One week to go

Let me set the scene for you. It's been a long week and I finally finished grading over one hundred papers so I could start grading exams. I'm sitting on the couch as I hear the back door open. Sarah comes rushing into the room, shouting, "Quick! Grab the camera! Callie just ate her first piece of dirt!" Which answers your question of, is that chocolate on her mouth? No, no it is not.



On the positive side, it appears that she does not mind getting a little dirty. By next summer we hope that she will take over the responsibility of weeding our flowerbeds. She certainly couldn't do a worse job than we have done.

But enough about eating dirt. We have another post because so much has been going on and we need to get these pictures up before October 3rd arrives. That's right, Callie Alexis is turning 1 on Friday. But first things first.


Here we see two dads of the 21st century with their little girls. Nothing accessorizes a man's outfit like a baby bjorn and a baby. John and Callie are standing next to John's cousin Dan and Dan's daughter Lucy. We were up in northern Indiana for the weekend, checking out the Trail of Courage Festival and hanging out with the Peltier clan.






There were a variety of intriguing things to do at the festival. Instead of entering Callie in the tomohawk throwing contest or having her show her skills at the musket firing range, Sarah decided the time was right for Callie's first official craft. And what a perfect setting to be able to do it with her cousin Lucy. Nothing says the perfect first craft for babies like hot wax, a sharp stick, and a little movement. We are happy to report that no one was hurt in the making of the candle.


So here is a picture of Dan, Lucy, and Carrie Peltier. Lucy was born on June 19 and is a very sophisticated young girl. Some impressive statistics include the following: she had her own facebook page before she left the hospital, was born in Illinois, moved to Indiana at 3 weeks, and has just moved to Kansas as we write this. This wild and wooly journey will end with a final move to Minneapolis in November. She is clearly the darling of the Midwest. Her parents are darling as well, just so you know.



We spent Saturday night in South Bend with John's Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mary Gay. Mary Gay not only made us a phenomenal dinner, but she also pulled together some pancakes the next morning. She allowed Callie to take part in the pancake process. It is not completely clear how helpful Callie was, but she enjoyed getting to spend some time with her great/Great Aunt.





Finally we have a picture of Callie with Charlie and the dog of the house, Debbie. As noted in previous posts, Callie loves dogs. If you click on the picture so it is bigger, you can see the huge smile on her face. However, Callie's love affair with Debbie took its toll. Quite simply, Debbie would walk over to Callie and lick her entire head. On the one hand, Callie enjoyed every minute of it. On the other hand, she smelled like dog breath for the entire ride home. We say it was completely worth it and Callie enjoyed it far more than she actually enjoys a real bath.

So there you have it. The final post while Callie's age is still counted only in months. Unless, of course, she eats something interesting in the next couple of days and we get a picture of it.