Actin' all cheesy - in the pages of the Post

So... thanks to my good friends Norma and Carlos, I got roped into being a "model" this week!

They conceived of a cover for our food section, Let's Eat, that involved two football fans fighting over pizza... They figured a girl going after a guy's pizza would be funny... and they picked me as the most rabid female football fan in the newsroom!

Well, that's probably true. But for this shoot I had to play the role of a crazy Cheesehead Packer fan, and my colleague Rich had to play one of the Steeler faithful, defending his "Roethlis Burger" pizza. Our chief photographer, J.B. Forbes, took about 100 pictures, and of course they settled on the one where I look the most insane -- or probably because the pizza in the shot is most prominently featured. The fact that I look like a nutjob is just a side benefit!

So, here's the finished page, plus the original photo of me and Rich... Rich was such a good sport. He had to deal with my headlock plus the lights plus the hot and cramped helmet! I just had Cheesehead hair and a stained face from the green and yellow makeup.

Click the picture to see me and Rich in all our silliness... If you click the newspaper page, it'll take you to the food section of our website. Don't forget to try our Super Bowl pizza recipes!

What's all this Luxe 365 business, anyway ?

You may have gotten some e-mails asking you to vote in the Luxe 365 poll, to help pick our weekly selection. Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm taking part in a photography project this year, where I have to take a photo a day, every day, based on a weekly theme.

Thanks to everybody who voted so far... Our skipper, Brian, won the Roy G. Biv balloting, with his picture of the girl in the orange gloves. I made the finals again this week, so, head over there and vote -- if you haven't already!

I'm darn proud of all my work these past two weeks, so I wanted to share my photos here on The Crabbe Trap! You can always go to my Luxe 365 DropShots page and see them all. They'll be piling up there all year!

Week 4: Generations

Week 3: Roy G. Biv

Yet another snow day !

It's only Jan. 20, and the kiddos have already had three snow days... More like this, and it'll start cutting into our spring break!

The roads were a mess for me getting home last night, and for Steve getting to and from work this morning... but they were pretty OK by the time I had to head to work this evening. Maybe because lots of people stayed home... The Post-Dispatch has discovered, though, that snow = clicks -- on the website that is. So, why don't you check it out?

For my part, I made sure the Crabbe-lets got their gear on, at least briefly, and got out in the snow for a few pictures. If we didn't, what would be on next year's calendar in the month of January? (Thank you, Norma, for the hand-me-down boots and snow pants!)

Allen sledded for all of five minutes, then consumed three cups of hot chocolate to recover from the experience. Emilyn showed more fortitude -- and bravery -- and tried out snowboarding on her sled. I sledded too, and shoveled, and tried to get everything on camera.

They say it's already the ninth-snowiest January on record in St. Louis, and there's more on the way this weekend!

For more snowy shots, click here.

A photo a day - every day !

My friend Brian, the man behind Luxe Photography, asked for people who might be interested in the Luxe 365 project, where several players would submit a photo a day on a weekly theme, anonymously, then judge each other's work to pick the best representation of the theme.

Well, I jumped in (probably without thinking), and I'm glad I did! It's been fun, only four days in, challenging myself, my creativity and my camera skills in coming up with a shot I feel is worth submitting. Guess who's her own toughest critic?

Our first weekly theme was "Sooo 2010." This week, we're on to "Something New."

I have to say that this anonymous thing is tough for me. I mean, I submit these photos, and I don't even get a chance to explain what makes them cool! LOL

So, to remedy that, I've started a new DropShots page, where I'll upload each day's photo and provide a comment on why I took it and how I think it measures up against the week's theme.

If you need a link, you can always find Luxe 365 and the Luxe 365 DropShots page in the right sidebar of The Crabbe Trap, under "Sites to visit."

A-tisket, a-tasket . . . she made herself a basket !

And at the most-crucial point of the game!

She played the entire second period, and she got her shot when her team was down 16-14. She made the basket and tied the game!

