Brian and Emily Kleinman

McDowell Meltdown

2012-01-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

Heavens only knows why. Why on earth I would wake up at 5 am, pack up three boys *and Brian* and drive two plus hours to Fountain Hills for a Mountain Bike race. Part of me knew it would be a nightmare of all nightmares, but the other good mommy part of me (it really does exist, I swear it does) knew the boys would love it. I knew it would be a battle and I am not referring to the race part.

Truth be told, the boys were angels during Brian's race. Rad just sat in my chair and Rodney ate 7 packs of fruit snacks. We yelled at the racers "up, up" to urge them onward and baby Rex, being his usual little angel, just slept. He cried for a little while, but mostly he ate and slept.

Brian did okay. He wasn't happy with his performance but we also did not realize we would have to hike 19 miles to the start with three kids and all their crap. Had I known I would have brought the BOB. Lesson learned, I suppose.

We waited around for about an hour or so after Brian finished for the kids bike race. Konrad was pretty pumped for it. He got a new bike for his Birthday last week and he has been practicing. On the take off he fell and got real pissed. I mean real pissed. After that he was in a terrible mood and not at all pleasant to be around. Thankfully he fell asleep on the way home, after stopping at Fountain Park, chasing the ducks and watching the "Big Wawa" (thank you, Rodney Roo).

I don't know how many more of the races I will haul the boys to, but I at least gave it a whirl. I will be recovering for the next week. My children, as lovely as they are, are exhausting. But, dang, they are as cute as can be!

A Mini Tour

2012-01-04T11:30:00.002-07:00

Turns out that I have lived in my house for six months. I have posted almost no pix of our new place. It seems like we moved in, I did a ton of projects, had a baby and here we are. Yup, that's exactly what happened. I have actually done quite a few things around the house in my *spare* time. You know, the time I should be cleaning my house, reading to my kids, doing laundry...that sort of thing. Anyhow, I have some pix of the house to share with you! Are you pumped? That's right, you are!

Let's start with my prize room. I just finished putting this baby together!

I am super excited about my sewing room. It's about 10 feet long by 10 feet wide, so we are not talking a ton of space. However, it is awesome! I got a table (adjustable) from Ikea for Christmas. Now for the real gem. Grandma Kleinman passed away back in September. She had tons of stuff to pilfer thru, and pilfer I did. Actually, I pilfered only after the estate sale and after everyone else in the family pilfered. Actually, we went up to get a bunk bed that was being stored up there. Behind the bunk bed, hiding in plain sight, was this beauty. Actually, it was not very beautiful then. Just a measly disassembled library card catalogue. It was in decent shape, it just needed to be *done up*, you know? I took it home, sanded it down, painted it red and put some table legs on it. I am totally in love. It holds all my sewing notions, thread, and other crap. It also houses the tons of vintage sewing notions that I pilfered from Grandma Kleinman. Please expecially (you are welcome) notice the curtains. They were made from a table cloth of Grandma's that perfectly coordinates with my schtuff. Please also note my dress form, that still causes me to turn in to a ninja as I walk down the hall at midnight ("Who's that sexy lady in my sewing room?" It's me!!), and also the dress that it is wearing. I should probably pick out a name for my sexy double self.

Next up, the Places We've Lived Quilt that adorns my dining room. I made this quilt while we were living at my parent's house this summer whilst waiting to close on our house. I wanted to make a quilt to remember all the places we've lived and so I sewed some strips together, cut 'em up and put 'em back together. I didn't follow any specific pattern, it was all just living in my brain.

That's MA, Australia, WI, CO and AZ. I don't plan on adding anymore states to my quilt.

Next are the houndstooth canvasses. I love them oh, so much! I used Ed Roth Stencil 101 and in it is a fab houndstooth stencil. I would have taken a pic of the entire dining room, but it's kind of a disaster this morning. Maybe next time.

Next up is our entry way. I hated the entry way when we first got this place. I still want to rip this wall down, but in the meantime, it is kind of awesome.

The bike is meant for a garden, but I kind of love it here. It was a gift for our 10th anni last June. As we were moving in, I put it right there to get it out of the way. I can honestly say that I did not not move it out of laziness. The mantle? I'm glad you asked. One of my mom's friends was selling their house and getting rid of a lot her stuff. Luckily, my mom thought of me! I got some vinyl wall paper to mount behind it and there you go! I seriously love it so much we may not be ripping the wall down! I found the clock on sale at Pier One. Score.

On to the living room. I have always wanted a fireplace and a mantle. I now have one. An awesome one. Especially now that my ugly mug is gracing it.

My favorite part, aside from my ugly mug, is the red gate. Yup, old red gate. I found it one day when I was taking out the trash for my mom. It happened to be hiding behind her trash cans. As I always do when I find something I love, I ask if I can have it. She gave it to me! I painted it red and put it up on my mantle. Jealous? You should be!

Anyhowzit, that's a little tour of some of the house. Now come visit me and see it all!

Merry Christmas, Fools!

2011-12-28T17:11:00.004-07:00

Here is our Christmas letter, for all you fools that lurk my blog. I know you are out there. I am WAY too important/interesting/awesome to not have lurkers. You know it is true. If you don't know I am kidding, turn away now. It only gets worse.

Dearest Friends and Family,

Lucky you! You are one of the very few and elect that will be receiving

Merry Christmas newsletter from your favorite Kleinmans this year.! I

loathe newsletters. In fact, if I get one in the mail I open it with a lack of

anticipation. I mean, we all have blogs where we brag all year long about

our picture-perfect lives, right? You may even hear me refer to blogs

as “blah-gs”. I can hardly stand my own blog, hence I have not updated it

(www.brianandemilykleinman.blogspot.com) since baby Rex was borned.

Anyhow, here is The Kleinman Family Newsletter 2012. With any luck I will

never send you one again:}

As you probably know, Brian graduated from Marquette in May. He is

now a full fledged endodontist and would love to do a root canal on you.

Whatever, nobody cares about that. You want to hear what he has REALLY

been up to since he now has all this free time on his hands. Well, he has

found a cure for root canals. We know it means that he would be out of

business, but he will make billions when he announces the cure. In fact, he

would like you all to be privy to the cure as our closest and loveliest friends

and family. BRUSH YOUR TEETH. Yep! That’s it! More importantly, brush

your kiddies teeth. Often. Brian’s research concluded that the fuzzy end

of the toothbrush typically works best. Brian came in fourth in the Tour

de France this summer. He trained extremely hard for it! All those snowy

months and hours on the trainer in the basement inWisconsin paid off.

As for me, I grew a baby this year, but my awesomeness does not even

start with growing a human. I have figured out how to grow an extra arm.

I have always complained that I can grow an entire human but could not

grow an extra arm to help me deal with said human. Well, I have figured it

out. Finally. True, I walk around with three arms and because of said 10 lb

arm, I can also complain that I have not lost the baby weight, but it is worth

it. I also ran the Chicago Marathon in October and got third over all. Yes,

just four weeks after Baby Rex arrived I nearly won the Chicago Marathon.

Eat your heart out Paula Radcliff. I am also training for the Cross Fit Games

next summer, along with auditioning for Project Runway. The only thing is

that they don’t want me to design. They love me so much they offered me

Heidi Klum’s spot as judge and total bad A. Look out for me on Lifetime in

2012.

Konrad is as advanced as ever. He was admitted in to the American

Lutheran Preschool, which also happens to be a Harvard feeder school. So

we are saving our money for Harvard tuition in about 14 years, but we

also know that he will more than likely get a fencing scholarship to pay for

his Harvard tuition, so we are not too worried about it. Konrad can read,

spell and has made up his own language, both written and spoken. He

just got done reading the Encyclopedia Britannica for the second time this

year. I keep telling him to just read Wikipedia because it is more up to date

anyways. He argues that that the articles on Wiki not always fact based, as

anyone can edit them. I will concede that to him (but don’t tell him that).

Rodney is a wizard. I know it. He has special powers and I am pretty sure

that the toilet in our second bathroom is a door to the Ministry of Magic. I

don’t have hard proof, but I think that is where Rodney Roo goes nightly.

Maybe he is just the janitor. My resolution is to find out for sure. He is

currently composing a symphony, inspired by the heavenly sounds that

abound in our lovely home. He is hell bent on learning the French horn.

He’s not so good at it, but hopefully the wizarding thing will shed some light

on the secret to learning the French horn. I told him that if said symphony

does not land him a spot in Julliard, he is no son of mine.

Now there is Rex. He was borned on September 16, 2011. He is great. He

may be even more advanced than his older brothers. Let me tell you of

his genius. He has found his hands!! I know! His hands! He can actually

grasp things! So advanced. I am also certain that he referred to me as

Emily Christine Kleinman last week. I told him it was probably a lot easier

just to call me “mommy”, but if he insists, who am I to stunt the growth

of his vocabulary? I think he is going to be the one to go to Dental School

and take over Northern Arizona Endodontics. His motor skills and hand-eye

coordination are unparalleled. He must be a superhero. He can’t fly yet, but

I will keep you all posted.

That’s about it for the Kleinmans! We love and miss you all.

Rodney's a Wizard. I Know It.

2011-10-25T16:26:00.001-06:00

I am totally positive that my little two year old, Rodney Roo, is a wizard and that he is trying to kill me. We have officially arrived and are up to our elbows in the Terrible Two's. Terrible does not even begin to describe it. He is a difficult, volatile child. At any moment he could erupt. I am never prepared, although heavens knows I try. Today? He freaked out (F.R.E.A.K.E.D.) out because he could not get the trains to stay together. The magnetic trains. All he had to do, and I showed him 15 times, was turn it around so that the magnets went together. Then he would walk away, the trains would come apart, and MELT DOWN. When I say MELT DOWN, I mean throwing hisself on the ground, in the dirt, kicking, screaming and pounding. He has this unearthly shrill scream that lets me know he is getting his head ripped off. I mean, his trains won't stay together. In Costco the other day?? He wanted to be held (and I was pushing the huge cart with toilet paper, paper towels and diapers stacked so that I could not see in front of me, and with a baby sleeping- thankfully- in the cart). He would not sit in the cart. Mommy's arms only. I could only hold him for about 10 (or some other random number of minutes) before I had to put him down. What did he do? He threw hisself on the ground, in the middle of Costco, kicking, screaming and pounding and screaming the shrill, unearthly shrill.

That being said, he is also the cutest, sweetest little guy on the planet. He loves his beep beeps, giving me hugs and before he goes to bed he tells me to "cuddle me". How can I resist? He is so lucky that he is so stinkin' cute.

Baby-Ness

2011-10-13T19:02:00.000-06:00

10 Reasons I am Ecstatic to Not Be Pregnant (I had to limit myself to just 10).
1. I can breathe.
2. I don't have to pee every 10 seconds.
3. I can sleep on my back, stomach and head if I so desire.
4. Strange people that I would not EVER in a million years talk to do not talk to me anymore. This IS a good thing.
5. Strange men do not touch my belly.
6. No more strangers saying to me, "Boy! You are about ready to pop!"
7. I can paint my tosies cuz I can see my tosies.
8. Now that I dropped 20 lbs (or more;) I can run like the wind again. Well, maybe not like the wind. I still feel like I got kicked in the crotch for a mile or so when I run, but I am well on my way.
9. I have not had one person say, "oh, you're gestational diabetic?". Nope. I am not. I have had the beetus for 22 years. I could go on for days and days about how irritating this particular number 9 was.

10. I have a very sweet and up till now, a very good baby! He is the best!

Number 3

2011-10-03T11:40:00.001-06:00

Fatty Fatty 2x4. I've never had a chubby baby before!

I think he looks like Rodney Roo.

So Baby Boy Kleinman #3 is officially here. He was born on September 16 2011 @ 1121 pm. He was 8 lbs and 13 oz, 3 weeks early. He has a ton of hair and old man eyebrows. We love him dearly! Especially due to the fact that he slept from 10:20 pm to 3:45 am last night. Don't worry... I know the battle is nowhere near over. That being said, one night of sleep is glorious! Here are some pix of the new little guy. Oh yeah, his name is Rex Lee Foster Kleinman. We could not decide between Lee and Foster for a middle name. I was on team Foster and Brian was Team Lee. Since Lee Foster was the name of my Grandpa, we decided both names would be okay. We are now team Lee Foster. The boys have even adapted to calling him baby Rex, as opposed to Baby Lightning McQueen and/or Baby Wayne. They seem to like him just fine.

