Three Lucys

Sooo... I don't like jumping into a post without even a rudimentary idea of what I'm going to say... but here I am.

It's Monday! TGIM!! Seriously! I have my life back, after 3 weeks of theatre camp. Lord, did I learn to love those campers, though. What a terrific bunch. Not that they don't also drive me crazy sometimes. My duties for the remainder of the run are:

1. Show up an hour before curtain.

2. Apply "Egyptian eyes" to seven 10-year-olds, making sure to remember which 10-year-old likes which style of Egypt-eyes (there are several; you'd be surprised), which 10-year-old has the super-sensitive skin, and which one gets all twitchy and teary if I press too hard with the eyeliner, beacuse heaven knows I don't have anything better to do with my gray matter than dedicate it to the makeup preferences of a handful of fifth-graders. Also they don't think to remind me when they start lining up in front of me, pencils in hand, wearing their identical Egyptian outfits with the adorable matching wigs.

3. Move the stairs a few times between scenes.

4. Sing at the little kids over Annie's shoulder through the entire show, because Annie's voice is super tired from singing at little kids for three straight weeks.

Well anyway, I'm back with my own brood today and I really missed them! Lucy's grown, like, a foot, and Eddie says all kinds of fun new words now.

We met the Watsons at the Childrens Museum this morning (P.S. Here's the title of the post: Lucy wanted to fingerpaint. Insisted. So Nicole kept an eye on the 3 boys while Lu and I went next door to the otherwise empty fingerpainting room. A little girl, also named Lucy, and her mom walked in. Wow! I thought, only 2 kids in here, and both little blonde Lucys. A third little blonde girl came in with her mom and grandpa... also Lucy. Now isn't that a bizarre coincidence?) and had a wild and crazy time, and I'm looking forward to busting out my new (new to me, that is) bike trailer for quick errands around the neighborhood. But right now I'm thinking I'm just going to grab my book and put up the ol' feet for a few minutes during naptime. Mmmmm, how I've missed naptime!

Hey, does anybody know how to uninstall Nero on my computer?

Also, what are those shiny, pretty, horned beetles called (the ones trying to eat my tomatoes, drowning themselves in our kiddie pool, and nesting in Lucy's hair)? They are beautiful and also very scary.

Also, I have a weird mutated plant in my tomato garden. It's tall as the tomatoes, but the leaves are big and broad (about the size of my jazz hand). It has teeny yellow flowers that look just like tomato flowers, but also weird larger buds that look like they're going to open into actual flowers. What the heck?

Oops, I goofed on the show sked...

Friday and Saturday shows are 7:30, not 7pm. The Ashland Youth Performers (like a show choir) perform 45 minutes before each showtime. They're doing some super fun medleys from Hairspray, Wicked, High School Musical, and Footloose. Sorry for the confusion!!


This morning Lu got up early (6:45ish), climbed over the gate we have on the bottom of the stairs, and strolled up to our bed saying "Hi!"

I came downstairs, grabbed the paper, and sat on the couch. I told Lu I was just going to snooze for a while, while she played. I put my feet up, and picked up the paper.

Lucy says, "I have to tell you something, Mama."

Sure, come tell me.

She bends over and whispers in my ear: "You don't read the paper when you're sleeping."

More 411 on the show... EDIT!! Actual details!

Hey kids. OK more details...

Call 651-274-8020 for tickets. You can also buy them at the door... people keep making noises about it selling out but I think that's just a sales-motivational tactic. You may certainly buy them at the door. The show is at Maplewood Community Center. It's just south of Highway 36, at 2100 White Bear Ave, in Maplewood.

Lucy will actually be going to the show a lot. So!
This Friday (July 27) she's going to come with me and be my little buddy. I'm not sure if she'll sit in the audience with me or if I'll be needed backstage -- either way, she's tagging. If that goes OK, she will accompany me to the remainder of the shows this weekend (July 28 and 29).

Next Saturday (Aug 4), Becky and Vivian are going along to the show along with Lu and Ed. I think Julie and Jamie are coming that day too. Anybody else is welcome to join us!

Cara and Alley Joel also offered to go with Lucy this Sunday (July 29).

If I know you are coming, I can ask to get sitting-in-the-audience duty, so we can sit together. The kids are so very talented and are working their little tails off to make this show great. It's been an incredible experience that I have been so blessed to have been able to take part in. As usual, I'm sure I'm learning more than the kids are. Argh! I just love it.

