MADLY.

let's talk about mad men.

 

i love it so much. how did i go this long without ever watching? i'm working my way through the seasons on netflix and i can't get enough.

 

i'm on season four. how many seasons are there?!

 

TUESDAY.

what a tuesday.

 

it's so springy outside. i walked to the post office just now. without a coat. or even a jacket. it's breezy and humid and i just love it.

 

it's such a nice break from cold, dreary weather. puts some pep in your step.

 

i want to get some big art for my living room. we have a huge space above our tv, between two huge mirrors on a gigantic wall. i thought about doing something gallery-ish but saw this today and i really like it.

 

 

you like? i could blow it up and i sure to love blue. and clouds.

 

i'm going to a visitation today for someone i barely knew, but am really sad that he has died. we went to church together and he's one of those people that you automatically like. a genuinely nice person with a great family.

 

so it's sad and unexpected which makes it more sad. it's comforting that he's up there with jesus now, so i'm just holding on to that.

 

that's all.

 

 

SUNDAY FUNDAY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

have a great week! it's rainy and warm and i love it today. we had a great weekend, although henry is sick AGAIN. that kid! he just can't catch a break. poor buddy.

 

i will also have you know that hallie has finally  (finally!) figured out how to do backwards rolls. it's all very exciting.

 

two weeks until florida with dave! no kids! yippee!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACKENZIE MARIE!

we tried. i mean, really.

 

 

 

 

happy birthday, mackenzie! we love you! i remember the day you were born (sob). i hope you have a wonderful day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JAM SESH.

oh, just another monday night jam session.

 

yeah, baby.

pictures interrupted by henry who just wants to read Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See for the one million-th time, but can't find it so brought me Panda Bear instead.

the end.

ps - some day i will have interesting things to write about i'm sure.

pps - for sarah, goats, hallie and fuzzy. you're welcome.

MR. SMILEY

this is a post because i haven't written one in a while and today is a pretty weird day. so i was checking out my pictures to see what we've been up to (don't you do that too?) and found a series of pictures i tried to take with dave to document a rare date night out.

 

and there wasn't a single one where he looked halfway normal. which isn't unusual. at all.

 

it literally took me three minutes to find these 11 pictures of him looking...well...like himself, i guess.

 

enjoy.

 

(isn't that picture adorable? before we were even married!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is the series that started it all. you're welcome.

 

 

 

 

and the last one, where at least i look good ;)

 

he's so special.

 

ps - this last picture is for sarah. because you can't look at this picture and not giggle.

 

 

 

AND THE FRONT PASS TOO.

apparently rolling forward is much easier than backwards. duh.

 

so here is her front pass. they do the back pass first and then start over and do the front pass. thank goodness she had a good front pass.

 

 

 

i love this girl so much. she kept saluting the wrong way. i told it was okay, that she was just saluting her mommy ;)

 

i am so grateful for the weekend. we have plans with a long-lost friend and her kiddos tonight. just a play date and visiting and i can't wait. it's funny how it's so easy to lose touch with friends as we get older.

 

i have my favorites (i'm looking at you, sarah) that i will never lose touch with, never ever. it just gets harder as life gets in the way. the best ones are those that we can pick up again, even if we've gone months with no calls or emails.

 

plus, who else will send me emails like this:

"It's Thursday. I have 1.2 million things to do at work. And a haircut appointment. And it's spin class night. And trivia. #whitegirlproblems."

 

she slays me. (i've never actually said "slays" in real life, but it seems acceptable in writing. yes?) 

 

that's it. have a wonderful weekend!

IN CASE YOU WERE CURIOUS.

my class last night went just fine, thank you very much. it is a blended class, so there are seven times we meet (only six now - yippee!) and the rest is online.

 

my course is gender communication which i think will be facinating. i'm actually really excited about it. my masters will be in communication, btw. i am only four classes in, so 7 more to go.

 

blech.

 

i just keep thinking that this is a good thing. it's stretching me and will give me opportunities later on. it's also stretching my wallet though and that stresses me out.

 

but that's okay.

 

also, here is a video of miss hallie mason doing her back pass at the tumbling meet last week. you will see why we held our breath the whole time. and if you're like me, you're silently puuuuushing her over in your head. she likes to keep us on the edge of her seat, that girl.

 

 

OH KERI.

and then there was that time i accidentally registered myself for a graduate class for my masters.

i know.

who is so stupid? me.

i blame working where i work, at a college. we have web registration where you pull up the classes you are interested in, check the checkbox and then hit submit. once you hit submit, it adds your class to your "shopping cart" and then you have to click submit again to do a final registration.

um, apparently it doesn't work this was at the university of illinois. you just check the box, submit and wham bam, thank you ma'am, you're now two thousand dollars poorer, but four graduate credits smarter!

i called immediately and was told by two different people that i was out of luck. i could get back 90% of the tuition and then could appeal for the remaining 10%.

or just take the class, which is obviously what i decided to do.

i was considering it anyway. i have taken just three courses and have eight remaining. now, i will have seven.

i am excited/nervous/pukey-about-the-money.

oh, and it starts TONIGHT. in springfield. no time like the present!

shiz.

THE AMERICAN GIRL STORE.

i was going to get all clever with the title of this post: american girl hell, my personal hell, crowds, crowds and more crowds, etc.

but they wouldn't be true (except the last one). the trip was awesome. for realz.

barb gave the girlies a trip to chicago (on the train!) to visit the american girl store. thank goodness santa got the memo and brought hallie one of her very own.

 

so off we went, north bound out of springfield. the girls were extra cute (until they just weren't anymore).

they loved the train and it really was nice to sit back and not have to worry about anything. except keeping them contained. which was sort of an issue. at least in carseats they are strapped in.

