We Went to Disney and Lived to Tell About It

We had SUCH an awesome Disney vacation last week! John and I are so proud that we did it all on our own and still didn't lose anyone! I took over 500 photos with my new Canon SLR camera, over 200 with my little camera, and my parents gave Jack his own nice new camera to create a "Jackumentary" with. Watching the photos on the t.v. yesterday, my dad said it was as he expected it to be...lots of pics of his face, balcony railings, random grasses and twigs, and also some legitimately good ones.

Here are just a FEW photo highlights....

First day and first time EVER at the Magic Kingdom. While our time there couldn't be beat, the kids totally enjoyed the pool and wanted to do that all day every day. We DID spend a good amount of time in our cool piratey hotel pool, but probably not as much as the kiddos wanted to!We met a TON of the characters, esp. at Hollywood Studios. We found a place where they were hidden and there were virtually NO lines. Sweet!

Nate took this one. You can hardly tell, but it's me and the evil Snow Queen. I liked her. She barked orders at the boys and they listened.

The ONLY time Maddie let any character near her without John or I holding her. Even during our princess dinings, she got a bit star struck. While it was cute, it was slightly irritating because I always had to find someone nearby to take our picture. Luckily, the characters travel with "helpers" who did a lot of snapshot shooting for me-esp. when John and the boys were doing big kid stuff.

There he is, the man, they mystery, the mouse himself!

I LOVE Mary Poppins. She's my favorite. And no, I'm not that fat. I had to still be wearing loose fitting shirts and shorts because at that point my belly button still hurt to have anything touching or pressing up against it. It still hurts a bit when I wear certain jeans...grrrrr.

I still love her.

As far as I'm concerned, I am Mrs. Incredible. We did meet Mr. Incredible too. He was fun.

The boys liked the "Star Tours" star wars ride. And the speeder.

Getting ready for a day o' fun.

Other highlights of our trip include:

-Nate getting gummy bears at every sit down character dining experience and having "Jelly Bear Wars". He had those things all lined up and doing battle. Hilarious.

-Jack telling air port security at check-in on our way to fly home that he "has a new gun packed in his suitcase, it's red, and you only need to shoot it once!" He saw our other Disney bags and laughed while John and I were slightly mortified...uh, son??? Not the guy you tell you have a gun in your suitcase to!

-Our 2 hour flight delay to get home, because the airlines entire computer systems crashed. Other than that, the logistics of our trip were all silly easy.

-Nate and Maddie having a serious discussion in the hotel room about how Minnie Mouse is a girl because she has a jinie, and Mickey is a boy with a penis.

-The boys favorite ride together being the "Tower of Terror". Sometimes, boys just rock.

-Maddie's face on "Small World". She LOVED that ride and would occassionally break out into singing the song. We also went on that ride no less than 7 times. At least.

-Nate declaring his favorite ride was the tram rides into the parks every day. Seriously. We coulda saved a lot of money buddy boy!

-Mary Poppins asking the kids their ages and then telling ME that I have my hands full. You know when Mary Poppins tells you you're a busy mama, then, well then, you are truly a superwoman!

Whoa oh oh oh oh oh!

Part II...good times. Isn't this what everyone does after church?

If Ya Like It Then You Shoulda Putta Ring On IT!

Okay, the coloring gets better the longer you watch...and for the record, it's not me giving directions. That's Auntie Steph...the one who teaches Brooke this stuff. I for one, stick with Laurie Berkner.

Catching Up...Random Photos

Okay, I know, I know. I still haven't divulged the FAB story of my crazy orange haired hospital roomie, but I couldn't help posting these!


I took these tonight. She's posing, as you can tell, but the BEST part is if you look closely in the background...well, it's lightsaber fighting night.

More posing...more stabbing...Jack was vanquished!

Yesterday...Yup, that's Nate in the middle of the road. And me behind the lens yelling "Get Outta the street! Outta the STREET". He doesn't listen. But I KNOW he can hear me.

In the middle of the road. How awesome is HIS mother?!

