Jennings Family

Recipe Review: Sun-dried Tomato Penne Pasta

2012-02-13T06:13:00.003-06:00

This recipe came from the beautiful and kind Allison from Life on Leroy and was a really yummy quick dinner! I also happen to work with Alli, so I know that she really is kind and beautiful and very smart!

When I saw this recipe on Alli's website, I knew I had to try it because she said it was quick and easy to throw together when you get home from work. I also took her advice and threw together a yummy salad and garlic toast to go with it.

Our family already eats a fair amount of pasta. We probably make pasta two times each week. Sometimes it's spaghetti, sometimes it's lasagna, sometime's it's fettuccini alfredo or penne with sauteed veggies, and sometimes, it's good old Kraft Mac and Cheese. Yep, you heard it here. We eat Kraft Mac and Cheese... actually about once a week. That though is one of the only times that our pasta isn't whole grain and that it's made with some mysterious packaged powder mix that we pretend is cheese (but hey, it DOES contain milk, so it must be a little big good for us, right? right?).

The ingredient list was easy peasy and it was all stuff that I already had on hand!

SUN DRIED TOMATO PENNE PASTA

Ingredients
2 cups (8 oz.) dry penne pasta (I made a whole box of whole grain pasta, and then threw the leftover pasta in some roasted red pepper sauce for another meal that same week)

8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Lowfat 2% Milk
2 cups (8-oz. pkg.) shredded Italian-style four-cheese blend
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
PREPARE pasta according to package directions, adding sun-dried tomatoes to boiling pasta water for last two minutes of cooking time; drain.

MEANWHILE, COMBINE evaporated milk, cheese, basil, garlic powder and pepper in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

ADD pasta and sun-dried tomatoes to cheese sauce; stir until combined.

It was very good and very quick and easy. I didn't measure and I think it needed more garlic powder, but I probably hadn't added what the recipe called for. I might prefer a clove of garlic crushed over the garlic powder, but I think the idea here is that it's basically all pantry items and not everyone has garlic in stock (but we always do!) I'm also not sure if I added as many sun-dried tomatoes as it called for, but I would add more next time - they're my favorite part!

For a really fast meal, this was awesome! I think that when I have more time to cook I prefer home-made cream sauce over the evaporated milk sauce in this recipe, but will definitely make this again. The boys in the house loved it and ate the leftovers for days. The consistency of the sauce changed once it was reheated as white sauce always does, so it was best that first night. It was an easy and yummy recipe that will most likely become a staple at our house!

Thanks Allison, for sharing the great idea!

Recipe Review: Creamy Pear Pie

2012-02-07T05:00:00.002-06:00

I'm on a mission this year to get back into my cooking groove, since I seem to be in a rut. I actually LOVE cooking, but for some reason, I haven't been excited about cooking at all recently! It's been months since I've made some of my favorite recipes and I feel like I'm getting tired of the same old thing. So... I thought that if I challenged myself to try a new recipe each week (and review it) it would motivate me to cook more AND it would give me some new ideas for what to make!

So... I went through my recipe ~~book~~ pile, spent the better part of two days sorting and organizing recipes and throwing out some that I knew I would really never make, and then picked out a few I wanted to try!

The first recipe is one that I first got from a co-worker almost seven years ago, but had never actually made.

This is one of those funny friend of a friend situations. You see, I actually just got this recipe again last week from Eileen who got it from Oli who got it from Russ who brought it to work seven years ago!

Shortly after I started working for the organization that I work for now, we had a potluck at our office (which was then in Roseville, MN). Ross brought the most deliciously creamy cinnamon-kissed pear pie! Ross gave the recipe to Oliver and Oli gave it to Eileen and me. I ~~filed it in my recipe book~~ threw it in my recipe pile and never thought about it again. Until last week. Eileen is now leaving the organization and was going through old emails and found the email from 2005 that contained the recipe from Oliver from Ross and she forwarded it to me asking if I ever DID make that pie!

I hadn't made it, but I also hadn't forgotten how delicious that pie was seven years ago! So, here is my recipe review for this week...

The pie was obviously so delicious that by the time I took a photo of it, it was almost gone!

(the pottery pie plate is one of my favorites and is made by Diane Millner in Stockholm, Wisconsin. I love her pottery and try to buy a piece every time I am in Stockholm.

CREAMY PEAR PIE

1 can pears, diced (in juice rather than in syrup - I like Libby's brand in juice)

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons flour

1 pie crust (you can use a refrigerated pie crust or make your own - I always use Betty Crocker's pie crust recipe from my standard Betty Crocker cookbook)

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Directions:

1. Lay your pie crust out in the pie pan.

2. Dice the pears and spread them evenly in the pie crust

3. Mix sugar, whipping cream, and flour in a bowl (I just whisked it for a minute)

4. Pour over the pears in the pie crust

5. Sprinke the top with cinnamon and nutmeg (I probably used about 1 tablespoon Cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg)

6. Fold the edges of the pie crust over slightly and crimp them with your fingers or a fork.

6. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. It will start to bubble around the edges and brown slightly.

7. Let it cool completely before slicing.

This pie was so easy to make and all of the ingredients were things I already had on hand - it was perfect! Since it was so easy, I actually made two pies at once. I first thought one can of pears per pie didn't look like enough and almost opened another can, but once I poured in the cream mixture, it looked more full and it turned out to be just right. I loved eating this pie straight out of the refrigerator, nice and cool!

Tasty ****

Easy ***** (especially if you use pre-made crust)

Keeps Well **** (this was even better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight)

Affordable ***** (the cream is the most expensive ingredient

If you're reading this and you actually had some of the pear pie last weekend and didn't like it when I brought it to our scrapbooking day, I'll just apologize now because I loved it so much I will definitely be making it again and will probably bring it to anotber get together... or maybe I'll just save it for myself. If you DO make this pie, or if you had a taste of it last weekend, let me know what you think of it. I'm always curious!

Tune in next week for my next Recipe Review, where I'll be reviewing a recipe I found on a fellow coworker's blog!

As I was writing this post, I heard Gavin say from the basement, "Whoah, I never saw a chicken skiing up a hill!" Where does he come up with this stuff????

God's Frosty Masterpiece

2012-02-06T05:30:00.001-06:00

We woke yesterday morning to a wonderful gift! The four days of fog, gray skies, and dreary weather that have had me feeling gloomy myself brought the most beautiful frost!

I am usually the first one outside on a morning like this. I love the opportunity to take some pictures, but just the chance to take a quick walk out in the beautifully painted woods before the sun burns off the frost is a treat for me! Cliff knows how much I love it and he also knows that I occasionally miss the chance because I get tied up with something that seems more important at the time. He knows that whenever I miss it, I regret not getting out there. He had a quick errand to run first thing in the morning, and once he had pulled out of the driveway, he called me and said I should get the camera and go out for a walk. He was back home in no time and offered to stay in with Gavin, who didn't want to go outside (imagine that!) so I could go out. I am so thankful that not only do I have Cliff to take care of Gavin so I can go out, but that he knows me so well and knew that I would want to get out there as soon as I could.

The yard and the woods were quiet except for the skitter of a few little critters. I took my time walking, taking in each sight, from the detail of the tiny little snow sculptures on each pine needle and leaf to the grand and magnificent sight of the frosty woods with the fog-covered road in the background. Like loving the sight of a beautiful painting, and still appreciating every little brushstroke.

Rosehips and Pine Branches

The treetops in our front yard

Buckthorn berries in the woods

Canopy over the end of our driveway

The tiny stone puppy under the old maple tree.

Frosty Spruce Tree

This makes the now five days of dreary weather completely worth it! When the sun does come back out, I will rejoice in it, but before I do so, I will remember that the gloomy skies and damp air brought us this frosty masterpiece!

Up North

2012-02-05T10:37:00.004-06:00

Before the recent snow, we were really in need of a dose of winter. The week after New Year’s it was 46° and we had no snow at all. Our good friends invited us up to their family cabin for the weekend for some snowmobiling and just hanging out. We always have a great time up at their cabin and each visit brings something different. In the summer we might find ourselves picking buckets full of the sweetest, biggest wild blueberries you've ever seen and baking them into pancakes, desserts and muffins or out on the pontoon in the middle of the Lake fishing for sunfish to fry up for supper. In the winter we're often found out snowmobiling across the frozen lakes and wooded terrain or cozied up in the sunroom reading a good book or playing a game with the kids. The evenings are almost always spent crowded around the table playing cribbage or poker. This visit, we were all in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 each night and were too tuckered out for card playing! Whatever it is we're doing, it's always a good way to "unplug" as there is barely cell phone service there, no telephone, no TV, and the only electricity comes from a generator.

The drive to the cabin is about 4 hours, and the temperature usually drops by at least 10° as we make our way north of Duluth to the Superior National Forest area near Isabella. In Duluth, there was still no more snow than we had back home, but as we made our way out of Two Harbors, the snow started piling up. It was a lovely weekend of relaxation... as much as you can relax with three little ones keeping you on your toes!

We had quiet time for snuggling on the couch with the Daddies and reading books.

We had a few little ventures out of the cabin to have lunch at some of our favorite places. like the Trestle Inn, where you can order a Trainwreck Burger with Casualties on which the toppings may include cheese, bacon, a bratwurst patty, onion rings, and a fried egg.

Since we always love to stop in at the Trestle Inn when we're up there, we thought we should get a quick little family photo in front of their awesomely personalized woodstove. Bet ya didn't expect two little kidlets in our family photo. These two friends are simply inseparable, so we ended up with both of them in this picture!

Of course you can't go to Minnesota's most wild winter wonderland with out snowmobiles, and we wouldn't even think about it! What's more fun than seeing how high off the ground you can get your sled and still land facing up or being the first to ride on the freshly fallen snow through the magical beauty of the Superior National Forest?

Gavin stayed close to the cabin while on the snowmobile and I promise we didn't send him flying through the air, but he sure loves to ride with us and didn't want to get off the sled!

We even made the one-hour drive (in the truck) down one of the area's most beautiful, but quiet roads to Ely, MN for some shopping and lunch. We didn't see another vehicle for an entire 45-minutes on the way there.

While in Ely, we stopped into Piragi's Outfitters Retail Store for a little winter weather wear, where Gavin got a new pair of kids smartwool socks. I don't worry about his feet getting cold when he is wearing his regular winter boots and is just outside for normal play, but the smartwool socks sure keep his feet warm inside his rain boots when it's still cold outside, but too wet to wear regular boots. They're also great inside his ice skates, which have no insulation of their own.

The best part about Piragi's though, is the Moose up in the upstairs bookstore of course! You can't go that far north and not see a moose, afterall! If you get to hug one, that's extra special!

Did you hug your moose today?

Gavin and Sloane couldn't get enough of this guy and kept taking turns hugging him! It was pretty cute! They also have an awesome selection of outdoor-themed books, from survival books to children's stories.

After stopping into a few other shops and galleries, including the Mukluks Store, we sat down for lunch before heading back to the cabin.

A weekend with these three adorable travelers is both exhausting and exciting! We had two three-year old CLOWNS and one sweet little snuggler!

My favorite part about being up in this beautiful, wild forest area is going for a walk on a mild, snowy winter day. Gavin and Sloane loved that part too, and spent more time eating snow and making snow angels than they actually did walking!

The Daddies were anxious to keep moving and didn't think they had time to dawdle, so they sure kept the kids on their toes and coaxed them along. Sloane made the best of it and ate her snow while she walked!

What's better than a snow angel? A little boy angel! My favorite kind!

We all had a good time up at the cabin! It seems though, that no matter where you go or how comfortable you are and how much fun you have, there really is no place like home. After a few days of fun, we were all happy to be back in our own comfy beds, and I was happy to climb into a hot bubble bath!

'til next time!

2012-01-23T21:27:00.005-06:00

We got snow! Before the snow, of course, we got cold. It was -11° on Wednesday morning as I drove in to work. That’s not an outrageous temperature for our area by any means, but we’ve been spoiled with unusually warm weather so far this winter. It was 55° one week and -11° a week later. That’s a big swing!

However, the colder temps meant an opportunity for some snow, which we’ve really been missing this winter! We didn’t get much over the weekend, just a few inches. But it’s beautiful! It’s snowing again today and I couldn’t be happier about it!

The colder temperatures meant it was time to haul in some more wood for our fireplace to bump up the cozy factor in the house. There is something satisfying about cutting and hauling wood for the house. On one hand, it’s funny that you do all of this work gathering wood and then you just burn it and it’s gone. On the other hand, it’s awesomely satisfying to get outside, get a good work-out, and feel a bit like you’re tapping in to your pioneer heritage. Okay, so if my husband reads this, he’ll roll his eyes, since he knows that it’s really quite rare that I help with the cutting and hauling of wood. Hey, somebody’s got to be in the house to do the cooking, cleaning, bathing of children, etc., right? Actually you’ll usually find me right outside too, but instead of hauling wood, I’ll be off taking photos or out on a nature walk - I’m easily distracted by the beauty and wonder of the snow-covered woods.

Some dreamy little part of me imagines us chopping wood with an axe rather than cutting it with a chainsaw… loading the wood on to a cart pulled by two hefty draft horses rather than piling it on the back of the Polaris Ranger… pulling it silently through the snow-covered woods with only the jingle of the horse’s harnesses breaking the silence, rather than the roar of the chainsaw and rumble of the Ranger’s engine. That’s the dreamy and imaginative part of me. Then, my very logical husband chimes in and reminds me that I would need to be out feeding and watering those draft horses morning and night, that I’d never get to go on a vacation because who would tend to the horses? Who would clean out the manure, build them a shelter, pay the Farrier bills, ensure they get exercise every day, fix the water tank heater when it breaks, etc.? Then, I am dragged back from my snow-covered dreamland to reality… My hubby thinks I live in La-la land. I prefer to consider myself a hopeless romantic, a dreamer, a believer, but not unrealistic.

I can sure appreciate the motor on the Ranger though when it's pulling us around the yard in the sled! That may be THE most red-neck thing I'll admit to doing for fun! and it IS fun!

Our Day in the Sun

2012-01-17T22:07:00.003-06:00

January 10th and 55 degrees in Wisconsin...

So... what do you do?

Play outside, of course!

This kid thought it was the perfect day to roll around on some cable spools we have sitting around. He is a tough guy and tipped them up himself, rolled them to where he wanted them, and then bravely attempted doing a barrel-roll walk on them! You can just about see about how well that went!

It was my "stay home day" as Gavin calls it, and I also had my nephew Collin for the day.

The hardest part about spending the day with those two spirited toddlers was having to go inside for lunch! It was such an amazingly beautiful, sunny day, I could have stayed out there all day!

Today, a week later, the high was 12 degrees. I miss last week already!

I LOVE snow... I love ice skating, winter walks in the snow-covered woods, sledding, downhill skiing, hot cocoa, and warm fires. I can't wait to take my new snow shoes out for a trek... but I would have been okay with 55 degrees in January for a little bit longer...

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:13:00.000-06:00

As I sit here in the dark of the living room, with only the quiet sparkle of our Christmas Tree... I've been thinking about this year and the year to come. I've read other bloggers' posts about the new year, about the close of 2011. I see a lot of re-caps and a lot of "resolutions". I guess my only real resolution is to really decide what I want to get out of this blog. I feel more and more lately that it's something on my to-do list that I'm not getting done rather than the outlet it used to feel like.

I'll keep thinking on that... but for now, for tonight, I want to wish you, my family and friends a blessed new year. May your toes be warm, and your hearts be warmer. May you rejoice in tonight's snowfall, and stay safe and loved.

Happy New Year

Good Night

Erin

A Boy and His Christmas Tree

2011-12-18T06:12:00.002-06:00

That is not our Christmas tree that Gavin is dragging. Although... it looks a bit like our tree, only our tree is about 20 times that size, but almost identical.

For several years, we have chosen and cut our tree from the same Family-owned and operated tree farm and we always enjoy our visit there. This year we wanted to try something different. We asked a neighbor with a whole forest full of evergreens if he would mind if we cut one from his forest (he only has 35,000 of them!) His place is beautiful and is covered in pines and red oaks. He has a magnificent view of the valley to the West of his land...

We may have underestimated the size of the trees just slightly... These were not 12-14' tall Christmas trees like they look like from our house. These are 30' tall natural pines in all their glory.

We went with my brother Chuck...

and my niece and nephew, Robyn and Luke

Yep, our kid is the one in blaze orange. Ever lose a three year old in a forest of 70,000 trees? Me neither and we didn't want to try it this year! The forest was so thick, you couldn't see more than two rows of trees deep and there were hundreds - maybe thousands? - of rows of trees.

Cliff, our master tree cutter

Awww... what a helpful Daddy. Hey, when you're deep in the forest and ya gotta go? Ya gotta go! Dad helped maneuver around the snowpants when it was time for a potty break (don't worry - I zoomed in really far just to make sure there was nothing showing that shouldn't and we're good)

Our tree was 30' tall, so we trimmed it down to about 13.5' since the very top of the peak in our living room is 14'. It wasn't your typical cone-shaped Christmas Tree, but it was ours and it was natural and it was special to us... in it's own sort of helpless way. The sets of branches are about 3' apart and it's... a little on the bushy, but thin side, but lights and ornaments can do a lot for a tree. It's a special tree. It was magnificent in it's forest and if Leroy wasn't planning to log his forest next year anyway, I would have felt a little bad for taking it down. It was a beautiful tree... outside. It just needed some lovin' once we got it in the house. (Don't worry about the logging - he planted this forest himself and has a great plan for it).

We got the tree up and decorated and then... (to be continued)

Sneak Peak - Family Photos

2011-12-16T22:12:00.003-06:00

We had our family photos taken a few weeks ago. My sister took them for us on Thanksgiving morning and got some really cute pictures. Dare I admit that we have never had our family pictures taken professionally? We haven't. What's worse is that we've never even had Gavin's picture taken by a professional. As it turns out, we know a lot of people who enjoy taking photos and it seems that if you take enough, you're going to end up with at least a few good ones. Now, I won't say that I don't wish I could swap our heads out in some of our pics and take the best smiles of each of us from several different shots and combine them in one photo, but we can't all be perfect all the time, now can we? I also can't say that I didn't giggle at a few of them or laugh in embarrassment at some of them, but that's half the fun of it, isn't it?

For quite a while, Gavin would literally just run away at the sight of a camera, and more recently, would give us his weird little eye-rolled grouchy face, which he thought was hilarious. Somehow though, recently, he has learned to smile on cue. Sometimes it's a fake smile, but he giggles so easily, you can get a real laughing smile without too much effort... if you can keep him still, that is.

Our trick for these photos? Bribery. Yep, plain and simple bribery. "If you cooperate with the pictures and smile nice, you can have pumpkin pie after dinner!" Hey, it worked!

