A Memorable Memorial Day

Well, despite the fact that we didn't have Nathan with us on Memorial Day this year (he's in Atlanta for a few days playing volleyball, lucky guy!) I must say that this year's Memorial Day stands out as one of the best of memory.
The kids and I started the day, which was the warmest of the season yet with highs in the 80s, at the parade downtown. It was Rhy's first big parade and she wore the new outfit she got from Grandma at Children's Place (check it out in the last photo grandma!! Too cute, eh?). When we came home, I put the sprinkler on for the boys, and sat on the front porch watching them, with Rhylah in her saucer. Soon, we had bunches of neighborhood kids over playing... drinking pink lemonade and enjoying the first summery day of the season.
Then the kids and I took a long nap and got up to go play in the park with my good pal Nhia and her kids. After that it was home for chicken and corn on the cob (the boys absolute FAVORITE). We relaxed from all the outside air by watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (for the second time this weekend). When I asked Gabe how his day was, he said it was the "Bestest one ever!" Hmmm...looks like old mom isn't doing too badly all on her own!


Rhylah hams it up for the crowd of neighborhood kids on our porch.



Asher dashes through the sprinkler. He was shivering, even though it was warm, but he would NOT stop playing in the water!


Gabe has some fun too.


Some of our neighborhood friends.


Rhylah in her cute new outfit. Thanks Grandma!!!

Indy Fever

Here is Nate, all dressed up at the theater. He was so excited, which was very cool to be a part of!


For the past six months or so, what can only be describe as Indy Fever has descended on our household. It started when Nathan, possibly the world's biggest Indiana Jones fan, introduced our son Gabriel to the first and third movies (the second is WAAAY to graphic and disgusting). As he fast-forwarded the scary parts, it soon became clear that Gabe would be as big a fan, if not bigger, than his dad.
Thus followed several months of my sons playing Indiana Jones nonstop. Gabriel would come home from school and tell me that the boys had played "IJ" at recess. (Yeah, you guessed it, more Indiana!) Then quickly followed individual fedora hats for the boys, Asher's curtain swinging adventures, and action figures with real whip-cracking sounds and wise-cracking remarks, recorded straight for Harrison's own mouth! Oh, and don't get me started on all the Jones Lego sets we now own.

Last night, Nathan and I went to see the newest installment -- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Nate even dressed up for the occasion, in his Indy gear, including his fedora and whip. People at the theater seemed to appreciate the efforts, and as we stood in line for the the super screen doors to open, I began to think to myself ... after nearly 20 years of waiting (The Last Crusade came out in 1989, if you can believe that!), how can this movie POSSIBLY live up to the lore, legend and pure hype that has been building around the series? The answer? It can't. Not really.

It was a good movie, don't get me wrong. But it wasn't superior. Nate and I left feeling like we'd enjoyed ourselves, but that maybe, if we had put our heads together, we could have come up with a better screenplay. Don't get me wrong -- there was plenty of action. Lots of tombs and tomb raiding and all that jazz -- I had been nervous about the whole alien plot line that I had heard rumors about -- I didn't think I could buy into that within an Indy storyline. The strange thing is ... they ALMOST sold me on it. Almost ... Up until about the last half hour, when it got kinda bizarre. (I would almost have preferred it to be more ambiguous and mysterious than it already was).