Yoooge. That's really huge. Mamasita.

We Be Back.

2011-07-16T16:30:00.003-06:00

Turns out I took a little break from blogging, when really I wish I could have just taken a break from life. Here's a run down of the last two months, blog lurkers.

1. Went to Chicago one last time to get some Garrett's Popcorn and for the boys to ride Thomas.

Thomas.

Cute boys.

2. Brian graduated with his MS and Certificate of Endodontix from Marquette (that means he be really special and can charge outrageous amounts of mooola for a root canal. Lesson? Brush ya teeth).

3. Next day, loaded up the UHaul for the last-time-in-my-life-forever -I -mean- it. Left Wisconsin forever.

4. Flew into AZ wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and running shoesies. It was over 100 degrees in blessed Phoenix. A not-so-blessed 43 degrees as we left WI. I was overdressed.

5. Put an offer in on a house and got accepted! We had to move on from the house we were waiting on as a short sale. The house is AMAZING! 1 acre of land. Flat! In Prescott!! Total win.

6. Swam in parent's pool. A LOT.

7. Did some running. Blessed trails in AZ. Oh, Granite Mountain, how I have missed you. And oh, how I now live a quarter of a mile away from your trail head. That sounds soooo bad.

8. Celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Had the WORST dinner and saw the WORST movie. But without kids so whateva.

9. Fourth of July. Fun-nessss.

10. Moved. Again. This time FOREVER.

11. Still unpacking.

Look at those eyelashes.

Chicago skyline boat ride.

He's the besticle.

Brian's bro's. He spent more time with them than he did with me.

Graduation dinner. I made this maternity dress. Don't I look stunning?

Doddy Doo Swimming.

Brothers

Konrad. What else can I say?

Goon.

goon.

Apy's Jeep. Topless.

Julie and myself. Modeling our 4th of July teeshirts. Aren't they gorgeous?

Mr. Daddy. His idea. Not mine.

Firemen.

Fireman Konrad.

Our Truck of Crap.

The Omen.

2011-05-07T16:41:00.001-06:00

I believe in Omens (yes, that is a capital O, on purpose). I believed in the idea of Omens before now, but I AM A BELIEVER!

So, we go to take our picture on Thursday night. Back story: I lied to everyone I knew that asked when we were finding out what we were having. I don't know why. I just lied. Turns out that lying is pretty fun! Our US was Friday May 6, so my grand idea was to get two blue balloons (one representing each boy) and I got two pink balloons. That way, I could take pix before the US, have them photoshopped and ready to email/text when we saw our baby's vagina or wiener.

We pull into the park, get the boys and balloons out of the car and find that one of the pink balloons was deflated. No biggie, right? I had another one. I was glad I had thought ahead (this rarely happens, by-the-by). I give the camera to Brian then get the balloons positioned for the first pic. Except, the last pink balloon is missing, as we ignore Konrad in the background saying, "Oh no! Look!". I tend to ignore a lot of what he says. Anyhow, the pink balloon had escaped my grasp and was up in the trees.

That was the omen. No pink balloons. No vagina. Only a wiener left. My little boy's wiener! I am so pumped to be having a little boy! I bought the sweetest fabric for a quilt and I am pretty pumped I don't have ANYTHING that I need to buy (except for sanity, but I don't think that's for sale). Konrad is especially pumped. The whole time he has been saying that it's a boy. In fact, when we asked him what he would think of a little sister, he would say, "No. It's a boy. A brother. His name is T. Rex." Just like that! Every time! And, no, we are not naming him T. Rex. We are calling him Baby Wayne. Check it.

18 weeks. Them's maternity pants.

Go Away.

2011-05-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

The rain and the cold seriously need to flippin' go away. Well, if it doesn't go away, we will! We leave for AZ in about 24 days. That is great, but I have sooooo stinkin' much to do before D-Day.

It is the first of May but we are still stuck inside, due to the awesome Spring we are enduring here in M'Waukee. They boys (and myself) are feeling really cooped up, so we have been having picnics for lunchtime. Nothing spectacular, but it is sadly fun. I wish we could have a proper picnic outside, in the sun, but that may have to wait another 24 days.

Yes, they are matchies! I made them shirts that say "scallywag" with my silhouette machine. They are soooo cute! I still can't get over Rodney Roo's haircut!

Hair Cut

2011-04-23T19:50:00.000-06:00

We took the boys to the Barber yesterday. It was originally just to get Brian's hair cut, but Rad decided he was gonna be a big boy and get his done too. Then, by my utter shock and amazement, Tom, the Barber got Rodney Roo to sit in a chair (with a sucker) and get his hair a little more than trimmed. I told him just a trim, but he definitely was on the extreme end of a trim. It's okay, though. Roo still has curls and he is still darling. Oh, and he might look a little bit like me. Just a tid bit.

mOnSTeRs

2011-04-11T17:46:00.000-06:00

Konrad loves Monsters, INC. Shoot, I love it to! I mean, how can you hate anything with Billy Crystal? It's almost un-American. I think I loved him most in The Princess Bride...mostly dead. LOVE.

I made Rad and Roo some monsters. Rad must have his every night when he goes to sleep. If he does not have it we have to search the place till we find it. It is irritating beyond belief, but so cute!

Introducing Sully. I love that he has him all tucked in to bed (my bed) with him. Rodney Roo's monster is named Mike. I know, so terribly original!

Peace. Emily

baking bread

2011-04-10T18:22:00.000-06:00

I have been baking bread every two or so weeks for the past little while now. I didn't do it much after Rodney was born but I have been back in business this winter. I got a Bosch for Christmas last year and it is AMAZING. I don't know how my ancestors (or even mom) made bread the old-fashioned way. I am glad that I am a modern girl living in the 21st Century! I can make 5 loaves of bread at a time, and it is the most delicious bread I have ever made! I have used lots of recipes. LOTS and LOTS of recipes, all of which failed in comparison with the recipe I have been using lately that was my great grandmother Henrietta Williams Janson's recipe. Soooooo good. Want to try it? Okay!

3 Tablespoons active dry yeast ( or three envelopes)

4 1/2 cups warm water

2 cups sugar ( I use brown sugar)

1/2 cup oil

7 teaspoons salt

1 can evaporated milk

6 cups whole-wheat flour ( use more if your colon can take it, I usually use 8 cups of white wheat flour)

White flour

Sometimes I will put in 4 eggs with the wet mixture is I am making rolls.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and add the rest of the ingredients. Start adding the flour slowly while using a metal whisk.

At this point put the top of the mixer on and turn on power to the lowest setting. Continue adding white flour (turn up the mixing speed

as needed) until the dough is dry enough to not stick to the sides of the bowl.

I do not raise the dough two times, but it needs to raise at least 1 hour This recipe makes 4 loaves. I cook at 350 degrees for at least 40 mins. ---Janyne----

it might be different. I but melted butter on the top when it comes out of the oven so the crust isn't actually "crusty". Cool loaves "bottom Down" on racks.

When I am making bread the boyz have to be "helping" me. Not any real help, but it is pretty cute. They must wear aprons (per Konrad) and I give them a bowl of flour to play with. It more often than not ends up in the Bosch, but whatever. I can't control everything. I will say that I am extremely excited to have a bigger kitchen to bake our bread in!

Little Rodney Roo

2011-03-13T15:52:00.000-06:00

Today was Roo's first day in nursery. He wore his new get up and it was so cute! He loves nursery. He was the only new little guy that didn't have a complete meltdown! He did, however, climb on every single table and on the piano. That is to be expected. He has a new bruise for every day of the week, and then some. So dapper. Watch out, Don Draper! His curly hair is the best!

Have A Monster Truck Day!

2011-03-06T09:15:00.001-07:00

Rad takes a tumbling class and a sports of all sorts class at the YMCA in Wauwatosa. He loves it, especially sports of all sorts. As we walk in each time, we have to walk down the stairs past all the people that are on the elliptical machines. He always waves at them and says "hi guys!!". He always gets waves back and a few laughs. Well, this week he decided to shake things up. He says, "Have a Monster Truck Day!!". I have no idea where he got this. It sounds like a bad Valentime card. This phrase has now replaced good-bye or see ya later. He now tells everyone to have a monster truck day!

When I got done doing laundry downstairs a few days ago, I came back up and Konrad had found my muffin tin and put all his monster trucks in it. Hilarious. That being said, HAVE A MONSTER TRUCK DAY!! Some times he will say HAVE A GRAVE DIGGER DAY!!

Up to Speed

2011-03-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a bit. I have a coupla reasons and they are both related.

1. I have nothing to blog about. There is nothing to do when it's freezing outside and three feet of snow on the ground. We pretty much stay home and do things (make cookies, letter searches, color, play dough). Not much to document.

2. I am pregnant and feel like garbage. Yay for pregnant! Not so much for feeling like garbage.

We are pretty excited for our new little nugget! I am kinda tired of people saying they hope we have a girl, though. I have extremely cute boys, so a boy would be great! I don't wanna get my hopes up either way!

Now that you are up to speed I hope you feel better. We have less than three months till the move to AZ. We are really pumped to move! In fact, I was watching a neighbor bet out his snow blower and thought to myself, "Self! You will NEVER have to buy a snow blower!!" That is right. Eff the midwest! I do, however, love their mustaches and how they have not given up on the mom jean. It is beautiful.

Valentime's Day

2011-02-14T15:05:00.000-07:00

I made the boys these fabric mail boxes a few weeks ago. It was the fabric mailboxes I was working on when my sewing machine died! Every day I have been giving them a little Valentime from somebody they know. For instance, they got one from Apy, Grandma, Grandpa, Cousin Nate, Santa, and the list goes on. It's been very cute! Rodney just white-knuckles his treat until I let him eat it after breakfast.

These are the Valentimes I sent out to family this year. Took me about 10 minutes AND I was pleasantly surprised to find a pic of both of them looking at the camera AND smiling!!

An Original Cowboy

2011-01-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

1919-2011

My Grandpa Lee Foster Brimhall passed away yesterday. I just want to remember a few things about him. He was a month shy of 92 years old when he died, and oh, the stories he could tell...and poems (pronounced po-EEEEM, but only one syllable).

He was gored by a bull. What else can I say?

He was a square dancer. I am not sure if he did it to humor Grandma, but nevertheless, he was a square dancer.

He was a cross country runner at the U of A. He picked the wrong school, but we will forgive him. Every time I saw him he asked me how far I ran that day. His theory was that if you could run for a mile without stopping you were in good shape. I love it that we shared a love for running.

He had a bolo tie collection/fetish. Can ya blame him?

The summer after I graduated from HS, so the summer of 2000, I took ended up with some of his old Levi's. I wore them and they fit like a glove. I still have 'em somewhere.

Belt buckles. He had the best belt buckles.

I loved hearing stories about his mission in Palmyra, NY.

I love that he loathed environmentalists. He loathed them before Rush Limbaugh and his ilk made it cool (depending on your position) to hate environmentalists.

He really was awesome. It's sad that all the original Cowboys are dying. I feel like I got a lot of my toughness and meanness from my Grandpa's cowboy heritage (by way of my dad, of course, who is also tough and mean). I also think I learned my love of the outdoors from him.

Love you, Grandpa!

I also wanted to leave you with a little ditty from Lee Foster Brimhall.

Cows and Methane Gas

I read a piece sometime back

In the local paper

About research on methane gas,

It seemed like quite a caper.

Because it was to measure

What methane gas cows put out

What it did to the ozone layer

Was what it was all about.

So then I wondered what they’d do

If they thought it was bad,

And how they’d go about it

If the figures that they had

Showed that it had depleted

The ozone layer some

And if they didn’t fix it

How things would then become.

Earth warming was the problem

Cows might contribute to

And what would be corrective tings

That they might try to do.

