Emilyn in... "Community Connection"!

What a great time we had in tonight's musical! Emilyn was involved in so many different parts of the show, and we got video of all of it. She's asleep now, but maybe tomorrow I'll have her write about how she felt to be doing all those great things on stage. For now, click here to enjoy the show!

Wacky Tacky Day

Yep, Emilyn outdid herself on this Wacky Tacky Day... I like the socks and slippers best. Considering she was pretty sick the night before, I have to hand it to her: She never once said she didn't want to go to school on Friday. That's what a little wacky-tacky fun can do!

At the pumpkin farm

After our stunning success in the leaf pile, I figured the pumpkin farm would be a fall photographer's dream! Well, that turned out to NOT really be the case.

This one is funny! I call it "The Sick and the Reluctant."

Anyway, that's pretty much the tale. Allen wouldn't stay still for pictures, and Emilyn was way too sick and in no mood for posing. Bad nose and eyes day. Cold, or allergies? She's like Daddy, and we just never know anymore.

But, we got some good pictures... Go here to see.

Fun in the leaf pile

Looks like we're not getting any color this year... But brown and crunchy can still be fun!

A vine mystery

While Allen was raking outside, he knocked one of our mystery fruits off the vine. He called it his "little green pumpkin."

We studied its visible properties. We decided it was green, with light green stripes, and smooth, and cool. Then, he wanted to go inside and cut it open. (Have I mentioned lately how much he reminds me of Grampy?)

A funny thing happened: Mommy could NOT hack that thing open! I even tried my cleaver!

Allen had a solution: "You can cut it with a blue foon!" (A talented scientist, but he can't say "spoon," and he doesn't understand pronouns yet.) Trial and error is the heart of good science, but that plastic spoon just didn't cut it. Later on, Daddy applied some manly pressure and got the thing open. It's very white inside and looks a lot like a zucchini or pumpkin. I told Allen we'd pick a bunch and put them in a basket, but Daddy doesn't want us to do that quite yet. He still thinks they'll grow into something interesting.

Sunday at the pool

As a spur-of-the-moment deal, we decided to dash to the pool on Sunday afternoon. Boy, were we surprised to see how much work they did! The whole pool floor is redone, and there was a new play structure. Emilyn and Allen had tons of fun. And since Mommy was ready with the camera, we have another chance to look at Allen, then and now!

NOW: OCTOBER 2007

THEN: JUNE 2006
(Aunt Laurie's favorite picture)

Emilyn's first Brownie campout

On Thursday night, because school was off on Friday, Emilyn and the Brownies had a campout in Katherine's back yard. Emilyn would like to report to all about her first time sleeping outside in a tent:

Emilyn says, "Well, we packed my toothbrush, my clothes, flashlight, a couple books, my chair, a sleeping bag, my new slippers and the little mat that goes under my sleeping bag. When it was time to go, me and Daddy packed everything in the car and went to Katherine's house. When we got there, everyone put their things by the fence and we played on Katherine's playground. Then, about 15 minutes later, we started to get everything set up in our tents. I shared a tent with Katherine, Olivia and Sarah.

"Then, a little bit later, we looked at a paper that was hung up on the wall to see what our jobs were. I was 'dinner prep.' Yay! Olivia and Gabbye were 'dinner prep' also. We washed apples and we took the plates out to the table and we got some chips and hot dogs and we roasted hot dogs on the fire. Then after everybody was finished with their dinner, we sang some songs and we talked about Brownies. By this time, it was dark. So Mrs. Franz gave us numbers, and she called us by our numbers to go brush our teeth. And then Mrs. Guerkink read us a couple of books (but everybody was tired, so nobody listened). So we went to our tents to go to sleep.

"Inside the tent, there was a little curtain that you could change your clothes behind so nobody could peek at you. Mrs. Franz slept behind the curtain. Everybody else slept in the middle. Our tent, I guess, was the loudest. In the next tent, Hannah's little sister Claire was overtired and crying, so we couldn't go to sleep. But, finally, we fell asleep. We heard a lot of crickets and cars (I guess one of them was Maddie's, because she had to go home because she was homesick). It was kind of cool to be sleeping in a tent. But I had bad allergies because of the grass, and a lot of grass was sticking to the tent, because the tent was wet. I also had sore legs. So, I didn't get much sleep that night.

