Let the sun shine

Spring has sprung, for the most part anyway. We've had a long winter up in heeeere and I'm so ready for warmer days. This week is supposed to be gorgeous...in the 70's! Thank you, Jesus! Seriously, Jesus, if you're listening...THANK YOU.

We've spent quite a bit of time at the playground recently. Both kids start giggling with anticipation whenever I even drive by a playground these days. It's always a bit heartbreaking when we don't end up going, b/c Cleo's eyes fill up with tears. She's all like, "What???!!! How can you just TEASE us like that, bioootch??!! What kind of mother ARE YOU????!!!" At least that's what I imagine she's thinking. Ha ha. So I've tried my best to take the kids often as the weather has been warming up. As predicted, Miss C. is a daredevil on the playground equipment. So much so that I often have to climb up with her or she will just take off, going to the highest of all slides and flying down on her stomach. She has no fear...none! Gus, on the other hand, is Mr. Cautious. It takes him some time to warm up to the really big slides. They are so opposite in so many ways, but they are besties (so far). When I go somewhere with Cleo (and without Gus), Cleo points to his carseat and looks at me saying, "Us! Us!" (that's "Gus! Gus!" in Cleo talk). She adores her big brother. Gus often gets annoyed with Cleo, but he will do things that show me how much he loves her. The other day she was sad for some reason and without any prompting from me, he walked up to Cleo and kissed her on the cheek and said "It's okay, Cleo." Heart.Melting...

Other than enjoying watching the flowers finally bloom, we've just been dealing with March Madness trauma. I'm relatively over it all, but I've caught Andy a couple of times staring blankly at the television saying under his breath, "We should be there. We should be playing right now..." It's sad to see Andy suffer like this. Losing in the second *effing* round was hard. But you know what? Someone's gotta lose, and it was us this year. We didn't have the fire this year. Hopefully in the next couple of years we'll get there again. I think we play better as underdogs, anyway. Being the absolute #1 always jinxes us a bit. Now I'm pulling for Butler, just b/c they are underdogs. But I really don't care anymore. Meh.

The piano was such a great purchase. The kids love it, and Andy will come home from work and just plop down and play. He loves it more than anyone. I wish I knew how to play. I want to take lessons now that we have it. We just had it tuned last night and the guy who tuned it said it's in really good shape. It's a 1941 war-era piano, and we love it. I feel like it has a personality. I like to imagine all the folks over the years who have sat down to play the keys. Gus had Ash over last week for a play date and they had a ball playing on it (picture above).

Let's see...oh, I have a new boss at work. I think he's going to be cool. He's coming from the University of Utah, where he was the Director of the Music School there. He'll be our first official Dean of the School of Music, as we've had Interim Deans for the past two years. He seems very nice and cool. He starts June 1. I'm excited to finally have a boss who is here long term.

Easter is coming up and Gus is getting psyched for all the candy. Cleo has no idea what's coming, but Gus gets it. He's being good for the Easter bunny this week...we'll go to Burlingame and Osage City for family time. Should be a chaotic, good time. Then Andy and I are taking a vacay without the kids to Portland, OR, the wknd after Easter. SO EXCITED! We're just going for a long weekend, but it will be so nice to sleep in and go out at night. If we can stay up late enough to do that! We're staying in a hotel, but we'll hang out some with our friend Tom Humphrey, who lives in Portland. It should be super fun to get away. It's my early birthday present, and it'll be a good time. The kids are staying w/ my parents for the first time in Burlingame. I hope they do okay! I'm sure they will...

I'm still running, but I've been sick with a nasty cold for the past week, so my exercise routine has been on hold. I'm going back to the gym today, and we'll see how far I get today. I was up to 4 miles without stopping, but then I got sick. I'm trying to push myself to 5 miles so I can sign up for a 10k in June. I know if I can get to a comfortable 5 miles I can push myself to 6 miles in a race. I think I'll register for the 10k just to motivate myself to get there.

That's it for now...more later.

March Madness

A visit from the Dierks


Good girl


Sleepy little sis


Gus always has crazy bedhead in the morning

Tourney time is here. I always get super duper nervous this time of year, so I'm trying to mellow out. It's hard! I want so badly to win the whole thing, but I always tell myself just getting to the Final Four would be great.

The kids are doing well. Gus is really into imaginative play right now. He "cuts our fingernails" for us and "fixes us pizza" and we have picnics all the time in the living room. He's also super into music right now--sings all the time, and has a few favorite CDs (Fleet Foxes, Music Go Music, The Chipmunks, The Soft Pack). He loves our new piano-both kids do. Gus is learning how to play some simple songs and we're going to make sure they both have lessons. Cleo is a doll. She's keeping up with big brother and loves him to bits. We are trying to grow her hair out a bit, but I gave in and trimmed her bangs today. They are a tad short...a la Jim Carrey's character in "Dumb and Dumber"--oops! But she's still cute, of course.

