Open House

Tonight was the open house at C's school. As we entered the classroom, we had to find his desk based on some questions they answered and a picture they drew of themselves. C's picture was him with long hair (pre yesterday's cut I guess), his soccer uniform, and even the headband he's been wearing during games. Some of the things you may not (or may) know about C are: he wants to be "a fesno (professional) soccer player" when he grows up, his favorite books are "the magic treehouse," his favorite thing to eat is "hrd (hard) shell tacos," I wish that "I had a pig" (seriously, is this obsession ever going to end?), if he had a million dollars he woud "buy a bunny", and his favorite thing to do in the winter is "snoball (snowball) fit (fights)." And there's more! He has a dog and loves salted caramel ice cream. But the most important thing is that he likes to ride horses. He really is quite the guy and we are super proud of him -- even if he was one of two students who had a blue "warning" crayon in their behavior chart.

Nina Visit

The boys had off of school today. Our community has a large Jewish population, so Fall Break days in their school district coincide Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Since the boys had off, and my parents are fleeing south soon, my mom took the opportunity to come visit us for the day. H & C got long overdue haircuts. C said all the Justin Bieber fans think he looks like him and likes it when he waves his hair. Could this be the reason he's wanted to grow it out? Hmmm.... And my mom persuaded me to test drive some new cars. We've had mine since H was born, and it's kind of on it's last leg. Don't get me wrong, I sure do like me a nice automobile -- it's just not a priority to me, and honestly I'm quite harsh on my cars so getting a new car makes me a bit nervous. But, it was good to finally get out, because I really do need to figure it out. We also had a nice lunch, played a little football, did some homework, and of course H showed off his baritone skills to Nina while the dog sat on the bed and howled. It was a great day.

Sweet Sounds

Today H got off the bus carrying his new band instrument ... the baritone. You may find this surprising, but he's the only one in his grade who picked it! I know, right? He's so excited, and has said at least a dozen times he can't believe how cool he it is. I'm not sure the dog agrees -- he freaks out whenever H blows into it. Of all the instruments in the world, I'm not sure would have guessed H would pick a baritone, but truthfully, I think it's pretty cool too.

Tournament Weekend

It was soccer tournament weekend, which meant six soccer games in two days. Both teams did really well. H's won 2 and lost 1, nearly making it to the playoffs. I'm so ticked -- I had taken the best photo of him next to one of the players from the other team during the game they lost, but it seemed to have gotten deleted when I tossed my camera into my bag. I swear, the kid was already shaving, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he drove away in his own car after the game. He was enormous. C's team won 2 and lost 1 as well. They still get "thanks for playing" metals, so he was happy. By the way, check out H's new look. C has been sporting a headband too in order to keep his bangs out of his face, but H's look is definitely less discrete. It seems to be his thing.

Snuggles

Making Dinner

Look who made us dinner last night! H has always been interested in cooking and somewhere along the way heard about Jack Witherspoon and his Twist his Up cookbook. Jack has a pretty great story, and I thought it was cool H was so excited about cooking. Plus, Jack is around his age so I think he was pretty inspired. For his first meal, he made Shepherd's Pie with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Berry Delicious Parfaits. It was absolutely delicious. Great job H!

New Swing

I've been complaining that we have a great back yard, but besides giant climbing trees, nothing fun for the kids to play with. For C's birthday, he got larger soccer goals and soccer rebounder. Plus, my parents got him a baseball rebounder and this awesome swing, which Brian hung this weekend. They love it.

Anniversary Flowers

The centerpieces at our wedding were gerbera daisies and wheatgrass. For our anniversary this year, Brian surprised me with these.

Oktoberfest

One of the things I absolutely love about the boy's soccer club is that every weekend in September, they have an Oktoberfest. The club is lucky to actually own the buildings and land they are on, and this event is one of the main reasons they can sustain it. During those weeks, parents and older players are called upon to volunteer their time. Brian's favorite volunteer shift is morning grill station. So last weekend and this morning, he showed up bright at early to start cooking the pigs. C had a game while Brian was there, so H decided he wanted to help Brian this year. Technically, he's not supposed to so most of the time he just watched. Although, he did get a little job towards the end of the shift. We were there well before it opens. But let me tell you, come 4pm, this place will be packed with people again. We may have just been there last night ourselves and let me tell you, it's a blast.

C's First Game of the Season

This morning was C's first soccer game of the season. For over a month, he's been asking when his games are starting and today was finally the day. If the rest of the games go like today (which I know they won't always) it seems like they might not be half so bad this year. Not that they weren't good last year -- they just didn't necessarily win many games. And C had a stellar game with five goals. He was pretty excited.

Inspiration Files :: Among the Trees

It's the second week of school. The first with homework and all of that. Plus parent nights for both the kids. I'm also trying to toss in some "me" time -- which meant I actually went to tae kwon do twice and ran twice so far this week. I've been working on a fun project all summer, but it seemed to really pick up into high gear this week as well. Bottom line is, we are all trying to get back into the swing of things, and frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed. Sooooo, it's time to go to my happy place and peruse the Inspiration Files. This one is a midcentury modern from the 1950s with a new addition. I kind of love it, as you can imagine. Although, it really makes me miss my dining room light. I'm aching to get another one just like it. Some day. (Runyon Canon House by Mike Jacobs Architecture via Desire to Inspire. Photography by Brian Thomas Jones)

Lucky Number 13

I really am not sure how this happened. But one day (10. September, 1999 to be exact), Brian and I were getting married, and the next, we were celebrating 13 years of marriage. Seriously, those years have just flown by. I can't imagine a better person to be spending my years with. Lucky me!

