Wyatt'sWorld

Summer in Evansville In April

2011-04-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, the weather was 85 degrees--way too hot for April. Jason & Jen & Gracie & Reiley Bone visited us from Vandalia and we had a great time, especially outdoors. Gracie & Reiley were particularly helpful with Baby G. Of course, this weekend we had 40 degree weather.

Spring is finally here!

2011-04-06T04:36:00.000-07:00

Spring has taken a long time to get to Evansville. Here are some pictures to celebrate the arrival of it. Here is baby G. ready for Easter, playing in her brother's room in his old Thomas pjs and down below, swinging on her swing in the backyard. We went to a birthday party on Sunday at Pump it Up and both Wyatt and Genevieve loved the slides. Check out Paul and G's picture--especially their expressions and hair. I hope spring is kind to our new garden that Paul and Wyatt watered.

Genevieve's First Birthday

2011-01-29T12:24:00.000-08:00

Despite being out of daycare for a week because of RSV, Baby G had a great birthday and enjoyed her cake, as you can see. Note the clean "before" pictures and the cake strewn "after" ones. We can't believe that it has been a year.

Winter 2010-2011 Pictures

2011-01-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

We went to visit the family in Vandalia on Dec. 26th. Various pics including: Genevieve enjoying her bottle with Papa Dean, G. unwrapping presents w/Mama, Daddy, Wyatt, Jennifer, Jason & the girls, Wyatt in his new U. of Illinois shirt which I love! There are also some pictures of Wyatt the artist (and chef) in our new house :) Genevieve is so close to walking and loves pushing the shopping cart full of heavy books. The last picture is a keeper, isn't it?

Visiting Santa

2010-12-17T08:41:00.001-08:00

We recently visited Santa at our local radio station, which was a lot of fun. Wyatt had on his new favorite Nordic sweater as it was freezing outside! Our friend Tori took some nice pictures of us. Wyatt also grabbed the camera and took the picture of Santa all by himself, which turned out pretty well. While at the radio station, Wyatt watched a Curious George Christmas special and ate a cookie that turned his mouth green. The last picture is Wyatt playing w/mommy's breast pump parts. On that note, Merry Christmas!

New pictures

2010-12-01T03:46:00.000-08:00

Here are Genevieve's and Wyatt's most recent school pictures. Don't worry, grandparents--you will get some soon!

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Vandalia, Illinois, with Paul's family. We had a lot of fun--especially when we were taking a bath in Vicki's kitchen sink. Baby Genevieve is working on crawling, a head of hair, and a 5th tooth. Wyatt is still working on being a big brother.

Halloween

2010-11-11T16:25:00.001-08:00

Here are some Halloween pictures. Baby Genevieve was a clown and Wyatt was a fireman, although it was hard to get good pictures of him because of the reflective tape. I have also included some pictures of Vandalia, including Wyatt w/his cousins in their Purple Aces shirts and Genevieve w/a Sherlock Holmes hat on. Papa Fred & Grandma Kathy also sent Wyatt an awesome pirate package that included a hat and eye patch. I told him not to wear these to bed, but he outsmarted me!

Wyatt's Fifth Birthday

2010-10-11T14:12:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from Wyatt's birthday weekend, as well as some other fun things that we have done recently (like going out for Mexican food--see Wyatt and Heidi in front of the empty Margarita glass:)) We also went to Fall Festival recently, where Wyatt got his face painted like a ferocious tiger. Genevieve also enjoyed the birthday celebrations and fell asleep in Heidi's arms holding the cake server (although this does look like a breastfeeding picture!). One of Wyatt's Halloween costumes is a fireman one, which he is modeling here. October is a fun month for us, with Wyatt and Paul's birthdays in it.

In the past week...

2010-09-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Wyatt and his Montessori friends participated in World Peace Day, where they sang "Light a Candle for Peace," along with many other Montessori students around the world. Last Saturday, we went to Kids Fest in downtown Evansville, where Wyatt got to inspect a fire truck. On Sunday, we went to the marvelous German American Kunst Fest in nearby New Harmony. We ate lots of good food, including bratwurst and dumplings. There were several fire engine for Wyatt to inspect there. The flag below was hanging off one of engine's ladder. We also visited the sites of our wedding (the Roofless Church) and our reception (the Granary). Wyatt reminded us that this was where we got married. Lastly, Wyatt spotted a gently used fire boat that he had to have. Are you spotting a trend here? Guess what he wants to be for Halloween?

