Soap Box

Today Taryn got up on her soap box... Or rather her step stool. She gave a good 5 minute lecture.

There was some very serious explanation...

There was a call to action...

And then she took a quick break to show off her fashionable side.

Anyone know a small country in need of a dictator? We've got the girl for the job.

Growing Pains

This is why we need a bigger house. ASAP. I can barely get up to a full trot in this house!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Last night Taryn and I (mostly I) spent a good chunk of time tying ribbon around Valentine's Day granola bars and putting her "classmates" names on it... This morning we got her dressed up in her sparkly pink heart-covered t-shirt. At "school" she got lots of Valentine's from the other kids... And I'm pretty darn confident that they have NO CLUE WTF IS GOING ON!

Oh the joys of a Hallmark holiday!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

Drinking Away My 20's!

Saturday was my 30th birthday. Yeehah. I guess I'm finally catching up to many of my friends who paved the way over the last 6 years.

We started with dinner at the Lafayette Brewing Company. One of the ladies heard that it was someone's birthday and came up and wished TARYN a happy birthday... Yeah... Like I would bring my daughter to a brewery for her 2nd birthday. Screw Chuck E Cheese Taryn, we're going to the brewery!!

This is John and his wife Katie. John and I have gone to school together since we were in 2nd grade, one of the oldest friends I still keep in touch with. He has two sons now, Jackson and Archer. Archer is just a couple months older than Taryn and it is hilarious to imagine that they may end up going to school together here in a few years. His wife Katie is becoming a Doula, which is very cool!

Lee's brother Matt and sister Sonia made it out to celebrate. Actually, I think they both made it out until around midnight, which is pretty good for all of us old folks!

A pic of the dudes. Justin looks like he's seen a ghost!

After more shots than I've seen since my 24th birthday, we ended up our night with a trip to the piano bar at the Cactus. The Piano Man, Bruce Barker, even told me I didn't look 30. Thanks dude! We actually tried to go to Harry's, but the line was too long. Probably fate stepping in to make the right call. Thank you fate!

I woke up at 7:30am the next day, ate some cereal, Advil and water and went back to sleep until 9:15. At that point, I felt pretty darn decent. So many people I know have hangovers that get worse with age. Not me! I have gotten better! I am like the Benjamin Button of hangovers.

Thanks for all the b-day wishes! And yes, I realize that when someone says "Raise your hand if you're in your 20's," I should keep my hand by my side.

Snowed In

Today is snow day #2 at our house.
We were feeling more than a little stir crazy, so we got bundled up and headed outside for a bit.

Taryn was much more tolerant of the snow than in the past, but she still wanted to stay on the parts that were plowed already.

Lee busted the Explorer out of the snow and we took a drive around to see what the roads were like. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what the news told us NOT to do last night, but oh well! The roads out by us were actually a lot better than the roads in town. As we drove through Purdue's campus (school was called off again today! unheard of!) they had almost everyone that works there outside clearing snow. That's a lot of sidewalks!

I am not sure if we'll be back to school tomorrow. I am guessing Taryn's daycare will be open, and maybe Lee's schools, but I am guessing Attica might take another day. There's a lot of back roads in that school district!

Thirty... It should be a four-letter word.

Saturday I turn 30. I have been trying most the month to wrap my brain around the idea of it. It isn't working.

When I think back to my early 20's, they really seem so extremely far away. College, my move to Chicago, weeks filled with evenings at the bars and lots of time on email. Writing odes and meeting people for lunch. Big Herm's and euchre leagues.

The early 20's quickly turned into the mid-20's. I bought my first place, friends started to get engaged. Soon we were married and I made the move down to Norfolk. There was still a lot of time out and about, but the group of friends was no longer the same. Finally, we moved back to Indiana.

The turning point of my life came when I was 28. Now a mom, nothing is ever the same. Instead of acting like a kid, I'm teaching them at work and raising one at home. Feeling very much the adult that I wasn't when I was 20. The nights out are few and far between. The friends are spread out and the time on email is very very limited. But family is close and that is important.

I'm sure the 20 year old me would think this time in my life lacks luster and young-me wouldn't trade places for the world. But, fortunately, I feel the same way. While I am none too fond of the number 30, things on this side of my 20's are comfortable and I'm feeling just a tad more wise than I used to. Instead of spending my evenings out, I get to spend every one of them with my best friend and the best little person I've ever seen.

So, I'm feeling old, but feeling lucky.