Shameless Plug! Come see my show!

And bring your kids!

So most of you know I'm working at a kids' theatre camp thru Ashland Productions. In a week and a half, we will mount a full-scale production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with a cast of 75 performers age 6 thru 18.

Joseph is an incredible, funny, high-energy show based on the Old Testament tale of Jacob's favorite son Joseph. You should come see it! Tickets are only $6, general admission, and the cast is really great, and the costumes are supercool, and the orchestra is all professional grownup musicians, AND a few bits of the choreography are Original Meg. ;)

I cannot WAIT for Lucy to see the show, so you should totally consider bringing your kids too. Kids under age 2 can sit on your lap and don't need their own ticket. The show is probably under 2 hours long, even including the intermission. Kids will DIG this show; it is goofy and fun and quite a spectacle. With can-can dancers! Go-go dancers! And Elvis! For six dollars, how could you go wrong?

Fridays (7pm), Saturdays (7pm), and Sundays (2pm), July 26, 27, 28, and August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12. I won't be at the Aug 10 performance but you can still come then if you wish.

Omigosh!

I totally forgot one of the MOST important things we did last week in Illinois! We got to meet...

Stulie's new babies!!!

Winona and Dashiell Vanorny were born via scheduled Caesarean section on Friday, 7/6/07 at 9:39 and 9:40 AM, respectively. They were 6 lbs, 2 oz, and 6 lbs, 4 oz, respectively, and were 18 or 19ish inches long. Not too shabby for twins!

Here's the best part: Winona looks just like Stu. Blonde hair, Stu's nose and small mouth. And Dash looks exactly like Julie: black hair, full lips and a wonderful scrunchy face. Not that Julie ever looks scrunchy! :) We got to see them when they were only like 6 hours old and it was totally awesome to hold the kids and be with this brand-new little family. Julie was doing great and Stu was totally blissed-out. It was great to be able to be there.

Congratulations Julie and Stu! Hope you read this some day, you super-lazy blog-abstainers.

Oh man I'm wiped out!!

Hoo, boy, I bet you'd thought I'd vanished, didn't you?

Nay! Still here. We were on vacation for about a week, heading up to the lake on June 29ish and then back home on Monday, only to vacate on Tuesday for Rolling Meadows. We watched the big RM 4th of July parade go right past my p's house, and then we spent the next couple days garage-sailing and being lazy. And Saturday, 7/7/07, was the annual Ryan Family Picnic!

We counted 83 warm bodies in attendance this year, which is pretty incredible. It's always great to catch up with all the cousins, especially since so many of us have kids now. See my cousin Molly's blog for some photos... I may try to attach some of my own here in a bit. And by "my own" of course I mean the ones my cousin Lynda took. :)

So I started camp this week and it is SO much fun. We have about 75 kids age 6 to 18. And these kids are so incredible. They are the nicest, sweetest, most hardworking group. And they're all theatre geeks. Like me!!! And the grownups acting as camp counselors are wonderful, kind, supportive and so talented too. It's only been three days and I am so far beyond exhausted and my body has not hurt this badly all over since WSU Dance Team auditions in fall 1994, but I am just loving it. The kids will be putting on a full-scale production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for three weekends starting July 27, and tickets are only $6. I'm going to have Joel bring Lucy for sure, so if you are going to be in the area and maybe have kids who would love to watch a great show, you should definitely come.

Just a couple kidnotes (on my kids, that is):

2 weekends ago when we were up at the lake, Donna and the kids and I were playing in the water, when all of a sudden Lucy grabbed her ladybug water-floatie and dragged it out of the lake and way up on the shore.

"Lu," I said, "Why don't you bring that back down so Eddie can use it?"

Lucy turned to me and said (and I kid you not):
"Here's the thing. I put it in the water once and it gets all dirty, so I'm going to put it up here, okay?"

Donna and I about had to scrape our lower jaws up off the beach.

Later that day, Ed pointed to a windchime that's in the shape of a fish. "Fish!" he said.

"YES!" I said, "Good job Ed! That's a fish."

Couple minutes pass, and Joel walks over. Trying to get Ed to show off his new word, I point to the windchime.

"Ed, what's that?"

Ed: "Shish."

Well, okay, close enough. Soon John walks over.

Me (pointing again): "Ed, what's that?"

Ed: "Shit!"


