V-Day with the Boys

Seeger gave me this Valentine yesterday...


His poem to me - roses are red, violets are pink, flowers are sweet and you are too.


It included pieces of a cut up heart in which he listed things he loves - art, reading, family, IU, Roberto, robots, Norwegian chocolate, grapes, ice cream, cupcakes, Norwegian sister, outside, dragons. I love his list!



Both boys gave and received Valentine's at school. I was impressed with the amount of homemade Valentine's that Nicklas received.


The Polack and I celebrated a day early. We went to Indinapolis for an invitation-only concert at a cafe/bar that was hosted by WTTS. It was a nice date and all around good holiday.

Random Updates Monday

Just a quick recap from the week...

Seeger was home sick on Wednesday, went to school on Thursday but was sent home around noon. He went back to school on Friday and made it through the day but his bug seems to be hanging around the house because we all felt a little punky for the rest of the weekend. Luckily we didn't have any plans Friday night so Seeger built Lego's, the other boys watched hockey and I quilted a bit - relaxing activities for all of us.

Saturday, Nicklas went to rehearsal for Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr. and he was asked to be an extra scene. He was proud of himself and of course, I am proud too. He joined the cast late so he was only in one or two scenes originally. Now he's up to four.

We were supposed to make a trip up to Indy to watch Martinsville play basketball against Brebuef while also visiting with my cousins and baby Quinn. But the punkiness we were all feeling led me to cancel the visit for fear of passing germs on to Quinn. It was a bummer but probably a good thing in the end.

Saturday evening, the Polack and I went to dinner with another couple that we've been wanting to socialize with but have never had complimentary schedules. Their kids are the same age as Nicklas and Seeger so they dropped their boys off, Meesha watched the gang, and we got to have some adult time together that included martinis and Chinese food - a combo I'd never considered but actually worked out well. We tried a new restaurant and had great conversation. Yeah for adult time.

On Sunday Seeger spent a few hours at a friend's house and I had a two meetings - one involving some students and the other, a press party to announce an upcoming Bloomington event. I felt like a playa in the community, especially after hobnobbing with the social elite and paying $12 for one glass of wine. (I'm not sure I'm ready to be that big of a playa.)

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed lately - in addition to work, I have the class I'm teaching this semester, I'm organizing Family Fitness Night at the boys' school, I've joined the board of a non profit and I'm chairing their development committee, I agreed to make a baby quilt for someone who is due soon, I'm involved with said community event - it's the Bloomington Dancing with the Celebrities fundraiser, and somehow I've been roped in to helping with a golf scramble (not that I know anything about golf). All these activities involve planning and follow through, and doing "stuff" and one or two or three would be okay but all of them put together is a bit too much. Oh, and a colleague at work submitted her notice so I'll be taking on a few of her projects for at least the next few weeks and I'm not sure she'll be replaced so hello increased work load.

A special shoutout to the Polack for feeding the family most of the weekend and for doing all the laundry. And having Meesha with us has been great - we've asked her to watch the boys a lot lately and she's always happy to do so. When she's home, Seeger is glued to her side. She's also watching the boys tonight while the Polack and I head to Indy for a Valentine's Day concert we won tickets to. We will definitely miss her when she moves out this summer and we have to start paying a babysitter again.

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - woke up to a bloody nose
Nick's worst - wanted to watch a 30 for 30 but didn't get to
Mike's worst - spent she whole day grading
Natalie's worst - having meetings on a Sunday
Meesha's worst - slept half the day away
Nick's best - got in to the finals on his video game
Seeger's best - built the Lego ice dragon
Natalie's best - got to do some sewing today
Mike's best - productive weekend
Meesha's best - just chilling and not doing any work

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - at art class he was drawing his picture with Roberto and everyone kept asking what they were drawing and they wanted to wait until Two Sticker Tuesday to tell them
Nick's worst - didn't have a pencil during math class so he had to go back to his classroom to get one and it was embarrassing
Mike's worst - dealt with stupid stuff during prep so he didn't get to do any grading
Natalie's worst - was very tired this morning
Seeger's best - actually drawing the picture with Roberto
Nick's best - its Friday and he's looking forward to the weekend
Mike's best - looking forward to the weekend
Natalie's best - enjoyable afternoon with alumni; the fun part of job

Sick Seeger

I'm home with a sick boy today. He woke up not feeling well and his temp of 100.9. Luckily he has no other symptoms.

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

Life is about ups and downs. We take the bad so that we can relish the good.

And sometimes we have to stop and be intentional about recognizing the things we're thankful for. Today is one of those days.

