Monster Mini Golf

On odd number year birthday's, the boys get to have a big birthday party to celebrate growing a year older. This year was Nick's turn and he decided he wanted to invite his class to his party at Monster Mini Golf (an indoor themed miniature golf course).

Except for one mini tantrum during musical chairs, the kids all had a great time.

In addition to musical chairs, the kids played wrap the mummy.

We invited some younger siblings so Seeger would have some kids his age.
Even Mia got into it!

After the games, it was time for cake.

Every year, I bake the kids' birthday cake. And every year, I do worse than the previous birthday and tell myself I'm going to buy a cake next time.

But the kids don't seem to care. Or wait, are they laughing at a funny joke or my sad cake?

And of course, we opened presents. Nicklas scored some cash and gift cards so he was happy about that.

And finally, it was time to golf.

Halfway through the course, everyone sang happy birthday to Nicklas over the microphone.

While the kids were waiting to be picked up, they played arcade games and redeemed their tickets for prizes. Hayden (whose mom blogs here) was a big winner!

It was a fun - but exhausting - day! Nicklas has made one purchase with his gift cards - a new nunchuck for the Wii. He's saving the rest until after Christmas. I suspect he might be hoping to have enough to buy a Nintendo DS - something the Polack and I are adamantly against. We'll see what happens...

Boy Scouting

Nicklas received some awards recently during Boy Scouts.

I would be cheering this however Scouts is a sore spot in my world right now. It's popcorn delivery time. We have two boxes of popcorn, sitting in our hallway, waiting to be delivered. So what's the problem, you ask? Well, I've somehow misplaced the popcorn order form. So I don't know who the popcorn goes to. At all. Or who paid. Or what they paid for. Troubling because checks from our neighbors have been cashed. People are expecting their popcorn. So my action plan is for Nicklas and I to load up the wagon and go to the houses we know purchased popcorn. We'll knock on the door and ask for help in identifying what they purchased. And then we'll ask for payment (which they may or may not have already provided.) Can you say awkward?

This is just another example of how my brain hasn't been functioning lately. I'm so forgetful and unorganized. This is a recurring problem and I fear it's a sign of getting old. It's little things like forgetting to pack Seeger's lunch. Or not thinking to send Nick's birthday party invites out until six days before his party. OR LOSING A BOY SCOUT POPCORN ORDER FORM! (Okay, that's actually a big thing.)

I told the Polack I've been spending too much time playing Bejeweled and not enough time doing Sudoku.

High School Musical

We took the kiddos to see the local high school's production of High School Musical. It was decent which is a little disappointing considering the quality of productions from said high school was much higher 10 years ago. The kids had fun anyway.

(Nicklas was eating sour candy during intermission.)

Movember

The Polack participated in Movember for the first time this year. For those not familiar with Movember, it's a month long effort to grow a mustache and raise money to fight men's cancers - all in the month of November. Although their team wasn't the most organized, I think the Polack enjoyed participating and feeling as though he was making a contribution.

During the Indiana/Purdue football game, he and a friend decided to visit the tailgating lots and ask for spare change for their Movember efforts. They pitted the schools against each other which was a great idea. The IU fans were putting money in one bucket and the Purdue fans in the other bucket.

$350 later - yes, you read that correctly - they raised $350!

It's not too late to donate if you'd like. Visit the Polack's Movember page for more info.

P.S. I'm very anxious for the mo to be gone!

Little People

My kids are very fortunate. They have nearly everything they could want or need. (With the exception of a DS, we won't let them have one of those. Yet.) But every so often, while browsing through the toy aisles at Target, I catch sight of the Fisher Price Little People toys. And it makes me a little sad. Because the Little People of today are nothing like the Little People of my era.

Growing up, my neighborhood friends and I would spend HOURS playing Little People. It's pretty much all we did unless we were outside playing. (Until that blasted Atari came around, anyway.) Forget dolls or games or coloring. Nope, we only wanted our Little People. We would lay everything out in the middle of the room and one by one, we'd take turns picking which sets we wanted, which people we wanted. Then we'd each set up our own area, eventually creating a whole neighborhood. We'd beg our mom's to let us keep everything out so we could continue playing the next day.

