Ode to the Champions

Here's another video I made this month honoring the 2007 Key West Marlin Tournament Champions...

3-Day Recap

It's been a hectic fall, but Amy finally managed to mail her thank you letters for the Breast Cancer 3-Day 60 mile walk out a few weeks ago. Here is an excerpt from the video I made for Team Cindy that recaps their experience.

Saturday....In The Park

Goggle-boy getting ready to go

Emily fascinated with ice she found on the slide

Emily protecting Dad from the monster

Mom and her babies


One of the nice things about living here is that there are a lot of parks and playgrounds close by. Only one of them is within short walking distance, but a quick trip in the car gets you lots of options. Today Mom and Dad grabbed some starbucks and we headed out to a local park for a rare hour of ourside play time during the month of December. I think the temperature is supposed to near 50 this weekend, so maybe the lack of snow in STL isn't such a bad thing after all.

Da Bears!

The Packers did what they do best this past Sunday - lose to the Bears. I could have imagined a 35-7 game, but not with the Bears winning it!

We had great seats thanks to Jeff (and Vitamin Water). We enjoyed the warm skybox while wind chills outside were -1 and snow was blowing all over the place. It was a LONG day for Ninny!

Pre-game warmups

Our view of the field

Ninny showing her disgust for the play of the Packers

Kyle Orton leading the Bears to one of many scoring drives on the day

Merry Christmas!

Artwork by: Emily

Quick Visit to Springfield

Today Adam and I went back to Springfield for a quick visit with my old coworkers at the annual JCAR Christmas Party. I had a great time seeing everyone again. Adam also had a great time as he seemed to love hanging out with the women (and few men!).

Before we went to the party, I dropped Adam off at Angie's house and got my hair cut. I had 5 inches cut off. Definately not enough to donate, but I just couldn't take it any longer! Emily was REALLY jealous because she desparately wants her hair cut off! I won't let her cut it until June because of her dance recital. Her hair grows so fast that it won't take her long to make 10 inches. I think she has about 6-7 now. Her hair is just gorgeous!

Sorry no picture of the hair. I'll post one after Christmas! :)

Christmas Photo Shoot

We tried to get some good pictures for our Christmas cards this year (if you don't have yours yet, it's coming...). Adam still isn't the best little subject, but through the magic of Skittles, he participated.

Christmas Open House

We often had people over for dinner/etc. in Springfield, so we decided to carry the tradition on here in St. Louis with our first annual Christmas Open House last Sunday. We had a great time with all of our new neighbors. The kids had a good time playing together and decorating gingerbread men (above). We couldn't have ended up in a better neighborhood - it's close to school, close to work, and we've got great people around us. It makes the tough transition from Springfield just a bit easier.

PK

Hoop Dreams

Emily had her third basketball game of the season yesterday. They are now 2-1 and they seem to be learning more about the game each week. Emily had a basket, some good looks that didn't fall for her, and she flashed some good ball handling and rebounding.

Winter Wonderland

Snow Angels

Adam carrying out Dad's order to attack his sister

We had a decent snowfall yesterday - about 7 inches in total. We've felt like we have been missing out with all the snow in Springfield and the Chicago area. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), our snow will melt next week.

Visit With Santa

Emily, Adam and the Big Man

Emily saw her friend Madison ready to visit Santa

One of Santa's other reindeer, "Bojangles" outside the train station

We went to the old Kirkwood train station tonight so that the kids could visit Santa and let him know all their wishes before the big day. As predicted, Adam about tackled him when we turned him loose. Also as predicted, Emily was reserved and shy.

The kids enjoyed checking out a reindeer outside the station, and questioned his handler as to why there was only one antler. It was explained that the antlers aren't a "set" - it's more like losing a tooth. The handler said she was less than thrilled that both of her reindeer lost one antler before Christmas this year. I suggested Gorilla Glue to slap that thing back on.

Our morning

Adam woke up about an hour early for him, stayed in bed and calmly said "Mom???" Not only did he wake up nicely, but he stayed asleep all night long!

I went and got him up since Paul was in the shower and we watched a Superman cartoon together before he ran into Emily's room to wake her up!

We'll see how nap time is! Hopefully it'll be at least an hour for my sanity.

We started to walk Emily to school today and our neighbor pulled up and asked if she wanted a ride. I thought "Great, we can go home, it's cold!" But no, Adam wanted to still ride to school on his big wheel to see Mr. Bill the crossing guard! So, off we went in the cold to see Bill. After we saw Bill, he wanted to ride down to the fire station! Wow, now I'm really cold and my hives made an appearance. I need my Zyrtec!

Here's a picture of Adam when we got home.

And here's a bonus picture of Adam and his Great White Shark

It's time...

It's time for us to move Adam to his big boy bed. Lisa told me last month "You know, you can't keep him in the crib forever." I knew that, and I tried! He's slept in the crib almost a year longer than his big sister did!