Our dear friend Amy from Church brought Maddie a new bike. Amy has 2 gorgeous girls-the youngest is 8 and has outgrown the bike. Mads is doing so well riding, she tries so hard. I love it.

Of course daddy was "helping". But she didn't really need it.

Using her Weg Muscles.

Okay, so last Saturday kicked off the baseball season in the burbs. Jack marched and threw candy, and afterwards my dear friends and their family and our family met at the best burger joint around.

We want this planter for our house. How great is it?

I walked with the little ones to have lunch. How cute is this?

I love this shot and my camera for the simple fact that you can see each individual piece of candy as Jack tossed it to us in the parade.

Jack and his daddy and his assistant coaches Aunt Chris and Uncle Greg marching in the baseball parade. Yup, we're the A's. Pay homage to the Maguire/Canseco duo.

Nate at the parade. Typical Nate face!

Okay, my favorite Cards fans in Iowa...how cute is she? The Cubbie blue just brightens her whole complexion. She has Auntie to thank for her fantabulously egregious hair accessories. That's why I have a sister....

Smiley, cute. Baseball Parade ready!

Our neighbors gave Nate this sweet trike. He gives his fave chicks rides on the back.

Jack...saving the Earth, on Earth day. Sweet get-up.

I just love how happy these two are together...for this quick moment at least!

A Cubbie Girl Even a Cards Fan Could Love

Did you see at the end how she has mastered avoidance of Nate's infiltration of her video with his Lightsaber? Classic.

Yes, that is the Transformers theme song. "Autobots do destroy da ebol forces of the decetacons!"

And lastly, Nate demonstrating his skills.

Shot thru the Heart...

And unfortunately he dances like his father...

In case you can't see it, he's got my ipod.

Maddie Sings

I'm slowly trying to figure this out. I hope this little "test" works.

The Real Story of Jesus on The Cross-As told by Nathan

Before I elaborate on my time in the hospital with the crazy orange haired dairy farming roommate, I thought I'd tell this story, lest I forget....

According the the middle child, THIS is what happened that first Easter Weekend:

"Well, you know mom, JeNus got nailed to the cross like this (arms flung wide) and he got DEAD!"

For anyone who doesn't have boys, death, dying, shooting, maiming, mauling, blood, and general ickyness are the soup du jour all day every day. Even when you try to teach them how to be civilized and say, "We don't talk that way dear", the TRUE obsession with the Easter story is how JeNus got DEAD. His story continues thusly:

"And then, after he got DEAD they put him in the tunnel with the big stone. But then JeNus wasn't weally DIED because the X-Men and Wolverine came in the hewicopter and rolled the stone away and KILLED all the bad guys who had hurted JeNus and so JeNus didn't really get Dead, he got out of the tunnel and went to heaben."

Easter Lillies and New Life indeed! In the mind of a 3 year old, JeNus is apparently, some sort of superhero. Wolverine claws optional of course.

The Appendix Outage: Part I, subtitled "My Evening in the Psych Room"

I cannot shake the feeling that someone "upstairs" is trying to tell me something with the events of the past 6 months. First the precancerous colonoscopy thing-which we all know women my age don't have those problems, then the abnormal pap, which turned out fine after a fun round of cauterization, and now this whole appendix removal. If anyone has any ideas why God's finger is pointing at me and singling me out, I'd love to know. I could say timing on this was perfect since we'll be in Disney in less than 3 weeks, but I don't think the Good Lord gives a hoot or holler about Mickey Mouse and me eating in Cinderella's Castle. I don't need to be reminded of who my friends are, I've been taken VERY good care of by so many with calls, prayers, meals, getting my kids out, you name it. Still, I can't shake the feeling something is going on in a more grand sense....

I personally think my experience with this whole thing is HIGH-Larious. Some may not agree, but try to find the silver lining--I've got great stories to tell. I'm starting today with my time in the ER, and maybe more later. I get exhausted sitting straight up and typing for too long.

