Oh Christmas Door

Alternate Title: Another Year, Another Weird Idea from the Monroe's

Remember last year's Christmas "tree" from THIS post? Yeah, a tripod and some lights was just enough to wet my appetite for something more creative in our apartment at the holidays.

Again, we have many reasons to not have a tree:
Real: Expensive, Anny is allergic to pretty much any cut conifers, too.
Fake: It's fake, and takes up a lot of storage.

This year we were inspired by a Home Depot commercial, of all things. (HERE, if you have not seen it.) I had thought all year about just cutting a piece of plywood into the shape of a tree. I kept putting it off because I could not figure out a few aspects, and I'm glad that I did. We ended up thinking outside of the box once we saw that commercial, and really like what we ended up with.

We started by going to the local ReStore, the retail outlet for Habitat for Humanity. We ended up getting a folding closet door for $10 and a partially used gallon of paint for $5, which just happened to be the perfect green for Christmas! (By partially used I mean that there was maybe 1/2 cup missing out of the gallon of paint - it is incredibly full, even after finishing our project.)

Without further delay, here is what we did:

Started by taking out the slats from the closet door. Since we are in an apartment and I don't want to risk the white carpet becoming stained, I did this in the basement near our neighbors storage area:

With Abby's help, of course, I cleaned the door on both sides from top to bottom. She insisted on her spray bottle, her own washcloth and the most helpful thing for the really dirty part, the scrubber from Ikea.

Abby helped me paint, too. The proof is in the hair, right before Abby's second bath and hair washing of the day last week:

I finished up painting the rest of the door one night after she went to bed, which made it both easier and a bit less messy. I also put on the first coat of paint on the slats. Since we knew we would not be using all of them back on the door, I only painted about half. Good thing, since I broke four in the putting-back-on process (after breaking four or five during break-down) and we still have extras to spare.

I drilled pilot holes in the one of the not-painted slats to use to keep everything in order. We decided on four holes across to allow space for little ones to fit side by side, or to spread them out across the whole slat.

With the piloted hole, it made it easy for Abby to help in that part, too!

Here is the freshly painted door, before the slats:

Here it is with the slats. I was goofing off when I put the red bag on the light. (Which is to say that I like it and Anny did not, so it becomes my goofing off!) We put one into every fourth hole - made for even spacing to accommodate all sizes of ornaments:

Once we added the lights (string of 70 LED's - low power use, too!) around the edge and hung our ornaments along the slats just as we had planned! We sectioned things off, sort of. Presidential Ornaments on the top left, memory-based stuff on the top right and less-easily-broken ones on the bottom.

Like I said, we're all really happy with the door! Storage will be a snap, too. Someone at work suggested that we could leave it up year round and just hang pictures or such. We are not sure about that, but it is on the table now!

Fall Colors!

Alternate Title: Finally a Picture Post!

I keep wanting to get out with the camera without the focus of my shots being on people. I snagged a fun shot last weekend while pumpkin-picking, but that is one shot out of the last 30 days. Oy.

Today the weather was perfect and I had hours to burn off at work. Anny was also home from school, so we picked Abby up and headed straight for Lone Elk Park to visit the Elk, Bison, Geese, Ducks and whoever else wanted to play. I'm SO glad that we decided to go - it was a perfect trip, AND I got to have some fun with the camera. Win win.

One of the nice things about my new camera is that the panorama setting is pretty idiot-proof. It literally has a line and a plus sign on each side. Line up the plus from left to right and it takes the next shot for you. If you go too far off-kilter, it kills your attempt. Very cool feature, and helped me pull this off:

Shortly after that we ran into the big Elk Herd - one buck and a dozen or more cows (lady-elk) were hanging out down by the large pond/small lake. The buck was busy scaring the geese away from the cows, which was funny to see. I could not get a good picture of him in motion, but he's a big guy and here's proof:

Another cool thing is that on part of the park property is a Bison area. They are separated from the Elk, with good reason. I would imagine that there would be some major clashes! This was the first trip that Anny got to see the Bison, and they were really close to the car. I took this picture without much zoom, and if you look closely to the right of the Bison-Behinds you will notice another animal, very camouflaged this time of year, a whitetail deer:

Not my last picture of the day, but I think I like the finality of it:

Turns out we missed the best of the leaves around here, but I'm still really glad that we made the trip. Certainly a better way to spend the afternoon than sitting behind my desk!

