Celebrating Daddy's Birthday

In a much more relaxed fashion, we decided to celebrate Woody's birthday on Friday evening rather than Thursday. Woody was working on a paper Thursday night. Morgan had homework and was in a more tired, moody mood than I would have liked. And Ingrid showed us her lungs work in loud monotone, loud polytone, and many other pitches and tones in between. So Friday would be better, I thought. I was right.


Keeping with the relaxed theme, I ordered pizza for everyone. It was only after the pizza arrived that Woody said he had pizza at the hospital for lunch. I wasn't about to make any changes and offered him a plate - football plates - in honor of the upcoming Superbowl.

Woody likes cheesecake more than any other type of cake, pie, or cookie. I found a small cheesecake and we added candles to make it festive.


Presents were kept small this year. Woody and I are considering a new camcorder and decided that would be our joint gift. But nonetheless, the girls were excited to see him open a few gifts - tshirts and a hat from Grandma, a Woody Club (think old old Station wagon with wood panels) t-shirt from me, and a Wii Outdoor Challenge game with pad to play with the girls. Kayaking and log jumping were the winning games. Also, for some reason, Ingrid kept winning when challenging Annika to a see-saw balancing game.

Old Photo Friday

There were many nay-sayers, myself included, that said the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team will never rise above mediocrity. They proved us wrong this year by winning the NFC championship. This weekend the Cardinals will play in the Superbowl - and Superbowl fever has certainly hit Arizona.

In honor of Superbowl Sunday, all the past Superbowls, College Bowl Games, High School leagues, Pee Wee Football and Flag Football, here's this week's Old Photo Friday:

My grandfather, Robert Springer, playing for Rochester High School.

Happy Birthday Woody

Happy Birthday to a wonderful father and husband!




Woody scheduled a dental appointment for himself today. On his birthday??

Morgan's Grasslands of Madagascar

Morgan has worked on her school project for more than a week now and it has finally come together. She was asked to create a community (urban, suburban, or rural) and describe the life in that community. Morgan picked rural - very, very rural - and made her project on the grasslands (savannas) of Africa. It started as an animal kingdom, but after Woody and I found these birdhouse huts, the project quickly shifted to an actual village. With a little rotozip, the birdhouses were transformed into Masai village huts. We bought FIMO clay to make pottery and the rest was glued pieces from fake grass that was spray painted and plastic figures. Morgan did a great job on the project and will be presenting her project and written paper with her classmates to the sixth grade class and invited parents on Friday.

Here's the final project with the two "helpers" underneath.

Morgan's Description of Her Community

There were strict guidelines as to the number of paragraphs and the number of sentences in each paragraph. This is the final draft and much paraphrasing.

Morgan’s Grasslands of Madagascar


The name of my community is Morgan’s Grasslands of Madagascar. My community is like the Masai people of Kenya. They live in the grasslands that are called savanas. It is very rural.


Morgan’s Grasslands of Madagascar is very isolated. That means that there are no stores or hospitals or even cars! There is very little water and children walk a very long way to bring water to their families. There are many wild animals like hippos, lions, crocodiles, giraffes, zebras. To protect their children and their cattle, they build a fence around their houses to keep lions and other animals away from them.


My community is special because the people work very hard to survive. It is not a great place to live because; they have no cars or shoes. It would be fun to visit the animals at Morgan’s Grasslands of Madagascar but it would be dangerous to live there.

"I want my "Ho-Ho's", she cried.

The stomach bug has hit Ingrid. Last night it was 1 AM. She was miserable. Her pajamas and bedding were in a miserable state as well. After a fully needed bath, she settled into some 2 AM television on Sprout. What do they play at 2 AM? Old, old Barney reruns. Now that's just misearble. Ingrid was still nauseated and didn't want to move. By 3 AM, we coaxed her back to bed and started laundry.