We'll have a few of the photos on our Christmas card (which I JUST ordered), so I don't want to give them all away here, but it sure was a fun photo shoot and the best part is that it was all in my parents' back yard, which makes these pics extra special to us. This is the place of all of my childhood memories, the place where I played army with my brother and sister, lump-jumped in the fairy swamp, completely covered several sets of clothing in swamp mud, built fairy homes and toad houses, climbed trees and built forts, raked leaves only so we could jump off the trailer and into the leaf pile, checked wood duck houses with my Dad only to find a nest of raccoons living in them, hung clothes out to dry on the clothesline with my Mom, weeded and picked the huge garden, played Moonlight Starlight with all of my brothers and sisters, caught fireflies, climbed the Old Oak Tree and claimed my branch in the Crab Apple Tree, raised geese, ducks, rabbits and chickens and even had a pet chicken Solomon who would perch on my shoulder, dug for buried treasure and found tiny ceramic tiles, swam in the mucky ponds, swung from weeping willow-branches, caught tadpoles, fish, frogs, salamanders and snapping turtles and tried to keep them all in my room. This is the Hundred-Acre Wood in Milne's stories of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. This is the Enchanted Forest, the fields of gold and green, the emerald city if you will. This is where my memories were made and I love that Gavin is making his own memories there with his cousins. I hope his life contains all of the wonder and magic and make-believe and pretend play and giggles and laughs and secrets and potions and old oak trees and mud pies and grass soups and dare-devil clubs and broken bike chains and tree forts and zip lines that my childhood is made of. I hope our home is a place where all of that can happen, and I am so glad that he gets to enjoy the place where it all happened for me.

White Christmas?

2011-12-15T23:11:00.000-06:00

You may already know that we live in Wisconsin, but where we live may as well be Minnesota. Now, now, Packers and Badger Fans, don't get your undies in a bundle... I'm only referring to the infamous Minnesota weather and our close proximity to Minneapolis / St. Paul. We live close enough that both Cliff and I have lived here in WI, but worked in the Minneapolis area for over 10 years. I'm going to use Minnesota here rather than Wisconsin for two reason, one of which is that most of my readers are from Minnesota and the second of which is that although I am a very proud resident of Wisconsin and love my community dearly, I am originally from Minnesota. I was born and raised in the same house my parents still live in today.

Now... when most non-Minnesotans think of Minnesota, three things come to mind. 1) Fargo 2) Snow and 3) Yah, "shore", you betcha! Okay four things. 4) Uff-duh. I will admit to saying uff-duh, but not in a "Uff-duh, that dinner shore was good!" kind of way, but in a "Uff-duh, you're really heavy for a three year old and I seriously almost slipped a disc lifting you" kind of way. I know, I know, I'm not sure one way is any better than the other either. I WILL tell you though, that I have never been to Fargo, but I don't think people in Fargo really say You Betcha as much as the movie Fargo would lead you to believe. I can't say for sure though. Now, Snow? I know snow. I remember the Halloween blizzard of 1992 like it was yesterday. I live in the country where the wind blowing across the fields causes snow drifts so big you can quite literally lose your car in them. My brother was once buried, standing up, in the snow by a snowplow (or so I've been told). I know snow. I know that this time of year - a week before Christmas - we are supposed to have snow! I do remember a couple of brown Christmases growing up. I remember one year, being out on my parents' back deck and watching the tiniest lightest of snowflakes just begin to fall on Christmas Day and hoping they'd keep falling so my sister and I could sled in the backyard. Most years though, we have lots of snow by this time. We did have snow, for just a couple of weeks, but it has been in the mid-thirties this week and has rained, so our snow is now all gone. What are we going to do with a brown Christmas? I know Christmas isn't about the snow, or the lights, or the tree, or the presents... but Christmas doesn't feel the same without those things when those things have always been part of the story.

I'm going to pray for snow and reminisce about the snow we had and maybe we'll still get snow for Christmas... or maybe we'll just have to stir up our snowy memories.

The snow we had was a beautiful snow

My very favorite place to be after a heavy, sticky snow like this is in the woods. I can't wait to get out there in the amazingly beautiful winter wonderland and listen to the complete quiet a snowfall like this creates, watch the heavy clumps of snow fall silently from the branches to the ground, sinking down into the soft snow below. I love it. Gavin must have a little bit of me in him afterall, because he stopped mid-way through the woods and turned around to face me, pointed up, and whispered to me, "It's just wike Magic" and then trotted off again to explore this wintery woodland.

This is our view across the field to our west. I always think it looks so beautiful covered in snow... three charming white farmhouses in a snowy white world.

Sledding!

2011-12-06T22:38:00.002-06:00

Our Happy Little Snowbunny

Gavin with his cousins Nathan (10) and Collin (almost 2)

Gavin pulled Collin around the yard with just a teeny tiny bit of help from Nathan

With Gavin and Collin being just a year apart and having to share so much, they haven't always gotten along like we had hoped when Collin was born. Gavin and Collin share a lot. Clue: Nathan and Collin's Mom is my sister and they're Dad is Cliff's cousin, so they are related both on their Mom's side and on their Dad's side. Gavin and Collin also go to the same daycare, are watched by the same Grandma once a week, and have shared many of the same toys and clothes. When my sister was expecting Collin we were so excited that Gavin would have a playmate because there is a 7-year gap between him and his next older cousins. It was hard to see that the boys weren't fast friends from the very beginning, but it seems that as they get a bit older and their individual personalities become stronger, they are getting along better and better. They actually play together happily most of the time now and Gavin really looks forward to seeing both Nathan and Collin. They may be best friends afterall! Lucky for us, my other sister had a baby about 8 months after Collin was born too, so the 7-yr gap in babies in this family is history and we now have a fun little trio of tiny little blonde-haired blue-eyed children running around. Okay, so Gavin isn't all that tiny... at all.

He and Collin sure look like they're happy sledding together, don't you think?

Quotes...

2011-11-28T16:45:00.001-06:00

I'm sitting in the big leather chair next to the fireplace in the living room. It's late and Gavin should have been asleep an hour ago, but he keeps coming out of his room to talk to me, climb up in my lap, and ask for kisses. I'm weak. I take the kisses. He's petting the arm of the chair... "Momma, you're sitting in the chair I built. It's really special. I built it with wood and with this soft stuff (petting the leather), and it's really special Mom... and I built it with paint."

Sitting at the breakfast table one morning, completely out of the blue he says, "Mom! You're not a firefly, You're a dinosaur!"

In the car, on our way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house this weekend...
G: Damn it! I can say damn it, Mom
Me: No
G: Aw! I NEVER get to say damn it!
(okay, I know that shouldn't be funny, but it was a good thing it was dark out so he couldn't see me stifling my laughter! Saying damn it isn't funny, but saying you NEVER get to say damn it is damn funny!)

While having an afternoon snack with his cousin Renee:
"I'm bored. I'm gonna marry myself"

On day four of Daddy's eight-day fishing trip:
G: One time I took Daddy hunting.
Me: You did? Where?
G: In the pasture, where my cow lives! It's far, far away.
Me: What were you hunting for?
G: Um... um... swans!
Me: Swans?
G: Yup. They're big!
Me: What color were they?
G: Green. Daddy cut them so we could eat the meat in them.

We used M&Ms as a motivator during potty training. One M&M for number ones and two M&Ms for number twos. One day while I was getting two M&Ms for Gavin, our cat Moses was meowing...
G: (to me) He's just Mowin' cause he wants some supper. (then to Moses) Silly Moses! It's not supper time, it's M&M time! (to me again) I'll go give him a scoop (of food).
Me: I already fed him, Gavin
G: (to Moses) Mom said she already fed you, Moses!

Our Little Artist

2011-11-02T21:14:00.003-05:00

This little boy of ours LOVES to paint. I guess he takes after his Momma. I love painting and almost any medium. He too loves to draw, paint, color, and create. Don't all kids though? He loves finger paints, shaving cream, water colors, and even acrylics. I haven't let him use the oil paints yet. Maybe a few more months until we'll let the little artist try oils. He even likes concrete sculpture... and of course Play-doh. I'm thinking of getting some Sculpey clay and letting him make something to paint... Christmas ornaments, maybe?

As I type this, it's 9:07 pm and Gavin has been out of his room more than he's been in it in the last hour. I'm sitting in the big leather chair in the corner of the living room in the dark. I've sent him back to his room a thousand times already... okay maybe a hundred... well, at least six. He is currently laying across my lap, on top of my forearms, between my stomach and the laptop and he's growling and snarling in my face to try to get my attention. I'm ignoring him. Well, to him anyway. If only he could read what I'm typing. I'd type-growl back. As he would say, he's "rahring". It's kind of like roaring, but not exactly. "Rahr, rahr, raaaaahhhhr. Mom, I'm raaahring! Hear me, Mom? See me? I'm rahring!"

Grrr.... Good thing he's got this sweet, smiley, finger-paint and shaving cream face or I might get frustrated with him. Rahr!

Our Little Halloween Cowboy!

2011-10-31T15:36:00.000-05:00

Sand-Box: A Return on Investment

2011-10-05T15:41:00.002-05:00

What are little boys made of?

Snips and snails

and puppy dog tails

That's what little boys are made of.

or in Gavin's case, he seems to be made of...

tractors and loaders

and giant bulldozers.

These are the sights seen in our sand-box on any given evening. The sand-box is perfectly shaded in the hot summer months and during the middle of the day and is filled with warm sunlight in the fall and the cooler evenings. This sand box is a life saver. It is Gavin's favorite place to be, hands down. Our sand-box happened sort of accidentally at first. When we were building our house back in 2007, we came 'home' one day to find a big pile of sand right in the middle of what was at the time, the driveway, but is now the front yard. We didn't think too much of it. We had lots of friends and acquaintances working on our house and materials and equipment and parts were being delivered or dropped off all the time. We also had a friend in the landscaping business who was temporarily storing his job trailer in our yard. We assumed the sand was for something or somebody. After a few days, we started asking... we asked our builder, our excavator, our landscaper friend... no one knew anything about the sand. We left it where it was for a few weeks, assuming it would be claimed, but it wasn't. We finally decided to move it out of the 'driveway' and out of the way. So, we moved the pile to an inconspicuous spot on the edge of the yard, next to the woods, right next to the old outhouse that was attached to the end of the shed. (you can see the bit of sand that is left of the pile, between the little red outhouse in the background and the cedar post in the foreground in the picture below. It's next to an old iron headboard).

For two years, the sand pile sat there next to the outhouse. Weeds started growing out of the top of it. When Gavin was a little over a year old, he started playing on the sand pile, but it was on the hot and sunny south side of the shed and outhouse and was also right next to the woods, where the wild things are. : )

I started dreaming about a nice canopy-covered sandbox for Gavin and started looking at them in catalogs and online. It wasn't too long before I realized that we had a built-in canopy already - below our screen porch. It was a shaded space, with plenty of room to move around, but because there were basement windows under there, we didn't want to build anything under the porch that would block the view out the basement windows. The porch is roughly 10' x 12', so the space under the porch is about the same size. We didn't want to put the sandbox right up next to the house because that would mean that Gavin would be playing alongside the glass basement windows and we'd run the risk of the windows breaking, etc.

For Mothers' day in 2010 (Gavin was one and a half), Cliff offered to tackle three projects that I'd been sweetly reminding him about for a few months... the projects were: build a sand-box, move the old iron clothesline posts from the front yard to the back yard, and build a raised strawberry bed. He was a little aggressive with the to-do list. That was way too much to get done in a weekend, much less in one day. So we started with one project and ended up completing two of them that summer. Still no raised strawberry bed, but the sand-box was so, so worth the strawberries that I would have enjoyed this year from my raised bed.

We dug a 2" trench around the perimeter of what would become the sand-box. We then picked up some 2" x 12"s and built a frame around the outside half of the space under the porch, so the sandbox would be about 6' x 10'. The 2" x 12" boards were sunk 2" down in the ground so that the frame was about 10" tall. Then we started shoveling and hauling sand wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow from the sand pile next to the outhouse to the new sand-box. Use of the new sand-box was a little slow at first. Now, we can barely keep Gavin out of it. The minute we get home from someplace, he gets out of the car and runs around the side of the house to his sand-box. As soon as we go outside, he darts to the sand-box like a frog to water! The kid LIVES in that sand-box. Since it's right under the screen porch, I can open the doors from the house to the porch and be able to hear him playing and check on him verbally without being right out there all the time. If I poke my head out our side-door off the dining room, I can see the sandbox and I can call him in for dinner.

The boy digs, pushes, piles, shovels and hauls sand with his dozers, dump trucks, tractors, wheelbarrows and loaders and would do it all day long if we let him.

We have seen the return on our investment in this project a hundred-fold.

...and you can't beat the view from the sandbox on a early fall evening!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2011-10-04T16:03:00.005-05:00

Gavin will be three years old next month. Three. Excuse me while I wipe my tears. I can't believe he is almost three. He is so much fun right now and I'm not just saying that because that's what Mom's are supposed to say. He really is so much fun. He is hilarious. He has a way better sense of humor than either Cliff or I have and seriously makes me laugh so hard I cry. He is also such a sweet heart and can melt my heart with a word or a gentle touch.

Part of me feels like he was just born a few months ago. Like I can remember those early infant days so clearly. And yet, it feels like he's been in our life forever. I can't even imagine what we did with our time before we had him.

Here are some of the more memorable things he has said over the last few months!

This summer:

While switching the laundry...

Me: Gavin, can you get the stuffed animals out of the washer and bring them here to dry and then we'll put the clothes in the dryer?

G: Yes.

Me: Bring them here and we'll let them dry on the table.

G: No I'll let this one dry in my fingers.

After intentionally messing up my hair and pulling it down over my face, he says: "I want you to be a mommy ow day wike diss" (meaning he wants me to leave my hair like that all day).

"Mommy, I wike it when yo hayo is ow tangoed wike dis" (what a compliment, eh?)

While I'm putting my make-up on...

G: I want some make-up.

Me: Well, make-up is really for women.

G: But I winned. I winned the wace!

Me: I didn't say winned, honey, I said women. Women are ladies, like mommas.

G: I'm women.

Me: You're a boy.

G: But boys are women. You know what women is? Women is kinda like a wipe, but it's really a bucket.

And my favorite incorrect word is "becept". He means "except", but he says becept instead - I'm not sure if he's combining "but" and "except" or "because" and "except" but it's cute. Sometimes he uses it like except, and sometimes I can't figure out quite how he's trying to use it.

Last night after reading the book "Love You Forever" http://www.amazon.com/Love-You-Forever-Robert-Munsch/dp/0920668372/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312911270&sr=1-1 Gavin gave me the smushiest hug and kiss ever, he had his mouth and nose smushed up against my cheek so hard I thought "there is no way he can even breathe" and when he pulled away after a bit, he hugged me and said "I'm gonna keep you forever Mommy"

When we got home from daycare one day this summer and were sitting in the car in our driveway:

G: Mom, when you were at work and Daddy was here, I mayweed Daddy

Me: You married him?

G: Yeah, I mayweed him because I wike him

Me: Well, usually only grown-ups get married, like Mommy and Daddy

G: and I'm gonna maywee you too, because I wike you too

Gavin is afraid of spiders, and screams if he sees anything that resembles a spider web or a spider. It could be just a dust bunny or even a seed pod from a plant, and he'll think it's a spider web or a spider.

When I'm laying down next to him in his bed or when he is snuggling in my bed in the morning, he wraps his arms around my neck, one on each side, and whispers "It's okay Mommy. I'm white hewe. Don't cwy, I'm white hewe." It's so sweet I just giggle.

Gavin uses the word "anything" in place of "nothing". If I ask him what he wants to bring with him to daycare, he shouts "any-sing!" or if I say "Do you want carrots or cucumbers?" He will shout "Any-sing!" It's funny.

Everything right now is "special" and "magic". He says things like:

"If you be nice, I wiw give you mine besho wock" (If you be nice, I will give you my special rock).

He is also totally into trying to get you excited about things by whispering it like it's a secret. He said to me the other day:

"If you eat ow yo stwawbewwies, I wiw give you some (whispering, but dramatic, with big eyes) CHOCKWIT! (if you eat all your strawberries, I'll give you some CHOCOLATE)

Every once in a while, when Gavin is feeling all calm and sweet and snuggly, he'll say "I wuv you so much Mom" and my heart just melts.

September:

While talking about Christmas:

Me: Gavin, what do you think Santa will bring you for Christmas?
G: A big, big tractor with a woader and a cereo bar. (a big, big tractor with a loader and a cereal bar)

Me: What do you think Santa will bring for Daddy?
G: A tractor

Me: What do you think Santa will bring me?
G: A big, big, big shaver, so you can shave yo pwickwee wegs!

I recently ran into the corner of a table, and got a scrape and bruise on the outside of my hip/thigh. In the pajama shorts that I was wearing the other morning, the scrape was showing. Gavin pointed it out and Cliff told him that I had an owie. Cliff asked Gavin if he wanted to kiss my owie to make it feel better.

Gavin said "no, because Mommy has a pwickwee butt"

Sitting at the table, Gavin says to me: I'm gonna eat all my food so I get a big, big tummy wike you Mom. See? See how you have a big, big, big tummy? When I get big, I'll have a big tummy wike you!

October:

Me: A B C D E F G

G: H I J K S O E 7 30

We stopped at Dairy Queen on Sunday to pick up a dozen Dilly Bars to bring to my family who was working on the lake house. Gavin got to eat his Dilly Bar in the car on the way there. As Gavin slurps the ice cream from the Dilly Bar, he says, "I like Dilly Bars, but I also like Cereal Bars. This is damn good!" followed up by a very satisfied grin. My niece and I in the front seat just about died laughing silently so that he wouldn't realize we were laughing. I seriously thought I was going to burst my belly (which could actually happen since I had my appendix out last week!)

Yesterday, Gavin was playing with a small model motorcycle that I had sitting on my desk at work and he had brought home with him the last time he visited me at work. It's an orange Sportster, similar to my own real motorcycle. He set it on the dining room table and pointed to it, stating "That's a actual motorcycle, Mom. See? It's a actual motorcycle. See? It says right there (pointing to the "Harley-Davidson" on the gas tank). Actual. Motor. Cycle. So... it is!"

We were riding in the car the other day when Gavin started talking about things he can do when he's all grown up. "When I'm gwown-up I can chew gum and chop down twees and dwink coffee and pway soccer and dwive big twactos with woaders wike Grampa's big twacto with a big woader. Gwown-ups can chop down twees and they can dwive wahn-mowers and they can chew gum and dwink coffee. And Gwown-ups can pway soccer."

Me: Oh, I like soccer. Soccer is one of my favorite games.

Gavin: Yeah, and when you're all gwown-up... you are all gwode up, Mom! So, you can do soccer! and you can chop down twees too! and Daddy is gwown up too, so he can dwive the wahn-mower and dwink coffee too!"

UPDATE: Renee and Kristin reminded me of a few others!

When Gavin was driving me crazy and I was trying my best to remain humorous so that I didn't actually lose it...
Me: Grrrrrrrrr! I just wanna paddle you!
G: Paddo me? Siwwy Mommy! You don't paddo Gavins! You paddo boats!

After my appendectomy, My dad asked Gavin how I was feeling...
Grandpa: How's your mom feeling?
Gavin: Good. But she's sad. She;s awways sad.
My niece Renee: Why?
Gavin: Because she wants to dwive.

September brings... October

2011-10-03T21:52:00.000-05:00

It is October 3 and it was 82 degrees today in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Despite the heat wave, fall is here and there is no going back.

I took the photos below two weeks ago already... September 19th.

and what do you do in September? You make Groundcherry Pie, of course!

A Walk In The Park

2011-09-15T06:07:00.001-05:00

We are incredibly fortunate to live within a few miles of two of Wisconsin's most magnificent state parks. The Kinnickinnic State Park is practically in our back yard, being just three miles south of our farm. It marks the flow of the Kinnickinnic River into the mighty St. Croix River between Hudson, WI and Prescott, WI. In the eight years that Cliff and I dated before we got married, we spent many days hiking along the Kinnickinnic River, wading in the river's cool, clear springwater. How lucky to live so close to such a wonder.

