Snow Balls at the Maya Cafe

More snow time fun from last weekend's winter weather extravaganza. We met the Morton-Holden's at Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood for Piwacket's rendition of The Emperor's New Clothes. Funny stuff, especially if you're under four feet tall. After the play, we walked up the street and had lunch at the Maya Cafe. Good eats, good times.

Art Hill

When it does snow in the city, Art Hill in Forest Park is one of the best places to go sledding (if you can stand the crowd, the mayhem, the blood & broken bones, etc.). For those of you that actually know me, you know that this is the type of situation that I go to great lengths to avoid--the chaos upsets my chakra. However, for the betterment of the kid's mental and physical development, the Henske Three went to Art Hill for some sledding fun. Plus, as an incentive, I knew we could stop for eats and drinks at the Boathouse. Great burgers, great atmosphere, great views. Needless to say, I survived The Hill. And, I actually enjoyed myself. I'm turning into such a softy in my old age.

Snow Day, or More Reasons to Heart Missouri

We spent the day yesterday in school awaiting a winter storm which, we were assured by the weather people, was on its way. Usually, this means nothing to me. One, because weather prediction is not an exact science. And, two, because the majority of all snow predicted around here usually doesn't manifest. But,surprise, the snow did begin yesterday as predicted. I took a few photos from the car while driving home yesterday afternoon. Then, we went outside this morning to have a little fun.

A Few Reasons Why I (Mostly) Love Missouri

I really LOVE living in South City. The character, the community, the amenities. Wouldn't change it for anything most days. Sometimes, though, I really HATE living in Missouri. Conservatism (in almost every way), urban sprawl (in almost every corner), not in my backyard mentality (in almost every mind), billboards (in almost every scenic highway view), etc. Ugh! Ugh! But, if I wander off the beaten path, which I try to do as often as possible, I'm reminded of why living in Missouri isn't really THAT bad. I was reminded of this again on a recent fossil hunting trip. These photos were taken mid to late morning on an overcast day off of Highway 21 (Lemay Ferry) near High Ridge, Missouri. The road was recently cut and the fossil finding is at a premium. Amid the fallen limestone, I found lots of brachiopods and crinoids, which are typical fossil finds for Missouri.

Smile

One of my favorite photo pastimes is taking photos of people taking photos. I especially like taking photos of people taking photos of me. Sometimes that isn't possible. Believe it or not, I'm not always that entertaining or photo-worthy. But, either way, I'm usually satisfied when the opportunity to take a photo of someone taking a photo arises. Over the holidays, I managed to get a few for the collection. These are Bill's brother John. John was the unofficial photographer for this year's Christmas at the Henske's so it was a fairly easy getting these shots.

Ice Skating at Steinberg Rink

We met Dona and Paul at Steinberg Rink on Friday night. I've always been a big fan of ice skating, not as an aspiring Oksana Baiul but as a form of fun and fitness. When I was 13, 14, and 15, I spent lots of time ice skating during the fall and winter months. However, I've only been sporadically since then so my stamina and skill has suffered greatly. Anyway, Friday was warm and it also happened to be the first day of Winter break for a lot of us so Steinberg Rink was super super crowded. More 13 to 16 year old kids than you could count. Throw in a bunch of love birds and some doting, photo-taking parents and grandparents and you got yourself a mental image of Steinberg on Friday. We skated for an hour and decided to leave for dinner and drinks at the Boathouse.

What You Lookin' At?

Well, I don't know about everyone else but this is what I've had to look at the last few days. Apparently, cats, even 20+ lbs, massive, prehistoric-sized cats--like ours--don't maneuver too well in the snow. So, the normally I-only-come-in-for-my-4-squares-a-day Lil' Man has opted instead to chill indoors these past two snowy, wet, cold days. And, out of all the places that he could have had to relax peacefully, he's picked the dining room table across from my computer to snooze. What bothers me more than the inappropriate location and the incessant licking/grooming and the mounds of cat hair/dander is how he sleeps. One eye open. Sometimes two. But always suspicious. And always ready to strike. I just gave myself goosebumps. Yes, he's that scary.

