Nolan

Almost 13 years old.

Dagny

8 years old

Part Two

Cuber

Nolan's math teacher challenged his class to solve a Rubik's cube and thus began Nolan's new obsession, speedcubing.  He is rarely seen these days without a cube of some sort in his hand.  There are many different kinds of cubes, not just the iconic 3 x 3 (I am learning).  We went to a speedcube competition a month ago and Nolan clocked in at 15.3 seconds for the 2 x 2 cube.  But you need to clock in under 4 seconds to get to the finals!

Dagny's Summer Leaps and Bounds

This has been an eventful week for Dagny, now 6 1/2 years old.  She lost her front tooth, learned how to ride a bike, learned how to kayak, and was in a talent show.  When I was young like her, I really loved riding my bike...could do it for hours...I think Dagny might feel the same.

The Swing

This crazy swing is the best purchase I ever made.  It hangs from one of our giant oaks. I can push 4 kids on it at once.  It spins and swings.  Somehow the rule became that whoever is facing me can talk to me.  I learn more about what is on my kids' minds this way than anyway else.    

Handsome Men with Bow-ties

While doing some errands last week, I said to Dagny that we were going to stop at a little diner to have some lunch.  She tried to think of what a little diner would look like.  She then asked me hopefully if there would be handsome men with bow-ties.

Moms Vs. Oaks

Mike's mom came to visit and rented us a gas-powered-backpack-leaf-blower to help with the mountains of leaves in our yard.  Mike manned the fire while us moms battled the oaks.

An Ever-changing Path

At any moment, our lives can change.  My Dad's did a couple years ago.  Then last month, he packed his car and drove across the country, Oregon to Florida.  He had one of my old paintings in his trunk that was titled "Lonesome".  He's sitting on a beach now, with a completely different life ahead of him.  I am impressed with his courage.  Life changes, we just need to embrace a new path.

Fancy Toads

Overheard while Nolan and his friends were looking at two toads they caught...
"Okay guys, now we just need two tiny top-hats and some tape."

There's an Earwig in my Playdoh

It has been a very rainy, hot Summer.  This must be earwig weather, because they are everywhere, even in playdoh.  So gross.

The Spirit of Gram and Papa

My mother (Gram) and step father (Papa) visited this Summer, and as always, filled our house with their lively spirit.  Nolan and I both got guitar lessons from Papa.  I miss hearing my step father's music and my mother's silly laughing.  It's good to have lessons from the young at heart.

Daybreak in Back of the Car

Mike's car was in the shop, so I had to drive him to the train at 4:38am.  My plan was to make up the back of the car like a bed, silently carry the kids into the car where they would continue to sleep the whole way and then go right back to bed at home.  A mom can dream, right?  Turns out riding freely in the back of the car is way too thrilling to waste on sleeping.

Check and Check

In the same week I got my ECE certification, I was offered a job.  Teaching preschool, just like I wanted when I started.  Could it be that things are finally settled?

Garden Ninja

Moon Lightning

We've had a lot of thunderstorms lately, with some awesome lightning.  After deep contemplation, Dagny asked me if lightning gets zapped from of the moon.  Of course that makes sense, I love how her brain works!

Zippy the Chipmunk

A chipmunk has moved into the drain pipe in our back yard.  He also spends time in the hollowed out part of a nearby tree.  Dagny named him Zippy.  Nolan and I took a look inside his tree hoping to catch a look at his home life.  

Where Nature Dominates

Our neighbor has a tree growing through their house.  I thought it was peculiar until this Spring when the tree bloomed punk-rock neon pink flowers, like an umbrella over their slate-blue house.  This is clearly a tree to build a house around.
In the city, architecture dominates over nature...but here in the county, nature has the upper hand.

Spring Surprises

We moved here at the end on the Summer and the yard had been neglected for a couple years, so we have no idea what is growing.  Everything has been cleaned up and starting to bloom...so we get new surprises every day.  Like this little Magnolia tree, it's so pretty.  We've also discovered lilac, peony, rose, and raspberry bushes.  

Beautiful Dream

I recently had a dream that I was riding a bicycle and white fluffy clouds floated over me, dropped strings for me to catch and then transformed into giant white geese.  I also recently finished the final round of work for my my additional teacher certification, so I am thinking the dream is related.

Pinewood Fever

The night Nolan got his block of wood to prepare for the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby, I said that we could work on it in the morning.  At 5:57am, I awoke to noises downstairs.  This is the scene that I found.  Really.  The table had been clear the night before.  I'm not sure what he was planning for that giant saw.   

Chipmunk Bush

While looking out at our frosty backyard, I said to Dagny, "We should plant a butterfly bush in the Spring." To this Dagny replied, "And also a chipmunk bush, because they are so cute."

Ice Skating

We were surprised to find that people ice skate on the lake once it freezes.  It never occurred to me.  I don't know how to skate and neither do Mike or the kids.  It looks like fun though so we got skates and have been trying to teach ourselves.  Luckily for us, there is a small wooded island by our house that hides us while we fall down.  Try to spot us in the picture! 