The Kinnickinnic isn't our only state park nearby. Willow River State Park is just about 10 miles from our house and takes us only 15 minutes to drive there. This park is the home to the Willow River's breathtaking waterfall, that makes you feel as though you aren't even in the midwest anymore. It's truly grand. The park has a campground, a swimming beach, walking trails, a disc golf course, and more wild natural areas than you can imagine, but my favorite place of all, is the falls.

The truth is, this walk in the park is no walk in the park. The trail down to the falls is long and steep. This is actually the case at both of these parks. The walk to the swimming beach at Kinnickinnic is long and steep and the walk to the falls at Willow River is long and steep. Really long. Really steep. Even though it is downhill on the way there, you're sweating when you get to the bottom because you've been working so hard to not just go rolling down the hill. It's a great strengthening exercise for your knee muscles!

The path starts out nice and even and get's the steepest about half way down. It's lush and green and thick.

The bank on the edge of the path is full of ferns. The evening sun gleams through the treetops in a way so magical you would think you were in a fairy tale.

and then you emerge from the dense woods to this...

tier after tier after tier of roaring, rushing cold spring water flowing over rocks, trickling into little pools

The water along the very edges, where it flows out of the rocks, is ice cold, but where the water sits in small pools between the deep and flowing river and the rocky edges, it's warm and calm. Gavin loved splashing and jumping in it and even discovered a few crayfish skittering between the rocks. He didn't want to leave and would have stayed and played all night. Cliff and I used to climb all the way up to the first tier of falls, where you can actually crawl in behind the curtain of flowing water and look at the falls from the inside out, but Gavin's a bit too young yet to make the treck up there. The rocks are always very slippery, so until he's a bit more sure of his footing, is wearing a life vest, (and bubble-wrap and a helmet and knee pads and elbow pads) we'll hold off on taking him up there. For now, he is so happy and content to wade in the side pools and watch the crayfish and jump and splash.

(down river from the falls)

You need to absorb a sight like this before you leave to remind you why you come here. Because the walk back up the hill again almost makes you not want to come back. We almost always take the short cut straight up through the woods, which is more steep, but not as long as the path. It's usually full of mosquitos, poison ivy, and inconveniently placed gnarly roots to make it even more interesting, but there is nothing like getting to the top all sticky, sweaty, and bug-bitten to make you want to run back down again and jump in the river!

Late Summer Evening on the Farm

2011-09-14T09:49:00.003-05:00

Waking up to 50 degrees in the morning (44 this morning) reminds me that summer is nearing its end. The anticipation of that unmistakable smell of fall, a rainbow colored carpet of leaves on the lawn, and those magnificent harvest sunsets excites me, but I will miss summer. I already miss summer and it's really not even gone yet. There is a frost warning tonight for our area. We've had such an unusually warm summer, that the idea of a frost already doesn't seem possible. We've been closing the windows and doors late at night this week, since the chilly air is settling in before we settle in to bed. I love these nights. I love snuggling down in the covers in bed. I love the cooler evenings, but I am not ready for winter. I hope this fall takes its time and stays awhile. I hope the colors come slowly and stay late. I hope the days stay warm for a while yet, even if the nights are cool.

One recent perfect night, I needed to get outside. I needed to soak up this weather. The corn in the fields is about 7' tall and is just starting to dry out. It's looking great. This is the view up our road from our house.

I hadn't had my bicycle out yet this summer. It was still hanging in the shed from last summer. So, that night we got my bike out along with the trailer we had picked up at a garage sale last spring. We pumped up the tires, dusted off the trailer and washed the bike with the hose. I wiped my bike down and lubricated the chain, wheels and brake cables. Gavin was so excited to ride in his trailer!

We rode up and down our road a couple of times. By the end of our ride, the sun was going down and the sky was magnificent. I stopped to snap a couple of photos. The first time I stopped Gavin waited patiently for me to take a couple of pictures and then get going again. After the third stop though, he quickly grew impatient, saying "Mom, go! Go fast Mom!"

I rode into our driveway just before dark. The morning glories had closed for the day, hiding their brilliant purple petals and revealing only a swirling glimpse of their morning glory.

I can't wait to start taking pictures of the leaves on our sugar maples as they begin to turn, revealing what can only be found this once a year and only in these special, beautiful few states in our country.

Welcome autumn,

harvest moon.

Welcome the cool night's chill.

Welcome colors,

of the maple trees.

A happy welcome, fall.

Tonight

2011-08-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

Damp, green grass clippings cling to my cold and clammy feet. The evening dew has set in, a sure sign that summer is nearing it's end. It wasn't hot today - sure, it was hot in the sun while I was sanding away at the old drop-leaf table I'm working on, but sitting still, or in the shade, it wasn't a hot day. It was a lovely day. I even wondered if I should put Gavin in long pants when we went outside this evening. I was in jeans and a tank top, but the ground was chilly on my bare feet. While Gavin played in his sandbox, climbed on our big rocks, and ran around the yard with Drake trotting after him, I made the rounds... picking up from the weekend. I filled the hummingbird feeders, transplanted that hosta that I had moved into the center of the walkway when I thought we were getting rid of the walkway, I washed out and refilled the bird baths, watered the potted plants, coiled up and put away the hose, put Gavin's ride-on toys and lawn mower away, pulled the shed doors closed, and put away the sander, tack-cloth, brushes, primer and paint from my afternoon painting project. As I walked through the yard, I could hear the bugs and the frogs and toads beginning to sing their nightly chorus. It reminds me of my parents' house - the way the turtles and frogs in their ponds would sing me to sleep every night, all summer long, the cool summer night air floating in through the open windows. This is a night like to many I remember. As I made my way through the cold wet grass out to the mailbox to check for yesterday's mail and paper, my feet were slowly becoming numb to the pokes of sticks and thistles in the yard and the gravel of the driveway out near the mailbox. I could feel the dampness settling on the skin of my arms and I wished I had another layer on, something on my arms. The sky was almost completely dark now, Gavin had gone in the house with Cliff when he got home, and I was completely absorbed by the cool night air, the wet grass sticking to my feet, the darkness setting in. The warm light from the kitchen window glowed orange as I made my way back up to the house. I wiped my feet on the rug and felt the warmth of the house instantly envelope me. It seems hot summer nights are going to be fewer and chilly nights like this will soon be more common. It was a beautiful summer, a hot, beautiful summer.

One Month

2011-08-05T15:56:00.002-05:00

It's been a month since I last posted on the blog. I know, a whole month. Truth be told, I considered blogging a couple of days ago, but then decided to wait until today, just because that would mean I took a whole month off of blogging. I thought it would be good for me to just enjoy our activities without thinking of everything in terms of how I was going to blog about it. Turns out, it didn't make a difference since I still planned on blogging about it all, just not right away - so it in fact may have stressed me out a little... trying to remember the little details that made the activity or day special. Trying to think up funny ways to write about something mundane, etc. I even wrote a post in my head about discovering a wasp nest in Gavin's plastic outdoor play structure! That's when it really hit me - do people even care?

So, I ask you... what do you want to read about? Do you want to read about Gavin and how he is growing and changing and the funny things he says? Do you want a general idea of what we've been up to as a family? Do you want to know what strange things I wonder and think about and ponder? Do you just want pictures? Pictures of Gavin? Pictures of life? Artistic pictures? (okay - can't promise that one)

Well, I have approximately eight HUNDRED photos from the past month (and no, I am not exaggerating), so I need approximately one hundred hours to actually sort through them and decide what I want to share here, what I need to edit, etc. (one hundred hours might be a slight exaggeration, but only slight). For now, here are just a few little tiny glimpses into what we've been up to...

A spur-of-the-moment evening trip to one of our favorite parks with a breathtaking waterfall.

A kayak trip down a quiet wooded canal near Brainerd. (This isn't my new kayak, but I did get one!)

Lots and lots and lots of time playing in the sand.

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

We had such an amazing weekend full of family and friends, games and fun, fireworks and picnics - there is much to share. For today, though, I'll just leave you with this patriotic pic of my favorite little boy.

Would you say that corn is "knee high by the fourth of July"? That depends I guess on whose knees you're measuring against! Yes, thankfully, our corn is looking great!

Happy Indpendence Day!
God Bless!
,

Thursday Thoughts - Random Ramblings

2011-06-30T18:08:00.002-05:00

.
A collection of completely random thoughts, that I just needed to get out of my head and onto paper... screen... whatever...

1. I saved a kitten this morning and let a baby bird die this afternoon. Let's start with the kitten. The setting: our house sits at the beginning of a dead-end road, just about 100 yards from the T in the road. The entire road is only about 3/4 mile long, and at the end of it is Cliff's parents' farm. The situation: I left home in a bit of a hurry this morning because I had a department meeting at work first thing and had to be sure to get there on time. I turned out of our driveway and saw something in the road at the T. It was too small to be a raccoon, possum, or cat, but too big to be a mouse or a mole, and we don't really have squirrels. As I neared it, I saw that it was a very small kitten, sitting on the pavement, smack dab in the center of the "intersection" ( if you can even call it that). It was at least a few weeks old, but it's eyes were stuck shut, so it couldn't see anything. I opened my car door and walked over to the kitten. It cowered ever so slightly as I picked it up, but it seemed relieved to have been "found". I know that the nearest place that has kittens is 3/4 mile up the road and wondered how this sightless little kitten could have possibly ended up way down here. (forgive my up and down references. I consider my house "down" and cliff's parents' farm "up", but technically they're at the "end" so I guess they would technically be "down" and I would be "up"??? I needed to get to work, but couldn't leave the kitten in the middle of the road (or in the middle of nowhere for that matter), so I plopped him in my lap and drove back up/down the road and in my driveway. I was hoping to pass the scared, hungry, and lonely little kitten off to Cliff to handle and be on my way. However, Gavin had just woken up and Cliff had his hands full. I showed Cliff the kitten with my arms outstretched and a "here, do something with this" look on my face. He asked where I found it and I explained. "Then it's been there all night, because I saw it walking on the road last night up by my parents' house and thought it was strange that it was out and about all alone", he said. The poor sightless thing must have walked 3/4 of a mile down the road alone and gotten lost and disoriented. I had to do something, but couldn't pass him off to Cliff, so back in the car we went. We drove the 3/4 of a mile up the road to the barn, where I was sure this little guy belonged (as there are two litters of kittens currently residing there). I plopped him inside the door by the other cats and kittens and turned to leave. He was following me and so was another kitten, a white and light gray siamese looking puffball. I scooped them both up, plopped them further inside the barn and took off. I was feeling so good about the kitten, ...and then as if I was maybe having too good of a day... the bird crossed my path.

The situation: I had gone out for lunch with a friend from work. As we walked up to the restaurant, we both saw something on the concrete step, but couldn't tell at first what it was... a frog? a dried up flower? Nope, it was a bird. The tiniest, nakedest, babiest birdie we had ever seen. It's mouth (beak) was wider than the entire rest of it's little head. It was on the concrete steps of Anodyne, below a corrugated metal awning and the nest was nowhere in sight. My guess is that the nest was somewhere up in the sculpted metal sign configuration and the bird most likely fell out and onto the corrugated metal awning and then down onto the concrete. He was alive, but there was little hope for his survival. My friend and I picked him up and looked all over for a nest. With no hope of returning him to his nest and no hope of being able to care for such a young bird, we finally agreed that the best thing we could do for him was place him in a shaded window-box, so that at least he wouldn't be stepped on. He isn't going to make it, and I wish I could have ended his suffering, but I couldn't.

.........

I wrote the above paragraph last, but didn't want to leave you on that sad note... so, I've moved it to the beginning and now the transition from poor little bird to Avocado Salad just doesn't flow and makes me feel a little woozy. I was hoping this disclaimer would help smooth out the transition and ease some of the awkwardness. Not really working...

..........

2. Our lunch at Anodyne was delicious. We shared a Turkey, Bacon, Pesto Sandwich and a Mixed Greens Salad with Avocado, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Home-made Croutons, and a delightful Spicy Avocado Ranch Dressing.

Anodyne Coffee Shop

3. Confession... I painted my toenails in the bathroom stall at work this morning. They were looking pretty dull and rough with the old red polish chipping off and I'm wearing open-toed shoes today. Heaven knows you can't have dull, chipping toe polish with open-toed shoes! However, as you will see, I just polished right over the top of the uneven, chipping, dull old polish due to time constraints and the fact that I was doing this in a bathroom stall, so this quick-fix pedicure leaves MUCH to be desired! The color is Lollipop by Essie.

4. I am in love with my new tinted lip balm. I have always been a big fan of Burt's Bees lip balm, but I sometimes like just a little color too. I tried the Burt's Bee's Lip Shimmer last year, but it was a little too opaque and a little too granular for me. It didn't feel as smooth and moisturizing as the regular Burt's Bees lip balm and it was almost as if I could feel the little grains of shimmery-ness on my lips. Well, I just tried their new Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Hibiscus and I LOVE it. Apparently it isn't really all that new afterall! It's been on the market for at least six months, but who knew? WHERE WAS I? This stuff is like heaven! It's smooth and moisturizing and translucent, but still has the perfect amount of color (and I'm not a lipstick girl). The color lasted several hours, and my lips felt yummy without feeling sticky. I didn't feel like I was leaving lip gloss goo on the rim of my drinking glass and my hair didn't stick to my lips when the wind blew it in my face. I also LOVE the hibiscus color. Not too pink, but not red or purple either. It is the exact color that my lips are naturally when they're at their best and most moisturized. It just keeps that colorful, fresh look all day!

5. I wear flip-flops when I drive because my ankles get strained from driving in heels - I always, always, always have at least one pair of flip-flops in my car or purse. Also in my purse right now, there are two pull-ups (diapers). I always stick one in there when heading out someplace with Gavin and I rarely need it. Every once in a while, I need to just remobe the collection of pull-ups from my purse so my wallet can fit in there!

6. I ate three donuts in one day this week. I'm not usually a big donut eater, but I do have a weakness for chocolate-coated cake donuts. The yellow cake ones that are completely coated in that hard, chocolate coating that isn't really frosting, but obviously isn't really chocolate either. The special thing about that kind of donut is that the coating seals in the freshness and the donuts don't get stale.... and when you dunk them in milk or coffee, the coating helps hold the delicious milk or coffee inside the cake part. Yum. My mouth waters. So... this week, my Mom brought over a box of said donuts. I was hungry and in a hurry one morning, so I threw two of them into a zip-lock baggie and headed out the door. I enjoyed one in the car on my way to work, but restrained myself and left the other one. ...until, after work when I was again hungry and in a hurry and had an hour drive home ahead of me. So, that's two donuts now, right? ...and then I got home and Gavin saw the box of donuts on the counter and said "Can I pwease have a muffin, Mom?" Wow, what a healthy eater to choose a muffin over those delicious chocolate coated cake donuts! Yeah... except he meant donut, he just calls them muffins. So, I promised that he could have one after dinner. After finishing his roasted pork sandwich, some cucumber slices, and a pile of watermelon, he was ready for the donut. He asked me to take the lid off his sippy-cup so he could dip it. It looked so delicious, dripping with cold milk... I couldn't resist getting one for myself. Yep, third one that day.

7. I have three random, bright red welts on the back side of my shoulder/armpit and have no idea what they're from. My best guess is that they are gnat bites, but they look like blood blisters or chafing, as if I wore a tank top or bra that were WAY to tight and were chafing me. But I didn't, and one is up on the top of my shoulder and is much more round and less oblong, so I think they're bites. I DO hope that whatever but me was outside, and not in my bed!

8. I had my hair colored a week ago and I'm slightly disappointed as usual. I know that most people go for natural looking highlights and lowlights that blend in, but I want the opposite. I think that my appearance doesn't match my personality and it bothers me that I look very conservative and plain when I feel very liberal and colorful. So, I always think if I could make my hair look a little more... dramatic / fun / alternative, I would look more like I feel. I love my hair stylist and think she is a really fun person, and I thought she would "get me" when I explained what I was looking for. I said specifically "overstated instead of understated", "drastic change", "wow factor", "completely different", "un-natural", "dark, chunky foils". But, what I ended up with was "meh". I am sure that there are a lot of people out there who would freak out if their foil came out looking drastic or un-natural, but that is exactly the look I wanted. I don't hate my hair, I like it just fine. I just don't love it. And for what a color costs, I should love it. Here's the new look. What do you think?

9. My two-and-a-half year-old hits... a lot... and hard... with a fist. I don't know why or how, because we aren't a hitting family and we are generally calm and very loving. When I remind ("scold" is too harsh of a word) him that we don't hit and show him (again) how to touch genrly, he tells me I'm a bad mommy and hits me again, sometimes with a smirk on his face. When this happens, I occasionally lose my patience with him and smack him back, usually on his diapered tush. I hate that I do that even though he is blatantly hitting me. I just think that I'm not setting a very good example. He usually laughs. Occasionally he cries a little, but not because it hurt, just because it surprises him. Anyone have a solution for an adorable, too-smart-for-his-age, sweet and loving boy who hits when he doesn't get his way?

10. I have undiagnosed attention deficit disorder. I am not joking and I'm not referring to the random thoughts in this post. In all seriousness... I completely zone out in meetings at work sometimes and miss important details! When I am doing anything (like writing a blog post or sending an email), I never, ever do so in one "sitting". I leave and come back to it. I open and browse through photos on the computer, I read emails, I check other blogs, etc. I literally get "bored" with what I'm doing so quickly, I have to do something else for a little while. I open internet windows to do something, but never actually do what I went there to do. Great example - I've been promising my Mom I'd upload some family reunion photos on to a photo-sharing site, and I've opened the website every night for three nights, but I haven't uploaded the pictures yet.

11. I'm a chronic non-returner. I buy things that I'm not 100% sure about, knowing that I can return them if I find something better or if they're not the right thing, but I very rarely actually return them. I unintentionally wait until after the 90-day return window has passed and then attempt to return them (sometimes) only to be reminded that I'm too late to return them. Hello, skirt that was too big, swimsuit that was more expensive than the other one that was just as cute, duplicate item since the first one I bought was the wrong size so I bought another in the right size before returning the original. Guess I'm keeping you anyway - or you're going to the Goodwill!

12. I love bouquets of a single type of flower and it doesn't really even matter what kind it is. I love whole bouquets of lilacs, of tulips, of sunflowers, of daisies. There is just something about the simplicity of a whole bunch of a single type of flower.

I can't remember the last time I was given flowers. (my wedding anniversary is next week)...

13. I love green flowers. I'm not sure if it's the shade of green and the fact that there is very little on the earth that naturally comes in this bright, fresh color, but I love it. I have planted green zinnias in my garden for several years now, just for cutting. I don't think they ever grow. This year, they are coming up! I can't wait!

14. I would like to lose 8 lbs, and then if I succeed at it, I'd like to lose 4 more. I find it more and more difficult to feel beautiful lately. I have not historically been very concerned about my appearance, but I think that it ties in with health and I have not been eating very healthy (healthily?) and have also not been exercising ~~very often~~ at all.

15. I have a million photos like the one below, because I absolutely love the view of the sunset from my yard. In the winter, the sun sets further south than it is here, so the actual view of the sun setting is much clearer. But in the spring and summer, it shines through the trees, which I love. The main rooms in my house all face west, so we always get to see the sun going down. Love this late-evening view. I could photograph it every day and love it just the same.

