Counting Our Blessings

Thanksgiving week - that's what it was! - was so nice. I was out of the office for 6 days in a row (as were most of my colleagues, which meant re-entry earlier this week was easier than most every other Monday since I've been back).  I also had a couple days where all the kids were in daycare, so I started a new class at a new gym, got most of my Christmas shopping done, among other things.  A truly wonderful break!

Thanksgiving day itself was perfect in my opinion.  Fifty plus degrees when we woke up - allowing for an entire morning outside.  And then huge snow flakes falling by turkey dinner time!  

Speaking of, what a difference a year makes.  Last year we were still chasing Otto, not quite 2 years old, around our in-laws house trying to keep him out of mischief - while also managing a one month old Wren.  But this year Otto fit right in with the big kids...16 kids in total, on Thanksgiving.  They all played together, policing each other and not fighting (unfortunately, Max & Otto's thing at the moment, at least while inside our house, is fighting with each other).  

This meant I was able to enjoy a few, or more, beers. We were leaving at the end of the night and it dawned on me, and I needed to ask Joe, "Did you dish up plates of food for the boys tonight?"  To which he assured me he did and was pretty sure they each ate the buttered roll.  Thanksgiving Success!  For everyone!  

Here, a few more of the blessings I've been counting recently!

* Capturing moments like these.  Snuggling and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together.

* Weather warm enough (55 degrees!) to enjoy a morning at the Lake with shoes off (well, for Otto, anyway) and jackets off!

* A ponytail (on my daughter as well as my sons;)

* A new baby nephew.  My sister-in-law Liz's son Dash is two tiny months old.

* Otto playing guitar for much of Thanksgiving night.  I resolve to figure out how to get the kids (at least the boys) in music lessons in 2013.  They've been asking about it and I've been talking about doing something about it for much too long.

* But seriously, how dang adorable is this?!  Mod Rocker.  

"Wren, is truly outrageous, truly, truly, truly outrageous."

* Wren & Papa John.  She was having such fun running over to him, climbing into his lap and giving him hugs.

* Fun Thanksgiving treats from our neighbors

* The morning following the 55 degree day at the Lake.  Good job scraping Max & Otto!

* Wren wearing Max & Otto's old blue and green winter hat and jacket.  Otto wearing Wren's new pink mittens (because they're a bit big for her yet).  All mixed up and totally OK with it.

* Celebrating my cousin Maggie's 25th Birthday at my Aunt Ann's house.  A wonderful, relaxing, home-cooked meal with family.

Christmas in July

Not only does she give the most amazing gifts (remember my astrological Skype session in Thailand with Omesh?), Christy is now giving them well in advance of the Holiday to be celebrated.

And so, this past July I opened a letter from Christy and immediately thought "She's done it again."  Thought of the most brilliant gift.  A gift that takes something I love and makes it a little Christy-er, scarier, or Full Throttler.

Inside the envelope was a clipping from a course catalog for a writing class at The Loft here in Minneapolis, and a note that read "Merry Christmas! Clear your calendar!"  Christy was sending me to a Food Blogging course in November.  Hell Yikes! 

What a treat to spend an entire morning at a class.  I've been out of college for over a dozen years.  During this time I've taken a fair amount of fun classes. But since Max was born the only kind of class I've cleared my calendar for were classes at the gym (and please don't let that statement lead you to believe there have been many of those, either).  

A couple weekends ago Christmas came early and I headed out of the house with enough time to stop by Lucia's to grab a homemade breakfast sandwich and coffee before getting to class.  

For the next several hours I joined fifteen other women and got a crash course in food blogging.  While I don't have any intention to immediately start a food blog, I do work for a pretty big food company and have a ton of interest in getting better at creating good food content for them.  It was also incredibly fun and fresh to learn from a room full of women who are not engrossed in corporate america.  Such a variety of points of view.  

I was introduced to a handful of new food blogs to follow as well.  The gift that keeps on giving!

Orangette

Matt Bites

Not Eating Out In New York

Pinch My Salt

Three of My Three

It's been quite some time since I've shared Three of my Three.

Not a ton has changed.  Wren's still wearing a barrette.  Otto flip flops between piggies and a pony.  Max wears kick-down PJs from his cousins Grace and Lyla.  They all love Mac n Cheese.

They also all loved Ikea when we headed there a few weekends ago.  Otto kept saying "I love this room" and would lay down on every couch we came across.

Last weekend - November 11th - 70 degrees!  

Weekend From Hell

Trust me, this photo doesn't even begin to describe our weekend from hell (a week ago).  