When did Fisher-Price change the Little People? Now they're bigger, fatter and aren't interchangeable between sets - the fireman can only go in the fire truck, the farmer won't fit in the bus. You get the picture. I miss my vintage toys. I eventually outgrew them and they were sold in a garage sale. Such a travesty.

I had all of these, with the exception of the house of the house in the first picture.

11-22-00

Nine years ago today, I was in the hospital. I was the young mother to a newborn and very overwhelmed by all that was happening around me. Actually, I was freaking out. Not about having a newborn. Not about being a mom. I was freaking out because my child was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

It had started the previous day. I woke up early that morning with some contractions. After reading every birthing book written I knew that I wanted to wait as a long as I could to head to the hospital. I got up, took a shower, got dressed and headed to work.

My co-workers rallied around me all morning. They knew I was having contractions. They knew I was uncomfortable. I wanted to go about my regular business for as long as possible but after seeing their apparent nervousness, I made a call to my doctor and got an appointment to see him around 11am. I called the Polack and we met up to head to the doctor's office. I explained the contractions, he did an exam and determined I wasn't completely effaced or dilated. I was told it could be awhile - maybe even the weekend - before my baby would be born. Since it was only Tuesday, I was NOT pleased with this news.

After the doctor's appointment, I called my mom and told her the news. I was pretty sure the baby was coming soon so she decided to make the three hour drive to be with us during the birth. While waiting for her, the Polack and I went to lunch and decided to walk around the mall, hoping gravity would do it's job. My contractions were growing more intense and I often stopped to lean on the Polack, while rocking back and forth, waiting for them to pass.

When it was about time for my mom's arrival, we headed home to meet her. She asked if it was time for the hospital but I knew I wasn't ready yet. I suggested a movie, hoping it might distract me. We headed to the theater and bought our tickets to see the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. It wasn't a wise move - I was so uncomfortable sitting there in the dark theater!

After the movie, we headed to visit the in-laws. The Polack's brother and his wife were there for dinner and as they sat eating their pizza, I was pacing, trying to make it through the contractions that were growing stronger. After seeing their worried faces (and becoming annoyed with the attention) I asked to go home (actually, I think I commanded to go home). I need some privacy and wanted to mentally prepare myself for what was coming.

I decided to take a hot shower, hoping the warm water would help with the contractions - which at this point felt like the most intensive back cramps ever. The shower did NOT help. I decided the pain was severe enough that it was time to head to the hospital. I got dressed and called to my mom and the Polack that it was time to go. I don't remember much after that although I remember being very annoyed that they weren't moving fast enough. I think I yelled, "It's time to GO RIGHT NOW!" That got a reaction and we headed to the hospital checking in around 10:30 pm.

Soon after getting settled in the birthing room, our doula arrived. I had decided that I wanted the birth to be as natural as possible and I hoped she would help guide me through things and serve as an advocate. As the hours ticked by, my contractions became unbearable. A few times I said I wanted an epidural - it hurt so bad! But I held off. Eventually, I stopped talking and was only making horrible moaning signs. The Polack was definitely freaking out about how much pain I was in. The contractions were all in my back and constant. There was no relief! Finally around 4am, I decided the pain was too much, and I ordered the epidural. It was the. best. thing. ever. As soon as that miraculous pain reliever started flowing through my body, I became a completely different person. I was smiling, cracking jokes, laughing and joking around. I was enjoying myself. The Polack was so relieved to have his wife back.

By 5:15, the nurse said it was time to push. She called the doctor, everyone got ready and I was told to push once. Then push a second time. And it was as easy as that. My sweet baby boy was born at 5:36am. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. As we held and loved on him, our family members were invited in to meet him.

After about an hour, I noticed Nicklas starting to turn a shade of purple that I was pretty sure wasn't a good thing. I asked the nurse and saw her worried look. "Let's go ahead and take him down to the nursery," she said.

Five hours later I still didn't know what was going on. I had moved to a new room, I was anxious to hold and love on my baby, and it was important to me that he nurse soon. But this was all put on hold. The Polack didn't know much. The nurses didn't seem to know what was going on and he was taken to NICU. We were all waiting for news.

