Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  My parents drove down from Michigan and we had a couple days to explore before the kids came to my house.  We did an Urban AdventureQuest downtown, which was a cool way to explore the city.  I got to navigate the "scavenger hunt" app on my phone:

Our starting point was the state capitol, which was cool because I hadn't been there before myself!  Of course the parents had fun taking pictures:

We got to explore some cool sculptures around the city...

...and I teamed up with Angelina Eberly (watch out!):

We had to stop at Starbucks (the first of what would be many!), and we just had to get cake pops!

(The cake pops didn't last long enough to make it into the picture.)

I introduced Mom and Dad to Texas BBQ at Salt Lick, which was a huge hit:

The kids got to my house on Christmas Eve and though they always bring a flurry of energy, we did manage to have some chill time:

(Chase is following Santa on the Santa Tracker!)

Of course we had to watch Polar Express:

And it seemed Boomerang was wherever my dad was (whether he liked it or not!):

Christmas Eve the kids sprinkled reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) around the yard:

 

...and then we all went to church for the candlelight service:

(My poor parents!  Lol!)

Christmas morning the kids were slightly excited.

Santa brought them just what they wanted:

(Both of which required some assembly...)

And awesome homemade gifts took over the living room:

 

 

The rest of the visit was filled with movies, Cabela's...

...piano "concerts..."

...playing around...

...and cooking:

(Chloe got to use her brand new kitchen set to help make pizza one night!)

We even managed to find time to meet up with my aunt (Mom's sister) and some cousins!

It was a wonderful time and I loved having so much family together.  Hope everyone's Christmas was as merry as ours!

God of Patience

So I made a little movie about the drama-filled relationship that has blossomed between my daughter and my cat.  I hope you enjoy it!

How to Kill a Killer Spider

What do you do when you find this in your house while your husband is at work?

Step 1: Call him and beg him to come home and save you.

Step 2: When he refuses, ask the cat for help:

Step 3: After the cat tries to "help," but really just plays with the thing, causing the beast of a spider to run all over the room and bolt into places you know you'll never be able to find it, push the cat out of the way, grab a book and throw it on top of the spider.

Step 4: Do a victory dance.

Step 5: Scream in horror as you watch it crawl out from under the book and dart across the floor.

Step 6: Grab a box. Surely that is heavy enough!

Step 7: Throw the box.

Step 8: Miss.

Step 9: Scream.

Step 10: Repeat steps 7-9.

Step 11: Repeat steps 7-9 again.

Step 12: Throw the box again and hit the darn thing this time.

Step 13: Do a little victory dance.

Step 14: Scream in horror as you watch it crawl out from under the box and dart across the floor.

Step 15: As it heads under your bed, where you know you will never catch it and therefore will never sleep again, certain it is crawling all over you, suck it up (because now you're a little peeved at the sucker) and dismantle your bed for a mattress support board.

Step 16: Whack at it with the board several times while chasing it around the room (screaming continuously, of course).

Step 17: Finally injure it enough so it can't run as fast.

Step 18: Say "Ah HA!" in your very best evil mastermind voice.

Step 19: Beat it with the board continuously, whacking way beyond the necessary amount of whacks needed to declare a time of death.

Step 20: Lay the board on top of it and walk across its dead body... for good measure, of course... not because you enjoy it at all (because that would be evil).

Step 21: Jump up and down a couple times (just for added good measure). Try not to smile in the process.

Step 22: Stand proudly over the body and declare victory:

Step 23: Scold your cat for trying to take credit for the kill:

Step 2 Complete!

We have completed Step 2 of our move (for a refresher on our "moving steps," click here)! This past week was a "transition week" out of Step 2 and into Step 3. We had a good time in Michigan with my parents, despite our crazy schedules while we were there! Chase played outside a lot at the house and at various parks. We also got to visit with step-family, which was nice since I don't know when we'll be able to see them next! The photos we took while we were there are now in our Photo Album if you want to check them out.

We left my parents' house Tuesday morning and headed for Chicago. We drugged Boomerang up with tranquilizers (he does NOT do well in the car) and he passed out in his litter box:


We stayed the night at friends Bart & Nicole's, who have the most adorable 3-week-old baby in the world! Meet Conor:


Chase thought he was pretty cool, too:


Wednesday morning Brian and Chase left for St. Louis while I stayed with Nicole through Saturday morning to help her with Conor (and to spend a little more time with her before I had to say goodbye.... But don't get me started on that or I'll start bawling again)! 2 nights this week I took over baby duty all night so they could get some sleep. While Conor was a WAY better sleeper than Chase ever was, around 4am both nights I was reminded of the sleep deprivation new parents go through.... And I'm not quite ready to do that again!

