My monster cookie has Christmas colored M and M's

I just noticed the colors. Until Q's last post about ice, it had been a while. I guess we've been adjusting. Q left his job and started a new business right before Hanna was born. My uncle died. Hanna was born. I went back to work. Hanna started half time daycare. We struggle just to keep on top of the dishes and laundry, let alone picking up the clutter we sometimes just walk over, or blogging. Extras, though ideal, just don't win over finding clean spoons in the drawer or rinsing a onesie that has just been poopsploded on or feeding Hanna. So, we are behind. It took me two months to get around to making the muffins I had been craving for a couple of weeks before Hanna came. I've been wanting to iron my blue corduroy shirt for almost that long. Right now I manage to wrap about one gift a night.

Christmas is upon us. I hadn't been feeling my usual anticipation yet, until maybe yesterday. The kids at school are in hyper mode, and that helps. I haven't really been shopping (did 98% of it online), and we're not traveling this year (first time in 14 years for me). We only baked one batch of cookies (though I'm planning an eggnog cheesecake for Christmas day). We're adjusting. We get to start our own tradition this year (no idea what it will be). And there is my anticipation feeling. Unknown territory. But for now I will just eat my monster cookie. And attempt to keep on. And love on my girls. And maybe even pick up a second coffee on my way home from school.

Building a backyard rink (when you have two children)

We built a backyard rink again this year. Sort of. As I type, a December thaw (?) has rendered most of our ice slushy. More worrisome, the rain that the thaw brought has lowered the level of water in the rink, not raised it. I hope we don't have a leak in the liner.

We have had a few friends ask how to build one themselves. Here's what we did. Note: there are many great resources for building rinks, so don't take our method as gospel. Experiment, improvise, and find a way that works for you. Any time spent building a rink is better than time spent grousing about the cold of winter.

Steps to building your own backyard rink:

• Find a flat, level footprint for your rink. This could be your yard, this could be a basketball court. Flat does not equal level, and vice versa. If you're feeling fancy, you might use some string and a level to get the stakes at the right height, but this year we just laid the boards flat on the ground. Our 32'x30' rink is flatish and (sort of) level, with unexpected and unexplained rises and depressions. The SW corner of the rink fills first, taking 3-4" water (higher than my boot) before the NE corner floods. 
• Buy materials (prices)

• Plywood - for holding the water for your rink. we used untreated 1/2", 4'x8', cut lengthwise into thirds (8' x 1 1/3'). Five sheets will give you enough. Our rink was 24'x32' last year and 30'x32' this year. You could use 2"x8" boards for this, we just went with a taller board to be safe. (5 boards, $15/board = $75)

• Rebar - as stakes to support the boards and the water. We used 1/2" diameter, cut in 2' lengths, 2 per board. (28 stakes, ~$2/stake = $56)

• Zip ties - to bind the boards to the rebar. We use 4 per board (2 per stake). 

• Plastic sheeting - to hold the water, like a bathtub or crockpot liner. We use 6 mil thick, clear sheeting. We bought a 40'x100' roll last year which gave us enough for this year. ($200 for two years)

• Hose - to fill your rink. Get a hose long enough to reach the back of the rink and durable enough to handle the cold. We have a 100', 500psi-rated hose that has survived single-digit temps so far without cracking. ($65)

• Sprinkler - to distribute the water evenly. An oscillating lawn sprinkler will suffice. ($10)

•  Staple gun and staples - to attach the liner to the boards. ($25)

• Drill your holes for the zip ties. Eight holes per board, in pairs, two pairs about 12-18" from each end. One set 3" from the edge, the other in the middle. The two holes should be 1-2" apart. If you have clamps and a sawhorse, you can drill multiple holes at once. Make sure the holes are large enough (1/4" for us) to thread the zip ties.  
• Start building the rink. 
• Pound stakes to a depth of 1', half the stake. If the ground is frozen, use a hammer or sledge. We laid the stakes while the ground was soft, so they went in by hand.
• Bind the boards to the stakes, leaving the zip tie tails on the outside of the rink.
• Line the rink and be sure to avoid snagging or tearing the plastic. Leave enough to drape excess over the sides.
• Start filling. We prefer to use a sprinkler to even the distribution. Getting droplets air cooled also helps to freeze faster and may help to avoid air pockets.
• How deep? Backyard-hockey.com has a great rink calculator. Ours takes about 3,000 gallons of water to fill to an even depth of 2".
• Stay off the ice until the ice is at least 2" thick. You do not want to gouge your liner with a skate blade.
• To keep the boards from herniating the liner, put some fabric scraps (old socks, t-shirts, etc.) between the ends of each board.

