Life Updates

Chris

• Has gotten the knack of how to use a spoon but not how to scrape edges. So if the food isn't in plentiful quantity he can't get it and then he grunts/whines
• He's learned several new words and we're at the point where if i pay close enough attention i understand what he wants. Nicole and I are forever telling him "Chris, say ___". Common ones he says that sound darn good (and are SOOO cute to hear) are purple, yellow, apple, Grandpa (insert HUGE smile before "papa"), daddy ("dada")
• For some reason he really likes wearing pajamas and lately throws a fit when i want to get him dressed in "real" clothes
• Still clingy as ever...

Nicole

• Is into a husband phase. She "has" a husband that doesn't have a name, "it's just husband" she tells me, and changes age and profession daily. Yesterday her husband was 9 and in kindergarten (apparently not the over-achiever i hope she actually marries some day....). His job was to go to the north pole and look at penguins. My favorite was when her reply to my trivia question "Nicole, how do kites stay in the sky?" was "sticky tape. That's my husband's job," gaining enthusiasm, "he uses sticky tape to keep kites in the sky. But sometimes he does a bad job and they fall. It's just an accident though and i still love him."
• She wants a tinkerbell house, something we passed as i bustled her through Sears one day, for Christmas.
• We're into reading series of stories, specifically Amelia Bedelia and Frog and Toad are Friends.
• She has an amazing memory - in one Amelia Bedelia book two brothers, Mike and Harry, help Amelia pitch a tent. Several days later when Amelia was helping with a play at school Nicole asked what Mike and Harry were going to do in the show. These characters had all of four sentences about them and yet she recalls them!

Jim

• Started a new assignment on Wednesday of last week and is overwhelmed by the amount of new things to learn
• Is studying nightly for his big CFA exam that he'll take in June 2011

Karen

• Is headed to NYC Sun-Mon to support Sarah F. at the TODAY show (airing Monday 12/13/10 10-11am EST)!
• Is not done Christmas shopping. I'm particularly stuck on Chris
• Finished Section 1 of the novel yesterday. Looking forward to good progress in air this weekend

Announcing

I'm writing a book.

I've told a few people sporadically but hadn't made any kind of formal announcement. I'm about 55% of the way done and I suspect it'll be about 60,000 words when I'm finished. I'm hoping by letting people know it'll keep me honest about finishing it.

My ambition started when I first decided to write a Grammy award-winning song. Sounded good on paper - all I needed was 3 verses and a catchy refrain. I figured I could live off the royalties and a few companies would pick it up for their commercials (ala Hey Soul Sister which is EVERYWHERE). Good plan, eh? :)

I'm not musical enough to do it though.

Several people over the years said that they liked my writing style and I should give authoring a novel a whirl. I've had a fortune, as in one out of a cookie, taped to my moniter at work for five years. It's faded and barely legible. It reads: You are a lover of words. Someday you will write a book. Lucky Numbers 8, 11, 24, 25, 31, 36. (I also have one that says You are going to have a very comfortable old age. Lucky Numbers 7, 18, 94, 25, 36, 11 taped to the monitor too- maybe they coincide!?) After lunch with a friend, who encouraged the same thing so sincerely, I decided to actually go through with it.

It's a romance that's pretty Harlequin-esque. I've been doing lots of research online about the best way to publish and it sounds like going to a literary agent is the way to approach it.

I have one reader now, Sarah F., who's reading as I go. When I'm done with the first draft (goal is by 12/31/10) I'm going to take Jim's suggestion and send it to several friends (any volunteers?) who'll help me edit and revise before i send it to someone professional for review.

I think it's good, not great, but it's also my first try and by far the longest thing I've ever written. Jim says that even if it's not picked up by any publishers we'll still have it bound because finishing a task like this is accomplishment enough.

I love him and his support. :)

Nicole's Writing

We made turkeys tonight for the teachers at Nicole and Chris's school

but I was most impressed by the letters Nicole wanted to put on the back of her Language Art teacher's card ("because she teaches me letters")

(for reference the second letter from the right bottom corner is a "b". Right below her backwards J is a "g". For some reason she didn't know how to do an "x" so i had to draw it. The "w" is totally unrecognizable (it's situated between all of the "u"'s. Her "F" made me smile because it took six penstrokes to create.)

Life around here

• Jim's family's Thanksgiving was this weekend. I drove the "to" leg and got a speeding ticket on the way. It was really lousy because he pulled me and the guy behind me over (80 in a 65) so the cop got a 2 for 1 deal. Per Jim's suggestion I'm taking it easy on my speeding as a result. On the way to work I only did 4-7 mph over the limit. I drove in the center lane and sneered at the cars who continually passed me on BOTH sides.
• Chris frustrates me with his behavior. At school he's rough with the other kids. At home he's whiny and wants me to hold him constantly. At other people's houses he's adorable, playful, and self-entertaining. Maybe if I redecorate our house he'll be confused and act the way he does when he's visiting?
• We took advantage of the 66 degree weather yesterday and put up the wreaths on the outside of our house. I have not yet done any internal decorations- those I'll save until this weekend.
• After some irritating experiences at 4am on Black Friday a few years ago I vowed to never again wake before dawn to go shopping. While I still get the online BF ads and have scoped out some deals, my full intention is to online shop as much as possible.
• There have been several break-ins in our neighborhood lately. I've gotten two suggestions for a dog. We are dog people but we would be very bad dog owners because we aren't home enough. One of our neighbors has a dog and their window got shot with a bb gun (a pattern for the robbers) so my new response will now be- "dogs don't work".

Building Vocabulary

This morning Chris said two new things that he's never said before:

"Nope" and "Down Low"

"Nope" was an answer to "Chris, do you want some milk?"

"Down low" came out "ow low" but he did it in the right context of me giving him five.

He's coming along!!!

***** UPDATE******
At LaRosa's he was eating apple slices and bit part of one so that the peel had a tag (was hanging off). He tried to pull it but it wouldn't tear. He handed the piece to Jim and said "off".

Now, 3 measly letters might not seem big, but it's 1) a new word he's never said before and 2) a pretty abstract concept for a 16 month old to say.

*hoping i have a baby genius* - ha!

He tried!

