Henry IS the amateur gardener...

Henry had much work to do in the yard today. I planted a few "johnny-jump-ups" in my front planters and cleared out some old garbage from the flower beds, but Henry got some serious work done. Here he is working with the spray bottle, saying "Hi!" to Bartelby the garden gnome (thanks Sue and Dave!), supervising Dad's raking and filling the watering can...not necessarily in that order.































Now, a request for some help. Here are two of the lovely tulips that have recently surfaced. I'm smitten with this rosy-pink one. Does anyone have an idea of what it might be called? Also, it's been recommended to me that I could separate these hostas and day-lilies. Specifically that the day-lilies will bloom better if not so crowded. Any idea on how to do this? I've never done such a thing. Actually, they also mentioned that I might find more tulip bulbs if I dig around where these have popped up, that maybe they've been crowded out. Does that make sense to anyone? Is there a time that's best to do such a thing? And, to the literary-minded, should I stop saying "such a thing"?

The verdict is in...

This girl makes a nasty margarita...and to some that means "way too strong!" nasty not "woah, that's good!" nasty. However, the guacamole got rave reviews. I stand by the garlic and cilantro as the key ingredients in an awesome fresh guac. The store-bought queso also stands the test of time as a tasty favorite. Several work friends stopped by and it was a very fun time! Henry and his Papa and grandparents took a trip to Costco and Steak and

Shake while we had fun party times. Pete brought home a huge amount of red meat and a giant bag of chocolate chips. He's now being the perfect husband, putting Henry down to bed while I finish off the margaritas and have a nice no-repsonsibility evening. Thanks to all of my school friends who stopped by! I love my new neighborhood, and I love the fact that I'm so close to school that such great friends can stop by freely!

Change of pace...

I thought I'd switch things up a bit and post a little about my work life. I wouldn't take the liberty to post photos of my students, as those are other peoples' kids, but here are some shots of recent projects we're working on...
We're in the middle of a fairy tale unit- my favorite unit of study. Here's a picture of the gingerbread house upon which we track the characteristics of different fairy tales we read. Also, a picture of our hallway

bulletin board showing pages where students wrote about what wish they would want a fairy godmother to grant. Finally, a picture from a fun parent-led activity today. The parents came in to teach the kids about Da Vinci as artist and inventor. The kids made wave bottles with water, oil and food coloring so they, too, could study the movements of water.

Happy Birthday Ellen!

I seem unable to get to birthdays in time this year, so instead of a timely card and gift, Ellen is getting a shout-out on the blog. Happy Birthday Ellen! I hope you have lots of balloons and yummy treats. I can't wait to celebrate with you soon!!!!! XOXOXO

Girlie on my case

Amber's getting on my case about my blog growing stale. So, even though I should be checking 2nd grade papers, I guess I'll post a few things. Also- trying out a new title. Felt like it was time for a change.
So, last week we had some really nice weather and Henry and I tried to spend as much of our time outside as we could. Here he is trying out his toes in the grass.
We also went to the library and I got my new card. It's a very nice library, with a wonderful, wide open and bright children's section. I wouldn't disparage Evanston's library, which I love, but the board books at Northbrook's library are organized! Here's a photo of our spoils...

And, finally, anybody know what this plant is?

Update

For those of you out of town, or not as familiar with Iowa City, here are a few more links.

St. Pat's Church
University of Iowa
The Daily Iowan


The weird thing about being out of town is that the photos are alien and all too familiar at the same time. I look at some and think, "how many times have I been in that building?" or "oh yeah, so-and-so used to live there". And others I look at and think "is that REALLY College Green Park?" The most current update in the Daily Iowan says it was an F2 tornado. In case you can't tell in that picture of the side of a building, that's a residence for persons with disabilities, and yes-those are pieces of wood embedded into the side of the building....I assume from St. Pat's church next door.

My hometown...

ICIA was hit hard last night by hail and a tornado. Family and friends are all safe after camping out in various basements. Carrie was at church and Mom was at work at the hospital, both had to drive home late- Carrie apparently avoiding downed power lines on the way. I spent the evening instant messaging with my brothers and trying to touch base with my parents. Here are some pictures I borrowed from the Iowa City Press Citizen . Not sure where that car is, but thought the photo told a good story. The big trees are down in College Green park, one of my favorite IC spots. Next is the Dairy Queen, over 50 years old, which we used to frequent in warm weather. Then arial shots of Iowa ave. and St. Patrick's Church on Court st. You can see the path of the tornado in that Iowa avenue picture. Pretty amazing. Other damage was to a sorority house, Linder tires, Menard's, car dealerships, Tony's Grill, Martini's (the old Bushnell's Turtle).... I'll leave the rest of the updates to those who actually live in town.

Brilliance Abounds

All kinds of brilliance to report upon today...
I got this great shot of Henry improving upon his mango by adding Cheerios. I think he may be a great chef some day.







And here he is standing out on the patio, having just opened the sliding door himself and walking on out. Actually, he doesn't walk out, he backs out...as if heading down a treacherous flight of stairs.





