Another great Christmas

The weather certainly cooperated, and Daddy was home at a reasonable time on Christmas Eve. So there was plenty of time for a nap, and then a yummy turkey dinner. Daddy and Allen worked on a gingerbread house with runny but yummy boo-been icing, and we all made cookies for Santa.

Mommy spent her calorie budget on warm sugar cookies from the oven. Mmmmmm. Some of them eventually made it on to Santa's plate.

The kiddos got to open one present each... Allen picked a Beyblade, and Emilyn got rainbow shoelaces that promise to stay tied.

On Christmas morning, Allen ripped into his Beyblade bounty, and there was much spinning. Emilyn got Mario Kart for the Wii, a pair of super comfy pajamas and two funny books on the foibles of texting. She also got (from Daddy) two tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters! They're going Jan. 6! Whoooo!

Daddy got an excellent neon yellow cycling jacket that will make him so very visible to passing trucks. He also got a book written by the Stig from "Top Gear," his favorite show.

I got a fluffy new bath mat from my girl!! And a Total Pillow from my boy. And Steve got me a set of sheets, with the promise of an excellent SelectComfort sleep number bed to follow! WOW! Now I've just got to clean my bedroom to make room for it...

Merry Christmas, everyone. Thanks for all the cards and gifts. They are truly appreciated.

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree

... How tall and skinny and lopsided you are. But beautiful!

We were almost ready to go back to Ted Drewes to get a Dottie tree, and I was fighting that migraine... But then we found this lean beauty down on Manchester Road, at a price that wasn't astronomical. It's so skinny and fits SO well in the corner... I want to prune all our trees down to this shape!

But it does have a fatal flaw... bad center of gravity. It's the first time a Crabbe tree has ever fallen over. Scared the crap out of all of us, but surprisingly little damage was done! A couple of books under the tree stand to tip it backward did the trick.

An old-timey Christmas in St. Charles

The annual fest in St. Charles got off to a controversial start this year, because the town fired the beloved Sugar Plum Fairy -- for saying a bad word that wasn't "sugar." And NOT while she was on the job as Fairy, either. On her own time! Well, I say &*$% that! heeheehee

Anyway, it's still a fun parade to see... and it was plenty warm, so we went to check it out (though I suspect most of the Crabbes just wanted to go to The English Shop for funky British candies. I made just one rule: No more Sugar Mice! Blech!).

Jack Frost and his lady friend sure weren't doing much of a job... It was balmy and near 60 when we went. I was fighting a headache, and we had to go get a Christmas tree, so we didn't stay very long... but we got some good shots of the Santas from around the world! Steve says he wants to be a Czech Santa next year... For the rest of our pictures, click here.

The Crabbes get rockin' jolly

Oh, what a great holiday run-up vacation it's been for Mommy!

We went to hear the Gateway Ringers at a church in Webster Groves. We listened to all the beautiful singers at Emilyn's choir concert... Grandma was here, spinning anything that could be spun with Allen, and she watched the kiddos while Daddy and I got to go actually out on an actual Saturday night with our friends Hania and Raul... to Bailey's Chocolate Bar! My new favorite place! (Helpful that Hania and Raul are moving right down the street from it! heeheehee)

And there was much shopping, wrapping, decorating... But it all culminated in our trip to Scottrade for the afternoon show of Trans Siberian Orchestra. Suffice it to say, our merry minds were totally blown!

At first blush, as we snacked on spiced nuts and watched the crowd build, it seemed that our seats were pretty far from the action. They were carefully picked, though, by me, so that we had a dead-center view of the stage and were far enough away so that Allen wouldn't be overwhelmed by the noise and action. As the show started, this proved to be pretty wise... It was kind of like watching a giant movie, where the players on the stage weren't nearly as important as getting the full experience of the amazing light, video and pyrotechnics show. It's utterly indescribable. (This grainy video and hitchy sound really doesn't do it justice.) You simply have to see it!



I'm so glad everybody had a great time... I think a new family holiday tradition may have been born! As long as we bring the ear protection and prepare to be blown away! Ho ho ho!

It's bee time again !

After Emilyn's spelling bee triumph, she made it again to class champ, this time for the Geography Bee. We hustled off to school again to hear lots of nifty questions about geography, land forms, capitals... you name it! Some were plenty hard even for trivia buffs Mommy and Daddy!

Emilyn made it through seven preliminary rounds, missing only two questions, but she didn't quite make the finals. But she got another great medal for winning her class bee! And she had the biggest cheering section! A bunch of her friends showed up to lend their support! I was so proud of them... and her! (And Emilyn is really enjoying social studies this year. That's a win in my book!)

