It's FRIDAY!

[I just realized this was never published, only in a draft. So, here it is published in August!] Two posts today. There's just not that much to do here! I was rereading the Memorial Day blog entry and realized I never updated on the sicky kids. Nolan was sick several times until midnight, when he seemed to get better. Dave slept on the couch and Nolan slept with me until about 3 (he moved into my bed after throwing up in his) and at 3, he moved back into his (cleaned) bed and Abby didn't feel bed so came to lie down with me. Around 4 she threw up. It's a joy! But, she made it all in the bowl so that was good. After all that, they all woke up fine and everyone went to work and school, which is amazing!

Last "real" day

\][-[-p-[0[-p0[Wish me luck!\\'{[

(This is what my posts will look like from n=o-w- on with Max "helping"!

Three day weekends are nice

It feels really strange to have a three-day weekend, right before a, well, 1,087 day weekend. Or however long I'll be not working. (Technically I guess only 6-day weekends since I'll be working on Mondays.) But it was nice, anyway. I can't even remember Friday night. I guess it was cold, because I have these pictures of the kids... check out the winter wear with the sandals. A fashion statement!

And once they came in, Nolan was in fine form! How could you get mad at this face? (Ha!!)

Saturday was absolutely beautiful, though. I slept in (9:00!), did some cleaning and then headed outside. Max had his setup in the yard so he couldn't escape. It was like baby jail! Well, baby jail if in jail they're surrounded by more toys than they could possibly ever play with.


And Max also did a lot of this...



Maxi stands alone, Maxi stands alone, Hi Ho the Dairy-O, Maxi stands alone! He took a few steps here and there, too, so it certainly won't be long now before he's walking everywhere. Which, I'm actually quite looking forward too. Otherwise he tries to climb up and down the sidewalk and driveway and it just does wonders for his knees!

Then, most of the day consisted of some of this...


And some of this...


Suffice it to say, by the time we all went to bed at 12:30, there was probably a little too much of that! The kids slept over at the neighbor's house with Cody, and Dave slept over there with them. I got up at 5:45 with Max and, although tired, was fine. I headed to church and some shopping and then it was home for a NAP! Our neighbor Jenny was not quite as lucky. She looked like death warmed over until about 6:30 Sunday night. I felt really bad for her... I think it might be awhile before she drinks again!

There was a little more to the day, of course, but I gave Abby my camera. I took a few other pics, but most are Abby's...










Monday we just hung out, and then headed over to my boss's house for a Memorial Day gathering. Dave didn't want to go (what's new?) but we went over there anyway. Then, he didn't really feel well, and started throwing up. Ugh! So after a couple of hours we headed home. On the way home, Nolan said he didn't feel well and that he was going to throw up. We know that we have to listen to him when he says that! So, we pulled over and he got out. Sure enough, he lets go on the side of the road. Then he hops back in the van. And pukes again. Bleah. We got him back out, he throws up again, and we get everything cleaned up. When we got home, he had his head in a bowl four more times, and he was quite proud that he did it more times than Dave. He really didn't, but hey, if it makes him feel good about himself! And now everyone is sleeping except me. Not sure what tomorrow will bring... You would have though we could have made it through the last four work days without having to worry about the sickies!

Hope everyone had a great long weekend!

And it's a new...

VAN!

Does it look familiar anyone? Since it's the same van the my sister, my sister-in-law and my parents-in-law have, it's a little crazy! It's even the same color as my sister's. I guess if it's a good van, it's a good van.

We can fit all three car seats in the middle seat--very convenient for day to day driving!

We got it from CarMax and it's a 2007 with 10,000 miles on it. I'm excited because it has the amenities that Dave's car has, so maybe we won't have to fight over me getting to drive the car anymore (or maybe I'll want to drive that, too!). It has a navigation system (much needed, if you've ever driven with me), sattelite radio, a sunroof and a dvd player!

