Okay, is my house really THAT cold???

Apparently, Peter thinks so.

Have a Very "Hoppy" Weekend!

We're getting ready for Halloween....how about you??

Six Quirks Tag

My "quirky" friend, Rachel, tagged me. Accordingly, I'm supposed to come up with six quirks that I have. Hmmm....Do I do anything weird??? ME??? I've decided to ask the supreme authority on the subject, Cubby, and see what he says.

#1 I try and be very organized. Almost to fault. However, there is one place that is almost never organized. My purse. (In college it was my backpack.) It boggles Cubby's mind how I can be so OCD about almost everything else, but my purse is a jumble of receipts, snacks, and toys for the kids.

#2 I set the alarm for 6:00 every night and yet some (most lately) mornings, I can hardly get out of bed before 7. I am not a morning person (ask my best friend from high school, Michelle, who would be at my house to pick me up everyday before school and EVERY day, I would be late....she's a really good friend for sticking with me!!). Anyhow, getting back to the alarm. Some mornings I can wrestle my inner demons and get up and run. Lately, however, I'm just too tired! Cubby says I just should admit this to myself and set the alarm for 7:00 instead of lying to myself that maybe the next morning will be different!

#3 When I get stressed (or bored, or restless), I pick. I pick my mascara off, I pick at my eyebrows, I pick at my nails. Anything really. It's been a nervous habit of mine since geometry. Darn those proofs!!! So, if you really want to know how my week has been, check out how thin my brows are looking and you'll know without asking!

#4 Milk. I have a super-sniffer nose when it comes to milk. It's only skim for me and I can tell if milk is getting close to its expiration date and this makes it too "sour" to drink.

#5 When Cubby is watching the TV by himself, I'm always nagging him to turn it down. However, when the kids are watching, I usually am the one to turn the volume up so that they can hear it. I swear that their shows are quieter than his. Go figure.

#6 Finally, my last quirk would be that I skip ahead in books and read the ending! Yes, I can't stand to not know how a book ends while I'm reading it! What if I were to die and then I'd never know how it ends?? Also, it is hard for me to go to sleep at night with questions about what going to happen next floating around in my head. And, one more thing, I like knowing how it ends so that I can take my time reading rather than rushing through it to get to the ending. I pick up on details on how and why things happen too that otherwise, I'd miss.

Okay, that's it for me. I'm going to tag my sister-in-laws, Whitney and Sara, and my friends Maylene, Ilise, Maren, Diana, and Heather!

Emily's "New" Bike!

This weekend marked a major kid-milestone for little Miss Emily: her first bicycle! She had once asked for a "blue bicycle with a princess basket." We looked around at various stores and shops and could not find a blue girl's bike. (Apparently, only the boys want blue now-a-days.) I was telling my mom about it and she told me that she still had my old Schwinn bike (which happened to be blue) up in the attic! She got it down and we took it into the High Gear bike shop for new tires and to get it cleaned up. (Evidently, the bike is quite the collector's piece and we got quite a few offers for it while we were there! I'm so old my bike is now an antique! Go figure!) Cubby then ordered a princess basket off of Amazon (b/c stores don't carry just the basket--usually it's the princess bike with a basket).

Well, it all came together on Saturday and she was so thrilled! We'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Her first reaction to her bike

Sitting so pretty!

Going for her first ride

Coming back and doing great!

First Haircut

Before....sweet little baby boy wispies!

During....NOT too thrilled with the whole concept of the haircut....

After! (Big-boy hair now! Sniff, sniff!)

Please note: We did not cut the top--just timmed up the back as to avoid the all-too-common "baby mullet" look. I saved his little wispy curls in a tissue--the hair is just as white as the tissue!! The back looks so much better--thanks, Albanie, for squeezing us in!

Millions of Peaches....

We are just loving our Colorado peaches!!! They are so yummy. Thank you, Grandma and Stan!

My First 5k!

Have you ever overcome a fear? Well, yesterday, I did! I ran in my first 5k and, according to my mom and my friend, Amber (who ran with me), I did it in a decent time. (They may be a little biased though.) It was very liberating! So, how, you ask, did I overcome a fear? Here's the story:

Since I was in elementary school, I have had this fear of running. Every time the "mile run" in gym class would come up, I'd literally make myself sick with worry and self doubt. It just seemed so long! Four whole laps--there was no way I could do it. The knots would form in my stomach and, up until it was at least 1/2 way over, I'd be so miserable. I'm pretty sure that my fear of running long distances (or for long periods of time) kept me from wanting to play soccer as a kid too.

Then, after Emily was born, I had 30 lbs to lose and not a whole lot of "free" time to work out. I was still working at Creighton and what precious little time I had, I wanted to spend it with my baby! So, I had to find a work out that was both quick and effective. Enter running. Granted, I did (and still do) most all of my running on a treadmill, but, it worked. I had to stop while I was super pregnant with Christian, and then, I had to do it only sporadically due to nursing until about 4 months ago. And, now that I'm only nursing twice-a-day, I'm able to run more frequently.

Once I knew I could run 3 miles on a treadmill, the next step was to move it to the great outdoors. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped, but, it was definitely a "fun" experience to have! Trying to draw in a decent breath despite the humidity was probably the biggest challenge. I'm definitely NOT a distance runner! Amber was a terrific coach though and encouraged me to keep going the whole time. What really helped was at the turn-around point when she said, "Okay, less than a mile to go!" (Sweet words to hear!) She left me in the dust the last 100 yards or so, but otherwise, I kept up :-)....thanks for sticking with me, Amber! There's another race at the end of October...who's with me???

