Some very dear people to us.
Here's Your Sign
We have a small problem with whining in our household right now. I must admit that sometimes it is my own, but mostly...well, I won't mention any names. But, Mike made "her" a sign. Don't misunderstand. We don't tape it too her and make her walk around with it or anything. But as situations necessitate we simply ask her, "What does the sign say?" "NO FUSSIN'!" she says and it usually brings a smile. Thank you, Daddy!
And now it has become part of our Christmas decorations.
And now it has become part of our Christmas decorations.
The McBrides Cut One
A story in pictures. Stay tuned for sequals.(P.S. Dear Brother, should you feel the need to comment on my hat, go ahead. Just remember I have seen you in black dress socks and shiney, silver basketball shorts doing the Roger Rabbit on the back porch. Smooches, Bev)
If you see this man...
Rather, if you see the man who owns this car do not call the Fuzz...he is not a robber, he is our neighbor...Mike didn't know that. Ironically, Mike was replacing the locks on our front door at the time of the "incident." We've learned that the holidays in our neighborhood usually come with an increase of yuletide theivery. Our good friends a few doors down had a break in last Saturday and we've had some activity on our own property lately (and this time last year - it really is associated with the holidays it seems). Anyway, this guy comes peering out from our side yard the other day and behaves just vaguely enough to raise Mike's suspicion. Now if he had come peering out backwards - i.e. from the waiste down - we might have recognized him. He is quite frequently under the hood of his car parked in front of our house. As it was, though, he did not...and...well, we called the Fuzz. The good news is the police arrived in record time - so we live with a bit more ease these days. And there are no hard feelings with our new neighbor whose name and face we now know.
First time on skates! Skis next?
She did surprisingly well and seemed to enjoy it. You can't see the skates in the second picture, but the dreamy look is kind of cool. That is how it feels to be hunched over in that position for what seems like a mile long, very slow trek around the rink - dreamy. We were at Forest Park, by the way. At the...uh...I forgot the name of the rink. Something burg or brink. It was free to skate because they were celebrating an anniversary. You only had to pay 2 bucks to rent your skates. Usually that is in addition to a $6 admission fee which I think is rather pricey. Check out the Pollack's blog for their pictures (pressure on Karl to post).Today
No coat, no mittens, no hat! It was 70+ degrees today! We stayed outside until the dark chased us in - it was great. I think Olivia must have come with an extra slick bum - she flies down these slides. She flipped all the way around and conked her head on a slide at the Botanical Garden this summer. You put her in one of those tunnel slides - upright and on her bum - she comes out head first on her belly!?
Proof that Joseph came too. It started to cool off a bit once the sun set - hence the quilt.
Proof that Joseph came too. It started to cool off a bit once the sun set - hence the quilt.
The Same but Different
Same age, same cheeks (I think they get those from Mike.), different season, different kid.
Who Dunnit?
I am sad to say that my first attempt at gingerbread cookies looks a little more like body tracings at a crime scene.
Another crime scene...
Another crime scene...
Saving Fall
Our beautiful park...and this is after a strong overnight wind blew most of the leaves off the trees. I am dreading the morning when I wake up and they are all gone.
This is one time when I am glad our camera is stinky with the red eye. Can you see the squirrel peeking out of the hole in the tree?
This is one time when I am glad our camera is stinky with the red eye. Can you see the squirrel peeking out of the hole in the tree? In case you wondered
2 green tomatoes - the last before the garden was uprooted
a gumball
a few leaves
lots of rocks - these are only a fraction of what has been collected over the summer and fall
(once live) zinnias - the last basketful we picked before they all croaked
a piggy for Olivia
a piggy for Mommy
(this is kind of like an "I Spy" picture - see if you can find all the objects listed)
a couple acorns from Shaw Nature Reserve - should we have left them there???
a few acorn "hats"
other dead stuff I no longer recognize
Pocketses
Olivia's newest discovery is her pockets...and since she has had a cold for a week what better time to teach her to carry her own kleenex. She was very distressed last night when she discovered that her pajamas did not have pockets - and she had measuring spoons that were in desperate need of a pocket. The next best thing...just stick them down your pants!
Shaw Nature Reserve
Henry Shaw owned the land that our house was built on in 1905. He is also responsible for the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park, both blocks from our home. The Nature Reserve is land that he obtained for preservation reasons. It is full of praries, wetlands, wild flowers, ponds, creeks, and lots of birds and wildlife. We've seen snakes and deer and a pileated woodpecker (Karen will correct my spelling I'm sure.). It is beautiful all times of the year. One of the very first pictures we posted on the blog of Olivia in the middle of the daffodils was taken here last April. Thousands of them fill the fields every spring.
I took about six pictures of Mike in front of this same hill - all no good. And while I may look like I am storing nuts in my cheeks for the winter, his picture was great. He says that a picture can be like a sermon - when you try to focus on too much, you don't really notice the real subject. It can only be about one main thing. (He can correct my rough paraphrase, but I think you get the point.) How is it that all that dead stuff can still be so beautiful?
Oooo...couldn't you just love him up!
I took about six pictures of Mike in front of this same hill - all no good. And while I may look like I am storing nuts in my cheeks for the winter, his picture was great. He says that a picture can be like a sermon - when you try to focus on too much, you don't really notice the real subject. It can only be about one main thing. (He can correct my rough paraphrase, but I think you get the point.) How is it that all that dead stuff can still be so beautiful?
Oooo...couldn't you just love him up!
Joseph's first big test
This is our friend Sage, or "Serge" as Olivia calls her. (She is in the habit of adding r's to words these days. "fiRsh" and "samiRch" - that last one is sandwich. By she I mean Olivia, not Sage.) Anyway, she had to do an evaluation of a baby for a class at school. She is studying to be an elementary school teacher. (And by she I mean Serge this time.)I don't know if Joe passed or not, but it was fun having Sage over. She rode her "bye-ceecle" which Olivia thought was very cool.
Birthday Confusion
Somehow Olivia ended up on the bench with the birthday girl (her friend from church, Huntleigh). I don't think she ever figured who everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to. But that's all right because Huntleigh sang Happy Birthday to everyone else there the whole time anyway. She was a very generous birthday girl.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)