And all I got is this keychain....
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Random Thoughts
Hmmmm... I'm not really sure what to write about today. I don't have many random thoughts swirling in my head but it's Thursday and I've missed several RTT's in a row so I feel like I should probably write something. Let's see....
1. *chirping crickets* Oh wait, I forgot to mention that we're now proud owners of a cello. Nicklas joined the Strings program at his school and he picked the cello to play. I called around about rentals and everyplace was out of 3/4 size except one place but it was really expensive. Like $150 for three months. That seems like a lot, no? So I decided to buy one on eBay since it was only $175. I figured it wouldn't matter as much if it got beat up. Except that when the cello actually arrived, it wasn't completely put together. The bridge had to be added and the strings needed spaced. (I didn't even know what a bridge was until this damn thing arrived in the mail.) So I had to take it to get serviced and I ended up at the expensive rental place where the owner looked down his nose at the cheap eBay cello and rolled his eyes. I think he was scared to touch it for fear that it would fall apart in his hands. He let me know that we needed new rosin and new strings. I told him we had extra strings and showed them to him - See lookie here, Mister String Snob. He rolled his eyes again and said "what are those?" I guess the eBay strings are just as bad as the eBay cello. He knew I wasn't going to fall for spending $150 on new strings so he decided that the current strings might be okay.
In all, I spent $39 to have him move the bridge, space the strings, and sell me new rosin. I really hope Nicklas enjoys playing the cello.
2. The Polack and I went to a Halloween party last weekend. I took some pictures with his phone so I need to transfer them to mine so I can do a post about all the cool costumes. We went as characters from Dexter. He was Dexter and I was wrapped in saran wrap. It was fun and I really enjoyed seeing so many of our Lafayette friends. The boys (as in the boys at the party, not my children) won the game of Flippy Cup but I don't think the girls feel like they can claim victory because two of our better players abstained due to pregnancy. And I stopped playing after the smoke break. (And I do want to point out that when I was playing, we were WINNING.) So some newbies played this year and they just didn't make the cut.
3. We took the kids to buy pumpkins on Tuesday. All the pumpkin farms in this area are closed during the week (what's up with that?) so we took them to the co-op grocery. (The Polack has a thing about buying Halloween pumpkins locally.) Nicklas picked a tall skinny pumpkin and Seeger picked the biggest pumpkin he could find. He is so excited about this pumpkin. He went on and on to the checkout lady about how that pumpkin is his and he picked it out and he's going to make a cool face to carve on it.
4. The deal between the Polack and I is that I clean out the guts of the pumpkin and he'll carve them. It works for both of us and is another example of our compatibility. (He likes chicken wings, I like chicken drums. He likes pepper, I like salt. He prefers folding the laundry, I prefer putting it away. It's a match made in heaven, I tell ya.) Seeger had the Polack put eyebrows on his pumpkin. He's very excited about the eyebrows and keeps asking me if I've ever seen eyebrows on a pumpkin before.
5. I just went back to reread some previous posts and I came across Lucy the Dog from May 5, 2009. I rarely go back and read old posts but it was very entertaining so I think I might feature one every so often from now on. It's just a small glimpse of the past.
6. Seeger apparently hasn't changed much from that post because yesterday he told me that he's going to draw a bunch of pictures of an ankylosaurus and then walk around Mimi's neighborhood and sell them for $10 each so he can make some money.
7. I can't remember if I mentioned this on my blog or not but a few weeks ago, Nicklas and the rest of the fifth graders went to Bradford Woods for three days of outdoor education. He was so looking forward to the trip - he's a camp kid after all - and I think he really enjoyed the experience (even though it rained for most of the time) but one thing he didn't like were the crazy boys in his cabin. There were 18 fifth graders and 2 high school senior boys to supervise. Apparently there wasn't much supervision because they didn't get to sleep until 2:30am both nights. And Nicklas heard from his friends that another cabin of boys never slept at all the first night. He said the boys were crazy and would do things like turn off the lights, strip naked and turn on the lights to reak the others out. Or they'd open shower curtains when other boys were trying to shower. Poor Nicklas didn't shower the entire time he was there. Overall though, he did enjoy the experience. He can't wait to sign up for Camp Tecumseh for summer 2012.
8. We have several visitor's coming to spend the weekend with us for the IU football game on Saturday and my house is definitely not company ready. It's not really dirty but it definitely needs picked up. I've been gone every night for the last several days and we weren't home last weekend so we haven't kept up things. It's probably the messiest it's been since we moved in. Hopefully I can get a bit of pick up time in tonight.
