Monday, June 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Gabe!



I made an edible bouquet to celebrate Gabe's day. I'm thinking of making something like this for the Sniderman reunion coming up. It has been a long yet pleasent day of cooking and cleaning for our big dinner event. The only stressful part was forgetting some essentials at the grocery store on the second visit and having to return for a third time. There's a reason the clerks all know Emory well!












We had a really nice dinner on the deck. There were grilled tofu kabobs, salad, roasted vegetables, and a sugar snap salad with lemon mint vinagrette. The recipies were thanks to the Vegetarian Times, but most of the help for the night was thanks to Aimee! Shanti and Gabe's friend Carl was visiting so it was a special night.




The smaller guests contributed more to the mayhem than the preparation.
























Shanti and Gabe visited the bus that was given to us by Robbie and Ann! Thank you so much, we are already making plans!














Some people visiting the bus did not wear formal attire.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Aspen Adventure

We decided to visit Aspen for the weekend as a way to celebrate Gabe's birthday. (He will be 31 tomorrow.) Brandon and I went in together to buy Gabe a Tom Tom navigator and we used it to travel a distance that should have been 3.5 hours away. Of course first the tires on the car started to UNWIND! So after buying four new tires and getting the alighnement fixed we got under way! Only to realize suddenly that we had forgotted the camara. Gabe was devastated. We reached Aspen aroun 6 PM, settled into the swank hotel and Gabe went to get pizza while Emory had a bath. Gabe also picked up a disposable camara so we do have pictures to share.

First of all...It's called Aspen for a reason.















We decided to visit the famous Maroon Bells for a hike. The day was perfect for a hike. The sky was a deep blue, the wildflowers were blooming in profusion everywhere, and the air smelled like sunshine.


















Emory was anxious to run and didn't want to be held.





















He immediately ran into a puddle, and then another, and then, another.


















Sometimes the path was serene and sometimes it was a raging torrent!






















Emory loved the hike and spent a lot of time running back and forth. I must confess he also loved throwing rocks. I made one of those parenting decisions that I might regret soon. I said to myself, "I can have a horrible day today and end up with a screaming child all the way home or I can find a compromise." Emory and I decided that he could throw rocks in the water, but NOT at mom, NOT at dad, and aboslutely NOT NOT NOT at fellow hikers. After a couple of redirections this compromise worked for all of us.









Half way up we stopped for some peaches. For future reference, peaches, though a wonderful pick-me-up are Very Very sticky. Soon the child that ate them is sticky and so are the parents he hugs.






Gabe made Emory a little hiking stick. I don't know if you can see it in the pictures but he is beating the plants with it. The stick was taken away shortly after.













On the way back, we stopped beside a beaver house to have a cereal bar. At this point, Emory has walked about a mile and through lots and lots of puddles. I'm actually just as filthy. Gabe managed to come out of the hike fairly clean. As a side note, Emory can say and sign "Cereal bar" he even does them both at the same time. The language development is facinating. Sometimes he'll just pop out with a phrase that he's put together on his own.











At the very end of the hike Emory said, "Carry me." So he finished the hike riding in style. Gabe had carried the backpack for the whole hike just for that last quater mile!











Back in the car, a very tired, sticky, dirty, happy boy enjoyed a sandwich and some water out of the camel pack. Gabe and I drove around for a couple of hours so Emory could nap and then it was back to the hotel for baths and some swimming in the hotel pool. What a wonderful magical trip.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Ebee


Thidwick the Moose, the birthday moose, Emory, Gabe and Andrea wish DR. ELIZABETH the bestest, most fantabulous birthday ever. I can't wait to celebrate with you in person!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Cleaning


The trick to cleaning with Emory is that I have to clean faster than he messes it up. Otherwise, well what's the purpose? I used to handle this by sitting Emory in front of 30 min of Baby video in the morning. But, my father has totally freaked me out about TV watching so I've gotten Gabe to get rid of the upstairs TV and put in an Ipod station. I'm sure this is very good for Emory's language and music development, but now I have the cleaning issue. Where does good hygine fall in importance level for toddler development? This morning I spent a half an hour cleaning the kitchen while Emory was SUPPOSED to be playing with trucks. What was he doing?????? Not playing with trucks.



So I stopped working the kitchen and came to the dining room to clean up the tea. In the meantime, Emory went into the kitchen and dumped an entire box of BAKING SODA on the floor. It was at that point that I decided it would be better to go for a walk. The house wouldn't be any cleaner....but it wouldn't be any worse either.

I really think this is ALL my father's fault and it is up to him to get me a cleaner. (Are you reading this Dad?)

Just for Ursi







My good friend Ursi, (see ursi's blog) is having a baby boy soon. Her daughter Elena will be about the same age Shilah was when Emory was born. Ursi told me that she loves the pictures of Shilah and Emory having fun together as it helps her imagine the future. So...just for you Ursi...here are a couple more.

Elizabeth's grand tour


My Friend, DR. ELIZABETH is on a country wide adventure starting in Alaska. Her blog of her travels is truly amazing and beautiful, so if you ever wanted to take a real or virtual trip to Alaska, check out her trip. Many of the Pless People readers are already reading Voyage of the Bloomingtonauts....but if you're not just go to the links and click "Ebee's Blog"

Free to be you and me

Emory and I are very excited about free to be you and me. So get ready for some musical posts.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Live it up while you can Shilah

Emory has the best time playing with his cousin Shilah, and here they race down the hill. Maybe by this time next year Emory will be a little closer to catching her.

