Tywana's Singing Career

Tywana did her second solo at Nexus on Sunday. As I write these posts about Tywana, Kayla and Shayna stepping up, it's funny because there is a common theme. Tywana, while always pushing the girls, has been reluctant to take her place on center stage. Chip had to beg and plead with her to sing the solo. After pushing Kayla to step up in drama and Shayna in basketball, she did not want to draw too much attention to herself on stage.

She did a great job with it. I told Chip at dinner on Saturday that she really wants to be pushed (and she does). So, my guess is she'll be doing more of the same in the future.

Pic of Ty and Kayla

I just like this shot. Got a few more at the game that are pretty good, too.

Ty's Birthday Dinner

The full set of pix is here: Birthday Week Pix

We went to Henke Winery for dinner on Saturday night. This was the official conclusion to Ty's birthday week. I bought some flowers for her Saturday. We had agree on no gifts for this birthday because we both buy everything we want all the time, so when birthdays come up, there's nothing left to give. But, she always appreciates flowers.




We decided to go to Henke because we so enjoyed our tour of the wine county (not country) up in Ashtabula County. We were going to go to Vinoklet but, we found out most of their wines are sweet (5 out of 6) and they weren't open on Monday or Tuesday to take our reservation. I called Henke a couple of times during the week to firm up the plans and get information. Joe, the owner, answered both times and he called me on Friday to firm things up.



Chuck and Deb, Amy and Tom and Jon joined us. Unfortunately, Julie couldn't make it. We had a great time. George (our waiter) has a very Jon-like sense of humor. So, he was bantering with us the whole evening. The tour bus that as supposed to arrive at 5, ended up arriving at 6 (our arrival time) and messed up our plans a little. But, since we had planned a leisurely dinner, it was not a huge problem. I kept asking about a "tour" and both Joe and George were like "Well, we'll try to work it in."



The wines at Henke were pretty good. The problem, for me, is they are overprice for the quality they are. None were really bad. But at $12-26/bottle, I've had much better values. Also, the white wines were not chilled as cold as I would like them. The Pan Seared Cheese appetizer was wonderful, IMO. It was sharp white Vermont cheddar, rolled in herbed bread crumbs and seared (how do they do that?) The berry-wine sauce it was served on was heavenly.

Ty had salmon and I had the shrimp/pasta special. The salmon was I think the largest portion I've ever seen at a restaurant. She really enjoyed the salmon and her potatoes. The green beans were not so great. I had French Onion soup. And, that wasn't the best either. It was kind of sweet (the first time I've experienced that) and the herbs in it were overwhelming (and tasted like they were freeze-dried rather than fresh). The pizzas there looked great though and the table red wine was pretty good and reasonably priced. So, if we go back, we will probably do pizza.

We finally go that tour. It was hilarious though. George asked if we wanted to to do the tour before dinner. Jon asked how long it took. We gave Jon a hard time about that since the place was pretty small. It was obvious it was not a huge facility. When we got the tour, it was a trip to the basement where in one room they make and bottle the wine and the other room they stored it to ferment. It was literally no more than a 5-10 minute tour. If you saw the picture of Joe and the picture with all of us in it, you saw the "tour".

After dinner, Ty got the most unusual version of "Happy Birthday" anyone ever got. We told George it was her birthday and he said he'd take care of her. We were expecting a slice of cake or ice cream. The owner's wife came over to the table and said she had heard a little "secret". She presented Ty with an etched wine glass. But then, to our shock and dismay, burst into the loudest solo version of "Happy Birthday" any of us had ever heard. It wasn't the standard song either. There was even a huge thigh-slap in the middle of the song. It will not soon be forgotten.



It was a great evening. I think we ended up getting out of there around 9:30 (we arrived at 6).

Ty's B-Day (Part I)

Tywana doesn't have a birthday, she has birthday weeks. Her birthday week kicked off with a trip to Red Robin for the free hamburger. Kayla was very upset we were going out the day before Ty's actual birthday.

Snow In July?

This picture reminds me of a song from the only Garth Brooks album I own (done under the pseudonym Chris Gaines)- In the song, Garth asks "It ain't even cold. How can it Snow in July?"

Granted, it was a little chilly and the humidity was down. But a jacket and socks on July 17th?

My Father's Day...

Everyone else celebrated Father's Day on June 17th this year. But, I had mine a day early. Ty and the girls were headed to Kentucky to have a meal with her family. But, my gift for Father's Day has always been to watch the final round of the U.S. Open. With Tiger only 2 strokes back, I couldn't abandon him (although he let me down and didn't win).

The girls and Ty gave me a collection of golf shirts. And, the girls insisted that we have to do something special to celebrate. But, since Shell and her boys are here this week that probably won't happen.

Afternoon Date

The girls were off at camp and Ty and I found ourselves with a rare moment alone. She's not going to do well at this empty-nester stuff. She was missing the girls. We went out for a bite at Quizno's and, on-the-spur-of-the-moment, stopped by the Wine C.A.R.T. to check it out. We had a blast. Got to taste some very nice wines and I bought a bottle of Argentinian wine that I had never had before.

It's Tuesday, This Must Be Costco

Actually, any day of the week is Costco day. The place is mesmerizing. We're there all the time. We go to get toilet paper and end up spending $200. It's nuts. I know the pictures of standing in line at Costco are getting boring. Maybe next time I'll take one of the gas pump. ;-)

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day we took Ty to P.F. Chang's. Shayna made a plate for her in Brownies and did a tear-jerker card by hand (literally, Ty ended up sobbing). Kayla made a beautiful apron in her sewing class. The weather was perfect and it was a great Mother's Day for Ty.

Ty's a Star

Sang her first solo in church today. She was also featured in the Enquirer for the third or fourth time (I've lost track). Unfortunately, her picture didn't make the internet edition. But, the article is here: Ty's Cincinnati Enquirer Article

Homeschool- Good and Not So Good

The not-so-good thing about homeschool is you don't get any snow days (even though they beg for them and actually had a 1 hour delay today- go figure).

The good thing is you get to have lunch barefoot, with your sister, your dog and your Mommy/teacher.

Going Natural

Going Natural
Originally uploaded by xpe1.

After many years of wrestling with the decision and selling natural products for natural hair, Tywana has finally made the commitment to go natural.

This has been a difficult decision for her. She hasn't had a perm almost five months now (hard to believe) and is still transitioning and figuring out how she'll wear her hair. But, I think she's glad the decision is finally behind her.

Her story will be in the Cincinnati Enquirer in a couple of days (weeks)?