The Boys at the Park

St. Charles is fortunate to have a new "dog park". For any of you who don't have one in your community, it is a place where dog owners can take their furry children to let them socialize with other dogs and romp a bit. Our Chas LOVES the dog park. This past weekend we were puppy-sitting our grand-dog, Bailey. He had never been to the dog park before, so we siezed a sunny bit of Saturday morning to take him for the first time. He had an absolute blast! Funny thing, though, is that we expected he and Chas would play together there, and they really didn't. Chas was totally all about running as fast as he could for most of the time, (we sort of expected it, since he's been recuperating from a pulled claw and hasn't been out for a good dash in 3 weeks!) and Bailey spent as much time trying to get the people there to play as he did the other dogs. It was pretty funny. Bailey didn't want to leave when it was time to go. All in all, a good day for the "boys".

A Light in the Piazza and Sameems

After completing the work on the Winter One-acts this weekend, we had ourselves quite a superb Sunday. We got some great tickets to the Fox and saw the off-Broadway production of "A Light in the Piazza" (a winner of 6 Tony awards)! It was a delightful performance and a lovely and unusual plotline. The music was beautiful but not particularily hummable.... which is not always a bad thing. I recall coming out of "Les Mis" last summer with "Can You hear the People Sing" stuck in my head for the next 2+ weeks! Anyway, having been to Italy made "Piazza" doubly enjoyable as it was set in Florence... the sets were amazing and the ensemble cast of only 16 did a marvelous job! Very little dancing... nice for a change too.

After the show, we wandered south on Grand and tried a new restaurant. Just next door to our favorite Vietnamese haunt, Pho Grand, is a place called Sameem... and Afghani restaurant... and we struck gold! Great food, great prices and you feel like you've stepped into another land! I had a dish called Muntoo... sort like Afghani tortellini, the house tea comes black or in chai, and the flavors are exotic and delicious! What a find! The family who owns and operates it just arrived in St. Louis in 1991, and we hope they stay forever, this is a spot we'll go back to!

The Smiles of the week!

Had to post just two more shots... my grinning grandsons! Gabe had just received a new "Cars" cap from Gret and Leon and he was all smiles. Asher was just laughing at life in general and having his usual good time. If I were to show you a photo of Ed at this age, he would pass for Gabe's twin... the resemblance is pretty incredible. Guess we'll have to keep em, huh?

Tent buddies!

Gabe and Gwen are great buddies who have a blast whenever they can play together. Thanks to Gret and Leon, they had a "fort/tent" to play in the night of the Super Bowl. They had so much fun we scarcely knew they were in the house the entire evening! Just had to this shot of them "peeking" out their "front door!"

A super fun weekend!

Last weekend was a super weekend! Not only was it the weekend of the Super Bowl, but we had a SUPER time with our kids. Kate, Nate, and kids came to visit and we spent the two days laughing and enjoying one another's company. We were able to see Asher walk (live and in person!), watch Gabe open his birthday gifts, and celebrate the news that a new Harrmann will be joining the family in early October!! The icing on the cake of the weekend was when we all gathered at Gretchen's and Leon's house for a stupendous Super Bowl party! It was probably the best time I've ever had at a football party! The food was tremendous and all the people who came were too! The guests included everyone we most enjoy spending time with and we laughed and ate and ate some MORE and laughed some MORE! Thanks to Leon's TIVO we could watch the goofy commercials over and over as often as we liked, and nobody really cared which team won or lost... although the Bears fans were a distinct minority.... sadly, they lost. Gret and Gabe ended the evening by "cheesin' " for the camera... Look closely, I think you just might see a distinct "family resemblance"!

Brrrr..... it's a cold snap!

