk as well.  :)

I don't know if I'll have a chance to post at all while I'm gone and I know I won't be able to read many blogs (now that I finally got my reader caught up from over Christmas - sigh), but I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll be checking back in before the New Year, I promise!

I thought I'd leave you with a few random photos (of course!) and a video of Becca with her two new Backyardigan stuffed friends (Austin and Tasha) that she opened up on Christmas Eve, to go along with the 3 that she'd already stolen acquired from Hannah previously. Just ignore the quick view of Abby's legs - she was wrestling with Uncle Donnie at the time.   :)

Yes, I know that Becca is missing a sock and her pants - what can I say, Daddy had just changed her diaper...   :)

The only presents that were underneath our tree before Christmas morning were the three that the girls were allowed to open on Christmas Eve. I put them there that morning and all 3 girls drove me nuts about it all day. Abby even made a sign warning nobody to mess with them:

On the way to Detroit...  Abby wasn't sleeping though, just playing with her Leapster.

Becca apparently decided that the tray tables at my uncle's house were a great jungle gym for her Backyardigan friends...

 

Here's Becca and Hannah pretending to be asleep - the fluffy purple dress in the middle belongs to my cousin Gwen's daughter Jasmine. Jasmine is almost a year younger than Hannah - the two of them ran around together like two peas in a pod the whole evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The doggie is my uncle and aunt's - his name is Otis.

This pretty much sums up Abby's evening - she spent every possible moment attached to the Leapster that my mom gave her for Christmas.

The 'kids' table at Christmas dinner. I tried putting Becca on my lap originally, but that didn't work out too well, so she sat with the 'big' girls.

Heads or Tails #17 - Sky

This week's topic is either sky or space (heads) or in/under water (tails). I chose to go with Sky, because once upon a time I spent a summer in the sky.

It was 1989, and I was living just outside of Minneapolis, staying with my much older half-brother and his (former) wife. I had just finished a very turbulent first year of college, during which my parents separated. I came out to Minnesota to work for Ricky and to learn how to fly.

I loved being in the air - it was amazing, terrifying, awe-inspiring and every other synonym you can look up.  It was also incredibly difficult. Not the actual flying part, but all of the rules, regulations and protocols that you had to learn and remember. Flying a small plane is dangerous. And expensive - which is why I haven't been up in the air (at the controls anyway) since that summer, so long ago.

Someday, perhaps I will again.

A burst of sunshine

washes out blue sky

above me

clouds mask the Earth below

I fly over a stark ivory world

where mountains

and valleys appear solid

yet are vaporous haze

whiteness surrounds me-

I'm lost in a snowy desert

As the world spins away

beneath me.

(written: fall, 1990)

Check out other Heads or Tails posts at Skittles' Place.

Was that really a weekend?

Wow, don't you hate it when the weekdays drag on so long and then the weekends just zip right on by? That's what seems to have happened over this past weekend - I really have almost no idea where it all went.

Ok, so I have a little bit of an idea where it went. And I thought I'd share some of the highlights, even if just to prove that we really did just have 2 days off. :)

Ron had to work on Saturday of course, so the girls and I had a lazy morning as we usually do. Our Saturday mornings typically involve the girls watching more Playhouse Disney in one sitting than they usually get all week while I attempt to doze in the recliner - not an easy task while being poked with elbows and asked to referee the wrestling contests that usually take place on my lap. One (tired) Mommy with one lap and 3 kids usually equals not much dozing taking place.

Once I finally decided to wake up, I found myself in Becca's room, looking around and actually seeing the state of it. Since we took the crib out and put in the toddler bed, nothing had been moved around or put away and there were toys scattered everywhere. Not to mention that her bed now faced the wrong direction since she always sleeps facing one way and the head of her bed was the opposite (see the pictures at this post if what I just said makes absolutely no sense to you). I did think for a long moment about simply turning her bed around and putting the foot of it against the wall, but then from somewhere I got a burst of energy and drive and decided that it was finally time to make some real changes.

I'm saving the rest of the story for my post on Tuesday, but I'll give you a quick sneak peek...

In the end, both Becca's room and the big girls' room looked about like this for at least a portion of the day. I promise though that the 'after' photos are pretty awesome, so check back on Tuesday... And yes, Becca had a field day with all of the toys within easy reach in the middle of her floor while I was 're-arranging' things. :)

Yesterday was Ron's day off. The older girls sang at church in the morning - I was very proud of both of them! You can see some of the photos I took in the Flickr montage in my sidebar. Abby was in a pink shirt and Hannah in a brown one if you have a hard time picking them out. I have some video of them singing, but haven't gotten those up online yet.