Fast Friends

Tonight Monica and Eddie Dragut came over to watch the Bears/Packers game. To borrow a quote from Clint (only he was talking about the Brewers), I'm as big a Bears fan as the next guy who isn't a Bears fan. So I wasn't too devastated by the outcome. I had my devastating weekend last weekend.

However, I did love the Bears Tollhouse cookie that they brought and left... Mmmm.

Anyway, Taryn and their son Nicholas were both quite shy at the beginning of the night. By the end, they were literally running around our house yelling! Monica was hoping Taryn would be a positive influence and get Nicholas to eat his dinner... However, it was the other way around and the two ended up having a couple crackers, cookies and yogurt for dinner.

In the picture here, Taryn had set up her chairs like a train and then ORDERED Nicholas to sit down with her.

It was eye-opening to see what it is like to have a little boy in the house. They are a bit more wild than little girls, that's for sure. AND... Monica & Eddie have a bun in the oven! And it will be arriving soon! She is due at the end of March. Clearly we hadn't hung out in awhile...

Hopefully we can schedule some more play dates in the not-to-distant future.

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

Today my mom had her 52nd birthday. I kept asking her what she wanted to do for her birthday and her response was always rather blah saying "when you've had as many birthdays as me..."

But, after some arm twisting, we did have lunch with my grandma and uncle. My mom got quite the array of gifts... A pack of 4 reading glasses from me, and an iPod Shuffle from my grandma. Isn't that kind of ironic or something? Granny glasses and a MP3 player?

Things that are great about my mom:

*She is always willing to do anything for her family. Even when they don't return the favor.

*She is Taryn's biggest fan. And Taryn reciprocates those feelings. As soon as we turn onto my mom's road Taryn starts screaming with joy in the backseat.

*She has endless amounts of energy. At 52 years old, she has way more energy than me and she always has! It was rather annoying when I was a teenager and she was up at 6am singing and vacuuming, but now that we don't live together, it is much more endearing.

*She adores real estate and is always willing to help you look for a house, regardless of the location.

*She is an amazing teacher and works miracles with the students she has.

*She's my mom and sacrificed a ton to be the best single parent as I was growing up.

Happy Birthday Mom! Here's to making it to 100!

Put a Ring On It

I have written many a time about what a girlie girl I somehow gave birth to. Well, we have yet another thing to add to our list.


Taryn often likes to look at my rings and spin them on my fingers. The other day I had the "bright" idea to put my engagement ring on her finger just to see what she thought of it and what it looked like on her chunky little finger.

Dumb idea. She didn't want to give it back. Finally I remembered that someone had given us a tiny baby ring at one of my baby showers. So, I went and dug that up and thankfully got my engagement ring back.


She now asks for my rings whenever she notices them. Today (after much whining) I let her wear my wedding band (no more engagement ring!) and another ring that used to be my Great Grandma's for a little while. She had one on each hand and was doing all sorts of things with her hands. She said "HI MOMMY" and waved at me with both hands while keeping her eyes on the rings. She clenched her hand, watched the rings as she played with her stuffed snowman... It was hilarious. It was the same way I was right after Lee and I got engaged when I loved to stare at my ring.

Again today, I had to offer up her baby ring in order to get mine back. I guess her little boyfriend Conrad at daycare better have a full piggy bank for this little diva.

P.S. Please excuse her outfit. It was Saturday morning and we weren't leaving the house. Yes, she has cammo pants, we live in Indiana. And the sweatshirt is 29 years old (aka it was mine).

Young Love

Lee and I were naive. We thought we had a good... I don't know... 13 years before we had to worry about young suitors courting our little girl. Our eyes have been opened. With one simple name... "Conrad".

A few days ago, I picked Taryn up at daycare. As we were leaving, a little boy came to the door repeatedly saying "bye" to her. As we left, we looked at the pictures of all the kids outside her classroom and she said all of their names. I learned that Conrad was the little boy saying goodbye to her as we left.

Since then, out of nowhere she'll just say "Conrad" and smile and beam and giggle like a teenager in love. If she had a Trapper Keeper she would totally be doodling his name all over it.

This morning when Lee dropped Taryn off at daycare, the first thing she said quietly was "Conrad". Lee said Conrad was also there to say goodbye to Taryn a dozen times as she left this afternoon. Tonight as we drove home from the Attica basketball game, Taryn was getting ready to fall asleep in the backseat. "-onrad." "What did you say?" "-onrad." "Did you just say Conrad?" "Heeeeheeee."

OH BOY. Does anyone know of any pre-K all girls schools?

And though it has nothing to do with the rest of this blog, I just had to post this picture of Taryn and Kylan that was on my mom's camera. My mom gave it the title "BABY, this way".