That's all for now...Rock Chalk!

I heart Etsy

I'm pretty much obsessed with Etsy.com (www.etsy.com) these days. Need a new anything? Just visit Etsy and find the most delicious handmade anything on planet Earth and support starving artists! I went a little Etsy-crazy at Christmas when buying gifts for folks (and myself, ahem), and I go on there quite often just to "window shop." I wish I had all the money in the world to buy things from Etsy, but Andy might kill me, so I will refrain.

I do need a new spring/summer bag (I know, sounds silly, but ladies, we all need our seasonal handbag fix, no?), so I just purchased this from an artist out of Philadelphia. Technically she's advertising it as a sewing materials/diaper bag, but I'm gonna use it as a regular handbag. I love big bags I can fit the kitchen sink in (much to Andrew's dismay), and this is a big one. It just screams spring to me, too, so maybe it'll help usher in the good weather?

Anyway, exciting post about my shopping habits, right? Hey, I do what I can to keep my head on during this long, cold, poopy winter. I'll have more exciting things to talk about once the weather improves. But when it's 7 degrees outside with snow on the ground, momma buys new handbags.

This and that

Yogurt Face



After a big snow


Gus at the dentist



It's mid-February...all I can say about that is THANK GOD. That means we're creeping closer and closer to spring every day. March is like a breath of fresh air (mentally) for me, even if it's rainy and cold sometimes. Just knowing it's March makes me a happier person.

It's Friday-thank God. Just to paint a picture of our Fridays, here's the scoop: It's about 4:30pm, Gus and Cleo just played with Play-Dough for about 1.5 hours (they LOVE it), and we had a popcorn snack during that time. Both kids ended up stuffing most of the popcorn into the Play-Dough, which was super fun to pick out. Har dee har har. Before that we all went on a walk outside, since it's in the 30's, and not as bitter cold as usual. Now they are watching The Wiggles as I finish up some work (and my blog, of course). I'm ready for the weekend. It's been a long week. Oh, and I'm listening to some band cover "The Killing Time" by Echo and the Bunnymen on KJHK and loving it. And I already have a glass of wine...yeah, I know. But it's Friday, so whatevs. I usually make myself wait for 5pm, but today it was 4:30pm. So sue me. Ah! Now Wilco and then the Kinks on the radio...not bad dj, not bad. It's amazing what a song will do to change your spirits.

Things are fine otherwise. Andy hasn't traveled this week, which has been awesome. He does travel for the next few weeks, off and on. Boo. Work is, well, it just "is." We have dean candidates coming in for the next couple of weeks. Let's just say that makes for a bit of a stressful and anxious time right now. So I'm trudging through it all, hoping for a good outcome.

I'm not my usual perky pants this week, I think mainly due to work stuff and the shitastically "meh" weather. So forgive my "bitter pill" attitude...this too shall pass.

Here are some fun photos of the family. One of them shows Gus at his first dentist appt. He did very well. The others are just a mish mash. Hopefully we'll have more and more as spring comes into view and we're outside more! Sweet Jesus, one can hope!!

Can we skip over winter already?

I feel like I've gone way downhill updating this blog these days. I used to do it all the time, even on maternity leave. Now it's maybe once every few weeks. Oh, well. Such is life, right?

Speaking of life, it's busy. Andy is going to be "on the road" for work for most of Feb. and March, so I'm mentally gearing up for that. Work for both of us is super busy right now, especially for Andy. But busy in sales isn't a bad thing at all. He's doing really well, and I'm so proud of him. My work life is busy, but I've managed to organize things more so this semester isn't as hectic as last. I'm already looking forward to summer break and the students just came back from winter break. Sad, but true. Oh, and I get another new boss this summer. We've had two interim deans over the past two years. They are finally hiring a permanent dean who will start this summer. So we all get to start over (again) with someone. But it'll be good to have someone set in the position. Fingers crossed he's a gem (I know it's a guy...the 3 finalists are lads).

Gus and Cleo are a hoot these days, but Lordy, they exhaust me. Even though this is a fun stage where they interact a bunch, they also fight a bunch, and they are both on the move ALL THE TIME, so it's just so tiring. I'm beat by 9pm every night. No wonder folks put years between their 2nd and 3rd children...I totally get it now. And for those who don't, well, you are all warriors. Not to say we're having a third...didn't mean to imply that. That's a decision for another time. We are just now enjoying a little freedom, so that feels darn good.

