Q’s Hats in Review, Prepping for Rocky

The complaining about how much snow we “didn’t” get is taking up too much room in cyberspace. It is time to just enjoy TV reporters and the hats they are wearing out on the elements.

The last post had some doozies. Thanks for the submissions. If you have a photo to submit, send them in an email to me at IPTVPaul@gmail.com or just put them on Twitter @paulyeager.

Taylor Umland, KWQC, Davenport.

But one of the best ones came directly onto my Facebook wall. Here is the bar for today. A Wartburg College hat being worn on my old TV station, KWQC in Davenport. Taylor Umland was rocking the orange and black during his morning reports in the QC.

One of my former co-workers at KWQC was Matt Davis. Mr. Matt was a nightside reporter when I started and we would do liveshots without a hat. A certain morning radio duo named Dwyer and Michael’s would razz him on-air about not wearing a hat and looking cold on his evening live reports.

The radio guys decided to send a gift to Matt of a hat, which he would sometimes wear and other times it was just sitting on his desk, ready for the call of duty.

Bailey Dietz, KWQC, Davenport.

Sticking at KWQC, we bring in Bailey Dietz from her nightside live shot Thursday.

Former TV6 intern and now reporter at WGBA in Green Bay, WI, Jonathan Gregg is in on the action.

Jonathon Gregg

Jon is a former board member of the Iowa Broadcast News Association. I’m sure he’s already made plans to attend this year’s convention on April 20 in Johnston at the Stoney Creek Inn.

Now to some of the morning crew.

Arielle Nixon was wondering why she had to take a picture of herself wearing earmuffs. She wasn’t sure what the request was all about, but thanks to Pat Dix for this.

Pat’s Tweet.

Thanks for playing along.

Arielle Nixon, WHO, Des Moines.

Thanks to the MW ESPN bureau for this submission of KARE photojournalist Nate Anderson.

Nate Anderson, KARE, Minneapolis.

Jason Rantala, WOI, West Des Moines.

Kim St. Onge, KCCI, Des Moines.

My little reporter, Levi. That’s a hat OVER his hooded sweatshirt.

Megan Ruether is always a good sport about trying new hats and thanks to Travis Jungling for lighting up Megan Friday morning for this picture.

Megan Reuther, WHO, Des Moines.

But it was Megan’s former station that wins the day. You may remember Nikki Newbrough from last year with the space cadet interview subject.

This year she’s gone above and beyond with a sombrero and a friend, Danielle Wagner. I think Danielle is the Ice Princess? Did I get that correct?

Danielle Wagner and Nikki Newbrough of KWWL, Waterloo.

Thanks again for the submissions. We’re only a couple of days away from doing it again with Winter Storm Rocky approaching.

The Q-Tiful Hats

Winter Storm Q, at least the name The Weather Channel has given it, is alive and well.

It is also putting reporters out in the field to tell you to be careful, be safe and if you don’t have to, not travel.

I did start a Tumblr blog that is just the reporters and their hats. Check it out sometime.

This blog will still post pictures of reporters wearing hats while out standing in their field.

Megan Salois, WHO, Des Moines.

Jill Kasparie, KCRG, Cedar Rapids.

Kevin Phelps, KWQC, Davenport.

Now to the Omaha/Council Bluffs market and Cheryl Lemke.

Cheryl Lemke WOWT, Omaha.

Wait a minute, where is Becca’s hat?

Becca Habegger of KWWL, Waterloo.

Arielle Nixon, WHO.

Chris Conoan, WOI, West Des Moines.

Thanks for taking time to read the blog.

Patrick Bell, KCCI.

Phil Prazen, WOI, West Des Moines.

Vanessa Peng, KCCI.

Jessica Daley, WOI, West Des Moines.

And finally, WHO’s new reporter is setting the standard we haven’t seen in quite some time. Enjoy the photo of Jodi Whitworth. A big thanks to Lee Rouse for the snapshot. He’s a legend and he did it again.

Jodi Whitworth, WHO, Des Moines.

If you have a hat to share with others, send me a photo to IPTVPaul@gmail.com

Steve Jobs Babysits My Boys

I have a little confession to make.

The iPad is highly addicting.

That may not be news to any of you with the device, but I may be setting up the boys for a lifetime of addiction.

Almost every day the first question I get is, “Daddy, Can I play the iPad? This week I’ve let them play with it a bit. Maybe not every waking moment, but they’ve spent more time with it than the TV, so maybe that’s a good thing?

