New Year, New Stage, New Blog

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roseycheeksramblings.blogspot.com

2014 resolutions

Despite everyone bitching about how resolutions get broken in February, I still continue to make them. How else do I account for being an epic failure (or success!)?

Now my aunt told me that the new trend is to not have "resolutions" but a word that will sum up how you choose to live in 2014. If I had to pick one it would be ... FUN. I want to have more fun with the kids, more fun as a family, and just a more optimistic outlook in general.

But since I love resolutions (& planning projects for my coming year), here they are:

1 Organize photos - I pinned a fabulous blog post on how to organize your (or my) 14,750 photos on my hard drive. Goal: Get 2011-2013 pared down, edited, and printed.

2 Organize videos - oh god the video project is back to haunt me. I made the best DVD of my son from birth to 5 months with fade in/out clips, edited video, captions, etc that no one wants to watch a video unless it's of this high quality caliber.  If I could only get paid for this?!? Goal: Create DVDs up to June 2012.

3 Feng Shui the House: This is a vague project because I don't really believe in Feng Shui nor can I really follow all the principles, so this is more of a decluttering project based on Feng Shui.

4 Basement Remodel: Before we can really remodel though, we have to clean out this basement. That could take all year.

5 Yard Work: With only the basement to remodel, we can focus on the yard. In the back yard I want to develop and install a lighting plan, and in the front yard we want to put in a new walkway and start planting some of the larger plants (i.e. shrubs) in our plan.

6 Personal: Start horticulture classes, update Linked In, and continue my role with GardenWorks and future ideas for work.

Onward!

Goodbye and Hello: 2013-2014

I cannot believe I have been writing this blog since 2008. I have a love/hate relationship with the blog -- writing a lot of posts that don't get published, taking hiatuses and then writing like a frenzy. I guess the blog is a lot like life. And this was life in our year 2013 ...

Home Renovation continues: Long overdue projects got done after having focused on the project of producing babies the last 3 years.  I'm sure you're asking "aren't you done with remodeling after 8 years?"  That is now a rhetorical question. We put in a new front door and had to replace both the hot water heater and AC unit (the AC unit was original). Outside we decided to replace our crumbling front stoop with a new concrete one, extended the side fence to accomodate our new backyard, put up a new side gate, and layed a flagstone walkway to the back shed. We also did a massive plant overhaul in the backyard with new trees, shrubs, and perennials and got someone to rip out the crazy landscaping by the front street and even it out with sod (and the sod lived even though we forgot to water it the first couple of days!).  It was a lot and we had to forgo renovating the basement with all the work and mess and unexpected expenses.

The kids grew up some more! The difference in W from May 2013 to December 2013 will turn your head upside down. He is now a little boy and the baby is long gone. He finished his Parents Day Out Program and started preschool and went from swimming lessons with mom to swimming lessons alone (no mom in the pool!). He saw another downtown theater production with Nana (Rudolph) and his first real movie theater experience with his friends (with mom sitting behind him). He sat on Santa's lap (willingly) and had his first dental cleaning. And to top it off, he became the baddy known as the "3-year old." Terrible Twos are a thing of the past - it's all the rage now to have a terrible 3 year old, so we hit the money. Yeah us! Someone told me it gets better at 3-1/2 ... okay, I have 3 more weeks.

C, on the other hand, is a darling devil. She's the lucky one because she gets "cool, relaxed" mom and not "stressed out, deer in headlights" mom. She has learned a lot from her brother such as hitting and possession - but that's all about being #2. She's super sociable and fun-loving and if you have an empty lap, she will gladly pop on over and fill it. At the same time, when she hits you in the face and you say, "Ow" she will kiss you. Oh, she's figured it all out and she's only 18 months. In one year she's gone from a nursing infant to a feisty toddler and I love it.

We actually traveled this year -- Nashville in April, Florida in May, Michigan Family Reunion in July, Wisconsin Waterpark in December and then an overnight in the city after Christmas. They were good travelers and easily distracted with a cheese-stick. Husband & I even got away for 2-nights to Kohler, WI for our 10th anniversary where I gladly donned a robe for the most part and did some sort of water treatment I prefer to keep to myself.