Ed and Eric


Ed and Grandma Books


The Ryan/Gronau clan. In case it isn't immediately apparent, I should mention that it's kind of RFP tradition that each family wears a somewhat matching shirt. We couldn't think of what kind of shirts to wear. So at noon on Friday my mom and I came up with the brilliant idea of sewing up some clothings out of some ugly old curtains, a'la The Sound of Music. We found the requisite ugly old curtains at a garage sale and we sewed nine (including Grandma Jake, not pictured)outfits in just under seven hours. If you look closely you can see Ellen's and Ed's lederhosen. These were gourmet costumes sewn by Juilliard-trained seamstresses, if you catch my drift.


My dad with Nana, his mom. She's 91.


The tug of war. I think this is the "original eleven" (my dad and his 6 brothers and 4 sisters) against their children (there are 35 of us but not all were participating). The oldies still won!

Lucy Up-spye-down

So I'm foraging around in the fridge for some lunch, because I'm determined to use up some of the A) massive amounts of fresh produce I've bought, before it goes bad, and B) massive amounts of leftovers I've created, because I have been trying out tons of new recipes with only moderate and intermittent success.

So I come across a batch of 2-week-old garbanzos-and-couscous mixture, and I open the lid and wrinkle my nose up and give it a good sniff. And then I kind of stare at it, because I don't think it's turned rotten but I also don't think that anybody's really going to eat it, and I suddenly hear, from behind me, the little blonde voice of reason:

"Mommy, nobody likes that."


And just now, Lucy and Jayla are romping on the loveseat, when I hear "Uh oh! Uh oh!" I turn around, expecting blood or at least impending disaster, to see that the seat cushion has shifted slightly off center.
"Uh oh, Momma, this is CRAZY!"

Eddie and I totally had a conversation at breakfast today. He said "Banana?" and I said "You want a banana?" and he said "Uss?" (which I think was yes) and then when I gave it to him he said his version of "thank you!"

I think I found an Asian beetle (it actually looked a little more slimy than a traditional ladybug, and bigger too) on my tomatoes the other day. I mean, Joel's tomatoes. Anyway, I picked off the leaf it was on (the bug was chewing through it)... did I do the right thing? And how vigilant do I have to be about weeding... do I need to remove absolutely every little peep of green that isn't part of the tomato plants? And what's deadheading and do I have to do it? And when there are sad, yellow leaves at the bottom of the plant, do I have to pull those off?

I may not blog at once, but I do blog... at last.

Sort of a paraphrase from Gigi... for all you movie buffs out there.

Well! Let me tell you, it's been an eventful few days here! This post was going to be about my birthday (which was Sunday; thank you ever so much to all the family and friends who called, sent cards, emailed, or improvised "Happy Birthday" on the trombone, and Large Props to Nicole Wats for taking me out for a lovely dessert and wine at Moscow on the Hill) -- but now that it's three days ago I've really already moved on. I'm 31 now, if you were wondering.

My dad was in town last week, giving me some much-appreciated time to cook (I know that sounds bizarre, but I really love being able to make dinner sans interruption) and gallivant a little with Jean. On Saturday, I went to the Farmer's Market and bought all kinds of wonderful foods, and then I did a teeny bit of garage sailing... scoring not one, but two sets of kids' golf clubs (golf bags included), for $27. One righty set, one lefty. (!!!) I know, I'm ridiculous, but I'm determined to retire in style... and golf pays well. :) :) :) Truly, the clubs are in perfect condition (as are the bags) so what the heck. Joel's dad is excited, so I am too.

Joel started taking down our dead maple tree on Saturday... to make room for my dream luxury sand volleyball court. I can't wait! Saturday afternoon we went up to Oak Grove (north of Andover) for Vivian's 1st birthday party. The food was delish, the beach was fantastic (despite the bizarre sight of people smoking on the beach... I mean, really, who even smokes anymore??), and we got to see lots of people we hadn't seen in a while. It was very fun, even though our kids went sour kind of early. Shout-out to Adam's family members who have been lurking here for a while.

Sunday I didn't get out of my jammies until 5PM. What a perfect birthday! Jean had a softball tourney in South St Paul so we went to watch a game early in the evening. We ate ice cream cake, did some laundry, cleaned the house... not too shabby.