Now it can be told - Christmas card 2011

I don't like to share our Christmas card photos online until I'm sure everyone has received their Christmas card... I sent out nearly 60 (!) this year. I'm pretty sure that's a record. The list keeps growing because so many of my friends and colleagues are leaving the paper and heading off for other opportunities. So, sadly, I expect the list will only grow.

Weather on our potential shoot days was iffy at best... and we weren't sure where we were going to go for our backdrop this year. Last year's card at St. Charles was really a hard one to beat. But we got a nice, warm day and a few minutes to throw it all together -- let's try the porch! Coordinated outfits, as usual, started with Allen... then all of us had to find something to match. I must say, I think they turned out really amazing.

Merry Christmas, everyone! And happy 2012!

Play date with Nate !

Well, we're about three months into kindergarten, and it's becoming clear that we're very lucky to have Nate in our class. Nate and Allen are both excellent readers, so they're in a reading group together, and they get the chance to do many exciting projects that the other kindergartners aren't quite ready for -- even PowerPoint presentations on the Five Senses! Plus, Nate takes Mad Science class on Wednesdays too! And now we find out that Nate lives right down the street! Well, a play date just had to follow.

So, Sunday, I took the boys to McDonald's for nuggets -- where they spent the whole time reading the TV that was tuned to CNN -- to Ferris Park to play and then home, where they built a fort in the leaves with chairs and an old tablecloth. They also spent time digging and playing HexBugs. When we walked Nate home, Allen spent at least 20 minutes trying out Nate's BeyBlades! They shared and played very nicely, two peas in a pod. I hope it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

A fun Halloween, but we missed Emilyn

We were blessed with truly nice weather this year, thank goodness. I started out the morning working on my STL logo jack-o'-lantern -- complete with a blueprint from the Internet (always check the Web first!). My first try looked promising -- until I dropped it in the driveway and it split in half! Boooo! Luckily Steve had prepared a spare (just because he wanted his beloved seeds). I think it came out pretty good. The flimsiest piece was shifting as the candle burned, resulting in a pretty crooked T, but Steve said people commented on it and even took pictures! So, that was really great. I told him to give those kind folks extra candy!

Our other pumpkins featured a design by Allen that was executed by Steve (left) -- AND one that was all Allen this year (right)! Yay for battery-powered pumpkin saws!


It was soon dark and time to trick-or-treat. Emilyn went off with her friends Sarah and CeCe in the neighborhood around Sarah's house. I hear they had a great time! Allen and I went around the block -- and ran into Nate's mom at her house! It's great to find out that Nate lives just down the street. Tyler even stopped in to trick-or-treat at our house! He lives a little further down, behind Nate. Good to have such great kindergarten pals so close by!

Your world champion St. Louis Cardinals !

Same thing happened in 2006... The team played so badly late in the season that I quit caring. Both resulted in a world championship! This time, the boys were helped along by Emilyn's choir singing at the game Sept. 7. It was a win over the rival Milwaukee Brewers and the start of a late season surge (coupled with an Atlanta collapse) that vaulted the Cards into the wild card berth. The rest, as they say, is history. A stunning postseason run and thrilling victories in Game 6 and Game 7 made this a season worth celebrating! And Ballwinner David Freese is a household name! (Or he was for a week or so...) For great photos from the celebration on the field, click here.

The kids even got excited watching the World Series, so Mommy decided that it wasn't insane for the three of us to ride the train downtown (four hours early) and get a great spot to watch Sunday's victory parade.

For the most part, yeah, it was pretty easy. Easy train ride, easy to find a spot on the rail to watch... It was drizzly, though, and chilly, and the multi-hour wait wasn't fun. But the kiddos performed admirably -- fortified with snacks and drinks and iPod -- and then the parade finally got rolling!




The procession was led -- of course! -- by the beautiful Budweiser Clydesdales... I was trying to hard to get a good shot of the horses that I failed to notice who was riding on the wagon... Tony La Russa! Each player came by in a red or white Chevy pickup. I got the best shots of David Freese, Allen Craig, Chris Carpenter... Too many to show them all here! Click the link at the bottom of the post to scroll through them all.

Because we had gotten there so early and had stuck by our spot on the rail, I don't think we really understood just how many people had filled downtown while we waited for the parade to get started. Well, we did after the parade, when we tried to get back on the train and head west! HUGE line, long wait, horrible. So, we stopped in Union Station, picked up a LOT of fudge, jumped the line to head eastbound and ended up hopping on a Shrewsbury train anyway. Whew. The kids were SO good, and it truly was a day to remember.

