Welcome 2010

Hello family and friends,

I hope this New Year finds you all well. We survived the holidays despite a lot of time in the car. It was such a blessing to see a lot of our family this holiday season. The Brain and I are both thankful for the time we spent with everyone. For those of you we weren't able to see, we missed you greatly and thought of you much.

I, personally, am overjoyed to be back to the grind of A2. The Chief went back to school today, the Brain to work, and Zu Zu and I tried to reclaim the living room as a living space (instead of a present holding zone.) It was a tediously slow process that I relished in. Every once in the while cleaning can make me smile and today was one of those days.

I'm also greatly looking forward to not having anything immediate on my "To Do" list. We have only one thing on the calendar for this month so far, and that's a child-free night out for the Brain and I at the end of the month. *Loud sigh of satisfaction*

On a final note, I want to share my top five New Year's Resolutions.

5. Stay in side during the extremely cold Michigan winter.

4. Build the ultimate Lego vehicle with the Chief.

3. Paint a masterpiece with Zu Zu.

2. Nag the Brain less.

1. Live a healthier holistic lifestyle (better food, more exercise, more reading, more writing, etc).

Cheers!

The Difference in Kids

Every once in a while I'm completely amazed at how different our kids are. Here are a couple head scratching moments where I wonder, "Who's child are you?"

Snack Time

The Chief (laying on the couch): "Mom, I'm hungry. (long moan) Mom, I'm hungry!"

Me: "What do you want?"

The Chief: "What can I have?"

Me: "You can have crackers or fruit or yogurt."

The Chief: "I can have crackers or fruit or yogurt?"

Me: "Yes, what do you want?"

The Chief: "Um. Um. I don't know."

....wait five minutes....

The Chief: "Mom, I'm hungry. (moan)"

Me: "What do you want?"

The Chief: "What can I have?"

....smack head in disbelief.....

The same situation with Zu Zu

.....hear fridge opening.....

Me: "Zu Zu, what are you getting?"

Zu Zu: "I'm just hungry."

.....hear fridge close.....

Zu Zu: "Mom will you open this?"

Me: "Sure. Here you go."

Zu Zu: "Thanks."

While Brushing Teeth

Me: "Time to brush teeth everyone."

The Chief: "Mom, will you brush my teeth?"

Me: "No."

The Chief: "But I want you to do it."

.....eye roll.....

Me: "No. Zu Zu, can I help you?"

Zu Zu: "No! I'm doing it all by myself!"

.....sigh......

Greenfield Halloween

For those of you not in Michigan, let me say that the weather recently has been unfortunate. It rained all day yesterday which wouldn't have been a big deal, if we didn't have tickets for Halloween in Greenfield Village. Of course the tickets were non-refundable, non-exchangeable. So, despite the cold and the wet, I prepped us for going out last night to do some tricker-treating. Everything was going fine. I had dinner ready early, for once, and we had plenty of time to get there by 8:00 - the time for our tickets. The speed bump in the road came when the power went out and didn't turn back on. So, we got everyone ready by flashlight and candle. In the darkness, we lost time trying to find the Chief's clone mask and when we finally rushed out of the house we, of course, forgot the camera.

So we're driving through the pouring rain to Dearborn in hopes of making it on time. However, the traffic is as crazy as the weather and we show up a little late. In order to make sure we get into the Village, the Brain drops us off, taking a ticket for himself. Unfortunately, in our franticness, we forget to set a place to meet. I walk in with the kids and he goes to find a parking spot.

Immediately upon entrance, Zu Zu announces she has to go the potty ("Right Now!"). So now, I'm towing 2 kids, a purse, a bag holding Zu Zu's costume, and treat bags to the restrooms in the middle of Greenfield Village. Sigh. We made it, thank goodness. But then, we can't find the Brain and he didn't bring his cell phone. Nice. The next 20 minutes were spent chaotically searching the crowds, hoping to randomly find him. Finally we managed to get together again. The weather cleared and actually warmed up a bit, allowing us to really enjoy an evening of tricks and treats. Here's a couple of okay pictures I managed to take with my phone.

The Chief's favorite part was seeing the Mad Scientist in Thomas Edison's workshop whose creation escaped. Zu Zu's favorite thing was the Headless Horseman. Although, she said, "I think it's pretty hard to have a sword with no head." She and I agreed that he probably needed to find one, though we were unwilling to offer our own. We all like the dancing Skeletons playing the xylophone with bones and I personally liked the Scarecrow that came to life.

All and all, it was late night, but everyone had a great time.

