wip 10.29.11

friday:
field trip day.
took ben to my work, nick's work, and my grandma's to visit. everyone was asking about ben's costume and my mom happened to be off for fall break, so we planned a lunch with my grandma. the others kinda just fell into place after that.

{pardon the photos. all were taken on my iphone...}

somebody found a flag in his toy box and insisted on running down the sidewalk with it before we left.

he is obsessed with the water dispenser at nick's work.

eating his favorite hamburgers.

trying on mommies new shoes. 

saturday:
oy.
lots going on. lots of decisions.
were able to make it out to see nick's nana at hospice. {we had tried to go as frequently as possibly. it's so hard with work and that it wasn't exactly close to us.} stayed for a few hours and headed home.

had a murder mystery party at the cooper's that evening. nick wasn't sure what he wanted to do. but in the end, decided we should go to take our mind off of everything that had been going on. about an hour or so before we were leaving, we got the phone call that his nana had passed away. i'm so glad that we made it out there and had just spent time with her a few hours previous. and nick still wanted to go to the party.

it was unlike any murder mystery party we had attended. was my favorite by far. jay and christy {or should i say christy} did an amazing job. the house was decorated. the food was great. and although nick was a camera touting tourist, he didn't take many pictures!

i have this one before we got started. and i won't embarrass the others by sharing theirs. ;)

sunday:
a day to breathe. sort of. we did a boatload around the house since we hadn't been home much.

ben even helped.

then the boys had a house call for their haircuts. thank you val. you make my life easier! :) she even took nick's pants home to hem. love her.

totally needed that lazy day to catch up. was nice to have a clean house and some non shaggy boys!

ten on tuesday. 11.29.11

- had a patient tell me they tore their rotisserie cuff the other day. and she corrected me when i called it a rotator cuff. really?
- told ben i had to go to the bathroom. he said, 'ok momma' left and came back into the room with a wipe. so funny.
- christmas decorations are up! minus the outside lights. but the 40 mph wind gusts haven't been very conducive to outdoor projects.
- love shopping for christmas. online. got a bunch of boxes the past two days. so close to done!
- now just to get them wrapped...
- have an itch to go to hallmark. i think putting all the ornaments up made me wanna check out the new ones this year. might have to stop tomorrow on my way home...
- am giving myself a project for this friday: upstairs closet. so needs to be done. thinking i might hold myself accountable if i put it here.
- pinterest is being uncooperative again. thus, no linkies today. ;(
- really wishing i had the desire to read a book. so am not in the mood as of late.
- nick picked up our race packets for this weekend. it's just the two of us. i'm kinda excited for a date run with my hubs! and the goody bags are awesome!

wip 10.22.11

friday:
nothing too exciting.
hair appointment and came home to this on my doorstep. ;)

i love zappos. however, i had to send these back. weren't exactly what i was looking for... but a few days later, another pair wound up on my doorstep and stayed. love them. now if only i can convince nick that i need a pair in black too...

saturday:
up and at em early.
nick and dave were running in the monster dash. so steph and i tagged along with the kiddos.

nick and ben all dressed up.

little miss sage all bundled up.

mario and waldo. if nick would have known, he would have gone as luigi. but that would have required dave to buy his outfit some time other than 24 hours prior to the start of the race!

a family photo op after. not the greatest.

everyone crammed onto the tram. poor little sagers.

the kids were crabby, so instead of hanging around for the awards, we went home. it would have meant waiting like four hours and we just weren't up for that. found out the next day, that had we stayed, nick would have gotten a trophy. he finished something crazy like 5th overall. {2nd in his age class.}

that evening we went out to 'the carrot' for dinner with friends.

hugging the birthday boy.

cheers. me, john, and steph. with a few stragglers in the background.

was an early evening. we had a long day!

sunday:
went to potawatomi zoo for their halloween festivities. nick's sister invited us. thought ben would totally enjoy it. and he did!

the dragon checking out the tiger. ;)

a quick shot of the kids. we're missing one... i believe he was in a stroller.

