turning the tables

While my sisters and I were growing up, Mom was busy documenting it in the local newspaper in the form of a weekly column. I guess you could say she is one of the original "mommy bloggers".

You could also say she is the queen of skin and haircare products.

A couple of months ago, her obsession actually led her into temporary insanity when she ordered some beauty cream off of an infomercial. When she realized that they charged her credit card again one month later, she called to find out why the charges were made. They described to her that the complete beauty process entailed several steps and that her next phase would be arriving the in the mail shortly. Sanity was reclaimed at that moment and she politely told the woman on the other end of the phone to please cancel the rest of the order and that she "didn't have time to be that beautiful."

A couple of weeks ago, I stood with my sister at her house trying to sort through the numerous bottles of lotions and gels Mom had packed in her suitcase when she came to Chicago for the weekend. On the way, she had checked her bag so the lotions and such were not an issue since she handed her bag over before going through security. On the way back, she had decided to carry it on. She and Sarah left for the airport, and I said a little prayer that security wouldn't detain her for being over the ounce limit for Aloe Vera.

So, today, Mom, on the occasion of your fifty-seventh birthday, I want to let you know that no matter how old you get (not that fifty-seven is old!), your teachings of the importance of skin and hair care have apparently already had an effect on your first grand-daughter.


Maybe you could try to steer her away from diaper cream, though. Happy Birthday!

so pretty...

Saw this lovely before-and-after posted on Design*Sponge today. Click here to see the entire transformation. I think I may have to consider this project for my house...along with all the rest of them that have been accumulating in random corners!

and finally...

I'm finally updating with highlights from last weekend. Turns out I didn't have to feel so guilty for only taking Sam and leaving Grace home. She had a great Daddy/Daughter weekend which included venturing out to get new shoes and see the doggies and kitties at PetSmart.

Sam and I also had a great time in the Chicago area...we even got to witness record-breaking rainfall for the city. Okay, that part wasn't so fun. I couldn't have been happier to see our house when we finally got home after driving 4 hours in rain and an additional 3-1/2 hours in crazy wind, stop-and-go (or mostly just stop) traffic due to an accident and having nowhere to stop for a potty break because the power was out all along the way.

All in all, it was a great weekend, though. Sam and Caleb got good, quality cousin time in. Sam got to hang out with a dog, which he LOVES. We had a fun Saturday morning at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Sam was able to check out all the big buildings on the way downtown, although the tops were hard to see through the mist and rain. Caleb had a fun birthday party later that day. And me, my mom and my sister were able to visit while playing Sequence. (I really can't get enough of that game...although I don't ever seem to perfect my skills at it.)

At the Children's Museum:

Look what Caleb made! (With a little help from Mommy)

Yes, we dressed them in matching shirts...silly, I know, but too cute to resist.

Digging for dinosaur bones...I wonder how they knew where to look...

I'm pretty sure he would have sat here all day had we let him!

Silly cousins:

Birthday party time:

Congratulations, Nemec Family!

Our close friends, Nikki and Scott, recently found out that they are expecting! They already have a beautiful four-year-old, Olivia, and they are excited at the thought of giving her a little brother or sister on or around May 2, 2009. While this is happy news, they are rightfully nervous since they, as many of us, have experienced the pain of miscarriage in recent years. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with them as they inch toward their second trimester. They will be reading this, so if anyone has any encouraging words, please leave a comment. We love you guys and are so excited to meet the newest future Alma alum!

in preparation...

Chicago highlights will by up soon...I swear. I've just been trying to get all recent pics uploaded to Snapfish so my grandparents can peruse through them.

In the meantime, I wanted to post a couple pics of Sam's Halloween costume. The poor kid was sick this week. I picked him up from daycare with a fever and an on-and-off bloody nose on Tuesday. Since this is the second time he's had a day of draining blood out of his face in the last month, I figured I better get him into the doctor. Turns out he has a sinus infection most likely caused by some viral throat thing, in turn irritating the blood vessels in his nose...hence the bleeding.

And now I'm sure some of you are wondering how Halloween plays into all this. Well, on the way home from the pediatricians' office, we stopped at Walgreens to fill his prescription. I decided I wanted to get him started on the antibiotic as soon as possible, so I told the pharmacist that I would wait in the store instead of coming back later to pick it up. To this she replied, "It will be about 20 minutes." And my initial reaction was: great...and I'm supposed to kill 20 minutes in Walgreens with a sick kid?

