what's your ride?

I picked this off a friend's blog. It really is too funny not to share. Perhaps you can relate on some level. I don't personally recommend the Zima, just for the record.

the light at the end of the tunnel

Eight years ago we were in the midst of our palatial basement apartment (by palatial I mean around 400 square feet) packing and tripping over boxes to move to a new frontier - St. Louis. We would be there for four years. We're still here (do the math if you wish), and know what? We really like it here. Our house size has almost tripled and our family size has certainly doubled. But what we don't always like is the craziness of Nate's work. However, (this is where we begin to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel) Monday marks the beginning of his last year of residency! I can't believe it. Med school wasn't bad, but residency has been something to reckon with. I must admit that every year gets a bit better (and I think the best thing about this coming year is knowing that it is the last one). I chose to post this picture to illustrate our excitement.

sad feet

I imagine by now, most of my devoted readers know that The Caveman in my life came to this world with an orthopedic problem commonly referred to as clubfoot. He started to undergo non-invasive treatment at the age of 10 days and today no one would ever guess he had non-normal feet (they carry him to and from trouble very quickly, just as you'd expect two-year-old feet to do). Sadly there are children born in other countries who are unable to receive treatment as early as J. And so where J can run and jump and climb and spin - someone else cannot. There are various groups and organizations that assist these kids and one of them is CURE. If you click on the CURE link you can "sign a cast" and $5 will be donated. The five bucks pays for a cast for a child (FYI - J had to go through 4 or 5 sets of casts). So if you've got a chance to do it, would you mind? J thanks you (and so do I).

lazy daze of summer

It is hot and we are lazy. And so far, I'm okay with it. I started taking swimming lessons once a week and it is really fun! Grace is not too pleased that I am taking lessons and she isn't, but her turn will come soon enough. Last night we all went to the pool (it is indoors and I love it because there is no worry about sunscreen and all that!). Jimmy displays no fear of the water; he just loves to go "schwimmin"!

sexy at 32

According to a very trusted source, being a surgeon is considered one of the top ten sexy jobs. In honor of that announcement I thought I'd post about the surgeon that lives in our house. He turned a little bit older this week (I'll let you guess how old), so of course Grace planned a birthday party. This is who was invited: Grace, Jimmy, the Birthday Boy, and me. We had a swell time, ate lovely food, and partied hardy all the way until 8 p.m., at which point half of the party guests went to bed. Happy Birthday, Nate!

for all you grandparents out there in need of "entertainment"

I realize this is not the best, and for some you may think "What?!" Nate thought it blog-worthy and since it is his birthday I thought I'd post it for him.

my kind of town

Last weekend (well really the weekend before), Nate and I went all by ourselves to Chicago. The kids were only 30 minutes away from us, but they could have been 30 states away for all I knew. It was a fun and much needed break. I went into the city a tired and haggared mother and I emerged a happy, fun mom.

here comes the sun

Summer is officially here in our house. That means that it is summer vacation. That means that Grace is home a lot and has lots of extra energy. That means that I am running out of energy. Any ideas of what to do with the extra "sunshine"?

newsie news

Anyone ever been to San Diego? I've been there once and I must say it was quite lovely (to prove it, I posted these pictures). If you're interested in visiting SD, wait at least 13 months or so because by then we'll be there! We found out this morning that Nate matched in their Pediatric Otolaryngology program for the 2009-2010 year (that would be July to July). We're pretty excited and I'm only minorly terrified (y'see it is a far cry from my midwestern roots but they do have fablous Mexican food and living by the ocean has to has its perks, right?). So now you know our newsie news. Feels good to be in the loop, huh?,

watch out, here she comes

And so it goes and then it went, our year of Kindergarten. Our big night was last night and Grace was in fine form. She said to one of her fellow graduates, "Y'know, this reminds me of our college graduation." Oh, if only college graduations are as cute and short as this one was! But at least she's got goals, right? Its hard to say which part she was most thrilled about - her "graduation hat", the "golden metal" she got (each kid got a medal instead of a paper diploma), the fact that her Salsie and Pops came, her surprise at Nate being there ("Daddy, I can't believe you aren't at the hospital!!"), or our celebratory trip to Cold Stone (where she marched right in and told EVERYBODY there that she just graduated from Kindergarten). It was a sweet night and I just can't believe that she's growing up so fast!

