What the hell is that thing!!!

Okay, first off, I have to give "snaps" to Amy Roust, my old college roomate from the University of Missouri (her blog is one of my favorites, listed to the left). She posted this link on her blog yesterday, and when I read it, I just about coughed up my spleen I was laughing so hard. Probably because, having been a member of the elite Marching Mizzou, one of our favorite things to do in marching band was to mock the other team's mascot with the chant "What the hell is that thing!" which doesn't sound that intimidating unless 300 band members are all shouting it at the same time and it is directed toward the unfortuante Ohio State Buckeye or that strange, wiggly-jiggly THING that is Nebraska's unfortunate mascot. (Both of these made the list by the way). So, if you want to check it out, please do. But you'll have to not mind the occassional F-bomb thrown in there and such. But it's a FUNNY throwback to college days! And thanks Amy, for posting this on your blog first! :) Here's the link: http://www.drivl.com/posts/view/738

Both boys dancing

Here is the promised video of both boys dancing. This is what they do whenever they're watching the movie CARS and the song "Life is a Highway" comes on. They both dash to the television and begin to dance. I love the way Asher just bobs up and down on his knees -- reminds me of Forrest Gump or something!

Warm weather

Temps reached 82 degrees yesterday, and we certainly enjoyed it. We took the boys for a long bike ride, and then let them run around the backyard for the rest of the afternoon. Gabriel insisted on playing with his shirt off -- soon Asher was shirtless too. I love these photos of the boys -- especially the one where they're both looking out of the front window. In the last photo, they are sitting on our back porch, sharing cheesey pretzels. What a great day!

Heather's baby girl!

My friend Heather and I have been pals since we were in 5th grade, when she moved to my town in St. Charles, Missouri. Amazingly, nearly 20 years later, we now both live in Wisconsin, within an hour's drive of each other. I couldn't be more pleased that life turned out this way! This weekend, Heather had her first baby -- an adorable little girl named Olivia Claire. (I haven't gotten the official birth announcement yet, so I hope I'm spelling the name right!) Today, me and the boys trooped down to Milwaukee to see the happy new family. Heather is doing so well, and so is her hubby Carl. And Olivia is just a darling little girl, with lots of dark hair and cute toes! I'm so happy for them! I'm also feeling old, remembering years gone by, when we would sit around chatting about our futures ... who we would marry and when, and how many kids we would have. What wonderful lives we've both ended up living!! And the best part is - we're still such great friends!

Gone fishin'

Nate and I took the boys fishing today at Mullet River, which leads into the Sheboygan River. Gabriel is such a good little caster! We didn't get any fish, or even any nibbles, but what a fun few hours we had! The river was quite strong, so we stood far apart, casting our lines and watching our little bobbers dip down the current. My favorite part of these photos is the grape jelly Gabe has smeared on his face in the picture of the two of us ... it was from the picnic lunch we ate on the banks! I also like the photo of Ash sucking on his thumb while riding on Nate's shoulders. Seconds before I shot this photo, he was sacked out -- leaning over on Nate's head and grabbing his hair as he caught a catnap! Too cute! The last photo was taken just as we were leaving -- it's just a picture of Asher's new Spring jacket, which he LOVES!

Gabe Rocks Out

Enjoy this video of Gabriel rocking out to one of his favorite songs, Free Ride, by Audio Adrenaline. He's pretending his toy rifle is a guitar, by the way. Check out the facial expressions (if you can, I know the video is kinda dark). Too funny! There is more to come ... Asher seems to have caught the dancing bug lately, and I'll be posting more video clips tomorrow!!

Fun with Friends

Gabriel had a treat today -- his good buddy Isaac came over to play for the day. They had so much fun coloring, playing outside (making 'chocolate milk' with mud and water) and eating chocolate chip cookies with lemonade. The first photo was taken while Gabe was in school and Isaac was hanging out with me and Ash. I think they look adorable sitting on the CARS punching bag, watching Curious George on PBS together -- little juice-drinkin' buddies tossin' back a few! :) The other photos are of Gabe and Isaac coloring and just hanging out together. They had such a great time just being "boys" together -- with all the sound effects and super hero battles included! What a fun afternoon!