Haircut Shock

I had my hair cut short this week, I've been thinking about it for awhile but I didn't tell anyone.  Upon seeing me, Dagny cried inconsolably and refused to look at me.  Nolan was aghast, and tried to politely tell me he liked it better before.  I like it...but mothers are not supposed to change.  But, like all change, they will get used to it and then it will seem normal.    

Leaf Burning Mania

We have 22 white oak trees around our house.  The leaves had been piling up all Fall.  The guy who mows our lawn promised me that after the last leaf fell, he'd come with a magical leaf vacuum and take them all away.  But he stood me up, there is no such magic.  Now it's just me, a metal rake, and a match.   

The Search for Mike's Chair

 

Mike broke a vertebrae in his spine 2 months ago while playing tennis.  PAINFUL.  This past week his mom came out to visit for Thanksgiving.  She saw how much pain he was in and offered to buy him a comfortable chair.  This began a week long search for such a chair.  It took our combined brain power, time and commitment...but we found a chair.  It's coming this Friday.



You Say Banana, I say Bonona

Me:   Dagny, get that dirty banana peel off of your hair!
Dagny:   But MOM, I am a beautiful princess...watch me dance.

Mike's Feathered Children

There is a tall pole in our backyard with a collection of bird feeders.  It was in sorry shape when we moved in, but Mike has taken it upon himself to fix it up and consistently provide birdseed to the birds.  We all love to watch the birds.  But Mike really loves those birds. 

Strangely, the middle peanut feeder has recently disappeared.  A human would have to climb a ladder to get it...so our best guess is a squirrel somehow made off with it. 

Pumpkin Eating Dinosaur

My mother and step-dad visited us this week.  We spent a chilly Fall day at Goebbert's Farm.  Our favorite attraction was the pumpkin-eating mechanical dinosaur.  A man hidden in a shed controlled the dinosaur like a giant claw game, making it pick up pumpkins and crush them with it's monstrous metal teeth.     

Nolan Has Found His People

The goals, the badges, the uniform, the survival skills, the comradery.  He's read the handbook front to back several times.  If ever there was a group well-suited to Nolan, it's the Cub Scouts.

R.I.P., Little Chipmunk

Dagny and I were playing in the back yard with some neighbor friends, when a giant hawk dropped from the sky onto an unsuspecting chipmunk, just feet away from us.  The hawk then proceeded to eat his catch RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.  Yuck!

Water Towers

A lot of the towns out in this part of Illinois have gigantic, looming white water towers.  Like modern, puffy, white, space-ghosts that contrast the rolling green hills and lush trees.  They look a bit like the knobby wooden handles on a toddler puzzle, each town being a piece in the puzzle. 

Down the Rabbit Hole

About a month ago, our family left our apartment in Chicago and moved into our own house in beautiful Tower Lakes.  We managed to get all of our belongings into the house and have slowly been sorting things out.  What an insane process! 

So many changes.  Wildlife, a lake, a yard, new schools, commuter rails.  It's all sinking in...I truely love it.

Stranded at the Beach

We spent last week on vacation at Cape Cod with Mike's family.  One day Dagny and I got locked out of the house with nothing but a bucket of sand toys.  So we camped out on the beach, got really dirty, and took a little nap.  

Dagny in the Zone

It is sidewalk chalk season.  This year Dagny has thrown herself into the medium.  Her world narrows to a chubby piece of chalk and a bumpy sidewalk surface.  She'll sprawl out and draw her lines, back and forth, until her knuckles bleed.  I think we may have another artist in the family.

Supermoon Surrealism

This past week we experienced a supermoon.  I am guessing the supermoon caused the freak hailstorm we had in the middle of the night.  The hail hit our windows and caused cracks in our kitchen skylight and also caused Nolan to get up and start sleepwalking around the apartment.

Gram's Magic Jellybeans

My mother came to visit the week before Easter.  She brought some magic jellybeans and planted them with Nolan and Dagny before she left.  On Easter morning, we discovered that they had grown into giant lollipops!

Pop Rocks Moment of Zen

A couple weeks ago, we had a string of hot days in the middle of March.  One of those days we spent every possible minute outside soaking it up.  The sun was going down, and we finished off the day with a bag of Pop Rocks.  It was Dagny's first time.  She just stuck the whole bag on her tongue.

I'm Back

Last week I finished my last night class.  I walked out to the cold, dark campus and thought about throwing all my papers up into the air.  Being DONE with something is so sweet. 

CooCoo For Cocoa

 

Santa brought Nolan a new pet for Christmas.  It is a baby bearded dragon, Nolan named him Cocoa.  He is a very charming little lizard and we are all smitten with him.  Along with Cocoa, we also care for 20 or so crickets each week.  They have the grim fate of being Cocoa's breakfast.