I wondered what they had in mind

To install some control

To prevent cattle methane gas

From taking such a toll.

Would they make plugs and cork ‘em

Or put diapers on the cows?

Or maybe they’d recycle

That methane gas somehow.

Or train cows to use burp bags

And install hoses and fixtures.

In my mind it sure did form

An interesting picture.

I wondered if they plugged ‘em

How long before they’d blow?

And if those corks went flying

How high up would they go?

Up to the ozone layer

And poke a hole in it?

And cause the environmentalists

To have another fit?

So I just keep on wondering

About the tings we’ll see

When those ‘Do Gooders’ put the world

Back where it ought to be.

Snow.

2011-01-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

i think that i can officially declare that i hate the weather in Wisconsin. i know that if i had been born a long time ago, i would have kept pushing west, figuring there had to be a better place than this. i would have also probably died from cholera or something even more awful as i rushed to California to make my money in gold. that being said, this is our last winter here. it has also been snowing non-stop since Sunday last. that would make it an entire week of snow. shoot me now. Brian didn't work Tuesday night so when he got home we played in the snow. Rad is acting really weird about walking in the snow b/c he does not want to get his boots dirty. i don't get him sometimes. perhaps we are seeing a pinch of ocd?

then yesterday we found a sweet sledding hill. we froze our butts and hands off but it was fun. side note: the tube is the balls! goes way faster than the sleds.

All Babies Want To Be Borned.

2011-01-03T20:44:00.001-07:00

Yes, they do. Konrad was borned three years ago today. He is such a little Yahoo! We spent the morning at Chuck E. Cheese's (heaven help me) and the rest of the day playing with his new fire station. The fire station, let's be honest, is a glorified doll house infused with testosterone. It is pretty sweet, I will admit! I was pretty pumped while putting it together and taking all the little pieces out of the box and lovingly placing them in the correct room. My personal favorite is the treadmill. Just like mommy's, albeit mine is not made of wood.

Don't mind the plastic. We wanted to create the feeling that we were about to be murdered by the serial killer Dexter.

Good thing mommy taught him his jump shot. Mommy PWNs daddy's JS.

And then there is Rodney Roo...and a cupcake.

I got a new little machine for Chrissy called a silhouette and I have been playing with it! Check the applique, banner, Rad's ribbon and the swirlies. I have not perfected the machine at all, I am most definitely a rookie, but I am rockin' it a little bit, I think!

Chrissy Card

2010-12-19T16:00:00.002-07:00

Ta dah! As my Little Konrad says! Here is our Chrissy card for 2010! I am loving it right now. So much cooler than the pre-made crapola that one typically sees. No, pre-made is not for us. I drew this card then did some magic in CS4. Do you love? Were you lucky enough to get one in the mail? Get Up Offa That Thing and go check ya mail box and see! Don't worry, I will not bore you to tears with a newsletter. All you need to know is that we are cold, buying a house in AZ (in escrow right now) and can't wait for summer. Rodney is a turkey and Rad is as silly as ever!

Love,

Us.

P.S. it's a good day when you can quote James Brown, no?

Another List(icle).

2010-12-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yuz know how I love lists. Here is my reading list for 2010 (well, the ones that I can remember).

1. Mocking Jay. Meh.

2. Grapes of Wrath. Excellent, as always.

3. Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin. Don't even remember reading it but the library list does not lie. So another Meh.

4. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Overrated.

5. The Weight of Silence Heather Gudenfauf. Okay

6. Waiting for Grace. Excellent.

7. I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be your Class President. Win.

8. The Distributable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Excellent.

9. Fall of Giants. Ken Follet. Um, yes.

10. Dangerous Book for Boys. Worth the read.

11. These Is My Words. Amazing. Highly Recommend.

12. Harry Potter 1-7. Good. Won't read again, especially since I can watch the movies, however, the books are WAY better. Not a freak about the books tho. I mean, it would be cool to be a wizard but THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS WIZARDS. I feel the same way about vampires. Don't even get me started on those pieces of crap books.

19. The Prestige. Loved the movie. Thought the read was gonna be a waste of time but it was Ah.May.Zing. So much better than the movie, especially since I was picturing Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman the whole time. Not bad.

20. Edgar Sawtelle. One of Oprah's book club picks. It was alright.

That's it! I think my taste in books is impeccable so hopefully you will take my advice and don't read the crap books that I wasted my time on.

Blah.

2010-12-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

Winter is here. It is cold. It was really sad when it was 26 degrees outside and I took the boyz out to play cuz it was warm. Shoot me now. As we speak (?) there is a blizzard warning, and not we are not talking about one from Dairy Queen.

A month or so ago I won a makedo connector set. Check it out! It is really cool. I have been saving it up for the crappy weather to hit, so I put it to use this week and made the Yahoo's a car.

There are so many funny things about this pic that I don't know where to start. Perhaps the Knight Hat? The sock on the hands? The Christmas tree decorations not on the tree? The evil eye?

Anywayz, they loved it! Hours of fun, seriously. They drove to Chicago while I caught up on my DVR. Pressing things, folks, pressing things!

Grand Canyon

2010-12-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it was Grand, that is for sure! On Nov. 6 I ran the Grand Canyon Half Marathon. It was quite interesting, considering that I live (and train) at sea level and the GC is at 7500 feet. But I think I did alright! It really was grand! I was shooting for 2:15 min, but at mile 9 my bg headed south so I had to stop and eat a banana. Then at mile 10.5 said banana was threatening a reappearance. Right after it decided that it was gonna stay put, I ran with a sweet guy that was running the marathon with no shoes. It came as no surprise that he was going to stop at the Half. He also said his feet hurt. Hmmm. Really? Anyhowzit, I finished at about 231. I had a cheering squad, including a two year old running at me then continuing on to the finish line with me. It was pretty cute! See my pic here. I don't know why they insisted on taking my pic going up a huge hill, but at least I am smiling, right? BTW, there were lots of huge hills. Especially the first one that lasted two miles (the first two miles of the thing). That being said, at least the last two miles were downhill. PTL!

I Won!

2010-11-01T08:20:00.000-06:00

My mother is the luckiest dang person I know. If there is a drawing, a raffle or any such contest, she will win. In fact, she doesn't even wait for her name to be called before she walks to the front of the audience to receive her prize. She has one so many things, including an iPod, a prize pack from Heidi Swapp herself and a butt-load of Boy Scout popcorn, to name a few. She also gets the best parking spots available to us non-handicapped peoples. My dad and I want to take her with us for a weekend in The Vegas.

Anyhow, I WON SOMETHING!!! Check it out! I never win things, so I was very pleasantly surprised to get an email telling me I won something awesome, especially after we made Rad his fire truck. Ooooh, this winter is gonna be fun!

Halloweener, 'Waukee style

2010-10-29T19:13:00.001-06:00

I declare that Milwaukee does three things right.
1. Cheez. Period.
2. Brats (no beer, since I don't drink alchy).
3. Halloweener.
In AZ everyone Trick or Treats on the 31st beginning at dusk. The rules here are way different. Each town/neighborhood has its own day and time to ToT. It does not have to necessarily be October 31. For example, tonight was ToTing for Enderis Park from 630-830. It's also great cuz people go all out here for decorating for Halloweener. I am especially happy for the people that left up their Christmas lights all year and now have them on for Halloweener. Now they can feel like they are not completely lazy for the next three months. The best part of the Weener? People bring out their fire pits and chairs and neighbors and friends sit outside, drink some drinks (and offer you "adult" drinks) as you ToT. It's pretty sweet. We are going to continue the awesomeness in AZ next year!

Baby Santa, according to Rad.

At the Fire Station

I wanna ride on a fire truck!

booty

Brian and I made Rad a fire truck, complete with fire hose, siren (thanks siren iPod app:) and blinking lights. He only wore it for a few minutes. It is hard to run with it on. Rodney was our cold little garden gnome. We are going to the zoo for ToTing tomorrow and a party at Sara and Joe's tomorrow night so hopefully we will get some more pix of the yahoos!

The Adventures of Conan

2010-10-26T09:30:00.000-06:00

Once upon a time there was a little boy and his name was Conan. He was an awesome little boy. Conan had a little brother and his name was Baby. Conan also had a little doggy and his name was Dubby. One day, Conan said that he wanted to go for a bike ride. So Mommy, Conan, Baby and Dubby packed up the bike and trailer and off they went on a bike adventure. The first place they stopped was the Library. Conan and Mommy had some books to return. Conan was upset that we had to return the Fire Engine books, but Mommy said he could get some different books on another day. They got back on Mommy's pink Trek bike and rode to the Wauwatosa Fire Station. Outside the station sat a BIG. RED. FIRETRUCK. Conan was so excited. He said, "Mommy! Look at the Firetruck! It has a ladder!". Then a very nice fireman came out and showed Conan, Mommy and Baby around the fire station. Conan got to see the big Fire Engine and sit in the Captain's chair and wear his hat. He got to drive the fire engine too! Then Conan asked if he could see the fire pole. Not only did he get to see the fire pole, he got to go down the fire pole! Next Conan got to see where the firemen changed when a call came. The fireman showed him his mask and Conan thought that was scary scary.

Then it was time to leave. Mommy got Conan and Baby back into the Burley and off they went! They went over a few hills, all the while Conan telling Mommy, "Faster! Faster!". Then they got to the park. They played on the swings, in the sand, went down the slide, looked at the creek and played in the leaves. Conan thought that was so much fun.

After a bit, it was time to head back home. Baby needed to eat and Mommy's legs needed a rest. They stopped at the park across the street from their house. Conan raced Mommy and Baby across the grass, threw some leaves at Mommy and pretended he was an airplane. They played some chess and then came back home. Mommy made them snack trays for lunch then put them down for their naps.
THE END.

curls

2010-10-24T17:38:00.000-06:00

I have a 13 month old boy that looks like a girl, however, I simply cannot bring myself to cut his hair. Can you blame me??

Just A Matter of Time

2010-10-17T19:30:00.000-06:00

I know it was gonna happen sometime. I knew it would be soon. I did not think it would be tonight. I got Rodney Roo outta the bath, lotioned (which is now a real word cuz I added it to my dictionary), diapered and dressed for bed. I even combed his wild hair. I put him down on the floor to go walk out to daddy. I then turned around to get Konrad Scott out of the bath, put him in a towel when I saw two little (clothed) midget legs in the air. Then...PLOP! There he was, in all of his short, little glory. Rodney Roo in the bath with his clothes on. I wasn't mad. How could I be?? Look at his darling little face!!

One of Rad's favorite things to do is to "help" me when I am in the kitchen baking. Well, today I was not baking but I was making some caramel apples, complete with pecans and dark chocolate. He asked for his apron (I am gonna make him a Thomas apron...SOON) and off we went. Well, I made the apples and he stole one. He did like sticking the sticks in the centers of them. Please ignore the circles under my eyes. PEACE.

6:30 am

2010-10-08T07:51:00.000-06:00

Isn't it a little bit early to be so cranky already? Heaven help me.

Feel the Burn.

2010-10-05T08:45:00.000-06:00

Well, conference is always a nice break from having to go to actual church. Saturday started with a nice 10 mile run. It was incredibly cold. I swear I had hypothermia. I also decided to download my Garmin and was kind of interesting, especially since I have been nursing an injury and have been feeling like I am not running as much as I would like to. Since April I have run 548.6 miles and have burned 60,485 calories. I only wear my Garmin 85% of the time, so I would probably add another 70 or so miles to that (every Tues I do a recovery run and I don't do it for time...I go for distance and to release some of the lactic acid in my muscles). Am I bragging about how much I run? Well, if it's true, it's not bragging, right?

We also made some alphabet cookies. I am doing a letter a week for Rad starting this fall, so this was kind of the intro to it. Um, he really liked the cookies! I thought they were only mediocre, but whatev.

And, of course, the boyz played like crazy! Rodney loves any attention he can get from Rad!

Babies and Mustaches.

2010-09-17T16:19:00.001-06:00

I don't know why the idea of babies and mustaches cracks me up. Well, yes I do. It's because it is hilarious. I mean, babies can't grow mustaches, especially blue mustaches (unless they have some sort of endocrine/hormonal imbalance or just start puberty at a really young age, Brian might be one of the latter). So, I think this is funny. Very funny. I am cracking up.

