Henry's first correctly-used swear...

...and other hilarious things he's said recently.

In the car tonight Pete was playing some sweet 80's tunes that he's 'studying' to play with some bands at the Shure ice cream social. Sunglasses at Night, Jump, Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Everybody's Workin' For The Weekend and Final Countdown. Fantastic songs, all. At one point during Jump I said to Henry "Henry, how does this song make you feel?" and Henry said, without missing a beat, "sick". He proceeded to say that each of the other songs also made him feel sick. So I finally asked him what music made him feel good and he said "Um, kind of, Johnny Cash".

Earlier today Henry and I were doing a little inside playing while waking up from our naps. He wanted to go outside, which I kept trying to avoid because it was so hot out. Finally he looked at my watch, tapped it with his finger and said "Mom, it's baseball time".

And finally, yesterday Henry was following his dad through the doggy gate that separates the kitchen from the family room. He must have had a little trouble opening it or bumped himself or something because suddenly, in frustration, he said "Ow. Dammick!"

Update

Henry's first fish!

Lumberjack Championships

On Friday we went out for a boat ride. Henry still fits (snugly) into his life jacket from last year, but he doesn't much like wearing it. In this photo he had fallen asleep to the hum of the motor.
That afternoon Will and Sandy showed up, made a quick walleye dinner and then we all hustled out to Hayward for the Lumberjack Championships. Aside from some crowded and treacherous bleachers, it was a pretty fun time. Here are a few select moments:
Henry with some mascot guy that we only saw this one time...
The crazy speed climbers. You can't tell from this photo, but two of those poles are 60' high and the other two are 90'! They hustled up there and then practically free-fell back down. The rule is that they have to touch the pole with their feet at least every 15' on the way down, so it wasn't a complete free fall....

Here we are in the stands.
This was actually the second night. This competition is called springboard chopping. They start on the ground, chop a spot to stick their board in, hoist themselves up and then stand on the board for the next chop. They move it up twice until they can chop the top of the log off. They do all of this in a manner of seconds. It's pretty incredible. The crazy thing is- as far as we could tell- they were not wearing steel-toed shoes! It doesn't seem as crazy for this competition, but when they do the one where they stand on the log and chop down into it- I know I would want some serious protection!
Finally, here are Pete, Sandy, Henry and I trying out the events. Aren't we good?

Wisconsin

We spent the last five days in Wisconsin at Dad and Kathie's lake house. It's a seven hour car trip from home, so we started out early Thursday morning. We tried to pack all kinds of distractions and, on Pete's brilliant suggestion, packed lunch and snacks as well. Our plan was to find a nice road-side spot to stop and eat, with the added benefit of letting little legs (child's and dog's) run and stretch. The plan worked perfectly. We stopped in Augusta, WI, asked for directions to a park or picnic area and were directed to this lovely spot. Otherwise boring sandwiches always seem to taste better when eaten in a park during a long car ride. We also enjoyed Cheetos and cans of pop. Milk for Henry, of course.
Then off ran the little guy to play on the purple airplane.
I was happy to see slides that were made of natural material, not brightly colored, and high enough and with short enough sides to still feel a little thrilling. I fear these will soon be extinct.
We arrived at the house (on the Chippewa Flowage, near Hayward) around 2 in the afternoon. It was hot as the dickens, but cooled off after a heavy rain storm. Before the rain though, Henry was able to finally try out his Snoopy fishing pole (circa 1980) with Grandpa Bill. He did catch a fish, but I missed the photo op. Watch Dad's blog and you may see a picture of it....or maybe I can get him to email it to me.
Henry also got his feet a little wet with Grandma Kathie. Franklin (who turned 4 years old today!) was also hilariously adventurous on this trip! He waded in the water, dug in the sand and chased chipmunks with his doggie pals Lucy and Josey all day long. He'll be getting a birthday bath pretty soon here.
Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures from the lumberjack championships!

What Henry Just Told Me...

"Mom. Mom. You're the one mom in the world!"

Finished with Potter...

I have finished my first reading of HP7. I'll go back for another reading , at least of several of the final chapters...there was a lot in there.
But in the meantime, for those who just don't care about Harry...
We spent the weekend in Burlington, doing general Burlington things. We had a very nice walk through the cemetery and followed this deer around for a while. The cemetery in Burlington is the most beautiful I have ever been in, and the one I have spent the most time in. I have fond memories of visiting there with my grandma and watering the flowers. Later that day we went to visit the First United Methodist church which had a fire months ago. It was pretty hard to see the damage. They are still determining what they are able and unable to do with the building. They haven't even been able to get inside to see if there is anything at all salvageable, and the street is still blocked off on two sides of the block. My family traces many weddings and baptisms at this church and I truly hope they're able to maintain some of the original structure.
In this shot you can see how the inside is still just full of everything that came crashing down. That night we went to hear some Django Rheinhardt inspired guitar music at Mr. Moto's. We met Charlie Downing and his wife Carly there. Charlie is the minister who married Pete and I. He had just been assigned and taken the head pastor position in Burlington when the arson happened. Henry told him we saw "the broken church" and Charlie told him "we'll fix it".
On Sunday we went to a Burlington Bees game. Much fun was had by all. Henry is sporting his new Bees hat in this photo. Later Joyce caught a free Bees t-shirt, which she gave to Pete.
Henry didn't want to stand by himself with Buzz, so I helped him pose.
He didn't actually spend all of his time sitting and watching the game, but this picture is pretty cute.
My cousin Sam and the two daughters of another cousin were there to keep Henry entertained. Here you can see Molly, Lucy, Henry and Sam about to run the bases after the game.
Henry expresses his general feelings about baseball....
Sam had a ball that he got signed by the players, Henry didn't have anything for signing, but he does enjoy giving a high-five.
Here's some video of the little sporto running the bases. Note that he occasionally has to stop and take a rest....he is his mother's son.

