Zoey's 5th Birthday Party

On Saturday, December 17, we celebrated Zoey's 5th birthday with a Minnie Mouse party at the Cribbies' neighborhood park.  Her actual birthday is December 28, which always gets a little lost in the Christmas festivities, so Jenni and Dave schedule her parties early in order to give her a special time to be the birthday girl without having to compete with Christmas. 

 Jenni did an amazing job with the handmade goodies.  As I've said for years, my girls should be professional party planners.  Jen made the Minnie Mouse cupcakes from scratch, the chocolate-covered Minnie lollipops, the pinata, and Zoey's Minnie t-shirt and ears headband. 

 The pinata and Minnie headband in the color palette of the day: pink and black.

 Chocolate-covered mouse pops made from Double Stuff Oreos!

 Beautiful--and delicious!--Minnie cupcakes.

 Jenni also made a yummy lunch of homemade baked sandwiches, fresh fruit and veggies, and chips.  It was a beautiful winter day, and the sun soon warmed everyone enough to start shedding jackets. 

 

 Zoey, ever the little mother, helped her little sister Ruby with her lunch.

 After lunch it was pinata time!!  Beginning with the birthday girl, everyone had several turns to bust open the mouse to get to the goodie bags inside.

 For a Tiny Person, Ruby has a pretty good swing!

And Leo has obviously been practicing with his batting tee at home.

After a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday", Zoey blew out her candle and everyone enjoyed the mouth-watering cupcakes.  She then opened her presents and thanked everyone.  I think she had a great time.  Happy birthday, sweet Zoey!!

It's Christmas Cookie Decorating Time With Grammy!

We had the 3 oldest grandkids over on Friday, December 16, to decorate cut-out Christmas sugar cookies, which I had baked the day before.  It was the first time to do this and I hope it will become an annual event.

My 3 favorite chefs in their monogrammed aprons just before starting the decorating process.

 Leo took his decorating job very seriously.  I think he ate more frosting and sprinkles than he put on the cookies, but he did an excellent job!

 Notice Ruby's mouth.  She liked working with the blue frosting, and she has the moustache to prove it!

 Zoey, the little mother, very quietly and meticulously decorated a beautiful batch of cookies.

 Leo took a little break from the decorating/eating.

 Mrs. Claus and her angels outside while waiting for the frosting to dry.

 A little running around helped burn off some of the sugar high!!

And a good time was had by all as evidenced by Ruby, who conked out on the ride home.

Leo family 2011 Christmas newsletter

December 2011

Warmest Christmas greetings to our precious family and friends!

We hope everyone is healthy and enjoying this most special of seasons. As I sit here reflecting on all that’s happened this past year, I breathe a prayer of thanks for God’s abundance and grace, and for our loved ones everywhere. Even if we’re not in touch often, you are in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers.

Well, what can I say about my first year of retirement other than it was wonderful? Last year I was uneasy about losing my job abruptly and facing a year of uncertainty, but God has certainly blessed us above all measure, and it’s been such a pleasure being home with Tony and being able to lend a hand with the kids. Good thing we enjoy them so much, because our posse of grandchildren jumped from 3 to 5 just after Christmas!!

On January 7th, Etta Mae Wiese arrived, to our great joy. She is the 4th light of our lives, and we’re all totally smitten. As I write this today on Dec. 8, darling Etta is home in bed, recovering from surgery to repair a large supraumbilical hernia this morning. All went well and due to her young age she should remember none of it. Tony and I had the pleasure of keeping Leo (3) overnight and continue to marvel at the fun of having a little boy in the family, a smart little guy whose favorite food happens to be broccoli (!!). I never thought I’d become such a fan of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars!

Just 10 days later on January 17th, Maggie Faye Cribbs joined the family. She is a delight to all of us, but especially to her two older sisters. She’s their very own living, breathing baby doll! Maggie is probably the cuddliest baby we’ve ever known, and she likes nothing better than to snuggle her little face into the neck of the person holding her. Zoey (5 on Dec. 28) and Ruby (2¾) are growing like weeds and are smart, sweet, funny, and loving. We absolutely adore our grandchildren and love spending as much time as possible with them—as if you couldn’t tell!! I’m blessed to be able to spend every other Thursday with each family, and we babysit as much as possible.

