So over the past week, Owen has been noticing the "made in" tags and stamps that exist on just about everything. And, in the process, has become keenly aware of a certain locale that pops up over and over again. Here's a sampling of a conversation over breakfast this morning:

Owen: (Slamming his Nemo cup down on the table): Made in China! Everything is made in China!
Me: Yes, a lot of things are made in China.
Owen: I want something made in a different state...Hey, do you know how many states I've been to?

And just like that, we start discussing the places he has traveled. Because he is, after all, a first-grader and isn't yet concerned with the ramifications of Americans' appetite for cheap crap. Though from time to time, he does talk about wanting to go to a factory to see stuff being made (he's fascinated by this concept of factories that make stuff), and short of breweries and Harley, I have to rack my brain to think of other factories we could visit.

Could you help me out with something? Pick a number between 1 and 190 and leave it in the comment section.

Reasons will be revealed soon.

It'll be fun, I promise.

Well, sorta. I picked a new theme, though I think I'll tire of the cutesy-ness of all those circles.

Also, figured it was high time to replace my default user pic. I think that photo of Owen and Nora looking at the sea lion tank at the zoo is now two years old. They're both taller now.

Carry on.

So, what have I been doing so far this summer, you ask? ( Here's an answer, told mostly in pictures... )

Today I got 24 impatiens, 8 marigolds, 8 lobelia, 8 gazanias, 8 verbena, one hanging impatiens basket, 4 tomato plants, 1 basil plant, 1 qt of organic strawberries and 1 bunch of asparagus. Total: $38.25.

Addendum - Why I love our new CSA: this week's share included strawberries and a tomato plant AND they include recipes for everything, which is good, considering I've never used swiss chard or broccoli rabe before.

Mostly random happenings, musings and such. (In other words, blah, blah, blah...)

-The other day when we pulled in the driveway after school/work, Owen leaped out of the back seat and exclaimed, "Look, the dandelions are back!" Nothing like youthful enthusiasm to put a positive spin on weeds. Yesterday, he and Nora brought in a bouquet of lawn grass and some unidentified weed.

-After an almost 3-year hiatus, I am wearing my own wedding ring again. I had to have it cut off when Nora was about a month old because I decided to try to force it back onto my pregnancy-swollen finger, which promptly began turning purple. Not sure why it took this long to get it fixed (well, I have reasons, but none of them are good). For all this time I've been wearing a combo of my engagement ring and my grandmother's wedding band. I'm happy to be matching my hubby's ring again. Feels right.

- Nora has taken to wearing a pair of turquoise, plastic, 1/2-inch heeled Ariel slippers. She's in the midst of a princess phase and was understandably excited when I fished these "shoes" out of a bag of hand-me-downs. Oh, and the heels light up with every step. They're like her dream shoes right now.

-I got a promotion about 2 months ago, have I mentioned that? I'm now the executive editor for my magazine group and oversee about four different magazines. It was time for a change after almost nine years with the same magazine. It's still scary though.

- We had one of our dear cats, Tilly, put to sleep a few weeks ago. She'd been diagnosed with cancer, so it was only a matter of time. It's crazy to think about how many changes she went through with me. I'd lived with her for almost 16 years. She showed up at my college workplace -- a movie theater -- as a kitten and my roommate and I took her in and that was that. Sometime, she really deserves her own post...

- I'm once again contemplating bangs. Seems to be an annual ritual: Consider. Blog.b Decide against it.

- The spring planting season snuck up on me again. I know this because the peony sprouts have gotten too tall for me to use the grow-through supports I have for them. It just happens so fast. One day it's cold and everything is brown and before you know it it's still cold but everything is green. Ah, spring in Wisconsin :)

- I've been watching a weird mix of new TV shows lately. Somehow I've gotten sucked into Castle (which Jon calls "Cancelled") and Cupid.

Oh, how very sad my blog has become. So neglected. So lonely.

I had vacation the week before last because it was Owen's spring break (which, by the way, was seven school days off -- seven!) But, unlike last year when I stayed home with both kids and blogged about our daily adventures of exploring Milwaukee, this year, spring break coincided with another annual activity -- Trivia.