Have a beautiful, fun-filled, glorious, patriotic Fourth of July holiday. That sunset up there beats out fireworks any day, doesn't it?
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"Cruze-In" On A Sunday Afternoon

2011-06-27T17:29:00.000-05:00

Where did I get that awesome old photo of River Falls' Main Street back in it's hey-day, you ask? Well, I just snapped that picture a few weeks ago! I know, I know I'm an amazing time traveler! No, really though. I did just take this snapshot of Main Street just a few weeks ago at the "Cruze-In", a free event featuring classic and custom cars and motorcycles. There is no judging and no entry fees or spectator fees - it's just a bunch of people who like their cars or motorcycles hanging out on Main Street. They can come and go as they please, although most stayed all afternoon. We rode my motorcycle into town with the sidecar on it and parked it with the other motorcycles that were there for viewing. We walked up and down Main Street over and over and had so much fun!

We saw lots of people we knew, including our friend Kevin who was there showing his car. Gavin loved his daughter Sonya, who is... maybe 13? She came on her roller blades and Gavin kept calling them skateboards. Who knows where he even heard of skateboards, but he kept saying "I wike dat girl waywing katebodes". After we said goodbye to them, he kept asking us where the girl with the skateboards went. It was pretty cute. We also saw some other friends from our motorcycling group. The best part for Gavin, I think, was this fancy blue race car. The sweetest couple owned thsi racecar and actually came up and told us that Gavin could sit in it if he wanted to. He was so excited to sit in a real race car! They even gave him a photo of the racecar on the track to take home with him as a souvenir! It was so special!

We can't wait to do this again! It happens the third Sunday of the month throughout the summer, so July 10th and Aug 14th are the next dates. So much fun stuff coming up... River Falls Days, Tractor Pulls, Parades, Oh my!

Movie Review

2011-06-16T21:39:00.001-05:00

Very rarely do I go to the movie theater. It isn’t that I don’t enjoy it – I actually really do. It’s just that I don’t usually find time for that. It seems that if I’m getting together with a friend or even out on a date with my husband, I’d rather spend the time visiting or enjoying something else I love, like eating out or going for a walk. Spring and Summertime are also tough times for me to keep up on movies because I love to be outside so much that I can barely stand to spend two hours in the freezing cold, air-conditioned darkness of the theater. Every once in a while though, there is a movie I really want to see or an opportunity to join some girlfriends for dinner and a chance to catch a chick-flick that I know Cliff would never sit through!

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I got a text from my friend Steph asking if I was up for dinner at Barkers, one of our favorite little places on Hudson’s main street followed by the movie Bridesmaids. Of course I was up for it. What’s more fun than a few hours with a couple of good friends??

Steph had the fantastic Veggie Sandwich, Stacy had her standby - the Grilled Cheese, and I had a delicious Bullseye Burger.

Dinner was great and the movie? One of THE funniest movies I have ever seen. Yes there were some slightly embarrassing moments in the movie – some disturbing situations – some parts where I actually covered my eyes… but I laughed out loud. I think my friend Stacy may have even elbowed me at one point because I was so loud. I very rarely laugh out loud – I’m just a relatively quiet person in general. So, you know if I am laughing out loud it is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY funny. I shrieked in horror and laughed in amusement over and over during this movie. It’s slightly embarrassing how much I enjoyed this. My Mom would not have liked this movie and I have the utmost respect for my Mom. She would have laughed at the same parts I laughed at, and would have been embarrassed at the same parts I was embarrassed at. Somehow though, the ‘honorable’ and ‘respectful’ genes missed me and I tend to find this type of humor incredibly humorous! …when I’m not trying to be so honorable and respectful, that is!

After the movie, Stacy and I ended up standing out in the parking lot of the movie theater chatting and catching up. For two people who live only three miles apart, we sure don’t talk or see each other very often at all! I couldn’t even remember the last time we had talked! It was so nice to catch up and of course, I vowed to myself that I’d be sure to call her and invite her over for lunch or to scrapbook or just to meet her for a walk. One of my very favorite stretches of road is smack dab between my house and hers. Of course, she calls that narrow, curvy, dark and wooded stretch of road ‘the scary way’ and I call it ‘the beautiful way’. That’s the difference between the two of us and that’s why we compliment each other so nicely.

So back to the movie review…

As if it isn’t rare enough for me to go to the movies and share my review of a movie that totally cracked me up, I actually saw two movies last week!

Yup, you heard me right. I saw two movies in one week. Friday night I got home from work a little late after two long days of trainings that I’d been planning (that’s my job) for several weeks. When I got home from work, Cliff had brought Gavin up to his parents’ house so he and I could go see a movie. We didn’t have time for both dinner and a movie since it was already 6:30 and his parents wanted to get to bed early (they had big plans to go to an auction early Saturday morning, so they needed their rest!). We ate leftover turkey wraps in the car and then bought popcorn at the movie theater. We saw the movie “Super 8” and it was interesting, but not what I was expecting. I had heard a radio interview about the movie where it was compared to “E.T.” and I didn’t think this was anything like “E.T.” other than the fact that an alien ends up stuck here on earth and wants to go home. That was the end of the comparison for me. I did find the movie interesting and parts of it were funny, but it was more suspenseful than I prefer. I don’t like that heart-racing, teeth-chattering, edge of my seat suspense. I think it’s bad for my aging heart (okay, so I’m not even 35 years old yet, but it feels like it’s bad for my heart!)

The friendship between the boys is funny and the crush on the girl is endearing, but much of the movie is, dare I admit… scary! The movie ended happily (for those who didn’t get eaten by the alien) and I am glad I saw it. I did thoroughly enjoy the date with my hubby!

…and when we got home at 10:00 and Grandma and Grandpa were about ready to head home, I even got a snuggle from my little peanut (who happened to climb out of bed and came out into the dining room to give me a hug). I didn’t complain that he was out of bed at 10:00 either – I just wrapped my arms around his warm little back, smooched him up and sent him back to his warm bed.

Next movie I want to see? It’s already on video, but I had no idea it was a movie! I am reading “The Time Traveler’s Wife” which has been in my “to read” pile for ages and I am finally getting around to it. The other night, Cliff and I were laying in bed and I was telling him about the book… he said, “Oh yeah, I saw the movie trailer for that one”

What??? It’s a movie? Why on earth am I reading the book then? Oh silly, silly me. So, I’m continuing to read the book, but only until I get a chance to see the movie! I can’t wait!!! Apparently it's been out for a long, long time because my sister said she saw it on New Year's one time and it wasn't this last year!

More Silly Things Gavin Says

2011-06-02T15:35:00.001-05:00

During a picnic in the yard this week, Gavin disappeared into the house for a few minutes. When he returned, he ran from the house to our picnic blanket carrying a large wooden spoon from the kitchen and as he ran past the rest of us on the picnic blanket, he handed me the big wooden spoon and said "Hee'a go. In case you needa cook sumpin!" ...apparently he thought we needed a wooden spoon for our picnic.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One evening, my niece D and I were sitting in my kitchen visiting while Gavin was quietly and contently playing in the living room, driving his tractors, no doubt. We were amazed at now content he was playing by himself and I even commented how nice it is that at this age he plays on his own more and more. After a while, we got up to go get Gavin's bath ready, and as we came into the living room, we saw that the heavy 10' x 12' living room rug was folded over - almost in half - from two of the corners! This is a rug that is so big and heavy that I have to roll it up one side at a time in order to clean the floors under it. I certainly can't lift it by myself. Gavin had it folded in half and was driving his tractors over it. In shock and surprise, I said "What happened in here???" to which Gavin stood and turned toward me, put his hands up in the air, and very matter of factly said "Me! Diss is fwum me!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gavin recently discovered that one of his stuffed animals is actually a hand puppet. It's a Mallard Drake and if you put your hand inside, you can flap his wings and make his duck-bill open and close. Gavin ran out of his room with his duck and said, "Mom, wook! I can put mine hand in his butt!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

While laying in bed one morning, Gavin snuggling up next to me, one of those yawn-induced tears rolled from my eye down the side of my face toward my pillow. Gavin looked at it and said "Why you have a dweam on yo face?"

Me: "Did you just ask why I have a dream on my face?"

G: "Yeah, you have a dweam wight heo on yo cheek", pointing at the tear.

Me: "Do you mean this tear?"

G: "Yeah, dat teo"

Me: "Sometimes when we yawn, a tear comes out of our eyes and I just yawned."

G: "Oh"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

and speaking of using the wrong word... apparently compound words like lawnmower can be confusing to a two year old. We say sometimes that we're going to mow the lawn or we ask Gavin if he wants to ride the lawnmower with us. Apparently, the words lawn and mow are now interchangable...

He asks sometimes if we can "wahn the gwass". The first couple of times I had no idea what he was talking about and when I guessed incorrectly, he would say louder and more intensely, "no, waahhhhhhn the gwass" "waaahhhhhhn it wiss the wahnmowo". I finally figured out that he meant mow the grass... with the lawnmower.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

...but as silly as wahning the gwass sounds, he's smarter than we give him credit for. He has very recently started hitting again when he is mad at us or is being forced to do something he doesn't want to do, like come in the house when he wants to stay outside and play, or when a cousin or play mate tries to take a toy from him. He hadn't hit anyone in such a long time and had finally outgrown it, but his little cousin is just entering that phase in toddlerhood and I think it's bringing it back in Gavin, although hopefully just temporarily. So, the other day, we were playing and giggling and he had decided he had enough of it and he hit me right in the nose, pretty hard. I looked at him and reminded him that we don't hit and that if he wanted me to stop playing he should just ask me to. Then I asked him to say sorry to me and try to remember next time to just ask me. He got this sly little grin and said, "but I was jist twyin' a cwap yo hand". Little smarty-pants!

Day Trip

2011-06-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

My friend Val's lilacs.

They were just so beautiful, I had to share a photo of them.

I had the most beautiful garden tour last night at her house. She has the most enormous purple bearded irises that can barely be contained in a vase. They are breathtaking. I didn't get a photo.

Thanks Val for the wonderful garden tour. You've done so much to add beauty to your yard!

Here are my two macho motorcycle men sitting outside Dairy Queen watching the cars go by on Hudson's main street. We took one of the motorcycles out with the sidecar on Memorial day and stopped for lunch at DQ before heading over to my brother's new place in Hudson for a quick little visit.

Gavin absolutely loves motorcycle rides. He sits in my lap in the sidecar and cozies up behind the windshield. He has a little 3/4 helmet as well as a full helmet, but the 3/4 fits him better. He's been asking to go for a ride for weeks, so we went out, even though it was a cloudy day with some sprinkles. The temperature was certainly warm enough! Cliff was hot in his long-sleeved shirt. We got rained on at DQ, but no raindrops while we were actually riding.

There isn't too much Gavin loves more than motorcycling, except maybe ice cream!

Shadow Play

2011-05-26T11:10:00.002-05:00

I've never really had bedroom curtains. We don't need window coverings for privacy reasons where we live, but I do love the softness they add to a room. I recently hung these inexpensice linen Ikea curtains in our bedroom and although they really don't block any light, they do provide just a tiny amount of privacy, which is sort of nice since this window does face a road, although it's quite a ways away.

More importantly, these curtains provide a sunny, fun place to play on a Saturday morning!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

2011-05-25T11:56:00.002-05:00

.
Laying in bed together on a Saturday morning...

     Gavin: I wike yo wong eow, Mom.
               (I like your long ear, Mom.)

     Me: Thanks, buddy.

     Gavin: Tanks. It's nice and woam.
                (Thanks. It's nice and warm.)

     Me: You're funny.

     Gavin: Tanks.
                 (Thanks.)

Getting in the car to go to daycare one morning...

Gavin: Can I dwive aday?
            (Can I drive today?)

     Me: No buddy, you can't drive today. Who gets to drive?

     Gavin: Ony gwown-ups dwive a cow.
                 (Only grown-ups can drive the car.)

   Me: That's right, only grown-ups.

     Gavin: When I gwo up and you gwo down, den you can sit in a back seat and I can sit in a dwivo seat?
                 (When I grow up and you grow down, then you can sit in the back seat and I can sit in the
                 driver's seat?)

     Me: Yes, Gavin. When you're grown up, you can sit in the driver's seat.

     Gavin: and when you ow gwown down den you can sit in a back seat.
                 (and when you're all grown down, you can sit in the back seat.)

As my niece R is helping him out of the car at a restaurant for breakfast after church on Sunday. (I may not have all of the words exactly ver batim in this story, but you'll get the gist)

     R: Here Gavin, I'll help you out.

     Gavin: I'm afwaid.
                 (I'm afraid.)

     R: What are you afraid of?

     Gavin: I'm afwait a cawy animo is gonna eat me.
                 (I'm afraid a scary animal is going to eat me.)

     R: I don't think there are any animals in this parking lot to be afraid of. I'll protect you.

     Gavin: You wiw keep me safe.
                  (You will keep me safe.)

When my Mom was watching the boys at my sister's house and she reminded him that they need to pick up his cousin's toys outside before they go back in the house.

     Grandma: We need to pick up Nathan's toys before we go in.

     Gavin: Yeah, because if we don't, he wiw be disappointed.
                  (Yeah, because if we don't he will be disappointed.)

As we were walking up to my niece's soccer game, Gavin noticed a woman laying in the grass on the hillside at the park.

Gavin: Hey Mommy, dat man is tipped ovo!
            (Hey Mommy, that man is tipped over!)

Me: That lady is laying down, isn't she.

Gavin: Yeah! He's tipped ovo!
             (Yeah! He's tipped over!)

Every time Gavin sees me wearing jewelry...

Gavin: I wike yo pwitty neckwiss, Mom.
            (I like your pretty necklace, Mom.)

Me: Thank you, sweetheart. That's a nice compliment.

Gavin: Tanks!
            (Thanks!)

Some of the other funny things he says...

When he is in a good mood, he tells people they are his best friend. Just last night at Buffalo Wild Wings, he turned to my niece R who is... 13? and said "Yo mine best fwend." And last weekend he was asking if we would be seeing my other niece G who is... 12? and he said "See's mine best fwend."

Isn't that the sweetest thing?

And when he is acting grouchy, he furrows his eyebrows and says "You can't come at mine house any mo."

I only wish I could capture it all and save it away on a little microchip for someday. As soon as I turn on a video camera, no matter how inconspicuous I try to be, he stops talking.

His language is changing every day. I remember when his Thank You went from "Way-koo" to "Tanks". And when "You" used to be "ooo".

Oh what funny things come out of that sweet little mouth. Funny, ...even when he pronounces all of the words correctly... funny because they are thoughts too big or too advanced or too naive for a two-year old. Thoughts so simple and plain, like "I like your pretty necklace". or "This sure is a pretty nice car, Mom."

Just last night, when my Mom was getting ready to go home after watching Gavin and his little cousin C at my house, Gavin said to my mom, "Thanks Grandma, for putting my red boots on and thanks for putting my raincoat on and thanks for putting my hat on so I could go outside and play today."

He can be so stinkin' nice sometimes!

...and sometimes not...
It wasn only minutes later that he and his little cousin C were both in his room and we suddenly heard C screaming and Gavin frantically saying "sorry" and more screaming. When we went in the room to check things out, it appeared that Gavin had C in a choke-hold. Of course, we asked Gavin to let go and then asked what happened. Gavin told us that he pushed C over and then said sorry and was trying to pick him back up (by his neck) and saying sorry. I think the screaming actually started when Gavin tried to "help him up".

Sad, but kinda funny too.

Perspective and a Perfect Day

2011-05-23T23:03:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I spent much of my day outside, working in the gardens through the rain... cleaning up the yard, my socks squish-squashing with each step - rainwater inside my shoes... going back and forth between pulling the sleeves of my damp sweatshirt down over my hands to keep warm and stripping down to my tank-top in the sun with damp, curly, wind-blown hair falling in my face as I shoveled, transplanted, weeded, and raked mulch. ...and do you know what? It was a fantastic day... for me.

Today is Monday. It's rainy and humid, I have a headache, I'm overtired, and my refrigerator needs to be cleaned out (I know - random). For some reason, I feel like complaining. Yes, I who didn't have tornadoes rip through my city, tearing apart the homes of my friends and family, leaving families searching for lost loved ones, their place of business destroyed, their bank destroyed, their grocery store destroyed, their vehicle missing, their home missing, their child missing. What do I have to complain about? Nothing really.

It's all perspective. Last night, as we finished eating dinner... a picnic-y summer meal of grilled hot dogs, wavy potato chips with cottage cheese for dipping, dill pickles, and grapes... I started thinking through a blog post I wanted to write. I wanted to write about the day in a way that anyone who might read it would understand - would feel - the content I felt after working outside all day. I talked through it in my head. I mumbled what I would say as I washed up the supper dishes, listening to Gavin giggling in the bathtub as Cliff tickled and played bath time games with him. I had so much to share. I wanted to write it all. Not that so much happened in my yard yesterday, just that so much was felt. In my mind, my psyche, my heart, a lot happened yesterday.

I didn't get a chance last night to write it. This morning, my perspective had changed. Like I said, today was Monday, so rather than getting to stay home and enjoy my family, I went to work. Rather than work in the dirt, I prepared for a meeting of 120 patient care managers, sat at a computer, and led 15 new employees through online mandatory training. My hands still look like I've been gardening, but my mind is no longer at ease. My biggest worry is no longer, "what's for dinner?" Like I said, I'm overtired and my head hurts. I'm just not myself today.

Yesterday, while people's lives were forever being changed for the worse, while storms ravaged our state, and others, I happily filled my birdfeeders, had coffee with a girl friend, went to a antique and yard sale with my sister and my friend, gardened, watched my little boy play in his sandbox, and watched the hummingbirds flit around my yard carelessly. I watched the storms roll by, dousing my yard once in a while, but mostly just drizzling. We eventually decided to work through the rain. It seemed that by the time we got back into the house and got our shoes off, the rain had stopped anyway and we were heading back outside, so it wasn't really worth stopping for those short rainy spells. Gavin played in his sandbox in the drizzle, shielded slightly by the screen porch above him. I stood just outside of the shelter of the screen porch, in the rain, to push him on the swing. Only his feet were getting rained on, since the swing hangs from the underside of the screen porch and his feet only stick out in to the yard when he is in full swing. It didn't matter anyway. His socks were sopping wet, his pants were sopping wet, his shoes were like little sponges, soaking up every drop of water. He laughed and giggled and played.

I'm trying desperately to coax back the perspective I had yesterday, the overwhelming feeling of appreciation that made me want to blog about it so badly. Instead, as I write, I just keep hearing myself repeat the same things over and over.

I'm going to just keep writing and be sure not to repeat the things I've already said...

Yesterday morning I woke up with a smile on my face. It was early, really early.

I had been out to dinner Saturday night for just a couple of hours with my girl friend for her birthday and got home around 10:30. Gavin was sleeping over at Grandma & Grandpa's, and I didn't know what to do with myself in the house all alone. So, I started sorting and organizing. Yes, silly I know. It was around 11:00 at night and I was sorting through and putting away clothes and making a pile for the Goodwill. Around 12:30am or so, Cliff pulled into the driveway. He had come home a day early from his fishing trip, (or at least 12 hours early anyway). He'd been gone for four days, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We finally crawled into bed some time after 1:30. The windows and doors in the house were all open and the fresh spring air was coming in. Our bedroom was chilly, but the bed was warm.