Last night, while getting Chris ready for bed, Chris was standing on his changing pad. I took off his shirt and blew a "raspberry" on his belly. Laughing like crazy he bent over as far as he could and went "pflleeeebbbb" in the air.

As flexible as he is, he couldn't get his lips to his own stomach.

Blah!

Our household has been SICK lately and it's getting old.

• Chris got a cough and then a rash that led to $105 in prescriptions
• I picked up a cold that had me taking off work last Wednesday. I'm still not fully over it.
• Nicole's nose got stuffy last week but she insisted she was fine and never needed to blow
• Jim and Nicole got a pukey virus that had them out of commission on Sunday night. I was up all night with one or both of them and had to take a half day yesterday just to catch up on sleep
• Chris now has a new, blotchy red rash on his arms and legs. He'll need to go back to the doctor today
• I just got an annoying cold sore on the inside of my top lip. It's all irritated because it rubs against my gum line when I talk.

Enough already!!!

Happy Halloween 2010!

The only pumpkin we carved this year. It's no Sturgis creation, but not too bad....

On our way to Grandma and Grandpa's for the first Trick-or-Treating stop of the night.

Surprise! Cousin Ryann was there too (as Alice in Wonderland).

At our house eating the fruits of their labor. Actually, it was most definitely MY labor as I pulled them (60lbs. of kids + the weight of the wagon and blankets) up and down the hills of our neighborhood. Fortunately they got too cold to do more than about a dozen houses.

Hanging with Dad!

Ballet Class

Tonight was the night Jim and I could sit in the classroom and watch Nicole during dance class. She's the shortest in the class (shades of her mother...) so her number (1) was on the far end.





See the dance instructor? She's THE SAME teacher I had from ages 4-12!

A little blurry but she was in motion!

I tried for literally hours to let a video load but it wouldn't! (been trying for days on other videos too with the same result). I'll research and attempt to repost.

Nicole is not the most coordinated kid in the class for sure. She eagerly does the following though:

1) volunteers to answer questions

2) play around with her skirt

3) watch the instructor/helpers and attempt to copy

They showed us her costume for the recital - it looks like a nightgown because the song has something to do with falling asleep while listening to the rain. They'll get teddy bears as props too apparently.

We can't ALL be the best

When I was in grade school we had a Field Day at the end of every school year. Like many other schools, this day was dedicated to being outside and competing. We had events like:

• 50 yard dash
• bean bag throw (distance)
• twirling a marshmallow on a string the fastest
• High Jump
• Dropping clothespins held at your nose in a jelly jar

The school gave blue, red and white ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each event. Kids pinned the ribbons to their shirts as we progressed around the different stations. As you can imagine, the athletic kids had 2, 3, 4+ hanging on their chests.

Not once in 8 years of grade school did I win a blue ribbon. I did get a red once in the marshmallow race. I had a handful whites in a variety of things over my tenure.

Maybe because I won something it never really bothered me that I didn't win lots of ribbons. Maybe because I won something I didn't appreciate how frustrating it is for the kids who never won anything.

Maybe it didn't bother me that I didn't have a full collection because I understood then what kids now don't have to understand- we can't all win.

Around my 7th grade year they did away with individual competitions and moved to a team environment. Here the entire school was randomly divided into three teams. Winning scores in the events gave points to your team, not ribbons to the winner. Everyone got a treat for participating.

***

I was on the swim team from when I was 8 until I was 17. The collection of ribbons down in my basement are mostly orange, yellow and green because I swam exhibition (fun) races and not the real ones that counted towards my team's point-count. I still pushed it as hard and fast as I could. I still counted on the full-out cheers from my friends and family at the end of the lane and eating at the after-meet pizza party. Sure, I loved competing in the "real" races and even won a few. But, if my girl friend Lori could be our spot in the breast stroke relay or me, I'd pick Lori because she'd earn Orchard Hill points. She was faster. That didn't make her a better person than me. It made her a better swimmer.

***

I don't think it's all bad for people (not just kids) to realize that they're not good at some things, whether that's running 50 yards or programming a computer. It *should* lead you to try to find the thing that you *are* really good at- arranging flowers, talking people off ledges, or whatever.

I support swim meets with competitive races and appreciate that they make time for exhibition events too. I support try-out based sports teams and value the community leagues that take everyone else. I support auditions for the lead roles in plays and the opportunities to help build the set for those that still want to be involved. I support teacher-approved Honors classes for the bright kids and lower-intensity classes for the less-gifted students.

I think it's most important for me as a parent to teach my kids that while they might not win everything they try they can not be sore losers. If they really like an activity being involved and having fun where you can is the most important thing. Just because it's not the select team doesn't mean it doesn't have merit and can't be a good time. Further, being in a lower league/class/role is not an excuse for not trying your best.

Parenting Moments

Conversation at the breakfast table this morning:

"Because I have such a good little girl, who stayed in her own bed all night, we can go to the pumpkin patch tonight."

Glee ensues...

"And Chris can come too because he stayed in his bed?"

"Yes, Chris can come. I'm so lucky to have two good kids."

"No, mom, me and Chris are lucky."

Halloween and Bustin' Some Moves

For Halloween Nicole is going to be Dorothy and Chris is going to be the Lion. Not one to spend a fortune on costumes, both are being borrowed (Ryann was Dorothy last year and the Lion costume, which sparked the Dorothy one, is a hand-me down from cousin Noah).

I was bad about not putting hats on Chris so as a result he's always pulling off whatever I put on his head now. We're practicing keeping the mane on daily and he's gotten to like it... for a while. Whenever I put it on him he "roars" loudly and I shiver with fear which makes him giggle.

Nicole is really getting into the Dorothy role. I'm surprised and impressed because she's only seen the movie twice - once on the way and once on the way home from vacation in JULY. When I ask if she wants to watch it now she adamantly does NOT because the witch is "so scary". But, she remembers a lot about it and is excited about her ruby slippers from Target and frequently asks if Lindsay got the chocolate off the costume so she can practice. We've been singing it for over a year, but in preparation for her upcoming role, Nicole sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to me each night before bed. I'll work on getting a video.

-------------

A little clip from our night last night. As it has for the last three years, the Michael Jackson craze continues....

