"i'm daddy!"

inauguration day....

Luke was in school during the inauguration itself, but I taped part of it and let him watch bits of it. His favorite part was the music and the "big black helicopter" taking off from the White House. I tried to explain some of what was happening--to the point that at least he know that the man on TV is "President O-bama", as he says with emphasis.

I cannot say it better than Sam's cousin (of Elizabeth's blog) so I will not try: "No matter one's politics, it can't be disputed that today was an important day in American history.... [H]e will never know a time when it would be considered historical for a minority to be president."

Playing along with the music....

Watching closely....

Looking for tips for the future,perhaps??? Hmm...

indoor campout!...

Sam has been talking for a while about wanting to take Luke camping in the backyard--when it gets warmer, of course. Well, then Luke has been reading "Curious George goes camping" and then he saw a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, where they all go camping. So I came up with the indoor campout, complete with a fire and a tent in the living room. So we set up our old tent from our college days and built a fire in the fireplace. Luke adored it! He especially loved running in and out of the tent and looking out the windows in the tent. And of course he thought marshmallows were the best thing ever--he ate 4!!

setting up..

Luke trying to blow up the tent...

in the tent...and out of the tent

roasting marshmallows in the fireplace...

watching the fire, eating my marshmallows...

yum!

Daddy and Luke, getting ready for bed...

Good night!

Sam and Luke slept in the tent all night and I went upstairs and had the bed all to myself! Luke cannot wait to do it outside--in the spring!

great-grandpa

My grandfather passed away on 6 January. Luke had only met him once, when he was about a year old but he was enamored with him--and his harmonica! Below are some pictures of that trip.





We all went up to his funeral in Ohio and to be with family. This was the first time that my grandmother had met Henry and he was an angel as usual. Luke enjoyed seeing his second cousin Jack and all of my cousins.

Great-grandma, Luke and Henry

Hamming it up...

PAUL W. MIKESELL, 87, of New Paris, Ohio, died Tuesday, January 6, 2009 in Richmond, IN. Born on May 12, 1921 in New Paris, OH, he was the son of the late Earl C. And Ida L. (Hartman) Mikesell. Paul was a cashier, then Vice President of the First National Bank of New Paris from 1946 to 1978 and later served as a director for Eaton National Bank & Trust Co. from 1984 to 2004. He was a WW II U.S. Army Air Corps veteran and POW in Germany from 1944 to 1945. He retired as a Captain in the Air Force Reserves. Member of the New Paris Church of Christ.

Survived by Wife of 68 years: Dorothy J. (Steinbrink) Mikesell; 3 Daughters, 1 Son, 9 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren.

my big boy bed...

Luke moved out of his crib and into not only a BIG bed, but a whole new room. He would have been fine to stay in his crib, but I needed Henry to get out of our room and into his own bed and his own room! But Luke loves it--talks about his bed all the time and loves to jump around on it. And he has not gotten out of it in the night yet--knock on wood!