then we split up because it was just too crazy.

ben not sure what he thinks of this mummy.

the coolest pumpkins. totally perfect for the petting zoo!

ben checking out some goats. there was one just a few feet away. he's lucky he didn't get a kiss.

cheese. 

love bug.

waiting patiently to ride the train.

all aboard.

the shadows made me smile.

check out those teeth! i've never seen one smiling before.

a little birdie wanted some nerds. 

 smile.  mommy and ben. <3

when we were done we tried to get in touch with nick's sister, but they had left.
so we had nothing but time. they have this huge area full of leaves right outside of the zoo. it's amazing. this tree lover was in heaven. and even more so, when ben was agreeable and played in the leaves. not the easiest target out in the elements. but oh well. i'll take em.

 trying to convince ben that it's more fun to throw leaves than the football he got at the zoo!

love autumn.

there was a pretty big pile in the middle of the field. 

yay. another mommy and ben photo. i love that nick will take pictures too!

all done. we're tired and hungry.
decided to go to between the buns. got a coupon trick or treating at the zoo. thought why not? something new.

i spy purdue pete on a notre dame menu. {and ben totally, spontaneously did boiler up while we were at the restaurant. i was a little nervous until i saw some boilers a few booths down. they were laughing. phew!}

this bloody mary was HUGE!

food was good. i'm glad we tried it. it was also a way to pass some time. they were moving nick's nana to hospice and by stopping here, we bought some time and were able to stop by on our way home.

and i'm tired. another long weekend!

wordless wednesday: attack of the sticker monster.

twelve on tuesday. 11.22.11

an all ben edition.
because i was planning this on his 32 month birthday... but that's turkey day, so i changed my mind!

- went downstairs with nick and came upstairs with a 'new toy' from the basement {we recycle toys regularly}. i asked him what he had and he replied, 'a basketball hoot.'
- knows how to work the playstation to play his movies {turning it on, putting in disc, and what buttons to push on the controller to get it started.} i think we're in trouble!
- you know you're a parent of a little boy when you find a rock in your bed.
- ben has finally agreed to watch something other than the cars movie, wipeout, or dinosaur train. he watched thomas like 7 times over the weekend. {note to self: record chuggington. and auntie, whenever i think of thomas, i think of matthew's homemade halloween costume!}
- we are officially binky free! was a rough few days. thank you to wonderful grandmas who had to babysit when we decided to kick the habit.
- walked around saying he was a 'big boy' during this process. only to say, 'i'm a baby' when it was time for bed. so sweet.
- talks to the kitties in a totally hilarious, high pitched voice. makes me laugh every time. maybe one day i'll think to record him when he feeds them.
- i thought ben was gonna freak out in the car on the way home today. we saw 'frank'. one of the corn fields was being plowed on the way home. it was great! he was mesmerized. sat there completely wide eyed.  told nick about it immediately when we got home.
- he's started making this completely ridiculous surprised face. so funny. and i love that he holds this pose for added drama.
- refuses booster seats or high chairs when we are out at restaurants. {refer to big boy comment above!}
- loves wearing hats. we have a visor and an old baseball hat in his toy area. he insists on wearing at least one of them while playing baseball or football. and if you leave a random hat out, he'll have it on his head almost instantly.
 - is totally diggin yankee doodle dandy {there are a boat load of lyrics for that one!} and the days of the week song.

dear christmas.

i saw this {on pinterest... surprise, surprise} and couldn't agree more.

source.

so weird to see my neighbors have pumpkins and christmas trees outside.
i can't imagine eating thanksgiving dinner with a christmas tree up! i know there are exceptions with family coming in and not being able to celebrate at certain times. but in general, i just don't get it.  put the tree up the day after thanksgiving and you still have a month to enjoy all your pretty decorations.. or more if you're the crazies that keep the tree up until mid january! {and if a certain someone is reading this.. yes, you! ;P}

wordless wednesday. somebody got mail!

