Ballpark Tour, Part 1

Sports have always been a bit of drama in our relationship.  Neither of us are really into the other's favorite sport.  He likes football (obviously, he's a coach) and I really just go to football games to people watch, play with other coach's kids, and wave at him from the stands.  On the flip side, I love baseball...and he's thinks professional baseball is a snooze fest.  Luckily, we both love college basketball, whew! 

With that bit of background...now I introduce you to a changed man! He said he'd try to get more into baseball this summer.  Originally I bet him that he'd only last until June before he was bored...but then we found White Sox games.  We only live a couple hours from Chicago so hopefully this becomes a summer weekend get away.  

PS - I'm a Cardinals fan until the day I die, so there will be no enjoying myself at a Cubs game...it's just too soon. 

It was just about the most beautiful day for a baseball game...in Chicago...in April.  We couldn't have been luckier.

Being the best travel planner around, I shouldn't have been surprised that Brian found us seats SO close to the field.  I've never sat that close at a professional baseball game and I was 100% freaking out about being that close to some players that I've followed for several years.

 And what's a baseball game without trying all the food?  My first choice was a foot long Chicago style hot dog.  It was everything I dreamed of!  We wrapped up our food tour with churros. Random, I know, but churros at games is kind of our thing.

We also went to the Brookfield Zoo and it was a REALLY good zoo.  Very well laid out, lots of people but not crowded feeling...and they sold beer.  

This polar bear was super close to us and we got to watch him (or maybe her?) play around for a while.

I thought the penguins might be a little more active, but they were cute nonetheless.

Maybe the parrot was a little boring, but he sure was pretty.  

This dolphin show though...this show was legit.  I think it only costs like $3 extra with your zoo admission ticket and it was hands down the best dolphin show I've seen.  I took Hattie and Drake to show at Shedd's Aquarium in Chicago recently and it pales in comparison to this one.

Chicago has ended up being our weekend home as there's only so much Champaign we can handle.  Next trip? Cincinnati Reds game!

Boys will be boys

OMG. I'm not a good blogger like I intended to be.  But I will say that I've jumped back on my scrapbooking habit and having blogging memories right at my fingertips has reminded me how much I love writing down all of our memories.  

I've also noticed that I tend to forget things (like in my short term memory) really easily these days.  Now I'm all paranoid that I'm going to lose my mind at an early age...but if you ask Muscle Man he'll tell you I can remember anything and everything. 

Back to where I left off on Christmas!  One night I was stressing over the number of presents I had for each kid and it ended up that Drake was one short and that ONE gift needed to be something big.  It didn't have to be big in dollars (thankfully my kids don't know much about dollars yet) but it needed to be one of the main highlights of his gifts and large in size since Hattie had a large gift.  Does anyone else operate this way with their kids? Or am I nuts?   

After Brian reminded me how crazy I was, he was delegated the responsibility of going to pick out Drake's last gift.  I should have known better.  You can't send a grown up child out to buy a child's Christmas gift.  Not realizing the extent of the inner child in Muscle Man is where I made my biggest mistake.  

He came back with not one, but two large remote control cars.

TWO OF THEM.

One for Drake.

One for him.

(and two more dolls for Hattie sending my gift equality into another tailspin)

But as you can see from this boy's face, he loved his remote control car.  

And you can see from this (very large) boy's face how much he also enjoyed his new car.

I'm not sure what happened when I took this picture because I had to stay on the porch to avoid the boys ramming their cars into my ankles, but all I can think is that Drake somehow defeated Brian and he's trying to blame the loss on his precious car.

Just to add to the attacks by boys...my mom also got them all marshmallow guns to add to the Nerf guns.  They set up on top of hay bales, drew me and my paparazzi camera in with their cuteness...

...and then shot me.

And they gave me the code name of Mama Moose.  Excuse me? 

Needless to say, the girls were equal in numbers to the boys, but they got us this time. 

It's That Day Again...

I'm such a sap for Valentine's Day!  Literally my second favorite holiday, after New Year's.  So this quick little thing is just another way to get out all of my cheesiness. 

