Berry Bounty

We are enjoying a GORGEOUS sunny fall day here, in the low to mid 70s. This fall has been inconsistent at best, going for days in the low 50s, only to spike back into the 70s again -- rather like a spoiled child who can't make up their mind which way things should be. So while I wait for fall to calm down and finish its tantrum, I alternately have my sweaters and fleeces ready one day, and my short-sleeved T-shirts out the next. It's NOT fun to wake up each morning to the "Guess the weather" game. And of course even on "consistent" days, this is the time of year in Wisconsin where we have our heaters on in the mornings and our windows open by noon. Such a paradox!
I picked these berries just two hours ago. The 6 plants we transplanted from St. Joe last year are THRIVING to put it mildly. I get a bowlfull of berries off them every other day. And Gabe and I make a game of eating them as fast as we can. It's hard to tell, but they're quite large -- some the size of the top half of my thumb -- more the size of blackberries than raspberries. I love it, because they're just like they should be -- just like they are in St. Joe. And they're SOOOO yummy! We didn't realize until half-way through summer that the plants were fall bearing ... so it's been quite a pleasure to have something to "harvest" and enjoy, since most of my garden is done... the corn stalks are browning, the last eggplants are hanging on for dear life -- all that's left is the red cabbage, hugging the ground in snug rows, which makes me think they must KNOW that winter is coming! Yes folks, fall is here at last! If favorites are an option -- fall is mine, no questions asked!

New teeth...not much else!

Hello! For all of you who thought I'd slipped off the face of the earth ... no indeed, I am still here. Work and life has been hectic lately, which has largely kept me away from my home computer ... I usually don't feel like sitting in front of a computer, when I sit in front of one at work all night!! Bleh!
I'm a single mom this weekend, as Nate is out and about shooting for Buell. The boys and I have bunches of fun stuff planned, including a trip to Breaker Bay water park out at the Blue Harbor Resort. Gabe is tall enough for all the slides, so we're gonna try it out! I'll take photos and post them!
Mr. Asher woke up this morning and showed me his gums ... we've got the top two teeth breaking through, as well as a third one on the bottom. For a baby who is cutting new teeth, he is in a remarkably good mood! But of course, I've never had any complaints from my sunny-faced Ash, who has nothing but smiles for the world in general.
Gabriel is EXTREMELY eager for Halloween, and we went to Kohls to get him the all-hallowed SPIDERMAN costume. As soon as we got home, he informed me that he DOESN'T want to be Spiderman anymore. (A difficult lesson in patience for mom). So now that we've returned the Spiderman costume (I think it was the mask that was freaking him out) he wants to be a knight in shining armour. I'm not sure how we'll accomplish that, but we'll figure it out I suppose. I know they have helmet/sword/chest plate dress-up packs at Shopko, but I have no idea how I'll "make" a suit of armour. Oh well!
That's all for now!

A fascinating find

Asher and I made a trip to the local farmer's market here in town after dropping Gabriel off at school yesterday. Most of the vendors there are Hmong folks who have am impressive array of perfect veggies and flowers. One of the flowers that I found was like nothing I'd ever seen! I think it's called a Japanese lantern flower. But aren't they amazing? They don't even look real! They are like little balloons, or "lanterns" hanging off the stalk. The wonderful thing is that they dry quite easily and look almost exactly the same! Asher thought they were wonderful. He kept trying to grab them and squish them on the way home! What a marvelous find!

Check out my hubby!

Okay, so this is the music video made for the 2007 National Youth Gathering, which takes place in Orlando, Fla. in June. This happens every 3 years and draws about 35,000 teens to one major city for a week. My sister is one of the communications bigwigs who organzies the event, and my hubby is in the music video! Before you ask, yes, they did indeed get Jars of Clay's permission to do this video. The footage was shot in pre-hurricane New Orleans (where the gathering was initially slated to be, before disaster struck). It's kind of creepy, when you think of the lyrics in the song "..it ain't built to stay." Yikes. But anyway! Enjoy watching Nathan in this video. I think it's pretty cool, even if he gets all embarassed about it! :)

Bathtime for my boys

Gabriel and Ash took a bath together the other night. They had such a fun time splashing around and fighting over toys -- it was great! And we had a great time watching them play! Check out these photos that Nathan took!

Yes, men (at least my man) have a sense of style...

Two posts back, I mentioned that I had challenged my husband to find a great outfit for me for our date, since my attempts at shopping with both boys were fruitless. Well, he succeeded! When I came home from work, he had a whole new outfit for me, complete with accessories -- jewelry, belt and shoes. He did a GREAT job, and I've decided that I will send him out to do all my shopping from now on!
On a side note, these pictures were taken on our date last night. We went to a phenomenal restaurant in Milwaukee's historic Third Ward called "Sauce." Ooooohhhh it was gooood! (Sauted Prawns the size of my hand, no joke!) Then we went to the fashion show, which was outside, under a tent -- also in the Third Ward. The first photo was taken of me (by Nathan, my wonderful pro photographer) before dinner. The other photo was taken two hours (and WAY too many Hawaiian cosmopolitans) later. Nate shot these downtown. There was some kind of Native American festival going on down by the lakefront- hence the fireworks. We had a LOT of fun!!