Then, she made a free throw to go ahead 17-16!! She would have won the game for her team if it weren't for a last-minute foul (not committed by Emilyn) and some free throws that won it for St. Charles West, 18-17.

But man, we're proud of those three points. Now she and the other girls know that every basket counts! (The ones you make and the ones you give up!)

Ringing out the old - with a crash and a roar

Well, after 15-plus years of Midwest living, it had to happen eventually. We just didn't expect it to happen on ... New Year's Eve?

We had our closest-ever encounter with tornadoes yesterday. In all, meteorologists estimate, six twisters raked the St. Louis area.

One touched down at the Ballwin Municipal Golf Course, about 2.5 miles north of our house and right next to the Ballwin outdoor pool. Big trees were downed, and many roofs lost their shingles there. A judge's house lost its roof, and the decorative columns on the front of the house fell back and through the windows.

Another twister touched down in Fenton, peeling the copper roof off St. Paul's Church and demolishing the rectory. Emilyn and Allen and I had been in the car headed to two stores right across the street from there when the sirens went off. We turned around and went home. Thankfully. More on that below.

The worst tornado, which forecasters have labeled an F3 (that's winds up to 165 mph), skipped across Lindbergh Boulevard in South County, two miles northwest of where Emilyn played in a basketball game earlier this month.

That's where we headed today. We wanted to take a look and get some pictures of our own.

A mile away, the front window of our favorite Chinese restaurant was splattered with gobs of insulation. Freeeeky.

To see more photos from our Post-Dispatch photographers, click here. To read the amazing stories collected by our reporters, click here. If you click on the related links, you'll see videos, readers' photos, and more.

So, Emilyn and Allen and I were in the car headed to Fenton when we heard the sirens. We turned around and headed home to check the radar. Of course, we knew there was a tornado watch in effect through lunchtime, but the sirens meant a warning for our county.

The radar indicated a "hook echo" -- the signature for a tornado -- headed right for us. We had time to prepare, so I got the kids busy: Outside, we stowed anything that could be picked up in a wind gust. Inside, we closed all the blinds to contain flying glass and moved valuables away from the windows. Then we got our sturdy shoes on and settled in on the couch to watch more local news. All of a sudden, the rain came pelting down, we heard the roof make a popping noise, like it does in a windstorm, and we headed for the basement.

As they got under the stairs with their blanket, I made sure that Emilyn had put Daddy's shoes outside the door of the room where he was sleeping. (I wasn't going to wake him up until we absolutely had to! heeheehee)

Within a minute (it was SO quick!), all the sounds abated. I checked on the kids, and the laptop radar, and headed back upstairs. Aside from a river of runoff flooding the side yard, there was nothing to see. The rain had slackened, and there was hardly any wind.

Whew. We dodged a very nasty, very close storm on the last day of 2010.

Fizzy, Foamy Science

Thanks to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa for sending Allen the Fizzy, Foamy Science kit! It's safe to say that our little lab rat loved it. (A lazy little lab rat. You may notice that he's been wearing the same pajamas for days...)

The reactions mainly involved mixing an acid (citric acid) and a base (baking soda) for fizzy, foamy fun. One cool, volcanic experiment involved red dye tablets and vegetable oil. It was like making our own lava lamp!

We also grew some "yeastie beasties" in a plastic bag and watched them expel carbon dioxide.

For more pictures of our scientist at work, click here.

Steve vs. van: Merry Christmas from Travelers Insurance

Well, it only took a year and three months, plus, but we've finally settled with the insurance company of the guy who hit Steve with his candy van.

So I guess this will be the last entry tagged "Steve vs. van"! Thanks to Mike Sweney, esq., and his staff for getting the whole thing done fairly. At least, we think we were taken care of fairly! We've never done this before!

Steve and his shoulder are getting along fine this year, and so are he and his bike. So grateful this didn't turn out to be nearly as bad as it could have been.

Christmas dreams come true

Ho-ho-ho and Merry-Merry from the Crabbe Trap!