Please.....don't.

I have my mom to thank for introducing my to Harry Potter. Thanks Mom! It must have been in '98 or '99 because I was working at the Barnes & Noble in Iowa City. She had heard about this book on NPR, something about a young wizard...it was really popular in Britain. It was really a kids' book, but seemed like something Rob would like and would I pick it up for him for Christmas? His birthday? I don't remember that, but I do remember exactly where the book was in the store. I think there was only one on the shelf. I bought it, Mom gave it to Rob. After he read it I borrowed it and then bought myself The Chamber of Secrets. It's my oldest book, and if you look closely you can see that it doesn't have the number at the top like the other 5 do. Anyway, I was hooked. I remember when Order of the Phoenix came out, Pete and I were at a wedding in a tiny town in Colorado. We had to search the town for a store that was open, not to mention one that would have the book. We finally found it and I was one of at least 5 people on the plane home that was reading the book. A woman I didn't know at the airport took a picture of several of us holding our books. When The Half-Blood Prince came out I finally had Sharon to share my love of the books with. She's light-years ahead of me in knowing the minutiae of the stories, but we both a delighted to have another adult to discuss the stories with. Granted, my brothers love the books too, but they're not into talking....you know....boys. So this year, in anticipation of the final book (The Deathly Hallows) coming out, I've been re-reading and listening to the audio books and re-reading again. I've had the countdown widget on my computer for months. I've become a fan of The Leaky Cauldron and check it frequently for news and interesting ideas. In this photo you can see the spot on my bookshelf that has been saved for The Deathly Hallows. If you look closely you can also see some 'Snape- Friend or Foe?' bookmarks (I'm still torn!), my Quidditch-themed bookplates and my copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages. Pete has frequently been heard to say that I'm "geeking out". Last night Sharon and I went to see the fifth movie- The Order of the Phoenix. It was great. I liked it a lot. I'm a big fan of the movies, but nothing is quite like the books. And now we come to the last few days (my widget says 1 day, 15 hours, 52 min, 7 seconds) before the midnight release. I'll be picking mine up at a B. Dalton's in Burlington. Joyce has already reserved it for me, and Pete has agreed to attend the midnight release. Sharon will be taking her girls to Naperville on Friday, where they turn the whole town into a Hogsmeade village- every store changing it's name (the LaSalle bank will become Gringott's) participating with a craft, activity or special treat. Then they'll come back to Northbrook for an outdoor showing of the first movie and a walking parade over to The Book Bin (our local independent) to pick up the books at midnight.
This really is an exciting time for me. I know it is the epitome of dorkiness to most...but I'm really looking forward to this book. This is really a once in a lifetime thing. So now I have to send out my plea.... Please! Don't be a spoiler! I know you won't, because you're good people. I just need to send that general thought out to the world at large. I'll be avoiding the news and probably the internet as well, because there's no getting this experience back. You can only read the story for the first time once. As of now I don't want any more suppositions or rumors I just want to get my book and hunker down for a bit. And if you're still reading it when I'm finished (my brothers) I promise not to spoil it for you either.
I'm sure I will not be blogging again until I'm finished reading. See you then! And again, thanks Mom!!

Good Books....that are not Harry Potter

Rob posted about the Golden Compass movie...I introduced him to the books, so I had to find out what my daemon would be as well. In the books each person has a 'daemon' which is sort of an animal incarnation of their soul, but also is their best friend. The daemon is always the opposite gender of the person and it's animal personality reflects the personality of the person. You can tell me if you agree with my assessment...it determined my daemon to be a jackal, but it could change, depending on your answers. I notice, for example, that based on my answers it describes me as modest and humble. While these may be accurate for my understanding of myself, I do recognize that my outward appearance may not always come off in that way. Probably similar to how most people would probably not describe Rob as shy....but I've known him longer than most.
Note: If you're checking to see if you agree, you have to click and drag on the little slider.

Happy Birthday Liz!

Here's Liz in my all-time favorite photo of her! I hope you have a fun one Liz.
When I told Henry it was Auntie Liz's birthday today he thought for a moment and then he said "where will she eat her birthday cake?" I told him I wasn't sure, but that we would definitely get together soon and all eat some birthday cake together.

