"Can you turn down that music, I'm cramming for an exam"
No, it's not my cat J.R., it's Steph's furry friend Gus (who you may recall seeing on scribbles before). This time around Gus makes us smile as he shows us how his mommy studies. Great shot Steph and thanks for the open invitation to use his pix in scribbles, he truly is the cat's meow!
Proud Big Brother
What a great pix of Kade Dennis and his little sister Alina.
Ready, Aim...WAIT!! At my nephew's 12th birthday party, everyone had a chance to play a game and win prizes. The game was to shoot suction cup "bullets" from a toy gun at a target. The more you hit the target, the higher your score! When it came time for yours truly to take a turn, I grabbed the gun with great enthusiasm, acting like a skilled marksman. Well if you look closely, you'll see why everyone erupted into laughter. I was holding the gun incorrectly, with the rubbery bullets facing me. I'm going blame it on my meds...LOL! As you can see, afterwards I got it right and took aim. I wasn't the winner but I was the most memorable player. Hahaha!
We'll feature more about my nephew's birthday party in a few days, so come back soon.
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, I Have Fun in the Tub
My nephew Graham smiles for his mommy's camera at bathtime.
"Can't a Guy Groom his Private Parts without an Audience?"
Our Welland pal Sandra Burger Vedder's adorable kitty Murphy looks mighty comfortable perched up on the window ledge as he grooms himself and he looks equally cute cuddling up with his mommy. I first met Murphy last Spring when Rob was housesitting for Sandra and her husband Dan while they were on vacation. Murph is a talkative and curious cat, who seemed to sense I was a cat person.
Rob will repeat his cat-sitting duty in March when Sandra and Dan take yet another holiday, this time for 3 weeks, giving me plenty of time to visit and catch up with this friendly feline.
Bon voyage Sandra and Dan, your big guy will be in good hands.
HAIR-larious!
Check out Oprah Winfrey's many do's, in this link from Oprah.com.
To see her many styles CLICK HERE
"I've Had a Great Life"...Jim Papple Sr. turns 90
My brother-in-law Don's father Jim Papple recently enjoyed his 90th birthday with his family, but that wasn't the only celebration he had for this big event. Jim has had dialysis at the Brantford General Hospital for 10 years now and the staff and patients surprised him with a birthday cake and card on his Feb. 3rd appointment. The event also made it into the local newspaper, The Brantford Expositor and the online version also included a video of the birthday boy.
Congratulations Jim, you're truly an inspiration to us all.
VIDEO CLIP Highlights from Jim's 90th Birthday ...
To read the Brantford Expositor article and view the entire video click here
East Meets West at Thomas' First Birthday
While his great grandpa Jim Sr. celebrated his 90th birthday (as seen above), only a few weeks prior, Thomas Papple celebrated his very first birthday. Surrounded by his parents Jimmy and Phoebe, grandparents Don and Kim and others, little Thomas had a blast. Thomas' mom Phoebe is originally from South Korea where babies first birthday is celebrated with a tradition called a Doljabi.
As his proud grandma Kim told us "the birthday baby wears a tradional outfit called a hanbok and a traditional hat. There is lots of food and special rice cakes and candies fruit made to look like flowers. The highlight of the celebration is when a mat or table is layed out with items that represent possible career choices or fortells the child future. A gavel represents a judge, stethescope for a doctor, you get the point. Thomas walked onto the mat and picked up the gavel ! so my grandson is going to be a judge when he grows up! Of course he did pick up and play with the stethescope to so who knows."
Where'd It Go??
Looking for a story or photo that was once featured here on our home page? Don't worry, it's still on our site, it's just been moved to one of our OLDER POSTS pages. To access them, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on OLDER POSTS link, so you can relive your favourites over and over again.
"Ummm, who peed on the floor?"
Rich and Kristin are Ja-Makin' Me Jealous
While the temperatures dropped and the snow fell back home in Niagara, Rich Hunt and Kristin Warren strolled across sandy beaches and enjoyed the warm sunshine in Jamaica. The happy couple enjoyed a week at the popular tourist destination at the end of January as seen in these pix taken from Rich's facebook page.
Love...On the Rocks!
"I have the best boyfriend". Those are the words our friend Laura DeGraaf has repeated a lot lately. In addition to being a hopeless romantic, Laura's BF Ryan Haanappel surprised her recently with a vacation in the Dominician Republic. This was Laura's first ever trip away to a warm and sunny destination and to say she was excited about it would be an understatement.
