Do you think Will enjoys talking on the phone with his Aunt Donelda? He usually doesn't have too much to say, even with Drew giving him encouragement, but he sure loves to listen.

This is Drew and Will watching early Saturday morning cartoons. It's really too bad our boys don't get along better together.

Drew and Will worked on their watercolor painting skills today with their Tonka paint with water books. The images have small dots which contain paint of different colors. A wet brush makes the colored dots dissolve which can then be "painted" to color the picture.

While it sounds easy enough, it's trickier than it seems. Not enough water and the dots don't fully dissolve. Too much water and the paper turns to mush. Not to mention that, even though the paint is pre-colored to match the picture, you still have to stay within the lines for a neat result.

Drew has just about mastered the technique. Will did a surprisingly good job and, along the way, he mastered spilling the "spill-proof" water reservoir.

It is very unusual for our munchkins to just fall asleep.

But this has been an unusually busy week and tonight after getting ready for bed, Will drank his milk and drifted off.

Drew was feeling a little under the weather today and was camped out on the couch with no energy to play. Will noticed that Drew wasn't feeling well and, on his own initiative, climbed up on the couch and over to Drew and gave him a hug.

Will continued to coo and stroke Drew's face until Drew cracked a smile.

Drew was happy to be cheered up and gave Will a thank you kiss.

Forty-five years ago, in April of 1963 before I was even born, my sister Donelda and my parents celebrated Easter while they were living in Tripoli, Libya. Donelda is just a few days away from being 2 1/2 years old in these pictures.

Will recently started stacking blocks...to ridiculous heights! Just when you'd think it's about to fall, he adds three more. Of course, when the blocks fall they put little micro-dents in the coffee table...we call it "antiquing."

I have a good friend who, last time I heard, refuses to buy nice furniture until his kids are old enough to not cause damage. While a perfectly logical theory, Mary and I disagree. We get to enjoy our furniture for more years than my friend and, when the kids finally move out of the house, we'll still have nice furniture but filled with memories of our boys growing up...my friend will just have nice furniture.

So, Mary was giving the boys a bath tonight during which I am usually nearby...just in case...and tonight was one of those cases. Near the end I heard, "Don, I need your help!" It wasn't nearly as bad as the last time Mary called me with loss-of-limb urgency while giving the boys a bath, but it was definitely with more emotion than simply, "I need more shampoo."

I went in the bathroom and saw Drew being dried off while Will was still in the tub...pretty much surrounded by raw sewage. Mary had this happen once with Drew when he was younger but apparently that was more of "solid" event, if you know what I mean. Tonight, there was a near complete absence of fiber.

I removed the bathmat, lifted Will out of the tub and he stood there, probably quite chilly, like a very good boy while Mary got Drew dried and dressed. I then passed Will to Mary who gave him a thorough sponge bath. I then drained, rinsed, and hot dish soap washed anything and everything that was anywhere near the tub. Since I was at it, I cleaned the toilet too. Now, the bathroom is as clean as it's ever been! Did I mention it's our guest bathroom?

Will's 18 month photograph. Our littlest one is growing up.

Mama reads to the boys several times a day, but every night, before bedtime, it's my turn to read to the boys. We just started reading the original Noddy books by Enid Blyton with pictures by Beek. Drew loves the modern Noddy cartoon "Make Way for Noddy," so he was excited when we found these Noddy books at Grandma Danz's. These are the original twenty-four Noddy books published between 1949 and 1963 some of which are original editions. They were originally Aunt Donelda's but despite their age, probably aren't worth too much since they have been so "well loved." Tonight we'll read the final chapter of the first book and find out if Noddy is a toy. If he's not, he won't be able to stay in Toy Land.

Will is reading "Good Night, Gorilla" written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann. It is one of, if not his most, favorite. If you haven't seen it already, check out Drew reading "Good Night, Gorilla" to Will from this past December.

You wished you looked this good in the morning! I snapped this picture before I left for work one morning. I thought it was too cute how Will had snuggled up against mama.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone for your kindness during the last two weeks. From simple phone calls and emails, to the cards, to those who were able to attend one of the wakes or service, your kind words and actions have been very much appreciated by our family.

We found out Grandma Danz died Sunday morning, January 27th, and despite knowing the end was near it, of course, was still difficult news. Despite that, funeral arrangements in two different states had to be planned, people notified and many other details taken care of, so most of that Sunday was spent on the phone and the internet getting the word out and making arrangements. It was just a little weird doing all that the same day we got word, but it had to be done. I can't imagine how people manage who have an unexpected loss. I guess a friend or more distant relative has to step in and take care of things.

Monday we drove straight through to Palatine. Will got the most improved traveler award for, literally, not making a single sound until just about a mile and a half from Grandma Danz's house. We were concerned because the last time we drove a long way, Will let it be known that he was not fully appreciative of the safety offered by his modern-day child seat. In other words, he was nearly inconsolable screaming and crying every 20 minutes. But, not this time, thankfully!

Tuesday morning came quick. Pre-wake preparations were highlighted by Mary's scream of "Will what have you done!!!" It was a tone and level of voice I had never heard from Mary and can only describe it as possibly being in the category of loss-of-limb urgency. I ran up stairs to see what was wrong and found that, after giving the boys a bath, while dressing Drew, Will threw his funeral cloths in the bathtub full of water. We still had over an hour before we had to leave the house so I grabbed the clothes, wrung them out, put them in the washer for a spin cycle and popped them in the dryer. Needless to say, Mary was a little stressed since I hadn't been much of a help with the kids on the trip.

Tuesday evening was the wake in Palatine. While I had ordered the casket and vault and was getting the Oklahoma arrangements taken care of, Donelda had been meeting with the funeral home in Palatine, ordering flowers and making poster boards with pictures of Grandma Danz. Somehow, Donelda also found time to put together a PowerPoint presentation of pictures which played at each wake.