1. My family is awesome. They surround me with love and encouragement and humor and compassion.

2. This includes my husband who is my number one cheerleader. He thinks of me before himself and will do anything to go above and beyond for me. I have many others in my life who are the same way but he epitomizes the role.

2. My kids are turning out to be pretty cool people. They make mistakes and they mess up sometimes but they always learn and grow from those situations and I see them want to be the best person they can be.

3. I work with some fantastic people. They make my job enjoyable and they are always willing to help with whatever project I'm focused on.

4. My job is challenging and rewarding and I learn from it and it allows me to continue to grow as a professional.

5. Bloomington is a great city to live in. There is culture and community and tolerance and intelligence and freedom and beauty and cuisine and activity. I fit in better in Bloomington than any other place I've ever lived.

6. The boys go to a school that is culturally diverse and nurturing and socially conscious and focuses on healthy eating and being physically fit while also integrating the arts in to academics.

7. My friends are always willing to lend a hand when I need help with something while providing great conversations and support for anything I need. They are willing to help before I even know I need it.

This list didn't reach 10 but it is all encompassing of my life right now. Thank you for supporting me by reading this blog and caring about what I have to say. Sometimes we unexpectedly need our family and friends and when it's time to call on you - through tragedy and triumph - I truly appreciate that I'll have you.

Random Thought Thursday

1. Things are steadily moving along in the Kubatski household. We're just more than halfway through the school year and I finally feel like we have a routine in the mornings. Nicklas is no longer riding the bus and instead, I'm taking him and Seeger to school every day. Seeger has to get up earlier but it means he goes to before care and he loves that. I'm not thrilled about paying more for child care but it allows me to get to work by 8 (instead of 8:30) so I shouldn't complain.

2. As Seeger was eating breakfast this morning, he said, "Mom, do you remember when you were teaching and dad's Rolling Stone caught on fire and he had to blow it out?" I must have given him a questioning look because he suddenly shook his head and said, "Oh wait, that must have been a dream. Because then dad didn't want Nick and me to see the sign that said Arcade Now Open because he knew we should want to go and we did go but it was really dangerous. There were little sharp things shooting out at us and they would open up and more sharp things that were even littler were poking us. But we really wanted to play the games so we stayed in the arcade."

3. Like the pictures Seeger draws of robot dinosaurs with nuts and screws and bolts, even his dreams have mechanical details.

4. Nicklas also had a dream he told me about where apparently the Polack and I were getting divorced and we were making him choose which parent to live with.

That's a bit unsettling.

5. Oh wow, as I was typing this up, a friend sent me a text saying she dreamed that I died while exercising and the Polack was planning a festive funeral parade.

What the heck is going on with all these crazy dreams?

6. In sticking to sleep related topics, Seeger knocked on our bedroom door at 3 am Wednesday morning. I mumbled come in and he did - holding his hand to his nose. He woke up to it bleeding. This has happened before so luckily he's getting pretty good at anticipating it and keeping blood in the nose instead of gushing all over our carpet. As we got him cleaned up and back in bed, I showed him his little stuffed animal turkey which had a few drops of blood on it. He said, "Aw, the turkey died." And I tucked him in bed and he said, "We'll have to eat him for dinner."

Even half asleep the kid is still a comedian.

7. With all the buzz about the Superbowl in Indy, we're planning a family trip to check out the Superbowl Village tomorrow evening. Fitz and the Tantrums are playing so I think we should attempt to be there during their show. It's unfortunate that all the zip line tickets are sold out and all the park ride tickets are sold out. But I'm sure there will be great people watching and I know both kids will have fun.

8. I was reading an article the other day about a mom who has her 10 and 14 year old sons cook one meal a week. The article started well... she was tired of rushing home from work to prepare dinner only to have her teenage son casually walk in the kitchen from playing video games in his room and say, "Not that again... I hate brussel sprouts." I can definitely relate to complaints from my kids about what I prepare for meals. But then I kept reading. She would suggest recipes for her sons... Salad with nuts and pears with carrot soup. Spanakopita with phyllo dough. Pho (a Vietnamese soup). Chicken Satay.

I all seems a bit far fetched and definitely unrelatable. I went from thinking, cool, man, I'm totally going to have my kids make a meal one day a week to what the heck is spanakopita? (I just googled it - it's greek spinach pie.)

9. It hit 60+ degrees in Bloomington yesterday. The students were playing beer pong on their porches and wearing flip flops to class. I was jealous (of the flip flops, not the beer pong). I hope the temps stay somewhat warm for the weekend. We have friends coming to visit on Saturday and I want to do some Btown exploring with them.