Florida 2010

2010-08-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

In late July, we drove to Florida to visit Heidi's dad and stepmom. Here is Wyatt in the backseat w/Genevieve. He is wearing noise reducer headphones, which were needed during the trip. I need to emphasize that our 2 day trip was in a COROLLA and that we came back still talking to one another. Here are a few pictures from the beach, which we all loved. While there, we went with Dad to the Mote Aquarium, where we saw a dolphin, manatee (eating Romaine lettuce), sea turtle and hammer head shark. There is a picture of Wyatt by his name in the sand as well as one of the three of us. While in the Sunshine State, we visited Heidi's high school friend, Dawn Goldsmith, and hung out with her and her daughter, Elena. We went with them to the Children's Museum in St. Petersburg and had yummy burgers at Five Guys Burgers. It was great to see them and fantastic to spend time with Dad and Kathy.

Michigan Part Trois

2010-08-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Because I am behind in my blogging, here are some pictures from our midJuly trip to Michigan. Wyatt is pictured here next to his tree in Nana & Papa Don's yard and in his swimming pool. Baby G. is pictured just being cute. She has a new tooth!

Michigan Part Deux

2010-07-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

Family friend Cindy Wagner allowed us to come out to Graham Lake twice to go kayaking. In the first picture, Wyatt is jumping for joy (notice the airborne feet). Paul was with us for the first kayaking trip. Cindy very kindly gave us graham crackers to snack on, which is what Wyatt is doing in the fourth picture. So, we started calling the lake Graham Cracker Lake. Cindy also held Genevieve while we swam and kayaked. Wyatt was tired from all this activity. Notice how he is thinking about sleep in the next to the last picture and has crashed in the last one. Thanks, Cindy!

Michigan 2010

2010-07-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Michigan. I am sure that I will be posting more in the next few days. I like to call the first picture "Still Life with Expensive IPA Beer Bottle." Paul was with us for part of the trip, as he and Uncle Rob had a conference that they had to go to, where they supposedly discussed poetry. Wyatt had a great time at Lake Michigan building sand castles, swimming, and burying himself. Genevieve also had a good time, but zonked out pretty early on. Wyatt found the Tastee Treat ice cream place that my parents used to take us to and requested a stop. I think that he got some of the chocolate ice cream in his stomach, although it is not clear from the last picture in this post.

New Pictures

2010-07-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of the kidlets. If you a grandparent, you will be getting some of these soon. If you are not and would like some of these pictures, contact me! Off to Carmel, IN and Michigan tomorrow for a week. Happy Birthday, Nana!

Jack & Jill came down the hill to visit us in Evansville

2010-07-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Jill and Jack Bowman came down from Carmel to visit us in Evansville last weekend and we had a lot of fun. We went to Turoni's, where we ate yummy pizza and tried the brewski tray (Jill & Paul drank it, even though it is deceptively close to Heidi's Diet Pepsi. On Sunday morning, we got the slip n' slide out too, which was a lot of fun.

Welcome to Summer!

2010-06-21T16:27:00.001-07:00

Genevieve is holding her head up now (and rolling over). Paul's mom, Vicki, came to visit us last week. She took Wyatt back to Vandalia with her for a couple of days. When we went to pick him up there, we spent a lot of time in the pool with our cousins Gracie and Reiley. The third picture is Heidi holding Evie Griffith and Baby G. The next to the last picture is G. talking to Vicki and the last one is after a bath today.

Some New Pictures

2010-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

The onesie (a hand me down from Jennie & Menachem) pretty much explains the last couple of months (except for the reading part). I have included a picture of G. "sleeping" in Wyatt's room, which he has been wanting for a long time. Some other random pictures: G. & Paul, Luther with a corsage, Genevieve looking cool, Wyatt painting outside, and our names on the driveway.

Tattoos! Look at those muscles!

