End of Summer

Well- we're winding the summer down in a fun fashion! During the last week if the summer- I picked up one of Chicago Public Library's Childrens Museum pass. Nico and I went to check that out while Dave covered a cubs game. 

We stayed for almost four hours. I managed to finish reading a book while I was there. It worked out well- because he wasn't bugging me to leave and I wasn't bugging him either. 

We also did some back to school shopping- he got some new nike kicks and a couple of new shirts and shorts. I learned my lesson last year and didn't delude myself into thinking that I could get him to wear non-athletic clothes. I hit up my favorite consignment shop and scored some sweet deals on clothes for him. He has outgrown all of his warmup pants though. Seriously- it's a joke how much ankle he shows now. So- I guess in a few weeks when it's not so warm- we'll have to start buying those again!!

The first day of school went off without a hitch, mostly. Nico ended up being separated from his best friend. There are only two kindergartens and two first grade classes, so he knew everyone in his class.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle after school. The busing paperwork got a little messed up- and they had Nico on the bus list, along with some other kids. Luckily, Dave got there in the nick of time. Nico dealt with it pretty okay, but Dave was stressed out. Nico assumed that the bus was going to take him to me at DePaul. So there is that :)

Chicago Fire

As part of AYSO-we got a special deal on Chicago Fire tickets. I got them for

Dave for an early Happy Father's Day gift. The stadium is pretty sweet- although far. In the future- we'd probably want to take the "pub to the pitch" bus.

Nico was a gem for most of the night. I thought he was going to lose it over some candy he wanted, but the massive meltdown was *narrowly* avoided. 

Fun on the schedule

Spring is here- which means our weekends get a bit more exciting. This past weekend- we started with a house party at a fellow AYSO family's house. 

Nico ran around with his little rabble for the night- and had a great time. 

Sunday we headed out to Oak Prairie Park in NW Indiana. I wanted to try our hand at fishing- which was an abysmal fail at. Maybe because we were using those crappy rubber worms that came with the pole I got Nico. But it was fun. 

I got a chance to hike/walk along the trail at the park. The trail is in the book "60 Hiked within 60 Miles of Chicago", which Santa brought me a couple of Christmases ago. 

Monday I did "Murph" with my gym. It's a hero WOD so named for a Navy SEAL who died in 2005 in Afghanistan. I definitely had a bad attitude going into it- but am glad I did it. 

That is me on the far right. 

Tuesday we went to a birthday party after school. I'm not sure how I feel about birthday parties on school days. It's nice to not have to tie up a weekend day with it. But we didn't get to any homework on Tuesday. But we didn't do any on Wednesday or Thursday either. 

The place we went was awesome. They had inflatables and a rockwall. A rockwall. 

In other news, we bought a used patio set from someone in the neighborhood. We're also going to work on getting some paver stoned for the backyard. It's about to be an oasis up in here! 

This weekend we have more fun on the schedule. Pizza with my dear work friend's family tonight. Outdoor movie night+hawks game tomorrow night. Going to see a Fire game next weekend. Our summer is starting to get booked!!

The Amazon Debacle

I got home late on Friday night... the train trip was easy.  And good.  I got to read and play candy crush most of the way.  I also picked up the TNT cowboy brisket rueben from Zingermans to have on the train.  It was amazing.

Nico was glad to have me home.  I ended up taking him to CrossFit with me on Saturday.  I am working on an advertising campaign for them, and we needed Nico.  If it works out, I will probably post a picture here :)

Nico wanted a go at wall balls.  Wall balls are were you go down into a full squat and stand up, throwing the ball at a target above your head.  He did pretty well.  It's the second time he's been to CrossFit with me, and was a gem both times.

After, we swung by a birthday party for one of his classmates.  It was pretty fun- and the weather was perfect.  Before I left for Ann Arbor, Nico and I were watching TV and we saw a commercial for Planes: Fire and Rescue.  Nico thought that looked pretty good, so we made a plan to go see it when I got back, if he could be good for Dave while I was gone.  Well, we ended up going after the party on Saturday.  And this is when the fun began.  