A beautiful Christmas morning after a day full of snow on Christmas Eve. Even Allen was good enough to wait until 8 to bust out of his room and see what Santa brought. Emilyn asked to be woken up early, too, so she could join in on the fun, even though sleeping in is one of her favorite activities!

Well, Santa delivered precisely what Allen had asked for: Giant plush microbes E. coli and the flu. Boris the talking tyrannosaurus. And his friend Ned the brachiosaurus. Boris and Ned have sweet technology that allows them to sense and talk to each other. Coooool! But, oh, those microbes... Allen is in love.

Steve is showing off his Elvis jumpsuit/boot stocking, which lights up and plays "Blue Christmas." Emilyn was happy with all her gift cards, Wii games, a book she was dying to read, new clothes and a snazzy pair of purple earrings.

Thanks to everyone who sent gifts. All are appreciated and are being enjoyed!

I'm dreaming of a . . .

... Well, you know!

And we got a doozy. A full day of snow on Christmas Eve. Steve said it started to snow just as his last plane of the holiday season pulled away. Picture-perfect! And since we had no place to go, as the song says, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Even Allen suited up for a walk through the silent night -- and didn't even spoil it by whining about the cold. (Although he did have sore feet after once around the block.)

More snow for the turkey made for another delicious holiday meal. The rest of the evening went toward making cookies for Santa -- and the inaugural Crabbe family hand-sculpted gingerbread! (Weird, but so tasty when paired with Steve's homemade icing-that-wasn't!) Perhaps we ought to invest in some cookie cutters...


Anyway, eating so much kept Mommy up for much of the night, but I cannot report a firsthand Santa sighting. It's safe to say, though, that the snow and home and hearth made it a very happy holiday for the Crabbe Trap. Hope yours was just as full of joy!

Emilyn's athletic exploits

Allen got a cold that made the rounds and hit Emilyn last, right about the time she was supposed to have two big basketball games. She sat out the first one but felt well enough to try to play the second one, this one at Lindbergh High School in South County.

Allen and I got there just as the game was ending, but Grandma managed to capture a couple of nice action shots, one from warm-ups and one from the game.

Emilyn was tired and sick and worn out, but she did a great job trying. She really does get better every time she takes the court. And I hear she just missed making a basket in this game. Aww! Better luck next time, kiddo.

Emilyn's musical interlude

It was a big week for Emilyn, musically.

On Tuesday, she and the Crescendo Singers performed with the other choirs. Their highlight was a jazzy rendition of "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." Great job! They almost outdid "Car Wash."

On Wednesday, an ice storm cut short the all-school orchestra show. This meant that Daddy got hosed out of hearing "Greensleeves." Bummer!

But the holiday favorites that we did get to hear were really awesome and put us in a great Christmas mood. Grandma and Mommy and Daddy agreed that the Pearl River High School orchestra recitals were never this good! Great job singing and playing, kiddo. You really are a musical star!

Getting a jump on Christmas

Man, I really treasure my vacation in December.

I always try to take a week off just before Christmas, to help offset the extra hours that Steve is working, trying to get all the packages to the good girls and boys.

But really, it's my one chance to get the house exactly the way I want it -- and concentrate on getting everything ready for the holiday.

This year, the first few days of my vacation involved a little more resting and lounging than usual, but the cleaning blitz eventually did occur. All the toys were put away -- to make way for Santa's new ones -- and the Nativity scene and tree went up, followed by the bells, Christmas cards and stockings.

And Allen is, of course, just at the right age to love everything about the holiday. A great run-up to Christmas all around.

Some photos from Emilyn's camp

Emilyn's teachers just got around to sharing some shots from the Explorers' outdoor school in September. You could scroll through hundreds of pictures of kids you don't know... Or you could be grateful that I've done the work for you! heeheehee

These are the best two, but you can see the others that feature Emilyn and the great things she saw, by clicking here.

Boo-been pancakes !