So, to pick up where I left off, I waited for about FOREVER for my parents to get to my house to get the kids Saturday. They had to drive home to get their other car to put car seats in (apparently pick-up trucks don't fit 3 kids, huh?), but once my parents got home my mom realized that she left her car keys in her friend's car after they went out for lunch"the other day" so they had to wait for her before they drove up. I felt like crap but still found it funny because a day in the life of my parents is like watching funny movies all day.

Eventually they got here and then headed with the kids to my sister's so that Dad could put lights up. It was good all the little ones got to play together, and my sister did most of the physical work like bathing the kids, etc. I have a hunch that as soon as Maddie and her nappy ass hair walked in the door my sister did her mini-freakout (What is WRONG with Your mother and her inability to ACCESSORIZE??) because my mom said Mads got her hair french braided and her toes and fingernails painted pretty. AND my sister complained to me in the ER during a check in phone call before my surgery that Maddie needs something done because her hair is growing in a mullet, and "That's just not right for a little girl Jenny. You've gotta take care of the situation."

Alright, back to the ER. I get there. I check in. They are so freaking busy that I am put into the psych room. I wasn't tethered to the table or anything but it was so boring that I could have gone some kind of crazy. Plain walls. A double locking door. A camera but NO t.v. in the corner (we found the tv later and it had such a sucky picture it was hardly worth it). Covers over the fire alarms. A corrugated "door" much like a garage door that closes behind you to hide all medical equipment. A security guard outside the door who thought it was fun to show us how the garage door worked and laughed with us when interns and orderlies walked past craning their necks to see the crazy in the room.

I got hooked up to IV antibiotics and was stuck watching "Survivorman" and "Braveheart" because there wound up being a horrible accident that killed a mom and her 2 kids and bumped me. I'm okay with that though. That's sad. I DID get to see the crazy in the room next to mine escorted by 2 cops and tied to her bed to where ever she had to go. Speculate away...I know I did.

Eventually I was taken into surgery. The anasthesiologist and I discussed my cycle class, and triathlon training, because he is working towards an iron man. He also informed me that while I was under and intubated and cathetered he'd redo my IV since it wasn't in a good place. Hey dude, as long as I was asleep I didn't care.

In the OR I heard rock music on the radio. Always a good sign, and I begged them to NOT turn on country. Not that I'd know it being knocked out and all, but the nurses assured me that they weren't country fans either, so I felt like I was in REALLY good hands.

And then I don't really remember anything after that.

Turns out I'm NOT So Crazy After All

It's been a rough week. I've been feeling like crap and blamed it on low iron as per usual. It happens for me. It ain't no big thang.

However, this morning I woke up with a pain in my abdomen/girlie area. The slight twingies woke me actually and I couldn't get comfy again to sleep, so I did what any freak of nature does and went to my cycling class thinking that I probably strained a muscle in my pelvic area when I danced with the Devil...or did an ab workout from the devil, also known as exercise t.v. lady. However, it got worse, so I went to the urgent care place thinking they would say, yes, you hurt your pelvis again.

But no, instead I'm blogging, waiting for my parents to arrive to shuttle my children to their home so I can go have my freaking appendix removed. So I'll be down for a few days, but better now than in Disney is what the silver lining is.

So, say a prayer not for me, but for the kiddos who are upset they missed their 2nd Easter Egg hunt today. I know that really, that's MOSTLY what I'm upset about!

Playing with my camera

These are experimental. I took shots of the snow yesterday and have been adjusting the colors and such; just wanted to see what they'd look like on the web.

I think the way the coloring on this shot turned out is cool. Wish the subject matter was maybe different, but the concept is neat.

Blue snow bushes.

Intimate Moments

Last night I had Jack on my lap and had a sudden burst of realization as to how big he really is. He's so not a little kid anymore. He's almost 6, almost in school full time, smart as a whip, and just not a baby anymore. And so we had the following heart wrenching conversation:

Me-Gosh Jack. You're so big. When did you get so big? You're growing up on me."

Jack...running away from me as fast as he can "Ha ha mom. I just farted at you!"

Yes, he truly is becoming a man.