When we were leaving, Nico saw a kid with a Dusty plane (Dusty is the main character) and wanted to get one.  I didn't see it, and I am not trying to go to a toy store looking for this thing.  So, I got the great idea, to let Nico look at Planes toys from Amazon on my iPad so I could identify the plane, yada yada yada, problem solved.  

Well, I dont know if you knew this or not.  But if you are signed into Amazon on your iPad and you touch the "one-click to buy" button, you can buy that item.  And Nico bought a tent.  It was on my wishlist, so when he was navigating the app, he must have bought the item.  He also managed to buy a play station and a dusty toy.  And then I realized I should sign out of the app. 

Luckily, we're not getting a play station.  Amazon let me cancel the purchases.  But seriously, how hilarious is that?  Good thing he is cute...

Summer in the City

I got a notice from work last month that I hadn't taken any vacation days. I don't need to be told twice, so I scheduled some days off this summer. With July 4th on Friday, I took yesterday and today- which is fantastic.

Tuesday night I introduced Nico to "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" on Netflix. It was amazing. He loved it. I think his media viewing tastes are evolving. He's been watching a LOT of the World Cup. He's starting to get into the Nat Geo documentaries- which is fantastic. Because a Kim can only watch so much Cailou. 

Yesterday we rode down to the Loop. We checked out the family fun festival in Millenium Park. Nico played Cornhole for about 2 hours. And did hula hoop (which I am still terrible at). After, we stopped by Margie's on Montrose for ice cream.  

Not sure what we'll get into today. Maybe go for a hike or something. It's absolutely gorgeous. It was 65 degrees in the house last night. In July. Don't be jealous!

I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back), I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back), I Love you to the Moon (and Right on Back)....

The days are getting longer.  Not much longer.  Just a scotch.  But I will take it.  Obviously, this event is heralding spring coming, so we went ice-skating this weekend.  Apparently, outdoor iceskating only happens through February.  So we went.  

Nico was a champ.  An absolute- bonafide champ.  It took us probably 20 minutes to go around the rink once (just like the only other time I've been ice skating, once was enough for me).  He fell a lot.  But he didn't cry and didn't fuss.  He was so grown.  I love it.  

I'm coming up on just a shitty part of the year with my work+teaching.  We're at the midterm- so there are a lot more assignments to grade.  Plus, faculty are starting to think about the research projects they will work on over the summer.  So, I've been working a lot more.  Dave got Nico out of the house on Sunday and went to Kohl's Children's museum in Glenview. 

While there, Nico played at working in a sandwich shop and being a cashier, which is pretty funny.  

Tuesday I went in a bit later than normally, so I got to be at the house when Nico woke up.  He was very snuggly and it ended up being the best part of my day.  He's starting to get into singing and songs.  Which is kind of new.  It used to be I would sing to him and deliberately mess up the words or change the words and he would get annoyed.  But now, he thinks its hilarious.  The latest song?

"I love you to the moon and right on back.  I love you to the moon and right on back.  I love you to the moon and right on back.  Yes, yes I do." (obviously, then I love him to the Lake and right on back.  Then I love him to the train and right on back, etc.  To the tune of "Wheels on the Bus".)  Even better, when I went to sing it the other day, I "couldn't quite remember" the order of the words.  But he did and taught me.  Seriously, that kid has a great ear, just like his Dad 

Winter Fun

Sorry I haven't been really good about posting.  It will be a while before it gets better... with all the work, and the teaching, the CrossFitting, the parenting, etc.  Its times like these that make me really sad I am a muggle.  If I could do magic, or even if I had access to a time turner, things would be so much easier.  

Dave's cousin Will and his wife and daughter (Tracey and Darby) stayed the night with us last Friday night.  They were in town for a conference and checked out of the hotel and stayed with us Friday night... we had Lou Malnati's on Friday night and went sledding on Saturday.  So much fun!!

Seriously, isn't he adorable?

The Bishop-Royses go to Royse City

 We had a really fun Thanksgiving Holiday.

The Friday night before we left, I scooped up Nico and got him out of the house so we could run some errands.  This entailed dinner down in Lincoln Park.  We were headed towards the train when we stopped by the DePaul Athletic Center and caught a DePaul volleyball game against Butler.  Nico and I watched for about 30 minutes.  He seemed to be pretty into it.