Allen's Sunday-morning wish? Granted! That's because he has the best daddy in the universe.

Hmmm... They were much greener before they were browned. Anyway, whatever the color, they were darn tasty.

Christmas card photo shoot

Wow! The Christmas card photos came out really great this year. Thanks to my beautiful subjects, as always. Allen, in particular, was a very good boy and deserved the sugar mice he got in return for his cooperation. Actually, he deserved a lot better than sugar mice! Ick.

These include some outtakes that didn't make the card but easily could have. For the whole lot, click here.

We had a nice lunch first at the Trailhead brewery, and then watched the Main Street St. Charles Christmas parade... It was very Victorian and really got us all in the spirit of the holiday (even though it was pretty darn warm out!).


We met some nice ladies on the porch of the wine shop who volunteered to take some shots of all four of us... so rare! In return, I took pictures of all four of them -- with all four of their cameras!

A trip to the English Shop for candy (including the aforementioned sugar mice) rounded out a very successful day.


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Thanksgiving snow

We ought to have snow every year... because the turkey came out awesome!

Maybe the cold and wet made the fire burn even more slowly. Who knows?

We had all our usual fixings, and everything tasted great. So much to be thankful for!

All-Orange Lunch Day

Mmmmmmm. Monochromatic!

Many of Allen's favorite foods are orange... so you can imagine how happy he is on All-Orange Lunch Day. Pork chops in red-pepper glaze, carrots with butter and soul food seasoning, and Velveeta shells and cheese. Orange juice makes the perfect pairing!

And, as you can tell by his attire, it was darn warm outside, too!

Getting 'Gross' with my boy

We had the day off school, so Allen and I decided to take in the "Grossology" exhibit at the St. Louis Science Center.

Subtitled "The Impolite Science of the Human Body," the exhibit teaches us about all that great stuff: Farts, burps, snot, scabs, barf... Things that 5-year-old boys love to titter about in abundance. Here Allen is, crawling on skin. The handholds and footholds represent the various blemishes that mar our bodies...

We even walked through a giant nose, and Allen took my picture cozying up to the septum!

Elsewhere in the Science Center, we studied some fossils and checked out a truly amazing mummified baby. Up on the bridge, we checked the speed of the cars going by -- perhaps they were going too fast, because an accident had gummed up traffic for us on the way home!

To see all of the photos from Grossology, etc., click here.

Lunch at Tiger Town

Something you discover in sixth grade: Mommy is not really welcome at school. Certainly not when she's going around calling herself "Mommy." OMG!

So, when you get an invitation... to actually come to school... when there's actual kids around... you know it's a big deal.

All sixth-graders take a rotation of classes that are kind of like the "home ec" and "shop" that we remember. FACS stands for Family and Consumer Sciences. The big finale of the class was making a mock restaurant. They named theirs "Tiger Town." (Mizzou's mascot is the tiger.)

Emilyn was the hostess... She needs to work on her people skills, though, because she hustled me out to wait in the hall! ("We're not open yet!!" Maybe she wouldn't have done that to someone who wasn't her "Mommy." heeheehee)

The menu consisted of pretzel sticks (in three flavors), pizza (cheese or pepperoni) and chocolate-dipped pretzels (white or milk).

Everything was very tasty and very filling. Our water glasses were always promptly filled. They anticipated an overflow crowd, but really didn't get one. So I wish Daddy and Allen could have come along. I brought them a doggie bag of chocolate-dipped pretzels.

For all the shots from my lunch at Tiger Town, click here.

Meet the Crescendo Singers !

What's the worst night for the child of a "news Mommy" to be in a concert?

You guessed it! Election Night! And I was most distressed because I knew I would be sitting around doing basically nothing but waiting for election returns while Emilyn was on stage and knocking 'em dead.

So I hatched a plan, and my very sweet bosses went for it. I came in early and stayed late, but took a 2.5-hour break in between to drive home, watch my girl sing, and drive back. And it was so worth it! Great job, kiddo!