Le Tour de Tosa

2010-09-13T19:15:00.000-06:00

I took the boyz on a bike tour of Wauwatosa today. We got loaded up on mommie's pink Trek, the Burley and lots of fruit snacks and apples (see previous post) for Rodney. I figure that if their mouths are full, there won't be too much crying. First, we stopped at Hartung Park for a quick play. Another pic of Rodney in a swing. He likes to swing. I like to take pix of him swinging. He is cute. Therefore, lots of pix.

Our next stop (besides doing some church business) was at Hart Park. Again, some more playing (this time in sand) and swinging. After Hart Park, Rodney decided to escape his buckle in the Burley and stood up for some of the ride. Note: this is VERY dangerous. Do not allow 1 year old's to do such things. Then we rode over my favorite bridge and took a pic.

We stayed at said bridge so Rad could watch a train cross the bridge. He thinks that is pretty awesome. Me? Bored me to tears. We kept going along Menomonee River Parkway following this trail.

I run this trail nearly every day, except for the week it was flooded beyond recognition about a month ago.

Our next stop was to the Fire Station. What else can I say? Firetrucks, sirens, all the same. The funny thing was that Konrad asked the fire man if he could do the fire pole. He is obsessed with fire poles. He's a weird kid.

Next stop was the Wauwatosa Library. We didn't make it for story time, but we did read some fire truck books and looked in vain for Thomas the Train books. Those must be popular. They were all checked out.

Another bridge by the choo choo tracks that I run across nearly every day:

It is very beautiful here in WI. The leaves have started to turn, so fall is on its way.

Our last stop was to Donald's (that's Mc for all of yuz that haven't talked to Rad lately). We stoped at Enderis park across our street and played (swinged) some more. It was so fun...until Rad crapped his pants. Accidents happen, that's what they say.

Here's the boyz (poopless, at this point).

Apples.

2010-09-10T20:34:00.000-06:00

Olympic Apple Eatin'

Try to pry it from his hands. Seriously, I dare you.

We went apple picking today (and yesterday, but I am not telling that story). Firstly, there were tractors so Rad was in heaven. Secondly, there were lots of apples so Rodney Roo was in heaven. I had no idea Little Rodney was such an apple fiend, none at all. Grandma gave 'im an apple and proceeded to practice his death grip on it for the next half hour. He probably ate about 3 apples, all up. We called him the apple king. If we ever end up roasting him for some reason, he will have an apple in his mouth.

They Say It's Your Birthday

2010-09-08T09:23:00.000-06:00

I shot Rodney out my belly one year ago yesterday. At exactly 3:11pm one year ago yesterday we welcomed the little Turkey into the world. At exactly 3:11 pm yesterday I got hit in the face by an acorn while I was runnin'.

We ate dinner with Grandma, Uncle Jason and Aunt Kayla @ Fuddruckers, then came home for some cake and presents. Lots of presents. Too many presents. Anyhow, Konrad liked the presents probably more than Rodney did. However, it was all we could do to get Rodney Roo off the Sit n Spin. He loves that stupid thing!

Happy Birthday, my Little Turkey!

One Year Old Boy

2010-09-05T19:58:00.000-06:00

Well, one year in a coupla dayz. I took these pix this weekend and I had to post them for all to see. He is so stinkin' cute!

Gladiators

2010-08-31T15:00:00.001-06:00

How many pairs of gladiators are too many? One more than you (I) currently have. That being said....

Hey, this addiction is WAY cheaper than gambling, BICYCLES (ahem, Brian), purses. Plus, I can only buy them for like 4 months of the year and they don't take up too much space. So...Don't Judge Me.

Moo-stash-eeee

2010-08-30T08:43:00.001-06:00

What can I say?? It's simply amazing. The End.

We Are Queens!

2010-08-27T12:05:00.000-06:00

We went on another little vacay this past week to the Wisconsin Dells. On the way we made a little detour in Madison, which is the capitol of WI. I had heard that Madison was a pretty (okay the most) liberal city in the US, so I was kinda figuring it would be like Boulder (minus the mountains, of course), and I was right. We stopped and walked up and down State Street, ate some amazing burgers at Five Guys, went to a cool bike shoppe, read some stories about fixed gear hipsters and saw a parade.
I was in a really cool art shoppe, looking at dye and fake mustaches when the owner's family (who has an aunt that lives in Ajo, AZ) ran in saying, "THEY ARE COMING"!!! They were the Queens. We were lucky enough to be in Madison for a gay pride parade!! Lucky us!! Konrad was pretty pumped because there was music and where there is music there is dancing. And in this case, where there was dancing there were Drag Queens and schlongs. Lots of schlongs. Dancing schlongs and Queens. My favorite part of the parade? When it was all over and done, we walked by a Queen on her? motorcycle. She was wearing a pretty tiara...and smoking a cigarette. I wish I could have taken a pic but the last thing I wanted was to get punched in the face by a Queen.

Schlongs.

Goon

2010-08-19T21:08:00.001-06:00

Well, little Rodney Roo will be one in a coupla weeks. We went to the Concert in the Park tonight and I got this darling picture of the little guy. I just have a few things to tell you about little Rodney. Firstly, his teefs crack me up! Every time I look at him, he makes me laugh. Those teeth are fairly new and they all came with a vengeance all at the same time. Also, his curly hair is amazing. He is a wild man. My favorite thing to do is to bathe him and put him straight to bed without combing his hair. I am always surprised when he wakes up in the morning with an amazing 'do. Thirdly, his first word was goon goon. Story time, I am just warning you. When I was about 12 we went on a vacay to SanDiego with the five of us kids. We stayed at the Embassy Suites right on the beach. We got breakfast there and Jay got two doughnuts. I will never forget him saying, " A doughnut and a doughnut is a doughnut doughnut". (side note: Jay just mentioned how it would have been REALLY funny if he would have called it a deuxnut. Ha! That made me LOL:) I thought that was hilarious. He also left a note for the maids to not touch his doughnuts that said, "Do Nut touch my Donut". Now that's still funny. Fast forward to now. When I am with the boyz and they are being goons, I say, " A goon plus a goon equals a goon goon". I know, it's stupid. It's just one of those things. Anyhowzit, Rodney this morning said, "goon goon". Kid you not. Besides mama and dada, his first word was goon. That's pretty awesome. My favorite thing about Rodney is how he plows over everything. If he wants something he will plow over any and everything that is in his way to get to what he wants and there is no stopping him. He does not whine about obstacles, he does not get side tracked. He plowed over kids in nursery on Sunday. He is a funny kid!

Oh, Ballz or Mani/Pedi Gone WAY Wrong

2010-08-08T16:49:00.000-06:00

I was in my computer room this morning working on a couple of things for church and maybe surfing the net just a little. Rodney Jones was asleep in his bed, Konrad was on the couch playing games on my iPod, Brian was down in the basement doing heavens knows what. Konrad was really quiet. You know that quiet that scares the crap outta ya because it's too quiet? Yeah, that quiet. I walk into the living room and see this.

He looks so sad here.

He was sitting on the couch, thankfully red, painting his (ahem) toenails...and the couch...and his face...and his hair...and my iPod with my red nail polish. I don't know what else to say other than that my throat is still burning from acetone fumes, so now our house smells like French toast and nail polish remover. Soon gonna smell like baked salmon (yummy). My iPod seems to have made it! And for Konrad. Well, he seems to have painted all 10 fingers and all 10 toes, so success for him. He is pretty upset that his Batman pj's are ruined.

Not lipstick.

This is my favorite. He worked really hard on this.

Fire Truck! Fire Truck!

2010-08-08T09:46:00.000-06:00

Konrad is currently really into Fire Trucks and anything that goes with them (IE fire men, fire hats, etc.). At Target they have some fire boots that are rain boots. Rad has been eying them for a couple of months now. Every time I take him to target he has to look at them before we head over to look at the toys, all while eating a pretzel and drinking an ICEE. What can I say? Target has become a tradition;) One night last week, Brian had a patient cancel on him so he was actually home and able to accompany us to Target. He must have found a soft spot in Daddy because he bought Rad his fire boots. He had to wear them around the store, even though they still had the tags on them. I will admit, it was very cute to see him so excited. And, around here, rain boots are quite practical this time of year. We have had record rain fall and flooding twice in one week, so I am sure the rain boots will be put to use in actual rain.

Right when we got home Rad made me put on his fire man shirt and fire hat. I think the look on his face in this pic says it all!
The next day he had to wear his fire man outfit. I decided that we would make a stop at the Wauwatosa Fire Station. He was such a good boy that day and did lots of peepee's on the potty I told him we would go see the fire trucks. He was so excited. He woke up from his nap early and kept saying,'"Fire truck. Awesome." A fireman named Brian took him around the station and let him drive the truck, wear a real fire hat and turned on the siren and lights for him. Here's to the Wauwatosa Fire Dept.!!! They are awesome! We always see them at the Push N Shove down on State Street and they are always amazing, but they were super nice to us! It was the sweetest!!

We Are A Happy Family!

2010-08-01T19:09:00.000-06:00

I have been running the same five mile route every day for over a year. I have run by this awesome garage at a Chinese food restaurant for the over a year. I noticed it a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to do a photo shoot right here. I knew I had limited time bc Rodney Jones was DONE with life today and Rad was too. Sunday church means no naps for boyz. So we packed 'em up and drove to said garage. We used the remote to get these pix. they are by no means amazing or professional, but it is a glimpse of my family...today. I always say that I want to get some pix taken and think I will do it when Rodney can stand/walk. But I wanted a snapshot of today, August 1, 2010. So here you go, my lovely fan club!
As a side note, Konrad yelled out in church, during the sacrament, "Jesus is Awesome"! Not as cool as the little girl a few months back who yelled, "I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT JESUS!!", but still pretty cool. And, hey, Jesus is awesome!

Parks. That's What We Do.

2010-07-14T18:57:00.000-06:00

Lots of parks here in 'Waukee. Lots of people in those parks. Look, it is winter 9 months of the year here, halfway to the North Pole, so when its "nice" out everybody and their mother (literally) go outside to play. The parks around where we live are populated with stay-home mom's especially at around 10:00 am. Today we found a merry-go-round. It was quite merry, in fact. Konrad freaking loved the crap out of the 'go-'round. He was the youngest kiddo out there but I am sure he loved it more than all of those hoodlums combined. Me? I loathe anything that goes around in a circle at a speed of more than zero, so I am a little shocked (I shouldn't be) that Rad loved this thing. Luckily I had my zoom lenz on me today. Please note the pic where Rad is jumping. Awesome furtography by ME!

Death's Door

2010-07-08T15:20:00.002-06:00

Nobody is sick. That is just the origination of Door County, or so we were told by our bad @ss trolley driver/tourguide in Door County, or what we like to call Half-Way-To-The -North-Pole. Only thing is, it really is half way to the North Pole (45 degrees latitude).

chicago

sucked in.

This pic is for Aunt Api

mohawk. excellent.

alligator.

Wild man

meltdown ensuing

Brian got this week off so we had a few adventures. Firstly, we went to the Chicago temple and did a session at an unholy hour (see what I did there?) then we drove into Chicago and went to Navy Pier. I read a book called Devil in the White City a few years back. It was about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, and it was an awesome book, so I have really wanted to go see the remains (not many after the fire) of the World's Fair. Well, we picked a crappy hot day to do so. Oh yeah, Brian also had dino-rrhea. It was 94 degrees in Chitown. Hellacious, really. So we took a scenic (hot) boat tour of the harbor, got Rad some Donald's (as in Mc) and drove the crap home. And we got stuck in traffic. Lots of traffic.
So we got home Saturday night, had a 4th of July BBQ, went to the parade on Monday then took off for Door County, which is said to be the Cape Cod of the Midwest. It was very beeeyoutiful but Cape Cod still takes the cake. Rad made us go on a trolley ride, which turned out to be awesome. We ate lunch and had some ice cream at Wilson's. We missed the goats on the roof at Al Johnson's b/c it was too rainy, but we did eat at the Rusty Tractor Cafe. Then we rode our bikes to Nicolet Bay in Peninsula State Park. The second we got in the water I turned to take a pic of Brian and Rodney, I realized we were gonna get soaked. And we did. Rodney was not happy. We ate lots of cherries, bought and ate way too much fudge and probably did more things in two days than we should have. We came home VERY tired. Oh yeah, we also took a ride on the Chicago Fire Boat. We finally gave in b/c we were tired of hearing Rad say "ride fire boat" every 3 seconds. I even got to go into a few antique shops. I found some fab vintage earrings for some necklaces that I am making!! Door County = done good.