I have to admit, at first I was disappointed about the overlapping schedules. Trivia takes us out of town for about 4-1/2 days, and last year I so enjoyed just having a week to loligag around the house with the kids. But I quickly got over that when I realized that instead of being stressed and tired going into a 54-hour trivia contest, I was able to remain (mostly) well rested and could prepare/pack/gather during the week instead of cramming all of that in after work. (And, as a bonus, it even allowed me to save some vacation for two other fun trips later this year -- to NYC and...Indiana!)

And, we did do a few fun spring breaky things. Owen had his first sleepover at his friend Matthew's house. Oh man, and once we planned that thing, it was ALL Owen could talk about. The day of the sleepover, we met Matthew and his mom at the zoo for lunch and to let the boys get a little energy out. But they were soooo not interested in the animals. They just wanted to go to Matthew's house and get the jumping around and general craziness part of the sleepover started. I barely got a kiss good-bye as he leaped into their vehicle.

The next day, after Nora and I picked Owen up, we went to the YMCA for the first time in a couple of weeks. The kids played in the play center while I tried out a new elliptical machine (and boy, did my thighs say "no thank you" the next day), and then we all got into our suits and went swimming.

By Wednesday, I was ready to just stay home and pack. Thursday, we left for Stevens Point and then Jon and I left the kids with the grandparents on Friday and went to start Trivia that afternoon. It was a lovely, lovely day -- sunny and warm, which always feels like Trivia to me. So we enjoyed a great weekend of laughter and old friends (and a bit of tequila). On Sunday, Owen came up to visit the Trivia house for a bit, and he tried to impress everyone with his delivery of such retorts as "whatever" or "poopy party." All in all, by midnight Sunday, our Trivia team ended up in 13th place. Not too shabby -- especially for a team that has as much fun as ours does.

The kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. They were dirty, tired and left behind an energetic dog that may actually have tired of chasing balls hit off Owen's tee. But I think we were all ready to get home on Monday.

A week later, there are a few lingering things in our suitcases (OK, a lot of things) and some still packed bags on the porch. I'll get to it, later. This week we're preparing for a trip to Illinois to visit the other grandparents. Owen has been itching to drive their four-wheeler again...

Owen has figured out how to change the desktop picture on our computer. Last night, when I sat down at the computer, this is the photo he chose.


It's actually the perfect picture to be looking at for Wisconsin in March. Because, while we had a few wonderful 70-degree days last week, it has been cold here this week, and tonight, they're even predicting 7 inches of snow.

And so, we dream of warmer, hazy days.

I'm going to have to sound a bit cliche for a moment here, and be yet another parent wondering how in the world their child got so big. Because today my baby turned 6. 6! And I have no idea how he got to be so old. I think I blinked.

Owen,
It has been so amazing over the last year to watch you figure out the world. Sometimes, you'll bring up an experience from months ago and relate it to something that is going on right now. Lately, you've been fascinated with cemetaries ("are the rocks on top of the people, momma? "they're underground because that keeps them warm, right?") and as we drove by one, you asked if my grandma was buried there. I didn't even think you remembered her, she died over 3 years ago and we don't talk about her that much, but yet here you were, pulling out a memory, perfectly in context to what was going on at the moment. It's just so grown up.

You're truly becoming your own person and it's so fun to share the exciting things of life with you. You got just as wrapped up as we did in the Brewers run for the playoffs last September. In fact, you and I were home alone watching the game that clinched a berth for the Brew Crew and we were both jumping around like maniacs after they won. You even created impromptu confetti out of colored paper, and later put up a sign in the front yard.


This year you became obsessed with making art projects. Scissors, staples, tape, colored paper, post-its...these all are part of your creative arsenal to make books, signs, flags, you name it. What you wanted for Christmas was post-its and paper. So I went all out and accumulated a box of Post-its for you to open on Christmas morning. I think you liked it.


You're still into just about anything about space, and lately you've been questioning the exclusion of Pluto from the list of planets. It upsets you greatly and can't understand what has happened to poor Pluto.

