a fall day at the park

this past week lexington started seeing some wonderful weather conditions, and great fall weather. of course, we are in kentucky so by the weekend we'll be back into the 80s but wilhelm and i decided we would enjoy it while we could.

yesterday we met some friends at a local park for a picnic and some playground fun. thought i would share some shots from the day.
our family LOVES fall and we are anxious for each day to feel like fall!

a TAG response for julie

this post is open for everyone to read but is particularlly for our friend julie (who currently lives in Oregon) who recently sent me a blog tag. normally, i would honestly just ignore something like this, but i didn't want to be the one of the three people that she tagged that didn't do it and julie is a faithful reader of our blog (sometimes i feel like the only reader! thanks julie for the feedback) so i wanted to return the favor to her.

basically a tag is where the tagger answers specific questions and then tags other bloggers to do the same. here is my attempt at julie's questions:

3 joys:

• unexpected leg hugs from wilhelm clarke
  
• family dinners with my parents, brother's family and my boys
• a walk outside any fall day that it is comfortable to wear a sweatshirt and jeans

3 fears:

• someone kidnapping my child
• my husband or child dying prematurely
  
• close spaces

3 goals:

• find a place to "settle" for longer than one or two years
  
• start my own biz in the next year or so, or go to baking school
  
• raise a wonderfully, well-rounded child while still managing to be a supportive, fun-loving wife

3 obsessions (i think i have lots of these):

• cleaning my house and making sure everything is in its place (slightly OCD)
  
• decorating/project magazines and websites
  
• baking the perfect treat (and trust me it has to be perfect or i develop a complex)

3 random surprises:

• i've never dyed my hair
  
• my dad and i have an ebay biz for antique and vintage goods (we are called repeated history, unfortunately i haven't listed anything all summer because of family drama, but plan on starting back up in the next week or so)
  
• i was engaged for longer than i dated my husband

so there you have it. a few questions answered about me. i'm never really good at these because i always over analyze and try to get something exactly right that really has no right or wrong. anyway, i tried to complete this fast and without thinking too much.

a sea of orange in rocky top tennessee

this past weekend the boys and i took a trip with pappy (alan's dad, jeff) to go and visit "the tennessee eargles." they have been quite an elusive group since i have only met one of the eleven and heard so much about them, but this was an opportunity to meet the family that actually live in the rocky top state and others that travel to knoxville for football games (at least some of them).

QUICK SIDE STORY: Alan's grandfather, Gran Po, had an identical twin brother, Bill, who had eleven children, not to mention that their mom, who is Alan's grandmother's cousin, went through having all of these little darlings, including one set of twins. They grew up in Mississippi and most of them now either reside in the deep south or in Tennessee.

it was a very nice weekend. we experienced knoxville for the first time, having some wonderful sushi on our inaugural night and eating the rest of our weekend at a tailgate hosted by a lovely, die-hard UT fan named Frank, wearing tennessee orange. one of the weekend's running jokes, since i'm a UK grad, another SEC school, was that i would have a hard time switching loyalties for a day but i enjoyed my shopping spree for orange attire and proudly sported my blue nail polish for my alma mater. the game didn't go so smashing for the Vols but we enjoyed meeting family members and spending time together. here are a few shots from the weekend. ok, in my defense it was the end of the game when this shenanigan took place. the score was 30-6 Florida and i was a momma away from her little guy for too many hours, responsibility went out the door.an eargle picture. Eddie, left, Anne Marie, organized the entire weekend and actually lives in Tennessee (and has an extensive orange wardrobe), and Jeff, Alan's dad. i also met John Paul, Michelle, and Andrew. in total i met 45% of the tennessee eargle clan. they were all a delight!

btw, wilhelm had a babysitter the entire time we were at the game and tailgate. he had a smashing time with her, which was assuring for his parents.

so you like the sauce?

today i took on a task presented to me by Real Simple magazine, an experience making homemade tomato sauce. the plan started two days ago.

