Hannah's Work in Progress

We finally were able to start Han's room last weekend. Rich and I planned a surprise trip to IKEA for Han on Saturday. We were up until 2 a.m.--and that is with the "fall back" daylight saving's time--painting on Saturday night! Or is that technically Sunday morning?


Han chose fairly primary-colored accessories to go in her room; however, the accessories weren't that "typical." She grooved on the "overly 'W'" shelf and stitched lamp shade.


Han has framed lemons on her wall as you exit her room. Lemons, of course, are her favorite food. She shouldn't have a room without her favorite!


Han also decided to go for the gradient-colored accessories. Boxes that hold tiny items and vases that hold flowers follow the same form. Soon, she'll finish off the walls with a Paris montage and some shelves to both accent and add to storage space.


Here's a closeup of the gradients. She's still got a fairly good view out of her window--although she can't see a blooming garden anymore. I wonder if this window will provide the best view in the house for the winterscape?

Harold's Rat

Harold seems to have a penchant for rodents. While at IKEA yesterday, we saw a rat--a real, stuffed rat! Of course, we thought of Harry, sitting back home. We figured that he would love it, and he does. The idea here is that if anything resembling a rat or mouse were to be spotted or detected in the house, Harold would most certainly attack it at this point. It's difficult to wrestle this away from him.

Fire Hydrant Curiosity

Today, a city worker opened up the fire hydrant outside my classroom window. He watched it spray into the street for approximately 30 minutes. My students were distracted. I was distracted. (It should have been a writing prompt. I still don't know why the hydrant was opened. It reminded me of Seattle a bit, other than children weren't playing in the fountain, and I was still working--not traveling.


Soon, passers by couldn't help but turn on the dampened street. Okay, the street was more than damp. Maybe, to a driver, the spray was too much to resist. I wonder what I would have done in the Jeep?

Comparisons Are Always Helpful

Do mothers and daughters have similar facial features? Would a swimming cap help? Check out the noses.

Hannah's Swim Meet in Fond du Lac

The weekend of October 14, we traveled to New Holstein and then Fond du Lac for Hannah's swim meet. I ran between the railing and my chair in the "balcony section" to talk with Hannah in between heats.


Han finally came to sit with us and talk about the meet and the day.


Hannah Khatib sat with Rich and me as we watched Han and tracked other swimmers in the WBSC.


We were mightly exhausted by the time it all ended that afternoon . . . and Grandma was mighty happy to see us back home.

Lauren's Posters

Two of Lauren's posters finally showed up in the mail today. Happily, we traveled to Michaels over the weekend to find frames so that we could begin to add her favorites above her bed.

Fall 2006, First Snow

Our first snow came earlier than usual this year. Per normal, however, it didn't last. You need to look very carefully, in fact, at the pictures below to see the freezing precip. Look in front of the jeep and the trees. Harry sure got a charge out of it, though.

Fall Foliage

Fall is my favorite season--my husband's, too. It's odd that just a couple of days ago, this was the view from the front yard. It somehow makes sitting in the office and working on a linguistics paper about the end preposition worthwhile. The contrast, which I find most interesting, of course, is that we may be looking at snowfall by the day after tomorrow. I'm hanging on to each color as long as I can.

Here's the view from my classroom window! It's unbelievable in the morning. It almost makes being at school by 7:15 a.m. worthwhile! Lauren and Hannah, I wish you could see this with me.

Lauren's New Digs

I've been working on creating a "lounge area" for Lauren's room over the last couple of months, and I think I've been successful! I happened upon some interesting, domino-like shelves of different sizes, a leather cube that functions as a corner table as well as storage, and some chique and cushy chairs for a "hang out" area. I'm betting she'll think it's totally cool.

Here's the interesting little black and silver cubed drawer shelf that I found to go above Lauren's lamp. The drawers (silver) pull out completely for storing small items, etc.