10. Here is the conversation by text about my death....

It's The Truth

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - sharing at school, every time he did a move the students started talking
Natalie's worst - lots of class work to do this weekend
Mike's worst - stupid department head
Nick's worst - got Thomas out during knockout
Seeger's best - getting ice cream with Meesha
Natalie's best - almost the weekend and Mike is feeling better
Mike's best - that he's feeling better
Nick's best - if IU wins it will be that but if IU doesn't win than it's almost the end of the week

Random Thought Thursday

1. I just received an email from Seeger's teacher. She really enjoyed his sharing presentation. He wrote about his tae kwon do moves and demonstrated them for the class. She said he had nice moves.

2. My students had to hand in a project yesterday and overall I'm impressed with their work. The assignment was less academic paperish and more real world presentationish and I can tell they semi-enjoyed the work.

3. In writing the syllabus for this course, I did my best to spread out their work throughout the 8 weeks. However I screwed myself. This weekend I have to grade all their projects, write the final assignment, and write the midterm I'm giving on Monday.

4. Last Saturday we had friends over for dinner. There was a treacherous ice storm Friday night so our driveway and street were covered in ice. Couple 1 arrived Saturday and parked with no problem in the driveway. Couple 2 turned on our street and promptly slide toward the yard, stopping a foot away from our mailbox. We had to push their car out of the way (a difficult task when your feet have no traction). We thought we were going to lose the mailbox because their car wouldn't go anywhere in reverse. Luckily we got it straightened out and Couple 2 finally got back on the road and parked for the evening. When it was time to leave, Couple 2 drove down the hill of our street and turned around in the caldesac. Then we had to push them up the hill to our cross-road. When Couple 1 tried to leave, they couldn't back up our driveway. They were able to get their car turned around but even going forward, they couldn't get up the driveway. They tried driving in the yard but we still had to push them up the hill. The Polack and I finally made it to bed around 1 am and when we woke up our mailbox was gone. It had been taken out some time between 1am and 8am.

5. In addition to needing a new mailbox, we are having trouble with our fireplace and hot water heater. Homeownership rocks. Seriously though, it's all good since everything is still under warranty. And we do love our house.

6. I am not a good plant owner. My poinsettia at work is dying and my houseplant at home is dying. The houseplant was outside all summer and it did so well. As soon as I brought it inside it lost half of it's leaves. I'm trying to salvage it but I'm really tired of picking up dead leaves every day.

7. Nicklas loves the lava lamp he received for Christmas. He likes to leave it on all the time. Seeger has been playing a lot of board games with Meesha. She's so good about hanging out with him when she's home.

8. The boys were sick last week and then they got me sick and then I got Mike sick. Yesterday was the first day I felt fully recovered and hopefully Mike can be all better by the weekend so we'll all be done with sickness for awhile.

9. My friend bought a puppy before Christmas - a Burmese Mountain - and she's now 3 months old and weighs 30 lbs. She's going to be huge and she's so gosh darn cute.

10. Things on my to-do list... Get caught up with class/teaching stuff. Take Freddy to vet and groomer. Schedule Dr. appts for the family. Schedule eye appt. for me. Call about water heater. Buy birthday present for brother-in-law. Open savings accounts for Nicklas and Seeger. I'm thinking I should take the day off to get all this accomplished. I'm pretty caught up at work so I can feel good about one part of my life.

Sorry if this is a really boring post. I'll have to come up with some entertaining stories this weekend. Happy Thursday everyone.

Best and Worst

Seeger's worst - Nicklas didn't pick Jiffy Treet after getting his orange belt
Natalie 's worst - feeling sick today
Mike's worst - everybody feeling sick except him
Nick's worst - has a cold
Seeger's best - getting a new app thats really fun
Natalie's best - Friday night dinner with the family
Mike's best - Nicklas got his orange belt and good report cards from the boys
Nick's best - orange belt!

Nicklas is an Orange Belt

He's more excited about it than he looks. I think he was just annoyed by my picture taking.

Speaking of...

I have been terribly neglectful of my poor Polish blog lately. Partially because my computer and iPhone still hate each other and I can't edit my photos. But also because I've been busy reading and quilting and prepping for class and lots of other things. Let's see... some things going on in the Kubatski life....

Meesha officially moved in. The boys are in love with her, especially Seeger who always wants to know where she is and when she'll be home. She has two jobs on campus, she's an assistant for a class, she's taking two online classes for her MPH, she babysits two days per week, she's volunteering for the Boys and Girls Club, she's volunteering for the Red Cross and she's joined two student groups. So we don't see her much. When we do, it's nice to have a happy, cheerful person around.

