Trip to Chicago

Last month Jason had the opportunity to attend a marketing workshop in Chicago, so we decided to bring the girls along and make it a family trip.

We started out by stopping at the Indianapolis Children's Museum on the way. This is really a must-see for any families that live in the MidWest. The exhibits are fantastic and educational. We've been several times, and our girls just can't get enough of it. This time the girls' favorite exhibit was the circus exhibit. So much to do hands on! We ended up spending most of our time there. Check out our video to see some of the things we got to see and do there.

Once we left the Children's Museum we stopped for the night in northern Indiana. The next day we made our way into Chicago. As many times as I've been there, I never get used to how crowded it is! People (and cars!) everywhere!

While we were there we were able to meet up with my best friend from college. Gaby & I have so many differences, but we have been there for each other for over 20 years now. It's amazing when we get to see each other in person finally. I love her so much!

The next day, while Jason attended his workshop, the girls & I went to the highlight of our visit: a trip to the American Girl store! Jena got one for her last birthday, and Jillian had been asking for one for months. Since Jillian's birthday overlapped with our trip, we decided to get her one as her "big" present from us. Jena too, had been wanting another one, and in fact had been saving her money for months, trying to save enough to get one.

I really am so proud of her. From her 8th birthday & Christmas she had about $40, but if you know anything about American Girl dolls, that's not even close to enough. The rest of the money she earned thru soccer and chores.

For soccer, midway thru her first season as goalie Jason had agreed to pay her $1 for every goal she stopped, but take away $2 for any goals that got thru. At the time this was maybe $4-5 per game, tops. Usually $1-2. Then indoor soccer started. Ends up indoor soccer moves at a faster pace, and strikers tend to get off more shots on goal. With our daughter being one of the top goalies in her age group, more than half of her games were shut outs. She stopped as many as 27 goals in one game, without letting a single one through! I'm not gonna lie, she cleaned up on that deal!

For chores, she earns money for chores. The amount is rather small though, ranging from 5 cents to 50 cents per chore. She worked really hard because she wanted that doll, and some weeks earned as much as $8.

She saved every dollar, and by the time of our trip had enough to not only purchase the doll of her choosing, but get two outfits for it too! I'm so proud of her for her hard work to earn the money, and the self-restraint to save it for a large purchase. That can be hard for many adults, and my little girl si only 8 years old.

Check out this video to see how excited the girls were when we told them about going to the American Girl store, and some of our time there.

We had such a nice time in Chicago. It's a lovely city, and of course I always get to see a good friend when we go.

Have you been to Chicago lately? What are your favorite sites to see there?

As always, thanks for checking in!

2014 Recap

* I originally wrote this in January, but apparently never hit "publish", so here goes*

So a quick recap of 2014:

March:
- Jason's business kicked off it's 2nd season


April:
- my employer announced that it will be closing the Kentucky location within the next 3 years and all jobs will be relocated. Mine specifically is going to Michigan.

May:
- Miss Jillian was born
- Miss Jena graduated from Kindergarten
- my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary

July:
- we made a decision regarding both my job and Jena's education

August:
- after more than 10 years with my employer, I resigned my position

September:
- we began homeschooling Jena

October:
- our family's first trip to Disney World
- a trip to Chicago

November:
- Jason expands his business to include Christmas light installation (residential & commercial)

December:
- holidays (need I say more)

Jena's Brush with Fame

During our trip to the Smoky Mountains, we decided to see a show at The Comedy Barn. Excellent show, clean humor, kid friendly. Seriously, go.

source

Well, much to our enjoyment, Jena was selected to go on stage and help with the dog act. Despite her shyness, that girl can rock a stage performance like no other. Seriously.

And so she went. She stood on stage with four other girls while a dog jumped over them. Great fun.

Later on, the same kids, along with a few others, went back on stage for a dance number of sorts.

It was only after this that we realized why there were so many Honey Boo Boo jokes during this particular show.

source

She was there.