Tis the Season

Baseball season that is. John is officially going to be "Coach John" for the summer and was practicing with the blondies this weekend.

I love how my new camera can capture "action shots". Nathan loves the helmet. He wears it when he rides his big wheel.

Hey batta batta batta!
And now, Maddie's turn. She's a lefty and is just getting the hang of using the bat, being that it's bigger than she is and all.

Check out the stance....perfect for a 2 year old!

Yes, she was wearing capris and princess boots. Just because she can hold her own in those "boyish activities" doesn't mean she can't look good in the process.

She CAN actually hit the ball too. Probably better than me.

The Expo

1.5 miles in a pool
17 miles on a bike
3 miles of a run
and 1273 calories later I finished my first triathlon expo. The workout was great, and I learned a lot, mostly that serious athletes could probably laugh their way past me in my puny sprint races because a lot of the people there were training for marathons and ironmans.

Here's the craziest part though (which gives me hope)....I was by far one of the youngest people there out of a group of roughly 40 or so men and women. One lady at the expo booth actually asked me if I was there as part of the "Girls on the Run" program. Uh, no. That's for junior high through high school, right?

But seriously, it seems that the older you get, the more time you have to train because you don't have to build a workout schedule around the kids. Working out for an Ironman competition is seriously like a partime job, and even IF I wanted to (I don't) I couldn't do it. So, I'm setting my new goals to complete an Olympic distance tri sometime before I die. For now I'll stick with my sprints...that's a half mile swim, 12. something bike, and a 5k or 3 mile run. Training for this I can handle.

Yesterday in my8 hours at the gym, I also had a gait analyisis done by an orthopedic surgeon, and I am apparently fine. Not so fine with the extra 20 lbs the camera apparently added to my behind while the video tape was running. The doc was trying to tell me how I was doing footwork wise, and all I'm thinkin' was, "My gosh, look at that ASS! Crap. He just put it in Slo-mo...jiggle jiggle jiggle.." Not pretty. Not pretty at all.

I learned many many interesting things from the nutritionist as well. The most important was probably that a scale is really just a good measure of how hydrated you are. For example, weigh yourself before you workout. Then again after you workout. 95% of you weight loss is sweat. Also, since I am a salty sweater, I need to hydrate with sports drinks during races, NOT plain water. I'm going to have to read through the handouts again. They're VERY math and science like, so it will take a while for me to process.

In the meantime, the parental units came over for dinner tonight and dad fixed my bike computer so that I can map riding time, speed and distance.

This summer, I'm going to be a rockstar.

Erin Go Bragh!

So, well, the leprechaun trap wasn't what I envisioned, and I suppose that was the point. Jack designed it himself, and with a little help from dad, created a relative masterpiece. Let's wish him luck on this happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is a piece of 'gold' I "JUST HAD" to take a picture of.
This is the inside of the trap. The hopps bag that John uses to make his beer doubled as a net to Catch that Lucky Charm's eating menace. And of course, there's more gold to be found under the box.

There it is... a ceral box with a Y stick (or free shilleleigh to lure the leprechaun in) spray painted gold-which I think for Jack was the best part. Oh, and check out the air holes so that the imaginary critter can even breathe. That is Jack to a T, providing comfort in confinement. So what if it's not fancy? It's all his own.

Our Special Friends on the Wii

Jack has created several Wii Mii characters. Most of them are bearded ladies with the ability to "mingle". So, if you're doing the Wii fit in our house, chances are a bearded lady will run past you, throw you a hula hoop, or kick a panda bear at your head. And so, I had the following conversation with my son today. Not sure how it started, but at least I know he's learning a bit about how the world works- that being he's not at the center of it.

Jack-"Can I play the Wii?"
Me-"Why, so a bearded lady could run past you?"
Son-"You know mom, Sawyer (his friend at Sunday school) says he knows someone who is a bearded lady. And you know mom, we shouldn't make fun of people who are different from us. God made everyone different and special, we shouldn't make fun of people mom. Even bearded ladies".

Touche' son, touche'.