A new development, which will get it's own post probably next week, is that Nico has just taken off with the reading and the writing.  It's pretty amazing.  He has filled up a composition book at school with "work" and he brought it home before Thanksgiving.  And he is just so smart.  It's fantastic.  He is reading street signs and signs at the store and everything.  It's awesome.

 

For Thanksgiving, we drove down to Texas to see Nico's cousins.  They had an absolute blast.  Nico was so excited to have other kids to play with (NOT AT SCHOOL), that he showed his tail a bit.  He was totally over stimulated and off his schedule, so I guess I can cut him a little slack.  Plus, Nicole and Cody's house is amazing.  Seriously- they have a zipline: 

I know, right?

We stayed with Nicole and Cody Monday-Saturday and had a good time hanging out.  I got in a little shopping and had so much fun.  The weekend before we headed out, we got Nico a couple of new pair of shoes (blue adidias with flourescent orange stripes and blue pumas).  Whenever Nico was not wearing the shoes and becks found them, he would bring them to a grown up and ask for the shoes to be put on his fit.  What does it say about an 18 month old's feet when they can fit in his 4 year old cousin's shoes?  Yeah.  Big honkin feet.  

On the way back to Chicago, we ran through Royse City, Texas. A town founded by Dave's people.  It's pretty non-desript.  The depot has a sign that was clearly spelled Royce City, but that someone had to fix, which I found very funny.  

We got back on Sunday- and have been back on the grind since.  While we were gone, someone stole the catalytic converter off of Dave's 4Runner- which is annoying.  Have you ever driven a vehicle without a catalytic converter?  So annoying. It's loud.  Not like, man- that is a souped up engine loud.  But rather, who doesn't have a muffler on their vehicle loud.  Normally its a $2200 repair job, but luckily, we had comprehensive coverage on the 4Runner... so Progressive is handling it- and all we have to pay is our $500 deductible.  It's always something... but it could have been a lot worse. 

All for now.  

Bayth

Nico has been in the midwest for all of four months, and it appears that he has begun acquiring a midwestern accent.  Sweet Jesus.  An actual midwestern accent.  So, it started the other day when we were playing around and he said something about taking a ba-yth.  A what, you ask?  A ba-yth.  No, let me stop for a second and explain something, so you can fully appreciate what the hell was going on.  A couple of months ago, I was tickling Nico and he laughed and said, "You're tickling my hip."  But what I heard was, "You're tickling my heeeip."  To which I laughed and said, "Hip.  You're tickling my HIP."  He thinks this is hilarious.  And so it becomes a game.  So, I thought he was joking me the other day when he said "bayth".  No.  Not joking at all.
I envision this:


Right?

He's also started asking if he can go outside by asking, "Can I go outside to stretch my legs?" This is hilarious, because he got this from Dave. But usually only in the context of roadtrips. It's pretty great.

We had a fun weekend. I went to Toledo, Ohio on Thursday for a conference with my boss. We presented Friday morning and killed it. We had over 100 people at a 9am session. In academic standards, that is pretty much like standing room only. I got back Friday night while Dave and Nico were at the YMCA and putzed around the house. Saturday morning Nico and I walked up to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. After, we headed to the YMCA for swimming lessons for Nico. Saturday afternoon, we met Nico's new babysitter. She is a student at North Park University and does music. In fact, today she asked if she could take him to her bell practice. She thinks he might enjoy helping her ring the bells. Are you kidding me? He's going to love it.

Check out this meatball playing catch:


Sunday, Nico and I ran some errands, including a couple of book stores. One of these was a used bookstore, I pass twice a day going to and from work. I can't wait to head back some time without Nico... to see if they have any treasures. It looks like the kind of place that would have treasures.

Bikey McBikersons

The main problem with Nico riding his own bike is that it's difficult to go anywhere.  We are trying to teach him good habits, so we have him get off his bike and walk it across streets.  Well, we live in the city, so we're always off the bike and walking it across the street.  I have been toying with how to get Nico and me to ride together, so that we can do some more exploring.  And stuff.