when i went to visit my parents on tuesday i arrived to find their entry room (aka mud room) filled with tomatoes. my mom is an amazing gardener and normally plants a garden that produces three times more food than my family needs, but some how she manages to store/can/giveaway the crop so hardly anything goes to waste. anyway, as i saw this massive amount of tomatoes i could almost feel my moms pressure to do something with the little red vegetables. since i don't have the ideal living situations right now (sidebar: with our downtown loft we have to carry everything in quite a piece and our counter space is limited so sometimes cooking large portions can be a chore. also, so i don't have to mention it later we have VERY bad lighting in our loft. with no windows we have to rely on artificial so my pictures are a little icky sometimes but maybe i'll learn more about photography and figure it out with lenses or we'll be able to sell our place soon and have a wonderful home with real light.) i didn't jump to her aid in assistance and honestly my mom rocks so i thought she could handle it all.

wow, am i making this a long story!

as i sat down to read my Real Simple magazine i was drawn to a section about cooking with friends, a big batch of tomato sauce. could it be a sign i thought? we'll with that i called my friend radhika to see if she would be interested in helping out with the task. with her on board i loaded up a milk crate of tomatoes and prepared for my sauce day. today was that day!

30 pounds of tomatoes and about six hours or so of work the mission is complete. i wish i could show you a picture of the sauce on some freshly boiled pasta, but wilhelm had swim class tonight so our sauce went into the freezer for future use and i plan on sharing the rest of the batch with my parents and radhika's family. lets cross our fingers that it is edible. if it is i'd be happy to share the recipe, aside from the peeling & seeding of the tomatoes it is an amazingly easy recipe.

bedtime routine

it isn't very fitting for me to say that wilhelm has a bedtime routine because he has to be one of the hardest children to get to sleep at night. so the routine turns into the ordeal really fast! it isn't that he is bad, but it is that he has such an energy reserve that always seems to be activated a few minutes after he gets his pajamas on. legend has it that a young alan had a very similar bedtime experience (thanks genes!).

that aside i really enjoy this time at night because it is a time that my boys have to spend together. the routine almost always includes a few books. reading is one of wilhelm's favorite activities to do. many days i will catch him in his room or on the couch just looking at books am mumbling to himself. hopefully this interest continues in the days and years to come!

here are some images from alan and wilhelm's reading time last night. alan, as you might guess, is a great reader and tries very hard to get wilhelm to repeat words as they go along. I haven't yet figured out how to get a video on the blog for you to hear, but maybe i will work on that. When I'm As Big As Freddy has become a house favorite. it is a great classic book and actual was one of alan's when he was a child. i'm sure it will be in the family library for years to come.

a new day

today is a new day! a new start for our family blog, a new experience for wilhelm, and a new opportunity for momma. lets start at the beginning.

after a variety of apologizes about starting & stopping the blog, and a major summer hiatus due to life events & schedules, we have again arrived on the blogging scene ready for a new fresh start. i'm energized to try to provide more information about our family's life, aside from the wilhelm chronicles, and hope to have regular readers. my goal (goals are good!) is to blog at least once a week. i normally give others lectures on babysteps when they find themselves at a difficult juncture in life of making a decision or trying to find time to do something, so now i must tell myself, "babysteps, once a week is ok if that is all you can find time to blog!" in the coming weeks i plan to add some new features to the blog for your reading pleasure.

the last two new experiences go together.

today was a big day at the eargle household, our little wilhelm clarke went to his first day of school. albeit a parent's day out program for only five hours of the day, one day a week, it is an opportunity for him to seek independence and social skills away from his parents. the hustle and bustle of the first day kept Alan & I from loosing our composure.

here are a few pictures from the start of the day.

i love this last picture. i realize that it is out of focus, but he was so excited to get into class that his movements caused a blur with my novice camera skills. it symbolizes to me just how fast raising a child goes. amazingly they grow-up right before your eyes, and it almost seems unreal or blurry that time can go by so fast.

today is a new for me too, i'm extremely happy for my son to have the opportunity to go to this program but it is one of my first lessons in how someone else can be there for my child besides myself. it is a wonderful way for him to gain his independence and a wonderful way for me to find mine again. i look forward to seeing what this experience brings for us all!

A Catch-Up To The Present

Once again I have been very poor about keeping our blog up to date. As I work on getting a few budding projects started, Alan continuing to have a VERY busy schedule and Wilhelm daily becoming more inquisitive (which requires a little more attention and direction from momma), the days fly by with little time to update our happenings for our friends and family to read on the blog.

Here is a quick pictorial catch-up of the last week or so.

We had a fabulous day as a family at a local park. Both of us couldn't believe just how big Wilhelm looked and the determination he has to achieve what he is working on.
Aside from playing on the jungle gym we manged to have a stick fight,pitch some ball,
ride on the tire swing, and
just some time to squat and think.

