Lion King

Hakuna Matata means "no worries".
Despite the blizzard that started Saturday afternoon and dumped about 8 inches of snow on the area, the show must go on ... even church was cancelled (the first time in Pastor Steve's career).
We didn't follow our plans to go to Greektown but by 4PM the sky was clear and we decided to go to the show. The roads were OK, not great but OK. The plows and salt trucks had been out.
Detroit Opera House is spectacular. The music and costumes kept the kids on the edge of their seats. Everyone agreed that Pumbaa was the best character. Nobody wanted to be on stage themselves ... so we'd better get ready for the school pageant on Wednesday and the church pageant on Sunday!

Winter Fun

We got our Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It wasn't snowy yet but nice and cold.
Everyone had the sillies while we selected our Frasier fir.
Estelle has since received a Santa hat of her very own ...

We got the tree decorated fairly quickly and also spent an evening decorating our church before we dove into our busy schedules of December. I took a trip to southern California and got to attend George & Cindy's grandson Justus's first birthday party and see step-cousins Julian and John. It was a busy trip with 3 hotels in 4 nights.

Upon my return I was able to go see George's performance with his movement class. He had a great time but ate too many cookies. Later that day he came home early from school!

Last weekend the kids went to their friend Jenny's birthday party - and were so surprised to see her break a board with a karate chop. It was a fun karate / martial arts party and now of course they want lessons. That evening, thankfully, we went across the street for the neighborhood Christmas party (it is usually at our house) and also walked down the street to another neighborhood party. This time of year is quite festive around here!

We're looking forward to seeing Lion King at the Detroit Opera House on Sunday. Our Christmas plans include a trip to Illinois - both Springfield and Rockford. Santa is coming to our house a little bit early and the anticipation is already high!

Stay warm ...

Adventures in Boston

I've been traveling a lot this fall and have had some wonderful experiences and had a chance to catch up with old friends. I was in San Francisco at the beginning of November and spent a day with Stephanie - walking, shopping, eating, and talking. That same evening I ended up meeting some friends/neighbors from here (Pete & Jerry) who also happened to be out there at the same time. I took them out to the R & G Lounge, my favorite restaurant in Chinatown, and they ended up paying the bill, so that was a nice treat. Thanks!



I just returned from the ASHA convention in Boston. My friend Paige from school was there, and I haven't seen her in 15 years. We got to have some meals together and get re-acquainted. Life is good. I learned a lot, saw loads of people I knew, hammered out some details of a new class I want to teach, met with someone about mentoring a grad student in a project that may take me back to Kansas for a visit, and realize there were some people who I wanted to talk with that I never did run into. Well, there are about 10000 people who go to this conference... I'll have to tell you about the $18 oatmeal at some point also, but not now, it is a long story.

My celebrity sighting this year was twofold. Bob and Lee Woodruff were at the convention on Friday to receive an award from Annie and John Glenn. The four of them were having dinner at the restaurant in the hotel where I had dinner, so since I had my camera handy, I asked if they would indulge me. My conversation with John Glenn was my favorite part - and if you haven't seen it he says that Apollo 13 is the best and most realistic "space" movie ever made.




We'll go to Detroit for Thanksgiving and are looking forward to meeting Henry, cousin Martha's new baby boy!
Gobble gobble!

Halloween, a couple weeks later

We went to Jenny's for a Halloween party a couple weeks ago ...

They bobbed for apples and Estelle was the first successful kid at doing it ... she figured out how to push the apple up against the side of the big bucket.

Then they made Frankensteins out of rice krispy treats and frosting ... and ate them all up!

George found a silly rubber ball that he put on his head (after he took of his Mudkip costume that was too warm). Estelle went as a crazy soccer player since she'd played a game that day and didn't feel like changing clothes, but really it didn't look much different than her "official" costume - a gymnast.

We had about 150 kids at the house, so thankfully, no leftovers (well, probably enough peanut butter cups to keep someone happy)!

Catching Up

While traveling for work and doing a seminar, I got to visit Seattle and meet cousin Emelia. I only wish I could have brought the kids to meet her as Estelle would have especially loved holding her. She has developed a distaste for the car seat, as expressed by loud crying and arching her back to try to avoid being buckled in, but cooler heads prevail (and she drifts off to sleep after a couple minutes). We got all bundled up for the soccer game on Sunday - UW vs. UCLA - and I was glad they had an extra coat for me!