future career

Grace has decided to be "An ENTF (that's Ear Nose Throat & FACE) Veterinarian." She'd also like to work for The Cardinals and be an ENTF/Vet for the player's animals. No doubt it will be a demanding career, so she decided to begin preparations early. The other day she did a heart replacement on her dog, amazingly the surgery took a matter of minutes and of course the dog has an incredible prognosis. I think so far Jimmy's future career will be in extreme cuteness and maybe competitive Cheerio eating.

feelings

Today is one of those days. I could be fuming mad that my car is sitting in a repair shop, or I could be thankful I was able to get all of my errands done this morning and have Grace at school before it decided not to start again. I could also be grateful that a repair shop is just across the street from school and all the Kindergarten moms are more than happy to help me and James get home, get Grace from school, take her to a birthday party for a classmate this evening, etc. So I guess I'll go with feeling Grateful instead of Fuming because it just feels a little better.

the rest of the trip

As Kindergarten graduation is fast approaching (Tuesday) I realize I'd better post the remainder of our spring break trip before it isn't technically spring any more!

While on our trek we discovered the Berlin Wall (or at least a section of it - which I must say was rather moving, I wasn't expecting to have feelings about it, but I did. I suppose I could blog about that at a future date) and the Church of St. Mary. A church you say, big deal! Well, yes it is a big deal as this is a 12th century church from the middle of London. Crazy the things you find in Missouri!

We also found the Bass Pro shop in Springfield. Quite a place. If you haven't every been there once, you owe yourself a visit. (Even if it is just to put on a camo bathrobe, to sit in a camo recliner, and read a bow and arrow magazine for just a minute so your spouse can take a picture of you!)

There are beauties to behold inside (like underground) and outside (like on a nature hike). We did both such things in the Branson area (thankfully we did not venture into any shows as the only shows Jimmy cares for involve Cars or Buzzlightyear). Everyone enjoyed a view through their 'noculars' (that's what Jimmy calls 'em).

All in all, we learned about the treasures of our state, survived a few days in Branson, and really had some nice family bonding time. So much so that we can't wait for spring break next year!

missouri girl

This post is about our spring break trip we took several weeks ago. As usual, life has gotten in the way of timely posting!



Who's the boss? That seemed to be the theme of the trip from Gracie's angle. She had so many "plans" that it was hard to stay on course. But somehow we managed (this was manly done when she was asleep or when we told her where her next meal was coming from). She loved visiting the Hallmark Center (where you can make bow after bow after bow on the bow-making-machine while your Mom is busy chasing down Jimmy and your Dad is busy reading plaques and being "educational") and Kaleidoscope (this crazy, fun place where they let kids get wild with their imaginations using Hallmark's leftover card stock, ribbons, and Crayola everythings). She was fascinated with our state capitol (Jefferson City or "Jeff" as the locals call it). And loved our nature hike. And ate an amazing amout of chicken tenders. And ketchup. And French fries. Gracie also was "helpful" when she would insist on navigating with the use of her map (often it was the map of downtown Kansas City, even though most days we were far from KC). Incidently, Grace has asked many times when we can return to Kansas City - you'd think its because she had a terrific time there - yes she did - but its really because she wants to get some more Silly Putty that came from the Crayola Store. Oh how I love thee, Missouri Girl!

schooled and shaken

Today I experience something I don't remember ever experiencing before - and earthquake! Yes, one right here in the Midwest. It was a 5.2, so all of you from California may think that isn't so note-worthy, but it certainly is here. It woke us up and lasted for about 30 seconds. Everything just shook. Very weird.

And in other news (not related to the above): a utility company put up a new utility pole behind our house in the alley. This was very exciting becuase it involved many trucks and workers wearing constructions hats. Jimmy was thrilled. At one point they got ready to use a giant drill. Thinking this might interest Grace, I called her over to the window. She nochalantly sauntered to the window, casually pushed me aside, looked out and said, "Yeah Mom, that's an auger drill." And then went back to whatever it was she was doing. An auger drill!? What?! Do most 6 year old girls know about heavy industrial equipment?

the stuff dreams are (not) made of

Today I did something I never in my life dreamt I would do - I spent the better part of an hour removing Silly Putty from some bed sheets. Thankfully they were not my bed sheets, but they were Gracie's. Who knew that Silly Putty - the stuff Nate and his brother used to throw at their moving ceiling fan just to see where it would land - the stuff that used to let you "copy" news print - the stuff you could do just about anything with and it would come right up and fit back into its tiny little egg-shape home - would adhere to sheets! It turns out it also likes carpet and various other fabric and fibers too. So Mothers (and Fathers) Beware!!!!

