Christmas Tree, XL

If there was ever a contest for the most intense Christmas Tree set-up, I think this triple decker tree would probably have to win....can you imagine putting lights on that thing every year?

A Little Baking

Just a good old-fashioned Pierski Christmas cookie baking assembly line at Grandma's...you know, like back in the day before child labor laws made Grandma give you an occasional break from all your hard work.

(If my grandmother is reading...I'm just kidding. And I love you. Do I still get a Christmas present?)

That Time of Year

Lots of accidents this time of year, clearly. Roads are slippery, and that sleigh just doesn't brake like it used to.

We Put the Kitsch in Christmas

My Grandma Marge is a big fan of her 1960s Christmas decorations: big, multicolor lights and home-made Christmas tree ornaments. My cousin Cassandra mugged for the camera as Grandma gave us decorating instructions...and I wanted to give you a close-up of her ornaments, because I'm pretty sure she and her mom (my grandma Alma) made a lot of them by hand. They just don't sell ornaments like this at Target, now do they?

Grandma's Cookies

My great-grandmother Alma passed away this past week. She was a whopping 96 years old, and just decided one day not to wake up for us. I decided to blog about her because she was something of a family matriarch (she shared that title with my other great-grandmother, who is herself an impressive 95 years) and because it's the Christmas season. Grandma Alma's parents owned a German bakery when she was growing up, and every Christmas she still brings over plates of homemade cookies, just like she used to make in the bakery. These cookies are a family favorite, and no one makes them like Grandma did.

The recipe is a simple sugar cookie one, and the taste is not unusual as far as cookies go. The real secret to their deliciousness is that Grandma hand decorated each one with chocolate chips, colored sugars, sprinkles, nuts, powdered sugar, sno-caps, and hershey kisses in the shapes of candy canes, stars, christmas trees and ornaments. At her funeral, one of my younger cousins was crying because he was afraid he wouldn't get to have any more of these...not exactly grief for the loss of Grandma, but I'm sure she would still be pleased to know that she, and her cookies, will be missed. I'm hoping the recipe won't get lost, so I'm putting it here for myself, and for any of you, if you're interested.

Spanish Lessons

Tested out my fledgling knowledge of Spanish on the windshield while stuck in traffic between Chicago and Milwaukee because of a crazy semi-truck accident. Apparently, I quiero the windshield. Maybe I'd better study up some more.

Another Typical Family Photo

I love it when my relatives do this: ask us to take a picture and then all look in different directions. This is from yesterday's celebration of my cousin Stephanie's baptism. (She's the baby in the white christening get-up.)

Belated

My belated birthday cake from my Grandma Marge was epic: it looked like a Swiss Cake Roll, and had ice cream in the middle. Nothing says Happy Birthday like Chocolate-chip-ice-cream-birthday-cake. Cheers to that!

Silence on the air waves

I thought maybe I should post a little note letting you all know that I've been neglecting the blog lately because I've had a weird flu-like bug since Saturday. So in my quest to sleep, lounge in pajamas on my couch and eat saltine crackers, I haven't had much time to be out taking pictures. I'll be back later this week.

Until then, here are some other photoblogs that I dig because they focus on daily photos from other cities:

New York Daily Photos

San Francisco Daily Photos

Chicago Daily Photos

Seattle Daily Photos

See you all soon!

The Peanut

She's about the size of a peanut...my newest cousin, Stephanie. She wasn't due until this week, but she was born July 13th. She's finally home from the hospital, but still tiny enough to look like a real-life baby doll. In the picture is the proud dad, my Uncle Steve, who is by no means tiny or peanut-like.

Family Round-Up

I'm feeling kind of lazy tonight, so I thought I'd post some pics of the cousins from the latest family gathering in Chicago. With the birth of the newest addition this week, I'm now at 12 younger cousins on my Dad's side.

My grandfather, cousins (from left to right) James, Everett, and Madelynn. Everett can't decide whether he wants to hold his cousin James or stop his cousin Madelynn from messing with his feet.


Braden and Nathan (center) are at an age where all girls, even ones they are related to, suffer from a severe case of cooties. I hope to make a full recovery soon.

James hangs ten.

Fearless explorer.

Teenagers. Pfft.

What A Pair of Nerds

There are no words.

With More Energy Than a Caged Animal

My second cousin Samantha has more energy than any of us know what to do with. I actually caught her sitting still (but giggling like mad) inside some sort of child-safe plastic tunnel toy. I felt more secure with something sort of solid between me and her, otherwise her next move could have been to tackle me to the ground.

Happy Father's Day, We Locked You Out of the House

It isn't a family holiday in my family until someone gets hurt or locked out of their own house. Here's my Uncle Steve, locked out of his own house on Father's Day. Luckily, his house is a split level ranch and he only had to climb 1.5 stories to break in, and also luckily, the master bedroom window was unlocked. The kicker is that about 3 hours before getting locked out, his wife has asked if they should maybe think about putting a spare key in the garage. Which he said was unnecessary.

Family Round Up Part 4

Here's little Everett again playing with some of those stackable colored rings. I really liked something about the way he would very methodically tell me what color each ring was as he took them off the stack and put them in a line....and the way this game amused him for a good half an hour, too.

Family Round Up Part 3

The third of family cook-out pictures...this one is my cousin Cassie about to bounce into a cartwheel.

Family Round Up Part 2

The second of some family pictures from the weekend cook-out, this picture basically proves that I have loads of cousins. If you notice that there are two girls pushing that yellow ball in the background, then you'll count 8 in this picture alone. There are 2 more who weren't in this shot but were there as well.

Family Round Up Part 1

Here's the first of some pictures of my family's weekend cook-out in Chicago. My cousin Everett checks out the scene.

Like Dads Do

It's Memorial Day, and in the spirit of child embarrassment and in the spirit of yardwork, Dad donned these lookers in order to go help my Grandma with some backyard planting and landscaping. If we had been at home for the day, Dad probably would have insisted on going out shopping so he could make me be seen in public with his sandal and sock-wearing self.

Dead or Alive

My grandmother was convinced one of her rose bushes was dead...cutting it open we found a little green. The verdict: her rose bush is only mostly dead.