We already had the talk with the kids... We're not watching it all the time, just on long trips. Then we had to define long trips. To Grandma and Grandpa's? Yes. To Gram and Grumpy's? Yes. To daycare? No. To Auntie Lisa and Uncle John? Yes. To Aunt Jen and Uncle Mark's? Depends on how crabby they are (or how crabby I am!). Anyway it's exciting to me!!

One of these days I'll write how happy I will be to not have to face mornings anymore, at least not mornings of getting the kids up early and getting out the door. Nolan will be the death of me for that!

But for now, here's the email my leader sent out for me leaving.

Partners,

I’m sad to announce that Jill Gawrych has resigned her position as Marketing Operations Manager to spend more time with her family. Jill is not only our MOM, she is also mom to Abbey, Nolan and Max who are delighted that mommy will be around a lot more. (As is husband Dave!)

Jill began her DS career as a merchandiser in 2002. She was promoted to Product Management Operations Manager in 2005 and Marketing Operations Manager in 2006. Jill has made many lasting contributions to our processes both within marketing and across DSE. She has also been an outstanding leader, confidant and friend to many, including me.

This may be old news to some as Jill actually announced her intentions a month ago. She graciously agreed to stay on until the end of May to aid in the transition. Joel Strassburg will be the acting Marketing Operations Manager as we search for a replacement for Jill. You may see still see Jill around for a while as well. She will be assisting with the integration of the DSE and DSSI marketing teams into the recently announced corporate marketing department.

We will have a send-off for Jill on May 30th – details will be forthcoming.

Please join me in wishing Jill well on this exciting new chapter and thanking her for her outstanding contributions to Direct Supply.
Thank you,

Joel

As much as I'm excited about leaving, there's a part of me that will really miss it, too.

And the decision is...

So I've decided to consult. I'm actually quite surprised that I decided to do this, and even more surprised that I'm looking forward to it. I still have moments when I just think I should be done and be done with it. But I've started transitioning all of my stuff over to the person who's taking my place and focusing on the integration of two departments that I'm working on now and I enjoy that. And it helps that I don't have to be completely tied to it. I can make recommendations and they can either take it or leave it. If the leave it, so be it. I'm not the one who has to deal with it later!

I've decided that my day in the office will be Mondays from 9:30-2:30. With this timing, if I'm still doing this when school starts, I don't have to worry about not being around to pick up or drop off Abby. During the summer, Abby's going to go to daycare on Mondays with Abby and Nolan instead of Kool Kids Club where she goes now. This will make drop off and pick up much easier. She wanted to go to Kool Kids Club to see her best friend, Saige, but Saige will only be there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I guess we'll just have to do playdates on Fridays! I picked Mondays in the office because there are some neat YMCA classes Tuesday-Friday, and Abby and Nolan can both be in the same class so Nolan shouldn't freak out. We'll see though... I hate to overschedule the summer and yet, it might be culture shock for me to go from working full time to home all the time!

I can't believe that the school year is almost over. Abby had a birthday party to go to today, and I was talking to some of the parents who are as much in shock as I am that it's almost summer. It'll be tough for Abby, I'm sure, to not see her friends most of the summer and then to go back in the fall with a new teacher and new kids. It'll be tough for me, too... I just started recognizing which mom and dad belonged to which kid, and I really like Abby's teacher! And, being the mom of a kindergartner is still the mom of a kid barely in school. I'M NOT OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A KID IN A "REAL" GRADE!!

