tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83184572024-03-07T15:23:39.154-06:00Family LifeBecause there are some things a dog can't explain to a monkey.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.comBlogger604125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-66239067222248619852013-08-22T12:05:00.000-05:002013-08-22T12:05:22.021-05:00And...fin
As the kids are getting older (ages 6 and 8) and as my life is getting more hectic (hello, grad school!); I am putting this blog on hiatus.
I may pick it back up at some point, but as of right now I have chosen to put my time and energy elsewhere. Thank you all for coming along on the ride as I figured out what the heck I was doing as a mother.
Love,
Kara
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-59498729401914727202013-01-27T20:59:00.001-06:002013-01-27T20:59:18.561-06:00So...Hi there.
Hey everybody!
After Saturday's massive photodump I'm sure you would like some context.
Ad & Oney are OBSESSED with Legos. And I am totally okay with that because they can play together or they can play separately, but Legos is something they always agree on.
For Christmas, Santa (via Aunt Toots) got the kids (and us) passes to the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg, IL. We went on Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-16019744409872755532013-01-26T14:16:00.001-06:002013-01-26T14:16:12.071-06:00LegolandOn the crazy whirly pedaling thingy Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-87492482982496406422013-01-26T14:05:00.001-06:002013-01-26T14:05:54.163-06:00LegolandBuilding cars for the great race! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-4350051797237964062013-01-26T13:35:00.001-06:002013-01-26T13:35:11.629-06:00LegolandMore cupcakes! And Dad in the background. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-30160119745711219852013-01-26T13:30:00.001-06:002013-01-26T13:30:58.624-06:00LegolandWorking the earthquake table Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-68516053362686747052013-01-26T13:29:00.001-06:002013-01-26T13:29:33.420-06:00LegolandMaking cupcakes out of bricks. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-39475174390835819682012-10-29T13:57:00.003-05:002012-10-29T13:57:57.485-05:00Eight years!
Holy crap. Today Adrian is EIGHT.
And it's hard to believe that he's been here for so long. We've traveled a lot together, and most days we're a great team.
Would I do it all over again? Absolutely. He's taught me to become more patient, more kind, more generous. He's taught me that I have the power to heal scraped knees and hurt feelings. He's taught me that a word in the rightAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-59821975195590132572012-10-12T13:28:00.004-05:002012-10-12T13:28:51.973-05:00I'm baack!
Well, sort of. Mostly, this is a photo-heavy post about our trip to visit our friends down state.
It was a 5 hour road trip, during which Fiona got sick twice. But once it got dark out, she was no longer motion sick. I figured out that she can't have activities that require her to look at her lap. So, there was music, and looking out the window, and much goofing off in the back Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-43354074865497255802012-08-08T12:19:00.000-05:002012-08-08T12:19:30.281-05:00Pictures! Times four.
Hello!
Did you know that I have four drafts of posts that never went live? I started a thought, got called away, and when I came back to it I discovered I had run out of things to say.
So I will regale you with photographs and short stories...
My superawesome brother and his superawesome girlfriend came to stay. When I walked into the room, my brother was using his girlfriend as a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-28372274170450000372012-06-17T20:33:00.001-05:002012-06-17T20:33:46.617-05:00HAPPY FATHER'S DAY
I was going to post an awesome retro photo of my dad, but I ran out of time and wasn't able to dig through the photo box.
Maybe next year, y'all.
But I thought I would provide for you a list of the 10 most important things my dad taught me.
1. Life's not fair. But it IS funny--so laugh often.
2. There's a place for everything, and everything in it's place. (Although I have learned that this Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-27568700146396262082012-06-07T14:45:00.000-05:002012-06-07T14:45:07.429-05:00It's Summer Vacation!
This past weekend, we went downstate (260 miles downstate) for a wedding, and to visit friends who had relocated there.
Breakfast was REAL bacon--from the butcher, not the grocery store. And farm-fresh eggs!
After breakfast, we got to out and meet the menagerie.
This is Gracie Lou. She's a four month old Death Valley Burro. She lives with two goats named Jose and Cuervo (who wouldAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-27434752136243021542012-05-14T22:08:00.000-05:002012-05-14T22:08:05.563-05:00
Yesterday was Mother's Day. Also known as: Pajama Day! I like to take very nearly any excuse to spend the day in my pajamas. After dinner (left overs smorgasbord) last night, the kids wanted to go outside to play. I was sitting in the living room reading when I heard Adrian making "karate" noises--I looked out the window to see him with a day lily leaf tied around his head.
Here he is, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-71231781920337852272012-05-03T13:21:00.001-05:002012-05-03T13:21:16.165-05:00Every new beginning...
Today, I have an interview at a new tattoo shop. I am cheerfully accepting all good-luck wishes. Friday will be my last day at the shop where I currently work.
Over the weekend, I started a short story. I had started to read another book, and I couldn't because this other story kept pushing it's way to the front of my brain. When I realized that I had read the same sentance 5 times Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-2250455793803076382012-04-26T14:24:00.002-05:002012-04-26T14:24:37.431-05:00April adventures
Hello hello!
