year in review

December 30, 2013December 30, 2013 / emmykay / 2 Comments

In short:

It was winter & it was cold.

The girls turned two.

We bought a house and sold a condo and moved.

Everyone knows that the actual moving part is the worst part of any home purchase.

It was appropriately terrible, especially with my ear infection that WOULD NOT GO AWAY. But has. So we are all good now.

We frolicked at the park any time it was over 30 degrees and under 120 degrees.

We laughed, we cried, I cut my hair, we took some selfies, we laughed some more and then we found out we were pregnant with #3.

This was not a surprise.

We planned it.

But still. THREE KIDS. OMG.

What were we thinking??

And now, the year in pictures. Beginning January:

Carrie’s First Haircut

Ellie’s First Haircut

Twins turn Two.

Grandma Sandy, Julia, Elliana and Carrigan all celebrated birthdays together. (and took a lovely picture with Luke and Joshua)

Carrie loves her pretties! (aka bracelets and jewels and sparkly things!)

Carrie is also VERY busy, babe. So, like, leave a message or whatever.

Shades and a binky NEVER go out of style.

Carrie’s February Selfie. So now.

Ellie and Mommy selfie together.

Ellie hunts the elusive Easter Egg.

Carrie has concern for the elusive Easter egg. Where is it? What is in it? These are big questions.

Easter brunch with Frank’s parents. Delish!

A trip to Water Tower Place in Chicago.

Hawks Game!

Story time with Mom in March

A much-needed night out in March to see The Book of Mormon.

Boo! Snow in March!

A warm day in April means a trip to the park – and pigtails for Carrie!

A mommy and Carrie selfie in April

A trip to a bakery in Lincoln Park. Yum!

Ellie scoping out Lincoln Park. Future Blue Demon??

Cowgirl Ellie takes the reins…

Cowgirl Carrie is on the move!

An outdoor snack in April. Loving the warm weather!

Carrie stylin’ a new hat from Grandma Sandy.

Carrie can’t believe the WHOLE pancake is for her!

Early morning Carrie is the best!

Ellie tuckered out on a car ride home…

Enjoying the “snow” of flower petals in May.

We bought a house!

Just the four of us… for now!

Carrie loves the park!

Ellie also loves the park.

“Dahling, isn’t picnicking just the bees’ knees?”

A tea party between Ellie and Michael. He’s such a good sport!

Carrie in a toddler bed!

Ellie in a toddler bed!

2013 05 Twins Wishing Frank Happy Birthday

The twins wishing Daddy a happy 33rd birthday!

Do we have a future motorcycle chick??

Ellie enjoyed her bike as well!

Improvising with furniture during the move. Camp chairs are so in right now!

Saying goodbye to our trusty Honda Accord, George in June.

Lounging in their new room.

Carrie and her buddy Kelsey chilling.

One game to the Stanley Cup!

We love lunching outside!

Packing is never dull when you are packing with twins two year olds!

I love the PARK!!

Mommy and Carrie watching the rain!

Ellie catching the rain!

Riding the train at the July Jaycee carnival in Hoffman Estates!

Carrie playing on the beach, with appropriate jewels, of course!

A healthy breakfast is the best way to start the day!

Getting ready for work with Mom!

Sibling night … PUT THE PHONES AWAY! That is all.

The girls deep in discussions post bath in July.

The girls love to ride the bus to church. Church is also one of their favorite places to go – they ask to go all week long!

Ellie and Mom taking in a very hot summer concert together – so much fun!

The girls loved their beach time in August!

Carrie particularly loved the pier and looking at the fish.

Cousins Luke and Julia came to visit in August. They had so much fun!

Ellie visited Auntie Cay-cay and raided her amazing costume jewelry collection.

I chopped my hair!

The first day of Playschool for the twins!

The girls couldn’t wait to go inside!

The first day of potty training. It was harder on Mom (and Dad) than it was on the girls.

Carrie cruising at the park in August.

Potty training bootcamp.

Carrie giving her trike a tune-up in August.

Ellie in August.