Speaking of happy people... I have been in an exceptionally all around good mood lately. Despite some not so great things that have happened in my life, I've managed to stay positive and go with the flow with a smile on my face.

Maybe the all around positive feelings are a result of all the quilting I've managed to achieve lately. I spent two weekends ago hanging around the house and I finished a quilt top while watching the first half of the first season of Gilmore Girls. (Never underestimate the power a Gilmore Girls marathon.) I also spent last weekend at Quilt Camp where I managed to quilt and bind the top I completed the previous weekend, quilt another quilt that's been sitting in queue for nearly a year, and start two new projects that I'm excited about. I spent the weekend with my quilting friends and managed to relax and take it easy (a massage helped with that) and I even treated myself to a gorgeous bundle of beautiful fabric. I also got to better know a new addition to the quilting group. Her name is Betty and she's 83 and a pretty amazing person and I want to be just like her when I grow up. (Never underestimate the power of hanging out with people who share a common interest/passion.)

So the smiles and general good mood has continued - through several great IU basketball win's and now even some losses. Speaking of IU basketball, I have two tickets for the game on Sunday.

This has been a busy week for Nicklas. He spent Monday and Tuesday in Detroit with his Papa where they cheered the Redwings on to a 5-0 victory. On Wednesday, he had his first Strings Concert and we enjoyed watching him and rest of the 161 fifth graders play Mary Had a Little Lamb and Hot Cross Buns. The concert also featured the sixth graders, the middle school orchestra, and the Hoosier Youth Philharmonic (orchestras from both Bloomington high schools.) I thought the evening would be long and boring but it was really cool. I enjoyed hearing the progression of skill with each group and was amazed at how well the high school did. Despite the issues we've had with transporting the cello, I do hope Nicklas continues to want to play. (The director of the high school program also mentioned that the group goes on a tour each year during spring break. They are playing at Carnegie Hall this year and they've also gone to Hawaii and Paris and so you know, that helps entice us to keeping Nicklas with it.) He's getting better at reading music and it's so good for his fine motor skills. I asked Nicklas if he liked the cello or if he wished he played a different instrument. He said he likes the cello because it's big but he can still sit with it (unlike the bass players who have to stand).

Back to his busy week... We didn't get home until after 8 last night because the family took me out for my birthday dinner (hibatchi!). Tonight is his tae kwon do test for his orange belt promotion. Saturday, he has rehearsal because he's in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr., then he's going over to a friends house. Despite all this, we haven't felt stretched too thin with all the running around. Hopefully he doesn't feel that either.

Seeger is a little less busy though he had a friend spend the night on Monday (the kids were out of school Monday and Tuesday), he's also going to TKD and a friends out tomorrow, and tomorrow evening, we're having our friends over who have a boy Seeger's age and I'm know they'll be excited to play together. Seeger has been drawing so much lately. He loves his art desk and he's really in to drawing robot dinosaurs. He's also been playing Life (the board game) with Meesha and his Mimi and I promised that I would play with him this weekend. Two weekends ago, it was nice enough outside that I taught him how to shoot his BB gun. He enjoyed trying to hit the soda can but now he wants to buy actual targets.

In other news... I'm teaching another class this semester. Like last semester, this is only 8 weeks and fortunately, it's the first part of the semester. I have a few more students than my last class and it's a 300 level (versus 200 level) and I'm pushing them a bit more with assignments. Their first one is due on Wednesday and I have high hopes for what they'll turn in. I may be overly optimistic.

Random thought.... I have my favorite music on my iPhone and often when I'm getting ready in the morning, I listen to it on shuffle. I'm always happy with what it plays (afterall I wouldn't have a song on my playlist that I didn't like) but it seems like the iPhone plays Gettin' Jiggy With It EVERY TIME. I don't mind some Will Smith mixed in here and there but I think I'm going to have to delete the song from my play list because I'm tired of hearing it nearly every morning.

Speaking of music, Fitz and the Tantrums are playing in Superbowl Village next week and I really want to see them but it means A) making a trip to Indy, B) fighting the traffic and crowds while actually getting to Superbowl Village, and C) it's outside and a concert in freezing temps isn't that appealing. I still may try to go through.

Product updates... The Polack bought my a Soda Stream for Christmas and I wasn't convinced I wanted to keep it. (He told me I was more than welcome to take it back to the store but I wouldn't have felt horrible about returning a gift he put so much thought in to.) Turns out that I love it. It's so easy to use, the flavors are available at several stores, and we've been able to adjust the recipe to how we like (less sweet and more carbonated). The one down side is that it's hard to be consistent with the recipes but overall it's a great product. I want to purchase a few more liter bottles for it and I want to get some of the flavored water drops so the soda consumption gets cut down a bit but I can still have a carbonated beverage.