Abby's First Tent Camping!

Alternate Title: When Did We Get So Old?

(First off an apology - I did not get ANY tent pictures! When we set it up Abby was playing on the playground and I never actually saw her awake in the thing! Oy!)

Last weekend we went out to Mound Ridge for an All Church Retreat. Our first trip out there was last fall for the same event, but this is also where we went for summer camp last summer. Bottom line, Abby is VERY comfortable in this camp/retreat space, and that makes my soul happy. She knows the camp staff, and they know her. She knows the paths and how to get to the river or to the playground by herself. She knows all of the rules about fire, and how to beg for a s'more from the right people (i.e. not me) to get one without the work that most others have to do!

On Friday afternoon we took off early and picked Abby up on our way. She had been asking every day for two weeks if it was the day to go to camp, so you can only imagine her complete excitement about finally starting the journey! We got there and went to the main part of the property where lots of folks had begun to gather. Since it was still light out I let her know that we were going to go and set up our tent, then come back for dinner. (Putting the reward for participation out there in advance - go me!)

Abby stopped in her tracks - she did not want to camp in a tent anymore! After a bit of talking her down, we figured out that the tent is something new but that she really loves the cabin facilities there! We decided, and then convinced her, that we would try the tent for one night before deciding on the second night. She was happy because she expected a cabin-night, and we were happy because we wanted to get in the tent for at least one night so that she has that experience!

We drove up the hill so that we did not have to lug all of our stuff up, found a spot and pulled everything out. I scoped out the area for Black Walnuts, which are huge and lumpy for sleep. We got all of those cleared out and put up the easiest tent in the world. (As it turns out, I have a bruise to prove that we did not clear out ALL of them...)

(insert picture here, had I thought about it, which I did not.)

Fast forward to 8:30-ish and Abby and Anny head back for the tent. Abby went to sleep without a fight from what I have been told. She slept through the night, too! In the morning, though, she was quick to point out that she did her one night in the tent and we would be moving to the cabin on Saturday night. A deal is a deal, so we relented* and made that as our plan.

*Okay - so Anny and I realized at bed time that neither of us has been in a tent for camping since we went with a group of campers in July. July of 2002 that is! We both slept off and on all night. At 3:30 in the morning we had a conversation and had already decided that we both needed a cabin to get any real sleep on Saturday night. Abby thinks she won, we know we won - definition of Win-Win!

I was afraid that Abby's quick reversion to the cabin meant that she was not a fan of the tent, which would be a bummer. There are some incredible places that we would love to explore around Missouri and tent camping is a much easier way to do that. This was a test for us, in a safe place that Abby was comfortable, and it seemed to fail.

On Sunday when we were walking up to our car to leave Abby declared, loudly, that next time we come to camp we will sleep in a tent for TWO nights instead of one! Seems that all she needed was to know that the cabins are still there and available, but she really DID have fun.

That's my girl.

Children are Funny v2

Another three quick but cute stories about Abby!

Story One: Sharing is Caring
A few weeks ago one of my co-workers gave Abby a little heart-shaped, green "gem" ring. It is nicer than the others that we have because it adjusts down to the tiny size of her finger. Abby was so touched about the random act of kindness that she actually came home and handed me another one and said "Please take this to Miss Mary and tell her thank you!" How sweet!

Story Two: Meet Your New Mommy?
This afternoon Abby was wearing said adjustable ring as part of her dressing up. She was decked out in hair-clip earrings, necklaces and all! Anny asked where Abby got such a beautiful ring. Abby did not hesitate before saying "One of daddy's girlfriends at work gave it to me!"

In my defense, when we ran into Mary at the park a few weeks ago she did tell my family that I am "everyone at the office's Work Husband!" Yes, I can see how this could be confusing. Also, I can see that we need to work with Abby on what "co-worker" means so that she can use it properly!

Story Three: I Wanna Dance!
Anny and I were in the kitchen as I was cooking and she was emptying the dishwasher as Abby was playing with her Little People in the living room. The music was on, too. Anny was telling me about a co-worker that has a four year old daughter whose soccer team is in desperate need of players. We do not really want to get her into organized sports yet. She has years of that in front of her and for now we just want her goofing off in the park. That being said, we really want her to make a bunch of new friends so that we can expand our friend base at the same time. Yes, we are parents and we are sometimes selfish. :)

Anyway, as we were talking in the loud kitchen about whether to look into the soccer team a bit more or sign her up for the dancing class at the local rec center. We decided we would talk with her about it over dinner, but we were aided in a plan pretty quickly when Abby yelled "you HAVE TO sign me up for dance class, you know!" in a loving-but-very-sarcastic tone! Guess we had our answer, and she meant it!