Saturday went well. In the morning, Ingrid ate oatmeal and had plenty of liquids. She was able to keep up with her sisters cleaning the toyroom and acted, well, like Ingrid. We were out running errands most of the day. Ingrid, Annika, Woody and I napped in the afternoon. Morgan enjoyed her "house freedom" playing Playmobil and looking at her sleeping mom. Yes, I can tell when my child is right next to my face.

Tonight, Ingrid started howling and carrying on near bedtime. She kept asking for Ho-Hos. She has never had the disgusting Hostess "cakes" and would never associate Ho-Ho with food. Finally, between tears, she dragged her dad over to her sister's pajamas and said Ho-Ho. "Ah, now we get it Ingrid". Ingrid refers to Santa Claus as "Ho-ho Merry". Think "Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas" Ho-Ho's are her Santa pajamas, we learned. Lucky for us, we washed her pajamas and she was able to be settled back into them.

Now at 4:30 AM, it started all over again. Ingrid cried out and we grabbed a bucket just in time. Poor kiddo. We'll get her on more liquids and more downtime today. Then we'll be lysoling down the house - my new verb.

Old Photo Friday

Charles Walter Springer and Robert Neal Springer pose with
their maternal Grandfather Henry Albert Stolp. The photo
was taken around 1926 or 1927.

It's winter - somewhere. Most of the U.S. recovered from the record freeze and northerners are stretching and yawning eager to get out and get moving again. Friends of mine have gone skating and sledding.

We went sledding over the Christmas break by driving to the Rim and hope to do again before the short season is over. I want to get more use out of the winter clothes that we tend to store for long periods in the attic.

So I was thinking about the girls' jackets and other winter clothes when I picked out this weeks' Old Photo. In honor of my grandpa's birthday (Jan 27) and my great uncle Chuck's birthday (Jan 24), I'm posting this photo of the two of them in their winter coats standing with their maternal grandfather (Henry A. Stolp).

Morgan's School Project - Go to the Movies?

Morgan is working on a school project that is due at the end of the month. She needs to create her own community; decide if it's urban, suburban or rural; decide the natural features of the community; decide who runs the community (humans or animals) ;write a report and create a 3D visual.

Morgan has chosen a rural animal community, using the African grasslands as her model.

We went to the library on Friday to check out books on the animals of the African Savannah/Grasslands.

Today, Woody decided to take the girls to the movies during their day off. They decided to go to the cheap theater and watch Madagascar 2. Morgan announced, "Hey, that's one of the countries that has some grasslands in Africa. I can watch the movie for my project!!!"

Go ahead, Morgan, add that to your bibliography.

Enjoying the Spoils of Your Labor

While fishing at Veterans Oasis park with the five girls, Woody caught two very small Crappie fish. If alone, I think they would have been returned to the lake. With the girls eager to see all things in nature, the fish made the trip home in the bag to be cleaned and cooked.

This is going to be one small meal...

Woody, Annika, and Morgan brought the fish in to clean them in the only sink in the house - my kitchen sink. Once sanitized, Woody carefully cut open the fish to show the girls all the inner parts. Morgan was interested in the heart. Annika picked up the head and started moving the mouth - pretending the fish was lip synching to her made up fish song.

Morgan decided the entertainment was over, however, Annika was eager to see the cooking part. Woody took a pan out to the gas grill and pan fried two tiny fish, (think Silver dollar pancakes for comparison). Morgan tried a bite, but it was Annika who finish the majority of todays spoils - after downing pizza earlier in the evening.

Of course, we captured all of it on film.

The fish.

Another view.

Annika and Ingrid watch the initial cut.

Fish Head Musical

Yummy fish snack.

Party of Five

Our Sunday was filled with activity from sun up to sun down. We woke early to clean the house and prepare for a day of houseguests. An empty refrigerator meant an early trip for me to the grocery store. Interesting people at the grocery store when you go before 8 AM on a Sunday.

Today included those buying hotdogs, drinks, ice and other tailgating food items. The NFC Championship is being played in Glendale - on the other side of the Valley. Lucky ticketholders were getting there early.