I woke up to bright sunlight streaming in the windows in my room. I smiled. It had rained most of Saturday and just when the sun finally came out it was time for me to leave for dinner. I missed the sunshine. A sunny Sunday morning was just what the doctor ordered. I looked at the clock... 5:00am. Gavin was at Grandma and Grandpa's and I was awake at 5:00am? Impossible! I snuggled down into the covers and closed my eyes, hoping to fall back to sleep. At 6:30, I was still laying there, listening to the birds sing outside, reveling in the sunshine warming the bed. My friend C was planning on coming over for coffee and I was looking forward to it. I wondered what time I would hear from her. I had set the "delay brew" timer on the coffee maker and listened to hear if it had started brewing yet. I closed my eyes again, knowing full well that I wouldn't actually be able to go back to sleep. I had slept less than four hours and yet, the sun was out and I couldn't wait for a fun, sun-shiny day. At 7:30 I got her text, "Are you up yet?"

"Yay!" As much as I wanted to go back to sleep, I knew that I couldn't and I was excited for her visit. She is always great company and is content to do whatever I am doing that day, whether it's playing with Gavin, cooking, gardening, or just sitting on the couch drinking coffee. Okay, okay, so I don't really ever just sit on the couch and drink coffee unless I have a friend over. So, having her is a great excuse to do just that. By the time she got to my house at 9:00am, the sunshine was gone, and it was cold and rainy. What? More rain? More cold? It rained off and on all day, but it turned out to be a great day. We spent the morning in the house, chatting over coffee, enjoying spinach and feta scrambled eggs, playing with Gavin, and talking about all of the sewing and craft projects we both want to try.

My sister came over and the three of us drove over to "Our Neighbor's Old Barn Sale" just down the road. She sells nice old (not too fancy) antique furniture, dishes, household items, farm items, and linens as well as garden art, plants, and lots of other fun artsy creations in the farm yard and barn. The off and on rain kept us on our toes. We had a couple of little sprinkles and were talking about how we should make our way toward the barn before it really started to rain and all of a sudden we were in a torrential downpour and ran into the nearest little shed to take cover! We huddled in there for 10 minutes or so until it stopped and then wandered back out into the yard.

We came home to lunch already prepared for us! Cliff had stayed home with Gavin and my nephew Nathan, with plans to dig out the bazillion gargantuan mutant dandelions from the vegetable garden, but they got rained out after just a few minutes and instead spent the hour we were gone in the house. Cliff made pasta with red sauce for lunch and had it ready when we came home. How sweet was that!

After Gavin was down for his nap, my friend C and I headed outside to tackle a gardening project. Throughout the entire morning I had been suggesting projects... "we should sand and paint my clothesline posts", "we should thin out the wildflower bed on the end of the shed and send some plants home with you", "we should try sewing one of those dolls I've been telling you I wanted to make", "we should plant the golden raspberries that my sister brought over for me", "we should glue this felt flower together and see what we think? We could make a bunch of them", "we should plant these grasses that I have sitting in the pots", "we should plant these Ranuculus bulbs"...and on and on...

...until she and Cliff both said, "you should pick just one project and get started"

They think they're so smart!

Well, we did. We decided to go outside and start thinning out the wildflower bed on the end of the shed. Then it started raining again, so we moved up to the front porch and she planted my Rununculus in my pots under the shelter of the front porch roof while I planted the potted grasses in my new flower bed out front (pictures coming soon). We both quickly gave up on staying dry and headed out into the rain. On a rainy afternoon during Gavin's naptime, we accomplished quite a bit!

- thinned out crazy prolific purple flowers in wildflower bed

- dug out misplaced poppies and potted them up for C to take home

- dug out a few black-eyed susans for C to replace the ones that didn't come back at her house

- planted Ranunculus in pots on front steps

- transplanted some plants (mostly hostas) from current front-west flower bed to new front-east flower bed

- planted potted Flowering Almond from Mom's yard (Mom always called this May Rose, but I think May Rose is different)

- planted potted golden currant from Hermy

- weeded out random baby elm trees, dandelions and other weeds from wildflower bed

- planted basil from kitchen window in herb pot on front porch

- cleared burn weed (stinging nettle) from between old fenceposts to make a spot for raspberries

- planted golden raspberries from my sister

- removed landscape logs from around wildflower garden and put them away in shed

After C went home and Gavin got up from nap, we had a hefty snack (fresh cheese curds, wheat crackers, grapes, and cucumber slices) since I knew it was quite possible that we'd be outside all evening. When we went back outside around 5:00, we:

- filled bird feeders (this requires a tall ladder as they hang from the soffit on the house)

- rinsed out and re-filled bird baths (thanks Gavin)

- dug out hummingbird feeders from shed so I can wash and fill them

- pulled burn-weed (not all of it) from black raspberry patch in old fencerow

I pushed Gavin on his swing for a while, he played in the sandbox, he watered the mud, he played in the mud, he played in the water, he soaked his rain-soaked pants even more with the hose. The sunset was breathtaking, the air was fresh and damp and cool, we had accomplished so much, our pantlegs and socks and shoes were soggy and muddy. I just wanted to stop and savor the moment, the day.

Cliff started up the grill and by 8:15, we were having dinner, looking out at what we accomplished, breathing the wonderful fresh air that was filling the house through all of the open windows and doors! What a day.

Teeth

2011-05-19T05:40:00.003-05:00

Gavin has a beautiful mouth full of straight, bright, perfect teeth. He loves to ~~suck the toothpaste out of the toothbrush~~ brush his teeth every night. It doesn't seem to matter how many times we re-apply toothpaste to the toothbrush. He just keeps sucking it out of there! We like the Colgate 'My First' Flouride-free Toothpaste in the mild berry flavor. I'm not a fan of toothpaste that tastes like bubble-gum nor of toothpaste that looks like bubble-gum. The My First Colgate toothpaste is clear and has a slightly fruity flavor, but is not overly sweet. (sidebar: I've actually also wanted to try Tom's of Maine's Children's Flouride-free Toothpaste since they use all natural ingredients, but I haven't bothered to order it and haven't found it locally. Maybe we will try it some day, but we do love our Colgate!

The toothbrush we like is the Oral B Stages Disney Toothbrush. We still use the one for 2-24 month olds, because I like that it is shorter and more rounded than the ones for older kids. I worry about a longer toothbrush in his mouth in case he trips or bumps into something while brushing. We have at least four of this toothbrush because, inevitably, they get left all around the house. Sometimes if we don't get teeth brushed in the bathroom, we brush them in bed, or even in the kitchen. It's not uncommon to brush teeth in the bathtub either. Since we don't use a foaming toothpaste and he ~~sucks all of the toothpaste off~~ doesn't need to spit, it works fine to brush anywhere.

All this toothbrushing has paid off. He has beautiful teeth. Okay, so I know that it has nothing to do with the brushing and is just luck so far, since he is only 2 years old. We're just trying to influence good habits for the future.

I love his mouth full of bright, straight, healthy teeth. I love it when his smile shows all of those teeth! He looks so grown up and so not two years old! I tried to get a picture of his nice teeth the other day. It didn't go so well...

"Gavin, will you smile for me?" (see photo #1)

"Can you smile with your mouth open?" (see photo #2)

"Can you show me your teeth?" (now that's better)

Flowers in the Winter

2011-05-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

Our winter lasted longer this year than any other year I can remember. It was still snowing in May. I love snow, but this was crazy, miserable, ever-lasting snow and it was not enough snow to cover the dismal dirty gray ground left behind after the beautiful white of winter had melted away.

By the middle of March, I had had it. I needed some spring. I needed something...

Enter a tiny bunch of sweet yellow daffodills on the dining room table.

It is so wonderful how something so small can make such a significant impact. (Cleaning off the table certainly didn't hurt - somehow piles of mail, dishes, newspaper, play-doh, and crayons don't give me that same feeling of calm and serenity)

My table only looks like this on average one or two days a week, but when it does, I just want to invite a friend over to sit at it and enjoy a cup of hot coffee with me. So, perhaps it's good that the table isn't usually this clean or I would never get anything done!

Don't you love the cheer and serenity a simple bouquet of fresh flowers can bring? My favorites are the $7.99 bouquets of a single type of flower from my grocery store. A simple bunch of tulips in red, pink, or yellow can sure make a big impact and at only $5 - $10, it's an affordable way to brighten things up once a month or so.

Love it.
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Learning to Wink

2011-05-17T14:53:00.003-05:00

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"Wook Mom! One eye open and one eye cwosed."
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Learning to wink takes a lot of practice and a lot of concentration... and some head-tilting... and requires you to wear a towel on your head.

Didn't you know?
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Blessings Falling from the Sky

2011-04-28T22:44:00.001-05:00

Ever have one of those days where just when you are feeling the need for something, but can't quite name it, it falls right out of the sky and into your lap? You have? Hey me too!!!

I'm not talking about the things that naturally fall from the sky like apples or rain. I can't remember when I last thought, boy I really need an apple right now.

What I'm talking about is when you're feeling lonely and just then your phone rings and it's your sister and she's looking for a chat. ...or when you're feeling like all of your clothes are worn and outdated and you're bored with them and then your neighbor stops over with a bag of clothes she's getting rid of and they're just your size! Something new to wear! It's like God knew you had a need even before you knew it, and he fulfilled that need without being asked. It's in those moments that I hear myself utter, "that's just what I needed!"

Well, quite often, when I'm having a rough day at work or I'm cranky or feeling tired, I'll come back to my desk only to find a Dove Dark Chocolate Promise sitting on my desk... or I'll get in to work late and frazzled with my hair barely combed and there will be a muffin on my desk. I have a few sweet co-workers who know just how to make me smile, even when they don't know that I need to. I'm pretty lucky in that way.

Sometimes when I've had a long day (or a long week) I'll get a call from my sister that says she's dropping dinner off at my house, out of the blue. It's like a little secret surprise that God is leaving for me to cheer me up.

Work lately has been a little challenging. A challenge is a good thing actually, but it isn't the work itself that is challenging, it's the processes by which the work is getting done and the environment in which I'm working that is challenging. That's not so much a good thing. Anyway, I was feeling particularly glum about work this week. Last week was my 6th anniversary at my job, and I was just feeling a bit ho-hum about where I am right now in my career. I didn't mention this to anyone - it wasn't something worth talking through - just a temporary feeling of slight disontent, nothing to worry too much about and I knew it would soon pass.

One of my coworkers was scheduled to be off work for the second half of this week week and she had the most beautiful vase of yellow tulips on her desk. She had bought them for herself on Monday and I had admired them for a couple of days. Tuesday evening as she was getting ready to head out for the day, she gave the tulips to me to enjoy while she was gone for the rest of the week. There is little that I love more than yellow tulips - maybe red tulips, but it's a toss-up. These cheerful yellow tulips are in the most beautiful shimmery sea blue base. I love them. They're on my desk at work and they make me smile each time I look at them. They were the perfect thing that I didn't know I needed, right at the perfect time. I'm glad they didn't literally fall into my lap, since the vase is kind of heavy and the water likely would have splashed everywhere, but I am SO glad they made their way to my desk top!

Ya know what else makes me smile at work? The side of my file cabinet where I post these adorable pictures of the cutest little guy in the world. THIS is what I look at every time I walk into my cubicle...
and it makes me smile.

Today was a long day at work - not literally, I was actually only in the office for just over 8 hours, but it felt like forever. I was tired - really tired. I had stayed up way too late two nights in a row working on a project and then Gavin slept terribly and woke up crying three times during the night, which is highly unusual for him and we still don't know what was going on. At any rate, my brain was like a clam and I was just plain tired. I got in to work late, had managed a shower, but just let me hair air-dry on the way in to work (and let me tell you that my hair does not look good air-dried. It was all kinky in the back and straight in the front and wavy around the sides, but straw-straight at the ends. Not a good look.) Wow - that was a long parenthesis!

I didn't have time in the morning for coffee, but did have a banana in the car. Around 11:00 I realized that if I was going to accomplish anything today, I was going to need coffee! I went downstairs to the market that's in my building and walked through the produce - thinking an orange or some other fruit would be good for me. Nothing caught my eye, so I walked over to Mapps coffee shop and ordered my Iced Latte... and picked up a rice crispie bar and headed back up to my desk. By 2:00 I had finished my Latte, and eaten a banana and a sugary, gooey rice crispie bar... I was not feeling the best by then. So my solution? I grabbed an open bag of Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips and snacked on those for an hour. They're wonderful, but I really needed some nutrition, some protein. I had no time to go get anything and had so much work yet to do.

My 'new email' notification popped up. I had an email from my coworker Julie titled "Fruit & Cheese". This is what it said "there is a lovely fruit and Cheese tray in Krista's cube - Please come and enjoy."

Seriously? Thank you God. You knew just what I needed and you provided.

It was JUST what I needed!
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Back Yard Sugarin'

2011-04-28T13:01:00.003-05:00

We made Maple Syrup this year. "We" being a relative term (more on that later). See this picturesque scene of the tin buckets hanging from the trees in the woods?

These are not our trees pictured below, nor our taps...

...because I didn't make it out to the taps this spring - not once! It was a busy, busy month and I was out of town for a three day weekend, plus incredibly busy at work. So, in lieu of our own tree tap photos, I borrowed these two pretty images from google images on the world wide web.

We tap our trees with 5-gallon plastic dill-pickle buckets that my brother-in-law gets from Burger King. Cliff emptied the 5-gallon plastic buckets daily into great big plastic soybean-oil barrels, which he hauled around in the back of our Polaris Ranger. Then on the weekends, he transferred the barrels into the back of his truck and drove them over to our friends, the Murphy's house so the sap could be cooked down in the big cooker. There was no sense in both of us running cookers at our houses, so we decided to work as a team and cook all of the sap together.

Cliff's parents, my parents and my girl friend C even came over to the Murphy's to see the cooking operation. It was a neat set-up and all of the overseers meant lots of ideas about the best way to monitor the temperature, keep the fire even and not too hot, etc.

That's my Dad in the pic above, looking at the barrel stove that was re-purposed just for this.

Most of the folks in the photo below are curious observers and friends. The real hardy sap cookers were Colin and Keith. Cliff collected and hauled sap every single day and cooked whenever he could make time to be there. Lots of people had a hand in the process, and it turned into a bit of a community event. Of course, our friend Missy deserves a lot of credit for keeping their home running while Colin was stoking the fire outside too - lots of people hanging out in their yard, enjoying the timeless "back yard sugarin" tradition. Luckily, we had some beautiful, sunny weather.

The collected sap was poured in small amounts into a warming pan (the smaller pan on the top of the barrel stove). The barrel stove was filled with wood and contained the fire that cooked the sap into syrup. Once the sap in the warming pan was warmed up enough that it wouldn't cool down the hot sap too much, the spigot on the warming pan was opened so the warm sap was added to the hot cooking sap that was in the longer pan on top of the barrel stove. When the sap was almost completely cooked down to "syrup" it was transferred into a smaller kettle where it was brought to just the right temperature before being bottled.

In the end, that clear, sticky tree sap, had transformed into sweet, smokey, golden, delicious pure maple syrup. We've had more waffles and pancakes in the past few weeks than we had had in months. I've always been a big fan of pure maple syrup and not much of a fan of the store-bought pancake syrup, but I have to say, this syrup is even tastier than any other pure maple syrup we've had recently. It is so so delicious.

So golden and smokey and sweet.

It's like they say... liquid gold...

Let's Polka!

2011-04-21T21:41:00.001-05:00

I have these two friends... you know, the go-to girlfriends that you call when you want to do something crazy silly, need help cleaning out your closet, or desperately need a latte on a particularly dreadful day. These girls are my bones, they're the ones who keep me upright.

It had been awhile since the three of us had spent a night out on the town. We wavered between wanting to just sit down someplace dark and quiet for pasta and a couple of bottles of wine and wanting to whoop it up a little and go out dancing or something. We met at C's house to "get ready".

I actually ended up wearing what I had worn to work that day. It was casual Friday, so I had just worn a favorite pair of comfy jeans and a gray long sleeved tee under a black knit short-sleeved top. It was my "I'm SO not dressing up, but I'm not wearing a high school theater program t-shirt either" look.

C & K looked adorable as usual. Especially in this charming "let me just test the camera" shot, don't you think?

I love how this photo shows these two as my bookends. Like they're what hold me together.

And of course, you can't have a trio of ladies all dressed up and not do a Charlie's Angel's pose, right?

We started off with dinner at Sarna's. Yum. When our server took our order, there were three minutes of happy hour left, so we ordered a few drinks right away, before we missed the great deals!

We weren't quite sure what we wanted to do after dinner... head back to C's for dessert and wine? Stop in at the Sample Room? We happen to drive by Gasthof's... score! It was polka night! Awesome suggestion, C! We made our way past the bouncers at Gasthof's and I'll admit that they seemed a little out of place in this German family-restaurant. Even the dance floor in the basement was low-key with just a few blue-hairs dancing and prancing their way around the floor to the polka music.

But somewhere in the night, we found our niche. It felt like we were back in Munsingen Germany, drinking our German beer, listening to the band, and dancing the night away.

See? Here's me! Having a grand ol' time!

and I'm not sure I even WANT to know what K is saying to C in this one! I can just imagine...

But do you know what? Before we knew it, the dance floor looked like this. The lovely polka dancers had apparently headed home and the crowd was getting louder and a little wilder. It was so much fun. We were having a great time and finally decided we were ready to settle in for the night, so we headed back to C's living room for a couple more hours of chit-chat! Oh, I hadn't stayed up that late in ages.

Who knew that a nice dinner out with my girlfriends would end in a german restaurant singing german songs, tipping our steins in a toast, and dancing to polka music???
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It's Still Winter

2011-04-20T18:25:00.000-05:00

When I woke up Saturday morning, I looked out my bedroom window. This is what I saw...

April 16th

Gavin and I were heading to my sister's farm about an hour and a half northwest. I had been hoping for a warm, sunny day for our visit. After all, I love to be outside at her house. It's calving season, so I was excited for Gavin to see all of the little calves.

As we neared her house, there was less and less snow, although there was still some on the ground when we arrived. We stopped and picked up my niece D on the way there. She didn't have plans and my motto is 'the more, the merrier'.

We had a wonderful visit at my sister's place. It was really cold and windy and we were bundled up like Eskimos, but we had a great time. Gavin got to try to bottle-feed one of the calves and a new calf was even born while we were there! We said hello to the horses and the chickens, we cooked bratwursts over a fire that the kids had built inside a cement block cube, since it was too windy for a bonfire.

Of all of the fun we had while out visiting, the only picture I have from the day is this one I took with my phone of Gavin sleeping soundly on the couch in my sister's living room, wrapped up in his soft blankie.

He was all tuckered out from the cold and the wind and walking back and forth across the pastures.
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A Journal

2011-04-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 4/13:

I'm breaking one of my rules today... "Don't blog if you don't feel good - you'll only end up complaining". It's true. Every time I blog when I am grouchy, feeling under the weather physically, over tired, or irritated, it comes out loud and clear in my blog post and I later cringe each time I read that post. It's not that I think that bloggers should pretend everything is perfect or only write happy thoughts - after all, a blog is a type of journal where you share your day to day, no matter what that is. It's just that I don't like the way that I complain. See? I'm complaining already. So, let me just put it out there so I can move on. Here goes... I feel crummy today. Every joint in my body is aching, I think I'm PMS-ing, I have a terrible headache, woke up with a sore throat, didn't get time to touch up my toe polish and I'm wearing open-toed sandals, am way over-tired from my crazy work schedule last week, and the high temperature dropped 30 degrees from yesterday - it was in the 70s yesterday and is in the 40s today... and the upcoming weekend? SNOW AND RAIN! Okay, I'm finished. Thank you for letting me get it all out.