I'm a soccer mom!

Gabe had his first soccer practice today! It went very well, and he absolutely loved it! Much to my surprise, there were 30-40 kids there, all his age! At first I thought it would be absolute mayhem, but the two "coaches" they had handling things did VERY well. They started by announcing that there was "ONE RULE!" to playing soccer today ... you weren't allowed to use your hands! They approached it like a fun game, which really made the little ones eager to get going. All the kids practiced kicking back and forth, stretching and then dribbling, with their parent. Asher and I sat on the side and watched Gabe and Nate have fun. I get to go with him next week! Of course, even at this age, it was interesting to watch the parents and figure out which were going to be the "nightmare" parents ... the ones who were already telling their 4-year-olds, "Come on, you can do better than that!" Yikes! But it was a lot of fun! They had a good coaching team ... a "pro" (who I'm just guessing was a recent player/coach with Sheboygan North High) and a gradeschool teacher who knows a lot about soccer, and who would breakdown what the "pro" was saying, in words that little kids would understand and find humorous. Gabe and Nate had a BLAST! Even Asher got in on the action, as you can see from the photos!

The "Dress Katrina" challenge

Okay, so I've issued a challenge to my hubby.
Nathan told me the other day that he's taking me out on a date this weekend. We're going to a fashion show in Milwaukee for some folks he knows through work, and he's taking me to dinner beforehand. So since this is a somewhat "swanky" event, I quickly came to the conclusion that most females do in very short order ... I, of course, have nothing to wear.
Not a problem, says Nathan! Go buy something new! Hurrah, says Katrina!
But then I went shopping today -- with both boys. And I quickly discovered that all the joy of shopping goes right out the window when you're trying to keep one child from pretending to be a very loud tiger in the clothes aisle, while preventing the other one from eating his own foot. Joy. I ended up buying something, but I'll be taking it back tomorrow. Once I got home, I realized it was frightful, and that I pretty much only bought it because I felt guilty, like I HAD to buy something after wandering around for over an hour in one store, subjecting the store employees to my noisy brood of boys. What FUN.
So after my pathetic attempts, (which generally leave me frustrated and completely NOT in the mood to shop OR go out on a date...) I offered my husband A CHALLENGE today on the phone.
"Honey, why don't YOU buy something for me? It could be fun!"
"Okay." He surprised me by replying.
So now, the hunt is on. Nate is out trying to find a fun, Katrina outfit, while I sit back and enjoy stress-free remote shopping. Heck, I could get used to this! He's been calling every once in awhile tonight, asking what the different sizes mean ... so be sure to check in during the next few days to find out if his expedition was a success. (I'll even post photos...) I figure he works in fashion photography a good portion of the time, so I stand a pretty good chance of coming out of this experience with great results! Here's hoping!! Good luck honey!

First Day of School!

My little man went back to school today! He was so excited from the very minute that he woke up! He couldn't wait to get his new outfit on and eat breakfast in a hurry. "Are we gonna be late mom? Are all the other kids eating breakfast before they go to school too?" It was too cute! Before we left, I made him do a photo shoot in front of the house, so I could record the moment and make some memories. He had fun goofing around for the camera, as you can tell. (I like the serious face in the black and white photo!) So then we went to school and Asher and I walked him to his class. He gave me a long hug goodbye, so I could tell he was a little nervous. But then he was off with his "buddies" and mom was quickly forgotten! Sniff! I got a little "onion-eyed" on my way out the door, but I did WAAAYYY better than last year, (when I cried like an idiot once Nate and I got to the parking lot after dropping Gabe off on his VERY first day ever!) It's so hard to let go sometimes!

Blog troubles...

My apologies, dear readers! I had a great post, including photos, of Gabriel's first day of school up today. Then blogspot posted it twice, and when I went to delete one of them, it erased BOTH of them! Argghhhh! So I will have photos posted later tonight, when I get home from work and have a free five minutes to repost it!

Cheers!
Katrina :)

Take me to the fair!

Here are some photos from our super fun trip to the Sheboygan County Fair today! Gabe had SUCH a blast! He got to ride a roller coaster, as well as a motorcycle ride, an airplane ride, a big ferris wheel with mom, bumper cars with dad, and a giant slide! We also feasted on funnel cakes, ice cream, and fried cheese!! YUM! What a great way to wrap up the summer! Gabe starts school on Tuesday!

Rare Male Communication Ritual

Enjoy this rare video footage of a man, communicating with his young, in the way nature best intended ... using bodily noises.