Won't spoil my weekend

Even though I'm fighting a bad headcold, we still enjoyed a fabulous weekend in Iowa. I'm needing to get to bed asap, so I'll keep this brief.
On Friday we made our first stop at Rob and Carrie's to ooh and aah over baby Eleanor. Here's Eleanor and Uncle Pete checking each other out. I suspect they were both impressed with what they saw.

Henry plopped himself down on the couch and immediately held out his arms in a gesture saying 'let me hold my cousin!' He was so gentle with her. Gave her sweet little caresses on her face and commented on her tiny toes.
And then he got some time with the new dad- watering the flowers with the squirt gun.
We spent the night out at the lake with Mom and enjoyed a relaxing Saturday morning there. Henry loved the little mini beach down by the docks. Here he is enjoying himself in his Superman swimwear.



Around noon Uncle Will and Aunt Sandy showed up. Henry spent some quality time with each of them as well. After some napping we all hauled ourselves in to town for more baby time. I think Eleanor enjoyed her first outing to Pagliai's. You can't see it here but her onesie says "My Aunt Kicks Butt". Indeed. Sadly, I didn't get any photos holding her. I tried to limit my snuggle time- due to this stupid cold.
I also didn't get any photos of the proud Grammie with her two grandchildren. I guess I'll get one soon enough.
Here's a little clip of Henry holding Eleanor and having a baby conversation with Carrie. Take note of the point when Henry seems to say to himself "enough about this baby- let's talk about me for a while".

Playing

Henry had some friends over to play today. First Molly came with her mom Kerri, then Ava and Gabe came over with their mom Cari. We played in the backyard a bit...
Then went to Louie's for lunch.
Then played in the park across the street.
I didn't get any photos of Gabe...sorry, pal! But I did get this video of Henry and Molly on the motorcycle!

Greens

We've let quite a few of our weeds go this year. This one turned out to be a happy weed! We suspect the seed came over from the bird feeder, perhaps in the mouth of a hurried chipmunk. Tomatoes on the left, broccoli on the right. Doing okay, but not producing much.
One little tomato trying to make his way...
We've had a bit of heavy rain the last few days. Needed the moisture, but the force with which it came down was substantial. You can see that the phlox took it hard. I think they'll be fine, though. Also in this photo you can start to see a little of the cicada damage that my redbud sustained. I'm not sure how well it will recover. I had it protected, but those guys got in anyway. Most of the branches have slits carved into them where the cicadas deposited their eggs. In young trees like this it really weakens the thin branches. At least one branch has already broken off entirely, several others look ready to go and the leaves are turning yellow and brown. Sad.
Here's a little bit of happy though, pretty little Zinnias on my table. They remind me of my wedding.

Drumming

Henry has developed a new technique in his drumming....

Not standing so close to me...

Last night we went downtown for The Police! We met up at Kevin and Beth's place, then took the el down to Wrigley. Here are Kevin and Pete texting each other on their Blackberries on the train. They were saying really important things to each other like "jerk" and "you're hot".
I really wasn't looking forward to a dinner of a hot dog or nachos at the concert- fine for a Cubs game, but not on a normal night. So we tried to get into several of the local establishments, which were all packed. Finally we got into a little Irish pub and found two seats at the bar.
With our bellies full of decent sandwiches we still got to the park in time to hear part of the opening act- a group with Sting's son on vocals- sounding very much like his father in his younger years.
Here we are in our seats in the very last row of the first level (I don't know the technical name....). We knew our seats wouldn't be too hot, as we only paid $90 apiece for them!!!!! The girl who sold them to us was upgrading to lawn seats for $225 each. Yikes.
The sound was decent where we were, and the view was only slightly obstructed.
Later on we moved down a little bit, where we were more directly behind the post, but the upper deck wasn't in our way as much. And so, the music! They pulled out all their hits. Not a tune I didn't know. If you've read anything about the tour so far, it was probably pretty much on track- they were great to see, sounded pretty good, but didn't exactly pull out all the stops. The seemed like they could have been having a little more fun, and Sting seemed to be guarding his voice a little. But I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very glad we went. Didn't want to leave early at all...which is saying a lot for me!
This video is pretty poor quality, not sure why my resolution was so tiny. The sound was much better than it comes off here, but here's a little bit of Roxanne...

Another Post

Henry put on his fire hat and put one on me and then said "Look Franklin! We're firemen!"
I really wanted to post this photo because you can see his cute big boy underpants. Today Henry and I went to Starbucks and Target- even into the dressing room for a moment- and all the way back home keeping the big boy underpants dry!!!! We did use the restroom at Starbucks, and I said "do you have to go potty?" about every three minutes, but we made it!
Anticipating the victory, I bought Henry a basketball hoop. He's been noticing them everywhere and talking lots about basketball hoops, so I thought he should have one. In this picture he was actually saying "where is the big hawkeye sticker?" True fact.
Check out this form!

Bolo

In case your eye isn't as keen as Amber's, here's another shot I found with Bolo in it. Bolo is sniffing the Bocce....which we never did really play last night. What am I doing in this photo? Wiping something off Henry's face I think.