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Showing posts from April, 2015

4th Annual NYC Weekend

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I love New York in the springtime! This weekend we took our little family on our annual trip to New York City -- tagging along on David's business trip. We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed to the first of two dates with old friends. The first up in Columbus Circle and the other down in SoHo. With no one in my current town that really knows me, it's always so great to be in the company of someone who has known me for a very many years. In SoHo , nostalgia kicked in over cupcakes and cobblestoned streets. Why did we move again? Of course, I stopped into Purl for some fabric and felt. Ahh lovely! Saturday started with Alice's Tea Cup , again, for a yummy breakfast served with fairydust and wings. Then a quick walk up to the Natural History Museum where we were blown away, again, by the big Blue Whale dangling from the ceiling and all the other treasures. The girls pulled out their iPad and took a thousand pictures of anything and everything that piqued their int

8 Things I Should Have Said to Adam

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This is Adam. And that's me, trying not to faint. Adam and I The night of my birthday, Dave and I went to a Guster concert in downtown Chicago with our friend Jeff, my brother Nic and his girlfriend Bobbi. Awesome people for an awesome night. Guster is a band Dave and I have been fans of since collage. And they are super-awesome live. Lots of dancing and singing to songs that we've been singing for years. Anyway... afterwards, we went across the street to a bar with karaoke. We sang, we drank. We pretended being at a bar after midnights wasn't such a unique event. THEN in walks the opener -- this strange Asian violinist. And behind him is Adam -- the guitarist from Guster. Whoa! Of course "no-rules" Jeff had no problem asking him to take a picture with me, after telling him it was my birthday and we were at the show. Here's the thing, I am a spaz when it comes to meeting artists/celebs. My head tingles and I can't control what I'm saying. A

Spring Cleaning Time!

I am wired to spring clean . Not sure what in my DNA makes this so, it just is. Did I spring clean with my Mom while growing up? I don't recall exactly, but I'm guessing I did. Also, I believe I was a farm wife in a past life, so cleaning out the house after winter finally departs is embedded deep in my psyche. This year, we've been doing so much travel, that I haven't even thought about Spring Cleaning 2015 and what I want to accomplish. Work is exploding, I'm coaching two youth soccer teams, two big birthdays and all the other general wackiness that accompanies early April is heavy upon us. But, so is the need to shovel out under the mountain of STUFF that accumulates over the winter months. I don't know about you, but I spend the winter burrowing under stuff and crafting, and not throwing anything away. So, what am I planning to do this Spring? Other than the usual clothes sort and cleaning out the piles of mail, papers and toys that are piled all ov

Soccer All the Time!

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It's spring! And that means we're back on the soccer fields. Mondays and Thursdays I'm coaching Leah's U9 team. And Tuesday, I'm coaching Alice's Kindergarten team. Then, Saturday and Sunday we're at their games. And it makes for a crazy schedule of running around all week and quick dinners well past the usual time. Or homework put-off for the morning. But, that's just what we do. And for soccer, we'll do it. Hooray Spring!

What I'm Diggin' in April 2015

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Outlander -- My favorite show, bar NONE, started back up this month for the second part of the first season and I'm living for each new episode on Saturday nights. It's. Just. That. Good! A Discovery of Witches -- I listen to audio books on my 40-minute commute to work and I've been particular about picking books that are 10 discs or less so I can finish them within a week. But for some reason I decided to give this story, with its 20 discs, a try. I'm halfway through and it will take me about two weeks to get through the whole story but I am loving it. This is what Twilight should have been -- with a DaVinci Code -like story thrown in. Violet Mackerel book series   -- The girls and I have been reading these books for the last few weeks before bed and I am absolutely in love with Violet. She's sensitive and thoughtful, and she creates all these adorable theories about the world around her. The girls and I discuss her stories and ideas even during the day. We

Celebrating Nine!

