School days

The nights are growing longer, the mornings have a chill to them, Labor Day is behind us, and now most of the household is back in school. Some of us are more excited then others.

Q started full-day Kindergarten this year, and R is in half-day preschool two days a week. Last week they donned their first-day-of-school outfits and pulled on their back packs and were ready for class. Q is taking the bus and R is getting dropped off by his childcare provider. T and I took the morning off and accompanied them both the first day. Both boys were a bit tentative and a bit excited. It was a strange feeling to have a child in elementary school. I plan to go to the PTO meetings and love the idea of being part of a school! Though I am still convinced I am too young to be at this stage in my life already. R is excited about everything from his markers to his three teachers. I think it will be good for him to have some independence and friends of his very own. So far he has been glued to Q for all his activities.

Both boys have been taking two-hour naps every afternoon, but those will be cut short or even eliminated now that they are school boys. A fortunate side effect; they are now exhausted by bedtime and it is less of a battle than usual.

I am back in class as well as of tonight. It feels like my two months of summer were over before they started. I enjoyed seeing my classmates tonight and listening to an engaging professor and soaking in new bits of knowledge. But a big part of me felt like I did when I was going back to school in tenth grade and would have rather laid on the couch in front of the TV. Just 21 more months to go....

--MM

August Favorites

1. Essie Ballet Slippers Nail Polish

This is the perfect fingernail color. I tend to switch between bright and pale hues, and this is the ideal pale choice. It is clean and natural and forgiving for chips between polishes. When I used to pay for manicures, I would often get french manicures and this comes close to that look. You can even get it at Target!




2. HBO Documentaries

 I love movies, but the times we make it to a movie theater these days are few and far between. So I get my theatrical fix On Demand, often while folding laundry. One of my favorite sources is HBO Documentaries. They are so well done and so thought-provoking. A few favorites of late: I Think We're Alone Now, Hot Coffee, 
There's Something Wrong With Aunt Diane, and Love Crimes of Kabul. 

I always learn something, and it makes the laundry folding a little less painful.


3. Kashi Go-Lean Crunch! Honey Almond Flax

 I eat this cereal almost every morning. In the summer I dump a bunch of blueberries on top of it. In winter I slice bananas or just have it plain. It is healthy and filling and tasty as well, and that trifecta is not easy to come by. It's a bit pricey, but well worth it.

4. Adele and Florence and the Machine



I can't get enough of these two female singers. They dominate my iPhone. From Adele "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," and from Florence "Cosmic Love" and "Heavy in Your Arms" are addicting tracks. I find myself belting them out in my car and around the house, much to the annoyance of my eye-rolling husband.

5. Genuine Kids from Oshkosh at Target

One of the many things I love about having a little girl is the wealth of cuteness in which I can dress her. It's a little tougher to seek out cute boys clothes amongst the plethora of sports and cartoon character apparel lining the racks. And while I love outfitting her in ruffles and bows, I don't want to break the bank buying clothes she will wear for a few months. I love the Oshkosh baby clothes at Target. They are adorable and well-made and reasonably-priced, especially if you can find them on the sale rack. Many come with precious matching bloomers. I love it! I bought stacks of summer dresses including the one above (disregard the creepiness of the photo).

--MM

Memories from the ballpark

My hometown team is hot right now. The Brewers are first place in their division by nine games as of this afternoon. One of my favorite things about moving back to my home state is all the teams I grew up with are actually on TV. If you haven't lived in another state, you don't realize how nice that is.

It is also great to have the natural camaraderie of sports. It was tough cheering for the Packers and the Brewers while at school in Missouri in the midst of Cardinals and Rams fans. Then in Iowa and Oregon where fans of various allegiances could not relate to your Packer pride.

It's been a good time to be a Wisconsin sports fan all around from the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, to Packers as Super Bowl champs, and now the Brewers working toward a pennant race. I love it.

I have lots of memories tied up with Brewers games. We only lived about 15 minutes away from the old County Stadium. We would be listening to the game on the radio, and my dad would say, "Let's just go to the game!" Tickets were extremely cheap then, mind you, so we would pile in to the car and head to the ballpark. It was often a few innings in to the game by this point. We would buy nosebleed seats and then sneak down into the prime seats later in the game. We would eat peanuts and Dove Bars.

I remember scandalously skipping school to go to Opening Day and sitting in the second to last row. The drunk college kids behind us peed in the corner and their urine soaked my program, I vividly remember how disgusted I was.  My dad went off on them, "Do that again, and I'll put you in it!" he said. Good old Dad protecting his daughters.