2010-05-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

Paul and I had a getaway earlier this week in St. Louis. While there, we went to the St. Louis Art Museum, where we bought Wyatt some temporary Japanese tattoos. Here he is with Daddy and his permanent tattoo, the Japanese character for bone. Thanks to Vicki, Dan, Grandma Virginia & Jenn for taking care of the kiddos!

The Ride from H$%$^%ll

2010-05-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday on the ride home from the east side of Evansville, Wyatt got mad at me and told me that I was mean, which was what I got to hear for the next 20 minutes. Oh, and did I mention that Genevieve was crying and I had to pull over to get Wyatt straightened out. Here they are, looking a whole lot more angelic! And I still cannot figure out how to format text on blogspot!

Mount Olympus

2010-04-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Wyatt made his stage debut as a party goer in "Happy Birthday Zeus," his school play. I know that we are biased, but most of the play was pretty funny. And Wyatt loved being on the stage, big surprise!

Easter 2010

2010-04-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Easter. Papa Don and Nana Marilyn came down to visit. As you can see, Genevieve is getting bigger and Wyatt continues to be a ham (but not an Easter one). The last couple of pictures are from the zoo.

Too windy to have this kind of luck

2010-04-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

The cousins went fishing this weekend and showed us how it's done.

A Few Pictures of Wyatt and Albuquerque, NM

2010-04-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Wyatt--with paper boats a la Curious George and with a tie, a la Alex P. Keaton from "Family Ties." Last month, I went to an 18th-century conference in Albuquerque and played hookey for one day and took the train to nearby Santa Fe. I have included two pictures of the Santa Fe Museum, which I didn't get to visit :( But, Santa Fe was beautiful, as you can see from the blue skies. The last six pictures are as follows: the main square where the Native Americans sell their jewelry (to the left), a chapel based on St. Chapelle in Paris, the Church of San Miguel (with indigenous architecture) and an adobe house featuring beams that date to the 1260s. It is billed as the oldest house in the United States. The last two pictures were taken from the plane. As you can see, there was still a lot of snow, in addition to blue skies. I missed the family but enjoyed thinking and talking about the 18th century (yes, I know that I am a nerd:)

Visit to Vandalia 2010

2010-03-30T17:04:00.001-07:00

Here are some awesome pictures that Aunt Jenn took while I was in Albuquerque almost two weeks ago. Thanks Jenn! Paul's parents took both kids to Illinois. Wyatt had a great time with his cousins, aunt, uncles & grandparents and Genevieve got a lot of wonderful attention too. In addition to the humans, Tiger the cat looks like he is enjoying Wyatt's train. The next posting will include my pictures from New Mexico.

Brother and Sister

2010-03-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

Here are more pictures of Genevieve and Wyatt. At her last weigh-in yesterday, she was an ounce shy of 10 pounds! She is starting to look like a real baby and not a shriveled old man--

All Things Aquatic

2010-03-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some new pictures--Genevieve with a new surfboard bib. Wyatt and Genevieve in the tub and Wyatt at his first swim lesson. His swim teacher is Jeff, who is a great guy. The only thing that Wyatt was (understandably) nervous about was jumping off the diving board--into the deep end (see last picture). Luckily, there was a lifeguard there to lower him down and to another one to catch him.

No fancy captions, just more pics

2010-02-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Wyatt's Words

2010-02-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, so it is so much more difficult to find time to post with a newborn. That said, Wyatt had a few interesting things to say when Paul was putting him down the other night:
Wyatt: Mommies and babies are born in January
Daddy: Not February?
Wyatt: No, January

And my personal favorite, since I cannot stay away from baked goods right now. This came after a discussion of why babies wake up in the middle of the night.

Wyatt: Do you guys eat in the middle of the night?
Daddy: No.
Wyatt: I can hear your forks.

Genevieve, Wyatt, and the pond that Luther forgot was there.

2010-01-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

Genevieve, Wyatt, and the pond that Luther forgot was there.

2010-01-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

A Future Scholar?

2010-01-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

Here's Wyatt with Daddy's Norton Anthology of Literature, possibly marking relevant sections to bring up later in class. Also note that he is wearing Paul's noise reducer headphones in order to better concentrate on his task.