I have another blog post bouncing around in my brain. Might get to them tonight, but probably not since we're going out dancing with Abby and a handful of other friends!

Children Are Funny #1

So, a friend of mine has two kids who are beyond funny, especially in their conversations with each other. She has a running series on her blog that is up to like 56 entries just based on funny things they have said. Seriously, go check out Amy and her blog, paying close attention to THIS grouping of her blog posts. She suggested that I start such a series on my blog as well when I asked for post suggestions.

The thing is that what Abby says IS funny, but it's all in context and I do not pretend to be eloquent enough to capture context. That being said, I thought I would share some funny/sweet things from Abby's words and life recently...

Long Term Goal #1

Abby is a big fan of Pinkalicious - even leading us to create her birthday party around that book as a theme. In the latest book in the series is Silverlicious, which is about Pinkalicious losing her first tooth and her Tooth Fairy experience. You can imagine that chaos ensues, or it would make for a pretty lame book.

Since the day we bought her the book, at a release party at a bookstore nonetheless, she has been fascinated about losing her first tooth. For at least a week she was introducing herself as such - "Hi, I'm Abby. I am going to lose a tooth soon!"

Here's the thing: She's Four. Unless there is a big ugly incident, she's not losing a tooth any time soon. Strangers give her a look and are excited for her, and she lets them think it's going to happen, and soon!

We have convinced her that she will not lose a tooth any time soon, and I think she's finally okay with that. She is still fascinated by other children that are gap-toothed. She stares. She asks them how they lost their tooth and about the Tooth Fairy. It proves funny, because the older kids think it is not a big deal now, but she has such aspirations to become one of them!

Long Term Goal #2

Abby is pretty clear on the main physical difference between girls and boys. Following the in-bottom and out-bottom conversation, she later declared that "Boys have hoses and girls do not." At least we are getting closer, right? Anny has also gone into childbirth stuff after Abby asked if babies come out of belly buttons. She likely got more than she bargained for from that particular question...

Anyway, over the last month or two she has become very aware of the difference between going to the men's room and the women's room, publicly. She's NOT happy to go in with me anymore, insisting that she would be fine to go to the ladies room by herself. "I'm a girl dad, just like the girl on the picture," she says, pointing at the stick figures on the door. She also promptly points to a urinal and reminds me that those are for men, and sit down toilets are for girls. (Funny for me, mostly because I sit at home. I clean bathrooms and have no patience for spray!)

I have come up with a compromise that she seems to be okay with, though. I have told her that she has to wait until she is six and when she reaches six I will let her go in by herself. Given her affinity for pooping in public places and still preferring help wiping in such situations, I think it is just as well.

I'm already dreading her sixth birthday and the number of public pissers she is going to want to go into on that day!

Sweet and Sweaty

We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden this week for a concert that ended up being rained out. Before that, though, we had a blast at the garden. It was the first time that Abby and Anny had been since we went in February, though I was there last week. It was hot and humid out - which should be expected in July. As we sat down on our blanket to have a picnic dinner Abby got "the look" and declared she needed a trip to the potty. After rolling my eyes, mostly because I suggested she go before leaving the apartment in the first place, I walked her up and over a hill to the cleanest men's room I've seen in a long time.

On the way back to the blanket I was trying to rush a bit so I tossed her on my shoulders and huffed it with an extra almost-40-pounds. I was dripping with sweat, and my shirt was pretty humorously soaked through. Abby was "being four" and grabbing my shirt and trying to pull on me. I assured her it was WAY too hot for that, and asked her to chill out. After going through that bit three or four times Abby looked up at me and said, with the sweetest voice, "Daddy, I just wanted to pull you close so we could smile - cheek to cheek!"

All grabbing forgiven, replaced with welcomed/ing kisses!

4th of July Weekend!