I got more involved in activities -- I'm on a kids committee in my local newcomers group, tennis lessons, managing the garden & newsletter for W's school PTA, and especially my involvement with The GardenWorks Project, the soon to be 501c3 that I've been part of since September 2012. The year was busy with fundraising and planning, then building the vegetable gardens for our local recipients and finally, planning for the upcoming year. I have been very fortunate to have found this outlet which lets me garden and serve the community at the same time and I can't wait to see how it grows. Those activities, along with my coveted Gym membership (I promised more Me Time in 2013) have kept me busy that the only personal thing I did not accomplish was starting my classes in Horticulture this Fall. It will happen in 2014.

Looking forward to another busy year as my babies grow up and our life continues to evolve and change each day.

Happy New Year (belatedly).

July

Boy that went fast ... I have a feeling August will be even faster!

Feeding ducks at Cosley Zoo

Seeing the dinosaurs at Brookfield

Splash Park fun

Moms group family picnic

Butterfly house St Charles (butterfly on Claire's head)

In the middle of nowhere

Michigan reunion

Crab pool fun in the sun

Morton Arboretum

Maze

Morton Arbo

Morton Arbo Childrens Garden

Grandparents visiting!

Sunday morning bike ride

We are very lucky to have the Illinois Prairie Path so close (1/4 mile) from our house. I can't tell you how my times I have "strollered" down the dusty path. 

Or like this morning, we put both kids in the Burley for the first time. 

Now that Claire is a year old (and walking!) she can sit in the Burley for a nice trip down the prairie path.

Sunday morning Snowman

Daddy and Wesley made a snowman this morning with a carrot nose and breadstick arms.

It was a cute snowman that lasted for a good 2 hours before the squirrels discovered him and ran away with his arms!

Four generations

Empty House

I've been given a gift: to see what it would be like to not have my husband and baby for 4 days. The only positive point of this experience is .... my house has remained clean.  Other than that, I miss my family terribly.

In the baby bouncer -  he likes it more now than he did as an infant.

Matt is, as we speak, running the Nashville 1/2 Marathon, and he took Wesley to Nashville for the 4-day trip to visit his parents. Since I'm 33 weeks along, we decided I should man the fort stay home. This is his 2nd 1/2 marathon, and he's been training for this one for the last 16 weeks. I always knew he'd be leaving and taking our baby with him, but it wasn't until they walked away from me at the airport to go through security that I lost all control of my emotions and stood there sobbing my eyes out. I never thought I'd be so emotional; I always told Matt I was the type of mom who could pack off her kids to stay with the "southern grandparents" for a long weekend, but I guess I'm not.

Snuggling in mommy & daddy's bed.

Once they got there safely, I did feel better and had a prenatal massage, took a nap, and went to swim class. Matt reported often that Wesley was a dream on the plane, not scared of his parents, sociable, lovable, what more could you ask. Day 2, I woke up at 9AM, with my mom I went to an estate sale and then lunch at Bien Trucha, afterwards running some errands and then having dinner with a friend. After all that baby-free time, I decided, "OK this was fun to have 2 days off, when are they coming back?" Not until Monday morning. So the plan is now to go to Lake Geneva and relax, get manicures, and eat out some more.

I'm sure on Monday, when Wesley is demanding all of my time and I have not one minute to myself, I'll realize that I was given this gift of 4 days of freedom and that I should relish it while I have it. I won't have an empty house again for another 18 years.

Sno-Fun-Run

Time for the Sno-Fun Run -- Matt's yearly devotion to running 8 miles in the snow (although this year there wasn't any). He never trains for this race yet manages to run it well and enjoy his schnapps and beer afterwards.

This year was the first time we brought Wesley and he made Matt's smile a little wider! We said goodbye at the starting line, then while Matt ran the two of us ate some lunch and Wes ran loose around the hotel (to blow of steam from the car ride). Then we saw "dada" running and met him for the after party.

While we scarfed down burgers and brats, Wesley played with a new friend on the dance floor - and he was so in his element here with all these people. He loved just going up to the runners sitting down eating and smiling at them, playing with the other kids, and dancing to the music. He helped us get loot they threw from the stage, but we decided to leave early since it was a little overwhelming for him - and we were worried he would get hit in the head with a sausage.

Me time

Last year like now, I had about 15 lbs of baby weight to shed and the only way to do it was getting some regular excercise - so I joined a Bootcamp class that was 4 nights a week. It started as a way for me to shed the baby fat, but it ended up being Me Time. I put Wesley in the daycare and enjoyed one hour of pure heaven and hell.