It turns out his body wasn't producing enough sugar. He was admitted to NICU for several days while his body was taught how to properly regulate itself. We spent a week at the hospital while he got better. It was a long seven days. I was so young and overwhelmed by everything. I struggled with nursing and felt his health problems were my fault. I could have eaten better. I could have not gained as much weight. I could have been more active.

But the seven days passed and we were finally allowed to take our precious baby home. And now - nine years later - it seems like a century ago. I am so fortunate to have such a great kid. He's so smart. And works so hard to please those in his life. He cares about what people think of him and does everything he can to not disappoint us. He's passionate about the things that interest him - he could spend hours talking about a certain subject. He wants to try and experience everything but is always cautious and nervous the first time. He sits about and takes things in - always reflective, always thinking, often lost in his thoughts. He's taught me so much these past nine years and I know I'll continue to learn more from him than I ever thought possible.

Happy Birthday, Nicklas!

Boilermaker Special

On the Friday before home football games, Purdue's Boilermaker Special offers rides around campus. With Seeger's love of anything related to trains, I've been wanting to take him on a ride. We finally had the opportunity last week. He loved the fact that the train engine drove on the road!

Random Thought Thursday

I know, I know - I've been a bloggy slacker lately. Were you worried about me skipping RTT? I might have except a few people have called me out on my slackiness this week so I'm feeling sorta obligated. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

1. If you want a little insight as to what I've been doing instead of blogging lately, check this out. I've probably spent a good 5 hours working on this thing and that's all I have to show for it.

2. After complaining to the Polack - yet again - about my stupidiPhonekeyboardthatdeletesthingsanddoesn'thavespellcheck he finally laid his cards on the table and said, "Then let's trade. You can have your Blackberry back and I'll take your iPhone." I ACTUALLY CONSIDERED IT. Then I came to my senses. Why worry about grammatically correct emails when I can play bejeweled and flood-it until my hearts content?

It's all about priorities. Clearly.

3. I tried and tried to obtain Lady Gaga tickets last week and was very unsuccessful. They were offering presale tickets to university students and staff. I called and called starting at 10 on Friday but continued to receive a message to try again later. I went to the campus box office at noon and found out that people who'd been waiting since 8 am didn't get tickets. (There were people in line over 24 hours!) I got on tickemaster.com at exactly 10am the next day when public tickets were made available. And somehow the they were sold out by the time my stinking computer had me type FLERGERT for the word verification. Unbelieveable. So no Lady Gaga for me. And the concert is the day before my birthday. So - you know - if you need gift ideas, I have a suggestion.

4. At least I have my ticket for New Moon tomorrow. Scratch that. I HAD my ticket for New Moon that a friend asked another friend to give to me. But I failed to put it in my purse and then forgot all about it. Luckily, she found it on her couch. I hadn't even realized I lost it. What kinds of Twilighter am I?

5. Speaking for forgetfulness.... I got a call from the aftercare program the other day. Guess who didn't pack a lunch for Seeger? I had a 30 minute window to walk across campus to my car, drive across town, swing through McDonald's, and drive back to campus for a lunch thing. And of course, I was out of gas. And it was raining.

That'll teach me.

6. You know what really sucks? Waiting. I'm feeling particularly impatient this week.

7. Hmmm... I'm only at number seven and I'm out of randomness.

8. I think I'm getting a headache.

9. I can smell my leftover lunch that's in the trash. Sesame Chicken courtesy of Weight Watchers.

10. I'm sleepy.

Wow, that was a weakass ending to Random Thought Thursday. I'll try harder next time. I promise!!

I'm lazy, so sue me...

I know, I know, I know.... I haven't posted in a week. I have no excuses other than I'm lazy and lacking in blog fodder. I think I'm feeling pretty bored with things lately or something.

So while I don't have photos, stories, or anecdotes from Kubatski-land, I do have an entertaining blog post to recommend for those that have five minutes to spare. Check out this video on Mommy With a Penis. It's good for a laugh and let's face it - we could also use a good laugh.

(I could have posted the video on my own blog but I don't want the scary Scientologists after me!)