I purchased a beauty product from Sally Hansen and it was TERRIBLE. It didn't do what it was supposed to so I sent an email to the company about my dissatisfaction. They responded right away and sent me a comparable product that's much better. Yay for great customer response.

I also sent an email to Lowe's to express my displeasure for pulling advertising from TLC's American Muslim tv show. It's been a month and I haven't received a response. Boo on Lowe's. (For the record, I'm not upset with Lowe's for choosing not to advertise; I'm upset that their decision came after receiving threats from the ultra conservative Florida Family Association.) This behavior on the part of Lowe's means the Polack and I won't be shopping there anymore. (Super bummer because it's also been our go-to home improvement store.) Our boycott business list also includes BP and Chick-fil-A. (Neither are as inconvenient, but still a bummer.)

Sometimes you gotta take a stand, yo.

Moving along... I was relishing the fact that we don't have any upcoming weekends where we're traveling anywhere which translates to weekends spent at home chilling BUT we do have friends coming over Saturday, we may go visit friends in Indy next weekend, and we have another group of friends visiting us the following weekend. So my time to chill is slowly diminishing but I'm not complaining about this, just stating a fact. I'll take my being with friends time over chill time. I just wish I could have both. Darnjobthatmakesmeactuallyhavetoworkinsteadofchill.

Last thought and then I better end this rambling post.... I've really started to enjoy reading young adult literature. Luckily, I do so under the guise that I have an 11 year old and I can read what he's interested in so we have some common things to discuss. (Since, you know, everything with him is about sports and I can't hold an intelligent sports conversation.) In reality, I've read more of his books than he has but hopefully he'll catch up soon. My current book is H.I.V.E. by Mark Walden. Nicklas is reading it for his school book club; I'm reading it for fun.

Hunger Games the movie comes out in March. HOLLA!

P.S. I changed the title of this post after reading how many times I wrote "speaking of".

Top 10 Highlights from the Holidays

I would love to have photo's accompany this post but for some reason, my new iPhone camera and my work computer hate each other. Half of the photos I download are turned sideways and I can't figure out how to flip them. It's very frustrating and means I either have to post from my phone (which is easier now that I have the Blogger app but still a pain in the) or from my laptop (which I keep at home so I don't have to lug it around) or I have to post sideways photos (and no one wants that). Any words of advice for fixing this problem?

(I really don't want to save each picture to a photo editing program. Nor do I want to buy a new camera that gets a long with my phone.)

Anyway, back to the top 10 list. I might get around to posting photos some day but for now, you're stuck with just text.

1. Of course the highlight of the holidays is being with family and friends. Blah, blah, blah. You all know that in a it-goes-without-saying sorta way. I still gotta mention it though. We saw nearly all my aunts and uncles and cousins. Actually after some calculation, I can confirm that I visited with 92% of my family (including the Kubat's but not the Polack's extended family.) Not bad.

1a. I got to hold baby Quinn for like a whole hour. Maybe less but he is so sweet and cute and precious and beautiful so any amount of Quinn time is fabulous.

1b. The week after Christmas, my niece and nephew and my older brother stayed with us for a few days. Uncle Bill and Girlfriend Tracy came for dinner one night too. They brought poppycock for the kids. (I love to say Poppycock.)

1c. We spent New Year's with some of our Lafayette friends and I got to wear a costume which always means an automatic good time in my book.

2. I received a SodaStream for Christmas and it has slowly climbed to the top of the best-present-I-received-this-year list.

2a. I received a kickass winter coat and some pretty awesome sweaters and scarves that are also on my best-present-I-received-this-year list. So are the gift cards and cash. I feel like I scored this year.

2b. I also love my Gallogly calendar from Aunt Carolyn. She included a lot of photos from the past so I get all weepy, nostalgia when I look through it.

3. The Polack (with a little help from me) painted a large portion of the white walls in our house. We still have a long way to go but the hard part (the stairwell and foyer) is finished.

3b. While we had the scaffolding that we rented (that's a story in itself), we hung the two extra globes for the foyer lighting fixture. We love it even more.

4. Work was really quiet last week so I got a lot done and I only worked half days so I felt like I was on semi-vacation.

5. I read a whole book. It was the new Jennifer Weiner that was a last minute rental after I breezed past the 7 day express section of the library.

6. The Polack and I watched the Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest (the Swedish version) and the Girl With a Dragon Tattoo (the American version) and we also had an impromptu date at 9Irish Brothers.

