Fun With Foot Prints

This was what the bridge looked like this morning when I got to work. Somebody had a good time doing this. I hated to walk across it. By the time I came out at 10:30 a.m., it was gone.

Gummy Worms

Why are these things so tempting? I'm not usually much of a candy person, but I can eat a handful of these stupid things. The kids always want to get them and I finally caved and then ended up eating as many if not more than they did. Good thing I get dental benefits at work!

Rock and Roll

The kids' rocks are finally finished with their month-long journey in the rock tumbler. Do they look amazing and beautiful? To the kiddos they do. It was pretty interesting to watch how the rocks changed in the process, but they didn't come out like the brightly colored polished rocks that I always coveted when I was a kid. My kids really enjoyed documenting the before and after characteristics of the stones and hypothesizing what they would turn out like in the end. Tomorrow, we're planning some jewelry making to complete our project.

Booches (February 19)

Took a much needed break from the office on Friday and enjoyed a world-famous Booche's cheeseburger, chips and an ice cold Diet Coke. In a perfect world, I would have enjoyed this with an ice cold beer, but I did have to go back to the office.

Couch Tater

It's been a long, long week. I brought home a leftover veggie tray from work and we ate that and some cheese and crackers for dinner. Mom of the Year award selection committee should be knocking on my door any minute now. While we indulged in our fabulous din-din, we watched Olympics (I had to beg because SpongeBob was also on). We watched several ski races and before we knew it, it was WAAAYY past bed time. (Another nod for the Mom of the Year...) So we put the littles to bed and plopped on the couch for some more Olympics. I had to take a shot of the hubs in full on couch potato action. I don't care. It's been a long, long week. We need some down time.

Self Portrait (February 17)

Even though today was a sunny (but cold) day and there were many photo ops, I accidentally left my camera at home so I had to resort to some boring subject matter. The kids always complain that there aren't any pictures of me - now they'll have one. This is what I have looked like to them since their births!

It's Only a Flesh Wound (February 16)

We had an exciting day today. Natalie got clocked at Adventure Club with a wooden block and got her poor head split open. We took her to the ER because there was a LOT of blood as there always is with head wounds, but no stitches were needed. Naturally, I took a picture of it. She asked if her cut could be the picture of the day. Here you go - not for the squeamish!

When Pigs Fly

Another one of my favorite piggies. I can't really remember where he came from, but he helps me remember that sometimes the world can be an absurd place, and even the impossible can be possible. That's my deep thought for the night. As inspired by a flying pig.

The Snowy Hood (February 14)

This was taken off the back deck with the big Canon camera at about 10 p.m. There was enough light reflecting off the snow from the houses to get a decent shot of the neighborhood. I love the peaceful quietness that comes in the evening after a snow. It's almost calming. At least until the next day when you have to get up and drive around in the crap!

Chili Gurlz (February 13)

Spent Saturday evening with my favorite girls (and their husbands, too) at the Rootin' Tootin' Chili Cook-Off. Enjoyed eating too much chili and drinking too much beer and making fun of old guys wearing Elvis costumes. A good time was had by all!

Happy V-Day (February 12)

I spent my Friday afternoon with 18 six and seven-year-olds celebrating Valentine's Day at school. They had already decorated their Valentine's Day bags (I like the old shoe box mail boxes, myself) and were all hopped up on cupcakes and chocolate covered pretzels, but we had a great time together. It's kinda fun to hang out with some little people who think I'm cool. It was mostly because I brought them goody bags, but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Goodie Bags!

Who doesn't love some schwag? I spent this evening making up three dozen little bags of Valentine's Day goodness to deliver to three different kids' parties tomorrow. Brightly colored cellophane bags of tiny, heart-shaped erasers (loved those when I was a kid), glittery red and pink pencils, sparkly heart rings, silly straws and much, much more. We'll get the kids all together in the classrooms, give them some super sugary snacks and then turn them loose on world with their goodie bags which bring so much joy...for 5 whole minutes. It's all worth it. Sweet, sweet schwag...

The Aftermath of Snow Days (February 10)

This is what the Wohlgemuth girls' room looked like after a weekend plus 2 and 1/2 snow days. This is only one small portion of the room. I tried several different angles to try and capture the complete and total annihilation of the space, but I just don't have the proper photographic equipment to do so. Every single toy, block, puzzle, doll, doll shoe, dress-up item and trinket was taken from it's designated location and thrown into a tornado of massive proportions. Just looking at the space makes me exhausted. I have half a mind to go in with a snow shovel and some garbage bags and make quick work of this, but instead I will sit in the middle of it and bark orders at the girls to pick up each and every item while I rant and rave about how they're going to put us on the Oprah show for having too much crap. Ahhhh, good times.