As you might guess from the deer head soaking in a pot of water on our stove, it was deer hunting opener. Joe got a deer.

I was home with the kids and got thrown up on, pooped on and cried on.  Over and over and over again.  

Last year I was really nervous for Joe to go hunting.  Wren was only a couple weeks old and it was my first time with all three kids by myself.  It went well, though.  And so this year I was optimistic and looking forward to a little one mommy/three kids time together.  My chance to shower them with sugar cereal for breakfast, order pizza delivery for dinner, and do fun "mommy" things with them during the day (decorate their room for Christmas, like I did last deer opener weekend).

But last weekend it was excruciating hard work to keep up with Wren, who had such a stomach/flu bug she was going through about 40 diapers a day.  I literally kept hosing her down in the tub, putting on a new diaper, just to have to take it off immediately and hose her down again.  Add in the occasional throw up by her, as well as Max & Otto - and then myself Saturday night - and I was broken down.  

I had been looking forward to doing some fun things with the kids by myself.  We do almost everything as a family and once in awhile (about one weekend a year:), it's fun to have the challenge and the fun of doing it all by myself.  Quickly that expectation of mine had to be thrown out the window.  I couldn't handle all of them ill together without some help.

Friday morning Joe had headed to work with the plan to leave right from his office that afternoon and head North to his buddy's cabin.  I called him before Noon saying I needed him to come home.  That I thought I'd be fine by myself for the rest of the weekend, but only if he could just come home first and clean my car. I needed him to clean it because as we were pulling into the Dr's office parking lot (for Wren's sick-kid visit), Otto throw up so immensely A.L.L. O.V.E.R. that I seriously thought it'd be easier to buy a new car.  Joe worked for a couple hours to scrub and clean and remove air vent covers and clean up in the air tubes themselves it was so bad. I manned the house while Wren pooped and Otto threw up.  

And then I called my sister to see if she'd be so incredibly kind to come help me with the kids so Joe could go hunting.  As always, she was.  She helped me out Friday and all day Saturday.  She had been planning to watch all three kids Saturday night because I had been invited to the Madonna concert.  But I wouldn't leave her with the kids when they were this sick. And then I too got sick Saturday night.  And my sister had to be at work early Sunday morning.  Sunday was a very hard, long day until Joe got home in the late afternoon.  

And yet a small part of me wants a re-do. A chance to actually enjoy a weekend solo with the kids. Small part. Maybe even itty bitty.  

Sunshiny Seattle Days

A week ago Wren and I headed to Seattle to visit my sister Katie for a few days.  We decided to have a little girls weekend out West while the boys had a boys weekend in Minneapolis.  

With a flurry of emotions, I had booked our flights a month or so earlier.  There was the nagging feeling that Wren (& I) needed to get her 1st airplane trip under our belt.  I was craving a little girl time with her and a visit with my sister.  But I also had little FOMO (fear of missing out) about not staying back with the boys for their weekend.  And a bit of uneasiness because our entire family wasn't traveling together for this trip - it was the 1st time we've separated for travel.  

Max, Otto & Wren before she and I headed into the airport

Me & Wren heading into the airport

Once upon a time I would have never taken the time to get a photo of me outside the airport, ready to make my way through Security.  But there we were again, another momentous last first milestone - ready to make my way through the airport for my last, first airplane ride with one of my babies.

At Security I took Wren out of the stroller and learned she had already leaked through the cozy long johns I had picked out for her to wear on the flight.  Perhaps the biggest difference between flying for business and flying with a family is the difference in lead-times I allow myself.  When I used to travel frequently for work I'd show up 45-59 minutes before my flight was departing, during peak travel times.  Now, I give myself a full two hours during off-hours.  So, no problem.  We found a bathroom, got her cleaned up and changed.  And still had time to walk the terminals and get food.  Which brings me to the next major difference between business travel and family travel.

$4.80.  The price of one banana and a muffin at French Meadow.  Which I never realized was exorbitant (or that I'm super cheap), until now. I love that MSP has a French Meadow in it, but I'll probably stick to packing my own snacks from now on for personal travel.   

Proof that she eventually fell asleep...for about 30 minutes

I had hoped that Wren would sleep a long while on the flight out to Seattle, but alas.  Although she was relatively happy, she was ACTIVE.  Just wanted to move, and so she was "doing circles" in my lap and the open seat next to us.  Luckily we had a very chatty lady in our row who was a terrific help in keeping Wren entertained.  

We were on the plane a little bit over 4 hours.  Wren snoozed for about 30 minutes of it.  Here I thought air travel to Seattle was going to be less active than camping (that's what the boys were doing back in Minneapolis). I was wrong. It was just as active, and somehow I got just as sweaty and dirty on the plane as when I'm camping in the woods.  

