Saturday, December 03, 2011

A Saturday serenade


Danny was singing the theme song to the "Winnie the Pooh" movie at dinner tonight. Listen very carefully and you can make out "a donkey named Eyore."

Friday, October 07, 2011

"Who do you want to win, Mom?"

Tonight, as I walked the dog around the block, Bob Uecker's voice drifted from a radio in someone's garage as the Brewers took their time getting around to beating the Diamondbacks. I hear that voice and the roar of the buzzed Milwaukee crowd in the background and suddenly it's 1982 and I'm 8 years old again. I'm pretty sure I didn't know a lot about baseball then -- in fact, for some reason, my strongest memory is of the cutaway shots on TV to Robin Yount's wife, Michele, in the stands and her fantastic Charlie's Angels-like hair. But I knew Milwaukee's magical run to the World Series meant something to everyone around me, and I absorbed it into my DNA. So tonight, I could hardly stand to watch ... Will they? Can they?

Gavin is not much younger than I was three decades ago when the state was transfixed by the Brew Crew. And it seems since he started kindergarten that his interest in sports teams and who we're rooting has suddenly come into sharp focus. This is an amazing time to be a Wisconsin sports fan; he is blissfully unaware of how lucky we are. Don remembers crying as a kid when the Pittsburgh Steelers lost. Here's hoping we don't see any tears this fall.


Sunday, September 25, 2011

The many faces (and demands) of Danny




Danny is very focused at mealtimes on getting what he wants. The word "please" we are still working on. He seems to think being very cute will carry him far enough to avoid it altogether. 



Our K-Star!


Since the start of kindergarten, Gavin has been counting down the days until his turn to be the "K-Star" in his classroom. Since his last name comes toward the end of the alphabet, he's been waiting awhile.

His job was to fill out a special poster that includes things like his height (46 1/2 inches), weight (50 pounds), things he likes to do (swim in the pool), his favorite place (Florida) and a picture he drew of his family and his friends.

The most challenging section was called, "What I wish for."

Gavin thought long and hard about this. First he proposed one I am sure most kids have come up with:

"I want every day to be Christmas."

From there, he considered a wish that I can only assume was inspired by recent repeated viewings of the movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs:

"I want it to rain crackers."

Finally, he honed in on his final answer, which when you consider the fact that he is a 5-year-old boy, is not a surprising choice:

"I want our house to be full of dinosaurs."

So, here we are, the night before his big K-Star day and Gav is having more than a little bit of a hard time falling asleep. Is it because he can't wait to share himself with his class, or is it because he thinks his wish might come true?

Thursday, July 07, 2011

A magical place


We first toured Gavin's preschool when he was 8 months old. I was still freelancing from home and we were looking into options for someplace he could go a couple days or half days a week to allow me to get some work done. I was hooked from the word go and it has not disappointed me, not as far as the things that really count. When he finally went, it was full time and I do not regret a minute of it. He has always come home exhausted from activity, is known by every member of the staff and has learned how to paint, use the potty, cook, make friends, read, speak Spanish and climb trees. He has learned the power of observation, imagination, music and working with others. I have no idea what kindergarten will bring -- I think my greatest fear is somehow it won't measure up, that it's all downhill from here. But then I realize that he has developed some amazing tools and a love of learning that he gets to bring to the table from the word go. And, I hope, with that, the sky is the limit.


Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Sunday, June 12, 2011

A postcard from Danny's school

At the end of the summer, Danny will be "graduating" from the infant-toddler center where he has been attending full time since he was 3 months old. I can't begin to describe what a great time he has had there, and how wonderful and supportive the staff is, especially to a working mother who in the early days left with tears in her eyes. It's going to be a very tough goodbye for us on Sept. 1 as he prepares to start at Gavin's old preschool. For now though, it's pretty clear he's going to have a great summer!







Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

He will break many hearts someday (hopefully not too many)

"Hug, Danny?"-Gavin

The girls

Our smart, funny and lovely nieces -- Caroline, 8, and Anna, 11.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Gavin's teachers



It's Teacher Appreciation Week -- here is a book I made for Gav's teachers!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Almost there...

Just a few more days....

Friday, February 25, 2011

Pinata Party!



Today in Gavin's school, we had his pinata party, complete with a song in Spanish about hitting the pinata as hard as you can!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011

Five days from turning 5!


Seen on a field trip to Overture Center today to see "Ferdinand the Bull."

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"I all done crib."


We said goodbye tonight to the last vestiges of babyhood (sniff). He was more than ready for this change. He might even be sleeping as we speak...

Monday, January 31, 2011

Report from Little Chicks

Hanging out with the little girl of one of mommy's work colleagues.

Wednesday: We also put a box in our dramatic play area to create a dramatic play "den." As you can see, Danny and a friend spent a lot of time over there dumping all the dress up clothes out of the bin this morning:)


Playing in the snow.

Danny experiments painting on different mediums (see the wall behind him).

We used sponges to paint on Wednesday. Danny was very careful not to get any paint on himself.



Saturday, January 08, 2011

22 months old (and a new haircut makes Danny look older)

Danny (Jan 2011)

Gavin (December 2007)

On the road...

We took a road trip on New Year's Eve to Chicago to visit the Shedd Aquarium and have lunch with our dear friend Shannon and her new friend Michael. We went on from there to Benton Harbor, MI, where we enjoyed a stay in a Marriott with a pool, which we shared that evening with a group of ladies who kept returning to their rooms for a "refresher" I suspect. Pretty funny. On New Year's Day we journeyed just 30 minutes up the coast of Lake Michigan to South Haven, a great spot on the lake where my friends from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch days -- Monte and Mei-Ling and their daughter Sofia -- had rented a house for the week. We just stayed one night and part of two days, but it was great to catch up and see the kids play together, since they live in Argentina, there are not too many chances to do this. In light of this busy trip, you'd think I'd have some great photos to share, but we were so busy relaxing this is the only one I remembered to take!