Hard to believe it, but there are things that happened this weekend that we did not do. What we did this weekend was:

• Behind the Scenes tour of The World Aquarium. (It is no National Aquarium, but it was nice)
• Family Movie Night watching Megamind for the first time
• Church and catching up with folks we have not seen in weeks
• Fair Saint Louis to see a local band we like (Cut short because of fun storms)
• 4th of July Parade 
• A Carnival for lunch and fun, including Abby's first Ferris Wheel ride!
• Dinner/party at a friends house
• Fireworks with a perfect view and fun company

Glad I had an extra day to the weekend, this would have been too crazy for two days!

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

One of the petting places at the aquarium! We also go to feed Otters and an Armadillo. Very cool experience for all of us.

Just a pic I like from the Fair.

A picture of (part of) the Arch as the storm approached. We were soaked by the time we got to the car, but since it rained for about 12 hours after it started, we are very glad we left when we did!

Abby waiting for the Webster Groves parade - she was mostly patient. It was wet so the parade was delayed, but fun once it got going.

Abby and I on the Ferris Wheel - her first and my first in as long as I can remember!

Fireworks in Kirkwood. We walked, which was nice because we did not have to deal with traffic. We met up with a friend from church and her little girl - glad we had company since the fireworks did not get started until 9:30! The girls frolicked and ran around while we waited.

Next weekend we are going to summer camp together! I don't think I'm going to take the camera, though. I have never actually been to summer camp as a camper - I'm looking forward to taking it all in!

Abby's Birthday: The Party!

On Sunday Abby turned four. We actually had two parties to celebrate, but one was back in May before she was done with school for the year! Luckily she understood the reason for the split scene, plus, she got cupcakes twice so that was victory for her.

This years party was similar to last years, but much smaller. Don't tell anyone, but the invitations were even extremely similar. Instead of a flower cutout we did a cupcake, but I did use the same template. Work smart - not hard, right?

Our apartment is huge for the three of us, but not huge for ten children and ten adults. This meant a picnic-party-at-the-park. Those are my favorite anyway because we did not have to clean house (frantically), and there is built in play if the kids get bored! The big concern about going all-in for an outdoor venue is that if the weather is cruddy you're stuck with it. We never seriously discussed a rain-plan, either, so it was even better that the weather was perfect for some outside time!

The theme for Abby's party came from her favorite book series - Pinkalicious! In the first book a little girl turn pink from eating too many pink cupcakes with pink icing. I would say that was the easiest party theme ever!

We made a GIANT cupcake from a special pan for Abby's first birthday party. We wanted a utensil-less event, so we did not need the huge pan this year. That left me room to be creative - I used one cup of leftover-cranberry juice and filled the rest of the way with water. It turned out the Perfect Pink:

Anny found a butterfly craft online that we tweaked/improved. This is the final product of the test version:

Even though we said "no presents" the cousins brought one - Abby is in love with what was IN the box as much as she was in love with the hugeness of the box! She insisted on carrying it to the car with no help!

 One of the activities made easy by a childrens-book-theme is that Anny read the Pinkalicious book to the whole gang. They sat, almost completely captivated by the book, for the whole thing. Fun to see that others knew the book and shouted out the punchline at the end, too!

Don't want to make the post too picture-heavy, so one last shot - this is Abby apparently playing with matches waiting to blow out her candles! She helped to make them and so she had to wait a whole 24 hours to eat them, which made them even more special for her!

Thanks to all that came to the party - we had a blast and I think all of the others did too!

For more pictures, hop over to our Picasa page: https://picasaweb.google.com/armonroe

Two more posts coming - one on "Abby at Four" and one with official doc-visit stats. That appointment is not until Monday, so it will drag out. Oh well.

Photo Tales - Week 5 - Trapped Princess

For days they were calling for rain, the severe kind, for the whole weekend last week. We had already tossed plans out the window and were trying to think of indoor fun for the family. Saturday morning they changed the forecast from severe to almost-perfect sun and blue sky! Our rain plans converted back to making outside plans really quickly.

We spent the morning at the local Renaisance Faire in Wentzville, MO. It was my brother-in-laws birthday, and for his big day he wanted to go and do that, and I was not going to turn that down! (Turns out he paid, too. And cooked us dinner. Not sure he knows what birthdays are about!) 

We spent the morning frolicking and taking in a Birds of Prey show. We followed that up with a good Ren Faire lunch: hot dogs for most, but a turkey leg for me and corn-on-the-cob for Abby! We all enjoyed walking the grounds and see people in their period clothes. We adults felt badly for the guy in full chain-mail, especially after the sun really started to blaze. He looked miserable, but was making up for it with a nice big, ice cold beer.