Similarly, we decided at the last minute to go to the game in which Robin Yount could possibly hit his 3,000th hit. We sat behind a pole, but he did it, and I remember standing and applauding until my hands ached. It was exciting to be a part of it.

My sister held her wedding reception at the shiny new Miller Park's 300 Club. We took pictures on the dugout and despite being sternly warned not to by the staff, we sneaked out into the stands and slid down Bernie Brewer's slide. Really, what did they expect us to do?

From tailgating to wearing my glove to the game to getting Brewers baseballs cards from police officers, many happy childhood memories are tied up with the Brewers. Now my kids have Prince Fielder shirts and squeal when they see Bernie Brewer take his home run slide. It doesn't get better than that.

--MM

Pain in the throat and other problems

My pharynx is phalty. The poor thing is blisteringly sore like I have been gargling shards of glass. But you'd think I'd be used to that by now.

I have gotten strep throat more times than I remember. I get it at least once a year, if not more. I didn't realize this was abnormal until I began 2011: The Year of Random Health Issues. Fast-forward to August, and I am staying home without a voice today, taking a medley of medical treatments, and scheduled for a tonsillectomy.

In January, I started noticing some red, itchy spots on my arms around the time I got horribly sick with a 103 degree fever, horrible body aches, and a sore throat. This was all in the midst of a blizzard, so I never made it into the doctor. After several months of misdiagnoses, a dermatologist finally told me I had a type of psoriasis brought on from an untreated strep throat infection. Who knew that happened? Certainly not me.

I eventually saw an ear-nose-throat specialist who told me recurrent strep was not normal for a 32-year-old (at least my throat still thinks I am a teenager) and recommended I get my tonsils out. Unfortunate side note: tonsillectomies are also more common in children and said to be especially painful for adults. Yay. It's also not a great thing to have untreated strep floating around in your body which I have apparently often had. Those little strep jerks can cause your immune system to attack your own organs. So in a few weeks I will get the offending tonsils stripped out, slurp ice cream, and watch daytime TV. But just to get in one last dig, my throat has been incredibly painful for the last week, and I lost my voice yesterday. My tonsils aren't going down without a fight!

--MM

July Favorites: St. Louis Edition

We just returned from our first family vacation road trip. We chose to go to St. Louis to see the sights, visit my college friends, and stop by my Alma mater, the University of Missouri. So for the month of July, my favorites are Show Me State inspired.


1. Seat-back DVD players

The drive to Missouri isn't terrible. It's about six hours (stretched to eight or so with frequent kid-related stops), but that can feel like an eternity with small children. T bought a two-screen seat-back DVD player and checked out a stack of DVDs from the library. It was our savior. They were zoned into those things and mostly peaceful. We also relied on DVDs in a laptop to keep them entertained at night as we were all crammed into one hotel room.The boys were on a hide-a-bed and Lena was in a crib in the bathroom. It wasn't the most relaxing set-up.

2. The City Museum

The City Museum in St. Louis is pretty incredible. It is several floors of mazes, slides and other activities. The kids were in heaven. Everything in the museum from the lighted walls made of bottles to wooden caves and a bank vault are constructed from recycled materials. It is hard to adequately explain. You really have to see it if you are in St. Louis.

3. Cheese-ology

                                                                                                             This is an ingenious concept for a restaurant: all different types of macaroni and cheese! T got bacon macaroni and cheese, I got Mediterranean (with feta, mozzarella, Kalamata olives, and sun-dried tomatoes), and the boys got macaroni and cheese with broccoli and hot dogs and chicken. 

 

Even Lena got a taste.

4. Free Beer                                                            Wisconsin is the real beer state of course, but St. Louis has a strong brewing heritage with Anheuser-Busch everywhere you look. Despite having three small children in tow, T and I made sure we hit every locale with free Budweiser. This included the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour but also Grant's Farm that includes Ulysses S Grant's cabin and a menagerie of animals. The boys had a blast feeding goats, looking at elephants, and slurping Sno-Cones.

5.  Everything Else in St. Louis

There is a ton to do in St. Louis, and we crammed in as much as possible.

It was crazy-hot, but we did make it to the Arch, and managed to take some oddly-angled pictures.

The Museum of Transportation was a hit with our train-obsessed boys, as was the Magic House. We also checked out the St. Louis Basilica. The next time we go, when the kids are older, we will actually go up in the Arch, and we will visit the St. Louis Science Center. That place looks really neat, but not quite right for littler kids.