Carrie also raided Auntie Cay-cay’s jewelry. So glamorous!

Going to the Wisconsin State Fair was exhausting…

… and delicious!

Ellie and Carrie explored their first fire truck!

Holy positive pregnancy test, batman! It was a September to remember!

Tea Partiers.

Does someone have a future in aviation? Perhaps!

Mom and Ellie Selfies in October.

Mom and Carrie Selfie in October.

Carrie enjoyed her first sports camp. Bend it like Beckham!

Ellie is ready to take on the entire team. Solo. With one hand tied behind her back. Game on, girlfriend!

Carrie loves the pantry in the new house nearly as much as I do.

Carrie is a future pool shark in the making.

Important life skillz.

The twins ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa K.

Frank and I enjoyed a lovely visit to Vegas in November. So much fun!

Twin love at Christmas.

Say Cheese! Say Merry Christmas!

Santa came!

Carrie, our little lefty.

Ellie drawing.

Frank and I at a Hawks game. With that guy. Yo.

So, there you have it: 2013 in pictures.

It was a good year.

The forecast for 2014 calls for less sleep, lots of new baby snuggles and big sister hugs.

What a ride.

100 joys (#71-80)

December 26, 2010December 26, 2010 / emmykay / Leave a comment

What a wonderful Christmas we had! I’m still recovering, so please forgive me for the lack of pictures. I will also post a 25 week babies update tomorrow and, if I get my stuff together, there may also be a belly pic included, too. Consider yourself warned: the belly is on the verge of epic (although, not quite legendary).

joy #71:

Frank was home for Christmas! It was a little bit touch-and-go, but Frank was never called up to fly and so we were able to spend the entire holiday together. It was such a wonderful blessing! In the morning we went to my parents’ house to open gifts, then off the Frank’s parents’ home for lunch, and then back to my parents’ house for dinner. It was so much fun to be able to do all of these things with Frank and it just made the whole holiday all the brighter.

joy #72:

Frank’s good friend from high school, Garrick, and Garrick’s girlfriend Kelly (sweetest girl ever), stopped by Frank’s parents’ house and gave us gifts for the twins. They gave us a Dr. Suess book, movie and then “Thing1” and “Thing 2” tees for the babies. It was such a perfect gift – Frank had been calling the twins exactly that for a while and we are excited for them to wear these shirts in a few months!

joy #73:

Every year, Dr. K (Frank’s Dad) dresses up as Santa. I think the older kids might be on to him, but it was cute to see my youngest nephew look at him with ~~terror~~ amazement this year.

joy #74:

Yes, we had a white Christmas this year! It was really a nice treat, especially since the roads were pretty dry and clear.

joy #75:

My mom made 20 lbs of prime rib this year – as per usual. And it was soooo delicious. The above photo is not her prime rib – I forgot to snap a picture. Does it matter, though?? It was delicious, amazing, heavenly prime rib. Nothing says, “Happy Birthday Jesus!” like a ton of red meat. And twice baked potatoes. And warm dinner rolls. And mayonnaise salad. Yeah, you might be judging me a little bit for loving mayonnaise salad, but I don’t care. The only thing less healthy than mayonnaise salad is just eating the mayonnaise straight from the jar. Thank goodness for lettuce leaves, right?

joy #76:

Yeah, that’s right, we did it. We went to the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale today. Frank was in desperate need of shoes for work (read: he no longer had tread left on his other shoes!), so we ventured out to The Mall with the rest of The World. And I must say, it wasn’t half bad. And, combined with the sale and coupons, we saved about 80% on a pair of shoes for him. Victory was had. Joy to the world, indeed.

joy #77:

So, as someone who has been CRAVING Papa John’s pizza, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like Domino’s Pizza tonight. I mean, I have been eating Papa John’s about once a week – that’s how bad it has been. But since I had a gift card for Domino’s Pizza, we figured we’d buck the trend and try it. OMG. I knew that Domino’s was re-working their pizza recipe (apparently they realized their pizza sucked) and their new pizza is FABULOUS! Forget you, Papa John’s! I’m loving me some Domino’s Pizza! Even Frank was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the pizza, too.

