RichC | April 18, 2018
I have teased my “good humored” son far too long about his “girlfriend” from Wayzata Minnesota a few years ago (click here for old photo). So with that “old joke” aside, I think it is about time to officially include his friend Megan on the blog and mention we are excited to see them spending a […]
RichC | April 15, 2018
Now that our granddaughter Annalyn is walking, our THREE (ugh!) hardwood staircases are serious safety hazards. We thought about the normal commercial gates, but Brenda mentioned she really liked the nautical sailing ones that I made for our kids when they were little tykes in Hudson, Ohio (a lame attempt at a reference to the […]
RichC | April 13, 2018
A lot has happened in 5 years of marriage, on the other hand, those 5 years have flown by! Today is Katelyn and Drew‘s FIFTH year wedding anniversary; Brenda and I are wishing them much happiness and many more great years together … and Annalyn is in awe (photo). As for the milestones, they can […]
RichC | March 29, 2018
It is exciting to share the happy moment of a birth … especially when it is a member of our family who really has wanted a baby. Brenda and I are SO very happy for Madison and Nathan … as well as grandma and grandpa Skinner (Brenda’s sister Chris/Jerry). Riley Howard Kling did not arrive […]
RichC | March 26, 2018
We had a great weekend with Annalyn and Katelyn at our house for niece/cousin Madison‘s baby shower here in Cincinnati. Since Katelyn arrived on Friday, it gave us an extended weekend together … and “Daddy Drew“ a weekend “off” to both catch up on work (and hospital rounds) and probably a little sick to his […]
RichC | March 18, 2018
Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn are back from their busy trip to San Diego. It is great to see them taking advantage of their medical conference trips and extend them into a fun family time. Katelyn was a bit nervous flying alone with a 1-year old to meet up with Drew after his conference, but it […]
RichC | March 11, 2018
Ah yes … the stress of a mom flying by herself with a one-year-old … it can be stressful. My daughter Katelyn flew to San Diego, California “alone” with Annalyn on Saturday and reported that all her “distraction” preparations paid off … well she didn’t exactly say that … BUT that fact that she was […]
RichC | March 10, 2018
There was a day that I thought my two kiddos, Katelyn (below) and Taylor (above) were by far the cutest little munchkins … but I’ve decided that I was wrong. My granddaughter Annalyn (right) is DEFINITELY the cutest one around by a long shot. I’m sure there are a few other grandparents who know […]
RichC | March 4, 2018
It is hard to believe a full year has passed and that “my” little girl’s daughter is already 1 year old. We’ve been looking forward to celebrating together and I’ve been tinkering with a requested gift idea – a magnetic board. Katelyn asked if I could make something that Annalyn could stick her magnetic symbols, […]
RichC | March 1, 2018
I’m chuckling at the “famous portrait” subject line, but then again, how many people actually have a portrait of themselves painted by an artist? (might as well make this a ThrowBack Thursday #TBT post) My grandmother, Ruth Walker Bluhm, was an artist and painted a portrait of her first grandson in the 1960s. She was […]
RichC | February 27, 2018
As mentioned before, it is great to see my son Taylor enjoying a couple of my interests or hobbies like hiking and photography when I was younger (actually I still enjoy them). Ignoring the lousy weather (we had a lot of rain and flooding), he ended up hiking with "a friend" (?) at a […]
RichC | February 17, 2018
The irritation of “the week that was” has given way to the positive memories like waking up to this kind of sunrise view … even if it was in a marina. I’m thankful to have the out of water maintenance headaches behind me and can now look forward to “escaping” to our little corner of […]
RichC | February 14, 2018
Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife Brenda, daughter Katelyn and to Annalyn on her first Valentine’s Day (but don’t read this Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day history!) It’s not that I forget or take lightly my wife and daughter, but it is hard to beat thinking about my granddaughter as my special “smallest and sweetest” […]
RichC | January 27, 2018
