My Milwaukee

We recently took the boys to the Milwaukee Art Museum downtown... which is right on Lake Michigan. It's gorgeous... a real jewel for the city skyline. It is impossible to take a bad picture of this beautiful building. It was the perfect outing for a cold January day.

Fall Thoughts

Still not sure what will become of the blog, but still thinking random thoughts so will post as necessary.

* I've picked my yarn back up after about a 6 month hiatus. Life just got too busy and I had too many good books lined up to read. I made a teddy bear for my new niece and am now working on some Christmas presents for the ladies in my family.

* Alex is loving school. Switching schools was the best decision we've made. I'm so proud of him. He's starting to read.

* Now if I can just get him to pass to the next level of swimming. He can't advance until he can swim independently. I'm bribing him with goggles. I really hope it works.

I'm such a dork...

This is a Christmas ornament. It's a pierogi. I love it. I'm Polish, you see. Well, half Polish. My great grandparents came to the US from Poland. I grew up eating polish sausage, pierogi, cabbage, kluski, paczki, and all kinds of other fabulous Polish food on holidays.

My sweet, crazy Polish grandma passed away nearly two years ago. So I ordered this ornament with her in mind. She would think it's silly... but she would love it. I can't WAIT to hang this on my Christmas tree!

Quote of the month

"Mom, how do frogs poop?"

Asked with complete seriousness during dinner last week.
I nearly choked. So did Craig.

I responded, "Just like we do, right out the back. They're just closer to the ground."

Craig and I could not make eye contact after that. We were giggling pretty hard without looking at each other.

Of course, Alex noticed we thought the question was funny. So then he just started saying, "Poop, poop, poop."

Amazing how those little minds work!

A book club first

My book club: Michelle, Therese, author Karen McQuestion, Lisa, and Me

My book club has been going strong for awhile, I believe I've been a part of it for at least 7 years. We had a first at our meeting a couple of weeks ago. THE AUTHOR JOINED US FOR DINNER... IN PERSON!

The book was "A Scattered Life" by Karen McQuestion. Karen could not possibly have been more lovely. I highly recommend checking out her books. She's also got a pretty darned amazing story. She self published her books on Kindle. They did pretty well, so they were picked up by Amazon's new imprint, Amazon Encore! I really enjoyed "A Scattered Life." It's a relationship driven story about three women who's lives intersect in a Wisconsin town. The Wisconsin part is special to me given that it's my adopted home, now. But the setting of this book very much reminded me of my hometown, Galesburg, IL. (If any of you Galesburg folks read the book, tell me if the bookshop doesn't seem like something you would find on Seminary Street!!!)

Any way... I encourage you to check out Karen's books! We spent a lovely couple of hours at dinner with her!

Next up: "The Wishing Trees" by John Shors. (Oh, and he's going to call in for a discussion with us too!! AWESOME!)

It's a Miracle!

Well, actually a few miracles! First, behold! A decent picture of me with my family! FINALLY!
Second, we actually made it to Iowa to visit my brother and his wife. (This picture was taken at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, which is close to their house.) Finally, I'm updating my blog!
I'm still toying with giving up blogging, but for now, I'll post when I feel like I have something to say.

It's been a productive weekend. We swapped the car seats out of our car. The carrier-style car seat was getting too heavy, as Adam is getting so big. He's nine months old this weekend. I stocked up on groceries yesterday and made my list of what I have in the freezer and what I can make with what's on hand. I post this on the fridge so that when I'm stumped for what to make I can at least know what I actually can make without running to the store. Made Italian Beef for dinner last night, then made chocolate chip cookie bars. Delish! Planning to make chili for dinner tonight... that way I shouldn't have to cook all week.

Big week ahead, too. Busy week at work (which seems to be the norm lately), though I have a half day on Monday to take Adam to the doctor. Then Alex starts swimming lessons back up. I have book club this week. So lots going on.

That's the update from here! What's new in your world?

I Love Charleston!

Please enjoy some teeny, tiny pictures of Charleston while I attempt to figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong.