Author/Illustrator

As promised....here is Henry's latest book: The Three Headed Dragon by Henry I'm 5






And a more recent publication: T-Rex meaning: (tyrant lizard king)


He's also experimenting with 3-D.

Busy Fun

We've been doing lots of fun stuff here these last couple of days. Here's a picture from Thursday when Anna and Sebby came over to play for a bit. Pete has decided to start buying toilet paper online, and we had just gotten our first shipment, so we used the t.p. and the box and made a little fortress wonderland.
Yesterday was beautiful outside. I didn't want to let the kids get in the sandbox because they had to stay nice and clean for our dinner out (see yesterday's post). So we played out front and did some fancy chalkwork. Don't miss Henry's warning at the bottom of the driveway here.
He's kind of into dinosaurs these days.
Clara decided to chalk up the tree a bit.
Henry's being attacked by a t-rex.
Clara also thought she'd experiment with chalk-on-hand.
And Henry had chalk-on-butt.
They like to stand in this tree.
Later we got dressed up a bit for dinner, but Clara wouldn't let me take a picture.


Today we tried to have a bit of a tailgate, even though the football game is just starting now at 9:35 PM!
It was fun to have our friends over and eat junk food.
Norbert wasn't sure why he didn't get cake.
Here are two very little Hawkeye fans trying their best to stay up late. This was before I put Clara to bed and then discovered the mess of burrs in her ponytail. Oy vey. Fortunately we were able to brush them out without having to sacrifice her hair or pull too terribly much.
Go Hawks!

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday we celebrated Liz's graduation from North Park university. She now has her master's in vocal performance. Congratulations Liz!!
The school of music gets to wear pink tassels!
After the graduation we went out for a nice Italian dinner. The kids were out late, but they were pretty well behaved.
I don't usually get pictures of myself on my camera... Here I am with my new wrappy-shawl cape from Mary for mother's day. It even matched my shirt!
The sleeping hours could have been better. For the last week we have had lots of bedtime struggles with Clara. Last night she went to bed okay, since she was pretty much already conked out in the car from it being so late. But then she woke at 3:00 to nurse and wouldn't go back to bed. Eventually Pete laid down with her (still crying) in Henry's bed, because Henry had come in to sleep in our bed. Ugh.
I did get a little sleep, though, when Pete took the kids with him to get me a Mother's Day mocha. And even though I wasn't sleeping I did get to stay in bed until 8:00, drinking my mocha, opening cards and presents and reading the Sunday paper while the kids crawled around.
I didn't get a picture of Pete making breakfast, or of the breakfast itself, but here you can see the tulips he brought in from our yard, my mocha, the strawberries and a little lego toy.
Pete made a delicious baked praline french toast. I might have to request it again for my birthday.
Here's a close-up picture (because the far away ones of my in my jammies were just too unpleasant) of my new necklace. I had seen these on Etsy and must have mentioned it to Pete, but then forgot all about them. They're made of recycled sterling and (bonus!) if we have another baby they can add another fawn!
After breakfast we spent some money from my mom on some new flowers for the front. I replanted some of the geraniums from last summer in the window boxes. They had thrived over the winter and I hated to cut them back again, but I did...a bit. We'll see how they do.
When Henry napped I did some weeding in the back. Clara discovered Bart and spent some quality time cuddling and kissing him. Also note that Pete dressed her in a pair of pants that were mine as a toddler....perhaps made for me by my grandma.
Pete pulled this huge dandelion out from the grass. He's so burly.
Finally, here's Henry describing the picture he had drawn for me for mother's day. I especially like the parts about the tornadoes. I didn't get him talking about it, but there's also a rhinoceros in the picture.


Happy mother's day to all of you. Many X's and O's!!!

Brother and Sister

First off, I might have a few tendencies inherited from my dad... Last weekend (you'll remember that it was Valentine's day and we were all a little ill) Henry and I decided to build a big castle. I felt compelled to lay out all the blocks before we got started....
I worked on the castle while Henry made a "track" for the cars.
Clara was feeling pretty well. She put on this cute Valentine outfit and bounced in her chair a bit. I have pictures from our Valentine's "dinner" but they're mildly depressing, so I won't post them.
Here's Henry with a drawing he made a few mornings ago. That's Scott and Chloe on the left, and an octopus playing the electric guitar on the bottom.
And here is Henry sharing his colors.
Yesterday Clara got a VERY special package in the mail. It was a birthday present from Aunt Joyce. She loves her new blanket and wanted to cuddle up right away!! Take note of the cowgirl themed back side. This quilt is also special because it shares some pieces with Henry's similar chenille quilt.
Tonight Henry and Clara had their first bath together. They both thought it was hilarious.
And finally...I will post soon about our first visit with the physical therapist this week...but here's a picture of Clara showing off her cute new crawl!!
And then, of course, she pops up and goes right back to scooting. Oh well.
We're supposed to get lots of snow tonight! I already have the chocolate-chip pancakes planned for the morning.