On Saturday morning, we rode up to DD for breakfast.  Which is fantastic. However, I have come to the realization that Nico is a lazy only child.  There, I said it.  When it comes to walking- he wants no part if it.  He hates walking anywhere longer than about five steps.  Normally a trip like this would require me putting him on my shoulders.  Which gets annoying after a while.  This particular trip was okay, since he rode the entire way.  

I have been exploring options for Nico and me to ride bikes together.  There are the seats that attach to the back of a bike.  The seats that attach to the front.  The little cart thing that pulls behind.  And this:

What is that? You ask.  That is our new bike trailer.  The grey part is basically just a kid's bike without the front wheel, attached to a tow bar.  It attaches to the seat of my bike.  Saturday morning, before swimming lessons, Nico and I put it together.  Saturday afternoon, wevgave it a test run.  We rode on the bike path that runs north/south towards downtown.  It is the route I take to get to work, but it rolls by 2 different parks.  And he LOVES LOVES LOVES it.  

I need to adjust the seat a bit so that he can reach the pedals better.  As it is now, he isnt much help when it comes to pedaling.  But he totally just enjoys riding along together.  I feel like it is pretty stable, but I want to get a lot more comfortable on it before we take it on any longer range trips. In the time that I have been riding my bike often in the city, I am getting a feel for where bikes can be ridden safely.  Like, if you go just north on Kimball from North Park, you get to Lincolnwood.  But doing so requires crossing to major intersections (including a sketchy diagonal at Lincoln Ave).  I am not sure I'd feel comfortable riding that way with Nico... but I need to figure out something, because there is a really nice greenway on Kimball/McCormick going towards Evanston and Skokie.  I am hoping to take Nico over to the lake before the end of the summer, for some swims.  Wouldn't that be fun??

Yesterday, I took Nico to school and scooped him up after.  This morning, Dave took him on the bike.  The only downside to having the bike trailer hooked up, is that we ended up hooking it up to my bike.  Today I had to ride this ancient roadster bike with the low handlebars.  I havent quite figured out how to shift which made for some slow going up a couple of the hills on the trail.  Plus the seat is old and hard.  And the handlebars are low... so I am really supposed to be way-leaned over on this thing.... which is just so awkward.  Even worse is that non of the "universal" accessories fit this damned thing.  Which means I have to carry my bag on my shoulders.  But Traps McTrapsimus here seems to have a pinched nerve in her neck (or something) because that hurts.  Which is a bummer.  So, I am going to look into buying a cheap used bike.  Or stealing one.  Bikes are like those take a penny leave a penny trays at the checkout counter, right?  No?
Damnit.  

Gamer?

Not much new to report.  Life is kinda boring right now.  I have been trying to establish some regular cleaning routines around the house.  Its tough because session is happening right now, so I am on my own with Nico a lot in the evenings... so I cant spend 2-3 hours when I get home cleaning and organizing, because who is going to make dinner?  Get Nico showered and in bed?

I read a book called, "Lean In".  It's by Sheryl Sandberg, who has been all over Facebook and social media promoting the book.  Her main argument is that women aren't striving to leadership positions in business and academia and the work place.  There are many reasons for this, but namely, work+life is too difficult for some women.   In any case, I was thinking that the book women really need is how to hack the house so that you dont have to spend a lot of time cleaning, cooking, etc.  That is the book that needs to be written.

Randomly, I am wondering if I am too old to start playing video games.  My favorite show.  Of. All. Time. Is. The Walking Dead.  Seriously.

The problem with this is that there are two episodes left this season.  And then it's not back until October.  And there is a Walking Dead video game.... wouldnt that be funny?  Especially if I became a "gamer"?  No? Oh well... there goes that idea.

Headed to Chicago next week.  Hopefully I can finalize a place for us to live.  Dave and I had originally talked about me going up for the week and him flying up with Nico for the weekend.  It ended up being really expensive for airfare and we're not entirely sure Nico would enjoy that kind of trip.  So I'm going solo. The trip will also be a little different because I am staying in Lincoln Park.  Seriously.  Literally, a mile away from my office.  Since 1.5 hours of every day won't be spent commuting to and fro, hopefully, I will be able to spend some more time exploring the area.  AND. FINDING. A. HOUSE.