So, we decided to go look in the Halloween aisle. We spent several minutes discussing why that scary man was there and what exactly his function could be once Halloween finally rolls around. We moved on to the glow sticks, then the fake green fingernails. We counted the witches. Then, we noticed the costumes at the end of the aisle. Sam ran over way too excitedly and I walked over dreading the moment he would ask to be Spiderman or Batman as he is not allowed to watch those shows but has been picking up all sorts of tidbits from them from school friends. Thankfully, he didn't even notice the superhero costumes because he was too distracted by a great fireman costume. And the best part? It was $12.99! Yay! We immediately snatched it up and he wore the hat out of the store and modeled the whole ensemble for me when we got home.


Grace arrived home with Daddy a little later and was a bit jealous of Sam's costume. She and I made a trip to Meijer after dinner where she picked out a lady bug (it was a tough, nailbiting decision between that and a bumble bee). I have yet to get a picture of her in it, but I think she'll be adorable. But, this year definitely won't measure up to last year...I really don't know if I'll ever come up with anything that great again even if they did let me choose their costumes...those kids and their darn opinions they've formed...

Halloween 2007

new Tuesday morning routine

So a few weeks ago, I posted a picture of Sam waiting by his window for the garbage truck at the crack of dawn on a Tuesday morning. Since then, he's having a hard time awakening himself to see it. We have had some close calls on missing it (and trust me, Tuesday is not a good day if we miss it), so Kris and I (okay, mostly Kris, but I do play a major role) have conditioned ourselves for the great Tuesday morning race.

We are usually somewhat awake by the time we hear the truck, as the alarm has usually gone off once, or sometimes twice, by then. As soon as we hear it, I whisper shout an alarming "Garbage truck!"...I'm not sure what makes me do it and why on earth I feel so panicked at that moment. Maybe it's because I've experienced one too many mornings of crying and wailing and defiant refusals to go potty, get dressed, put shoes on and walk out the door...all because they won't let go of the fact that they missed it and continue to stand poised at the window waiting for the big event.

And, yes, I say "they" because Grace has joined in on the action. One morning, she heard it first and sat screaming in her bed, "Hurry, Mommy! The garbage truck!" Why she couldn't get herself out of bed at that moment like she does fifteen times every night before she goes to sleep is beyond me.

Anyway, as soon as the terrified words leave my lips, Kris, who has a direct line from his side of the bed to our bedroom door to the hall, springs up from bed and sprints around the corner to the kids' rooms. I hear the blinds go up then one child plucked from his bed and from a deep sleep and plopped in front of the window as he whimpers for a second before realizing what is going on. Next, I hear the other plucked from her bed and raced into her brothers' room where she is set next to him to view the weekly wonder. Then calmly, Kris gathers pillows and blankets and makes the little beds on the floor in front of the window where the kids will lightly snooze for a half hour while waiting for the recycling truck to come into view.

After all is said and done, everyone is snuggled back into position for their last stretch of rest for the night/early morning and the whole thing took, oh, about 60 seconds. But, trust me, it could be the most important 60 seconds of the week.

recent work...

I recently completed a this pair of paintings for the Brining Babies, Audrey and Lilly. Click here to see a photo of them hanging in the nursery.


This past weekend, my nephew turned two. In the coming weeks, he will be moving into his big kid baseball room to clear the nursery for baby brother or sister. I completed this painting as part of his present. I'll post pics soon of the trip to Chicago Sam and I took for the birthday party. It was a lot of fun...and a little wet...who knew hurricanes hit Chicago so hard. More to come .

the overwhelming guilt...

Why is it that I can never escape the guilt? Sam and I are off to Chicago this weekend for my nephew's 2nd birthday. Grace will be staying home and spending the weekend with Kris. Since it's pretty much impossible for a 3-year-old to keep quiet about something he is excited about, Grace pretty much knows the whole agenda for our day and a half in the Windy City. And she's heartbroken.

I keep telling myself that I should not feel guilty because she is just getting going with the whole potty training thing. Taking her on the road this weekend could screw up all progress we've made to this point, and if she did remember to tell me that she had to stop and go, it would pretty much be impossible to get her to a potty in time when I would be alone with two toddlers to get unbuckled, loaded into a stroller and into some disgusting public restroom where they run the risk of picking up hepatitis while using the facilities.

But the guilt of her not seeing family members who live states away is weighing on me. Also the fact that she will be missing out on going to the Children's Museum at Navy Pier with her cousin and brother is upsetting to me. But, at the same time, why shouldn't Sam get to have something that is just his? I think sometimes he gets so frustrated because his sister usually gets to do everything that he is doing and butts in on his exciting events.