After a quick nap/quiet time, we all headed out to a local mall to meet up with Ron's siblings and their families. The last time that there was a photo taken of everyone was in 2003, so his sister decided that it was time for a new one as a surprise gift for their parents for Christmas this year.

Imagine if you will, 6 adults and 12 kids (ranging in age from Becca at 22 months all the way up to 17 years old), trying to find a decent place to pose by a shopping mall Christmas tree and using my brother-in-law's tripod and self-timer on his digital camera to get a decent shot of the group. Can you imagine that? I could - and had a few doubts about getting any kind of a good photo as a result - but I was somewhat surprised that it actually went very smooth and painless. I got a quick glimpse of the photo and it looked pretty good even. I know that Ron's parents will be thrilled (and I'm positive that they don't read my blog, so I'm not giving anything away here!).

Seeing that the mall was fairly empty, we took advantage of the short lines to see Santa Claus. We saved a lot of money by taking our own photos (thankfully they had no problem with that) and I think they turned out rather well in general.

Here's Abby:

And Hannah:

And both of them together:

And our attempt to have Becca get anywhere near Santa, which was a dismal failure, so this is the best we could do:

Then we let the girls play for a while in the mall's play area - it's one they hadn't been to before since it's across town from where we live. They had a blast - running and sliding and playing tag with other kids.

Not to mention sitting in a giant plastic snake - something which apparently was quite fun to play on and in.

It was the getting in and out of things that seemed to be the most fun.

<

And the slide (of course)!

<

It was about then that my camera batteries died, so that's it for pictures.

You know, now that I think about it - we really did have a rather packed weekend. Maybe that's why it seemed to rush by so quickly...

Is it Friday yet? :)

Festivals of trees and lights

At sundown tomorrow, December 4th, candles will be lit all over the world in Jewish households, as Hanukah - the Festival of Lights - begins. And for 8 nights, gifts and gelt will be given, dreidels spun, and latkes eaten to celebrate.

It is important to remember that Hanukah is traditionally only a minor holiday in the Jewish faith. However, it's importance has grown over the past century , most likely due to the fact that it falls right around Christmastime when the Christian world is celebrating the birth of Jesus. Hanukah is probably the best known Jewish holiday to those of non-Jewish heritage.

As a child, I loved to celebrate Hanukah. In general we were a secular family, mostly due to the difficulty faced by my mother in reconciling her own Christian beliefs with my father's parents' Jewish faith and traditions, and my father's own lack of interest in being involved in religious concerns of any kind. When my parents married (in a Jewish ceremony), my mother agreed to raise any children they might have in the Jewish faith, and (since Conservative Judaism is passed down through the mother) she went through the process to convert to Judaism as well.

You have to give her credit - she did all of this to appease my grandparents and although she was intrigued by the Jewish faith as well, she didn't have the background or knowledge to draw upon. She tried her best, without much instruction or direction, to give my brother and I as much of a Jewish upbringing as she could. But this was soon hampered by the deaths of my grandparents when I was in kindergarten and first grade, and by my father's general indifference to anything of a religious nature.

Except for lighting the Hanukah candles.

Every year, for 8 days we would pull out the menorah, light the  candles and listen to the children's Hanukah record that my mother had bought since she did not know, and my father did not remember, the blessing to be sung over the lighting of the candles. My brother and I would watch the flames dance as the candles grew ever shorter and eventually were snuffed out by the lack of fuel. Watching each little flame extinguish itself was a favorite pastime as we would try to guess which candle would go out next. My father liked to arrange the colorful candles in varying patterns - every night a different combination.

And yes, we got presents. Not for all 8 nights, since we had Christmas gifts to look forward to as well. But a somewhat substantial gift for each of us on the first night, and then on the second, something for us to share - usually a game of some sort. We had no other Jewish children around to play dreidel with, but my mother usually made latkes (potato pancakes) for us to eat. Over time, the rest of the few Jewish traditions and holidays that my mother had tried to observe fell by the wayside - but we still celebrated Hanukah in the best ways that we could.

It's strange perhaps that even now, both Hanukah and Christmas are intertwined for me. I would have a difficult time celebrating one without the other. I haven't always been able to light the menorah every year (until recently, it's been difficult to even find Hanukah candles in this conservative, mostly Christian part of the state), but the candles have always burned in my heart, just as the lights on the Christmas tree do as well. And no matter where else my faith has taken me, I will always, in a way, be - both and neither - Christian and Jewish.