In fact, she was on stage with Jena.

And her dad was on stage at one point. And her mom. And her bodyguard.

True story.

Now, if you recall, we do not have cable or satellite. In fact, I have never seen the show. The only reason I even have a clue what any of them look like is because one of my co-workers is obsessed with the show, so I finally googled to see what the fuss was about.

Otherwise, I may have never known...

And that, my readers, is Jena's brush with fame.

Thanks for checking in!

Miniature Golf

While on vacation last month, we stopped to play miniature golf at one of the many tourist attractions on Pigeon Forge.

It was fun. For the most part. Mini golf is a relatively new activity for Jena. She played her first two games on vacation last year, and fell in love. She LOVES miniature golf.

One thing we have not convinced Jena to do, is to use both hands. She typically stands directly behind the ball, and with one hand on the club, thrusts it forward, pushing the ball. Pretty far (considering).

Needless to say, we do not keep score. Not yet. This concept was difficult for my dad to grasp, and he kept a mental score in his head, up until Jena's meltdown. And even a little bit after that, I think.

We also had a hard time convincing her that you had to wait for everyone to finish before you moved on to the next hole. Probably because it's usually only the three of us, so the wait usually isn't as long as this time, when there were six of us total.

But at the end of the day, we all had a good time. And that's what matters, right?

The week I almost became a thief

While on vacation last month, I seriously considered stealing two dogs. Seriously.

Our 2nd night in the cabin two dogs showed up on the front porch. A dachsund and a mutt. Extremely friendly, except... the doxie would pee whenever one of the men touched him.

Raise first red flag.

Since there were several other cabins in the area, we decided to wait, hoping they would return to their owners.

They were outside all night. We heard them barking. Outside in the mountains.

But the next morning, they were still there.

Jena was especially worried, so I made her the promise that before we left for home we would either find their owners, or call "the animal rescuers" (ie. the local humane society).

That next day, when we were loading into the car to leave, the doxie jumped into our drivers' seat. I tried to coax it out, to no avail. Went to pick it up... and it peed all over the seat.

And let me be clear, the peeing instances were not I'm-so-happy-I-literally-can't-contain-myself types of peeing, but more of a I'm-so-scared-I'm-pissing-myself sort of peeing.

Raise second red flag.

Sometime on the 3rd day, we determined that they belonged to the family at the cabin closest to ours, when the man came looking for them.
Later that same day, they dogs were happily lying in the driveway to our cabin. The mutt farthest away, was friendly, but not outgoing, and never came directly to us.

Until her owner called her. The minute she heard his voice, she beelined for our legs.

Yeah, a dog who refuses to approach strangers, until her owner calls her for her? Then she runs for the strange folks and hides behind their legs?

Raise third red flag.

And that is when I contemplated stealing the dogs.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe my gut is wrong (even though it's never been wrong before), but I'm pretty sure those dogs were abused in that home.

And so I gave serious thought to stealing a couple of dogs. I spied on the neighbor a couple of times, just hoping to catch him in the act so I could call the authorities. But no.

But I still considered stealing the dogs. Maybe I should have. What's two more, right?

HotTub? yes, please!

Jena's first time in a hot tub. See that smile? 'nuff said

I'm telling you, my kid is a total water bug. Give her water, and she's happy.

*note* yes, we turned the heat way down, and yes, she was never in there unless another adult was there too, and yes, you do have to explain to a 4-yr-old that hot tubs are for relaxing, not fun, so please stop doing cannonballs so Mamaw can relax.

Bear-ly missed it

One of the last things we did on our vacation to the Smokies is to go thru Cades Cove.

We drove the loop, had a picnic lunch, took some pics, walked some trails, and yes, saw a bear.

Not uncommon for Cades Cove, as it is one of the most popular places for wildlife viewing in the Mountains.