Sign of the Times

This is a sign in my kitchen. I love it. I think it might be sabotaging my Weight Watchers efforts though. Having a sign on the wall that says "EXERCISE" in bright red letters just doesn't really float my boat.

Snowy Night (February 8)

This is not a good picture, but I thought it turned out kinda cool. I was experimenting with the different flash settings on my little Nikon Coolpix and had some fun trying to capture the falling snow as it reflected in the street light. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was insane as I stood out on the porch in my slippers snapping photos at the street light, but I'm sure this isn't the first time they've thought I was weird!

Nuff Said (February 7)

The photo doesn't even really need any explanation. I will say that this photo was actually taken on February 6. I didn't like anything I took on the 7th so I picked this one.

You Spin Me Right Round (February 6)

This picture was taken at Flipz USA which is a gymnastics studio for kids here in Columbia and the location of Max's 7th birthday party. You get the whole studio for an hour to play and have fun with your party guests. Here Marty is rolling Max around in a big donut across the padded gym floor. I think they did this a dozen times that day. I took so many pictures at the party, it was hard to pick just one, but I think this one captures the fun of the day, especially when the "grown ups" get to play, too.

Sponge Cake

Birthdays are important around the Wohlgemuth house. This is because both my husband and I were born right around Christmas and our birthdays, by default, were never that big of a deal. However, the one thing I really remember about my birthdays growing up was the cakes. My mom always took the time to make me a cake. When we were little, she would buy the character cake pans and decorate it up. This is something I, too, wanted to share with my children. Every year the kids pick a pan and I decorate the cake. This is Max's second SpongeBob Squarepants cake. It's a lot of work, but there's a lot of love in this cake, too. Hope it tastes ok...

A Boy and His Frogs

Maxman turned 7 today. We got him two dwarf frogs that live in a special contained ecosystem for his birthday present. They are really low maintenance and are cool to watch. It was worth every penny to see how excited he got over "Spot" and "Claus." I'm sure we'll have additional pictures of the "boys" on the blog coming soon...

She's a Wonder!

One of the best things to happen in the last few years was the invention of Netflix. Not only does it have a seemingly endless supply of movies (my queue is about 300 movies long), but also TV shows - best way ever to watch TV. They have started adding more and more classic TV shows like Wonder Woman. I loved that show as a kid and just wanted to see if was as awesome as I remembered it. Oh yes. It is SO awesome. And, I have created three new Wonder Woman fans! Last Saturday morning, Natalie created a Wonder Woman outfit out of various bits and pieces of clothing and she wore it all day as she belted out the theme song at the top of her lungs. She's my girl!

Don't Shoot Your Sisters!

Today Max got a birthday package from Uncle Scott and Aunt Orsi. His birthday isn't until Thursday, but this kid was bouncing off the walls and begging to open his gifts so I let him. He got a super cool marshmallow bow that we spent the rest of the evening playing with. I wouldn't let him shoot his sisters with it, even though I secretly thought about how much fun it would be to have a knock-down drag out marshmallow shooting match. Afterall, Marty has one, too. We could have a family mallow-war...I love quality family time!

Das Schwein

I heart pigs. I have since I was maybe 7 or 8 years old. I don't know why, I just do. I collected them obsessively when I was a kid. Every aunt, uncle, cousin and friend gave me a pig for my collection at one time or another. After moving the collection several times, I decided to whittle it down quite a bit and only save those that were truly special to me.

This one is weird. He's made out of rebar and other metal strips. He's not pink or cozy or cuddly or even really very pig-like. I found him at Hobby Lobby several years ago. All clearanced out. Just begging to come home with me. He sits on my TV cabinet and keeps watch over the chaos in my house. Das schwein. The pig.

The Collection (January 31)

My kids are collectors. Collectors of rocks. They walk around with their heads down toeing the dirt and turning up treasure after treasure from the ground. They come by it naturally, because I have been doing the same thing for 30+ years. We have rocks all over our house.

The kids were recently given a rock polisher for Christmas - the kind that tumbles the rocks with polishing compounds to turn dirty old playground rocks into beautiful gemstones. This is what the rocks looked like after their first week of polishing. We have three more weeks to go. I'll definitely have to post pictures of the end results. I expect them to be amazing when they're done. I was already impressed with how much smoother the rocks were after just one week.

It's pretty cool to get to do stuff like this with your kids. Stuff you love, too.

African Violet (January 30)

My husband has a green thumb. Mine are both black. I enjoy the little plants and flowers that grow in all the nooks and sunlit crannies of our home. He enjoys raising African violets and we just happen to have the perfect window for such beauties in our kitchen. This one was surprisingly bright and cheerful looking on a cold and otherwise gloomy January afternoon.

Facade (January 29)

This is the facade of the old bank building downtown on the corner of 9th and Broadway now currently being rennovated by Commerce Bank. You can read more information about the building's history here. It's a pretty cool building when you stop to take a closer look at it.