But the movie was -- all in all -- mostly fun .... a little campy ... a little cheesey ... a little fake at parts ... almost too many visual/special effects ... the first half was the best, and I agree with the critics that Harrison didn't seem all that old. I mean sure, he seemed OLDER, that's a given, but he didn't seem ancient. (as Shia LaBeouf remarks in one scene, "What are you, 80?") No, he didn't seem 80, but my issues with Indy in this movie had nothing to do with his age really .... he wasn't quite the earthy, nitty-gritty Indy with the eternal swagger and snappy one-liners that put people in their place.... like the Indy he used to be. He was more ... tired ... slow on the swagger and delivery of lines .... okay, so maybe that IS his age. It was also interesting to see him more reserved ... like his own dad was in Indy 3. A kind of cool turning of the tables.
Karen Allen, returning as Indy's love interest, seems to have lost her ability to act somewhat. Her line delivery seemed a bit off, a tad overdone, as if she hadn't been in front of a camera in a good long while. The last scene of the movie, which I won't divulge, is something I could have done without. I would have prefered less romance (I can't believe I'm saying that) and more pizzaz from Indy, who, dare I say, may have been exiting the scene for good????
All in all, a good film. Much more archaeology than I was expecting, but a story line that I didn't QUITE end up buying in the end. Not as gruesome as Indy 2, but not as fun as Indy 3 and all in all -- it seemed like all the parts were there to make the familiar old machine run ... but things were just a bit rusty from disuse.



Nate is ready to go see Indy!


The boys were super jealous, and wanted to come too. Too bad!!


Me and my Indy!!

More park fun

Just a few fun shots of our walk to the park this morning.


Mr. Asher plays on the playground.


sniff sniff, what is this?


Hey mom, what IS this???


Oh well, maybe I'll just give it to Rhylah...


Who will promptly eat it...


Smiles from the little girl


I told Ash to stand by Rhylah for a photo. I love how he has his hand on her head as if to say "This is MY baby."

So innocent...

I just went in to check on Rhylah about five minutes ago, and I found her sound asleep as her sleepy-time CD played the track "Amazing Grace." And look how appropriate her hands were for this Christian tune! How funny! She never folds her hands, so I'm not sure how this came about.
For those of you who were wondering, yes I'm still alive. I fell off the blogging radar for awhile for two reasons ... 1) I forgot how HARD it is to be a full-time mom -- I've been busier (and more tired) than I've been in a loooong time and 2) I was in St. Louis for a few days last week to visit with my folks.
We had our first open house for our home last weekend. I was expecting NO visitors, since the market is so bad and since the open house was only one hour and since I'm notoriously pessimistic... but we had six couples come through -- which I was happy about. We're having another one this Sunday from noon to 1 p.m., so if any of you know anyone who is looking for a nice house...
The other big excitment in our household this week is the arrival of Indiana Jones in theaters on Thursday. This is not something that only my hubby is excited about -- no, it's a fever that has caught hold with all my boys. Poor Rhylah and I just sit there shaking our heads and smiling. I will have more on this topic as Thursday approaches ... Nate may even dress up for the movie, so I may have photos too!

Goodbye Coffee -- You will be Missed!!

Stress will do strange things to you.
I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up one of these mornings with a third eye or something. But instead, my stress has taken on the form of .... drumroll please ... migraines.
UGH.
When I get migraines, I get the whole fun deal. It starts with impaired vision, where I see spots (like you've been staring at the sun for too long). They call it halo vision. This is accompanied by a rampaging feeling of nausea -- like I'm seasick. Then, in about ten minutes, the horrific headache will start. The one bonus to this whole process is that if I can get medication into my system within this 10 minute window, I can usually head off the worst of the actual headache.
I usually get about 2-3 migraines a year.
I've had 5 in the past three weeks.
I'm pretty sure they're stress induced -- but I've also been dealing with terrible allergies, an eye infection that is also allergy related -- (which means I've been wearing glasses for five days, then switching back to contact lenses, which tends to give me headaches as the prescriptions are slightly different) and other such issues.
I've read that these things can be triggered by caffeine and/or chocolate. Last night I had two cups of coffee and this morning, I woke up with fuzzy vision -- the onset of a lovely migraine.
I'm HOPING that this is the cause -- this and stress -- and not some kind of horrific brain tumor or something dramatic. Sigh! (Yes, I'm a bit of a hypochondraic ... but I also hate dropping money at the doctors office for them to sigh and tell me to take Tylenol, which they've done to me before, while charging me $100).
So it's goodbye coffee! I'm cutting myself off for good now, to see if that helps! In the meantime, if any of you have any tips to help, I would appreciate any home remedies that you've come across!