Politics

Well, if the streets you drive are anything like mine they're LITTERED in political signs. On the West Side of Cincinnati it's Chabot for Congress that's got the most up. Even my brother and sister-in-law have a sign in their yard and I didn't realize they were that heavy of supporters!

Though I have very strong political views on a myriad of topics I have yet to take a hard look at any candidates' positions. I'm not even sure when election day is. Have no fear, I will be organized and informed by the time it rolls around.

------

As a side political note, I have some inner jousting about this whole mosque at Ground Zero thing. I assimilate it to the non-smoking ban in Cincinnati. While I don't like the smoke and certainly don't want my kids around it, I feel like it's not my place to tell others they can't make their own choices.

Same gig - I'm not wild about the idea to put a Mosque at Ground Zero but I recognize that it's a small faction of the faith that caused those crimes, not the people who'd be worshipping there. Why should we restrict them from having a nice place of worship (especially when so much money is going to other community things in the same area)?

I think it would be more appropriate to put a completely non-denominational worship hall there that any faith could use on a scheduled basis for their purposes.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, I'm officially 31 years old. That doesn't feel old. In fact, like always, I wonder how I'm 31 and still have so far to go....

What I did on my birthday:

• Took the kids to daycare
• Went to work
• Smiled all day as I was wished Happy Birthday via text, in person, on facebook, and over the phone.
• Decided that if I ever own a company I will give everyone their birthday off as a paid holiday
• Enjoyed chicken cordon bleu at my parents house - yummy!
• Got level 2 cake decorating lessons, a cake decorating box (place to put all my supplies), some jewelry, and a 1/2 day at the spa (1 hr. massage, 1 hour pedicure, manicure, hair cut & style, make-up consultation).
• Got excited about my party on Saturday with the rest of my family

What I've enjoyed most about being 30

• My roller skating birthday party
• Realizing again and again how blessed I am that our family is healthy and happy- taking this realization and gained a deep appreciation
• Gotten excited about weddings - 2 co-workers engaged, 1 brother engaged, 1 friend engaged
• Enjoyed being married more than ever

What I'm going to do in my 31st year

• Introspect more and make changes that are necessary versus taking the easy road
• Be a better friend - I think I'm a pretty good friend in general but I let my own life/problems/busyness get in the way of being as good of a friend that I really want to be.
• Enjoy the little moments more - I'm very process and productivity-driven and I could be less so at home
• Do one really wild thing. Recently I was intregued by trapese lessons; this could be a possibility.... Someone please call me on this a year from now.

Eating Habits

I've been a bit blah lately when it comes to eating. Normally I'm all about variety - Indian, Chinese, Mexican, good ole' American- whatever! The last week though nothing sounds particularly good.

These blahs are jacking up my creativity for dinner too - I can't think beyond the common (BBQ Chicken again, anyone?). Having such boring meals doesn't really inspire me to eat as much either which is good news for Chris who is happy to eat all of his food and any of my leftovers. In fact, he's eaten as much or more than me for the last several days.

Any suggestions to jump-start my culinary skills?

TV Time

I wasn't so much into TV before we got DVR. Now, with the ability to watch on my schedule there's no reason to not be entertained. I am kinda goofy about starting new shows in the middle of a season especially, and, to nearly the same extent, if I can't watch them in order from the beginning. As such, though I've gotten lots of "you NEED to watch Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother/Two and a Half Men/etc." I can't do it and give it my "all". I only watch TV when the kids are in bed - either for the night or naps- and it's turned into a bit of a guilty pleasure over the last 9 months.

The shows I'm DVRing right now include:
Parenthood
Glee
The Event
Taboo (fun to watch when nothing else is on)
What Would You Do
(and obviously Dora, Kai Lan, & Go Diego Go for Nicole)

The shows I wish I was DVRing but they're apparently not on actively/anymore:
Cake Boss
Shark Tank
So You Think You Can Dance
Whale Wars
Selling New York
Design Star

The shows I was DVRing but won't in the future:
Color Splash
Bang For Your Buck

I'm baaaaaa-ck

This is the longest hiatus from blog posting I think I've ever had. Things here have been tumultuous lately. It's made me more than ever thankful for the things and people that keep me sane and supported, most notably Jim, Lisa, and my mom. Fortunately my whole family is in good health and our home life is an sanctuary from the stress for both Jim and I.

Some small things have made me really happy lately:

• Having wine and dessert with my high school girls
• Making pretty (and tasty) layered jello
• Getting great deals at a mother's sale. Best find was a $3 dress that Nicole LOVES and has deemed her princess dress.
• Watching Whale Wars with Jim in the evening
• Looking forward to the Apple Daze Festival

Chris
Chris is very influenced by Nicole. This might come back to bite both of us in the ass, but he was having fun and it was a funny 10 minutes of dress-up for him (video is only 15 sec clip):

I bet I put those shoes back on him two dozen times after he'd walk out of them.

He cut an incisor since I posted last and his bottom right one is swollen and ready to burst with another (tooth #16).

Chris really enjoys our evening family walks. He sits very upright in the wagon clutching a football as we pull him up and down the neighborhood hills.

He knows so many words and says so few (up, ma, da - did say "daddy" once, mih (milk), uh oh, wow, roar)!! My favorites - he knows what hugs and kisses are and is very eager to give me as many as I ask for.

Nicole

She's gone through a bit of an ornery stage lately. We got two bad reports from school on her this week (hitting friends, talking back, stomping around, etc.) which is VERY weird for her. Hopefully she's in a 1-week funk and things will go back to normal.

Nic started ballet class this Monday. It's weekly at 5 which makes it rather inconvenient to get her to and from on time. She said she liked her first class so we'll see if it continues. She's one of the shortest in her class but I'm unsure if everyone in her group is 3 or if maybe there are some 4-year olds too.

She pronounces "successful" like "success-tible" which cracks me up.

I had a strap break on my sandal at work. I threw the shoes away and proceeded to make dinner (turkey & mashed potatoes) upon arriving home. When Nicole went to throw her fruit snack wrapper away she saw the shoes. When I emerged from the bathroom she handed the pair to me saying "Mommy, these were covered in potatoes but I cleaned them for you". Awwww... Have to sneak them into the trash to avoid my very helpful girl apparently!