As a child, we often camped near Cades Cove, and did the loop at least once per day while on vacation. I've been thru that thing hundreds of times. Okay, maybe not hundreds, but we might be getting close.

So when we saw the cars stopped, and lined up, we knew there was probably a bear up ahead.

Or maybe a deer, because occasionally you do get people who apparently have no deer where they're from, and get really excited about a deer.

And then we saw the people out of their cars. Maybe 20 of them, standing around, looking into the woods. We still weren't close enough to see, but I started noticing that none of them were pointing, and they seemed to be looking at something fairly close.

And then I saw the man and his son walk into the woods, and begin pointing at it from the other side.

Because it's really smart to cut off a large predator like a bear from all angles, with nothing to protect you. Like, brilliant.

And then we see it. And it's very clear that the bear wants to cross the road. And it's also very clear that the line of people watching him is in his way.

And people are stupid. And no, I will not apologize for that statement. Until evidence proves otherwise, I am convinced that the vast majority of animal attacks on humans (domestic or wild) are the human's fault. Because people are too stupid to realize that if you don't know enough about animal behavior to adjust your behavior accordingly, then you have no right to be that close to said animal. Grr. I could do a whole soap box post on this subject. But not now. I'm moving on...

So Mr. Bear begins walking farther down the line of cars, to where there are no people blocking the road. As in, by our car.

And it stops, and I swear it's looking right at us. And I realize, it's gonna come.

sizing up the situation

"Roll up Jena's window! Roll up Jena's window! Roll up Jena's window!"

Jason had just gotten her window rolled up, and was starting on ours, when it came. It ran right behind our car into the woods on the other side.

The picture above? That's the spot the bear ran across the road taken from the front passenger seat of our car. No zoom or cropping. I was hoping to snap a shot, but he was too fast. So here's a pic of the blank road.
Now, it may have only been a second, and we may have been in our car, but that is definitely the closest I've ever come to a wild bear. And the closest I'd ever want to.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Vacation Aquarium

While in the Smokies, we visited Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.

Several of us had been before, but Jena hadn't.

And she is our little water bug.

She had a blast. I think we all did.

This was a great attraction for a group of varying ages. It truly has something for everyone, and you can go at your own pace.

They've added a section since last time, the dinosaurs. It's a relatively small party of the attraction, but still fun. Jena's favorite parts were playing paleontologist by dusting off bones, and coloring pictures of dinosaurs on the interactive screens.

I think it's really neat how you can become part of the exhibit in certain places, by climbing in the tubes they have set up in the habitats.

And here's some cute pictures of sleeping penguins, just because.

As always, thanks for checking in!

My husband is my daugther's dad

So, during a game miniature golf on our vacation, Jena had a meltdown. A major, gigantic, uncharacteristic-of-her meltdown.

It all surrounded a hole where you had to get your ball up a steep (miniature golf steep) hill. Jena, using her one-handed technique, tried 5 times and never came close. Nor did she want help. She loudly did not want help.

Proceed to meltdown.

At first, we were concerned. Jason & I looked at each other, and I mouthed "is she sick?". Because, that my friends, is about the only time you get a completely unwarranted tantrum out of Jena (well, now. When she was younger... Lord help us all)

So I sat on the ground, invited her into my lap, and talked to her for a bit. She calmed down, and was ready to try again. Giving up is not something that I want to encourage, and not something she does naturally. She's persistant, that one.

While we were talking, the others had gone ahead, and Grandpa had moved her ball to the top of the hill. She frowned, picked up her ball, and announced that she was going to the next hole. As I was opening my mouth to encourage her to try again, her announcement was met by a chorus of encouragement from all three of her grandparents:

"That's a great idea, let's move on!"

"Sometimes it's okay to skip hard things!"

and my personal favorite

"Giving up is a great idea! You can just do the next one!"

I kid you not. Her grandparents encouraged her to give up. I shook my head, and moved on. She already had, and seemed happy, as did everyone else. Maybe not every moment has to be about a life lesson.