New appliances!!

Well, we finally did it! After suffering with the junker stove that came with our house for TWO YEARS -- and an old refrigerator we bought for $50 which on occassion, would decide to be persnickity -- the door not staying shut as it ought to -- we FINALLY caved in and bought new appliances for our kitchen! I am super thrilled, and so is Nathan, because now, finally, the kitchen is a room we enjoy being in together! Here are some photos of our new "babies." :) Can you tell I've been waiting for this moment for quite some time???

A springish day

Today it got to nearly 70, so we spent most of the day outside. I took the boys to the park down by the beach and we had so much fun. Asher was able to just run all over the place, discover sand, find shells and rocks, and get his pants completely muddy. Unlike Gabriel, he doesn't seem to mind getting all wet and dirty. Then when we came home, the boys spent another few hours running around the backyard and riding their bikes. It's supposed to dip back down into the 30s and 40s by tomorrow, so we really enjoyed this brief glimpse of spring!

Happy Trails

Well, Gabriel's bedroom has finally gotten the first installment of a much-needed makeover. We ordered new furniture (bunkbeds and 2 dressers) for him last month and today, they arrived! I've never seen a little boy so excited to see a delivery truck!
Nate has spent the past two days prepping Gabe's room. He did a really unique painting technique by Ralph Lauren, called "Suede" which makes the paint on the walls appear to look like.... well....suede. It ended up looking very cool -- especially since we're going to be going with a "vintage" cowboy theme in the room (i.e. cowboy stuff from the 50s era). As soon as baby #3 makes his/her arrival, Asher will be moving in with Mr. Gabe on the bottom bunk.
We really like how the room has turned out so far -- it's much warmer and more inviting. Gabe's favorite part is the built-in desk on the end of the bunk beds (not shown in the horrible photos I took and posted here) and the 2 bulletin boards ( 1 above the desk AND 1 on the mirror above the dresser). He's already been drawing pictures of cowboys to hang up as soon as we go buy some push pins.
So now we're on the hunt for the final flourishes, so to speak. We already have the vintage cowboy lamp, which you can KIND of see in the blurry photo ... but if any of you happen to unexpectedly find any deals on wagon wheels, lasso's or horseshoes ... please give us a heads up! :)

Heeeaavven!

It should come as no suprise that since I'm hungry all the time, getting the time (and extra money) to eat my favorite meal in the whole world was easily the highlight of my weekend. My parents sent me some birthday money and I decided to spend some of it on Alaskan King Crab Legs, my favorite dinner. So Nate went out to Schwartz's fish market on Saturday and bought nearly 4 pounds of the divine shellfish. :) On Saturday night, we had a feast fit for a king, complete with butter warmers that kept our meal delcious and hot. Okay. You can all tell from the way I'm going on and on that I'm completely obsessed with food. Oh well. This too shall pass! But it was incredible! Yay crab legs!!!!

Back to normalcy

Well, we had quite a night last night. On Wednesday, Asher woke up with a froggy sounding voice, and a bunch of "junk" in his chest. We could hear it rattling around in there, but he couldn't manage to cough and clear it up.
When Nathan got home last night, Asher had gotten worse ... breathing in short, fast breaths that sounded very labored. Nate immediately ran him over to the clinic, where poor Ash was given a steriod injection and some kind of nebulizer (breathing treatment). The poor little man had croup. The docs didn't like how he sounded, so they had us take him to the hospital overnight. I can't even tell you how frightening it was to get this phone call at work!! I was panicked! I met my boys at the hospital within minutes and there was my poor little Ash, getting into his hospital gown and just crying his eyes out. Thus began a loooong night. I stayed in Asher's room overnight and hardly slept as I kept an eye on his oxygen/heart rate monitors. Everytime he would move, or cough, the numbers would dip and the warning lights would flash -- you can imagine how much sleep I got. Very little!
But the good news is that Ash was discharged this morning at around 10 a.m. He had a fairly good night and never needed oxygen. According to his doctor, this kind of thing can happen to kids his age, with the kind of weather we've been having. (more snow yesterday AND today). He's still on the steriods, but it's nice to see him back to normal -- breathing fine as he plays with his toys and smiles at us. (These pictures were taken just an hour ago) It was a hectic night as a parent. But we were blessed and all came though it alright! Thanks to everyone who sent us well wishes and notes/calls of concern! We appreciated the support!