She's gotten very aware of gender lately- "no, he can't wear that necklace, only girls wear necklaces" or "Mom, get me out of the car and Daddy get Chris. Girl to girl. Boy to boy".

I'm going to try to be on here more and keep a consistant positive attitude.

Life in Pictures

Nicole likes to draw and color but I don't need a gazillion pieces of art. I started taking pictures of the notable ones.

Here she's drawing a snail. Not that it really looks like a snail but without being prompted she drew the whole spiral on her own, which I thought was pretty good for a 36 month old.

This is the picture of Ryann that she drew for Ryann. I see the person pretty clearly and though she said that it's a picture of "Ryann in bed" I miss the "bed" portion (red squiggles). I complimented her on the hat (started as just aqua and green part) so she continued to embellish until it got huge.

We are Farm Bureau members and got invited to their night at Stricker's Grove last Thursday. It was actually better than I remembered....

Nicole went to the dentist for the first time Wednesday morning. She did FANTASTIC (no squirming, whining, etc.) as they worked on her teeth. For a reward they gave her TWO prizes out of the toy box. However, the hygienist didn't like what she picked (a rubber frog and a purple ring) so she gave her a bracelet, stickers/pencil set, and extra princess flossers too.

Also on Wednesday we went to the fire station to get Chris's car seat turned around to face forward. While we were there I entertained the kids while Jim chatted with the fireman. Another fireman came out with their search and rescue dog, Aiden, who liked to play frisbee with the kids.


We did a test of Aiden's skills. We hid Nicole under a blanket on the firemen's beds and told her to stay quiet and still. Then we set Aiden off to "search". He sniffed all of us and all around the room. When he got to the lump on the bed he sniffed it and then barked to indicate that he found something. It was very neat!

Spelling Bee

We've been working with Nicole on spelling a lot lately. Trying to emphasize that we read words, not pictures, and that words are comprised of the letters she already knows.

She can spell her name and knows the sound of each letter so it's not a far jump to quiz her on things like: "Nicole, what planet starts with Ssssssss?"

The other night I told her we were having something great for dinner.
"Hot dogs?" she beamed.
"No, even better," I prompted.
"Chicken Nuggets?"
"Even better. It starts with P."

*thinking*

"Psaghetti!?"

.

Dad's brand of entertainment

Like all little kids, my brothers and I liked to be entertained. Especially on long car trips. My dad was often in charge of this effort and there were three go-to's that were always big hits.

1) Brandy stories- "Brandy" is the name of my cousin's cousin (no relation to our side of the family) who was older than me and therefor automatically cool. Brandy's best and worst characteristic? Her wooden leg. Teenaged Brandy goes on lots of adventures and finds herself in terrible predicaments all solved by said leg. Once she got stranded on the top of a mountain after a helicopter crash and she had to burn her leg and send smoke signals to get rescued. Another time she was rafting the Amazon when she got stranded and needed to use her leg to fight off hungry crocodiles. Her perseverance never failed and neither did her creativity. Classic.

2) Big Bad John- yes, this is the song that you might hear on Oldies 103.5 from time to time. Dad would sing it in his deepest voice possible and we'd all chime in on the chorus.

3) Twilight Zone- when Brandy was doing normal things like going to school or eating dinner we'd tune in to Dad's renditions of old Twilight Zone episodes. Of course we never saw these in real life (and I'll tell you, after I did I liked Dad's versions better). The amazement after discovering that Mr. Jones's whole life had been lived inside a snow globe for little Suzy's entertainment.... The terror of being abducted by aliens for bodily tests and experiments.... It was all so creative and wonderful, how could any kid not like it?

Still working on what my gift to Nicole and Chris may be...

Exhaling

Things around our household seem to be settling down. It's somewhat ironic that I say this when last night Jim and I both had obligations (him a softball tournament, me a meeting at XU) that had us coming home from the babysitter at 9:30pm.

But, the landscaper finally gave us a quote and the sprinkler redesign will be moving forward - another step closer to the deck/wall project being completed. While Jim's job continues to be stressful for him he's done a wonderful job of keeping that stress out of our family life (which is making it more stressful for him overall ??) lately and has taken some big steps in getting his resume outward ready. He applied to his first other company this week.

Nicole "got into" ballet lessons and they start September 18th from 5-5:45. Will take some finagling at work but we both think it'll be fun for her. Her best friend left the school yesterday (is going to the same school her older sister will attend for first grade) and Cameron brought her a Friends card with her picture, silly bands and Dora stickers. Cameron's parents wrote their phone number inside if we want to get together. I think we will!

Chris is finally cutting two bottom teeth and I hope this signals the end of the whiny funk he's been in for about the last three weeks. He's fully cot-trained at school now but is taking shorter naps since it is longer for him to fall asleep in the first place. Haven't gone so far as to convert his bed at home. It's kind of nice having him confined while he's unsupervised....

It's a goal of mine to do something with our downstairs bathroom and the new time frame is October 19th. This might sound like a lot of time but I haven't decided what I want to do so official planning (not just me mulling things over while I drive) needs to commence in short order. Even though this will be a new project, it'll be a fun one (and frickin' about time, we've only been in the house 3 years!).

I'm very aware of how long my hair is getting. It's fun!

Design Star

I really like interior design. I like to read design magazines and I have a folder of clippings of things I've seen that I'd like to incorporate some day.

However, if you've been to my house, you'll quickly see that I don't take a lot of design chances. My furniture and decor is very traditional (tasteful though I think). In general I have a hard time investing my money in trendy stuff. I really appreciate the chances other people take though - Lisa's red living room in her old house; Anjali's green wall in her Cincinnati family room; my aunt's highly patterned, curvy couch, etc.

Watching Design Star is a double edged sword for me. They take lots of chances and I think a lot of them are duds. The judges often think so too. Doing "risky" things for the sake of being risky is a losing proposition.

The other thing that irks me is the furniture/art they pick out. I know this is in NYC but do you really have to spend $4500 on a couch? $1500 on a mirror? What do they do with this stuff after the show airs?