We will be heading to the hospital late Tuesday or early Wednesday for a delivery on the 27th. We will send out an email once she arrives and of course, eventually post pictures here!

Sledding with Daddy

2010-01-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

Like most of the United States, we were blanketed by snow and cold last week. Paul and Wyatt decided to sled in our backyard, but since this is southern Indiana, we don't have any sleds. I offered cookie sheets, but Paul grabbed an old sign instead, which worked very well. Wyatt hopped on Pop (Paul) and they slid down the hill. Lots of fun. I made hot chocolate inside. The last picture is of Wyatt being "gentle" with Charlotte. Please feel free to continue voting for the baby girl's name (see the previous post).

A Poll

2010-01-05T20:00:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some ultrasound pictures from this past Monday. There are a couple of nice views of her eyes, nose, mouth, and right hand. Happy New Year! Love, Heidi, Paul, & Wyatt

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from Christmas. Our friend, Meg, had us over to decorate cookies for Santa--we left some of those out for Santa, along with a carrot for each of the reindeer. We also left him a note telling him that we hoped that he enjoyed his cookies. He left us a response as well as a few cookie crumbs. Wyatt was pretty amused by this all, as you can see in the picture. I have also included a picture of Wyatt opening up his Thomas the Train Rosie, as well as Wyatt and Luther under the tree, and Wyatt the artist.

The Bowmans in Evansville!

2009-12-23T11:32:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, we were lucky enough to have a visit from Heidi's best friend Jill and her 3 children, Ellie (6 y/o), Alice (almost 4), and Jack-Jack (16 months), as well as Jill's dad and Evansville native, Roger (not pictured, age unavailable). Wyatt loved playing with the girls and Jack-Jack. When the kids woke up on Monday morning, they all hopped on Pop (a.k.a. Paul). The last two pictures are from our lunch at Turoni's--yum...Merry Christmas to all. Love, Heidi, Paul & Wyatt

Trees, Trees, & More Trees

2009-12-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from last weekend, when we got our Christmas tree and got Wyatt a new Santa hat. A few days before we got our Christmas trees, one of the dead trees on our property fell over into our yard, fortunately missing our laundry line and unfortunately (due to our recent home repair needs) missing our house. The tree broke through our fence, but does make a fun thing for Wyatt to climb on.

Wyatt & His Sister

2009-12-17T17:50:00.000-08:00

As promised, I have posted more ultrasound (u/s) pictures from this past Monday. But first, Wyatt is modelling a hat that I knitted for Warm Woolies. The u/s pictures are of 1) her fist (in a Power to the People salute) 2) her profile (with a part of the placenta above where her nose is 3) a sweet view of her face that looks really weird because of the placenta in front of her nostrils and 4) her right foot. Our next u/s appointment is 12/21. We will be having them weekly until she is born.

Thanksgiving Pictures

2009-12-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Vandalia with Paul's family. Here are some pictures of Gracie, Reiley and Isabel, as well as a great one of Vicki and Wyatt. One of the high points was a visit to Dean's workplace, Emerick's, where Gracie, Reiley, & Wyatt got to play on all kinds of cool John Deere stuff. The last picture is Paul and me on our way to Tiff & Rob's baby shower.

Wyatt's Sister

2009-11-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

We had our 28 week ultrasound today. I tried to email these to some of you, but they bounced back, so here they are. Since they did not give us a CD, my low tech approach was to take pictures of the pictures with the digital camera. The third one is a 4D one. Baby G is doing fine and weighs approximately 2 pds, 13 oz, which is right on target. Note that she is yawning in the 2nd one!

One more birthday picture....

2009-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Papa Don for this picture of Paul's birthday cake!

Paul's Birthday and Other Fun Stuff

2009-11-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Paul's birthday celebrations. The first cake is chocolate with chocolate. Wyatt added his birthday cake Bob to it--while the 2nd cake (which we are still working on) is lemon. Yummy...

Wyatt helping Daddy open presents.

A pancake as big as your hand--normal weekend breakfast food around here.

A picture that Wyatt took of Rob and Tiffany. Sorry about the captions, folks, as I cannot figure out how to make them match the picture space (neither can Paul!).