10 months old

2010-07-08T14:47:00.000-06:00

Rodney Jones turned 10 months old yesterday. He is 20lbs 4 oz and 29 inches long. He loves making the sound of the fire engine and he loves crawling and getting in to everything. Holy bananas, he gets in to everything. The cutest is when he gives me big slobbery kisses. He is officially the president of Konrad's fan club, as well as being its only member! I found out that he especially loves pretzels (which is weird because I HATE them. In fact, I am not sure why I even bought them in the first place. Glad I did!) and crawling in the splash park. He sits there and sticks his head in the water then cracks hisssself up. Oh yeah, he also got two brand new teef. No wonder he was a little poo for a coupla days!

Correction!

2010-06-28T14:15:00.001-06:00

Wedding pix can be found HERE!

Not Bragging

2010-06-27T19:14:00.000-06:00

I once read somewhere that it is not considered bragging if it is true. What "it" is is a whole 'nother ish altogether. So, if it's not bragging if it's true, then I am awesome, smart and incredibly talented. Dear Readers, I jest. You are not supposed to compliment yourself. To do so is just social retardism. On the same note, if it is true, is it okay to say things if they are mean or hurtful? I digress. The point is that my boyz are cute. There, said. I am bragging. I try not to do that too much. I am of the school of thought that if you have to say it, especially a lot, you are only trying to convince yourself. Truth speaks for itself. Anyhowzit, Rad and Rod are darling. Megan Holdsworth did an amazing job @ Julie's wedding. Her blog is the ballz. Check out all the pix here. You may or may not see me doing some Beyonce moves and my bro Joe doing some Russian moves. You might also see Rad doing some sweet moves. He was pretty awesome! And, of course, Julie was beautiful! Please note the broaches I made and the cleavage that I am sporting in a coupla pix.

Future reads...diarrhea.

2010-06-20T22:53:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning we went strawberry picking. Oh, it was fun. And hot. And exhausting. And delicious. I am pretty sure Rad ate a gazillion strawberries, hence the diarrhea. He was more interested in the tractors (surprise, surprise) than picking the berries. I spent the rest of the afternoon cutting and preparing the berries for their demise...freezer jam. It is so good!
And then there is Rodney Jones. This is his 9 month picture. I can't take a pic of just Rodney. When he sees the camera, Rad starts posing. Anyhow, there you go.

Not Dead...yet.

2010-06-15T15:51:00.000-06:00

Yes, the Kleinman's are still alive and living on this planet. I realize it has been three months since I have blogged. Since when has the keeping of a web log (blog) been verb-ed? Perhaps it was in the three months that I have not blogged (sorry)...( about using the word blogged, not about not blogging). Here is what I have been up to, not that anyone really cares. But I do know this: I have blog spies. I am not paranoid. Okay, maybe a little. It seems that EVERYWHERE I go people comment on one of two things. 1. Why haven't I BLOGGED (sorry again) lately? 2. How do I have the time to make so much stuff? Also, these people don't usually leave comments, so therefore and foreunto, I have people spying on me. Back to my list of crap I have been doing lately, well, in the past three months.
1. Chasing around two kiddies.
2. Lots of running. I am training for two races this summer and one this fall.
3. My computer is eff'd. No, seriously, eff'd. Everytime I get on my 'puter, it crashes. If I am lucky it completely fails to restart itself. Hence, how can I BLOG if I don't have a computer? Please see #4 for the answer.
4. I got an iPod touch. I no longer need to use my computer to surf the web. If I am not at my computer the compulsion to BLOG is lessened. Plus, the web runs so far and wide. I am searching for the end of the web.
5. Went to San Diego back in April for a sweet vacay. It was excellent. I should post some pix.
6. Sister got married at the end of May. I went to AZ for the event and stayed for a week and a half. It was a good trip filled with wedding stuff, riding a fire truck, meeting up with some old friends and enjoying the heat.
7. I plain ol' just don't care. I have been sewing like a maniac. I would rather sew than blog. That goes without saying.

Anyhowzit, I am going to try and post some pix at a different time. Like I said, my 'puter is eff'd to the abitlity to upload pix comes and goes.

Peace.

Me and My Crap

2010-03-21T19:19:00.002-06:00

Power Lunch

2010-03-16T20:32:00.003-06:00

1. Homemade bread with freshly ground flour.

2. Peanut butter

3. Nutella

4. Bananas

5. Organic strawberry jam

Every single day!!!

6 Months Old

2010-03-14T18:53:00.006-06:00

Rodney is 6 months old! I am a week late taking pix, but the poor little guy has been sick. It's the first time he has been sick, so it was a little rough-going, but we got through it. Konrad was also sick. It was the first time in his scant two years on earth that he's been really sick. I mean, he's had the sniffles and some minor little things, but nothing like this. I am sure his immune system is strong because I let him play in the dirt and splash in the puddles.

Anyhowzit, here are Rodney Jones' 6 month pix. I must say that I HATE long verbose blog (blaaah-g) posts. If I see a long paragraph, I just move on. I also hate posting every pic. I pick the best(icle) two or three. Well, tonight, allow me to bore the crap out of you with six pix. It just so happens that either my kid is freakin' adorable or I am an amazing furtographer (perhaps both?) so I am apologizing/warning you that I am breaking one of my rules. Never again, folks, never again! Enjoy:)

And one pic of Rad. We call him Doxta Kleinman. Okay, maybe two pix. I love the one of him focusing on his hand. That is what my dad does and what Brian says he does when he puts them on. I love that Brian's specs resemble the autrocities the Kleinman boys wore (maybe still wear) when they were little. This will prove to everyone that Konrad is, in fact, a Kleinman, and may very well be a little Dusty, heaven help us:)

Pretty Sweet

2010-03-12T15:03:00.002-07:00

I don't know if any of you are fans of Photojojo, but I highly recommend that you become fans. I just got the Photojojo book in the mail and it is AWESOME. So many fun, cool, clever things to do with photos. The voodoo dolls are on my list! Anyhow, I subscribe to their newsletter and a few weeks ago they had this site on there. You can DL the software for free and make shaped collages till you wanna puke!

Sick But Never Bored

2010-03-07T17:34:00.005-07:00

The boys have been sick this week. Runny noses, projectile vomiting, diarrhea... all synonyms for FUN. All the while, I am feeling pretty good. So good, in fact, that I finished 3 projects this week! Three!! Here comes a list(icle).

1. I have been commissioned by a friend to make a purse for said friend's friend's Birthday. I am seriously considering keeping it for my own self. We will see.... I didn't have enough fabric so I had to improvise, but I actually think it turned out awesome. I did, however, forget to put a magnetic closure in it before I stitched it up, so I will have to improvise something else. You know, I have learned that sewing is all about improvising. I am getting good at winging it!

2. I finished Julie's wedding quilt. This one I am super excited about. It looks amazing. I really want to post pix but I know she lurks my blog, so you all will have to wait till May to see pix.

3. Hats for Rodney and Konrad. These hats turned out so cute! I made them a little big so they can wear them next winter. I have high hopes that Spring is here and we will not have ANY more snow, so they will have to wear their hats next year. I won't hold my breath.

Also, today is Rodney's six month Birthday, so I made cupcakes and we danced to the Beatles Birthday song, as is tradition in our house. Unfortunately, Rodney is sick and we could not coax a smile out of him, but I know he was happy eating chocolate frosting. I mean, who wouldn't be? Konrad also had some fun helping me make the cupcakes.

Snow Fun and Other Miscellaneous Things

2010-02-21T20:25:00.004-07:00

My mom is in town (in time for the big storm) so Brian and I left her at home and took Konrad sledding. We found a sweet hill not too far from home. Heavens knows there is plenty of snow. Every time we play in the snow, Rad calls it "ice house" because he and daddy were building an igloo so now snow is the same as the ice house. Okay, Brian and I had some fun too. We did find out that the innertube is way superior to the sled we bought. Lessons learned, lessons learned.

We also got some cute pix of sweet little Rodney in his monkey suit.

Check!

2010-02-11T21:08:00.004-07:00

I made this little ditty in 1.5 hours during naptime on Tuesday. It is for my neighbor/friend/soon-to-be cousin-in-law, Kayla (thanks to Uncle Claude;). I should say that I finished everything but attaching the button because I ran out of thread. I had JUST enough thread to finish hand-sewing the top. I hate that. I hope it never happens again.

As you may remember, dear readers, that I made a scripture case for my own self a few months back. Well, it was kind of awesome and I had a few request(icles) to make some more. Only this time, I had a better plan. I just changed a few things, like made it bigger to hold various church manuals, iPhones, candy, chapstick, you know, the essentials.

The fabric we got at Joann in the clearance section. I think we spent more on the button than we did on the fabric. The fabric cost like $.75. Can't beat that! What makes this a real beaut is the lining. The button was like $3. Whatever, it is pretty sweet. Plus, I am checking off #8. Go me!!!

Also, a big thanks to Konrad, my lovely model who is not wearing pants in that pic. But really, who needs pants when you are wearing Lightening McQueen?

5 Months Old

2010-02-11T11:05:00.004-07:00

I did a photoshoot for Rodney Jones' 5 month birthday. He is growing up so fast. He weighs 15 lbs 9 oz and is 27 inches tall. The Dr said he is tall and skinny. Wonder who he gets that from? Anyhowzit, he is such a sweet little baby. He laughs at everything, especially at Konrad. He likes being thrown in the air (and caught, of course). He is not crazy about rice cereal, and really, who is? He sleeps awesome and has the sweetest smile. Rodney can sit up for about 30 seconds before falling on his face, and he especially likes sitting in his little Elmo exersaucer. Last week he found his feet and thinks they are the most awesome things EVER. Who needs toys when you have feet to play with? He is my little angel!

Meet My Little Friend.

2010-02-08T07:59:00.005-07:00

We have a little friend that graces us with its presence in the shower at all times of the day, both morning and night. It always makes me chuckle a tiny.

When we moved into our apartment, we found this rust stain that Fred couldn't get out. It has caused many conversations as to whose ghost this rust stain is. Konrad always calls him "Daddy". I don't exactly know about that, but my mom says he is Mussolini. Perhaps. I like to think that if it really is someone gracing us with their presence from the grave that it would not be a cruel dictator, you know?

My sister, Julie, on the other hand believes that our little friend is Baby Cakes (I am the World... and a wizard). I can kinda see that one.

I happen to think he's a dead ringer for Alfred Hitchcock.You decide.

Obsession

2010-01-30T19:53:00.003-07:00

Obsession, as sung by my idol Annie Lennox in the song "Love is a Stranger".

Okay, I might be obsessed with fabric. I got just a few more 1/2 yards for my quilt. I am making a king sized quilt so I do need lots of fabric. I keep telling myself that I just need a little bit more. Thing is, I do need a little bit more. But I am taking a fabric buying break for now and am gonna replace it with actually cutting and sewing my quilt.

Also, I would like to thank Autumn, my lovely cousin/friend that inspired me to finish my ruffle necklaces. We lurk the same blogs evidently which for those of you that have the unbelievable pleasure of knowing us, is not all that unlikely. We share DNA, you know? Anyhowzit, here are my ruffle necklaces. I found the chiffon for $2/yard at my ghetto JOANN. Not too shabby (speaking of the find...not the Joann). The tree fabric is a scrap left over from my quilt. It might also be my favorite. Only b/c chiffon frays A LOT!! So I had to "heat-treat" it, meaning that I held a lighter close enough to the fabric to not light it on fire, which I did like a million times, but close enough to melt it. Yes folks, chiffon melts. I really like them. I think they are pretty excellent.

