Boy? What boy?

I know I should be posting the Purdy Easter pictures featuring Lukas, but Abby Girl is just so cute!

It's A Girl!

We are pleased to welcome a new addition to the family - Abby, the boxer. She's around 2 years old, super-cute, and deaf. Lukas met her tonight and they got along quite well. She also gets along with our neighbors' dogs (on both sides of our house). We'll be looking for a dog trainer to help us train her with hand signals - that should be quite an adventure.

Egg Hunting

Today marked the start of Egg Hunting Season for Lukas. There was some sort of egg hunt at school, but being the uninvolved parent I am, I don't know much about it. He came home with a bunny sack, bunny ears (construction paper & cotton balls - but you won't see those due to a potty-related accident), and a couple plastic eggs. I asked Lukas if they hid the eggs on the playground, he says "yea". I asked where they hid the eggs, you know, like the slide, the grass, or wherever. He says, "at school". It's so hard to talk to a 2-year-old.

After school we went to Nanna's for round 2 of egg hunting. I got to hide the eggs, that was fun. Lukas & Nanna made dinner. He did very well finding eggs and even carrying his Easter bucket himself. At one point it looked like he was going to turn the whole thing over to Nanna, where she would carry the bucket, he would point out the eggs, and she would collect them. But, somehow (I don't remember how), he got back in the game himself.

I think he's ready for the real competition he'll be seeing on Saturday in Purdy. There will be at least 4 kids older than he is at that hunt. They better watch out, he's getting good!

Easter @ Nanna's

Photo Tips

Thanks to Nanna for the subscription to National Geographic Kids - Lukas is enjoying his first issue.

Here's my photo tip of the day: To take pictures with your cell phone while driving, hold the phone toward subject, use the rear view mirror to look at the phone's screen, then press the shutter. Oh, and occasionally look where you're going.

Knoop Park

I was going to take Lukas to the playground on Fair Park today after school, but he was uncooperative getting into his car seat and then pitched a fit when I tried to get him strapped in. So, privilege denied. After calming down and realizing we were not going to the playground, he said "I happy now". He was so cute that I thought I would at least take him to Knoop Park, which has no playground equipment, but is a nice outdoor space. If you've never been there, you should check it out - here's what the Parks web site says about it:

Ozarks Street & North Martin
Neighborhood
Hiking Trails, Picnic Tables, Scenic Overlook

We didn't do the whole trail, and I didn't see the picnic tables, but the scenic overlook is nice. Also, some strange stone circle thing and stone steps look like a nice place to take portraits. We'll have to go back with something fancier than the iPhone & school clothes. It would be a great place to take your pooch too, they have a pet water fountain and poop bag dispensers.

Blurb

I'm so excited about Blurb! It's a blog printing service that "slurps" your blog info into a book. They have special software you download - even a Mac version!!! Can you tell I'm excited, what with all the exclamation points?!? You've got to watch the video - you've got to go to their site now - you've got to order a book! Well, you don't have to order a book, but it's definitely on my to-do list. Prices start at just $12.95, although I'm sure my book would be in the $100 range.

New Picture Alert

Snow @ Nanna's

Lukas Has A Mommy

Although not often seen in pictures, here is proof that Lukas does have a Mommy. Thanks to Daddy for taking some pictures of me!

swinging in Joplin

playing in Joplin


You can see all the Joplin fun here -

Joplin, MO

Travel, I've Lost Count

Eating lunch at The Red Onion Cafe.
>

Daddy

What happens when Daddy puts you in the car seat.
>

Travel Part III

Wish I had brought out a real camera for this one. You could see Lukas
to infinity in the mirror.
>

Travel Part II

> We arrived safely in Joplin.
>

Travel Part I

> Sunday Lukas and I stopped at Braum's in Alma to stretch our legs.
> In lieu of a playground they offer a grassy knoll behind the
> restaurant. Lukas romped on the knoll and came over to my seat on
> the sidewalk for occasional bites of ice cream. Then it was back in
> the car where the new portable DVD player & Stuart Little
> entertained him all the way to Joplin.
>

Thanks for the Presents!