The happy couple enjoyed scuba diving, fun on the beach, a swim-up bar and delightful feasts, in a week away from the blustery winter weather in Niagara. Glad you had fun Laura and you're right....you DO have the best boyfriend!!
Laura draws a heart in the sand
Talk Wireless President to Wed new First Lady
Congratulations to my boss, Talk Wireless President Al Willick, who recently announced that he and lady friend Kathy are now engaged. The staff of Talk Wireless first met Kathy at our 2009 Christmas dinner (where these photos were taken) and they make a perfect couple.
I'm so happy for you Al, Kathy seems like a very nice lady and I wish you both nothing but the best!!
Picture Perfect
Here's another glam shot of our new pal Alina Dennis -who arrived to parents Heather and Rodney in Welland earlier this year. This is another great pix by Heather's photographer friend Jessica Little.
And when she isn't posing for the camera, little Alina likes to catch a few Zzzz's with her daddy Rodney. Night, night.
What a difference a day makes. Our pal Amanda Bergsma recently spent 6 days in sunny Mexico, where she lazed on the beach and went scuba diving. Then she was homeward bound, back to frigid St Catharines. Before returning to Canada, Amanda posted this update on her facebook page "It is +30 in Cancun and -20 in St. Catharines.... In a matter of 5 hours I'm going to through a 50 degree temp drop.... Not impressed"
And to prove just how difficult it was to reclimatize herself, here are two photos showing what Ms. Bergsma wore (or almost wore) while enjoying Mexico and what she wore back home...all bundled up, layered from head to toe...and that was when she was INDOORS no less. LOL!
Best Buds
Originally my dog Timmi was adopted by my mom. Somewhere along the line he became mine, although we joke that we share joint custody of the lovable pooch. At my place, Timmi gets a cold shoulder from my cats. J.R. tolerates Timmi, while Alysha, well she just plain hates him.
Things are decidedly different when Timmi goes to mom's for his weekly visits. "Nana" spoils him and her cat Sensi loves him. They play together, they eat together and as we see here, they even chill out together.
Now if only I could get my feline's to follow in Sensi's paw prints, life for Timmi would be just purr-fect!
Don't squint...click on pix to see larger versions
Hot Diggity Dog
It's a family tradition. Every February my mom (Joan Storie) celebrates her birthday and every February I host her party at my place. And as is also tradition, I try to come up with a clever theme or dinner selection. With my mental state not at its best, my creativity level not at its peak and funds a bit low, there was no unique theme this time around. As you may recall, two years ago the theme was zebras (because mom collects zebra items) and last year the theme was Valentine's Day. This year the fact mom was celebrating a milestone birthday was theme enough.
There was, however, a little extra thought put into what we would eat. Hot dogs were on the menu, but not just any old hot dogs. We had Super Duper Birthday Hot Dogs. I set up an area in the kitchen where a variety of tasty hot dog fixings from standard condiments like mustard and ketchup to chili, bacon bits and grated cheese were on hand, allowing each guest to have it their way. I created little signs to give it that scribbles touch. They included: "Create Your Own Super Duper Birthday Hot Dog", Homer Simpson saying "Mmmmm, hot dogs", the classic ajnimated wiener and bun from Drive-in theatres intermission and my personal favourite "I Love My Wiener".
After everyone filled their faces, we brought out the birthday cake my sister Kim had baked and then mom opened her gifts. Another successful shindig, done on a budget and with much love. Now how will I top it next year??
Click pix to see large version of this photo collection
Scuba Cuba Doo
If you're keeping score, this is our fourth vacation story today. Yes another group of scribbles pals frolicking on the beach, scuba diving, going on safari and enjoying the wildlife in another balmy location. This time out it's my crazy cousins Jeanne Prince and Megan Fox, who enjoyed a sunny break in Cuba with their loving partners, Peter (Jeanne's husband) and Andy (Megan's boyfriend). Escaping the Ottawa Valley and heading off to Cuba is nothing new for Jeanne, Peter and Megan, I've lost count, but I think this is the third year in a row they've been there. Gee no wonder I've been so blue lately, it's been a decade since my first and only tropical vacation, while some people are being gultins.. LOL (just kidding)
In Memory of Excalibur
We dedicate today's scribbles home page to the memory of Excalibur, my nephew Patrick Papple's pet skinny pig. Excalibur passed away on Jan. 29th after bringing several years of joy to the Papple family. Excalibur is survived by his brother Chocolate, who is Patrick sister Erin's pet.
Sorry for your loss Patrick, I know it is hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet and you were a good "daddy" to Excalibur.