Halloween Pictures

2009-11-08T06:01:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a lot of fun around here. It started with a Montessori costume party, where we saw our friends Katherine (Tinkerbell) and Lilah (Peter Pan). Wyatt was of course, Bob the Builder. He loved the black dracula teeth that they handed out at the party (see pictures). Wyatt went out trick or treating with Lilah, who was dressed as an adorable bumblebee. They had a great time. And we finished up by playing at her parents' house!

October Stuff

2009-10-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Paul and Wyatt have carved several pumpkins together. This one is pretty cool, as it features the profile of a witch who is holding a pumpkin in her hand. I think that it looks pretty cool and scary at night. I have also included a couple of pictures of the leaves near our house.

Pictures of Luca, Lilah and Wyatt at the apple orchard and Wyatt ready for his school's picture day.

Fall Festival Part Deux

2009-10-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

More pictues from fall festival--I love the pictures of Meg and Wyatt (especially at the top of the Ferris Wheel with St. Boniface's towers in the background) and the one of Wyatt and I.

The Fall Festival

2009-10-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Well, one of the West Side Evansville delicacies is the brain sandwich. Despite the mad cow scare, the Fall Festival continues to sell them. Yum...

Wyatt and I met Meg and her kids there and we began with the pet parade. I really like the St. Bernard dressed as Cerberus. The parade also featured wagons with cages of cats and kittens and infants in precarious floats. All for 15 minutes of fame.

Wyatt loved the rides and Meg and her kids gamely took him on many of them. Mallory took him to the bumper cars and then he went up on the Ferris Wheel, which scares me to death.

The dinosaur ride was also a hit--he was happy to be in the front seat at least once. He went on this ride all by himself.

Here is Wyatt at the top of the big slide on Meg's lap (thanks Meg!) and a couple of shots of Wyatt on a helicopter with Mallory--you have to look for a little bit to find Wyatt in the last picture. We had a lot of fun with our friends eating food that was not good for us. Things that we didn't try include chocolate covered bacon, chocolate covered crickets, elephant ears, and deep fried oreos.

Wyatt's Fourth Birthday

2009-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

We had a party at Chuck e Cheese last Friday to celebrate Wyatt's birthday. We had a good time, although both our birthday helper (Mildred, not pictured) and Chuck e were a little over the top. Wyatt enjoyed riding the toys and playing the games.

We waited to have cake at home til Saturday. It was very good and super cute. Wyatt helped Paul cut the cake.

Here is Wyatt with some of his new toys: a doctor's kit and Thomas the Train stuff. Note that Paul has converted Wyatt's old toy bin into a train table...very cool. It was really more of a birthday weekend than a single day.

Kids Fest, etc.

2009-09-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

On Saturday of this past weekend, Wyatt and I had a busy day. We met Jennie, Lilah & Aviva at Kidsfest in downtown Evansville. This event was sponsored by our local NPR station and was pretty fun. We saw Curious George, which was very fun. We also saw Wyatt's teacher, Ms. Lori, at the Montessori booth, and got more Napoleon Peacock books written by our friend Margaret McMullan. Wyatt loved the bouncy house, which ended in a slide. I have enclosed several pictures of this here. One of the highpoints of Kids Fest was that Wyatt got a white fireman's hat, which he wore all day (see the last picture).

After Kids Fest, we went over to Haynie's Corner, for Arts Fest, where we saw glass blowing and various other artists at work. We also visited the UE booth. Then we went to the big, new library downtown, so it was a busy day. At the end of the day, Wyatt still had his fireman's hat on and snuck in a nap in the car.

Gretchen's visit and The Kunstfest

2009-09-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

Heidi's sister, Gretchen, visited last weekend. When it was time for Wyatt's bedtime, he snuck downstairs to watch tennis with Aunt Gretchen. Here are some pictures of them. Wyatt started to tickle Gretchen's ear, which was quite funny.

We went to Kunstfest in New Harmony with Gretchen. The high point were the fire engines, one of which Wyatt got to get into. He is very interested in firemen and the show "Fireman Sam" in particular. Kunstfest featured all kinds of yummy German food, such as bratwurst, that Gretchen and I sampled, and some that we didn't, such as "Der Zucchini."

