Let's Party!

It’s been awhile since I last updated the site, but what a great couple of weeks it has been.
On September 20, my brother Eric and his family flew back to the states and stayed with us for a couple of weeks. It took a couple of days to get over the jet lag, but eventually everyone got into the swing of things. The first number of mornings, Alex and Noah were waking up super early because their bodies hadn’t yet shifted to the change in time zones. After that, Noah just kept on waking up early because he wanted to play with Kasia. Alex then felt compelled to wake up because it had been eight hours since he’d last watched Cars and needed his fix again.
While they were here, we went to the zoo to see the animals. Alex was so excited that I think we missed half the zoo. The entire time it was, “WOW! What other animals are there!” and then off he would run. We also went to the Children’s Museum in Portsmouth, which was a great time. Alex truly found his heaven in that museum as there is an entire room dedicated to Thomas the Tank Engine and all the toys. I’ve never seen a little boy look so happy.
The main areas of excitement though lay in discovering the movie Cars (did I mention that Alex enjoyed watching it?) along with discovering the Backyardigans. Kasia used to never watch TV, but she’s now an addict. She sits on the couch, points at the TV and screams until Backyardigans come on. As for me, I’ve seen everything way too many times now, and I can’t sleep at night because I keep singing Backyardigans songs in my head. They are that catchy.
But the big event during their visit was our wedding celebration party which we had at our house. We had everything: a big tent, plenty of food, plenty of drinks, and plenty of fun. My mother and Susan did a great job finding decorations and giving the event a “theme.” They did a wonderful job The weather managed to hold on and the rain we feared would hit us, didn’t happen. If you were there, we hope you had a great time and we thank you very much for coming. If you couldn’t make it, we’re sorry and we’ll have to get together some other time. In the end, we had a wonderful time and were extremely happy to see everyone.
And now, it’s over. Eric, Susan, and the boys have left for Chicago, and the house is eerily quiet. Kasia still runs around looking for Noah to play with and gets frustrated because she can’t find him. The tent is gone, and suddenly our whole backyard just seems so empty. It’s a strange feeling when you spend so much time and energy over planning and worrying about an event and then suddenly it’s over. Now what are we supposed to do with our time? I guess we’ll just have to paint the guest room, bathroom, and redecorate our entire great room. That may keep us busy.

Paint By Numbers

Apparently, we have become the final stop for second hand toys in our neighborhood. Most of the kids who live around us are in the 9-14 age range. That’s just about the time when they have to go through their closets and start to clear out their kiddie toys. And where do those toys end up? That’s right, in our living room. Kasia is getting a huge kick out of it because it means bags and bags of new things for her to play with and discover.
One of the things that she has discovered to play with is paint, apparently. Neither Kara nor myself saw the little container of face paint amidst the dolls and Disney Princess magic wands. Then that fateful moment happened while I was sitting on the couch, cleaning out a box of old receipts. Kasia was playing quietly in the corner by herself. From where I was sitting, it appeared as though she found a hand mirror and was having fun with that. A few minutes later she turned around and came walking over to me with purple and pink paint smeared on her face, from ear to ear. She looked like Braveheart about to go into battle. This stuff was everywhere. In her hair, her cheeks, everywhere. So I immediately did what any self-respecting parent would do. I ran and grabbed my camera. The result is what you see above. Enjoy.

Oh, to Be Young Again

Well, if finally happened. I finally turned 30. That momentous occasion in life where you stop being in your 20’s and start acting grown up has finally happened to me. The world has forever changed, in my eyes anyway. Music is always turned up to loud. I keep thinking how good kids have it these days. And the TV show thirty-something finally makes sense to me. The next thing you know, I’m going to be sitting around all day watching re-runs of Matlock. Old is as old does, right?
But I do have to admit, that other than the “idea” of being in my 30’s, it was really a non-event for me. Kara and I went out for pizza, and then just enjoyed a quiet evening to ourselves as the little one spent some quality time with Granny Smith (apples). There was no moment of depression. No thought that the “good ole days” are gone. I think that I’ve done quite well for being around for 30 years. I went to college (to see what they know); found and married a beautiful, fantastic woman to spend the rest of my life with; have a wonderful daughter; bought a house; and served my country in the US Navy. I’ve seen more than half of all the States. I’ve been to a dozen different countries. And now I’m a homeowner.
Not bad for an old thirty year old.

