julie evans, party of one

julie being julie. 'nuff said.

we share dna, too

beloved family members at my great-aunt helen's 80th birthday. she is truly still a knock-out.

they share my dna

good grief.

belated slideshow from ian's birthday

at scioto trails...

my adorable goofballs

on the first day of school...

reds game

$1 hot dogs and a 1st inning brawl for ian's 10th birthday! it doesn't get any better than that!!!

big rog's birthday

nothin' says lovin' like the cincinnati reds, baby.

there's one in every family

you know what i mean...the wild one.  the spontaneous one.  the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-throw-caution-to-the-wind-and-go-nuts one.  this is my aunt kim, my dad's youngest sister.  she is crazy ~ in a good way. how in the world she and my father came from the same parents is a complete mystery.  my dad is uptight in a very structured, OCD, and worrisome way.  kim is none of those things.  absolutely none of them. julie, jill, and i inherited our infectious giggling from her.  the same giggling that sends my father into a tizzy.  kim also took julie and me to our first college party at OU.  of course, we were eleven at the time.  and kim had to explain that the funny smell we noticed was something called "pot".  and that excessive drinking was probably the reason why there was vomit in the elevator.

so yesterday, kim and my cousin jenna came down from columbus to visit, and we went sledding because you know, it's just what we do here in southern ohio now because it snows every stinkin' day, and what the heck, there's another winter storm warning out now that's calling for 50 feet of snow and i'll be remembering y'all in july while i'm still teaching and you are enjoying your vacations at the beach...arghhh!!!!

but i digress...

i took some funny videos of kim yesterday as she was...just being kim.  for some reason, she could only sled down the hill with her legs sticking straight out in front of her.  it was the darndest thing.  you can click here to see more.



and here she is with my beautiful boy, ian.

you all should also know that kim has been a neo-natal icu nurse for 25 years at columbus children's hospital, loving babies and their families as they face disability and uncertainty and often-times, death. so perhaps, kim's personality is actually rather balanced out. perhaps it is her choice to grab life by the horns and enjoy every moment that allows her to be the voice of compassion and calm in dire circumstances. perhaps...she's not that crazy after all.

for my uncle jake

...who is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  just ask his adoring nephews...

for my aunt vickie

fiddle - farting around

this post title refers to one of my dad's favorite expressions when we were growing up. he would tell us to quit fiddle-farting around when we were goofing off, stalling to get out of work, or simply not doing what he wanted us to do. using it now as an adult, and thinking about it...it really is a WEIRD thing to say, eh?

but alas, i am indeed fiddle-farting. i should be working on an IEP, but instead, i am posting stuff on my blog. so, here we go...

okay, these pics are just WRONG in so many ways, but they are also HILARIOUS. (and in case you can't tell, those are ian's little chicken legs poking out from underneath juj and taylor.)

here is a photo of my little miss thang (kate). and yes, the title "little miss thang" is wildly appropriate for her.

kate took these dizzying photos of ian shooting nerf basketball in our living room.

and lastly, i took this picture this morning by cranking open my bathroom window and leaning outside...

stuck

my poor nephew, ben! the little fella had the toughest time walking back up the hill today after sledding down. i think everyone had to take turns dragging him back to the top...

Ben gets stuck... from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

twice in one week

i took kate, ian, ben, and chloe sledding again today at my aunt vickie and uncle jake's house.  vickie and jake are such troopers for letting us invade their home for the afternoon!  the kids had a blast, of course. 

(and yes, jake, they will alway remember coming to your house as children and spending this wonderful time with you and vickie.  thank you for loving us the way that you both do.)

first snow day of the decade

one day back at school.  then a snow day.  arggghhhhh! 

the girls and i at work were rejoicing yesterday at being back in our classrooms.  no kidding!  we were all happy to resume a routine.  and, we all admitted, we understood the lyrics of a certain christmas carol which states, " and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again."  our own children were driving us crazy!  sounds weird, eh?  but man, when i saw my junior high boogers yesterday, I hugged them and told them how much i missed them.  of course, they'll drive me a little bonkers eventually, but that's okay.  i just love my job so stinkin' much.

so anyways...snow day.  jill and i attempted to take the kids sledding this afternoon at vickie and jake's.  there wasn't a ton of snow, but it was still slick.  the wind chill was horrible, however!  i don't think we lasted thirty minutes.  of course the kids didn't mind the cold temperatures at all.

below is a video of my nephew ben (who looks like a masked auburn bandit) tangled up in the ropes of his sled while his giggly mother attempts to free him.  if you would like to see more snow-day/sledding videos, click here.

stay warm, y'all.


Ben and Jill from Jodi Gillen on Vimeo.

let your heart be light

have yourself a merry little christmas.
love,
jodi, leo, kate, and ian

heaven might smell this good

125 pans of cinnamon rolls baked today. made from scratch. yum.

christmas cookies - 2009 edition

"a day without laughter is a day wasted." - charlie chaplin

my two lovely sisters.  completely rotten, they are.  while i...yes, i...the middle child, am a completely innocent and perfectly behaved little girl. 

those are JILL'S own handprints on her chest.  (lest you think that jim was helping us bake cookies today and became very frisky seeing jill in that auburn t-shirt and simply had to lay rightful claim to the ta-ta's that are already his.)

and this picture.  oh my gosh.  the quality of it is extraordinarily poor because i was absolutely laughing so hard i couldn't breathe.  it still makes me snort out loud.

kate's profession

i've already got it figured out...kate could be a writer (she LOVES to write!), a teacher (she's very philoprogenitive ~ do you know what that means?), or a photographer. she's got a great eye with the camera. no kidding. below is a picture she took today (at petland) of a turtle. i think it's terrific! (perhaps she taking after our wonderfully sweet neighbor erica!)

From gray's blog entry

santa baby

me on the left, juj on the right.  at my school's fundraiser this evening.  (our santa totally rocked!)