While I was away, George was notified that he WON the local Red Robin recipe contest. In September while John was away, we went to Red Robin and submitted a recipe for a burger that he would like to see served at Red Robin. He called it a "Sloppy George" - a double decker / with cheese version of the sloppy joe that he likes to help me make at home. He won a $50 gift card and is entered in the national contest to go to Denver to cook his creation at Red Robin headquarters. We'll see if he gets so lucky! This afternoon he's being a baker (one of his life ambitions, along with being a dentist) and making a batch of the Amish Friendship Bread that John brought home.

Here's some pictures of the cutie patootey cousin Emelia from last weekend.

Indian Summer?

So about 1 month has passed since these pictures were taken of the kids and our neighbors enjoying the back yard and the Erie Apple Orchard. It was a beautiful fall day and just cool enough to make it fun to jump in the crisp leaf pile. Lots of pictures of Becca, Jamie, Estelle and George ... oh I think I put one picture of George in here twice but I can't figure out how to get rid of it!

Stuff

The kids enjoyed another sail this past Saturday at Lake St. Clair. I was in Atlanta so they didn't take the camera (for fear of dropping it in the lake). They actually got in the lake and George's comment on the phone that evening was "Mommy, I thought it was supposed to feel warmer when you get used to it, but my feet were like ice cubes!" Maybe he'll become a polar bear swimmer?! They were so tired out that Estelle - who always wears pajamas - slept in her clothes including her shoes.
But, they were troopers and got up to Ann Arbor by 9 AM the next morning for the JDRF walk. John was team captain for his company. I was talking to George on Sunday while I was waiting for my plane and asked if he knew what diabetes was - at first he said no but then proceeded to discuss Type 1 vs. Type 2 (for people over 70) and said there should be a Type 3 for grownups.
Estelle has been reading her Junie B. Jones books slowly but surely and George has already read all 6 of his Nate the Great books. He's re-reading Captain Underpants now. His bed is filled with stuffed animals on top of books.
I hadn't sent this article out to many people and was sent the link today so thought I'd share with you. Somehow the kids were interviewed on a day that I took them to yoga this summer.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070701/ART16/70630021/-1/ART
Enjoy!

It's Fall!

We went to a Mud Hens double header during Labor Day weekend and there were fireworks afterwards. I'm not entirely sure why George felt compelled to put his whole hand in his mouth, but then he wanted me to take pictures so I did. Estelle lost tooth #6 at the game - if you remember tooth #5 was also lost at the Mud Hens game. Does that make her a true fan?

Then next day we took our last swim of the season in Grandma Winky's pool and she took us out for dinner. We went to the Buggy Wheel restaurant and they had these big stuffed bears. On the way out we saw that another family had invited a big bear to sit with them at their table. When we go back we'll do that too. Good meal and good time with Grandma!

Today it is a crisp fall day and we're starting to close the windows in the house. John leaves for his trip to Montreal in the morning. Heading out for dinner now to celebrate our anniversary (yesterday, 16 years). Happy fall!

Hot First Day of School

It is so humid here that there is condensation on the floor and the walls. Yeesh. The kids were cooler for their first day of school. George reports he sang songs all day - but we saw evidence of some work when we went tonight to the open house. Estelle said they played but she also made a picture of herself where the teacher had told them to draw a fat head. It didn't have her name on it (nor did any of them in the whole class) but I could pick it out because she said her favorite animal is an elephant and her favorite food is an apple.

Here's the pictures!

Summertime Fun

We managed to have seats at this year's company picnic at the Mud Hens game so we were fortunate to sit under the upper deck and didn't have to get completely soggy in the steady sprinkle. The Hens lost but the fireworks afterwards were spectacular. We took our neighbor Becca since John was at a pig roast in Chicago.

It has been raining here since Saturday night and somehow our neighbor Sydney has decided to play princess. Estelle made her crown last night and then took George over this afternoon where he acquired his Prince George crown. Silly fun times!

We're looking forward to starting school on Wednesday!

Sailing

Here's a few pictures from our sailing trip on Lake St. Clair yesterday. The weather was a little rainy but when we got the sails up we went pretty fast. We stayed in the US, going up to a Metro Park that had it been a sunny day would have been much more fun. There was a big pool and a splash park that we didn't use. We played putt putt and that was fun until George fell in the water hazard on one of the holes when he was trying to retrieve his ball and even though he was only a little soggy, he was mad. We had clothes for him to change into back on the sailboat though - no problem! At the end of the day we were all hungry and tired. We enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant there called the Beach Grill before heading home.