Deep breath....

It's a good day. Spring is here. I'm trying my hardest to coax summer along, to convince her to come and stay awhile. I event went so far as to invite some friends over for a "summer" gathering last weekend.

Thursday 4/14:

Sorry - that was as far as I got writing yesterday. I was in a funk and just couldn't break out of it enough to write about our summer gathering. I actually ended up going home from work a couple of hours early and squeezing a quick nap in. Today I feel much, much better. So... back to our weekend...

It may have only been 50 degrees out and it may have been cloudy and gray, but we did our darndest to pretend it was summer. Hey - "fake it 'til you make it", right? We made a bonfire and roasted hot dogs, brats, and marshmallows over the fire. We even wore our sunglasses and flip-flops (there may or may not be some rubber flip-flop sole melted to the rim of our fire ring).

We drank coronas with lime wedges and with our dinner of hot dogs and brats, we had potato salad, fresh fruit, and green salad with strawberries and almonds. We tried, we really did. My brother and his wonderful, smart, witty, polite, funny and beautiful children came over. My best friend from high school (the one I call when I want to do something silly and ridiculous) came with her husband and their two always-entertaining beautiful girls, who managed to coax all of the other kids (except Gavin, who was in bed by then), to climb up on top of our clothesline post. Those little girls are monkeys - so fun! Our good friends M & C came with their two little adventurers. M & C are some of the most easy-going just 'hang out' people I know and are so great to spend time with because I don't ever feel like I need to entertain them or have anything planned. Their kids seem to be comfortable making themselves at home and easily adapt to their surroundings. The older kids took Gavin for rides around our yard in his wagon, they "took turns" (sort of?) riding around the yard on his electric Gator, and they all played in his sandbox, played fetch with Drake, and chased each other around the yard.

I had big plans for this little gathering that included lemonade, tiki torches, and beach chairs, but when it came down to it, it was just too cold and too busy of a day to get it all prepared. Although it was downright cold by the time we all came in from the fire that night, it was a good time and I was again reminded how lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives and such a beautiful, peaceful, and spacious place we call home - where we can run and play and have bonfires and dig in the sandbox and walk through the woods.

The next morning, there was dog poop stuck to the bottom of all of our shoes (including flip-flops), marshmallow goo stuck to the roasting forks, a deflated bouncy ball with dog-tooth holes in it, and a yard scattered with toys and other remnants of our fun night. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Friday 4/15:

Today was a good day. I worked from home today and got more accomplished than I probably would have had I gone in to the office. One of my projects took way longer than I expected (typical!), so I was glad I was at home where I could just sit and concentrate on it without interruption and the noise of the office. Early in the morning I even managed to take just a few minutes to throw our bedding in the laundry and load and start the dishwasher before I started working. It's a great feeling to hear the laundry and the dishes being washed while you work, and it only takes a minute then to throw the load of clothes from the washer into the dryer. At the end of the work day I was ready to make the bed with fresh bedding and put the clean dishes away in the cupboards. It was like magic! My niece R came to babysit Gavin tonight, so Cliff and I could go out for while. We hadn't been on a date in more than a few weeks and we were looking forward to getting out. Our good friends J & R just had their second baby girl yesterday afternoon, so we wanted to get in to the hospital to visit them too. Good-intentioned, but rambunctious 2-yr old boys don't mix very well with sweet and soft newborns (not to mention toddler boys aren't exactly sanitary), so it worked out great to have a babysitter already lined up, so we could go visit that precious little Selene!

So, our first stop was the hospital. We got to hold Selene and visit with her proud Mommy & Daddy and even got to see her big sister for a bit. What a beautiful family! We're so happy for them. After our visit to the hospital (and a glass of wine for me and bottle of beer for Cliff - after all, a new baby is cause to celebrate with the new parents!), we headed out for dinner. As we left the hospital it started sleeting and then snowing. While we enjoyed our dinner - bacon & gorgonzola gnocchi for me and a bourbon-marinated flat-iron steak for Cliff - we watched the sleet turn to snow out the window next to our table. It IS the middle of April, but apparently Mother Nature has overslept and is a little behind on bringing us spring! I called my sister Kristin (who is currently living in Kansas City, KS / Chicago, IL / St. Louis, MO - that's a long story!) to tell her that it was snowing (I just typed snotting) and asked her where spring was and she said "That IS spring! Weather uncertainty, fluctuating temperatures, warm and sunny one day and cold and wet the next? That's exactly what spring is!"

Pooey! That is not what I want spring to be. What about warm sunshine and blue skies, brightly blooming spring bulbs and flowering fruit trees, what about snow melt running down the edge of the road, washing all of winter's glum down the gutter? She's right though. I always think of springtime as the good days, but I think there are more cold and rainy days and bright, sunny warm days. After all... it IS April, and as the old saying goes, it's the April showers - not the April sunshine - that bring the May flowers.

So, here is what my front yard looks like on this spring night...

Happy Spring.

Washing

2011-04-10T22:44:00.000-05:00

Gavin recently decided it was fun to wash his head (and hence all of his clothes) when he washes his hands...

He wets the washcloth and wipes his head with it!

Aside from having to put dry clothes on him every time, it's pretty funny. He'll spend a good 1/2 hour standing on his stool at the kitchen sink washing his head!

What a stinkin cutie patootie!

waiting

2011-04-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

These pictures are about a month old already, but it feels like it's been that long since I last posted anything here. I seem to have a severe case of writers block. Perhaps though, it could just be that I can't seem to find a moment. I keep looking for one, but those things are tiny and they fly so quickly, I just can't seem to catch one. Maybe a butterfly net would help!

I normally wouldn't share photos that are so out of date, but I just love the way the sunset looked as we headed in the house for the night, so I'm posting them anyway.

Just a little boy anxious for spring, on a beautiful winter night...

Preview - What we've been up to...

2011-03-21T21:52:00.000-05:00

This post is just a teaser... you see - I hope to actually find time to organize my thoughts and share them with you here! One of these days! This little nature lover who is seen here wading in a stream in the woods in Kansas last weekend, has been keeping us busy! We've been up to all sorts of fun stuff!

This little angel below was the reason for our trip to Kansas... Oh, and her parents too. Of course, we always want to see them, but this was her big weekend, her baptism.

Gavin adored her and I think she liked him too. They became fast friends. She was so much more fun for him this time than the last time he saw her. Each time we see her, she has grown a little more and is so sweet and content. We absolutely adore her and could not smooch her up enough!

This guy though, this explorer, this mud-puddle splasher, this adventure seeker... he has my heart. Wait until you hear about the fun we had!

What a little sunshine face!

More to come... stay tuned!

Just Photos

2011-03-11T19:21:00.009-06:00

Our Sweet, Sweet Boy

...Who Rides His Bike Up On Top of His Other Toys...

...and Climbs Through Tunnels in Our Living Room...

...Whose Face is Sweet as Sunshine Even When a Glow from the Tunnel is Cast Upon It,

Who Makes Silly Faces...

...Wears Silly Hats and Beads (it was a Mardi Gras Party)...

...Who Has The Goofiest Grin...

This boy is a blessing.

Now, I just need to remember that when he is in the midst of a tantrum like we had the other night...

The one that lasted over a half-hour and included being carried back to the time-out spot seven times...

The one that included kicking, screaming, and hitting and the words "I NOT GONNA SAY SOWWY!"

Yep, all from that sweet, sweet blessing from God.

We're still learning...

Wish us luck!

Security from an 18-Year Old

2011-03-10T20:24:00.000-06:00

Last week, someone burglarized the home of a friend of mine. They did a terrible thing, breaking through the window of a door and taking thousands of dollars worth of electronics. The items they stole are all just things, but the worst is the thing they stole that insurance will not cover, that they can't just go buy... their sense of security, of privacy, of home. Amid this sense of loss and amazement that someone would actually do this to them and to their home, they are still able to find some humor in life, to step back and put things into perspective.

My friend's 18-year old son posted this sign on his bedroom door.

In case you can't read it, it says: "Hoodlems, It is in your best interest to stay out of my room."

Makes me laugh out loud!
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Miracle on OUR Street

2011-03-10T17:58:00.000-06:00

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Wednesday night...

Gavin went right off to bed with a smile. That made me smile.

There was no coming out of his room, not even once.

There were no tears.

I heard no "way whiff me mom"

There was no "I want ooo to hnuggo whiff me"

We got home from church, said goodnight to Daddy, put jammies on, filled his water bottle, read two books, turned out the lamp, said our prayers, and that was it. By the time I had turned out the lamp, he had already rolled onto his belly so that I could pull the blankets up over him. We always read books laying on our backs and then he rolls over to go to sleep. If he isn't on his belly when we walk out of his room, he is definitely not going to sleep. He rolled over on his own, with no prompting. I pulled up the covers, kissed him and told him what a good boy he is. I told him that I knew he could stay in his bed because he was getting really good at doing the right thing. I told him how proud I would be of him if he stayed in his bed. (We've told him all of this before).

There wasn't a peep. That sweet little guy went right off to sleep.

A Miracle, I tell you!

After the priest said "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel" to Gavin and put the ashes on his forehead, and before my turn, he grinned at Gavin and said, "You're alright" He didn't say it in such a manner to reassure Gavin that everything was okay, but rather as a compliment to Gavin, like "you're cool" or something. Gavin smiled at him. It was pretty sweet - like the two of them had a little secret. It made me smile. Gavin always likes the parts in church where the priest talks directly to him or touches him to bless him. He sits very quiet and content in my arm and looks right at the priest as he places his hand on Gavin's head. Then as we walk back to our pew, he doesn't take his eyes off his "friend". Kinda sweet. (That was the end of the sweetness though as I later had to haul Gavin out kicking and screaming because I wouldn't let him hold his snack bowl on his own).

You win some, you lose some. The miraculously easy bedtime more than made up for the screaming fit in church. : )

Good Morning Smile

2011-03-09T15:34:00.001-06:00

My baby has the sweetest smile sometimes... especially in the mornings. I don't know if the grogginess of sleep makes it sweeter or what, but it is so stinkin sweet, I want to package it so I can open it every day for the next 40 years.

Some mornings Gavin wakes before Cliff and I are up and he comes right into our room. We hear the click of his bedroom door opening and then the patter of little feet down the hall, then the click of our door and then he runs around the foot of the bed to my side and climbs up into bed with us. Occasionally he sleeps in and in that case, there usually isn't time for snuggling in bed.

This morning, Cliff and I were both in the kitchen packing our lunches, reheating yesterday's coffee (I know!), picking up the kitchen a bit so Grandma wouldn't faint at the site of it, etc. It was almost 7am and I was trying to get out the door so I could make it to work at a reasonable time! I try to leave before then most days, but some days I just don't make it!

Cliff and I were moving about the kitchen when Gavin's bedroom door opened (He can see the kitchen from his doorway). He padded his floppy pajama-footed way toward me, with a sweet, warm, melt-your-heart smile on his face and as I crouched down to greet him, he gave me the softest hug ever without even saying a word. I thanked him for the sweet hug. His smile was still there. Cliff asked if he was going to get a hug like that too. Gavin moved from me to Cliff and gave him the same warm hug and sweet smile. Then he padded his floppy feet back to his bedroom doorway, still not having uttered a word, and he climbed on his Radio-Flyer toddler bike and rode through the house, that smile still shining, no words needed.

That is the best sight ever... that warm groggy early morning smile. Love it.
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Friday Ramblings

2011-03-04T12:41:00.003-06:00

It's Friday. My brain feels like one of those non-gumball machines that has trinkets in it and you don't know which trinket is going to come out when you put your quarter in, but it's never the one you want. So, you end up trying over and over again until you've spent $3.00 in quarters on a temporary butterfly tattoo (because that's what you really wanted) and 11 other assorted pieces of junk that you toss in the garbage on your way out - crummy plastic glow-in-the-dark skull rings, multi-colored recycled rubber super balls, plastic game of jacks, miniature nunchucks key-rings, and temporary dragon tattoos. Yep, it's just one of those days... I would advise against putting your quarter in me, cause I just don't know what will come out of my mouth (or my crazy Friday brain)!

Seems today must be national bloggers' day off or something. I checked my daily reads before work today and only one of the 8 or so that I typically read had been updated since yesterday. That's unusual, and was slightly disappointing. You see, I slightly prefer reading a blog update over actually talking to a real person. I know - I'm a little weird like that. Particularly in the morning though, it's like I don't have the energy to have a real and honest conversation and I just want to read what (fake) people are up to. Okay, so they're not fake people, they're real people, but they're not real in my life. They're people who don't know me and aren't really talking to me, but I sort of pretend they are. They have no idea I'm even reading their words, but in my freakish mind, they're my friends! Yup, Hi John & Sherry, Donna, Melissa, Emily, Brook, Alyssa, Kate, Ree, Erin, and all you other pretend friends! Missed hearing from you this morning! Oh, except Ree, who did update her blog today! Hope your baby is feeling better soon! Have fun with the girls!

I am thoroughly enjoying a large, yes large, McCafe Iced Vanilla Latte from McDonald's this morning. I also truly appreciated the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal that I picked up there this morning. You see, I try not to eat much fast food and I try not to spend too much money unnecessarily, but I have a headache today and it's already felt like a long week (I know all weeks are 7 days, but some just FEEL longer!) and goll darnit I deserved this Latte and that Oatmeal. Could have been worse - I could be eating a deep-fried hashbrown patty or a greasy sausage egg & cheese muffin. At least I went with oatmeal with dried fruit. ...and the coffee? I never order a large coffee. I always order a small, but today I needed this large. You see, I have a headache... did I mention that already? My neck aches, my back aches, and I just feel a little crummy today. I am sure my body is fighting the cold that Cliff has had for almost a week now. He's starting to feel better though! Yep - just in time for me to feel miserable. I can't tell you when the last time was that he kissed me! He's been avoiding kissing me so that I don't get his awful cold. Can't wait for us to both be healthy so we can, well, you know, kiss again! Who knows - maybe I already have the cold and because I am woman (hear me roar), I'm still functioning like a normal human on the outside - maybe not at 100%, but still probably at 70%. Maybe if I were a guy, I'd be flat on my back, coughing and hacking and blowing my nose and whining a little. It's not that I think women don't get sick, we do - I get very sick once or twice a year. In fact a year and a half ago, I got H1N1 and was flat on my back miserable for an entire week. It's just that it seems I'm fighting some illness every other week - maybe it's a sore throat, an upset stomach, an achy back and neck (like today), a headache, or all of the above - but I still function, go to work, make dinner, etc. I have to say, for a guy, Cliff has done really well this week, being sick and all. He sounds terrible and he is a pain in the neck to sleep with (hey maybe that's why my neck hurts!), but he has been caring for Gavin, going to work, and functioning pretty normally, for a guy. I'm actually kind of impressed. Of course, he doesn't really have another option. I went about my week as usual, which kinda meant he had to go about his as usual too, since we're a team. And he didn't complain at all.

Wednesday night was my unofficial 'night off' this week. I hadn't really claimed it as my night off, and I did do Gavin's bedtime routine, but I also treated myself to a hair cut... and that IS a treat! The last time I had gotten a hair cut was last March, as in a year ago. The fact is, and you'd never guess it by looking at me (ha! yeah, right!), but I don't "do" my hair. Ever. Pretty much never. If you pay attention, you'll see a pattern. You see, I wash my hair about every other day, sometimes I go two days between washings on the weekend. Typically I wash it every other day, and on the days I wash it, I let it air dry. I am not willing to give up an hour of sleep / snuggle time / free time / house cleaning time to doing my hair every day. So, it's either shower or do my hair, one or the other, not both. On the days I shower, I comb through my wet hair with a little leave-in conditioner and then leave for work! Well, I do get dressed first and brush my teeth, but that's it. Shower, comb hair, brush teeth, get dressed, feed dog & cat, leave. That's my routine every other day. Oh, and if Gavin wakes up before I leave, then I MUST snuggle somewhere in there too! On the days that I do not shower, I brush and straighten my hair with a flat iron. Wash face, brush & straighten hair, brush teeth, get dressed, feed god & cat, leave (and snuggle when possible). So, on the days that I shower, my hair is au naturale, which is translated as wavy, slightly kinky in the back, straighter in the front, and a little messy. On the days that I straighten it, it is smooth and straight, and I like this look better. Anyway, when I went in to see Amy to get my hair cut, I wore my hair the shower day way and told her the that I did that so that she could see what it looks like on the days that I don't 'do' it and could therefore help me resolve the "issues" it has. She agreed with me... basically said, "yup, this is not good". Oh, thank you Amy. No really, I do appreciate her honesty. I wouldn't want her to say that it looked fine or to say, hey, I'll fix it. I wanted her to know that I will not be taking time to do my hair every day and that I needed a cut / style that would work with this plan, realizing that saying I will not do my hair to a hair stylist is probably a sin. Amy cut my hair, gave me lots of layers and more texture and recommended a product that would hopefully help my wave stay wavy through the day and not go straight and flat in the front while kinky in the back. I told her that about from about an hour after my shower and until about 3 hours after my shower, there is a window where I love my hair. But, it soon goes all "ocky" on me. Ocky is Gavin's word. Amy said "Duh." Actually she didn't say duh, I say duh to myself. Amy said "In that window, when you look at your hair and love it, you need to spray the hell out of it." Actually, she didn't say hell. But that's what she meant. She wouldn't say that. She's too sweet. So, anyway, I sprayed my hair this morning about an hour and a half after my shower and do you know what? Mid-day today... I still like my hair! She's a genius! Just wait until I color it next time, then I'll really love it! I hope!

So, it was my night off, I got my hair cut. Major treat to self. Then I did the grocery shopping - not so much a treat, but it needed to be done. And I got to / or had to - depending on how you look at it - put Gavin to bed. When I haven't seen him all day, it's a treat to put him to bed. I race home in hopes to get there in time to put him to bed. When I've been with him all day or all night, bedtime duty feels like more of a chore. It wouldn't be a chore if he just kissed me goodnight, gave me a snuggle, and went off to sleep. But, he doesn't. He dawdles, he fights bedtime, he decides he needs to poop an hour after I bid him goodnight, he cries, he slams the door, he comes out of his bedroom anywhere from one time to 12 times before finally going to sleep. I do have to say though, that I believe it's getting better. Last night, he was out of his room three times. He's to the point where when we tell him to get back in bed he either walks back there or simply says no. He's not crying and fighting like he was for a while. Last night he crawled up on my bed and said he needed to snuggle me for a little bit and then he would go back to bed. I don't want that to become a habit, but how can a momma turn down that request? The fact is, I want to snuggle him too. I would love to fall asleep snuggling him... but not every night. Some nights I have things to do or I would rather snuggle Cliff. And you can't be all wishy-washy and say that it's sometimes okay and sometimes not okay, because that's way too confusing for a two-year old. So, we need to stick to the rules. I tucked him back in three times last night and on the third time, he stayed there.