Random Thought Thursday

Whew! It's been a BU-SY week for me. Anyone else feeling the stress to keep up?

1. Poor Mia. She hasn't been feeling well these past couple of days. It's probably some bug going around although it may have something to do with her over scheduled life which includes swim practice, cheerleading, fundraisers, and an overactive social calendar. I hope she can take it easy this weekend.

2. Speaking of Mia - lucky her - she's experiencing the drama of being an American teenager along with the I-heard-from-someone-who-heard-from-someone-who-said-you-said-something-about-me. She abhors drama and gossip but she's handling it very well.

3. My last random thought about Mia... She went with me to visit a some friends for dinner the other night. Afterward, she commented that she was closer in age to one of them (T is 25) than I am. Gee, thanks for pointing that out, Mia.

I still love you though.

4. "Me love you long time." I saw Full Metal Jacket for the first time. Gotta love Kubrick.

5. Speaking of movies... I have my tickets to see NEW MOON. Even though I didn't like the book very much, I'm super excited. (I happen to be going with my 25-year-old friend. No judging me!)

6. So Owl City was featured music on 90210 the other night. I'm a bit disappointed. (But I still love you, Adam!) We won't point out the fact that I'm being judgemental for crying sell-out to a musician who is featured on a show I watch. (Clearly I hold my musicians to higher standard than myself. Clearly.)

7. Lady Gaga is coming to Purdue in January and I REALLY want to go. I don't have a date. But I am considering buying pre-sale tickets tomorrow with hopes of finding someone to go with. Even though I was annoyed with the Polack for buying U2 tickets when he didn't have anyone to go with. Of course my tickets are only $35/each whereas he paid *cough*over100*cough* dollars.

8. Teenage drama, 25 year old friends, Twilight, 90210, Lady Gaga. Sheesh, am I ever going to grow up?

9. I do partake in grown up things sometimes - I promise! For example, I'm organizing an event for the boy's school. And I'm a mentor for a group of college students. And I quilt. And I have a will. See? Grown up stuff. Despite the fact that this can interfere with my America's Next Top Model tv watching.

10. Just don't make me start drinking coffee. That's too grown up for me.

Back Blogged

I've been meaning to post this...



For Mia's parenting class, she signed up to bring home a "baby" for extra credit. She had to take care of him from 6pm to 8am and keep his total crying time to less than one hour. Seeger loved meeting Mia's baby Lucas. (She picked the name and choose to use a C in Lucas instead of the traditional Norwegian K because it seemed more exotic to her.) As soon as Lucas and Mia arrived home, he brought out his own baby and they all spent the evening together. Just like a little family!

Weekend recap

Fun weekend for the Polacks. Nicklas spent a day at Purdue to participate in Fall Space Day. He participated in several engineering related activities and got to meet astronaut, Mike McCulley.

The inlaws double dated with us for the IU/Wisconsin game. It was the first time we didn't tailgate for a game. Instead we visited our favorite dining establishments.

Saturday night was Mia's first American dance.

She went with a group of girls....

And a boy...

Sunday was a gorgeous day. The kids spent the day outside and the Polack and I took advantage of the nice weather to do some staining of the cabinets we purchased for the basement refinish.

I'm guessing it was our last 75 degree day for awhile!!

Random Thought Thursday - the one with all the links

I'm late in getting this post out tonight but hey, at least it's still Thursday. I'm only pointing this out because if I'm late in posting, generally I get inquiries from people throughout the day, asking when/if I'm going to post RTT. What can I say? I have to keep the fans satisfied. (And when I say fans, I mean my one or two faithful readers. You know who you are...)

1. Have you heard of Humans v. Zombies? There is a large game of this going on around campus and they're in the fourth or fifth day (out of seven). I saw tons of zombies and only one human today. It's been quite entertaining to watch. The humans were trapped inside my building yesterday because the zombies were patrolling all the exits. I did see one human escape a zombie today though. I was cheering him on.

2. I had McDonald's for dinner tonight and now I feel so gross. Yuck.

3. You know those plastic containers that hold the toy in the quarter machines? Well Seeger has turned one of those into his ladybug keeper. We now have a new pet. Because a dog, a frog, and a fish aren't enough.