The kids have been enjoying the hot weather immensely. We hang out in the $7 backyard pool and Joel turns on the sprinklers sometimes. Today we went to the beach at Ft. Snelling State Park, which was AWESOME and perfect for the little ones. Imagine all 4 Watson and Gronau kids pointing crazily at the sky, shouting "AIRPLANE!!!" and then resuming their splashing around in the knee-high wateer, and that's how the morning was. Unadulterated glee.

Cousin Kate was in town this week and we had her over for dinner last night. We watched the highlights of Annie (the dance numbers, natch), drank wine-in-a-box, ate brownies and leftover ice-cream cake, and had very nice chats.

And... tomatoes! OK actually, before I go into the details of my harvest, I have to remind you people that this is not a vegetable garden that we're talking about. It's 4 lonely tomato plants. My basil plant is, I fear, headed for the great compost heap in the sky, so let's not lose our heads. But the tomatoes!! I harvested about 8 cherrys in the last couple days. The first one was truly mediocre-tasting, but the following few have been very delicious. There are several dozen green ones on the vines, so I will keep you all updated on our bounty.

MUDBATH!

Have mud, will bathe.

Here are some photos of last week's playdate with the Wats.
Great googly moogly!

Kid Things

Not only is Ed repeating everything we say and obeying all kinds of instructions tossed his way (Put the shoe in the bucket! Feet off the table!)... he's also neighing like a horse. Somewhat all the time, but also when he sees a pic of a horse. He can also apparently do a mean chicken, on command. His sweet nature continues to amaze me... this morning he cuddled right into Nicole Watson's shoulder before lunch and just about fell asleep there. But he's soooo sensitive. Give him the slightest correction and sometimes he just shrugs it off but other times you would swear I was ripping out his toenails.

Lucy's bedtime routine for the last monthish has been thus: the usual (brush teeth, sit potty, read book, sing song, kiss, goodnight)... plus her new bonus conversation with herself:

(mind you, this is after I give the final kiss)

"I have to sit on the potty. Really? You're kidding me. Really? You're kidding me. Okay, let's go."

At which, she swings her legs out of bed and does her little Lucy-trot to the bathroom. Where, much to my surprise, she actually does some business about 60% of the time, despite just having gone within the previous 10 minutes. Go figure.

When she's really ready for bed, I say "I love you, Little Mister" and she says:

"I love you, Big Mister! See you in the morning. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bugs-bye bite." (Then, in a whisper:) "Good niiiiiiiiiight!"


Oh rats! I meant to tell Nicole Watson this today. So, last week we were playing at the Watsons' (mudbath photos to follow, as soon as I get 'em!) and the kids were playing with the house phone. Nicole okayed this, "As long as you don't call China." (This is something I have also often said to the kids as they play with our phone.)

Well, you guessed it, the next time Lucy's pretending to talk on the phone, we hear:

"Hello, China? China!! You want a BANANA!?!?"

Bursting with pride!

Just got back from Duluth, where we cheered on Jean and Donna in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. What an awesome weekend! Joel and I rolled into Duluth around 8pm and met up with Jean, Donna, Deena, and Tim at the "finish-grounds" for the races. (Jean and I play volleyball in Apple Valley with Donna and Deena.) Our runners had to wake up at 4AM to get showered and ready, and the rest of us couldn't get back to sleep. So, hopped up on Hostess Donuts and hotel coffee, we set out to do some serious cheering.

It was an unbelievably gorgeous morning. I rode my bike out to about mile 8 of the half-marathon -- as it turns out, I was parked right in front of some historic old mansion where some grisly murders occurred awhile back (I found this out later). I started cheering for the first male runners and found it completely impossible to stop. I didn't expect any of the runners (apart form Jean and Donna) to care whether or not I jumped up and down and hollered and shook my gigantic pom-pon at them, but they did! It was so cool to get a smile, a thumbs-up, or a "thank you" from people; I felt terrible having to get on my bike to go back into town, like I was letting the rest of the pack down... those slower runners, who needed me! :) Not like there weren't thousands of other fans out there, though. I caught up with Joel, Tim, and Deena at about mile 11 (which was right across the street from our hotel); once Jean and Donna passed us, we booked it toward the finish line and got to see the gals run past us again, about three blocks from the finish line. We got to see the female marathon winner at the finish line (as well as many other marathon finishers). The whole thing was such an awesome experience. I think about the very personal, individual struggle that every single runner out there has to go through to finish his or her race, and it is so incredibly moving. The injuries, the setbacks, and whatever it is that motivated each person to take up the crazy quest of long-distance running in the first place: what a a testament to the human spirit!