Brenda and I had a great time visiting with Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn this past week as they invited us up to see the comedian/ ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. We have all been to his show before and I believe this was Katelyn’s 3rd time? Our previous was years ago in a much smaller venue, acomedy […]
RichC | January 7, 2018
Even though we have two children, and I do remember them growing up fast, I am still surprised in watching the month to month changes in our granddaughter Annalyn. Katelyn forwarded a short video clip (below) from her 10th month “card photo” and I wanted to archive it just as the other photos and video this […]
RichC | December 30, 2017
We had a great Friday in Perrysburg, Ohio at Katelyn and Drew’s as both Brenda and I were up babysitting Annalyn for the day. She is such a pleasure to be with and makes me feel 30 years younger (it was Katelyn who I was playing with!). Besides being there with Annalyn, we were also […]
RichC | December 27, 2017
How could we NOT enjoy our first Christmas as grandparents knowing that our granddaughter Annalyn is healthy, happy and loved? Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn came down to Cincinnati and spend the long weekend with us as did Taylor who is in town. It is so great to know they ALL love getting together and spending […]
RichC | December 24, 2017
My wife Brenda shows a lot of attention to decorating with memories and detail to our house each December (and my mother did too). I wish I would be more thankful, but am usually a bit Grinchy when ask to do just a few things that seem to much such a waste of time … […]
RichC | December 13, 2017
I saved a cute birthday graphic just for my son-in-law Drew’s birthday wish and it is a good thing I remembered where I saved it or what I named it! Brenda and I couldn’t be more blessed than to have Drew in our family and as a husband for Katelyn … and now dad to […]
RichC | December 12, 2017
A year has passed once again and our family is looking forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus this Christmas season. Brenda is busy decorating and shopping (with my “questionable” help), and I’m tinkering way too much working on a couple of silly little homemade projects. Perhaps one of these years I’ll get started on […]
RichC | December 3, 2017
Sadly trying to capture the moon with a smartphone is not so smart … but hopefully those who wanted to see it found the time, and a clear sky, to enjoy the large early evening Supermoon. Besides looking up, we enjoyed looking at our granddaughter at 9-months. So great to see Annalyn smiling so big […]
RichC | November 26, 2017
Better late than never in posting a few photos from our Thanksgiving day dinner and family time over this extended weekend. My brother Ron and his family were all able to get together at our house this year with our two new additions: Annalyn (Katelyn and Drew) and Teagan (Keira and Ben). Thankfully all of […]
RichC | November 18, 2017
Have I mentioned just how great it is to be a grandfather? Well it is when you have a cute and loving granddaughter like Annalyn! I spent a day babysitting her this past week and it is amazing just how fast she is growing up and advancing. She doing “pushups” and can roll any place […]
RichC | November 2, 2017
I’m so glad as a family we enjoyed the many vacations right from the beginning and were fortunate to have been able to balance work and play. Great memories. Photos like this take me back to those "good ol’ days" (above on Florida’s Panhandle in the early 1990s #TBT) … but that is not possible, […]
RichC | October 29, 2017
Saturday chores consisted of climbing ladders and cleaning out the muck and pine needles from the gutters. Unfortunately I haven’t yet added a screen to the downspouts so they of course get block up as well … usually my indicator that is it time to clean them. Since I boogerred up the elbows this time […]
RichC | October 21, 2017
Although I’m mixing up a few photos from one week to the next, I decided to include a few of them from last week in this weeks trip. The weather was nice and I detoured off of the Ohio Turnpike since there were a few hours to burn on my way from Akron, to visit […]
RichC | October 19, 2017
While cleaning a favorite photo of Katelyn and Taylor with me that sits on my desk from back in the 1990s (above), I broke the frame and found another photo tucked behind it. It was enjoyable enough to scan them in and call it this weeks Throwback Thursday #TBT post. What great kids both then […]