The Promised Photos

Here is Miss Rhy at 6 months! Nate took her portrait after church on Sunday and it took only about 10 minutes. She LOVES hamming it up for the camera. As you can see, we have a "sitter" on our hands. We laid her down in her downstairs crib the other night while we were eating dinner, only to hear her angrily berating us from her spot. So on a whim, we sat her up, only to find that she LOOVED it -- she wasn't falling over and was thrilled to be able to see what we were up to. Now she sits wherever she is -- on the carpet with her toys, in the highchair ... she can't sit up on her own from a laying down position (hence her anger when we put her in that position in the first place!) but she loves sitting and watching the world go by. My baby is growing up so quickly!
PS: If you are family, please know that you probably have wallets coming via the mail of some of these photos ... hint, hint mom and dad! :)

Our Decision

Well, the Harrmanns' will be getting a new address.

We've decided to take the job in St. Joseph, Michigan -- which means that we will be Wisconsinites for only a short while longer.

It was not an easy decision -- we spent all weekend mulling it over and praying, but in the end, it seems the best choice and we are VERY excited about starting our new lives across the lake.

For those who don't know, St. Joe is a lot like Sheboygan -- right on the lake, with a VERY similar community... just more touristy because that's where all the Chicago folks come to spend the summer in their bazillion dollar McMansions. My father grew up there and so we have some family in the area as well.

Anyway! Now life will be unbelievably busy as we get our house ready for sale (UGH), pack up, (double UGH) and move out. We'll keep you all posted on our progress!

In other news, Nate shot Rhy's 6-month portrait this past weekend and I'll be posting photos soon -- hopefully later tonight!

A big afternoon for a little lady

I was at the mall today and decided to get Rhy's ears pierced. Aren't they adorable?? I think so! A good friend of mine had her baby's ears done a few months ago, and I loved the way it looked.
Rhy did SUCH a good job. She cried a little, but within seconds, was laughing and smiling and had no clue what had happened. And I think she looks too cute with her little daisy earrings!

Out for a walk on a drizzly day!

We went on a walk today in a slight drizzle. Here are my boys (and girl) heading out down the sidewalk.



I told the boys to try and find the biggest gravestone in the cemetary as we were walking through -- mainly to get them out of my hair while Nate and I were trying to talk. When I looked up, here is what they had found. Um. Okay! Yeah, they won that game. YOWZA!!



Check out Rhylah hanging out in the Kelty!


Smiley Asher in his new hat from Old Navy.


Roxy on the beach. She LOOOVES running in the water -- but is too chicken to chase a stick into the waves.


Mr. Gabriel, who is part mountain goat, climbs on the rocks. What fun!


Kisses on the beach!


When we got home and took off the Kelty to get Rhylah out, here is how we found her. Sacked OUT!


She was out like a light! Ya gotta love fresh air!

Something to pucker up about

I've come to the conclusion that if it is after midnight, and I'm in a Walgreens, I will buy something strange.
Last night I got off work, and we needed milk for the boys breakfasts in the morning, so I headed on over to Walgreens.
As soon as I entered and was confronted with aisle up on aisle of colorfully packaged cosmetics, I remembered I needed lipstick.
What did I end up with? A strange new product that I just COULD NOT resist! It's by Sally Hansen and it's called Lip Inflation Extreme. It's lipstick, that's also supposed to inflate your lips! Can you believe that? It sorta stings a bit, which makes me worry a little -- is this the same stuff in a bee sting? Hence the correlation with the "bee sting" pout? I will have to do some research. In the meantime, you'll have to judge the results for yourself. I'm not convinced. Okay, yes, I'm hamming it up in the first photo, but in the second, my little pucker looks quite small. It's all a matter of perception I guess!


A full blown lip smacker. Okay, yes, I'm being cheesey....


A normal face while I'm on the phone talking and blogging at the same time. (Yes, I'm a woman, so I multi-task!)