"My tent woke up at 5 in the morning. So, I decided to stick myself under my sleeping bag and read with a flashlight. When all the other tents woke up, we all climbed out and we looked at the sign to see what our morning jobs were. This time, I was 'breakfast prep.' Yay, again!

"We made hot chocolate and took orders for the people that wanted orange juice and fruit punch. Then we all made a card for Grace, because she wasn't there, because her Grandma died, and she was in Texas. And then we ate. We had 'brown bears,' which are biscuits roasted in the fire, and then we put them in a bag with brown sugar and cinnamon and shake it. That was good, except for mine was burnt. But the hot chocolate was good.

"Then I decided to lay on the lounger with my book, when everyone was pretty much doing nothing. And then we practiced our skit, which had Hannah as the main character, the 'banana girl.' The skit was about the uses of bandannas. After we show one use for bandannas, Hannah tries to do it with a banana and says, 'I don't get it!' And then, at the end of the skit, the last use for bandannas is tying it up and carrying food in it. And Hannah peels the banana and says, 'I get it now!' It's a funny skit.

"Then we made 'God's eyes,' which is two popsicle sticks with yarn wrapped around it. By then, the parents were getting there. When I saw Mommy and Allen, I got all my stuff packed up. Allen was playing with Katherine's pumpkins. I was on the swings and didn't want to get off. Then we went home. I was pretty tired. Next time I go on a campout, I should bring leg pain medicine!"

An awesome day, dedicated to my mom

The ladies of my mom's quilt guild held a posthumous showing of her work this past weekend in Delhi, N.Y. My sister did a wonderful job of setting everything up and thanking all the great people for their warm wishes and support. I know Mom would have been tickled at all the attention. Laurie did a great posting on her blog, and you can see it here. Also, click on the photo above to see more of Laurie's pictures.

I also got a nice note from Barb Hill, Mom and Dad's neighbor, that I wanted to share:

Jennie,

Hi to all from Harpersfield. I just wanted you to know I went to the quilt show at the Delaware County Historical Association on Saturday. What a great showing of beautiful quilting work. I was very touched and saddened by your Mom's works of art. The piece you all did was so perfect for the display. I knew Laurie was going to be there today, but couldn't make it as Marylee's parents 55th was today. I was fine looking at your Mom's work until I turned and there was the rooster quilt hung on the wall. Wow, the emotions surfaced. I always loved seeing that quilt on their wall. We miss them so very much - they were always stopping by and we'd chat and laugh. Of all the neighbors we have had over the past 46 years they are the best and most missed. They certainly enriched our lives.
Love your blog.

Barb Hill

I'd say he likes his presents

What do you think, Aunt Amy?

Leaf fight!

Wyatt and Amy came by this morning, to give Allen his birthday presents and play in our leaves, which they insist they don't have in Weldon Spring. I guess our trees are just that much closer to death!

Anyway, we had tons of fun. Wyatt played "Find Emilyn's Shoes in the Leaf Pile." Allen showed off his many, many work trucks. We had orange juice and Nilla Wafers. What could be better than that? To see all the pictures from our visit, click here.

A trip to the Zoo

Boy, going to the Zoo on a Saturday afternoon isn't easy, but it sure is fun!

We decided, almost right off the bat, that paying to park was the way to go. There were a million people in the park. So, we paid $10 and got a fabulous spot right at the south entrance to the Zoo. Which was good, because we really never get to that side of the park. So, we did the River's Edge (rhinos, hippos, elephants) and rode the Zoo train.

We even had a cherry slushie, which balanced out nicely with our IHOP lunch and McDonald's dinner. (Good eating is the first thing that goes out the window when Daddy's gone. That and refusing to pay to park.)

To check out all our photos from our big Zoo trip, click here.

Bulldozer cake!