We flew out on a Saturday morning and returned home Tuesday.  The forecast for Seattle was typical for this time of year...rain every day.  And yet we lucked out with the best weather.  Although it rained in the early morning and evenings (nice; made sure I knew I was in Seattle!), it was sunny all during the days while visiting - perfect for outdoor activities and sight-seeing!

Pike Place & The Waterfront

Our first morning in Seattle we headed to Pike Place Market - up so early (along with a couple other people with young kids) that we were there before the stands were set up.  We walked the market and started our grazing breakfast...first donuts, and then an assortment of pastries from La Panier.  Next time you're there, save your time time, money and calories for this place! So good!  I've realized Wren is pretty good at eating solids - if it happens to be a freshly home-made buttery croissant.  That's my girl!  

After the Market and walking around downtown, we headed to the Waterfront for a ride on Seattle's Great Wheel.  A huge ferris wheel on one of the Piers.  This was probably the most crabby Wren was on the trip - tired, constipated, teething?, hungry - but constipated.  She was making mine and Auntie Katie's heart leap with how active she was inside our capsule high, high above the ground. I wasn't sure if her force could cause the door to open and we sure weren't going to find out, so we worked hard to entertain and distract her.  

It was a beautiful day and we could see all of the Cascade mountains and city of Seattle from our ride (it was cloudy off towards Mt Ranier, so we couldn't see that).  

Auntie Katie and Wren on Seattle's Great Wheel

 Wren with the Space Needle behind her

Me & Wren

Pumpkin Patch

After a lot of stroller time and ferris wheel time for Wren this 1st day in Seattle, we knew she needed an afternoon activity that would give her freedom to run.  Katie suggested The Farm at Swan's Trail and it was perfect.  

After some minor mishaps and frustrations (namely nearly running out of gas and Wren SCREAMING from constipation, poor girl), we made it to the Farm with a freshly filled tank of gas and a (not so surprise) present in Wren's diaper.  

Wren had a blast picking up gourds and tossing them.  Climbing all around the muddy pumpkin patch. Running through the field.  

Katie worked hard to keep from belting out "What Would You Say?" because she had a Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band sighting while we were there!  (He was with his family, whom he lives with in Seattle.  He is also a supporter of Farm-Aid, so maybe they're working on a little benefit concert for the future).

The pumpkin patch was pretty cool.  They had taken out all of the vines, so just the pumpkins and mud were left.

The Zoo

The Zoo had been recommended to us by a handful of parent-y type people, so we decided to check it out.  There was an indoor toddler play area, a carousel and some animals.  But the best part about it was the setting.  This Zoo is drop-dead gorgeous.  It's a lot of walkways under huge, mature trees that were at their peak color.  Plenty of reds and oranges mixed in with evergreens.  If you're headed to Seattle and luck out with good weather, make sure to head to the Zoo for a stroll - you're in for a treat!

Sadly I didn't get any good pictures of the beautiful surroundings, but I won't forget them.  

The Greatest Store on Earth

When in Rome...  I am seriously the biggest lover of Costco.  My favorite store.  I was so excited thinking that maybe Katie would want to take a trip to Costco while I was in Seattle (oh, I guess I should clarify for anyone unaware - Costco is headquartered outside Seattle).  I just had to know what was different, better in Seattle at Costco?  What did their stores have that Minneapolis doesn't have?  We were going to find out!  

Our last night there we decided a big salad from Costco, topped with shredded chicken from a big rotisserie at Costco would make a delicious dinner.  (It did!).  

Wren was the happiest we saw her all trip while in Costco.  I seriously cannot make this up.  Wren was sleeping when we arrived at Costco.  Somehow she stayed asleep when I took her from her carseat and carried her into the store.  I just held her until she woke up after a couple minutes of walking in the store.  As she woke up, she looked around, got a big smile and started happy babbling.  Katie said maybe she thought she was back in Minneapolis.  Nope, she just knew she was in Costco and was darn happy about it.  Wren was giggling the entire time in Costco and leaning towards Katie to give her hugs (she wasn't giving these up too easily the first day).

Because I know there are a few of my blog readers that love Costco too, here's what Seattle has that Minneapolis is missing:

- Dave's Killer Bread.  I am a bread snob.  I buy it at the bread shop, not at a grocery store (or Costco, for that matter).  But in Seattle they carry Dave's and it truly is killer bread.  I carried a loaf home with me to Minneapolis, but it's gone now :(

- Shahale Snacks.  Every once in awhile it's nice to mix up my plain nuts.  If Costco Mpls carried Shahale I'd buy them.  Less than $10 for a huge bag of them.

