Fur is cruel

Henry is angry that Kara made him wear a fur shoulder thing. We have a future PETA member on our hands.

Chef Kara

Kara made Indian (dot, not feather)food last week for the Oscars. Boxed wine and lemon pastries capped the evening. Stephen and Linsey were over to enjoy.

Our poor BooBoo

Henry and Jason watching toy story at 4am this morning after giving him a bath to lower his body temperature of 104.

Idol Favorite

Does anyone have a favorite on American Idol yet?

The hot stuff

Jason teaches Henry to drink coffee. Next: smoking. Uncle Stephen gives all whiskey lessons.

You're hired

Jason has a new job working for a state agency, the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The office ensures that candidates and political committees follow the state campaign finance laws. His title is director of information and public education. It means he'll write press releases, provide information to the public and write the office newsletter, among other tasks. He starts on March 10 or 11, ending seven years at The Eagle-Tribune. He asks that people stop referring to him as "Award Winning Journalist Jason Tait" because it's a mouthful. Thank you. Below, Jason stands at attention in a tie and jacket prior to a job interview.

Pictures from the weekend

Kara Jason and Henry spent the weekend at Kara's parents house. Fun time was had by all.
Saturday night pizza. It was yummy! In the picture is Kara's brother Michael, parents, Jason and Henry.
Kara's parents
Almost naked Henry
Kara's sister Suzie, her daughter Kerrin and sister-in-law MJ at Aunty birthday party at Grandma's house sunday morning.
Kara's beautiful Grandma
Aunty blowing out her birthday candles
Amelia's first birthday

Baking week

Kara had a busy week baking for two birthday parties. One for a friends little girl first birthday and the other for Kara's Great Aunt's 84th birthday. Here are some pictures of the tasty treats.
Princess cupcakes

Aunty's birthday cupcakes
Lemon pound cakes. Hey Mary, these are made from the pan you gave me for Christmas, I love it! ~KT

Party time

Henry with his female cousins in Brockton, Mass. Just about the entire Grein family got together to celebrate Aunty Y.'s 94th birthday on Sunday. Kara made lemon pound cake for the festivities.

Happy Birthday Linsey!

That's Linsey holding Henry.
Hope you have a great day! We love you!

She's so sweet

Kara make decorations for cupcakes Thursday night before watching one of her new favorite shows, Lipstick Jungle.

Free money, yo, yo, yo.

Everyone is getting money from the government this year to stimulate the economy. The checks will be between $300 and $1,200 (or some such thing. I'm a bit confused about the details). Bottom line: Free money. Kara, Jason and Henry plan to buy a new laptop computer, if the check is big enough. And Kara wants to visit Carol in Oregon. THE QUESTION: How do you plan to spend your money? And we hope you don't say bills.

The Contest

Jason and I are having a contest on who can lose 10 pounds first. So far, we are neck and neck down 2 lbs each.....
Jason wants to get back to his wedding weight of 175, he started at 185. I will not reveal my weight for it is less than Jasons though..... I think I might buy him a couple boxes of his favorite sugary cereal and m&m's that should gain maybe a quick pound:)_

Bang, Bang

We really feel sorry for the guy who lives in the condo below us on the second floor. First, it was Henry's walker rolling on the hardwood floors all day long. Now he can walk, and it's even worse. See for yourself ...

Free L. Ron and Newburyport Daily News.

Kara, Jason and Henry met Stephen on a sunny day downtown near his newspaper office. He gave us a few free copies of the paper (a $1.50 value). Nice. In the other pic, Jason holds a copy of Battlefield Earth by L.Ron Hubbard. 1,063 pages of science fiction, just like his religion. Stephen bought it for Jason at a used book store in Maine. $2 value. Nice.

Tuesday morning tickle attack

Henry was enjoying Tuesday morning in his PJs watching Shrek, but then his dad attacked with a tickle assault. The peace and calm was shattered.

Surprise warm winter day

A 61 degree day in February somehow feels like 75. Kara, Jason and Henry celebrate President's Day by going for a walk in downtown Newburyport. Henry ate two Munchkin doughnuts on the walk, a 50 cent treat, but burned off the calories quickly with a sprint down Inn Street. We also ran into Henry's Uncle Stephen and Aunt Linsey, who just returned from a weekend in Portland, Maine.

New fellow bloggers

Welcome to the blog world to our dear friends Carol Dan & Amya Shaw. Check out their blog.
Click on the link that says Carol and Dan Shaw to the right under "fellow bloggers"

Happy Birthday Thomas!!!!

Happy 31st Birthday to the youngest of the 7 Grein kids, Thomas. Hope you have a glorious day. We love you!

Henry's Surprise

When I went to the mailbox today, I was pleasantly surprised to see a package in the mail for Henry from his Michigan Grandparents for Valentine's Day. He was so excited to open the box to see what was in it......
The box
The gifts are so cool. Stackable boxes and a dog stuffed animal.
THANK YOU HANK AND MARY

Some Random Photos

Handsome Henry on a walk
Out and about
Henry lined up all his cars on the couch
Tuesday night we had a power outage for about 2 hours
Valentines Day cookies I made for the kids at work. They loved them!

Happy Valentine's Day

Saint Valentine is said to have lived in Rome during the third century. That was a long time ago. During this time Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. Many people did not like the ruler.

Claudius was having trouble getting men to serve in his army. He felt many men would not volunteer to join because they did not want to leave their wives and families. He thought that if men were not married, they would join the army. So Claudius passed a new law which did not allow any more marriages. Most people thought this law was cruel. Valentine, who was a minister, did not support the new law.

Even after Emperor Claudius passed the law, he kept performing marriage ceremonies secretly. One night he was caught and thrown in jail and told he would be put to death.

Many young people came to visit Valentine. One was the daughter of the prison guard. On the day of his death Valentine wrote a note to the daughter signed "Love from your Valentine". This was on February 14, 269 A. D.

Some say this started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day.

Martha's February Dessert of the Month

Most people spend Saturday night dining and drinking with friends and family, or on nice romantic dates. Not me. I spent my last Saturday evening making a cake. Martha Stewart's February Dessert of the Month, Milk-Chocolate-Mousse Cake with Cashew Brittle, with about 25 ingredients and 13 different steps to make this darn cake. After spending 5 hours Saturday night preparing the cake, mousse, ganache, cashew brittle and the brittle hearts I had to retire for the evening, so, on Sunday morning I had to assemble the cake and final layer of ganache in time to take it to Brockton for a Grein family lunch. I love my family and I love cake. But I probably won't ever make this cake again. I mean, really. Five or six hours for one cake? Sorry I couldn't post this recipe, Martha did not have it on her website and I was not going to attempt to write it all out. If anyone does want this recipe, you can buy her February addition of "Martha Stewart Living" magazine, or call me and I'll give it to you.

Sunday at the Greins

On Sunday, our little family spend the afternoon at my parents house. My mom made a delicious meal of sirloin strip and potatoes, a good ole sunday meal....
My brother Anthony and his wife Lisa and daughter Martina joined us as well as my brother Michael and Thomas. It was a fine day.
This is a picture of Henry and his cousin Martina playing in my parents living room.
My beautiful mommy cooking her family dinner.
Kara and Martina
When Michael and I were getting our picture taken, Martina decided that she wanted to be in the picture and posed right in front of it
I love my mommy
Henry is usually forbidden to play with computer's, but when he's at his grandparents house, his "pops" let's him play with the keyboard. Michael is helping Henry type.
Jason hiding behind the Comics
My sister-in-law Lisa, Kara, and my mom.