Because They Can't Live One Without The Other

Naptime. Like twins, only sometimes worse. Best friends.

From Pudding to Princess

I'm pretty sure Maddie's favorite person is daddy. For the girl whose first word was "Chocwate" he will give anything. Especially pudding, if she eats all her deener, which she did like a champ last night.

If you look closely, you can see her little mouse tongue licking the chocolate.

Mmmm...

Pretending to share, but really not about to.

Check out that forearm supination and the complex grasp on the spoon. No OT needed here.

Last week at ballet was mommy watch week, meaning the parents can sit in the room and take pics. Apparently, I was a huge space invader because little miss thang got into a funk and wouldn't participate until I left. Therefore, these photos are taken through the tiny window in the door.

She's practicing for her dance recital in May.

Watching her hula hoop was hilarious. I think you need hips to do it, so skinny minnie didn't do all that well.

She's got the idea down, not the mechanics.

Remember that "mood" I talked about earlier? Yah, this is the one.

Good News!

First things first....

According to my middle child, if you blow raspberries at ducks, it will render them completely unable to drag you into your home naked and make you die. I consider this a very powerful PSA for today.

Secondly...
My goggles and cap have been safely located in the bag that I had put them in during an attempt at organization.

Am I the ONLY person who loses things after I've cleaned them up and put them in their rightful place? Like the time I hung up all the coats in the closets and later was FRANTICALLY searching everywhere (except the closets) for them.

I'm totally a lost cause.

And Thusly I Begin Again

It is officially tri training season. I am officially off drinking (although I won't deny myself a glass of wine now and then) and weaning myself from coffee. I have also begun keeping a food log writing down everything I eat, mostly to make sure I have enough protein and complex carbs, although it's hard to monitor this very well.

I also registered for this Triathlon Expo on the 21st. They're having a brick workout, swimming and biking for 45 min. each, and then a group run. I opted out of the run because of my foot although if it improves by this weekend, I may call and register for it. After the workouts (which begin at 6 a.m. EGADS!), there will be sessions given by a nutritionist for tri-racing specific nutrition, a yoga thingy, and chair massages. I know it all sounds cool, especially since it's free, but lets be honest when we say I am most excited about the chair massages-racing techniques be damned.

I'm hoping to do at least 3 races this season, the most important of course being the Danskin Breast Cancer race, which was moved from July to September this year. I don't know why they did that, given that Chicago weather in September is pretty iffy, but maybe the lake will be warmer than 72 degrees, which wasn't so bad because it made me swim that much faster.

For now I have my immediate goals at hand...like, finding my goggles and swim cap. Totally missed my workout this a.m. because Tuesday is a swim day and my gear is nowhere to be found.

Focusing on the important things....that's me.

If You Give a Dad A Muffin- By Me

If you give a dad a muffin,
He will eat it
Oblivious to anything else going on around him.

And then he'll ask the Mom for more.

The end.

If You Give a Mom a Muffin...

I got this in an e-mail from a friend, and it is sooo sooo true...

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

by Kathy Fictorie

Kid Projects

Seriously when I look at this (which is a lacing project brought home from school, and incidentally he didn't do too badly), I think he looks like such a baby in that picture. Over the course of a year it's easy to forget how much the kids change.

Drum roll please.....How cool is this?? I asked Jack if his teacher helped and he answered that she told him when to push space. Not bad for a five year old. Borderline genius I'd say.

On another note, we have to build Jack a leprechaun trap for school. I informed John of this and his answer was "Well, how big are elementary school leprechauns?" Meaning, how involved is this project? Too bad about my mom, because something like this my father would excel at.

Anyone ever build a leprechaun trap? Did it work? Can you give me ideas?

THANKS!

Girls Weekend, 2009

This past weekend, as aforementioned, I abandonded my mother in need and my family and headed out to meet up with 13 of my oldest friends. And by oldest friends, I mean that most of us went to Kindergarten together. We did Brownies, Indian Princesses, Girl Scouts, choir, dancing with Marla, Gymnastics, Swim Team, boys, parents, puberty, and growing up together.