Since our hotel was on the race route, we got to see many, many of the late marathon stragglers, hitting mile 24 at the five- and six-hour mark. Joel (who finished Grandma's Marathon 1997 in about six hours) went out to watch some of them by himself for a while, while Jean and I took naps (since we share a brain, I also felt like I'd run 13.1 miles).

Thanks Donna and Jean for giving us something to cheer for -- thanks Tim and Deena for being the coolest roommates/co-cheerleaders/one-uppers on the planet -- and thanks to Duluth for your beauty and hospitality.

And Oh! Some photos!

Just a couple more thangs

This photo was up on discountdance.com next to "Was $9.00; now $7.50!" Which seems like a really good price for a new set of naked, mannish legs.


Just a supercute photo of Joel and Ed:






Up at the lake last weekend. Yes, I know it's hard to believe but that IS actually a photo of John, smiling!

Lucy drew this face, this morning. It's me! My daughter is a genius. Where it looks like the ears are, though -- those are arms.
I asked.

Bruschetta lives!

Hello again and happy Wednesday. At least, I think it is Wednesday.

In case there was ever a need for any empirical evidence that Joel mostly doesn't hear anything I tell him, let me tell you a little story:

Last week I made something for dinner. What it was, is not important -- what matters is that I made it in our big, nice Calphalon skillet. Typically this pan is used on our stovetop; however, it also happens to be oven-safe, and since I'd had to brown the meat on the stove and then bake it, I saw no need to dirty another pan. OK so the pan is in the oven, and the timer dings. Jean and Joel are in the kitchen, and I'm upstairs getting changed for volleyball, or something. Joel hollers up: "What does that dinger mean?" And I holler back "Take it out of the oven!".

Then I remember the last time I'd baked something in this pan. I had removed it from the oven, set it on the stove, and promptly grabbed the long handle with my bare hand. Oh yes, in the immortal words of Maurice Chevalier, I remember it well. When I cook with the pan on the stovetop, the handle doesn't get hot. No need for an oven mitt. When the pan comes out of the oven, I assure you, it is hot as blazes.

So, remembering this, I scurry down the stairs, yelling all the way "Don't grab the handle! Don't grab the handle!" in my best Don Knotts-"Citizen's arrest!" voice. For dramatic effect (and to make sure Joel understood), I yelled it a couple more times upon my arrival in the kitchen. Let me emphasize here that I was yelling especially loud and making large, sweeping arm gestures. Extra-dramatic. Even for me.

Panting slightly, I explained that the handle is very hot (which, I know, ought to be obvious since it just came out of the oven) and to remember not to touch it.

I continue getting ready for volleyball.

Two minutes later, I hear a medium-sized crash and some male swearing.

Joel grabbed the handle. Of course, he burned his hand, and had to spend the rest of the evening alternating between icing four of his fingers, and simply holding his hand up above his head to slow the blood flow.

He says he "Listen[s] to [me], but just do[es]n't seem to hear" me. Hmm.


OK, 'nuff of that. Time for a plant update!! The tomatoes have been watered every day, often twice-a-day, and there are actual tomatoes starting to grow. It's very exciting. The plants are even starting to exude that "tomato plant smell" that I didn't even know I knew, but I recall from my youth. It's a great smell. The basil plant in my kitchen is also, well, I hesitate to use the word "thriving" but I've been harvesting basil and somehow also encouraging the new growth. It looks pretty healthy, if I do say so. Oh hey! Green-thumbs out there: does it matter that I put them in a pot sans a drain? I could try to re-pot again if necessary. They seem to be doing OK but I don't know if the lack of a drain is going to cause a problem eventually. Help?

Last night after vball I showered and then went straight to sleep. I awoke at 6:30, feeling very refreshed... and looking just like Justin Guarini. On a no-hair-gel day. (OK not quite as curly.) I didn't even know my hair could do that. Even Joel was impressed. So... it's a little humid this week.

There was something else I was going to ask for a general opinion on... but I have forgotten what it was. Something terribly urgent and fascinating, I'm sure. Cripes, what was it?

Cute kid story of the day: Monday I was admonishing Ed for something, which of course he took very hard and started to cry. Lucy looked at me very seriously and said: "Mommy, you broke my Eddie's heart."

How am I going to NOT forget Ed's appt tomorrow morning?