All of these answers are my version...but I'm trying to convince Muscle Man to also answer.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, he's too busy playing a slot machine game on a tablet while his eyelids droop. 


Who's older? Him...got me by 5 years.

Who was interested first? Definitely me, I chased him for a couple days, hard chased him too.

Married? Nope, maybe someday (Right?)

More sarcastic? Definitely him, and it goes right over my head most of the time.

Who makes the most mess? I'd say him...but I'll make sure to brag on him where I can because he really isn't too messy of a guy.

Who has more tattoos? Nadda single one in this house

Better singer? Gotta be me, I think

Hogs the remote? That's a battle every single day...most of the time he wins until he falls asleep then I snatch it.

Better driver? Ugh...him...but only because he's gotten us out of sticky situations in weather.  I drive like a grandma most of the time.

Smarter? Me, but he's no dummy

Do you have any kids together? Not together, but he's like a kid so does that count?

Did you go to the same school? Thankfully no, I don't think I would have liked him.

Who is the most sensitive? Oh, that would be me.  Waterworks happens about once every two weeks.  Sorry babe!

Where do you eat out most as a couple? We eat a big variety, but some of our usual spots are Houlihan's or Old Chicago.

Where is the furthest you two have ever traveled together? We've driven from Missouri to California, took a week and enjoyed all the scenery.

Who has the worst temper? Him. Him. Him.  99% of the time I'm not sure I even have a temper.

Who is more social? Him for sure, everywhere we go he meets new friends.

Who is the neat freak? Neither of us are neat freaks, but I'd say I'm the closest.

Who is the most stubborn? We are both only children so it really just depends on the day.

Who hogs the bed? Him! I'm blogging from bed right now and if it were appropriate, I'd show you a picture of him across the bed right now.

Who wakes up earlier? Him.  His job is early every day.  I don't do early.

Who has the bigger family? Only children so we are both from small families.

Do you get flowers often? I don't...but I did get 3 dozen roses for Valentine's Day today!

Who's better with the computers? I would say me just because my job is more office work than his.

Who drives when you are together? Him

Who picks where you go to dinner? He does.  He always chooses and I just eat.  I don't have the energy to choose.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? At the end of the day, he does.  I think he hates the saying "at the end of the day"...but he does wear the pants overall. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

My Best Christmas

It's been a while since I enjoyed Christmas, like really truly looked forward to the holiday.  This year was hands down the best Christmas I have had in years.  To be brutally honest, it didn't feel like a chore, it didn't have to be a show, and I wasn't lonely.  Of course I've had my family with me in past years, but this year every single person I needed in that moment was there. 

Brian and I went to MO to spend about 4 days.  Since the kids would be with "the other side" on Christmas day, we did presents early so Hattie and Drake had a chance to play with their toys.  Luckily, there were no Santa questions.  I wouldn't have had an answer but I'm sure Brian's quick wit would have kicked in for some silly story to keep them believing.

Hattie's sweet smile never fails to make my heart skip a beat.  There's just something about a little girl in her pajamas waiting to open presents. 

And then there is the bored face of the boy who is about to think he's too cool for the world.  Where did my snotty nose, chubby cheek baby go?!?

Oh wait...he does get happy at the thought of new toys!

Drake plays both basketball and baseball.  This year his baseball team requires a helmet with a faceguard so I sent Brian out to get one.  You already know he picked out the helmet with the most swag possible! I'm a sucker for matte black helmets too, so no judgement here.

Hattie LOVES baby dolls, literally takes them with us everywhere, but she's getting more into Barbie dolls lately.  For the last three years she has asked for one of those 3 story Barbie houses with an elevator but I wasn't about to splurge on something she was too young for...but this year I caved.  There was the house, new Barbies, clothes and a Barbie car that I swear is half the size of the pretty red convertible I had a kid.

And this gift, ladies and gents, is where my life ended. 

I'll explain the remote control car insanity in the next blog...

Duke is the Beast

You know those times that you randomly think of something special, or maybe see something, that just makes your soul smile from deep down in your bones?  I had one of those moments when I came across this on my phone.  

