side yard panorama

It was a beautiful day today!!!

Scotch Pine

Thanks to the Scotch Pine Brewery for sending a bottle of their dark dark beer. This beer is so heavy light cannot escape its event horizon! I had this one for dinner the other day.

i realized that I had a lot of videos on my camera - so it was time to make another movie. The first couple videos are a little slow - but adorable! - and no one better think otherwise. haha. We also gave her a bath one night that lasted about 30 seconds before I couldn't take the screaming anymore - I felt like I was torturing her, poor girl. But, as you will see, she calmed down afterward once she was snuggled up in her towel.

Belly Cast Kit - as seen at Babies R Us

Now, why didn't I think of that?




How awesome is that? gaaaaawwd.

family visit weekend

My mom came to visit this past weekend. Here she is with Evelyn.

Here's the 3-generations pic

We went to Salt Lick for BBQ - here's Evie's first taste of hot sauce! MMMM

Grandpa Pollari had the magic touch for calming Evie down ...

We had a great visit - Evie will miss her grandparents. So will I, as they seemed to have the touch for getting her quiet!

Happy B-day (a few days ago) Patrick Duffy

1 Month Birthday!

Evie is 1 month old today!!! I am sure grandma will have a present or 2 for her when she arrives! She is cooing with excitement already.

more Evelyn pictures

Last weekend Matt and Jessica were in town visiting family, so they stopped by for a visit. They bought BBQ for lunch, and brought these lovely flowers along with some cute new outfits and gifts for Evelyn.

Here they are getting some practice in before they have THEIR baby in August.

The rest of the pictures are just cute Evie pics.....

her eyes have been open a lot more than when she was first brought home.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

Jim the Wonder Dog

A lot of smart things come from Missouri... lets see... there's me.... and ... well just me is all I can think of now. But long before I was born there was a dog that was smarter than most people ever will be. He was Jim the Wonderdog.
Jim was a LLewellyn Setter from Marshall MO. He was an excellent bird dog. Evidently he was the sporting dog of the century (20th century) according to Outdoor life magazine. I will let this video explain more how awesome this dog was, it is hard to put into words...


it is a good video, but it really glosses over the story.

Here are some more Jim facts: Jim could tell the future....
From roadside america: "He could foretell the sex of unborn infants, the victors of World Series and presidential elections, and the winners of seven consecutive Kentucky Derbys. Jim was, in fact, so skilled at predicting race winners that the Van Arsdales had to cut short a vacation to Florida. They'd received a telegram threatening Jim's life if he didn't stop picking winners at the dog track"

He was tested at both the University of Missouri (Go Tigers) and at the Missouri Capitol Building:
From this website:
Sam arranged for a demonstration at the University of Missouri with the skeptical Dr. A. J. Durant, head of the School of Veterinary Medicine, conducting the proceedings. Durant was assisted by Dr. Sherman Dickinson of the College of Agriculture. The Paramount Motion Picture Corporation was there to film the event. As a starter, Dr. Durant gave Jim a thorough examination. He could find nothing abnormal or different from any other dog. The tests, attended by numerous faculty members and students, as well as psychiatrists from Washington University in St. Louis, were held in a large quadrangle on the campus. Van Arsdale began: "Jim there is a college professor here named Dickinson. Show him to us." Jim did, and then was deluged with a succession of commands. A professor asked in Italian to be shown an elm tree. Another directed Jim in French to point out a certain license number. One, speaking in German, wanted to be shown a girl dressed in blue. A fourth requested in Spanish that the dog find a man wearing a black mustache. Jim responded promptly and accurately to all requests.


From roadside america: "Word spread quickly. Jim and Sam soon found themselves hauled before a combined session of the state legislature in Jefferson City, where a test had been devised to debunk the dog. In order to preclude any secret signaling, a Morse code message was tapped out (Sam didn't understand Morse code) instructing Jim to walk to a certain member. Jim did it. The senators and representatives sat dumbfounded as Jim then picked out people with various traits, including the gentleman "ladies speak of as tall and handsome" and the politician that was playing cards instead of paying attention. "

This says a lot about the Dog, but it certainly also says a lot about the Missouri Legislature. They had a joint session to investigate a smart dog!!! This is right out of a Disney movie.

This picture is from a memorial park in in Marshall MO. Every new thing I read about this dog leaves me more dumbfounded. Jim rules. and I thought Louie was smart...

Evie!

They are so cute in the larval stage.

Say no to HR 875 and the NAIS!!

Backyard gardener? Organic food fan? Hunter? Food eater? This applies to you, check this out... Also watch out for this: The National Animal Identification System. If any of you own chickens out there, big brother would like a word with you. Under this USDA act every chicken, goat, horse, donkey, pig, cow, etc. would have a number and an RFID tag on your farm registered with the government. Does Big Brother's sudden interest in the minutiae of food production scare anyone else? Why is it their business if I chose to raise a chicken or grow some tomatoes? I think there might be a couple more pressing issues our glorious government should be dealing with right now. Write your congressmen and the USDA, this is ridiculous.

Chris Farley

Just a quick video to get everyone pumped up about March Madness:

Well, for a while I think the main focus of our blog will be baby stuff - but don't worry, Jack will be back to blog about politics soon enough :)

hi grandmas! first smiles caught on film

look who found her thumb. so far this has been the only time. she's not big on the pacifier.

Sleeping baby dreaming - the range of her facial expressions amazes me....happy to almost crying to laughing or scowling in seconds. usually she will smile in response to our voices. it's no wonder i can just stare at her for hours.

Gone is the week of sleeping most of the time. Last couple days she's been up a lot at night, fussing for no reason that we can figure. I've been snuggle-sleeping with her a lot, leaving me with one hour, up for a while, another doze for an hour. It's tiring - I try to sleep when she is napping during the day....doesn't always work because I have to do this "eating" thing too. But I digress. I know I'm not telling any of the parents in the audience anything new :) It's all worth it, of course.

I want to thank everyone for their support - we've gotten a few care packages and have had lots of feedback on the old Facebook and via emails and phone calls. It's good to have close friends who let you know they care. It's difficult being so far away from everyone but at least we can feel closer this way :)

acute triangle

Roxanne swaddled Evelyn into a triangle the other day... What kind of triangle you might ask??? An "a cute" triangle... hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That had me going for a long time..