take me out to the ballpark.

we love baseball and the brewers and going to miller park and peanuts and licorice and hot dogs (i'll exclude myself from that one) and root beer and pop flies and the possibility of catching a pop fly and yelling the players names loudly and the sausage races and the seventh inning stretch and the wave and the home run fireworks and staying up late on a school night (ok, so that one won't win us any parenting awards.) and bernie brewer and waiting to see trevor hoffman pitch (someday, honey.)
and foam fingers.
yes, foam fingers make us very happy.
nights like this are priceless.

for nana.

it's hard to live so far away!
sending you lots of birthday hugs and kisses, mom.
love you much, t

wise guy.

what a sweet picture of hayden. right?
to set the record straight, these shots came first.
he's funny, but he knows it.
the fact that he knows it sometimes makes him funnier.







court & i had front row seats at his spring music program this week.
after hearing from another mom how much her daughter looooves hayden
because he's soooooo cute, i asked him if he was aware of this. (he was)
then i asked him what it means when an eight year old girl
thinks you're soooooo cute and he said,
"oh, i know EXACTLY what it means. it means it's NOT happening!"
(made me laugh out loud for about two minutes. poor girl.)

i love glee.
i love that this shot could be titled "glee".
missy, this one's for you:

one of these things is not like the others.

multiple choice question...
since becoming MIA, i have been:
A. painting the family room
B. taking pictures of: sawyer, sara, porter & brooklyn
C. sneaking in a few pics of my own kids
D. taking pictures of semi trucks (?!?)
E. burning the candle at both ends
F. all of the above

see for yourself, although you won't find
any pictures of the family room.
it's not done. (will it ever be done?)

when i think of you.

happy, happy birthday to my dear friend, amy...
when i think of you, i feel like this:


xo, t

going places.

a tent is a fine way to travel before you have children.
when you think you never want to ever do that again
with your children as long as you live, get a pop up.
after you spend a few rainy, hot weekends in your pop up
with no bathroom or ac,
get something, ANYTHING with a bathroom and ac.
that's what we did.
i'm pretty sure we can't tell people that we camp anymore.
we'll have to say we're "going places".
but, to be fair... we've camped in every other rugged way.
we've payed our dues. done our time.
and i've promised always, from this day forward
to be a happy camper.
xoxo, t

400 questions.

there is a sign posted at preschool that states:
the average four year old asks 400 questions a day.
it's true... the mind of a four year old
is a wonderful, WONDERING thing!
i've started writing down so much
of what she says and asks because
it's just so precious.
and unpredictable.
and concrete.
it usually starts with a "mom."
(pause) "__________________________".

here are a few snippets from our conversations today:
"pretty soon when i'm all grown up i won't need you because i'll be a mail girl."

"mom. (pause) what's happening to madison??!!"
(have you seen monona drive? i wondered the same thing.)

"where are we going?" (staples.) "oh, cuz we're out of them?"
then, when we pulled into the parking lot "that was easy."
(it took me a little while to figure that one out.
when i saw the sign, i was like SERIOUSLY? think slogan.)

it's amazing to see a baby become a person...
she wants to be all grown up, but can't stay awake past dinner.
he wants to play with bubbles, but only with his sister.

after a lot of practice, she can finally write her name.
i'd say that's a step in the right direction
if she wants to be a mail girl pretty soon.
but i think she'll still need me for a little while.

middle of the night.

"how long until the easter bunny comes?"
"tonight."
"when tonight?"
"in the middle of the night."
"oh good. that's when i wake up to go to the bathroom."

"the best day ever."

these were court's words, but we all agreed.

the warmest, sunniest week of spring
and an entire day together to enjoy it.
the same kids who once demanded all
of our attention on these occasions,
now require only a quick reminder
about friendship and compromise.
we were so completely amazed
to discover that we had evolved into this
newly found, (hard earned) phase of parenthood.

so we enjoyed every minute.

playing mrs. fox, rolling down the hill, biking, scootering,
skateboarding, swinging, sliding, pretending, playing
cooking, eating, drinking, relaxing, talking.
enjoying talking. and relaxing.