That's what we do. Slane and I were on the frozen half of the rink last week in boots. If we can sustain a cold spell this week, maybe I'll be able to lace up the skates and enjoy the first skate of the season!

Pete and RePete...

Or why I choose a C--peat.

My c-section experience with Slane was not wonderful. 25 hours of labor, more than 2 hours of pushing, and a stuck baby do not make for a pleasant experience. I remember the surgeon telling me that any more babies I had would also be c-sections.

When we got pregnant again, we weren't thrilled with the idea of a repeat c-section. We talked to people who did VBACs, and heard mostly good things. We tried to talk the doctor out of it. Maybe I could just go into labor and then have the c-section. Maybe we could try the VBAC.

But, in the end, we decided to go for the c-peat. Having a VBAC means going to a hospital that supports the liability insurance, but ours does not. I didn't want to travel to a larger city, with a doctor I didn't know, and then after hours of labor end up with a C-section anyway. This baby is going to be very big, and chances are it would get stuck again.

I like our doctor, and I like that she is going to do the surgery. I like our hospital's OB wing, I had a great experience with the nurses, and I want to be in town, so that if Q needs to slip home for something he can and only be gone for a short while. I got so much personal attention with Slane, and I want that again.

Sure, I'm sad that this baby won't get to choose it's birthday, but being in a place that I am comfortable is a tradeoff I'm willing to take.

The end is upon us

of summer, that is.

We haven't posted all summer. Where have we been? Well, enjoying our summer. And I have felt this need to post pictures but have had troubles doing that, so haven't posted anything. Pictures do exist, and are on the computer (at home, not at school where I am right now). I will bug Q until he can help me figure out what is going on with the pictures.

In the meantime...Here is what happened in June.

We went on our big family vacation. We rented a cabin on Lost Island Lake and spent time boating there (thanks Tim for bringing the boat), checking out Okoboji and Arnold's Park, checking out the Grotto of the Redemption, and having fun as a family. It was a relaxing week.

The rest of June was me working on my two online classes and at the Iowa Speedway, going to Mother Goose story time at the library, going to art in the park a couple of times, and Granniecue and Papa came for a week to spend time with Slane.

And on to July...

The first week was camp, which Q was unable to attend, but Slane and I did. Later in the month my mom traveled with Slane and I to West Michigan to spend time with family and friends. Slane got to play with baby Elaina and meet baby Claire, as well as play with our Michigan cousins. I got to catch up with some friends and pick blueberries. Q drove in on Thursday that week and stopped at IKEA on the way so that when my mom left on Friday she could drop our furniture off at our house. We all spent an evening at the lake (75 degrees!!) and had a great time relaxing. Then Q, Slane, and I headed to King's Island in Ohio for a day with his parents, and we all headed back to Columbus to spend a couple more days with them. Our trek home included a visit and lots of playtime with Q's cousin's kids, and then on home. Of course, there were crazy things that happened that week. My grandma fell and broke her kneecap, so after mom got home Grandma moved in with her for a while so she could be taken care of. My uncle went back into the hospital, and as we were leaving Indianapolis we got a text that my cousin (his daughter) had decided to bump up her wedding by almost a year, and it was going to be that night in the hospital chapel. We did make it to the wedding, but it was a stressful drive since we didn't stop to let Slane play and get her wiggles out.

August...

We spent enjoying time together, hiring a landscaper for our yard, and trying to get back on a school schedule. We biked a lot, we visited the coffee shop a lot, and we began preparing for our new baby's arrival. Q cleaned the basement, and we built a lot of furniture. And now we are trying to get back into some kind of routine.

And we WILL get pics up soon. Somehow.

Oops, we skipped May

We were busy. Enjoying the weather, going to concerts, directing concerts, preparing for big work things, setting up big girl beds.

Some May highlights.

Tulip Time. Slane and I met Ema, Ella, and Aunt Brenda for an afternoon among tulips and the parade. Slane insisted I cover her ears for the entire first half of the parade, and Ella drank coffee. The girls had fun and slept well.

Inauguration. Slane and I watched the ceremony with Ahsan, and Q got to represent Hope as a delegate (gown and all).