Wednesday was no exception. The boys played their games before supper, mostly Temple Run.

During supper we did shut it off to have a debate on the best Disney Pixar movie. Thanks to Nate Vaughn for the topic. Noah said Cars 2 was better than Cars 1. Levi liked Cars 1 better because of the combine. Noah prefers Toy Story 3 over TS2 and TS1. Levi is in the same boat. Then I brought up Incredibles and they both agreed that was their favorite. Although Finding Nemo almost made it to the top of the list on a late rally.

These are some serious discussions we have when it is the Yeager Boys Home Alone.

Now back to the iPad.

Would the boys in the back keep quiet?

I felt brave enough to the take the boys to church choir. I mean, we have the iPad, that’s the only babysitter they need. Noah brought his reading minutes timer to make sure he and Levi would get equal playing time. Every five minutes, they’d switch up and let the other play.

When we got home, Noah wanted to watch one more video. I showed him this last night, but he wanted to see the little boy making all the basketball shots. Check out this little guy between the age of 18-24 months making almost every shot he takes. Impressive.

Maybe next time we’ll work on our basket shooting while mom is gone.

Early Risers Get the iPad

Morning iPad time for Levi.

It is not in most of the Yeager DNA to get up early. They’d rather stay up all night than wake before dawn.

My boys do have my DNA, but for some reason, not enough of the night owl gene is in Noah’s makeup. He’s our early riser.

Levi will stay up late and is pretty good at getting out of bed when called upon. Tuesday morning he had a little incentive in his brain.

Monday night he asked to play iPad when he woke up. I agreed. But like many things, I thought the little dude would forget. Nope. He was up by 7 wanting to play iPad and not even turn on the TV. Who is this kid?

Noah focuses on the puzzle.

His brother wanted to keep working on the puzzle he began on Sunday. He wanted to make sure he would complete our jigsaw challenge. He too, didn’t want to watch TV before school. The two of them later in the evening wanted to watch the PBS Kids app. Fetch and WordGirl are two of their favorite shows right now.

We did get a call from the birthday girl. That was a nice surprise. She had a good day touring offices in London. Not a bad gig if you can get it.

I took the boys voting tonight. We wer voting on the proposal for another new elementary school. I had my driver’s license scanned and my information came up on the poll workers screen. She said Ankeny is a test project for the rest of Polk County. You don’t need an ID to vote, but it helps speed up the process. The rest of you will likely see this the next time you vote. Unless Mark Amadeo messes it up…

Temple Run is the game of the week.

We did come back in time for the boys to take turns playing Temple Run. That is their favorite new app. I guess there are worse games to play than working on quick thinking and coordination.

And just before bed Noah said his tooth was wiggly. Sure enough, two his front teeth were moving around a lot more than before. I don’t see any teeth coming in behind yet, but I’m sure he’ll lose those baby teeth before Christmas so he can wish for something else before the holidays.

As always, thanks for taking time to read this installment of the YBHA.

Monday Night Dinner

Dinner time.

Oversensitive children are usually the first sign of trouble.

Crying over not getting to watch “Cat in the Hat” is two.

And the third indicator of a difficult day comes with fighting your brother because he’s playing with your balloon animal left over from the Freeseman Super Bowl Party.

And this was before 740 AM.

We all made it on time to our destinations, so no harm, no foul.

Grandma Paula and Grandpa Wil took pity on our meal plan and invited us for supper. I suppose it is a chance to make sure we are getting a proper balance of fruits and vegetables.

Candyland is a great place to visit, but you may not want to live there.

A big thank you for the food and good times. And a little break with those that give personal attention does the boys wonders.

Grandma was able to play a mean game of Candyland.

And it was a few years on this day, Wil and Paula were at the hospital. Paula was a little busier than Wil. She was giving birth to a little baby girl.

They named her Amy.

She may be a few miles from her family this week, but her boys do love her and wish her a happy birthday.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

You may want to spend :49 to watch this birthday greeting. Levi wanted to make sure his mother is aware he cried. Classic Levi.

Super Bowl Sunday XIII

Super Bowl Sunday is almost a national holiday, even if it falls in YBHA XIII.

Levi gets in Noah’s face before the end of church this morning. I’m not exactly sure what was being said here.

The boys and I made it to service this morning. The choir sang at 8a and we were in the balcony by 740. The boys had a short night of sleep, but they were pretty good during service. I’m pretty sure it was because the boys were too tired to cause any trouble.