It was only in this last week's episode where the designers had to work with only the objects in the room already (could add paint to the walls though) that I was actually impressed with their creativity. Some of their other projects look okay but there's always an aura of uncohesiveness to it (probably because they encourage the designers to express themselves all while completing the task as a group) and certainly unfinishedness that I wouldn't' want for a space I was living in.

I think if I was to apply to be on the show I'd petition my value on three main fronts:
1) I'd design for the majority of the viewing audience - regular people who like to see new and interesting things with pieces that are actually affordable
2) I'd be a dark horse because I'm not a professional designer (like all the other contestants) so I have no preconceived notions of what's right or not. Just instinct.
3) I think I'm personable enough that I'd make a good host. This is a bit egotistical of me I know, but the classes I teach (both at the university and for my job) are very well-received and are a performance just like this would be.

Life Updates

Christopher

• Says "all done", "What's that?", "where", "ma", "da", and "more".
• Has the sign for milk down and sometimes more
• Knows where his head and tongue are. This morning we worked on eyes by getting him to blink them.
• He's in the process of getting cot-trained at school which I think is very ambitious of his teacher Lysa.

Nicole

• Is picking up quite a bit of Spanish from school
• Loves to play pretend. We "travel" before bed each night - some times to space, some times to the farm, some times to the beach. Lately she's wanted to pretend that she's going to daycare. She drives and there's always at least one instance of sudden braking and grumbling about "bad drivers".
• I mentioned she got a kitchen for her birthday. Jen O. got her this cute cutting set where the pieces Velcro together and you use a wooden knife to split them. Nicole uses the knife to slice and then again when she needs to push the cut piece from the cutting board. Funny the little things she picks up from me that I don't even know she notices.

Jim

• Still trying to switch roles at work. So far it's been a tedious, stressful, unsuccessful process.
• Is actually reading War and Peace
• Moved something like 89 wheelbarrows of top soil (1500 scoops of dirt) to fill in our walled-in flowerbeds over the weekend. He's a beast

Karen

• I read the entire Breaking Dawn book (750 pages) over 5 days while on vacation. I'm now trying to get through the stack of parenting magazines that have been piling up over the last four months.
• Bought $200 in clothes from JC Penney and for the most part am doing at least a 1:1 replacement for existing stuff (which is all going to Goodwill). This is one of 3 real big shopping trips in the last two years and it was both fun and a bit "maybe I shouldn't be spending so much" at the same time. I think I'm just out of practice shopping.
• I'm not teaching this fall due to an admin oversight. I'm looking forward to the break already.
• Been watching Glee (Fox is rerunning) and loving it!

Jim and I are planning a trip to Arizona this fall for our anniversary. Doing some visiting with our friends Chuck and Kristi whom we haven't seen in YEARS.

I broke the camera on vacation (sand) and we had to buy a new one last night. Jim did lots of research and it looks like it'll be fantastic - looking forward to playing with it!

Been having ... interesting... dreams lately.

Traverse City, MI

I've been remiss in reporting about my vacation on here. Work has been insane which makes me want to thoroughly relax after the kids have gone to bed - alas, no effort to write and post pictures.

Here are some clips from our trip!

The drive was about 8.5 hours long including lunch so very tolerable. When we checked in the condo manager told me they were having a "severe heat streak" this week. When I questioned the weather reports I had looked up that said 82 degrees as a high all week he said "Yeah! It'll be hot!". Uhhhh.... It hit over 100 in Cincy while we were gone.

Our favorite ice cream shop was in downtown TC, Annie's. They had $1 soft serve sundaes and cones that we took advantage of 3X in 3 days.






Our condo unit was beach-front but we didn't have a direct lake view. No biggie. We spent several hours enjoying the refreshing lake temperatures. The "waves" were gentle laps that were perfect for Chris. The water was Nicole's waist-height for yards and yards making wading easy and fun for her.




Before we left I had asked my girl friend Sue, whose family owns a summer home in TC, for some highlights on what to do. One of her suggestions was Leelanau County and a trip to the sand dunes. This was a great suggestion and lots of fun!

We took the scenic route and saw some amazing drops into the water. Dad, Nicole, Jim & I walked down about 20% of the way and yes, it was some effort to climb even that. Notice the very small people on the hill to put things in perspective.

When we got to the big dune we all huffed and puffed our way up the ~300 ft. climb to take in some amazing views.



on top of the sand dune:

We also stopped at some wineries on our way up the Mission Peninsula (another Sue recommendation). We toured through some $3M+ houses along the way. Clearly there is big money in cherry growing (this peninsula boasts producing 3/4 of the world's cherries).


We took a 2 hour drive on Thursday of the trip to visit Macinac Island. It's a 15 minute ferry ride from the main land and is a place of no cars - bikes and horses only. It's interesting in it's history but WAY CROWDED with tourists gorging themselves on $12/lb. fudge.

On the way there (and back) we passed through Charlevoix which had streets lined in petunias for 2.5 miles. It was BEAUTIFUL. Wish we had allotted time to stop and shop the boutiques.

Our condo unit was nice - 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath. I'd recommend it!

Had a great time in general and my parents are such a help. The kids were simultaneously (for me at least) the most entertaining and frustrating part of the trip. Both (especially Chris) were somewhat challenging around dinner (40 minute waits are a long time to entertain little kids at a crowded restaurant). We all cracked up at Chris's puckered face after biting into a lemon and impressed with Nicole's evaluation that Grandpa's cinnamon roll was shaped like "a coil".

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Debating what to do next year.... I was a big fan of the northern weather for sure. Jim wants to consider a staycation. Fortunately we have lots of time and my mom will be retired by then so we'll have even greater flexibility!

Right where I should be

I have a hard time believing in the concept of fate. It's my controlling nature to rebel against the thought that someone, anyone, is directing me or taking choices out of my hands. I'm a big Free Will enthusiast.

There are times, however, that I physically feel "just right". When I was about 8 I distinctly remember playing with Barbies near my closet and having this feeling. It was so overwhelming I stopped and just paid attention to it.

When I was a freshman in college Lisa and I got lunch at Rally's and sat on Marycrest Hill soaking up the autumn sunshine. I don't remember if I said anything to her at the time but I knew I was exactly in the right place at the right time. Like I was supposed to be there.