Some of us hadn't seen each other in years. It maybe should have been weird, and my friend Kim and I talked about it, because what made it weird was that it wasn't weird. We got our drink on, played Apples To Apples, looked at old yearbooks, watched videos of the junior high talent show and singing the National Anthem at a Cubs game. We danced to old school music (oohhh Baby YOU, You got what I NEEEYED!), and We talked, we caught up, and we laughed harder than we've laughed together in a long time.

I took over 300 pictures, and since I can't post them all, here are the highlights.


This is me and Jennie. For some reason we thought headbanging was a good idea.

Jennie's mom and My mom were Girl Scout leaders together. Jennie coupled with her sister Katie are two of the funniest people I've ever known and I have them to thank for my abs hurting today. Jennie and I grew up together, really. Our sisters hung out and our brothers were best buds. We had us some good times. Doesn't she have the most beautiful smile?

This is me with Lisa. My first bff ever, and I can't even begin to write what we have been through together-it'd take too long, but you can imagine what your first bff ever means and that is the world. I CAN say her wedding was one of my favorite weddings I've ever been to, it was so beautiful. Lisa is one of the most genuinely kindest people on the planet and she is a beautiful person inside and out. I'm so glad she came this weekend!

This is just what happens when I have no kids to deal with. Let it all hang out and have fun!

We're hoping to do it again next year...maybe head to Arizona to visit Kim, since it's considerably warmer there in February than it is in Chicago!

Ahhh...now it's back to the grind this week, but that's okay. I'm refreshed and ready!

If It Wasn't So Funny, It Would Be So. NOT. Funny

Okay, so before I get angry comments about what an awful person I am, I'm going to preface this entire story with the information that even the VICTIM in this scenario finds bits and pieces funny. That being said.....

Friday morning I was taking the kids from Maddie's ballet class to open gym and I get a call from John who fielded a call from my dad, something cryptic about my mom falling at work and going to the hospital.

Frantically I call dad and got the gist of the story being mom was watering her plants high up on her filing cabinet, the chair rolled and she fell, he'll call me with more later.

So, like you, I'm assuming my mom was standing on a chair, watering plants and she fell. Fabulous.

Fastforward a few hours. Mom has a Dx of a broken tailbone (OW!) and a broken ankle-even though my dad keeps trying to tell us her foot is broken (I'm pretty sure they argued about it at some point, but she's the one in the cast with an appt. for an orthopod, not him).

So, of course I ask mom what she needs, what happened, etc. And then I get the real story. She wasn't on a chair, she was on her TIP TOES and stepped back, and the chair behind her rolled, and ohmygodjenny it justhappened soooo fast! And then, "Well, I'm not STUPID, why would I stand on a chair?" Uhhhh...you know what ma, you should just tell people you were. It's a better story than, "Well, I was just standing there and well, I don't know what happened." Things happen fast in car accidents, not plant watering incidents.

Now, this is the funny part, but really only funny if you know my mom well. She is not very graceful. In fact, after she got her Wii fit, she called me shouting after a balance test, "How does this thing know Jenny?!!! HOW DOES IT KNOW I TRIP AND FALL WHEN WALKING??? How DOES IT KNOOOOWWW??"

So, while I'm NOT laughing that my mom is in A LOT of pain, I'm laughing at the circumstances, because this stuff only happens to her or in slapstick comedy movies. How do you fall and break your tailbone when you were just standing still?

My sister, to her credit has done a good job of heading down to help mom. I had a busy girls gone wild weekend, so John (God love him) voluntarily took the kids down to visit her, and even went so far as to have the kids pick out a balloon and card for her. He even remembered not to get her flowers because she is allergic. What a great guy! I myself was going to bring her dinner tonight but after I woke up from my morning nap (I'll explain in another post, really), mom told me not to come. She even told my sister not to come, so we'll be for sure seeing her in the next week and helping where we can.

For now, just send her good thoughts, and maybe a phone call. She'll be parked on the couch all week,I'm sure!