• A Quick Trip Recap

    A whirlwind of a weekend. Leave Indy early Saturday, just ahead of a quick burst of snow, heading west through rain and dreary skies. Our traditional lunch stop at the St. Louis Bread Company in Maryland Heights. Into sun and warmth in western Missouri. Finally arriving at our home base for the weekend in Overland Park. That evening, dinner with…

  • Trip Time

    As mentioned yesterday, we are traveling for the next few days. We’ll be making a quick trip west to visit friends and family in Kansas City over the first part of St. P’s spring break. We’re hoping to see many of you while there. Yesterday was the last day of school before break, and in the parking lot there were…

  • Random Notes

    10:50 AM, Tuesday March 25, 2014, Central Indiana. It is snowing. I shouldn’t complain. This is only flurries and not expected to amount to much. 366 days ago, we got 9” of snow. Could be much worse. And it might even warm up to above normal temps in a few days. I think we’re owed a nice, long, pleasant spring.…

  • More Tooth Fairy Troubles

    A good subtitle for this might be, “The Jig Is Up.” We’ve had two Tooth Fairy visits in the past week. And they revealed something important: M.’s got it figured out. It began last week, when L. lost tooth #2. I couldn’t remember what the going rate was for that tooth. She got $5 for her first tooth, but was…

  • Kid Notes

    At some point last fall, S. let the girls put some games on her iPhone, and they each get turns playing them each day. As you would expect, that has lead to a conflict or two. Last night, we were talking about how the girls would, one day, have their own phones. We explained that it wouldn’t happen until they…

  • Of Bears And Lego

    This weekend was L.’s turn with her class bear, Baxter. If you’re not familiar with the concept, many classes send a bear or other stuffed animal home with kids for a weekend. They usually come with a book in which the adventures of the bear are recorded. When it’s your family’s turn, you take some pictures, write down the weekend’s…

  • Requiem For A Van

    A week ago Saturday was a big day in our house. After eight years and fourteen days, we cleaned out the minivan, drove it to a local car dealer and left it as we drove away in a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. That’s right: our days as minivan owners are over! I must admit, that minivan served us well. We…

  • Lost Month

    As I write this, I’m sitting in the living room, looking out the front window, waiting for the next snowstorm to hit. The first flurries are expected to start falling in the next hour, and by morning we’ll have 8-10” of new snow. Yeah, I’m about done with this winter bullshit. What a waste of a month January was. St.…

  • Van Conversations

    Overheard on the way home from school yesterday. C.: M.! Did you hear Justin Beaver got arrested?! (She still has a few words where she replaces B’s with V’s. I love that Bieber is one of them.) M. (bored): Yes. L.: Why’d he get arrested? C.: He egged his neighbor’s house. And he snuck out of a club. L.: Oh.…

  • The Lost Week

    From January 25-27, 1978, the Indianapolis area got over 15” of snow, which came on top of 5” of snow from a few days previous. The winds howled at over 50 mph. Snow drifted to between 10 and 20 feet. The wind chills were below -50. People were trapped in cars on the highways. Amtrak trains were stranded on their…