Tour of Missouri - Jimmy's take on the trip

Planes, Trains, Automobiles (or Trucks), and Elevators

These are the things Jimmy loved most about our trip. Well, and the cows too. He watched Missouri fly by his car seat window and was thrilled whenever he saw any of the above. He took great delight each and every time we entered an elevator. And of course we even saw some trains up close a few times (KC has a LOT of trains). Here's a few pics of our Motoring Man in MO (you may wonder why I include the one of J's back and Gracie's smiling face in this particular post - it is because he was too busy looking at the trains below to bother turning around to say "Cheese!"). Stay tuned for more MO!

mary, mary quite contrary

That sums up Grace these days. But really what I'm looking for is what would YOUR garden grow? This weekend we worked our back forty (well, really a plot that is 12x16 feet, its a lot bigger than we thought it was before we decided to use a manual tiller than a cool, power one). We've got a few things planted and planned for the garden, but I would love any suggestions from you! Leave them in the comments or if you'd rather, sent me an email. Happy Gardening!

shopping is a dangerous sport

Warning - this contains personal information that I am rather embarrassed about

Last week while on our Spring Break Trip (The Page Tour of Missouri - don't worry a post will come to detail our adventures) I inevitably ended up shopping; and while doing so I tripped on a step and completely sprained my ankle. It is a sad state of affairs that my children have such a clumsy mom. I would like to point out however, that it was because Grace was hanging out of the car window (thankfully the car was parked) and Jimmy was waving wildly to me, that I did this. There, now you know.

six buck phone

So just as I pull up to Gracie's school, Kris (aka "Nana") calls my cell phone and says, "Sarah, you are not going to believe this. We just called Nate (side note- Nate was in transit to SLC for Grandpa Beck's funeral) and someone else answered." To make a long story short, the Someone Else who answered the phone actually bought the phone from some dude at a Jack in the Box in a very crummy part of the city this morning. This Someone Else ended up being a very nice, elderly gentleman who felt terrible that he had bought stolen goods. Nana convinced him to return to the said Jack in the Box and leave the phone with a manager or something so I could pick it up. In the meantime I was convinced Nate was either a.) dead or b.) riding back and forth on the Metrolink unconscious because in my mind he was obviously mugged on his way to the airport at 6 this morning (why oh why must we jump to conclusions?!).

I somehow managed to keep composure as I dropped Grace at school and chatted with another mom (really my Guardian Angel for Kindergarten) who readily agreed to traverse to the sketchy part of town to pick up the phone. I called Someone Else (it took him a few times to successfully answer the phone) who happened to be going to drop it off and he agreed to meet me there. In the meantime, we stopped at Guardian Angel's house to change a probable poopy diaper (thanks James), loaded car seats into her mini van (oh, sometimes I really covet a mini van!) and headed East. In between the diaper and loading into the mini van, I actually talked to Nate (he and Coby met up in the SLC airport and thankfully Coby's phone hadn't been stolen!) and after a burst of tears and crazy rants (if you really want to know it went something like this "Nathan, are you okay? Are you alive? Where is your wallet? Do you have all of your credit cards? Are you sure? Are you okay? Are you sure you are okay?" and so on like that). Also, I should mention my Guardian Angel gave me a lovely silver can with red and black lettering to drink, which always seems to sooth my nerves. Oh and she had seat warmers in her van too. Sweet!

Okay, back on topic. We arrive at the sketchy location. She remains in the van with the children (our youngest ones as the oldest are slaving away in Kindergarten) and I head in. I find Someone Else and here is the miracle - he was like a cross between Grandpa Beck and my Grandpa Jim. He was kind, jovial, refused any money I offered him (which was more than six bucks), and wished me a nice day. Thanks to him (and my Guardian Angel and I suppose my diet Coke) my day is pretty good. Whew.