9. I didn't even make the bed this morning. I just threw the covers over the bed which is unusual because I almost always make the bed. But the late nights with teaching the class and the early mornings this week are taking their toll. I got up extra early yesterday, today, and I'm going to have to get up early tomorrow. Blech.
10. I just made a Domino's date that I'm very excited for. The Polack and I will go to a friends house for an evening of game playing. Yay!
11. I get to see the Nutcracker once, maybe two times this year. Double Yay!
Toodle-loo.
1. *chirping crickets* Oh wait, I forgot to mention that we're now proud owners of a cello. Nicklas joined the Strings program at his school and he picked the cello to play. I called around about rentals and everyplace was out of 3/4 size except one place but it was really expensive. Like $150 for three months. That seems like a lot, no? So I decided to buy one on eBay since it was only $175. I figured it wouldn't matter as much if it got beat up. Except that when the cello actually arrived, it wasn't completely put together. The bridge had to be added and the strings needed spaced. (I didn't even know what a bridge was until this damn thing arrived in the mail.) So I had to take it to get serviced and I ended up at the expensive rental place where the owner looked down his nose at the cheap eBay cello and rolled his eyes. I think he was scared to touch it for fear that it would fall apart in his hands. He let me know that we needed new rosin and new strings. I told him we had extra strings and showed them to him - See lookie here, Mister String Snob. He rolled his eyes again and said "what are those?" I guess the eBay strings are just as bad as the eBay cello. He knew I wasn't going to fall for spending $150 on new strings so he decided that the current strings might be okay.
In all, I spent $39 to have him move the bridge, space the strings, and sell me new rosin. I really hope Nicklas enjoys playing the cello.
2. The Polack and I went to a Halloween party last weekend. I took some pictures with his phone so I need to transfer them to mine so I can do a post about all the cool costumes. We went as characters from Dexter. He was Dexter and I was wrapped in saran wrap. It was fun and I really enjoyed seeing so many of our Lafayette friends. The boys (as in the boys at the party, not my children) won the game of Flippy Cup but I don't think the girls feel like they can claim victory because two of our better players abstained due to pregnancy. And I stopped playing after the smoke break. (And I do want to point out that when I was playing, we were WINNING.) So some newbies played this year and they just didn't make the cut.
3. We took the kids to buy pumpkins on Tuesday. All the pumpkin farms in this area are closed during the week (what's up with that?) so we took them to the co-op grocery. (The Polack has a thing about buying Halloween pumpkins locally.) Nicklas picked a tall skinny pumpkin and Seeger picked the biggest pumpkin he could find. He is so excited about this pumpkin. He went on and on to the checkout lady about how that pumpkin is his and he picked it out and he's going to make a cool face to carve on it.
4. The deal between the Polack and I is that I clean out the guts of the pumpkin and he'll carve them. It works for both of us and is another example of our compatibility. (He likes chicken wings, I like chicken drums. He likes pepper, I like salt. He prefers folding the laundry, I prefer putting it away. It's a match made in heaven, I tell ya.) Seeger had the Polack put eyebrows on his pumpkin. He's very excited about the eyebrows and keeps asking me if I've ever seen eyebrows on a pumpkin before.
5. I just went back to reread some previous posts and I came across Lucy the Dog from May 5, 2009. I rarely go back and read old posts but it was very entertaining so I think I might feature one every so often from now on. It's just a small glimpse of the past.
6. Seeger apparently hasn't changed much from that post because yesterday he told me that he's going to draw a bunch of pictures of an ankylosaurus and then walk around Mimi's neighborhood and sell them for $10 each so he can make some money.
7. I can't remember if I mentioned this on my blog or not but a few weeks ago, Nicklas and the rest of the fifth graders went to Bradford Woods for three days of outdoor education. He was so looking forward to the trip - he's a camp kid after all - and I think he really enjoyed the experience (even though it rained for most of the time) but one thing he didn't like were the crazy boys in his cabin. There were 18 fifth graders and 2 high school senior boys to supervise. Apparently there wasn't much supervision because they didn't get to sleep until 2:30am both nights. And Nicklas heard from his friends that another cabin of boys never slept at all the first night. He said the boys were crazy and would do things like turn off the lights, strip naked and turn on the lights to reak the others out. Or they'd open shower curtains when other boys were trying to shower. Poor Nicklas didn't shower the entire time he was there. Overall though, he did enjoy the experience. He can't wait to sign up for Camp Tecumseh for summer 2012.