Our weekend was nice, filled with lots of friends. Friday we hung out with the neighbors and then I went to dinner with two friends I used to work with (while Dave cooked for our neighbors). When I got home Dave was projecting a movie on the back of the house and Abby, Nolan and Cody (neighbor boy) were watching that and I joined the grown ups for some adult beverages. We (kids included) ended up staying up until 11:45 when it started raining so we had to go in. Saturday was swimming lessons (Abby only) and then I went to church to meet with the Bishop. He's doing a weekend visit of the church and started out the visit talking to the catechists. It was really interesting... he's so smart, and yet so down to earth. After that it was birthday present shopping and home. Then Dave cooked for the neighbors again, and I went out with our old neighbor Jenny from Mayville. It's always nice to see her. We ended the night at Starbucks and apparently it closes at 10. We were the absolute oldest in the place, which was only confirmed when the girl working there asked us (after we were there when they were apparently already closed) if we were waiting for a ride. Uh, no. We can drive home. This morning was church with the kids, lunch at Charcoal Grill with the kids, then we dropped Abby off at her birthday party and I took the boys to Costco and Target before picking Abby up and heading home. Dave had the whole day to himself, and I came home to a clean house. If he won't join me at chuch, at least the house gets clean!

And that brings me to tonight. I added some things to the blog that I hope you like! The countdown is on for being done at work... May 30 is it. It feels good to have that day.

I hope your weekend was great!

Happy Mother's Day (a little belated!)

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. How nice is it that they make a day just for us! Can't beat it.

The weekend here was nice. It started out Friday night going to the Brewer game. Dave had a suite for work, but couldn't fill it with clients so I invited quite a few people that I work with. I was super tired and didn't really feel like going, but it was a lot of fun. I got to talk to some spouses of people I work with, which was really nice, and the Brewers pulled out a nice win! Plus, it truly is nice to watch from the suite, with the comfortable bathrooms, food and drink right there, and the dessert cart. Can't forget the amazing dessert cart!

On Saturday our friends Lisa (Dummer) and Ben and their son Connor came to visit. They're from Steven's Point and came into town for an awards luncheon for Ben (he's a writer, and is good enough to win awards!) and so we watched Connor. What a cutie! The kids had fun with him, except Nolan had some difficulty sharing. He's used to Max, who doesn't care if he has the red car or the blue car! But, the kids had fun, and Connor even tried to do Abby's skip it. He didn't quite get to jump over it, but her certainly understood the concept!



The kids watched a movie to relax Saturday night, and they all went to bed great.

Unfortunately, Lisa got a migraine and had to lay down to get rid of it. Meanwhile, Dave and Ben hung out on the porch. Ben was writing an article and I guess Dave was his "expert." I just laughed... Ben was actually taking notes as Dave talked. Dave was in his glory!!



On Sunday we got up, had some breakfast, snapped a few pictures of the kids (including Dave!) and Ben, Lisa and Connor were off.


Unfortunately, they stopped in Appleton so Lisa could buy a Mother's Day gift for herself and Connor fell off the slide and broke his arm. They're also moving at the end of the month to Iowa. What a pain! Good luck Connor (and Lisa, too!!)!


My Mother's Day was really nice. After the Percy's left, we just hung out at home. Abby gave me a little pot she made in art from clay and a list from her class of why everyone's mom is special. Nolan made me bath salts. And the kids got me an ice cream cake. Yum! The best part was eating a piece of ice cream cake while using the bath salts Nolan gave me a taking a bath. Can't beat it!

Abby was in her room for the entire time I was taking a bath (which was an hour and a half, I'm embarassed to admit!) and she was counting all her money. She put all her pennies in ten groups of ten, and then I helped her count everything else out. She's been collecting all of Dave's coins every day when he comes home and she came up with a grand total of... $174.60!! My goodness. She wants to buy a cake and is worried she won't have enough. I told her she has to save some, give some to charity and can spend some. We'll see what all works out!

Then Cody, our neighbor's son came over and the kids disappeared in the basement. I'm still not sure what they were doing down there, but they were quiet, and eventually it all got cleaned up. We're so fortunate to have such great neighbors!!
Here's Nolan and Cody...

And Cody, Nolan and Kyan across the street, who was born on the exact same day as Nolan. Kyan doesn't look too happy, though, does he?