While I was in Chicago, Brian flew to Pittsburgh for his friends BJ & Andrea's wedding (Chase stayed in St. Louis with his Grandma & Grandpa W). Saturday we all met back in St. Louis and Step 3 officially began! It looks like we should have a couple quieter weeks ahead of us here in St. Louis until I fly to Raleigh for my friend Amanda's wedding Memorial Day weekend. PHEW!

Animal Rights Activists, Don't Read This....

There is no way I'm qualified to be a mother.

We have a huge 75-gallon fish tank in our basement. Awhile back all the fish died and since we were having a hard time keeping up with it anyway we decided we wouldn't restock it and just quit. We unplugged the heater/water filter/etc. and left it sitting there. Last night Brian started draining it so I could clean it out and sell it. Well when Brian lifted up the shipwreck our huge catfish swam out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like an animal torturer... letting it live in freezing cold water without food for seriously MONTHS! Of course the water level was really low by the time we discovered the little guy and I totally panicked, begging Brian to find a big enough tupperware bowl to save him. I mean, come on.... The thing suffered for HOW many months, clinging to life? I couldn't let it all be for nothing. The poor thing obviously wanted to live so who was I to kill it after all the surviving it did?

("Surviving it did?" I don't think my old English teachers would have liked that grammar. Oh, well. Moving on....)

Anyway, now we have an empty fish tank and one skinny catfish living in a bucket in our basement. I have no idea how it's still alive. Seriously. My cats are trying to remedy that fact but I have him well protected.

Animal rights activists, not to worry.... We found a good home for it at Brian's old office so he will take him to a much happier place next week.

I cannot believe the guilt I am feeling right now over a fish.

Cicada Invasion!

Chicago is experiencing a cicada invasion. And I do mean INVASION! Yesterday after work I drove up to a gas station and ended up just driving away because I was too terrified to get out of my car! I pulled the following Chicago area photos from cbs2chicago.com to show you I am not exaggerating. The seagulls (another favorite of mine) love them!

Luckily they have not invaded the suburb where we live (phew!) but they have invaded the area where I work!

We had been warned of the cicada invasion on the news and on the radio because they only come out once every 17 years here (and this was the year for it!), but the first time we noticed them was on our drive home from Michigan on Monday. It just seemed like Brian was hitting massive bugs right and left and I said, "What is going on?!? Are they attracted to your car or something?" Brian said, "Maybe it's the cicadas," and I looked out my window only to see them SWARMING around the area. The sound of them buzzing was so loud and they were skidding all over the highway as cars drove through. CREEPY!!!!

Later that night I opened the door to the garage only to have one whip right by my face and into the house! It must have hitched a ride on my car. I started screaming as it flew like a maniac around our kitchen and dining room. Boomerang (our cat) was going CRAZY! I screamed, "Boomerang, I know you're not supposed to get on the counters but do whatever you have to do to get that thing!" Finally it flew into one of the globes of our dining room chandelier and I trapped it!

Yes, I know the Cheez-It box is a bit of a tacky addition to our dining room but I am not taking it off until that thing is DEAD!

Pregnancy Update (23 wks)

We cleared out most of the furniture, etc. from the spare bedroom and put the baby furniture together last night! It's starting to look like a nursery in there... so exciting!! The cats had fun playing in the packaging and exploring their new surroundings, but they have no idea what's about to hit 'em!

My parents were also here this weekend and they brought us a baby cradle my great-grandpa apparently made. Little Bean also got some adorable outfits from his Grandma K! I love little baby clothes... they are addictive!

April Summary

Our website took on a new appearance this month, with an added Travel page and my Theatre Page. We started off the month with our friends Mike & Stacey's wedding, which was beautiful. Then we found out Brian not only passed his general comps, he passed with flying colors (being the ONLY student who passed, and passing with honors)! I was cast in the play ALL IN THE TIMING and started rehearsals (more info is on my Theatre Page). We also got to visit Grandma K in Elkhorn, WI, and spend some time with Brian's aunt, uncle and cousin as well. Looking forward to another visit very soon. Bomerang (pictured here) ended up in the hospital for a few days but $1,200 later (ouch...) is cured. Phew! We both spent the last weekend of the month in the city and saw SPAMALOT, which we both really enjoyed. I also saw WAITING FOR GODOT, QUILTERS and a Jason Robert Brown concert this month. Yes, we were busy!