Time for a bike ride

Two things Allen loves: bike rides and work trucks. So, Daddy took him on a bike ride to see work trucks! Lucky kid!

A day at the (river) beach

Allen and I spent an hour at the Meramec River today, on the beach at Castlewood State Park. An endless supply of sand, water and dirt! Needless to say, one of us got filthy. Again. Yesterday he had two baths and four outfit changes. Today, so far, one bath, two outfits. I spent a lot of time snapping pictures... Check out the results here.

Busy August

I guess! We've shattered the old record for most postings in a month. 27 posts. And it's only the 28th! (The old record was 22 in May 2006.)

Speaking of the 28th, Allen is officially 23 months old today. Holy cow! Actually, I can't say that the time has flown by. It's more like he's always been here. We love you, buddy!

All that plotting makes me sleepy...

Awwww... What you don't see in this picture is Allen's big rocking chair. He pulls it over to the bed every time he's in there. Savvy Mommies know he's planning to go over the rail. He just hasn't figured out how yet.

More wishes from Allen

We were in the toy store the other day, and a certain young man fell in love with Bruder trucks. Bruder is a German toy truck company. Incredibly lifelike trucks. They even have a "Roadmax" line for toddlers. Boy, Allen went ga-ga over these babies. "Birthday!" I told him. "Christmas! Groundhog Day!"

The princess and the pirate

I had Playmobils long before I had kids, but it sure is nice how the two interests mesh... For instance, when Playmobil T-shirts went on sale for half price on the Web site, I couldn't buy one for myself. But I could buy two for them!

An ill wind's a-blowin'

On Friday, just as it was time for Emilyn to step off the bus, a severe thunderstorm rolled through. Complete with a gust front. Ask Emilyn all about this...

Anyway, the bus stopped right in the middle of this roaring wind. She was scared to get off! Allen and I were in the garage, and we told her to RUN! Leaves and sticks were flying everywhere. But she made it OK.

Later on, we discovered a BIG branch had come down in the back yard. Actually, it's more like half a tree. This tree already took a beating in the winter ice storms. So, I guess we'll have a lot less shade to work with next year! But, on the bright side, Daddy got to play with his new chain saw! To see more from the cleanup, click here.

Chalk dust boy

Emilyn, ever the innovator, invented a new way to make a mess... And, naturally, Allen jumped right on board! Here, you'll see him working at the "chalk dust mill," that is, running chalk over a tennis racket until you get piles and piles of colored powder. And a lot of very short chalk. Think parmesan cheese. Which is another thing that Allen loves...

Curriculum Night

After some last-minute schedule switcheroo-ing (thanks, Colleen!), I got the night off for Curriculum Night, what you may know as Back to School Night.

And I'm glad I went! There's a lot to know about third grade, and it was fun to hear Mrs. Stasen crack us all up on various topics. She's a funny lady, and she had some lovely things to say about Emilyn. Basically, what we need to know is third grade is time to get serious! Serious about math, most of all. MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) tests are coming in the spring. Sorrento traditionally does very well. Click here to see their latest results!

Emilyn has an assignment notebook, just like a junior version of a daily planner. It helps the kids get used to being organized. Each day, Mrs. Stasen writes the assignments on the board, and the kids write them in their planners. Mom or Dad initials each night that the work is done.

A lot of the hand-holding stuff stops in third grade. The expectations are laid out clearly, and each kid is expected to do his or her best. We know Emilyn will do super-great!

For Curriculum Night, Emilyn wrote a paragraph: "Guess who I am?" After I got past the baby brother and the pudding, I knew it right away! Click here to see that and some other of Emilyn's work from the event.

Grandma's last day

Grandma had to take off today... if the weather allows! So I took the chance to take a few pictures of her, and a big boy, and a little boy.


To see the rest of what I got today, click here.

Vine update

We have fruits! Tiny, embryonic fruits!


Does this shed any more light on what kind of vine we have here? They look like tiny, oblong watermelons. But I figure it may be like mammal embryos... A pig looks like a monkey looks like a person, when they're first formed... Updates to come. Meanwhile, check out how our vine is growing here.