Drake loves Duke basketball (for reasons that I can't explain because I can't say anything nice about the root of this fandom) and I'm obviously a John Calipari and Kentucky basketball fan.  As you can imagine, Drake and I have a sense of rivalry.  Admittedly, I have taught him the art of trash talk...friendly in nature, of course.  

So here I am, browsing my phone and noticed that he has changed the name of this folder from "Games" to "Duke is the beast".  I asked him if he changed the name and I could tell from his voice that he was probably blushing and smiling as he realized that I knew what he did.  In the most innocent voice he said, "but mom, I didn't know how to spell best."  My heart melted, and for that tiny split second, I loved his love for Duke.  Then that all disappeared and I started talking some trash.

Right now at the ripe age of 6, he dreams of playing basketball for Duke.  And while I have told him that I would be sitting behind the bench for every single Duke game and cheering for him, I REALLY hope that his basketball skills turn out to be so extraordinary that he plays for an even better team...like Kentucky.  

I look better in Kentucky blue anyway, right?   

3 Years Later and I'm Back in the Game!

Seriously, where did the last three years go?  Maybe a quick recap via bullet points will do?

• Life went crazy in 2014 and 2015 and I just wasn't really in a part of life that I wanted to write about.  Kind of like when you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?  Ya, that was 2014.
• 2015 was more like finding my way on my own.
• 2016...that was a year of big changes! And good changes they were!

So let's just start with the summer of 2016, when the REALLY big changes happened.

My boyfriend, Brian (sometimes referred to as Muscle Man, affectionately of course), got a job at the University of Illinois.  I made the decision to also move to the mostly thriving metropolis of Champaign, IL as well.  I left the only real home I've ever known for both professional and personal reasons.  That is all something that the ones closest to me know.

Once we found out Brian was going to Illinois, I was lucky enough to quickly land a pretty damn good job in a field I love, also working for the University.  This job was one that I knew would challenge me, make me grow professionally and become a better employee all around. There are days I look at my computer and wonder if I ever learned anything in college.  Sometimes I regret using my best friend's "notes" in my accounting classes.  And maybe sometimes I regret spending my Sundays recovering from the Saturday night house party a week full of workouts and meets, but at the end of every day I know I'm a better person because of the challenging situations I faced that day.  Oftentimes it takes a stiff drink to help me realize that, but that's neither here nor there, right?

Another reason?  Oh, that would be Brian.  I had spent the last 2.5 years dating this guy, who stole my heart from day one, and whom I love fiercely.  Along with my kids, he makes my world go round.
I left Missouri State on a Friday afternoon and drove to Champaign.  There were some tears, but mostly there were big dreams ahead of me.  I knew then and I know now, that that decision was one I was making for myself.  A decision to have a new chapter in my life and put closure on the past.  This life is full of adventures, challenges, fun, love, and a side of chaos too.

That's where we are now, living in our perfectly imperfect world.  There is so much more to come in 2017!

PS for Brian - That "day one" I'm referring to is January 17th, just an anniversary FYI...wink, wink!

December Recap

Just because I have some spare time to waste before I go to a basketball game and because I have lots of pictures on my phone that I want to share...I'm gonna recap my little Christmas with my monsters.

I'll admit, I've never put a Christmas tree together.  I've always just done the wifely thing, ya know...standing around and asking if he was sure he was doing it right?  This year Hattie was all up in my business about if I was doing it right.  My, how times have changed.  

We got it up!  With lots of laughs, some sweat, the itches from those stupid branches and some bitching about it to my bestie.  

Not sure why Mother Nature hates MO right now, but we have had TOO much snow.  This was one particular Friday that we had tons of snow and it was subzero temps.  I had a bad case of cabin fever so we bundled up and headed outside.  Drake loved every second of it.  Hattie just loved the fashion show and all her leopard print options.  That's my girl! 

This was the aftermath of us stripping everything off.  I just gave up and put everything in the laundry.

Told you it was bad!  This was like a week into having ice every day.  FYI Mother Nature...Scraping windshields is not my favorite game.

Now it's January, which is usually our worst month.  It's been bitter cold, real bitter.  I'm already ready for June and pools and sun and tanning and cold drinks and amazing memories with my monsters.  Leave us alone Winter!