Speaking of freedom, we're taking a long weekend trip, sans children, probably to Portland, OR, in April. It's an early birthday gift for me, and we have Southwest direct flight tickets to use or lose. We're going to book a nice hotel and just toot around the town, hang out with our friend Tom Humphrey, see the sights, go to the ocean, go on some hikes, etc...Should be super fun. I'm psyched. And the kids are staying w/ my parents in B-town. I hope they do well! It'll be their first time to stay away from home without us there, but I think they'll do fine...and if they don't, well, it's my parents' problem, right?!? Ha ha. Just kidding, Mom and Dad (but not really)...ahem. :)

Can't wait for spring. Yeah, I've turned into a winter hater. Andy still covets the cold weather, whereas I dislike it more and more every year. Love snow on Christmas, and then BE GONE! But I'll try not to whine. I think it's just more difficult b/c I have two kids who are super sick of being stuck inside. And I have major cabin fever to the point that I often take the kids to Target just to get us all outta the house.

I've been running and still love it. I'm up to 4 miles and trying to get to 6 miles so I can do a 10k in the summer or fall. I think I'm going to run a 5k in Lawrence in March and then follow that up with a 4 mile run in KC with my sis-in-law, Lindsey. I joined the KU gym and run about 3-4 x a week, on average. Some weeks are better than others. Now I just need to stop inhaling everything around me! I'm so hungry after I run.

Some photos included of Ben Curry's 1st birthday party (Leah and Dan's little guy...wasn't he just born last week or something!!!) and other random stuff. The one of all the little kids is a photo Andy took of Gus, Cleo, Abel and Ebi Hegeman. They are all wearing hats knitted for them by our friend, Kim Jankowski. You can't see Gus' hat very well, but it's a bear hat. So cute. And the one of Gus is with his new toy, a marble roller coaster thing. It's sweet.

Oh, and Cleo just had her 18-month checkup. Her stats have pretty steadily been: 30% height and 30% weight. She's a "peanut" as the doctor said. He said she still could have a growth spurt, but if she doesn't, she's averaging to be around 5'4"-5'5", which is just weird since I'm almost 5'9" and Andy is 6'0". Oh, well. She'll be a shorty pants! Who knows, though. As long as the little lady is healthy, and she is, I'm okay.

That's all for now. More later.

It's a new year

Welcome to 2010, everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday. We certainly did, hanging with family in KS and Iowa. Gus and Cleo got to see cousins on my side and also hang with their cousin, Eli, on Andy's side (that's Eli in the photos above with Gus). We watched slide shows from the 70's and 80's at Andy's family's house and drank much spiked cider. It was a great time. And it snowed and snowed and snowed. Cozy and fun.

New Year's resolutions:

1. Consume organic and local meat products only. I have Food Inc. to thank for this transformation. I've been working on Andy for awhile now but it took this movie for him to agree with me and want to make the change. We're excited. We're also going to look into switching to organic milk. We aren't going 100% organic and local, b/c unfortunately we just cannot afford it. But we can afford to switch certain things out. And I'm also going to take advantage of our local Farmer's Market in the summer and fall for produce and I'm going to expand our own veggie garden next summer.

2. I'm going to train to run a 10k and try to run one by fall. I've worked up to running 3-4 miles without stopping, so I know I can do it. Just takes time and patience. And I'd like to run more consistently in the new year...3 or 4x a week, if I can. It's hard with little ones and a traveling husband.

3. Work on patience. Work on (not) cursing when I lose my patience. Even under my breath. It's amazing what Gus hears and repeats these days.

4. Really, really, for real, I'm serious, try to learn how to sew this year. How many years have I made this darn resolution?

5. And compliment people more. Tell people nice things more often. If I think something nice about someone, tell them. It's amazing what positive feedback or a compliment can do for your day.

And although I realize death is a part of life, let's hope for less death in 2010. A handful of close friends lost loved ones in 2009, most of the losses just tragic and unexpected. So although we know nothing lasts forever, let's wish for less pain and more life and good health in 2010.

Over and out.

5k and holiday photo winner!

Here's the holiday photo winner for 2009! We sent out cards recently, so I thought I'd publish it here, too. It turned out pretty well. It only took about 3 shoots this year...yeah.

And I ran my first 5k this weekend! It went well. I am still not 100% sure on my time, but I think it was around 32 minutes or so. I had to run some hills, and I'm not used to that, so I was happy I didn't stop to walk at all. Now I want to run another! I'm addicted. It felt SO GOOD to cross that finish line, especially knowing that just 2.5 months ago I never thought I could run 3 miles without stopping. My new goal is to run a few more 5k runs and train for a 10k next spring or summer. I'm going to take it slow, though.

We're leaving for Iowa in a week, so I have so much left to shop for. I'm taking the day of tomorrow from work to shop in Kansas City. I'm excited to get the shopping done and to have an entire day of shopping to myself! So far I've done most of my shopping with the kids, or over my lunch break, so it's been rushed and chaotic. So this should be good.

More later!