Jenni, Dave, Erika, and Josh are all doing great! The girls continue to love being homemakers and mothers, while the guys endeavor to please the Lord in their roles as Christian heads of their respective families. Josh is such a gifted artist, and he keeps amazing us (and others) with his design skills. He is very much appreciated in the art department at Irving Bible Church, and his talent as freelance designer is highly respected. Meanwhile, Dave’s reputation as AP physics teacher/robotics instructor extraordinaire prompted a call from Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, a prestigious private school with very high academic standards. After considering all the ramifications, Jenni and Dave decided it would be a positive step for their family, so Dave accepted the offer. He is already an esteemed member of the faculty.

This has been a quiet year for us, travel-wise, but we plan to make up for it next year with a trip to Jacksonville with Jenni and the girls, followed by a week on Topsail Beach, North Carolina. My dear best friend since 3rd grade, Jan Brown, will join the ranks of the retired after this school year, and she, her husband Bob, Tony, and I will celebrate our combined retirements by relaxing on the beach.

That’s about it for the year. We look forward to hearing about your 2011, and we wish you God’s very best in 2012. He is truly the Light of the world (John 8:12), and we pray He guides you in every step you take, every decision you make.

Merry Christmas, and Happy NEWT Year!!

With love from all of us,

Mona

Email: lucysmamamia@hotmail.com      Facebook: Mona Warski Leo

Some recent pics of my cuties!!

It's been a little while since I posted pictures of my precious ones, so here are a few recent ones to give an idea of what they've been up to this fall.

Zoey, who will be 5 next month, loves her ballet class! 

 2 1/2-year-old Ruby spent a few days with us earlier this month and had fun cooking with Grammy in her special apron.

 The rest of these pictures are from Thanksgiving Day. Here's 3-year-old Leo anticipating the start of the Turkey Trot in Dallas.

 10-month-old Maggie enjoyed the 5k walk in bundled comfort.

 The Stroller Brigade didn't set any course records, but we enjoyed the brisk walk on a chilly, foggy morning. (notice Etta, sound asleep next to her brother)

 The 3 older cousins wanted to walk part of the course, and they joined hands without any prompting. They really love being together!

 Same trio, front view. Grammy got a workout just trying to take their picture while walking backwards!!

 All 11 of us at the end of the race. Papa rejoined the rest of the family after completing the 8-mile course in less time than it took us to finish 3.1 miles!

 After stopping home to change and gather our culinary contributions, we all gathered at Jenni's and Dave's for Thanksgiving dinner and family time. Etta's very close to walking at 10 1/2 months.

The Cribbs girls have a tradition of new winter jammies for Christmas every year. Here's a sneak preview of this year's model--soft, cuddly, and adorable.

BFFs forever!!

A few weeks ago (yeah, I know I'm behind), I spent the most wonderful weekend with 3 friends I had not seen in 43 years.  The key to a great friendship is being able to pick up right where we left off at graduation from Maine-Endwell Senior High School in Endwell, New York in June 1968.  And we certainly did!  Everything came together better than if we'd planned it.  Here's how it happened: Dr. Debra Dyer, henceforth known as Deb, a college professor in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, contacted me to say she would be accompanying her younger daughter to Fort Worth.  Her daughter was participating in a conference, and Deb has a cousin who lives in Fort Worth, so she decided to come along.  She asked if we might be able to get together.  We have some other high school classmates who live within a few hours of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, so I decided to email them in case they might be able to come for the weekend and get together with Deb.  On a whim, I also decided to include 2 other close friends who live far away, just to include them in the plans.  One friend, Bobbie Alburtus, lives in the Tulsa area and was more than thrilled to come down for the weekend.  None of the other friends who live in the general vicinity was able to come, so we assumed it would be just us 3.  Then one of the far-away friends, Terry Brearley, texted me that she was online with Expedia, reserving her ticket to fly down for the weekend.  From Burlington, Vermont!!  It was more than any of us ever expected, and we couldn't have been more excited!  Not only do we all love each other very much, but Terry--our class' Wittiest Girl (a.k.a., class clown)--is one of those folks who makes every event a party.  Just having her here was the icing on the cake of an already promising weekend.

Terry and Bobbie stayed with Tony and me, and because it was an abbreviated weekend we didn't have time to do any of the typical tourist-y things most first timers to Texas hope to do.  We did, however, spend some time with Jenni, Erika, and their kids.  My daughters wanted to meet my friends very badly, and everyone hit it off beautifully.  The little ones performed beyond anything we could have hoped for and loved Bobbie and Terry.

Saturday afternoon Bobbie, Terry, and I piled into my car and we drove to Fort Worth to meet Deb.  We did some shopping/browsing in the Stockyards area, then headed to Joe T. Garcia's for dinner and margaritas.  We had a great table outside in the garden, and our waitress was a sweet young thing who appreciated that we hadn't been together in 43 years and let us stay for hours.  It was a perfect evening. 