Years later I felt it again with a boyfriend as we laid in bed and listened to the nighttime through an open window in his house.

It happened yesterday with Nicole. We were cuddling on her bed and I had this great feeling of being settled.

(Starting this paragraph for the fourth time...)

If I was forced to put into words the conclusion that stands out most to me I'd say that whatever path I'm on has some places that I need to be at in order to stay on [the right?] path. The four I mentioned above were [apparently?] on that list. Kind of like stops on a subway line- I need to be here at X time in order to keep going.

The level of utter peace I felt at those moments tells me these are positive things- indicators that I've been where I should have been and am headed where I need to head.

The control-freak in me doesn't like that I have a pre-destined path. [I'm picturing my religious readers groaning at me and shaking their heads about now.] The personality traint that's always looking for confirmation rejoices in finding some.

Regardless, I'm always totally happy in that moment so whatever it means I'm glad I'm experiencing them.

Little Life Happenings

First, I'm SUPER excited that one of my best friends just got engaged. I think it's because when it was my turn to be engaged I was sort of in the middle of my friends (some were married, some were not) and that getting engaged was so much the next logical step for Jim and I that didn't get all the giddiness that I now feel for others. Further, I know how great being married is so I know what they're in for and feel I can be giddy with reason. Congratulations again, Karen!

Watch out everyone else- things like this put me in matchmaking mode.

Chris broke two top teeth yesterday. I'm lucky I noticed- his upper gums didn't look near as swollen or ready to burst as his bottom ones (that have yet to break through).

I straightened Nic's hair for the first time today. I don't think it looks good. It is relatively long (at her shoulder blades) but since it's normally curly it looks like it's chin level most of the time. Her hair is very fine and she doesn't have a lot of strands per square inch (like her cousin) so the curls make for a fuller look and are definitely cuter on her.

A well-deserved vacation is on the way!

I miss Sarah Ford.

I am not a farmer

So I guess that I can't fully imagine the impact that something like this might have on me, but....

When I'm gone

I attended my great uncle's funeral yesterday. It was a very nice service that wasn't jam packed full of people and was very personal with a well-written eulogy by his son.

When I go to funerals for "one-off" people like a great uncle (versus my father-in-law 2 months ago) I think about the person who's actually died about 1/2 the time, fret over what the funeral will be like for a close person 1/4 of the time, and wonder about my own funeral about 1/4 of the time.

This time I got stuck on two things:
1) what will the funeral of my atheist friends be like? Will their religious parents still have it in a church? Still have a minister preside over it? Will there still be the "s/he's in a better place now" condolences still be said even though the deceased probably believes that it's all just over and s/he isn't anywhere else?

2) When my maternal grandfather dies I'm going to be a mess. The military salutes are so touching that i teared up in general over Uncle Ed's. When it's actually for my grandfather, a true military hero, I'll be a basketcase.

When I die I intend to donate my body to others who need my organs and then, whatever is left over to science. I personally could care less what happens to my body in general after I'm dead so why not let others use it if they can? Therefore, I think a "Celebration of Life" ceremony like they called the funeral yesterday is most appropriate for me.

Fear not friends, I expect it to be well-catered.

I will want some specific songs sung, just because I like them and this thing will be about MY life afterall. I'd like to think that the event would be well-attended - some sort of outward sign that my life had great impact on others, but if it was small and intimate that would be okay too as it'd probably get more personal.

Really, in general I think these things are for the living, not for the dead. If it makes my loved ones feel better to ____, well, geez, just about anything, go for it. I'm dead afterall! What's it to me?

My 3-year old

This weekend was all about Nicole and celebrating her third birthday.






We went through a cake book and an online kids cake site and she decided she wanted ladybug cupcakes. Jim harassed her all week that I was going to make spider cupcakes instead. She'd get all riled up about it and confirm with me that indeed we were going to make ladybugs.

On Saturday at 8:30a her Grandma Hook and Aunt Connie came from 2 hours north to have breakfast with us and shower both kids with attention.

The official party started at 5p and was a joint party for Nicole and Lindsay. We had tacos, quessadillas, salad, appetizers galore, and of course ladybug cupcakes (and ice cream cake for Linds).

Nicole got lots of great gifts. Jim and I gave her a kitchen set so we'd organized a few relatives to get her fake food and dishes which worked out very nicely. My dear aunt took it a bit far with a 123 piece set of food. We now have individual french fries, pringles, and hot dogs littering the living room.

Hollywood-bound Nicole is featured wearing Cat in the Hat pajamas, lovely sparkle star plastic heels and sporting a ringing cell phone in fuchsia.



Nicole's favorite gift was an Ariel doll from her cousin Ryann. Ariel has gone to Meijer, Kohl's, the bathtub several times, and to bed.

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On her actual birthday we took her to Graeters for ice cream. Of all things she picked LEMON sorbet. That's my girl.

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I made a clown cake for her class but they ate it at snack time so I didn't get to see them sing to her. : (

A few notes on Nicole's accomplishments to date:

• She weighs 30lbs. 3 oz. and is 3 feet 3/4 inches tall. This makes her in the 50%ile for both height and weight

• She's currently really into tracing letters and numbers. She's gotten very good control over a marker so she's quite accurate. The letters and numbers she writes on her own are clear about half the time, guessable 1/4 of the time, and a mess the other 1/4. She can write her own name but the C is always backwards and the E is illegible. Not too shabby though!

• She makes up a lot of words and alternate lyrics. Her favorite thing to involve in her craziness is "Silly Sally". This does get kind of annoying at times.

• She colors in the lines.

• We practice continents, planets, etc. by saying "I love you to Saturn and back" and alternating where we love the other person to. Problem is that she now understands the full concept of superlatives and will trump what you say and cut the game short by saying "I love you to Venus and Jupiter and Neptune and EVERYTHING". If you try to cut back in she'll remind you she said "EVERYTHING".
• Getting dressed in the morning is no longer a problem. She gave up and I get to pick all her outfits.
• She never gets tired of watching Dora, reading books, cuddling, or eating snacks. If you offer to do any of the above she'll drop whatever she's currently doing to do the other unless you tell her she has to quit one of her favorite things. If you offer to read books while Dora is on she'll explain that she wants to watch Dora first and read books second.
• Yesterday in her bath she asked me if Flounder was Ariel's henchman. I had to explain that henchmen were helpers yes, but normally to bad people. Her vocabulary astounds me some times.
• She's still all about making deals most often trading her evening song for another book.
• Greg and Jenna got her a scooter for her birthday. She's not fully gotten the hang of it yet but it's entertaining to watch.

