More George News

So here's some other pictures from Florida, not too different than the previous ones you've already seen, but I love showing off George at the beach in January!



And now, George's debut of THE FIRST LOST TOOTH! This actually took place on February 10. He pulled it out himself and the tooth fairy came that night to leave him big bucks. The tooth fairy's name was Edward, and Edward's comment about the tooth was "small". (Grandma Muffin had given George a tooth fairy box for his nightstand a loooonnnggg time ago and it has a little pillow inside it to place the tooth, then a card for the fairy to sign, date, and comment.) I think we believe the tooth fairy is a male based on the Tim Allen Santa Clause movies that we love to watch.


Figured I ought to post these pictures before I take more of Estelle's big weekend. She's all set for school tomorrow with her giant chocolate chip cookie (soccer ball frosting) - for 32 people. I think she's mostly looking forward to no longer being the same age as George. Gotta go pack for Chicago!

Winter News

Pelican at the pier that didn't fly away ...
Chocolate cake! Yummmm

Windy day at Grandma Winky's condo.

Lunch with Grandma Winky at Whale's Rib.

We had a great trip to Florida for George's 7th birthday. We rode in First Class on the way there (lucky us!) and he started calling the coach seats "second class". Swimming, beach, and chocolate cake were highlights. One cool day out of 4 so we went to Gumbo Limbo and looked at sea turtles and sharks instead of sitting by the pool. George and Uncle George showed off their abilities to touch their tongues to their noses and we had a good dinner with everyone at Bobby Rubinos.

Little Estelle stayed home ... but she's looking forward to her trip to Chicago next weekend!

Loads O' Pictures - Part 3

Sunday morning December 23 George was "Kid #1 - Lead Shepherd" and Estelle was "Assistant Director" in our church Christmas program, a play within a play called "It Wasn't the Hilton, You Know". I don't think shepherds in Biblical times wore fur lined Crocs but they are all the rage in 2007. After the play and a few bites of cake we hopped in our rental Cadillac (not so great) and drove to the cousins' in Indy.

John got tackled and attacked by these hooligans.

Then they celebrated their great victory over Daddy / Uncle John before pigging out on hot dogs in crescent rolls. And finally, the 5 cousins posed for the moms' cameras ... somehow Chris snuck in higher than George on the stairs or else they'd be in age order too.

We went on to spend Christmas in Springfield with Uncle David, Gramma R, Gumpy and Grandma Muffin (and 2 big dogs). Alvin & the Chipmunks movie was our Christmas Day activity - and George does a great impression of Theodore singing the chipmunk version of "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me..."

Back at home, the adults had a night out while the kids and friend Jenny played non-stop Wii, then the next night we joined Dan, Sara and Sydney to see Lights before Christmas at the Zoo (even though it was after Christmas) and ate at El Salto. New Year's Eve took us to a surprise party for a friend who is turning 40 this Sunday so everyone also sang to John - who has long since passed that milestone! He got bacon buns and beer for his birthday, so generally speaking, 2008 has been a good year so far!

Loads O' Pictures - Part 2

Here we are celebrating Christmas. John sent an e-mail to Santa and he came a little bit early as we headed out to Indiana and Illinois on the 23rd after our Christmas pageant at church. George is showing his new DS Lite (which he wanted so he could play Pokemon Diamond and Pearl) - but it has taken a back seat to the Wii - a BIG hit!! Santa also brought a monkey (now dubbed "Bananas") for George and an elephant ("Elley") for Estelle. It is pretty amazing how Santa knows their favorite animals. Actually Estelle also got a carved elephant that now has a place of honor on her nightstand. Thanks to everyone for the presents!

One more post will wrap up our 2007 photos... on to Part 3!

Loads O' Pictures

First set of pictures from the Children's Message at church - raptly paying attention of course.

Second set from the Christmas Pageant at school. George played the cymbals in one of his songs and Estelle was one of 3 "featured" singers. George had some kind of chapped lip thing going on so it is not the perpetual chocolate face you're seeing.

Think I'll do the next round of pics in Part 2. Happy New Year!

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!