A quiet interruption to a busy weekend...

Holiday, shopping, company, church, and soon to be a birthday party - it's been a very crazy busy weekend! We're leaving in about 15 minutes to head out to Hannah's birthday party that we're having at a jumping, bouncing game type of place - thankfully not at my house because it is trashed from having 3 extra adults and 2 extra kids here for the past 24 hours. We've had a lot of fun though - learning a new game called 'Set', baking brownies and molasses cookies, and visiting while the kids played in the basement playroom.

My mom and brother thought Hannah's party was yesterday so arrived just about an hour after Mary and her kids did. They all spent the night and my mom and Donnie will head out back home when we leave for the party. The kids will be too busy bouncing and playing to miss them.

So just a quick update and I'll hopefully have time (and energy!) to post more later, complete with pictures...

So stand by! :)

8:45 pm - So I thought 190 unread posts was bad when I went to Mary's in October... It's going to take me forever to get through the 369 waiting in my reader right now! It's intimidating just to look at that number, LOL. But I'll get there! :)

Meritorious Conduct

I wrote last week about my dad's love with the sport of bowling (yes, it is a sport!). Last night this love affair reached its pinnacle as he was inducted into the Detroit Bowling Hall of Fame, in the city which has been called the "Bowling Capital of the World".

We made the 2+ hour trek to Detroit, after a few hiccups, and were able to spend some time visiting my dad at his new apartment and also visiting his girlfriend, Phyllis.

Yes, I had nothing better to do while we were stuck at the gas station than to bug my girls by taking pictures... :)


(A little girl and a Daddy with their backpacks...)


(Anyone home?)

(Hmm, maybe it's open...)

(Three generations...)
We dropped the girls off at my mom's house, ordered them a pizza for dinner, and headed to the banquet. Other than my dad and Phyllis, we knew nobody. And they were seated up at the head table, so we were seated with 6 strangers. One of whom is a good friend of my dad's and the one to actually induct him last night. He didn't remember me - he did remember my brother. Everyone remembers my brother - he's the bowling prodigy. I managed a couple of 200 games during my (limited) career as a youth bowler. Donnie started bowling left-handed during practice games because he was bored and wanted a challenge. Yes, he is that good. He could've turned pro if he'd wanted to. But bowling has always been our dad's passion, not ours.

Four hours of dinner, presentations, speeches and schmoozing. And lots of sports talk as the guys at our table kept sneaking peeks at the NFL scores on their cell phones throughout the whole thing. The food was very, very good although our tablemates were not impressed by the cash bar, especially after the $40 ticket price for the banquet.


(My dad and Phyllis at their table at dinner)
My dad's was the 5th induction and one of two non-bowlers inducted this year. Well, my dad is a bowler, but his scores aren't what he is known for. Twenty years of 'meritorious service' to the bowling sport and profession as a member of the media, a board member on several organizations, an organizer of tournaments and charity events - his love for the sport. These are what got him inducted. During his friend's speech as he introduced my dad, a mention was made that, "he's written about probably everyone in this room" and that made me realize just how well-known my dad is in the bowling scene. As he accepted his plaque and made his speech (his first public speaking event in his 78 years - he'd practiced his speech on my brother over the phone several times and on us earlier at his apartment and was understandably nervous about it), I realized that in his moment of accomplishment and success...

I am proud of him. That is something I haven't really been able to say about my father in a very long time, if ever. But he took something that he loved and he worked hard to make a career and a life out of it and he has achieved a level of success that I didn't think possible 20 years ago.

(My dad and his plaque - I cut his friend out of this one, only because I didn't ask permission to post his picture)

He is happy. And I am happy for him.

Congratulations, Dad.

The trip that almost wasn't

Phew! All I can say is that we made it - finally. We were originally supposed to drive to Detroit (well the Detroit area, that is) yesterday and spend the weekend. Instead, we decided to wait and drive in this morning and make a day trip out of it. I wasn't feeling well yesterday at all and we are far shorter on finances than we thought (due to Ron's having taken several days off a few weeks ago when the girls were all sick), so we had no money for a hotel room either.

I'll write a post later on about what we did end up doing yesterday...

The agenda today originally included stops in Ann Arbor to visit my brother and see his new place there, then heading to Southfield to see my dad in his new aparment, then heading to my mom's to drop the girls off there, and then going to the banquet for my dad.

Yes, I said 'originally'... Things didn't get off to the best start.

First of all, we were running late. I'd wanted to take off by 9:30 am but it was an hour after that when we actually made it out the door. Our first stop was to fill up the gas tank. Which was no big deal except for the horrendous amount of money that it costs nowadays, but that's nothing new. What was new is what happened when Ron tried to start the van back up.