Back to a New School and other stuff

2009-08-31T04:05:00.000-07:00

Wyatt started a new school recently, Montessori. This was pretty exciting for us. Here are some pictures of him on his first day of school with his new Spiderman lunchbag. He is still into Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train, but Spiderman also has a special spot. He is carrying an apple in his left hand (for him, not for the teacher).

L: Ready for the pool, in a Spiderman bathing suit and matching flipflops.

R: In some new school clothes, complete with Spiderman

tennis shoes.

Ready to plow the field with Daddy.

Wyatt and Barney

2009-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Rob and Tiff (and Barney) kindly watched Wyatt for us while we went to a doctor's appt. Wyatt hit it off with Barney, as you can see below. I especially like the 3rd one. Wyatt also helped to water a garden (see the last picture). Back to school pictures to come...

An Art History Post

2009-08-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't like my beloved field, you can skip this post. And there will be no pictures of Wyatt. This is one of my students, Mari Lyn, in the Louvre with Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii (1783-4). This is one of my favorite paintings and from "my" century. I spent A LOT of time talking about this painting in my survey class in the spring, which Mari Lyn was in. So, when she traveled this summer, she very kindly posed for and sent me this picture. Thanks, Mari Lyn! I think that she kind of looks like Vanna White in this picture.

Does this need a title?

2009-08-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

So this was Wyatt's first week of school at Montessori. Instead of posting pictures of that, which I will probably do early next week, I thought that I would post this picture instead. Any suggestions for a caption?

Aviva's 1/2 Birthday

2009-08-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, we celebrated Aviva's 6 month birthday with yummy cake. Almost 30 people came to Jennie and Menachem's house for the celebration.

Wyatt and Kai enjoyed the beanbag, while Kai's little brother Quinn hung out with his mom, Alicia.

A couple pictures of the birthday girl, held in a sling by Valerie's husband, Tom.

Cutting the cake....

Then we went outside and played..Wyatt, Lilah & Becca on the swing and Lilah and Wyatt playing with the sand. I think that I have a 1/2 birthday celebration coming to me.

Swimming

2009-08-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Wyatt and I went to the pool with Joyce and her daughters, Kathryn and Becca. It was a chilly day for late July, but we still had a good time.

The three of them invented a shark? game where they "attacked" Kathyrn with their little floats. She was a very good sport about this.

Wyatt got so tired out by this that he decided to lie down on the tile between the two baby pools. Kathryn is checking on him.
Later on Friday, Wyatt decided to be the laundry basket monster.

Our Vandalia Visitors

2009-07-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long lag time between posts--the last week has been crazy. Last week, Papa Dan, Mama Vicki, Uncle Tyler, and Gracie and Reiley visited, which was fun. It took me 10 tries to get all three kids looking at me.

Wyatt on Papa Dan's lap
Slip 'n slide pictures. Great action shots.

Gracie loved Charlotte, the patient cat.

Climbing the spider web at the zoo and a great picture of Reiley.

A Fun Saturday

2009-07-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Wyatt and Heidi met our friends, Benjamin and Maryclare, at a nearby playground, which has lots of cool stuff to play with. I let Wyatt bring his rubber gloves, which he loved. Here we are taking turns on the slide and playing in one of the houses.

Paul was out of town for part of last week, so we celebrated his return by having subs at Penn Station. Notice how big the sub is that Wyatt is eating, and he stole Paul's lemonade and left Paul with the kiddie cup. Wyatt also wanted to have Paul sit in the back seat with him so I snapped this picture of the two (not while I was driving!).

Happy Birthday Becca!

2009-07-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We went to Chuck E Cheese for the first time and not only did we survive, but we had a good time. The occasion was our friend Becca's 4th birthday. She is driving the car here. Looks like Wyatt was having a good time too. Heidi and Paul enjoyed playing the arcade games.

Becca, big sister Kathryn and Chuck E.

Pizza and cake--a yummy combo....

Wyatt and Kathryn looking out from us from above.

Our Weekend in Indy/Carmel by the Highway

2009-07-13T11:38:00.001-07:00

This weekend, we went to visit Jill and her family, who are visiting from Texas. Jill's father, Roger, is the Pied Piper of Children--they love him. Here is surrounded by some of them--Wyatt and Alice are behind him, Jill and Jack-Jack on the other side.