I’m so tired…

Levi may have been tired enough to lay down on the balcony floor. Then again on the couch in the Gathering Place. At least he was comfortable.

Fort Yeager.

We built Fort Yeager in the basement Saturday afternoon. Sunday afternoon we took shelter to watch a movie. A couple of sheets can create some nice atmosphere.

It always gets dusty at the end of Toy Story 3.

Toy Story 3 was on the little screen. It is amazing how the dust seems to kick up at the end of the movie every time I watch it. Amazing.

Super Bowl party with a couple of cousins. Even the kids wanted to watch the game and this was when it wasn’t even close.

Then it was off the Freeseman’s for a little tradition of football. The boys played with their cousins and burned off some energy. They wanted to watch the game, just like their parents.

Six out of seven nights, Levi howls at the moon until almost 10 PM. On the 7th night, Noah will be the one up late. Maybe there is hope for Noah’s sporting interests. I let him watch the end of the game, so he got to see the 49ers storm back and not convert late the game to allow the Baltimore Ravens to win the Super Bowl.

He did get to see this ad, the Dodge, “Keep Plowing commercial.” It features Paul Harvey’s voice talking about how God created the farmer. Pretty powerful and important stuff.

Here We Go Again, YBHA XIII

Mom and her boys, Levi (3), Noah (6).

Just when you thought it was safe to stop keeping track of the Yeager boys and their home alone adventures.
In November, we thought YBHA XII was going to be the last one for a while. Sorry. Here we go again. Welcome to Yeager Boys Home Alone 13.

We begin with the traditional departure photo. This picture is taken right before Amy flies. The one time we did not take the picture, Mommy was stuck in Europe for a few extra days because of some volcanic ash.

This trip is to a new overseas destination for Amy. We will see what this journey brings.

Cousins Paige and Allie help with Noah’s Valentine creations. Aunt Julie supervises.

Originally, I was slated for a meeting on Saturday and I had booked a babysitter in cousin Paige. When that fell through, I still had the Wood family come for lunch.

We first finished up Noah’s Valentine’s Day cards. Noah is ready for the holiday. His Madagascar cards are complete with tattoos and Laffy Taffy for his friends.

Chopsticks aren’t just for eating.

We took the crew to lunch.

Noah and Levi tried chopsticks to eat their HuHot. Most of the time they were used for something other than eating. I think this picture looks more like a directing a symphony.

Stairway of fun.

And we played around with my new app off the week, Vine. We took some standard shots and then started playing around with the app.

Vine is video twitter. You get six seconds and can edit in the camera. The videos loop and can be posted to Twitter or Facebook. Look for more of these videos.

This one is the kids saying hello.

And this one is a little song they performed for you. Enjoy.

Audra Lehmann 1927-2013

Here is the official obituary for Audra Lehmann. It will be published a few places, but now it is here as well. You can go to the Iowa Cremation website as well to share a memory, leave other tributes, audio or a photo. You can also leave a comment here or in my first post from Friday. I will make sure Bob sees them all. Thank you all for the wonderful memories to date. I am learning so much from your stories and I’m sure others are as well.

Audra Rose Peters Jakober Lehmann, 85, of Dubuque, died on January 18, 2013, of complications following cancer-related surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 26, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1755 Delhi Street, Dubuque. Friends may call at the church on Friday, January 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and preceding the service on Saturday from 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. Interment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Tama, Iowa, at 4:00 p.m. on January 26.

Audra was born to John and Esther Peters in George, Iowa, on June 15, 1927. The family moved to Tama, Iowa, and Audra graduated from Tama High School in 1945. She attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where she met her first husband, Roland (Jake) Jakober. They married in 1947, and after he was ordained, the couple served churches and schools in North Dakota and Minnesota. Three children were born: Peter (1950-2012), Jeffrey (b. 1953), and Pamela (1955-1959). In 1959, Audra was severely injured in a car accident which killed her husband and daughter. After her recovery, she completed the teacher education program at Wartburg College and moved with her sons to Waverly. She served as an elementary teacher in the Waverly-Shell Rock schools for thirteen years in first and fifth grades.