My favorite part was when we got to smell fresh herbs - Abby got REALLY into it. The nice woman spotted us sort of wandering, except that Abby's eyes had gotten big and friendly, so she invited us over. She told Abby to press the leaves of different things and then smell her fingers. Funny was when the host said "smell this one, it smells like gum!" Abby looked at me like "does she know I'm not four yet? I don't chew gum!" She keeps telling me that when she's seven (or is is eight?) she will be allowed to chew gum. She has a lot of life planned out already, come to think of it.


With all of the fun things that went on, it made me chuckle that all three girls were most easily attracted to the plastic playhouse that they could play with anywhere! They played on this stuff for a good half an hour or so! Abby, in particular, loves to play princess/queen games, so she had a blast. They took turns "locking" each other in the tower, and then took turns setting the captive free. This particular picture was of Abby right after she got to be the rescuer she agreed to pose for a picture, and I never pass that up!

Want to play along? Just want to see other pictures and stories? Click on the button below - it's fun to be a part of this group of folks!

Photo Tales - Week 4

On Monday my darling little one had a fever, and with daycare involved there are firm rules about that. Sniffles are okay, whining is okay, but fevers end the conversation about whether or not to send a child to daycare. I totally get that - better to keep any illness in the house of one instead of passing around the whole group!

After a morning of taking Abby to my office to get some Monday-essential work done, we went home and just vegged. By the time dinner rolled around I jumped at the chance to make it, because it was more exciting than reading another Caillou book. After dinner I insisted on doing something, anything, outside of the apartment, so we settled on blowing bubbles!

I don't know anyone who does not enjoy blowing bubbles - it's simple and amusing, both of which are right up my alley. In the past we have even bought bubble machines so that we could all enjoy without the "work" of blowing? I have never felt as lazy as when I bought a second bubble blowing machine in two years.

Someone on Facebook commented that the reflection is cool - the sun was beginning to set on a beautiful day and the two apartment buildings behind us lit up beautifully. Well, as beautifully as three-story brick buildings can look. Turned out really great for the reflection, though!

Follow the link below if you want to participate in this fun Meme! No word requirement, just a picture and a story to go along with it!

Mother's Day 2011

Alternate Title: A Week of Fun in 13 Hours!

First off - Anny got her first Mother's Day Card from me, on this, her third Mother's Day. I didn't want to do it, I'm stubborn like that, but I was stranded at Target for five minutes, and cards are cheaper than other things I could have spent money on!

On Saturday I asked Abby if she wanted to get Anny flowers for Sunday, but she insisted against in because she had potted a merigold at daycare on Friday that was already given. Bummer for me, because I like to be sneaky when it is on a whim. (I am notoriously a bad secret-keeper at home!) So bottom line, no cut-flowers for Anny.

Sunday was fun -

Breakfast made by yours truly - Abby refused to have eggs and instead had her normal granola bar

Walked to church - a favorite past time of Anny's, though we bicker every time about how fast is too fast

Had brunch for the first time in forever! Local microbrewery was packed to the gills, but we managed to get in without reservations

Ran home for a quick change, and then headed out to Laumeier Sculpture Garden for their annual Art Fair. It was huge, but too hot for us to really enjoy it much. We did have some summery treats (ice cream for Abby and I, fresh lemonade for Anny) and danced to a so-so band, so that saved that part of the day for us!

On the way home we hit up the grocery store, you know, so we can eat this week!

After dinner we went out for a hike at a place only Abby had been. She doddled on the first half, but once we got to the view spot and the forest part she was really into it!

All of that meant that Abby went to sleep really quickly when we got home at the end of the day, so we got to catch up on SNL and such on Hulu.

The real "present" part of Mother's Day this year is that she has gotten a coupon for Auto Detailing from a local cleaning company. She cares about keeping the car clean, so it is ideal. She found it herself and I did not have to keep a secret, which is ideal for me!

Photo Tales - Week 2

(or Friday Photoblogging, or whatever - here's a picture and a story!)

Our Little Reader

Abby has always wanted to read. We have made a point of reading to her at bed time, or any time she asks, since she was about six months old. I am not a reader, but I seem to be the only one in my family line that feels that way. I blame laziness - on my part - for my lack of reading!