Ahhhh! Tight pants!

Okay. According to my daily online pregnancy calendar on Monday, my clothes should be "getting tight." I scoffed when I read this, but yesterday, a pair of kakhi pants I frequently wear to work, were indeed a bit snug. Now, granted, these pants were on the small side to begin with, but I was definitely uncomfortable in them all thoughout my work day. Arrrgghh! That means I'm heading into the dreaded period where nothing fits right. Your own clothes don't fit. And maternity clothes are still WAY too big to even consider. This is by far, my LEAST favorite stage. Where people who don't know about your "condition" just think you must be putting on a few extra pounds. And to make matters 10 times worse, I've been SOOOO hungry lately. When I get home from work after midnight, I could seriously sit down and eat a 5 course meal -- my stomach is growling so badly! And yesterday, I had to eat some of my dinner right when I got to work at 4 p.m. because I was so hungry I couldn't concentrate!!! Ain't pregnancy grand?!
In other news, Asher had decided that he loves playing in the snow. Now, whenever Nate or Gabe get ready to go outside, he follows them around holding up his gloves (which he always used to HATE to wear, and would just pull off, immediately) and his snowpants saying "Go? Go?" Too cute! Also, I found out that when it's time for his morning nap, all I have to ask is "Are you tired?" and he looks at me and says "night night?" and immediately heads up the stairs to his room for naptime. Very fun!
The photos have nothing to do with this post really -- they're just cute pics I took of Asher in the car last month. :)

Another day, another snowman

We've been making good use of what will probably be the last significant snowfall here in Wisconsin. Last night, we had a huge snowball fight in the front yard after it got dark. (the four of us plus Roxy and Gabe's friend Josh from nextdoor) Today, after school, Gabe, Asher and I went outside to find that the snow had attained the perfect level of stickiness so that giant snowmen were easy to build! This one far outsized the one we did yesteday!

Play Day

Asher and I just came inside from playing out in the snow. We made this cool snowman! Gabriel was sledding at the time with Nathan. It's been quite a cozy, snowy day here in Wisconsin!

My Birthday

Well, Nate and I took advantage of the lull between storms today to trek down to Milwaukee, leave the boys with Nate's dad, and go out to dinner at an AMAZING Italian Restaurant, Ristorante Bartolotta. AMAZING. It was the best food I've eated in a restaurant in a Loooong time. What did we have?

For an appetizer we shared this:
Carpaccio di Manzo “Arrigo Cipriani”: Hand-sliced beef tenderloin with arugula, shaved red onion, Grana Padano, capers and the classic Venetian aïoli

Then we shared an amazing salad: Pomodoro, Cipolla Rossa e Gorgonzola: Vine-ripened tomato, shaved red onion and imported gorgonzola cheese with aged Balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil

Then the most amazing pasta I've ever eaten. EVER. And I mean it.
Fagotini di Coniglio con Cicorie al Vin Santo: Braised rabbit-filled fresh pasta perfumed with thyme, sautéed winter
chicory greens, sweet Vin Santo wine sauce and Pecorino Toscano

Then for the main course.... Nate had a rack of lamb and I had: Filetto di Manzo al Tartufo Nero: Wood roasted filet of beef, served with pureed potatoes, sautéed spinach, glazed carrots and black truffle sauce

Yum, yum, TRIPLE yum! The snow and wind and all that jazz managed to hold off until we made our trip home, which was very much appreciated. What a wonderful birthday it was!
The day started with pancakes and nitrate-free bacon (for baby). Then my boys presented me with two new CD's: Norah Jones and Harry Connick Jr. as well as tickets to see Harry Conick in April. Yay!!!!! I can't wait! Then they also got me a beautiful diamond necklace! Gabe called it a "squigly necklace" because it's in the shape of a circle. Very cute.
Anway, I'm so glad the weather didn't mess up our plans too badly. But apparently, we're supposed to get socked in tonight with 10-15 inches. Yikes!

