You gotta wonder

The Mass Shooting at the Local Sikh Temple

JSOnline reporting btwn 8 and 20 shooting victims at an Oak Creek Sikh temple . . .developing

UPDATE: JSOnline reporting up to 30 shooting victims with children being held hostage . . .

UPDATE: Think before you comment: on a post about the temple shooting, with news of 30 dead or wounded, children held hostage, etc . . smack dab in a back and forth of prayers and thoughts of the victims. someone posts that she hopes the guy she just started dating is ok (he works for Oak Creek PD). All respect for the cops on scene and I hope for their safety, but bleep your boyfriend; spend a second thinking about the victims and the kids, *at least* when they are the stated subject at hand.  

update: I see that my reaction itself was an emotional response to the tragedy and off the mark. She had every right to think of those she knew personally. 

UPDATE: js now confirming @ least 7 dead. For those outside Wisconsin, Oak Creek is a Milwaukee suburb near our home.

This is horrible. 

UPDATE: The final numbers were six dead (and the shooter, who killed himself after being shot by police) and 4 wounded (including an officer shot multiple times).  A seventh victim died in 2020 from his head wound after living with partial paralysis for years. 

100% Accurate

U live in a house of 4 girls remember? We will remember this - Lulu

How Ginger Spent Her 5th Birthday pt 1

Hard to believe but it's been five whole years since little Ginger/Lump came into our world. This years event was held at Chuck E Cheese.

  We had the party at noon on her actual birthday, hoping weekday crowds would be far smaller than their weekend equivalents. We were right. While we didn't have the place to ourselves, it was close enough - it felt like our own private playground.


The party started off with the kids just playing and using their allotted tokens for a good 45 minutes.

Of course, some grown ups had to get in on the act too.

 











Meanwhile most of the grown-ups chilled.





At one point all the kids joined Chuck E for a dance along - including YaYa!







Then it was time for pizza!





The grown-ups, meanwhile, had a veggie tray and sandwiches.

Then it was time for cake:



and to sing happy birthday!





Ginger was loving it!



So was her Daddy!




Then Chuck E came out to visit her again





and we sang happy birthday AGAIN! (oopsies!)



not that she minded



Then they put her inside a booth that blew tickets into the air around her. The goal was the golden 1000 ticket prize, but the manager cheated and told her to step on it before the wind started :)







Mission accomplished!



Then it was time to open presents.



We got her a zebra print hassock





a Cuddle-Up-It (her favorite gift of the day!)






YaYa got her a princess movie DVD .



LuLu got her lipgloss




I got her a whiffle ball/bat and baseball mitt, and she got scads of other stuff from friends and family:












Smiley got her AppleJacks, a My Little Pony

and with her tickets from the games she got herself a gumball machine. It was a great time and a swell birthday party (oddly, very relaxing for the grown-ups too) and her day was only half done . . .

Look at these nails!

 I wish I could take credit for this set! But it's the work of Illiana (hot chick w/ the accent at the nail booth). Artistry, and so creative. Taxi is my fave, tennis shoe a close second :)  - Lisa

Silent House

A few nights ago Lisa and I Redboxed "Silent House", a 2011 horror movie filmed in 'real time' and in what appears to be a single, continuous camera shot.  It's creepy and atmospheric and once it even got me to jump in real terror. However - and I'm aware this makes me sound like a dawg - I was genuinely and persistently distracted by the  cleavage of star Elizabeth Olsen (sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley) and so my attention was divided. How divided? Even now, days later, I had to delete several adjectives I wrote before the word 'cleavage. I'd grade the movie a B+.

Lil One

My darling Gracie way back when. :)