Abby and Anny go to the library every other week while I am still at work, so I always brace myself when I get home for what crazy books they have decided to bring home. This week they brought home "How to Raise a Dinosaur" by Natasha Wing (Pablo Bernasconi on illustrations). It's cute, and Abby became immediately obsessed with it - we have been reading it at bed time, before going to school and before dinner. She loves this book. Good stuff - it has a cute story that has a lesson (spoiler alert - if you don't feed your dinosaur it will eat you!).

The cutest part was that when I was eating breakfast yesterday I heard her "reading" the story. I looked down the hallway and saw the picture above - she had assembled her favorite toys - lots of royalty, a fairy and a bear - so that she could read the story to them!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! (new signoff for the blog? probably not - seems lame in the long run.)

Photo Tales - Week 1

Alternate Title: New Meme to Join in On!

My friend Beth over at Laugh until you Cry is starting up a fun Meme that I have been thinking about for some time now. In my head I've wanted a weekly "Picture and a Thousand Words" type of thing, but as soon as I was ready to get it out the gate I started working a job with less flexibility on time - mostly the issue that I don't get home with enough "fun" time after work. Easier, now, to grab on to Beth's fun game!

The Picture:

The Story:
I took this picture at the end of a very wonderful afternoon of just Abby and I hanging out. I set off with the goal of taking the "perfect" Easter picture of Abby. This was before the official Easter Dress arrived in the mail, but just barely. Anny was off with friends for the afternoon touring a local attraction, so I got Abby to buy in to the picture-taking fun!

We had lunch at home and then posed for some just-for-Easter types of shots with some silly eggs we got the day before. They were filled with candy, and just perfect for that day. We took some pictures in the courtyard that were really fun, and then headed to the park. Abby insisted on playing a game of chase more than playing by herself, which turned out to be uber fun for me, too!

The day turned out to be hotter than I had expected, and by the time we walked home Abby was done, or so I thought. She discovered that the brick walls were cool to the touch, even on a hot day. I had put the camera away already, but pulled it back out. With a little coaxing, she let me have another three minutes of pictures - which was just right to get this shot. I really love the contrast of her bright dress with the dark wall, but I mostly love that it was the end of a perfect daddy-daughter time!

Three Days Later it Still Hurts to Walk

Alternate Title: Broomball Tournament Time!

Last Saturday I played in a broomball tournament as part of the Deaf Inc. Winterfest. Deaf Inc provides ASL classes, interpreting services and advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing. If you remember back to when we were teaching Abby ASL with Signing Time, I know a little. Turns out, a lot of my signs came back to me, and I will admit to watching an episode on Saturday morning to brush up on my Sports Signs!

The team that I played on over the winter actually fielded TWO teams at this tournament, which was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. When I got there and checked in I found out that both teams were playing at the same time, and since our organizer is also our only goalie, I ran back home to gather more equipment as a just-in-case measure. Glad that I did, because in the first game we played, I had to play goalie!

My team in front of me played really well, and so I had a shutout, with only two shots against. In the second game I ended up with a goal and two assists - all around I had a really good day.

Most of us ended up playing on both teams with the exception of the first game - so I ended up playing goalie twice (gave organizing-guy a break for a game halfway through the day). Playing in each game means that we ended up playing nine games in the course of nine hours!

Our teams ended up the round-robin play in 4th and 5th places. In a playoff field of 8 teams, that means we were slated to play against each other! We opted to have one team forfeit and combine teams to play against the #1 seed for the semi-finals. I am a firm believer that the new guy should be the one to sit on the sidelines, so I volunteered to sit in the semi and play in the final, if we got there. I had a really good time on the sideline - I know hockey and was able to sort of coach from the sideline. I had not even thought of coaching as a hobby until last weekend, but now I think I could get into it really easily. (Not now, too much else on the proverbial plate to take something else on!)

Our team ended up losing in the semi-final game to a much more organized team. Good game, lost 1-0 and there were lots of chances to change the outcome of the game, but they just could not do it.

The title of the post is intentional - I could hardly walk on Sunday, could walk with pain on Monday and Tuesday, and was finally able to get around and feel like a human being again! I spoke to two others on the team that I happen to work with and was relieved to know they felt the same way! It was a blast and I will jump at the next opportunity to do so, but it was not without pain!

