Animal Crackers Can Really Make a Girl Cry

I had gotten Clare a box of the good ol' Barnums Animal Crackers in the box with the string. She ate a few and then began crying very large tears. When I asked her what was wrong (thinking that one hurt her loose tooth) she said, "I just ate a bear. Do you think that's okay?" I think my little animal rights activist/future PETA President has gone a little too far.

Clare, MS (mad scientist)

Clare was in her room was really engaged in play. When I asked her what she was playing she said, "I'm harvesting DNA so that I can make new animals for Scooby Doo and the gang". Huh?

Tilles Park Fun Run 6-4-10

Clare loves running races and was excited to do the Tilles Park Fun Run one early Saturday morning. This park is only 1.5 miles from our house, and Clare affectionately calls it, "Marshmallow Park". Although it was early, the air was thick; standing was all the effort you needed to put forth to make you sweat. We were joined by friends Allison, Andrew, Theo, and Mia.
Clare and little buddy Allison.

STRETCH!

Clare coming in dead last, but was still proud of herself.

So proud of getting a ribbon.

Friends Andrew and Theo.

Free snowcones afterwards...could it get any better?

Memorial Day Weekend with Pat and Mel

It was great having Pat and Mel visit us! We all kept very busy.

Walking around SLU's campus.

The Science Center!!!

Grandparents and Clare (aka T-Rex food).

Molly's in Soulard; in a cabana enjoying some cold drinks and playing Uno.

Exploring around The Lemp Mansion---one of the top 10 most haunted houses in the US.

Somewhere UNDER the Rainbow

On to Kindergarten

Clare's last day of preschool........(sniffle, sniffle)

Summer in the Lou

We enjoy our old, historic neighbhorhood and patronizing the local businesses. Summer is a great time to get out and enjoy our fellow neighbors.



La Tropicana is a Cuban, Caribbean market and restaurant. We love eating there, especially outside when they have live music.

Clare making a friend, Sydney, and Sydney teaching Clare a dance.

Something's funny.....

Enjoying Tower Grove Park, which is at the end of our street, and is the 2nd largest city in the park. In the middle of the park, there are two playgrounds with fountains to play in and a wading pool. On Saturdays, May-October there is a Farmer's Market next to the playground with local produce. Saturday mornings, we usually have lots of fun, all within walking distance of our house.

She learned to swing all by herself a few months ago. It is now a favorite activity of hers.

Performers from Circus Flora showed off their talents at the Farmer's Market.

Toby's Tenure Party at the Royale

It was supposed to be a rainy evening, but it turned out to be beautiful. We had Toby's (along with the 2 other professors who also got tenure, Trey and Ruben) tenure party at the Royale. The Royale is our 2nd home and just a block and 1/2 from our house. Steve Smith, the owner, treated Toby, Ruben, and Brian to this party; and we were treated like royalty.


Guests enjoying great food and drink.

What a spread!!! Appetizers like hummus, veggies, and pita bread; spinach and artichoke dip with chips; grilled pineapple, fresh salad. Shrimp skewers and ribs from the grill.

Sitting back and relaxing while Clare plays with the other kids.

The 3 tenure guys: Trey, Ruben, and Toby.

Mother's Day '10

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. The weather was perfect, so we took a nice walk around St Louis University's (SLU) campus. We walked around the ponds and then stopped at Llewelyn's in the Central West End to have dessert.

Feeding the fish in one of SLU's ponds. She's such an animal lover that she was petting them and trying to catch a few.

Tree climber.

stopping to watch a softball practice.

On your marks.....get set.....

GO!

Hanging out at Llewelyn's!

Clare's Creative Corpus

Clare had her teacher trace her body, painted it, and then added anecdotes about her senses. She took a while to finish this, but had a great time doing it.

"I use my brain to think. I like to think about dinosaurs. I use my imagination to pretend I'm a dinosaur. I use my imagination to think about what my baby brother/sister might be like. When it's Easter I think she might try to take my Easter candy. " (Ahhhh, the worries of a 5 year old.)

"I use my mouth for eating a piece of broccoli. I use my eyes for looking outside the window to see the houses and stuff. I use my ears to listen to Harry Potter music. I use my nose to smell cinnamon."

"I use my arms for eating and drawing. I use them for climbing. I grab onto the climber and I pull. I use my arms for drinking. I use my arms to throw balls into my basketball hoop."

"I use my hands for grabbing a ball. I use my hand for crafts, art, beads, gluing. I use my hand to my daddy make coffee."

"I use my legs and feet to kick the soccer ball. I like to run a face. I use my legs to run and play tag and chase at school with my friends."