The next day we attended a local baseball game. The picture of Wilhelm is a little blury, because we truly could not get him to sit still. I'm not sure if it was the excitement of the ball park or all of the food he ate. Needless to say, he and daddy had a grand ole time.Along the way he caught a ride with his cousin Lily Grace while they spent the day at their Daddy Will & Gran's house. Wilhelm looks a little frightened, which is rightly so with that crazy girl driving.

Gran provided a little more ease at days end.

My intention is to do a better job at posting regularly, but I won't make any promises. We plan on taking a trip to Chicago next week to visit friends so I'm sure that will provide for many photo opportunities to share with you. Stay tuned...

Better Late Than Never!!!

In the past week or so I've been extremely busy trying to help my dad get an eBay business up and running, therefore I've neglected my journaling, i mean blogging. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to post a few pictures of Wilhelm Clarke and others from Easter.

We had a full Easter weekend. On Saturday we went to West Virginia to visit with Alan's family since his sister was in from South Carolina. The day was delightful, but I forgot our camera so we only have memories in our minds.

After church on Sunday we headed to Mount Eden, KY, to my parent's house to have an Easter feast with my parents and my brother & his family. In addition our great friends, The Wilson's (Joel, Radhika, & Maya) joined us for Easter lunch.

As a side note, The Wilson's are in KY because Joel is a cardiologist fellow at UK. Their families are in the Seattle, WA, area so while in KY my family is adopting them as their own.

radhika, joel, & maya before the feast at the palmer house

the boys and i hamming it up for a picture!

Between play with family members, plastic eggs containing sugary objects, and travel from here & there, Wilhelm was super exhausted by the end of the weekend. Though I'm sure he would do it all over again if he could!

A First Parade

A few days ago we took Wilhelm to his first parade! In true Kentucky weather fashion, it was a SUPER cold and rainy day even though last year at this time was low 70s. Due to the weather the pictures didn't show Wilhelm's cool St. Patrick's Day shirt, but we did have the opportunity to see a few bagpipe troops and emergency vehicles. Our little guy was in sheer awe throughout the processional of floats, waves, and candies hurling through the air at him. It was a fun morning celebrating the Irish!

A Day At The Park

Kentucky weather is as predictable as.... we'll it isn't very predictable! Today the temperature was near 70 degrees, it was beautifully sunny, and extremely pleasant. Due to this wonderful respite Wilhelm and I headed to the park to meet our friends Maya and Radhika. It was the first time that Wilhelm swung and slid, and he LOVED it!This picture says it all. Our boy enjoys soaring through the air !

Maya was nearing nap time at this point (that is where the cracker comes in, for distraction), but I love this picture of her because it shows off her stylish new outfit and her curls that make her so darn adorable.Watching him brought out such a youthful side of me and we had such a good time. It caused me to imagine what he will be able to do and enjoy in a few months. He will soon be running laps around me at the park and protesting when it is time to leave (do i really want that time to come?). We left the park with a very dirty and tired little boy! What a great day, and tomorrow it will be rainy and in the 40s because that is Kentucky.

Swimming Class with Daddy

For the last eight weeks Alan & Wilhelm have been in our local YMCA's swim class. They have had a tremendous time each Saturday morning. I tried to control myself and only take pictures of the last class. I didn't want to look too crazy so I snapped a few pictures, none of real good quality. We all are looking forward to this summer when we can spend LOTS of time in the swimming pool.

A Roadtrip

A few weeks ago I received word that one of my dear friends from Geneva, Maureen, was experiencing a few sudden health issues. Some of you may know her or recall me talking about Maureen while we lived in Geneva. She played such a significant role in my life when I was pregnant with Wilhelm and we developed a great friendship between our families. When I heard about her health I felt compelled to help out in any way that I could so I headed to Illinois to make a visit and do a little babysitting (Maureen's daughters, Tate & Laine, have been featured in the blog before.).

Since Alan had no way of getting out of work I asked one of my friends, Radhika, who happens to have family who lives in close proximity to Geneva, and her daughter Maya, who happens to be Wilhelm's favorite playdate and girl around the town, to join us for a roadtrip to the North. It was a grand adventure as we left out early Monday morning and returned late Friday. We had great conversation and great kids, with the exception of a slight mood set back on our return drive. I think it was part protest and part upset stomach, mainly from Wilhelm with sympathy cries from Maya. Thank goodness there were two mommas in the car. Radhika got quite a workout on the way back!