- Kids Cuddle Duds (unconfirmed).  My next trip to Costco Mpls I will be checking to see if they have these in stock.  $9.99 for great quality, warm long johns.  Wren could have used a pair back at Security in MSP.

- Hawaiian Pizza.  Mpls needs to mix up their selection of take 'n bake pizzas. I'm not a 22" pepperoni fan.

- Mongoose IPA.  Mpls has Summit EPA.  Supporting local breweries, of course, which is nice.

- Gelato.  Not in the freezer section, in the Cafe.  Note:  In Mpls you can pay for your Cafe purchases at check-out on your 

AmEx.  That's not the case in Seattle.  Thankfully I had cash on me to get a quart for dessert.

There you have it.  The adventures we had in Seattle!  It was so much fun visiting Katie and exploring Seattle a bit more.  

Oh, and after the 1st twenty minutes of SCREAMING (pooping, again), Wren slept soundly for over 2 hours on our flight home, waking just as we were landing in Minneapolis.  

And, come to think of it, I should have picked up a dozen muffins and 3lbs of bananas - all for a mere $4.80 at Costco - for our travel back home to Minneapolis.  

Orange & Black {stripes}

The devil is in the details.  And, as evidenced from the above stripey legs pictures, the devil wasn't anywhere near our trick-or-treating fun on Halloween (stripey legs are so much cuter without tenner shoes on. Details, details...).  

This year they made is really easy for me.  For the past month or two Max said he wanted to be a witch. He didn't flip flop on his decision, he just went from wanting to be a witch, to wanting to be a scary witch, to the scariest witch ever, to a witch with a broom, a witch with a magic wand, etc.

Otto was equally decisive.  As soon as he saw the stuffed pumpkin costume that Max had worn a couple years ago (and cousin Lily had worn a year before Max...and that myself and my sisters had worn about 25 years before both of them!), he said he wanted to be the "snuggly pumpkin," also unwavering in his decision.  

And then Wren, who I thought would have made a darling lion (or most anything else), given her wild, wavy hair, just "came along for the ride" and was a pumpkin too.  

Nice and traditional.  Not complicated.  Plenty of time for costume creativity in the years to come.  Until then, we had our "very own little Schuster pumpkin patch" as Greta called them.  

It was another fun year of trick-or-treating.  As expected, Max wanted to be the fastest and would dart from house to house.  Otto took plenty of time enjoying the sights and sounds of the night, realizing that in the end he'd wind up with just as much candy as his older brother because Max would need to stop and wait for Otto and the rest of us to catch up with him every few houses.  

While congregated at our neighbor's house before heading out to trick-or-treat, we were nearly set to take off around the block and I realized Otto was nowhere in site.  After a quick scan across the front lawn and towards their front door I noticed the puffy pumpkin plopped just inside their house.  Picking candy after candy from their bowl and putting it into his treat bucket.  Our neighbor's didn't flinch - especially since they're the ones who named Otto "the ninja" for his silent, stealthy actions.  Off we went - the majority of the candy put back into the serving bowl.

A couple houses in, and a few yards behind Otto, I realized we forgot to practice some Halloween etiquette.  We practiced saying "Trick or Treat" (not "Trick or Treat Give Me Something Good To Eat"), and we practiced saying "Thank You."  But we forgot about doorbells.  In the few yards I was behind Otto, we was able to ring it about six times in the matter of moments.  

Otto also liked to crouch down nice and close to the jack-o-lanterns and try to blow out the candles.  

At Otto's pace he was able to polish off the candy he collected at one house and be ready for the next piece of candy to be unwrapped for him as he received candy from the next house.  

So much fun for him as his older brother darted from house to house just to stop and wait :)

Wren was out a bit past bed time and a trooper, considering the next day she came down with a horrible stomach bug.  Not to get into too much gory detail - but the past couple days have been the grossest sickness any of my kids have had.  She is hurtin' with so much vomit and diarrhea.  And then passed it along to Otto.  I had taken a vacation day on Halloween and literally got rid of all piles of laundry from my house (1st time in a year)...  And then it was all undone is such a short amount of time!  Buried in masses of soiled clothes, towels, bedding, etc over here!  Clearly there's a reason I don't care too much about prioritizing all piles of dirty laundry - because it's never really going to be done.

Happy Halloween!  

Max & Otto with cousins Grace, Quintin & Lyla at the Nature Center Halloween Party earlier in October