8. We have several visitor's coming to spend the weekend with us for the IU football game on Saturday and my house is definitely not company ready. It's not really dirty but it definitely needs picked up. I've been gone every night for the last several days and we weren't home last weekend so we haven't kept up things. It's probably the messiest it's been since we moved in. Hopefully I can get a bit of pick up time in tonight.
9. I didn't even make the bed this morning. I just threw the covers over the bed which is unusual because I almost always make the bed. But the late nights with teaching the class and the early mornings this week are taking their toll. I got up extra early yesterday, today, and I'm going to have to get up early tomorrow. Blech.
10. I just made a Domino's date that I'm very excited for. The Polack and I will go to a friends house for an evening of game playing. Yay!
11. I get to see the Nutcracker once, maybe two times this year. Double Yay!
Toodle-loo.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Back Blogged
A few weeks ago, the Polack's brother et familia came to visit us. We decided to check out the rock outcropping located in the woods behind our house.
It's really tough to get a good shot of the rock outcropping, especially one that shows the enormity of it. (We guestimate that it's at least 40 feet wide and deep. Here's a photo of Matt and Seeger looking out over it and down the ravine.
We've been wondering if there's cave underneath so we decided to investigate. The outcropping is too steep so we walked beyond it, looking for a way to head down in to the ravine. Here are the kids, just as we find a spot and begin our backtrack to the bottom of the outcropping.
It was a very narrow path!
We made it. It was spectacular to see from below.
There's no cave but we still had fun exploring.
After the hike, we headed downtown to eat some lunch at Dagwood's. Anna and Melissa had to stop for the obligatory shot in front of Sample Gates.
Here's one last picture from the weekend. My dad and his wife came to see our house and watch a football game. Of course, the Hoosiers didn't win but at least they gave Penn State a good run.
We were lucky to have such a beautiful weekend for outdoor activities!
It's really tough to get a good shot of the rock outcropping, especially one that shows the enormity of it. (We guestimate that it's at least 40 feet wide and deep. Here's a photo of Matt and Seeger looking out over it and down the ravine.
We've been wondering if there's cave underneath so we decided to investigate. The outcropping is too steep so we walked beyond it, looking for a way to head down in to the ravine. Here are the kids, just as we find a spot and begin our backtrack to the bottom of the outcropping.
It was a very narrow path!
We made it. It was spectacular to see from below.
There's no cave but we still had fun exploring.
After the hike, we headed downtown to eat some lunch at Dagwood's. Anna and Melissa had to stop for the obligatory shot in front of Sample Gates.
Here's one last picture from the weekend. My dad and his wife came to see our house and watch a football game. Of course, the Hoosiers didn't win but at least they gave Penn State a good run.
We were lucky to have such a beautiful weekend for outdoor activities!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Best & Worst
Seeger's worst - didn't get to do training because of the rain
Mike's worst - homework time at Barnes and Noble
Nick's worst - raining all day and went to Barnes and Noble but didn't
get to read any books
Natalie's worst - forgot to take lunch to work so had to order delivery
Seeger's best - it's probably going to be playing UNO
Mike's best - today was half hump day/half Friday in his world
Nick's best - that it's a short week
Natalie's best - family dinner
Mike's worst - homework time at Barnes and Noble
Nick's worst - raining all day and went to Barnes and Noble but didn't
get to read any books
Natalie's worst - forgot to take lunch to work so had to order delivery
Seeger's best - it's probably going to be playing UNO
Mike's best - today was half hump day/half Friday in his world
Nick's best - that it's a short week
Natalie's best - family dinner
Friday, October 14, 2011
Life updates
I've missed the last few Thursday's so my apologies for the lack of random thoughts. It's been a busy few weeks. Actually, it's been a busy fall. We've had several football games and the football free weekends have consisted of other planned activities. We're currently booked through December. Tonight, I'm going on the Turner girls not-so-annual trek to Kentucky for Glendale Crossing Days. I won't go in to the specifics of what this means because it's been 9 years since our last trip and I'm not sure how much the event has changed or stayed the same. That's for another blog post. Anyway, while I'm gone, the Polack will have the boys and nephew Ben for a weekend which will likely consist of fart talk and burping and possibly poop on a stick. (These aren't common activities in the Kubatski household - until Ben comes to visit.)
(Although Seeger misspelled farther on his spelling test and wrote farter instead and he and I got a good laugh from that.)
