Sunday 2/24 Fashion Show Fun

I really enjoyed having the fashion show on Sunday evening. I cleaned up and broke down the plunge and we scooted over to mass at 5pm on Saturday. Yes, I wore my polar bear PJ bottoms, Do Not tell my Mom! Then we relaxed on Sunday morning and had a big pancake breakfast! I ended up having to work for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon, and Jerry and Charlotte went to the U of M game, then we all joined up again at the martini bar at 4:45. My gals, Patty, Karen and Shawne came to the show with me and we had a table together. thanks for supporting the cause girls! I'm not sure how much money was donated to SO, but having the community behind us is a wonderful feeling!
 Molly's makeup and hair looked really cute, and Danny looked adorable of course. Molly modeled a swimsuit and pj's for Hushintimates, a lingerie shop and Danny modeled a cool shirt and running shoes for Running Lab, both on Main street in Brighton. The models hung out and had snacks and drinks downstairs, while upstairs the restaurant filled up. Each group grabbed a table and indulged in a tasty signature martini and fantastic food. Scallops, brie,all kinds of gourmet goodies! The silent auction garnered loads of attention, and I ended up with winning bids for a gift basket and a men's haircut. Good stuff! At 6;30pm the show began and lasted about 45 minutes. Following the assistance I needed to give to the auction and one last minute freak out(too much plunge--I lost it!) I happily headed home to my fireplace and the Oscars(hated it-that Seth guy is a real jerk!) I was never so happy to plop myself down!

LLL's out on the town!

Denise, Kylie and me

Danny, ready to go!

Molly in her adorable PJ outfit

Brighton Mayor Jim Muzzin MC'd the show

Matt Janego struts his stuff

My friend Roseanna's daughter Harper, a real model, modeled for us

Molly heads out, she really had a ball this year!

Go Molly!

when Danny finished, people looked over at me and yelled that I should get him an agent!

his attitude was crazy cool

Molly had accessories from the new shop Bink&Babs

Polar Plunge Week 2013!

Well, it was a week all right, and it is over! Good,bad and in between, we are looking at the 2013 plunge  in our rear view mirror.  This week I will be jotting down notes and suggestions, what worked and what needs tweaking, in order to make the 2014 Plunge even better!
I had meetings each day last week, some days two! MaryJane worked even harder, dealing with all the every day SO business while working on the plunge. I don't know how she does it! Cassie went to Dearborn on Tuesday, which was perfect timing for me. It allowed me to focus completely on the Plunge and all the last minute craziness(no Kohls, no MC/soundsystem,where is Starbucks?!)
But Though the plunger number dropped from 98 to 80, we had lots of new plungers from around the community. I hope that this is due to the fabulous PR from the Patch newspaper and the Argus, and of course our friends at WHMI.
I hope you enjoy the photos...

Coach Laurel, far right, and a great bunch of plunging athletes!

Vicki and me

Michelle, our 50/50 chairman

Dan and Charlotte, Birthday Buddies! First Plunge for both!

you know Charlotte, she is always hungry!

G-plane and the girls

THE HOLE!

the first responder team

polar bear?

Anne, Viv and Linda setting up our fabulous food table

PJ, Dave Loar, our first jumper and Sheriff Bob Bezotte, celebrity judge

Chiquita Banana! Won best costume and raised the most money--0ver 3600.00!

my crew!

Matt, Brighton Mayor Jim Muzzin and Chris

aren't these girls darling? They even had custom t-shirts. they raised over 1000$ and won the youngest plunger award!

a true buddy, Dan takes care of Charlotte post-jump

"Mom. let me go inside, I'm freezing!"

sista's!

our Army man, Sargent Morris, came down to cheer on the plungers. He is deploying next week for 1 year

Danny hits the water...huzzah!

out he comes

there goes Molly!