At last, at last! The day we've been waiting for all week is here! When we went to Dierbergs on Monday, we told Allen we were getting a bulldozer cake. Of course, we weren't picking it up until Friday. So, all week it was "bulldozer cake on Friday. Bulldozer cake on Friday." Well, we picked it up and took it to Mommy's work to share with our friends. Everybody had a good time. To see all of Allen's birthday photos, click here.

BIG birthday digger!

Holy cow, Great Aunt Linda! As Allen would say: "Dassa big digger!"

Needless to say, he loves it. To see more photos of Allen and his digger, plus a video, click here.

Ramping up for Allen's big day

We don't have much planned for tomorrow, really. We're going to give Allen a few of the lingering presents we have... His Magtastiks and nifty red box to keep them in. His work-truck puzzle that makes real sounds when you take out the pieces. I will be taking lots of pictures tomorrow, though... Especially of Allen on Great Aunt Linda's exciting ride-on digger! And then, tomorrow evening, we'll be bringing Allen's bulldozer cake to work to see all my friends (some of whom are retiring). So, stay tuned for Allen's big day!

Oh, yeah! It's ScrapBlog!

Whoever thought of this is a genius! How better to merge all my interests: My kids. Taking pictures of my kids. Blogging about my kids. Scrapping my kids! No pesky paper shavings! And it's free!

Through Facebook, I discovered ScrapBlog. You can actually make scrapbook pages online, then share them with your friends or post them to a blog. (Well, you can't post to a blog yet. But it's coming, they say!)

For now, you can check out my page by clicking here, or by clicking "My ScrapBlog page" on the Sites to Visit list on the left-hand side of the page. I promise there will be more to come!

Marvelous Emilyn

You may remember this picture I took on Curriculum Night... But I didn't get to tell you all about what was inside it! Well, it came home in the backpack on Friday, and here's all you need to know about Marvelous Emilyn:








Stuff about me
Favorite food: Chocolate-vanilla pudding
Favorite color: Cerulean
Favorite animals: Little puppies and little kitties
Favorite game: Hide and seek
Favorite place to visit: Suson Farm (I like to see Cisco the horse)
Best school subject: Math
Favorite book: "A Drop Around the World"
Favorite movie: "The Simpsons Movie"

If...
If I were the teacher I would: Set out a bunch of supplies and let the class do projects.
If I could make a wish for the world, it would be: For there to be more books.
If I could call the president, I would say: Invent a money tree.
If I could be any person in the world, I would be: A teacher.
If I could be an animal, I'd be: A dog. Because they can do things people can't.

Three wishes
If I could have any three wishes come true, I would wish:
1. A raise in my allowance
2. I wish I could eat lunch at Ruby Tuesday every day.
3. School started later in the morning.

Allen's second year

It's time for another month-by-month look at how Allen's changed... Certainly not as much as last year! Here are the photos I picked out of the best from each month... Enjoy!

"Mommy pitty!"

I put on a dress today for work, as a lark. I walked into the kitchen, and Allen chirped: "Mommy pitty!" I went all atwitter. "Thank you, buddy!" I shouted. A man around the house who compliments me! I could get used to this.

Tour de Missouri

OK, it's not France. No smelly cheese. No rude people.

It's the Tour of Missouri! We had a weeklong bike race, with real professional riders. Many who have ridden in the Tour de France. The race wrapped up here in town. The famous George Hincapie, of Team Discovery, was the overall winner. Whoo-hoo! What great compensation for tiring out the field for Lance Armstrong for 10 years!

Ah, well. He did get kisses from fancy ladies. And in France, they don't have frozen custard and t-ravs.

Allen had a great time, because there were lots of things with wheels. For more photos and some video, click here.

Feels like fall

We spent this morning at the playground at Ferris Park... It's a nice, little, Allen-sized one that's a bit off the beaten path. Emilyn likes the swings, and Allen feels comfortable enough to climb all over -- and try out the many different slides!


If you'd like to see more, head over to DropShots by clicking here. And please, feel free to comment on anything and everything! We miss hearing from you!