Fun Station Junior

I got home on Friday night, to rain.  Apparently, it had been raining all day.  We have started a new thing with Nico in the mornings, which is that if he goes into school without a big fuss, he gets a quarter in his "locker".  And if he wants, we can go to Fun Station junior and play arcade games.  While I was gone, this seemed to make a big difference in the mornings.

So we did that on Saturday night.  Nico and I went to Fun Station Junior and he had a good time.  I bought 10 bucks worth of tokens and he had a blast running around the bouncy house area and playing games.  He is getting better at Skee Ball... thank god, because he was pretty terrible at it the last time we did this.  

Sunday we took advantage of the break in shitty weather to go to the park.  We had a pretty good time practicing sliding down the pole and went to the autopart store and Costco.  Yesterday Nico helped me put new wipers on the Kia (which he calls Venus, after one of the fire trucks in Fireman Sam).  Speaking of which, I want to buy him some Fireman Sam underpants.  But they only seem to have the speedo kind (not the kind with the fly).  Any thoughts on these?  Does anyone think he would care?

This week, Dave went to Boston to try to work something out with his employer on what to do for a career going forward.  It seems like it was a pretty good meeting.  It looks like we might not be in the poor house the entire time we are there.  Last night the weather computer in Tallahassee went down and they werent able to land.  The flight was diverted to Mobile and he is spending the morning driving over.  Talk about a long travel day!!  

All for now.  

Blueberry Springs!

We had a great weekend!  It started with me running a 5K at Wakulla Springs.  I have been actually doing a 5K training program, so it was somewhat better than it usually is... but I still wanted to die.  For most of it.  And it was mostly on a trail... I probably wouldn't have run it if I had known it was a trail race,  because I just dont do trail runs.  But it turned out to be okay.

We had practice on Saturday morning, which we topped off by swimming at the Y- which Nico really liked, as always.  I ran some errands on Saturday afternoon (including a trip to Joanns to get some supplies for all the new baby quilts I need to get working on... friends having babies, sister trying to adopt a baby, you know.  

Sunday morning, Nico and I went to Blueberry Springs to pick blueberries.  It's out in Monticello (about 25 min from Tallahassee).  He had a really great time.  We'll prolly go back in two weeks to pick blackberries.  because that is how we roll.  

After nap on Sunday, we headed to the soccer field for our last game of the Spring Coed season.  We played on the turf- which tends to get warm on hot days.  I think it just makes the field softer.  In all, our team played very well.  I had a shutout (which was awesome).  

All for now.  We are going to Jacksonville this weekend to see the US men play Scotland, which supposedly is going to be a good game for the US men... since Scotland is bringing their scrub team.  

Boca Juniors and River Platte

So we had a great weekend.  Saturday morning, I woke up early and ran the Springtime Tallahassee 5K.  Yeah, it was pretty sucktastic.  On the upside, I finished only 30 seconds after Kelly the Baller.  WHAT? You say?  Jessi Bishop-Royse, you must have been booking it!!  How fast WERE you running?  OMG!!  That is amazing!!  But then I tell you that Kelly ran the 10K.  And I only ran the 5K.  Definitely FML territory.

After the race, I headed home.  The weather was weird.  Dave had his online nerd get together fantasy baseball draft, so Nico and I headed to the craft store to get some supplies.  I realized that I am not well-prepared for rainy days at the house, because I don't have any good supplies to entertain Nico.

We got a bird house for Nico to paint:

Yes, he chose the color of the paint himself.  Yes, it is pink.  Insert debate on gender and society here.  After wards as we were having lunch there was this:

I dont really know what it is that he is doing.  Although I offer this as proof to anyone who wants to know why parents of toddlers and small children are always so tired.

After nap and Dave's nerdfest baseball draft we went to the Springtime festival.  We got there pretty late, so they were basically shutting the place down, so we didnt stay long.

We swung by PoBoys and got dinner and headed home to watch U of L play Kentucky in the semi-finals.  Sunday was pretty fun.  I got to sleep in while Dave and Nico made some breakfast.