6. Memories from College

Besides visiting St. Louis, we also went to Columbia, Missouri, where I went to college at the University of Missouri. It is the first time I have been back since I graduated in December 2000. It felt like a million years ago and just yesterday at the same time. Pushing my third child around campus in a stroller was quite different from the last time I was on those grounds. Many things were the same, but my dorm had been demolished, a new business school built, and an impressive student center constructed. I enjoyed pointing out the locations of my happy and humiliating memories. We had to take a picture by the hallowed Mizzou columns of course.

The last time I posed in front of the columns, my parents were snapping the picture, and I was in my cap and gown holding my diploma. My how things have changed.  

The second day we were in Missouri we gathered for a barbecue with old college friends and their many children. Our last night in town, we stayed with my friend Lisa in St. Louis. It was a blast reliving old times and watching our kids getting to know each other. (Even if it resulted in my boys dressed in tutus and fancy hats.)

 
7. Family Vacations

Your idea of what a vacation is changes over time. When I was a kid, family vacations were thrilling, anticipated occasions. As a teenager, they became another chore of forced family togetherness. Then vacations became trips with friends to Panama City or New Orleans for drunken debauchery. As a couple, vacations were romantic weekend getaways. Now vacations have returned to being family-oriented. All of our stops were entirely kid-oriented (except for the free beer of course). Our meal choices and hotel accommodations all had to be family-friendly. The drive there and back included frequent stops and impatient questioning. But for all the challenges a family vacation brings and the aspects I miss from the before-kids trips, it is a joy to see experiences through their eyes and to create memories they will hold on to until the days they are taking their own family vacations.

--MM

Sweet freedom

Tonight I do not have any homework or nagging work problems on my mind. I bought two trashy magazines this past weekend because I could read them free from guilt that I should be reading something required for class. It's summer vacation, and I feel like I did when I was 17. (Except for that real job thing and the three kids hanging around.)

At work, I have learned to train four classes, which is a major milestone for me. That means for the next several months I will improve how I train rather than constantly learning new material. And- school's out for summer! Or at least for the next six weeks. I procrastinated horribly on a a massive Excel tutorial but now I am blissfully finished, and it feels so good.

What will I do with all this free time? After I finish catching up on my Brangelina and J-Lo gossip, I want to do some good reading. I have never finished the final Twilight book, and it is weighing heavily on my nightstand.

We are taking a road trip to my old college stomping grounds in Missouri where I will get to see the my college friends and their beautiful families. Finishing off a bottle has a whole new meaning in our lives these days, but I am sure we will still manage to have a good time. I also want to get all the kids' scrapbooks and baby books up to date.

T wants to do a half-marathon in August, but I am not entirely convinced yet. I might sit this one out on the sidelines.

I also am getting my tonsils at the start of September, but that is another blog for another day.

It has been probably the busiest and most stressful year of my life with moving, a new job, a new baby, and starting grad school, but I am hitting a relaxing plateau. I feel in control and calm for the first time in a long time.

--MM

June Favorites

1. French Press Iced Coffee at Home

T got this contraption a few weeks ago. I was skeptical at first, but now fully embrace it. What's better than iced coffee on a hot summer day? What's the best method of making coffee? French press of course. This lovely tool combines both of them for a much more reasonable price than Starbucks. T constantly has a batch working in the fridge. It is divine when mixed with simple syrup and half and half.

2. Garnier Fructis Hair Products

I have gone back to getting my hair colored at the salon, but I am still purchasing drug store products to take care of it. Garnier Fructis has some great and nice-smelling products that are wonderfully cheap. My stylist said she was amazed with how well my hair color stayed between my last two appointments. The Garnier Fructis Color Shield Shampoo and Conditioner must have something to do with it.

3. So You Think You Can Dance

I love this show. So entertaining and so much less annoying than Dancing With the Stars. The contestants are so talented. I honestly (and pathetically) feel happy when it returns to the airwaves each summer.

4. Trailer Bike

Biking is tough when you have three little ones. We do have a trailer that fits two kids snugly, but when Lena joined the party, that was no longer sufficient. We found the answer in this trailer bike T found at REI. Q and R take turns pedaling behind T while I pull the remaining offspring in the trailer. It's awesome! We went for a 20-mile ride together yesterday on a beautiful Wisconsin trail. Such a great way to spend the day with the family. The only problem is the fighting over whose turn it is to ride on the special bike, and Q looks fairly ridiculous squeezed into the bike trailer next to Lena. Oh, and my bum is still sore.

--MM