Click. Click. Click. Uh-oh

Yep, our battery was suddenly dead. So we sat at the gas station, 3 little girls strapped in their seats. Ron went in search of someone who could possibly give us a jump. He found a very nice lady who agreed to help. But when Ron hooked up the jumper cables and tried to get things going, two things happened. Or at least one thing didn't happen - the van didn't start. What did happen is that the connection in our van started smoking and when Ron pulled the cable off, it had burned clear through so the clip thingy (that's the real, technical name for it, right? LOL) actually came right off.

Apparently my wonderful hubby had hooked the cables up wrong on our end. Oops.

The second try was much more successful - a different set of cables did their thing and we had a running van again. Thank goodness! It was too late to still make it to my brother's in time though - he had a 1:00 pm appointment, so we just drove straight to my dad's. And here we are - Ron is playing blocks on the floor with Becca and watching football, Abby and Hannah are coloring and playing with a music keyboard of my dad's, and I'm trying to figure out this iMac to be able to write this.

Hopefully there will be no more 'excitement' for the rest of this trip, other than what's already planned.

I can hope, right? :)

Aloha Friday #7

It's Friday again! My favorite day of the week. :)

I've been thinking a lot about my parents this week since we're going to visit them this weekend. So here's my question for this week's Aloha Friday:

How many years have your parents been married (to each other or anyone else) or together (if they never were married)? If they're divorced, how long have they been divorced?

I hope this doesn't seem too forward of a question, and feel free to not answer if you don't want to. Here's my answer:

Technically, my parents were married to each other for 22 years. But they separated just a few months after their 19th anniversary. My mom has never remarried but my dad was married again for about 10 years - the marriage fell apart right after their anniversary. He's been single now for about 5 years but has a steady girlfriend who he's been with for several years now. I doubt he'll get married again - after 3 failed marriages (he was married to his first wife for almost 20 years before he got divorced and then met my mom) I don't think he's wanting to go through that again. He and his girlfriend are very content as they are. :)

Head on over to Kailani's to join in on the Aloha Friday fun!

Throwback Thursday #15 - Daddy's girl

When I was a small child, I thought that my dad was the greatest in the world. He was fun, he was funny, and he could do no wrong, at least in my eyes. My brother remembers those years differently, but I was very much a 'Daddy's Girl'. As I grew older, I began to realize he certainly has faults - but then again, who doesn't? I wouldn't say that my dad and I are terribly close now - we just don't see him often enough for that and when I do see him, it's hard because we really have very little in common to talk about. Sometimes I miss those days of just being able to run around and play games with him and I love that Ron makes the time to do those kinds of things with our girls.


My dad has one passion. It's something he's loved ever since I can remember. He is a bowler. Yes, bowling - you know, the 10 pins, heavy ball, goofy shoes... And my dad was actually pretty good at it. Very good, in fact. He bowled regularly in two leagues - and still does. He and my mom (and later my former stepmom) always bowled in a couples league on Friday nights. Every Friday night as far back as I can remember was the same routine. My mom would take my brother and I out to eat (fast food - McDonalds when we were younger and then we switched to Arby's later on), then on the way home we'd stop and pick up the babysitter (a neighbor girl). Then my parents would take off and Donnie and I would have a blast with Diane. She'd bring her record albums (yes, the vinyl kind!) and it really was our first exposure to any music other than classical, big band or musical soundtracks. I can remember dancing around the living room to Barry Manilow, Shaun Cassidy and the Carpenters. And watching our usual shows - The Muppet Show, Donny and Marie, and later on the Dukes of Hazzard. As we grew older, sometimes we'd go to the bowling alley with our parents and hang out there. I learned to add by helping keep score (on those plastic sheets which were projected up onto a screen above, no computers to do it for you back then!). I had the bad manners to be born on a Friday night - my mom used to joke that it was the only Friday night that my dad ever had missed bowling - and even then she wasn't sure he was going to skip it. :)


My dad also bowled in a Sunday morning league. This was a Masonic league, made up of what I think of as "little, old Jewish men". It was fun to get up early sometimes on Sundays and go with him - there were always fresh bagels and cream cheese (one big draw for me!) and the bowlers were lots of fun to watch and listen to. Plus there were usually extra lanes for my brother and I to get a few games in. This league met every Sunday without fail - even bowling on Christmas mornings if it fell on a Sunday - remember, they were all Jewish. (my mom still celebrated Christmas morning with us - even when my dad was home, he was never very involved since the Christian holidays made him uncomfortable) My dad still bowls in this league, although they've had to merge with some others because they've been (literally!) losing members over the years.