This year, you read a whole book to me for the first time. It was about monarch butterflies. By the end, I'm pretty sure I was grinning widely and tearing up a little. Reading was such a big part of my life growing up, to watch you figure out those words and hear the story, it's just amazing. Your teachers say you know all the words you need to know for kindergarten and that you're reading at an early 1st grade level. So I'm hoping that reading soon will become important to you, too. And speaking of school, where in the world do you get your math skills? On your recent report card you were graded as above expectations in math -- you can count to 100 and have even started to do some addition. They also say that you have a "cute sense of humor." I think that means you make funny faces and noises to make your friends laugh.

You helped me raise butterflies this year. You'd done it with your 4-year-old kindergarten class, so I decided to tackle it at home, too. We raised some black swallowtails and some monarchs, and this picture even ended up in the March issue of Birds & Blooms, one of the benefits of having a mom who's an editor.


You also discovered books on tape, er, CD. Every night lately you go to bed listening to either Froggy's Baby Sister or Froggy's Day with Dad. And when we read these books to you, you try to mimic the "ding" turning-page noise from the CD. That, and insisting we read the author and illustrator's name at the start of the book. The writer's guild would be proud.

We decided to do t-ball again last summer and you ended up on a team made up almost entirely of kids from your class. That made it a really fun experience for all of us. You also started trying to hit balls with dad, without the tee. And you'd do pretty well, too. It was fun to take some balls and a bat down to the park after school for a bit.


Your best friend still is Matthew, and though the two of you are in different classrooms this year, we hear that you seek each other out on the playground during recess and we know that you, he, Aidan and Jordann are like the Four Musketeers in the after-school program. Last year for your birthday party, we were just meeting many of your friends for the first time, and now we know who they are, we know their parents, we cluster together at school functions. It's all actually very comfortable. We get you and Matthew together from time to time to play, and it's funny to watch the two of you wrestle and giggle.

Six is an age of changes. One thing we're doing as of today is putting away your baby blankets. We got you a nice fuzzy red blanket that will stay on your bed and the green and blue blankets that you've had since you were born will be going into a box somewhere. Of course, I'm a bit emotional about it, partially because I know you're attached to your blankets, and also because I can remember you being this old when we had this blanket.


You'll also be moving into a real seat belt booster, since at your last checkup, you're officially 1 pound over the limit on your car seat. You've moved into the 90 percentile on height and weight and are clocking in at 56 pounds and 47.75 inches. I know there was a big growth spurt sometime in there because one week it seemed like your pants fit and the next week you were walking around in high waters.

This last year you learned how to whistle and snap your fingers. You started shooting baskets in the adult-sized baskets at school (and making them). You're a really good big brother and you do try to protect and guide your little sister, though she often feels she needs no such guidance. The two of you are either happily playing together or fighting. But at least it's about equal of the two extremes.


I love your spirit. I'm so proud to be your mom. Happy birthday, my Owen.

Owen got a new pair of shoes today. We stopped at Kohl's on our way home from a few hours of jump-around with Owen's friend Matthew at a local inflatables place called Monkey Joe's. Owen was in serious need of new shoes. Not because his feet are completely growing out of them, but because that kid is hard on his shoes. His old ones were busting at the seams in at least three places. The last pair were retired when a hole appeared in one of the soles. Boys.

Tonight before bed, Owen came jogging downstairs after storytime and requested his shoes, so he could get dressed in the morning before breakfast, he reasoned. In our house, that's typically an post-breakfast activity. But, he obviously was excited about his new shoes.

When I came up to bed tonight, I saw that Owen had set out all his clothes for tomorrow. They are all laid out on his floor, in a line, in the order he will need them. Underwear, pants, long-sleeved shirt, t-shirt, socks, shoes. It was so cute, I had to go back downstairs to share with Jon. And then I had to blog about it, too, of course.

My kids...oh my, how they have the bed head.

Owen has always had a case of it. We affectionately, jokingly, lovingly call him "chickenhead" when the cowlick is at its finest and sticking straight up in the back.


But Nora, she has taken it to a whole other level. She does something in her sleep that results in tangled, frizzy hair almost every morning.


The other day, they were like a matching gnarly-haired set and I just had to laugh. Both displaying a fine mess of tresses, both wearing yellow-hued pajamas, and both displeased that I was taking their pictures at breakfast.

They tried to hide, but the selected objects were far too puny to hide the hair.


