First Day of School

Well, sort of...the real first day of school I guess won't be until Nate starts kindergarten, but today is his first day in the Early Preschool classroom. I am sad that I didn't get a picture of his first day at the St. Louis Children's Hospital - Clayton Avenue Center last August, but this will have to do to start our tradition of first days of school.

We had to say goodbye to his teachers in Room 3 (the 2-year old room) and we were all a little sad. But the good part is that he will be at the same center with the same kids, and his old teachers will still be around. The transition will surely be 100 times easier than it was last year at this time!

I wish these photos were better. Nate must have flipped a switch on my camera because all my pictures are coming out with a glow. Who knows. I should give it back to him because he would probably be able to diagnose the problem faster than me with his love of electronics.


He looks like such a big kid with his new tennis shoes. I shed a little tear this morning!

Baby Shower

My cousin Evan and his wife Olga are welcoming their first child, a baby girl, in October. My mom and I hosted a shower today for new little princess. Here are Olga and my Aunt Mil. We were also able to celebrate Aunt Mil's 91st birthday yesterday. We are so happy that she made the trip to St. Louis to attend the shower.

Olga & Evan's little girl will be the first girl to be born in our family since me! How exciting! We are so happy for them and know they will be great parents.


I had to take a picture of the centerpiece I made. I'm not a crafty girl, so I was very proud of my creation!

New Park

Nate and I visited a new park on Friday with the Griggs. Peter is such a monkey!

Pool Time

My normal day off is Friday, but this week I have to go to Nashville for a day meeting tomorrow, so I was off today. Nate and I decided to hit the pool and I was so glad we did because they are closing the toddler pool tomorrow. I would have been toast if we showed up next week to a closed pool! We have been going to the Webster Groves pool this summer and Nate loves it. He likes the water so much more this summer that I think swimming lessons are in our near future.




A highlight for today was that we didn't have to put on a swim diaper! I can't believe how grown up he seems at times.

Whoever invented these tubes is a rich, rich person now. Nate and his "tuba" have lots of fun at the pool.

It is great fun for him to fill up his bucket and dump it on me. Today it was only about 80 degrees (thankfully, it was over 100 at the beginning of the week), so the water didn't feel very good!

Bug Box

My dad is so sweet to catch Nate bugs to put in his bug box. Last night, Nate & Scott put new bugs in his box from Wayne's collection. Some of the original bugs had started to lose their wings, head, eyes, or in some cases their whole bodies...it was a hard winter for our bugs. After they freshened up the box, Nate had Scott look up all the names in the bug book so they could discuss. How many times per hour can a 2 1/2 year old can say "Why?"

Down on the Farm

Nate and I visited my parents in Charleston this weekend. My parents' dogs are obsessed with eating corn on the cob, so Nate wanted to go pick some corn. This picture would have been better if I had been willing to move my feet (I was finally in a position where Jump wasn't slobbering on me), get off the golf cart and risk getting dust all over my pedicured toes. The 100 degree heat wasn't helping either. Did I mention that I grew up on a farm? You would never know it.

Boyz II Men

When my friend Megan asked me if I wanted to go see Boyz II Men a few months ago, I don't think she was prepared for my over the top response!

Live "Off" the Levee hosted my favorite music group last night - Boyz II Men. You can quit laughing now! They were FABULOUS. For those of you that were not lucky enough to listen to this band back in the day, they were popular in the early 90s. They were back in full effect last night - even though there were only 3 performing (should be 4) and they weren't as young as they used to be.

I dragged Scott with me and he gladly went since he knows I don't really do concerts - but I couldn't miss a little Motown Philly!