In a few hours, I'm going to pick up Nicklas who has been gone since Wednesday. His class had a group trip to Bradford Woods where he learned all sorts of outdoor educational, uh things, (I'm guessing). Bradford Woods is similar to Camp Tecumseh and though it's actually run out of the school/department I work for, I still have my heart at Camp Tecumseh. Anyway, Nicklas was so excited about the trip and he heard that food was really good and that he should bring lots of socks. I did end up packing 7 pairs for three days and I'm glad because it rained at least half of the time they were there. I commented to Seeger that I felt bad for Nicklas being out in the rain so much and Seeger let me know that Nicklas likes getting rained, a fact I'll have to verify when I pick up Nicklas.
I've gotten to do a lot of quilting lately (the Polack is all baseball all the time lately) which is good because we're going to a baby shower next weekend and I had a project to finish up. I also finished another baby quilt that is ready to go in the mail, as soon as I take photos of it. It's gorgeous and everyone in the office loved it and one colleague even said she was going to steal it. (It's nice to good comments about that quilt because I spent forever on it.) My third project has been a Christmas stocking to match one that I made for a friends first born. Now that she had two kiddo's she requested another one and of course, I had to oblige. (Though it's really hard for me to think Christmas when Halloween hasn't happened yet.)
While Nicklas was at Bradford Woods, the Polack when to see game 4 of Tigers playoffs. I'm glad he got to go and he was there with a college buddy; it's just too bad the game was a bust. The Tigers are 2-3 in the series so hopefully they'll pull it all out.
Here's Seeger saying, Go Tigers: (And look, we actually have GRASS!)
So while Nicklas and the Polack were gone, Seeger and I had a nice evening alone. I picked him up from school and we went home where he made me do part 2 of my ninja training. I'm now a master at nun chucks and sais but I still have to train for the sword and staff. Luckily, I passed the sais so now I'm a master over Nicklas who has only completed his nun chuck training. (Nicklas doesn't know this makes me a master over him and I'm keeping it on the down-low so he doesn't give up on his training. Master Seeger wouldn't like that.) After our training and dinner, I took Seeger to pick out his Halloween costume. I tried to talk him into letting me make him something (Halloween costumes are expensive but fall apart easily so it's super annoying) but then I decided I didn't really want to make anything and we found a pretty good costume that didn't seem like it was going to fall apart and it was only $13. So we bought it and Seeger is really happy about it. It was a nice evening with just me and Seeger. I always enjoy that one-on-one time with my kids - they don't happen often.
Here's my happy Seeger:
Last weekend was our fourth tailgate of the year. The Hoosiers have been terrible this year. People were hopeful because of our new coach but I guess when you're so used to being bad, it doesn't hurt as much. You grow a bit more numb each game. I think we'll be lucky if we finish 2-10. Any that's why tailgates are so important. They give us Hoosier fans something to look forward to. I've had a lot of fun tailgating this year and I've enjoyed all the people who've come to hang out with us. I keep meaning to take photos but I always forget. I did get one photo from last week but it doesn't have everyone in it. So here's the semi group shot:
During the tailgate, we stopped at Assembly Hall to use the facilities (it's so nice being close to Assembly Hall so that we don't have to use the port-o-pots in the grass lots) and to shop for our friend, one-armed-Ben. The boys had fun checking out all the IU stuff:
Also last week, I got to go back to Leonard Springs Nature Park. It was as beautiful as my first visit, maybe even more so since the sky was so blue. I took some better pictures to share with you:
The boys school had their Open House. I volunteered to sell apparel/directories while the family ate. Then we checked out their classrooms. I love how excited both were to show us everything they do at school. It's great to have kids who love to learn. This was posted outside Seeger's room:
It says, "Lern about me! My hair is blond. I like apples. My I can do a summersalt. My muscles are huge! These are the anamils I like: snake, frogs, and cows. These are the toys and games I like: Legos, Ninga, Uno and Rich." How cute is that??
Here is a photo of Nicklas after the event. He's growing so much - he's up to my nose. Yikes.
Okay, that's enough of an update for now, right? We're going to be super busy the next several weeks but luckily work has slowed down a bit for me. Although I keep forgetting that I'm actually teaching a class this semester. It's a 2 credit, 8 week fundraising course and it starts in 10 days. The syllabus is finished and I'm trying to line up a few guest speakers. I'm a little nervous and I hope it won't be a disaster.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
(Although Seeger misspelled farther on his spelling test and wrote farter instead and he and I got a good laugh from that.)