Then we went to the Sand Festival (which ended up being pretty lame).  Then Dave and Nico went swimming and I ran some errands (BORING!!)  When Nico woke up from his nap we all went to the soccer field, where Dave and I played soccer and our babysitter played with Nico.  He played baseball and soccer for two straight hours.  He was straight wore out when we got home.

After dinner last night, Dave and Nico played some soccer in the front yard.  Our good friends Mike and Mary Jo just got back from visiting their eldest son in Argentina (he is in a study abroad program).  They brought Nico two jerseys from the Argentina league (Boca Juniors and River Plate).  BJ and RP are the two main clubs in Argentina.  A lot like Man United and Chelsea.  Or Liverpool and Arsenal.  Or Boston Red Sox and NY Yankees.  Nico is wearing his Boca Juniors jersey here:


He doesnt usually play with a small ball... mostly because we have so many more full-sized balls.  So, its funny!

Home made snickers.

This thing that Nico does when he's "getting me" is hilarious.  We're obviously working on trying to teach him that I dont always want Nico to get me.  It sucks when you are just chilling out on the couch and suddenly, you are wearing a Nico hat, because he is laying across the top of your head.  Its classic.  He opens his mouth really wide open and gnashes his teeth.  I dont know what that is about or who taught him that... but its hilarious.  He also swings his arms like they are bats.  Have you ever been hit in the face with a toddler swung forearm?  Its like getting hit in the face with a bat.  No joke.

We went to the libary last night and he really really liked the little kid sized furniture they had.  I guess that will be a future purchase.  Just when I was starting to think that our house was almost the perfect size.  Actually, it would be the perfect size, if I could have one of these.  What, you're saying that normal people dont have their own writing/craft/sewing hut?  But I want one... Pfff.

So my mom, being the library hero she is, informed me yesterday that the Woodville Branch of the Leon County library had Deathly Hallows 1 and 2.  And because I roll this way- I watched both last night.  How do you like them apples?  So what I didnt get to bed until 330 am?  I am also in the interest of pulling together Nicole and JJ's birthday boxes.  I wanted to give these a whirl, to see how they would work:

Can you think of anything else that says "Happy Birthday!" Like homemade snickers?  I didnt think so.

The good news is that I like the homemade ones better than the real ones.  I think homemade ones are less messy to eat.  And being able to customize how badly you feel about eating one based on the size you cut?  Nice.

The bad news is that while they are relatively easy, they are kinda a pain in the ass to make.  Four different layers?  Four different steps of cooking?  Kind of a pain in the ass.  Not going to lie.  But it was a successful pinterest project, so I am happy with it.

Nicole and JJ I guess your boxes will go out sometime this week?  Meh?

Mine and Dave's anniversary was yesterday 2/28.  The Legislature is in session early this year, so he was pretty much on lockdown this week.  So we are going to celebrate late by going out to dinner tonight.  Also, maybe we dont mention this him, because he will be sad, but this girl is getting a massage.  I booked the appointment for the end of the day... so I am going to dip out of work at 4pm, go get my massage and then meet a good friend who will have defended her dissertation for celebratory drinks.  After that, Dave is going to pick me and we're going to dinner.  Maybe to Rays Steel City.  If they are open.  The only thing that is getting in the way of today being a perfect day is the fact that I have to work.  But work ruins most perfectly good days.  :)

Post season affective disorder.

So Super Bowl weekend was pretty fun.  We went over to Joe and Kari's house (Joe is a former press corps writer).  We have been to their house several times- so Nico had a blast.  Joe and Kari's youngest child Jack is maybe like 7 or 8- so they ran around and tore up things.  It was pretty fun.  Plus Margot and Mike were there with Zoe who is just about the most fun ever (next to Nico when he was 10.5 months old).

I didnt get any pictures of Nico... but I did manage a picture of the pie I brought.  I hope that doesnt reflect poorly on my priorities as a mother... Oh it does?  Sadface.

Other than that- not much going on here.  Settling into a nice little post-season routine.  I was telling Dave the other day that I thought I was suffering from post-season affective disorder (PSAD), because I just feel listless.  I feel like I dont want to work... I dont want to write... I dont want to work out.  I just want to go to the beach.  And sleep.  And watch movies.