So we moved on. Did I mention this hole was around hole 5? Of an 18-hole course?

Original meltdown aside, she made it thru the rest of the course, but not without some resistance, some back-talk, and just a generally bad attitude. We'd correct her behavior, only to have her repeat it again.

And then... we were done. We were on the last hole. She was so excited that she was the first one whose ball disappeared down the hole. We're almost done, we're happy... until she announces that she wants to play again and doesn't want to turn her club in. We inform her that we're done and moving on to more super-fun stuff on our vacation.

She runs off, about 10 feet away from us, still in our view, and curls herself into the side of a hedge, and cries. And I mean sobs.

At this point, I'm still concerned that she might be sick, and am perfectly willing to let her cry it out until we're all ready to leave.

Jason was not. He had had enough of her attitude, and was especially not happy with her running off, even if it weren't that far.

He went to get her, and when she saw him coming... she ran.

He finally caught her, and what ensued was not pretty. Lots of screaming. The kind that draws the attention of the other people on the course, no matter which hole they were at. Necks craned to see what the fuss is about.

To be honest, this whole scene was difficult for me. Very, very hard.

You've gotta remember, with his firefighter schedule, plus running a side business, I do 99% of the parenting in our household. And we have very different methods for dealing with her.

The grandparents found a couple of benches about 50 feet away, out of sight, in the shade, and retired there. I stayed at first, listening.

It was very, very hard for me to not intervene. But I didn't. I let my husband be her dad and parent her.

I stayed until she caught sight of me. Because at that point she started struggling against him even harder, reaching out her arms, and screaming for me.

And so, when she wasn't looking, I disappeared behind a building and joined my parents on the benches.
But before I left, I snapped this picture:

Can you see them? He's wearing a green shirt, back facing us, in the middle of the flowers. She's on his lap, but not happy about it.

Something inside me said this was a moment. As painful as it was, it was something to be remembered. And so I pulled out my camera, and clicked.

Eventually (hours, it must have been, or so it seemed) they rejoined us, and we finally left that attraction. Finally.

We finished the day tantrum-free. And I think we all learned a lesson that day.

Mine was a reminder that he is her dad. Oh sure, we know it, but with him being gone so much, and me consequently handling the vast majority of parenting items, it's good to have little reminders now and again.

My husband, is her dad.

Go-Carts

And now, I give you go-cart pictures.

Mostly you need to know that this was Jena's 1st (and 2nd) time on the go-carts, that she's in love with them and likes to go as fast as possible, that I'm pretty sure Jason likes them just as much, if not more, than she does, and... that my 70-year-old father rode them too.

Look out for the guy in the red shirt.

That's my dad.

And it makes me happy that he did something just for himself, just to have fun, for him.

Rest Area Fun

if that girl finds a "stage" of any sort, she's on it

I love this pic. It's not posed, and just catches her in the moment of being... her.

jump!

Shiny the Snail

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to find snail shells in the yard. She had a knack for spotting them, and started a collection of the empty shells.

One day, while on vacation, she found a teeny tiny snail shell and showed her grandma. Who pointed out that the "baby" snail was still inside.

So the little girl, with all the innocent love that little girls have, decided that this snail must be her pet.

And so she named the snail "Shiny".

And she loved Shiny, who was, apparently, a girl snail.

She put Shiny on a piece of paper, and carried her around everywhere. She refused to put the snail down, because as we all know, babies need constant attention.

see the dot on the brochure? that's the snail.
Also, the shirt was a total coincidence

But alas, eventually the girl needed to take a bath. So she left her beloved snail sitting on a table outside the cabin, under the careful eye of her grandpa.

Shiny, in all her glory

And totally forgot about the snail. As did just about everyone else. Except her mother, who wondered if it were really an accident that Grandpa "forgot" to bring the snail inside for the night.