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My big girl celebrated her ninth birthday with a small party at our house. She's so funny about her parties. For the past several years she's requested small at-home parties with a few friends instead of the big parties out at places such as jumping gyms like we did when she was little -- or that her friends are doing. She invited four pals and allowed her little sister to include two friends. We had a few games scheduled, but mostly they ran around outside on the swing set. We pulled out bubbles and jump ropes and were thankful it was a sunny, warmish Spring day. Leah Requested Brownies Instead of Cake or Cupcakes We Asked Guests to Bring Sea Animal Stuffed Toys and We Awarded Prizes to Each Then, We Played Pin the Tale on the Whale! Fun party! Related posts: More birthday successes

Out With the Old and In With the New

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We finally got delivery on the new sofa last week. Hooray! After 10 years of service, it was time to wave goodbye to this old lumpy friend. Lumpy I changed diapers on that chaise, and snuggled babies and watched hours of movies with my growing family here. We ate ice cream. And Alice memorably vomited electric blue Tylenol on one of the cushions. (It cleaned off pretty well.) This sofa was a pretty big deal when we purchased it from Room & Board in SoHo ... our first major, non-Ikea sofa. The Family Room with the Sofa Pushed Back The new sofa is firm and velvety-soft. We'll enjoy the job of breaking it in. It's a little taller and a smidgen longer than the old one, too. The ottoman has blanket storage. (!!) We're calling it Teddy.  New Sofa In Its Place Happy ending ... I had put the old sofa up on Craigs List with a very honest ad. "Well-Loved, Lumpy Sofa for Sale!" And I even got a few emails of interest, but nothing panned out. S

Birthdays Are Special

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I love birthdays. Mine, especially. But those of my children the most, too. Today Leah turns 9. NINE! And I'm looking forward to a week-long celebration. As usual, she jumped into bed with me this morning to hear her birth story. It always starts "{insert birthday number here} years ago today ..." and I skim the details about labor and c-sections, elaborating on that moment when she entered the world, pooped on the scale (her favorite part) and we laid eyes on her for the first time. Pink as a strawberry. Her sister created a treasure map to find her gifts this morning. And we've got a special afternoon planned before play practice. Reading the Map Opening Gifts So, yes, birthdays are special.

Birthday Celebration with Guster

I love birthdays and even though this year I'm on my last year before 40, I still want to celebrate and tell random strangers. That's just who I am. So, on Friday after being serenaded by the girls and working all day, it was time to head downtown Chicago for the night. My little brother and his girlfriend drove in from Minneapolis to see the show with the hubby and I.  We've been going to Guster concerts since collage and they're one of my favorite bands to see live. The venue was great and the guys played a good mix of old and new stuff. We all had a great time singing and dancing to some of our favorite songs. Dave had sent a tweet to Guster about it being my birthday and wanting to hear Parachute -- my favorite song. And I was hoping/anticipating a shout-out through the entire show. But, there was none. Still a fantastic show.  Afterwards, we went across the street for karaoke and a few more drinks. The DJ was fantastic and it was one of the best bar exp

Ode to Our New Carryons!

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It was time. We finally upgraded the girls' carry-on bags from the pink cartoon bags to big-girl wheelie backpacks. We needed more space, more sections for iPads and books, plus better wheels. We also were looking for larger capacity and, if possible, bags that didn't tip over. So Long, Old Bags These are the carry-on bags they got once they were old enough to walk around an airport by themselves. Leah's bag went to three countries in Europe and all over the U.S. While, Alice's bag hasn't seen Europe, but certainly got around. They were well-used and loved. Wow ... new Bags! Thanks, Mom and Dad! The new bags had their inaugural trip over the weekend. We traveled to New Jersey for Passover. They preformed admirably and we look forward to many trips together. Really, a good travel bag well-packed with the essentials is key to traveling with kids. Related posts: Read more about our carryons

Using the Photo Booth App For Fun

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When the house gets really quiet, the first place we look for the girls is in the office. They love playing with the Photo Booth app on the desk. They have taken 100s of photos and videos of themselves being crazy, and I clean them out occasionally. And they are hysterical. Let's Get Crazy!