I did Bootcamp until June when I knew it would be hard to keep up with the workouts over the summer months. I didn't miss them too much,  I was outside a lot, getting exercise and there was a lot to do. But in the Fall, I felt something amiss. I never had time to myself -  everything was centered around Wesley and his schedule and his needs. He was getting so mobile and demanding that even a shower was a chore, let alone a moment to myself. (It was also around this time, I was working but not having our babysitter available to help.) I was feeling it bad and I slipped into another set of post-partum depression (the only thing I can think to label it).

Exercise is not only good for the body, I decided, but it was good for my mind. And so was leaving Wesley in the care of someone else for a while.

Since I was pregnant, Bootcamp was out of the question so I found a prenatal / postnatal aquatic fitness class through my hospital. It meets 2 times a week in the evenings and is full of some very fun very pregnant women. I can leave Wesley with husband and get some much needed Me Time (and a nice hot shower after class with no interruption.) It started last week and already I feel so much better. I'm hoping to take it through my entire pregnancy, and even afterwards once I get the Doctor's OK.

22 years later, we became moms

We met 22 years ago, when we were spindly-legged freshmen. Since then our lives have taken many turns --somewhere in college we drew apart, then we grew back together after college, then I moved and our lives went their separate way again -- different jobs, different friends, different lives ...

 ... but as fate would have it, she moved back nearby and we rekindled a great friendship. And then ... we had our baby boys exactly 1 year, 1 week apart. Who would have guessed that one?

To many more years, and may our sons be best buds!

Where does your money go?

We've been tracking our expenses since the day we got married; this is what happens when you're married to a finance-man ... only except I'm the one who does all the tracking ... waitaminute!

Anyway, once I left full-time employment where someone pays me, to full-time employment (i.e. Mommy) where no one pays me, I became somewhat of a vigilante when it came to spending.  So to see that we're on track with our expenses, I built a graph to see what our Top expenses are/were in 2010-2011).

 2011 (so far):  1. Mortgage (of course)   2. Home (more renovations this year)   3. Taxes (Property, of course)  4. Groceries (we're now cooking more, no more dining out)   5. Baby   6. Utilities

2010:  1. Mortgage (of course)   2. Auto (we paid off our car)   3. Taxes (property, of course they keep going up)   4. Dining (I was pregnant, who wants to cook?)   5. Home   6. Utilities

So ... where does all your money go? Do you know? You might be shocked.

Revolutionary War, reenactment

A few weekends ago we took Wesley to a Revolutionary War reenactment. I had never been to one ... Civil War, yes, but not Revolutionary.

This reminds me of a story ....

An old colleague of mine was (and still is) a Civil War re-enacter and lent me a gown so I could join her and their Artillery group at a local reenactment. I was 24 and so excited about wearing a hoop skirt, until I had to get it on - alone, in my appartment.  All my petticoats were falling to my knees as I made my way through the camps looking for her group. Being a woman, I stopped and asked directions and they asked me, "Confederate or Union?" I just blankly stared back, I did take U.S History in High School ... anything? anything?  Nope. 

"There from the North," I answered.
"You want the Union [idiot], this is the Confederacy Camp."  

I walked away confused, why would there even be people from the Confederacy here, aren't we in Illinois?  You would never have guessed I graduated with honors. I was a 24-year old idiot in a hoop skirt with my petticoats now at my ankles.

Back to the Revolutionary ...

It was a lot of fun (and I missed being all dressed up) and educational.  Wesley got up close and personal with ...

Canons

And the men who use them

Children's Toys

And the kids who play with them

Scotsmen who fought for the Americans

And Scotsmen who fought for the King - loyalists

The British

and Gunsmoke

Parlez-vous français?

I survived my first week ... day ... hour? ... of teaching French to that adorable age we call "elementary."

This past May when I was sitting pool-side in Florida, I got a text from a friend of mine saying that the place she's working for -- providing after school Spanish class to kids -- is looking for a French teacher. Since they're a Spanish-only group, they would need a teacher who's fluent in French and can adapt the Spanish curriculum. I agreed to the job and 4 months later had my first class. Not before having a panic attack in the car in the school parking lot beforehand though.

Seriously, I had never taught before and the idea of 8 kids staring at me gave me an attack of the jitters. I lesson-planned all week, and even gave a practice class to my family. They all told me, "Talk slow!" That was the worst advice ever. I went to watch another teacher in action and saw that the class was face-paced, fun, active, and not slow. I quickly changed my game plan.

I feel like I did good my first week considering it was my first week. I had some fun games, but my class is 7-10 year old and the 10-year olds are ... well 10. So I think no matter what I did would bore the older kids, while the younger ones had a good time (again... I think). No complaints so far.

