All I want for Easter is my two front teeth...

Katie lost her two front teeth this week. The second one had been dangling from her mouth for over a week, seemingly connected by just a thread of tissue. Personally, I don't have the stomach for yanking teeth and she wanted it out desperately but lost her nerve every time she or Steve tried to yank it. She kept trying to "knock it out" by eating apples and raw carrots, but even those time tested teeth looseners failed her. Of course it came out when she least expected it, in school during math class. Let's hope it doesn't sour her on Mathematics from now on!

Our little Fish

Editorial note: I really, really need a faster digital camera! Most of the photos I took this weekend are blurry due to shutter delay. What you are about to see are the best of the lot, and they are not that spectacular...sorry.

Our Saturday mornings are usually pretty hectic; one of the reasons for that is that Katie has swimming on Saturdays. She is such a little fish and has been doing so well, she's mastered a good many of the strokes and is pretty fast too (as far as first graders go). The best part is that she loves it so much. I usually have to drag her out of the pool once her session is over. Of course there are worse things in a parent's life! (In the photo above, Katie is in the middle and just completed a 40 yard front crawl).

This week the kids worked on dives off the board. Katie performed a perfect belly flop. Surprisingly, she came out of the water smiling and ready to have another go at it. (In the photo above, she is the fourth in line).

Minnesota natives take a fist full of Oscars

I don't usually give a rip what happens in Hollywood. Afterall, who cares what Britney and Lohan are up to, there are much more important things to worry about - but as a film lover I usually watch the Oscars and I pleased to seee that the Hollywoood took notice of the Minnesotans in the room. The amazing St. Louis Park brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen, took 3 oscars for their film version of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men". Their 3 statues were in the categories of "Best adapted screen play", "Best directing", and the highly coveted "Best Picture". As a long-time fan of their work, I was thrilled to see them take this sweep.

Minneapolis' delighful and quirky Cody Diablo took the oscar for "Best Original Screenplay" for the film "Juno". How exciting to see such crisp and poignant writing get the attention it deserves.

As they say around here...Uffda!

WHERE THE WOMEN ARE STRONG, THE MEN ARE GOOD LOOKING, AND ALL OF THE CHILDREN ARE ABOVE AVERAGE

Steve and I attended a live performance of A Prairie Home Companion last night on the Winona State Campus, with our friends, Jennifer and Jeremy. Winona State is celebrating their 150th anniversary this year and last night's live broadcast of Garrison Keillor's radio show was part of the year-long celebration. The show was as delightful as always, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the musical guest was BeauSoleil, with fiddler, Michael Doucet. Eh Toi! It was pretty hard to stay seated while listening to that amazing cajun music! Winona native, Simone Perrin, joined the show as well. Her stellar voice and accordian playing was fantastic.

Katie's First Crush

Katie recently came home from afterschool care, having watched the film "The Game Plan". In a flurry of disjointed phrases, she gave me the play-by-play of the plot and then enthusiastically told me that the film starred Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.

Katie then wanted to know: did I know who he was? Have I ever seen him? Did I think he was handsome…nice… smart....? Of course she was blushing as she asked these questions.

I asked her if she thought he was handsome, nice, and smart. Katie replied that she thought he was very handsome and told me that she wanted to marry him some day. I told then told her that I thought he might be too old for her; after all, he is closer to Mom and Dad's age.

Katie thought for a moment and then replied that she will most likely: "marry The Rock's son....who is probably named....The Pebble...."

She definitely has her dad's quick wit.

Winona Walt and Mississippi Marv

Sometimes I think that our culture has removed itself from the environment so much that we miss the subtle signs that nature sends. My drive to work follows the Mississippi River and while it is beautiful all year round, each season is very different. Today as I drove along Highway 61, I happened to see two huge bald eagles hanging out in a tree. They were obviously scanning the horizon for food. Yes, it was pretty cool to stop my car and to be less than 25 feet from these amazing birds; but all that aside, this can only mean one thing - SPRING IS COMING!

Forget about Puxatawney Phil, these guys make their way south when winter comes and then start to make their way back north as the weather warms. Even though it is -4 degrees out today, I would like to trust in the fact that these two know something I don't. At least I can hold out hope.

Mock Elections - Obama takes Jefferson Elementary

Apparently, Katie's entire school participated in a mock primary election today. She was very excited about the fact that everyone voted in the gym and she shared the details with us over dinner tonight. According to her reports, here are the results: Barack Obama came in 1st, Hilary Clinton came in 2nd, John McCain came in 3rd, and "The Old Guy" (Huckabee) came in 4th.

We asked Katie who she voted for and she replied: "Obama, of course." Her assessments on the results were: Obama won "because he is a nice guy who cares about everybody." Hilary Clinton came in 2nd "because she picked on people in the '80's", McCain is a "nice man, but kinda old", and Huckabee "is an old guy who will probably die soon."

Hmmm.

Oh well, as goes Jefferson Elementary, so goes the nation.

We're Almost Done Shoveling...

Our snow blower has seen more action this winter than during the last three. Here is a photo of the accumulation from the 2/5 snowfall. (This was after we had a warm spell and most of what we had received had melted). Since then it has snowed a couple of times - hey it's snowing right now. According to Sunday's paper, we've received about 34 inches this winter. I'm only getting by with the thought that it will melt and the water will be great for the garden.

I know, it's been a while since my last post. I'd like to say we have been busy with lots of fun and exciting events such as travel to warm places. In reality, the semester started and we are just pretty busy with planning and teaching classes, answering student emails, and grading...etc. (I can hear my siblings now, "Yeah, but you get the summers off...").

Sweet Sleeping Siblings

I arrived home the other night and found Katie asleep in bed with her life-sized doll Ella. Ella was a gift from Santa two years ago when Katie asked him for a sister. She has gone from being a big sister (and taller than Katie) to a younger sister now (and of course, smaller). Katie would have been a wonderful big sister. She is so tender and sweet with Ella. Of course Ella is the most well-behaved and agreeable little sister around.

Is it Audacious to hope?

This is not a political blog and I have no intention of dragging a soapbox in to this venue; however, for the first time in a long time I feel hopeful about the political prospects for America.
Hats off to Iowa for showing us how to turn up on voting day.

As reported by MSNBC.com:
"A wide-open race in both parties sparked a turnout far exceeding previous contests.Projections showed a turnout of 220,588 for Democrats, compared to 124,000 who participated in 2004. Most projections had estimated turnout would be about 150,000."

Amen!