While we were in Geneva we visited with Maureen and her girls, along with some of our friends from there. I captured some, not all, of our moments and have put the best pictures below to share with you.

As I write this email I've also gotten an update from Maureen about her health. They plan on monitoring an aneurysm in her brain and some blockages she has. Our family continues to pray for Autie Mo Mo's good health.

this is joy and eli. eli was so kind and let wilhelm play with his new train set.

wilhelm's friend simon and he, surprised to see the camera.tate and wilhelm snuggled for a morning nap. she had a snow day from school so they had some good quality time before we headed back to KY.
this is maya, occupying herself in the car seat with a toy string.
or maybe she is entertaining her riding companion. if you look close enough you can see the remnants of the chocolate chip cookies radhika made for our trip home on wilhelm's face.

WHAT A WONDERFUL ROADTRIP!

A First Birthday Bash to Remember

Wow, it really has been one year since our son, Wilhelm Clarke Eargle, was born. In celebration of this special day we threw a splendid birthday bash with family and close friends at our home. A wonderful time was had by all, especially the birthday boy. It was quite an experience to see the joy in his eyes throughout the day. And, I know it seems crazy but I think since that day he looks older. He is even doing things that one-year-olds do like climbing up step ladders and throwing balls! As fast as this year has gone it frightens me to think how fast those in the future will be, however I am excited to see how our special son develops into a young boy.

Here are a few shots from the birthday party.This is a picture of one of Wilhelm's cakes and his guest's favors. Alan and I ordered personalized Jones Soda bottles with Wilhelm's picture on them for all of our family and friends in attendance.
The singing and picture flashes took Wilhelm a little off his game when it was time to blow out the candle, but...

he soon regained his composure and sense of humor when it was time to dive into the cake.
It was like Christmas all over again! Wilhelm received many generous gifts. He appreciated his friends and Daddy helping him to open.

I would like to say that I have a good picture of him passed out after the days activities, but the boy is a partier and didn't go down until nearly 10 o'clock that night. He wanted to stay awake as long as possible to celebrate his birth time at 9:54 (CST), even though he missed it he lived out his first birthday to the fullest.

Thanks to everyone who made his day special!

A Quick Hello to A Friend

On our way back from visiting Alan's parents in Cincinnati, OH, we were able to cross paths with one of my old college roommates and good friends, Anne. Anne was in from Texas, staying with her parents in Northern Kentucky for the holidays. It was absolutely wonderful to catch up with her and even just to see her. She is in Texas to get her masters degree in play therapy and hopes to be back in the Bluegrass state by the end of 2008. Though our visit was short it was simply wonderful. Hopefully we'll see Anne again sooner than later.

A First Christmas, Oh So Bright!

We'll always remember Christmas 2007 as Wilhelm's first Christmas. It was a glorious time for Alan & I as we watched our little boy gasp and shrill in excitement at the lights on the tree, the presents to open, and the other bright moments that come along with the holidays.

I find it impossible to record all of our special moments during this Christmas, but here are a few special ones.Wilhelm enjoyed each time we would pack to travel somewhere. It was hard to tell if he really wanted to go since he pitched out everything that was put in the suitcase and then jumped in himself. Possibly he wanted to ride in there, instead of his car seat. Only a few short weeks until he can forward face in his car seat, yeah!
Wilhelm received a rocking moose from Santa Claus this year.

His stocking also included some goodies.
Daddy Will and Gran began a new Christmas Eve tradition by reading The Night Before Christmas to the grandchildren.
Christmas morning included a big country breakfast, many presents, and matching pajamas. I think my mom is a little more sure about her excitement than the children are.
Eight children, in front of a camera, expected to stand still for a posed picture. I don't think this was a bad attempt. These are Wilhelm's 1st and 3rd cousins. Chloe, Lily Grace, Camille, Bethany, Timothy, Hannah, & Carlie Mae. What a group! They had such a nice time playing with each other.
Aside from boxes and paper, this Curious George doll was one of Wilhelm's favorite presents he received. It was from his Pappy and Nanna Eargle.

One of my favorite pictures taken during the holidays was of my goofy niece Lily Grace and her Uncle Alan. They are such hams!
Our family was so blessed in 2007 and we look forward to what 2008 sends our way.