Winter has officially arrived temperature-wise in the past few days. Below normal daytime temps and single digit overnight temps have been the pattern. All of this makes the idea of getting out of bed in the a.m. difficult. Especially when it would be so much nicer to snuggle in under the cozy quilt and wait for spring.
Late Jan. and early Feb. are always tough times for me. I maintain it's because I have to teach "Julius Caesar" every year at about this time... and all that murder and mayhem gets me down. But I am also teaching Wm.Wordsworth in my AP classes... ya know, "the world is too much with us..." and Tintern Abbey and all that jazz (I really love Wordsworth!). So, what is it about this time of year that is such a bummer. Doctors talk about Seasonal affective disorder, brought on by short days and lack of sunshine overall... but I don't buy it. I think it's got more to do with "post-December" stress disorder. Whatever it is, I hope it lifts soon.... if I have to grade one more essay about 'noble Brutus" - I might hop a plane to Bermuda!

Gabriel at Five

Wednesday of this week is a special day. It's the day our grandson will celebrate his 5th birthday. Words can't begin to express how much joy and laughter Gabriel has brought to our lives. I just had to put together this little montage... I call it the "metamorphosis of Gabe". The first photo is of him at 6 days old... and then one each year till now. So here's to you Gabriel. May all your years be happy ones! And always remember your papa and gramma love you forever!

The Adventure of "Candle Days"

Couldn't let too much time go by without reflecting on how this past weekend, while not something we'd have wished for, was also a sort of "urban adventure". The whole scenario, reading by candle light, cooking on the outdoor grill in January, and warming our home via fireplace was both surreal and a bit reassuring. It was neat to discover we didn't have to be run out of our home just because our ready access to the almighty kilowatt was cut off. I found myself thinking about people in lots of places worldwide for whom electricity is not a regular option. And then I felt blest. Blest to have a resourceful spouse, blest to have a house with a fireplace, blest to have good friends to share the candlelight with, and blest to have time to share a bottle of wine and good conversations with those friends and spouse instead of the usual round of television or videos with which we generally insulate ourselves. (Even blest not to have a computer that I could "connect to the world" with for a few days.) Interesting. Might it be a good idea to stage my own "imaginary ice storm" every now and then when life gets too frantic and unkind? Hmmmm? Definitely worth thinking about... I know I look younger in candlelight! :-)

Winter at its fiercest! Good-bye trees! :-(

Well, dear readers, it's been a pretty wild and wooly weekend here in ole' St.Chuck. Friday evening a wicked winter storm hit us; not with snow, but with ICE! LOTS of Ice!! Then beginning at about 3am Saturday morning the sounds of trees breaking and crashing became common. First the snap, almost like a gunshot. Then as you held your breath, the thump on the rooftops of tree limbs falling. Our poor maple in the backyard lost many branches from its center. Fortunately, no damage was done to the roof or the pool. The oak and the sycamore surprised us by dropping hardly a branch.

All over town, branches came down, taking power lines and electricity with them. By 6am Saturday we had no power... and neither did over 100,000 fellow St. Charlesians! So we lit our ventless gas fireplace, dug out all our flashlights, oil lamps, and candles and hunkered down to wait for power to return. With the fireplace, we were able to keep the house in the 60's... but not all our neighbors were able to do so.

We greeted Sunday morning with the loss of our favorite Bradford Pear tree which snapped due to the load on its poor branches. The photos here are minus a full pickup truck load of logs that Gret and Leon will use for firewood once it seasons. With their help, we were able to clean up all of what you see here.

Good news arrived about 1 on Sunday afternoon when our lights came back on! Then, when their house reached the low 50's on Sunday afternoon, our best friends the Gaunts, who had no power until Monday afternoon, moved in for an 24 hr. stay. So we had fun playing with their grandkids Victor and Gwen which successfully took all our minds off the weather outside.

Presently it's late Monday afternoon and the temps are plunging into the upper teens. The wind is supposed to pick up tonight, but since much of the ice melted away late yesterday, we should be okay. Our only worry is if any previously weakened lines fall down. We are praying that doesn't happen. St. Charles County is slated to be back to full operations by Wednesday night.

We'll miss our pretty pear tree seen here just behind the pink crabapple last spring.

Hidden in Plain Sight!