The Spew

Saturday afternoon, after soccer games were done and other responsibilities were taken care of, I packed my bags and headed down to Oak Park. Solo. Just me and my Pandora stations. I stayed over the the Elsmo's, where a few people met up with us and we walked to the Open Door Theater, which is just up the street from our old house. Once there, we met up with a big group of other people. The show that was playing was The Spew. Our friend Lynda is one of the co-creators, and portrays Gay Beehive. It was hilarious. So much fun. Afterwards, the group came over to Melissa's. Hardly anyone knew I was coming -- heck, I barely knew since it was a rather last minute sort of decision -- so it was such a great surprise, and just so incredible seeing everyone.

Not Even Sure What to Say

Today was really kind of a weird day. Or at least, some weird things happened. Mainly involving random animals. Earlier in the day, I heard some ruckus, and when I looked to find out what was going on, I saw two squirrels on the screen to our porch. I went outside to scare them away, but guess what? They were stuck! Or afraid to leave. It was the strangest thing. I tried poking them from the inside. I tried poking them from the outside. They were hanging on our screen for at least 30 minutes. Storm was in crazy dog heaven, but it was all too close for comfort to me. See that third photo down? It was taking with my iPhone. Too close! Finally one got down, but then another jumped onto the gutter, where yet one more squirrel happened to be! I thought that maybe they were trying to nest there, but I can't find any sort of openings. I just think they didn't have a grip on the stone or wood and freaked out. It was crazy.

A few hours later in the day, just as I was starting to get phone calls to see if soccer practice was going to be cancelled due to rain, I saw a dog running around. H went outside, and the thing ran right up to him. Which was great, except it was a huge dog ... running right at my boy. You just never know. Turns out it was very friendly. I got a leash. H got some water. I took a picture and sent to Brian asking if we could keep it.



Brian still hasn't gotten back to me.

We called the police -- all the while, C got off the bus (probably thinking we got him a new dog and wondering why it wasn't a bulldog like he's been asking for for the last three Christmases), I was talking to the Director of the soccer club who was filling in for C's coach, and sending out an email to the team canceling practice. You wonder why I sound like a crazy lady half the time? This kind of thing is exactly why. Just as I hit 'send' a police man (who was really handsome, I might add) showed up. Thankfully, he thought he recognized the dog, and whisked the dog away in the police car. The boys are still bummed we didn't keep it. I'm hoping for an uneventful rest of the evening.

Another Year

Today was my birthday. I hadn't been thinking much about it and was actually surprised when I got my first greeting yesterday. Sadly, birthdays seem so insignificant to me nowadays -- but at the same time, it is nice to just take a bit of time out and celebrate the day. I started the day with a run -- my first in two months. That could have gone better. It felt horrible -- yet incredible at the same time. Oh well, it's a start. Then I went and got my hair cut, and walked around the Third Ward a bit where I picked up some new new latte bowls bowls. Last week Storm got his collar stuck in the dishwasher as he was licking some dishes clean, and pulled the entire bottom rack up the stairs, breaking half the dishes including a bunch of latte bowls. Nice. Once the boys got home, it was carting them around to soccer and such. But then ... we were all together again and my husband and boys surprised me with an amazing dinner at Braise. C even wore his suit jacket and tie, which always makes my heart melt a bit. But seriously, c'mon -- all my boys are so gosh darn handsome. I have no idea how I got so lucky, but I'll take it!

First Day of School ... 2nd & 5th Grades

After three months of summer break, the boys went back to school today. There's always something so exciting about the first day of school. Plus this year, for the first time in awhile, the boys are going to different schools again! H started 5th grade, which means he goes to the middle school. His bus picks him up a good 1 hour and 10 minutes before his brother. Based on prior years, I was expecting a bit of anxiety, but he hopped on that bus absolutely excited. It was awesome to see. Finally it was C's turn to go. He is heading into 2nd grade. I was smothered in squishy hugs while waiting for the bus to show up. I could tell he was a little scared, and I really think it may be a bit harder on him not having his big brother around. But I think overall we are all pretty excited for this year. I'm crossing my fingers they are having a great first day, and can't wait for them to come home so I can hear all about it.

Visitors & a Baby

What an amazing weekend. Our friends the Elsmo's came for a visit, and we were all giddy with excitement. We had a relaxing evening eating dinner and drinking too much wine -- just like it should be. Today, we were going to meet up with Scott, Ali and A, but plans changed when Ali decided to have a baby yesterday! A little girl, nonetheless. So instead, we went to the hospital to meet her. Aren't we lucky? She's stunning -- and kind of ruined us the rest of the day. I'm not sure 10 minutes went by without someone sighing and saying something like "what a cute baby" .... or pulling up photos on our cameras just to get another peak. After we left the hospital, we went to the Audubon Nature Center for a little hike, then off to Kopps for dinner before saying goodbye to our friends. Before we even left the parking lot, the boys were saying how sad they were that the Elsmo's were leaving. I think we all felt the same way.