Sam and I are packed and ready to hightail it out of here tomorrow afternoon after work. There is no chance of adding her to the equation at this stage in the game...I've fought the guilt. Sam brought it up with his sister again last night, and she became upset again saying that she wanted to see Caleb (my sister's son), too. I told her that she would see him at Thanksgiving at our house. Then she insisted that she had to see him at his house. At that point, I made a deal with her. I said this time would be Sam's turn and when Aunt Sarah has the baby, then she and I will go see the baby (and Caleb)...it will be her turn. Later that night, I was talking to my sister on the phone. Grace came in and I asked her if she wanted to talk to Aunt Sarah. She said, "She had the baby? It's my turn to go?" Poor baby. It'll be a few months, yet.

And don't even get me started on the Cleveland friends I miss dearly who are now residing in Chicago and whom I didn't even inform I was coming into town this time...so sorry, guys. The guilt...ow...it makes my head hurt.

Michigan mid-week getaway

Deal on Travel Zoo this week for Mackinac Island resort. Click here for details.

and baby makes three...

Congrats Lovati family! We can't wait to meet little Lauren!

bedtime routine

Grace got out her toothbrush tonight, flipped it over so she was face to face with the beautiful blonde who resides at the end of the handle and said, "Hello, Cinderella! Would you like to brush my teeth?" That kid cracks me up.

afternoon conversation

While Sam was supposed to be napping today (I'm afraid he may have given that up for good), I caught him in our room with the t.v. on watching some unknown, scary movie where some random, scary wolf-like creatures were chasing a guy through the woods. I quickly turned it off and explained to him that he is not allowed to watch those kinds of movies...not until he is older.

To this he said, "But I'm big...I'm as big as Daddy."

I said, "Not quite!"

And he responds, "But I ate all my vegetables!"

I told him that I thought it would take a few more to catch up to Daddy.

in case you were wondering...

Grace has been doing a little better with the whole going to bed and staying in bed thing. She seems to understand that the only excuse for her to be out of bed is if she has a dirty diaper (which she is using a little too frequently, in my mind). But we are still stumbling upon these types of scenarios every few nights:

I wonder if she fell asleep on the basement stairs while searching for me to tell me that she was completely embarrassed that her father had dressed her in Christmas pjs at the beginning of September. Or maybe she just passed out because the ridiculously small pjs were interfering with her lung capacity. Either way, we found her and she was put back in bed. And the too-small pjs were removed from the choices of usable articles of clothing, at this point.

Kentucky Horse Park

On Monday (Labor Day), we took advantage of our day off to go experience the Kentucky Horse Park, because we couldn't think of anything better to do with our humid, 98° day than walk around outside and breathe in the lovely scents of a park housing hundreds of horses. Okay, so we did duck into the museum for a few minutes for potty breaks and to cool off, but it was only a short break in the heat. We were at the park for just under 3 hours, and by the time we made it back to the pony ride, which we had decided would be our last event of the outing, I think we were all ready to pass out from heat exhaustion. I think we'll wait until the temperature drops about 30° to visit again. A few pics:

Waiting for horses while Sam attempts
to finish an apple the size of his head.

Watching the horses go by.

Sam's favorite find of the day:
a picture of a horse with a hard hat on!

Looking ridiculously large in the stroller.

Enjoying the pony ride: the whole way around the circle,
we could hear Sam yelling "wee haw!" & "giddyup!"

recent work

Recent work done for a friend's baby...
Brining Babies, yours is coming soon!

the thrill of the classified

I sold my first items through Craig's List today and couldn't be happier. Last night, I listed Grace's changing table and crib. Today, a cute couple who recently moved to KY from UT came to buy it for their own little bundle of joy expected to arrive in January.

Grace was really funny about the whole thing. She hasn't used the changing table in several months and recently started retiring to her big girl bed instead of her crib. But both items have been sitting in her room, still. When they started loading everything up, she asked, "Why are they taking my baby bed?"

I told her that they were going to take it home for their baby to use since she didn't need them anymore because she was such a big girl. To this she replied, "Oh...they'll bring it back later." Poor kid...I wonder how long she'll be waiting for them to bring them back before giving up hope.

Mothers, please don't marvel at my amazing strength which enabled me to part with baby items, since that usually means a couple has decided their last little tax deduction has been added to the family. My kids are only 16 months apart, which means Sam wasn't ready to move to a big kid bed or be potty trained before Grace was born...meaning I have (had!) double of everything. Therefore, getting rid of one set has not left me weeping over my empty uterus. I store my underlying hope for a surprise third child in the basement storage room in the form of the most adorable antique blue Pottery Barn Kids holiday bonus splurge of late 2004.

I will say, however, that I am desperately trying to come down from my first-sale high...if I can't fight it, I may find myself in an empty house after selling everything off! At least then I'll have extra cash to refurnish, though, right?