I don't think this is what the people at Suave had in mind when they created their detangling spray (pear scent!), because it has little affect.

It has been cold here. Highs of below-zero cold. On Thursday and Friday, Owen's school was closed. And my thumb actually did momentarily stick to the doorknob when I went to get the newspaper off the front stoop. So, what does one do on a "cold day,"as opposed to a snow day?

Well...

You use straws to blow bubbles in a tub of water. The water tub also is good for conducting experiments. For instance, we learned that pennies and nickels sink, but marker caps float AND they make cool color streaks in the water.


You eat lunch with your sunglasses on. After all, it is quite sunny in the kitchen.



You cuddle up to watch TV with some blankets, some stuffed animals and a sibling.


You try ice-freezing experiments. It takes about 6 hours for a small container of ice to freeze completely solid. (I was surprised it took that long, actually.) Then you put that ice in the freezer and take it out when Mom wants to take your picture with it. But it's slippery, and you drop it immediately after the picture is taken. And then you blame Momma, 'cuz it was her stupid idea to take a picture.


You try out your silly smile.

A few of my favorite things from Christmas break:

1. Sleeping in. Oh, man, it was so great to sleep until I naturally woke up. Even the kids were sleeping in. I'm not looking forward to the sound of an alarm clock tomorrow morning.

2. My pot rack. This was one of my Christmas presents, something I'd specifically asked for. I'm already loving not having to take all the stacked pots or pans out of the cupboard just to get at one. And I've gained some new space, too. Thanks, honey!

3. Owen learning how to draw a star. He was making a simple asterisk-like star, so I showed him how to make a star using that five-line method we probably all learned as kids. He watched me do it a few times, then was able to do it himself. He's already a better artist than me. We were both drawing dogs earlier today and he made fun of mine, saying it looked like a cat. And it kinda did.

4. Swimming. Spending a couple nights in a hotel meant multiple visits to the pool. Someday, I hope to get back to a gym and in a pool on a regular basis. Being in the water just makes me feel good.

5. Nora learning that "poopy" is the magic funny word for Owen.

6. Owen playing with our cat, Philo. We made a string toy on a stick and he would laugh and laugh as Philo attacked it.

7. Seeing two movies (Valkyrie and Bolt). Even though they weren't the two I really want to see (that would be Milk and Slumdog Millionaire...and Happy Go Lucky, if we're lucky), we have to take babysitters when and where we can, or take the kids with us.

8. That both kids really liked their Christmas presents. I was a little worried that giving Owen a box of paper, Post-its and markers might underwhelm him, but he was pleased as punch.

9. Wine. I'm finishing off last night's bottle right now.

10. Just having the time off. I know I'm lucky to have had two weeks off, and though I don't feel ready to go back to work (do you ever feel ready?), I do feel like I've had a good vacation.

It's Friday night, and I'm on the tail end of a much-needed break. It has been wonderful over the past two weeks to relax, spend time with my kids and husband, knock off a few easy, yet perennially postponed, "to dos" and drink wine in the evenings while not worrying about what needs to be done before morning...because it can ALL wait until morning.

Vacation started a day earlier than planned due to a good ol' Wisconsin snowstorm. It had been in the forecasts the day before, so everyone was prepared that school, work, everything might be called off. And, as it turned out, it was. When I woke up that morning, I could still see the tires on my car. A couple of hours later, not so much.



A day later, it was time to travel to Illinois for our first Christmas. It was co-old that day and the forecast was for blowing and drifting snow. Wonderful. But, we packed the blankets and headed out to see all the cousins. Owen looks a little less-than-happy in this photo because he was liking some of his cousins gifts more than his own.



He perked up later though, and had fun playing fireman with his cousin.



I had fun, too, especially now that Nora is old enough to happily entertain herself. She toodled about, offering drinks from her new tea set, dragging dolls around by their ankles, eating cookies, finding new laps to sit in, eating more cookies...

Oh, and here's a picture for the kitty lovers out there. It's my sister-in-law's cat, Woody, who likes to hang out in the Christmas tree.



Next on our agenda were a couple of days at home. Mother Nature threw some more snowstorms at us, and by the time Christmas Eve came around, we'd had another 10 or so inches and the piles along our driveway were a good 4-5 feet tall. Sigh.