More about changing

My last post was about me not liking change. I feel this is sort of a fuddy-duddy statement and I don't want to be thought of as the person who sticks her feet in the sand and won't budge, that really isn't me. I love IMPROVEMENTS and spicing things up - changing art at my house, re-working a process at my job, etc.; but there are some things that are fine the way they are so why adjust a good thing? Like my gradeschool friends - I have three of them and plan on keeping them around for another 24 years.

I think I'm one of the last holdouts on my blog design. Some of my fellow bloggers change several times a year - I always notice and often comment. But I've kept the same layout since this blog's inception in 2005. I did upgrade to the newer format to get the timestamp and have appreciated some of the ease in changes (specifically to my blogroll) by upgrading.

I've debated taking this private for all the reasons that some of the blogs I read are private. However, I'm surprised by who I find out reads this so I wouldn't want to cut someone off if they had to officially "enroll" as a reader. Further, even if I switched employers there's nothing in this blog that a prospective interviewer might cringe at. On the contrary, I think that my blog makes me more "real".

There's a new layout designer that Blogger is offering and I did poke around for a while. Obviously haven't made any changes ... yet.

Change

Sometimes I have a hard time with change. Things are the way I like them, and often more importantly, the way I remember them and I want it to be that way forever. UD, my alma mater, is one of the biggest things I get antsy about changing. It holds some of my absolute fondest memories and I get nervous at things changing and somehow damaging those memories.

Obviously it, and other things do change without my permission all the time. I'm a reasonable, logical person so I understand that and don't sit and pout [too long].

I was excited though to read an article that UD is expanding its campus to include the former NCR Headquarters. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to donate money (which'll happen next year for the reunion). Putting air condition in the dorms, eh... I didn't have it and they don't need it either. ;)

Life at our house

Hello, world! Things here are continuing to move and change. Some family updates:

Chris

• Chris turned 1 year old on Wednesday of last week. His party (of which I previously posted pictures) was great and served as the real celebration of the milestone. Amazing how the stereotypes are true about second children - for Nic's first birthday I took the day off work, we visited the zoo, and had a special day of it all. Chris went to daycare like normal, had an everyday dinner, and ate the few remaining bites of owl cake before bed. I did buy him a Birthday Boy t-shirt to wear.
• Though he hit the walking milestone by his birthday he's yet to consistently say a real word. Lisa got to hear him say "again" and I've heard him make sounds that sort of resemble the word I just said (ie "bug" while at the zoo). Doctor seemed totally unconcerned at his well-baby check-up so I guess I am too.
• I do quiz Chris on people's names quite a bit - "where's Daddy?", "where's Nicky?" I'll ask and then wait to see if he hones in on the right person. He normally does which tells me he knows more than he's letting on to verbally.

Nicole

• The future her is dying that I'd post this at all but I'll claim it's not so bad because I didn't actually post a video (yet).... When Nicole wants to get out of something, like eating part of her dinner she doesn't like, she'll claim she has to go to the bathroom. Since she's still within 6 mo of being potty-trained I'm always hesitant to deny taking her even if I think she's faking just in case. So, off we go to the bathroom. There she sits on the potty and clenches her eyes, grunts and groans, and shakes her head with "the energy" of pooping. Really she's doing nothing but acting as validated both by the empty potty and the giggles that escape after her performance. Yes, she still has to eat the corn when she gets back to the dinner table.
• Nicole LOVES to wear dresses and I love to put her in them. I actually have to make a point of only showing her two shorts options or she'd wear a dress every day.

Jim

• Jim's still plowing away at our wall. It looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. He's done so so well. I'm not just saying that because he reads this, it really does look fantastic. He's made such good progress that by this coming weekend's end it'll probably be fair to say he's on "the home stretch".
• His ball team is doing okay this year. They're in the middle but hopefully will be picking up the pace in the next week.

Me

• What the heck is up with this humidity?! It's INSANE. My hair looks crappy on a regular basis.
• I need more shoes. Like a nice pair of flip-flops and a new pair of casual heeled black sandals. I've walked off the sole on the heels of my main pair.
• I'm going to see Eclipse with my co-workers on Wednesday at midnight! So excited!
• NOT a fan of the new Color Splash: Miami format/aura.

Uh Oh

This happened last night!

I wouldn't say that this was "out of the blue" because he regularly pushes a walking toy around, but he doesn't often just stand and balance on his own. I've never seen him push himself up to standing from the ground on his own. He is also a very fast, and therefore very effecient, crawler so I thought we might have weeks before he hit this milestone.

Jim actually saw the very first steps (he was walking to me as I had my back to him), but we did lots of practicing using the red ball as incentive and Grandma came over later that night to see him. :)

Happy Birthday, Christopher!

Chris's birthday party was today (his real birthday is on Wednesday). Want to feel like you were here with us? This is the blog for you....



We started with some visiting and lunch,

opened lots of thoughtful presents,





and played the "destiny" game (you put out a Bible, a dollar and a bottle of booze and whichever one the baby goes to shows the path the child will follow in life). The button in the bottom right corner will make the movie larger.

I presented Chris's cake to him and we all sang Happy Birthday.

Of course the cake went over really well. :)




Following dessert we gathered to watch a year-in-review movie I made about my #1 son. If you care to watch all 7 minutes, be my guest! Another reminder that the button in the bottom right corner will make the film bigger for viewing.

Happy Father's Day to all you great DADS out there!

Long Lost Blogger

Things have been going lately which has kept me from writing. Chris got sick- ANOTHER double ear infection layered with an acute sinus infection. Then I got sick with a sinus infection that actually was so bad I went to bed at 7am last Wed, called in sick to work Friday and went to the doctor.