I am experiencing a case of butt-sitting, so I thought I should make it productive butt-sitting.
A few weekends ago, the weather was beautiful and we didn't have any plans on a Sunday so we went to the zoo!
The kids hammed it up.
And hammed it up some more.
Then we went into The Living Coast exhibit. It is pretty cool-it's indoors and set off the coast of South Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-4603585199654318212012-04-18T22:52:00.000-05:002012-04-18T22:52:01.802-05:00Hay y'all!
I'm not sure when last I posted, as I have been merely riding along the crazy train that has been my life for the past four weeks. (Four months?)
Big man is in baseball, which is a huge commitment compared to t-ball. Practices are twice as long & twice as often. We haven't even had the first game & he has already decided he doesn't want to play next year. He's decided he's more of a "Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-83619566896487658072012-04-07T10:35:00.001-05:002012-04-07T10:35:30.898-05:00Ostara for us, thanks!
A few weeks back, we celebrated Ostara with some close friends. Ostara falls on the Spring Equinox--it's a celebration of spring--birds eggs, rabbits, plants in bloom. Due to our unseasonably warm March the trees were in bloom and the kids were able to hunt eggs without hats, scarves, mittens, and winter coats.
It started with confetti filled eggs that they were supposed to crack on eachAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-19855864166065472872012-03-17T10:09:00.002-05:002012-03-17T10:09:34.817-05:00Like a spoon with the forks
I have long felt completely out-of-place when surrounded by women. And when I look at images of women in ads, magazines, and on TV I really REALLY feel like I don't belong.
I like power tools and paint. I like digging in the dirt and reading books. I like dinosaurs and birds. I like Shakespeare and Neil Gaiman.
I wear make up when I remember to put it on, I rarely have on nail polish or high Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-16326369691781008232012-02-17T13:56:00.001-06:002012-04-18T22:52:38.584-05:00Watch how I procrastinate!
Last month sometime, when there was still snow, I got out the clingwrap and covered the windows.
Then I handed the kids tissue paper & glue sticks and told them to go crazy.
It took 4 days to cover one window and the result was a stained glass effect that I very much enjoyed.
Fiona took it down over the weekend because she wanted to wave to the mailman.
I have been up to my Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-68893370855619354962012-01-29T09:18:00.000-06:002012-01-29T09:18:49.218-06:00Take a walkThis winter has been CRAZY mild. I realize that it's not quite February yet, but usually by this point I'd have considered migrating south on a weekly basis. So far I've only seriously considered it once.
And right on schedule, the song birds are returning to the neighborhood. This week we will carve out some time to take a walk through the woods, make some birdseed treats, and generally enjoy Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-34324770790475790522012-01-11T14:48:00.000-06:002012-01-11T14:48:58.625-06:00Things to make you cheerful!Hey!
It's 2012! And our good friend Mr. Bob is out of ICU, where he had been confined for 2 weeks with pneumonia. Our dear sister in law is expecting (but don't tell the kids! she wants to tell them), and I have mailed off a painting to be included in an invitational show (that means you have to get INVITED to participate)*. I'm feeling pretty cheerful about life.
I had a wisdom tooth pulled Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-40014030475209431972011-12-30T12:54:00.000-06:002011-12-30T12:54:19.207-06:00goodbye, 2011!Hello to all!
I hope everyone is ready to say GOODBYE to 2011. It was a year filled with much too much bad news and much too little good news. 2011 set the bar so low that it made 2010 look like the height of awesome. (2010 was the year I had pneumonia for 3 months). I am far to old to write to Santa, but not old enough to believe that writing down my wishes for the coming year is in any way Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-49405653482001818042011-12-23T11:07:00.000-06:002011-12-23T11:07:50.035-06:00Pensive in the face of the New YearYes, I completed all my holiday presents. I plan to totally cop out of wrapping them by putting them in brown paper bags & stapling the bags shut. My holly jolly ho-ho-ho spirit left about two days ago and I am just ready for this season of gifting to be over.
To make it through the next few days of holiday go-round, I will be needing a designated driver. Luckily, I have a husband who will Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-55820908632677148632011-12-20T13:50:00.000-06:002011-12-20T13:50:42.944-06:00In case you were feeling rushed..Firstly! There is free shipping at my etsy shop with the coupon code JOY2U. Happy Holidays!
Secondly, I am not yet done with holiday presents, because I have decided to do a handmade holiday for the second year running. Which wouldn't be so overwhelming if I hadn't added some people to the list. So far I have made hot cocoa mix, marshmellows, book pins, flower brooches, and upcycled Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8318457.post-51395488782064881382011-12-14T13:23:00.000-06:002011-12-14T13:23:25.669-06:00LONDON, BABY!
Flying out of Chicago, we headed west over Lake Michigan. Hi Chicago!
I flew from Chicago to DC, where I met up with my Mom and we flew together to London.
The view from our floor of the hotel. We were on floor 12, so it was pretty spectacular. That castle-looking building is the Renaissance hotel at St. Pancras. On the other side of that is the King's Cross underground and railwayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05117972852391680761noreply@blogger.com3