What Little Boys Are Made Of....

Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails??? No...it's more like trucks, and planes, and anything that bounces! Boys are so hard-wired for action; it's just so funny how naturally action-figure and car noises come for them! Everytime a plane passes overhead or we pass a digger or mac truck on the road, I hear a loud screech from the back seat and a little finger points to the latest attraction. It is very cute. I used to think that parents pushed boys toward the whole trucks and sports thing and they pushed girls toward dolls and Disney princess. (Well, I did introduce Disney princess to Emily.) Christian, however, was automatically was drawn to balls and trucks--who knew they came like that??!

A couple of examples:

A couple of weeks ago, they were doing some road work on our corner and Cubby took Christian down to look. (Emily was asked to go along too, but declined the invitation.) They must have watched for a good 15-20 mins. Christian loved all of the digging and cement pouring! Very big stuff.

Also, with the recent rains, we haven't been able to go outside. It has been super hard for my little guy. This evening, Christian had put his shoes on and was carrying Cubby's shoes around while following him (Christian's hint for "I want to go outside!"). It was only drizzling, so I told Cubby to go ahead and take him out (thinking that since Christian doesn't like getting water on his face, he'd want to come in shortly. Wrong! He had a blast--jumping on the trampoline, playing peek-a-boo in the rocketship and playing ball with Daddy. It totally made his week.

I just love how although my children share similar interests, they are so different with what makes them "tick".

A is for Abacus!

Tuesday is "letter box" day at preschool. Accordingly, Emily brought her abacus to represent the letter "A." Her teacher said it was a big hit! Grandma Karen wanted pictures of her so here you go, Grandma! I hope you love her "very silly faces" that she made while I was taking them--I sure do!

Preschool IS a good thing afterall!

Today, like so many others in our area, was Emily's first day of preschool. She was so excited and was looking forward to the new experience. We got her settled, took a couple of pictures, and then she was off and running! As Christian and I drove away, it caught me off-guard how quiet the van suddenly was and I got all emotional. I missed her little voice! My first little baby was FINALLY starting school! We've both waited for more than a year for preschool to start, and, now that it has, I can hardly believe that it's here. She is now in someone else's, albeit very capable, hands for 2 1/2 hrs twice a week!

Okay, enough of the sentiment...I'll tear up again. Once I snapped out of it, Christian and I had a great "Mommy and me" time, playing at Target and outside. When I came to pick Emily up, she threw her arms around me and replayed the morning for me. This little separation will be good for us afterall! We'll both grow and enjoy the other's company that much more. Hurray for preschool!

A Zoo Day with Uncle Peter and Emily's First Day of Dance!

This morning we took our Uncle Peter to the zoo! Peter (Cubby's younger brother) has recently moved to town and is staying with us while he gets settled. It has been soooo much fun having him around! The kids have even been preferring Uncle Peter's attention to mine (and having him hold Christian has been a welcome break for my arms)! Here are some of the highlights from the morning! (And, Peter DID have fun, he just smiled AFTER I took his picture :-).)

This afternoon, Emily had her first dance class! She is taking classes at Mary Lorraine's Dance Center and what can be cuter than little 3 and 4 yr olds in black leotards, pink ballet tights and ballet slippers??? One of the other moms was good enough to email me a picture of her class (since I forgot my camera!). Emily loved learning 1st position, pointing her toes and "tippy toeing". Her teacher, Ms. Nicole, has her degree in elementary education and is absolutely wonderful! On a side note, they'd like to get a few more girls into her class and so if anyone is interested in signing up, let me know and we can both get a discount on tuition rates!

(Emily is to the left of the teacher's assistant, Miss Erin, who is on the right with the pink headband.)

Back-to-(Baby) Back Winners!

Here is a fantastic recipe from the lovely and very talented Amber McIllece! It was a big hit for us on Labor Day and while we were playing the day away, it was doing its job of cooking up tasty and smelling yummy! I meant to take a "before" picture...but they were just looked too good and we ate them too quickly! So, here's an "after" picture instead!

Crockpot BBQ Ribs:

31/2 lbs pork loin back ribs

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 Tbsp. liquid smoke

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. salt

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2 c. cola or water

1 1/2 c. favorite BBQ sauce

Spray inside of crockpot w/cooking spray. Mix brown sugar, garlic, pepper, liquid smoke and salt; rub into ribs. Cut ribs into 4 inch pieces. Layer ribs and onions into pot. Pour cola (or water) over ribs. Cover and cook on low setting for 8-9 hrs or until tender. Remove ribs and discard liquid. Dip ribs into BBQ sauce and put them back into crock pot. Pour remaining BBQ sauce over ribs. Cover and cook for 1 more hour.

I also tried a new kind of fruit salad. It turned out pretty tasty as well and since the recipe makes a lot, I was able to get a picture of it before it was too late for an "after" picture!

Creamy Fruit Salad:

20 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained

15 oz. can sliced peaches, drained

11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

4 apples, cored, peeled and diced

1 1/2 c. milk

1/3 c. frozen orange juice cocentrate, thawed

3/4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding mix

3/4 c. sour cream

Combine fruit in large serving bowl; set aside. Whisk milk, orange juice and pudding mix together until smooth; stir in sour cream. Fold into fruit mixture; cover and refridgerate until serving. Serves 16 (or 5 with lots' of leftovers!)