Picking Perfect Pumpkins

We had another great weekend, enjoying the fall weather. Saturday we tooled around Ann Arbor, running errands and stopping at a great playground. Sunday we headed out pumpkin picking with some friends. We had a great time searching for the perfect pumpkin for each of us.

For those of you that have never had the pleasure of living in the midwest, I'll tell you this. There is no better place to be in the fall than Michigan. The trees burst with color as they display mother nature's fireworks. The weather is brisk and refreshing, just the right temp for jeans and a sweater. There's apple picking (which equals apple pie at our house) and pumpkins for carving. And football, which is a must in my family since all of our blood runs blue and gold (except for the Brain who always cheers for the underdog).

I can't think of anywhere else I want to be during the fall. And for those of you who are taken aback because Michigan Fall gives way to Michigan Winter, I say to you....learn to dress in layers.

Other than that, we're getting ready for Halloween around here. This year we'll be filling our baskets with candy twice. Once, this Friday, at Greenfield Village Halloween Nights and once on the 31st. It should be quite the adventure since I'm making Zu Zu's costume this year. I"ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Cheers!

A Good Day

Nothing particularly exciting happened today. But, sometimes that's just what I need. Zu Zu and I took the bus downtown to have lunch with Clay. It's become a bit of a tradition since school started. With the Chief gone all day, we thought it would be nice to do something special just the three of us. So Thursdays are our special days.

Now for those of you who think the Chief is getting the short end of the stick, let me assure you that the Chief is never on the short end of anything. He can wheel and deal better than anyone I know and his gift ensures that he gets his way more often than I care to admit.

We also made cookies, which means we got to eat cookie dough, and who doesn't love that? Cooking with Zu Zu is always an adventure. She tried to convince me to let her eat a piece of cookie dough the size of a golf ball. Even after I told her no, she got down from her stool and tried to grab it off the counter. Hilarious. Needless to say, she needs the Chief to give her some pointers on how to get her way.

The day ended on a cheery note when Clay put the kids to bed, so I could work on my story. I'm on page 40 now, which isn't significantly father than I was before. But it feels great just the same, like I've crossed another milestone.

Think I'll go to bed while everything is still good. Who knows? Maybe it will carry into tomorrow.

Weekend Wonders

We spent our Saturday at the Henry Ford Museum, enjoying the Grand Opening of the Lego Castle exhibit. The Chief was in Lego bliss. There were Legos and Duplos to play with, as well as a jousting area, a castle, and an digitally animated catapult attack. I have to say that I was just as impressed as the kids.

After our Lego adventure ended, we headed outside to Greenfield Village. The kids were excited to see the hundreds of pumpkins lining the streets right now as part of the decorations for the Village's Halloween nights. We headed straight for the glass blowers per Zu Zu's request. Not only did she remember the place, but she asked specifically about the girl glass blower who was working during our last visit. We watched for a long time and as we left to head back to the museum Zu Zu declared her ambition to become a glass blower. The artist in me was more than a little pleased with her announcement.

We rounded out our evening with a trip to our new favorite burger joint, Bagger Daves. Here's Zu Zu and I sharing a Honey, Cinnamon and Sea Salt shake.

Today we continued our adventures with a bike ride to Gallup park, a long stint on the playground there, and feeding the ducks.

Needless to say, it has been a great weekend. We're trying to pack in as much fun as we can before the snow hits (which is always sooner than you expect here in Michigan).

In other news, I've hit a bit of a road block with my story. There needs to be some research done in order to progress with part of it, but that shouldn't be too bad. I'm waiting on some materials to come in at our fabulous local library. Until then, I'm hoping to continue moving forward with rest of the story.

Cheers.

Something different

It's true. My blog is not full of poetic prose or gritty detail about the everyday happenings of our little clan. I don't offer up bits of wisdom or witticism. What can I say? I'm a practical sort of person with practical ideas about blogging. Despite this fact, and ignoring good sense all together, I've decided to confess my funny little hobby.

Be kind. And if not that, indulgent.

For those of you that don't know I'm writing a novel. I know. Hard to believe isn't it? I can't even post to my blog regularly, so a novel is a bit of a stretch of the imagination. Go ahead, shake your head in disbelief. I can hardly believe it myself.

Needless to say, it's a very slow process, but going pretty well so far. I have over 30 pages typed up in Word and lots more to transcribe out of my notebook. Call me a sucker for old-fashioned things. There's just something about a pad of paper and pen that appeals to my creativity more than sitting in front of a computer screen.

So, there it is for the world to see. I'm hoping this confession will encourage me to write a bit more often. Now that everyone knows I have to continue, right? I hope to post updates on my progress alongside the daily happenings of the family. Hopefully it will add a little bit of flavor to this otherwise practical column.

Until next time....