In the past week, Adam's gone from a 3-4 hour napper to an hour napper who wakes up screaming! When I try to get Adam to go back to sleep, he says "Done, done with my crib." So, Paul set up the bed, I washed the sheets, and Adam is currently laying in his new boy bed. It was hard to get him to stay in it and calm down, but when asked if he wanted to sleep in his crib, all he did was cry and say "DONE!!!"

I checked on him about 20 minutes ago. He was sitting in bed waiting for someone to check on him! I told him we'd be back to check on him and he needed to lay down. If he didn't, we'd take his dogs away. If you know Adam, you know that threat is huge to him!

I will update with a picture as soon as I know he's deeply asleep or lest I wake the beast!

NOTE: Ninny Kathy - We left Adam's crib in his room and pushed it over by the window/closet. He was REALLY concerned because he couldn't see his bugs! I told him we could look for them in the morning! For those of you that don't know about Adam's bugs, see this post from August: http://thekreidlers.blogspot.com/2007/08/exterminator-needed.html

The Wedding Dance

This couple was just on the Today show. Probably the most creative first dance I've ever seen!

Inside Day

Today's a strange weather day. It was in the mid 60's this morning, so we packed up and went to play at a park for a while. Now it's raining and we're expecting a big decrease in the temperatures, so we're playing inside. Emily and Dad built a big train track in the living room. Dad, of course, is enjoying NFL Sunday Ticket while supervising.

Decorating for Christmas

Amy and the kids finished putting the ornaments on the tree tonight. Dad's contribution was hanging the high ornaments, and putting icicle lights on the house last weekend (without falling off the roof, I might add).

IU vs. Xavier

Amy, Emily, and I went to the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates to see IU take on Xavier in the Chicago Invitational on November 24th. We had great seats in the 14th row thanks to Em's Uncle Jeff.

IU's young team got smoked by the Musketeers, who if you recall just missed knocking Ohio State out of the NCAA tournament last spring.

Emily made a sign saying "Go Big Red" on one side, and "Go D.J. and E.J." on the other. She was on the scoreboard several times, and we've heard that she got about 30 seconds of air time on the Big Ten Network during the game that night. Of course, I forgot to tape it!

IU huddles up before the game

Coach Sampson proving that cheaters can't beat Xavier

Emily on the scoreboard

IU super-freshman Eric Gordon hits an incredible shot

Ninny

Ninny: some define "ninny" as a fool or simpleton. My mom, Cindy, saw it in a crossword puzzle defined as "Ass".

Our kids define Ninny as "Grandma". When Emily was 2 and starting to talk, she called Grandma Strack "Nana". Grandma Strack never wanted to be known as Grandma Strack since my Grandma Strack was pretty unpleasant. Cindy wanted to be known as Grandma Cindy. Well, Emily combined Nana and Cindy and it evolved into Ninny!

Not only is Grandma Strack Ninny, but so is Grandma Kreidler! However, Grandma Del has always been Grandma Del.

Here are a few pictures of our kids "Ninnys".

Ninny Cindy and the kids back in September:

Ninny Kathy and Emily at the Dunes last summer.

Ninny Kathy and a baby Adam!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family.

We have a lot of things to be thankful for this year, but when asked as dinner tonight what Emily was thankful for, she said she' d be thankful if someone gave her the wishbone from the turkey! My mom is going to make some turkey noodle soup on Saturday and assured Emily that she'd give her the wishbone!

Tomorrow we will see the Kreidlers and Joe/Lucie and their kids are coming out to see us. On Saturday, Paul, Emily and I are going to the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates to watch Indiana play either Xavier or Kent State. Papa and Ninny are going to watch Adam for the night. It might be one our and only time to watch Eric Gordon play as a member of the Indiana University basketball team!

Eric Gordon (clap clap, clap clap clap)

Ladies and Gentlemen:



Eric Gordon.

Bucket Blogging, Part II

We enjoyed our weekend with the Banachs and Emily had a great IU football experience. We had a short tailgate and then did some other things. We experienced "the walk" where the football team walks through the tailgate area. Em gave James Hardy a high five and got a fist bump from Kellen Lewis.

After "the walk" we went over by Assembly Hall (yes, Brian - the REAL Assembly Hall) and went thru the kids area. Em climbed a rock wall and threw some footballs. After that, we went into the stadium, stopping to watch the Purdue drumline on the way in which was pretty cool.

As for the game, it was a nail-biter in the second half with Indiana hanging on at the end. After watching the team celebrate on the field, Emily said she wanted to head down. We walked down to the first row and watched the TV interviews with Austin Starr who kicked the winning field goal, and saw Josiah Sears holding the Old Oaken Bucket. While standing at the railing, starting left tackle Roger Saffold (number 76, in the picture above) gave Emily his wrist bands, which she thought was really cool.

We then hopped the fence and walked on the field, just as Amy and I had done after an IU Bucket win while we were in school. Emily touched the field, took some pictures on the 50 yard line, and then we headed out.

Em said it was the best day of her life. Overdramatic, I know, but it made us happy that she had such a good time.

As for Adam, he spent the day with baby Conrad and a sitter. I think next year he'll be patient enough to go to the games with us. Perhaps it's time to renew our season tickets.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!