2012- Week 17

1. I took my Dr. Sears Vaccine book off the shelf and began reading it again.  I love that book because it reassures me that we are not endangering our child or the children around us by skipping a few shots.  It also reminds me that nursing is the major reason why we have such a healthy child.

2. Tuesday was a big day for Link.  He went to story hour at the McGregor Library, followed by McGregor friends picnic at the playground.   We went to the playground and Link learned to log roll.  And we finally let that big red balloon, we got in March, go with a note attached. 

 3. Bryce took a day this week to nurture the artist in him and make art that he wasn't getting paid for. We gave him the whole day to create.

4. Thursday I had to work for AmeriCorp, but it was both rather fun activities.  I went to Boscobel Earth Days and taught the kids how to make frog calls.  Then I went to PALS program at Hoffman Hall and led parachute games.  Link spent the day with Karin and kids at the library, bakery, and then our home. 

5. Link was in awe to meet Abraham Lincoln on Friday.  The impersonator visited the Elkader Library to give a talk about his life.

6. We don't want to spray our yard since Link plays outside on it every day for long periods and we are overgrown with dandelions.  Bryce spent hours trying to pull out like 1/16 of them and had a wheel barrel full.  So we decided to make lemonade out of lemons, or rather sauteed dandelions out of their stems.  Link has found the joy in blowing off the seeds.  Maybe that's not helping the situation.

 7. On Sunday we went with the majority of the cast from Self Help for Dummies to see Anamosa's version.  It wasn't too bad, but our version was definitely funnier.  Of course all the cast members had to bash their characters for their own ego trips.  The set was much better though.  The best part was just hanging out with this group of people. 

8.  Link got his hair cut and was really good so he got an ice cream.

9. I dug into the badge-a-minit that I bought at the last auction.  Not only did I have a good time making buttons, I also found a plethera of vintage hand made buttons that I am going to bring to Whimsy Market.

10.  I put in my three month notice at Whimsy Market.  In return the owners of the building have come to my aid.  They don't want the store to end either, but understand my lack of time so we are working on something to keep the store front alive.

10 artist I learned about this year that I love

 1. Florentijn Hofman- giant temporary sculpture. 
At first I thought it was the most recent Jeff Koons, but not so.

2. Evol- Street artist who makes worlds on trash.  3d spray paint.  A new love to follow my adoration of Banksy.

3. Jason de Caires Taylor- Underwater sculpture of people that sea creatures make their home.
A totally original idea that I can't get enough of.  I want to go to that.

4. Tim Noble & Sue Webster- Shadow artists.  I love clever work and they do it in every way. 

5. Samantha French- painter of swimmers underwater.  I love realism painting without faces and what a great way to do it by using this perspective.  I want one.  Badly.

 

 6. Ursus Wehril- organizing art.  So clever.  He photographs the before and after.  This would be a fruit salad.

 

7. Jonna Pohjalainen- nature art.  Mostly just colored pencils and trees but I love this idea.  I have been thinking of doing in on the island I pass on the way to work.

8. Etienne Gros- foam art torsos.  Such a simple idea but so beautiful and perfect material.

9. Yanni Floros- hyper realism drawings of the back of modern women.  I've always like looking at the hair on Wyeth paintings.  This is pretty much the same thing only brought to the the 21st century.

10. Zander Olson- environmental artist, playing with sightlines and trees.  I think they are wrapped, maybe painted.

2012- Week 16

1. Monday I woke up to either a swollen gland or a very tight muscle in my jaw.  It worked itself out, but my jaw is still in a lot of pain when I yawn.

2. It's been one of those weeks where Link seems to have grow a year in a day.  His conversation is at the next level.  We had several fun activities this week together including finger painting and magic tricks.  He was fascinated that I could make my cell phone disappear under a cloth and pull it out from his shirt sleeve.  "That's amazing," he said.  Then he impressed me with a magic trick of his own.  He was able to fit his entire body through a medium size embroidery hoop, which he did without any prompting. 

3. Self Help for Dummies had its closing night.  The writers of the show came from Canada to the Friday night performance and they were great to hang out with afterwards.  Bryce was pumped.  They said really great things to the whole cast and one of them told him he would have been cast as the same character in their production, had he been there.