7. I felt extra special for having yesterday off work while the poor Polack had to work. I accomplished a lot in terms of cleaning and errand running and friend visiting so that was nice. The boys got much needed hair cuts. (I wish I would have taken them before Christmas but we were too busy.)

7b. Side story, Nicklas got an upgraded haircut because the establishment is new to Bloomington. So his cut included a hot towel, a shampoo with scalp massage, and a shoulder/neck massage. HE. LOVED. IT. It was the first time he'd had some pampering like that and he was so excited afterward.

8. Quilt camp is in 9 days. I have my projects planned out and I want to be organized for this camp. I have so much I want to accomplish.

(I know this wasn't a holiday happening but I'm exciting about the upcoming event so I felt compelled to include it.)

9. I signed Nicklas up to be in Thoroughly Modern Millie and I signed Seeger up for Saturday art classes at IU.

9a. I also decided to probably take my mom up on her offer to maybe go to Florida with her during the boys' spring break. Except that it coincides with the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament so Nicklas would rather stay in Indiana than go to the beach. We haven't officially decided anything yet but it's weird to think of Seeger but not Nicklas going with mom and I.

10. I spent a few hours almost catching up with Kourtney and Kim Take New York. It's not that I like the Kardashian's (actually I like Khloe) or that I believe the show falls in to reality tv. It's pretty obvious that the story lines are developed and the characters sorta act them out. But I'm entertained by the show and I waiting to see how they spin this whole Kris Humphries thing. (That guy didn't know what he was getting himself in to.)

10a. I also watched the entire season so far of Up All Night. I love G.O.B. Will Arnett so I've been wanting to see this show for a while. NBC has the whole first season online so it's well worth the investment to catch up.

Flashback video

I'm working this week, though I'm one of the few in the building. It's nice to be uniterrupted and free of meetings. I'm getting a lot done but I'm also a little bored. Hence, a look back at some old posts. I found this post which included a video of Seeger and oh-my-goodness-he's-the-cutest-thing-EVER.

Grrrr...

I don't understand how it can take one little dog such a long time to find a place to do his business - especially when strange noises are coming from the empty lot next door.

Roller Skating

My niece and nephew are spending a few days with us and I asked them what they wanted to do. Anna immediately asked if we could go roller skating.

Santa Claus

This Santa Claus freaks me out. He used to be located on a shelf in the guest bathroom at my in-laws house. I didn't appreciate him staring at me so thankfully, he was demoted to garage.

Balloonimals

Seeger has been playing with my Balloonimals app.

Top 10 Things That Happened to Me This Weekend

1. Spent QT with Lindsey et al. while celebrating Graves' birthday.
2. Saw two of my friends who are expecting and got to rub their beautiful bellies.
3. Hung out with some Kubat's during a car ride to Indy.
4. Attended the Nutcracker for the second time this year. This performance featured a HPER student.
5. Coveted my niece's awesome purse - purchased for her by Mia when she was visiting this summer.
6. Had long conversations with with Jess, KJ, Kim, Kirby, and Stephanie.
7. Got asked to make a quilt by a friend. I love that she loves my quilts.
8. Saw Nick's smile when hearing he could spend the week with Mimi and Papa. Saw Seeger's smile when hearing he could have a friend spend the night.
9. Reboxed the Smurf's to watch with Seeger during the car ride from Lafayette to Bloomington.
10. Came home to a mailbox full of Christmas cards.

10 Things I Love About This Week

1. I made MAJOR progress with the holiday obligations festivities i.e. shopping, decorating, Christmas cards, etc.

2. I'm on holiday break from teaching. My class had their final on Monday and I had grades submitted by Wednesday. Overall it was a great 8 weeks of teaching.

3. I attended my first board meeting for Jill's House.

4. I saw the Nutcracker last Saturday and I get to see it again this Saturday.

5. My kids have been exceptionally well mannered lately, as in more helpful and less argumentative. They aren't usually horrible but yes, sometimes they get on my nerves. Every once in a while.... But this week has been great. I'm still relishing the fact that Nicklas folded all his own clothes the other night. (I know I've already mentioned this but seriously guys, he happily accomplished the task and never complained about the chore.)

6. This morning I showered, fed the kids, got everyone out the door, and managed to stop at the grocery store to pick up jimmies for Nick's holiday party at school. I also remembered to have them sign their Christmas cards for their teachers. And I accomplished all of this by 7:15 so we were actually EARLY for school - a rare treat.

(Side note, when I asked the parent who is organizing the holiday party what I should have Nicklas bring, she said jimmies. I told her I was happy to do that but I had to google jimmies to find out what the heck they are. We decided it must be an east coast thing.)