joy #78:

To celebrate Boxing Day, we boxed up all of our Christmas decorations and put them away. Yes, that’s right, we are sitting in a Christmas-free zone right now, folks! And I love it! Christmas, and all of its trimmings, are wonderful up until 11:59 p.m. on December 25th. As soon as the last carol has been sung, the last pound of prime rib eaten and the last present opened, Christmas feels instantly stale to me. Instead of merry Christmas decorations, it feels more like clutter. For the last 7+ years of our marriage, Frank thought I liked having the decorations up until New Year’s Day. Truth is, I’d start taking them down Christmas night if it didn’t feel like I was violating some sort of sacred holiday law. When I told Frank last night that I would love nothing more than to take down the decorations, his eyes grew wide and a smile spread from ear-to-ear. So happily today we put everything away and it feels like we are living in a new house. I love it. Bringing in the new year in a fresh house is a delight, and dare I say, a joy!

joy #79:

Yeah, that’s right. I’ll admit it. Not only do I LIKE naps, but I LOVE them. I need them. There is no shame in my game. These kids (and the holidays) darn near wore me out. I took a strategic Christmas night nap from about 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., allowing me to be a descent human being to the rest of my family for a few more hours than normal. I took another strategic 2 1/2 hour nap between shopping and taking down decorations so that I would, again, be a descent human being to my hubz. I have NO idea how I am going to make it through the work week, considering how important these naps are seeming to become. I am sure that I will survive, though.

joy #80:

I love reading people’s Facebook statuses.

I love the mundane updates: “Just ate dinner. Yum. “

I also love the vague updates: “Thank God that’s over!” What’s over? What happened?? Usually three or four people comment asking for specifics. Their inquiries are often unrewarded. The people who post updates like that WANT you to wonder. So whenever you see that kind of vague update, they are probably referring to a herpes outbreak. I mean, what else could they possibly be talking about?

Last, but not least, I love the social commentary status updates. Like this one: “How low can reality TV go? Bridalplasty. Yep.” It makes me feel good that I am friends with people who recognize the bottom of the reality TV food chain. It is because of people like this that I think, “Hum, I should probably turn this TV show off because it is not socially acceptable to watch this…” Who said Facebook couldn’t be an integral part of my moral compass??

100 joys (#62-70)

December 24, 2010December 24, 2010 / emmykay / Leave a comment

OK, this is going to be my epic joy post. Grab a cup of hot cocoa and a warm blanket – it’s all joy, all the time!

joy #62:

Last night, as I mentioned before, we went to church for the Christmas service. It is one of our most FAVORITE Christmas traditions in the K-Fam. Because our church has 12 Christmas Eve services over the course of 8 days, Frank and I are always able to find a service we can attend, no matter what Frank’s schedule looks like. At the last minute, we were able to include Al, Rose and Rose’s sister, Sara. Seated way up in the 3rd balcony at Willow Creek, I was a little bit concerned that we wouldn’t get a good view of the service. It turns out, being seated way up high was the BEST view of the service. It was awesome! The service included a drama that was the modern telling of the story of Jesus’ birth. It was absolutely amazing. When the Angel was telling Mary that she found favor with God and would be giving birth to Jesus, the song in the above video played. It was absolutely magical! The whole story was told with the underlying theme of “Don’t be afraid.” What a joy to go to that service!

joy #63:

After church, we went to Steak ‘n Shake. Now, I have to say, if I owned a restaurant within a 5-10 mile radius of Willow Creek, I’d definitely find out when big events were happening and then get prepared! Unfortunately, that was not the case at our friendly neighborhood Steak ‘n Shake and they were just a bit overwhelmed by the crowd that came through their doors last night. After waiting a while to be seated, and then waiting even longer for someone to come to our table to get drink orders, etc., Frank jokingly told our waitress that it was free shake night at Steak ‘n Shake if you had to wait more than 5 minutes for your server. She laughed and then said, “Really? OK. Free shakes and drinks then.” And the shakes WERE free! It was a Christmas Miracle!

joys #64-70:

Oh, how my family does bring me joy!