4. The Polack and I are spending a kid free day together in Bloomington on Saturday. Yay! I'd love to spend the whole day going to all the restaurants I miss. It will be tough to narrow down our options.

5. The one bummer about being in Bloomington all day is that I'll miss helping Mia get ready for her first school dance in America. There is a semi formal this weekend. She's getting her hair done, going out to eat with friends and then everyone is coming to our house to get ready. And I won't be there. (Although another parent will be. I think it's sorta strange that she volunteered to come over to "help zip dresses" when she knows the Polack and I won't be there.)

6. The Polack is participating in Movember this year. He's started growing his mo. I'm definitely not looking forward to kissing a scratchy face all month.

7. I miss Glee. It's been on hiatus due to the World Series. I hope it returns next week.

8. Christmas is only 8 weeks away. EIGHT WEEKS! I feel so unprepared.

9. Nicklas is participating in Fall Space Day. Although he's bummed about missing an IU football game, he's really looking forward to the day and all it's activities. His future aspirations are to be an astronaut and an author.

10. Tomorrow is family dinner. Yes, it's true.... we actually have to plan when we have our family dinners. Mia requested tacos and Nicklas enthusiastically seconded her motion. And Seeger? He's bummed that we're not going to Taco Bell.

Well that's ten random thoughts for you. I don't think I was as entertaining this week. You win some, you lose some.

Soccer Banquet

Mia's soccer season is officially over and last night was the teams awards banquet. It was fun to see all the girls together one last time. Although I don't know most of the players, I was still teary eyed knowing that for many, this was their last year of high school soccer. It was definitely a reminder that to me that Mia's time here is limited and all too soon, she'll be returning to Norway.

The first order of business was dinner. It was a pitch-in. This is picture of Mia with her good friend, Melanie who is a German exchange student. Look at all the desserts on their plates!

After dinner, they played a video of still shots from the season and passed out individual and team awards. And look! Mia received Best Defensive Player for the JV team. This award was extra special because it was voted on by her teammates.
Here are some pictures of Mia with her some of her teammates, plus their coach. (Who is in gray, in case you can't tell!)

What is your favorite thing to do in the fall?

Nicklas made the local paper a few weeks ago. When asked "What is your favorite thing to do in the fall," he replied, "Go to football games. I like tailgating and playing cornhole."

Pumpkin Pies

I forgot to mention that when we were carving pumpkins the other night, Mia asked if we ever used the pumpkin to make something. As in something edible. I told that I've cooked the pumpkin seeds but never the actual pumpkin. The Polack and I aren't big fans of pumpkin flavored food. Plus why go to the trouble when you can get pumpkin already prepared in handy dandy cans?

Of course her sense of adventure is much grander than ours. She found a recipe for pumpkin pie and decided then and there that she was going to make some. Did you know that you're supposed to boil the pumpkin - like potatoes - as you prepare it? I didn't so I learned something new!
Her pies turned out really well. I was very impressed with her baking skills. Of course this is coming from someone who doesn't even own a rolling pin so it doesn't take much to impress me!

Halloween costumes

My Halloween posts wouldn't be complete with a run down of the awesome costumes our family wore. Remember the Patrick costume I decided to make? It actually turned out pretty well. Of course Seeger had to add to it. He "loves sparkly things" so he decided to add some bling.

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And the finished product. Not bad, if I do say so myself!
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Nicklas was a hockey goalie.
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Mia waited until the last minute to decide if she was going to dress up. She and some friends were going to go roller skating after she went trick or treating with the family. So at 3pm, we were scouring the house for a costume for her. Her options included a magician, a Boy Scout, a pumpkin, a clown, and a baseball player. She decided on the baseball player.

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Every year, the boys go trick or treating with their cousins.

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We made Mia trick or treat at the neighbors house so she could experience it. She had intended to go to several houses with the boys but after the first house, she declared she was too old and instead she walked with the adults and let the kids collect the loot.

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The Polack and I had two parties to attend over the weekend. We went as Suzanne Sommers and Richard Simmons. Now y'all know why I needed that thighmaster and bedazzler....