Getting ready to teach Class #2 of 19 on Wednesday. (Yes, it's a countdown!)

Cars

The last couple of weeks we have been consumed with cars. I've lost sleep over it, tossing and turning in my sleep with crazy car dreams.

We're a one-car family and currently drive an SUV that gets 18 mpg. It's never been a big deal until I stopped working and now drive more. My husband thought we should sell it for something more fuel efficient. I reluctantly agreed to look at some cars, I love our SUV and really don't want to sell it. On the other hand, 18 mpg is pretty sucky and there are some cool options out there to consider.

As I'd be the primary driver, my wish list was fuel efficiency, hatchback, small easy-to-tool-around car but with room for car seats & stroller.

Volkswagen:  As of 2010, they have some TDI models which are clean diesel and get 40 mpg. We looked at the Sportwagen (a Jetta wagon basically) and the new Passat. They were both nice. The Passat was huge, but a little on the old side (I like the look of the old Passats better) and we decided no sedan (too hard with the stroller). The Sportwagen had a great hatchback with lots of cargo space, and pretty nicely equipped.

Toyota: I've been wanting to get behind the wheel of a Prius since they came out. We test drive the 2011 model and it was like driving a spaceship. Completely different than any vehicle I've driven, it was pretty cool. And very roomy for what looks like a small car. Plenty of room for car seats and strollers.

Audi: They also make a TDI clean diesel of their A3 hatchback, and that was a fun car to drive. It's small, sporty, and smooth. It fit the car seat fine, but the stroller took a little wrangling. We liked driving this car the best because it's the most similar to our current car (it's the German engineering we love).

In the end, we chose ...

None of them.

The trade in value of the SUV was pretty dismal, it didn't make financial sense to take a loss on this car. Selling it privately is a hassle I don't want to undertake now. Aside from the fuel economy, we love our SUV, we love driving stick shift (they are not making any more luxury SUV in manual transmission anymore), and we're going to keep it. We talked about getting a second car, but we don't really need one so why go through that extra expense when we have home improvement projects still lingering. Maybe in a year or two we'll think about it again.

Whew ... now I can sleep better.

Memberships

Since having Wesley, memberships have become more plentiful.

The Arboretum ...I've always had one to the Arboretum (classes are cheaper as a member), but seeing Wesley light up in the Children's garden and having a place to go when the weather's fine and you have no 'plans' has me thinking I'll keep it going. Cost $65 (Pays for itself after 6 times - 3 times with a guest)

The Zoo ... Once you pay for parking ($9) and entry ($13), if you don't stay at least 5 hours then you feel jipped, and there's no way we can ever stay that long. Instead we bought the membership for the family and I've gone with Matt, his parents, my mom, and friends plenty of times throughout the summer. Now all we need to do is find a time to use those free tickets for the Dolphin Show. Cost $106 (with a guest pays for itself after 3 times)

Children's museum ... Now this one is new and I just got it. I've taken Wesley to this museum two times over the last two weeks. It's $9.50 to get in per person - that's $20 each visit for the two of us now that he's past 1-year. Insane. He wouldn't have gotten much from this place a few months ago (before he could crawl), but now it's like nirvana to him. I love it that it's a place I don't need to lug the stroller and I don't need to say "don't touch." Also good for those cold winter days ... Cost: $75 (Pays for itself after 4 times)

 The Pool ... When it's hot in the summer, all you dream about is a pool. The only thing I regret is not using this enough. It was hard with Wesley because on hot hot days, you don't want him out in the sun. And by the time evening comes, you forget about it. We went as a family a few times, and alone a few times but not enough to pay for itself. The other down-side is that it's only for the members, so I can't get my mom in for free which is better when you're with a baby (the more help the better). But this will be worth it as Wesley gets older. Cost $91 (Pays for itself after 11 times). Summer only.

Staying at home with Wesley means getting out and doing fun things, and these memberships at least allow me to have a place to go even if I only have a few hours and I don't have to rummage to make sure I have the cash.

State Fair

This weekend we went to the Wisconsin State Fair. We started going to this fair when I was 9 years old, and I don't think you can ever get sick of looking at cows and goats, drinking milk, eating baked potatoes and cream puffs, and listening to cover bands. It's what a State Fair is all about.  Wesley loved the animals and the people - the more the merrier for this outgoing Leo.

With my mom in LG

Riding the Moo Truck

A friendly llama

Cream Puffs!

Why torture me with winning cakes behind glass?

Pooped

Petting baby goats