"...certain of what we do not see."

Sunday evening, Jackson and I went to church for a really impressive "illusionist" show. He even had a Christian message and talked about the difference between him doing magic — and Jesus performing miracles.

Turning water...

...into wine!

For his final trick, he said the rope represented our relationship with God; with God on one end and us on the other. Because we sin, he used scissors to cut the rope in a few places but tied it back together as we confess. Then he explained that God forgives us and — poof — he blew the knots away and it was one continuous piece of rope again!

Nursery school

Smelling the flowers.

Fritz's follow-up

Landon loves wearing hats. A few mornings ago, he found this conductor's cap from eating at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant the week before, put it on all by himself and wore it around the house.

Bearcat Connection

Why we went up to Northwest last Wednesday.

"This is how you spell it..."

B-day par-tay @ Air-Zone

All Snuggie-d up

Happy vernal equinox

KC's last day of winter: 68 degrees.
KC's first day of spring: 7.3 inches of snow.

Spring Break — Monroe City style

We made a quick trip to northeast Missouri last Friday and stayed at Dana & Kathy's. The temps were in the 60's that afternoon with blue sky and sunshine, so it was great to run around outside.

The boys had lots of fun playing on Papa & Nana's swing set.

Wheee!

Tarzan.

Landon did an impressive job of figuring out the "big boy" ladder all by himself...

but Jackson often thinks he needs some help...

and is right there to give him a push.

Now if you think that Landon is wearing his jammies because it's nearing bedtime, you'd be correct. But it might be more accurate to think that Landon is wearing his jammies because he just got out of the bathtub ... after Daddy didn't stop him from going into the pond.

Fully clothed.

Face first.

Saturday morning, the snow (in the background, to the right) started falling as soon as we woke up.

Around lunchtime, Leslie's grandparents and aunt and uncle came over to visit.

Grandpa Bernard and Grandma Reva recently returned from spending several months in Texas for the winter.

Landon with Leslie's Uncle Jeff ... and his glasses.

Big shoes to fill.

"Snow?!?"

Uncle Greg and Cousin Sam.

They played with these Lincoln Logs for hours.

Landon doing his best Papa impersonation — sitting in the chair, drinking a soda, remote control in hand.

This blue heron appeared at the edge of the pond several times throughout the day.

Flying south for the ... summer?

World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade

Maryville's 23rd Annual "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade" began at 5:17 p.m. last Wednesday, at the corner of Fourth and Buchanan Streets ... and ended 86.6 feet later. Like always, it started with the local VFW presenting the colors and ended with a cement truck barreling down the street spilling green water. The most fun was knowing that Jackson had fun.

Since I didn't have our camera with me last Wednesday, here are some pictures I found online. From the Maryville Daily Forum.

From the official parade news release (there really is such a thing!): "The queen contestants must take a short quiz to test their knowledge of Irish trivia and lore; and be evaluated by a panel of judges on their dress, looks and, of course, personality. The winner of the contest is crowned as that year’s Parade Queen, receives an Official Crown, an Official Trophy, an Official Sash, a bar tab at The Palms, gets to ride in the Parade with the Grand Marshall and be the keeper of the pig. This has become a highly coveted title that many a co-ed has longed to add to her resume."


Photo from the St. Joseph News-Press. You can tell from the blue sky how nice the weather turned out to be.

The following Facebook photos are from the '09 parade, but we saw these same floats (and sights) this year, too.

Go Big Green

I needed to record a video at Northwest during the past couple of weeks, so the boys and I spent most of the day up there on Wednesday. I figured, Jack's on Spring Break, waiting until mid-March increases our chances of good weather and it's March 17th — so maybe we could even catch the "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade."

Jackson's always disappointed when he doesn't get to go with me to Maryville (sometimes I don't even tell him) and then it seems like I usually have such a tight schedule that I'm either in meetings, have events to go to or someone to see. So — other than my one appointment in Wells Hall — the entire afternoon was his, for us to do whatever and go where ever he wanted.

Unfortunately, I left our camera (yikes!) in the car that Leslie drove to work, so these are just some quick pics with my cell phone ... until its memory soon became full.

Using the teleprompter. I felt like Barack Obama.

Both Jackson and Landon got to hang out in the control room with the director and producer, the whole time I was in the studio. (Thanks for the pics, Mitzi!)

After being cooped up in the car and the stroller for so long, I was eager for Landon to get out and stretch his legs.

Jack wanted to see where the musical chimes were coming from, so we played around the Bell Tower for awhile.

Big Man On Campus...?

We stopped in the Administration Building to say hi to a couple of friends. Jackson liked looking in the president's office.

We cruised through the student union for a quick snack (a cup of chicken noodle soup and a pear). When I told Jack that that's where Mommy and I met, he hesitantly asked, "Eww, did you kiss here, too?"

We saw Northwest's tennis team taking on UMKC, and then — as I expected — it was on to the playground! In the shadow of Bearcat Stadium.

With an elementary school on campus, Landon played on the kiddie part...

...while Jackson played across the sidewalk, testing himself on the adult fitness/workout equipment.

And with that, I got an error message on my phone and it couldn't hold any more pictures. No pictures of us going in the student rec center, and Jack thinking he was going to gag because it smelled so much like sweat. Or him running on the track, all the way around the football field. Going to the "time zones" and identifying Istanbul. Not so carefully stepping across the overflow waterfall of Colden Pond. Hiking the half-mile to the parade, and all the sights and sounds of a thousand college "revelers" ... packed in half a city block. Walking back to campus past the dinky house where Leslie and her roommates lived. Or introducing him to Pagliai's restaurant for the first time.

Oh well. As Nash once said, "The best pictures are the ones you take with your heart."

Go Bearcats.