Speaking of lucky ticket holders, our friends Tammy and Steve, are two of 70,000 such lucky ticket holders. To support their lucky ticket claim (where I couldn't even get on the Ticketmaster.com Server), we agreed to host their two daughters for the day, bringing the gender total in the house to 6 Females, 1 Male.

The girls are very close and the new additions made their way straight for the girls room for some fun. We planned an eventful lunch and time outdoors. In between, we watched most of the game and told the girls to look for their parents in the stands. Since their parents were wearing red, it should be easy to pick them out????

Just before dusk we set out with shouts of celebration for the Cardinals, and dressing the girls all in pink (that was an accident), headed out for some fishing and playing at Veterans Oasis park.

Tammy and Steve worked their way through the crowds and traffic and made it back to the East Valley. We ended our day well after dark, enjoying pizza at a local (non chain) pizza joint. Yum.

Friday Fun Science - The Blue Bug.

This evening we substituted Friday Fun Reading with Friday Fun Science. Annika received a robot bug project for her birthday last year. Tonight we decided to put it together. The girls gathered around, excited and jumpy, as we pulled the parts out. Morgan announced she would be in charge of the directions. Annika grabbed the screwdrivers. Ingrid grabbed anything else, which made the start rather difficult.

We decided the can of Diet Coke that would serve as the body of the bug didn't look right and we headed outside. It was 8 PM and still a great temperature. The girls took turns shaking the spray paint. Annika settled on a blue paint and Woody painted the can. It didn't take long to dry, the girls rode the trikes and bikes while waiting.

Back inside, Annika was put to work screwing the can supports, and threading the battery wires. With the added motor, and more direction reading, the bug started to take shape. Annika and Ingrid added a couple of stickers.

Finally we were ready to turn on the robot bug and see it move. There was great excitement and clapping for dad. The legs vibrated as Blue bug "glided" across the table. It only stopped when it met an imperfection in the table.

The bug got a place of honor on Annika's nightstand! We will be adding more science projects in time.

Preschool Pajama Day

It was amusing waking up Ingrid and removing her pajamas only to put another pair of pajamas back on. Today is the annual preschool pajama day. The kids will have breakfast foods, watch movies and show and tell their bedtime pals (stuffed animals).

Ingrid was all smiles when she finally remembered the special day. Annika and Morgan were exhibiting less enthusiasm. Today is special Arizona Cardinals appreciation day at their school. My older two have never been bothered by sports days and don't own any sports t-shirts or paraphernalia. This morning was a near meltdown over the color of their shirts. "That's not the right red, Mom." Morgan decided it wasn't worth bothering over and picked out something else. Annika finally agreed on a dark red cardigan.

It was around 48 degrees when we left for school. It should be 78 by the time school lets out today. That's far different from my friends and relatives who are experiencing multiple snow days due to the extreme cold and counting the temperatures in the negatives.

Old Photo Friday

Today is the first day in a new blog segment I call, "Old Photo Friday." As many of you know I have enjoyed the pleasure of scanning, archiving and documenting photos and related memorabilia. Currently I am scanning our family slides to share with my parents and siblings. In the end, we will remove the many carousels of slides that occupy my parents closet and provide multiple copies with a single keystroke. My parents have a slide projector and my father-in-law gave me two different slide projectors. These bulky relics also require a lot of storage space. Now I can share our slides with Todd and Susan without the need for them to attempt to find projectors - I doubt they make them anymore.

I've scanned four carousels of my parents slides. It takes about 3-4 hours to clean, scan, and catalog each carousel of slides. Time consuming but fun to view the pictures on the screen. We have plenty of hard drive space to hold the slides with backup drives.

I have some older slide and photo scans I did with my old HP box scanner and saved on 3.5 floppies while in Minnesota. Their color is not as bright, the resolution far less at that time.

Now for my children I will present a slide, photo or related item each Friday and attempt to tell the story behind the picture. Call it photo-genealogy. I may need some help with details. Feel free to chime in with additional details.

