ivar and the great pumpkin

 

*no babies were harmed in the shooting of these photos.

blog friends

Well, I've always loved this little blog for a number of different reasons. But one of the best is when a friend from the past comes wandering through. Like Anna. Anna just added her pic to the "followers" over there on the right and it made my day.

I guess I'm just so grateful that people visit at all. This is very much a scattered mind-dump of my life, what I'm thinking, what I'm eating, pictures of my sweet baby boy. It's random but it also feels very true to who I am.

Anna was on my camp staff in Nebraska and was rock solid. A huge bummer of dropping out of facebook was losing ties with a whole lot of summer staffers who I love dearly. So, anyone else out there?!! Former camp counselors? Friends from Gustavus? Zoo School? Shepherd of the Valley? Girl Scout Troop 933? I'd love to know you're here!

rory's birthday

We celebrated Rory's birthday this weekend. It was fun and I made it a big deal. And in full disclosure, I made it a big deal because I was using his birthday as a teaching tool. For him. For me. Completely for me, really. And he knew it. He called me on it in the middle of the day, "are you trying to show me how you'd like your birthday celebrated?" Well yes, yes I am.

We were in California for my birthday this year and it was nothing short of phenomenal. Because of my friend Shannon. Shannon went above and beyond for my birthday. The day began with a hot homemade breakfast, receiving a collection of good magazines and books to enjoy throughout the day, 30 balloons delivered to the door (!!!), time for a nap, a 90-minute massage (!!!), and dinner out at a great restaurant. She killed it. It was all Shannon. She commented to me during the day that she believed women have to do this for each other...that we should actually have a girlfriend on our birthday who makes our dreams come true. I have a feeling she was using my birthday as a teaching tool for her husband too.

Rory didn't get me anything for my birthday. Or a card. (He would argue "a trip to California!") And then our six year anniversary came along and neither of us got anything for the other, not even cards. We ate at Noodles that night because the wait was too long at the restaurant we had chosen and wrapped up the evening taking in the Eastview marching band at their Homecoming game. (it seemed more romantic in my head...cuddled under a blanket, taking in a fall football game. Instead I just ran into a whole lot of kids I used to babysit...)

So we're working on this. My work included making sure this year Rory had the best birthday of his life.

Here's how the day went down:
1. While in the shower, spouse makes you coffee and places a large surprise gift in the middle of the living room floor.
2. You open your gift while drinking your hot brew. What? A nail gun and air compressor? I never even asked for this, and I love it. This is the perfect gift for me right now.
3. Breakfast at Original Pancake House with Ivar and your dad. (I had nothing to do with lining this up, but I like it. You should always try to see your folks on your birthday.)
3. Home to work for the morning, walk down to your desk and find 40 framed pictures of your baby boy all over your desk. You remember having said months ago, "you know what I would love? just tons of pictures of Ivar in my office. I think it would make me so happy."
4. Trip to the Zoo. Meet up with Father-in-law and nieces. Share a spirited conversation.
5. Drop off Ivar with Grandma and Grandpa Harrington for the night.
6. Head to new restaurant in Uptown: Muddy Waters. Take your time getting there, drive down Minihaha Parkway.
7. Visit Sugar, Sugar buying and sampling  lots of fancy candy treats for the movies ahead.
8. Drive to The Riverview Theatre and watch Planet of the Apes while stuffing yourselves with candy and popcorn.
9. Stay for the next movie, Crazy Stupid Love. Because you can. Because tickets are just $3 a piece. Because your baby is with grandma and grandpa and this is the first movie you've seen together in nearly a year.
10. Head home for more surprises.

And that, my friends, is one way to celebrate a birthday. And here it is posted in 10 easy steps forever on the internet to serve as a sweet little reference for future birthdays. Like my 31st. Which will be here before you know it.

The next night we had my cousin Kathy over for Rory's Harvest Feast. It was delicous. I made butternut squash soup, Kathy brought an incredible salad and we had a rosemary roast chicken and all of the vegetables from the garden. Happy Birthday, Rory. It is easy to celebrate you.

so busy.

The boy keeps me on my toes. He's really into the kitchen now. He loves standing by the dishwasher, gets a thrill out of opening the tupperware drawers, squeels at the loud noises the stainless steel bowls make when they're thrown on the wood floor. It's a bit louder than usual around here, but also very exciting. I gave him a spatula and showed him how to hit the bowls and collanders and he looked at me like I actually just might be the coolest mom in the world.

fall garden

Rory's garden produced all season long. He just got these carrots out, found all of these potatoes as well as onions. So we're going to roast a chicken and eat all of his garden fresh produce.

I married a doer. He just gets things done. He says he wants to garden, and he builds the raised beds, mixes the soil, plants the seeds and sows the harvest. He says he wants to build a compost, build a rain barrel, build a fence and then he does it. We woke up on Saturday morning and he said, "how about a fire in the backyard?" So we spent our morning sitting by the fire. It was chilly, and Ivar looked like he was going to launch to the moon, but it was a memory made and so much fun.