Goo Goo Ga Ga. We have finally switched Slane from an obsession with the Disney movie Cars to Lion King. Yes, she loves the mommy and we watch that scene 10 or 12 times before we convince her to let us keep watching the rest of the movie. We often spend Saturday mornings all cuddling in bed, and one of those mornings Slane kept saying, "goo goo ga ga." We could not figure out where that was coming from. She kind of knows there is a baby coming, and maybe she was slipping into baby mode or something. Until one day we were watching Lion King, and when Hakuna Matata came up, she said it again, "goo goo ga ga." She was trying to say hakuna matata!

Grinnell Heritage Farm. We bought a share this year in the farm, and the daughter of the owners is Slane's age. They had an asparagus picking event so we went to their farm for a few hours. It rained the whole time, but we did eat a lot of asparagus, and explore the greenhouse, and Slane got to plant a pea plant. She loved it and still asks to go back to the greenhouse.

Commencement. Ahsan, our host student from Pakistan, graduated from Grinnell. His parents came from Pakistan and his brother flew in from Texas (he is at Trinity). We had fun hosting them, getting to know them, eating their food and dressing Slane in the kameez and salwar they brought for her. I'll get pics of that up soon (the pics are all on the computer at home and I tend to post from school). We were proud to see our kid graduate and enjoyed being able to help him out for a few years. Slane will miss her big brother. We do have an open invitation to Islamabad.

They Might Be Giants. Memorial Day weekend was crazy busy, but so much fun. Saturday was rainy so we took apart the day bed in Slane's room and set up her big girl bed. Except for paint and another dresser, that room is new baby ready, and Slane is intermittently sleeping in her big girl bed. Sunday we made a good breakfast and then took Ahsan to the airport. We had tickets to Every Family Rocks, so after the airport and an excellent brunch at the Drake Diner, we headed to the state fairgrounds for the shows. We didn't realize there would be so much else to do, so we made a frame with our picture in it, and Slane did an obstacle course, and we listened to some of the other acts. We did the instrument petting zoo, and ran into some friends from Grinnell. Slane loved the show! She knew some of the songs and the look of pure joy on her face while she and Q were dancing was priceless! She was so into it that she fell asleep a few songs before the end...she is still asking to listen to the Alphabet CD in the car. Then on Monday we went to the family picnic for Grandma's birthday and got to play with several cousins around the same age (give or take a year).

Grandma Camp. Yesterday we swung by Ema's to pick Slane up. It was reunion on campus and Q and I were both working in different capacities (that is his job, I was just doing child care, and as it turned out, rock wall supervising and security at the Harris party), so Slane went to Grandma Camp. She had so much fun! She got to feed chickens and pigs, and ride a horse (I'll have to get that pic from my mom), and "drive" my dad's truck. She was just all smiles when we picked her up. She is at an age where most of the time she is just a lot of fun to hang out with (though she is also testing the waters with a few tatrums here and there).

Other stuff. We had a Level 2 ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Dr. T asked if there was a history of heart defects in the family, and I have a cousin who was born with a hole in her heart among other issues, so we got the big guns for an ultrasound. It wasn't much different than any other ultrasound, except that they took video of the baby's heartbeat and checked a few other organs as well. We did not find out the gender and that is making my students crazy. They don't understand why one wouldn't find out in advance. Pregnancy is going well otherwise, though I have had a lot of foot and ankle swelling and am extra sweaty.

The shirt has something to say!

At some point during Slane's birthday party a month ago, after the friends left but while the parents and grandparents and godparents were still here, Q changed Slane's shirt...and this is what it said:

How happy is happy?

Wunder-blogger Penelope Trunk writes about families and happiness today. She highlights an article about a super-busy family and raises this question: are they happy, or just engaged?

We've asked ourselves that a few times. We both work full-time in jobs that don't strictly obey business hours. Our most recent date night was our Maundy Thursday service at church. (Yeah, we live large.) Each of us has significant volunteer interests. Are we happy? Sometimes. Our family is curious - we like interesting, even if interesting is complicated. And our curiosity contributes to our happiness. We make connections at the campus Passover seder, at Saints Rest, taking Slane for a walk. Slane gets invited to participate in the ISO fashion show. These are good things, even if they make life messy and complicated and cause us to think twice about doing the dishes or the laundry.

Our pursuit of interesting is our pursuit of happiness.

Slaneycue

Slane is so funny. I love to listen to her commentary on life and the things she sees.

Things like:

See the moon! The moon is flying!

Hear that! The bird is singin'!

Flag!

You daddycue. I'm Slaneycue. That's mommycue.

I need to see my (insert name of person of the day)!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also love to watch her play on her own. Her imagination is amazing!