Speaking of treating myself, we had a really warm day this week. I think it was Tuesday. On my way in to work it was 27 degrees and by early afternoon it was 43 degrees. The following morning it -3 degrees on my way in to work. So, the high in the forties on Tuesday was a real treat. I just had to get out there and take advantage of the sunshine and warmth while it lasted. At lunch, I put on my coat and grabbed my purse and headed out. I bought myself a big slice of margerita pizza from Jakeeno's and a Dr. Pepper! I don't usually eat like that, but it was fantastic! I got out to my car, which was warmed from the sun on the roof of the parking ramp and I ate half of my delicious slice of pizza. I drove down Lake Street, people-watching all the way, down to Savers thrift store. I parked in front of "7 Mile Fashion" beauty supply & urban clothing store and ate the other half of my pizza slice and enjoyed the peppery fizz of my Dr. Pepper. The people-watching in this area is great. Lots of ethnic diversity. Kids waiting for the city bus, women in clothing that I think looks too tight, men in jeans that are sagging down to their knees. I do have to say that I am a minority in this area. I am a middle-class white person and I have to admit that I only saw three other white people on this trip and they were all three over 60 years old. Being the minority is interesting. You usually get looks from a few people who are wondering what you're doing there. While I enjoyed my pizza however, I was sitting in my car, so I was the watcher and all of the pedestrians were the watched. Interesting. The sun was warm, there was a 'flock' of sparrows flitting around the sidewalk, perching on a bird-poop stained Arbor Vitae shrub in a concrete planter. One sparrow perched on my side-mirror and watched me eat the pizza, his head tilted as if to say, "are you going to share that?"

I found a few treasures at Savers. Nothing big or incredibly noteworthy, but definitely a few fun things: 3 baskets, a jean skirt, and a sweatshirt for Gavin. One of the baskets I got is like a soft seagrass bowl-shaped basket. It's shallow (maybe 4" deep) and wide (about 18" across) and looks like a shallow bowl, but is flexible because it's woven out of a grass rather than sticks. It would be the perfect basket to fill with a soft fuzzy blanket and take shots of a newborn in. I always see newborn photos in this type of basket. Of course,that means someone I know needs to have a baby so I can take their baby's photo in my basket! Gacin is WAY too big to sit in this basket - he coulr maybe wear it for a hat! Another of the baskets is a sturdy and deep oval shaped basket made of seagrass and rope and it has a big tall handle. The third is actually a black metal / wire basket that is very oblong and would fit nicely on the top of a toilet tank with lotions, soaps, and a spare roll of TP in it. It's cute. The jean skirt is slightly flared and a cool washed out denim- I'm hoping it will hopefully be the perfect style to wear with my new-ish boots. The sweatshirt I got for Gavin is an old and well-worn little size-5 green John Deere zip-front sweatshirt with an actual picture of a JD tractor on it and a stain on the sleeve that looks like paint. Yes, I bought a worn out old stained sweatshirt - it was $2 and will be PERFECT for Gavin to wear around the farm this spring.

I keep hoping that one of these thrift store trips is going to result in the perfect piece of furniture for our mudroom, bookshelf for our living room or a stack of perfectly shaped and sized off-white bowls. I guess I just need to go looking more often!

....Well, I have run out of things to say for right now. It's Friday and I'm looking forward to a nice weekend. I have plans tonight, tomorrow night, and Sunday afternoon. Nothing stressful, only fun and hopefully relaxing things. I'm looking forward to it.

Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy!

A day out and about

2011-03-01T12:26:00.001-06:00

We spent a day out and about as a family last weekend, which is, surprisingly, a little unusual. We try to spare Gavin from the mundane errand running whenever possible, so usually one of us goes while the other stays home with him or one of us stops on the way home from work. It's not very typical that we all go to the grocery store or Target together or even just one of us with Gavin or with eachother. We also tend to savor our weekends at home, since we're gone to work all week, so unless it's a birthday party, planned dinner, or other significant event, we like to hunker down at home and have everyone else come to us!

This was a good weekend though. Friday night I enjoyed some long overdue time with two of my girlfriends. More on that in a later post, including a few photos. We had a great time and didn't return to normal life until mid-day Saturday.

Saturday afternoon I was tired (from the crazy night before) and didn't have any dinner ideas, but wanted to do something. Actually, I'm finding that I sometimes want to make plans, simply to encourage Cliff and I to spend time together because more often than not, when we're both at home, we're not really together. One of us is often playing with or taking care of Gavin while the other makes dinner or hauls wood in for the fireplace or plows snow or folds laundry or works on a project. When Gavin is napping, we usually quickly and individually assess how much we can get done in the 2 hours that he's napping and then each determine which project we're going to tackle. So, time together just having fun doesn't come easily. So... Saturday night, I wanted to do something, but I was too tired to want to GO anywhere and frankly, was enjoying being at home. We decided to fire up the grill and invite my brother and his kids over. It was perfect! My brother and my nephew brought over some smoked bratwurst and hot dogs and Cliff grilled them. I quickly cut up and fried some sweet potato fries and threw together a salad. My nephew Luke and Gavin played and played and played together. Luke is very good to Gavin, who is still learning how to share and show kindness, although learning slowly, I might add!

After cleaning up dinner, we all sat around the table and played Dominoes. We taught Chuck and Luke our new favorite Dominoes game, Chickenfoot. We played until almost 10:00 and then decided it was time to get everyone to bed.

Sunday morning was a nice slow morning. We had peanut butter and jelly smoothies, scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and Cliff and I enjoyed our weekend morning coffee. Gavin always wants coffee and he actually likes it, which is the scary part. He usually gets a sip of mine and always wants more. We tell him that he needs lots of milk, water, and juice to help him grow and that if he drinks coffee he won't have room for all of the good stuff. We say that we're already grown up so we don't need as much milk, water, and juice as he does. It works so far! And he actually very rarely drinks juice. He eats so many veggies and fruits that we just try to get the milk and water into his system.

After breakfast, we debated about what we wanted to do for the day and ended up hearing that Cliff's parents were going to a collector's estate auction. We didn't think there would be much we were interested in, but we thought it would be something fun to do. There were a lot of neat things at the auction, but nothing we needed. It wasn't an ideal space for Gavin to be, so we only stayed about an hour. Gavin was tuckered out even before the auction started and napped in the truck for about an hour!

The auction did, however, give me the treasure-hunting bug, so we went to the Goodwill and found a few things there! For a measley $2.99, we scored a nice, size-5 Harley Davidson jean jacket with a quilted lining that should fit Gavin for at least a couple of years. It's a bit too big now, but he immediately loved it! For $1 each we also got him a camoflauge baseball cap and two toddler-appropriate movies.

For $0.49, we got a cork strip to hang in our mudroom for Gavin to pin up his artwork and craft projects. And our biggest purchase of the trip was a small desktop radio / cd player for $6.99. We wish there had been two of those since Cliff needed a new one for his office and we would like a new one for Gavin's bedroom.

The day was already fun and, in Cliff's opinion, the only thing that could make it better was a chili-cheese dog! Yep, he's crazy weird like that. He loves chili-cheese dogs and Dairy Queen had them for $1. Gavin had a grilled cheese sandwich and I had a hot dog with onions and ketchup. There's just something about onions and ketchup on a hot dog. yum! We shared some crispy onion rings and of course topped it all of with ice cream cones!! Can't go to Dairy Queen and NOT have ice cream, now can you??????

Ice cream makes me all hyper and crazy like!!!!!! (isnt't this face a little frightening???)

I'm having so much fun!!!!

...and now my ice cream is gone and I am so sad!

BINGO

2011-02-23T15:14:00.007-06:00

Last weekend, we played bingo with some friends at our local American Legion. I'm not lying! And I promise, we're only in our 30's. It's good, clean fun!

Here's Cliff and Me sporting our multitude of bingo cards.

Bingo was scheduled to begin at 6:30. We arrived at 5:45 and the place was packed. They were making announcements to claim your seat before buying your tickets / cards if you haven't already because they were going to have to start turning people away. There were eight of us friends playing and we were saving seats for the last two. They made an announcement that there would be no "saving of seats".

It was intense.

Look at the faces on these people!

Stacy and Missy kept the mood light with their bright and friendly smiles! What awesome bingo partners!
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I kept the mood light with something else!
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That image is deceiving. These are bloody mary's. Bloody mary's are usually thick and dark red. Yep, I'm pretty sure these were mostly alchohol! I had to share one of them with Missy because they were a leeetle too strong and I had three of them lined up on the table! Hey, we were told to stock up before bingo started because once the game started you couldn't really afford to leave your seat until the intermission!

Intense!

On the left here are our $1.00 daubers from the bingo hall... er um... Legion.

On the right, you can see the tricked out purple glitter dauber with a sparkling purple jeweled cap that the woman next to me was sporting! Hmmm... not sure what it is, but something tells me she's been here before...

Her bingo cards looked so much prettier than mine.

I can't wait to play again!!!!

BINGO!

2011-02-22T22:23:00.000-06:00

Puddles

2011-02-18T22:42:00.001-06:00

There is no prim

and proper way

to pounce upon

a puddle

unless the

puddle's little

and you are

very subtle

Source: I think this is from Puddle Jumper by Andrea Perry, but I found just this bit of it online and I honestly couldn't figure out if it was part of another poem or if this was it.

I liked it. I like puddle jumping. Gavin sure enjoyed it. He walked back and forth, end to end, splashing and marching, until he finally said to me, "Mom, I geddeen code. Mine pants aw wet ad mine socks aw wet. I wanna go inna house" It didn't help that the wind yesterday was really cold. He isn't a fan of the wind. But, he tolerated the wind for the chance to puddle-jump... just imagine how much fun he'll have with the puddles when the weather is a little warmer and the wind is gone.

2011-02-18T05:43:00.002-06:00

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What do these things have in common?

   - a shoe
   - a diaper
   - a tractor
   - an orange
   - a frisbee
   - a pyrex bowl
   - a glove
   - a package of baby wipes

As I was nearing the secured entrance to the parking ramp at my work the other day, I realized I didn't have my entry badge handy. After some digging and shuffling through my purse, I pulled over and dumped the contents of the center pouch onto the passenger seat of my car. My purse has three pouches or compartments - one is for papers, receipts, checkbook, stamps, etc. One is for my phone, camera, and car keys, the other is for everything else.

THIS is what was in the everything else pocket...

a shoe, a diaper, a tractor, an orange, a frisbee, a pyrex bowl, a glove, and a package of baby wipes

Oh dear lord, what has happened to me?

The other shoe was in the back seat of my car. The other glove was on the floor in the front of the car. I can't say for sure how long the orange has been in there, nor how long the (dirty) pyrex bowl has been in there. The diaper and wipes I can say for certain were not in there as of last Friday when we found ourselves at a friends' house with a smelly-butted Gavin and no clean diaper. Thank goodness, they're little guy was still in pull-ups and we made do with a pull-up until we got home!

The tractor has been in there since Saturday when I grabbed it on the way out the door to Target, hoping it would help Gavin stay occupied in the cart. The Frisbee was given to me on Monday by a co-worker, to bring home to Gavin and our dog Drake for a toy. As for the shoe and the glove - who knows.

If you're ever in need of an orange, a tractor, a diaper, a frisbee, a shoe, or some pyrex... hey, go ahead and ask - I might actually have one in my purse!
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Sweet as a Cookie

2011-02-17T20:34:00.000-06:00

I dragged Gavin to Target with me on Saturday morning. We try not to drag him around on our errands when we can avoid it - partly because it's a lot of sitting for him - sitting in the car, sitting in the shopping cart, etc. and partly because we want him to enjoy the time we have together on the evenings and weekends rather than dread it. However, I had to make a relatively quick run to Target and Cliff was tied up working on a project, so we did the errand running together and it was okay!

On the way to Target, I gave him an oatmeal chocolate cookie since it was 11:30 and I knew we wouldn't be having lunch until at least 1:00. He liked that cookie. I liked his sweet, chocolatey smile. What a little sugar lump!

Sunrise

2011-02-17T06:50:00.001-06:00

Wednesday morning:
My thoughts... This has to be a better day than yesterday, right? Yesterday I was dealing with a poor night's sleep, was battling toddler diahrrea at home, and then had to be at work at 6:30am, which meant leaving home by 5:30am, which meant the alarm going off at 4:30am and that just plain stinks. I can get up at 5:00, but 4:30 is pushing it for me. I laid in bed until 5:05, blowing any chance for a shower before heading to work. Headed out the door 8 minutes later than planned. 5:38am. Didn't have time to stop and wash the nasty February salt off my ~~bright blue~~ dull and dirty Saturn Vue like I wanted to, and got to my desk at work at 6:38. Had a full day, two simultaeous leadership events on opposite ends of the building. One of the presenters completely tossed the agenda out the window, took the lunch break an hour and a half after it was scheduled (and two hours after the food was delivered), and then ended the session two hours early. Whatever, not a big deal, right? All in all, the day wasn't terrible. I decided that since I was at work at 6:30 (ish, I mean 6:30-ish, not yuck-ish) I was going to try to leave around 3:30 and hopefully get a short visit in with my Mom and Aunt, who were at my house watching Gavin and my nephew. Well, I was busy and ended up leaving work at 4:15, still way better than staying until 5:00 or 6:00 and missing the opportunity to see my Mom and Aunt. I was excited as I crossed the puddle-covered street to the parking ramp. There was only about 4' of pavement exposed in the center of the street, the rest of the street was under water and the deep part of the puddles where the road meets the sidewalk, were about 4" deep. The air temperature was warm (36 degrees), but there was a bitterly cold wind that whipped and slapped my hair against my face, flipped my coat-tail up against my back, and made me squint as I checked for cars. I was toting my purse, my lunch bag, and my laptop bag. I got to my car on the fourth floor of the parking ramp and looked for a dry spot on the floor of the parking ramp to set my bags while I dug through my purse for my keys. Hmmm, not in the key pocket - must have slipped them into another pocket of my purse. Nope... there they were in the ignition of the car, cackling at me as I half laughed at myself and half wanted to scream at myself. I had JUST chatted with someone a week ago about locking the keys in the car one day when I almost thought I had done it and then realized they were, in fact, in my purse, just at the bottom. Anyway, this time I really did lock the keys in the car - I guess that's what happens when you're tired and it's early! Thank goodness for AAA Roadside Assistance. I can't say they were speedy - it took them almost an hour to arrive, but when they did (it was Bobby and Steve's Auto World), they had the car open in less than a minute. I'll spare you the details of the driver actually trying to find me and then trying to find a place to park his tow truck, which was currently towing a car. (yeah, not gonna find a place to park that big rig very easily). Anyway, I finally got home at about 6:00. The evening went okay, but I went to bed mad. Cliff and I had butted heads on parenting at bedtime - he was doing the bedtime routine and I was interjecting from the comfort of my bathtub. I know - my fault. Then when I got out of the tub and went out to the kitchen to say goodnight to Cliff, well, I don't really know what happened, but it wasn't what I was expecting and it wasn't good. Maybe it was silly, but I got cranky really fast and went to bed mad.

Back to Wednesday morning...
So, now it's Wednesday morning, 5:00am and I wake up thinking "This day HAS to be better than yesterday, right?" At 6:00am I'm finally about to crawl out of bed and the phone rings. It's Cliff's mom - she's got a terrible cold and feels miserable and can't watch Gavin today. Okay, breathe deeply. Wait until at least 6:30 to call daycare to see if he can go to daycare today. If not, I'll be waking up my favorite babysitters (my nieces) via text message to see which one of them wants to get their stay-up-too-late tails out of bed and come over and watch Gavin for me. I know neither of them would complain about it for a minute, but I hate to wake them. They stay up too late. Wait, did I say that already? They do.

Thankfully, Jo (daycare) said, "Sure, Gavin can come today" or maybe it was "Oh my gosh, are you really calling me at 6:30? The first kids don't come until 7:30, I'm still waking up. What? You want to know if Gavin can come today? Why? I don't know. Let me think. Yeah, I think that would be okay" ...nope, it was definitely "Yeah, he can come today" and I silently cheered inside! I actually just said, "That would be awesome, thank you, we'll bring him over at 8!"

Then, like a Godsent, Cliff offered to take Gavin to daycare so I could go in to work earlier rather than later and therefore, be able to pick Gavin up from daycare at 5:00, since it was Cliff's night out. Somehow now that I type that out it seems more like he was doing himself a favor than me, but really he was doing me a favor. He knows I hate to work a less than full day at work and was making sure I didn't have to.

So... I'm feeling wary of the way the day is starting out, but not so sure I should file it away yet as another crummy day. Afterall, it was only 7:00-ish.

...and then...

I pulled that dirty, salty, nowhere-near-bright blue car out of the dirty puddle-laden driveway and I saw this...

Pardon the power lines in there. I could have cropped the photo to leave them out, but the inage was so magnificently large and amazingly gorgeous I just couldn't take any of it away. If I could have backed up another half-mile to capture more of it, I would have. It was breathtaking.

The only thing more beautiful was when I turned the next corner and saw in my (salt covered) side mirror, the silhouette of our neighbor's old barn and silo against this color-rich backdrop. The image was breathtaking (although dotted with salt-spots in the mirror). If another car hadn't been approaching, I would have stopped and gotten out of the car to take a photo for you, but I thought I'd stay safe and keep driving. I hope this photo is enough to fill your day with color. It was enough to fill mine. It did turn out to be a good day after all.
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Fonts - the coolest thing ever

2011-02-16T10:49:00.000-06:00

I have a bit of an obsession with a few little things...

patterned paper
fabric
fonts (or typeface)

It could be worse. These items are relatively inexpensive. I say relatively... at least my obsession isn't with Manolo Blahnik shoes or expensive foreign cars. It's simply with paper, fabric, and typeface, which really isn't even a material thing anyway!

The thing is, I don't actually craft all that much. I buy paper for scrapbooking, but I hate to use it up, so I have BOXES of pretty 12" x 12" patterned papers at home. I know - it's a sickness. I just love to look at it. I love to see it safely stored away there in it's box. I actually love to tote it around too, when I go scrapbooking. I like to match patterns up together and see how they look. I just don't want to use it up.

...and fabric? Don't even get me started on fabric. It's really the only reason I sew at all. I don't actually enjoy sewing - I'm really, really bad at it! I just love the fabric. If I could make things just by glueing fabric, I would. If fabric never frayed, I would just cut it into cute shapes and designs and just use it like that. I buy fabric before I know exactly what I'm going to do with it... but fabric is expensive, so I do control myself a bit better with it than I do with paper. Paper is usually less than a dollar per sheet and the fabrics I like are often at least eight dollars per yard.

Then there are fonts. You see, I like type. I'm not so much a fan of the basics like Times New Roman and Arial, but I love the more whimsical, reminiscent, and artistic fonts that you often only find in custom graphics.

I buy alphabet stickers to use on cards, in scrapbooks, and in home decor just because they come in such awesome fonts.

So, boy oh boy was I excited when I saw that Emily over at Jones Design had a post about fonts today and linked to not only free or really cheap fonts, but also instructions on how to install a new font on your computer.

Can I get a Hallelujah???? Emily, how I love thee today! Thanks for the awesome fonts!

http://jonesdesigncompany.com/create/fonts

Oh, and if you like fun and stylish little craft projects that do not involve construction paper or glitter glue, Emily is your Go-To gal! Check out her fantabulous trendy tutorials at http://jonesdesigncompany.com/tutorials. Click on a thumbnail picture for her step-by-step!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
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Ramblings

2011-02-15T12:29:00.000-06:00

* We're having a heat wave here in western Wisconsin! It was 36 degrees when I left my house this morning at 5:30. Seems like we haven't seen temps like this since November!! It's supposed to be close to 50 degrees tomorrow. I can't even believe it and I don't want to be at work. It's going to be hard for me to keep going to work this spring! Of course, by the weekend, it's supposed to be back down to 20s for the highs. Just a little taste of spring - to get us through the next month of winter! I think winter technically ends next week or something, but those of us in the north know that it continues to snow for at least another month after spring officially starts. I don't know that spring really starts for me until after the last snowfall. I don't know where this came from, but Gavin has suddenly started saying "5 degrees" even when it doesn't make any sense at all. He says crazy silly things like, "When I was on the tractor and it was 5 degrees and I was in the drivers seat and grandpa was giving me a ride because I was on the tractor with a loader because it was 5 degrees." Yeah, end of story. He obviously heard someone say something about 5 degrees at some point.