Chas has a new "favorite activity" that's become apparent over the holiday break. He goes into the guest room, jumps on the bed, shuffles all the pillows and stuffed animals around... and makes a hiding place for himself. Then he goes to sleep there. We've come home and been unable to locate him and then gone into the guest room and there's our "guest". It's a bit like he's thinking, "Well, they aren't using this bed, so I might as well; and if I'm really tricky... maybe they won't notice me!" Goofy Mutt!
Happy New Year, everyone!

Some Christmas photos

Here are a few of the shots we took on Christmas Eve. Thought everyone might want to see what we all looked like that night! Chas is still not too sure about having a tree in the house, but he put on his happy face and posed for us.

Merry CHRISTmas!

We wish all of you a Merry Christmas! May it be filled with warm memories of times spent with those you love, and may it be all about the hope that we have through the Christ child born in the manger.
We are spending a very sunny Christmas Eve Day preparing for all the celebrations that will begin around 6 this evening! It will be a special time for us to spend with Leon and Gret (and with Katrina, Nathan and the boys in spirit!).
Merry and Blessed Christmas to all of you!

It's Playtime for Chas!

Today was a special day for Chas. In late morning, we jumped into the truck and took him to the new St. Charles Dog Park. His ears popped up and he began to fuss to get out of the truck even as we pulled up and he spotted all the other potential "playmates" at the park. Our boy did a good job for a first-timer. You can see from the photos that at first he hesitated and just sort of watched the other "furry kids". Then he ran in and joined 'em. He was a stitch trying to get everyone to chase him... dogs must know greyhounds are fast cos' when Chas got galloping, they only followed for a little while and then he'd have to "dare" them to catch him all over again. All the other "parents" there were cheering him on, yelling things like "Go buddy, get my dog to run; he needs the workout!" All in all it was pretty funny and we met some other crazy dog lovers. Jolly good fun! If your community doesn't have dog park... encourage them to get one, it's a great place to meet people and we were amazed at how clean and nice ours is. Grass is stuggling to grow in ours at present, but it just opened in November and hopefully come summer, it will get a chance to sprout some green.

Finally, I hadn't yet posted a shot of our beautiful tree. It came out gorgeous again this year. Ed is the "master" tree designer at our house. I am the "appreciater" of trees!

Updated to the "New" Blogger

Just updated to the new beta version of Blogger... which is really easy, you just need to open a "Google Account" - and beyond that Blogger does the rest. It's supposed to be faster and easier... we'll see. It all looks the same so far, so I think it's all going to be okay! Give it a whirl friends! 8 Days til Christmas and counting!!!

14 Days and Counting

Only two weeks to go and the natives are still restless. We will survive!
Stole another REALLY cute set of photos off of Katrina's blog. My grandsons crack me up! In these shots, Gabe is trying to teach Asher how to catch snowflakes on his tongue. They take cute to a whole new level. Do I sound like a doting granny? (nah.....)

17 days and counting!

You've all heard of the 12 Days of Christmas... well, I am here to introduce the 17 Days Before Christmas Break. As many of you know, I teach high school, and there is NOTHING in the world squirrellier than a bunch of 9-12th graders who want their semester to end and their Christmas break to begin! And it gets more intense with each passing day. Top it off with the semester ending, final exams being given, and throw in a little holiday hoopla and, WHEW! You are lucky if you survive! Presently, I have added a rather persistent head cold to this whole mix... so my days may be merry and bright, but they are also crazy, zany, somewhat frustrating, and frantic! Let the countdown begin!

On the first day of countdown my students gave to me.... a headcold of an amazing ferocity.....
stay tuned for days 2-17!

Just another snowy night in St. Charles

This blog comes to you as the snow/sleet is gently tapping on my office window. We just received that most magical of phone calls, "There's no school tomorrow!" Ahhhh, the joys of being a teacher in Missouri where the fear of the weather produces days of freedom! Today, we had rain which by mid-day was freezing... by noon less than half of our student body was at school. Pretty amazing! As a kid who grew up and attended school in Detroit, I find all this hoopla pretty incredible. In 18 years of life, I never saw a single snow day.... perhaps this is another sign of how life is different today than in the "old days!"

So enjoy the photos of my grandsons.... Gabe is in a superhero mode right now. I think he'd live in these Spiderman jammies if he could. Both shots were taken while the boys stayed with us in November.