7. I'm exhausted but this is overshadowed by the fact that it's almost Christmas and my boys will be home for the next two and half weeks so I'll probably be getting more sleep that I'm used to.

8. I have arranged to have a friend come to our house when we're visiting family over Christmas. She is going to retrieve all the Santa presents and stocking stuffers that are hidden and put them out so the kids will see them straight away when we get home.

9. My boss just told us that she's giving us all mani-pedi's for Christmas. Super awesome!

10. Not only was my name drawn for a door prize at the HPER holiday luncheon but it was actually one of the first to be drawn. So I got my pick from the loot. I also bid on a few items for the silent auction. I did not win the basketball tickets or the sailing lessons but I did win tickets to the IU Theatre.

Random Thought Thursday

1. It's 60+ degrees in Bloomington today. I'm still hoping for a white Christmas but I don't think it's going to happen.

2. Nicklas was practicing his cello last night and I actually recognized the songs he was playing.

3. Nicklas also folded all his clean clothes and put them away last night. Usually the Polack and I fold his clothes but I thought maybe I'd let him try to chore. He didn't complain once nor did he roll his eyes at me when I'm asked him to do it. Yay Nicklas!

4. Did anyone watch the series premier of the American Supernanny on Lifetime? The first episode featured a couple and their 9 year old, 7 year old, and 2 1/2 year old quadruplets. While I don't personally know the couple featured, I attended a wedding held at their house over the summer. It was fun watching the show and seeing the familiar setting but woo boy, do those parents need help with some crazy quads.

5. I've sent out most of my Christmas cards but held a few back in case we received some from folks who I didn't send to orginally. It's a good thing because I already have three more that I need to get in the mail. I hope I don't run out cards.

6. I was asked to join the board of a local not-for-profit and my first meeting is tonight.

7. With the upcoming holidays, I really need to find some kick-ass side dishes to make and bring to several gatherings. I think I need to spend some time on Pinterest today.

8. The Polack is planning to do some painting inside the house during his two week break. I'll help as much as I can in between Christmas shopping and work but I haven't quite mentally prepared myself for the project that will likely start on Monday.

9. I think my dog is having some constipation issues. He can't quite seem to finish his business so I'm going to have to figure something out to help him. I should probably google dog constipation relief and see what comes up.

10. Okay, google search is complete and there appears to be some easy remedies for my poor Freddy including feeding him canned pumpkin. I happen to have some canned pumpkin that will never be eaten by my family so we'll try that tonight and hope for the best.

The Stadium by Nicklas

Nicklas had a poetry project to complete this week. I'm so proud of how well he did!


It looks like any building when you pass it on the street
Made from glass and iron, rock and concrete

But once inside you can see a football jersey

Visit the past or see a future player
Feel the ground shake.
Watch the game, tailgate


As your team wins.
Eat popcorn and a hot dog
Hear the fans yell out loud


Cheer for joy and of course try and storm the field.


Yell out loud a scream of glee
Bite off all your nails
Everything the stadium brings you can find inside those walls.
You are there for all to share
When the team calls

You cannot tell its magic by the way the fields designed
But there’s wonderment in it, the wonderment of football.

Oh Christmas Tree

It seems that the facebook world is inundated with photo's of people's Christmas trees. I'll spare my facebook friends from photos of my Christmas decor but you lovely readers get to partake in my holiday spirit.

We decorated the house, inside and out.

We started with our main tree first. We all worked together to decorate and this year, it was Seeger's turn to put the star on top of the tree.


Seeger also insisted we put the Christmas train around the tree.


Once the big tree was completed, we decided to put up the sports tree. This is a tradition that the Polack's family started when he was younger. A few years ago, his mom gave us all the sports tree ornaments which includes ornaments from all the Big 10 schools (although we don't have Nebraska yet!)


Seeger put the Purdue ornament in the back of the tree.


He was happy when he found the IU ornaments.


We even have IU lights!


Nicklas found an ornament I bought him when he was 2.


The finished tree...


During the weekend, we had our photo taken for our Christmas card and then we met up with a former student of mine for hot chocolate. Meesha graduated in May and then spent several months in Sitka, Alaska with the Americorps program. She moved back to the Midwest a few weeks ago and is planning to spend January through the summer in Bloomington volunteering and getting more experience before entering the Master of Public Health program at the University of Chicago. During her time in Bloomington, we offered Meesha one of the extra rooms in our house and she accepted. Seeger is very excited!