Wednesday, Donelda and I spent a good five hours going over paperwork before Mary, Drew, Will and I drove to Rolla, Missouri, to stay the night. I must say the new Holiday Inn Express hotels are really nice and we enjoyed a good nights sleep.

Thursday was supposed to be an uneventful drive to Goltry, Oklahoma. However, while the drive started out pleasantly, there was an ice storm developing that we were heading into. About half-way down the Will Rogers turnpike between Joplin and Tulsa, we heard a thump...followed shortly by the oh-so-fun thump, thump, thumping. A flat tire. Now remember, we were in our trusty über-safe Volvo S80, packed for a week long cross-country trip with clothes ranging from casual to funeral and plenty of supplies for the munchkin who uses his pants for a potty and lots of stuff for everyone else, pillows, sleeping bag, computer, toys, work stuff...everything short of the kitchen sink. The image I'm trying to convey, is that the trunk and most spaces in the car were packed! Every nook and cranny of the trunk was neatly and totally stuffed to the precise contours of the available space. The trunk lid closed, but not without a little extra effort. Additionally, it was packed under ideal circumstances, where everything was laid out and I had all the time in the world to fit everything in just right.

The temperature was in the single digits and while it, fortunately, wasn't rainy, it was misty which was nice when the 18-wheelers came by and the car rocked back and forth. Road side assistance was not available for many hours because everyone was busy helping get cars out of ditches and a "mere" flat-tire just wasn't a priority. So, I began the process of emptying the trunk so I could get to the spare tire, passing everything through the window to Mary. Who knows where she put it all?! The change itself was relatively uneventful except for my anxiety over the time during which the fully loaded car was jacked up on the frail looking jack while the 18-wheelers did the best they could to blow the whole thing over. Once, the doughnut tire was in place, it was time to "pack" the trunk again as Mary passed everything back through her window. What I lost in neatness, I more then made up for with brute-force the second time around. The whole thing only took 30 minutes, but it seemed longer. From there, since we were just an hour away from our home in Tulsa, we detoured to change vehicles. I also took an unplanned rest on the couch while my physical and emotional batteries recharged before the final drive to Goltry. Did I mention the ice storm earlier? Yep, we made the final leg to Goltry traveling just 30 miles an hour on freshly iced, un-salted/sanded road. Grandma Danz always talked about the bad luck she had traveling, so I think this was her final goodbye to us.

Friday we ran some errands in Goltry and Helena and had the wake that evening. The photo is all of us with a long-time friend of my parents, Mrs. Long. She and her husband traveled the world with my parents. They are the most active "retired" people I've ever met. He still writes for the Oklahoman and they both take yearly trips around the world, this year's being a Russian river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg!

Finally, Saturday after services at Lanman funeral home in Helena, we laid Grandma Danz to rest next to Grandpa Danz in the Karoma Cemetery in Goltry, Oklahoma. Pictures of the headstone and Great-Grandma and Grandpa Buller's headstone after the jump.

Nelda and Donald Danz's headstone.

Ola Mae and Alvin "Spiv" Buller's headstone. Donelda had the presence of mind to take two roses from one of the displays to lay on Grandma Danz's parents' headstone.

My mother passed away this morning at the age of 76 after a long slow decline in her health. The photo above is from college and below is with her grandsons Drew and Will is from this past Thanksgiving. Her obituary is below.

Nelda Rose Danz (nee Buller) of Palatine, Illinois, for the last 35 years died January 27, 2008, at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Born May 4, 1931, in Shattuck, Oklahoma. Nelda was proceeded in death by her beloved husband Donald Winston Danz on December 20, 2003, whom she married on March 6, 1955. Nelda is survived by her daughter Donelda CarVen Danz of Carol Stream, Illinois, and Don William Danz (wife Mary) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grandsons Drew Winston Danz and David William ("Will") Danz.

A graduate of Goltry High School, Oklahoma, Nelda received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from Oklahoma A&M College now Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, in 1953, where she was a member and served as President of the Tau Gamma sorority. After graduating OSU, Nelda went to work for then Standard Oil International in Tulsa where she met her husband, Donald who was a geophysicist who spent a career searching for oil.

Married in 1955, the couple soon embarked on a world-wide journey together. They were transferred in 1957 to Venezuela, where they lived for four years and started a family. They spent the early 1960s in Libya, then Donald was transferred to an oil camp facility in Indonesia, while Nelda and Donelda lived in Thailand where Don was born. The next several years were spent in Mozambique, Holland and Norway, with the family returning to the United States in 1970. After two years in New Orleans, the family settled in Palatine.

An avid bowler, bridge player, craft maker and Chicago sports fan, Nelda was a dedicated wife and mother who ran a tight household while Donald was away on extended business assignments. Family was always Nelda's priority as she never missed a sports game or other activity of her children and proudly doted over her grandchildren as her health increasingly declined the past few years.

In lieu of flowers, tax deductible contributions may be sent to Palatine Park Foundation, 250 E. Wood Street, Palatine, IL 60067, for the preservation of open space and scholarships for Palatine Park District activities.

   

Drew at one year 10 months and one year 5 months when he would frequently try on Daddy's shoes.

Now Will at one year and six months, all on his own, has taken up the same activity.

Grandma Danz gave Drew and Will bean bag chairs for Christmas, personalized and in each of their favorite colors...at least we think blue is Will's favorite color.

Will doesn't normally like to wear hats, we put them on and he knocks them off. Santa brought both Drew and Will train engineer hats, scarves and whistles. For whatever reason, Will does like to wear his train engineer hat. Will is taking a break from a tough morning of train engineering for some lunch and is also wearing his babysaurus bib.