Kind Of Awesome

2010-01-29T21:22:00.003-07:00

I just made this Valentime's tag. I am really excited about it b/c I have been thinking about it forever and I finally did it. The signature is a digital stamp of my name with my actual signature. Kind of awesome? No, extremely awesome. If you are lucky you will get this tag in the mail with something even more awesome attached to said tag.

By the By... I am even more awesome b/c I did this even after my Flexoral has kicked in. I might be sluring my words, but my neck feels awesome! And I made something cool.

Peace.

Chickety Check Ya'self

2010-01-28T19:43:00.005-07:00

That's right! I am checking off one of me aforementioned projects. Granted it was the one that required the least amount of time, but I thought it seemed logical to start with the easy then make my way to the harder projects (that's what she said). See for yourself.

While you are already here, let me tell you about my day. How about another list?

1. Konrad ate Buddy's dog food all morning. How did I know? I a)watched him do it and b) smelled it on his breath. Sickening.

2. Konrad emptied out an ENTIRE box of CheezIts on the floor. The entire box. Nada one survived.

3. Konrad pulled off his own poopie diaper and attempted to change himself. Unfortunately unsuccessful.

4. I caught Konrad eating dough from the Butterflake Orange rolls I was making. The oven was heating, I was changing Rodney's diaper (elbow deep in doodoo, obviously) and he pulled up a chair to the counter and started eating dough.

5. Ate black beans and cheese and looked like he had been eating poop.

6. My little bro stabbed hissssself with a knife in the foot. If you don't like blood or get queasy, look away. Now. Oops, too late.

Perhaps I need to feed the kid more. Perhaps he is just hungry. Hopefully he won't eat his poopie diaper. That would be disgusting.

To all yuz out there, good night.

I Am Going To Kill It

2010-01-27T21:03:00.006-07:00

I loathe New Year's resolutions. I mean, we (not me, I don't believe in them) make them while knowing full well that we really have no intention to follow through with them. Who is still trying to "lose that last 10 lbs" for the last 10 years? Not me.
I do, however, make lists. I love lists. It makes me feel useful. I especially like checking things off lists. I tend to get overwhelmed with things I need to do and it makes me feel a ton better to make a list. The list is usually never as long as it seems in my head. And the best part? Checking things off!! How many times in one paragraph can I say list? Lots....
I just celebrated my 29th birthday, which is Jan. 8, so I guess I make lists and goals around my bday. I guess you could argue that my BDay list is a NYR. Whatever. Just read my list.
1. Going to Beautify my life. If I had to sum up what I want to accomplish this year in one word, it would be Beautify. Please see numbers 2-10.
2. Finish hand stitching the binding on my quilt. Sidenote: I have approximately 25 more minutes to spend stitching till I am done. I am sure this will be checked off this list by sundown Saturday night.
3. Ruffle necklaces. CHECK!!! I will post pix later.
4. Wedding quilt. I am not gonna say who this is for, but it might be for a sister. That is getting married in May. Her name starts with a J.
5. Civil War quilt for Mom. She loves Americana, I have tons of Civil War fabric. Seems to be the logical thing to do.
6. April's quilt entitled "Lady Madonna" by Abby Lane Quilts. Pattern and fabric in hand. Time to follow.
7. Camera straps using my FAIL quilt blocks. Unfortunately I have plenty of them. Hey, I am a beginner, albeit an ADVANCED beginner. I have two awesome people in mind who will be recieving these gems. ONe of said people lurks my blog all the time and also happens to live above me. The other one is related to me.
8. Scripture cases for neighbor and for sister. Perhaps one for myself.
9. Christmas scrapbook. Today I got all the pix edited and filed. Now I just have to print and glue.
10. Start quilt for 10th anniversary. I will need all the time I can get. I do have the fabric and a design in mind. I am going to do the frienship braid quilt with scattered various star blocks that I am learning to make in said ADVANCED beginner quilt class.
11. Write letters to all of the people in my life, past and present that I love. You know those people you meet that you just, you know, LOVE? Those special peep's you are certain you knew in another life? I also have a running list of those people. I really do love listicles. I also love adding "isticles" to anything with a "st". It just makes me laugh.
12. Abby Lane purse. It is just awesome. AWESOME.
13. Make a patchwork bag for Apypoo. This one'll be easy. Hopefully.
14. Felty robot for Konrad. Again, fabric/pattern in hand. Now all I need is time and maybe two more hands.
15. Grow two, maybe three more hands.
16. Keep running. That's not really a goal. Gotta lose those "last 10 lbs" (see what I did there? I can be witty). Maybe I'll sign up at a gym. I am only kidding, of course. It's annoying those people who would sign up at the gym and come for 3 weeks then give up...and pay the gym $40 per month. Yet still get fatter and fatter.

17. Make felty picnic set for kiddies. They will love it!

Enough listicles for now. I obviously have a lot of work to do.

Good night moon and spies.

Quilt Numero Dos

2010-01-13T19:07:00.004-07:00

Firstly, I am about three hours away from finishing the first quilt. I am in the process (the incredibly slow process) of hand blind stitching the binding. Almost there. I can feel it!

Tuesday night was the first night of my ADVANCED beginner quilting class. Read that? ADVANCED!! I know... it says "beginner" right after that, but still! Sue is teaching us two different blocks per class, which is four per month. Last night we did the double tulip and the market basket. It is going to be awesome when we are done.

To top it off, I got my new fabric in the mail today. What is better than getting a package full of THIS in the mail?

I will tell you. Absolutely nothing!!

I will post the final pix of my first quilt when I am done stitching it.

For now, good night!

We Made it to Two

2010-01-07T22:15:00.002-07:00

Konrad had his second Birthday on Sunday. I hate it when people say they can't believe that fill-in-the-blank-kid is name-the-age. At first it seems like the past two years have flown by but when I go back and remember all that has happened it hasn't gone all that fast. In fact, sometimes I wish it would move faster, especially when it is -12 outside and snowing like crazy. All in all, Rad is a pretty good kiddo. He loves Cars, the movie, along with tractors, airplanes and choo choo's. He likes eating cookies, cottage cheese and bananas and watching life size Elmo in HD. I love watching him grow and learn. He cracks me up on a daily basis. He is the sweetest!

Chrissy Card Reject

2010-01-01T22:11:00.004-07:00

I had two options for our Chrissy Card this year. I ended up sending out the elves because they are awesome. What else can I say?? Here is the other option that I made. I love this option, maybe next year. I really do love how they turned out, but what can compete with elves? That's right, nothing.

Also, we had our family pix taken by Mollie Elise Photography. I played around with the originals a bit and here is what I came up with.

Christmas was good, but we are glad to be home. I will post some more pix later. We got home last night, ahem, this morning at 3am. I am going to bed.

Peace.

Three Months Old

2009-12-11T21:24:00.002-07:00

I can't believe that Rodney Jones is 3 months old! What is it they say, "Time flies when you are having fun"? I think that's it. Rodney's favorite things to do are to watch Konrad play and be silly. He smiles at Rad all the time. He loves laughing, especially when being tickled by daddy. He is such a little chatter box. I was kind of hoping that he would be a little bit more reserved than Konrad, but he is so noisy. He talks all the time. If you coo at him it really gets him going. He is such a good sleeper. He sleeps from 10- 6 or 7 every night, except if it gets too cold, as I am finding out happens here more often than not. He is such a sweet baby. His smile just melts my heart.

We Wish You a Fugly Christmas!!

2009-12-05T19:53:00.004-07:00

Tonight we had our Ward Christmas Party. We are "new" in town so I thought it would be a good idea to see if there was anybody really cool in our ward. There are actually lots of pretty awesome people, but I am talking about REALLY cool people. Like the people with unspoken coolness. Firstly, I wanted to see if anyone else would don their gayest apparel for the Holiday season. We spent a ridiculous amount of time/money at the Goodwill searching for the perfect sweaters. Rad's was definitely the coolest because whoever owned this sweet gem added a stocking to the "Beary Christmas" sweat shirt, complete with mock turtle neck. Speaking of mock turtle necks, check out Brian. His outfit was just incredible. Not only was it a mock turtleneck, it had reindeer on front and a little reindeer friend on back. And I found it in the Plus Size section at the Goodwill. All I have to say is WIN. The sad thing? Nobody else was wearing any sweetness. Except for our neighbors. I alread knew that they are cool.

The other fun this week is this: I got a TREADMILL!!! I no longer have to be tough. I can run inside whilst it is snowing and icing outside. It was good timing b/c it only got to 15 degrees today. Not okay for running. Santa is good, Santa is good.

And then there is our little Santa. I could not resist dressing the poor child up as Santa. He's gonna have issues regardless, so why not dress him up, you know? I know, then I will post it on my blog for all the world to see, because, you know, the world is my audience. I am kind of awesome. And special. And wonderful.

Santa, Who?

2009-12-02T14:49:00.006-07:00

Firstly, why is Santa a male? YOu and I both know that Mrs. Claus is the one getting all the stuff done and Santa is just gets to deliver it and hog all the glory. Second, why is Mrs. Claus' first name Mrs? I am from here on out referring to Santa as Mr. Claus. Jeez, even Christmas is sexist!

Thirdly, I (ahem) Santa, has been VERY busy during naptime. Yesterday I made Rad a backpack out of the sweetest TRACTOR fabric I have ever seen. On that note, before I had boys I never could understand why anyone in their right mind would buy that ugly green and yellow John Deer fabric that you see at stores. I secretly said to myself, " Self, be so glad that you will never have to deal with that ugliness". My words actually taste quite scrumptious! I am pretty sure he will love it. My sense comes from the fact that the other night while he was sleeping we hear him talking in his sleep saying "mama... tractor".

Today I made a DSLR camera strap cover with my quilt blocks that were in the FAIL bag. I squared 'em up and made this little dittie. I just kind of winged it on the strap. Not too shabby, in my opinion.

And here is Rodney at 12 weeks. I can't believe that he is already 12 weeks old. He is so sweet!

The Results Are In

2009-11-20T13:47:00.003-07:00

I would like to thank everyone that voted in the Treadmill vs. Flatscreen TV poll. Not that your input would have mattered that much anyways, here are the results. You overwhelmingly voted that we get a treadmill. I appreciate the smart A@* comments on how we don't NEED a new TV, as this is very true. I also appreciate the point that was made that we NEED both so that I can watch life size movies while I am running on my treadmill. You really know me! My favorite suggestion was that we get a TM with a flatscreen built in. That is a great idea.
So here is what we did: we actually used our cash and bought new tires for the XTerra. I, however, will also be getting my treadmill. Brian got a job working a few cases a week, which means cash flow, which means treadmill. It also means no babysitter at night so I can go to the gym and run my butt off on the TM, hence, a treadmill. A new TV will come down the line. Perhaps after a vacation of some sort (you know what I'm talking about Brian...who apparantly DOES read my (our) blog...it begins with an "A" and ends with "laska").
Over and out. MLE

Quilt Update II

2009-11-17T15:10:00.004-07:00

We only have two quilting classes left. I sewed my quilt top together this afternoon and I am loving it! We have rail fence squares, 2 flying geese, some friendship stars, 9 patch variations, 9 patch, log cabins (my presonal fave) and two disappearing nines. Fun times. Next week we are going to learn how to bind it then how to quilt it with a grid. Next up? A knitting class at the Yarn House. The midwesterners really know how to craft!

Elbow Deep in Pumpkin... Again

2009-11-09T20:44:00.003-07:00

Another November and here I am again, elbow deep in pumpkin. However, this time around I have a food processor, which is awesome. I got 13 cans of the orange stuff to share with friends and friends, since I have no family within 1500 miles. I have even made a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner, complete with cranberry sauce and punkin pie. Seriously delicious, that pie. The thing that was really intersting this time around was that one pumpkin was really light colored, almost white. The other pumpkin was a really pretty (normal) orange. I will tell you that they taste the same! BTW, Konrad loves pumpkin pie. Actually, he probably loves whipped cream. How could you not love pumpkin pie? Brian, that is a question for you to answer.