And here's the littlest of what we call the Creekside Clan (we live on Creekside Dr.). This is Kyle and Max... Kyle is 2 and a half months younger than Max. A big difference now, but not for long!


After that, we just hung out until bedtime, and then I blinked and it was Monday morning!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

New York wore me out!

Sorry for the delay in posting all of the New York days. I guess it completely wore me out, and by the time the kiddos go in bed, I just veg or hit the bed myself! Let's see, where was I...

Oh yes, day 3, Sunday.

We got up and headed to St. Patrick's cathedral for 10:30 am mass. It is such a beautiful church, and only slightly hindered by the minor construction going on. Cardinal Egan, who was presiding over the mass, said they were just doing some minor aesthetic repairs now that the Holy Father had left. Oh yes! I forgot that the pope had just been in this very church! The Cardinal was wearing one of the vestements that the pope had given him, and also used one of the chalices. It was pretty neat. The Cardinal also applauded the choir, and because they had done such a great job when the pope was there, they were invited to the White House to perform as well. Very neat to be there! Then, after the Cardinal and flock recessed from the church he came back up our aisle. Renee was sitting on the end with Ben and he stopped and talked to him a little bit. After that we started on our way out and we ran into Carrie, who I work with. We both left on Friday and were on the same flight home, and I knew St. Patrick's was on her itinerary, but I didn't know which mass, and certainly didn't expect to see her in the massive crowd!

From there we debated between Central Park and the Manhattan Children's Museum. It was SO beautiful outside (unlike any weather forecast) so we headed over to Central Park.

The tulips were in bloom...



The kids were enjoying each other... mostly...



Max enjoyed Central Park Zoo (when he wasn't sleeping)



And from there we headed over to FAO Schwartz, where the kids played on...

The BIG Piano!



We got there right before a "professional" show, which was pretty neat to watch, too.


And don't forget Max checking out Chewbacca!


After that, we went shopping for all the things I needed to bring back for the kids (because even though they missed me, What did you get me? is the first thing that comes out of their mouths!) and then dropped it all off at the hotel. From there it was dinner at Olive Garden in Times Square (remember, we had two 10 month olds... Olive Garden is about as adventurous as we could get!) and then back to the hotel for BATHS! Neither Renee nor I could resist the naked baby pictures!!



After that, it was time for bed. Renee and Max fell asleep, no problem! I stayed up some finishing the wine that we bought and reading my book. Ben stayed up, just to pose for me and show me how he can outlast his mom...




In the morning, we got up, hung out at the hotel all morning, which was very relaxing. The babies took a nice nap, Renee and I relaxed and we were out around 11:30. We headed back to Renee's house, stopping on the way to her house from the subway to eat again. This time, Jon, Renee's husband joined us and entertained the babies!

From there, we went shopping (Sketchers, anyone?) and packed the kids for a short time into Renee's car

Then we took one final picture...

And Max and I got dropped off at the airport, we met up with Carrie and her mom, and then we headed home for an uneventful trip!

Dave and the kids picked us up from the airport where, as expected, they asked "What did you bring us?" and luckily I had some stuff in my carry-on. The biggest hit? Carpet skates. (Jen, do you remember tying books on our feet? Well, now you can spend money and get real live skates for the carpet!) Then it was off to bed until MORNING!

Babies in the Big Apple

So, I still haven't found my camera cord to transfer my pictures, but I didn't want to wait anymore to write about New York, and it just wouldn't have been as good without pictures, so I went to Walgreens and got a CD. The lady there gave me a coupon so it cost 99 cents. Highly worth it!

