Allen gets natural

When you look this good, you can't call it "dirty."

It was another one of those days... You know, 70-plus, before the ice storm blew in... If you can't keep up with the St. Louis weather (and who can?), at least you can enjoy some shots of our little boy in his element. Here they are!

Allen in the yard

Don't try this at home

No, it's OK, really. There are holes in the ball! See?

For these things, we are truly thankful

Sleeping babies... Stray kitties...

Good friends... Wind power?

OK, that's stretching the theme a bit. But the Crabbes headed north for Thanksgiving, to Ashton, Ill., the home of Pete, Kim, London and Cecilia. And they have a cool wind farm just southeast of their town... It's eerie, really.

The feast itself, as you can see, was breathtaking. And button-busting. And just as good the next day as it was the first! I love leftovers! Thanks to Pete and Kim for having us!



Thanksgiving weekend at the Hartman house

Earn a Feather Day

Tuesday, the last day before Thanksgiving break, was Earn a Feather Day in second grade. The three classes got to rotate around and test out their skills on some Thanksgiving-related activities. For each one, they earned a feather for their turkey hat! I helped run the "Fact of Folklore" station. For instance, I bet you didn't know that pilgrim boys wore dresses until they were 7!! Several of the 7-year-old boys of Sorrento Springs were scandalized.

Anyway, it was a great morning of fun and learning. Enjoy!

Earn a Feather Day

Will, awake!

For the first time on The Crabbe Trap! If there's ever been a better-lookin' baby, I don't know it!

Amy and Will came over to say hey and bring Emilyn her birthday present... Allen was having a lunch of peas and carrots, so that's the subject of a lot of the pictures.



Allen had a hard time when Will started crying... Big, heaving sobs from the bigger boy as he wondered what could be so wrong with the little one!



A lot of potential "lead art" here... But these are the best of the bunch.

Amy and Will come for a visit

Only 19 more weeks...

... Or something like that, until the Crabbes head to the beach. The leaves are all off the trees here. The sky is white. Man, I hate winter. But we've found something to help us make it through! The condo we rent at Gulf Shores has a webcam!!! Check it out!

A day at the Zoo

Today was teachers' conference day in Parkway, so we grabbed Emilyn's friend Sarah and headed to the Zoo!

It was a weird day, weatherwise. One of those prairie-scary fall days that freak out an old Easterner like me. 70-plus, thick and weird. Then, an hour later, it's raining and 50. Then, an hour after that, it's howling wind and 35. If you're lucky, it doesn't get down to 20 and freeze your car doors shut.

But it was fine while we were at the Zoo. Just warm with dark clouds. The rain stayed away until we were headed home in the car.



Allen enjoyed himself, except when he got a frigid shower from a cheeky penguin. Penguins don't have much to entertain themselves, you see, so they think it's hysterical to pee and poop in their water, then splash it all over the Zoo guests! Ha-ha! Penguin fun! (Something else pooped on Steve's head in the Children's Zoo. We still don't know what.)

But Allen liked the guinea pigs, and the meerkats, and the bears... We didn't get to see much, because we had a short window of time and weather. But I still managed to take a ton of pictures! So, enjoy!

Allen's first trip to the Zoo