Happy Fathers day!






I had a great fathers day! Andrea had an amazing spread waiting for me when I got up. I got a card from Andrea, and one from Emory (which was signed) and I got some great gifts from my family...very thoughtful and heart felt! It meant a lot to me. We met Shanti, Aimee, Shilah and Serena up in Conifer at Reynolds Park for a picnic lunch. It is a great park with picnic tables near a stream and some great places for the kids to play. It was a lot of fun, and Emory had a blast playing in the water and woods.

Corn on the Cob



Tonight for dinner, Emory had his first piece of corn on the cob. He loved it! He would not even let us cook it at first.

The Deck Is Done!




We want to thank Brandon for doing an amazing job on our new deck! It is now completely done; final inspection and everything. We love it so much, and spend lots of time on it. We miss having Brandon staying with us, kind of like part of the family is missing with him gone. Emory misses him very much, walking around say "B B" as that is what he called him. Thank you Brandon for an amazing job!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Birthday Katy!


I would make you this cake and mail it to you in honor of your 34th spectaular birthday....but I don't think it would make it.
Happy birthday my friend! I wish we could celebrate together like we used to!
Love andy

Sunday, June 08, 2008

unbelivable!

Gabe likes to get coffee on the weekends at Peaberry's. Even though the coffee shop is only 2 blocks away, the process of getting coffee sometimes takes over an hour. Why? Well, the reason is that Gabe also likes to drive around (aimlessly). I have always teased him about this and tried to get him to hurry up. But no longer!

Saturday while Gabe was driving around the neighborhood he passed a car with an interesting sticker on it...He said to himself, "Hey cool sticker...Wait a minute! THAT'S MY TRUCK!"

Yes, as completely unbeliable as it sounds, Gabe found our truck less than a mile away. When the police came they first asked Gabe if he wanted a job and then they questioned the neighbors. Apparently the truck had been abandoned there 4 weeks ago. It was undamanged and even had all of all stuff still in it.

I am so excited that we don't have to buy a new car in August. I have learned three important things.

1, I should be more careful locking the truck, even if it is a POS.
2. It is totally OK if getting coffee takes an inordinately long time.
3. Thunder Cat and Transformer stickers are essential decorations for cars.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

My aristocratic title

I bow to the ever so cool peer pressure of Katy and Nola and decide to get my aristocratic title too!


My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Most Noble Lady Andrea the Kind of Lardle Midhoop
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title


Sadly the rest of my household is untitled. I guess Emory and Gabe are my servants. HE HE HE HE HE HE HE.

Tomorrow I shall wear my tiara to celebrate.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wind




A continuation video in the wind series by Ebee and Ginny. Here is the wind moving my new wooden wind chime as the evening storm roles in. Peace.

To see the other videos

http://bloomingtonautica.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-has-seen-wind.html

http://temporarylibrarian.blogspot.com/2008/05/another-episode-in-lives-of-easily.html

Enriching the World





Congratulations to my Brilliant friend Elizabeth who just finished defending her dissertation in the classics on nymphs. (The classical ones and not the biological one pictured.)

What a remarkable achievement Ebee. We are all so proud of you. Come out soon so you can be the toast of my community!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Stairs!



Today a very scary thing happened. Emory and I were going for a ride in our new bike stroller. I have decided to NOT have a car for the summer. This will increase my financial and physical health at the same time. We love to tool around in the bike trailor and can go many places. Today, however, we couldn't go anywhere because I had a flat tire. This would be the third flat tire. Because of my new proficiency at changing flat tires I decided not to cancel the ride bit just go inside and fix the flat. Emory was happy to go in and play with the stroller in the foyer. While I was fixing the tire, which took longer than I thought, I looked up from a particularly absorbing part to see Emory and the stroller going OFF THE STAIRS. Emory managed to wind up on the floor on his back under the stroller (see Gabe's reenactment) I leaped down the stairs and grabbed him up before he could cry. He had the wind knocked out of him and a bloody mouth. Brandon drove us to the pediatrician and they thought Emory was OK, though he has a forehead bruise. Emory took a nap when we got home and woke up feeling much better. Meanwhile, I fixed the tire while he was safely in his crib. This is yet another time I'm so glad Emory could sign. I was able to assess his potential head injury very quickly. "What's the sign for milk?" "What's the sign for car?"


It was a scary day. Tomorrow we are going to go to story time at the library. I hope that is tamer.
Just in case you are wondering, Emory IS drinking milk out of a calking gun. This is what happens when you leave Gabe and Brandon in charge for a half hour.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Our view at dinner tonight!!!






We watched a storm roll in during dinner, and it was really cool. We could actually see the clouds grow.

Rocky Mountain Park






After working so hard on Saturday, we went to Rocky Mountain Park on Sunday. We went on a hike to Fern Falls. It was a very nice day for a hike and we had lots of fun. Emory was very good, and was in the pack on the way up, but Andrea said that she and him walked almost a mile on the way back. He loved the water seemed to truly enjoy the hike. We know we did!
Andrea says: Emory was the smallest hiker on the trail and the slowest! "Ant! Ant! Ant! Bee! Ant!" Recently he has been putting words together so we also got a lot of "BIG ROCK" comments.

Brandon's been busy!






Brandon has been busy! The deck is almost done! All of the decking is down and the stairs and railing are almost done. He is working on the lattice below the deck, the hand rails on the stairs and some touch up paint and stain on the door and siding. We got a new chair and table set for the deck, and have enjoyed dinner outside the last 2 nights. We love it!