I think its a feeling of getting my life back and not really sure where to start...

Or something.  But I am better now :)

I am playing on a womens soccer team in New Orleans.  I am still woefully out of shape... but it should be fun.

Froonies

Nico is just stinkin' adorable lately.  Really.  Check out this video Dave made of Nico yesterday morning:


He is really talking up a storm lately.  About everything.  All the time.  And he is so smart.  Yesterday I went to get him from school and as we were getting in the car, he said something that sounded like, "froonies?"  Froonies?  Froonies?  What the hell?  Froonies?  What could he be talking about?  I shook my head and said, "I dont know what you are trying to say, froonies?"  So he thinks for a second and says, "Drink?"  And it occurs to me that he was asking if we could get smoothies.  Really, how brilliant is he?  Rather than melting down because I didnt know what he was saying, he came up with another word to help me understand him. 

I love it. 

Here is a picture of Nico helping Dave take down the old bed.

I think it is safe to say that a workbench is in our future.  Maybe something like THIS?

Funs!

Hi all... sorry to be so lame of late.  I have a sort of biggish project that I am working on at work which is consuming much of my break times at work (which is when I usually blog).  The tournament went well this weekend.  In fact this is how well it went:

This is Kelly the Baller celebrating a goal.  We lost on Saturday 3-1 and I did not appear to be the one jacking up anyone's flow.  So that is good.  Plus the win on Sunday wherein Kelly went on a tear and we won 4-1. 

Dave and Nico had all sorts of fun while I was gone.  They found a Bluegrass Festival to go to and basically just had a good time going to parks and hanging around the house, without Mom making them do chores and take baths!!

Not much else to report.  Hoping the week goes quickly, as we are headed to Mexico Beach for a Wedding!  Woo hoo!!

Gr8 weekend!

So its been craxy fun around here this past couple of days.

These are the "wonky" log cabins that my mom and I worked on while she was up.  We got five blocks done (want Nico's quilt to be 4X4, so I need 9 more.)  Aren't they cool looking?  I cant justify working on it a lot right now- with the whole dissertation and moving thing... but I am hoping to get it done for Nico's First Birthday.

Mom and JJ left on Friday morning... in the afternoon, I took off down to Orlando to run the Muddy Buddy.  I had dinner with JSD and her little bundle of cute O on Friday night.

About the race: it is a running and biking race.  You have a partner, you run part of the way while your partner bikes, you get to a drop point and drop the bike.  The runner picks it up and goes, likely passing you along the way.  At each bike drop there is an obstacle to do- wall climb, cargo net climb, balance beam, etc.  At the end, there is a huge mud pit you have to crawl through.  The race takes place at the Wide World of Sports at Disney, and wraps around their facilities... so you run out to the baseball fields, by the entrance, etc.  We accomplished my major goal of not finishing last.  I did fail, however, at keeping my face out of the mud- mostly because it is gross... but also because I was wearing contacts and that is never a good combination when you're driving yourself back to Tallahassee.  I also managed to not run into anyone, twist my ankle (badly- I did tweak it a little on the cargo net climb) and I didn't eat it face first off the bike (whoo- hooo!)

It was definitely a lot of fun!  I am hoping to do it next year... and when Nico gets a little bit older, I think he should run the mini-muddy buddy.  So cute!

So when I got back from Orlando, Dave and I headed to Nene Fest.  It is a festival put on by the hippies that live in Indian Head.  It was pretty cool... we got dinner there, where we discovered that Nico loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  He pretty much helped himself to the one on my plate.  NOM NOM NOM NOM. 

Last night was pretty chilled out.  This morning Nico and Dave went on a drive and got some breakfast.  They also brought home a Tallahassee Democrat, which featured a story about Moms who coach on the front page of the sports section.  It was pretty cool...BUT... what is with my face?  If I really look like that in real life, I am going to be very mad at all of my loyal fans for not mentioning that my face looks like a fun house mirror! I am assuming that maybe I had a hard time keeping my eyes open and my face got weird and they tried to fix it by photoshopping eyes from one picture onto another.  That is my only explanation... because, WOW... I look very weird. 