When we returned from hot chocolate, it was awesome to see our Christmas lights lit up for the first time. The Polack and I had quite an adventure hanging them and we had hoped to put more on the second story of the house but that wasn't happening. That second story is even more steep than the first story.


One last Christmas decor item. The other night, out of the blue, Seeger suggested we make a Christmas ornament. I happened to have some clear glass ornaments so I modified a Pinterest idea and had him make some pictures that we cut up and put in the ornament. He is very proud of it.

Best & Worst

> Nick's worst - it's Monday
> Seeger's worst - Monday - you have to go through a whole week
> Mike's worst - evidently both boys left their coats at tae kwon do
> Natalie's worst - both boys have colds
> Nick's best - last school Monday of 2011
> Seeger's best - after today, mom won't have any more long days of work
> Mike's best - when it was decided that we're going to Mother Bear's for dinner
> Natalie's best - family dinner to celebrate last day of my class for the semester
>

Best & Worst

Seeger's worst - didn't get a drawing a drawing from Auggie today
Nick's worst - art class
Mike's worst - getting up with the dog four times last night
Natalie's worst - ate too many sweets at work today
Seeger's best - being home with the family and family dinner at Steak N Shake
Nick's best - tonight - Straight No Chaser
Mike's best - getting a really good review from the principal
Natalie's best - family date - dinner and a show

Flashback Friday

I decided to use Walgreen's for our holiday photo this year and when I logged in to my photo account, I found several albums from 2007. Apparently I'd used Walgreen's that year to print photos.

It was fun clicking through the albums, seeing photos of the boys when they were younger. I have such cute kids. Enjoy some of my favorites from that year, including a few from the holiday season.

Somebotey met a bad guy; by Seeger

Best & Worst

Seeger's worst - during pictures, Nicklas was messing him up
Mike's worst - the kitchen is a mess again even though it's been cleaned three times in the last day and a half
Nick's worst - having to get pictures taken and didn't really want to
Natalie's worst - didn't get as much done today as hoped
Seeger's best - we had pictures taken by Mrs. Killion and seeing Meesha
Mike's best - spending the day with everyone and getting the lights up on the house and they look good
Nick's best - getting to go on the roof
Natalie's best - getting lights hung, getting Christmas card photo taken and seeing Meesha

A Top 10 List by the Polack

The Polack sent this list to me this morning. Hopefully he doesn't mind that I'm sharing it with you:

Top 10 Things I'm Looking Forward to this Weekend

10) No travel/no guests - I love guests, but I'm looking forward to a family weekend.
9) Taco night
8) Getting the outside lights up on the house
7) Getting the sports tree decorated in the loft
6) The Hoosier game on Sunday (I couldn't get tix last night because the box office was closed. I'll call after school)
5) Picking paint colors at Lowe's (oh yeah, that's happening)
4) Hearing the hum of your sewing machine (while I get all caught up on school work)
3) The Friday Song (if you and Seeger are home by then)
2) A bottle of wine (or two)
1) (Edited out of the WWW)

He's a sweetie and put a huge smile on my face by sending this to me. Happy Friday, all!

Random Thought Thursday

1. I'm headed to Indianapolis tonight to meet my new cousin. Mmmmm.... babies.....

2. I love thai food.

3. The window's in my office are really dirty and they never get washed on the outside.

4. We had our first real snow on Tuesday. It had been raining for days and then for a few hours in the afternoon, the rain turned to snow. Seeger was so excited when I picked him up at school. He was packing the snow to see if it stuck together. I had to go back to work and when I returned home a few hours later, he ran to meet me at the door and said in an excited voice, "Mom, are you ready to go outside to play in the snow?" I was the one to break his heart by telling him the snow had turned back in to rain and it all disappeared. He was very sad.

5. Even though I'm bummed that the snow disappeared, it's a beautiful day on campus today. The sky is blue and it's bright outside. I passed so many happy people as I walked back to my office from Kirkwood Avenue.

6. The Polack and I are seeing Fitz and the Tantrums on Tuesday and I will be super excited once I actually find a sitter. Three have already turned me down so I'm getting a little nervous.

7. I have a really big forehead. I feel like it's getting bigger so I'm wonder if I have a receded hairline or something. It might be time to cut bangs.

8. Mia sent us some rice porridge and a marzipan pig for the holidays. I have to remember to bring it with us during our travels so we can find the almond. It's a fun tradition.

9. We're getting a family photo taken on Saturday for our holiday card. I have to figure out the color scheme which always stresses me out.

10. I only have one more week of class and then my students take their finals. I feel like this 8 week course has gone really quickly. I'll start right up again with another 8 week course for the first half of next semester. Luckily I'll have a few weeks in between to prepare.