The girls are soon to be 7 months old and my son moved over to Poland before Thanksgiving. He comes back here every few months but plans to stay there until the immigration applications for his wife and babies are processed so they can all move here. He's quite the Mr. Mom now that his wife has gone back to work. Of course he has his mother in law and a twice a week nanny to help but he's falling into the routine rather effortlessly. Something about this younger generation of parents..the Mom's expecting full participation by the Dad's. Weird. I couldn't wait for my husband to go back to work after we brought the baby home.

Thanks everyone - It really was amazing!!! I walked into Jolane and there was Peppi exactly as she said she would be. She's pretty much told you everything but I want to add a bit. Peppi is the first cooking forum friend I've met in real life and she was raving about some of the other friends she's met through here. If y'all are half as nice as she claims, I can't wait to meet more of you. Next time anyone is in Chicago or passing through, drop me an email and we can get together for more of this addictive kind of fun. We talked so much and had such a great time they had to kick us out - very politely of course - but then we had already been there for THREE hours!! Where did that time go? Good thing Peppi wasn't working that day - that was a very long lunch hour. I had the best girlfriend lunch ever. Most of my girlfiends are salad nibblers and forget about dessert. Peppi and I shared a delicious lunch and between the two of us we finished most of it. When we were emailing back and forth to set it all up she said something to me that just struck a chord..."Never trust a skinny cook". I'm framing it for my kitchen - it just made me feel so warm and good. Of course I can't let that be an excuse not to get to a healthier weight but it is a lovely thought :) Next time, and i know there wil definitely be one, we will take pictures and maybe I'll get brave enough to put a picture of myself on the internet. I had to run, barely made it home before the bus, but I did. Peppi did you run into the Viking shop? Just wondering if that's where you picked up that cool (hot) pepper de-seeder?

If you enjoy a buffet, Vals is a good place to go to when visiting the capital city. Good price, lots of choices! Thanks for a fun visit ladies. In a nutshell--I ate enough for the rest of the day, Diane and Leslie look younger than last year (how do you do that?), Ms. Nita (Leslie's mom) was a pleasure to dine with and some people from the kt might have ringing ears today!( lol, oh maybe a little ringing.) Thanks for getting us together for our yearly food feast and chat. It worked great today, especially after getting the girls off to 4-h camp. Our picture looks pretty good, better than the floor shot too! ;) (LOL)

Wonderful - this looks like a keeper, Glenda. Best wishes for Parke, Sr., Parke, Jr., Tracie, and you as this next step begins. I hope that this is everything that you all have wished for.