* Cliff and I have both been trying to get better about taking a night each week alone to do what we want, separately. So, like this week, Cliff is going out for tacos with his friends on his night out and I'm going to the salon after work and then having dinner with a girlfriend on my night out. It gives each of us a needed break from both the duties of parenting and from eachother. We sort of fell off the wagon for awhile and we noticed it in our moods. We both felt like we weren't getting any time to do some of the things we wanted or needed to do. It's a chance to connect with friends, to run errands, to catch up on blogging or scrapbooking, to indulge in something we enjoy, or just to go for a walk or spend some time out of the house.

* Last week I went to the mall, not THE mall as in the mall of america, but a mall, as in Rosedale. I haven't been "to the mall" in a very long time - I'm sure more than a year. I'm just not a mall shopper. Anyway, while at the mall last week with my girlfriend, I went into a store that carries some really cute clothes that I think are ok to wear when you're 34 years old, but still cute for 14 year olds. Maybe I'm totally wrong about the stuff being okay to wear at 34. I tried on a handful of things, four or five, and walked out of there feeling like a whale! Each cute piece I put on quickly went from cute to horrid in a matter of a few seconds, when I saw what I looked like wearing it. Mid-winter is never a good time to try on summery clothes because we northerners are pale and chubby this time of year. Okay, so maybe that's just me that's pale and chubby. I honestly think I start looking more blue this time of year, I'm that WHITE! The extra weight really snuck up on me. It could have something to do with the candy, chocolate, etc. that I've been enjoying. I've actually been trying to eat more nutritiously, but then I follow up with desserts and lots of them. It's like I think I have an excuse to eat like crap since I just ate healthy. So, I'm going to try to be better. Hopefully the coming warmer weather will also help me to get more exercise. The cold temps we've had have kept me from getting outside for exercise and we don't have a gym membership.

* I've been on a bloody mary kick. I don't know if it's just the tomato juice that I love so much, but I could drink them all day and they don't need to have any vodka in them either! I think I'll have one tonight! Today is one of those days.

Have a good Tuesday. Oh my goodness, it's only Tuesday?

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T10:06:00.002-06:00

Thinking sweet thoughts of you today...

Happy Valentine's Day

my Dove Promise chocolate this morning said,

"Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances"

How utterly true is that?

I choose to be happy.

I saw this funny little valentine online. I just love it... the skinned up knees, the motorcycle, the old helmet...

It says, "Please don't call a traffic cop, I'm going for you strong, non-stop!"

What a nice little compliment.

How fun is this day? It's a day to tell your friends how much they mean to you, a day to tell your coworkers you like working with them, a day to indulge in dark chocolate, sweet tarts, and conversation hearts.

Indulge in something you like today.

Happy Valentine's Day, My Friend!

Hooway! (as Gavin said)

2011-02-06T22:53:00.001-06:00

I'm not really a sports fan. I like playing sports, I even enjoy going to games occasionally, but watching sports on TV just doesn't really do anything for me. I like the idea of it, I like the game food, the comraderie, the cheering, the dressing up like football players and acting silly. I like all of that, but actually sitting on the couch and just watching TV? I can't really do it. I have to also be doing something else - anything... working on the computer, eating, reading, or even cooking. I very, very rarely only do one thing at a time, including watching TV. But, I did watch the Packers smear the Steelers tonight. We do live in Wisconsin, after all. We ate tailgating food, we sat around the TV, and some of us yelled and cheered. I stayed pretty quiet - I'm not really a yeller. Gavin played play-doh, played tractors, and played with Grandma. He watched the Game and proudly sported his Aaron Rodgers jersey. When everyone else cheered and hollered, Gavin said "Hooway!"

It's now 11:00 and I'm sitting here in the dark in the living room watching the news and uploading some pictures. I can't tell you what happened to the two hours since the game ended... honestly. I haven't gotten up off the couch and it's suddenly two hours later!

Okay... I had more to say, but I'm getting too tired! Better get off to bed!

Happy Superbowl!!!

Lovin' our Baby Doll

2011-02-03T22:45:00.001-06:00

At what point do I need to stop calling Gavin my Baby Doll? I know he's a boy and I know he is two years old, but he is still my baby doll when he needs snuggles, smooches, and love... when he's tired or sick or hungry or sad... when I kiss his head and smell the most familiar smell of... him. Kids heads don't generally smell good, but the smell of my baby's head still makes me close my eyes and inhale deeply, even though it smells to anyone else like every other little boy's head. It smells of winter, of dust, of the same hat he's been wearing for weeks, it smells of his bed, and sometimes of baby shampoo, but mostly it just smells like him. He's my baby doll. He cracks me up. He makes the craziest, funniest facial expressions. He raises his eyebrows and looks at me all sideways like, without turning his head toward me, grinning slightly.

...and sometimes he screams "no mommy" at me with a scowl on his face and pushes me out of his personal space, his bedroom, the bathroom, his play area, or wherever he happens to want me out of.

Sometimes he furrows his eyebrows and scrunches up his face and scolds "Ooo not mine fwend anymow, Mom"

...but he's still my baby doll. I tell him that I love him, that he's my favorite boy, that I think he is special and wonderful. I tell him that he's nice.

The other night he turned to his cousin Renee, who came over for dinner, and said to her. "Hi Nay, I'm gwad oeu heo. I wike oeu face" Awww, shucks! Who doesn't want to hear a boy say, "I'm glad you're here. I like your face"? Well, we could work on rephrasing the "I like your face" part. He means "You're pretty" ....I think... although, now he says "I wike oeu face and I wike oeu toes" What a compliment, huh? Well, sometimes he says "I wike oeu butt". Yeah, that's my fave. Especially with the dimpled white whale of a butt I seem to have these days. Yeah, he still likes it! Hey, he may be only 2, but I'll take the compliment either way!

He's my baby doll. Cliff and I don't ~~always~~ ~~usually~~ ever agree on parenting tactics. How can two people who ultimately want the same outcome go about trying to accomplish in such vastly different ways? We are in total and complete agreement that we want Gavin to feel and know that he is loved, to be a kind and generous person, to treat people with respect, to be intelligent and to exercise his mind, to find his own sense of self and celebrate it, and to know that he is special and loved by us and by God.

Even in all of that agreement, we are like polar opposites when it comes to the tactical aspect of parenting. I am the mushy lover who concentrates on the I love you's and you're special's. Cliff's the more level-headed one who concentrates on teaching Gavin what's right and what's wrong and ensuring that we (and Gavin) don't fall into habits or routines that will someday make things more difficult for us.

This is completely hypothetical and not a realistic example, but in theory... Say, Gavin is crying because he's upset about a situation. Cliff is more the Dad that quickly assesses the situation and realizes there is no real pain or harm and says something like "You're fine, stop crying" or "That's just the way it is" and I am more the Mom who assesses the situation and although there is no real pain or harm, still realizes that sadness, fear, and frustration are very real feelings and crying sometimes helps you feel better, so I would say something like, "I know you're sad about this and it's okay to cry for a little bit. We'll try again later" or something like that.

Neither way is wrong. We struggle ~~a little~~ a lot with bedtime right now and really should be tackling bedtime one parent at a time. It seems we only get frustrated with eachother when we try to do it together because our styles are so utterly different. ...and yet, they both work most of the time, just not together. When Gavin gets out of bed at bedtime, Cliff sternly, but gently says "It's time for sleeping. I expect you to stay in your bed", which was actually SuperNanny's bedtime tactic that I had shared with Cliff a few weeks ago. She says to get right down to eye level with your child and say that once. Then each time after that when they come out of their room / bed, just put them back without saying anything. I tried it and it sort of worked, but he did cry and I don't want to be the cause of his crying. I soon went back to kissing him and snuggling him "one more time" and telling him that I love him. ...and he knows that I'm the pushover! He still asks me to lay with him, snuggle him, give him one more kiss at night and he doesn't ask Cliff for all of that anymore. He knows I'll give in.

...but here's the thing. As much as I can admit that I'm being played, I ~~sort of~~ really believe in my heart that it's more important for me to show Gavin that I DO like to snuggle him and kiss him and lay with him and spend time with him than to ensure he knows ~~who's in charge~~ that I mean what I say and that when it's bedtime, it's bedtime.

I love this age that he is at and I love each and every little part of him, the soft, kissable, tangible parts and the thoughtful, playful, silly, emotional parts. I want to savor every minute I have with him. I don't ever want to wish these years back. I want to feel like I appreciated them and took advantage of the time I had with this loving and wonderful two-year old boy.

A fellow blogger, Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored, recently wrote something that pulled at my heart strings. She and I are different in many ways, but I sure can appreciate her uncensored accounts of her life. She says things that I would filter out, she shares things that I would hold secretive, she talks about things that are voo-doo in my world, but she is honest, out there, and open and I love that about her. My Catholic parents would not approve of the blog. So, Mom, you should read the post I'm referring to, but I wouldn't recommend reading much beyond that. She recently wrote about snuggling her 6-yr old at bed time and deciding to just enjoy it because before she knows it, that 6-year old will be 14 and may be slamming doors and yelling "I hate you" and all that fun stuff. I hope that Gavin never utters those words and more importantly never questions my love for him. Whether that day comes or not, I still feel like my most important job as a parent is to love. Love this child as Jesus loves him. Love him as much and as well as I know how. Love him no matter what. So, if my baby doll needs one more snuggle, one more kiss, a little kiss and a big kiss (as we've been doing lately), or wants me to lay with him "one mo minute", I will. I will because all too soon he will not want all of that love. I have to squeeze it all in now. My baby doll is going to be a big boy soon, okay, so he already is a big boy, and I am a little afraid of that. I'm a little sad about that. He's two going on fourteen and I want to keep him sweet and little and loving.

Early Bird

2011-02-03T06:23:00.001-06:00

I'm up with the birds again this morning. Actually, our birds all left our yard a couple of months ago, so I can't actually tell you if they're up yet or not. But, I woke up at 2:30 this morning and suddenly realized that an order I placed on Tuesday for an event at work this morning might not have gone through. I only realized it because I figured out late yesterday that another order I placed on Tuesday didn't go through, but that one was for next week, so I figured I'd just place it again today. It wasn't until 2:30am that I wondered if the one for today went through. I re-set my alarm clock so that I could stop and pick up food at the grocery store for the meeting and get to work by 6:30 to set it up. But, then I thought maybe my order did actually go through. I tossed and turned in bed for an hour and a half and finally got up and got my computer out so I could check the order. There was no way to know for sure if it was submitted without talking to the caterer directly. I sent her an email around 5:00, but didn't figure I'd hear back right away. Finally, at 6:00, I knew it was too late for me to still pick something up and get there in time, so I called the coffee shop in our building and caught Yildiz just walking in to the building. She happily agreed to deliver an order to our meeting by 7:00am and put all my uneasiness to rest. Then I had to email the caterer again and ask her to cancel my order - if she ever had it in the first place, that is!

Now, that I've got all of that taken care of... I'm pooped! I've been up since 2:30, I'm showered and warm, and cozy in my bath robe and just want to go back to bed!

On the bright side, it's Thursday and I only have to venture out into the snowy cold for two more days this week and then I can hole up at home for the weekend! We have company coming Saturday and Sunday, so it will be a busy weekend, but fun! Sunday is my Mom's birthday (and yes, the Super Bowl!! and yes, the Packers are going to win!) so we're having brunch at my house after church. I'm looking forward to it!

Well, off to work! I may still be able to make it there by 7:30 if I hurry and get my butt in gear and out the door!

Happy Thursday everyone! Stay warm!!

The cold and the snow...

2011-02-02T07:05:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I worked from home. It snowed around 5" at our house on Monday, which was no big deal, but it made traffic just awful. My 38-mile commute to work took over two hours Monday morning and another two hours on the way home Monday evening. The 5" at our house wasn't anything to speak of here in Minne-sconsin, although the roads were apparently treacherous. However, it snowed more to the north and west of us, which was where my Mom was coming from to watch Gavin yesterday. I knew that my Mom wouldn't want to drive the 40 miles from her house in the prime of rush-hour traffic, in the dark, on treacherous roads yesterday, so I decided I would work from home, which meant that she wouldn't have to be at my house as early as usual and could leave her house a couple of hours later than if I were driving in to work. Gavin slept until 8:15 and then sat in his high chair with a bowl of cereal, watching Dinosaur Train, while I sat in the living room at my computer. After his breakfast, he sat in his high chair and painted with watercolors. My Mom arrived in perfect time at 9:00 and I took my computer and got right back to work until lunch time, when I took a break for lunch and shoveling.

It was nice to be there with my Mom and the boys for lunch (my brother-in-law dropped my nephew off mid-morning as well).We all sat down to lunch together and then I took advantage of being there and went outside with Gavin for a few minutes before I had to get back to work. It was cold out, but he and I both needed to get outside for a bit for some fresh air. We both bundled up in our boots, snowpants, coats, hats and mittens and headed out to shovel off the steps and sidewalk. It wasn't just chilly, it was frigid! It was only a couple of minutes before the sting of the cold air and wind had his eyes shining with thick tears, one or two escaping now and then and rolling down his frozen pink cheeks. He didn't want to go in though, he was loving being outside. After shoveling I got the bucket of kitchen scraps to take out to the compost bin. I quickly realized the snow was too deep for Gavin to walk all the way to the compost bin with me, so instead I started clearing a path (with my boots) toward his sandbox under the screen porch. I figured he could play there while I took the compost to the bin in the woods since he would still be within view. Even my "cleared" path was too tough for a little guy who's just shy of three feet tall and bundled up like an eskimo. The snow on that side of the house was deep - really deep. He finally stopped walking and said "kaywee me, mom", so I scooped him up under his armpits with my left arm and held the compost bucket with my right arm and trudged to the sandbox. I set him in the snow covered sandbox and he was happy as he could be. He uncovered a few shovels, a couple of rakes, and a vehicle from the snow and sand and played just as if it were sunny and 70! As I walked across the yard to the edge of the woods to dump the compost in the bin, he filled his wheelbarrow with snow and sand. When I made it back to the sandbox again and asked if he was ready to go back in the house, he left no doubt in my mind that he was not ready to go in yet. I gave him a big smoocher because I just love so much that he likes to be out there, even when it IS only 5 degrees above zero! His frozen cheek felt icy on my lips and I knew I had to get him back inside. We compromised and brought his big sand shovel in the house with us. I carried him all the way from the sandbox to the house, with him in one arm and the shovel and empty bucket in the other. The snow was up to my thighs at one point and we stuck the shovel in and it was completely covered. The snow was about 3' deep there. It was so good to get outside, even if just for those few minutes. I headed back to work and he headed off to nap. When I quit working around 4:30 and told my Mom she could head home if she wanted to, Gavin was still asleep. I think being out in the cold is refreshing and exhilarating, but also wears you out!

Two weeks ago (Jan 16th), the thermometer at our house said it was -18 when I left for work. The weather man on the radio that day said it was -27 in my town. So, either my thermometer froze up at -18 and quit working or the six miles between my house and "town" made a nine-degree difference. Either way, it was cold. This morning it is -6, not nearly as cold, but you wouldn't know it. It feels cold. The woodstove downstairs is going strong, the heat is on, and it still feels chilly. Cliff headed in to work early this morning and shortly after he left, I got a phone call from my sister who lives just a couple of miles away. They didn't have water this morning at her house, so she was asking if she could come over here to wash her hair and finish getting ready for work. Cliff's Mom is coming over in a while to watch Gavin today. I'm getting a few things done around the house since I was up anyway. I made a pot of coffee, started a load of laundry, packed my lunch, had a bowl of cereal, took the garbage and some recycling out to the garage, made the bed, and brought some Christmas decorations downstairs that have been piling up at the top of the stairs, waiting to be carried down. It feels good. Cliff and Gavin picked up the toys in the living room last night and I got the kitchen cleaned up before bed. That always feels good - to wake up to a clean kitchen - ready for a new day! We also put clean bedding on the bed last night and the first night in freshly washed sheets is always the best. They feel smooth and crisp, they smell fresh and light, and they induce good, solid sleep... usually. Gavin stayed up late last night and I am tired today. We put him to bed between 8:15 and 8:30, but he was not ready to go to sleep. He was out of bed a few times and ended up crying a few times. Cliff finally went to bed and I was on my way there, but had just a couple of things to do in the meantime - one being finish the bowl of ice cream Cliff had gotten for me. Each time I sat down to finish the ice cream or headed to the laundry room to put something away, Gavin came back out of his room. He was hungry, he needed to poop, he needed his milk, he needed me... the list goes on. It was one thing after another. I let him sit on the potty chair for a while, but he didn't really need to go. When he said he needed supper, I reminded him that he had his water in his bed, but that it wasn't time to eat, it was time for sleeping (I know, this while I was trying to finish off a bowl of ice cream... but, I ate all of my supper!). I finally headed for bed too. I say "finally", but it was actually only about 9:40! We were tired! I got into bed and a few minutes later, Gavin came into our room. I carried him back to his bed and kissed him goodnight again, reminding him that he needed to stay in bed. I must have been really tired, because I was asleep already when he came back in about 15 minutes later. Cliff brought him back to his bed this time and he stayed there... I think. I was asleep, so I can't guarantee it. So, it was probably 10:30 when we got back to sleep and yet when the alarm went off this morning at 5:40 it felt like we had just dozed off minutes earlier! Cliff got up and headed to work, Carrie called and then came over. I am glad I made coffee. I think I might need it today.

Jennings Family

Recipe Review: Sun-dried Tomato Penne Pasta

Recipe Review: Creamy Pear Pie

God's Frosty Masterpiece

Up North

Our Day in the Sun

Happy New Year!

A Boy and His Christmas Tree

Sneak Peak - Family Photos

White Christmas?

Sledding!

Quotes...

Our Little Artist

Our Little Halloween Cowboy!

Sand-Box: A Return on Investment

Out of the Mouths of Babes

September brings... October

A Walk In The Park

Late Summer Evening on the Farm

Tonight

One Month

Fourth of July

Thursday Thoughts - Random Ramblings

"Cruze-In" On A Sunday Afternoon

Movie Review

More Silly Things Gavin Says

Day Trip

Shadow Play

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Perspective and a Perfect Day

Teeth

Flowers in the Winter

Learning to Wink

Blessings Falling from the Sky

Back Yard Sugarin'

Let's Polka!

It's Still Winter

A Journal

Washing

waiting

Preview - What we've been up to...

Just Photos

Security from an 18-Year Old

Miracle on OUR Street

Good Morning Smile

Friday Ramblings

A day out and about

BINGO

Puddles

Table of Contents

Sweet as a Cookie

Sunrise

Fonts - the coolest thing ever

Ramblings

Happy Valentine's Day

Hooway! (as Gavin said)

Lovin' our Baby Doll

Early Bird

The cold and the snow...