Wordless Wednesday: Playing with Colors

Have not done a Wordless Wednesday submission for a while... Go check out more at http://www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome/!

Recently I stumbled upon a co-worker's office and noticed a strange sight - an autographed broom. Since his boss had a signed bowling ball, it was a little bit less strange. I questioned why she got the ball and he got a broom.

Turns out he plays on a broomball team at Steinberg Ice Rink, which is an outdoor ice rink at a Forest Park. Beyond that, it turned out that four other co-workers play on the co-ed team and they had a need for a fill in a few weeks ago!

Games in this league are at 9 or 9:45 pm, so that was a turn off. It's outside and the first week I played it was -3 degrees (F) when we went on the ice! I fell flat on my butt in the first two minutes, but quickly began to have fun and signed on for good!

Broomball is sort of like hockey but there are no skates and the sticks are shorter in both height and length. I actually found a news clip this morning of a story a local news station did on the games at Steinberg! It's below. Good explanation of what the game looks like:



I have signed up for a tournament with the team next month. I realized about ten minutes later that if we go and we do well then there will be several games in the course of a day. I then decided it was time to get serious about getting into better shape! (also helps that the weather has started to take a turn for warmer again!)

At work I am always sure to take packages that arrive for folks to them instead of asking them to come up and get them, especially those on the other side of the building. Our building is fairly large, and I think it has helped me start small and be more ready for a push of real exercise. I even noticed this week that I am no longer winded when I walk up our grand stairwell which is a major change from when I started six months ago.

So anyway, wanted to share that I've picked up something new - and something fun!

Fun with Lego's

Abby and Played with Lego's yesterday while Anny was out doing laundry. She gets her quiet time that way, and I get to have Abby time. Win Win in our house!

I have been working on a boat for a while and helping Abby work on smaller things. I wish we had one of the cool train sets that we saw a few weeks back, but that is not in the cards for us right now. Might be more inclined if Abby played with the wooden trains we have a bit more often, but alas that is not high on her fun list. (for right now anyway)

Yesterday we discovered a lifeguard Lego and decided to fill the boat and make it a pool! Abby is funny, and so we enjoyed for a while. We went for the whole cycle of a guy struggling to swim and eventually dying. (Thanks, by the way, Disney movies. Every day something in our apartment has to die, and Abby has to get married. Every. Day.)

Guy struggling to get out of the water in overalls. Lifeguard can't bend her knee to make the rescue!

Mouth-to-mouth. This one is a bit weird...

 Strongmen in green helping get him away from the pool.

If you can see the face of the "victim" it has changed. The others, clearly, have not. They are angry I think.

On a VERY closely related note, Anny says that this afternoon we will go for a hike or do something to get me out of the house while the weather is nice!

Fitness First Friday at the Magic House

(For those who are not local, some back story: there is this child-centric, totally hands on "museum" in St Louis that we have always liked. The first time that Anny or I had been there was ten years ago for a wedding - the whole place was filled with craziness of adults on a Saturday night having a blast doing a bunch of stuff designed for kids! What fun.

More specifically, I should say, The Magic House is in Kirkwood, MO. Hey, we live in Kirkwood, MO. As it turns out, our apartment is only two turns away in the car from there! For Christmas we got (and gave) a year long membership! If you do the whole "x number of visits this pays for itself" deal - I think a month into 2011 we may have already doubled down on it! Abby loves it there, and asks to go each time we pass it!)

I made a funny offer to Abby yesterday morning -

"Abby, I was thinking we could go to The Magic House after dinner. If we go, our trip tonight will be to go and learn and not just play with everything along the way. How does that sound?"

I totally should not have made that offer in that way, but we skipped out on the (first) Fitness First Friday last month and I didn't realize that ALL of that learning would be so much fun! The program is designed around taking 1,000 steps in an evening by sending us upstairs first, then all the way to the basement. (250 steps) From there we made a first stop with some kid's yoga! Abby had a blast, and got compliments from the instructor about how good her poses are!

Then we took off to the other side of the building (it said another 250 steps, but I think those are Rob-steps, so Abby did even more) to go up to the third floor again. We did some of the fun stuff because I could not bring myself to keep her from playing - that IS what the Magic House is all about! The next task she skipped - going down a three story twisty slide. The guy at the bottom of the stairs told me I could go with her, but the lady at the top told me I could not. We walked down. More exercise than fun, I guess!