I've seen her do these things lately:

Saturday we were raking leaves. We had just gotten Slane a toy rake, so she "helped," but as she helped, she was moving leaves out of the piles, all while carrying a purse.

She races her toy cars on the piano or the couch. Sometimes she races her "BIG TRUCK" from Epa!

She carries around a cabbage patch and tells us the baby is crying or sleeping.

She is very concerned about the hungry animals in her barn.

She plays with her hockey guys (and sometimes they get into fights and go to timeout!).

Worth a read

Miscellaneous reflections after an entire week of parenting - Amid celebrating Slane's second birthday and preparing for BabyCue #2, I liked reading Chris' observations. Maybe we should start a baby girl's clothing collection free of pink. Of course, it now seems to be Slane's favorite color. (h/t to Tyler Cowen)

R.I.P. Flip Camera - We love our flip and we don't have an iPhone (yet). It fits us now - quick videos, but able to shoot higher quality, too. MamaCue has used it for her music classes and performances. But phones have better cameras now and if/when we get a dSLR, the Flip may become Slane's camera of choice. (h/t to Jason Kottke, who also notes, "There's an app for that")

Here's looking at two

Slane turned two last week. And this year more than last year I remembered all that went with her birth. The labor, her being stuck, the C-section, the feeding issues, etc. But, all worth it for our healthy, happy, spunky little girl. It was spring break so I even got to spend the day with her. We had lunch with my mom and sister and went to the science center to play for a while. She knows she is two, and if you ask her she will hold up five fingers and tell you she is two. She can't figure out how to hold up two fingers yet. She'll get it. Her party is Saturday, and we'll have birthday pictures then. We haven't had camera batteries for a while and since we rearranged and redid our living room, our computer has been out of commission, so we will get to it. Promise.

infected!

Poor Slane has a double ear infection. This time I called it, about halfway through the Wizard of Oz production that we probably shouldn't have taken a feverish, moany child to. But she loved the show and I knew she would, so we took her anyway. At least we weren't infecting other kids with some horribly contagious disease. But she will have to be on antibiotics for her birthday, which is not fun.

We have cabin fever. It was nice enough Friday to go for a walk, and once I convinced Slane to ride in the stroller that I picked, and not the wagon, we had a nice walk. We headed to the athletic center on campus and watched a bit of the high school indoor track meet. It was crazy packed and there was no way I could let Slane out and run so we only stayed for 5 races before we headed home. But Saturday was not so nice and we only went to the post office. Slane was starting to get sick that afternoon and spent a lot of time just lying on the couch while I made massive amounts of muffins.

We are anxiously awaiting weather that is nice enough to stay outside until the sun sets. Next week is Spring Break, maybe it will be nice for us. Maybe. I intend to get in as much Slane time as possible before we go back to the grind.

May the pants be with you!

Now that the last post is published, I can add this as well. I wrote it several weeks ago.

I vaguely remember playing a Star Wars game in which the word "force" was replaced with the word "pants." This is not about that.

In the fall, when I was pregnant with Hyfrydol, when I had the opportunity to purchase pants, I did not do it. I thought I would be wearing maternity pants soon enough and could make it with just a few pairs of pants.

For Christmas, I asked for pants. I was given a generous gift card with the instructions to buy pants. I couldn't find a single pair at that particular store that fit me (I tried on over 14 pairs over the course of 2 days). I bought a Glee shirt and a hat and scarf with most of the money instead. That was my lone shopping chance.

So, again, here I am with 4 pairs of pants, not wanting to get new ones, because I just need to make it to skirt weather and maternity clothes and things will be fine.

Except that I have before school playground duty and Monday when I bent over to retrieve the football that had been kicked at me, I ripped the crotch out of my khakis. Fortunately, the good art teacher next door had khaki colored duct tape and it held up for the day. Q told me to go to the mall and get pants after school. I went to one store and they had none. They sent me to another store, and they had none in my size. I finally found a pair at the Maurice's in Grinnell.

I hated that I had to get pants right now. I won't be able to wear them again until sometime in November. But I guess at least I have pants. May the pants be with you.

choir and books

Slane loves a good book. She asks us to read many books before bed, and is starting to ask for the story two or three times. Sometimes she even "reads" part of the book to us. She can quote all of "Five Little Monkeys" and almost has "Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing" down.