Family Pixxx

2009-11-09T20:35:00.004-07:00

Here is a project that I finished a few months ago. I had a few requests to post the finished work, so here you go. These are 16x20 inch canvas and painted with acrylic paint. They are incredibly difficult to photograph, especially when my Nikon is in the shop... again. Anyhow, I think they turned out pretty cool. I don't have many pix up in my house so I wanted something kind of different. I have nothing against wedding pix but I get tired of seeing a sea of them when I walk in someone's house. I have one up and that is plenty. I don't need anymore reminders that I used to be younger, for the Love of Pete. When I get my camera back I will try and get some detailed pix. Peace.

8 Weeks Old

2009-11-04T15:51:00.004-07:00

Well, he is BONAFIDE. Yep, Bonafide. Rodney Jones Kleinman was blessed on Sunday and he looked so cute. It was fun to have him wear the same outfit that Konrad wore for his blessing. Fun and cute.

Rodney is 8 weeks old now. He is really starting to wake up. He smiles all the time now and likes talking to mommie. He complains mostly. When he is getting fussy I talk to him and he talks back to me. I love it. He likes watching his older brother, especially when he is being silly. He sure is a sweet boy!

Happy Halloweener!

2009-11-01T16:41:00.002-07:00

Happy Halloweener, everybody! We carved some pumpkins on Friday night, ate some mummies and chased around a little dino. This was all before we even trid to go Trick or Treating. On Saturday afternoon we made it to one house. Rad didn't really understand the ToT'ing so thankfully it was short. We did get some cute pics, even though he wouldn't sit still for more than 5 seconds. Thanks, Kayla, for the mummies!

Here's the Deal

2009-10-29T13:58:00.003-06:00

Brian and I are in kind of a pickle. It is not earth-shattering or even really that interesting. We can't decide whether to get a brand new 42" flatscreen TV or a treadmill. The problem is that we have REALLY good reasons for wanting, I mean NEEDING, both of them. We have gone over it and over it and can't decide. So, what would you do?
Here's the situation.... It snows here in WI. Alot. And it gets really cold. My rule is that I will not go running outside if it's under 15 degrees. If I keep my rules that means I will not be running very much. I could say I won't go if its below zero, but come on, 15 degrees is EXTREMELY cold. I've done it before. I could pay the $35 at a gym to use their treadmill but why would I do that when I could use that $$$ and buy my own treadmill?
Or get a TV. What is better than watching Elmo (Lala) lifesize? I wouldn't know b/c my TV is small.
So, folks, I put it in your hands. Let the voting begin!!

Another Sweet Boy

2009-10-22T17:05:00.005-06:00

I was busy again during naptime. Unfortunately I was not busy napping. Oh well. At least I wasn't sitting on my fat bum watching TV. Oh no. I will be doing that tonight! Thursday night TV (pronounced TEE- vee) is the ballz.

Here is a pic of Rodney that I got today. I think it turned out pretty cool. I heart CS4!!!

This pic I took of the boys last night. I don't know what it is but matching outfits are incredibly adorable and irresistable. I am gonna do it till they refuse to wear matchies.

Rodney!

2009-10-19T16:21:00.003-06:00

I finally finished my first scrapbook page of our dear little Rodney Jones. Let's just say I was extremely productive during the boys' nap today! Productive= sane mommie, or relatively sane. Whatever. I even cleaned up and cleared out my computer desk/work space last night, so I am feeling especially tidy and sane. It won't last long.

Just a few notes about Rodney. He is the sweetest little baby. He is six weeks old and has slept thru the night for the past few nights. The first time I held him I could feel his gentle spirit. He has proven to be very gentle and very calm. He fits in so perfectly with our family. I know that my grandpa and brian's grandpa must have hand-picked him for us!

Quilt Update

2009-10-19T14:18:00.004-06:00

Rodney has slept throught the night for the past few nights which means that my naptime has turned into Mommie's Playtime. I have been working on my quilt today. So far these are the squares that I have finished. I still have to do two nine patch variations and one called something along the lines of a fence and something having to do with being outside of it. I call it a square within a square. Don't look too close at the patches. I failed on a few of them. Anyhowzit, I think it's coming together nicely.

Konrad is doing well. I swear the kid does something new every day. Or says something new every day. I don't think he's advanced or anything. In fact, most kids that are "advanced" are pretty normal, except for maybe Mozart. I know he's just a normal kid, but it is amazing what they pick up on and remember. For example, he is a shoe Nazi. He remembers where his shoes are at all times. You might be saying to yourself " um, they are on his feet...how hard is that to remember?" You might also be very wrong. His shoes are almost NEVER on his feet. Saturday I was sick of him taking them off and me putting them back on so I put them in my purse. We got out of the car an hour later and Brian asked where his shoes were. He says "Mama's". Oh yeah, I put them in my purse and he remembered.

Then there was the train incedent. He has a train and track that I had out back in July. He didn't really care about it so I put it up in his closet in a box. Well, last week we were at the park and a train went by. Later that afternoon he comes, grabs my hand and takes me into his room. He points up at the non descript box and says "choo choo". What? I didn't even remember that I had put that there. Oh, there's more. So, he is playing with his train and I have my sewing machine out. I guess he put the caboose in my machine case and I found it Monday night when I went to my class. The next morning he sees my machine sitting out and has a crap fit b/c his choo choo is in there and he can't get it open. He remembered from five days ago that he put his stupid train in there.

Anyways, he's a funny kid and may or may not have a little OCD/ADDHD.

Scripture Case

2009-10-17T15:15:00.005-06:00

So I searched far and wide for a pattern for a scripture case. I don't know why I was obsessed with finding one, but anyhow, I was. I found one pattern from a girl named Tricia and she sent me her pattern. It looked way too complicated so I endeavored to make my own. Here is what I came up with in two hours on Wednesday afternoon.

If you google "cripture case pattern" you will be linked to Tricia's pattern (of whom I have not met...just blog-stalked). If anyone googled it and got my blog, email me and I will send you directions and the pattern. I think it turned out really cute. The only thing I would change is that I would make it a tiny bigger so that I could put my JS manual in it. But let's be honest...I have an entire diaper bag, a backpack full of church toys and other various things, am I really gonna be able to 1. carry all that stuff and my scriptures or 2. make it through RS long enough to open my JS manual. Probably not to both of those.

My New Project

2009-10-05T20:32:00.005-06:00

Right before I had Rodney, my friend Kayla and I signed up for a Beginning Quilting Class at Bigsby's Sewing Center. I figured that I would need something fun to do and something to get me outta the house once per week.

The first class was last week and we picked out our fabric. What is more fun than having all sorts of fabrics to browse and chose from? Absolutely nothing. Here is the fabric that I chose.

Pretty sweet, right? It is actually much harder to pick out fabric than you would think, especially if you saw some of the other people on our class. I mean, you would think that we were having them draw molecules of dihydrogen sulfide or something like that. Oh well, it is a beginning class.

So, we are making a sampler quilt and tonight I finished three squares. I must admit... it was the easiest one we are going to make. Here are our finished squares:

Yes, that is me, 4 weeks post pregnancy. Yes, I am standing in front of a gigantic wall of buttons. Yes, I have bangs again. Yes, those are bags under my eyes.

Please check back next week for an update on the quilt. We will be making a square that has 9 squares in it. They have all kinds of fancy names for these squares but I like to call 'em what they are: 9 square and the one I did tonight: three strips, not side fence post or whatever it is called.

Good Night Moon,

Emily

Fall Already?

2009-09-21T19:02:00.003-06:00

Turns out that the higher you are in latitude, the sooner fall comes around. The leaves here in Milwaukee (or Mileewakay) have been changing color since the end of July. I love the fall. A ton. I love cider, apple picking, Halloweener, pumkin patches and fall clothes (well, my boots, anyways). But as much as I love fall, I fear the winter that follows. I will cross that bridge when I get there. For now I will live in the ... now? For those of you that don't know, I have referenced the movie "Wayne's World" two times. Awesome!

Freaking Dozers

2009-09-14T20:21:00.004-06:00

Driving home from church a few weeks ago Brian and I see a sign that said "Dozer Day" and a gigantic Dozer on it. From the back seat we hear "tractor, tractor, tractor". This is no different from any other day, really. Konrad's favorite word, toy, topic of convo is tractors. Plus, here in Milwaukee, every single street is being repaired and has tractors, dozers and diggers all over them. So the fact that we hear "tractor, tractor, tractor" coming from the peanut gallery is really insignificant. That is until I turn around and see him pointing at the sign and the "tractor" gets louder and louder. I told Brian to keep his schedule open for Sept. 12 or Dozer Day.

Brian and Aunt April took Konrad to Dozer Day in Sussex, WI at a huge quarry. I could not go b/c its probably not the best place for a five day old baby. I was really sad I could not go. Seriously, tractors are the center of Konrad's world. The important thing is that he got to go.

He saw a helicopter land and take off, he rode on a school bus (while doing the "wheels on the bus" song and hand motion), rode on a dozer, sat in a fire truck, played in the sand and whatever else it was that was there.

I just can't wait for next year... two boys and their tractors. If Rad is still in to tractors. I have a feeling he will be. That is one happy boy.

Things I Am Grateful For

2009-09-12T15:05:00.002-06:00

1. Modern pain management technology, ie, Epidurals.
2. Not being pregnant.
3. Sleep.
4. Brian; he is such a good daddie. He is so kind and gentle with Rad and Rodney. He wants so badly to help me and do whatever he can to make my life easier.
5. Good family. My mom and sister April were a heaven send. They stayed for a week and helped with Rad while I was in the hospital with Rodney and Brian. Cherryl came to help out when Brian was in the hospital and recovering from his surgery.
6. Awesome neighbors. When we moved here in May, I had never been to Milwaukee, nor did I know a soul within 1500 miles of Milwaukee. Since Brian's surgery, we have received so much kindness and service by our neighbors and the members of our ward. We are so incredibly blessed to have such kind people looking out for us.
7. See's chocolates.
8. Cable TV at 3 am. Seriously. And VH1 TV shows such as My Antonio and Tool Academy. Sweet balls of fire, I don't know what I'd do without my stories.
9. The $1.50 Popcorn Combo at Target.

This, of course, is a partial list of the things I am grateful for. I don't know what it is, but sleep deprivation and unimaginable pain remind us of the things that are good. They are usually the simple things in life, but it is good once in a while to take inventory and be grateful.

The True Meaning of Labor Day

2009-09-09T15:38:00.003-06:00

Rodney Jones Kleinman was born Monday September 7, 2009 at 3:11pm 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. While everybody was bbq-ing and enjoying the last holiday of summer, I was doing my own kind of labor. I went in Sunday night and they started inducing labor at 8:00 pm. Labor really started at about 7:30 am Monday morning. By 3:11 in the pm, Rodney Jones was the newest Kleinman. We got home from the hospital today and we are doing well. Konrad really doesn't care if he has a baby brother and Buddy barely moved off the couch to greet me. So far, so good!

This is the best pic of the babe that I have. He is still really bruised from being borned, but I am sure he is an Eskimo Mexican Chinaman just like Konrad was under that black and blue. Thanks to my mom and Aunt Apy who took care of the house and old baby while I was at the hospital!

Appendicks

2009-09-01T16:24:00.003-06:00

Who needs an appendix anyways? Well, not Brian, I guess. On Saturday Aug. 14, Brian woke up with a strange feeling in his belly. I said that he was probably just having sympathy pain and wishes he could be pregnant too. I knew something was funny when he did not even mention going for a bike ride that day. He goes come hell or high water. But I didn't worry too much because we were also busy writing our talks for the following day at church.

The next day we went to church and spoke. He was still having some pain but nothing extraordinary or the typical appendix pain that people talk about. He did not move from the couch Sunday afternoon, which was a little bit weird, but not too much.

Monday morning I went for my OB appointment and the Urgent Care told him to get to the ER. We both kinda said, "whatever" thinking they were just being dramatic, so he went, driving himself to the ER.

An hour later he was in CT with a diagnosis of Appendicitis.