It was hard to say goodbye after such a wonderful reunion, but we have a 50th (!!!) class reunion in a few years, so even if we don't get together between now and then as we would like, we have a date to meet at the reunion in 2018.

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

Bobbie and Terry getting acquainted with Zoey and Ruby.

 Maggie absolutely fell in love with Terry right from the start!

 Bobbie and Terry visiting at Casa Wiese.

 Leo, oblivious to the ladies, spent his time wrestling with his dad.

 Etta showed off her new skill of pulling up and cruising. Not bad for 8 months.

That evening we enjoyed a little bit of true Texas!

We did not, however, partake of any Buffalo Butt Beer!!

 

 Left to right: me, Bobbie, Deb, Terry

Four friends enjoying a leisurely dinner in a lovely environment on a gorgeous night.  What could be more perfect?  Yep, BFFs forever!!

My favorite Cinderella (and then some)

I couldn't resist posting a couple of videos taken this week at Jenni's.  The girls were so cute and they didn't mind my recording their sweet antics.  Ruby, age 2 1/2, is in love with the Walt Disney movie, "Cinderella", and she loves to dress up and sing "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes".  And now, for your viewing pleasure, I present Miss Ruby Ellen (with a little behind-the-scenes vocal coaching by sister Zoey)!!

(Jenni also posted a precious video of Ruby singing this song on her blog, and I think it's even cuter than the one I posted above.  See what you think:  http://thecribbies.blogspot.com/2011/11/dweem-is-wish-your-heart-aches-when.html)

I'm glad 8-month-old Maggie is a tough little thing because apparently third babies have to put up with a lot, as you can see from this clip.  Zoey, 4 1/2, is such a sweet big sister and loves to cuddle with Maggie and make her laugh, but sometimes she forgets she's playing with a tiny human and not a toy!!  Maggie loves her big sisters, though, and she doesn't seem to mind being tossed around from time to time.

Leo's 3rd birthday celebration!!!

The birthday boy enjoyed every minute of his family party!

 Sister Etta had a good time watching all the activity from her Grandpa Joe's arms.

 The excitement was nearly too much for Zoey, who lifted her cousin off the floor to give him a birthday hug!

 Sweet Ruby doesn't like it when we take too many pictures of her, so I'm thrilled with this treasure.

 Miss Maggie is very cuddly and had a good time on Grandpa Joe's lap.

 Zoey and Baba (Grandma Kit)  playing "Fight Footies!!" brought back a flood of memories. When we were children, my sister Lisa and I used to play this on our beds at night when we were supposed to be sleeping.

 Leo was telling Zoey how happy he was that she was helping celebrate his birthday.  I'm not making this up!

The Wiese 4 getting ready to blow out Leo's candles. What a fun family time!!

The Cribbies are home, the Cribbies are home!!

You will all be delighted to hear my whining is over.  At least for the next 9 months.  Jenni, Dave, and the girls returned home late Tuesday night--to our great joy!!  It's so wonderful having the 3 little ones back in our lives and not hundreds of miles away.  We had an emotional reunion Wednesday when Jenni brought the kids over to spend the day, and we also spent part of the day with them yesterday at their house while Jenni started the massive unpacking process.  3 months may not seem like a long time, but with kids as young as Zoey, Ruby, and Maggie, a lot of changes take place in 3 months.  They 2 older ones are tall, brown, smart, and funny.  At 7 months Maggie is a cuddly little doll with a tooth and the ability to sit by herself.  Well, here.....see for yourselves!!

Wednesday at our house the 3 older cousins were able to spend some quality time together.  Leo came over for the morning and lunch before heading home for rest time.  L to r: Ruby (2 1/2), Zoey (4 1/2), Leo (almost 3)

 After rest time we had some pool time.

 I love Ruby's sun-kissed pink cheeks!

 Zoey is quite the fish and loves to swim underwater.

 Maggie is just cute, chunky, and fair.

 On Thursday Papa and I were at the girls' house for a while to play.  Ruby had fun exploring the top bunk (with supervision).

 While Ruby is the family clown, Zoey is the very grown-up firstborn.  She can be very funny, too, but she takes her responsibility as oldest very seriously and is very motherly.

 And Mags is just her sweet, precious, pink self!

  Oh, yeah!!  Grammy and Papa are super glad these angels are home to stay!!