 

 

 

 

we got there, checked into the hotel, walked a few blocks and entered the ag store. holy crapola, people. this store is ridiculous. and was also ridiculously crowded.

luckily (?), hallie is not a shopper. so she picked out what she wanted to buy (her own money) and was over it. until she saw that they had a hair salon. so we had to get her doll's hair done - which ended up being the best decision EVER - the hair STILL looks good.

 

 

we also came back to the ag store to eat supper at the cafe - which was surprisingly good. and they pull out all the stops for the girls and their dolls. it was really cute. cute, cute, cute. everything was so...cute. and very, very pink. shockingly pink, actually. and shockingly expensive. but worth it (right?!).

 

 

 

anyway.

back at the hotel was a freezing cold pool that barb took them to (score) and lots of threats to get them to sleep. the next day was shopping and killing time until our train.

which was delayed.

but it was fine. fine.

we made it home. and the girls loved it, and i secretly wanted to buy kit.

the end.

and now christmas and all of 2012 is finished.

the end.

BACK ON TRACK. BACK TO REAL LIFE.

alrighty, then!

here we are, back on track. toot toot!

the flu took us down, but it certainly didn't take us out. thank you to everyone who called/emailed/texted/commented/prayed. i love you!

it was a rough week, but by golly, we are going to make the most of out of the rest of january. i have big plans - HUGE! they involve lots of hand sanitizer, washing and vitaimins! woo-to-the-hoo!

i do feel the need to salvage january. get back on track health wise. get back to meal planning, exercising and our regular life! i miss church! i miss planned meals! i miss not feeling bloated all the time.

so, let me think about this. it sounds like i'm about to make some resolutions and maybe i am.

1. have more fun

2. get buff...er. i lost weight, now it's time to get some muscles.

does that sound...comprehensive? because i think it does.

#1 directly relates to dave. his resolution for me was to BE MORE FUN, but he doesn't get to pick, so i changed to to HAVE MORE FUN.

case in point: last night. dave had just gotten out of the shower and i went in to wash my face and brush my teeth. i wasn't quiet at ALL, but swung the door open, and jumped in and scared the CRAP out of him. and he laughed his butt off.

had he done that to me, i would have been super grouchy. because that's my first reaction. be mean, so he doesn't do it again! right?

no more! i will let him give me heart attacks and pee my pants and laugh about it! an all new keri!

#2 just means that i have an awesome new workout dvd set that i'm pumped up about (get it? ha).

so that's it!

i didn't mean to set resolutions, but there they are.

 

*pictures above of henry (duh) and hallie's tumbling meet in mahomet, which included an uncomfortable nap in the car, supper at panera and a seventh place victory!

influenza. type b.

 

henry has been very, very sick.

hallie started it when we were in missouri. fever, cough, general meanness.

we took her in and she was diagnosed with strep and prescribed amox. okay, big deal.

then henry gets a high fever that sunday, so the doctor graciously called in a prescription for amox without us needing to go in and be seen. assuming it was strep.

it was and it wasn't.

because tuesday he was worse. coughing, fevers still,  and grouchy, grouchy, grouchy. so we took him in on tuesday and he was diagnosed with croup. put on a steroid. still on the amox.

our poor buddy.

he coughed so much tuesday night he threw up and up and up. on me. we ended up calling the night nurse and were told to put him in a steam bathroom for fifteen minutes, which helped.

wednesday he wasn't any better. still coughing so much. so grouchy. i knew the steroid was making him shaky and grouchy and restless. and it was heartbreaking. and we were still giving him the amox, so that was five doses of medicine in a single day. that's so hard on a little body.

he coughed all night wednesday night. poor buddy. i just knew something wasn't right with him. he was lethargic. wanted to be held non-stop. he would eat lunch and then refuse dinner. he cried and cried. it was seriously so frustrating and heartbreaking.

so thursday we took him back to the doctor. he just laid on me the whole time. soooo lethargic, but restless like he couldn't get comfortable.

they ended up sending us over to the hospital for some blood work, a chest x-ray, a flu test and a RSV test. so that was fun, but he was a champ.

turns out he has the flu, type b. which basically means we just have to wait it out. they prescribed tamiflu to help decrease the symptoms, and took him off of the steroid. kept him on the amox. (got that?)

they also prescribed it for hallie, because apparently it is super contagious. did i mention that this tamiflu is crazy expensive? like, $250. good times. love my babies.

so ANYWAY. it's been a really long, trying week. dave and i have been switching on and off watching hen at home so we can both work. we had no food in the house, so i finally had to run to wal-mart after work yesterday. i got a text from dave "hurry." hen was not having a good night.

so yeah. i'm tired. but both kids slept all night long last night, so surely that means we're on the mend. i hate it when my kids are sick. there is truly nothing more helpless than not being able to help your child feel better.

i am grateful that today is FRIDAY and that tomorrow is SATURDAY.

the end.

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS. PART IV. THE GRAND FINALE.

mom's house.

so many presents.

over-stimulated kiddos.

sick hallie.

lamest new year's eve ever.

love my family so much.

another awesome christmas. i can't say enough- this has seriously been my favorite christmas season ever. everything just came together so easily - no fights (except hallie and max) and overall stress free.

hallie ended up getting really sick on sunday while we were still at my dad's. super high fevers - she was finally diagnosed with strep on friday, which is a really long time to be sick.

and then henry got it, so yay.

but we had such a good time anyway. the kids played and played and got a million presents. the adults talked and hung out and stayed up to watch the ball drop in ny and then off to bed! didn't even make it to midnight - good times.

it was a great christmas to end on and i am so thankful that i have such a wonderful, large, extended family to spend time with. it can get crazy, but i wouldn't change (almost) anything.

love to you all!

 

the end. of