4. Jim and Betsy came from Ohio and stayed with us Friday-Sunday.  They were making a vacation of it, first stopping in St. Louis to go to a few ball games and then to visit Joy on her 30th birthday after seeing us. They went to both performances of the show and watched Link during the cast party.  It was a great visit.

5. Sunday we went to Adam and Leslie's and went on a mushroom hunting adventure.  It was a good gathering of people and food and we even found mushrooms (and Link found his mush-tache).

6. Link picked up two new songs this week.  "Hit the Road Jack" which he loves.  He does a great "What'd you say?" at the end of the verse.  He also picked up "It's a Beautiful Day."

7.  The cast party for the play was at Cheri and Jonathan Moser's home.  It was a lot of fun and laughter.  I wish I had more reasons to hang out with the cast than I have been able to.  They are full of fun.

8. I had several people request a get together and a few needing my services in graphic design, which always makes me feel great.  Cranked out some super fast business cards and have another set this week.


9.  Good conversations with Bryce about our health and the changes we are making to eat real food.


10.

2012- Week 15

1. I ate at El Maguy in Prairie du Chien during my lunch break.  This little Mexican Restaurant was so flavorful that I even ate the refried beans!  Even though it is in the same location as the previous Mexican restaurant in town, it is different and worth a stop.

2. I was in a shopping mood this week, which fortunately coordinated with garage sales in Prairie du Chien.  I picked up a bunch of shirts for Bryce, a yellow rain coat and Melissa and Doug fishing puzzle for Link and a box of old constellation cards in perfect condition for me. 

3. Link and I went to see the Lorax.  It was good.  Since the Lorax is one of my favorite Suess books, I had a whole lot of expectations and not all of them where met, but I liked the message.  Link was the best he has ever been.  This was the first movie he didn't need to leave.  He was quiet most of the time, kept his glasses on most of the time and didn't spill a thing.

4. Ella had her baptism.  John Guinta and friend of Vahida's I didn't know were the sponsors. Diana was a a show stealer, especially when she yelled a the priest to smile when she saw someone taking a picture during the ceremony and then followed it up with "I like your dress."  She also had complimented me earlier that day that she liked my tutu (skirt).

 5. Bryce's show started at the Opera House.  I ushered on Friday, which was also the first time I saw the show in it's entirety.  It was hilarious.  Bryce is awesome.

 6. Even though I am a photographer I don't really like to do baby and kid portraits.  But I decided to pick up the camera and do some artistic photographs of Link this week.  I am always in awe of the deep curves and soft shapes of his body so I wanted to capture them.  I really love what resulted.  Of course few people will see them because I am not going to post a bunch online.  Too many creepers.
If you have interest in seeing them let me know.

7. I judged the Drama Festival for Crawford County 4-H.  It was a really fun event.  Kids of all ages  joined to put on plays together.  I saw 6 plays and had to pass one on to state fair.  I chose the Rabbi of Chelm.  The kids were fantastic. 

8. I won several items at the Garnavillo Auction online.  Couch, Chair, Rain Barrel, Globe, and Button Making machine.  I got everything for a total of $39.  I was sad about a few items that I see the total is like $2 more than what I bid, but I suppose if I have bid higher it may have been the same few dollars more, but a lot higher price. 

9.  Link has been sick this week, rough cough and runny nose.

10.  Two Mit and the Burger Barn opened.  Already stopped at Two Mit.

Link and Taryn

http://youtu.be/uwnv0ryMxZw

Bryce and I totally missed this when it was posted on Cheri's blog, but we watched it tonight and we were rolling on the couch laughing.  Link and Taryn make a great team. 

2012- Week 14

1. Made homemade lemonade in Creative Connections program and had an Easter Egg Hunt.

2. Bryce recieved word that he is moving to full time at Tech Crunch and going to be an employee of AOL instead of freelancer.

3. Finally got approved for child care stipend through AmeriCorps.  With Bryce's new job starting next week, we most likely won't qualify anymore, but at least they have back payments.