We had our family Christmas on Christmas Eve day. Owen's big gift was an "art box." I'd picked up a ton of different papers, markers, fun pencils, etc. and put them all in this storage box with his name on it. Then, since he'd also been asking for Post-its, I picked up a bunch of those and filled a little box with them. I think he liked it.



Nora got a play kitchen. Later, she was serving us fish and drumsticks...in drinking glasses.



Next stop was my parents' house for Christmas Day. It was a brief visit, since the snow delayed our trip up there by a day, and we missed our traditional "sleigh ride" into the woods, but we did get some nice outdoor time, and Owen enjoyed playing catch with my parents' dog, Duncan. That dog could play catch for hours, I think. Jon and I also had time to sneak out to see a movie, and then have a beer (and feel a tad old) at a local bar.



Nora even let loose a real smile (OK, maybe it was a little goofy for the camera) instead of her typical semi-scowl.



Then it was off to the Eau Claire area to visit the great-grandparents.



We spent two nights at a hotel there, which meant lots of visits to the pool (fun), and also meant the kids stayed up until after 10 both nights (not as fun). Being in one room together, they just goofed around after the lights were out. Nora has discovered the secret to making Owen laugh -- say "poop" a lot. So after a couple rousing renditions of "Old MacDonald Had a Poopy" and "There Was a Farmer Had a Dog and Poopy Was His Name-O," I had to put the kabosh on their shenanigans with the threat of "no swimming tomorrow if you don't be quiet right now!" That worked.

We came home Sunday, in nice weather, and felt like we'd had good visits all around. Jon had to go back to work, but I was still off with the kids. This week has been pretty laid-back. Monday night, we went down to Kenosha for some bowling -- meeting up with an old, good friend from college who was in the area for the holidays.



New Year's Eve, we had a "party" in our computer room, complete with dancing, loud music, flashing lights (courtesy of Owen and his new flashlight) and streamers. It actually was a lot of fun. I had one of those parent moments when you look at your kids and think, this really is the greatest; this is all I need.



Now we head into the weekend, and I'll have to get some chores done to prepare for the inevitable return to work (declaring a war on laundry for starters). It has been fun. And I'm really going to miss sleeping in until 8 and waking up to the sounds of Owen and Nora giggling in her room. Too bad Christmas comes but once a year.

Hi, my name is Heather and it has been one week since I last checked my work e-mail.

I've been out of the office since a snowstorm shut down the city on the 19th, and, after a smattering of e-mails to take care of a few things last Monday and Tuesday, I checked out. There's no reason to be checking in, after all. The whole company is on vacation, so no one no where expects work to get done or questions to get answered. This really is a glorious two-week break from work responsibilities. And yet, I've been tempted to check my darn e-mail. As my mouse passed over the bookmark earlier tonight, I almost, almost let go. But I didn't. Though I am able to take time off and not worry about work, I do check in a lot whenever I'm out. I guess I like knowing what's going on. Maybe that means I'm not able to take time off and not worry. Or maybe there's just a time limit to how long I can go without thinking about my job.

This morning, I woke up making a mental list of what I need to do when I go back on the 5th, but I banished those thoughts. No work thinking until Sunday, I told myself. I'm still on vacation.

I only have a couple minutes to post, partly because of this first thing. I'll post about all of our Christmas adventures soon.

I've noticed this phenomenon that affects the passage of time, yet seems to occur only on weekends and vacation days. The morning hours seem long and luxurious while the afternoon hours gobysofastthatohmygodhowisit4:00already?! Have you ever noticed that, too?

And, ugh, while I appreciate that modern grocery store chains are trying to help the hapless parent shopper, the creation of kid-size carts (i.e. weapons to crash into shelves, other shoppers, little sisters) and "car carts" (i.e. an enclosed space where children are virtually guaranteed to push and shove and disagree over who has the better steering wheel) seem to just be creating new and exciting ways for kids to run wild in the grocery store instead of solving the problem. If they were smart, they'd start stocking mini bottles of liquor next to the candy and gum, because some days, mommy needs a treat after shopping, too.

Have a Merry Christmas, my friends. Enjoy your loved ones and may the day bring you at least one moment of true joy.