Dear Aunt Ginger & Uncle Allen,

Thanks for the unexpected gifts! Lukas had a great time opening them and playing with them. We just gave each of them a trial run before he headed to Nanna's for the night. Can't wait to play them with Daddy - he loves games too.

Snowball Good

In response to our good friend Jessica's post earlier this week entitled "snowball bad"....

"look what Nanna made"

"stick my tongue out and try to catch snowflakes?"

"snowflakes are so tiny, and this snowball is easier to catch on my tongue"

"want a lick?"




~all the pictures~

Snow Day

Something New

As you know I've been using iWeb on my Mac to make my gorgeous photo album pages. And, you probably also know that it takes a really long time to look at the pictures that way. So, I'm experimenting with Google's Picasa for Mac. Today I took some shots of Lukas and the neighbor-dog, Twoe. I should have added some captions in iPhoto to see if those upload too. Picasa for Mac lets you export your iPhotos directly to Picasa, or there is a different option for just pulling pictures from a folder. I didn't try the captions because we were also watching some fun YouTube videos of boxer dogs jumping on trampolines and barking at vacuum cleaners.

Here are two of the cool ways to look at my pictures on Picasa -

The Slideshow:



And The Clickable Link:

Lukas & Twoe 3/6/08

Please use my new Blog Poll on the right to vote on which of my photo album methods you like best. There are 3 options:

Picasa - The newest, highlighted on this post.

iWeb - the cool thing you get when you click on the "Photo Albums" link on the right (you know, the slow thing)

iPhoto web gallery - the first way I did my pictures and what you get if you click "Album Archives" in the Photo Album section

Missing My Little Girl

It's been three years this month since we lost our little puppy girl, Emma. I wish Lukas could have known her and watched her do her odd boxer dance, smelled her funky breath, and listen to her give the one little bark when the mail dropped in the slot. Sigh...

Although I know no dog will ever be as good as Emma was (the only barking was the once daily mail bark, she was too old & gimpy to get on the furniture and too lazy to chew on anything), we're ready to give another boxer a chance to try and match her good-dog skills. Most likely our new pup will exceed Emma's skills in other areas, such as fetching, being cute (well, Emma was cute to me), and breath freshness.

We recently put in an adoption application at BoxAR Rescue and I have my eye on a cutie named Abby. I know Lukas will love having a dog around. Just this morning he was spying on the neighbor's back yard from his second story window. He said "where's Twoe?" (pronounced 2-E), then she stepped into sight on the porch and he said "Twoe hiding?". Next he says "I want to open the gate and let her out". We're going to have to put really good locks on the gates.

Lukas is Home. Huh?

Lukas had a grand time at the Grand's in Texas. We had a trying trip home though. If I hear the little stink say "huh?" one more time, I'm pretty sure my head is going to explode. He didn't sleep any on the way home and we didn't get home until after 11pm last night. He didn't really do any major crying, he was just whiny. He would ask things like "Mommy, what's that?" - of course, I don't even know what he's talking about because I'm driving. So, I'd make up something, and he would immediately ask "Mommy, what's that?". I'd try to repeat myself and before I could get the words out of my mouth, it's "Mommy, what's that?". Or, when I turn on the music, he didn't want to listen to music. Too bad. I even stopped and got him an Icee. After a while I was wondering what had become of the Icee, but I was enjoying the silence too much to check. I finally asked Rich to look back and see - of course, the Icee had been dropped into a basket of stuff in the floor. Around Texarkana I was about to lose my mind, so we pulled off at Burger King. I got Lukas out and we jogged around the Hooter's parking lot next door. Then we did the balance beam act on the "car stoppers" on the parking lot. I don't know what those things are really called. Next we went in Burger King for diaper changing and germ collecting in the stall. When we got back to the car I hooked up a DVD player that is on loan from Sarah and we started up The Muppet Show, Season One. Rich and Lukas watched that almost the entire way home from Texarkana. And Lukas was quiet... finally. So, with 2 Missouri trips on the horizon this month with only Lukas and me in the car, I'm now in the market for a portable DVD player.

photo taken on Sunday, March 2 @ The Haddock's

Sour Smile

Lukas enjoying a lemon at a cafe near Grandma & Grandpa's on Saturday.