Asher Goes Barefootin'

Asher's Walking! I copied this video clip from Kate's YouTube site! Wanted everyone to see how totally cute the little guy is!

So much to be thankful for...

We spent the Thanksgiving holidays with the grandsons in Wisconsin. We had a marvelous time! Great food, great weather, great fun. A highlight of the visit was being there to celebrate Asher's 1st birthday. And after we left for home on Sunday, Asher took his first steps...what a great time!

The Vintner and his Products

The labels for our wines came out beautiful... I highly recommend Lightning Labels out of Denver, CO! Here's a shot of all four varietals with their full caps and labels on them. Had to add this photo of Ed the night we finished working on the tasting room. Here's to a great venture!

Rolling Meadows Tasting Room

Thought some of you might like to see what the tasting room looks like at the winery. It's very cozy and it worked great on our opening weekend!

Rub-a-dub dub... Asher's in the Tub!

Asher and Gabe have spent the past 11 days at our place, and it's been a totally special time for us. We have been on several adventures. Asher has been all smiles for the whole time! Gabe has been the best big brother ever! We have been to Chuckie Cheese together, had dinner at Bob Evans, and just had loads of fun.
One night at the vineyard, Asher was getting ready for bed and we realized we only had a shower. No problem, we did have washtub.... (mostly it gets used for chilling beverages) so we filled it with bubbles and the little guy had a blast. Their parents come home tonight... I guess we'll have to give them back.

Why Dogs don't drink

Chas has a little "secret". He can't hold his wine.... but you can see he enjoyed the grand opening of the winery as much (or more) than anyone. Fortunately, he also doesn't drive, so mostly he just makes a good ad for Greyhound Winos Anonymous.

It was a busy weekend.

We held our grand opening for the winery this weekend. Both Asher and Gabriel were with us for the special day. Over 60 people came out to see the vineyard and taste Ed's wines. It was a great time and very special to see so many people at our farm.

Twas the night before halloween...

I don't want to be a bragger... but check out these amazing pumpkins by my kids and grandkids! Every year they make a huge production out of carving the "perfect" pumpkin... and these are about as perfect as it can get! I love em! (the kids AND the pumpkins!)

Let's get the party started!

Only one win separates the Cardinals from the World Series Championship!!!! The game tonight was AMAZING! The timely hitting coupled with some crucial Detroit errors made it exciting to watch right down to the last out! Reliever Pitcher Wainwright has nerves of steel! What a game! What a TEAM! Tomorrow night could be the big one here in St. Louis!

Could this have been a "prediction" of greatness????

Had to reprise this photo from last May....
Here is Gabe holding his first Cardinals ticket and looking pretty excited about seeing major league baseball for the very first time... and this morning... well, our Cardinals have won the National League Pennant and are in Detroit where the World Series will begin tomorrow! It was such an exciting finish in Game 7 vs. the NY Mets last night! The whole town is talking about it. In fact, that's ALL they're talking about this morning. Forget about the upcoming elections, forget about the war in Iraq, the Cards are in the SERIES! This St. Louis area family is rooting for them to go all the way, and so is a little fella in Wisconsin!!!

Go Get Em' Tigers!

For those of you who know me, you know I grew up in the Motor City. However, having lived in the St. Louis area for the past 24 years makes it look a bit suspect if I get all cranked up over the Detroit Tigers going to the World Series this year. But I must admit, I am awfully proud of the hometown team, even if I honestly can't name a single player on the team. I know how much this means to my hometown. In fact, about the only thing that Detroit and St. Louis have in common, besides cars and German immigrants, is their love for their sports teams! Detroit fans, like St. Louis fans, are incredible people...loyal to the max and willing to wait a LONG time between championships. In fact, my sainted grandpa, John Bennett, used to say that the Tigers only won the series "once each generation just to keep the fans hopeful and loyal." And here they are again! Back for the first time since 1984 to go for the championship!!!