And, if you're interested in seeing 3 hours of a day in the life of our other normal-size, more stable cat, Bernice, follow the link. Don't worry--it's time lapsed so it's only a 3-minute video.

Happy Boston Tea Party Day

Today is the 224th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. I'm not sure how, or if, one should commemorate the event but dumping my Crystal Light Raspberry Instant Tea (yeah, it's crap) into the Mississippi River just somehow didn't feel right. So, we took down the recycling instead, which, as it would happen, is a dumping event of sorts anyway. I also took these photographs along the way.

Willa Katherine Henske

Born 3 years ago. Happy Birthday!

Momma Mia!

Andrew, one of my favorite 20th Century Studies kids, works at Imo's Pizza which is across the street from MRH. During privileged lunch, he ran over and made the "Andrew Special" and brought it back to share with his friends. Since I was gracious enough to let them eat in my room, Andrew was gracious enough to offer me a slice. Delicious!

Wrap This Up

The kids just finished a study of immigration and migration and had to demonstrate some level of mastery by completing a final project. So what you see here is a sample of what I watched for a week. It's always fun in the beginning to watch their little minds and fingers wrestling, interpreting, constructing. But, after 4 days, the good times are over and I'm ready to move on to new territory. I think some of them feel the same way.

Reunited Cause' It Feels So Good

Former members of the St. Louis Team Henske reunited in Chicago the weekend before last. Included in the count was the leader, Mom Henske, and all 6 Henske children, their spouses, the kids, aunts, uncles, and, rumor has it, a stray dog or two. The reason? The youngest, Joe, tied the knot. While no decent photos of the groom or his new bride were taken, a few were submitted representing fan fave Team Henske from South City.

California Here I Come!

A few colleagues and I had an opportunity to attend a curriculum writing workshop in Newport Beach, CA. While the workshop was mostly uneventful, we did take advantage of the free trip to the West Coast. It was mild weather--about 65 degrees and overcast each day--so walked around town hitting the local hot spots (Fashion Mall, Balboa Island (pictured) and the Pacific Ocean). The last night, we took a cab to Laguna Beach for sightseeing, a Thai dinner, and a run to Ralph's.

Henske Night Out

Bill and I had a night out so we walked down the street to Riley's Pub for some pizza and a bottle of wine. As usual, the pizza was great. And, so was the wine.

Harvest Festival 2007

The family drove to Gray Summit, MO on Sunday for the Harvest Festival at the Shaw Nature Reserve. We listened to the bluegrass stylins' of Augusta Bottoms and The Flying Mules while sampling some fine meatballs and fries from Portabella. Each year pony rides are provided free to the kids. This year the sponsoring group was Camp Ondessonk (this camp may not mean anything to those of you that didn't grow up Catholic on the IL side of the Mississippi but it might for those of you that did). When we were in grade and high school, Camp Ondessonk was the place to go! The cool camp counselors would come to our school each year and try and sell us on spending our summer with them in the Shawnee National Forest. The camp and surrounds were gorgeous! And, I could totally picture myself doing everything the other kids were doing in the glossy photos: swimming, riding horses, wearing face paint, having cabin competitions and pranks, sitting around the camp fire. Oh, how I wanted to go! But, who was I kidding? I couldn't even make it through a full night at a slumber party! How would I make it for a week-or two-or three-away from home?

Rombach Farms

This is my absolute favorite time of the year---when it's not 90 degrees! Remember when you used to have to dress warm under your Halloween costume? Not anymore. My not-so-heartfelt thanks to those of you behind global warming..... (Insert angry pro-environment tirade here). But, I digress..... Despite the heat, Bill, Willa, and I went to Rombach Farms to have some fall fun and pick up some pumpkins. This was my first trip the Farm, but Bill and his family ventured to the "Chesterfield Valley" every year for pumpkin picking. Some things are still the same, the old frontier fort, but a lot has changed too--most notably is that the Rombach Farm is an island in a sea of strip mall development. Wonder how long it will be before the Rombach's sell the farm?