Familial joy #64 was my sweet niece singing tonight at the Christmas Eve service at the church that Frank and I were married at. With her white-blond hair and cherubic smile, she melts everyone’s hearts. And of course #65 was my nephew who gets taller and cuter every time I see him. He’s my first-ever nephew and has a special place in my heart.

#66 and #67 are my sister-in-law Kathryn (or K2; K1 is her sister Karen) and her husband Dave. As the parents of my dear niece and nephew, of course they are a joy!

After church, we moved on to my Uncle Steve (#68) and Aunt Judy’s (#69) home for some delicious homemade corn chowder and general merriment. My cousins Meghan (previously mentioned as joy #40) and David (#44) were also there, along with my siblings (Caitlin, Andy & Sarah – also previously mentioned joys in a variety of places). While we were there, nearly everyone got to feel the babies kicking, which I would like to call joy #70. It’s one thing for me to feel the babies moving around, but it’s such a delight when others get to experience it, too!

100 joys (13-17)

December 14, 2010December 14, 2010 / emmykay / 2 Comments

The great thing about doing this project is that every day I find myself excited to look for all the joys in my life! The not-so-great thing is that this has been a particularly busy week and so it has been difficult to find time to document all of the joys.

That’s ok! It’s a good problem to have 🙂

Joy #13

My shampoo and conditioner. If you recall from yesterday, I find my Mary Kay skin care to be a joy because it takes care of some dry skin issues I’ve had in the past. Unfortunately, this dry skin shenanigans is not limited to my face and has, at times, invaded my scalp. Ugh. There is nothing worse than not being able to put your hair in a pony tail on a hot summer day because of how dry your skin is! (Ok, there are plenty of things worse, but stay with me) I tried lots of things over the years – expensive shampoos and conditioners, scalp oil, etc. The expensive (ahem, Aveda) scalp shampoo only dried out my hair and didn’t greatly improve my scalp situation. Then one day, in a fit of frustration, I used Herbal Essences. Instantly, my hair was shiny and soft again and my scalp was much healthier! Every day that I wash my hair, I am delighted that my finicky head craves the cheap grocery store brand of shampoo instead of the super-expensive variety. Love it!

Joy #14

I know, Frank makes the list nearly every day in some form or another, but seriously – this guy is fabulous. A lot of snow had blown onto our driveway in the past couple of days and when I came home from work tonight, Frank had completely tidied up the driveway. He’d also taken care of several other chores around the house, which is such a treat! He makes the bed every day and I love coming upstairs to see the made bed. Frank is the source of a lot of little joys!

Joy #15

Note: This is not our dishwasher, but it looks close enough. After having experienced life without a dishwasher, it is such a joy to load up the dishwasher, turn it on and… walk away! Take that, sink full of dishes!

Joy #16

I had a visit with the doctor today and got to hear the babies’ heartbeats! I love hearing them – it is such a sweet reassurance. Baby A’s heart rate was around 140 and Baby B’s heart rate was around 150. Plus, the babies have both been quite active today – another big blessing and joy! Because we are having twins, we are now going to have appointments every two weeks. Yay!

Joy #17

Not exactly the best picture of my parent’s living room, but this is a glimpse into what my parents’ house looks like at Christmas. They set up one lonnng table to seat about 20 people and Mom makes an amazing prime rib with all of the fixings. SO GOOD! And such a great time with family. It is a joy that I am looking forward to!

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTOhv7Mx47l_Mv1jyeWrjAn-vwSl7NxjZAcGH5Z2ggmidLIUo7yUA

100 joys (8-12)

December 13, 2010 / emmykay / 2 Comments

Continuing with what I started yesterday, here are a few of my joys today:

Joy #8

People who smile. Not just smile on their face, but smile with their attitude. It’s so hard to find people like that! Today I ran across a few well timed genuinely smiling people and it made all of the difference.

Joy #9

I made spicy pulled pork today for my coworkers as a holiday treat today. Ahh… joy. Isn’t food wonderful?