4.  I went 4 days without internet or phone and I didn't even realize it.

5. Broke up our trip to Ohio with a small stop at the Giuntas.  Always nice to see them on their own turf.

6. Went to Michigan to see Jasmine on her new turf.  Strolled through Ann Arbor and ate at Mark's Carts which was really yummy.  Played Trivial Pursuit late into the night with DQ.  Ann Arbor was really cool.  Link's favorite stores were a robot shop, a man dressed as a wolf playing the violin on the corner, a comic shop with Yo Gabba Gabba characters and a guitar shop which he locked his arms around the fence in protest of leaving.

7. Saw all of Bryce's family in Ohio for Easter.  We missed dying Easter eggs and eating Friday Fish Feast, but we did get in on the traditional easter egg hunt, Anthony Thomas chocolate bunnies, and church at St. Agatha.  Link loved seeing all his cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents.  We did too.

8. Used the big red balloon from the play to take some pictures with Lincoln at the park.  Ended up meeting a new neighbor and her son at the same time.  Since I have three homes on my block that are du- and triplexes we sometimes get neighbors without even realizing it. 

9. Our personal shopper (AKA Aunt Lorri) loaded us up with Links 3T and 4T clothing, straight from NYC and a little bit from Te-has.

10. Got little razor stripes in my hair like Vanilla Ice.  This photo is a little weird, but it shows them off the most.  I am more aware of my ears with this hair cut and it is taking me a bit to grow use to them.  They look so little and downward turned.

101 in 1001 Days

I am nearing the end of my 101 challenges in 1001 days.  I completed almost half of all my goals.   A lot of good has come out of it.  I have made new friends, paid off debt, made some life changes and started things I never thought I would.  Now it is time to make another set of goals.  Some that I didn't complete will go on my next list, some are dead due to changes in life.   So what do I want to do in the next three years?  What does December 29, 2014 look like for me and my family?  We shall see.

2012- Week 13

1. Wizard of Oz on Friday and Saturday night. The kids did amazing. Sold out show both nights and crowds were full of laughter. I ran the lights. Everyone always asks me if I am glad when it is over and I never really am. I love working with the kids. Even if they have me going gray early.

2. Bryce went to a fancy beer tasting as Schera's Restaurant.  He and four others continued the party at Chris Hadley's house after the event was over.  They invited Link and me over to join them.  I have a huge crush on Chris so whenever we get to hang out (besides working on the musical together) I am happy to.  Fortunately Chris and I stayed sober or the last performance of the musical would have been something like "Hey, remember that show where the director and accompanist came smashed."

3. The cast party for the musical was held at the bowling alley (owned by parents of one of the crew members).  We had the place to ourselves to I taught Link how to bowl.  He loved it.  Especially the ball return.  

4. The Auxiliary Rummage Sale was this weekend.  I didn't find as many good finds as I did last year, but a couple.  And I am seeing lots of pallets in dumpsters around town so I might need to do a late night run as there are many pinterest projects I have been looking at that are made from pallets.

5. The flowers we planted when we buried Thyne are in bloom, just around the time when the little one would have been born.  They are beautiful.

6. Hail storm.  Brought down some of the flowers, but that just made us bring them inside.

7. On the way to the grocery store Link and I stopped to introduce ourselves to the kids who were just adopted down the street.  Jonah 5, Maddi 4, Isiah 3.  The kids loved him, even though Link was a little shy.  I think their dad may have been a little overwhelmed with our visit.  He kept telling Jonah not to tickle Link, which made me felt like I should tell Link to stop tickling back, even though I think that is just how kids play.  Anyway, they all hugged when we left and Link even said "I love you."  Photo care of the Burns' and Milestone Photography

8. Link has been singing whole sentences out of songs this week, his favorite being "I love rock and roll".  He sings "I love rock and roll, put another dime in the juke box babah",  "playing my favorite song"  and "wooooww" while driving in the car.

9. It took a little bit of rewarding Link for going potty in the toilet again, but so far we are back to normal.

10. Link's first dentist appointment. I had to pry his mouth open for the doc to say "Yup, all 20 teeth." Link didn't like it, but he did talk about the new tooth brush he got all week.