We went to the Indianapolis Public Library, which has a great place for kids. If you get up on the green stage (see Wyatt and Alice), you are then projected into a background like a skateboard (see the big kid Paul with Alice), or football field (Wyatt, Alice & Paul), or an aquarium scene (above--see Ellie and Paul with his hand in a fish's mouth!)

Jack-Jack chilling out....

We also went to the "good McDonald's"--the one that Roger had taken Wyatt to before. It has a great playland. Notice that Ellie is tackling Wyatt here at the McDonald's. We had a great visit!

Bob Vila or Bob the Builder?

2009-07-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

Last night, Wyatt decided that several doors needed to be worked on. First, the front hall closet. He is standing on the step ladder that Papa Dan made (and personalized) for him. Putting tools in the tool box to get ready for the next repair:

Next to Mommy & Daddy's bedroom, where he worked on the next repair: Daddy's closet door, which is also the back end of the front hall closet.

Making sure that the drill bit is just right.

July 4th Weekend

2009-07-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

This was a very unusual Independence Day weekend--cold and rainy. On Saturday, we went out for Japanese food with Rob and Tiffany. Rob snapped the picture of Wyatt outside of the restaurant. Paul composed some haiku to go along with it:

July is for droughts,
not blue umbrellas opened
as small farts escape unheard.

Wyatt in the bathtub:

We went for a couple of walks this weekend. This is now a little easier since the road has been repaved. Paul also decided to shave off his beard and mustache, but I know that it will grow back.

Some bamboo on the walk...

and pretty flowers.

This barn is usually the turn around point of our walk. And it is a good day if we see any of the 2 donkeys or 4 horses who live there. Yesterday we saw the donkeys (see background of picture).

Knitting My Way to Sanity

2009-07-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

A disclaimer: most of this entry is not about Wyatt, unlike my earlier posts. However, I have included some pictures of him at the end of this post.

In the midst of a bad spring, I decided that I needed something to keep my hands busy, so I turned to knitting, which I have picked up off and on in the last couple of years. Mollie Erickson and Joyce Stamm were kind enough to refresh me on the basics (which my mom had shown me a long time ago) and teach me how to knit socks. Socks seemed pretty daunting to me, as they involve 4 needles! But, the plus side is that they are really quick to do. Here is a sample of my work: 5 1/2 pairs of socks.

The ever patient Mollie and Joyce also turned me on to knitting for charity organizations, such as Warm Woolies. Recently, I sent a batch of children's socks to them and in return got this beautiful batch of Italian yarn--20 skeins in all. You are supposed to knit this yarn into socks or sweaters for Warm Woolies within three months. But the idea is great both because it keeps people warm and you get a box full of free yarn. I loved the colors that I received. In the first picture, you can see that I have already broken into the new yarn.

On another creative note, our sister-in-law, Jennifer Bone, is very talented at drawing. She did this drawing based on the photograph that appeared on Wyatt's cover of Evansville Parent.

Wyatt with his tool belt. Notice the mallet that is threatening to bring the belt down to his knees.

A Lazy Sunday

2009-06-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

After a yummy breakfast of pancakes, Wyatt decided to make a "daddy fort" in his bed. Paul laid down and Wyatt piled everything in his room on top of the bed on top of Paul. One of the best things about this was everything got put back into its place after the game was over with.

Wyatt in his laundry hamper....

Wyatt in the pool in the backyard.

After swimming for a bit, Wyatt decided that he wanted to ride his bike. The only bad thing about this is that he didn't want to use his brakes to stop, so he rode into things to stop like one of the bushes in our backyard (see last picture). This made me very nervous, so I made him put on his helmet.

Can We Build It? Yes, We Can!

2009-06-25T08:38:00.000-07:00

On May 18, Bob the Builder and his work crew came to Evansville. Bob and Spud the Scarecrow decorated the stage. Wyatt wore his Bob watch and t-shirt and brought his Bob doll. The tickets were awfully expensive, but we did get sixth row seats. Paul and Wyatt outside the theater:

Heidi looking a little maniacal. At first, Wyatt was a little subdued. We think that he was confused because Bob was on the stage and not on a television or computer screen.