Wild Asilomar

While we were outside today, we saw a hawk spear a sparrow in our pear tree. Then, because we hassled him too much, he took his prize over to a tree in our neighbor's yard. I got a lot of grainy, unrecognizeable photos! But here's a good one.

Allen was captivated... His refrain? "Big boo-dee! Big boo-dee!"

Pronounce them husband and wife!

At last! The big day! The Parker-Hutcherson alliance has now been stamped "Official."

The bride was resplendent. The groom was glowing. The church, overflowing! The reception was, as promised, indeed the best ever.

I took four or five really great photos. And about four dozen that were just OK.

To check it all out, see some video and read some captions, click here.

My first bachelorette party

Oh, and it was Jackie's first one, too.

Two days before the big day for my friends from work, Jackie and Steve. So, some of the ladies from the paper got together, rented a swanky limo, and picked the bride up for a night of wild abandon. OK, maybe not. But she abandoned at least a little something for her wild duet with Ralph Butler!

To see all the photos and read the captions, click here.

The Emilyn Report: Third Grade Parade

This reporter caught up with Emilyn on Monday evening, to get the scoop on third grade.

So, kiddo. How'd your first day go?
Good.

What's the best thing about your new classroom?
The library is SO cool. It's got the best books. I got a new Magic Tree House book: "The Civil War on Sunday."

What's the best thing about your new teacher?
She reads cool books, and she gives us cool assignments.

And it's pretty hot out there this week. How's that working out for gym, recess and the bus ride home?
Well, the intercom said that probably we're only gonna have indoor recess the rest of the week. They gave us little bottles of water for the bus ride home. They kept saying that it was going to be really hot on the bus, but it wasn't that bad.

Anything else you'd like to tell your fans?
I can't wait for Strings and I can't wait to sign up for Student Council, and to see what we're going to do in art this year.

Third grade, first day

The morning we've been waiting for! The first day of third grade. And here's our girl, looking radiant as any young learner should...

The bus came a few minutes late, which is a few minutes later than it came last year. Whoo-hoo! What we can't accomplish in two extra minutes!



There are more photos over on DropShots. We'll be back later in the day with The Emilyn Report on how her first day went.

Sticky and sweet

If you look closely, you can see the syrup glistening in his hair and on his tummy. (And he actually looked at me! For four good pictures!)

Later on, we pasted some raisins and Corn Pops to the sticky places... We thought we might put him out in the yard and see how long before he was set upon by bunnies.

Meet the Teacher Day

So, we all went over to school Friday to see Emilyn's new classroom... third grade!

And what a classroom it is! The woman facing us is Emilyn's teacher, Mrs. Stasen. There are many other cool pictures to see from the "meet and greet." Click here to check them out on DropShots.

And here's the equivalent of last year's orange foam brain. What is up with this bear? We don't know yet. But Emilyn promises a full report.

Come and ride the (tiny) rails

Well, we ditched Doc Watson in favor of the much more upbeat Leon Russell... and so, we have a train movie! Thanks to Brian for most of the great pictures, and thanks to Will and Wyatt for being so darned cute. All aboard!

Make-your-own-pizza night

Ahhh. English muffin pizzas. A tradition in my home, when I was a kid. My mom made them for me every lunch time, and when I would walk home from Lincoln Avenue Elementary, they'd be waiting. On my Flintstones plate. She took special care to scrape the "noogies" (burnt mozzarella) off the pan and put them alongside. Good times. (A side note: We must have had hours for lunch back then. How could I walk home, eat, and still have time to walk up to Krista's and play Pac-Man on the Atari before we headed back to school??!)

When Mom ate them herself, she got fancy. Drizzles of olive oil and sprinkles of Italian seasoning. Me, I always wanted them straight up. Plenty of cheese. Plenty of cheese means plenty of noogies!

Anyway, with a fresh green pepper from the garden, a bit of diced tomato, multigrain English muffins (none of that back then), and a little can of black olives from Schnucks, we were ready to build our pizzas.



Allen thought "build a pizza" meant "eat all the raw stuff off your pizza." Then, he thought it meant "make a pile of cheese on the chair." But he got into the spirit, no doubt, and he greatly enjoyed the finished product.



Emilyn went hardcore on the garlic. Daddy's three, of course, were works of art.