January is the birthday of my dad, my grandpa, and his brother and the anniversary of my great grandparents. I'm still unsure how many Minnesotans choose to have their wedding in January, but my great grandparents did.

Here's a photo with a nice spring theme to take your minds off the bitter cold of the north. My mom sitting with her grandparents (my great grandparents) at their home in Rochester. I don't know the address of this particular house but I saw it on the market about ten years ago including some inside real estate photos. The photo below on the steps was taken Spring 1946.


In photo: Charles William Springer, Eva May (Stolp) Springer; Judith (Springer) Stevens

What are We Reading?

I am not reading any books at this time. That's a little depressing. I'd like to get lost in a book once in a while. For now, I'm content with everday life and the lives of my family. Someday, I'll find more time to read for myself.

Tonight I did not read to the girls. I wanted to but they made it impossible. How so? Morgan is reading the book, Runaway Ralph, by Beverly Cleary. She finished a few other books over the Christmas break.

Annika is reading stories to us from school as part of her assignments. She said it was her turn to read to us.

Ingrid decided to take a clue from her sisters and picked up her new fox to read. "Not you, Mommy, Ahn-ya read." (She calls herself Ahn-ya because she can't pronounce Ingrid yet). I was not allowed to listen in on the fox reading, but I could tell she was getting animated. I also could tell she was stalling bedtime by saying the fox wanted her to read it "Again, fox, yes?"

Happy Birthday Jeff

Today is my cousin's birthday. Jeff is in the middle of the back row of this picture (with the pink/magenta Mickey ears). Jeff is all grown up, married to Randina and has a cute daughter, Claire. Happy Birthday Jeff!

I remember my grandparents went to L.A. and stopped at Disney to pick up all of these shirts and hats for the grandkids. I still have my hat. So cute.

3rd Grade Field Trip

The third grade class at Morgan's school has one of the more elaborate field trip programs of any grade. Yesterday was the big trip to the southern part of Arizona including Tombstone, Bisbee, and the Kartchner Caverns near Benson. We started out early: at school before 6 am to load the buses. We didn't return until 8 pm.

The ride to Tombstone, past Tucson takes several hours. The kids rested (slightly) and the multitude of stashed DS players were brought out for linked chats. Morgan curled up for a quick nap. After Tucson, a video was shown along with a worksheet for the kids to work on.

Our bus went first to Tombstone and then headed to the Copper Queen Mine in Bisbee. The mine was founded in the late 1800's and was mined through the summer of 1975. The kids were excited to head down the mine on a mine train. First they had to be outfitted with a yellow slicker, hard hat, and a miner's lamp. It's about 45 degrees in the mine so coats were added underneath.

We descended 1500 feet into the mine and got out to see what typical equipment was used to mine the copper and other minerals from the underground mine.

Morgan smiles after getting her gear.

Morgan waits in line for her miner's lamp.

Michelle and Morgan play with the camera.

The mine entrance after it went electric in 1915.

Before that it was mules and a smaller entrance.

Our "train" was made from long bench seats on tracks.

After the tour of the closed mine concluded, we went to a nearby open pit mine called the Lavender Pit mine. It was in continuous mine production until 1974.

3rd Grade Field Trip Continued

After the mine, our trip continued the one hours drive to Benson, AZ and the Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Before reaching the State Park, the bus stopped for a mandatory Border patrol inspection, as we were so close to the U.S. border.

The caverns were discoved by two men in the late 1960's. After 14 years of careful and secret exploration, the caverns were sold by the Kartchners to the State of Arizona and turned into a state park. It took more than 36 million dollars and a lot of work to make the caverns safe for tourists while still maintaining the living rock.