After intermission, Wyatt became more enthusiastic. Notice his expression in the profile picture.

Bob and Wendy's finale. Lest this post end on an educational note, Paul and I really wanted to see Bob and Wendy outside (without their bubble heads) smoking and drinking after the show, but no such luck.

The First Camping Trip

2009-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Paul and Wyatt camped in the backyard on Friday night. Here is a view of the tent from the veggie garden. The second picture shows the campsite with our house in the background (where I was).

Sitting in front of the campfire.

Trying to decide whether to stay in in the tent... or in front of the fire.

Eating marshmellows, just like Curious George.

It was a really hot night, so the camping trip ended at 11pm, with both Wyatt and Paul coming inside.

Back in the air conditioning....

Our Living Room

2009-06-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Most of you all know that Gretchen got the camping gene in the Strobel family--she is the one who goes winter camping! When Paul and I were first dating, he asked me whether I camped or not. I responded by saying "define camping," which means that my idea of roughing it is staying in a climate controlled cabin. Wyatt, however, seems to have gotten the tent bug from his father and maternal aunt. And one of his favorite stories right now is "Curious George Goes Camping." So Paul purchased a tent yesterday and set it up our living room. I think that they are going to camp in our backyard in the next couple of days while I stay inside.

I can honestly say I never thought that I would see this.

Wyatt brought his bedding into the tent and wanted to sleep in it last night.

Another surreal shot--this one features Rosie the cat.

Manuela's Request Part II

2009-06-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

More garden pictures, as promised. Paul very wisely recycled junk on our property to use for trellises (sp?) for our vegetables. I also think that this makes our garden look like a sculptural installation or Alcatraz.

The barn beyond the garden.

Orange lilies in bloom. The barn is to the right of this patch.

Manuela's Request Part I

2009-06-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was talking to Manuela in Italy using Skype (so cool!). We spent a lot of time discussing Roger Federer's awesome French Open win (Manuela is Swiss), but we also talked about our garden and backyard.

Paul spent a lot of time planting many kinds of vegetables.

Wyatt "helped" to harvest sweet peas. Notice in this picture that he has one sticking out of his mouth as he reaches for another one!

Some water lilies...

Wyatt's favorite parking spot is also in our garden.

It's hard to believe that this is what our backyard looked like after the ice storm in late January 2009.

I am still figuring out how to blog, so I am learning things about image limits, typesetting, etc. So bear with me. In my next post, I will include a few more garden pics.

Odds and Ends

2009-06-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

In the interests of avoiding my writing projects, I thought that I would post. During our recent trip to the Ozarks with Rob and Tiffany, Tiffany and I went
horsebackriding. Thankfully, they gave me the calmest horse, Pancho. I never thought that I would be on a horse less than 2 years after breaking my neck!

The view from our cabin in the Ozarks (thanks to Mama/Vicki for finding for us!)

We recently bought a slip and slide for Heidi, I mean Wyatt.

Wyatt swinging at the last playdate with Mollie--we miss Mollie and her family tons! Thanks to Kristen & Luca for having us over and to Menachem for pushing the swing.

We recently adopted two sister kittens named Charlotte and Rosie to fill the gap left by Chelsea. Wyatt likes to call them the new Chelseas. In theory, they are teaching us about the idea of patience--Charlotte is patient with Wyatt, although Rosie is not (e.g. Wyatt can maul Charlotte, but Rosie runs away). Notice that you cannot see Charlotte's face in either of these pictures. Maybe some of Charlotte's patience will rub off on Wyatt's mom. Thanks to Mollie for naming the cats after Heidi's research projects:). We now have a menagerie at our house--3 cats and 1 big dog--yes, the animals outnumber the humans.

Our First Post

2009-06-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Hi all: We have decided to join the blogosphere to make it easier to send pictures to you all. Last weekend was a lot of fun. It included purchasing a Spider Man fishing pole (more fishing poles to come) and a trip to the playground (pictures 2, 3 & 4).

For those Wyatt diehards, this is the same playground where his "photo shoot" took place.

In the next few posts, we will send out pictures of our trip to see Bob the Builder and of our garden.