This afternoon, Dave went to play coed while Nico and I watched.  He is getting to be a quick little booger- crawling away if he you take your eye off of him!!  We did a soccer drill today, which was pretty cool.  It was a modified Portuguese Man of War... in the traditional drill, you line up a line of balls on the ground.  You put a kicker on one side and a GK on the other... you go down the line, with the kicker attempting to kick the ball out of the hands of the GK... who moves along from ball to ball trying to keep the kicker from getting a shot off.  Its tricky because its very fast and you have to push yourself off the ground while not using your hands (coincidentally, its my Dad's favorite GK drill).  I just sat the ball in front of Nico and kicked it while he held onto it with his hands.  He was pretty good at it till he got bored!!

He is off the chain when it comes to food... so far he is into trying almost anything.  We might be at the end of getting baby food vegetables... he seems to like real ones so much better.  And I guess since in the end, the goal is to get him eating regular food-food, that this is pretty good.  Tonight I had some green beans (with bacon in them) while trying to feed him baby food green beans.  He was like, "Srsly? Lady, I know what is up!"  We have also started seeing if he is interested in yogurt, which he is.  So far this is what we have:

LIKES:
real green beans
real peas
tamales
pbj sandwiches
macaronni and cheese
bagels
cheese cubes
most fresh fruit
most canned fruit
eggs
pancakes
cheerios

DISLIKES:
baby food carrots
baby food peas
orange peppers (weird). 

All for now.

The games he plays...

Sorry I have been absent as of late. The lack of a work-imposed schedule has meant that I dont have a set time I have carved out to do blogging... so... that is what is going on.

Thursday, our across the street neighbor brought us a turtle- your standard box shell guy.  He said that he was intrigued with turtles and frogs and such when he was younger and thought that Nico might like to see it.  I kept it in a box on the front porch for a couple of hours till I went to get Nico from school.  When I finally got Nico home he was more interested in the box that the turtle had been chillin out in.  Which brings me to how funny he is these days.  Of course, he is into EVERYTHING.  Literally, everything.  And his thing is dumping things out of the containers they are in.  Ohai- I see you have a diaper bag here.  What is in it?  I see that you have a box of stuff to be taken to good will... what is all this stuff?  So he inspects everything and moves on... it literally looks a tornado of BABY hit the place.  

We had a pretty good weekend.  FG graduated on Friday night.  Since he was graduating with his PhD he was "hooded".  They do the PhD ceremony at the end of the graduation, and in which, your major advisor "hoods" you, meaning that you walk across the stage and kneel and they affix the hood about your shoulders.  Its a bit like being knighted, I think.  In any case, because it was the last day of session, Dave had to work really late.  So Nico and I went with The Baller.  You know what true friendship is?  Sitting through a 2.5 hour graduation ceremony with a 9 month old.  Nico was pretty good... considering.  I got him to take a nap for a little while, until people wanted to "applaud" their "graduates".  How rude!!

He applauded during some of it- which is pretty awesome.  I didnt realize that what a big deal it was until I realized that he is taking his cue from the people around him.  He saw everyone else applauding and started clapping.  Talk about freakin' adorable!! Here is a video I took of him doing it today (excuse the Ernest Hemmingway look- its hot up here and the AC is broke.  AGAIN!):



In my final preparations for the Muddy Buddy this week, LR and I went riding bikes on the Heritage Trail. Mind you the last time I went bike riding on a trail it ended badly for me... I ended up eating it face first on the trail.  This weekend, however, was a much better outcome.  Turns out the trail in Piney Z is where it is at.  We had a good little ride.  After, Nico and I went up to the Meadows to see some of the Wakulla girls playing CSA.  They are playing in a coed league- which is pretty cool.  Our sweeper LT is playing on a team with MH and SH.... the former scoring against boys with an assist by the latter (her sister).  I dont mean to brag, but MH is going to set it on fire when she comes up next year.

Sunday Dave played some soccer and Nico and I hung out at the house.  Normally we would have gone to the field, but it was hot and gross.  I chose instead to take this video of Nico- showing off his hide and seek game.  Its pretty hilarious.I had been sitting at the dinner table doing this- with a dish towel.  He is imitating me here...