And finally, another picture of the brilliant and lovely hyacinths in the yard. Though one can't truly own nature, I feel blessed each day to live in a place where these little guys make their home. And, of course, there's Franklin doing his business in the background.

Empty, we hope.

Pete and I spent a good three or four hours on Sunday emptying the last remaining things out of the condo and cleaning up. Here are some photos of the place empty. We spent a few last moments in each room. I didn't get misty, but it was a melancholy experience, especially saying goodbye to Henry's first bedroom. We did leave just one thing behind...this sticker baby photo of me from my 30th birthday party. Seemed a shame to try to peel it off the fridge.
I made my last trip to the car with the welcome mat, the boom box and the bucket of cleaning supplies, then sat there while Pete grabbed the last flower pot and locked up. I noticed our upstairs neighbor, Jerky, walking across the street. When Pete got to the car I asked if he'd seen Jerky (real name: Pete. Thus, we must call him by his more accurate name, Jerky). Pete then relayed this conversation to me:

Jerky: You guys moving?
Pete: Yep. We're out.
Jerky: Good luck.
Pete: (claims to have said nothing, but I'm sure he probably said "thanks" or "see ya".)

Jerk. We ran through a myriad of responses Pete could have had, none of which ought to be repeated here....polite company and all. Probably best that he just kept his mouth shut. Now we can move on with our pleasant, quiet suburban life. Ah....the sweet, sweet joy of not having an upstairs neighbor...

Hyacinths

I'm so glad my baby has a yard. I know...he's not really a baby anymore....I'll probably call him that my whole life. Look at how sweet he is with the flowers. He's a gentle soul. A gentle soul with a well-developed sense of humor...and the occasional need to grab my face with sharp little fingernails. But mostly gentle, with a cute little singing voice and some hot dance moves.

Shouldn't be blogging at work...

but wanted to share this photo of Henry discovering himself in the mirror. He loves to make faces at himself!

Fun Times

There has been so much happening, it's hard to keep the blog updated. Pete is back from Germany now, and Mom is here again this weekend so we are finally emptying some boxes. Here are some more photos of recent happenings in the house. Pete brought Henry a little wooden Franklin from Germany. He wobbles around when you pull him and makes a fun clacking noise, especially on the tile floor. Henry didn't pay much attention to id at first, but when Pete was taking a trip to Deerfield to pick up some last items Henry suddenly took a keen interest in the dog. He pulled him back and forth across the entire house about 4 times, occasionally checking behind to make sure the dog was still there.

I think I wrote about the Winnie the Pooh room....here's a picture of it. Not sure yet when we'll get the painting done, but in the meantime Mom wonders if it's causing Henry nightmares.

We took a short walk to Starbucks this morning and when we came back Franklin found a little spot in the sun to nap. We get a lot of nice sun in this house.

Finally, a picture of Henry helping his dad put together the kitchen table. Henry was very helpful with the screwdrivers.
Right now Mom and Pete are testing out all of the bedroom doors. Mom and I got locked into the bedroom side of the house the other night and had to use Mom's cell phone to call Pete in the family room to come let us out. New non-locking knobs are on our Home Depot list, which seems to be growing exponentially.

more pictures...

Here's Henry taking his first nap in his new room. He's hard to see, because I didn't want to get too close and wake him up. Yes, he was wearing his hat and coat. Sometime's he's still sleeping when we bring him in from the car, so we just let him sleep that way. It's hard to tell, but the walls are sort of wood-panelly and painted brighty, shiny, shiny white. The plan is that they will soon be blue.


This photo is of Pete's feet the night before we moved. For our last night as residents of Evanston we thought we should have dinner at Dave's Italian Kitchen, which we're already missing. When we got half way to the car Pete realized that he was still wearing his slippers. I convinced him that if he wore them people might think they were fancy European clogs. He did wear them, but I'm not sure the craze caught on.

Goodness!

It's been a very long few days...
I think this will be a quick post, as I'm flying solo tonight with the baby. Pete stuck around for the move and then took off for Germany tonight. He's gone until the end of the week. I think he's secretly hoping that he'll come home to an unpacked, lovely looking new house. I wish I could make that happen for him!
So, here are some photos....not the best photography, but it will give an idea for now of the life I've been living the last few days...
I'm SO delighted to see flowers coming up in my yard, here is an example of some hiacynth. There's also daffodils, spring beauties and some cute little red thing I can't identify.
There's a shot of the gigantic truck the movers used... more stories on them later, maybe.
Rob and Carrie helped to take down the horrible verticle blinds in our family room. They also took down the ugly green valances. Carrie very delicately asked what I thought of them before she gave me her candid opinion.
Franklin was afraid to cross the tile for the first few days, now he travels freely, as long as the washer or dryer are not running.
Finally, a shot of Prince Kyle's room...soon to be repainted and made up for office-ness and guests.
More stories to come as time and energy and Henry's sleeping schedule permit....