Audra married Pastor Robert (Bob) Lehmann in 1975, adding his six adult children to her family. The couple met at a Wartburg College Homecoming event, and their devotion to their alma mater was a treasured part of their 37 years of marriage. They moved to Des Moines where Bob served as a hospital chaplain, and then to subsequent parish placements at St. Paul Lutheran Church (Ottumwa) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Dubuque).
In addition to teaching, Audra also worked as a hospital clerk, church organist, and coordinator for Hospice of Wapello Country, Ottumwa. She was a tireless volunteer in community and church activities, including conference and district boards for Iowa WELCA, Stephen Ministry, Hospice of Dubuque, Finley Hospital, and Lutheran World Relief quilting. She loved to sing, and was an alumnus of the Wartburg College Choir, in addition to participating in other musical and theatrical activities. She was in Red Hat Club, book clubs, Dorcas Circle, and she and Bob loved to travel and enjoyed visiting family and friends all over this country and in Europe.

Surviving are her husband Bob, of Dubuque; son, Jeffrey (Terry) Jakober of Tulsa, OK; and grandsons Andrew Jakober of Tulsa, and Thomas Jakober of Orange, TX. She is also survived by step-children Kent (Joellen) Yeager, Jesup, IA; Lynda Holtz, Jefferson, IA; Barbara Nash, Jefferson, IA; Mark (Karen) Lehmann, Waverly, IA; Brian (Mary Maher) Lehmann, Houston, MN; and Grant (Laurie) Lehmann, Bangor, MI; 16 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister Ann Peters, Janesville, WI; brother David (Judy) Peters, Ocala, FL; and 7 nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were her parents, first husband, daughter Pamela, son Peter, and sister Mae Pearson.

Audra will be especially remembered for her determination, loyalty, hearty laugh, love of the color purple, and her prodigious correspondence, as she faithfully wrote at least one letter to family and friends every day. Memorials may be directed to the family or to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Dubuque.

Audra in Photos

Bob and Audra Lehmann, Paul and Amy Yeager, Wartburg College homecoming, 2004.

Thank you for the many kind words about my grandmother and godmother, Audra Lehmann.

I’ve dug though the photo archives to find other pictures of Audra to supplement what we had in the first post.

If you have a memory of Audra you’d like to share, please do so in the comment section below. Many of the family members are reading them and getting to know even more about the life she led.

Here now, a few pictures that I’ve been able to find of Grandma A and Grandpa B.

Grandma A and Grandpa B on duty with smiles. 2004.

Brothers and sisters gather with Bob and Audra. (L-R) Barb Nash, Bob Lehmann, Audra Lehmann, Grant Lehmann, Brian Lehmann, Mark Lehmann, Lynda Holtz, Kent Yeager.

Bob and Audra Lehmann meet little Levi. 11.27.09.

What a good looking group. Wish I remember it. I mean, come on, that blue suit I’m wearing is awesome.

Remembering Audra Lehmann

Audra at her grandson Erik’s wedding. Photo from Mike Dunn Photography.

She was a daughter, wife, mother, crash survivor, widow, pastor’s wife, and Wartburg alum to name just a few things.

To me, she was a godmother and grandmother.

Audra Lehmann left this earth early Friday morning, January 18th, 2013 to be with the lord. Her time on this earth is done. Her fight complete. Time for eternal salvation and rest.

With her husband, Bob, at her side, she breathed her last.

Audra was known by many, so many in fact, I don’t think it is possible to begin to know the exact number. She had more ‘friends’ than Facebook would allow. She influenced students as a teacher and walked with others as the wife a Lutheran minister.

She married Robert Lehmann shortly before my birth. Bob had married my paternal grandmother, Dorothy. After she succumbed to cancer, Bob later met Audra and they were married. So, technically a ‘step’ grandmother, but I knew no other. She was there at my baptism and stood by me so many other times in my life.

Audra was a young Levi.

One of the greatest gifts I had with her was my time at Wartburg College as she and Bob were both alumni. They were always there at Homecoming, Christmas with Wartburg concerts and other ‘Be Orange’ events. I got to see her often and feel a big hug when they came to campus. Even during my Castle Singers years, we did a concert at their church in Dubuque, which was special for me. She had two colors in her closest, orange and purple.

She recently said “why do we fight so hard to cling to this life?” She had been in the hospital for almost a month recovering from cancer surgery and most recently a heart attack, so she’d had time to reflect on the physical life. Audra also survived a crash decades ago that killed her first husband and daughter. She would spend months in the hospital recovering. She knew the fight to cling to life.

Now, she’s free from fighting and is reunited with her family as she waits for the rest of us to follow.

God bless her and peace to those who knew her.

What is your Audra story? I want to know more about how you knew her and the life she led.

I’ve been able to connect with one former parishioner from Ottumwa who now is in Ankeny. We’ve been able to share stories from that chapter of her life.  What is yours?

Please leave a comment below.