For all our shots from the parade (and captions to let you know who everyone is), click here.

Allen's fall party

A whole new round of fun Sorrento events starts with Allen's kindergarten fall party!

I helped out in Mrs. Kelley's room, which was designated the snack area. The classes rotated through the three rooms for snack, a game, and a craft project. The snack was make-your-own pies, with individual shells and lots of choices for fillings. The friends all lined up very nicely. Allen chose cherry!

(I have to note here that Mrs. Pecher's class were the best cleaner-uppers.)

Then the class moved on to Mrs. Lupo's room for a little fall bingo. Biggest challenge -- Don't eat the candy corn markers! Allen says he won a game and got a temporary tattoo for a prize.


Next, it was on to Mrs. Pecher's room for a little collage-making. Allen mixed some real with some fake foliage. Came out beautiful!


I think he had a fun fall party. I know I did!

For all the photos, click here.

Emilyn's spelling bee triumph !

Sorta makes this professional speller (and multiple bee washout) just glow with pride!

Emilyn bested everyone in her Communication Arts class to qualify for the all-school spelling bee. Wouldn't you know it'd be right in the middle of my day shift, but I made a deal to leave work two hours early, then come back at night to finish up. I couldn't miss this!

The field started out pretty big, with about 30 kids in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. They started to fall out quickly, though, even in the first round -- where a certain 6-year-old in the crowd could be heard saying "Yep" every time a correct word was spelled!

Our girl rolled through "journal," "monitor," "height," "monotony," "protocol" and "treacherous" while friends and classmates dropped out around her.

The field was whittled down to seven, then four (at which point I could almost hear her thinking: "Oh, crap, I might actually win this thing!"), then two... and the battle between Emilyn and Aman began. They both missed "sarcophagus," but Aman correctly spelled "allegiance" after Emilyn tripped up, and the sixth-grader was crowned the winner. But what an amazing effort by my sweety!

And what amazing hardware! The medal is for winning her class bee, the trophy for second place in the whole school!

For videos of Emilyn spelling all the words in the bee, click here.

Allen's art gallery

I miss Emilyn's participation in school art shows, but luckily our kindergartner is starting a whole new run of pretty pictures and amazing imagination.

And just in time, Parkway's website has started an online gallery of kids' artwork! Click here to see Allen's self-portrait!

When Grandma was here, she took a few snapshots of Allen's other work, on display in the halls at school. Monet's Water Lilies is showing at the Art Museum here, so the kids got some inspiration from that... I think we might just have to visit that exhibition this winter.

I haven't yet asked Allen what's up with the black leaf... But I know he really is paying attention this year to the beauty of fall! Stay tuned for more of Allen's art!

You're 13, you're beautiful - and you're mine !

My teen girl had a pretty awesome birthday, even though it involved a full day of school first... Her friends dolled up her locker, and she spent much of the day singing for the kids in the cafeteria during the three lunch shifts -- missing a bunch of classes in the process... Way to celebrate! ;)

When school and choir were over, we picked her up and took her for a special birthday dinner at Candicci's, because she has specifically requested canneloni. Mmmm. Then, it was home for cupcakes and PRESENTS!

She got various sparkly things for her hair, some warm and snuggly shirts, a hoodie (also warm and snuggly) and the big-ticket item: An iPod dock that plays the radio and CDs and has a remote. Whee! She and Daddy spent the next hour or so just playing with it. She got the "Twilight" series of books from Grandma.

Thanks to everyone who sent greetings and gifts! For more photos from Emilyn's 13th birthday, click here.

Trick or Trunk - Allen style

Boy, we missed Trick or Trunk last year when no one was a student at Sorrento!

But now we are back all over again, this time with Allen as the schooler. And that means Emilyn gets a chance for more candy, too!

This time, a bonus... the Hartmans were here! So everybody got in on the act. We dug out last year's costumes, because both kids said they wanted to repeat... And they look SO darn cute, and still fit! And we tarted up our trunk (center)... but there was no way we were going to beat this kind of competition (right)! Whoo, scary stuff. I think we must be into a new generation of parents! heeheehee

After the festivities came Czech Fest, and then I had to go to work, but the rest of the crew crisscrossed the St. Louis area, with Steve in search of another mileage milestone for the Taurus... 234,567. Captured in a photo a few miles north of our house! The gang went to the pumpkin farm and over to Super Smokers for ribs and -- fried pies!? I really have to check that out!


And even though Allen was grouchy, I think we got a pretty good picture for our annual "Under the Bush" shot. Isn't it amazing how big everyone is getting?


