Nena and Phoebe come to Iowa

On March 4th and 5th, The Schrock House had two very special visitors. Great Grandma Norma and her peppy puppy, Phoebe, graced us with their presence. Norma is Heather's grandmother and lives in Lena, Illinois. Phoebe is a shih tzu that keeps Norma on her toes and company throughout the day. The girls have called Norma "Nena" since they were little and it has stuck, so we will refer to Norma as Nena throughout the rest of the blog.


We don't get to see much of Nena these days due to the 2 1/2 hour drive between Urbana and Lena, so anytime we get to spend time with her is awesome. Above, Nena and Phoebe are getting some rest on the couch in our basement. Phoebe had gotten harassed by Micheala all day and was looking to Nena for protection. Even though Phoebe had enough of Micheala's rough housing, she never acted aggressively towards Micheala. She is a very cuddly dog and well behaved.

Did I mention that the girls absolutely adore Phoebe. Here's Dylanne holding Phoebe in the basement.

Dylanne playing with Phoebe on the floor.

Heather makes homemade play dough for the girls. It is edible, for safety, and is quite fun to make and the girls enjoy playing with it. Nena is making "mock" cookies with the girls on Tuesday night.

Here's Micheala showing Nena how to make cookies. "No, do it this way!"

Like I mentioned before, we always love when Nena visits. The grown-ups play "Contract Rummy" and we try to let Nena win when we can because she is a bit "competitive". So Nena, from our hearts to yours, thanks for coming and we love you very much.

Finally, March 4th will forever be remembered as the "end of an era" for many Packer fans. Yes, the retirement of Bret Farve. I am not a "Packer Backer", as a matter of fact, I don't care for them much at all, but I am man enough to recognize those who have helped make the game of football awesome. Being a Giants fan, I often kid that the last pass that Farve threw was an interception to Giants defensive back, Corey Webster, which ultimately cost the Farve and the Packers a shot at the Super Bowl (which we all know how that ended). Nevertheless, Farve was a true ambassador of the NFL and with that being said, we will miss you Farve and we salute you and your accomplishments.