Some GREAT things have happened since I last posted though:

1. My Goddaughter, Lauren, was Baptised on 6/6/10. I have pictures at home to load.
2. The wall has made wonderful progress
3. The deck furniture is in and that project is 85% complete. We need an umbrella [and a frickin' all-outdoors de-humidifier!] and we'll be suitable for actually using it!
4. I'm 2 hours into my photo project for Chris's first birthday (6/23/10) and it looks GREAT

Are any other Twilight fans reading Bree Tanner?

Since I've been sick and have had no energy to do anything productive, I've caught up on my DVR a bit. I've been watching:

• Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole (Thanks to Tom for the suggestion)
• Cake Boss
• So You Think You Can Dance
• Taboo

I've also DVRed America's Got Talent but have yet to watch it....

I'm no Viki, but I'm trying to make a vow to eat salad for lunch 2X/week to prep for swimming on our family vacation in July. My body isn't really back to where I'd like it to be post-Chris and, contrary to his initial requests, Jim says that he'd prefer I not excersise due to the time commitment. *victory*

Declaration of War

Music Notes

Many times I've stated my love for the radio. I would very much consider myself a "music appreciator", I think largely because I myself am not musically talented (something I intend to rectify with my kids).

• My current favorite song? Breakeven
• Songs that I'll always listen to, even if I just heard it- Little Wonders, Fast Car, Sway, Time of My Life, Won't Be Like this For Long, etc.
• A song I'm REALLY over is I Need You Now.
• If someone tells me that a certain song is meaningful or a favorite of theirs I feel compelled to listen to it. One of Jim's favorite songs is The Freshman. Nicole adores I Love Rock and Roll. My boss told me that the song he thinks of when he thinks of his wife is Then. I'm plagued by hearing them on the radio and being able to bring myself to changing the station. I feel the same way about the song Jim and I danced to at our wedding
• My co-worker's favorite band is Slipknot. This is NOT my kind of music mostly because it (brace yourself, I'm about to sound old) sounds like noise to me. We listened to several songs yesterday and I think I physically understand only about 1/12th of what they're actually saying.
• Thanks to some kudos from Tom's Blog I started paying more attention to Lady Gaga and now I'm all wound around her finger. I really do like her voice and find her songs catchy in general. I'm not really sure why People doesn't feature her more than they do- if nothing else she's weird which often translates to interesting. ** Update** apparently Larry King thinks she's intersesting - she was on last night! Here is the show! **
• In case you're interested, this is my Pandora station that I listen to at work.

Last weekend in May

Thank God for national holidays. We all appreciated the vacation day on Monday for Memorial Day.

• Chris broke 2 teeth in one day and when I felt for them I noticed that his gums on either side of the new teeth were swollen too. You can imagine how happy a baby we have on our hands right now.
• Greg's graduation party was on Sunday- Jenna did a really nice job putting everything together. Congrats to the newest MBA in the family! I thought this was really sweet - my dad offered to let my mom go back to school to get her Masters Degree so she wouldn't be the "only one in the family without one" (Mike's in progress for his MBA now). She appreciated the gesture but declined stating she was "too old" (I disagree she's too old for anything but understand why she doesn't want to go back less than one year from retirement).
• I bought patio furniture at Lowes this weekend and it looks LOVELY! We set the firepit out too. The chairs for the dining table are in and we need to schedule delivery from Menards. Add some plants and some pretty lighting and we're in business!
• I headed up to the Outlet Mall (Monroe, OH) with the girls on Saturday. Spent about $100 on lots of fun things and had a great time in general!
• I should have mentioned it in the Nicole blog from last week but Nicole has lots of grandmothers and we normally refer to them by their last name- Grandma Hook (Jim's mom), Grandma Templin (my grandmother), etc. However, my mother, who she sees 1+/week is just "Grandma". As a result when Nicole needs clarification she refers to her as "Normal Grandma". This is especially funny when we have several Grandmas together (at the Graduation Party for example) and I tell her to say good-bye to Grandma. "Normal Grandma or Grandma Wolf?" she'll ask in front of both of them.

Nicole's Art

This was the peacock she made with a handstamp (birthday card for Aunt Jenna)



This is the drawing she drew all by herself of "Dora's Mommy" for Lisa, Kendall & Max (which we forgot to take to Dayton with us on Saturday). The green is "bushes" and the blue is "clouds".

Nicole

• One of Nicole's favorite crafty things to do is make hand prints. She's all about painting her hand and putting it to paper. So, her mother has to get creative when it comes to turning all these hand prints into something interesting. So far we've made turkeys (fingers are tail feathers) to tell her teachers she's thankful for them and flower pots (her hand is the pot and fingers are the flower stems; fingerprints make the center of the flowers) amongst others. Last night we finished up a peacock where I let her glue on googly eyes and sequins to make it beautiful.
• 5 is her favorite number. Everything in her mind should come in fives - five books before bedtime, five minutes of cuddling, five blackberries for breakfast, etc.


• She astounds me with the volume of song lyrics she knows. She gets a smattering of nursery rhymes (Row Row Row your Boat) and Mom-made-up songs (Your Mommy Loves You) at home, songs off the radio/cd player (I Love Rock n' Roll), songs from her dance parties at school (Hey Mickey), and songs from music class at school (Miss Lucy). She'll randomly break into song and it could be from any of these "genres". The song she sings a lot recently about a turtle in a bathtub was really really cute though.


• She moves up to the 3-4 year old room next Monday at school. There are a mix of kids from her current class who are also getting moved and some that are 3 1/2 so they're already in this room. We'll see how it goes - I'm optimistic!
• Her coloring/art is also showing progress. She gets now that you don't just scribble all over the page (though she often does that too) that objects have color and you need to color it accordingly. For example, Pooh's tummy is yellow but his shirt is red. She's also drawing more independant objects like "Dora's Mommy" that she made for the Erdahls. It does somewhat resemble a person (has hair, eyes, a mouth, and is long with limb-like looking things).


• Mark took some pictures of the kids on Saturday which was really nice of him. It's a further developing hobby of his from what I'm gathering. Both kids were constantly in motion so not all of the pictures are great (an issue with the models, not the photographer) but a lot of them are really fantastic! Since then she's all about posing for pictures....

And in case you were concerned that my kids are perfect (ha ha):