This was 2006:

Emilyn's orthodontic update

Emilyn went in for her first adjustment appointment today... Really quick! They just changed her rubber bands and snipped off a bit of wire. You can really see that her teeth are straighter! It's amazing!

She changed colors this time around, and opted for pink and boobeen. Super smile!


And, because she got a good report on her brushing and wore her "West County Orthodontics" T-shirt, she got to put two tickets in for the drawing for the mall gift certificate! Whoohoo!

Yum in a bottle !

As you'll recall, Allen got a homemade root beer kit for his birthday... When Daddy and I read about it in a catalog, we knew it was the perfect gift. This boy loves his root beer, and he loves chemistry... What better than an experiment you can drink!?

So, he and Daddy got to brewin'. Mix up a little yeast and a whole LOT of sugar, cap, ferment for two days in the dark and let those yeastie beasties do their thing. The result? A fizzy treat that tastes a lot like a root beer flavored lollipop and a little bit like black licorice! Yum!

We've had two of the four bottles so far. They seem to be holding their fizz very well. Not to mention the "trivial amount" of alcohol! Whoohoo! (No, seriously, we detect no alcohol taste or smell. I think when they say "trivial," they mean it.) Somebody just might get a refill kit for Christmas!

Allen's first field trip - to the pumpkin farm !

Ah, I remember Emilyn's kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin farm. It was so muddy. And cold. And I was soooo sick... I remember clinging to my travel mug of tea...

But the weather and my health are much better now, and Allen and his friends had a great time at Thies!

We got started in the classroom at around 9... We found out Mrs. Kelley had paired us with Allen's friends Shehryaar and Marisa. Good kids to pal around with for the day! All three kindergarten classes piled aboard one bus (Allen's first real ride on a school bus), and we parents hopped in our cars and headed to the pumpkin farm.

After the bus rolled in, we all headed for a quick wagon ride, and then assembled on the straw pyramid for some group photos. Boy, this was asking a lot of those kindergartners, to hold off on the playing, but they were painfully good!


At last, it was time to play. My three guys were all good about picking one thing at a time and sticking where I could keep an eye on them! They really liked the straw maze, the straw pit and the slide with burlap sacks! (Did I mention how badly I wanted a shower when I was done? Itchy and dry!)


After a good long while of playing, we piled back into bus and cars for a Keystone Kops tour of Creve Coeur Lake park... (The place where we were supposed to have lunch was -- surprise -- in the middle of hosting a company picnic!) But, we found our spot, ate our lunches and headed over for more playing, on a playground.

I don't know about the kindergartners, but I sure was exhausted.

To see all the photos from Allen's field trip, click here.

Catching up

We've been settling into a bunch of new routines around here. Allen is going to school all day, every day. Emilyn is going to school later, and I'm driving them both. Plus, I'm working day shifts on Thursdays so I can be home one more night a week. I think we're getting used to things pretty well. Until Parkway throws another wrench in it all by changing the start times of all the schools, mid-year!

But in between the daily grind, September was full of some fun stuff, so I hope you'll catch up with us by reading the posts below. Enjoy!

Allen is 6 !

My big kindergarten boy has turned 6 years old!

Wow, it's so very hard to believe. But he is getting really big, and the Big 6 is a big deal around here!

The day started out with him hunting around for his presents at 6:45 a.m. "This is not Christmas," Mommy said. "You have to wait until later to open your presents!"

So, off to school he went, where a really awesome birthday hat was waiting. He put it on and headed down to the school office where -- this is new! -- the birthday kids get to read the video announcements! Here is, reading the weather. AMAZING reading, buddy! (Sorry the sound's not great.)

A little while later, I came back to school with ice cream cups to share with all his friends. These days, your individually wrapped, peanut-free birthday treats may be consumed only in the lunch room... Sheesh. So I stayed for lunch! And that was fun!


(It eased my mind in so many ways to see Allen behaving like a real "schooler" -- asking for help from teachers when he needed it, talking and goofing around with his friends. Whew! That's a load off!)

After lunch, we went back to class, and I read "The Big Orange Splot" -- which was my favorite book when I was 5 and 6! The kiddos always get a huge kick out of picturing us big people as kids like them. Thanks, Mrs. Kelley's class, for being such good friends and listeners!


When school was over, Grandma got on Skype and the present-opening could begin in earnest. Allen got some amazing things: A T-shirt with the Swedish flag; a root beer making kit; a secret formula science kit; an inflatable remote control shark blimp, and more!


Then it was off to Burger King and Orange Leaf frozen yogurt, both as requested by the birthday boy. A great day for our big 6-year-old! We love you, Joe Schmoe!