For the weekend, Joel and I took the kids up to the lake for the first time of the season. (That is at least two too many prepositional phrases for one sentence.) The first thing that caught our attention was how BIG Lucy looked running around the place! We've been looking at pix of her up there last year, and the year before, and my gosh she is just huge. Her legs look like they've just sprouted. It helped, of course, that she was wearing one of last year's dresses that now just barely covers her behind.

Both kids were just adorable all weekend, despite their disrupted sleep regimens. They sat in the water for hours, scooping up rocks and sand and getting all wiggly when it was time to reapply the sunscreen (which needed to be about every hour -- those kids are so dang fair!). Ed passed out into a coma-like sleep every time we took him out in the "big boat." And I really discovered that, apart from the occasional waterskiing, I could entirely do without a motored boat. You can see and hear so much more, and have such better conversations, and really enjoy the lake more in a human-powered boat... which we were able to discover when we took out the Gronaus' little rowboat for a bit of exploring this morning. I don't think Joel shares my enthusiasm, but I'd really like to pick up a canoe or some kayaks in the future.

I also have to come clean about my new bathing suit. Take a deep breath: it has a skirt. I know, I KNOW! It's a 2-piece, but it's way more material than I'm accustomed to wearing at the beach. I feel like something out of the 1920s -- in fact, Joel has taken to calling it my "bathing costume". The good news is, it hides my bizarre stomach. And as an added bonus, the skirt means I don't even have to think twice about what my backside looks like. Because I haven't glanced back there in a while. Yeesh.

Sat nite Joel and I were able to sneak out for a late show of Ocean's 13. The movie wasn't bad at all. I think we're calling that our anniversary celebration. Which is more than a little disappointing.

I found out today that I did not get into nursing school -- I'm not even on the wait list. I'm disappointed, of course; being rejected stinks! So I'm going to try to focus my energies on, well, the kids of course, and some theatre stuff. I'm going to actually take some dance classes. Oh! And I forgot to mention, at my meeting for that summer camp thing last week? There are 5 "counselors" and the only one I hadn't met yet went to my high school. What are the stinkin' chances?? She was 10 years behind me (too young even for Ellen to know her, egads) but she had Mr. Stelk, and Mr. McCrory, and Mrs. Good, and she was in New Directions and was the overall director for V-Show. Exactly three of you will know the significance of this info, but it's pretty cool. She's an amazing girl, in the theatre program at the U, and I'm really excited to get to know her and work with her.

I'm watching (well, kinda -- it's on next to my head) the Tony Awards. I love all the production numbers, and seeing all the theatre legends close-up. Ooooh, there's Swoosie Kurtz!

Rush for a change of atmosphere

So usually when I overschedule myself and get committed and involved in too many things, I don't realize it until I'm in the thick of it, and it's too late to rework my plan, or rethink things, or whatever.

But I'm starting to get worked up about the rest of my summer... and it hasn't hardly even started yet.

I agreed to be a counselor for this kids' (age 6-18) theatre camp through Ashland Productions, and while I am sure it will be super fun and exciting and great experience... it's a "day job" (9-4) for three full weeks, plus a large time commitment for the three following weekends. So:

A. I'm more than a little nervous about planning the lessons for these kids; such a wide variety of ages and such a large number, and need I remind you I was never an education major? And I haven't taught any sort of kids in a while? And I certainly haven't taught jazz/Broadway-style dance in a while? I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around all I have to do to prepare...

and B. I'm freaking out about what, exactly, my kids are going to do for these three weeks. My folks are taking them the first week but I just haven't arranged for the remaining two weeks yet and, well, I'm just getting very nervous.

So on top of this I taught my first 20-minute "preschool" dance class this morning, to Lucy and Josie. I wanted to start VERY small, with just Lu and one other kid, to try to get my format/planning down and try to remember where my weak spots are. I remembered my weak spots pretty quickly (ex: I know I need to KNOW the dances down pat) and it actually went pretty well. Lu and Jo both showed *some* interest, which is actually decent for 2-y-os. We'll tweak it a bit each week and I think it will be good.

Oh and I was supposed to pack this morning to go to the lake this evening. And I have not.

