Monday, March 24, 2008

Friends?

Tonight Anna climbed up in the chair with Ollie. He didn't budge and he didn't hiss! Maybe this is a sign of things to come.

I did it!

Ohhh, so relaxing

Where's Johnny?

Hollywood has descended on Crown Town. The movie "Public Enemies" is currently filming. It's a little flick about a crime wave in the 1930s that included bank robberies by John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. It turns out that John Dillinger robbed a bank in East Chicago, IN and ended up in the county lockup in Crown Point. The jail was supposedly escape-proof, but our guy John busted out, stole the sheriff's car and drove off to Illinois.

Of course, stories like that always translate into great movies. Johnny Depp has been cast to play John Dillinger, Christain Bale is Melvin Purvis. To add to the authenticity, the part about Dillinger busting out of prison was filmed on location at the old Lake County jail in little ol' Crown Point.

Filming took 3 days and suddenly life in our town stood still. There were people that waited outside the jail from 6 in the morning to 10 at night. We don't have that kind of time, so we just wandered down to the set to gawk at the gawkers. Here's what we saw:

The Italian restaurant across the street from the jail.  Johnny ate here one night before filming

The gawkers waiting around

The jail/set

We bumped into Leona, a co-worker from the bank.  She was one of the crazies who was there all day

I wanted to see this equipment in action!

And 10 minutes after we went home, guess who showed up for work:

While I didn't take this picture, it is from when he showed up the first day of filming

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Thank you Easter Bunny!

Happy Easter!

After church, we did the obligatory family picture.

I love the new remote for my camera

Anna modeled her Easter outfit (as best she could).

Do I have to stand still?

After naps (and everybody took a nap), Anna got her Easter basket and a couch that is just her size. We think she loved the eggs the best.

The clip in her hair was supposed to help the bow stay in place.  It didn't really work

What's over here?

No, we didn't pick this out because she likes Elmo - we liked it much better than Dora the (screaming) Explorer

Later, we changed clothes and she tried her first Peep. She ate the ears just fine (and why shouldn't she, it's pure sugar), but when she got down to the head, things got a little sticky and she decided she had enough. I finished it for her. Mmmm, sugar.

Num num num

Note the proper position of her pinky

Then it was time just to chill and take in the day.

Whew!  I'm beat!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Just my size...or is it?

Anna's been itching for some furniture that's her size. For Christmas her Aunt Devonna and Uncle Luke got a folding table and chairs for her, so I got a chair out for her the other day. She really liked it, but it's still a tiny bit too big. But it was fun trying to climb onto it.

My foot's stuck!

Well, maybe climbing off was a little easier than climbing on.

Woohoo!  I'm almost off!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

La la la!

Cousin Caleb's touring choir came within an hour of our house, so we went to see him; well, it was an hour from home before Chicago rush hour traffic. We got there in the nick of time - the choir was lining up to go in to the church.

The concert was beautiful. It made me a little sad; I don't believe I ever attended a single A Cappella concert while I attended Concordia. But it was good to see Caleb perform with them.

We had a fun time visiting afterwards. Sadly, Caleb couldn't stay with us - it would have been too hard to get him back to Forest Park the next morning in time for his departure (remember the rush hour traffic?). Maybe things will work out better next time.

You got all dressed up for me?

Mom!!

The highlight of the night was definitely during intermission. Someone got up and asked how many alumni from Concordia were in attendance. A majority of us raised our hands. Then we were asked how many were alumni of the A Cappella choir. Many of the hands went down, but Anna's went up! Who knew?

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Walking

Anna's new primary mode of transportation is walking. Just in case you find it hard to believe, here's proof!

Are you ready for me to turn around?

Ta-da!

I have to practice my causal look

Now I'll do my soft sole routine

I have better balance when kitty's in my mouth

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Hang ten, dude

Nothing is better than using diapers as a boogie board...

I'm so totally going to catch the next one

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A labor of love

Only a few of you will understand the significance of this.

Our new kitchen island unit - it's so handy

All set for treat time at the sitter's for St Pat's!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Trying

We're trying to get Ollie to warm up to Anna. She thinks it's wonderful; Ollie - not so much.

Is this really Ollie?

He's so furry - and so heavy!

I don't care that he's more interested in my stuffed kitty

Did you see me?

Success!