The trip started on Friday and I was very excited, but very tired. Carrie, who I work with and who just so happened to be going to NY the very same weekend and was actually on my flight home, called me to let me know that my flight was delayed. Great. And I couldn't get any info off the internet except delayed, but it didn't say for how long. So, we pushed our departure from home out a little bit and then picked up the boys from daycare and we picked Abby a half hour early from school. As soon as I saw her, I could tell that she wasn't feeling very well and ended up sleeping most of the way to the airport. When we got to the airport, I gave the kiddos a kiss and hug goodbye, grabbed Max and we were on our way! Everything seemed fine until Dave emailed me a little while later. Apparently Nolan didn't get a big enough hug and screamed and cried "I miss mommy!" for longer than I'm sure Dave was too tolerant of, but it still made me feel better. Then, about 10 minutes later, Dave emails me again. Apparently Abby really was sick and threw up. After that she was screaming "I miss mommy!" And Nolan was still screaming, but this time it was more to the tune of "Get the puke bag away from me!" I was sad (and happy, too!) that they missed me, but after all this, I was very happy to be stealing Max away and getting out of town for a little bit!

We got checked in and they told us that our flight was still on the ground in Minneapolis, so we settled in for the long haul. It was pretty neat because they had a play area in the airport that Max just loved. The only problem was the random girl you see below. Apparently her name is Gwen, and she's four, and she thinks she can pick up other people's children.

Max just loved the tunnels! I didn't think he'd go through them, but once he started I couldn't get him to stop.

Is this our airplane mommy?

Do you have a quarter?

That's our flight, let's go!

Actually, it was interesting because I was hanging out with another family at the children's area (not Gwen's family) and they were on the same flight as me. We were waiting, waiting, waiting and then they went to get some dinner and I was changing Max into his pjs, and then our names were called. I got to the counter, and everyone else was already on board. Oops! I had assumed they would announce it louder since, even though we were late, this was an hour earlier than they had told us originally. At least I wasn't the only one late, and at least we made it! I felt awkward getting on the plane because I hate those last people that you feel are holding up the plane, and then I was in the very last row. There was a lady in my seat, but she moved when I came back there. I was sitting next to a guy who seemed nice, but when I said "I'm praying for sleep for him (Max)," the guy said nope, I can tell by the look in his eye that he's going to cry. That was all he said to me. Whatever! He did end up playing with Max and I just thought Whatever! But the flight was good. Max did cry a little bit, but ended up falling asleep and didn't wake up until I got my suitcase off the luggage carousel.

Renee picked me up from the airport with Ben (her 10 month old) and we went to her house Friday night. Max was pretty excited to be in a new place and was happy to crawl around and play with someone else's toys! He slept great, and so did I, and when he got up in the morning he was ready to go!

This toy was certainly Max's favorite. He played with it for as long as I would let him!
I'm not sure Ben knew what to think of Max. Max is used to all those other kiddos in daycare, but Ben stays home with Jon, Renee's husband. Ben loved Max's nuk, face, ears, anything he could grab!

After we got ourselves together we headed to the subway. But first... FOOD! We stopped at a Greek place that has become a tradition for us. The babies got there first taste of some interesting food...

Ben, how's your octopus, horta (dandelions) and feta?

Max, is that a tenticle you're eating?

And the nice owner took a picture of us, too!

After some food, we finished making our way to the subway and headed to the hotel to check in.

Here's us on the subway

And here's our Times Square hotel (Thanks, Dave for the points!!)

After checking in and letting the babies crawl around for awhile, we headed out to see the town!

We had to do the Times Square pictures first, while Max was awake and happy.

A sanitation worker took our picture for us. I also think she touched Max's and Ben's faces. I'm not sure how happy I am with that, but I'm happy to have the picture.

After getting some pictures, we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a little chilly out, but it's always fun no matter where we walk. Although, stay out of the bike lane... they really don't like it if you're walking in the bike lane!

After the bridge, we decided we needed to grab something to drink, so we stopped at a place called Rebar. Apparently they were having their grand opening that night. We were unaware of that until we'd been there awhile. We were the only people there and were sitting in a separate area of the bar.

King Max holding court...

And his buddy Ben

We should have cut him off sooner.

...

That's the first half of the trip! I need to get some sleep, but will try to finish the rest of the days tomorrow!