And I've just been having bizarre dreams that keep creeping into my thoughts all day. Like, I dreamt I was in a plane crash. And I dreamt I was on a plane without any sides (like, all the passengers had to hang on to a central pole to keep from being flung from the plane) -- I guess they were sort of the same dream, sort of. And I remember desperately trying to scribble a note to my kids before the plane went down, but all I could find was a pencil and I really wanted a pen... and then I dreamed that I got the letter telling me whether I got into nursing school, except it was so cryptic I couldn't even read it so I couldn't tell whether or not I got in. I know, I know, who cares? But throughout my days I have little flashbacks to these dreams, and I'm feeling kind of haunted.

And I've been having all sorts of food issues -- like I am always hungry, and nothing I eat seems to satisfy me, and usually a good bowl of sugary cereal has been my failsafe tide-me-over snack, but maybe they changed the formula for Cocoa Krispies because I seriously eat a giant bowl and it does nothing for me; in fact, I'm almost hungrier than when I started! Argh!

Oh, and Lu has wet her bed the last 2 nights. Drat. And she's suddenly become very self-conscious of her usual singing and perform-ey things; she won't read the pigeon book anymore, and if we catch her singing aloud she stops right away, or immediately switches into singing gibberish.

Ed's adorable, but kind of clingy/sad; maybe getting more teeth. The other day we went to the Dari-ette after dinner, and Joel was feeding Ed bites of his strawberry shake. Before every bite, Ed would say "peeeeeese!" and then after every bite: "ake-you". Very polite.

Lucy's getting kind of destructive. This morning while I was showering, she dumped out every single huge Rubbermaid container of toys, tipped over every toy that stands up on its own (including her "kitchen" and all her chairs), tipped over the lamp in Ed's room, and basically made a gigantic mess. Grr. But then she goes and does something adorable... apparently last night right after bedtime there was a loud firecracker down the street and Joel went to check the kids quick and Lucy was standing right by her door:
"Did you hear that, Daddy?"
"Yes, it was loud!"
"You check on Eddie?"
Joel will edit the conversation later, I'm sure -- I don't remember the rest, but he said it was very sweet.

Oh! Oh! OK one more Lucy story: we had the Watsons over here on Tuesday to play, and all the kids were running around "nay-kay" in the yard. Lucy went inside to tinkle, as she does, and returned. Well, then the boys wanted to tinkle too, so Nicole had them stand by the tree in our yard. Not to be outdone, naked Lucy marched right up next to the naked boys, grabbed the tree, and took a poop right there in the grass.

It was definitely one of those gotta-laugh-or-I'll-cry moments. I was watching her do it, and at first I thought she had a pine cone or a rock stuck between her bee-cheeks.... but no. A poop. Great googly moogly.

Oh, and this is sort of somrthing that goes along with the very first point of this post: I totally forgot to take Ed to his 15-month checkup this morning. Like, it was on the calendar... I knew about it... the office called to confirm it... I just didn't remember to go. I took it really hard, cried a bit -- I hate being that guy! I rescheduled for Monday but it drives me crazy that I could forget that. Add this to the fact that I was making dinner last night and honestly could not think of what day of the week it was. It could have been Monday, I was pretty sure it wasn't Friday... or was it? I think I am losing my mind. *shaking head*

Hey, I'm pretty sure my friend Mandy had her baby girl yesterday... she was having a scheduled C. Hoping everything went well for them.

What Lucy doing? Why not?

I hate it when entire weeks get away from me!

Well, as far as writing here, I mean. I actually know just where the entire week went, and it was thoroughly enjoyable, thankyouverymuch.

I didn't watch Jayla at all last week or this week. No big deal, but it kind of made me feel like I was on vacation a bit. I played volleyball and softball and took the kids to Joel's softball game last week, only to be caught in one of those superquick downpours that we've been having.

I haven't been running. I do want to take it up again... but Im giving myself a little break. I'm on vacation, remember?

We had a wonderful laid-back weekend here at home. I rode my bike to the farmers' market on Saturday and then ran my other two errands on bike as well. I won't lie; the hills in this 'hood are challenging. But it felt great to be out and about and not using any gas. Now I'm working on getting Joel to ride his bike to work. Riiiiiight. ;)

Went back to the farmers' market Sunday AM so Joel could buy some tomato plants. "What!?!?" you may ask. Yes, plants -- Joel really wants a vegetable garden. I told him that I would try to remember to water the plants but that I would NOT become emotionally invested in this alleged "vegetable garden." I think he said that was all right. Although I did buy myself a couple little basil plants too... poor doomed little buggers.