Alex takes her first plunge

Splash-Charlotte!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

She is 20 years old, surely that is impossible! Where has the time gone? I have no idea! What I do know is that 2/16/93 was one of the 4 best days of my life! My little girl, I was so happy to have another one...(though true confession here, by the time baby number four was set to arrive I was done with hairdo and hoping for another crew-cut!) Since my sister is my heart, I wanted to have that for Molly, and that is what GOD gave me. (though another true confession...they haven't got the friend thing down yet, but I am hopeful!) Born at 1:19pm on a Tuesday during a little snowstorm with the easiest labor of them all(Thanks honey!) at a whopping 7 lbs 1 oz she was a cute and cuddly gift. Molly and Jake were both thrilled with their new baby. In fact Molly came to the hospital to see her that evening and she kept poking her and yelling "AA DA!"  and then petting her. I'm not sure she knew what she was or that she was coming home with us, but she loved her! And Jake was a wonderful big brother, he played with her, and used that cute high voice to get her attention. We were blessed!
This weekend we celebrated her Charlotte-ness just like we do every year! Friday was a school holiday so we had friends over for lunch and a movie. Annie, Kel and Heather were invited to enjoy cheese pizza (lent!) salad and caramel birthday cake and then head to the theatre to see Safe Haven, the new Nicholas Sparks movie. (review-if you liked the Notebook and Dear John you will love it, it is pretty much the same content!) 

Annie and Molly play with Cassie

Charlotte and Kel

Charlotte and Heather

Later we headed to a Lenten Fish Fry at St. Joes in Howell. Charlotte gave the mac/cheese two thumbs up! Today Charlotte ran a 5K around the 'hood with Jer, Molly and Harry the dog,

went to the snowshoe "wrap party" then came home to host friends for dessert and then attend a dance and choir event at BHS. Her favourites, The BHS Drumline also performed, much to her surprise and joy! Tomorrow the Pink Panthers take to the hardwood for another tourney, and then we will celebrate with just the family when Danny gets home from his weekend campout. Charlotte is having an Aplus weekend, which is just what she deserves!

Cassie and I baked Black Bottom cupcakes
I taught her the essential skill of "licking the beaters!"

I think she's mastered it!

Laura, Hannah, Birthday girl, Shawne, Annie, Sophie, Leah and Molly

Leah made Charlotte a snake bookmark

At the theatre! Great show!

Happy Valentines Day!

Chocolate hearts on the kitchen table for the kids, Toblerone for Jerry and two little sesame street guys for Cassie. And warm banana chocolate chip muffins. It's a good day!
Then it started.....

• Polar Plunge meeting for two hours, and then emails and phone calls all day long,
• phone calls with Shawne re:scouts and the upcoming honor court
• baby playing and walking and singing and reading and changing
• dog walking and playing
• school walking and fetching
• Party planning for both our Friday movie party and our Saturday dance event including emails and phone calls to Mom's, helpers and guests.
• dinner prep (chicken tacos and homemade tortilla chips!) serving and cleanup. Still have no dishwasher, but who has time to shop for a new one?!
• bake a birthday cake!

Then it ended....And soon it was 8pm and time to settle the troops. Walk the dogs (skunk smell in the air-no Harry!) sing to the baby(favourite moment? oh yeah!) make my schedule for tomorrow so I don't forget anything! and you know what? It was a good day!!

 

 

We can't say Goodbye to our snowshoes yet!

The girls have finished the 2013 Snowshoe Season in wonderful form. They are state champs! Today they decided to take the whole family out for a snowshoe hike at Huron Meadows metro park. The weather was perfect, a warm 33 degrees, and a great snow pack on the ground. Rain was predicted so we were at the park by 11, following a big tuck in of blueberry pancakes and sausage.  Shades of a team practice, I found myself on my knees checking everyone's straps and fit! Cassandra and Harry do not have snowshoes (yet) but everyone else got set and ready to hike. As we set out we realized that the trail follows the Huron River for a good stretch and it is so pretty. We did the trail twice, and only saw one couple, otherwise it was a private path. We were able to let Harry off his leash to roam, and he loved that! All those woods smells make a dog heaven! Cassie really enjoyed the snow, she kept dipping her hand in it, tasting it and laughing. we towed her on the sled or piggybacked her, and she was happy through the whole hike. She is as easy going as our kids, which is great. We are trying to focus on family activities on Sundays so this worked out perfectly.

a great way to travel!

Huron Meadows is only 10 minutes from the house,yet you feel like you are up north

we made it to the top!

the river doesn't freeze here but it does on the lakes

snacking!

running!