Q and I have been fortunate enough to continue to participate in the church choir even though we have a busy toddler to entertain. When she was first born, we took a break but then managed to stick with it last year. This year it has been more difficult, due in large part to the fact that Slane is fully mobile and verbal. At first it looked like one of us was just chasing her around during rehearsals. It got to the point that I told Q that maybe one of us should not do choir because we weren't getting much out of it (or contributing much). Just a few days after I said that the church hired a nursery worker to watch Slane while we were in rehearsal. It has been wonderful! Slane loves to play and we love to sing, so it works out.

But, what about actually singing during church? Well.....at first it was easy to just hand a tiny, social, baby to anyone who had free hands. Then it got a little bit harder, and sometimes Slane didn't take being passed off very well. We tend to give her to the same person, Karla, who sits near our spots (yes, we are that kind of church, where we all sit in basically the same locations each week).

This week when I passed Slane off to Karla, Karla showed me that she had been coming prepared to church. She has been bringing Slane appropriate books to church in her purse! Brilliant. Slane is occupied, Karla gets to enjoy the anthem (not always the case with Slane), and we get to sing.

a walk outside

It was warm enough yesterday that much of our neighborhood had escaped their houses and were enjoying the weather. I could smell several grills going, lots of dogs were being walked, runners were out, and everyone was in a good mood. It was muddy, and messy, but no one cared.

Slane and I took two walks. First she wanted to walk, and we did. There was a little boy (littler than Slane anyway) down the block and first we went to say hi to him. As is her way lately, she slightly accosted the poor child with hugs and her constant flow of commentary about life and babies. We then walked back home and cleaned up our driveway a bit (the recyclers did not pick up our stuff, instead I found it upside down in the middle of the driveway).

We went into the sunroom, opened a couple of windows, and played kitchen and cars for a bit before Slane discovered her strollers, and begged to go for a ride. So I packed her up in a stroller and we walked the neighborhood until we came to impassable mud and turned around.

It felt so good to get outside. We have been just going, going, going lately and it was great to slow down and enjoy life outside our house for a bit.

There are several pictures on the camera that I would love to get up soon, but I need to find batteries for the camera first, and then install the new computer mouse, and take care of a few other things first. Pics to come!

healthy

Last year in January, illness held us down, and this year, it looked like it might happen again.

We got home from Ohio. We started our week like normal. Monday night, Slane threw up in bed around 10:30 p.m. And over and over and over until a mostly naked baby and I were wrapped in blankets on the bathroom floor so the clean up would be easier. We eventually transitioned back into her room and I texted in sick for Tuesday. I woke Q up around 4:30 so that I could get some sleep. I stayed home Tuesday. She went to daycare on Wednesday and came back home with Q about an hour later when she threw up again.

Wednesday night we thought we were in the clear, until I threw up. And over and over and over before I texted in sick again. By Thursday night I felt better.

Sunday morning Slane was very cuddly during church, took an extended nap, and developed a fever. At 5 a.m. we had the argument I'm sure many working parents have: who is calling in sick this time. Whose work projects need the most attention. I had grades due at the end of the week; Q was supposed to give a morning presentation at an all-staff meeting. We split the day. I took morning, and he took afternoon. He also got to do the doctor appointment to figure out what was going on. Double ear infection. Slane was so upset during the examination that she threw up multiple times. Great. She was up most of the night screaming in pain because her ears hurt so much. She would kick. And hit. Me and herself. We finally found sleep sitting up in a chair. But not much sleep. Add to that a snowstorm, and me having issues on the road, and there went yet another sick day.

But now we all appear to be healthy. Hopefully this sickness thing swerves around us for a while.

Juicebox

Besides being into Baby Jesus, Slane is into hockey. Anything hockey excites her. When she sees players, sticks, ice, pucks, billboards, logos, etc. she points out the "hockey" to us. Last week we went to two Columbus Blue Jackets games and a practice, which she was very excited about.

At the first game, early in the week, Q happened to get into a conversation with the lady next to him. She is the wife of Kristian Huselius. She had their two daughters with her and I think his brother and dad. She was so sweet and kind, and was telling Q that her youngest daughter goes to preschool with the daughter of another player and the girls were comparing their dads' nicknames one day. So, the other girl says that her dad is called "Clarky," and the Huselius girl said that her dad is called "Juicebox." His nickname is actually Juice, but I think he will be referred to as Juicebox in our house.

Slane also likes juiceboxes, though we try to limit them. We keep hiding the case we received from a grandparent in various places around the house (I found an 8-pack under the couch last week). Slane especially likes Elmo juice, as she calls it.