And mine? Straight up. Lots of cheese. On that very same Flintstones plate.

Prodigy 2.0

Our younger kid, just like his big sister did, knows how the world works:

Today we were looking at the ABC's on the wall in his room (above). I said, "See? S is for sun! T is for turtle!" And that bright boy piped right up: "R is for bunny!"

A classic. What a sharp tack. The parallel Emilyn story: When she was a bit older, on a trip to Wal-Mart with Daddy, she saw a nice lady with a duck sticker on her name tag. She chimed: "Look, Daddy. Her name is Duckie!"

The budding shutterbug

Allen got hold of my camera the other day, and he took this stunning photo of the kitchen ceiling! In perfect focus!

(And, see? DropShots has got its photos back to the right size for posting, and you can click again, right on the image, to get back to DropShots and see what else is there. Perfect! Their customer service is really unparalleled.)

Diggin' and swingin'

Given Allen's current obsession with work trucks and dirt, I figured I ought to take him over to the sandbox at the Pointe and let him play around... He really likes digging with his white plastic ice cream scoop. (And hearing him say "scoop" is just fun.)

He enjoyed the swing, and the tunnels, and the bouncy motorcycle too. Maybe next time it's not a furnace outside, we'll go back. No sign of that any time soon!

To see more pictures from the playground, head over to DropShots.

He's naked, filthy and waving a pointy spoon

He's also talking. Check him out here.

Sleepover in progress

Last week, Emilyn asked Sarah over to spend the night. Our first hosted sleepover!

Emilyn was great. Very well behaved. And she had a great time! We hope Sarah did too.

We had McDonald's for dinner, Sonic for dessert and went to Blockbuster for a movie and some snacks! Special treatment all the way around for Emilyn and her guest.

They spent the night downstairs mostly. Which they liked. And we liked! Glad to have a basement! It was a great way to celebrate the end of summer! School starts Aug. 13! (To see the photos full size, and read the captions, click here.)

At Suson Farm

While DropShots gets its act in gear... Here's another fun tool from One True Media: The online slideshow! (The player is too wide for the blog, so you have to click on the link to get there.)


Suson Farm | August 1, 2007

Our computer is home!

So I can finally dump some of those pictures out of my camera! DropShots may be down again for a while, they say, while they get back some of the features we know and love. So, stay tuned!

No move

We got a look at the house on Arbor Spring Court... and it's a very nice house. It's got more room, but it's not that much bigger. Not big enough for the time and expense it would take to move.

It was neat how we all went in drooling. Because the house is very nice. And new. And clean. And airy. But practicality reared its ugly head, and even Emilyn realized she couldn't fit all her stuff in the bedroom that would be hers. And the bedroom that would be Allen's is just as small as his current room, if not a bit smaller. It was tough to tell, because there was a big bed in there. And just room enough after that to walk around the big bed. The room that would be Emilyn's had a computer desk. Fitting her monstrous bed in there would be quite a challenge.

The lower level was amazing. But that's largely because it was brand new, finished just this year. Great lighting. Great carpet. Nice full bath. And empty. But once we filled it up with all our stuff, how empty would it be then?

The garage, situated as it is in front of the kitchen, has to be much smaller. Much less deep. Steve noticed this right away.

The yard was smaller, and not really very impressive. Big deck, but no shade.

So, we're thinking now about what we can do to our own house. Our home. I always think of Steve's grandma and grandpa's house as a model. They've added on to that thing horizontally and vertically. We could do the same! We have big ideas, and now we're all excited about them. And, so, that's the good thing about going to see this house. It's made us want to make our house great.

Learning how to use the new DropShots

Well, it's not easy. Not yet, anyway. But they're working on it. It's really great how they're listening to our concerns. They seem genuinely interested.

The thing I miss most is the "post thumbnails of all photos and videos from this day" feature. I've lodged several "complaints," but haven't heard anything about that yet. I may have to study up on HTML and figure out a way to do it myself.

I have figured out how to make my big photos link back to DropShots. That feature used to be automatic.

Anyway, here's Daddy and Allen, reading Allen's new favorite book... Ask that boy the parts of a bulldozer. He knows them!