In a few hours, I'm going to pick up Nicklas who has been gone since Wednesday. His class had a group trip to Bradford Woods where he learned all sorts of outdoor educational, uh things, (I'm guessing). Bradford Woods is similar to Camp Tecumseh and though it's actually run out of the school/department I work for, I still have my heart at Camp Tecumseh. Anyway, Nicklas was so excited about the trip and he heard that food was really good and that he should bring lots of socks. I did end up packing 7 pairs for three days and I'm glad because it rained at least half of the time they were there. I commented to Seeger that I felt bad for Nicklas being out in the rain so much and Seeger let me know that Nicklas likes getting rained, a fact I'll have to verify when I pick up Nicklas.
I've gotten to do a lot of quilting lately (the Polack is all baseball all the time lately) which is good because we're going to a baby shower next weekend and I had a project to finish up. I also finished another baby quilt that is ready to go in the mail, as soon as I take photos of it. It's gorgeous and everyone in the office loved it and one colleague even said she was going to steal it. (It's nice to good comments about that quilt because I spent forever on it.) My third project has been a Christmas stocking to match one that I made for a friends first born. Now that she had two kiddo's she requested another one and of course, I had to oblige. (Though it's really hard for me to think Christmas when Halloween hasn't happened yet.)
While Nicklas was at Bradford Woods, the Polack when to see game 4 of Tigers playoffs. I'm glad he got to go and he was there with a college buddy; it's just too bad the game was a bust. The Tigers are 2-3 in the series so hopefully they'll pull it all out.
Here's Seeger saying, Go Tigers: (And look, we actually have GRASS!)
So while Nicklas and the Polack were gone, Seeger and I had a nice evening alone. I picked him up from school and we went home where he made me do part 2 of my ninja training. I'm now a master at nun chucks and sais but I still have to train for the sword and staff. Luckily, I passed the sais so now I'm a master over Nicklas who has only completed his nun chuck training. (Nicklas doesn't know this makes me a master over him and I'm keeping it on the down-low so he doesn't give up on his training. Master Seeger wouldn't like that.) After our training and dinner, I took Seeger to pick out his Halloween costume. I tried to talk him into letting me make him something (Halloween costumes are expensive but fall apart easily so it's super annoying) but then I decided I didn't really want to make anything and we found a pretty good costume that didn't seem like it was going to fall apart and it was only $13. So we bought it and Seeger is really happy about it. It was a nice evening with just me and Seeger. I always enjoy that one-on-one time with my kids - they don't happen often.
Here's my happy Seeger:
Last weekend was our fourth tailgate of the year. The Hoosiers have been terrible this year. People were hopeful because of our new coach but I guess when you're so used to being bad, it doesn't hurt as much. You grow a bit more numb each game. I think we'll be lucky if we finish 2-10. Any that's why tailgates are so important. They give us Hoosier fans something to look forward to. I've had a lot of fun tailgating this year and I've enjoyed all the people who've come to hang out with us. I keep meaning to take photos but I always forget. I did get one photo from last week but it doesn't have everyone in it. So here's the semi group shot:
During the tailgate, we stopped at Assembly Hall to use the facilities (it's so nice being close to Assembly Hall so that we don't have to use the port-o-pots in the grass lots) and to shop for our friend, one-armed-Ben. The boys had fun checking out all the IU stuff:
Also last week, I got to go back to Leonard Springs Nature Park. It was as beautiful as my first visit, maybe even more so since the sky was so blue. I took some better pictures to share with you:
The boys school had their Open House. I volunteered to sell apparel/directories while the family ate. Then we checked out their classrooms. I love how excited both were to show us everything they do at school. It's great to have kids who love to learn. This was posted outside Seeger's room:
It says, "Lern about me! My hair is blond. I like apples. My I can do a summersalt. My muscles are huge! These are the anamils I like: snake, frogs, and cows. These are the toys and games I like: Legos, Ninga, Uno and Rich." How cute is that??
Here is a photo of Nicklas after the event. He's growing so much - he's up to my nose. Yikes.
Okay, that's enough of an update for now, right? We're going to be super busy the next several weeks but luckily work has slowed down a bit for me. Although I keep forgetting that I'm actually teaching a class this semester. It's a 2 credit, 8 week fundraising course and it starts in 10 days. The syllabus is finished and I'm trying to line up a few guest speakers. I'm a little nervous and I hope it won't be a disaster.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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