And the next morning, the little girl discovered that Shiny was gone. She had found her way home to her own mommy & daddy. I'm sure of it.

The end.

Playing Catch Up

Oh wow. I can't believe how busy I've been lately. I know, I know. You're probably getting tired of hearing it.

As it relates to blogging, the good thing about being busy is that I have lots of stories I'd like to share with you.

The bad part is that I have no time to write them down!

Everything from the cute (Jena's pet snail) to the mundane (work drama) to the somewhat scary (the bear was this close!) to the entertaining (sharing the stage with a star) to the criminal (should I steal these dogs?). And everything in between.

Much of it happened on our recent trip to the Smoky Mountains. Always a good time. If you've never been, you should totally go.

And now I'm playing catch-up at work and at home, on top of the busy-ness I was already experiencing. But I have got to get some of these stories down while they are fairly fresh. Seriously.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Things I Did Before I Was a Parent

- returned the shopping cart to the cart corral. Always.
Sorry, cart retrievers. Nothing personal. Just depending on my parking space I may not be willing to leave my child unattended in the car. And you try to keep a preschooler in the cart until you return it when she's ready to get out.
side note - I feel guilty every. single. time.

- I worked overtime whenever I was asked, without a second thought
With a small child, and a husband who's often gone, it's just not possible now. Overtime must be planned in advance. And no, I will not leave my child in day care for 14 hours because you, as my supervisor, did not plan ahead.
I do make exceptions for the rare emergency. But I have a pretty strict definition of emergency, and it's only happened once since Jena was born (earthquake & tsunami in Japan - we had people there when it happened that needed to be located & their safety confirmed)

- I We had more sex
We still manage to do pretty well in this department, but the fact is that middle-of-the-afternoon, just-because-you-feel-like-it just doesn't happen anymore. Pretty much ever.

- We took more big trips
We still put a priority on vacations, but with a child there's extra expense to a budget that's already stretched, plus the factor of traveling with a child and finding things to entertain said child, so... we aim for more smaller trips now. And all but one (our anniversary trip) tends to be centered around a certain preschooler.

- We ate worse (yep, it's possible...)
Not only am I conscious of what I feed Jena, the fact is she like fruits & veggies, more than any child I've ever seen. So we're constantly stocked. She inspires me to eat healthier.

- I was more self-conscious
Oh, I still have my moments. But when I'm with her, it's all about her. If me acting like a big goofball makes her happy, so be it. If she wants or needs me to do something that probably makes me look like an idiot, so what? it's done.

- I was more judgemental
I've actually always tried to be very non-judgemental, but the truth is that I'm a work in progress. And having a child has helped me understand, empathize, and sympathize with others (not just parents)  in a way that I just could not before.

- I hated my body
Oh sure, I know my body could be in better shape, I'd like to lose weight, etc. But before I had a kid? I despised my body. Even when I weighed less than I do now, it was never good enough. Even though I was healthy, and anywhere from 10 to 30 lbs lighter than I am now... I never liked it. Now... sure I have some trouble spots, but now I see a mom's body - the body that carried & bore our daughter. And I'm good with that.

5th Anniversary Trip

For our 5th wedding anniversary, Jason & I celebrated by heading down to the Smoky Mountains. Mostly because we found a heck of a deal online. But also because we love the area. It's somewhat fitting as well. We went there on our first ever trip together when we were dating, and back there again for our babymoon when we were pregnant with Jena. And now back for our 5th. It's amazing how time flies...

 

I saw my very first Elvis impersonator at the American Oldies Theater

 

Tested my fear of falling by visiting the Sky Bridge

 

Saw lots & lots of beautiful fall colors

 

Spent a lovely week with my goofball husband

 

Sat in hours of traffic trying to get back home

 

Laughed at typos on signs at major attractions

 

Walked to the top of Clingman's Dome

 

 

Stopped at Cataloochee Visitors Center

 

Where I saw my very first (thru 11th) real-live-elk ever

the guy in red is totally about to get yelled at by the park ranger

 

Stopped on the way out of the mountains to hike to Soco Falls

 

 

Enjoyed every last minute that I got to spend with this man.