RichC | September 28, 2017
Weekend catch-up post after receiving a very cute Annalyn photo from Katelyn and Drew. Obviously they have her starting chores at an early age – 6 months! I finished sanding a bit more on the chalkpainting project that Brenda started with Katelyn’s help a couple weekend ago – posts 1 and 2. The “replaced” top […]
RichC | September 27, 2017
Brenda’s dad lectured her sister Ann a decade or so ago about constantly having a “woe is me” moment. To be fair, she has a needier personality than Brenda that has a tendency to share one negative thing after another. I remember listening to him on the phone in frustration asking, “Do you have your […]
RichC | September 16, 2017
This past week had me visiting Katelyn and Drew in order to lend a hand with babysitting Annalyn. It was a good time for me to bond one-on-one with my 6 month old granddaughter and I know Brenda will enjoy her time too (Drew’s mom is already hooked). Annalyn and I followed “mommy’s” schedule as […]
RichC | September 12, 2017
I do my best to keep the goings-on activities of Taylor, Katelyn and Drew up to date, so here’s a promotional update after a move back to Ohio from Minnesota for my daughter Katelyn’s new pediatric practice in Oregon, Ohio. Need a pediatrician? It is a bit weird for having been born in Toledo where […]
RichC | August 29, 2017
Finally … I’m getting around to posting a few photos from our 4 day weekend here in Cincinnati with Annalyn (Katelyn and Drew too)! We had a near perfect weekend weather-wise, unlike those in east Texas getting drenched and flooded by Hurricane Harvey. Part of our “swimming weekend” was getting Annalyn use to the pool […]
RichC | August 24, 2017
With a quickly growing granddaughter and new kitchen “cabinet height” eating area, the plan was to build a high chair to match the maple cabinets. I already purchased the paint for the corner cabinet modifications, so figured it wouldn’t take much to whip up an appropriate sized chair for Annalyn – WRONG. The original plans […]
RichC | August 20, 2017
Dar Jones, an out of state friend of ours regularly checks my blog and mentioned that I’ve been lax in my grand-parenting duties in updating photos of my granddaughter Annalyn … at least as a new grandfather. Personal items and photos are likely the only items of interest to her on my blog (HA!) Since […]
RichC | August 12, 2017
Another year has passed and it is time to wish my wonderful wife Brenda a HAPPY BIRTHDAY… again. The year marked a few more changes in her life such as the passing of her mom in January and the birth of a first grandchild in March … but it is all part of traveling on […]
RichC | August 9, 2017
The primary purpose of the visit was for Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn to see Uncle Taylor at his place in East Walnut Hills and walk some of Cincinnati’s beautiful parks (Eden, Ault, etc). It was easier to stay at our house and so we enjoyed spending time with the whole family for a few days […]
RichC | August 8, 2017
We had a great family weekend at our house "north of Cincinnati" (see below) this past weekend and enjoy spending time with our granddaughter Annalyn. She 5 months already, which is hard to believe, but has my heart – she is as cute as they come. It was easier to stay at our house, but […]
RichC | August 5, 2017
It is hard to believe, but this will be the first time our granddaughter Annalyn comes to visit in Cincinnati. Shocking … 5 months and a first visit??? It will have to change. Since I’ll likely be preoccupied, here’s a Thursday night post for a Sunday filler after using the extra material from my Wicker […]
RichC | August 5, 2017
Ok, so the limes I’m squeezing are not truly “Key Limes,” but the the finished product is just as good. One of the “get ready” items before having the kids home for the weekend was to squeeze the limes so Brenda could make 3 Key Lime pies. It is a big favorite in our family […]
RichC | July 31, 2017
I could get use to this … having our granddaughter Annalyn (and Katelyn and Drew) close enough to comfortably drive up and visit! Brenda and I drove up to Perrysburg "again" this weekend and enjoyed helping a little more with the unpacking and moving in process that likely will take another month. I’m not sure […]