We walked down to the lower level again after doing a little math - which is just counting for Abby. (250 more steps) We went into one of the classrooms, which we had never been in before. In there Abby did a really good workout - about three minutes of Zumba for Kids led by a few folks from the local YMCA. Abby had SO much fun, and got to learn a new dance! She did really well at following direction, and came out saying "daddy, dance is exercise and exercise is healthy!" Win!

From there we we sent back up the stairs - I think we might have walked 400 of our 1,000 steps ON the stairs - through half of the building and past Abby's favorite parts to one last stop. (250 steps) In there they had what they called recess - lots of jumping around and some running. Abby loved playing with the other kids that followed at about the same pace around the museum that we did.

Wait - that was 1,000 steps just like that! Throw in the extra exercising that Abby did with the dancing, recess and yoga and that little girl had as much exercise as I do in a whole day, wrapped up in about 90 minutes! As a reward for getting all four stickers done for each 250 step Abby got a free Apple Fries at the in-house cafe! Without prompting Abby declared "apples are a healthy snack, Daddy!"

She gets it. I need to learn from her. She and I agreed on he way home that we are going to start dancing more at home for exercise during the cold months. She might be the key to changing me, and that is brilliant!

Abby's First Ice Skating!

Abby's preschool/daycare is just so awesome. For five Fridays in January/February they go ice skating for the afternoon public session. Parents are invites, but since I left early last Friday I had decided I would pass up the trip this time and take Abby on a weekend, just us. I am so glad that my co-workers (and boss) declared that I needed to leave early and go spend some time on the ice with Abby and Anny. We had such a great time.

Abby was tentative at first and refused to let go of Anny. (I got there a little late and surprised both Abby and Anny on the ice!) We eventually coaxed her off of us and onto a bucket, all by herself. She must have done a dozen trips without us!

Here she is on her first go 'round with no help:

Big Tip 'O The Hat to whoever decided to use buckets in public skating sessions! Sure made our lives easier!

Here is Abby with her teacher, Ms Karen:

And finally, here is a short video of Abby skating without the help of us tall-folks - she really got good at this over the course of an hour!

Abby's First Skate! from Anny and Rob on Vimeo.

She will go back next week. I do not think I will join them, but I am REALLY glad that I did today!

Abby Praying

Abby has taken to leading us in prayer at home - communal style! Wanted to share one of the prayers - this is a SHORT one!

Abby's Prayer from Anny and Rob on Vimeo.

A Square Meal

Funny thing again coming from the difference between what we do at home and school, and both sides actually being in the dark because Abby is the one with the creativity...

Yesterday morning when Abby sat down for breakfast, she asked for a good, square breakfast.  Bing the good dad that I am, I brought her two eggs (whites only), whole wheat toast, a bowl of Cheerio's and orange juice.  What, that is the way it is pictured on the box, right?

Kidding, of course.  While she does sometimes eat better than I do, I am also aware that she gets second-breakfast at school, so breakfast at home is small and simple - a granola bar, a cutie or some yogurt.  Makes life simpler for all of us, and gets something healthy in before the day starts.

Anny and I could not figure out what a "square breakfast" meant for Abby, so we kept probing.  I suggested square cut pancakes. No. I suggested the regular granola bar, cut into squares.  Nope. We realized that bread is (mostly) square, so maybe she meant PB&J!  No way to PB or J. 

After giving up on us, Abby settled for half of a yogurt and we went on our merry way.

At preschool she asked for the same thing!  I had not thought to mention it to Karen because I thought it was just Abby being Abby.  Ms Karen, having known what they regularly eat at her house was still a little stumped!  She offered the range of stuff for breakfast that they usually have, with no luck.  She had a bagel for second-breakfast.  Pretty much the furthest thing from a SQUARE meal is a ROUND bagel!

Snack time changed the game when she again asked for a square meal and that is when it clicked for Karen.  She shared with Anny at the end of the day what Abby believes is a good, square meal.

A graham cracker. 

Yes, she had all of us scratching our heads over a graham cracker for breakfast. 

We need to expand this girls vocabulary a bit more, I guess! 

End note will point out that Anny went to Target last night after dinner for other stuff and ended up getting a big box of graham crackers.  Abby was elated this morning to have that as a part of her own healthy breakfast. And we taught her the phrase "graham crackers" to ease confusion later!