So, I Ran. Finally.

I realize I never updated you after I started running.

Let's use the words "started" and "running" loosely, 'kay?

So, I went out one weekend and bought running shoes. Cheapies, because, well, it wasn't in the budget and I had no idea how this was gonna go. Figured I could upgrade later on if I needed to.

Downloaded the Couch-to-5k app on my phone.

Packed a bag with my running clothes & shoes and took it to work that Monday, excited (and nervous!) about my first run that evening after work.

And... I got food poisoning. No lie. Around 3:30pm I started making regular trips to the bathroom, and I barely made it long enough to meet Jason in a Wendy's parking lot, beg him to take Jena to his meeting with him, and drive myself home. It was awful.

Tuesday, it started raining around 2pm. Like, a downpour.

Wednesday, it was storming on & off all day.

Thursday is Jena's gymnastics day, so I'd already figured out there just wasn't time for running on Thursdays. I'm lucky if I get her to class on time.

Friday I forgot my bag o' running stuff, still packed from Monday.

Obviously, week 1 was a complete bust.

But not to be thwarted, on to week 2.

Monday - well, I forget what happened, but running did not.

Tuesday I happened to have the day off. So... I ran.

I ran down our road. Which, I learned, is not very safe for running. Hills of Kentucky and blind curves and all. I spent a better portion of the run listening for oncoming cars and jumping off the road just in time.

But I did run. Okay, run/walk. You know, the C25K program. I did it, my back didn't hurt, I was proud of myself.

Almost home, and a bird pooped on my head. True story.

Beginning to feel like God was sending me signs. Food poisoning, 2 days of downpours, and 1 bird poop later, I was beginning to think that either I wasn't supposed to run, or I was being challenged to see how serious I was about it.

Ended that run & went straight to the showers. You know, bird poop and all.

I was almost done with my shower, when the running message boards proved right: my back was killing me. The pain was excruciating. I could barely get myself out of the shower & dressed. I made my way to the couch and kicked up the recliner. The position of having my feet up usually helps my back.

Not today.

Oh well. I knew that was a possibility, right?

The next day we went on vacation & I packed my running clothes & shoes with the full intent of running on vacation.

I have to be honest here right? It didn't happen.

The first night we spent swimming, and there didn't seem to be a good / safe place to go around the hotel, so I didn't. The next night I fully intented to run at the campground, and allowed myself to get talked out of it.

I was in the mood to run. I wanted to run. I was excited about it. Then Jason reminded me that we were camping, and I would probably be yucky in the morning, and did I really want to take a shower twice? Once in the evening after running and once in the morning because I felt yucky. Seemed logical.

Except... I am so not a morning person. At all. Seriously, if you see me in the early morning, steer clear. I'm also a slow-waker-upper. Takes me a good 30-60 minutes to fully wake up (which, if Jena is any indication, is a genetically inherited condition). I just don't function well at all first thing in the morning. I'm a night owl.

I may have actually growled at Jason the next morning when he cheerfully left Jena & myself at the playground so he could go on his run.

I should have known better. I should have gone in the evening.

We did a lot of walking, had a couple of late nights, the rest of our vacation, and neither of us got in more running in. Although we did do a ton of walking.

Got back, and I decided to give it a go again. Packed my running clothes & shoes, took them to work. Finished working, headed over to the trail... and found out that since it's now Fall, and getting dark earlier, and they close the trail at dusk... I can't go running after work.

{{ sigh }}

That pretty much put an end to the running idea. So I started finding "living room workouts". I don't want to give up on being active, but I need apparently I need a better idea.

Not giving up totally just yet.

Marblehead Lighthouse

Yep, more vacation pics. Enjoy!

photo by Jena