Bracing for "THE BIG ONE"

Well, people are going crazy here in Sheboygan. After a lovely week, where temps actually reached the 50s on one afternoon, we are now bracing for "the biggest snowstorm of the season." If you go on the sheboygan press website www.sheboygan-press.com, you can look at the weather and see the giant blue cloud that is moving our way. And people are going nuts ... raiding grocery stores etc. The snow is supposed to start tomorrow, with about 7 inches falling and 40 mph winds creating blizzard conditions. Then, it's supposed to continue overnight, with 5-6 inches more. You know it's a big one when schools are already talking about canceling for Monday!!!
I'm a bit peeved, because Nate was going to take me out for my birthday tomorrow night in Milwaukee for a "surprise" evening. I've been looking forward to this for weeks! And now, I'm fairly certain we'll have to cancel it. Also, I was hoping to make it to a good friend's baby shower on Sunday -- I'm guessing that will also not be happening. Arggghh!
On the upside, I do enjoy a good snowstorm -- especially if it's the weekend and I'm snug inside with a good book and a cup of tea! Anyway, I'll post photos and let you all know how we weather the storm!

Bits and Pieces

These are just a bunch of fun photos from the past few days.
The first is a picture of Gabe and Roxy waiting for dad to get the car ready to go to school. I thought it was kinda cute.
The second is a photo of Gabe showing off the ash mark on his forehead after Ash Wednesday church. He was SOOO excited about this!
The third photo is one that Nathan took at a cafe the other night right after making the comment, "This is our life personified, right here." Cups of java side by side with sippy cups. Classic. :)

Quick update

Ohhhkay, so I've been a complete blogger slacker this past week. But I wanted to write a quite, photoless update of what my boys were up to today, so that everyone knows that I'm still alive and well. :)
Asher had a cute moment today when he discovered Gabe's crayons and paper downstairs on the coffee table. Gabriel is always drawing and coloring (he's quite the little artist) so naturally, Ash was pretty curious as to what all the hype was about. After staring at the crayons, and trying (once) to nibble on the crayons, he finally got the idea and tried pounding on the paper while holding the crayons. I quickly took his hand and helped him make some marks -- along with his name -- with which he seemed sort of pleased.
Two second later, I caught him toddling into our kitchen, paper in hand -- heading straight for the fridge where he immediately began pulling at magnets, in an uncoordinated attempt to hang his masterpiece, the way that we always hang Gabe's. Well, I thought this was just about the most adorable thing EVER, so I quickly helped the little guy out. I tried to get a photo of him standing by his artwork, but the cheeser was too quick and wouldn't stand still for a photo. But anyway, it was definitely one of those moments that just made my heart swell up. And now we have his drawing up on our fridge. Sniffle!! :)

Sharing the germs

Well Asher and I had quite the day yesterday. I'll try not to be too detail-rich on this post.
I woke up at about 3 a.m. yesterday with stabbing pains in my tummy, aches everywhere -- I began to wonder (at first) if this just wasn't the long awaited morning sickness, as I dragged my trash can closer to the bed. But soon the aches and pains, chills followed by extreme warmth, followed by numerous trips to worship the porcelain goddess, made me quickly realize I had caught a flu bug. The only thing that made it worse? Going into Ash's room in the morning and finding his bed drenched ... with his own ... well ... "tossed cookies" to put it mildly. So Ash and I had quite a day. I spent the entire day not eating OR drinking ... moving from room to room like a 90-year-woman. UGH. My husband, sweetheart that he is, managed everything for me. He called me in sick. He even called HIMSELF in sick, basically, cancelling all but one of his shoots to stay home and take care of me and the boys. Anyway, today I'm feeling like a NEW woman. Hurray! I can't stand the flu and I'm rather ticked that I got it, in spite of my flu shot. But luckily, both Asher and I seem to have come out of it okay!
The photo is of me and Ash on the couch where we spent most of the day yesterday.