Opposite from the temperatures of the underground mine, the caverns temperatures are meticuously maintained at 85 degrees Fahrenheit with 100% humidity. Photos are not allowed, the path must be carefully followed, but the sights are unbelievable. The kids went in groups of 12 through a few of the rooms of the caverns. The kids were great and enjoyed asking questions about the stalagtites, stalagmites, drapery, columns, and other formations. The park has a nice discovery center where Morgan enjoyed reading about the caverns and the ancient fossils found. Below are some of the available photos of the cavern from the park. The pictures don't do it justice. This is one of those sights you need to see in person to experience some of the Earth's wonders.

Trout Fishing With the Kids

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Morgan and Annika want to...fish.

After an afternoon spent yesterday at Bass Pro Shop (too much to see), and the previous evening re-stringing the fishing poles, the girls were getting ancy to go fishing. Woody cleaned and sorted his tackle box (twice) and Ingrid sat right next to him, admiring the many compartments. Woody was using Clorox Wipes to clean the whole box. Ingrid decided to pick up a Clorox wipe and proceeded to take out (independent from any of our instructions) one of the bobbers to clean. She then took another wipe and cleaned another bobber. And again, and again. Hey Ingrid, this is starting to get expensive... She showed Woody each result and remaked "Oh, gosh, look" (her new phrase).

It was decided that Ingrid would stay with me - I had an errand to run at the mall. The older girls and Woody would go, despite the drizzle. With coats and umbrellas they headed out to fish. No bites, no camera to even record the fun. Annika did remark to her dad, "Look, it's stuck" and then showed Woody her finger with a hook in it. Calm as can be she asked if he'd take it out. Morgan was declared a great caster (is that a word??) and Annika was very patient waiting for a fish. In the end, the rain and overcast won out - the fish weren't biting. The girls want to go back.

So, without a photo to document the event, I'm leaving you to your imagination - a father with two kids on the edge of the water fishing.


Maybe it looks something like this. [Smile]

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Grandpa. Love Morgan, Annika, Ingrid.

Happy Birthday to You.

Happy Birthday to You.

Happy Birthday Grandpa.

Happy Birthday to You.

New Year's Stroll

In South Chandler, a newly created pond sized lake with nature center (are there any natural lakes in Arizona, really???), brought us out for an afternoon stroll. The lake is stocked regularily with trout and other fish. The rest of the area has nice park features, with nature posters, ramadas, and desert landscapes nestled against the backdrop of the San Tan Mountain.

We went on a fact finding mission - was the fishing any good and were there good places to sit with a family and fish. We were happy to say yes to both questions! A planned fishing trip was in the works.

Waffles Anyone???

I was excited to wake up early on New Years Day. We had decided to try out the new professional waffle maker. The excitement waned slightly after I read how involved the recipe batter preparation would be. The batter included yeast and stiff egg whites. Still I followed it meticulously. And there was my error. The batter made 20 waffles - big, big fluffy waffles. Woody made a run for fresh strawberries and whipped cream in a can while I started testing. By the second waffles, we were making delicions breakfast treats. I found some frozen organic raspberries that I defrosted in the microwave after adding a little Agave syrup.

We began resolving our too-many-waffles-not-enough eaters by inviting Annika's friend and classmate Kelly to come over. Kelly had barely opened her eyes when we called around 10 AM. She thought the idea of walking down the street for a hot breakfast was a great idea. We added bananas to the toppings and had a blast laughing and eating.

We still had too much batter. It did not occur to us to freeze it at the moment. Our other neighbor was sick with a cold. Would she like some fresh waffles with strawberries? A quick run with a hot waffle next door put a smile on her face?

We called Kelly's older sister to see if she was interested in breakfast. Heck, at this moment, I thought of moving the operation out to the driveway - we certainly had plenty to share. Maybe I'll save that idea for a spring neighborhood AM picnic.

"Leggo My Eggo"

Kelly enjoying the waffles. The family room still shows

our NYE fun.

Morgan with her berry-topped waffle

The more whipped cream, the better.

Happy New Year Everyone!

At 12:01 AM on 1/1/09, I captured these images of our precious children (hat extra):