Joy #10

This guy! He is SUCH a joy! He was gone last night and came home today and just seeing him when I walked in the door made my whole day all better! (that’s Frank, by the way – he’s doing something very serious… I like when he’s doing serious things because then I can distract him… he loves when I distract him while he’s intently working on something… )

Joy #11

Yeah, yeah – I know. I’m a consultant. I’m supposed to love this stuff. But I have to say, about three years ago I dreaded the winter because I had dry patches of skin along my nose, my eyebrows and the side of my face. I washed my face, I tried to moisturize, but to no avail. I switched to Mary Kay and I haven’t had this problem since! I love that I don’t worry about my face any more – it gives me lots more time to worry about other things… ahhh… joy!

Joy #12

This is our theme for our nursery – lambs! (disregard the already embroidered name on the quilt – it’s not even close to any of the baby names we’re considering) It makes me smile because lambs are such sweet looking animals and totally gender neutral. Although, I’m sure I’ll find out that lambs are really very unfriendly beasts that attack small domesticated animals. But whatever. They make me happy and bring me joy. Yay for lambs!

from the history books: enchanted

August 22, 2010September 11, 2010 / emmykay / 1 Comment

Last night I watched Enchanted, one of my favorite movies to watch. It’s one of those movies that when it’s on, I can’t help myself. The movie reminds me a lot of Frank. No, it’s not because Frank channels Patrick Dempsy with his dashing good looks and pragmatic approach to life. Nor is it because Frank often introduces me the way Prince Edward introduces Giselle – “Giselle is my love, my heart’s one true desire!”

Enchanted reminds me of a truly K-Fam Thanksgiving experience. Back in November 2007 Frank was a jet Captain on the Dornier at the now defunct Skyway Airlines. As per usual, Frank was at the bottom of the seniority list, meaning that he was working holidays. I decided that I would accompany him over Thanksgiving on his trips so that we could spend Thanksgiving together. On Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we went to Cleveland. Skyway actually put the pilots up in a somewhat decent hotel which was close to a very nice mall.

One of Frank’s favorite things to do is walk around a mall. This is surprising because he does NOT like to shop. He enjoys stopping at stores that have nice smells or kitschy items with limited uses (ie. Brookstone, Spencers). We walked around the mall for a while and then decided to go see the movie Enchanted. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I remember walking out of the theater holding Frank’s hand, feeling light and free. We had dinner at the Macaroni Grill and drew fun pictures on the paper table cloth and enjoyed being together.

The next day, Thanksgiving, we flew back to Milwaukee and then up to Appleton. We stayed at the Raddison Paper Valley in downtown Appleton. We arrived at the hotel at 2:30 in the afternoon and saw, to our amazement, a huge Thanksgiving buffet set out! Victory! We approached the hostess stand, all of our bags in tow, and asked the hostess for details on the buffet. She told us they were taking it down. Oh, the looks on our faces! We pleaded with her – can we just go through once and get some Thanksgiving food – we are far from home and won’t get a real Thanksgiving! Nope. She wouldn’t budge. As we walked by the buffet on the way to our room, we watched them throwing out entire cakes and pies. Oh, how we wanted to weep right there!

Slightly disheartened, but determined to have a lovely Thanksgiving anyway, we went to the hotel bar, hoping that they may have some Thanksgiving fare. No such luck. I think Frank had a hamburger and I had a chicken sandwich. Regardless of the lack of Thanksgiving themed food, we had a wonderful time watching football in the bar and talking with his First Officer.

Later that night, we decided that we wanted dessert, but room service didn’t have anything good, so we found a vending machine and shared a Three Muskateers bar and a Rice Krispy Treat. Oh, it was bliss! Almost like having French Silk Pie… but not quite…

It is one of my happiest memories of us. We had such a nice time celebrating Thanksgiving together and I am so glad we did it! Considering that Frank is back at the bottom of the seniority list again, perhaps we will try the adventure again this year, but maybe in a more exotic location, like LA or Puerto Rico!