I Completely Forgot

Amongst all the hustle and bustle of getting our house ready for visitors, I completely forgot to mention how Kasia’s last doctor’s appointment went. She grew three inches and gained a pound. It seems as though she is actually getting skinnier. I wish I had her problem. The problem for us is that it becomes next to impossible for us to put pants on her that won’t fall down to her knees. But on the plus side, she is still growing, and I guess that’s a good thing.
We also recently went to the zoo, and I’ve posted some of the pictures from that up in the photo section. Kasia had a great time, though she wasn’t really into having her picture taken. Every time I was about to snap one, she’d run away. Maybe it’s my camera. Maybe there’s too much of a delay from the time I push the button to the time the picture is taken. I know that they make them now where it’s almost instantaneous, but I need something better. I need a camera that will take the picture before I push the button. I want a camera that is so smart it knows when a great photo opportunity is about to happen. Kodak? Can you hear me? Hint, hint. I’d buy one.
So while my daughter wouldn’t have her picture taken, the flowers were always willing. So I ended up with a number of really nice flower pictures, and one decent one of my daughter pouting on the bench. Or maybe she’s trying to swallow her lip? Who knows.

The Painting is Never Done

Kara and I have discovered that we have a talent. We have the ability to paint together and actually have a good time. Apparently this is a lot rarer than I thought. It seems like everyone I talk to just can’t paint with their spouse. In fact, my dad called me to ask if Kara and I were still talking to each other. Are we still talking? Of course we are. We couldn’t be happier.
But we did get two bedrooms painted and now we just have every other room in the house left. The previous owners of the house had a deep affinity to the color yellow, and we just don’t share their passion. So Kasia now has a room that is Tinker Bell Green and our room sounds like a thunder storm with the colors Downpour and Distant Thunder.
If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop by and take a look. I’ll show you the “accent wall.”

Our Trip To Hoffman Estates

Whenever I told people that I had decided to drive to Chicago with Kasia, they all looked at me like I was crazy. “16 hours in the car? Straight? With Kasia?” Then they would usually chuckle under their breath and tell me I’m an idiot. Sure we could have flown, but dealing with a toddler sitting on my lap for two hours is not my idea of a good time. I’d rather just drive it.
And truth be told, it wasn’t that bad. For the first hour or so she’s a little cranky, but then she just settled into the drive and was great for most of the trip. She slept a lot and danced to the music on the radio quite a bit. It all went great.
The only problem was that after sleeping all night, by the time I got to my parents house at 4:00am, I was ready to sleep and Kasia was well rested and ready to play. So I had to stay up for another hour playing with her and hoping that eventually she would go to sleep.
Kasia was able to spend some quality time with her grandparents and once again proved that she is better well behaved around them than she is with us. I swear, she will be a perfect angel when Grandma and Grandpa are around, but the minute they leave she turns into something else entirely. She’ll start grabbing things off of shelves and making a huge mess. Then when the grandparents get home, she just sits in the middle of the floor and plays with her toys.
We were planning on going to the park quite a bit while we were up there, but it ended up raining pretty much the entire week. One day there were even tornados in the area and we sat in the house listening to the warning sirens go off. But we kept ourselves busy and Kasia was able to charm a whole new group of people.
So if you thought that we were crazy for making the drive, then we’re still crazy, and we’re doing it again. Come Christmas time we’re going to try it one more time. May the Force be with us

A Beautiful Bride and Groow

Pat and Stacy’s wedding can be summed up with the word: Miracle. It was a miracle that Pat was able to find someone as good as Stacy and convince her to marry him. It was a miracle that I was able to think of a toast at the reception. It was a miracle that my mother didn’t squint in the pictures of her at the church. And it’s a miracle that Kasia did not fuss at all during the ceremony. What a miracle in deed.
Everything went as perfect as could be. The weather was wonderful and the rain that had been plaguing Chicago all week had gone away. The bride looked stunning, and Pat was able to stop being a groomzilla long enough to enjoy his wedding.
After a night of dancing and drinking, we called it quits. We had a blast the entire weekend and it was worth driving 32 hours (there and back) with a toddler.