Now, the question does remain... who will I root for if St. Louis (presently up 2-1 on the Mets) makes it into the Series??? Well, that will be hard. To be honest, I'll probably root for the Cards... but there will be a teensy part of my heart that will be hoping that Jim Leyland and his boys can bring one home for this generation of fans in Detroit. And I'll have to dig out my blue hat with the "classic D" on it if they succeed...... cos' you know, you never REALLY leave home!

Ahh... Fall's Awesome!

Ahh, Fall! The leaves are crunchy and the air is cool... my favorite time of year, hands down! Spent a long weekend doing a lot of end of quarter grading, but even that is not without its perks. Lit the chimera fireplace on the deck, poured myself a glass of our Norton, and took in a bit of fresh air while I read my students' work.

Also, had to add this photo of the "last rose of summer" - Kate's rose bush, planted several years ago, decided to kick out 2 more gorgeous blooms just before we get our first frost. They were worth saving, at least so we can remember them when the snow blankets the garden. Frost is due to arrive this Friday.

Tonight, the Cardinals clinched the division title by beating the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. Next they take on the New York Mets. If they get past them, it's on to the Series where they could meet the Detroit Tigers who toppled the New York Yankees and are going for their league championship as well! It would make for an exciting fall, wouldn't it?!

At long last, I'm back!

Holy boats! It's been forever... or at least a month since my last post! Sorry about that, dear readers! Between school and grapes and assorted nonsense... time has just slipped away. September has flown away, and here I am one day from the end of the month.
The biggest news is that at LONG last we have completed ALL the steps to be able to sell our wine to our good friends and family who have been waiting while we've worked to get Rolling Meadows Vinyards up and going. It's been a long seven years... and the paperwork has taken forever. However, today we received our final label approval and now we have the 'green light" to sell some of the 1000+ bottles that are waiting in boxes in our cellars! That is a huge thing! We are hoping to have an Open House/Grand Opening in late October and early November. The above photo is just one of our 4 labels... I am really excited to be DONE with the paper filing and the waiting!

Can you tell it's fall?

If you haven't noticed my temporary disappearance from my blog, I can only say three words: START OF SCHOOL! That's right, the annual feeling of starting all over again and drowning in new names and faces and PAPERS! This fall I see 124 kids per day and all of them write things they need me to read. So... suffice it to say, I am doing more reading than ever before. Our school is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and it's remarkable when you think that we opened in 1982 with 17 kids and this fall started the year with 360! The neat part is that we've been here from day one watching it happen. God has been really good to LHS!

Door County Days - Part 3

Had to post just a couple more of my favorite shots of us enjoying Door County, WI. The one of Gabe chillin' by the pool with his Papa is just so cute. He's wearing Ed's sunglasses and is all decked out in his new Spiderman swim trunks with his Superman T-Shirt on standby on the chair. Oh for the days when superheroes were that real!

The second photo is our last sunset of the trip taken on the Friday night (8/4) before we left... I don't think there's anywhere that has sunsets as gorgeous as they do on Green Bay. Ahhhh Summer!

That being said, it's just a few days till school begins anew. Here's to memories of a great summer of 2006!

Door County Days - Part 2

Sailing + Sunsets = SMILES!



One of the best things we did while in Door County is charter a sunset cruise on a classic double-masted sailboat. The day had been cloudy but just as we set out, the weather cleared on the horizon and we were treated to a gorgeous sunset. It was probably the most relaxing thing we did all week. There is nothing like the quiet of a sail to make you just want to lean back and grin!

Door County Days - Part 1

Boys are all the same when it comes to playing in the sand!


Ed and all the kids together in the Door.

Our family considers Door County, Wisconsin to be one of the truly most beautiful and relaxing places on the planet. After foregoing our trips there for the past 3 summers, we decided this summer we needed to go back. We picked the very last week of the summer before we all have to return to our school duties. Gretchen and Leon spent the whole week up there with us, and Katrina, Nate, and the boys were able to join us for the first weekend. It was so much fun to be all together in a place very dear to our hearts. The weather was gorgeous... a bit toasty the first couple days but not enough to stop the fun. The beaches were crystal clear and warm. We made some great memories together.