{thank you sooo much carrie! we still have the first one too!}

ten on tuesday 11.15.11

- one of the routes that i take to works leads me down a residential street. they have piles upon piles of leaves on both sides of the road. i have an overwhelming urge to drive through them! {so far, i've resisted...}
- had the occ packing party sunday. it was a success. over 370 boxes packed. i'm starting to save stuff for next year already!
- was going to link some recent recipes but pinterest hates me. {and i'm beyond annoyed with all their 'hiccups'}
- bought part of my outfit for the santa hustle. sooo excited. hope it fits!
- went to a norwex party last night. totally strange to this medical professional that i can kill salmonella with just water and this towel. her demonstration was pretty convincing. so i did buy a few things. we'll see how sparkly clean i can get this house with their stuff. and the rep ended up being the mom of someone i went to high school with!
- excited for howl at the moon this weekend.
- am liking twilight less and less. {i blame pinterest.} bella is a pretty lame heroine. my life sucks. two guys love me. hermione. she kicks ass. not afraid to be smart. i hate that i'm comparing wizards and vampires. hoping that the movie doesn't disappoint this weekend.
- who knew an app about frogs could be so damn addicting. and there's a cheat website for it. really?!
- cannot get enough mumford and sons right now.
- just tried pinterest again. still hates me. and that's like 45 minutes later since i'm the worst at coming up with these lists. and i'm easily distracted. so phone calls and texting tend to interrupt!

wip 10.15.11

friday:
the start of our insane 24 hours!

drove to st. charles for robin and ryan's wedding.
it was uber windy outside. and a bit chilly. 

two super cute flower girls with their grammy. :)

loved all the different colored dresses. so fun for fall!

aw!

waiting for dinner. 

yay! her shower gift at the seating table. makes my heart happy!

the mini coopers in a mini cooper. ;)

gotta love ry's smile.

you knew there would be a selfy.

this one gives me flashbacks. totally reminds me of tom and jen's wedding. 

then we left st charles and drove to chicago. got there around 1215 am. just to have dave fall asleep after we called and asked him to let us in their building. finally made it to their condo at like 1230. then we chatted. then we played with baby sage. then we slept.

saturday:
early wake up call. like 545 early. oof!
then it was off to the urbanathalon. such a cool experience. would totally do it again. not sure i would do the entire thing. i'm a big fan of our relay team... go hot mommies {thanks for the killer name steph!}.

i did the first leg of our relay. i had to run a little more than three miles and do some crazy obstacles. {like scale a giant tractor tire! was the first thing i saw and was immediately cursing! then i had to hop police barriers and do a tire run. the next set was a different police barrier and a cargo crawl.} was able to make it to the finish line to see nick cross!

here's a shot of the last obstacle. well, before the giant wall they had to scale.

there's a nicholas in this picture....

just after he crossed the finish line.

with his medal.

dave looks extremely happy to be finished.

;)

so proud of the boys. they hung together until the soldier field obstacle {a bazillion stairs}. 

our team.

you could climb around on the last obstacle. we took quite a few pictures. this one totally makes me smile.

love the city in the background.

and just some of the mud the boys endured.

then we came home. i took like a 30 minute power nap and we headed right back out.
stopped by my parent's to help them with a few things since they were able to move all their stuff back in.

ben entertaining me with a mini laundry basket. i love that kid.

and the boys hard at work.

then we headed to see nick's nana at her new place {assisted living} and celebrate nick's mom's birthday. phew!

nick's family had spent all day moving nana in. we made it in time for dinner and cake.

and a family photo op with nana.

 
nick and i were exhausted.  but we made ourselves go. it's so easy to say that we're tired or there will be another day but we sucked it up and went. and i'm so glad we did.  {these are the last pictures we have of nana. this was her last day of being truly with us. she was taken to the hospital the very next day and passed two weeks later.}

sunday:
we didn't leave the house.
all of the following photos were taken on my phone. so pardon the blurriness.

ben enjoying his colored rice.

then we built a fort.

and ben thought his frisbee was a hat.

and lost his pants. and decided that jumping off the couch could only be done with a hat and no pants.

the end.
;)