We went to church after the FM on Sunday, and then Joel's old buddy Jared made a surprise visit. It was SO great to see that cat! Nothing about him has changed in the slightest. Joel's p's and sisters came over Sunday afternoon too and we had a lovely visit. Donna and I took the kids to TJ Maxx and I, against my better judgement and against five years' worth of precedent, actually purchased a hand towel for my bathroom.

Lucy's been having some tummy issues for the past week, but the good news is it's been a couple weeks with no accidents -- that includes dry nights as well! Now we just have to figure out how to wean her off the M&M reward. Oh, PS, the title of this post is all Lucy says these days. I do not know why she wants me to verify that she's drawing pictures, or putting Mr. Potato Head together, or pulling all the blankets/babies/pillows/books off her bed to "make it a boat" (I also don't know why the bed has to be completely naked in order to be a boat). And I really don't know why she asks "Why not?" instead of just "Why?" like a normal almost-3-year-old. I do know that it's really hard to mentally convert "Why not?" into "Why?" so that I can answer it properly. Because she means "Why?" ...And "Why not?" never makes any syntactical sense.

Ed is a hilarious little fool, climbing like a monkey and always acting the ham. And he's so, so sweet... snuggly when he's tired... and always happy to present his bare feet to your face for a zrbrt.

This morning we had a fun playdate with a family down the street from us. It is so cool getting to know nice, fun, new people!

Alas, dishes and laundry and dinner-making await.

Congrats Peg!

My awesome friend Peg (lives in MKE, met at WSU) and her sweet hub John had a baby.

Ain't he a doll?

Welcome Jack!

A couple other notes:

1. Thank you SO MUCH to each and every one of you who emailed, called, or commented, or otherwise sent your well-wishes for the run last weekend. I am not sure whether I'd mentioned this before (and many of you were already aware), but May 27th was the one-year anniversary of my Aunt Jan's passing. It was important, I think, for our family to be together, and I know I wouldn't have attempted to do something like that on my own. So I want you all to know how much your support meant to me.

2. I forgot to mention some of the other fun things we did over the weekend! Sunday afternoon we bought a kite at Aldi and took it to the meadow. Joel and my dad were kind of in charge of flying the thing, and when they gave Lucy the kite-reins, hilarity ensued. Imagine Joel running at full speed (which, as you know, is about 20 mph) and then diving-and-rolling to try to catch a runaway kite. And then imagine my dad wading across the creek in his tennis shoes. And then Joel and me, trying to dislodge a kite from two trees.

Monday morning, we drove the kids over to Arlington Park to watch the thoroughbreds go through their morning warmups. You can drive right up to the rail and watch them ride by. Special thanks to the one trainer who pulled his horse right over to let Lu and Ed pet her. He told us the horse wasn't a runner yet, just a baby of three. We told Lucy the horse was about her age; pretty sure that blew Lucy's mind. It was a beautiful morning and the horses were, of course, gorgeous... and a neat reminder that some of the best things in life are free.

3. Today I mourn the end of one of my favorite websites, Batgirl. Truly, the site that turned me into a Twins fan... and a baseball fan.

4. Argh, I know I had more, but I seriously have to go mow the lawn. Love and hugs to everyone... it's Tuesday! Yess!!

We Did It!!

My sisters and I finished the Soldier Field 10-mile!

AND Joel and I made it to our 7th anniversary!

The run itself was pretty brutal. Ellen took off ahead (and averaged 8-minute miles; that girl is totally amazing), but Jean and I ran the whole thing together and averaged just under 10-minute-miles, which I thought was really good, for us! Running that fast, though, I tell you what, the last 2 miles were really tough. But the weather was just perfect and I'm very proud to say it is done.

You can see our times and whatnot by clicking here and doing a "Ctrl-F" for "gronau" -- Jean is three places behind me (we finished at the same time, but there were lots of other people finishing at that time so it's alphamabetical).

And here are some photos!

We made a side trip to Milwaukee to visit Peg and John and any other little person who may or may not be living in their house now. It was great to see them!! Also, I cut Eddie's hair tonight:

The other photo I couldn't do last night.

Mmmm, everybody loves Puddin' Night!

Don't forget you can click on those to make them bigger (if you so choose).

And, in other breaking news...

Joey Fatone still bears an eerie, albeit slightly-burnt, resemblance to my husband.

You can't tell me that's not a little weird.

Speaking of "a little weird" Joel found this photo somewhere on the internets:

It's Ray Ryan!