When I was very small, my dad was on a local bowling show in Detroit called "Beat the Champ" - and he did. He won a color television. However, the biggest, most important night of my dad's life came on a Friday night. I wasn't there - I was a teenaged girl and sleeping over at a friend's house was a much bigger excitement than heading to the bowling alley - again. I got a call from my parents right after my dad did it. Yes, he bowled a perfect 300 game that night. It was a huge deal - he got a ring and a trophy from the bowling association for it and a lot of clout in the local bowling community.


My dad has written a column for our local newspaper (on bowling, of course) for about 20 years now. He isn't a reporter and doesn't even have a college degree, so he makes very little money for it, but he doesn't write it for the money - he just loves doing it. He's become very involved in putting together tournaments and other events and has met many professional bowlers over the years. He's served on several boards and committees as well.


On Sunday, my dad will be one of 6 people inducted into the Detroit Bowling Hall of Fame. This is a culmination of his lifelong achievement in the sport of bowling, as a bowler, as a writer and as a promoter. And Ron and I will be there to help honor and celebrate him in this accomplishment.

He may not be the 'World's Greatest Dad', but he is my dad and I love him and am very proud of him. I suppose at heart in many ways, I am still a 'Daddy's Girl'.


(My dad with Becca in 2006)

Check out more Throwback Thursday over at Pinks and Blues Girls!

Guess what I got in the mail today?

I just got our mail when I took out the garbage. Yes, I know I should be in bed asleep by now, but this is what happens when you take an unplanned 1 1/2 hour nap on the couch and almost miss Gray's Anatomy and then spend the next couple of hours watching tv and reading blog posts instead of doing household chores. Oops.

So where was I? Oh yes, the mail. Well along with the usual assortment of junk mail and bills, I saw a greeting card envelope with my dad's return address on it.

Hmmm, why would my dad be sending me a card? It's true that I haven't talked to him in way too long - maybe he's sending me a card as a reminder to give him a call. Ron's birthday was in August and mine and Hannah's aren't until November so it can't be a birthday card.

Now I'm very curious. So I open it.

If I could get my internet connection to work in our bedroom where my computer desk and scanner are, I would scan this card for you to get the full effect. You'd almost have to know my dad to understand why he would pick out this particular card.

Imagine, if you will, an image of a person with the head of a cat, bowling with a giant kitty toy - you know the kind, with the bell in the middle... Inside it says, "Let the good times roll, Happy Birthday". That is my dad's sense of humor in a nutshell.

And it's signed, "Have a great birthday, Deb, and many more. Love, 'P' (my dad's girlfriend) and Dad". And he even included a check, dated 10-2-07. (Thanks, Dad!!!!!)

????

Well, the last time I checked, my birthday was in November, not October.

So now I'm wondering if he realizes that he's off by a month? I'd guess not since he went ahead and sent the card. Or maybe he figured this would be a sure way to get me to call him...

In which case, the tactic will work since I will call him tomorrow to thank him for the card and gleefully tactfully ask him if he's aware of the mistake while trying not to laugh too hard. He is my dad, after all, and I love him.

Even if he doesn't remember - after almost 37 years! - when my birthday is.

Throwback Thursday #8 - Who pinched the baby?

Here are a couple of photos of me with my parents when I was a baby. I've never been sure which order these two pictures belong in, but I think it's funnier this way:




Check out more Throwback Thursday over at Pinks and Blues Girls!

And check out my very first giveaway - you could win one of a couple of great books to help your kids prepare for school!

Throwback Thursday #7 - Look-alikes

You know how when you have a baby, the inevitable question comes soon after, "Who does he/she look like?" We answered this question for Abby when she was a toddler and Ron came across this photo of his mother at about the same age:

And here is a photo of Abby at 20 months old:


She has my eyes, but pretty much everything else is a 'mini-me' of Ron's mom!

There's no question either of who Becca resembles. Check out these pictures of Ron as a toddler:

Looks familiar, right? Something like this:


Hannah's a bit more of a question mark. Some people think she looks like Ron. I think she maybe resembles my mom a bit. She seems to have Ron's eyes for sure. What do you think?

Here's Hannah at about 20 months:


And my mom at about the same age:

It's hard to say. One thing's for sure though - none of my kids overly resembles me!

(With my grandparents a few years before they died)

Check out more Throwback Thursday over at Pinks and Blues Girls!