He had surgery later that night. The surgeon called me about three hours later than I expected and told me it was a more extensive surgery than they thought. Not only did they have to take the appendix, they had to take some of his bowel and reconstruct his bowel.

He ended up being in the hosp for three days.

All of this a week before I was scheduled to be induced. Nice way to steal the spotlight, Brian.

I took Rad to see Daddy. These pics are funny b/c the only snack I had in my purse for the boy were Operation fruit snacks. Awesome.

Talking to Myself...or Anyone That Might Listen

2009-08-27T09:08:00.003-06:00

Both Grandmas came to see us, in preparation for the birth of Ulysses, which turns out is a huge fail. He's not ready so it will be September 6th. The other Grandma was here to help out while Brian recovered from his appendicks operation. Anyhow, Konrad decided to tell us a story while we were having our own conversation. I think he was saying something about an itsy bitsy spider at one point, but who knows? So funny!

My Name is Muddd.

2009-08-27T09:02:00.004-06:00

This is a video that Brian and Grandma Cherryl got while mommie was out running errands at the store and what not. We had to hose him down afterwards.

No Conspiracy. Really.

2009-08-24T14:39:00.004-06:00

So, there seems to be a myth floating around out there amongst all of my lovely avid readers. That idea and myth is purported to be that Brian and I are keeping Ulysses' "real" name a secret until he is born. Sorry to disappoint anyone, but we really don't know what his "real" name will be, assuming that Ulysses was a cover name. We have a few names in the running but have not made a definite decision. I know what name I want and I think Brian has a different idea, but I do have a plan: my plan is to get my way after Brian has witnessed the birth and can't argue with me. Plus, I can't decide what color to paint my finger nails, let alone a name for a child, which name will potentially haunt him for the rest of his life. But don't worry, fans. I will update you on the status of baby and his name as soon as he is born, which will hopefully be this week. And the reason there is no name appliqued on the second quilt? We have not picked out a name. It is not being hidden, it does not exist. We are, however, still taking suggestions on names, if you have a good one.
xoxo,
Emily

Projects and Schtuff

2009-08-21T19:17:00.006-06:00

So, here's the story of the quilts. I found material that exactly matched the crap I got from the Pottery Barn. I cut out two quilts and sewed the first quilt top together, including the applique of Konrad's name. Then I made the ruffle. No biggie, right? Wrong. My Singer, that I have had for 10 years bit the stinkin' dust. Seriously bit the dust. That is where Ken comes in. Ken is an old guy that runs Jiffy Sewing Repair. He took my maching for two weeks, charged me $200 to fix it and gave me some advice to keep my machine in good repair. That advice: Service it more than zero times in 10 years. Ken said I could spend the same amount of $$ and get a new machine, but he told me that I have one of the best machines made (not a Bernina, of course) and that the new fancy ones would las me two years. So I decided to repair it and hopefully it will last forever. Anyhowzit, I have a baby coming and had a complete meltdown about the quilts. There was no way in the world I would get them done. That is where my Saint for a Mother saved my arse. I sent her the quilts in pieces and she not only finished them but tied them and added a few pieces to them. They turned out so beautiful! Thanks Mom!!

I also wanted to put up some pics of the fam in our new place. I am so bored of gigantic wedding pics and boring blah blah art that I had to come up with something a little different. These are 16'x20' canvasses. I think they turned out pretty cool. I did the pics in CS2 then just painted the rest and used some old scraps that I had. I am working on one of Buddy right now.

My Grandpa, Lee Foster Brimhall

2009-08-17T18:12:00.002-06:00

I submit to you, my fine readers, that Lee Foster Brimhall may be the last of a generation: the last of the real cowboys. What makes a real cowboy as opposed to a fake one? Let me answer that question for you.

1. My Grandpa Lee was gored by a bull...and lived.

2. Uses the word "damn" as though if he was saying "hello".

3. Wears bolo ties and make those bolos look awesome.

4. I have three words for you. Turquoise Belt Buckles.

5. Owns a ranch.

6. Is famous for a poem that delves into the subject of methane and cow manure.

7. Listens to real country music. Not Taylor Swift.

Here's to Grandpa!

Building Forts

2009-08-14T16:07:00.000-06:00

I took a much needed nap on Sunday and this is what I woke up to: the boys in a fort. Even Buddy was invited! In just over a week we will have another boy to invite to the fort, heaven help us!

Balls, tractors, motos and copters.

2009-08-05T10:11:00.004-06:00

This is a list of Konrad's current favorite things/words. I don't know if he loves the things or if it's just that he can say them...over and over and over and over.

Either way, the cutest thing is that a few weeks ago he looked at my belly and yelled "BAWWL". Then proceeded to do a little dance around the house saying "BAWL" all while pointing at my belly. Every night before bedtime and directly after prayer time, he lifts my shirt up and gives little brother motor-boats and laughs so hard. Then daddy says "Hello, in there, this is your daddy! And this is Konrad!" Konrad then yells something unintelligible at baby brother.

He does not have a clue that there is an actual baby in mommy's belly, but if you ask him where the baby is, he points to my belly then proceeds with aforementioned motor boats. Well, in a few weeks his world will be turned upside down and there will be no mistaking that there is a new baby in the house. A new baby and an old baby.

As for the tractor, our landlord, Fred, bought a community tractor that amazingly sits outside without getting swiped. All the kids play with it. Rad loves pushing it more than anything else. He especially likes pushing his friend, Niels, who just turned six.

Simple Things

2009-08-01T15:13:00.003-06:00

This is the funnest thing that we do all week. Konrad loves going to the Pick N Save and riding in the zoom zoom. It is a regular Konrad parade. He waves and smiles at every single person that we happen to pass in the store.

At least it keeps him quiet for a few minutes.

Summertime!

2009-07-29T14:54:00.005-06:00

Turns out that I have been in Milwaukee for two months now. It's not Denver, but I really like it here. There is a ton of stuff to do: parks, museums, festivals, the list goes on. At first I felt really cramped in our little apartment. It has been trying to go from a nice big house to a little place but I am getting used to it. On the bright side? It takes about 7 minutes to vaccuum the entire place and about 3 minutes to mop. What makes our place really awesome is that not 20 feet outside the front door is Enderis Park. During the summer months they have a wading pool that Konrad and I go do just about every day, excepting those days that it only gets up to 65 degrees. The first few times he was a little unsure, but now he goes right in. He has made all kinds of friends over there. There is Jesse the lifeguard, Tamara, his little friend who's about 7 years old and just loves him. There's one little guy who rides his razor scooter but I am not sure of his name, anyhow, he plays with us every time we go to the park, which is 2 or 3 times a day.

Then there was the Air Show down on Lake Michigan. Konrad is totally into airplanes lately. Everytime he hears one he looks up and has to find it in the sky. Airplanes and Copters. Well, more like planes, copters, balls, tractors and trucks. That is what he is really in to right now. So, Aunt Appie, Rad and I packed up into the car and ventured to the Lake for the Airshow. We didn't know it at the time but we found a totally sweet spot. We parked and had to climb down a pretty sketchy trail in the DOUBLE Bob. That's right, I now have a double. We found a place in the shade with a great view of the planes. We only stayed for a little bit but we did get to see an F16. It was flying around doing some tricks and Rad was captivated. Then it comes up behind us, really low and was so incredibly loud. I turn around to cover Konrad's ears but he was already screaming. He jumped about 5 feet in the air. We soon had to leave but we did get some pics to remember the fun.

The Fourth of Jooooooly

2009-07-17T20:32:00.004-06:00

Only people from out west say July like that: Jooooo-lie. I gotta say that I miss it. I especially missed the Western flair of the 4th that only Prescott does so well. You know what I am talking about... boot races, rodeos, Wranglers, ye-haws, cowboy hats and beer. Well, beer for everybody else, not me. I think this was probably the first 4th that I have not seen one single cowboy hat. It made me very, very sad.

That being said, ours was a productive day. We went to the Wauwatosa parade and watched all the horsies and zoom zooms go by. We even saw the WI Special Olympic team that my brother Joey would have loved to see. They all really liked Konrad, especially with his head painted RW&B.

Which brings me to the strange lady. I don't know what else to call her. She was painting people's heads and asked if she could paint Konrad's. She didn't really wait for an answer, so whatever, he was red, white and blue for a bit. It was just acrylic paint that is incredibly easy to wash off. The firemen thought he was so awesome and just about everybody made some comment about the kid with the painted head. I think he liked the attention.

Here's to the redneck 4th of July!!!

Nursery Boy

2009-07-07T21:35:00.003-06:00

Hello, avid readers (Grandmas and Grandpas)! This Sunday was Rad's first "official" day in Nursery. We have been taking him for a coupla months now and one of us stayed in there with him, just because he wasn't old enough, not because he would get upset. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He LOVES nursery. Most kids cry because they are going to nursery; Rad cries when it's time to go because he wants to go. He is still having some issues with sitting still. Every time I go by and look in, some poor nursery worker is trying to get him down off of a chair, the table or the window sill.

I took these pix before church on Sunday. He was even smiling and posing for the camera. It's kinda sad, really. He is not a baby anymore. In fact, there is nothing "baby" about him anymore; he hasn't had a bottle since April, he only gets paci at bedtime and doesn't want to rock to sleep anymore. I guess that's why we'll have another one.

A Surprise For Mommie

2009-07-04T13:47:00.003-06:00

This past Wednesday I had to run errands all morning and was thankfully able to leave Rad at home with Brian. I had to get my eyes dilated and there is nothing worse that having to deal with an 18 month old while not being able to see up close.

I got a text from Brian (from his fancy new phone to my fancy new phone) that said: "This is what you get when you leave the kids at home with daddie..." and then this picture:

To make it even funnier, Brian taught him how to rub his head, which he did for me when I got home. Sometimes you just gotta sit back and laugh, you know?

This was Wednesday, it is now Saturday and he still has the 'hawk. We will keep it for a while, I think.

Strawberry Fields Forever

2009-06-27T14:43:00.008-06:00

Or so sang the Beatles. Today we went Strawberry picking- early. I was up at 6:00 am, which 6:00 am I have not seen in a LONG time. We were in the fields, picking strawberries by 7:00 am, and a good thing too! It gets hot tamales here! Konrad loved the strawberries. The picking 'em part kind of evaded him, but gets the eating part, that is for sure. He totally looks like a vampire here:

It looks like he just lopped off sombody's head and drank from their jugular. Pretty funny.

Here is Rad and mommie picking berries. Well, me picking them and Rad getting them out of my basket and eating them.

Here is a picture of me pregnant. I don't think I have posted one of those at all... on purpose. You can kinda see my little Ulysses belly. What I like most is the lady's a** in the red shorts in the not-so-background. At least she matches the strawberries, right?

These people were pro at picking berries. I very soon realized that I neglected to bring my knee pads, towel (what for, IDK), and my visor. I did have sun glasses and my shoe choice MAY have been wrong, but whatev. Gladiators can only be worn for a limited time each year so I will take advantage of the time I still have.
Needless to say, besides thanks to Fred, is I have been elbow deep in berries all day. I have made two batches of freezer jam, a strawberry pie, strawberry bread, strawberry yogurt and I still have three bags full of berries in the freezer. I surmise that Konrad will have some diarrhea tomorrow... or right now.

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

2009-06-23T16:10:00.003-06:00

The day that Brian has waited for for years and years is finally here. He has wanted a son to buy a bike for since the day we got married. In fact, Konrad will be home from his mission and ready to ride in Le Tour in 2029. Let the training begin.

Rad does not like hats or anything on or near his little peanut head. However, the helmet is okay. He hasn't taken it off since he woke up this morning, even though it is like 100 degrees outside. He understands that you MUST wear a helmet to ride a bike, well, he's getting the idea. He even had to wear the helmet home in the car.

I must say that the stinkin' bike was worth every penny. This is what it's all about!

Pants Off Dance Off

2009-06-22T15:09:00.004-06:00

We realized that it doesn't so much matter what music we play, Konrad just wants to dance. I am sure he has a beat in his head. Of course it helps to have no pants on. I'm just sayin'. Enjoy the montage.