Driving South Through Missouri

When we left St. Louis, it was 15 degrees---we saw a lot of ice on the bluffs heading down I-55.
It was definitely still winter outside with no sign of Spring.
As we headed south through Missouri, the rocks changed, but still no signs of Spring.
Even as far south as Hayti, it was just 25 degrees, but at least the gas was pretty cheap.
In Blytheville, Arkansas, the warming began---I got to meet my cousin Ricky whose family I've corresponded with for over 30 years. His grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers (Wicker); his grandmother and my great-grandmother were first cousins (Williams), so we're double cousins. Ricky was every bit as sweet and laid back as I always thought he was. I was a little surprised by his height since that's the side of the family I get my stature from. I really enjoyed meeting him and hearing more about his family. We'll have to do that again sometime!

Alpine Skier

When people would ask where I've skied, I used to love to tell people I learned to ski in the Alps. Outside of speaking German and learning the culture, I had two goals: learn to yodel and learn to ski. I achieved one of those goals. My friend Helga (above in left corner all in black) and I took a bus to the mountains every weekend for about six weeks. I'm, above with a white coat, black hat and sunglasses.
My instructor spoke a dialect of German I couldn't understand, so Helga (who could speak no English) would translate into a German I could understand). We definitely learned "old school." There was no "bunny hill", but the instructor just would take us to a hill, where we would all side step up, ski down, side step up again. He didn't believe in lifts---he said side stepping up would build muscles or at least that's what I understood him to say.
Again I'm in the front with black hat, sunglasses, white jacket---do you see a lift?
Double click on the letter above for another story about Helga's and my skiing experience.
While in Germany, I was technically a teacher. I accompanied one of the classes as a chaperon to a ski lodge where we skied for five days. The real benefit was the ski-instructor was Robert Stepp, the English teacher I worked with. My skiing improved considerably, and I later skied in Austria and Switzerland. In later years, I skied in Iowa, Michigan, Colorado. While we lived in Pennsylvania I learned to cross-country ski which I continued after we moved back to St. Louis. BUT, I learned to ski in the Alps.

Signs of Spring

At last we can see signs of Spring.
I don't recall St. Louis ever having snow on the ground for such a long period. We pride ourselves in our always changing climate.
One evening, I decided to grill a steak. First, I noticed how light it was outside. But, then I heard what sounded like dogs howling coming from an odd direction. Then, I heard a loud fluttering of wings and looked up to see two large owls mating.

I ran for my camera, but the deed was done, they'd gone to separate corners, having a cigarette?
I saw a flock of robins last week, but in my own house, Dave declared it Spring with his T-shirt.
A few days later, we spotted the first knees of Spring at church! We have several men at church who wear shorts 10 out of 12 months---that's a club that Dave would gladly join.

Birthday Parties

Dave is getting as bad as my brother, Jim. First, Rebecca and Roman gave Dave a card and gift on Fri. Feb. 12---then Rebecca and I took all of the kids to the library and out to lunch giving him some "alone time".Pat and Connie Twenter came by on Dave's birthday with a 6-pack of O'Doul's and a birthday cake.

After Rachel and Kyle returned from their cruise, we celebrated with the Twenters. Libby was happy that Grandpa got a birthday cake. She had confided in me that her mother did not get a birthday cake, she only got cupcakes and "they weren't chotlate." Click here for photos of the birthday cupcakes.
Then Leah and company came over on Feb. 18th and it was another (I've now lost count) birthday party.
Leah and Eli made a chocolate cake with a secret ingredient (pureed beets).
It was a little crumbly, but, hey Libby at least it was a REAL birthday cake AND "chotlate!"

While the Parents are Away. .

While Rachel and Kyle were on a cruise, Dave and I stayed with Libby, Davis and Brett for a few days. We had so much fun with the kids. They'd had their Valentine parties and came home with enough sugar to last them through the weekend.

Although I thought this was very clever of one mom who made Rice Krispie treats like kisses, Davis preferred the lollipops!
We had a fashion show with Libby. . .
Watched Davis count his money. . .
Played Wii with Brett.

But, we had time for crafts (Bendaroos above and Paperoni below). . .
And Art.
Brett loves drawing airpanes.

On Friday, we met Aunt Reebs and cousin Roman. We went to the library where Davis looked out a telescope. . .
Reebs read some stories. . .

Brett played on the computers.Then we went to Winstead's for lunch. Brett ordered a hot dog and Libby a cheeseburger. Then, Libby peeled the burger away and Brett ate the bun, but not the hot dog. Since we'd left Grandpa at home . . .
We brought him a snack.

Valentine Follow-up

In a previous post, I showed the Valentines I sent, but you didn't see that I included money in each card. Since I'd won a lot of singles at Thanksgiving, I thought I'd give them back to the grandchildren for special occasions. With 6 grandchildren, that $33 won't last long, but. . .

I thought I'd share some of the reactions to the money.

First, Roman----he opened his card, his mother left the room and came back to see that he'd shredded one of the dollar bills with scissors----they taped it back together and took it to the bank for an exchange.

Eli went shopping at the Dollar Store and made some wonderful purchases. Click here to read about them on Leah's blog.

Davis found the cards with the mail while we were there. He felt the card and said, "Is there money in here?" Me: "I forgot." Davis: "You FORGOT to put money in the card?" Me: "No, I forgot if I put money in the card." Davis: "I only like dollar bills and coins." Me: "So, if it's a million dollar check you don't want it?"Later, when he opened the envelope and found 3 one dollar bills, he said disappointedly, "They all have ones on them." Me: "Bring me your wallet, Davis." (I'd seen that he had a wallet with several ones in it.) "Do you want a bill with a different number?" He nodded yes. "Then, give Grandpa 5 one dollar bills and he will give you a five dollar bill." I'm not sure that made him happy either, since he'd traded 5 bills for one---I think he wanted to trade 5 one dollar bills for 5 five dollar bills, but wouldn't we all like a trade like that?

Happy President's or Presidents' Day

As they say on Sesame Street, "One of these things is not like the others. . ." It's not as obvious as you might think. Go to my other blog to see the similarity four of the men have---that would be my family history blog "Long Ago and Far Away."

Valentines for Grandchildren

I know I'm not as skilled as my sister or my daughters with card making, but my grandchildren don't seem to mind. No, the inside does NOT say, "a handful. . . ."
That never even crossed my mind---I always intended it to say "hand-some!"
OK, the hearts above are added to hide the tear marks because I couldn't get the "N"s placed quite right.
But, come on---don't I get points for creatively using my alphabet stickers?
Yeeees, I ran out of room for the "g" and decided to use the apostrophe. . .
Actually, I think Eli's is the best one from an artistic stand-point.

No, I don't think Libby is "into" texting, but I thought maybe she could recognize the letters and number.
Libby's was my first one I made---I hadn't gotten the creative juices up to speed yet.
I came up with this for Davis. . .well, because Davis loves the word "toot". So, looking through my stickers for a horn, I found all of these German stickers and the pretzel alphabet. . .just lucky, I guess.
I'm a little embarrassed about Brett's which is why it is last. Using all of the animal stickers seemed like a good idea---then I added the snakes. . .
but, I think the message got lost with all the animals covering the letters. Then, the heart wasn't big enough, so I thought I'd draw a bigger one. . . .
I am just hoping my grandchildren cherish Grandma's attempts at art and can smile some day like I do with the note below from my grandparents on a Valentine "Hope you look over the spelling." It couldn't have been easy for my grandparents to send a note to their granddaughter the English major, but I cherish their notes---mispelled words and all.